AN IMPROVE- MENT IN CRICKET BATS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cavanah, of 21, Parron Street, Paddington,
Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN CRICKET BATS."
Sealed the 16th October 1863, and dated the 24th April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cavanah at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
April 1863.
I, JOHN CAVANAH, of 21, Parron Street, Paddington, Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN CRICKET BATS," to be as follows:-
This improvement consists in a loose handle secured to the upper part or
mouth of the blade by a hinge or knee joint. Attached is a spiral or flat spring
made of steel, india-rubber, or any other suitable elastic substance so fixed
with metal plates and sockets to the blade and handle as to prevent the
concussion of the ball stinging or jarring the hand when struck, as is the
case with the present bat. The spring may be applied or attached to such
portion of the blade or handle as may be found most desirable; I do not
confine myself to any part in particular. This bat, although scarcely any
heavier, with the application of the spring, than those now in use, will send the

page_text: ball to a much greater distance and with infinitely more ease to the hand
than any bat now in use, and will tend to destroy the jarring sensation so
commonly felt and complained of.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cavanah in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CAVANAH, of 21, Parron Street, Paddington, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Cavanab, Her special licence that the said John Cavanah,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Cavanah, executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CRICKET
BATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Cavanah
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Cavanah, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in manufacturing a loose handle for cricket bats,
and the joining of the same to the blade in conjunction with a spring, in the
manner herein-after described and illustrated on Drawings. The loose handle
is secured to the upper part or mouth of the blade of the bat by a hinge or
knee joint. Attached is a spiral or flat spring made of steel, india-rubber, or

page_text: any other suitable elastic substance fixed with metal plates and sockets to the
blade and handle; the object of this spring is to prevent the concussion of the
ball stinging or jarring the hand when struck, as is the case with the ordinary.
bats now in use.
The spring may be applied or attached to such portion of the blade or
handle as may be found most desirable. I do not confine myself to any part
in particular.
And in order that my said Invention may be well understood, I will
proceed to describe the same as shewn and illustrated on the annexed
Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a back view of an ordinary size cricket bat constructed
according to this Invention, shewing the metal cup secured to the blade with
screws or bolts. The cup contains the spiral spring. Through the centre of the
spring and cup is a screw passing into the handle; this screw regulates the
spring and steadies the handle. Fig. 2 is a front view shewing the name
plate, and the joint screw or bolt in its place; Fig. 3 shows a blade without
the bandle, the screw pin being partly shewn; Fig. 4 represents a blade
without the handle for the purpose of clearly shewing the introduction of an
india-rubber spring for the purposes of my Invention; the spring shewn by this
Fig. is a flat india-rubber spring passing through the blade, the handle
working in the same manner as berein-before described; when this spring is
applied, no other spring is attached to the blade. Fig. 5 shews a loose handle;
Fig. 6 represents a side view of handle, shewing the joint hole through which
the screw pin or bolt passes, thus forming the joint; Fig. 7 is the metal cup
containing the spiral spring and screw, this Fig. shewing also the position of
the spiral spring and the screw; Fig. 8 shews the screw pin or bolt that passes
through the blade and handle, as herein-before mentioned; the lower part of
the handle and mouth of the blade is lined with a thin metal plate to prevent
the wood from wearing.
The advantage of this improved bat is that it will send the ball to a much
greater distance and with infinite more case to the hand than any other bat
now in use, although scarcely any heavier with the application of the springs
than those now used; another advantage is that this bat will tend much to
destroy the jarring sensation at present so commonly felt and complained of.
Having thus described the nature and object of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, I will observe in
conclusion that I do not limit or confine myself to the size or position of the
spring, or to the material of which the same may be made, or to the size of
bat, as it is obvious that this Invention is applicable to all sizes; but what I

page_text: claim and desire to be secured by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the improvements in the manufacture and construction of cricket
bats, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated on Drawings, or
any mere modification or imitation thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cavanah, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN CAVANAH. (L.S.)