IMPROVEMENTS IN 'COPYING PRESSES.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Spence, of 8, Quality Court, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention
A communication from
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN 'COPYING PRESSES.".
abroad by John Fensom, of the City of Toronto, in the County of
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Spence at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th June 1870.
I, WILLIAM SPENCE, of 8, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, in the
5 County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COPYING PRESSES" (being a com-
munication to me from abroad by John Fensom, of the City of Toronto,

page_text: in the County of York, and Dominion of Canada, Engineer), to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in the adaptation and application to copying
presses of a ratchet wheel or ratchet fixed to the ordinary screw, and a
spring fixed to the handle or lever for the purpose of relieving the screw
and platen from undue pressure when more force than is necessary is
applied to the handle. For this purpose a ratchet wheel is or may be
keyed or fixed on the screw, and a spring in the form of a pall is made
fast to the handle, the end of such spring taking into the teeth of the
wheel. By this means when more force than is necessary is applied to
the handle the spring slips past the teeth of the ratchet wheel and allows
the handle to be moved without increasing the pressure on the platen.
Or the same effect may be produced by means of a spiral spring and
bolt inserted in the handle, the end of the bolt being suitably formed
to pass into the spaces between the teeth of the ratchet wheel. And
the same effect may also be produced by means of a collar with ratchet
teeth formed on it fixed to the screw, corresponding ratchet teeth being
formed in a portion of the handle fitting on the said collar, the teeth
on the handle acting in the teeth of the collar when kept therein by a
short spiral spring pressing on the toothed part of the handle, but which
spring allows the teeth in the collar and the handle respectively to slip
past each other when too much force is applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Spence in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SPENCE, of 8, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Spence, Her special licence that I,

page_text: the said William Spence, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Spence, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN COPYING PRESSES,"
being a communication to me from abroad by John Fensom, of the City
of Toronto, in the County of York, and Dominion of Canada, Engineer,
upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said William Spence, 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 William Spence, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
"
consists in
This Invention of "Improvements in Copying Presses
the adaptation and application to copying presses of a ratchet wheel
or ratchet fixed to the ordinary screw, and a spring fixed to the handle
or lever for the purpose of relieving the screw and platen from undue
pressure when more force than is necessary is applied to the handle. For
and
this purpose a ratchet wheel is or may be keyed or fixed on the screw,
a spring in the form of a pall is made fast to the handle, the end of such
spring taking into the teeth of the wheel. By this means when more
force than is necessary is applied to the handle the spring slips past
the teeth of the ratchet wheel and allows the handle to be moved
without increasing the pressure on the platten. Or the same effect may
be produced by means of a spiral spring and bolt inserted in the handle,
the end of the bolt being suitably formed to pass into the spaces between
the teeth of the ratchet wheel. And the same effect may also be pro-
duced by means of a collar with ratchet teeth formed on it fixed to the

page_text: screw, corresponding ratchet teeth being formed in a portion of the
handle fitting on to the said collar, the teeth on the handle acting in
the teeth of the collar when kept therein by a short spiral spring
pressing on the toothed part of the handle, but which spring allows the
teeth in the collar and the handle respectively to slip past each other
when too much force is applied.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will pro-
ceed to describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be
performed, by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, in which is
represented a copying press with the parts above referred to applied
thereto.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a copying press. A, A, is the handle of
the press; B is the ratchet wheel firmly secured to the screw C of the
press; D is a flat spring made fast in the handle A, A, acting in the
ratchet wheel B.
When more force than is necessary is applied to the handle A, A, the
spring D slips past the teeth of the ratchet wheel B, thereby allowing
the handle A to move without increasing the pressure on the platen E.
The same effect may be produced by means of a spiral spring d and
bolt e, as shewn in Fig. 2, in which is represented the handle A removed
from the press, shewing more fully the arrangements and parts.
Figures 3 and 4 shew another application of the ratchet and spring.
In this case the handle A, A, has teeth cut in its face, acting in the
teeth of the collar B, which is made fast to the screw C of the press.
The handle A, A, is held down as required by the short spiral spring a,
in Fig. 3, which allows the teeth to slip past when two much force is
applied to the handle.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim
as of the Invention communicated to me from abroad as aforesaid is :-
The application to copying presses of a ratchet wheel and spring, or
the equivalent arrangements described for the purpose of relieving the

page_text: platen from undue pressure when more force than is necessary is applied
to the handle of the press.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Spence, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
W. H. JACKSON,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane.
WILLIAM SPENCE. (L.S.)