IMPROVEMENTS IN PLANES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn,
in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City
of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PLANES."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Vendrand, of Villers-Cotteret, Aisne, France.
Sealed the 30th August 1861, and dated the 4th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th March 1861.
.I,, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS, IN PLANES," (a communication to me from abroad by
Joseph Vendrand, of Villers-Cotteret, Aisne, France,) to be as follows:-
It is well known what difficulty is experienced in adjusting a plane, iron,
both on account of the parallelism which should exist, between the under side
of the plane and the edge of the iron, and of the small amount of projection
which the latter should have. The system to which this Invention relates
perfectly obviates the above difficulties.
The Invention consists of an additional regulator which not only effects the
lowering or raising of the iron, but also retains it firmly in the position, which

page_text: it should occupy. This regulator, which is worked simply by the hand, and does
not sensibly complicate the plane, allows of the regulation of the iron to the
greatest nicety according to the work to be performed. The plane iron is
connected by a pin to a nut working in diagonal slides fixed to the body of
the plane behind the upper part of the mouth, and is raised or lowered by
means of a screw passing through the said nut, which screw can be turned by
hand by means of a milled head. The break iron is adjusted to the plane iron
by a screw in the usual manner. The iron is fixed (when adjusted) by means of
a fork or stirrup attached to another screw (also with a milled head) set at
right angles to the first-named screw, and tapped through a bracket or sup-
port fixed to the body of the plane in front of the upper part of the mouth.
This screw acts instead of the wedge usually employed.
It will be evident that this system of adjusting and fixing the iron may be
adapted with advantage to almost any description of plane. In order to facili-
tate the handling of the plane, it is also proposed to form hollow grooves in
each side of the body of the same in front of the iron, to enable the hand to
grasp the same more easily.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, and
No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said George Davies, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the said George
Davies, 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 PLANES,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Joseph Vendrand, of Villers-

page_text: Cotteret, Aisne, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Davies, 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 George Davies, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say :-
It is well known what difficulty is experienced in adjusting a plane iron
both on account of the parallelism which should exist between the under side
of the plane and the edge of the iron, and of the small amount of projection
which the latter should have. The system to which this Invention relates
perfectly obviates the above difficulties.
The Invention consists of an additional regulator, which not only effects the
lowering or raising of the iron, but also retains it firmly in the position which
it should occupy. This regulator, which is worked simply by the hand, and
does not sensibly complicate the plane, allows of the regulation of the iron to
the greatest nicety according to the work to be performed. The plane iron
is connected by a pin to a nut working in diagonal slides fixed to the body of
the plane behind the upper part of the mouth, and is raised or lowered by
means of a screw. passing through the said nut, which screw can be turned by
hand by means of a milled head. The break iron is adjusted to the plane
iron by a screw in the usual manner. The iron is fixed (when adjusted) by
means of a fork or stirrup attached to another screw (also with a milled head)
set at right angles to the first-named screw, and tapped through a bracket or
support fixed to the body of the plane in front of the upper part of the mouth..
This screw acts instead of the wedge usually employed.
It will be evident that this system of adjusting and fixing the iron may be
adapted with advantage to almost any description of plane.
In order to facilitate the handling of the plane, it is proposed to form
hollow grooves in each side of the body of the same in front of the iron to
enable the hand to grasp the same more easily.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention for improvements in
planes, I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is to
be or may be performed or carried into practical effect. And in order that

page_text: the same may be distinctly understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and
letters corresponding to the following description thereof, that is to say:-
. In the annexed Drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a
plane furnished with the improved regulating apparatus; Figure 2 is a plan
view of the same as seen from above; and Figure 3 is a transverse section
through about the line 1, 2, in Figure 1.
The iron A of the plane is connected by a pin a to a nut B, sliding in the
interior of the support C by means of a screw V, which is turned by hand by
means of the milled head v. The screw V, held in the upper part of the sup-
port C, will force the nut B to rise or fall according to the direction in which
it is turned, consequently the plane iron A and the break iron A¹ will follow
the same movement, because they are fastened to the nut B by the pin a.
The break iron A' is attached in the ordinary manner by a screw and winged
nut enclosed in the hollow part a. of the body of the plane V. To retain the tool
in the exact place desired, the stirrup or fork E is moved forward by means
of the screw e tapped into the support F. This support is fixed in a similar
manner to the support C) on the body V¹ of the plane near the opening or
mouth, which serves for the discharge of the shavings.
I. would here observe that the form of the stirrup E does not in any way
obstruct the mouth or opening of the plane, and that the two branches present
a resistance sufficient to retain the iron); the hollow groove r, which is formed
in each side of the body of the plane, is of a sufficient length to give the
required facility for grasping the plane. The fork or stirrup E may be entirely
dispensed with, and replaced by a small moveable frame. A groove or slot
may also be made in the iron so that the workman may vary the position of
the iron in order to put the edge parallel with the bottom of the plane without
grinding it or setting it square.
These modifications are shown at Figures 4, 5, and 6; Figure 4 being a
longitudinal section; Figure 5, a plan view; and Figure 6, a transverse section
of a plane thus modified. The plane iron A is supported by the pin a, which
forms part of the nut B, sliding in the support C by means of the screw V,
which is turned by the button or milled head v. This arrangement serving
for the advancement or withdrawal of the iron, the slide R allows of the lateral
displacement of the pin a so as to set the edge parallel with the bottom of the
plane; a second slide R¹ serves to hold a washer r, in the notch of which the
extremity of the pin a enters. The iron when adjusted by the screw V, is
retained in the desired position by means of a stirrup, or by the small move-
able frame E, which oscillates on an axis e¹ fixed in the support C. The small

page_text: frame E, divided into two branches at its lower part, carries two parallel lugs
or projections E', between which is held the washer of the screw a¹ (Figure 4),
which holds the plane iron and break iron together. If the screw e be turned
in the proper direction, this screw taking its fulcrum against the upper part of
the plane, will raise the socket or eye E' of the lever E, and draw the lower
part thereof in the direction of the arrow, and the lugs or projections E¹ taking
the same direction will draw the screws a¹, and consequently the iron A with
them, and thus the more the socket E' is raised, the more firmly the iron will
be held. When it is desired to change the iron it is sufficient to turn the
screw e slightly backwards, so as to give the necessary play to the lugs F' and
the screw a', in order to remove the whole.
The modifications of regulating apparatus above described may be applied
with equal advantage to planes of smaller dimensions, and also to ploughs and
planes for working mouldings in stone.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
improvements in planes, together with the manner in which the same is to be
or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I would remark, in con-
clusion, that I do not intend to confine myself to the precise form or dimensions
of the various parts, nor to the materials of which they may be constructed;
but I claim as the Invention communicated to me by the aforesaid Joseph
Vendrand, the construction and arrangement of the regulating apparatus for
planes as above described and shown in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)