IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COFFERED SPADES AND SHOVELS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaiah Barker, of Stourbridge, in the County of
Worcester, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF COFFERED SPADES AND SHOVELS."
Sealed the 25th January 1870, and dated the 27th July 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaiah Barker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1869.
I, ISAIAH BARKER, of Stourbridge, in the County of Worcester,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COFFERED SPADES AND SHOVELS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention relates to coffered spades and shovels made of iron or
steel or partly of iron and partly of steel, and consists principally of the
improvements herein-after described in constructing the coffer or hollow
part in which the bottom of the tree or handle part of the spade or shovel
is inserted and fixed.
In making the said coffered spades and shovels according to my Inven-
tion I make the plate or body together with the front part of the coffer'

page_text: and the front strap out of one piece of sheet iron or steel. In making
the said combined plate, front part of the coffer, and front strap I cut
from sheet iron or steel a blank of the required shape, and by means of
suitably shaped pressing or stamping tools worked in a press' or stamp I
raise the front part of the coffer, and also make a raised rim around the
said front part of the coffer and parallel thereto, and at the same time
give the required shape to the front strap. I make the back part of the
coffer and the back strap of one piece of sheet iron or steel, the said back
part of the coffer dropping into the raised or hollow rim formed around
the front part of the coffer. By means of rivets I secure the said back
part of the coffer in its place on the plate or body, and thus complete the
plate or body of the spade or shovel together with its front and back
straps. In rivetting the back part of the coffer in its place I insert the
rivets from the front, so that the heads of the said rivets not being at the
back of the plate or body do not interfere with the action of the spade or
shovel. The back part of the coffer by fitting in the raised rim described
around the front part of the coffer lies flush with the back of the plate or
body of the spade or shovel, and forming therewith a continuous surface
offers but little resistance in the use of the spade or shovel. The holes
in the back part of the coffer are countersunk, so that when the rivetting
is completed there is no projecting part. In cutting out the blanks from
which I make spades and shovels I cut the sheet iron or steel so that the
strap of one blank lies between the bodies of the blanks on either side of
it, and similarly the body of each blank lies between the straps of the
blanks on either side of it.
་
The countersinking of the rivet holes may be applied to the manu-
facture of spades and shovels in which the front and back parts of the
coffer are rivetted to the plate or body.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Isaiah Barker, Her special licence
that I, the said Isaiah Barker, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Isaiah Barker, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 THE MANU-
FACTURE OF COFFERED SPADES AND SHOVELS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Isaiah Barker, 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 Isaiah Barker, 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 :-
The said Invention relates to coffered spades and shovels made of iron
or steel or partly of iron and partly of steel, and consists principally of
the improvements herein-after described in constructing the coffer or
hollow part in which the bottom of the tree or handle part of the spade
or shovel is inserted and fixed.
According to my Invention I make the plate or body of the said
coffered spades and shovels together with the front part of the coffer and
the front strap out of one piece of sheet iron or steel, and in making the
said combined plate, front part of the coffer, and front strap I cut from
sheet iron or steel a blank of the required shape, and by means of
pressing or stamping tools (shaped to suit the form required to be pro-
duced) worked in a press or stamp I raise the front part of the coffer, and
also make a raised rim around the said front part of the coffer and
parallel thereto, and at the same time give the required shape to the

page_text: front strap. I make the back part of the coffer and the back strap of
one piece of sheet iron or steel, the said back part of the coffer dropping
into the raised or hollow rim formed around the front part of the coffer.
By means of rivets I secure the said back part of the coffer in its place
on the plate or body, and thus complete the plate or body of the spade or
shovel together with its front and back straps. In rivetting the back
part of the coffer in its place I insert the rivets from the front, so that the
heads of the said rivets not being at the back of the plate or body do not
interfere with the action of the spade or shovel. The back part of the
coffer by fitting in the raised rim described around the front part of the
coffer lies flush with the back of the plate or body of the spade or shovel,
and forms therewith a continuous surface offering but little resistance in
the use of the spade or shovel. The holes in the back part of the
coffer are countersunk, so that when the rivetting is completed there is
no projecting part. In cutting out the blanks from which I make
spades and shovels I cut the shoet iron or steel so that the strap of
one blank lies between the bodies of the blanks on either side of it, and.
similarly the body of each blank lies between the straps of the blanks on
either side of it.
The countersinking of the rivet holes may be applied to the manu-
facture of spades and shovels in which the front and back parts of the
coffer are rivetted to the plate or body.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate how the said improvements are
carried out in practice.
Fig. 1 shows the back strap when shaped before the same is rivetted
into the back of the shovel, as shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 2 shows the back
of the shovel after stamping, and exhibits the coffer after being raised
and the cavity round the coffer to receive the back strap (Fig. 1.)
showing the countersunk holes to receive the rivets; Fig. 3 shows the
shovel after the back strap is rivetted into the cavity ready to receive
the handle, also showing the front of the shovel after the coffer is raised;
Fig. 4 shows the sheet of steel marked ready for cutting (cut before
stamping) showing the front strap of the one running longitudinally
with the body of the other.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my said Invention, and in what manner the same may be
performed or carried out in practice, I hereby declare that I claim, the

page_text: 'Improvements in the Manufacture of Coffered Spades and Shovels
the same are herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaiah Barker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
T. R. SOUTHALL,
Clerk in the Old Bank,
Stourbridge.
ISAIAH BARKER. (L.S.)