US745243A - Rule. - Google Patents

Description

No. 745,243. PATENTED NOV. 24, 1903. T. G. SAXTON & W. G. MoDOWELL. RULE.

1 APPLI A'I'ION IILED MAR. 9. 190a.

I NO MODEL. 4 Z y I p t THE uonms PETERS c 6.. Pumouma. WASHINQYON: a. c.

UNITED STATES Patented November 24, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS GUNNI SAXTON AND WILLIAM GUY MCDOWELL, OF LEXINGTON,

KENTUCKY.

RULE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,243, dated November 24, 1903.

Application filed March 9, 1903. Serial No. 146,996. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS GUNNI SAX- .ron and WILLIAM GUY MCDOWELL, citizens of the United States, residing at Lexington, in the county of Fayette and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rules, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rules of that kind which comprise a plurality of hinged members adapted to be adjusted to different angles or folded into small compass, and one of its.objects is to provide improved means for retaining the hinged members or sections firmly in position after they have been adjusted to the desired angle with respect to each other.

' A further object of the invention is to provide means for applying it to folding rules as now constructed without making any material change in said rules.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rigid joint between the sections of the rule, so as to prevent rattling of the sections upon one another.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for readily adjusting the sections of the rule to any desired angle.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, and those features which are regarded as new will be set forth in the claims.

The invention has been illustrated as applied to an ordinary folding or sectional rule, such as is old and well known in the art.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a rule constructed according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side ele vation showing the joint between the serrated clamping-disks. Fig. 3 is a plan View showing one of the serrated clamping-disks. Fig. 4 is a side view illustrating a pair of serrated clamping-disks separated. Fig. 5 is a side view illustrating a pair .of clampingdisks in clamped relation. Fig. 6 is'a plan view illustrating a modified construction, and Fig. 7 is a plan view illustrating a further modified construction.

In Figs. 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings a form of concavo-convex clamping-disk 1 is illustrated, which is designed to produce a friction-joint between the sections of the rule. Each of the clamping-disks 1 is made from any suitable resilient metal. Around its periphery each disk is provided with a-series of projections or serrations 2. In constructing a rule according to our invention one of the clamping-disks 1 is attached by means of rivets 3 to the circular bearing-surface 4 on the section 5 of an ordinary rule, as shown in Fig. 1. After a clamping-disk 1 has been attached to each of the sections of the rule two of these sections are riveted together by a rivet 6, Figs. 1 and 2. It will be observed from Fig. 2 that the concaved sides of the disks are placed together and that the serrations 2 of the disks register with each other. The central portions of the disks 1 are clamped tightly together by the rivet 6, as illustrated in Fig. 5, so as to provide the flat central 7o bearing-surfaces7 and 8. It will be observed by an inspection of Fig. 5 that the outer margins of the disk 1 are separated by reason of the resiliency of the metal from which the disks are made. When it is desired to adjust the sections 5 toward or from each other, it is only necessary to shove them together or draw them apart. As this is done the serrations of the disks will slide over one another with a clicking sound and will register with the next adjacent serrations. By reason of the resilient qualities of the disks and by reason of the registering together of the serrations 2 the sections 5 of the rule will 'remain rigid in any position to which they may be adjusted.

In the construction just described it will be evident that the old and well-known form of folding ruler may be employed by simply removing the rivet which hinges the sections thereof to one another and riveting the clamping-disks l to the circular bearing-surfaces of the rule-sections.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings we have illustrated a modified construction wherein the clamp- 5 ing-disk 1 is constructed with a flat attaching portion 9. In attaching. this form of cuts or slits 11, which are provided to prevent the resilient action of the clamping-disk from being impaired by the flat attaching portion 9. The rule-sections, according to this form of the invention, are clamped together by the rivet 6, as usual. The fiat attaching portion 9 (illustrated in Fig. 6) may, if desired, be made in the form of a socket, into which the rule-section 5 may be inserted and within which it may be riveted. This form of construction is adapted for ready attachment to the rule-section. According to this construction also two clamping-disks 1, provided with socketed or flat attaching portions 9, may be riveted together in operative relation with each other, and the rule-sections may be subsequently attached to the flat or socketed attaching portion 9, as will be readily understood.

In Fig. f the drawings we have illustrated the clamping-disk 1 as being riveted directly upon the end of each rule-section. With this form of the invention it is possible to fold one of the rule-sections upon the other, so that the instrument will occupy but little space. It is also possible with this form of rule to secure a more perfect right or acute angle than with the other forms illustrated. In this form of the invention also it is merely necessary to rivet each clamping-disk 1 directly to the rule-section 5, as shown.

In constructing the clampingdisks 1 it is preferable to provide them with seventy-two serrations. By this means a circle of three hundred and sixty degrees is divided into sections of five degrees each, and it will be understood that by adjusting the rule-sections from one serration to the next a difierence of five degrees in the angle of the two rule-sections will be made. It will be understood, however, that the clamping-disks 1 are not necessarily provided with seventy-two serrations, but may, if desired, be provided with three hundred and sixty in order that an angle of one degree may, if desired, be produced, or the clamping-disks 1 may be divided into any other desired number of serrations, according to the purpose for which the rule is intended.

The clamping-disks 1 by providing a large bearing-surface against each other and by reason of the interregistering of the serrations produce a firm joint between the sections of the rule and prevent any rattling or moving of said sections upon each other. The clicking of the serrations 2 as the rulesections are adjusted toward and from each other also acts as an indicator to aid in the ready adjustment of the rule-sections.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a rule, the combination of a pair of sections, and a pair of clamping-disks arranged adjacent to the joint between said sections, the central portions of said disks being clamped in contact with each other, and the portions adjacent to their peripheries being separated, so as to cause their peripheries to be in frictional contact.

2. In a rule, the combination of a pair of sections, and a pair of serrated clampingdisks arranged adjacent to the joint between said sections, the portions of said disks adjacent to their peripheries being separated, so as to cause their serrated edges to interlock.

3. A rule comprising a pair of concavo-convex serrated clamping-disks, said clamping disks being connected together and each having an attaching portion connected therewith, the portions of said disks adjacent to their peripheries being separated so as to cause their serrated edges to interlock.

4. A rule comprising a pair of concavo-convex serrated clamping-disks, said clampingdisks being connected together, each of said clamping-disks having an attaching portion connected therewith, and a rule-section connected with the attaching portion of each of said disks.

5. A rule comprising a pair of concavo-convex serrated clamping-disks connected together, and means for attaching a rule-section to each of said disks, the portions of said disks adjacent to their peripheries being separated, so as to cause their serrated edges to interlock.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS GUNNI SAXTON. WILLIAM GUY MCDOWELL.

Witnesses:

V. L. RIoE, OSCAR O. BAUER.

Images