US569161A - Hatchet - Google Patents

Description

(No Model 2 8heets-Sheet 1,.

J.'R.BALSLEY.

HAQITGHET. I No. 569,161; Patented on. 13, 1896.

HR F! wfiwses gmeamv. V m I j J, R. BALSLEY.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

HATUHET.

(No Model.)

Patented 001;,13, 1896i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES R. BALSLEY, OF OONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

HATCH ET.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 569,161, dated October 13, 1896.

Application filed January 11, 1896. Serial No. 575,069. (No model.)

To a'ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. BALSLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Connellsville, in the county of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hatchets and Hammers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in hatchets and hammers, and has for its object to provide means by which a nail may be held in one of several positions upon the poll of said implement for the purpose of giving said nail its initial start, and also, in the case of a hatchet, to provide means for driving nails of various sizes without injury to thehandle of said hatchet.

\Vith these ends in view the invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction and operation in detail, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of a hatchet havin g my improvements embodied therein; Fig. 2, a cross-section of the poll; Fig. 3, a detail section at the line 00a of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a perspective showing a nail in one of the holders in position to be given its initial start above the manipulator, and Fig. 5 a similar view showing the nail in position to be started below the manipulator.

Similar letters denote like parts in the views of the drawings.

The blade A and eye B of the hatchet are of the usual shape and supplied with a suitable handle O. In each of the four corners of the poll D are formed grooves E, terminating in semicircular notches F. These grooves are of such a shape and sizeas to receive the body of a nail and retain the same therein by gravity when the groove is held in the proper position and the head of the nail rests in the semicircular groove, as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. This arrangement permits the starting of a nail bya blow from the hatchet above, below, or to either side of the operator, and when the nail has thus been started it in no way interferes with the reverse movement of the hatchet, in that it has no direct hold thereon.

In many instances the initial starting of a nail is accomplished with much difiiculty and loss of time, as, for instance, when it is to be placed considerably out of the reach of the operator either above or below, or in work which necessitates the driving of the nails in close proximity to protruding parts thereof 3 but this is entirely overcome by the use of my improvement, which greatly facilitates these operations.

While I have shown my improvement as embodied in a hatchet, it is evident that it may be applied to a hammer, as its only connection is with the poll of the implement. When a hatchet is used, I prefer to arrange the nail-drawing notches G and H as shown in the drawings, since by the notch G being placed near the handle greater leverage is gained and a much larger nail may be drawn without breaking the handle than would otherwise be the case.

The notch H is for drawing smaller nails, and especially those having small heads, it being V-shaped and the walls thereof beveled so as to take a firm hold upon the nail with but little reference to the head thereof.

In practice I have found thatthe four grooves formed upon the corners of the poll are sufficient for all practical purposes, but should it be found desirable these notches may be multiplied and arranged in a circle around the circumference of the poll.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is- As a new article of manufacture, a hatchet having its poll provided with beveled corners, and having longitudinal grooves centrally of the beveled portions, a shoulder formed at the end of the bevel and groove by an undercut which receives the head of the nail as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES R. BALSLEY.

Witnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, CHARLES H. BALsLnY.

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