Welcome! 

Register :: Login
Manufacturers Index - Union Vise Co.
Patents
This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

Submitting Patent Information

If you find a patent number or patent date by this manufacturer that is not on this list, please contact the Site Historian.


Key to Links for Patent Information

USPTO = U.S. Patent Office . Images of the actual patent can be viewed on the U.S. Patent Office web site but a special TIFF viewer must be installed with your browser in order properly work. More information on how to configure your computer to view these patents can be found at TIFF image Viewers for Patent Images.
DATAMP = Directory of American Tool And Machinery Patents . A sister site to VintageMachinery.org with information on patents related to machinery and tools. A much easier user interface than the USPTO's for finding information on machinery patents.

Patent Number Date Title Name City Description
45,693 Jan. 03, 1865 Vise Amos H. Brainard Dorchester, MA
78,565 Jun. 02, 1868 Improvement in vises Quimby S. Backus Winchendon, MA This vise was manufactured by the Union Vise Co., which lost their plant in an 1871 fire. They sold their vise line to the Backus Vise Co., who suffered their own fire in December 1871. Their landlord, the Millers Falls Manufacturing Co., rebuilt. The Backus Vise Co. found itself in the enviable position of demand considerably exceeding their ability to meet it. In January 1873 they merged with the Millers Falls Manufacturing Co. to form the Millers Falls Co., which continued manufacturing the vises for several years.
"When articles of wood, metal, or other material are held in place while being operated upon between the jaws of the various vises of the ordinary construction, the shavings or filings which result therefrom fall upon the screw-shaft by which the movable jaw is operated, and are carried forward into its screw-nut, thereby causing it to be speedily worn away, and frequently so obstructing both the screw-shaft and its nut as to require cleaning before the movable jaw can be made to slide in its grooves, as required.
"To overcome these difficulties is the object of my invention, which consists in one or more tubes, or one or more segments of a tube or tubes, or other covering for shielding the portion of the screw-shaft between the jaws, exposed to the shavings or filings, or for enclosing or covering the top only, or both the top and sides, of the portion of the screw-shaft thus exposed..."
Compare this patent to 91,065, which further refines this design.
91,065 Jun. 08, 1869 Improved vise Alban G. Andren , Sweden This vise was manufactured by the Union Vise Co., which, after an 1871 fire, sold their vise line to the Backus Vise Co., which in 1873 became part of the newly formed Millers Falls Co.
"The nature of my invention consists in the arrangement, with the deeply-recessed stationary jaw and the screw-shaft, of the protecting and sliding flanged support..."
A correspondent reports a copy of an agreement, dated June 1869, between Andren and the Union Vise Co., with the company purchasing all rights to the vise.
This patent seems to be an improvement on patent 78,565, granted one year previous to Quimby Backus of Winchendon, MA. Where Backus's patent uses nested sliding tubes to keep the vise-screw clean, Andren recesses the screw into the stationary jaw, and uses a single sliding tube to protect the rest of the screw. A flange on the end of the sliding tube helps prevent the movable jaw from sagging—a potential problem because the recess in the stationary jaw reduces the amount of support given to the vise-screw.
110,951 Jan. 17, 1871 Milling Machine Amos H. Brainard Hyde Park, MA Alban Andrew - patent attorney
The object of my invention is to provide a simple and convenient back center, or support for one end of arbors, reamers, or .other work required to be supported at each end on Centers, which shall always be in line with the arbor or other work, be the same higher or lower, or inclined to a horizontal line.
111,311 Jan. 31, 1871 Milling Machine Amos H. Brainard Hyde Park, MA Alban Andrew - patent attorney
The object of my invention, is to provide a headstock for milling and other machines for cutting straight and conical mills, bevel and spur-gears, and for milling at various angles, &c.