Table of Contents
Patent X-8153: 1834-04-18, Wrench
| X Number | Date | Inventor | City | Title | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X-8153 | 1834-04-18 | Solyman Merrick | Springfield, MA | Wrench | Recovered |
Comments
The patent is for Merrick's improvements to the H. King rack wrench {7,254X}. The drawing is copied from “Wrenches and Patents,” compiled by Don Shockley.
The patent was recovered and added to the online patent database after the initial DATAMP entry had been made. A close reading of the specifications show that the rack teeth were to be cut on a sliding bar; said bar being moved by a supplemental adjusting nut adjacent to the handle ferule. This movement would be limited to a distance roughly equal to the spacing of the rack teeth. A wrench constructed according to this patent would combine screw and rack adjustment.
No firm history on production of this wrench has survived. A report in the November, 1834 JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE (vol, 8, pg. 340 ff.) provides the specifications and notes regional distribution of the wrench. Homer Foot and Stephen Bemis (later Bemis and Call) both produced other early Merrick Patent wrenches.
Information Sources
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