Welcome! 

Register :: Login
Manufacturers Index - W. T. Nicholson
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
19,622 Mar. 16, 1858 Vise Charles B. Clark Oriskany Falls, NY W. T. Nicholson was much better known as a file maker, but according to the book "A History of American Manufactures, from 1608 to 1860, Volume 2", he also made this patent vise. In the mid-1860s he incorporated as the Nicholson File Co., a firm that remains in business as of 2018.
42,217 Apr. 05, 1864 Improvement in File Cutting Machines William T. Nicholson Providence, RI A rocking bed designed to move during the cutting of teeth. When there is any unevenness of the surface that would cause the chisel to cut deeper on one side than the other, the blow of the chisel causes the worm gear to turn and move the blank to ensure even teeth. Text references that this is an improvement of a portion of a file machine which he had applied for at the same time, Patent No. 42,216. Files produced by this machine are covered later under his Patent Nos. 44,443 and 58,025.
42,216 Apr. 05, 1864 Improvement in File Cutting Machines William T. Nicholson Providence, RI A pawl and ratchet feeding mechanism with the bands operated by the revolution of the main shaft and a movable carriage. The moveable carriage is improved upon in his Patent No. 42,217. Files produced by this machine are covered later under his Patent Nos. 44,443 and 58,025.
44,443 Sep. 27, 1864 Improved File for Dressing Metal William T. Nicholson Providence, RI File pattern where the ranges of teeth are separated by lands which vary from each other in width by a fixed and regular ratio of either increasing or decreasing. This pattern of file is claimed to overcome the shortcomings of machine cut files (coarser near the end than the middle of the file as well as parallel furrows which causes a fluted surface) and hand cut files (wavy parallelism). This file is produced by his file cutting machine 42,216 and rocking bed patent 42,217.
45,850 Jan. 10, 1865 Improved Machine for Forging File Blanks William T. Nicholson Providence, RI Swage forming of file blanks to a consistant shape for machine cut files. Although the text makes no mention of his file machine patents, 42,216 and 42,217, it is assumed that this was a natural development in support of his machine cut file operations.
58,025 Sep. 11, 1866 Improvement in Files William T. Nicholson Providence, RI Machine manufacture of for round or semi-round files with the teeth distinctly formed as when cut by hand but with the rows arranged in wave lines to prevent the file from naturally rotating in use by following the furrows. This patent references his Patent Nos. 42,216 and 42,217 as appropriate methods and tools to produce this file.
78,681 Jun. 09, 1868 Improved Machine for Cutting Files William T. Nicholson Providence, RI "Claim is for a file cutting machine with a "rolling bed," whose longitudinal axis is set angularly with the line of motion of the carriage, or the cutting chisel if the former be stationary and the latter movable, in combination with such cutting chisel." References functions of John Crum's 1 Jul 1851 patent 8,199 as well as Nicholson's patents of 5 Apr 1864 42,216 and 42,217.
94,503 Sep. 07, 1869 Improvement in Rasps William T. Nicholson Providence, RI The cutting edge of each tooth is curved in two directions with the metal raised by the chisel a convex outer surface to provide a shearing cut.
177,071 May. 09, 1876 Machines for Stripping File-Blanks William T. Nicholson Providence, Providence County, RI The invention described in this application is one of several improvements in machines used for the purpose of stripping or draw-filing file-blanks, for the several divisions of which invention I have made three other applications for Letters Patent, all of even date herewith. This part of my invention consists, first, in an improved arrangement by which reciprocation is imparted to the file-blank, and a movement given to it which approximates in its figure to the figure 8; second, in the arrangement by which an elastic, yielding, and self adjusting support is given to the file or tool, which effects the stripping; third, in the construction of the file-blank bed, by which the file-blank is enabled to adjust itself to the face of the stripping-file; fourth, in a peculiar arrangement by which the file-blank is held in contact with the stripping-file, which contact is partially relieved when the blank passes backward from under the same.
177,070 May. 09, 1876 Improvement in Files William T. Nicholson Providence, RI Improvement on Nicholson's Sept. 27, 1864 patent (no. 44,443). Each grouping of teeth has overall wider or narrower spacing than the adjacent grouping. The specifications mention parallel patents for the machinery to produce these files. Patents 177,071 through 177,074 relate to preparing the blank, and 177,075 describes the machine that cuts the file.
177,072 May. 09, 1876 Machines for Stripping File-Blanks William T. Nicholson Providence, Providence County, RI
177,073 May. 09, 1876 Machines for Stripping File-Blanks William T. Nicholson Providence, Providence County, RI
177,074 May. 09, 1876 Machines for Stripping File-Blanks William T. Nicholson Providence, Providence County, RI
177,075 May. 09, 1876 Machines for Cutting Files William T. Nicholson Providence, Providence County, RI
191,811 Jun. 12, 1877 Improvement in File Holders William T. Nicholson Providence, RI File holder that allows the file to be sprung or bent which is preferred on large surfaces and the convex surface also makes the file less likely to clog or glaze.
198,668 Dec. 25, 1877 Improvement in Butchers' Steels William T. Nicholson Providence, RI A butcher's steel with two opposite abrasive surfaces and two opposite smooth polishing or finishing surfaces.
198,777 Jan. 01, 1878 File Handle William T. Nicholson Providence, RI Handle with tapered socket, three or four radial slots, and "elastic compress" to hold file tangs, or double-taper square or triangular files -- the corners of the files or tangs entering the slots.
One known example (found in spring 2018) has lost the "elastic compress" and shows three radial slots.
200,218 Feb. 12, 1878 File Cleaner William T. Nicholson Providence, RI My invention consists, mainly, in a file cleaner provided with a bristle-clad surface on one side, a wire-toothed surface on the other side, a scoring-awl, and a convenient handle. It further consists in a file cleaner provided with a scoring-awl, which is housed and secured by a spring in the body of the cleaner, for affording a convenient and ready means, whereby on occasion such scores or cuts in a file as cannot be opened by the cleaner brushes may be thoroughly plowed or scored.

204,596 Jun. 04, 1878 Improvement in File Holders William T. Nicholson Providence, RI Holder for a "stub-file" or a "riffler" file that reduces the need for a large number of files with different handles for different applications. Holder uses a pair of expanding jaws and a screw clamp.