Improvements in the Manufacture of Brushes and in Machinery therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 20th Jan., 1891--Accepted, 20th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Brushes and in Machinery
therefor.
We, HENRY WATERS, of 113, Dearman Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham.
Warwickshire, Engineer, and WILLIAM WALLACE WOODMAN, of Bishop Street,
Birmingham, aforesaid, Brush Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to the manufacture of brushes and it consists firstly
in an improved method of securing the bristles or fibre into the wooden or other
backs of brushes, and secondly in machinery for carrying out the said method which
machinery is in part applicable to other machines for inserting bristles or fibre in
brush backs.
According to the first part of this invention we secure the bunches of bristles or
fibre into the wooden or other backs of brushes by wire staples as follows:-A
bunch of fibre or bristles is passed half way through a wire staple of the
usual U shape and the fibre or bristles are doubled into a loop (as is usual) so as to
engage with the staple, the ends of the staple and the ends of the fibre or bristles
pointing in opposite directions. The staple and its bunch of bristles or fibre are
inserted in the hole in the brush back the ends of the staple projecting beyond the
same, these projecting ends are then clenched over against the brush back and the
bristles or fibre are firmly secured.
The said machinery which we employ for carrying out the above described
improved method of securing bristles or fibre in brushes, comprises means for
making the said staples from a continuous length of wire; a feeding device which
collects measured quantities of bristles or fibre from a receptacle and places them
in position so as to be engaged by the staple, and an inserting device by which the
staple with its bunch of bristles or fibre are inserted in the hole in the brush back
and the projecting ends of the staple clenched over.
The said machinery is arranged as follows:-A. slide suitably guided and arranged
to move to and fro by a treadle and connecting rod or other means preferably in a
vertical plane, carries a staple bending tool and a cutting off tool the latter of which,
as the slide rises severs from a continuous length a piece of wire long enough to
form one staple which, by the bending tool forcing it between dies, is bent into
somewhat the form of a staple but with the ends much wider apart. We employ
any well known mechanism such as a pair of intermittently moving gripping jaws,
for feeding the continuous length of wire intermittently to the cutting off and
bending tools.
Adjacent to the staple forming device is a trough containing the fibre or bristles
which lie at right angles to the wire for forming the staples. Beneath this trough
is a slide carrying upwardly projecting inclined fingers (or a single finger may be
used) and a spring stop which by means of a cam on the above mentioned vertical
slide, or by other means, are caused to move across and under the bristles or fibre
in the trough to underneath the staple and back again. The inclined fingers project
upwardly for a certain distance through a slot or slots in the underside of the trough
so as to engage with the bristles or fibre therein so that when the fingers move
towards the staple they engage with and bring away a certain quantity of the
bristles or fibre to form one bunch this quantity being regulated by the distance
which the fingers project among the bristles or fibre and which distance can be
adjusted by a set screw or other means. As the fingers with the bristles or fibre
which they have collected are leaving the trough they come into contact with the
said spring stop on the slide so that the bristles or fibre are held between the fingers
and the stop and carried on to underneath the staple and at right angles thereto

page_text: where they are held until engaged by the staple and carried down by the inserting
device as hereinafter described. The fingers and spring stop then move back for
another quantity of bristles or fibre the spring stop being held back against the front
of the rough whilst the fingers pass underneath, the inclined form of the latter
permitting of their passing under the bristles or fibre during the back stroke without
engaging with any.
The bunch of bristles or fibre is held as above described under the staple (the
latter meanwhile being supported by the staple forming tool or otherwise) and over
the larger end of a trumpet shaped or other inclined guide piece the lower smaller
end of which enters the hole in the brush back into which the bristles or fibre have
to be inserted. The brush back is supported underneath by a clenching tool which
has a short pointed top adapted to enter the said hole in the brush back and a collar
on which the brush back rests. This clenching tool can move up or down through
a short space it being forced upwardly by a spring or other means and its travel
either up or down being regulated by stops. Carried by the first said slide or
otherwise is an inserting tool which is or may be somewhat chisel shaped with a
groove in its lower end in which the staple fits and which moves from beyond the
staple into and through the trumpet shaped guide piece and back again.
To insert the bunch of bristles or fibre and the staple in a hole in the brush back
and clench over the ends of the staple, the brush back is placed under the trumpet
shaped guide piece the lower end of the latter and the pointed top of the clenching
tool entering the hole in the brush back in which the bristles or fibre have to be
inserted. The inserting tool now moves down (the staple forming tool having been
withdrawn) with the staple and causes the latter to embrace the bunch of bristles or
fibre lying underneath which with the staple are by the said tool pushed down into
the trumpet shaped guide, the inclined mouth of which closes the ends of the staple
towards each other and bends or doubles the ends of the bristles or fibre together.
The continued downward motion of the inserting tool forces the staple and the bent
or lower part of the bunch of bristles or fibre into the hole in the brush back they
being guided by the lower end of the said trumpet shaped guide through which they
pass, and when the ends of the staple come into contact with the inclined clenching
tool they are spread apart and bent outwardly and clenched against the brush back
by the collar on which the brush back rests thus securing the bunch of bristles or
fibre in the hole. The inserting tool then rises and the brush back is free to be
moved to bring the next hole into position.
From the foregoing description it will be observed that the various operations are
performed during a combined up and down stroke of the slide carrying the inserting
tool.
A suitable frame-work supports the various parts of the machine.
The above described feeding device which collects measured quantities of bristles
or fibre from the trough and places them in position for inserting, is applicable to
other machines for inserting bristles or fibre in brush backs.
Dated this 19th day of March 1890.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Brushes and in Machinery
therefor.
We, HENRY WATERS, of 113, Dearman Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham,
Warwickshire, Engineer, and WILLIAM WALLACE WOODMAN, of Bishop Street,
Birmingham, aforesaid, Brush Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has reference to the manufacture of brushes and it consists firstly
in an improved method of securing the bristles or fibre into the wooden or other

page_text: backs of brushes, and secondly in machinery for carrying out the said method which
machinery is in part applicable to other machines for inserting and securing bristles
or fibre in brush backs."
:
According to the first part of this invention we secure the bunches of bristles or
fibre into the wooden or other backs of brushes by wire staples in the manner which
we will describe by referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings of
which Fig. 1 represents a bunch of bristles or fibre and a staple ready for insertion
in a brush back in the manner shewn by Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 represents in sectional:
elevation and Fig. 4 in inverted plan part of a brush back with the staples clenched.
over and securing the bunches of bristles or fibre therein.
A bunch of fibre or bristles a is passed half way through a wire staple of the
usual U shape and the fibre or bristles are doubled into a loop (as is usual) so as to
engage with the staple, the ends of the staple and the ends of the fibre or bristles
pointing in opposite directions (see Fig. 1). The staple and its bunch of bristles
or fibre a are inserted in the hole in the brush back e the ends of the staple
projecting beyond the same (see Fig. 2) these projecting ends of the staple are
then clenched over against the brush back as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and the
bristles or fibre are firmly secured.
C
The holes in the brush back in which the bunches of bristles or fibre are inserted
áre by preference made taper as shewn the smaller end of the hole being at the
back of the brush so as to prevent the bunches of bristles or fibre being pushed in
too far.
:
The said machinery which we employ for carrying out the above described.
improved method of securing bristles or fibre in brushes, comprises means for
making the said staples from a continuous length of wire a feeding device which
collects measured quantities of bristles or fibre from a receptacle and places them
in position so as to be engaged by the staple, and an inserting device by which the
staple with its bunch of bristles or fibre are inserted in the hole in the brush back
and the projecting ends of the staple clenched over.
On the accompanying drawings Fig. 5 represents in front elevation and Fig. 6 in
side elevation a machine constructed according to this part of our invention; Fig. 7
represents in front elevation, Figs. 8 and 9 in side elevation, Fig. 10 in plan.
Fig. 11 in front sectional elevation and Fig. 12 in side sectional elevation the upper
part of the said machine on an enlarged scale; Fig. 13 represents the bristle or
fibre feeding mechanism separately; Figs. 14, 15 and 16 shew parts of the said
feeding mechanism on an enlarged scale; Fig. 17 is a separate view of part of the
mechanism for feeding in the wire to form the staples Figs. 18, 18, 19, 20 and 21
represent the staple forming dies and the wire cutting off tool separately; Fig. 22
shews the bristle or fibre and staple inserting tool separately; Fig. 23 shews front
side- and plan views of the working end of the staple bending tool; Fig. 24 shews
the staple clenching tool separately; Figs. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 are views of
parts of the said machine in sectional elevation so as to illustrate the operation of
the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures of the drawings.
The
Dis a slide receiving up and down motion through the connecting rod / from the
cranks on the revolving shaft which may be caused to revolve either by a
pulley or by the pedal lever and connecting rod / or by other means.
slide D is guided by the machine frame E at and fixed by the bolt 2 to the
block which can move up and down between the guides This block carries
the inserting tool G hereinafter described.
The means which we employ for making the staples from a continuous length of
wire such as consist of firstly any ordinary intermittent feeding device for inter-
mittently feeding the wire to the cutting off and bending tools; secondly a cutting
off tool to cut off from the length of wire a piece long enough to form one staple
and thirdly a bending tool and die to bend and hold the staple ready for the inserting
tool G above referred to.

page_text: In the machine illustrated the said intermittent feeding device consists of a slide I
to which, by the pin is jointed the gripper . One end of this gripper projects
above the slide I and is connected to the lever arm by the connecting rod. This
lever arm turns on a fulcrum and its shorter arm takes against an incline dª
on the plate fixed to the block d³ so that when the block d³ has been moved up to
a certain position as hereinafter described the incline d acts upon the lever and
moves the slide I towards the centre of the machine, the wire being gripped between
the nose of the gripper and a lip on the slide and pushed through into the staple
bending die J far enough to form one staple. The motion of the slide is regulated
by the stop screws and e³. A pawl jointed to the frame E holds the wire when
the slide is making its back stroke. The back stroke is obtained by a spring not
shewn on the drawings.
The said cutting off tool may also be of any ordinary kind. In the machine
shewn the cutting off tool consists of a cylindrical piece of steel K which can turn
backwards and forwards axially in a hearing in the staple forming die J. This
piece K has a through longitudinal eccentric hole through which the wire h
passes and through a hole in the die J (see Fig. 18). As the piece K vibrates
to and fro the end of its hole & passes the hole and thus nips oil the projecting
piece of wire to form a staple. This piece k receives its cutting motion from the
slide which is moved up at the proper time by the block d³. A lever on the
piece K is connected to the slide by a link . A spring gives the back motion
to the piece K.
The said staple bending tool and die are arranged as follows:-L is the staple
bending tool consisting of a cranked lever hanging at one end on a fulcrum pin (
fixed to the machine frame E. The front end of the tool 1 projects through a
slot in the die J at right angles to and across the wire h. When the wire has
been pushed through the cutting tool K and just as the short piece to form a
staple is being ent therefrom the tool L is by a projecting collar d on the slide D,
moved up to the position shewn in Figs. 12, 18*, 26 and 27 thus carrying up the
cut off piece of wire into the upper part of the vertical hole in the bending
die J which has the effect of bending the said cut off piece of wire into somewhat
the form of a staple but with the ends much wider apart (see Figs. 18*
and 26).
When the slide D moves down, the bending tool L is left supporting the
partly formed staple in the position shewn by Figs. 12 and 18* until the tool 1.
and the partly formed staple are both moved down together by the lower end of
the inserting tool G which has a cross groove to fit on to and hold the staple.
As the tool L moves down it gradually withdraws from the staple and out of the
way of the descending inserting tool G; this is caused by placing the fulcrum
pin above and behind the staple dies as shewn by Figs. 12 and 27.
Adjacent to the staple forming die J is a trough M containing the fibre or
bristles a² which lie at right angles to the wire for forming the staples. Beneath
the trough M is a slide O carrying two or more upwardly projecting inclined
fingers o 0º
(or a single finger may be used). The slide O is moved (at the proper
times as hereinafter described) to and fro along the guides by a lever turning
on a fulerum of and connected to the slide O by the link of. The lever o is moved
by a roller d on the sliding plate d acting upon the inclines o and o. The
fingers are inclined above (see Figs. 14, 15, and 16) and hooked underneath
and they are jointed at one end at o to the slide ( so that their free ends can
either be raised (see Figs. 14 and 28) or brought down upon the slide. When the
slide is moved towards the trough M the fingers o' o are automatically raised
(by the mechanism hereinafter described) and as they pass across and under the
bristles or fibre a in the trough M they project upwardly through corresponding
slots in the bottom of the trough so as to engage with the bristles or libre therein.
When the slide O commences to move back to the staple die J the fingers o' o²
close down (by mechanism hereinafter described) on to the bristles or fibre which
they have collected and by being hooked underneath they bring these away to
form one bunch a and they carry them to underneath the staple and the inserter G

page_text: (see Figs. 11 and 26) where they are held until engaged by the staple and carried
down by the inserting device as hereinafter described. The quantity of bristles or
fibre collected by the fingers oo is regulated by the distance which the
fingers o project among the bristles or fibre in the trough M which distance is
adjusted by the finger lifting and depressing mechanism which is arranged as
follows: Each of the fingers o' o has a downwardly projecting arm marked o³ ³
These arms are jointed to a piece o to which the link o is jointed and which is
free to move to and fro along the slide O, its travel in either direction relatively to
the slide O being limited by the screws o" which pass through slots in the slide O.
It will be seen that before the piece o commences to move the slide ( towards the
receptacle M it lifts the fingers of o² as shown in Fig. 14 and keeps them lifted
during the remainder of their travel; before the piece 10 commences to move
towards the inserter it closes the fingers oo² down on to the slide O and the
bristles or fibre which they have collected.
"
In
The bunch of bristles or fibre is held as above described under the staple
(see Fig. 26) (the latter meanwhile being supported by the staple forming tool L)
and over the larger end of a trumpet shaped or other inclined guide piece Q the
lower smaller end of which enters (or as shewn on the drawing nearly enters)
the hole in the brush back into which the bunches of bristles or fibre a have to
be inserted. The brush back is supported underneath by a clenching tool R
which has a short pointed top adapted to enter the hole in the brush back e
and a collar on which the brush back crests. This clenching tool R has a
shank and is guided at e and can move up or down through a short space.
the machine illustrated the clenching tool R receives its up and down motion from
a projection d' on the slide D which engages in the slot in the lever which latter
turns on a fixed fulcrum ; a pin on the shank takes into a slot in the
lever. This slot is shaped as shewn in Fig. 12 so as to raise the tool R and then
maintain it in its raised position during the clenching of the staple. The inserting
100 G above referred to is or may be somewhat chisel shaped (see Fig. 22) with a
cross slot g' in its lower end in which the staple fits and two cross grooves y² y³
corresponding with projecting ribs 13 on the upper side of the tool L so as to
prevent the bending tool L slipping sideways from under the tool G. The tool G
moves from beyond the staple (see Fig. 11) into and through the trumpet-shaped
guide piece (see Fig. 29) and back again.
To insert the bunch of bristles or fibre a and the staple 6 in a hole in the
brush back and clench over the ends of the staple, the brush back c is placed
under the guide piece Q (see Fig. 26) the lower end of the latter being a short
distance away from the hole c² in the brush back e which the pointed top of the
clenching tool R enters. The inserting tool G is now with the staple moved down
by the mechanism above described (the staple forming tool L meanwhile being
gradually withdrawn) and causes the staple to embrace the bunch of bristles or
fibre a lying underneath which with the staple bare by the tool G pushed down
into the trumpet shaped guide Q the upper inclined mouth of which closes the
ends of the staple towards each other and bends or doubles the ends of the
bristles or fibre together (see. Fig. 28); meanwhile the clenching tool R is rising.
The continued downward motion of the inserting tool G forces the staple & and the
bent or lower part of the bunch of bristles or fibre a (through the lower end q² of
the guide Q (which is divided so as to spring apart and allow of this) into the
hole in the brush back e (see Fig. 29) they being guided by the lower end 2 of the
trumpet shaped guide Q through which they pass, and when the ends of the staple b
come into contact with the inclined clenching tool R (as shewn in Fig. 29) they
are spread apart and bent outwardly (see Figs. 3 and 4) and clenched against the
brush back by the collar on which the brush back rests thus securing the bunches
of bristles or fibre in the hole. The inserting tool G then rises and the brush back
is free to be moved to bring the next hole into position. Immediately the
inserting tool G has forced the bunch of bristles or fibre far enough into the
guide for them to be free of the fingers o' of the latter commence to move back

page_text: towards the receptacle M (see Fig. 28) for another quantity of bristles or fibre
which they collect and then bring into position ready for the next hole when the
inserter has moved up (see Fig. 25).
From the foregoing description it will be observed that the various operations
are performed during a combined up and down stroke of the slide D carrying the
inserting tool G.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. Securing bunches of bristles or fibre in brush backs by means of staples
having clenched over ends substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated
by Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
2. In a brush making machine the means for inserting bunches of bristles or
fibre and staples in brush backs and securing the same by clenching over the
ends of the staples, consisting of the combination of the inserter such as G
adapted to engage with the staple and to which is imparted a reciprocating
movement into the hole in the brush back and out again, the guide such as Q
through which the inserter forces the bunch of bristles or fibre and its securing
staple, and the clenching tool such as R adapted to spread apart and clench
over the ends of the staple substantially as specified.
3. In a machine such as described the combination with the means for
inserting the bunches of bristles or fibre and their securing staples and for
clenching over the said staples, of means substantially as specified for making the
said staples from a continuous length of wire arranged and operating substantially
as hereinbefore set forth.
4. In a machine such as described the combination with the means for inserting
the bunches of bristles or fibre and their securing staples and for clenching over
the said staples, of means for collecting measured quantities of bristles or fibre
from a receptacle and placing them in position under the inserter and staple
arranged and operating substantially as herein before described.
5. In a machine such as described the combination with the means for forming
the staples and for inserting the bunches of bristles or fibre and the said staples
and for clenching over the latter, of means for collecting measured quantities of
bristles or fibre from a receptacle and placing them in position under the inserter
and staple arranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore described.
6. The complete machine constructed and operating substantially as hereinbefore
described, apart from any particular arrangement of mechanism for giving the
necessary reciprocating movement to the slide D.
Dated this 19th day of January 1891.
'CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.