Improvements in Brushes or Mats for the Cleaning of Boot and Shoe Soles or Bottoms.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 14th May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 12th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 18th Apr., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brushes or Mats for the Cleaning of Boot and
Shoe Soles or Bottoms.
EDWARD BIRCH, 101, Miller Street, Manchester, Lancashire, Machinist, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention aims at adapting & substituting bristles & like fibrous material for
& instead of mats & scrapers now in common use. The object of my invention is
to prevent the bristles or equivalent from being crushed or broken by the weight
standing upon the same. To attain this end I mix and fasten pegs of wood, metal,
rubber or any other suitably stiffish material amongst the bristles. Or, in place of
pegs I may use strips of material, such strips to be either plain or irregular along
the surface or upper edge.
Or, this relief may be in the form of a grate or sieve and may be made so as to
be adjustable higher or lower as the bristles wear. The aforementioned brush-mat
is a fixed stationary one, but I may arrange the bristles or brush or brushes to
traverse either continuously or oscillatory within and a little above a pair of grates,
the interstices or grooves of which will be rectilineal to the lengthline of the foot.
To produce the aforesaid motion I arrange the two grates in the form of a balance
which in rising & falling will by means of levers or other media provide the
necessary traverse. Or the power may be derived by hand and communicated to the
brush or series of brushes, in which case a single grate would suffice, thus dispensing
with balance arrangement or levers.
What I particularly claim is my idea of protecting the bristles or equivalent
composing the cleaner from being crushed as above described.
There are many other ways in which the relief might be provided, and do not
tie myself strictly to the above details, as for instance: holes-bellmouthed or
otherwise might be made in a surface and these holes made sufficiently large to
allow the bristles freedom to bend and thus form the relief, the principle of which
I claim.
In each case the bristles or equivalent composing the mat will, of course, project
above the grate or other form of reliever.
Dated this Thintaanth day of Mov 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brushes or Mats for the Cleaning of Boot and
Shoe Soles or Bottoms.
I, EDWARD BIRCH, of 101, Miller Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, 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 relates to means for facilitating the adaptation and substitution of
bristles, weed and other fibrous or flexible materials for and instead of the mats and
scrapers now in common use.
.
The object of my invention is to prevent the bristles or other equivalent fibrous
or flexible material from becoming crushed or broken by the weight of the person
standing upon the same.
To attain this end I mix with or fasten amongst or between the tufts or rows of
bristles fibres or other flexible material which form the brushing or cleansing

page_text: surface, shorter pegs of wood, metal or other suitable material, of a harder or stiffer
nature than the bristles or other flexible material, so that when a person stands
upon the surface of the brush or mat the bristles or other material can only be bent
down to a certain extent before the pressure is relieved by the weight coming onto
and being supported by the shorter pegs of stiffer material above named.
Or in place of the pegs I may use strips of the stiffer material such strips being
either plain or indented along their upper edge or surface.
But
Or this relieving surface may be made in the form of a grating, and if desired, so
arranged as to be adjustable either higher or lower to suit the height and wear of
the bristles or other flexible material. It may also be made movable if desired but
I prefer to make it a fixture and permanently attached to the brush or mat.
in any case the distinctive feature of my invention is that the bristles or other
equivalent forming the brush or mat shall project beyond the relieving surface
which will thus protect or prevent the bristles or equivalent from being crushed or
broken by the feet as above described.
There are other ways in which this relief might be provided, and I do not wish
to confine myself strictly to the above details, as for instance, holes bell-mouthed or
otherwise might be made in a protecting surface sufficiently large to allow the
bristles or equivalent flexible material to bend over to a certain extent without
being crushed or broken and thus give the required relief.
The annexed drawing illustrates a convenient and suitable manner of putting my
invention into practice Fig. 1 being a plan view, Fig. 2 a transverse section and
Fig. 3 a longitudinal section of a brush or mat constructed according to my
improvements.
The foundation a of the mat is made of sheet iron which is punched through at
intervals somewhat in the form of a letter H so as to leave two tongues
projecting.
I then take a number of wires 6 bent into a corresponding zigzag form the loops
of the zigzag being at such a distance apart as will correspond with the distances
between the tongues formed as above named, and I fix these wires in place by
bending the tongues over the lower loops leaving the upper loops standing up so as
to form the pegs or relieving surfaces above referred to."
I then take a series of narrow brushes c formed by preference of tufts of bristles,
weed fibre or other suitable flexible substance fixed in a wooden back and I place
them in between the rows of pegs or loops formed by the wires band fasten the
same in place by means of two canes or wires d which are attached to the outer
framing e, and I then run melted pitch or other suitable substance or composition
into the base so as to complete the same and make the whole watertight.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The improvements in brushes or mats for the cleaning of boot and shoe soles or
bottoms consisting of the combination with the tufts or rows of bristles weed or
other flexible material of shorter pegs, strips or other sustaining or relieving
surfaces of wood or other stiff or unyielding material substantially in the manner
and for the purpose herein before set forth.
Dated this 11th day of February 1891.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.