IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEEP SHEARS
Year: 1884

page_text: I THOMAS BIRKHEAD of Sheffield in the County of York Manager do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEEP SHEARS"
to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in sheep shears has for its object, to prevent
what is technically known as "gapping" and "bridging" and to partly relieve the
hand of the shearer from the strain of the muscles, and thereby enable more work
to be done with less fatigue, and it consists in the adaptation to shears, of an
adjustable guard or support, attached preferably to the shanks of the shear, and
through which the hand is passed; it thus acts as a support, and relieves the
muscles of the hand, such relief being of material service to the shearer. I make
the guard by preference of leather, and broadly speaking it is in the shape of a
strap composed of one or more parts, one end being attached to the shank of,
bottom blade near the stop of the shear, and the other end being attached to the
shank of the top blade near the bow. A buckle on one part, and a series of holes
in the other part of the guard, enables the shearer to adjust the loop to the size of
his hand.
the
A portion of the guard may be arranged to cover the shank, and to form a
cushion between the thumb and forefinger or a part may be carried forward upon
the back of the blade where many shearers rest the ball of the thumb.
:

page_text: I, THOMAS BIRKHEAD of Sheffield in the County of York Manager, do hereby
declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEEP SHEARS and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement that is to say :-
My Invention of improvements in sheep shears has for its object to prevent
what is known technically, as "gapping and bridging" and also to relieve to some ⚫
extent the strain upon the muscles of the shearers hand and thereby enable him to
accomplish more work with less fatigue than usual.
It consists in the application to shears of a adjustable guard or support, attached
to both shanks of the shear, through or under which the hand of the shearer is
passed. It thus acts as a support to the shear, and releives the muscles of the
hand to such an extent as to be of material service to the shearer.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood I shall refer to the Sheet
of Drawings annexed to this Specification and to the letters and Figures marked
thereon. The same letters indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1, represents my improved adjustable guard A attached to a pair of shears,
combined with an elongated part B, C is a buckle, and D, D¹ are the shanks
of the shears.
Fig. 2, represents.a similar guard, but with a short cover E..
Fig. 3, represents a modification, having a cushion for the ball of the thumb at F.
Fig. 4, represents a guard to prevent gapping only marked G.
I make the guard by preference of leather as being most suitable for the purpose,
and I. connect one end to the shank of one blade near the "stop" of the shear, and
the other end is attached near the bow upon the other shank.
The guard is preferably in two parts, a strap A with adjusting holes, and a
buckle G; this arrangement enables the shearer to adjust the loop of the guard to
fit his hand.
"
A simple form of guard to prevent grapping or bridging is shown in Fig. 4.
When shears have being sprung open so as to allow of the blades being sharpened
or ground, they will not always return to the original position, but gap at the
blades so that when pressed together, they pass on the wrong side; in shears
provided with the guard as shown in Fig. 4 after grinding or sharpening it is
simply necessary to adjust. the buckle to the strap so that the blades cannot open
sufficiently wide to gap.
-
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 application to sheep shears of an adjustable guard of any suitable material,
for the purpose, and substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated.
Dated the 24th day of June 1884.