IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMBS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Barnett Samuel, of Sheffield; in the County of York,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMBS."
Sealed the 18th July 1856, and dated the 12th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Barnett Samuel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th May 1856.
I, BARNETT SAMUEL, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMBS, to be as follows:-
I construct a, die of steel or other. suitable substance having the form of the.
comb sunk in it, and I provide a flat plate for covering the die. I heat. the
die and plate, and I place upon the die a piece of horn, which may be roughly
shaped to the external form of the required comb. I place the flat plate
upon the horn, and I then forcibly press or squeeze the whole by means of a
vice or press, or other suitable means. The horn acquires a certain degree of
plasticity by the action of the heat, and is thus forced into the die. When
the horn is removed from the die it is somewhat thicker than the required
comb, and presents the appearance of the comb embossed upon or attached to;
a thin back of horn. I then remove this back by grinding, rasping, planing,
filing, or otherwise. Thus, supposing the comb. to be a lady's back comb
with perforated ornament in the upper part, the perforations immediately
appear when the back is ground away or otherwise removed. The teeth of

page_text: the comb are also separated by the same process, or they may be previously
separated by the ordinary process of parting a piece of horn into two combs
before placing the horn in the die. In lieu of grinding off the back, the piece
of horn after being pressed may be placed in another die. A counterpart die
is then brought down upon the horn, so as to force it into the die, and thus
shear or cut out the thin plate of horn from each of the spaces or perforations.
In this way the comb is left of the full thickness of the horn. The counter-
part may be made to round the edges at the same time. The comb may
afterwards be squeezed between a pair of dies to perfect its form if required.
I manufacture combs of tortoiseshell in a similar manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Barnett Samuel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th Novembe 1856..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BARNETT
SAMUEL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Barnett Samuel, Her special licence that I, the said Barnett Samuel, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Barnett
Samuel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF COMBS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Barnett Samuel, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Barnett Samuel, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:

page_text: I construct a die of steel or other suitable substance having the form of the
comb sunk in it, and I provide a flat plate for covering the die. I heat the
die and plate, and I place upon the die a piece of horn, which may be roughly.
shaped to the external form of the required comb. I place the flat plate
upon the horn, and I then forcibly press or squeeze the whole by means of
a vice or press, or other suitable means. The horn acquires a certain degree
of plasticity by the action of the heat, and is thus forced into the die. When
the horn is removed from the die it is somewhat thicker than the required
comb, and presents the appearance of the comb embossed upon or attached to
a thin back of horn. I then remove this back by grinding, rasping, planing,
filing, or otherwise. Thus, supposing the comb to be a lady's back comb
with perforated ornament in the upper part, the perforations immediately
appear when the back is ground away or otherwise removed. The teeth of
the comb are also separated by the same process, or they may be previously
separated by the ordinary process of parting a piece of horn into two combs,
or by flying them out by dies and a fly press before placing the horn in the
die. In lieu of grinding off the back, the piece of horn after being pressed
may be placed in another die. A counterpart die is then brought down upon
the horn, so as to force it into the die, and thus shear or cut out the thin
plate of horn from each of the spaces or perforations. In this way the comb
is left of the full thickness of the horn. The counterpart may be made to
round the edges at the same time. The comb may afterwards be squeezed
between a pair of heated dies to perfect its form if required. When this last-
described mode of removing the thin plate or film of horn from the perfo-
rations and openings is employed, the metal plate which is used for pressing
the piece of horn into the first die may be made with recesses, or may be
itself a die corresponding to the form of the back of the comb. The thin
plate or film of horn which remains at the junction of the dies is not then at
the back of the comb, but at an intermediate position between the back and
front; it is removed, or punched or cut out by a die or dies, as before. I
manufacture combs of tortoiseshell in a similar manner.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
generally the use of dies in the manufacture of combs; but what I claim is,―
First, the manufacture of combs of horn or tortoiseshell, by pressing a sheet
or piece of the material into a heated die, which gives it the required form
and shape, and then grinding, rasping, filing, planing, or otherwise cutting
away the surface until the apertures or perforations in the open work of the
comb appear, as herein-before described.

page_text: Second, the, manufacture of combs. of horn or tortoiseshell, by pressing
a sheet or piece of the material into a heated die or dies, and then punching
or cutting out by means of a. die or dies the thin plate or film which remains
in the apertures of the open work of the comb, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Barnett Samuel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
ABRAHAM LEON,
No. 190, Solly St.
BARNETT SAMUEL. (L.S.)