Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1887
Complete Left, 21st Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 24th Feb., 1888
I, WILLIAM IRMER, of 59, Farleigh Road, Stoke Newington, in the County of
Middlesex, Human Hair Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in brushes, brooms and the like the object
of the invention being to provide means whereby the length of the free or working
portion of the bristles can be reduced or increased so that the brushes, brooms, and
the like can be altered as required so as to serve as hard or soft or partly hard and
partly soft brushes, brooms and the like.
In carrying out my invention I employ a perforated plate through the holes of
which the bristles are passed the said plate being situated near to and parallel with
the surface of the stock or back; the holes correspond with the holes in the stock and
the plate is held in position only by friction with the bristles but in such a manner
that the plate can be slid forwards and backwards on the bristles for the above stated
purpose.
In manufacturing a brush the plate is placed on the stock or vice versa after which
the bristles are drawn through the holes in the plate and stock simultaneously, that is
to say, they are passed through the holes in the plate and cemented in the holes of the
stock.
By this construction if the plate be moved towards or from the stock the length of
that portion of the bristles which projects from the plate will be correspondingly
increased or reduced and the brush will be consequently rendered hard or soft as the
case may be. Or the plate can be inclined, and by this means the brush will be
rendered soft at one end and hard at the other.
In some cases it is advantageous to provide the plate with an arrangement so
as to secure a fixed position of the plate or to limit its outward movement from the
stock.
The plate is for this purpose connected at its middle part to a bow-spring the ends
of which bear against the bristle-side of the stock, the spring always tending to force
the plate away from the stock; screws are fixed on the two ends of the plate and
pass through the stock and are provided with screw nuts, by turning which the plate
can be brought nearer to or farther away from the stock.

page_text: Or the screws can be provided with heads and be arranged to work in a female
screw thread in the plate or in the stock with their heads above the latter; in this
case the spring is not required.
The herein before described screws can be replaced by two hooks hinged to the stock
so as to turn thereon and engage with the plate. The said hooks can be arranged in
the form of a rack so that the plate can be fixed at various distances from the stock.
To secure the hooks in position a spring can be placed in their hinges; or as in the
arrangement hereinbefore described a spring acting on the plate can be employed.
A simple adjusting arrangement can be provided consisting essentially of four wires or
cords which are fixed in the stock and drawn through the corresponding holes in the
plate and formed with a knot at their free ends.
If the brush is to be provided with a handle this latter can be fixed to or formed
with either the stock or the plate.
Dated the 15th day of Dotshon 1907
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, WILLIAM IRMER, of 59, Farleigh Road, Stoke Newington, in the County of
Middlesex, Human Hair Merchant, 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 improvements in brushes, brooms and the like, the object
of the invention being to provide means whereby the length of the free or working
portion of the bristles can be reduced or increased so that the brushes, brooms, and
the like can be altered as required to serve as hard or soft or partly hard and partly
soft brushes, brooms and the like.
In carrying out my invention I employ a perforated plate through the holes of
which the bristles are passed, the said plate being situated near to and parallel with
the surface of the stock or back; the holes correspond with the holes in the stock and
the plate is held in position only by friction with the bristles but in such a manner
that the plate can be slid forwards and backwards on the bristles for the above stated
purpose.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can
be carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawing, in the several
figures of which similar letters indicate similar or corresponding parts.
I will first describe my invention by reference to figures 1 and which are a side
elevation and an end elevation respectively of one arrangement of brush which can be
altered to serve as a hard or a soft or a partly hard and partly soft brush according to
my invention.
,
a is the perforated plate through the holes a¹ of which the bristles b¹ of the brush B
are passed so that the plate a can be slid backwards and forwards on the bristles 61,
the said plate being situated near to and parallel with the surface of the stock or
back 6 the holes for this purpose corresponding with the holes in the stock b.
In manufacturing a brush of this description the plate a is placed on the stock 6 or
vice versa, after which the bristles are drawn through the holes a¹ in the plate a and
through the holes in the stock b simultaneously, that is to say, they are passed through
the holes a¹ in the plate a and cemented in the holes of the stock b.
By this construction if the plate a be moved towards or from the stock b the length
of that portion of the bristles 61 which projects from the plate a will be correspondingly
increased or reduced and the brush will be consequently rendered hard or soft, as the
case may be. Or the plate can be inclined relatively to the back b as shown in dotted
lines in figure 1 and more clearly in full lines at figures 8 to 11 which are perspective
views of my improved brushes showing various inclined positions of the plate a.
plate a can thus be placed nearer to the ends of the bristles at one end or at one side
of the brush than at the other, and by this means the brush will be rendered soft at
one end or at one side and hard at the other end or side as the case may be.
The
In some cases it is advantageous to provide the plate a with an arrangement so
as to secure a fixed position of the plate or to limit its outward movement from the
stock.
Figures 3 and 4 are a sectional underside plan and a longitudinal elevation
respectively of the brush illustrating this arrangement of the plate a the bristles of the
brush being omitted for the sake of clearness.
The plate a is for this purpose connected at its middle part to a bow spring c the

page_text: ends c¹ of which bear against the bristle-side of the stock 6 the spring c always tending
to force the plate a away from the stock b; screws d, d, are fixed on the two ends of
the plate a and pass through the stock band are provided with screw nuts, d¹, d¹ by
turning which the plate a can be brought nearer to or farther away from the stock b.
By this means a similar effect can be produced to that herein before referred to with
reference to Figures 1 and 2.
Or the screws d can be provided with heads and be arranged to work in a female
screw thread in the plate a or in the stock b with their heads above the latter; in this
case the spring c is not required.
Figure 5 is an elevation illustrating a similar arrangement to that described with
reference to Figures 3 and 4 except that the hereinbefore described screws d are
replaced by two hooks hinged to the stock so as to turn thereon and engage with the
plate a. The said hooks can be arranged in the form of a rack as shewn so that the
plate a can be fixed at various distances from the stock b. To secure the hooks in
position a spring can be placed in their hinges; or as shewn in the said Figure 5
a spring c acting on the plate a can be employed similarly to the spring shewn in
Figure 4.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a simple arrangement for adjusting the length of the free
or working portions of the bristles of the brush, Figure 6 being a sectional plan of
the underside of the stock and Figure 7 a longitudinal elevation of the brush without
the bristles.
This arrangement consists essentially of four wires or cords f fixed in the stock b
and drawn through corresponding holes in the plate a and formed with a knot at their
free ends.
The dotted lines in figure 7 show how either end or both the ends of the plate a
can be moved towards or away from the stock b for the purpose herein before
referred to.
Instead of the plate a being moved away from or towards the stock 6 as herein-
before described it will be obvious that this action may be reversed that is to say the
stock b can be moved away from or towards the plate a.
If the brush is to be provided with a handle this latter can be fixed to or formed
with either the stock b or the plate a.
The hereinbefore described improvements are not only applicable to hair brushes
but also to brooms and other brushes having bristles.
It will be obvious that any kind of bristles whether natural or artificial can be
employed for brushes, brooms and the like, provided with my improvements.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A brush, broom or the like having a perforated plate placed parallel with the
stock and through the holes in which the bristles are passed, the plate being held on
the bristles by friction or other means so that the said plate and stock can be moved
away from or towards each other in a parallel or inclined direction for the purpose of
altering the length of the free or working ends of the bristles as required and thereby
obtain hard or soft or partly hard and partly soft brushes, brooms or the like as
required.
2. The improved brushes hereinbefore described with reference to the various
figures of the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 21st day of January 188e