IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND MECHANISM FOR DRIVING CLIPPING OR SHEARING INSTRUMENTS, AND APPA- RATUS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 232, Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND
MECHANISM FOR DRIVING CLIPPING OR SHEARING INSTRUMENTS, AND APPA-
RATUS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
Sealed the 1st November 1878, and dated the 2nd May 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd May 1878.
WILLIAM CLARK, of 232, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND MECHANISM FOR DRIVING CLIPPING OR SHEARING
INSTRUMENTS, AND APPARATUS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
The primary object of this Invention is adapting to portable hand instruments
or articles, such as those used for clipping and shearing, or washing and cleansing
horses, sheep, or other animals, a description of portable driving apparatus which
will give to the working or active parts of such instruments a rapid self-acting
motion, thus enabling the operator to perform the several operations of clipping and
shearing hair or wool, and also cleansing skins with facility.
The portable mechanism I employ for transmitting motion to the various instru-
ments and articles employed for the purposes herein mentioned I class under two
heads, viz., mechanical and pneumatic, and as by my arrangement each force when
created is, by reason of the flexible medium by which the power is transmitted,
equally serviceable to be employed as a driver I will proceed to describe them
separately in connection with and driving that class of instrument employed for
clipping or shearing hair or wool, in which a cutter plate provided with a number
of cutting teeth slides to and fro over the teeth of an under comb or plate.
First. The mechanical driver consists in arranging and supporting a large driving
wheel and guide pullies in a suitable framing in a position which will admit of the
endless cord passing round the said wheel and pullies to transmit a rapidly revolving
motion to one or more horizontal or vertical pullies conveniently placed in bearings
.

page_text: overhead or below, and in a position directly over the head of the person or back
of the animal to be operated on, so as to form an upper or lower gear. To each
horizontal or vertical pulley an universal or flexible coupling is fixed which forms
connection with a tube containing a rod of square section, which protrudes and
slides telescopically in and from the lower end of its supporting tube; this rod is
also provided at its lower end with an universal joint or flexible coupling which
forms connection with a spindle projecting from the handle of the clipping instru-
ment, and which, by preference, is placed in front of the operator's hand. This
spindle terminates in a crank, pin, eccentric, or other equivalent inside the handle,
and is so constructed that it will, when at work, give a rapid vibratory motion to
the lever giving motion to the cutter plate, thus enabling the operator to handle his
instrument and perform the process of cutting, clipping, or shearing with the
greatest ease.
If instead of the cutting or shearing instruments a rotary brush or other service-
able implement suitably arranged were securely coupled to the flexible end of the
square rotatory telescopic rod, the said brush or other implement would be rapidly
caused to rotate, thus enabling each one so coupled to be used in any convenient
position or manner, according to the purpose for which the same might be required.
Secondly. My improvements consist in adapting to clipping or shearing instru-
ments a pneumatic driving apparatus. According to this arrangement I employ a
fly wheel similar to that described in the first or mechanical moter and air pump,
the exhaust or delivery valves of which are connected by means of a flexible tube
with the apparatus contained in the handle of the clipping instrument; this
apparatus consists of a cylindrical tube provided with thoroughfares through which
the atmospheric pressure from the pump is caused to enter and act upon the piston
contained in such cylinder, the entrance of the air being regulated and admitted by
means of valves opened by finger pressure. The rod of the piston is connected by
bell-crank lever or other equivalent with the top cutter plate of the shearing
instrument; thus when air pressure is admitted to the cylinder handle and the
valves alternately opened automatically or by hand the rectilinear traverse of the
piston will communicate a rapid to-and-fro action to the cutter plate.
It will be readily seen that by transmitting power through a flexible medium, as
described, whether by means of flexible couplings, as described in the first or
mechanical arrangement, or by pressure of air through a flexible tube, as in the
pneumatic arrangement, the operator will in every instance be enabled to move the
instrument he is using over an extended surface with the greatest freedom, and at
the same time do his work with ease, facility, and expedition.
Finally. My improvement relates to a novel arrangement and construction of
"stocks" for holding or fixing the sheep or other animal in position whilst being
denuded of its wool. According to this arrangement the stocks, front and back,
clasping the legs of the animal are connected by a bar or stretcher, by which the
animal can be turned about, the fixing of the legs being accomplished by means of
spring latch clasps which are lined with soft material, and readily opened or closed
for retaining or loosing the legs of the animal.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said William Clark in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 18th November 1878.
WILLIAM CLARK, of 232, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND MECHANISM FOR DRIVING CLIPPING OR SHEARING
INSTRUMENTS, AND APPARATUS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
The primary object of this Invention is the construction of a novel arrangement
of portable or fixed apparatus designed for the purpose of driving that description
of cutting instrument in which an upper plate provided with a number of saw-like
cutting teeth is caused to reciprocate or slide over the teeth of an under comb or
plate, the rapid action of such cutter plate; when driven by the improved con-
struction of apparatus herein-after described, will enable the operator using such
instrument to perform the operation of clipping and shearing hair or wool from the
backs of horses, sheep, or other animals, or for cutting human hair with ease,
facility, and dispatch.
Secondly. The Invention relates to a novel arrangement of pneumatic apparatus
designed for driving instruments similar to those before mentioned, and consists in
constructing within the handle of the instrument a small air tube and piston, the
rod of which is connected with the throw pin, giving motion to the cutting plate.
The tube or cylinder in the handle is connected by means of a flexible tube with
the valve of a force pump, which in action transmits a continuous pressure or
current of air through such tube to the said cylinder, and thus through the medium
of shut-off valves gives a rapid reciprocating action to the piston, which is trans-
mitted direct through the throw lever to the cutter plate. The flexible connecting
tube communicating power to the instrument will enable the operator to work
the instrument in any position to suit the work in hand.
Thirdly. The improvements relate to a novel arrangement and construction of
stocks to be employed for holding and fixing the sheep operated on in a position
whilst being denuded of its wool.
Fourthly. The improvements relate to a novel construction and adaptation to
instruments of the class before mentioned (when designed for cutting human hair)
of an under adjusting or regulating plate, the object of which is to enable the
operator using such instrument to regulate or adjust the cut, according to the length
of hair it is desired shall be left on the head after the cutters have done their work;
this said under plate can, if desired, be supplemented with a second under comb
made of bone, ivory, or other suitable material, which, when pressing against the
head and moving over the same whilst the hair is being cut, will act thereon as an
ordinary hair comb, and at the same time move with much greater ease and comfort
over the surface than the pointed metal comb would. The instrument having this
improved comb plate applied can be used as a haud machine or be driven so as to
cut automatically.
In order that the Invention may be well understood and explained in detail I
have hereunto annexed two Sheets of Drawings, on which letters of reference are
marked on corresponding parts on all the Figures alike.

page_text: 1
Figure 2 represents in side elevation the manner in which the flexible cord is
connected with the clipping instrument; this view also shews the application of an
outer tube, which encircles and shields the rotating wire cord; this shield tube,
which does not revolve, prevents the said cord, when at work, getting entangled
with extraneous matter, and also enables the operator, with one hand, to take
the weight and pull, which is necessary when moving over an extended surface,
whilst the other hand is left free to guide the cutting operations of the shearing
instrument.
Figure 3 represents the improved construction of "stocks" to be employed for
fixing and holding the sheep in position while being sheared.
Sheet 2.-Figure 4 represents a novel arrangement of apparatus, adapted to the
interior of a shed, stable, barn, or other building in which horses or sheep can be
clipped or sheared, and is designed for driving four or more flexible cords, each one
of which is connected with a horse clipper or sheep shearing instrument of the
description herein referred to. This interior arrangement of driving is suitable for
hair dressers' establishments, the employment of which in connection with the cutting
instrument, shewn and mentioned at Figure 2, will facilitate and expedite the
cutting of human hair.
Figure 5 represents the novel form of instrument, provided with a bottom plate
or under comb, which is designed more particularly for the purpose of cutting
human hair. This plate can be made of any convenient thickness, say, for example,
when forming the under comb plate, it can be made of sheet steel, so that when
pressed to and moved over the surface of the skin, the cutters will shave the hair
off close, in manner similar to a razor; or the thickness of such plate or under comb
can be regulated, so that when the reciprocating cutters are pressing over the head
of a person, the length of hair left thereon will be equal to the thickness of the
under plate; or such plate or under comb can have attached thereto, if desired, a
bottom comb, made of ivory or other suitable material, which would be more
natural to the head than the metal comb; this second under comb is shewn at
Figure 6; this Figure also shews the same instrument, provided with a means by
which it can be driven by power as at Figure 2.
Figure 7 represents the under comb plate detached from the instrument.
In Figures 1 and 2, a, a, is a framing supporting the fly wheel b and guide
pulleys 6 and 62. The driving cord c, after passing round the groove in the fly
wheel b, directs its course, first over the guide pulley b' to the horizontal pulley ď,
then over the guide pulley 63 onwards in an endless course to the driver b. A
second cords c¹, encircling a second groove in the driver b, descends and passes round
the two lower vertical pullies e¹, el.
The spindle of the horizontal pulley d is provided with a second pulley d', which,
through the cord c³, drives the second horizontal pulley f. To each of these pulleys
el, e¹, and d, f, a telescopic slide, terminating in a flexible cord may be coupled, or
the telescopic slide may be dispensed with, and a flexible cord only employed as
the connecting medium between the driving pulley and the instrument.
The arrangement at A, Figure 1, shews the telescopic slide and flexible wire cord
combined, as the medium for communicating motion from the driving pulley to the
cutter plate of the instrument and the arrangement at B, Figure 1, shews the flexible
wire cord as the only medium for communicating motion from the pulley to the
instrument; by preference this wire cord is made in lengths or sections, in order
that the total length required can be regulated to suit the job in hand, the flexible
nature of the driving cord enables the power from the wheel b to be communicated
in any direction within its scope.
The ends of the flexible cords are each provided with a screw and socket, which
not only allows them to be readily connected with each other, but admits of the
complete cord being coupled direct with the spindle p of the shearing or other
instrument; as seen at B, Fig. 1, between which and the instrument the connection
is formed.

page_text: 2. The spindle p of the instrument, as seen at Fig. 2, is placed in front of the
operator's hands, terminates in a crank pin, desk, or eccentric v, and is so constructed
that it will, when at work, give a rapid vibratory motion to the lever, giving motion
to the cutter plate.
The connection of the instrument thus made with the flexible driving medium
will enable the operator to perform the process of cutting, clipping, or shearing over
an extended surface with ease.
It will be seen on reference to Fig. 4 that the system of driving, here shown, is
to support the horizontal driving pullies separately, by means of brackets or
hangers a secured to the beams or ceiling of the buildings in which the apparatus is
used, their positions being at equal distances apart, and so arranged that one or the
whole set may be driven separately or together. The motion given to these hori-
zontal pullies is transmitted thereto from the driving wheel b, first through the
cords o¹ to a central set of pullies A', which again transmit motion through the other
cords C, C³, C³, and C4, to pullies on either side thereof. To the axis of these pullies
are coupled the flexible rotating cords i, which drive the cutters of the instruments
as at A¹, or the telescopic slide and rotating flexible cord are coupled thereto
as at B¹ The rotating cord can be shielded throughout its entire length by a
surrounding tube, as seen at Figure 2; or a small length of tube may be so arranged
that when taken hold of, it will slide on the cord into any position convenient
for the hand of the operator to take hold of. This sliding shield tube is seen at n³,
Figure 4.
It will now be readily seen that by transmitting power through a compensating
flexible medium, as according to the arrangement herein described, the operator will
in every instance be enabled to move the instrument he is using over an extended
surface whilst working with the greatest ease and freedom.
Secondly. The arrangement and construction of "stocks," shewn at Figure 3, con-
sists in connecting by means of the longitudinal bar O', the transverse end bars
0%, O; these bars 08, 0%, are provided with jointed clasps o³, o³, os, o³, through
which and the bars, holes lined with soft material are formed for the reception of
the legs of the sheep to be sheared; these holes are so distanced as to firmly hold.
and keep distended the legs of the animal while being sheared. The clasps at the
end of the stocks c are shewn open as they would appear at the time the legs of
the animal are being placed therein. D, the clasps are closed when in this
position, the clasps have snapped too when closing over the spring catches o*, 0, 0, 0%,
thus keeping the legs of the animal firmly retained, the longitudinal bar O' enables
the operator to turn the sheep about whilst he is shearing it, as seen at B¹, at
Fig. 4.
I claim,-
First. The novel arrangement, construction, and combination of the compensating
telescopic driver and rotating flexible cords, as shewn at A, Fig. 1 of the Drawings
in combination, or as at B, when the cord alone is used as a medium for driving
portable shearing or other instruments of the kind mentioned in the manner and for
the purposes herein substantially described.
Secondly. The novel arrangement and construction of interior driving, as seen on
Sheet 2 of the Drawings, whether such driving is designed for the interior of barns,
sheds, or other outbuildings, in which animals can be clipped or sheared, or for the
interior of hair dressers' establishments when used in connection with that class of
instrument mentioned and referred to herein.
Thirdly. The novel adaptation to such instrument when designed for use in hair
dressers' establishments of an under plate to be employed as a medium for adjusting
or regulating the length of hair cut, and which can be further supplemented with
a second bottom plate or comb made of ivory, bone, or other substance, as Seen at
Fig. 6, and arranged so as to be used by hand, or driven by power.
Fourthly. The arrangement and construction of "stocks," as shewn at Fig. 3 of

page_text: the Drawings, or any slight modification thereof to be employed for holding sheep
steady and in position whilst being sheared or washed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this the Sixth day of November, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-eight.
WILLIAM CLARK. (L.S.)