IMPROVEMENTS IN SCISSORS OR APPARATUS ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR GATHERING FLOWERS AND FRUIT
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Blyde, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCISSORS OR APPARATUS ESPECIALLY
SUITABLE FOR GATHERING FLOWERS AND FRUIT."
Sealed the 10th December 1869, and dated the 16th August 1869...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Blyde at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th August 1869.
I, JAMES BLYDE, of Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCISSORS
OR APPARATUS ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR GATHERING FLOWERS AND FRUIT," to be
as follows:-
Scissors for cutting or gathering flowers as heretofore constructed
usually have one recessed, and one plain edge, being thus formed with
the object that the flower may be retained by the scissors till released
by the gatherer, but this has never been accomplished with any degree
of certainty.

page_text: Now the object of my Invention is to overcome this defect, and my
improvements are as follows:-I attach or affix a spring at one end
to a loose bar or blade forming a holder as hereafter described, and
situate at the side and riding on one of the blades, and at the other to
its corresponding arm. The holder as I have just stated lies at the side
of the blade, and is provided with a flat or broad surface at its base
extending somewhat beyond the edge of the other blade, the holder
being kept in position and guided by a pin or stud fixed to or inserted
in its blade and passing through a slot formed in the holder. To use
the apparatus the scissors are opened in the usual way to take hold of
the flower or stem of fruit to be cut; on closing the blades the spring
presses the holder down on the stalk or stem and holds the same between
its base or broad surface and the other blade; now by bringing the
cutting edges still closer together the stalk or stem is cut while at the
same time it is held by the holder until purposely released.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Blyde in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BLYDE, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Blyde, Her special licence that
I, the said James Blyde, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Blyde, 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 SCISSORS OR AP-
PARATUS ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR GATHERING FLOWERS AND FRUIT," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Blyde, my ex-
ecutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or

page_text: 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
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Blyde, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters of reference marked thereon; that is to say:-
Scissors for cutting or gathering flowers as heretofore constructed
usually have one recessed and one plain edge, being thus formed with
the object that the flower may be retained by the scissors till released
by the gatherer, but this has never been accomplished with any degree
of certainty.
Now the object of my Invention is to overcome this defect, and my
improvements are as follows:-I attach or affix a spring at one end
to a loose bar or blade forming a holder as hereafter described, and
situate at the side and riding on one of the blades, and at the other to
The holder as I have just stated lies at the side
of the blade, and is provided with a flat or broad surface at its base
extending somewhat beyond the edge of the
being kept in position and guided by a pin or
its corresponding arm.
other blade, the holder
stud fixed to or inserted
in its blade and passing through a slot formed in the holder.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view of a scissors or
apparatus for gathering flowers and fruit, showing the same open ready
to seize a stalk or stem constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a similar view shewing it closed; Figure 3 is a detached
view of the holder and spring; Figure 4 is a section taken through the
cutting blade and the holder, and Figure 5 is a vertical section of the
holder.
a is the spring secured to the arm 6 of the scissors by a screw or
rivet; c is the holder on which the other end of the spring a is free
to press and act whereby the base of the holder c has always a tendency
to be pressed downwards on to the flat or plain surface of the blade e,
and which, or a portion of which, viz., the inner end thereof, it touches
before the cutting edge comes in contact with the edge of the said
blade e; the holder c is made with a flange at top and bottom, but one

page_text: flange is in a contrary direction to that of the other, and as best seen
in the section Figure 5, the top or upper flange being provided for
the blade of the scissors to act against, while the lower flange
acts as before stated against the flat or plain surface of the blade e,
and beyond which it projects to a slight extent; g is a slot in the
holder in which a pin or stud h on the blade f is free to move first
to allow the edge of the blade fto pass over the edge of the blade e
to cut a stem or stalk, and second to allow the upper surface of the
blade to press against the under side of the upper flange on the
holder c, and so to cause the said holder to be carried back with the
blade fas the scissors are opened. To use the apparatus the scissors
are opened in the usual way to take hold of the flower or stem of fruit
to be cut, on closing the blades the spring a presses the holder c down
on the stalk or stem and holds the same between its base or broad
surface and the other blade; now by bringing the cutting edges still
closer together the stalk or stem is cut while at the same time it is held
by the holder c until purposely released.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
construction of scissors or apparatus especially suitable for gathering
flowers and fruit, consisting essentially of a holder or plate acted on
by a spring in combination with a scissors of ordinary construction,
having one recessed and one plain edge, substantially in manner herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Blyde, have hereunto set
.
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JAMES BLYDE. (L.S.)