IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES & THE METHODS OF MANUFACTURING SAME
Year: 1886

page_text: HYPPOLITE BESSON, Mechanical Engineer GEORGE HAROLD KENT, Brush
Manufacturer of 46 Bonner Road Bethnal Green in the County of Middlesex
do hereby declare the nature of our invention. for IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES
& THE METHODS OF MANUFACTURING SAME, to be as follows:-
•
.
The objects of our inventions are to make brushes with back and body in wood
in which we pass or insert a single bristle in each hole of the pattern of holes and
in the means and appliances connected therewith.
0
Our Invention consists firstly of stabbing or pricking small holes in the wood
back or body of the brush without splitting the wood, secondly filling the single
bristle in each hole of the wood body and thirdly securing the bristle.
According to the first part of our Invention the board or body of the brush is
polished, and then fixed on a rotary slide, before a revolving pricker or stabber,
which receives a to & fro movement by levers, & thrusts stabs or pricks the pattern
of holes made round the rotary slide, through the thickness of the body or back of
the brush.
The tool or pricker we conside to be the most suitable for the stabbing is a
common sewing needle, round which we make small faces like rimer or awl along
the length which enters in the wood.
To prevent breakage of the needle, and to keep the needle true to the axis of its
thrust, and avoid splitting the wood we found it necessary to make the tool or
needle revolve.
In carrying the second part of our Invention, we pass or insert the single bristle
through the holes, one by one the thinnest end first, the stabbed board is fixed in a
clamp, polished face downward, the said clamp has an adjustable gauge or guide
board, fitted, so as to gauge and at the same time support the bristle passed through
the holes.
.
The bristles are entered by the back of the body which is not polished and which
has the largest opening left by the taper of the tool or needle, we enter each bristle
singly in the hole and push the bristle through the hole until it touches the gauge
or guide board and the same operation is repeated until each hole of the pattern is
filled with a single bristle.

page_text: In carrying the third part of our Invention to secure the bristle firmly in the
wood body, of the brush, when the holes have been filled, we pour water on the
unpolished body the side used to enter the bristle. The water may be cold or hot
to suit convenience but we prefer to use tepid water, the wood will then swell and
shut the holes expanded by the tool or needle, and by this means the holes will
close round the single bristle and hold them tight, or before pouring water, we may
run liquid cement at the back of the holes, and dipp the front side of the brush in
the water and the wood will swell, and the holes will close over cement and bristle.
At this stage we take a flat iron always kept hot and ready for use, and rub gently
the projecting bristle left at the back, this operation will swell and singe the end of
the bristle and forin small flat heads similar to pins heads, and to make bristle
secure one or more coats of shellac or any similar cement well known in brush
trade is applied to the back.
'
Then we draw one, or more rows of tuft of soft bristle or fibre around the single
bristles in the usual way, or we may draw these rows of tufts before we fix the
single bristle.
4
The body so far finished has a back glued over the head of bristle as usually
done in ordinary wood stock, or the body may be fitted in a recessed back
and handle.
In addition to ordinary hair brush herein before described, our invention can be
applied to all kinds of brushes in which the foundation is wood when single bristle
can be employed with advantage.
We are aware that single bristle has been inserted in elastic material such as
india rubber, leather, and similar material but we are not aware that single bristle
bas ever been fixed practically in the wood body of brushes.
1
HYPPOLITE BESSON.
GEORGE HAROLD KENT.

page_text: Improvements in Brushes and the Methods for Manufacturing
זי'
same.
"
I, HYPPOLITE BESSON, Mechanical Engineer and I, GEORGE HAROLD KENT
Brush Manufacturer both of N° 46, Bonner Road, in the County of Middlesex,
(Bethnal Green parish) do hereby declare the nature of our invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES AND THE METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING SAME and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
1111
$11
The objects of our Invention are to fill or insert a single bristle in the bodies of
wood brushes and the means and appliances in connection therewith.
Our Invention consists, Firstly, of stabbing or piercing small holes in the wood
backs or bodies of brushes without splitting the wood; secondly, of inserting in the
same a single bristle in each hole so stabbed, and thirdly of securing the single
bristle in the wood.
According to the first part of our Invention the board or body of the brush,
which may be polished or not, is fixed on a slide (for which we received letters
patent in 1878, the 25th of June N° 2542) before a rotating pricker, piercer. or
stabber, which receiving a to and fro movement, thrusts, pricks, stabs, or pierces
through the thickness of the wood body ȧ pattern of holes, of which a corresponding
pattern is made round a chuck plate. The distance from each hole is controlled by
a stopper or a pin and the moving from one hole to another is done by hand.
For flat brushes, having the wood body of the brush flat, we prick or pierce from
the back to the front of the board so as to have a larger opening for the bristle
to enter.
In spread brushes, having the front shaped like a dome, the board is shaped to
that form first, and 'the back recessed, leaving a partition of wood of equal thick-
ness between the front and recess through which the stabber enters; we stab or
pierce either from the back or the front, when the spread or inclination of the
bristle is under 20 degrees of the perpendicular, the piercing is done from the back,
but when the spread or inclination is over that degree we prefer to stab from
the front.
The tool or stabber, which we consider to be the most suitable for piercing
through the body without splitting the wood, is a common sewing needle or tool
similar in shape, round which we make one or more small flat faces like those on a
rimer, along the length which enters into the wood and to prevent its breakage and
to keep the said needle when entering the body, true at each thrust with its axis,
and to avoid splitting the wood, we fix the needle on a quick rotating mandril
ordinarily used in brush trade.
In carrying out the second part of our Invention in flat brushes or brushes
having the bristles all the same length, the bristle is passed one by one through the
holes, by hand. The stabbed board is fixed in a clamp, polished face downwards;
this said clamp has a gauge board which can be fitted to the body of the brush so
as to gauge and support the bristles passed through the holes, then the bristle is
.
";
F
"
::

page_text: "1
entered and pushed through the holes until it touches the gauge or guide board and
the same operation is repeated until each hole in the pattern is filled with a singlo
bristle.
In spread brushes or brushes having the bristle set from upright in the centre
row to a given.angle at the outside row, and also in penetrating brushes which
have the bristle set from the front of unequal lengths, before inserting the bristle
we singe the thicker end or root of the bristle by taking a small bundle between
the finger and thumb, and present the said bundle to the flame of a candle or lamp,
jet of gas, or by rubbing it on a hot iron, any of these operations will swell the
roots of the bristle and produce a small head nearly similar to a pin's head, the
bristle is entered as before described until the said pin's head touches the back of
the body; in this sort of brush the guide board is not used.
In carrying out the third part of our Invention to secure the bristle in the back
or body of the brush, when all the single bristles have been inserted, we either dip
the brush so done in water, or we pour at the back on the side used to enter the
bristles very thin glue or thin shellac dissolved in methylated spirit, the wood will
then swell and fill or shut with the glue or shellac the holes stabbed, and by these
means, the fibre of the wood will close round each and all single bristle and hold
them tight.
At this stage in flat brushes, we take a flat iron always kept hot and ready for
use and rub gently the short ends of the bristles projecting beyond the back of the
board, or we use a small jet of gas over the said ends of the bristles, by either of
these two operations, the bristle will be singed and small heads will be formed
very similar to those of a pin, and to make the bristle more secure in the back or
body of the brush, one or more coats of thin glue, shellac or any similar cement is
applied to the back where the heads are formed.
In thick bodies, or bodies over thick, a recess is made on the side where the
bristle is inserted, this recess is made to thin the wood to the thickness of
practical thickness through which the needle can pierce safely, the bristle is
secured and the recesses filled with cement either rosin, or shellac as before
described.
In brushes where the front is dome-shaped the back is recessed in a similar
and parallel shape to the front dome giving a partition of wood over the recess of
equal thickness as described before, the end of the bristle inserted being first
singed, as explained before, will project over the dome or front of the body in a
parallel and similar line, and form also a dome, the recess so made, is filled with
cement as described before.
In order that our Invention may be clearly understood, reference is hereby made
to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of references indicate
similar or corresponding parts in the several figures.
Fig. 1 is a diagram of a flat body of a brush, with single hair inserted. Fig. 2 is
a longitudinal section of same on line x, x. Fig. 3 is a section of a flat body
slightly recessed. Fig. 4 is a diagram of the back of a spread brush (having the
front and recess shaped in a dome form). Figs. 5 and 6 are sections of, the same.
Fig. 7 is an enlarged section of the hole made by the piercer n Fig. 8 is an
enlarged view of the piercer n. Fig. 9 is a view of the gauge board attached to
the body of a brush.
In order to produce brush bodies, the wood is cut in flat boards; the thin boards
to make flat body brushes as B, B1, B2, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the thick boards to make
roached bodies or bodies with the front shaped as a dome as B3, B4, fig. 4 & 5. In
flat brushes, the board B. Fig. 1. is fixed on the chuck plate of the machine, and
a pattern of holes is pierced exactly to the pattern made round the plate; after
being stabbed and the outside row drilled, the body is papered and polished, and
the outside row of bristle is drawn in the ordinary manner; and, if the body of
bristle is flat or solid, the body B is fixed in a clamp C. Fig. 9 by screw S. and the
gauge.board G is attached to the body Baby. thumbscrew S1, then the bristle a, a
is inserted in the hole and pushed until it touches the back of the board B; when

page_text: each hole is filled, we dip the brush in water or pour thin glue or thin shellac
dissolved in methylated spirit on the ends e, the board so done is dried, then a hot
iron is rubbed on the said ends e. Fig. 9, or we may use a jet of gas, which operation
will form the pin's heads h, h, Fig. 1, and on the said heads one or more coats of
glue or shellac are applied.
In thick bodies or boards over thick as Fig. 3. a recess r is made on the side
of the back where the bristle is inserted, this recess r is made to thin the board B₁
Fig. 3. to the thickness of 16; after the bristle has been inserted and secured in the
manner already described the recess is filled with cement either rosin or shellac.
In very thick bodies of brushes as Figs. 4. & 5. of which the front is roached in a
dome shape, a recess R at the back is cut concave and the bottom line of recess pl
is made parallel to the front line p, leaving between them a partition P of equal
thickness over the recess R; the bristle a in these sorts of brushes is singed first
and the heads h h formed, and the bristle is inserted and secured as before
described.
In spreading brushes; flat or convex, the bristle a, a Figs. 5 & 6. being set
upright in the centre row K to a given angle at the outside l, and also in
penetrating brushes, flat or convex, which have the bristle a, a. Fig. 3. set from
the front at unequal lengths, in all these sorts of brushes the bristle a a is singed
first then inserted as Fig. 4.
The body so far finished has a back glued over the heads of the bristle or over
the recess filled with cement, or the said recess has a panel inserted, or the body,
being made without handle is fitted in a recessed back and handle.
We fix or arrange one or more rows of tufts of bristle or fibre around the
centre of single bristle or amongst them, these tufts of bristle or fibre are drawn to
the body or back in which the single bristle is inserted either before or after the
single bristle, by wire in the usual manner of drawing.
In addition to ordinary hairbrushes herein before described, our Invention can
be applied to all kinds of brushes in which the foundation is wood where single
bristle can be employed with advantage to replace solid tufts commonly used in
ordinary brushes.
We are aware that single bristle has been inserted in elastic material, but we are
not aware that single bristle has ever been fixed practically in the wood body of
brushes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
1. The use and manufacture of brushes having each hole stabbed singly in a
wood body, and single. bristle with a pin's head formed at one end by singeing or
rubbing, inserted and secured in the hole substantially as and for the purpose herein
before described, and shown in the drawing or any. mere modification.
2. In manufacturing wood bodies in which single bristle is inserted, the forming
of the hole taper with a rotating piercer or tool like rimer, securing the bristle by
shrinking the wood substantially as and for the purpose herein before described.
3. The methods of producing flat, spread or penetrating brushes with single
bristle substantially as and for the purpose herein before described.
HYPPOLITE BESSON.
G. HAROLD KENT.