IMPROVEMENTS IN FACTURE OF BRUSHES. BROOMS. COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, MATS, SCRAPERS, AND
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Gibbs, of Brentford, in the County of Middle-
sex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FACTURE OF BRUSHES. BROOMS. COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, MATS, SCRAPERS, AND
Sealed the 4th January 1860, and dated the 8th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION lett by the said Joseph Gibbs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th July 1859.
I, JOSEPH GIBBS, of Brentford, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, BROOMS, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, MATS, SCEAPERS, AND
OTHER SCRAPING AND RUBBING SURFACES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the manufacture of brushes, broonis,
scrapers, mats, coverings for floors, and other analogous articles consists in
composing the scrubbing, rubbing, scraping, or rubbing surfaces of these
articles of strips or pieces of vulcanized india-rubber set up edgewise and
secured in any convenient manner to some suitable back or frame, whereby
the pieces or strips of rubber will be held securely in their proper place. The
particular mode of carrying out my Invention will depend in some measure
Pi Bal

page_text: upon the particular article intended to be made for the purpose for which
such article is intended to be applied. The principle upon which the articles
are constructed will however be the same in all cases, and may be described as
consisting in securing the strips or pieces of rubber to a wooden or other suit-
able back by clamping them in a socket or jaws and leaving a certain length
of material projecting therefrom. The rubber may either be used in the form
of strips of sheet rubber of suitable thickness and length, or it may be cut or
moulded in pieces having projecting pins or studs which may be made to pro
ject through a perforated piece of wood like the bristles of a brush, the rubber
being properly secured from behind either by cross pins, wires, cords, or simply
by means of a back piece.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Gibbs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
January 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
GIBBS, of Brentford, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Gibbs, Her special license that I, the said Joseph Gibbs, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Gibbs,
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 MANUFACTURE
OF BRUSHES, BROOMS, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, MATS, SCRAPERS, AND OTHER SCRAPING
AND RUBBING SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Gibbs, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, aud 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 Joseph Gibbs, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):—
This Invention consists in composing the scrubbing, scraping, or rubbing
surfaces of brushes, brooms, scrapers, mats, and other analogous articles, of
strips or pieces of vulcanized india-rubber or other like material set up edge
or endwise and secured in any convenient manner to some suitable back or
frame whereby the elastic pieces or strips will be held securely in position.
The particular mode of carrying out my Invention will depend in some mea-
sure upon the nature of the article required, or the purpose for which such
article is intended to be applied. The principal upon which the articles are
constructed will however be the same in all cases, and may be described as
consisting in securing the strips or pieces of rubber to a wooden or other suit-
able back by clamping them in a socket or jaws, and leaving a certain length
of material projecting therefrom. The rubber may either be used in the form
of strips of sheet rubber of suitable thickness and length, or it may be cast or
moulded in pieces which form projecting pins or studs standing out like the
bristles of a brush from the perforated wood or other substance forming the
back of the manufactured article.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various plans or modes of
carrying out my Invention. Fig. 1 represents in longitudinal section part of
a scrubbing brush fitted with india-rubber studs forming the scrubbing surface.
The brush board or back is shewn at a, a. It is pierced with countersunk
holes to receive the solid vulcanized india-rubber studs or pins b, b. These
studs are secured in their places and are prevented from falling through or
coming out of their places by the heads c, c, c, which fit into the countersunk
holes in the board, and after all the holes in the board are filled with the studs
the back piece d is screwed, nailed, or otherwise fastened on, and the brush is
then complete. Fig. 1 shews the india-rubber studs formed with a square
shoulder and secured in place by a back piece d. Fig. 1b shews the applica-
tion of hollow studs, the open ends forming the acting surface. These studs
may be secured in place by cement or by pins passed through them as shewn
in the Drawing, or they may, if desired, be provided with shoulders as at
Figures 1 and 1. By making the studs hollow the elasticity or softness of
the brush will be increased. Instead of inserting the studs by pulling them
through the back, the holes may be bored into the brush board to a limited
depth only,and countersunk or not, and the stud being a plain cylinder maybe
forced into the holes by being compressed through a metal die as shown in
Fig. 2, the die being kept in its place by a thin projecting ring on its under-

page_text: side being inserted in the hole before driving in the stud. After the stud has
been forced through and compressed by the die, it will expand again and
tightly fill the hole in the wooden back so as to be firmly retained there. By
covering broad surfaces of wood in the manner described with studs, or by
inserting strips of vulcanized india-rubber into such surfaces, door and other
mats, admirably suited for removing the mud from shoes and for other like
purposes may be formed. One mode which I find well adapted for securing
the elastic material in position is shewn in the section, Fig. 3, where pins a,a,
driven through a pierced back b, are used for securing rings or hollow studs of
vulcanized india-rubber c, c, to the back, the same being shrunk on over the
studs. These studs will also serve to stiffen the elastic surface and increase
its efficiency. At Fig. 4 I have shewn the application of the studs to a
kamptulicon back. The studs are made cylindrical and with a neck, and
they are forced through a mould as shewn at Fig. 2, into holes pierced for their
reception in the kamptulicon back.
In order to construct scrapers or brooms for sweeping or removing wet or
mud, or dirt, a broad board is prepared as represented in Figs. 5. This board
a is secured to a proper handle b. and a strip of vulcanized india-rubber c is
fixed to the board a, in any convenient manner and firmly held and supported
there by the flat piece or strip of board which is screwed on to the board a,
so as to support the india-rubber and keep it in place whilst being used.
Brushes or brooms may also be formed by letting strips of india-rubber
lengthwise into suitable backs, in the same manner as that shewn in Fig. 5. so
as to dispense with the studs shewn in Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 represents a sectional view of another method of securing strips of
india-rubber so as to form a scraper. A hole a is bored in a piece of wood
lengthwise, and a cut is made along the length of the wood b to the depth of
the hole a, and into the recess thus formed a piece or strip of vulcanized india-
rubber moulded to the proper shape is inserted. To keep it in place it may if
required be secured by pins. When the pieces of rubber are large a hole may
be made down the rib, us represented at Fig. 6, to receive a piece of wood,
which should be inserted with force, so pa to press out or expand the india
rubber, and cause it to fill the recess without requiring further fastening. In
this way any number of strips may be inserted into brush boards either
lengthwise or crossways, or both, as may be desired, to form brushes or
brooms.
Sometimes I find it more convenient to cast in iron a back for the brush,
scraper, or broom, and in this cast-iron back to insert one or more strips of
vulcanized india-rubber, as shewn at Fig. 7.

page_text: Fig. 7 represents a clasp back formed of rolled iron, provided with nuts or
rivets for holding the rubber. This kind of back I propose to use when the
large size of the strip makes it important to diminish the quantity of the
india-rubber as much as possible. In this case, when the lower side of
the rubber is worn it can be turned over, and the other edge brought into
use. Occasionally I cast or mould the strips of vulcanized india-rubber with
a plate or flange upon it, as represented at Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. The plate or
flange of the strip is nailed down or cemented to the board or back, and may
be still further secured by means of strips of wood placed between the
pieces of india-rubber, and secured there by nails, screws, or otherwise.
I also sometimes cast the studs before described in one piece with the
india-rubber back, which back is then united by screws, nails, pins, or
cement to the wood back, in the manner shewn at Figures 10, where
several of a series of studs are represented moulded in one piece with a back,
the same being secured to a wooden back by screws, nails, cement, or other-
wise. In order to prevent the india-rubber from becoming detached from
the wood, I find it convenient to screw strips of hard wood down over the
india-rubber, as shewn at e, e.
It will be obvious that if required any convenient number of these strips
may be secured longitudinally to a wooden or other back, while another series
of strips may be secured in a transverse direction, as shewn at Fig. 9.
Fig. 1 shews in plan a portion of a scraper to be used for cleaning
ships' decks and other like uses, and formed of a zig-zag strip of india-
rubber for the acting surface, in contradistinction to the parallel arrange-
ments already described.
Fig. 12 shews a portion of a cylindrical or revolving brush fitted
according to this Invention. In a wooden or other roller radial counter-
sunk grooves are formed, and strips of india-rubber are inserted therein.
Brushes thus constructed may be employed for dressing warps, polishing
threads, and other like uses.
I have hitherto spoken of vulcanized india-rubber as the material which I
prefer to use for the purposes of my Invention; I do not, however, intend to
confine myself to the use of this material aloue, as other flexible materials or
compounds, having a similar or analogous character may be employed for the
purposes of my Invention; and I would remark that although I have shewn
several forms and combinations by which my Invention may be usefully
carried out, yet I do not represent these as the only modifications of which my
Invention is susceptible; on the contrary, square or other shaped studs may

page_text: be used instead of cylindrical ones, and several strips instead of only one
strip of india-rubber may be used in making scrapers.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture
of Brushes, Brooms, Coverings for Floors, Mats, Scrapers, and other Scraping
and Rubbing Surfaces," and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim the manufacture of scraping or rubbing surfaces, such as
those above referred to, by securing strips, studs, or pieces of vulcanized
india-rubber or other like elastic material on or to wooden or other
suitable backs or holders, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Gibbs, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JOSEPH GIBBS. (L.B.)