A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLEXIBLE BACK BRUSHES FOR CLEANING AND DUSTING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jay Adams, of the City and State of New York,
and United States of America, for the Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLEXIBLE BACK BRUSHES FOR CLEANING
AND DUSTING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Jay Adams at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 16th October 1861, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendinent Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN, that I, JOHN JAY ADAMS, of the City and State of New York, and
United States of America, have invented "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF FLEXIBLE BACK BRUSHES FOR CLEANING AND DUSTING HORSES
AND OTHER ANIMALS," and I do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be fully described and
ascertained in and by the following Specification and the accompanying
Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a top view, and Figure 2 a transverse and
vertical section, of my improved brush.
The nature of my Invention consists in an improved mode of manufacturing
a flexible brush, having its body made of leather or any other suitable flexible
material; all the rows of bristles, except the outer one, being first drawn into
the body portion of the brush, next the top or cover plate being cemented

page_text: to the body part, and finally the last or outside row of bristles being drawn into
the holes formed in the body portion by means of a wire passing down through
the body and cap plate of the brush. This mode of applying and securing the
last row of bristles enables me to entirely dispense with the line of sewing
required by the old method to be made entirely around and through the brush,
in order to confine the body and cover or hand plate together.
In the Drawings, A denotes the body of the brush or that portion which is
'to receive the bristles; the same consisting of two portions a, b; a being what
may be termed the main body of the brush, while b6 may be called the cap or
hand plate.
In carrying out my said Invention, I construct the main body portion a of
one or more plates or pieces of leather or other suitable material (as-circum-
stances may require); and if more than one plate is employed, I unite them
together by means of any suitable cement. This being done, I punch or
otherwise make the proper number of rows of holes through the said body
portion for the reception of small bunches of bristles. Next I attach one end
of the wire which is to be used in confining the bristles in place to the top of
the body part, and next pass the loose end of the wire in a doubled state, so as
to constitute a loop down through one of the said holes; next, a suitable bunch
of bristles is passed into such loop, and the loose end of the wire drawn
upward, which forces the bristles in a doubled state up into such hole or cavity.
The wire is next carried through an adjacent hole in a doubled or looped state
as before, and another bunch of bristles inserted, which is drawn into its cavity
as before described; and this operation is repeated until all the rows, except
the outside one, is filled with bristles properly confined in place. This being
accomplished, the hand or cap plate 6 is cemented to the portion a, and a series
of holes is made through the parts a, b, for the reception of the outer row of
bristles, next the wire for confining the said outer row of bristles has one of its
ends fastened to the body or cap portion of the brush, while its other end is
passed in the form of a loop down through the adjacent hole, and is supplied
with the proper amount of bristles, which are drawn up into such hole, in
manner as before stated, and this operation is repeated until all the holes in
such outer row are filled with bristles. Thus, by passing the wire through the
series of holes in the outer row, and confining the bristles as before mentioned,
the body and the cap portions of the brush are firmly united by the line of
wire; and, finally, the band or strap (B), (usually applied to an hostler's brush,
for the purpose of enabling him to maintain such brush in a proper position
while in use), is attached to the opposite sides of the brush in the ordinary
manner.

page_text: Thus it will be seen by my improvement, I not only dispense with the line
of sewing usually required to be made through the whole thickness of the
leather or body portion, and entirely around the edge of the brush (thereby
greatly lessening the cost of construction of the brush); but I produce a brush
of greater beauty, and one which is less liable to injure a person's hand while
using the same.
I claim my improved mode of constructing a flexible brush, viz., by inserting
all the rows of bristles, except the outer one, in the main body a of the brush,
as set forth, then cementing the cover or upper plate 6 to the main body
portion a, and finally securing the outer row of bristles and the leather portion
of the brush at one and the same time by a single line of wire, as specified.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 1st day
of October 1861.
JOHN JAY ADAMS. (L.S.)