IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING ANIMALS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Martin, of Old Charlton, in the County
of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CLIPPING OR SHEARING ANIMALS."
Scaled the 2nd October 1874, and dated the 28th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Martin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th July 1874.
I, ROBERT MARTIN, of Old Charlton, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING ANIMALS," to be as follows:
Heretofore in apparatus for clipping and shearing animals the top
cutting plate has usually had motion given to it by a movable. lever
handle turning on a pin carried by the lower plate, the end of the lever
working in a slot or gap cut in the centre of the back edge of the top
movable plate. The top cutter plate being this weakened and more
liable to bend at the centre than at its sides it has been difficult to

page_text: maintain all of the teeth of the top cutter plate pressing uniformly upon
the teeth of the bottom plate. To obviate this I form the top cutting
plate with two apertures or gaps at the back instead of one only, the
right-hand aperture boing for the end of the movable lever to work in,
and the other for the end of the fixed handle to lie in, sufficient play 5
being left between the end of the handle and the sides of this aperture
to allow of the requisite amount of movement being given to the upper
cutter. The end of the handle may be fixed in any suitable manner to
the bottom plate. In place also of the movable lever handle turning
loosely upon a pin fixed into the bottom plate I fix this pin tightly into 1
the lever handle and allow one end of the pin to work in a hole in tho
bottom plate, and the other end in the top cover plate, which is used to
cover over the top cutter and hold it down on to the bottom plate. Or
if no cover plate is used this end of the pin may work in a plate carried
in any suitable way from the bottom plate. By this means the pin 1
which is formed of hardened steel will be working in holes in the bottom
and cover plates, which are also of hardened steel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MARTIN, of Old Charlton, in the County of Kent, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Martin, Her special license
that I, the said Robert Martin, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Martin, 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

page_text: IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING ANIMALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Martin, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or 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 Robert Martin, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Heretofore in apparatus for clipping and shearing animals the top
cutting plate has usually had motion given to it by a movable lever
handle turning on a pin carried by the lower plate, the end of the lever
working in a slot or gap cut in the centre of the back edge of the top
movable plate. The top cutter plate being thus weakened and more
liable to bend at the centre than at its sides it has been difficult to
maintain all of the teeth of the top cutter plate pressing uniformly upon
the teeth of the bottom plate. To obviate this I form the top cutting
plate with two apertures or gaps at the back instead of one only, tho
right-hand-aperture being for the end of the movable lever to work in,
and the other for the end of the fixed handle to lie in, sufficient. play
being left. between the end of the handle and the sides of this aperture:
to allow of the requisite amount of movement being given to the upper
cutter. The end of the handle may be fixed in any suitable manner to
the bottom plate. In place also of the movable lever handle turning
loosely upon a pin fixed into the bottom plate I fix this pin tightly into
the lever handle, and allow one end of the pin to work in a hole in the
bottom plate, and the other end in the top: cover plate, which is used to
cover over the top cutter and hold it down on to the bottom plate. Or
if no cover plate is used this end of the pin may work in a plate carried
in any suitable way from the bottom plate. By this means the pin-
which is formed of hardened steel will be working in holes in the
bottom and cover plates, which are also of hardened steel.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a horse clipper constructed according
to my Invention; it is applicablo also for clipping or shearing other
animals; Figure 2 is a similar view with the cover plato removed.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the movablo handle.
Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 1, 1, in Figure 1.
a, a, is the lower plate, it has the usual comb-like cutting tecth on
its edgo; is the fixed handle, it is attached to the plate a by a rivet
and screw; c is the movable handle, and c¹ a steel stud or axis fixed in
it which enters a hole in the lower plate a and also another holo in tho
cover plate ḍ; e is the top cutter plate, which also has comb-like teeth,
it is formed with two gaps, one towards cither side, in place of with a
single central gap so as to avoid weakening the plate in the centre;
fff, are screws which hold down the cover plate & with the pressure
requisite to ensure good cutting. The screws fpass by slotted holes
through the plate c. The cover plato a forms a top bearing for the
stud or axis c¹ of the movable handle c; and the plate d is kept in its
place not only by the screws ƒ but also by the screw which fixes the
handle to the plate a. The holo in the cover plato is not tapped or
provided with a screw thread.
i
I claim as my improvements in apparatus for clipping or shearing
animals, the construction of the movable or top cutting plate with two
gaps so as to avoid weakening it in the centre, substantially as described.
-
I also claim, the construction of the movable handle c, with the stud
or axis c¹ fixed in it, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Martin, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five