A New or Improved Nail Trimming Device.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1899-Accepted; 23rd Sept., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Nail Trimming Device.
I, JOHN SHEPPARD, of Hanover House, South Eastern Station Road, Canterbury,
in the County of Kent, Wine Merchant's Traveller, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to instruments or appliances for cutting filing and
cleaning finger nails and comprises the application of a guard gauge to a special
form of combined cutting blade, file and trimmer in such a manner as to ensure,
when the instrument is in use, the cutting filing and cleaning of the nails to
any desired extent at the same time that the cutting of or injury to the quick
or the flesh adjacent to the nail is guarded against.
In order that my invention may be more readily understood I append drawings
hereto illustrating one form of my invention. For the sake of clearness these
drawings are made to an enlarged scale.
Figure 1, is a longitudinal section showing an instrument constructed in
accordance with my invention.
Figure 2, is a plan of the same showing the slot plate of the guard guage
with the cutting blade partly drawn out from one edge of the guard gauge.
Figure 3, is a longitudinal view of one edge of the guard guage showing the
cutting blade in position.
Figure 4, is a similar plan to Figure 2 but showing the cutting blade in
its normal position.
Figure 5, is a plan of the back plate of the guard gauge:
Figure 6, is a cross section through line 12–12.
Figure 7, is an end view showing the face of the file.
Figure 8, is a cross section showing an alternative form of the guard gauge with
gauge slots of varying depths.
Figure 9, is a side view of the guard gauge with the knife removed.
Figure 10, is a plan and Figure 11 is a section of the cutting blade on a more
enlarged scale than the other drawings to enable its details to be more clearly
shown.
In these drawings similar numerals of reference are used for similar parts in
all the figures.
1
1, is a guard gauge consisting of two plates hereinafter called the slot plate
and the back plate rivetted or otherwise attached together or consisting of a
single flat strip of metal bent over on itself longitudinally to a U shape so that
one of the limbs of the U shall constitute a slot plate and the other a back
plate. 2, 2, 2, are gauge slots which may be varied in widths as shown in
the drawings or in depth as shown in Figure 8. 3, is a groove in which a
ridge 4 on the cutting blade 6 is engaged, 5 is a hole for the insertion of a hook
by which the instrument may be suspended to a watch guard or chain.
6 is a
cutting blade having a cutting edge at 7 and a file edge at 8, the cutting blade
is cut away at 9, 9, leaving two horns or points 10, 10, with scraping edges

page_text: at 14, 14, to be used as nail cleaners. 11, 11, are two grooves or nicks in which
a finger nail may be inserted to withdraw the cutting blade from the guard
gauge when it is desired to sharpen or set its cutting edge.
For cutting a finger nail the instrument is used in the following manner.
First the instrument is held in one hand and the tip of a finger nail on the
other hand is inserted in one of the gauge slots 2 and the finger pressed down
against the guard, the depth to which the nail may be inserted being limited
by the depth of the gauge slots. If now the finger be moved backward and
forward in the direction of the gauge slot at the same time that a to and fro
rolling or angular movement is imparted to the finger tip, in a plane parallel to
the plane of the surface of the nail, the action produced will be somewhat
similar to that in planing with a beading or tongue plane except that in this case
the plane as represented by the instrument, is held in a stationary position and
the finger moved. The nail corresponds with the bead or tongue and the tip
of the finger corresponds with the rebate at the side of the bead or tongue.
There being no cutter on the surface of the gauge the extent to which the
The depth to
nail can be cut is limited by the depth of the gauge slot.
which the nail may be cut may be varied, when the slots of various widths are
employed, by inclining the nail in the slots so that the edge of the nail bears
against the cutting blade at the bottom of one side of a groove and so that the
outer surface of the nail bears upon the top edge of the other side of the
groove whilst imparting to the finger tip the to and fro rolling or angular move-
ment hereinbefore described. In a very narrow groove, for example in one of
a width equivalent to the thickness of the nail, the nail could not be inclined,
and the greater the width of the slot the greater would be the inclination and
the greater the extent to which the nail could be cut. In order to prevent the
scoring of the surface of the nail by the edges of the slots I round them off.
Secondly, the cutting of the sides of the nail near the quick is accomplished
by setting the cutting blade as shown in Figure 2 or projecting it from the
opposite edge and laying the side of the finger top on the guard gauge with the
inner surface of the nail against the edge of the guard gauge and drawing the
nail from the base to the tip against the edge of the cutting blade and imparting
at the same time a rolling motion to the finger similar to that described herein-
before. If desired not only the sides of the nails but the tips and the portions
To clean the
between the tips and the sides may be cut in the same manner.
nails the knife is set as shown in Figure 2 and one of the horns 10 is inserted
between the inner surface of the nail and its adjacent flesh but with the scraping
edge against the inner surface of the nail and operating as with an ordinary
cleaner. The filing of the nails is accomplished by inserting the nail in the
groove, formed at the end of the guard gauge by the setting in of the file edge of
the knife as shown in the drawings, so that the end of the back plate of the
guard gauge comes between the inner surface of the nail and its adjacent flesh.
By imparting to the nail a combined rubbing and rolling motion against the
file similar to that hereinbefore described the edges of the nail are trimmed by
the file surface. To remove the cutting blade from the guard gauge the nail is
inserted in one of the nicks 11 and by its means drawn out from the guard
gauge in the direction of the slot or groove 3. To insert the cutting blade place
its cutting edge between the jaws of the gauge with the flat side of the knife
facing the inner surface of the slotted side of the guard gauge and press the
The cutting
cutting blade inwards until the ridge 4 engages in the groove 3.
blade being made at its thickest portion of slightly larger dimensions than the
opening of the jaws of the guard gauge the pressing of the cutting blade
inwards tends to, open the jaws which spring inwards when the ridge 4 enters
the groove 3 and retains the cutting blade in position longitudinally but allows
of its movement transversely to the guard gauge.
The guard gauge is cut away at 13, 13, 13, 13, to facilitate the entrance of the
finger tip either to engage the grooves or nicks 11 for the purpose of withdrawing

page_text: the cutting blade or to allow of the entry of the finger for the purpose of pushing
out the knife.
I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details of
construction set forth as it is obvious that these may be varied to an indefinite
extent without departing from the spirit of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a nail trimming device the combination of a slot plate, a back plate,
and a cutting blade substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a nail trimming device the combination of a slot plate, the said slot
plate having slots of differing gauge, a back plate, and a cutting blade sub-
stantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a nail trimming device the combination of a slot plate, a back plate,
and the means for effecting and guiding the lateral movement of the cutting
blade substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a nail trimming device the form of cutting blade set forth with regard
to Figure 10.