A NEW INSTRUMENT. FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING. HORSES: OR OTHER ANIMALS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO. OTHER SIMILAR. USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark,. of 75, Baker Street, Portman Square,.
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW INSTRUMENT.
FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING. HORSES: OR OTHER ANIMALS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO.
OTHER SIMILAR. USEFUL PURPOSES."
Sealed, the 26th May 1868, and dated the 9th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left, by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th December 1867.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 75, Baker Street, Portman Square, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW.
INSTRUMENT FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS; ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows:
I employ for the purposes of my Invention a steel blade (a), see Drawing,
moving laterally, and meeting the sharp edge of another steel blade (b.) fixed
horizontally on a steel plate, beneath which fixed blade is placed á comb (c)
which projects beyond 'it and the plate. The upper or moveable blade (a)
receives its motion from a handle (d) and works on a pivot (e), as shown on
dotted lines on Drawing, and moves in a quadrant slot (f) with a stop pin.
This blade is worked by the right hand while the left hand (9) is employed in
pressing the steel plate on the skin of the animal, and guiding the course of it.
21
זי זיך

page_text: By the present arrangement the moveable blade is worked by the right
hand, but I claim the right of making it work either right or left handed,
and I do not confine myself to any length of blade or blades, or length or
breadth of comb, nor the shape of the handles, nor the shape of the blades
and comb, whether straight or curved to suit the shape of the various parts of
the animal to be operated upon.
This Invention is also applicable for cutting cloth, and for other similar
useful purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 75, Baker Street, Portman Square, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Clark, 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 "A NEW INSTRUMENT FOR
CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
SIMILAR USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Clark, 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 William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the arrangement of two steel blades having cutting
edges, one of which blades has a comb or series of prongs attached to its back
surface, arranged along and projecting beyond the cutting edge thereof, while
the other blade is made to pass backwards and forwards over the front surface
of the first-named blade in such a manner that the cutting edges of the two.
blades operate with a shearing action in front of the comb.
The arrangement and form of the blades and comb, as also the manner of
actuating the reciprocating blade may be variously modified according to the
purposes for which the instrument is to be employed. Thus the two blades
may be hinged together as a pair of shears, and be provided with handles for
holding the blade with the comb stationary and working the other blade
backwards and forwards; or the motion of the latter may be effected by a
crank, wheel, or spring, and in place of being made to open on a hinge as an
ordinary pair of shears such moveable blade may be made with a sloping
cutting edge and receive a parallel reciprocating motion by means of a handle,
crank, or wheel in a similar manner to shears for shearing metals.
Upon the accompanying Sheet of Drawings are shown some of the various
arrangements by which my Invention may be carried into effect.
Figure 1 shows a front view of one form of the instrument; Figure 2
shows a side view; Figure 3 shows a back view of the under blade and
comb.
The upper or reciprocating blade A is hinged to the under blade B by the
pin C, upon which A is worked backwards and forwards by the handle D, so
that the cutting edge a thereof passes to and fro over the cutting edge 6 of B
in the same manner as an ordinary shears, as shown by the open position
of A. Both blades are bent at an angle to their handles D, D¹, and these are
also bent or cranked somewhat, as shown in Figure 2, for the convenience of
holding the instrument in proper position against the surface to be acted
upon. The handles and pivot may be arranged either at the left hand end of
the cutting blades, as shown, or at the right hand end, and the handle D may
be arranged to be worked either by the right hand or by the left hand. To
the back of B is fixed the comb E either by rivets or, by preference, by set
screws F passing through slot'ed holes e, e, formed in the comb so as to allow
of the adjustment of the comb relative to the blade B. The screws F may also
be formed as thumbscrews in front of the blade to facilitate such adjustment.
If required a strip' of india-rubber may be inserted between the surface of the
comb and the blade. G, G, are stops fixed or formed on the blade B and

page_text: handle for regulating the amount of motion of the blade A. Or the
handle of the latter may be formed with a slot for this purpose working over:
a.stud fixed on the handle of B. In operating with this instrument the
blade B is held against the skin of the horse or other surface so that the
hairs pass through the comb and over the cutting edge b, when by moving
the blade A-backwards and forwards such hairs are cut off. If required the
blades may be slightly.curved so as to be either convex or concave on the
under side in the direction of their length, so as to suit the .surface upon
which they are to act. The lower blade B may be rendered more rigid if
requisite by forking the handle where it is connected to it, as indicated at
Figure 4, and the upper blade may also be stiffened by forming a rib along
its front surface. Furthermore, in place of forming the blades A, B, in one
piece with the handles, as shown, the cutting edges may be constructed of
separate strips of steel screwed or rivetted to plates to which the handles are
connected.
In some cases the cutting blades may be made double, that is to say,
projecting on either side of the pivot, in which case they are so formed that
in opening the blades on the one side the other blades are closed.
:
.
My before-described improved instrument may be employed not only for
clipping horses and other animals, but also for cutting the human hair, and
other similar purposes.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I in no way
limit myself to the arrangements thereof, shown on the accompanying
Drawing, as these may be variously modified without departing from the
nature of my Invention; but what I claim is, the combination in a cutting
or clipping instrument of two. or, more cutting blades with a comb, constructed
and operating.substantially as herein-before described.
'In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of June, in the year of our Lord Oue
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
TE
WILLIAM CLARK.
(L.B.)