IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHEEP SHEARS
Year: 1885

page_text: I ROLAND DANVERS of Rangitikei in the Province of Wellington in the Colony of
New Zealand Settler do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHEEP SHEARS and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention consists firstly of an arrangement for preventing the cutting of
the skin of the sheep while it is being shorn. For this purpose I apply to the back
of each blade of the shears a metal guard so arranged relatively to the said blade as
to prevent the edge thereof from coming into contact with the said skin. Dovetail
grooves are formed in the shear blade in which grooves correspondingly formed
tongues on the guard engage so that, by sliding the said tongues into the said
grooves the guard is affixed to the blade and by sliding them out of the said
grooves the said guard is unfixed.
My Invention consists secondly in fixing between the handles of the shears at
those parts known as the "knockers" buffers or cushions of India-rubber leather
wood or other suitable material which will prevent the jarring of the workman's
hands which is occasioned by the striking together of the "knockers" in shears of
the ordinary construction.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe-the
manner in which the same is to be performed reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a pair of shears constructed according to my
Invention. Figure 2 is a plan of one of the blades showing the tongues of the
guard engaged in the grooves of the said blade. Figure 3 is a section of the said
blade the said section being taken on the line A Figure 1. Figure 4 is a section of
the said blade and guard the said section being taken on the line B Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a section of the said blade and guard the said section being taken on
the line C Figure 1. Figure 6 represents in plan one of the buffers or cushions
herein-before referred to and the part of the shear handle in which the said buffer
is fixed and Figure 7 is a vertical section of the said parts the said section being
taken on the line D Figure 6. The same letters of reference indicate the same
parts in the several Figures. a a are the handles of the shears 61 63 are the blades
and c is one of the guards herein-before referred to a similar guard being applied
to the back of the other blade. The part 63 of the blade in which the tongues c' cac³
engage is made thicker than the cutting part 6 say 1 inch in order to admit of

page_text: the formation of the grooves for the said tongues which is effected by stamping and
undercutting. I form the guard c also by stamping making at c a slight projection
as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1. I cut through the metal at c³ ³ and bend
and bevil the end c' so as to form a spring-catch which when the guard is pushed
home engages with the back of the shear blade (see Figure 4) and thus retains the
said guard in its place. (This spring-catch may be dispensed with if the
tongues c c c be made to fit their grooves with sufficient tightness). The part 6*
of the blade I make thinner than usual (say of an inch although I do not limit
myself to the precise thickness) and of the same thickness throughout and thus
obviate the necessity for grinding the said blade the setting thereof upon an oil-
stone from time to time being sufficient. As the cutting edge of the blade wears.
away it will be necessary to remove the guard c and grind its edge so that when
the guard is replaced the said edge shall be about of an inch from the cutting.
edge of the said blade-I form at 6³ a rib undercut as represented in Figure 5 and
I bevil the corresponding part of the guard c so that it may fit under the said rib
and thus be prevented from catching in the wool of the sheep.
At that part of the shears where the knockers are usually formed I form
cheeks at a between which I insert buffers or cushions a² a² of India-rubber
leather wood or other suitable material which cushions are fixed in position by
means of rivets a³ a³. At the end of each stroke the opposed faces of these buffers
come into contact instead of the iron knockers aforesaid which I dispense with and
the jarring usual in shears of the ordinary construction is thus prevented. As the
edges of the shears become worn these buffers can be cut or pared with a knife to
a corresponding extent so that the stroke of the shears may always be the same.
The advantages attending my improved shears are that they are safer more
rapid and pleasant in action more easily kept sharp and last longer than ordinary
shears.
I would here observe that although I have represented my improvements as
applied to a pair of double-bow shears they may of course be applied to single-bow
shears that the guard herein-before described may be applied to shears without the
buffers herein-before described and vice versa and that although I have described
the best mode known to me of carrying my Invention into effect I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein-before described as they may be modified
without departing from the nature of my said 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
Firstly. Applying to the blades of sheep-shears guards essentially as and for the
purpose described.
Secondly. Applying to the handles of sheep-shears buffers or cushions essentially
as and for the purpose described.
Dated this Twenty ninth dex of Anril 1885