IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes and
Son, Patent Agents, 128, Chancery Lane, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from abroad by
Lewis McDonald Hills, of New Haven, in the County of New Haven,
State of Connecticut, United States of America.
Sealed the 10th December 1867, and dated the 13th June 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th June 1867.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 128, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from
abroad by Lewis McDonald Hills, of New Haven, in the County of New
Haven, State of Connecticut, United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in brushes made from bristles
or similar material, the object being to secure the bristles into the back or
stock of the brush without the use of the false back or the appearance of the

page_text: security upon the back; and, secondly, in the apparatus employed in con-
nection therewith. I secure the bristles in a solid back or stock by first
drilling holes partly through the back or stock, and then inserting a bunch
of doubled bristles into each of the said holes with a wire staple, the ends of
which on being pressed down to the bottom of the hole turn longitudinally
or laterally into the wood or material of the back, and thus draw the wire
tightly around the bristles so as to secure them firmly in the stock.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a brush
constructed according to these improvements; Fig. 2 is a back view of same, a
ortion of the stock being removed to shew the fastenings; Fig. 3 is a side view
one of the staples or fastenings before it is forced into the back; Fig. 4,
ews one of the staples in the form it assumes after being forced into the
ck; Fig. 5 is a front view of the said machine; and Fig. 6 is a side view
of the same.
A is a solid wooden back or stock, into the face of which a sufficient number
of holes a are drilled for the reception of the bunches of bristles B; the
bristles B are doubled in the usual manner and through the loops thus formed
staple like wires C are inserted in the form shewn in Fig. 3. The bristles
with the staples thus inserted are placed in the holes and forced down to the
bottom.thereof with a punch or other instrument, and the ends of the wires
are thus caused to follow the grain of the wood or other material of which the
back or stock is composed and run longitudinally or laterally thereinto, and
thus not only secure themselves in the back or stock but clasp the loops of the
bristles tightly. To ensure the most perfect fastening of the bristles the ends
of the wire should be either bevelled on the outer side, as shewn in Fig. 3,
or turned slightly inward, and they will then cross each other, as shewn in
Fig. 4, when the wires are pressed against the bottoms of the holes and so clasp
the bristles more securely.
To make brushes of this description with great facility it is desirable
that a machine to work automatically should be employed, to this end the
maehine which forms the second part of this Invention is introduced, and
which I will now proceed to describe with reference to Figs. 5 and 6.
A is a bed supporting the mechanism of the machine; upon a frame B
which extends up from the bed A are formed proper bearings C for the
support of the driving shaft D, upon which is placed a pulley D₁ for the
application of power to operate the machine; on the bed A in proper guides
is arranged a table E so as to be moved freely thereon, and upon the said
table is arranged the working table F upon a universal joint so as to be turned
to any angle, which may be done by segmental guides F¹ & F', or other

page_text: convenient device, and may be automatically moved by connection with the
operative power of the machine in a manner which will be familiar to all
mechanics skilled in the construction of like machinery, or may be operated
by band as the case may be, the object of such operation being to conform to
the irregular surface of the stock upon which the bristles are set, whatever
that shape may be; G is a hopper or receptacle in which the bristles are
placed preparatory to being fixed in the back, the said hopper being denoted
only in Fig. 6 in an end view. The bristles are placed in mass in the hopper.
and the movement of a slide 9 beneath the bristles, either by hand or
automatically forces the requisite quantity of bristles before it; at this time the
shaft D revolving forces by the action of a cam H a divider a down through
and so as to separate the requisite quantity of bristles from the mass; at
the same time, and by the action of the same cam, a pair of fingers d pass
down with the divider, and another pair of fingers also pass down upon the
outside of the bristles, so that the requisite quantity of bristles lie between the
fingers d & c; then the two pairs of fingers come together and grasp the said
requisite quantity of bristles and carry them forward to the position denoted
in red, Fig. 6, beneath which, and upon the table F, rests the block in which
the bristles are to be set. During the operation of the fingers a wire feeding
arrangement I has drawn from a reel J the requisite quantity of wire to form
the staple and introduced it into the machine where it is cut off by a cutter
upon a lever I', then by the operation of a cam within the head K, as denoted
by broken lines, a pair of fingers are moved down, bending the wire into a
staple form, and passing it down over and so as to enclose and grasp the
bristles, then while held by the same fingers a follower f is forced down on to
the staple carrying it into the hole formed in the stock, and doubling the
bristles so as to enter the hole, the staple is forced down so that the ends
turn outwards, as seen in Fig. 4 securing the bristles firmly in the stock, as
seen in Fig. 1. When one staple with its bristles has been secured the table
upon which the stock is placed is moved by a feeding device L to present a
second hole, and so on, continuing until all the holes have been filled. It
may be proper to state that the stock is first formed and the holes for the
reception of the bristles bored before the stock is placed upon the table, and
this may be done in the usual manner, and in the stock which is too hard
for the forcing of the staples thereinto an annular groove or channel should.
be formed at the base of the hole into which the two points of the staple turn..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Thomas
Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward Thomas Hughes, 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
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN, a communication to me from abroad by Lewis McDonald Hills, of
New Haven, in the County of New Haven, State of Connecticut, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, 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.
13
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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, reference being had to the accompanying three
Sheets of Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in brushes made from
bristles or similar material, the object being to secure the bristles into the
back or stock of the brush without the use of the false back or the appearance
of the security upon the back, and secondly, in the apparatus employed in
connection therewith. The bristles are secured in a solid back or stock by
first drilling holes partly through the back or stock, and then inserting a bunch

page_text: of doubled bristles into each of the said holes with a wire staple, the ends of
which on being pressed down to the bottom of the hole turn longitudinally or
laterally into the wood or material of which the back is constructed, and thus
draw the wire tightly around the bristles so as to secure them firmly in the
stock.
In order that this Invention may be better understood as well as to enable
others skilled in the art to carry out the same I will proceed to a description
thereof as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings which form a part of
this Specification, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the brush;
Fig. 2 a back view of the same, a portion of the stock being removed to
show the fastenings; Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the staples or fastenings
before it is forced into the back; Fig. 4 shews one of the staples in the form
it assumes after being forced into the back; Fig. 5 is a front view of the said
machine, and Fig. 6 a side view of the same.
A is a solid wooden back or stock, into the face of which a sufficient
number of holes a are drilled for the reception of the bunches of bristles B;
the bristles B are doubled in the usual manner, and through the loops thus
formed staple-like wires C are inserted in the form shewn in Fig. 3. The
bristles with the staples thus inserted are placed in the holes and forced down
to the bottom thereof with a punch or other instrument, and the ends of the
wires are thus caused to follow the grain of the wood or other material of
which the back or stock of the brush is constructed, and run longitudinally
or laterally thereinto, and they not only secure themselves in the back or
stock but clasp the loops of the bristles tightly. To insure the most perfect
fastening of the bristles, the ends of the wire should be either bevelled on
the outer sides as shewn in Fig. 3 or turned slightly inward, and they will
then cross each other as shewn in Fig. 4, when the wires are pressed against
the bottoms of the holes, and so clasp the bristles more securely.
To make brushes of this description with great facility it is desirable that
a machine to work automatically be employed; to this end the machine
which forms the second part of this Invention is introduced, and which I will
now proceed to describe with reference to Figs. 5 and 6.
A is a bed supporting the mechanism of the machine. Upon a frame B
which extends up from the bed A are formed proper bearings C for the
5 support of a driving shaft D, upon which is placed a pulley D¹ for the appli-
cation of power to operate the machine. On the bed A in proper guides is
arranged a table E so as to be moved freely thereon, and upon the said table
is arranged the working table F upon an universal joint so as to be turned
to any angle, which may be done by segmental guides F1 and F, or other

page_text: convenient device, and may be automatically moved by connection with the
operative power of the machine, in a manner which will be familiar to all
mechanics skilled in the construction of like machinery, or may be operated
by hand as the case may be, the object of such operation being to conform
to the irregular surface of the stock upon which the bristles are set, whatever
that shape may be. G is a hopper or receptacle in which the bristles are
placed preparatory to being fixed in the back, the said hopper being denoted
only in Fig. 6 in an end view. The bristles are placed in a mass in the
hopper, and the movement of a slide g beneath the bristles, either by hand or
automatically, forces the requisite quantity of bristles before it; at this time
the shaft D revolving forces by the action of a cam H a divider a down
through the bristles so as to separate the requisite quantity from the mass;
at the same time, and by the action of the same cam, a pair of fingers d pass
down with the divider, and another pair of fingers c also páss down upon the
outside of the bristles so that the requisite quantity lie between the fingers d
and c; then the two pairs of fingers come together and grasp the requisite
quantity of bristles, and carry them forward to the position denoted in red
Fig. 6, beneath which and upon the table F rests the block in which the
bristles are to be set. During the operation of the fingers a wire feeding
arrangement I has drawn from a reel J the requisite quantity of wire to form
the staple and introduced it into the machine where it is cut off by a cutter
upon a lever I', then by the operation of a cam within the head k as denoted
by broken lines, a pair of fingers are moved down bending the wire into a
staple form and passing it down over and so as to enclose and grasp the
bristles, then while held by the same fingers a follower f is forced down on to
the staple carrying it into the hole formed in the stock and doubling the
bristles so as to enter the hole, the staple is forced down so that the ends
turn outward as seen in Fig. 4 securing the bristles firmly in the stock
as seen in Fig. 1. When one staple with its bristles has been secured
the table upon which the stock is placed is moved by a feeding device L to
present a second hole and so on until all the holes have been filled. It may
be proper to state that the stock is first formed and the holes for the reception
of the bristles bored before the stock is placed upon the table and this may
be done in the usual manner, and in the stock which is too hard for the
forcing of the staples thereinto, an annular groove or channel should be a
formed at the base of the hole into which the two points of the staple turn.
It will be observed that the construction of the various parts of this
machine, may be extensively varied, and must necessarily be so to some
extent for the variety of brushes which are manufactured, but this arrange-

page_text: ment by a practical test produces the most satisfactory results, the Invention
is not therefore confined to the precise construction of this automatic machine
for the manufacture of the brushes described, but what I claim as new and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First, securing the several bunches of bristles in the solid block or stock of
a brush by means of separate staple-like wires, substantially as herein
described..
Second, I claim a mechanism operating so to present the prepared block
or stock to receive the several bunches of bristles, substantially as described.
Third, I claim the mechanism described or its equivalent for receiving,
taking and delivering the requisite quantity of bristles for the formation of
each bunch, substantially as set forth.
Fourth, in combination with a mechanism for delivering the requisite
quantity of bristles I claim an apparatus for forming and placing the staples
upon the bristles substantially as described.
Fifth, in combination with the mechanism for presenting the block or
stock I claim an apparatus for driving or forcing the staple with its bristles
into the block or stock, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
E. T. HUGHES. (L.S.)