IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HAIR BRUSHING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Holbrook, of Duke Street, Bloomsbury, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR HAIR BRUSHING."
Sealed the 30th September 1864, and dated the 31st March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Holbrook at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
81st March 1864.
I, WILLIAM HOLBROOK, of Duke Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HAIR BRUSHING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
apparatus for brushing hair.
I propose to form brushes of a series or of rows of bristles, of any desired
numbers, on a circular or polygonal hollow shaft,- set between two quilled
handles, one of which contains a spiral spring, enclosing and being fixed to a
spindle, the continuation of the spindle passing through the centre of the
brush, and fitting the square or other bore thereof. The other end of the
spindle is provided with a screw thread, on to which the opposite handle is
attached. Or, in lieu of the spiral spring in the handle, a narrow helical
spring may be enclosed in a circular box at the end of the brush, between it.
and the handle. In both cases, to wind up the springs, it will be necessary
to use a ratchet wheel and pall, so that the springs may be wound up, and

page_text: the brush placed on one side ready for use. When it is desired to apply the
brush it is held by both handles, and the pall disengaged by means of a thumb
piece, in order to afford rotary motion to the brush, the speed being controlled
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Holbrook in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOLBROOK, of Duke Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
uuto me, the said William Holbrook; Her special licence that I, the said.
William Holbrook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Holbrook, 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 APPARATUS FOR HAIR BRUSHING," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Holbrook, 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 Holbrook, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement :-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
apparatus for brushing hair.
The brushes are to be formed of a series or rows of bristles, of any desired

page_text: number, on a circular or polygonal hollow shaft set between two quilled
handles, one of which contains a spiral spring, enclosing and being fixed to a
spindle, the continuation of the spindle passing through the centre of the
brush, and fitting the square or other bore thereof; the other end of the.
spindle is provided with a screw thread, on to which the opposite handle is
attached. Or, in lieu of the spiral spring in the handle, a narrow helical or
spiral spring may be enclosed in a circular box at the end of the brush,
between it and the handle. In both cases, to wind up the springs, it will be
necessary to use a ratchet wheel and pall, so that the springs may be wound
up, and the brush placed on one side ready for use. When it is desired to
apply the brush it is held by both handles, and the pall disengaged by means
of a thumbpiece, in order to afford rotary motion to the brush, the speed
being controlled by a friction break actuated by the hand of the operator.
The handles may be made of thin metal for the sake of strength and lightness,
and where the spring is contained in a box, such box may be prolonged in
order to enclose a series of toothed wheels similar to clockwork, for the
purpose of regulating the rotary motion of the brush.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that what I claim and
desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is, the
method of actuating rotating or revolving hair brushes by the application of
springs in combination with regulating wheels, substantially as herein described
for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Holbrook, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
W*. HOLBROOK. (L.S.)