IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND OR DRESSING COMBS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Hart, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford,
Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND OR DRESSING COMBS."
Sealed the 23rd April 1880, and dated the 8th November 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Hart at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th November 1879.
JOSEPH HART, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Dyer.
IN HAND OR DRESSING COMBS."
"IMPROVEMENTS
My Invention consists of the improvements herein after described in constructing
hand or dressing combs such as are used for combing the human hair or for combing
horses and other animals.
Instead of making the backs or bodies and the teeth of the said combs in one
piece as usual, I make the teeth of the combs separate from the backs or bodies, and
construct the said backs or bodies and connect the teeth thereto in the manner
herein after described.
According to one of my improvements I make the teeth of the comb of lengths
or pieces of wire made in any convenient way and having by preference rounded
points. The metallic teeth may either be made of straight lengths of wire or of
bent or doubled lengths of wire, each doubled wire forming two teeth.
These wires when made of steel may be magnetized, the straight wires forming
when secured in the back or body of the comb, a set of small bar magnets and the
bent or doubled wires forming a series of horse shoe magnets extending through the
whole length of the comb.
I make the backs or bodies of the combs, and secure the loose teeth therein in
the following manner:-I make the backs or bodies either of metal, wood,
vulcanite, papier mâché, or other strong and durable material, and either of one or
more pieces.
In making the backs or bodies of metal, I take a piece of open jointed tubing
having an elliptical, flat, or other figure in cross section, and in the open joint of
the tubing I place the ends of the wires to form the teeth of the comb, the said
wires arranged at the required distances apart being held in a suitable holder. The
tubular back or body is then filled with a composition or cement. The ends of the
loose metallic teeth in the tubular back or body are thereby embedded in the com-

page_text: position or cement and securely fixed in the said back or body. The composition
or cement which prefer to use consists essentially of resin or bitumen mixed with
some hard setting material, such as plaster of Paris, but any hard setting cement or
material may be used. Or instead of fastening the loose teeth by a resinous or
bituminous or other like cement, the said teeth may be fixed by soldering. Instead
of forming the back or bodies of the combs of open jointed tubing, tubes with a
closed joint may be used. In this case holes are drilled in the tubes for the passage
of the teeth into them. Or the backs or bodies may be made of two or more parts
made by stamping or otherwise, the said parts being secured together by soldering
or rivetting or by clips. Or the backs or bodies made of a metallic or non-metallic
material may be cast upon the loose teeth, which I prefer in this case to be headed.
Instead of making the backs or bodies of the combs of metal, and the loose teeth
of metallic wires, as described, the backs or bodies and the teeth may be made of
wood, vulcanite, or other hard and durable non-metallic material, and single and
double combs may be made according to my Invention, that is, the teeth may be
confined to one side of the back or body, or a row of teeth may be arranged on each
side of the back or body.
Instead of using solid wire for the teeth of the comb hollow or tubular wire may
be employed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Hart in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st May 1880.
JOSEPH HART, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Dyer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HAND OR DRESSING COMBS."
My Invention consists of the improvements, herein after described, in constructing
hand or dressing combs, such as are used for combing the human hair or for combing
horses and other animals.
Instead of making the backs or bodies and the teeth of the said combs in one
piece as usual, I make the teeth of the combs separate from the backs or bodies,
and construct the said backs or bodies and connect the teeth thereto in the manner
herein after described.
According to one of my improvements I make the teeth of the comb of lengths
or pieces of wire made in any convenient way, and having by preference rounded
points.
These
The metallic teeth may either be made of straight lengths of wire, or of bent. or
doubled lengths of wire, each doubled wire forming one or more teeth.
wires when made of steel may be magnetized, the straight wires forming when
secured in the back or body of the comb a set of small bar magnets, and the bent
or doubled wires forming a series of horse shoe magnets extending through the
whole length of the comb.
I make the backs or bodies of the combs and secure the loose teeth therein in the
following manner :-I make the backs or bodies either of metal, wood, vulcanite,
papier mâché, or other strong and durable material, and either of one or more pieces.
In making the backs or bodies of metal I take a piece of open jointed tubing or trough
piece, having an elliptical, flat, or other figure in cross section, and in the open joint
of the tubing or trough I place the ends of the wires to form the teeth of the comb,
the said wires arranged at the required distances apart being held in a suitable
holder or clamp.
The teeth are then secured in the tubular back or body by soldering or by filling
the tubular back or body with a composition or cement. The ends of the loose
metallic teeth are thereby either soldered to the tubular back or body or are
embedded in the composition or cement, and are thereby securely fixed in the said
back or body.
Instead of forming the backs or bodies of the combs of open jointed tubing tubes
with a closed joint may be used. In this case holes are drilled in the tubes for the
passage of the teeth into them. Or the backs or bodies may be made of two or
more parts formed by stamping or otherwise, the said parts being secured together
by soldering, or by rivetting, or by clips.
Or the backs or bodies made of a metallic or non-metallic material may be cast
upon the loose teeth, which I prefer in this case to be headed.
Double combs, that is, combs having teeth on each side of the back, may be made
according to my Invention. In this case metallic teeth either of single or double
wires are inserted in and through the backs, and fastened as before described.
The teeth may be made of hollow or tubular wire instead of solid wire.
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
'
Figures 1 and 2 represent side elevations of hand or dressing combs made
according to my Invention, the comb, Figure 1, being formed with broad teeth, and
the comb, Figure 2, being formed partly with broad teeth and partly with fine
teeth. In the said Figures 1 and 2 a is the metallic back or body of the comb;
b, b, are the guards at the ends of the back or body, and c, c, are the metallic teeth
fastened in the said body. In the comb, Figure 1, the back or body a is made
narrower than the back or body of the comb, Figure 2, but I do not limit myself
to any particular width of the back or body. Figure 3 represents in side elevation,
end elevation, and edge view, the metallic back a of the comb, Figure 1, separately;
and Figure 4 represents the said back after the guards or large end teeth b, b, have

page_text: been fastened in it preparatory to the fastening of the teeth c, c, in the said back.
The said metallic back or body a has a flat tubular figure open at one edge, or the
trough like form best seen in the end elevation, Figure 3. I make the said metallic
back or body a by preference by stamping in dies, but it may be made by a drawing
process, or by casting. Or the said back or body may be made from tubes having
closed joints, the said tubes being either flat or oval, or of other form, in cross
section, and punched or drilled with holes at one side for the passage of the teeth
into the tubular back or body.
Figure 5 represents in side elevation the clamp.or holder which I use for
arranging and holding the wires of which the teeth of the comb are made at the
proper distance apart preparatory to the soldering or otherwise fastening of the
said teeth in the metallic or other back or body; Figure 6 represents the inner face
of one part of the clamp or holder; Figure 7 represents a cross section of the two
parts of the clamp or holder; and Figure 8 represents a cross section of one of the
said parts; Figure 9 represents in horizontal section a portion of the clamp or
holder, exhibiting the manner in which the wires to form the teeth are arranged
and held in the clamp, the said Figure 9 also showing the ends of the wires or
teeth inserted in the tubular or trough like back a ready for the soldering or fixing
operation; Figure 10 represents in cross section, and Figure 11, in end elevation,
the clamp with the teeth fixed in it, in combination with the metallic back or
body a of the comb. The clamp represented is fitted for the arranging and fixing
of the teeth for the manufacture of the comb represented in Figure 1. The said
clamp or holder consists of two bars d and e. The bar d is plain, but the bar e is
grooved on its upper face, the grooves f being arranged at distances apart equal to
the distances between the teeth of the comb to be made. The grooved bar e is
furnished with a back plate e for supporting the plain bar d; the said plate es also
serves as a stop for the wires. Broad grooves h, h, are made near the ends of the
two bars d, e, to receive the guards or broad teeth b, b, of the partly made comb.
To the ends of the grooved bar e clamping screws and nuts at i are jointed, slots
being made in the bars for the passage of the said clamping screws.
In making the comb, Figure 1, I take the trough or tubular back or body,
Figure 3, and fix in its ends by soldering the guards or broad teeth b, b. I next
place in the grooves f of the bar e of the clamp or holder, the lengths of wire to
form the teeth of the comb, the ends of the said wires projecting from the edge of
the clamp, as represented in Figures 9, 10, and 11. The clamping bar d being
placed upon the grooved bar e, the two bars d, e, are clamped or bound firmly
together by the clamping screws and nuts at i, as represented in Figures 10 and 11.
The said wires are thereby fixed in the clamp at equi-distances apart. Granulated
solder or solder in strips having been placed in the trough or tubular back a of the
comb, Figure 4, the guards b, b, of the said back are passed into the broad
grooves h, h, at the ends of the clamp, in the manner represented in Figure 9, the
projecting ends of the teeth passing into the trough or tubular bar a. By now
heating the back a by means of a blow pipe flame or other source of heat, the
solder in the said back is fused and the ends of the teeth are soldered to the said
back. After the solder has set or cooled the two parts of the clamp are separated,
and the comb may be removed and finished in any desired way. When the teeth
of the comb are to be fastened in the back by means of a fusible cement or com-
position, the said cement or composition in a fused state is poured in the back
immediately before the latter is passed onto the projecting ends of the wires fixed
in the clamp or holder. The composition or cement which may be used for the
purpose described, consists essentially of resin or bitumen mixed with some hard
setting material, such as plaster of Paris; but any other bard setting cement or
material may be used.
Figure 12 represents a comb provided with a handle made according to my In-
vention, and Figure 13 represents the handle back and guards before the teeth are
fixed in the said back in the manner before described.
Figure 14 represents in elevation, and Figure 15 in section, a double comb, that

page_text: is, a comb having teeth on each side of the back made according to my Invention.
In this arrangement the guides b, b, and wires c, c, of which the teeth are formed,
are nearly double the length of those used for single combs, and the trough or
tubular back is perforated or pierced at its closed edge for the passage through it of
the guards b, b, and wires or teeth c, c, as represented in Figure 15. The teeth of
the double comb are fastened in the back or body a by soldering or by a cement
or composition, as before described.
When the back of the double comb is made of a closed tube it is perforated at
both edges.
The teeth c of the comb may be made of doubled lengths of wire, as represented
in Figures 16 and 17, Figure 16 representing the wire before it is doubled, and
Figure 17 after it has been doubled. The wire I use is semi-circular in cross
section. When the piece of wire is doubled or folded a rounded end is formed at
the fold, and the flat faces of the semi-circular wire abut against one another, as
best seen in the enlarged view of a tooth, made in the manner described, repre-
sented in Figure 18. Figure 19 represents the wire before it is doubled; or
instead of making each tooth of a single length of wire folded or unfolded, as
before described, the whole or several teeth of the comb may be made of a single
length of wire; in this case the wire is doubled or bent into zig-zag parallel folds
so as to form a set of teeth arranged side by side, each tooth being joined at its
base to the teeth on either side of it. This method of manufacturing the teeth from
a single piece of wire is represented in Figure 20.
Although I prefer to make the metallic backs of the combs of a single piece of
sheet metal, yet they may be made of two pieces joined together by soldering, or
rivetting, or otherwise.
When I make the backs by casting, and attach the metallic teeth to the back by
the casting process, I place the teeth in the mould, and cast the metallic or non-
metallic back upon the said teeth.
When separate non-metallic backs are used the teeth are fixed in the backs by a
cement or composition, and if necessary the backs may be compressed during the
setting of the cement or composition.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention,
the improvements in hand or dressing combs, herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making single and double hand or
dressing combs by forming the teeth of metallic wire, and the backs or bodies of
metallic or non-metallic trough like pieces, or of pieces of open or close jointed
tubing, the said teeth being fastened in the said backs or bodies by soldering, or by
a cement or composition, substantially as described and illustrated, whether each
tooth of the comb be made of a single wire or of a doubled wire, or the whole or
several of the teeth be made of a single wire bent or folded in a zig-zag manner,
substantially as described and illustrated; also the modification in which the
metallic or other backs of the combs are made by casting, and the teeth fastened in
the said backs by the casting process, as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Hart, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighte
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JOSEPH HART. (L.S.)

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