IMPROVEMENTS IN. Apparatus
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 232, Oxford Street, in the
County of Middlesex, and Robert Martin, of Old Charlton, in the
County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. Apparatus
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark and
Robert Martin at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 10th May 1873.
We, WILLIAM CLARK, of 232, Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, and ROBERT MARTIN, of Old Charlton, in the County of
Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES OR OTHER
ANIMALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction.
of apparatus for clipping horses, and clipping or shearing other
animals.

page_text: The advantage consists in keeping the top or cutting plate secured
to the under or comb plate by means of springs so adjusted, arranged,
and applied as to press the top cutting plate on to the lower plate
evenly, securely, and with an accurately determined and self-maintained
bearing, so that the machine never requires any further adjustment,
and cannot get off the cut, a great desideratum never hitherto accom-
plished in any horse clipper yet produced.
The apparatus consists of a flat guide or comb plate on which the
moving parts are carried, and of an upper or cutting plate with a
series of teeth or cutting blades, the said top plate being made to
pass over the lower or comb plate, whereby the hair or wool gathered
up by the comb is cut off by the passing teeth of the top or cutting
plate. A holder or guiding handle for the left hand is attached to
the bottom plate by means of countersunk pins, studs, or screws.
The right-hand handle or lever that works the upper plate causing
the oscillating motion of the upper over the lower plate takes its
fulcrum from a central stud in the lower plate working loosely thereon,
and at its extremity is a fixed pin passing through the top plate.
1
On the upper surface of the lower plate are two fixed stems in a
line with the cutting teeth, and in the upper plate are two slots,
through which slots, when the upper plate is placed evenly over the
lower plate the two stems project slightly for the purpose of guiding
the motion of the top plate when actuated by the lever; and over
cach of the two stems when thus projecting through the top plate
is placed a friction washer, which washer is so hollowed or partly
perforated on its under side as to receive within itself the top of the
projecting stem without any downward bearing or downward pressure.
on the same, the only bearing being on the top plate on which the
remainder of the under surface of the washer rests. Over each of
these friction washers is placed a spring which is attached to the
under plate by screws, pins, or by the power of a magnet. These
springs press evenly on the friction washers, thus giving an even and
level bearing on the top plate, and as the under surface of the washer
becomes worn away by the friction against the top plate, the spring
still pressing on the upper surface of the washer keeps up a uniform
bearing or pressure on to the upper or cutting plate, so that after

page_text: having been once adjusted the uniform pressure of the top plate on
to the lower plate so essential to the cutting process is continuously
maintained, whereas in all clippers hitherto made the two plates having
been secured by means of screws and nuts which in the process of
working become worn and loose, the pressure becomes weak and uneven,
and the machine in consequence loses its cutting power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Clark and Robert Martin in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 8th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 232, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, and ROBERT
MARTIN, of Old Charlton, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said William Clark and Robert Martin, Her
special licence that we, the said William Clark and Robert Martin, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
William Clark and Robert Martin, our 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 EMPLOYED
FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said William Clark and Robert Martin,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
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.
-

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Clark and Robert Martin,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is
to say :-
It is well known that the pressure of the cutting plate upon the under
comb or plate in all classes of horse clippers according to their present
construction requires constant supervision and adjustment in order to
maintain "the cut" whilst in action, that is, the cutting pressure
between the moveable cutter plate and under fixed plate or comb has to
be regulated by an occasional adjustment of the friction through the
medium of set screws, studs, nuts, and washers, or other equivalents.
The evils arising from such applications are that without the constant
supervision of the operator the plates whilst working necessarily wear
and get out of "cut," thereby causing a gradual deterioration of their
cutting efficiency; further, when setting up or adjusting the cut the
operator is not able to determine with great nicety the exact amount of
pressure required, the tendency being to "set up" a pressure rather in
excess of that required, as such a "set up" though injurious to the
instrument will for the time being effect a more lengthened continuance
of efficiency for the job then in hand.
The object of the present Invention is to further carry out the principle
of a self-acting adjustment or "set up" of the cutter plate on the under
comb or plate of horse clippers, described and set forth in the Specifi-
cation of Letters Patent granted to William Clark, on the 3rd April,
1873, No. 1228, the design and object of such Invention being the
production of an instrument that would overcome the above named
objections, that is by an arrangement which enables the horse clipper to
maintain without attention or supervision on the part of the operator an
automatic adjustment and nicety of pressure between the cutting
surfaces of the plates sufficient for the purpose of shearing or clipping
which is a great desideratum.
The arrangement and design of the first part of the Invention of the
herein-before recited Letters Patent, together with the further modifi-
cation thereof comprised in this the present Invention, are applicable to
all classes of horse clipper, we will therefore describe the present

page_text: improvement in the first instance to horse clippers of the following well
known description, namely, those clippers which are constructed of a
flat guide or comb plate on which the moving parts are carried, and of
an upper cutter plate provided with a series of teeth or cutting blades;
the said top plate being made to pass over the lower or comb plate,
during which the hair or wool gathered up by the comb is cut off by the
passing teeth of the top or cutting plate. A holder or guiding handle
for the left hand is attached to the bottom plate by means of counter-
sunk pins, studs, or screws, the right hand lever or handle that works
the upper plate giving the rectilinear motion of the upper over the lower
plate takes its fulcrum from a central stud in the lower plate working
loosely thereon, and at its extremity is provided with a fixed pin that
passes downward through the central slot of the top plate, the to-and-fro
movement of which when actuated by the right hand working handle
gives the rectilinear movement to the cutter plate.
In lieu of giving the cutting pressure to the plates by means of
washers forced down by nuts or fixed studs in the bottom plate, or by
set screws or equivalent of a similar nature as is now customary in the
above description of horse clipper, we employ an arrangement of parts
in combination with the fixed guide studs of the bottom plate that will
keep the top or cutting plate secured to the under or comb plate by
means of springs so adjusted, arranged, and applied that they will press
the top cutting plate on to the lower plate evenly, securely, and with an
accurately determined and self maintained bearing, and in a manner
that will dispense with any supervision or adjustment.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained
in detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made about
full size explanatory, as various examples of the arrangements and
application of the Invention to horse clipping, letters of reference being
marked on corresponding parts on all the Figures alike.

page_text: granted to John Robert Grayson, No. 3076, A.D. 1869, and in which
the construction of concave cutter plate and top bolt or friction plate as
therein described is retained. The peculiarity of arrangement comprised
in the make of the said clipper that qualifies it more particularly for
having adapted thereto the present improvements is that the friction or
pressure exerted by the cutting teeth upon the teeth of the under comb
or plate is made dependent upon the amount of bearing or pressure
exercised by the top bolt or friction plate upon the cutters. In this
Figure the bolt is arranged so as to slide or move with the cutters.
Fig. 2 represents a similar arrangement to that shewn in the last view
with the exception that instead of the top bolt or friction plate sliding
with the cutters it is fixed to or rests upon the bottom plate, and there-
fore remains stationary. These two views are shewn as the particular
class of horse clipper to which this present Invention is more particularly
applicable.
Fig. 3 represents a similar view to the last with this exception that
the bolt or friction plate behind the cutters rests upon a yielding bed or
spring, the adaptation of which in its various forms and applications to
the horse clipper is the particular feature of this present Invention, and
which in every case is employed for the purpose of transmitting through
the medium of the bolt or friction plate a determined and maintained "set
up" or bearing of the cutting surfaces of the teeth of the cutter plate
against the surface of the teeth of the under comb or plate.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent respectively a plan and end view of an
arrangement of friction plates or bolt which is a modification of the
foregoing. The friction plate or bolt in this instance when screwed
down upon the concave cutter plate rests with one extremity on the root
of the cutting knives as in Fig. 1, and at the other upon spiral springs
which are kept in position by means of studs fixed in the bottom plate
and which project therefrom through holes or slots in the friction plate a
or bolt, the space between the under and fixed plates around the stud
being occupied by the spiral springs.
Figs. 6 and 7 represent similar views to the last, with this exception,
that the bolt or friction plate is divided into two, and is arranged so as
to project from the bottom plate equidistant on either side the centre of

page_text: motion. Each plate forms a distinct yielding plate or bolt that exerts
its friction upon the cutter plate at the root of the cutters, such friction
being maintained through the yielding pressure of the spring and the
screws and nuts on the fixed studs.'
Figs. 8 and 9 represent similar views to the last with this exception,
that the back under surface of the cutter plate in lieu of resting on the
bottom plate direct is supported by and rests upon an intervening
spring.
Fig. 10 represents a section of the under plate through the line a, a,
of Fig. 9. In this view supporting springs are shewn in the position
they would occupy when supporting the back portion of the cutter
plate.
Figs. 11 and 12 represent a similar arrangement of friction plates to
those mentioned in the last views, with this exception, that instead of the
front extremities of the friction plates resting upon the root of the
cutting teeth they are made to exert their pressure upon washers which
are placed so as to occupy a position between the sliding cutter plate
and the yielding pressure friction plates, the position of the friction
washers and plates being secured by the fixed studs which project from
the bottom plate and pass through holes or slots formed in the friction
washers and plates.
In the whole of these Figures A represents the bottom plate or
comb; B, the cutter plate; C, the top bolt or friction plate or plates;
d, d, the fixed studs; d¹, d¹, the friction plates or washers; and e, e, the
springs or the yielding or elastic medium.
In Figs. 4 and 5 a modification of Figs. 1 and 2 is shewn as having
applied thereto the improved yielding medium designed for main-
taining the determined frictional bearing of the cutting surfaces of the
teeth.
The improvements consist in the application of a bent or spiral
spring e which is inserted between the bottom plate A and the upper
bolt or friction plate C which is connected to the bottom plate through
the medium of the studs or bolts d³, d. The bolt or friction plate is
caused through the medium of the spring e to exert a pressure on the

page_text: "
root of the teeth of the cutter plate B, and thus force and maintain
them in cutting contact with those of the cutting plate A.
In Figs. 6 and 7 the bolt or friction plate C is divided in two parts so
as to bear equally on the cutters on both sides the centre of motion.
In Figs. 8, 9, and 10, the curved spring placed in a groove in the
bottom plate under the heel of the cutter plate is introduced, which in
conjunction with the determined pressure exerted by the top bolts or
plates C, C, against the cutter plates maintain the cutting surfaces of
the teeth at one uniform "set up" without further attention or adjust-
ment when once regulated.
In Figs. 11 and 12 it will be seen that the fixed studs d³, d³, pass
through the cutter plate B and friction plates d, d, such studs acting as
guides for keeping the cutter plate and friction washers in position, but
in no way interfering with the downward pressure of the washers d, d.
ff, are the two yielding fingers or bolts secured to the bottom plate A
which project therefrom over the cutter plate B in a direction that will
allow their extremities to rest and press upon the upper surfaces of the
washers or plates d', d¹, the amount of such pressure being regulated so
that when once fixed in position they will bear upon the friction
plates d', d, with a determined pressure, which being transmitted to the
cutter plate A maintains a regular and uniform "set up or cut between
the surfaces of the cutting teeth of the instrument.
"
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, together with
the method of carrying the same into practical effect, we would remark
in conclusion that although we have shewn various applications of our
Inventions to horse clippers, we do not wish to confine ourselves to the
precise and exact mode herein shewn and described, as the same may be
varied to suit different arrangements and constructions of horse clippers
without departing from the essential features of the Invention, but what
it is our desire to claim and secure by the herein-before recited Letters
Patent is, the arrangement, combination, and construction of parts
herein-before described and set forth in connection with horse clippers,
whereby a self acting and determined friction or set up can be main-
tained between the cutting surfaces of the cutting plate and under comb
or plate of such clippers, the same being designed as further modifi.
cations and additions to the arrangement of parts, as set forth and

page_text: described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to William
Clark, No. 1228, A.D, 1873.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Clark and Robert Martin,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this the Seventh day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-three.
Witness,
WILLIAM JAMES FULLER.
WILLIAM CLARK. (L.S.)
ROBERT MARTIN. (L.S.)