AN IMPROVED DEVICE FOR HOLDING SCRUBBING BRUSHES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8; Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED DEVICE FOR HOLDING SCRUBBING BRUSHES."
-A communication from abroad by Thomas Jefferson Strong, of
Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 9th October 1868, and dated the 11th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED DEVICE FOR HOLDING SCRUBBING BRUSHES,"
a communication, to be as follows:→
The said Invention relates to an adjustable holder for scrubbing.
brushes, the same being constructed with a long wooden handle, to
which is attached a metallic frame having a hinged or pivoted jaw or

page_text: clamp; the said clamp is adjustable by means of a screw nut on the
socket of the handle, so that the pivoted jaw can be made to expand or
contract as the size of the brush may require, and so that it may be
fastened to brushes of different sizes.
This arrangement obviates the necessity of getting down upon the
knees in the act of scrubbing and allows the brush to be used for
purposes to which ordinary scrubbing brushes are not adapted. The
device is so very simple as to enable an ordinary domestic to remove a
worn brush and replace the same by a new scrubbing brush as occasion
may require.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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
"AN IMPROVED DEVICE FOR HOLDING SCRUBBING BRUSHES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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

page_text: 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 Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, forming a part of this Specification:-
The said Invention relates to an adjustable holder for brushes, the
same being constructed with a hinged or pivoted jaw or clamp and made
adjustable by means of a screw or any other equivalent device, so that
the pivoted jaw may be made to expand or contract as the size of the
brush may require, and so that it may be fastened to brushes of different
sizes.
The object of my Invention is to obviate the necessity of getting down
upon the knees in the act of scrubbing, and to allow the brush to
be used for purposes for which ordinary scrubbing brushes are not
adapted.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention I
will proceed with the description of its construction and operation. The
accompanying Drawing represents a convenient method of constructing
and arranging the said Invention.
A, in the said Drawing, represents the frame of a clamping device;
B, the socket, which is cast in one piece with it, into which a handle
may be fitted, as shown at D, of any required length; upon the said
socket B is cast a screw thread or worm, as shown at C, C; E is a screw
nut arranged to work over the screw or worm C, C, as shown; F, F,
represent two ears which project upward from the frame A to form hinge
supports for the clamping jaw G, which swings upon the joints H, H;
I represents a piece projecting from the centre of the said clamp;
J and K represent a part of the device which clamps or binds against
the brush when tightened up; they may be provided with sharp points
or pins, which may be forced into the brush when the clamp is tightened
up if necessary.
This clamping device is constructed of metal, malleable iron being
the cheapest and best, although other metals or materials may be used
for the purpose. Its operation is clearly illustrated in the Drawing,

page_text: which represents a perspective view of the same complete with a brush
fastened in place. The releasing of the brush, as will be readily seen, is
accomplished by turning the thumbscrew E, the lower part of which
bears against the projecting piece I on the movable clamp G; it is also
tightened by the same means.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim the
frame A or its equivalent in combination with a hinged or pivoted jaw,
or the equivalent thereofor, so arranged as to expand or contract as the
size of the brush may require for the purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hcrcunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
the
eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THO. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Mess. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.