CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bown, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS."
Sealed the 13th August 1878, and dated the 16th February 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bown at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th February 1878.
WILLIAM BOWN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES
AND OTHER ANIMALS."
The object of my Invention is to facilitate the connection and obtain greater
accuracy and certainty in the adjustment of the top and bottom plates of clippers
by simpler means and with less working parts than hitherto used, having no loose
pieces, and yet affording increased facility for taking the clipper to pieces for
cleaning or otherwise.
T'o
In carrying my Invention into effect I use the ordinary bottom or comb plate
and top moveable cutting plate as adapted in clippers now generally in use.
the bottom plate I fix by screwing, rivetting, or otherwise two pins T shaped,
round, or other equivalent form, and the top plate is dropped over them on to the
bottoni plate in the ordinary way. Over these pins I place a Ț shaped bar, with
inclined slots on the under side or extending through the bar, allowing it when in
proper contact with the pins to press the top plate on the bottom plate to the extent
required by a sliding movement of the bar. This sliding movement is effected by
passing through the T shaped bar at the end towards the handles a pin which
carries on the under side of the bar an excentric or cam, and on the top end of the
pin (which projects through the bar) a wing-nut lever or other equivalent is placed
for actuating the excentric or cam, which abuts against the head of the handle of
the clipper or other fixed piece or part. When the cam or excentric is turned round
in the direction for connecting and adjusting the clipper by the wing nut or lever
the cam or excentric is pressed against the fixed piece or end of handle, sliding. the

page_text: Tshaped bar towards the teeth of the top plate, at the same time sliding the inclined
slots in the bar under the inclined heads of the pins, thus pressing down the top
plate, bringing the top and bottom plates in perfect contact at the cutting parts, the
degree of sett or cut being regulated according to the nature of the hair to be cut by
slackening or tightening the wing nut or lever.
As a modification, instead of using the cam or excentric, a wedge-shaped piece or
conical nut may be applied to the pin, working against an incline or corresponding
shape formed on either the bottom or top side of the bar, by which the sliding
motion of the bar and consequent adjustment of the plates may be also obtained.
And, further, instead of the T shaped pins being secured to the bottom plate,
Tshaped lugs may be formed with or secured to the under side of the bar, the lugs
passing through corresponding slots in the bottom plate, the adjustment being
effected by a wing nut or lever with a conical base, which when turned slides the
Tshaped bar towards the teeth or front of the plates, the lugs on its under side
sliding up inclines on the under side of the bottom plate, thereby pressing the two
plates together to any extent desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Bown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th August
1878.
WILLIAM BOWN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES
AND OTHER ANIMALS,"
The object of my Invention is to facilitate the connection and obtain greater
accuracy and certainty in the adjustment of the top and bottom plates of clippers
by simpler means and with less working parts than hitherto used, having no loose
pieces, and yet affording increased facility for taking the clipper to pieces for cleaning
or otherwise.
To
In carrying my Invention into effect I use the ordinary bottom or comb plate
and top moveable cutting plate as adopted in clippers now generally in use.
the bottom plate I fix by screwing, rivetting, or otherwise two pins with suitable
shaped heads, oblong, round, or other equivalent form, and the top plate is dropped
over them on to the bottom plate in the ordinary way. Over these pins I place a
Tshaped bar, with inclined slots on the under side or extending through the bar,
allowing it when in proper contact with the pins to press the top plate on the
bottom plate to the extent required by a sliding movement of the bar. This sliding
movement is effected by passing through the T shaped bar at the end towards the
handles a pin which carries on the under side of the bar an eccentric or cam, and
on the top end of the pin (which projects through the bar) a wing nut lever or
other equivalent is placed for actuating the excentric or cam which abuts against
the head of the handle of the clipper or other fixed piece or part.
When the cam
or excentric is turned round in the direction for connecting and adjusting the clipper

page_text: Fig. 1 represents a front view of a clipping machine constructed according to my
improvements; Fig. 2 is a side view; and Fig. 3, a section of the same, the levers
and handles in these two views being removed for convenience of space.
a is the bottom plate, and b the top cutting plate, both common to the general
clipping machines now in use, and A and B are the levers and handles for working
the machine. To the bottom plate a I secure two pins marked c and d, shown in
dotted lines, and detached in edge and end views of the plate a at Figs. 4 and 5.
The top or cutting plate bis placed over these pins c and d on to the bottom plate a,
as usual. On the top plate and over the pins c and d I place a T shaped pressure
bar marked e, shown in detached back and sectional views at Figs. 6 and 7. On
the under side of this bar inclined or under cut slots marked f, f. are formed, the
dotted lines showing the incline or extent of under cut. When the parts are in
contact these inclined or under cut slots pass under the inclines formed on the under
side of the pins c and d, as seen at Fig. 5, to give the necessary pressure on the top
plate for adjusting the machine, which is produced by a sliding movement of the
pressure bar e.
This is effected by a cam or eccentric h recessed in the under side
of the bar e, as seen at Fig. 6, which is carried by a pin g passing through the bar
and connected to a lever marked i, or its equivalent, for actuating the said
excentric or cam. The head part of the handle A is formed with a seat at m, on
which the back part of the pressure bar e rests, and, as seen in dotted lines at Fig. 1,
the cam or eccentric h abuts against this head part, so that when all the parts
aré placed together in position, and the cam or excentric is turned round by the
lever i into the position shown, the excentric or cam his pressed against the fixed
piece or handle A, which causes the T shaped pressure bar e to slide forward
towards the teeth of the plates, at the same time sliding the inclined or under cut
slots ff, of the bar e under the inclines formed on the under side of the pins cand d,
thus forming a wedge or sliding connection, and pressing the top and bottom plates
together in perfect contact at the teeth or cutting parts.
e,
The slackening or tightening of the lever will adjust the plates to any required
extent to suit the various thicknesses of hair to be cut.
In addition to the advantage of adjustment I dispense entirely with all small
loose parts, having main parts only, viz., bar e, top plate b, and bottom plate with
levers attached when the machine is taken to pieces for cleaning or otherwise. This

page_text: clipper can be readily taken to pieces by turning the lever i towards the teeth, as
indicated by the arrow at Fig. 1, which disconnects the cam h from contact with
the fixed part or handle A, and disengages the slots f, f, on the bar e, and inclines
on the pins c and d, permitting the removal of the bar e bodily when the top plate
can also be removed.*
At Figs. 8, 9, and 10 I have shown a modification or equivalent for effecting the
sliding movement of the pressure bar e, viz., by forming on the under side of the
bar e an incline k, and on the end of the pin g, in lieu of the eccentric h, I fix a
wedge piece marked j, best seen at Fig. 10, the square or bottom side of which
abuts against the fixed or handle piece A, so that as the wing nut is turned around,
the wedge piece j slides forward the pressure bar e, as in the former case. This
modification also has no loose pieces, but contains only main parts when dis-
connected.
Again, instead of using the lever i, as described at Fig. 1, I may use in connection
with the cam a wing nut, as at Fig. 8, or vice versa.
Fig. 11 is an edge view of the top plate b and bar e, with lever i showing where
the bar e presses on the top plate at the points n, o.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it understood that I do not claim the pins c and d
secured to the bottom plate, nor do I intend confining myself to the precise details
herein described and exhibited, but what I claim and wish to protect by these my
in part recited Letters Patent is, the method of connecting the pressure bar e to the
cutting plates a and b, and the means or their equivalent for adjusting the pressure
on the cutting plates, as herein described and exhibited.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bown, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
WILLIAM BOWN. (L.S.)
Witness,
WM. LOACH.