IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF CLIPPERS FOR CLIPPING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: ¿LÊTTERS PATENT to Thomas Lovell Phipps and William Burman, both
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for
the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE
OF CLIPPERS FOR CLIPPING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 18th August 1875, and dated the 16th June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lovell Phipps
and William Burman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 16th June 1875.
We, THOMAS LOVELL PHIPPS and WILLIAM BURMAN, both of
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF CLIPPERS FOR CLIPPING HORSES AND OTHER
ANIMALS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention has reference in part to an Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to one of us, namely, Thomas Lovell Phipps, on
the 10th day of September 1873, No. 2970, and our said Invention

page_text: consists principally of the improvements herein-after described in certain
parts of the clippers constructed according to the said patented Invention,
and in the manufacture of the cutters of clippers.
Instead of using a bow spring between the expanded or cover part of
the fixed handle and the moveable cutter of the clipper for maintaining
the required pressure of the said moveable cutter upon the fixed cutter,
as described in the Specification of the Patent before referred to, we make
the said expanded part or cover act as a spring. For this purpose we
give a bow or convex figure to the cover, and make it of such a thickness
of metal that it is capable of yielding when pressure is put upon it. The
ends of the elastic or spring cover of the fixed handle bear upon the
moveable cutter near the ends of the latter, and by means of the screw
nut working on the central screw pin of the clipper or a cotter passed
through a central pin the desired pressure may be put upon the moveable
cutter, so as to press the latter closely into contact with the fixed cutter.
The ends of the elastic cover are provided either with cylindrical or
square studs for passing through the guiding slots in the moveable
cutter, and taking into holes in the fixed cutter; or the clastic or spring
cover instead of being made of a bow figure may be made of a flat
rectangular figure with inclined edges, the said inclined edges being
capable of yielding when pressure is put upon the cover. In this
· arrangement the edges of the sides as well as the ends of the elastic
cover bear upon the moveable cutter to press it closely into contact with
the fixed cutter; or a spring of the last-described kind may be employed
in conjunction with a rigid or non-yielding cover for the purpose
described.
We make double-acting clippers, that is, clippers in which the front
and back edges of the fixed and moveable cutters are serrated, capable
of being reversed at pleasure, so that those edges which for the time
being constituted the front and principal cutting edges of the clippers &
(and which said front edges wear away sooner than the back edges) may
be reversed and made to constitute the back edges of the clipper. For
this purpose we make in the moveable cutter and near opposite edges
two oblong slots, into one or other of which slots the stud of the
moveable handle or lever of the clipper takes for giving the required to- 8
and-fro motion to the said moveable cutter.
To reverse the clipper when the front cutting edges are worn it is only
necessary to remove the screw nut of the central screw pin and change

page_text: the position of the fixed and moveable handles, the stud on the moveable
handle or lever occupying the slot near that edge of the moveable cutter
which was previously the front edge. By replacing the screw nut the
clipper is again ready for use.
We make the cutters of clippers in the following manner, whereby
great facility and saving in their production are effected:-We produce
by rolling in grooved rolls long bars of steel having in cross-section a
shallow trough figure on one face, the bottom of the trough being flat or
slightly concave, that is, the marginal parts or longitudinal edges at one
face of the bar are of greater thickness than the other part, the middle
part of the bar consisting of a flat or nearly flat shallow channel, the
marginal parts of the bar forming the sides of the said channel. The
trough-shaped face described of the bar constitutes in the finished cutter
the inner face of the said cutter, the thick marginal parts being made
into the teeth or cutting edges of the cutter.
The long bars of steel rolled of the sectional figure described are out
up transversely into blanks or pieces of the length of the top cutters to
be made, and the said blanks or pieces are made into top cutters in the
ordinary way.
For the manufacture of the bottom cutters of clippers the rolled bars
of steel besides being provided with the shallow trough or channel on
one face have the outer angles of the marginal parts bevilled or inclined,
and the back face of the bar made convex.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Lovell Phipps and William Burman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
LOVELL PHIPPS and WILLIAM BURMAN, both of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Lovell Phipps and

page_text: William Burman, Her special license, that we, the said Thomas Lovell
Phipps and William Burman, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Thomas Lovell Phipps and William
Burman, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there- 5
after 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 THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF CLIPPERS FOR
CLIPPING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the 1
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Lovell Phipps and
William Burman, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be 1
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the dato
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Lovell Phipps and William
Burman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in 2
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
•
Our Invention has reference in part to an Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to one of us, namely, Thomas Lovell Phipps, on the
10th day of September 1873, No. 2970, and our said Invention consists
principally of the improvements herein-after described in certain parts of
the clippers constructed according to the said patented Invention, and
in the manufacture of the cutters of clippers.
Instead of using a bow spring between the expanded or cover part of
the fixed handle and the moveable cutter of the clipper for maintaining
the required pressure of the said moveable cutter upon the fixed cutter,
as described in the Specification of the Patent before referred to, we
make the said expanded part or cover act as a spring. For this purpose
we give a bow or convex figure to the cover, and make it of such a
thickness of metal that it is capable of yielding when pressure is put
upon it. The ends of the elastic or spring cover of the fixed handle
bear upon the moveable cutter near the ends of the latter, and by means
of the screw nut working on the central scrow pin of the clipper or a
'
г

page_text: cotter passed through a central pin the desired pressure may be put
upon the moveable cutter, so as to press the latter closely into contact
with the fixed cutter. The ends of the elastic cover are provided either
with cylindrical or square studs for passing through the guiding slots in
the moveable cutter, and taking into holes in the fixed cutter; or the
elastic or spring cover instead of being made of a bow figure may be
made of a flat rectangular figure with inclined edges, the said inclined
edges being capable of yielding when pressure is put upon the cover,
In this arrangement the edges of the sides of the elastic cover bear upon
the moveable cutter to press it closely into contact with the fixed cutter;
or a spring of the last-described kind may be employed in conjunction
with a rigid or non-yielding cover for the purpose described.
We make double-acting clippers, that is, clippers in which the front
and back edges of the fixed and moveable cutters are serrated, capable
of being reversed at pleasure, so that those edges which for the time
being constituted the front and principal cutting edges of the clippers
(and which said front edges wear away sooner than the back edges) may
be reversed and made to constitute the back edges of the clipper. For
this purpose we make in the moveable cutter and near opposite edges
two oblong slots, into one or other of which slots the stud of the
moveable handle or lever of the clipper takes for giving the required to-
and-fro motion to the said moveable cutter.
To reverse the clipper when the front cutting edges are worn it is only
necessary to remove the screw nut of the central screw pin and change
the position of the fixed and moveable handles, the stud on the moveable
handle or lever occupying the slot near that edge of the moveable cutter'
which was previously the front edge. By replacing the screw nut the
clipper is again ready for use.
We make the cutters of clippers in the following manner, whereby
great facility and saving in their production are effected:-We produce
by rolling in grooved rolls long bars of steel having in cross section a
shallow trough figure on one face, the bottom of the trough being flat or
slightly concave, that is, the marginal parts or longitudinal edges at one
face of the bar are of greater thickness than the other part, the middle
part of the bar consisting of a flat or nearly flat shallow channel, the
marginal parts of the bar forming the sides of the said channel. The
trough-shaped face described of the bar constitutes in the finished cutter
J

page_text: the elastic cover ỗ a cotter passed through a central pin may be used for
that purpose.
Figure 6 represents in front elevation, and Figure 7 in cross section
the elastic or spring cover of the fixed handle, made of a flat rectangular
figure with inclined sides or edges, instead of a bow or convex figure.
The front and back inclined sides or edges are divided at their angles
from the principal part 6 of the cover, and the said sides or edges &
are made thinner than the principal part, so that the said inclined sides
or edges, when pressure is put upon the cover by means of a screw nut or
cotter, as before described, yield or flatten out, and by their elasticity
press the moveable cutter into close contact with the fixed cutter.
Figure 8 represents in longitudinal section, and Figure 9 in cross
section a spring of the kind last described applied to a rigid or non-
yielding cover for putting the desired pressure upon the moveable cutter.
The said spring is marked 7, and the rigid cover is marked P. Pressure
is put upon the spring / by means of a screw and screw nut, the said
screw nut when driven home pressing the ends of the rigid cover against
the ends of the spring, so as to cause the front and back inclined edges
of the said spring to yield or flatten out, and press the moveable cutter
into close contact with the fixed cutter.
In order to enable the cutters f, g, of the double-acting clipper,
Figures 1 and 2, to be reversed at pleasure, that is, to make either edge
the front edge, a slot or opening, marked respectively m, n, is made near
each longitudinal edge of the moveable cuttter f for the stud P on the
moveable handle & to engage with to work the said moveable cutter, so
that when the front serrated edges of the cutters f, g, are worn the
position of the two handles a, k, is changed, the stud p on the moveable
handle being removed from the slot m, and made to occupy the slot n
in that edge of the moveable cutter which was previously the front
edge, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 1: The reversing
of the edges of the cutters f, g, only requires the removal of the screw
nut h, the reversing of the position of the handles a, k, and the replacing
of the screw nut h.
}
Instead of making the stud p on the moveable handle or lever / take
into the slot mor n near that edge of the moveable cutter which for the
time being constitutes the back edge, the short arm of the moveable
handle may be prolonged, as represented in Figure 10, and its stud p

page_text: be made to take into the slot n or m in that edge of the cutter f which
for the time being constitutes the front edge.
The elastic covers and spring herein described and illustrated may be
used either with single-acting clippers or with double-acting clippers.
.
Figure 11 represents in plan and cross section a bar of steel of the
kind which we use for the manufacture of the bottom cutters of double-
acting clippers, the said bar being produced by rolling in grooved rolls,
and Figure 12 represents in plan and cross section a bar of steel
similarly produced, from which we manufacture the top cutters of
double-acting cutters. Each of the said bars Figures 11 and 12 has in
cross section a shallow trough-figure on one face, the bottom of the
trough q being flat or slightly concave, the sides of the trough being
formed by the projecting marginal parts r, r, as seen in the cross sections.
The trough-shaped face of the bar constitutes in the finished cutter the
inner face of the said cutter, the marginal parts r, ", being made in the 1
ordinary way into the teeth or cutting edges of the cutter. The back
face of the bar Figure 11 from which the bottom cutters are made is
rolled convex, the outer edges of the marginal parts being bevilled
inwards, that is towards the trough part q. The back face of the bar
Figure 12 from which the top cutters are made is rolled flat, the edges
of the said back face being bevilled as represented.
Figure 13 represents in plan and cross section a rolled bar of steel
from which we make the bottom cutters of single-acting clippers, and
. Figure 14 represents in plan and cross section the rolled bar of steel
from which we make the top cutters of single-acting clippers. In each 2
of the said bars Figure 13 and 14, a single thickened marginal part r
only is rolled on the bar from which the teeth of the single-acting
cutter are made.
The long bars of steel having the sectional forms represented in
Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14, are cut up transversely at the dotted g
lines 8, 8, into blanks or pieces of the length of the cutters to be made,
and the said blanks or pieces are ready without further treatment to be
formed into cutters by cutting the teeth on the edge or edges r, r, of.
the said blanks in the ordinary way.
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner in g
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and

page_text: illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention of improve-
ments in the construction and manufacture of clippers for clipping
horses and other animals, and for other like purposes,―
First. Making the expanded or cover part of the fixed handles of
clippers act as a spring for maintaining the required pressure of the move-
able cutter upon the fixed cutter, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. Making the elastic or spring cover of the fixed handle of
the clipper flat and rectangular and with inclined elastic edges, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The combination with a rigid or non-yielding cover of a
spring of the kind herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 8
and 9 of the accompanying Drawings for maintaining the required
pressure of the moveable cutter upon the fixed cutter.
Fourthly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 of the accom-
panying Drawings for reversing at pleasure the cutting edges of double-
acting clippers.
Lastly. Manufacturing the top and bottom cutters of clippers by
rolling in grooved rolls long bars of steel, having the sectional forms
represented in Figures 11, 12, 18, and 14 of the accompanying Drawings,
and cutting the said bars transversely into blanks or pieces of the
length of the cutters to be made, and forming the said blanks into
cutters in the ordinary way.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Lovell Phipps and
William Burman, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness;
GEORGE SHAW.
•
THOMAS LOVELL PHIPPS. (L.S.)
WILLIAM BURMAN.
(L.S.)