IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING BROOMS AND BRUSHES
Year: 1846

page_text: BARSHAM'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM-
JAMES BARSHAM, of Bow, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of November (One thousand eight hundred
and forty-six), in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William James Barsham, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William James Barsham, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William James Barsham, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING BROOMS AND BRUSHES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William
James Barsham, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William James Barsham, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists of a mode of binding or fastening the bundles or
tufts of fibres and fastening them in the making of brooms and brushes. And
in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a tuft or bundle of fibre constructed according to my
Invention, and is made of the fibres of the cocoa nut, which is the material to
which my Invention is more particularly applicable, at the same time I would
wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself thereto, as other fibres
may be used. Figure 2 shows a portion of a length of tufts or bundles as
they are first produced, and then separated by cutting at the points marked
across with red lines, and it will be seen that each tuft or bundle of fibre is
retained together by having a ring of metal strongly compressed around it, as
is shown, and such metal hoop or ring containing the tuft or bundle of fibro is
to be driven or fastened into a suitable recess in a broom head or brush.
Figure 3 shows a plan and end view of a head of a broom made according to
my Invention. Figure 4 shows a plan, and Figure 5 a side view, partly in
section, of a broom head without the tufts or bundles. Figure 6 shows a sido
and an view of a brush made according to my Invention. Figure 7 a plan,
and Figure 8 part of a section of the back of the brush without tufts or
bundles, the Drawing at Figure 8 showing one of the tufts in the act of being
introduced into the back; tho head of a broom and the back of a brush
being held and supported at the sides when the tufts are being driven, in
order to prevent the wood splitting. I have only shown one shape of broom
head and one shape of brush in the Drawings, but the shapes may be varied,
my Invention not depending on the shapes of theso articles, but on the manner
of binding the fibres used into bundles, and fixing them to form brooms and
brushes.
Figures 9 and 10 show a plan and end view of a brush back, being
held and supported to prevent the same splitting when the tufts are being
driven in, and Figure 3 shows the manner of similarly holding a broom head
when driving the tufts or bundles. And the manner of driving the tufts with

page_text: their metal hoops around them will readily be understood by reference to
Figure 8, where it will be seen that a pair of forcepts are caused to hold the
tuft just above the metal ring, and then by blows of a mallet the metal
ring is driven into the brush back or head of a broom, as the case may
be, and by such means not only will the fibres bo securely held by the
hoop of metal, but by the ends of the hoop of metal being caused to come
more closely together by the compression of driving it will not readily be
removed even should the wood shrink. Tho tufts or bundles a may. be
made and be hooped or bound round with metal by any suitable means,
but I prefer to make such tufts or bundles in the manner which I will
now describe, and I believe the most convenient mode of making up coir
(cocoa nut fibre) and other fibres suitable for such purposes, where the
separate fibres are of different lengths, into tufts or bundles for making brooms
or brushes, is to make strands thereof by spinning, and then to double or throw
the strands into cords of two strands, leaving as littlo twist on the strands as
possible; by these means the fibres will be held sufficiently together to go
through the process of machinery hereafter explained, so as to produce lengths
of fibres such as is shown at Figure 2, bound round at intervals by metal hoops
or rings b, b.
•
Figure 11 shows a side view of a frame and apparatus having several
bobbins c, c, containing cords of coir or other suitable fibre. By this machine
pieces of iron, or it might be other metal, are successively, at intervals along
the length of the series of cords, made fast and thereby bind the several
cords into a bundle, as is shown in this Drawing. And in order to understand
how such hoops of metal are successively applied and fastened around the scries
of cords, I will proceed to describe the apparatus by which the same is per-
formed.
Figure 12 shows a side clevation, Figure 13 a sectional elevation, Figure 14 a
plan, and Figure 15 some of the details of the apparatus employed, such Figures
showing the parts on a larger scale than they are shown in Figure 11, by which
means the mode of their working will be more readily traced. The several cords
from the reels c, c, are brought together and pass up through the conical hole in
the table e, there being an elevated block or surface f on the upper part of the
table, as shewn, on which the forceps which apply and fix the bands or hoops
of metal around the cords work. The cords having passed through the
table pass over the pulley g, and thence over a second pulley, and they are
then wound on the drum h, and the cords aro kept tight by means of the
dancing weight i. The recls c, on which the cords are wound, are to be
retarded by friction cords or by springs, as is well understood, when retaining

page_text: similar reels from unwinding too freely for other purposes. And in the passage
of the series of cords from the table to the roller or drum h, metal hoops or
bands are affixed at such intervals apart as it is desired to have them for
the lengths of the tufts for brooms or brushes. j, k, are the two jaws of the
forceps which move on the pin or axis l, as is shown. m is a plate fixed on
the jaw k; hence when the jaw & moves from the jaw j, the plate m will
approach the cords and move up a bent piece of metal suitable for being
formed into a hoop or band around the cords by means of the jaws j, k,
and when the jaw k approaches the jaw j, the plate m will move from the
cords. Hence the bent piece of metal which has been last placed on the
cords by the plate m will be free to be moved down by the sliding tube n, as
hereafter explained. The jaw k has two horns or projections ³, which enter
into the jaw j as the two jaws j, k, close together, the jaw j being made hollow
to receive these horns. The nature of each of the jaws j and k and the
plate m being clearly shown in the Drawing, no further description of the
same will be necessary. The jaws of the forceps are worked in the following
manner and are the limbs of the jaws j and k; these limbs are con-
nected by two links ³, 1, and the pin o, as shown. The pin connects
the two links,, to the link p and sliding plate q, the plate 9 being guided
between the two fixed guides q¹ as shewn. r is a lever actuated by tho work-
man. This lever moves on an axis r³, and has the link p attached thereto by
a pin joint, as is shown. By this arrangement of parts it will be seen that
the movement of the lever r will cause the jaws j and k to be closed and
opened, and by examining the plan at Figure 14, that the jaws; and k are
closed on one of the hoops or bands b, c, and that a bent piece of metal b' has
been introduced by the workman in the hollow of the plate m, and the opening
of the jaws j, k, will cause the plate m to move the bent piece of metal towards
the cords so as partly to embrace them, and as the plate m is moved away,
the tube n will carry the piece of metal b' down, so as by the movement of
the cords upwards, and the descent of the piece of metal b', it will be caused
to be brought to the proper position on the cords to be fixed by the closing of
the jaws of the forceps.
The movement of the cords and the movement of the tube are accomplished
as follows:-On the sliding plate 7 is attached by a pin joint the open link q³,
which at its other end is attached by a pin joint to the lever q³, on to the
other end of which is attached the driver g', which is drawn up by springs to
the ratchet wheels q', on the axis of the pulley over which the cords pass, and
this driver and the ratchet wheels are to be arranged suitably for moving the
cords a distance according to the length of tuft or bundle it is desired to

page_text: obtain. On the sliding plate q is affixed an arm g, to which is attached a rod s
which is slottted at its other end, and through the slot passes a pin t on the
weighted lever u, which moves on an axis u'. The lower end of the lever
has a friction roller, which is acted on by the spring 6 as shown. The
movement of the rods will cause the weighted lever to be moved to and
fro, and when raised beyond the perpendicular, the lever will fall over, and
by so doing will move the lever w, which moves on the same axis as the
lever u.
The lever w has a frame in which the lover u moves, and as the
lever us falls against either of the pins or bolts w³, w, at the ends of the frame,
so will be the direction in which the lever w will be moved. In one side of
the framed part of the lever w there is a slot into which the end of the
lever enters, such lever working between two upright guides 'as is shown.
Hence as the frame of the lever to is caused to move in one direction or the
other, it will give motion to the end of the lever a, and consequently to the
other end of the lever a, which carries the axes of the tube n, as is shewn,
and by which the bent piece of metal will be caused to descend and enter
between the jaws j, k, just before they come together, and their coming
together will cause the bent piece of metal 6, to be formed into a hoop or
band around the several cords. The tufts are then to be cut, and in order to
fasten the hoops still more tightly around the fibres the tufts are to be forced
through the die, Figure 16, which are suitable for being used in a fly press,
as is well understood, A. being the die, and B the punch, the nature of which
is clearly shown. A tuft a, being introduced into the die A, as is shown,
the descent of the punch B will drive the hoop 6 through the die A, which
will bring the ends of the hoop closer together, and thus bind the cords more
tightly. The fibres are then to be opened out by holding the same against a
revolving cylinder covered with card teeth, and to facilitate this the two
bars, Figure Z, are used. These bars are hinged together and retain the
tufts a placed between them by screws and nuts, two of each of which are
used, but only one shown. By this apparatus many tufts a may be held at
the same time in contact with a roller covered with strong and long card
teeth.
The best means I am acquainted with for cutting off and bending pieces of
metal for the purposes of my Invention are shown at Figures 17, 18, and
19, which respectively shew a front and edge view in section, and a back
view of apparatus suitably arranged for cutting off and bending metal. The
machine is arranged for cutting off and bending two different lengths of
metal, and the metal now in the machine is shown as being cut off to the
greater length and bent. C is the framing of the machine. D, E, are the

page_text: two cutters formed or affixed in the sliding plate F, which is guided between
fixed guide plates; G, G, and H, are the fixed cutters or edges. J, K, arc
the surfaces against which the strip of metal is pressed to guage
the proper
length to be cut off for the longer or shorter length as required. The metal
as cut off is acted on by the forcer I or I', both which are fixed to the sliding
plate which carries the cutters, and the forcer carries the cut-off piece of
metal down between the surface L or M and the roller O or P, such rollers
O and P being each mounted on a strong spring, by which means each length
of metal cut off will be formed into the shape b¹ before mentioned.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the 'best means I i
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the details shown and described so long as
the peculiar character of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is
the means herein described of making and fixing tufts or bundles of fibrous
materials suitable for making brooms and brushes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William James Barsham, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
W. J. (L.s.) BARSHAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid William James Barsham came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.

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