IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEARS AND SCISSORS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Rolla Badger, of Dowgate Hill, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEARS AND SCISSORS."
Sealed the 14th September 1866, and dated the 17th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Rolla Badger at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th March 1866.
I, ROLLA BADGEB, of Dowgate Hill, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEARS AND
SCISSORS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object giving greater handiness and power in the
act of cutting than has heretofore been the case in using ordinary shears and
scissors. In order to do this I attach the handle directly to the back of the
upper blade. The two blades are always kept open by a spring pressing at
the one end against the lower blade and at the other against any small pro-
jection in the upper blade. By this Invention one blade only is moved, the
other being allowed to rest on the table or board on which the article is placed

page_text: while being cut. By this Invention the power exerted takes place in a down-
ward direction in making a cut, the whole force of the hand and arm acting
directly upon the upper blade. As soon as the cut is made the blades are
opened ready for another cut by means of the spring above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed!
by the said Rolla Badger in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
September 1866.
TO ALL TO, WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROLLA
BADGER, of Dowgate Hill, in the City of London, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in 'the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, 'for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
'me, the said Rolla Badger, Her special licence that I, the said Rolla
Badger, my executors, administrators, and assigns,, or such others as 1,
the said Rolla Badger, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHEARS AND SCISSORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I
the said Rolla Badger, 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 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 Rolla Badger, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and, in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My improvements in shears and scissors for cutting cloth or other
substances consist in attaching the handle to one blade only, and placing
it over and above it. The bottom blade lays on the table board or bench,
2

page_text: and the upper blade is raised by a spring; this spring is made by preferenco
circular, or as a spiral, and is placed for convenience in the boss where the
blades are jointed together, but any other arrangement of spring may be
employed. Stops are placed in the said boss to regulate the amount of
opening and shutting of the blades. When in use the operator applies his
hand to the handle on the top of the upper blade, and can maintain the shears
on the cut by placing the bottom blade at such an angle as to resist the forco
which effects the cutting, while he can work the shears to any line or curve
at will.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 show one mode of
carrying out my Invention, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 another way in which I
accomplish the same object. Similar letters denote similar parts throughout
all the Figures. Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pair of shears constructed
according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; and Fig. 3 an end
view.
A is the handle, constructed of wood or any other suitable material, and
attached to the upper blade B, as shown; C is the lower blade, the two blades
being secured at the boss D, as seen in Fig. 3, by a screw and nut, as shown,
or by a rivet; E is the spring, which is placed in a box inside the boss.
Fig. 4 is a section of the lower blade through a, b, showing the foot F; this
foot F may be used or not, as required.
In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 a different arrangement of handle is adopted; it is
attached to the back of the upper blade as a lever, but is slightly slewed or
bent over towards the under blade, as seen in Fig. 6, which has the effect of
keeping the edges of the blades in cut. The same spring arrangement is
adopted as in the former case, but this can be varied at pleasure.
Fig. 7 is an end view showing the spring inside the box in the boss, as in
Fig. 8. The two blades B and C are shown in dotted lines.
I have now fully described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into effect; at the same time I am well aware there are many modifications
of the details of mechanism which may be adopted, and I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise forms of handles
herein described and illustrated, nor to the precise spring arrangements
I shown in the boss D, whereby the blades are always kept apart. The spring
arrangement here shown is, however, the one I prefer when so used, and it
can be applied to some kinds of shears used in the ordinary way.
What I claim as my Invention to be protected by Her Majesty's Letters

page_text: Patent is, the placing the handle of shears or scissors at any point over and
above the upper blade, as herein-before described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rolla Badger, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
CHARLES S. BAKEB,
General Patent Co., Limited,
71, Fleet Street,
Agents.
ROLLA BADGER. (Ls.)