Improvements in Hand Shears or Clippers.
Year: 1894

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Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 13th Oct., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hand Shears or Clippers.
'
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 528 Oxford Street, W. in the County of Middlesex,
Horse Clipper Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:
11.32
My invention has for its object a new and useful improvement in the construction
of hand shears, or clippers for shearing sheep, clipping horses or other animals,
cutting human hair, or other like purposes. The class of instrument to which
my invention relates is of the well known type, consisting of a pair of combs,
or toothed cutting plates, and a pair. of handles, one of the said handles being
fixed to the under plate of the pair, while the other handle forms a lever to
operate the upper or moving plate.
The handles are caused to approach each other by the grasp of the hand and are
separated by means of a spring, or springs.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings, which forms part of this Specification
and in which similar letters of reference denote similar parts throughout;
Fig. 1 is a plan of a pair of sheep shears of the class described, having my
invention applied thereto, and
Fig. 2 is a cross section through A. A in Fig. 1.
B is the under or fixed toothed cutting plate, and C is a handle, riveted or
otherwise securely attached thereto. D is the upper toothed cutting plate,
arranged to move to and fro over the plate B and kept in close cutting contact
therewith by the spring fingers E, E, the ends of which bear upon a plate F inter-
posed between them and the said plate D. The pressure of the said fingers is
regulated by means of the nuts H, H.
Jis a lever handle fulcrummed at K and having a pin L at its upper end
engaging with a slot in the plate D. When the handles C and J are brought
together the plate D is moved along the plate B in one direction, and when they
are separated the said plate is moved in the opposite direction.
The said handles, as before described, are caused to approach by the grasp of the
hand, projections M and N being provided on them to enable a firm purchase to be
obtained.
Various forms of springs have been employed to separate the handles and give
the return stroke to the plate D, when the grasp of the hand is relaxed; such for
example as a helical spring surrounding a curved guide pin, or two plate springs
affixed to the lower ends of the handles C and J, having their free ends engaging
with each other.
In all these forms of springs more or less friction is present when at work,
necessitating extra pressure from the hand, and interfering with the freedom of
the return stroke.
The object of my invention is to avoid such friction, and I attain this result by
attaching to the handle C, a flat plate spring P, by means of a screw Q, or by a
rivet, or other suitable means, and by mounting on the free end of the said spring
an anti-friction wheel or roller R, which bears against the inner side of the other
handle J, and rolls thereon when the handles are operated. By this means all
rubbing friction is eliminated with the exception of that on the pivot S of the
roller, but this is too small in amount to exercise any sensible retarding effect.
Shears or clippers fitted with this arrangement, may be operated with less
exertion and give a stronger and therefore more effective return cut, than those
having springs of the ordinary construction.

page_text: If preferred the spring P may be fixed to the moving handle J, the roller R
bearing against the fixed handle C.
The improvement, which forms the subject of my invention, may readily be
applied to any existing shears or clippers of the class described."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim, is:
1. In shears or clippers of the class described, the combination with the spring
giving the return stroke, of, an anti-friction wheel or roller to reduce friction in
working.
2. In shears or clippers of the class described, operated by handles C and J, the
combination therewith of a spring P, having one end affixed to one of the said
handles and carrying at the other end an anti-friction wheel or roller R to bear
against the other handle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
"
Dated this 13th day of September 1894.
AMBROSE MYALL,
2, Lancaster Place, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.