IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCISSORS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Oates, of Gatefield Works, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Scissors Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCISSORS."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Oates at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
November 1858.
I, GEORGE OATES, of Gatefield Works, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Scissors Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCISSORS," (a communication from
a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the introduction of dies in the process of forging
scissors, by means of which a uniform configuration of the sides or bows may
be obtained, and elaborate ornamentation impressed upon them at a relatively
small cost. At present the ornamental parts of scissors are reduced to figure
at a vast expenditure of labor by filing. I propose to have dies cut of such
conformation as may be needed for, various designs, and with a weight or
stamp to force each half of a pair of scissors into its respective die until
reduced to proper form, thus materially reducing the amount of labor involved
in finishing the scissors.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Oates in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
OATES, of Gatefield Works, Sheffield, in the County of York, Scissors Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Oates, Her special licence that I, the said George
Oates, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Oates, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SCISSORS," (a communication from a foreigner residing
abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Oates, 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 George Oates, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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-
This Invention relates to the introduction of dies in the process of forging
scissors, by means of which a uniform configuration of, the sides or bows may
be obtained, and elaborate ornamentation impressed upon them at a relatively
small cost. At present the ornamental parts of scissors are reduced to figure
at a vast expenditure of labor by filing. I propose to have dies cut of such
conformation as may be needed for various designs, and with a weight or
stamp to force each half of a pair of scissors into its respective die until
reduced to proper form, thus materially reducing the amount of labor involved
in finishing the scissors.

page_text: In order that my Invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will now proceed to describe the same, reference being
had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 represents the required outline form of one limb of the scissors as gene-
rally produced by the ordinary method of manufacture; according to which the
ornamental portions are shaped and worked out exclusively by the operation of
filing. Figs. 2 & 3 are top views, and Figs. 6 & 8 sections, of a pair of dies,
in each of which the corresponding ornamental portion or pattern has been
sunk or engraved, and between these dies each half or limb of the scissors, or
a portion thereof, is successively placed and stamped or compressed. After
having undergone this process, the scissors are readily finished by the ordinary
method, and put together or mounted, as shown in Fig. 7.
Another application of my Invention consists in similarly impressing the
ornamental design upon one side of each limb of the scissors only, leaving the
other side plain, as shown in Figs. 9 & 10. This is effected by dies such as
that represented in top view in Fig. 4, and in section in Fig. 11, the bow
being subsequently shaped by forging, as shown in Fig. 5, and thereupon
subjected to the treatment described with reference to Figs. 2 & 3, 6 & 8.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood
that what I claim as the Invention intended to be secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application and use of dies
and stamping apparatus for producing the ornamental portions of scissors in
the process of manufacture, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Oates, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
GEORGE OATES. (L.S.)