IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAGGING BRISTLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO DRAWING OB SORTING FIBRES AND HAIR INTO DIFFERENT LENGTHS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Smith, of Stratford, in the County of
Essex, Brush Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR DRAGGING BRISTLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO DRAWING OB
SORTING FIBRES AND HAIR INTO DIFFERENT LENGTHS."
Sealed the 15th January 1864, and dated the 20th July 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th July 1863.
I, AUGUSTUS SMITH, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Brush Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS. IN MACHINERY FOR DRAGGING BRISTLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO DRAWING OR
SORTING FIBRES AND HAIR INTO DIFFERENT LENGTHS," to be as follows:-
My Invention refers to that part of the machine which performs the office
of nipping the bristles and fibres, and separating or dragging them from the
feed or layer of bristles or fibres held in the machine for the nipper to act on ;
also to the shoot into which the material is discharged from the nipper.
My Invention consists in forming the bottom lip of the nipper of wood or
other suitable material, and in covering it with what I term an apron of
leather or other suitable material. I form the upper lip of the nipper of
vulcanized india-rubber held between metal plates, and I connect the upper
part of the apron to the back of the upper lip or frame holding the upper lip.
Just under and in front of the under lip I place a metal inclined plate which

page_text: leads into an inclined grooved or corrugated shoot, the bottom end of which is
just free from the surface of a gathering table. Upon the layer of bristles
being placed on the feed table, and the feed table being fixed in the machine,
motion is communicated to the machine, when the nipper with the lips sepa-
rated will be advanced to the bristles or fibres, on reaching which the lips closo
upon the longest bristles or fibres and carry them back. The lips now open,
and the apron being stretched between them ejects such bristles or fibres as
may not have fallen down the inclined plate; upon the simple opening of the
lips the fibres will generally fall in a vertically inclined position, but should
they not do so they are made to assume that position on passing down the
grooved or corrugated shoot on to the gathering table, from whence the
attendant gathers them up. The machine continues to perform, as before
described, and gradually draws out the bristles shorter and shorter until the
feed has been drawn down to the shortest length required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Augustus Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on tho
20th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
SMITH, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Brush Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Augustus Smith, Her special licence that I, the said
Augustus Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Augustus Smith, 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 MACHINERY FOR DRAGGING BRISTLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
DRAWING OR SORTING FIBRES AND HAIR INTO DIFFERENT LENGTHS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Augustus Smith, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: 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 Augustus Smith, 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 thereof, referenco being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:
My Invention refers to that part of the machine which performs the office
of nipping the bristles and fibres, and separating or dragging them from the
fed or layer of bristles or fibres held in the machine for the nipper to act on;
also to the shoot into which the material is discharged from the nipper.
My Invention consists in forming the bottom lip of the nipper of wood or
other suitable material, and in covering it with what I term an apron of
leather or other suitable material. I form the upper lip of the nipper of
vulcanized india-rubber held between metal plates, and I connect the upper
part of the apron to the back of the upper lip or frame holding the upper lip.
Just under and in front of the under lip I place a metal inclined plate which
leads into an inclined grooved or corrugated shoot, the bottom end of which is
just free from the surface of a gathering table.
The acompanying Drawings represent as much of a machine for dragging
bristles as is necessary to shew how I carry my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a sectional view showing the lips of the nipper separated;
Figure 2 is a similar view showing the nipper advanced to the bristles and tho
lips closed upon them.
a is the bottom lip formed of wood, vulcanized india-rubber, or other
suitable material, and held between metal plates 6, 6; c is the upper lip
formed of vulcanized india-rubber, and held between similar metal plates d, d;
e is an apron of leather or other suitable material connected to the front of the
bottom lip a and to the back of the upper lip c; f is a metal inclined plato
under and in front of the under lip leading into an inclined grooved or
corrugated shoot g, the bottom end of which is, as before stated, just free
from the surface of a gathering table, not shewn in the Drawings.
The action is as follows:-Upon the layer of bristles being placed on the
feed table h, and the feed table being fixed in the machine, motion is com-
municated to the machine, when the nipper with the lips separated will be
advanced to the bristles or fibres, on reaching which the lips close upon the
longest bristles or fibres and carry them back. The lips now open, and tho

page_text: apron e being stretched between them ejects such bristles or fibres as may not
have fallen down the inclined plate f upon the simple opening of the lips.
The fibres will generally fall in a vertically inclined position, but should they
not do so they are made to assume that position on passing down the grooved
or corrugated shoot 9 on to the gathering table, from whence the attendant
gathers them up. The machine continues to perform, as before described, and
gradually draws out the bristles shorter and shorter until the feed has been
drawn down to the shortest length required.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my "Improve-
ments in Machinery for Dragging Bristles, applicable also to Drawing or
Sorting Fibres and Hair into different Lengths,"-
First, the employment between the lips of the nipper of what I have herein-
before termed an apron of leather or other suitable material, substantially in
manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Second, the employment just under and in front of the under lip of a metal
inclined plato and of an inclined grooved or corrugated shoot to which the
inclined plate leads, substantially in manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, One thousand eight