IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING BRUSHES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Edward Fuller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd October 1869.-A communication from abroad by William
Alexander Foskett and Henry Butler Tyler, both of the City
of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, United States of
America.
I, CHARLES EDWARD FULLER, of No. 1, Sambrook Court, Basinghall
Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING BRUSHES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in machines for
manufacturing brushes, and relates to machinery for applying bundles
of bristles to the backs of brushes which have previously been bored
with holes to receive the bristles. For this purpose the punch which
is to force each bundle of bristles into a hole in the back is held in a
head and is operated in the usual manner by a cam roller or crank pin
carried by the driving shaft. In this head upon the punch above and
below the crank pin or cam roller which drives the same two steel

page_text: blocks or cams are placed. Each block is provided with two inclines.
The object of these inclines is to give a greater or less stroke to the
punch; this is done by changing the said blocks, making the angles
of the said inclines more or less acute, as the case may require. In
the lower portion of the head a former is placed, over which the wire
is bent in its proper shape by the descending of the jaws of the punch;
this former slides back and forth in bearings formed in the head, and
is operated by a lever which in turn is operated by a cam upon the
main shaft revolving in the said head. The former is made entirely
separate from its driving lever in order that it may at any time be taken
from the head and repaired or replaced by a new one without disturbing
the driving lever. The wire is fed into the machine by means of two
feed rolls, to which a continuous revolving motion is imparted, and
in order that these rolls may be intermittent in their action upon the
shaft of one of them a cam is placed; this cam operates on a smooth
roll upon the opposite feed roll shaft. When the cam does not bear upon
the smooth roll the feed rolls are together and the wire is carried forward,
but when the said cam forms a bearing upon the said roll the two
feed rolls are immediately forced apart, and..the wire being thus released
remains without being fed. Although the feed rolls continue to revolve
the said wire remains thus stationary until the cam has ceased to operate
upon the smooth roll, when the feed rolls are again thrown together
by the action of a spring (which operates upon, the shaft upon which
the cam is placed) and the feeding of the wire is resumed. The cam is
made variable or changeable in order that the length of the feed of
wire may be regulated as desired, as it will at once be seen that the
shorter, the bearing surface of the cam the longer the feed rolls will be
together, consequently more wire will be fed at one revolution, and
the length of the wire fed at one revolution will be diminished in the
same proportion as the bearing surface of the cam is enlarged. Just
in rear of the head and forming bearings in the frame of the wire feed
a slide is placed; the lower portion of this slide is made tapering, and
the whole is operated by a cam upon the feed roll shaft; this pointed
slide is for the purpose of dividing the bristles off into bunches of the
proper size for one insertion. Held in semicircular bearings and placed
below the head is a rocking table; the object of this table is to hold
the block either perpendicular or at an angle with the punch; the
semicircular bearings of the table rest in a slide by which the said
table can be elevated or depressed in order to conform to the thickness

page_text: of the block used, and it is operated by means of a screw and hand wheel.
In the centre of the said rocking table and projecting a short distance
through the same a centre pin is placed which acts as a guide to the
block and keeps it always in the proper position upon the table; this said
pin may be raised or lowered if necessary by means of a screw and hand
wheel. In making certain kinds of brushes, particularly those made oval
in form, it is necessary to bore the holes and place the bristles in the block
at different angles, each row having its own particular angle with the
back of the block. To obtain these angles the rocking table is used
as before described. In order however to obtain the exact angle required
the said rocking table is furnished with an indexial plate, and to hold
the said table at any given point upon the said index a pin acted
upon by a spring is employed to hold the arm and table firmly in any
position or at any angle where they must be placed; the bristles
are carried forward under the punch by a slide and a pair of fingers
actuated by cams; the said cams are placed upon the main shaft for
the purpose of making the machine more compact. The bristle feed
in the machinc is similar in construction to that which is now used
but its position in connection with the machine is very different in the
improvement; the feed is carried through the machine and the bristles
are taken from the rear; the placing of the feed in this position renders
it more out of the way and also more easily operated; the slide above
mentioned is placed upon the frame of the bristle feed and is operated
by means of a lever acted upon by a cam'; upon the under side of this
slide the fingers are fastened; upon the upper side of the said slide
another smaller slide is placed; upon the under side of the smaller slide
are two angular slots into which the pins upon the fingers are fitted;
this causes the slots in the said smaller slide to act as a cam upon the
said pins and throw the fingers apart. After the smaller slide has been
carried forward sufficiently to throw the fingers outward to their proper
position it comes in contact with the larger slide below it, which with
the fingers thereto attached is carried forward until it has performed
its function. In the frame of the layer slide an inclined slot or cam
is placed, which is provided with a pin which extends horizontally from
the said slot and back of the smaller slide. When the said slide is
forced forward the object of this is to keep the fingers apart for a
certain distance as the layer slide recedes. There is also another slide
operated by another cam between projections upon this slide and the
fingers. The bristles are grasped and carried forward and under the

page_text: punch. In almost all cases, and especially where assorted bristles are
used, there will be a difference in thickness between the two ends of the
bunch, thus causing one of the fingers to pinch the bristles while the
other does not; to avoid this and cause both ends of the bunch
of bristles to be pinched equally hard a cam is placed in the last-
mentioned slide in such a position that by turning it will take up any
deficiency between the projections upon the slide and the finger that
may be caused by the difference in the thickness between the ends of
the bristles. A plate of the requisite width is also placed midway
between the chains of the bristle feed motion, elevated a little above
and extending forward and beyond the same; the object of this plate
is to prevent any of the bristles from falling upon the table while
being taken from the bristle feed by the fingers.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-After the machine has
been set in motion the bristles are brought forward by the operation
of the bristle feed; a certain number sufficient for one insertion arc
allowed to pass forward on to the plate just mentioned, when the divider
falls and separates the bunch from the mass of bristles upon the feed ;
immediately the fingers are forced apart and brought forward by the
action of the cam; these said fingers press the two ends of the bunch
(which has been separated in the manner before described) against the
two projections upon the slide previously mentioned, which is to aid
in holding the bristles, or against one projection, and the cam placed in
the other for the purpose of enlarging the said projection and taking
up any deficiency between it and the fingers occasioned by the difference
in thickness between the two ends of the bunch; when the bristles
have been thus grasped the fingers continue to advance, and the slide
is also carried forward by the action of the cam which operates it; the
bunch of bristles is in this way passed under the punch and held until
it is operated upon by the same, after which the fingers and slide recede;
the divider is drawn up and the fingers in receding are held apart for
the first part of their journey; when released they are immediately
drawn together and carried back to their original position. As the
wire is fed into the machine it is carried over the former, and as the
punch descends the wire is bent over the said former; after the wire
has been thus bent the former slides back and away from the wire;
the said wire is then carried downward by the jaws and punch, and
into the block. Upon the under side of the block a guide or template

page_text: may be placed with depressions in its lower surface; these depressions
exactly correspond with the holes bored in the block for the reception
of the bristles. When the machine is in operation one of these depressions
is placed over the centre pin before mentioned which brings the hole
in the block directly under the punch. After the jaws and punch have
placed the bunch of bristles into the block and have receded the block
and guide is moved along until the next depression in the guide comes
over the centre pin, bringing the next hole in the block under the
punch; this hole is filled with bristles by the punch and the block is
passed on to the next, and so on till the whole block is filled. By
this means I am enabled to fill a block of any length, and are not
restricted (as in other machines for the manufacture of brushes) to any
given size of block.