Improvements in Brush Making Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Nov., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 15th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brush Making Machines.
I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. & Wm. Clark,
of 53 Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to
me from abroad by the Bürsten and Pinsel Fabrik, Mez & Co., of Donaueschingen,
Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, Brush Manufacturers) to be as follows :-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for making brushes and
brooms in which the tuft of material is by means of known devices (vide German
Patent No. 22331) extracted from the feed hopper and brought by means of
carriers under a tuft driver or plunger by which the tuft is driven into the stock ;
and the present invention has for object to enable the material to be taken more
uniformly from the hopper, to be supplied in a more secure manner to the carriers
and brought under the tuft driver or plunger, and also to so construct the tuft
driver that it will drive the tuft of material into the stock and at the same time
fasten it therein.
For the purpose of uniformly consolidating the material at the point where it is
extracted from the feed hopper, the side walls of the hopper are caused to vibrate
in a well known manner and the dimensions of the hopper may be adjusted
according to the length of the bristles.
In the present invention, a hook and pushers enter the hopper the bottom of
which is covered for this purpose with a second bottom and, in combination with a
crank and a sheet or plate, they press the material firmly together at the end of
The hook is actuated
the hopper at the point where it is seized by the extractor.
by a cam on the cam shaft, and the pushers, which project through the double
bottom are pushed at the proper time into the material by another cam acting
through rods and levers. The plate forming one of the walls of the hopper is
notched for the passage of the hook and serves for holding back the material. It
is vibrated by another cam acting through rods and levers.
When the fibres are conveyed by the extractor over the round discs K K (see
Patent No. 22331) they are caused to lie under pivoted pressers which rest with
their lower ends on the discs K K. At the moment when the extractor delivers
the material to the carrier the pressers press the material firmly into the same and
a plate which is attached to the framing by a rod holds the material in the carrier
until the said material is brought under the tuft driver, is doubled and driven
down into the hole in the stock. The presser fulcrum is on the same support as
the pivot of the extractor hook. This support is fixed to one end of a bent lever
whose lower end is connected to a lever keyed on a rock shaft, actuated by
another cam.
In order that the tuft driver when driving in a tuft or bunch, shall not foul the
adjacent bunches that are already driven in, a path clearer is provided which at each
descent of the driver presses aside the adjacent bunches. For this purpose, the
path clearer must execute a movement laterally around the bunch that has just
been pushed in. For this purpose it is connected with a sliding rod which is shifted
longitudinally and rotated, the combination of the two movements producing the
movement required. The two movements are derived from cams on the cam shaft
through suitable levers and connections.
The tuft driver is sharpened like a knife at its lower end and is attached to a
sliding bar moved up and down by means of a crank. It is surrounded by a doubler
whose lower cheeks or jaws are flexible in relation to each other and which is
guided in a slot in the driver and is movable along the latter and is pressed down

page_text: by a spring. A pair of spring-pressed feed rollers geared together and driven by a
step by step ratchet propelment from a cam on the main shaft, push a steel wire
(that is fed in between them) forwards to a suitable extent through a guide groove
exactly above and across the bristles which lie in the carrier. A pair of nipping
jaws having cuts off the portion of wire situated over the bristles on the descent of
a thrust rod actuating the jaws through toggle levers whilst simultaneously there-
with the doubler scizes the said portion of wire and presses it, together with the
bristles, upon the stock, whilst the driver forces the piece of wire, together with the
fibres, into a hole of the stock. The piece of wire remains in the stock and retains
the fibres firmly therein.
Dated this 15th day of November 1890
A. MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brush-making Machines.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark,
of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to
me from abroad by the Bürsten and Pinsel Fabrik, Mez and Co., of Donaue-
schingen, Grand Duchy of Baden, Brush Manufacturers) and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for making brushes and
brooms of the class described in the Specification of a former Patent granted to
John George Horsey dated March 14th 1882, No. 1241, in which the tuft of
material is extracted from a feed hopper and brought under a tuft driver or plunger
by which the tuft is driven into the stock, and the present invention has for its
object to enable the material to be extracted more uniformly from the hopper, to
be supplied in a more reliable manner to the carriers and brought under the tuft
driver or plunger.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of this Specification,
Figure 1 is a plan (certain parts being omitted), Figure 2 is a vertical section,
and Figure 3 an end elevation, of the machine.
The remaining figures shew details of the machine.
The bristles or like material are placed in the hopper A A' and W and extracted
from it in tufts in the usual way at each stroke of the machine, the tufts being
delivered to the carrier which passes them on beneath the plunger Z.
The extractor, which forms no part of the invention, consists of a lever arin v
having a hook-shaped end fixed on the rock shaft Q and alternately grasps the
material at X in the hopper and delivers it to the carrier F. In order that the
tuft shall be firmly held by the hook, a pin u¹ is attached to the extractor which
springs forward and holds the tuft securely but is retracted when the extractor
delivers the material to the carrier F so that the material may be detained in the
carrier by the pressers ff. The extractor receives its oscillating motion from the
toothed wheel keyed on shaft Q and geared with a toothed quadrant P fixed on
shaft Po, the wheel and quadrant being only shewn in Figure 1. The shaft Po, and
consequently the extractor, is operated through a lever P', connecting rod P² and
lever P from a cam P.
The object of this invention is to effect a more uniform extraction of the material
which is transferred to the carrier and driven firmly into the holes of the wood, by
means of the tuft driving mechanism. The hopper (whose end plates are pivoted
at g to rods aa and receive a suitable vibrating movement) is provided with a front
plate W pivoted at W° (Figures 2 and 54) which at the instant of the withdrawal

page_text: of the extractor from the material is moved in the contrary direction thereto and
thus holds back any stray bristles displaced by the operation of the extractor.
This plate W receives its motion from the cam W upon shaft E by means of levers
and rod WW2 and W³, Figure 2. The bottom A. of the hopper is covered by a
second bottom A' moving with it, and below the second bottom the wiper is
keyed on the shaft Po, so that when the extractor enters the material this wiper k
presses against the bottom t. The material is at same time pressed downwards by
the presser finger e and from behind by the pushers S so that the material is con-
solidated at the point X where the extractor seizes the bristles and thus the
extractor at every stroke takes a full tuft. The pushers S which project through
slots in the double bottom are caused to enter the inaterial at the right time by the
lever s, rods, levers and cam on the cam shaft E. When the tuft is delivered
to the carrier it is situated exactly beneath the pressers ff which come down upon
and press it firmly into the carrier in which position it is securely retained, during
the forward movement of the carrier, by the plate B fixed to the frame by means
of rod B. The finger e and pressers are pivoted at e° and fo on an arm f' so that
they are above the extractor, this arm being carried by one arm of an elbow
lever pivoted loosely on the shaft Q and whose other arm is connected by a
rod h' to a lever h² fixed to a rock shaft carried by the frame and having another
lever arm (Figure 3) fixed to it which is acted on by a cam ³ upon the shaft E.
The finger e receives its peculiar motion by its slotted tail end being connected by
a rode to a lever e actuated by came on shaft. E.
In order that the tuft driver 2, when driving in a tuft which has been brought
above the opening Figure 1 by the carrier F, shall not foul the adjacent tufts
that are already driven in, a path-clearer m is provided which at each descent of
the tuft driver presses aside the adjacent tufts. In Figures 2 and 3, y indicates the
stock and in Figure 3. the path-clearer is shewn in dotted lines in the position it
occupies during the driving of a tuft. Figure 3ª is a section, immediately above
the stock, of the plunger and path-clearer and shews how the path-clearer holds
aside the driven tufts from the path of the plunger. The path-clearer m must
therefore execute a lateral movement around the tuft that has just been driven in.
For this purpose it is connected with a rock shaft m¹ which is shifted longitudinally
by lever V and rocked by lever D, the combination of the two movements producing
the movement required. The lever V is actuated by the lever V and cam V2 and
the lever D is actuated by the arrangement of levers D'D' D' D' and cam D³.
The tuft driver z consists of a square iron rod sharpened like a knife at its lower
end and is attached to a sliding bar Z moved up and down by means of a crank
disc R and connecting rod p. It is situated between the limbs of a spring nipper n
whose notched lever ends spring towards cach other and are guided in a slot n' in
the driver along which it is movable, being pressed down by a spring n² (Figure 4).
In the front part of the framing of the machine are mounted a pair of feed rollers bb
pressed together by a spring c and geared together by pinions c¹ The shaft º of
one roller carries a ratchet wheel that is caused to rotate at the proper moment
by means of the pawl lever d (Figure 5) rod and cam on the cam shaft
whereby the rollers are caused to push a steel wirej (that is fed in between them)
forwards to a suitable extent through a guide groove i exactly above and across the
bristles which lie in the carrier Fabove the guide hole 1. A pair of cutting jaws L
(Figures 6 and 7) pivoted at (Figure 1) cut off the portion of wire situated
over the bristles on the descent of a thrust rod L' actuating the jaws through
toggle-levers 1 and the abutments L, the rod L' being connected to one arm of
an elbow lever L' (Figure 3) mounted in the frame, whose other arm bears by
means of roller against the periphery of disc R having a cam R¹ (Figure 2)
which when it acts on the elbow lever depresses it and likewise the rod L¹ whereby
the piece of wire which has been fed forward is cut off and is at same time seized
by the nipper n which presses it together with the bristles upon the stock as shewn
in Figure 4. During the further downward movement of the tuft driver the nipper
remains stationary upon the stock whilst the tuft driver forces the piece of wire

page_text: together with the bristles into a hole of the stock. The piece of wire lies across
the doubled part of the bristles and remains fast in the stock in which it retains the
fibres firmly secured, as shewn in section and plan in Figure 4.
The machine is driven by a belt pulley on shaft E¹ from which shaft E receives
its motion by equal gear wheels N.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
An improved brush making machine, in which the material is taken from a
hopper by means of an extractor and brought by a carrier under the tuft driver,
consisting essentially of the following parts
1. The combined arrangement of the pusher S the presser finger e and the
wiper k for the purpose of pressing the material firmly together at the point where
the extractor enters so as to ensure uniformity of the tufts.
2. The detaining plate W.
3. The pressers which, in combination with the plate B, press the material
into the carrier and hold it in this position until it has arrived under the tuft
driver.
4. The path-clearer m which holds aside the inserted tufts out of the way of the
tuft-driver whilst inserting the succeeding tufts.
1001
A.
MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & Win. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.