IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBS AND BRUSHES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Douglas, of Nos. 21 and 23, New Bond
Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMBS AND BRUSHES."
Sealed the 21st June 1864, and dated the 30th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Douglas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
March 1864.
I, ROBERT DOUGLAS, of Nos. 21 and 23, New Bond Street, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMBS AND BRUSHES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in combs and brushes. In
constructing a comb according to this Invention the back is formed hollow or
tubular, the teeth being so fixed or applied to such back as to be capable of
being removed therefrom. Within the tubular or hollow back or handle there
is a self-acting moveable piston, which is pressed on by a spring at the back.
To the hollow or tubular back or handle of the comb there are one or more
outlets, through which any semifluid matter contained in the hollow back or
handle will be forced out by the movement of the self-acting piston, when the
said piston is released, and a valve or valves which covers the outlet passage
or passages is or are moved away. The valves used for these purposes have
springs, so that they close when not purposely held open by the user of the comb.

page_text: In like manner may the backs and handles of shaving brushes, and also hair
and other brushes, be made hollow, and have self-acting spring pistons and
self-acting valves applied thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Douglas in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th September 1864.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
DOUGLAS, of Nos. 21 and 23, New Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Douglas, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Douglas, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Douglas, 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 COMBS AND
BRUSHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Douglas, 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 Robert Douglas, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in combs and brushes. In
constructing a comb according to this Invention the back is formed hollow or
tubular, the teeth being so fixed or applied to such back as to be capable of
being removed therefrom. Within the tubular or hollow back or handle there
is a self-acting moveable piston, which is pressed on by a spring at the back.

page_text: To the hollow or tubular back or handle of the comb there are one or more
outlets, through which any semifluid matter contained in the hollow back or
handle will be forced out by the movement of the self-acting piston; when the
said piston is released a valve or valves which covers the outlet passage or
passages is or are moved away. The valves used for these purposes have
springs, so that they close when not purposely held open by the user of the
comb. In like manner may the backs and handles of shaving brushes, and
also hair and other brushes, be made hollow, and have self-acting spring pistons
and self-acting valves applied thereto..
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto

page_text: end of the plate i, this spring is overcome, and the plate i pivots on its centre,
bringing the hole in it coincident with the passages through the screw
cover h, and the disc &, and parts thereon, and then any liquid or semiliquid,
lubricating, or other matter which the hollow handle 6 may contain is free to
flow out and along the conduit a³ and passage a¹ to the hair of the person!
using the comb. To urge the lubricating or other matter forward in this
direction a piston m is fitted within the tube b; it is mounted on the end of
another tube n sliding within the tube b, and a spiral spring o enclosed within
the tube n, as is shown, tends to press the piston m forward. The piston may,
however, be held back when required, as in filling the apparatus by means of
a stud p fixed in the tube n, and traversing in a slot in the tube b; by drawing
back the stud p, and turning it into a notch at the side of the slot, the piston
is securely held back, and then the front cap may be screwed off, and the
cavity at the end of the tube 6 refilled.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 6 is an end view of the
apparatus above described, with the comb a and split tube f removed.
Figure 7 is a side view, partly in section, of a shaving brush combined with
apparatus such as above described, for supplying it with shaving cream or like
material. The hairs of the brush, as will be seen, are fixed in a ring-like
holder, which adapts itself to the screw e of the apparatus, and the nozzle d
supplies the shaving cream or like material through the centre of the ring
holder.
Figure 8 is a plan, partly in section, of a hair brush similarly arranged;
the back of the brush is made with passages a¹ in it, which communicate with
a central conduit a³, which receives the lubricating or similar material from
the nozzle d.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Douglas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four...
ROBERT DOUGLAS.
ROBERT DOUGLAS
(..)