IMPROVEMENTS IN CLIPS OR SHEARS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Smith, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CLIPS OR SHEARS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS,
WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."-A communication
from abroad by Auguste Lengelée, Leon Bouttier, and Charles
Vincent, all of 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France.
Sealed the 12th August 1870, and dated the 21st February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas James Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
on the 21st February 1870.
I, THOMAS JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and
Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CLIPS OR SHEARS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS,
WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is an improved instrument or machine
for shearing or clipping horses and other animals, and in general for
cutting all kinds of hair, bristles, and filaments. The instrument is

page_text: composed of a hollowed out plate formed at one end in the shape of a
sector and provided with teeth in order to permit the hair or other
material to be cut to pass. This plate is held by a fixed handle the stem
of which is rivetted to the plate in order to form the fixed portion of the
instrument. The other part which is movable pivots through a socket
upon a pin screwed into the plate. The socket is maintained upon-the
pin which serves it for an axle by a screw nut provided with ears. This
socket forms one piece with the movable branch of the plate which is
curved in shape and terminates in a handle, its opposite extremity
terminates in a sort of fork, the branches of which are traversed by
pressing screws which press the movable edges against the fixed plate
toothed into edges. To-cach-branch-or-cutter-of-the-fork.a_trident_form_
is given and the teeth of these tridents are pointed and bevil shaped,
and each of them is terminated at the other end by a tail piece arranged
to fit in a cavity made for the purpose in the movable branch at a place
where the latter is slightly thicker than elsewhere. Each trident is there-
fore held on the one side by its tail piece and on the other by its pressing
screw, and the tool or trident has thus a spring action. Or another
form of tool with a simple edge may be used. This tool is composed of
a lengthened tooth the forward portion of which is thicker than the
other, it is beyil cut at each side, its other end is terminated by a tail
piece like the tridents and is like them held in place by a pressing screw,
several of the edges are employed. The course of the movable branch
is limited by stops formed upon the plate at each side and a little in
front of the socket. The under side of the plate is made very even so
as to present no irregularities and to permit the easy application of the
instrument upon the part to be sheared or clipped. The thickness of
this plate is also so regulated as to clip the hair at the desired length only.
In using the instrument the operator proceeds as follows:-He holds
the instrument by the fixed handle and applies it flat upon the animal
to be clipped or shorn, and he actuates the movable branch with a rotary
to-and-fro motion which causes the clipping tool to oscillate and slido
over the edges upon the plate toothed in sector form. The tool thus
forms shears which cut the hair or bristles which present themselves
between the teeth,
The chief advantages of this instrument are the following:-The
freedom from all gearing, the cutting being caused by the oscillating
movement of the movable handle; the employment of several inde-

page_text: pendent cutting edges, and the readiness with which the latter may be
removed for their sharpening and afterwards put in place.
This instrument is not only applicable for clipping or shearing animals,
but may be used for other purposes, such for example, as in the manu-
facture of carpets, velvet, and other fabrics, in order to dress or clip
them regularly and rapidly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas James Smith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company,
of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in tho
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas James Smith, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas James Smith, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas James
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLIPS OR SHEARS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HORSES
AND OTHER ANIMALS, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," (com-
municated to me from abroad by Auguste Lengelée, Léon Bouttier,
and Charles Vincent, all of 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas James
Smith, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas James Smith, 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, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The other
The object of this Invention is an improved instrument or. machine
for shearing or clipping horses and other animals, and in general for
cutting all kinds of hair, bristles, and filaments, upon all kinds of surfaces.
The construction of this instrument will be readily understood on
reference to the annexed Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a plan view,
while Figure 2 is a side view, and Figure 3 a bottom view of the blade
carrier; Figure 4-is-a-lateral-sectional_view of the cone upon which
the blades act. The instrument is composed of a hollowed out plate a,
formed at one end into the shape of a sector, and provided with teeth
in order to permit the hair or other material to be cut to pass. This
plate is held by a fixed handle c, the stem of which is rivetted to the
plate in order to form the fixed portion of the instrument.
part which is movable pivots through a socket d upon a pin screwed
into the plate. The socket d is maintained upon the pin which serves
it for an axle by a screw nut c. This socket & forms one piece with
the movable branch of the plate, which is curved in shape and
terminates in a handle g, its opposite extremity terminates in a sort of
fork, the branches of which are traversed by pressing screws h, h, which
press the movable edges against the fixed plate toothed into edges.
The comb b is hollowed out, and its teeth are bevilled in order to easily
engage into the coat of the animal to be clipped. The blade carrier f
should be of exactly the form shown at Figure 1, in order to possess
great strength. The arms of these blade carriers are provided under-
neath with notches or grooves in which the blades n, n, are placed,
(see Figures 5 and 6). In Figure 5 one of the blades is seen from above,
and in Figure 6 below, with its hollowing out o. This arrangement of
free blades in grooves underneath the arms of the blade carriers permits
of a very easy mounting and dismounting at the same time that the
pressure screws h, h, regulate with great precision the position of the
blades and make them form a spring against the comb a. The blade
carriers and the comb are preferably of malleable iron, but they may
be made of any other suitable material. The course of the movable
branch is limited by stops h, k, formed upon the plate a at each side,
and a little in front of the socket d. The under side of the plate is made

page_text: very even so as to present no inequalities, and to permit the easy
application of the instrument upon the part to be sheared or clipped.
The thickness of this plate a is also so regulated as to clip the hair at
the desired length only.
In using the instrument the operator proceeds as follows:-He holds
the instrument by the fixed handle c and applies it flat upon the animal
to be clipped or shorn, and he actuates the movable branch with a rotary
to-and-fro motion which causes the clipping tool to oscillate and slid
over the edges upon the plate toothed in sector form. The tool thus
forms shears which cut the hair or bristles which present themselves
between the teeth.
The chief advantages of this instrument are the following:-The
freedom from all gearing, the cutting being caused by the oscillating
movement of the movable handle; the employment of several inde-
pendent cutting edges, and the readiness with which the latter may be
removed for their sharpening and afterwards put in place. This
instrument is not only applicable for clipping or shearing animals, but
may be used for other purposes, such for example as in the manufacture
of carpets, velvet, and other fabrics, in order to dress or clip them
regularly and rapidly.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. The construction and arrangement, substantially as herein-
before described and shewn with reference to the annexed Drawings, of
the improved clips or shears for clipping or shearing animals, and for
other purposes.
Secondly. The arrangement of the blade carriers f in the form of a
forked lever with two arms for receiving two or more movable edges,
substantially as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Smith, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.