AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN ARTICLES IN WHICH BRISTLES HAVE BEEN OR ARE NOW USED
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
ROBERT RIGBY and CHARLES JOHN RIGBY, of No. 80, Gracechurch Street, in
the City of London, Brush Manufacturers and Co-partners, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent. under, the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of December, in the sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, givé and grant unto us, the
said Edward Robert Rigby and Charles John Rigby, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Edward Robert Rigby
and Charles John Rigby, our executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as we, the said Edward Robert Rigby and Charles John Rigby, our
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN ARTICLES
IN WHICH BRISTLES HAVE BEEN OR ARE NOW USED," being a communication from a
foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging us, the said Edward Robert Rigby and Charles John Rigby, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six-
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Edward Robert Rigby and Charles John Rigby, do hereby declare that the
nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, is particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
"6
The nature of the said Invention of An Improvement or Improvements in
the Manufacture of Certain Articles in which Bristles have been or are now
Used," consists in the employment or use of the substance or material herein-
after described instead of and in substitution for bristles, in the manufacture of
those brushes in which bristles have been or now used. The material so to be
used instead of bristles is to be from the hard or firm or horny part of birds'
strong feathers or quills. The quills or feathers commonly used, or which are
adapted for making pens, are proper to furnish the said material. Any strong
feathers taken from any description of birds may be also used, provided they
be of sufficient strength and thickness to admit of their being cut or divided
into fibre as stout or large as that of the bristles usually employed in the
manufacture of brushes. The stout-winged feather, called firsts, seconds, and
thirds, taken from the wing of a common fowl, yields a fibre strong enough for
many purposes; but those from the wings of geese or turkeys, or other similar
large birds, yield a fibre sufficiently stout and strong for any of the purposes
for which bristles are ordinarily used. The residue of the quill which has
been used for a pen furnishes the material proper for the purpose.
. We proceed now to explain the process of manufacture, by which the
material is prepared and adapted to be used for or instead of bristles in
brushes. We begin with the preparatory hand work. The quill, or feather,
or pen, (having the feathery part previously stripped off,) is divided into two
parts by inserting a knife in one of the soft sides of the shaft somewhere
about the middle of its length, taking care to force it through and cutting first
upwards and then downwards. We have thus the quill, or feather, or pen in two
flat pieces. The next object is carefully to clear away the soft pithy substance
(which is of no service, but only detrimental to our purpose,) and to leave a
nearly flat transparent substance, of a somewhat horny appearance, to be
further cut or divided into fibre. With this view, the quills, or feathers, or
pens (divided as aforesaid) are placed in a vessel and boiled in water for a
short time, just long enough to render them very soft, and to reduce the pithy
substance to about the consistency of a pulp; the pithy substance and all other
objectionable matter may now be readily cleared away. This may be done by
the use of a kind of scraper, known by the name of a "plumber's shave," by

page_text: which the principal part of the pithy substance may be scraped away, and then
with a piece of wood or other rough surface the smaller particles which still
adhere may be rubbed off. This clearing, be it observed, should be done
while the material retains the moisture and heat from boiling in water. When
thoroughly cleansed, and rendered bright and smooth on each side, and while
still damp, these strips, or divided quills, or feathers, or pens are to be passed
by an attendant into the cutting machine to be further divided into fibre, which
machine we proceed now to describe, referring in illustration thereof to the
accompanying Drawing, with the several Figures therein and letters of reference
marked thereon, the same letters indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures. Fig. 1 is an end view, Fig. 2 a vertical section, and Fig. 3 a side
elevation of the machine. a, a, the ordinary framework or standards; b, b, a
pair of revolving steel dies or cutters, suitably mounted on axes at c, c, the
lower of which dies or cutters (it will be seen by reference to Fig. 1) may be
raised to the other by adjusting screws as they wear by use; these dies or
cutters are formed of discs of metal, deeply cut or engraved on the circum-
ference to any guage of groove, according to the size of fibre required to be
produced. d, d, are a pair of metal combs, fixed in such manner that their
teeth may fit into the grooves formed on the dies or cutters 6, for the
purpose of clearing them out as the material passes through them; the degree
of pressure of these combs against the dies is regulated by the adjusting
screws e, e. f. f, are a pair of hardened steel rollers pressing against the
projecting parts of the periphery of the dies or cutters b, so as to flatten these
projections, and thus keep the edges which come together in each die, and
effect the cut quite sharp; these rollers have a degree of elasticity in their
pressure, being mounted (as shewn) upon pieces of metal g, g, in the form of
springs; the pieces 9 are firmly screwed at one end to the stretchers h, h. i, i,
are a pair of toothed wheels, keyed on to the same axes or shafts with the
dies b, which wheels, by working into each other, cause the dies to move one
towards the other, and thus draw in the material as presented between them.
At Fig. 4 is shewn a detached portion of the dies b, on an enlarged scale, to
exhibit the mode of their coming together. It will be readily seen that on a
portion of our prepared material being presented to the dies or cutters b, and
motion being given to them by a strap and pulley from a revolving shaft, or in
any convenient way, by hand, horse, or steam power, the material will pass
through them and come out divided into fibre. It is important that it be
presented to the dies or cutters the small end foremost, and held during their
motion quite straight, in order to produce the greatest possible length of fibre.
It is necessary as the fibres are delivered from the machine to collect and place

page_text: and keep them straight until perfectly dry. This may be done by placing
them between two boards under slight pressure, and when dry they are ready
for use. The colour of this fibre depends upon that of the original quill or
feather; the white quill retains its colour all through the process of manufac-
ture. Where the colour of the fibre is not approved; it may be dyed to imitate
either the black bristles, or what is usually called the unbleached or yellow hair,
or bristles of any other colour, with the same material used for the dying of
bristles.
Fibres manufactured as before described may be employed instead of bristles
in all brushes where bristles are commonly used, either to the exclusion of
bristles or in combination with them, but they are less advantageously adapted
for those brushes where it is desirable that the bristles which are employed
should be tapered and pointed at their ends.
The method of fixing and using the fibres in making brushes: is the same as
when bristles are used. .
Lastly, we claim as the subject. of our Patent;-First, the use in the manu-
facture of brushes of fibres cut or divided from the hard, firm, or horny part
of feathers, or quills, or pens, instead of bristles, and whether used exclusively
or in combination with bristles."
Secondly, we claim the method of cutting or dividing and preparing the said
fibres, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Robert Rigby. and Charles
John Rigby, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-first
day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
forty-three.
EDWARD ROBERT (L.s.) RIGBY.
CHARLES JOHN (L.S.) RIGBY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-first day of
June, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Edward Robert Rigby and
Charles John Rigby came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all, and every thing therein
contained, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twenty-first day of June, in the year above written.