IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas- William Condron and Richard Condron,
of Bingfield Street, Islington, Brush Manufacturers, and George Rayner
Hartshorne of Huntingdon Street Draughtsman all in the County of
Sealed the 4th November 1864, and dated the 10th May. 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William Condron,
Richard Condron, and George Rayner Hartshorne at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 10th May 1864.
We, THOMAS WILLIAM CONDRON and RICHARD CONDRON, of Bingfield
Street, Islington, Brush Manufacturers,, and GEORGE RAYNER. HARTSHORNE,.
of Huntingdon Street, Draughtsman, all in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the application of vulcanized india-rubber,
or the article commonly known as vulcanite, as, a material well suited to
supply a defect hitherto experienced in obtaining a flexible and elastic
front and back to brushes of various kinds, such as hair brushes, nail
brushes, tooth brushes, and any other kind of brush where flexibility and
elasticity is desirable. Such brushes we make in the following manner :-
For the fronts, i. e., that portion of the brush holding the materials forming
the frictional face of the brush; we take sheet india-rubber; or the material

page_text: commonly called vulcanite, of a suitable thickness, and having cut it to the
required form drill or bore the holes therein either through or partly through,
or punch or press them through, either of a circular, oval, polygonal, or other
required form, and at a suitable angle for the reception of the materials
forming the frictional face of the brush; or we have them moulded, pressed, or
cast of the required form, and make the holes in them as before described; or
we have them made in a mould with studs or pins set therein at a convenient
angle to produce corresponding holes in the vulcanite so moulded. Such pins
may be of a cylindrical or other form, and made of such lengths as to produce
boles either quite through or partly through the brush fronts. We fill the
holes in the fronts with hair, bristles, whalebone, cane, wire, or any of the
various kinds of fibres usually used in forming the frictional face of the par-
ticular kind of brush to be produced; these materials we either draw in with
wire, string, or thread, or set them in the holes with any of the solutions of the
elastic gums or other kinds of cements, as is well known.
For the backs, i. e., that portion of the brush covering the opposite side of
the front to that which shews the frictional face, we take india-rubber, or the
material called vulcanite, as in the case of the fronts, and make them of such
form and thickness as may be best suited to each particular kind of brush. It
being desirable to have some brushes very flexible and elastic we make the
backs as thin as convenient, and where greater firmness is required we make
them thicker, or we make them rounded or arched and hollow, or cellular, or
ribbed, or place a core of cane or canes in them to produce a partial rigidity;
some we make with a strap or straps across the back at a suitable angle to the
sides of the brush for passing, the hand or fingers under, or we make the back
hollow, with an opening for the introduction of the hand between the upper and
lower surfaces, so that the entire brush may be bent in the hand and used after
the manner of a bath glove; to some we attach a handle of any suitable material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas William Condron, Richard Condron, and George
Rayner Hartshorne in, the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
November 1864.
:
TO. ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
WILLIAM CONDRON and RICHARD CONDRON, of Bingfield Street, Islington,,
Brush Manufacturers and GEORGE RAYNER HARTSHORNE, of Huntingdon
Street,: Draughtsman; all in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by, Her Letters
Patent, bearing date; the Tenth day of May; 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 us,
the said Thomas William,; Condron; Richard Condron, and George Rayner
Hartshorne, Her special licence that we, the said Thomas William Condron,'
Richard Condron, and George Rayner Hartshorne, our executors, adminis-,
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas William Condron,
Richard Condron, and George Rayner Hartshorne, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES,":
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas William;
Condron, Richard Condron, and George Rayner Hartshorne, our executors:
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said Thomas William Condron, Richard;
Condron, and George Rayner Hartshorne, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be;
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that
is to say):-
This Invention consists in the application of vulcanized india-rubber, or
any of the compounds commonly known as vulcanized india-rubber, for the:
purpose of obtaining a flexible and elastic front and back or stock to brushes,
of various kinds, such as hair brushes, nail brushes, tooth brushes, shaving:
brushes, clothes brushes, hat brushes, bath brushes, flesh brushes, scrubbing.
brushes, shoe brushes, boot-top brushes, furniture brushes, plate brushes,
dairy brushes, dish brushes, water brushes, spoke brushes, carriage brushes,"
Chorse brushes, mane brushes, dandy brushes, harness brushes, metal polishing:
brushes, type brushes, wheel brushes, brushes for carding engines, paper
enamelling brushes, and others for manufacturing purposes, and any other:
kind of brushes. where flexibility is desirable. Such brushes we make in the,
following manner:

page_text: First, as regards the fronts, or that portion of the brush holding the
materials forming the frictional face of the brush, we take sheet vulcanized
india-rubber, or any of the compounds commonly called vulcanized india-
rubber, of a suitable thickness and flexibility, and of a quality possessing the
required degree of flexibility for the particular kind of brush to be produced.
The rubber may either be of one quality throughout or in combination with
cloth, or of two or more degrees of flexibility united in the process of manu-
facture, and known by the appellation of "junction," and having cut it to the
required form, we drill or bore the holes therein either through or partly
through, or punch or press them through with punches having a circular,
oval, or polygonal transverse section, and at a suitable angle for the reception
of the materials forming the frictional face of the brush; or we have them
moulded, pressed, or cast of the required form, and make the holes in them'
as before described; or we have them made in moulds with studs or pins set
therein at a convenient angle to produce corresponding holes in the vulcanized
india-rubber so moulded. These pins may be either cylinders, cylindroids, or
prisms of any number of angles, or the frustum of a cone, or the frustum of
a pyramid of any number of sides, and made of such lengths as to produce
holes either through or partly through the brush fronts; or we make the pins
of such form as to produce the form of hole known in the trade as. "in and
through," whether circular, oval, or polygonal in transverse section. After
the fronts are made by either of these methods we fill the holes with hair,
bristles, whalebone, bass, whisk, cane, or any kind of fibre, which materials
we draw in with thread or wire, or set them in with any suitable solution of
the elastic gums or other cements.
Secondly, as regards the backs, or that portion of the brush covering the
opposite side of the fronts to that which shews the frictional face, we make
them of such form and thickness, and of such degree of flexibility as may be
best suited to each particular kind of brush to be produced. When it is:
desired to make the brushes very flexible and elastic we make the backs as
thin as convenient, and where greater firmness is required we make them
thicker, or of a less degree of flexibility, or we make them rounded, or arched
and hollow, or cellular, or ribbed, or place a core of cane or canes or wood in
them to produce a partial rigidity; some we make with a strap or straps
across the back at a suitable angle to the sides of the brush for passing the
hand or fingers under; these straps, if made of the vulcanized india-rubber,
may be made without detriment to them: with a hole at each end of the strap
close to its junction with the sides of the brusb, so that a handle may be
slipped through, and be secured by the india-rubber collapsing round a notched

page_text: or dovetailed end to that portion of the handle which is through the holes ;
this handle may be of hard vulcanized india-rubber, or vulcanite, or ebonite,
or wood, ivory, bone, or other suitable rigid material; this handle being easily
removed, the brush may be used either with or without it as may be desirable
at the time of use. In some we make the back hollow, with an opening for
the introduction of the hand between the upper and lower surfaces, so that
the entire brush may be bent in the hand, and be used after the manner of
a bath glove. These various kinds of backs are attached to the fronts either
by a suitable solution of any of the elastic gums.or other kinds of cements, or
by stitching, or by pins, rivets, screws, or any other suitable means. Some
brushes we make without a covered back, and to prevent an unsightly appear-
ance on the back part when filled with the frictional materials, we make the
back part grooved or reeded either in concentric or parallel lines, the wire or
thread used for drawing in the frictional materials laying in the grooves or
between the reeds presenting a line of stitches, which adds to the appearance
of the back part of the brush; these brushes when desired
I may be made with
straps and handles as before described.
Tooth brushes, curl brushes, nail brushes, and some others are best made
in a mould, having studs or pins set therein, as before described, in one half,
but of such projection as not to touch the other half of the mould, so that a
core may be placed between the pins and the back, by which means a tube,"
closed at one end or not, as may be desired, and having the holes for the
reception of the frictional materials, is produced, and after having filled these
holes with hair, bristles, or suitable fibres, a handle is slipped into the hole left
by the core placed in the mould, and secured by a dovetailed notch at the end,
or by a few stitches through the tube and the handle, which may be of hard
vulcanized india-rubber, or vulcanite, or ebonite, or of ivory, bone, wood, or
other suitable rigid material; or we make them with parallel reeds or grooves
on the back part, which together with the front is of soft vulcanized india-
rubber, with a handle of hard vulcanized india-rubber or vulcanite between
them; these are made in a mould with pins set therein, as stated in the
description of the brushes made without a covered back.
The advantages to be derived from this Invention are in respect to those
kinds of brushes which are required to be very flexible, are made at the same
time elastic, and much more durable, and that the entire brush may be bent
in the hand, and so more thoroughly brush any prominence or depression with
which it may be brought in contact; secondly, that in all kinds of brushes the
vulcanized india-rubber giving a hold to the materials forming the frictional
face which is firm, and at the same time yielding at the edge of the hole, they

page_text: are not liable to be broken off by working against the edge, as they do in the
ordinary wooden, ivory, bone, or other hard-fronted: brushes; thirdly, that
being impervious to water, they do not decay as the ordinary brushes do which
are used in liquids.
It will be seen that we do not confine ourselves to. any.particular kind or
form of brush front, or any particular form or shape of holé, or any particular
shape or kind of back, nor do we confine ourselves to any particular quality
of vulcanized india-rubber; but what we claim to be new, and as of our.
Invention is, the application of vulcanized india-rubber, or the 'compounds
commonly called vulcanized india-rubber, as a material which is well adapted
to the manufacture of flexible and elastic brush fronts and backs, possessing
the qualities and advantages before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas William Condron, Richard
Condron; and George Rayner Hartshorne, have hereunto set our
hands and seals, this Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.