IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, BRUSH ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS, AND BROOMS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR THE SAME
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vital de Tivoli, of Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BRUSHES, BRUSH ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS, AND BROOMS, AND IN MACHINERY
FOR THE SAME." -A communication from abroad by Luigi Giacomini,
junior, of Treviso, in the Kingdom of Italy.
Sealed the 12th July 1872, and dated the 23rd January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vital de Tivoli at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd January 1872.
I, VITAL DE TIVOLI, of Brixton, in the County of Surrey, do hereby
3 declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, BRUSH ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS, AND BROOMS, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR THE SAME," to be as follows:-
According to this Invention, the bristles or fibres of which a brush or
other article is composed are compressed into tufts or bundles of the

page_text: required size in a species of clamp or mould, from which they are forced
into the holes made in the brush roller or stock for their reception,
wherein they are held only by the pressure caused by their natural
elasticity, or by the aid of glue also if necessary.
I will now describe the manufacture of a brush and the machinery
employed therein. The before-mentioned clamping or moulding device
is made in two halves, each consisting of a thick metal plate, one of
which is formed with a series of deep grooves on one surface and the
other with corresponding ribs which fit into the said grooves, but not
being so deep as the grooves a space is left in the clamp at the bottom
of each groove which form a series of holes or tubes through the clamp
when the two parts are pressed together.
In making a brush the grooves of the one plate are first filled with
bristles or fibres laid longitudinally therein, and the other half is fitted
thereto, and the two subjected to pressure whereby the bristles or fibres
are forcibly compressed into the spaces left at the bottoms of the
grooves. The press may be an ordinary hydraulic or screw press, but
the bed or table on which the clamp is placed is provided with an
inclined surface, that portion of the under side of the clamp being also
inclined or bevilled at the same angle, so that the pressure on the
clamp may be equal throughout. The two halves of the clamp or
mould are now bolted or locked together, and the projecting ends of the
bristles or fibres having been cut off flush with the clamp, the latter,
with the bristles or fibres still compressed therein, is then removed from
the press to a machine, whereby the bundles of fibres are forced out of
the clamp into a series of holes (corresponding in size and position to
those of the clamp) made in the back or stock of the brush.
•
This machine, which is a kind of punching press, consists of a
suitable frame in which works a follower provided with a row of short
.plungers corresponding to the holes in the clamp. The latter is securely
fixed at a short distance above the bed plate of the machine, the holes
in the clamp being directly in line with the holes in the brush stock
placed beneath, and with the plungers of the follower above, so that
when the latter is brought down the plungers will enter the holes in the
clamp and force out the bristles, each bundle into its proper hole in the
brush stock. The two parts of the clamp are now unlocked and removed
leaving the bristles firmly fixed in the stock. The clamp is then refilled

page_text: with bristles, which are compressed and fixed as before. In this way an
entire row is inserted at a time. The follower is operated. by screw shafts
geared together and driven by power.
In order to insert the bristles in holes which are not in a line with the
rest, as at the ends of the brush, for instance, a clamp is used having
but one groove, in which the bristles are compressed, as before, into a
tuft, which is inserted into the brush stock by means of a single
plunger working in a frame and operated by hand or foot through the
agency of a combination of levers and rods.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Vital de Tivoli in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VITAL
DE TIVOLI, of Brixton, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Vital de Tivoli, Her special
licence that I, the said Vital de Tivoli, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Vital de Tivoli, 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 THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF BRUSHES, BRUSH ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS, AND BROOMS, AND IN MACHINERY
FOR THE SAME, a communication to me from abroad by Luigi Giacomini,
junior, of Treviso, in the Kingdom of Italy, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Vital de Tivoli, 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
"

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Vital de Tivoli, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
According to this Invention, the bristles or fibres of which a brush or
other article is composed are compressed into tufts or bundles of the
required size in a species of clamp or mould, from which they are forced
into the holes made in the brush stock for their reception, wherein they
are held only by the pressure caused by their natural elasticity, or by the
aid of glue also if necessary.
I will now describe the manufacture of a brush and the machinery
employed therein, which I have represented in the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a top view of the device for com-
pressing the bristles or fibres into tufts of the required size; Figure 2
shows a similar view of the same with the parts separated to show their
construction; Figures 3 and 4 show front and side elevations of a press
resembling an ordinary screw press in its general construction, in which
the device shown in Figures 1 and 2 is placed after being filled with
fibres for compressing the latter into the desired tufts or bundles ;
Figure 5 is a part sectional and front elevation of a machine for fixing
the said tufts or bundles into the stock of the brush or other article;
Figure 6 is a transverse section of the same on line 1-1, Figure 5.
The device A, Figures 1 and 2, is made in two halves, a and b, each
consisting of a thick metal plate, one of which, a, is formed with a series
of deep transverse grooves a¹ on one face and the other 6 with corre-
sponding raised ribs 6', which fit accurately into the said grooves a¹.
The ribs however are not so deep as the grooves, so that when the two
parts are clamped together, as in Figure 1, a series of through holes or
tubes are formed in which the fibres are compressed into tufts or bundles
of the desired size and form, for which purpose the bottom of each
groove and the edge of each rib is rounded or otherwise shaped, as shown,
to form a hole corresponding in size and shape to the holes in the stock
or back of the brush.

page_text: In making a brush each groove a¹ is filled with an equal and sufficient
quantity of bristles or fibres to form a tuft, which, when compressed as
hereafter described, will be very compact and close, so that when forced
into the hole in the stock it will be firmly held.
The bristles or fibres are laid straight in the grooves, the length of
which and consequently the depth of the mould or clamp being rather
less than the length of the bristles or fibres. The other plate b is then
applied thereon, with its ribs b¹ placed so as to enter the grooves a¹.
The device is then subjected to considerable pressure in an ordinary
screw press, such as that shown in Figures 3 and 4, or in a hydraulic
press, whereby the bristles or fibres contained in the grooves are forcibly
compressed into the holes or spaces at bottom thereof. Whatever
description of press may be used for this purpose, its bed B, Figures 3
and 4, on which the device A, Figure 1, is placed, should be provided
with an inclined surface c to correspond to a similar incline c¹ on the
under side of the part a, which is inclined at the same angle as the
surface c of the bed B, so that the pressure may be equal in all the
grooves. After being compressed as above described, and before being
removed from the press, the two halves a, b, are bolted or locked together
by two bolts d passed through holes therein and firmly secured by
keys d'. The device or mould A may now be removed from the press,
and the projecting ends of the bristles or fibres which are still compressed
therein may be cut off flush with the edges of the mould or clamp,
which is then to be placed in the machine shown in Figures 5 and 6, in
which it is fixed at a suitable distance above the bed of the machine.
For this purpose the part a is provided with curved lugs e at the ends, to
embrace two posts frigidly fixed to the bed C of the machine, against
which posts the mould is firmly fixed by the pressure of a clamping
screw g, working through a screw socket or bearing fixed to the
bed C.
Beneath the mould A is placed the stock in which the bristles are to
be fixed, holes having been previously made in the usual manner in the
said stock to receive the bristles, and a series of which holes are placed
so as to coincide exactly with the holes in the mould A, said stock
being held firmly in position by the aid of screw g².

page_text: uprights D supporting the cross head E; F is a follower working up
and down between the posts D, and provided with a series of short
pins or plungers h exactly corresponding in diameter, shape, and
position to the holes in the clamp A. The follower is operated by screw
shafts G, G, working into corresponding screw sockets fitted in the
follower, and mounted in the press head E, as shown, both being operated
at the same time and speed from a single driving shaft H, carrying a
pinion H' placed intermediate of and gearing with spur wheels G¹ on
each shaft G.
When the follower F is brought down its plungers will enter the
holes in the clamp A and force out the bristles, each bundle or tuft into
its proper hole in the brush stock placed beneath. The two parts a, b,
may now be unlocked and removed, leaving the bristles firmly fixed in
the stock. If necessary glue may have been placed in the holes before
the insertion of the bristles. The clamp may then be refilled with
bristles, which are compressed and fixed in as before. In this way an
entire row is inserted and fixed at a time.
In order to insert the bristles in holes which are not in a line with tho
rest, as at the ends of the brush for instance, or for fixing them in the
core of a cylindrical brush, and generally for all brushes whose bristles
exceed 2 inches in length, I employ a clamp or mould having but one
groove, in which the bristles are compressed into a tuft as before.
Figure 7 shows a front elevation, and Figure 8 a cross section of a
press for compressing such a clamp, two of which are shown fitted
therein.
The mould or clamp consists of two parts, a and b, as before, except
that a has but one groove and 6 one rib fitting therein, as shown. The
half a having been supplied with bristles, it is fitted into a corresponding
recess or socket i in the bed of the press, and the part 6 having been
adjusted therein, the press is brought down until they are forced close
together. One clamp may be placed centrally in the press, or two.
placed one on either side may be compressed at once. When the two
halves are pressed closely together, as shown in Figure 7, a key k is
passed through both at each end, after which it is released from the press
and the ends of the bristles cut off flush as before, the tuft of fibres or
bristles contained therein being forced out into the stock to receive it
by the aid of a machine somewhat similar in its action to an ordinary

page_text: mortising machine, represented in side and front elevation, Figures 9
and 10. h is a single plunger similar to those before described in
reference to Figures 5 and 6. It is fixed to a sliding rod 7 mounted
vertically in bearings and operated through the agency of levers m and
connecting rods n from a treadle o or a hand lever suitably disposed;
p is a table on which the wooden stock or cylinder of the flat or
cylindrical brush is placed. The clamp containing the bristles is super-
posed thereon so as to coincide with one of the holes therein, and with
the plunger h, which is then brought down and forces the tuft of bristles
into the stock, after which the clamp can be detached and refilled with
bristles to be compressed and fixed as before.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the Inven-
tion to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,—
1st. The manufacture of brushes, brush rollers or cylinders, and
brooms, by compressing the bristles or fibres of which they are composed
into a tuft or tufts in a clamp or mould, and inserting the same in a
straight or unbent form into the stock of the brush or cylinder, substan-
tially in the manner herein-before described.
2ndly. I claim the construction and use of the mould or clamping
device A in combination with a suitable press for compressing the
bristles or fibres therein to form tufts or bundles, substantially as hercin-
before described and shown in the Drawings.
3rdly. I claim the construction and use of the machine shown in
Figures 5 and 6 in combination with the aforesaid clamping device for
expelling the compressed tufts of bristles therefrom, and inserting
several of them at a time in their respective holes in the stock of
the brush, substantially as herein-before set forth and shown in the
Drawings.
4thly. I also claim the construction and use of the clamping or
moulding device, shown in Figures 7 and 8, for compressing a single tuft
of bristles at a time in combination with any suitable means of com-
pressing the same.
5thly. I claim the use in combination with the last-mentioned
clamping or moulding device and the means of compressing a tuft

page_text: of bristles therein of the machine shown in Figures 9 and 10, substan-
tially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Vital de Tivoli, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 5
two.
V. DE TIVOLI. (L.S.)