IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HAIR FROM HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Courtois, of 2, Rue S". Appoline, Paris,
France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CLIPPING OR SHEARING HAIR FROM HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Courtois at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
28th September 1875.
I, CHARLES COURTOIS, of 2, Ruc S". Appoline, Paris, France, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING OR SHEARING HAIR FROM HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention, which relates to improvements on instruments or
apparatus employed to shear or clip the coats of horses or other animals,
consists according to one arrangement of a plate formed upon or
attached to one end of a fixed handle, by which the instrument is held
and guided while being operated. A second plate or blade is fixed, or
it may be made movable upon this base plate, which second plate or

page_text: blade has teeth or serrations formed in its outer edge. A third plate
or blade is superposed, provided with teeth or serrations similarly to tho
second plate or blade, and capable of being reciprocated thereon in such
a manner that the hairs engaged by the said teeth or serrations are cut
.or clipped. Motion is communicated to the uppermost or third plate |
or blade by means of a handle centred upon a stud rivetted to the base
plate, and projecting upwards through the second plate, and also through
a heel or projection formed upon the fixed handle. The movable handle
is extended past the stud, and is provided with a pin, which enters the
upper or third plate or blade, and is the means of its being reciprocated :
correspondingly with the movements of the free handle.
To prevent the upper plate from lifting or shifting guide studs are
provided fastened to the lower plates, and passing through oblong slots
formed in the upper plate or blade. Nuts are screwed upon the upper
ends of the said guide studs, and between the nuts and the plate washers;
are interposed.
In order to limit the travel of the upper plate a recess is formed in
its back part, the sides of which at the end of a stroke abut alternately
against the sides of the herein-before referred to heel or projection
formed upon the fixed handle; and to keep the teeth of the upper plate
or blade in contact with those of the lower or second flat or other springs
aro applied to elevate the back and depress the front part of the said
upper plate or blade.
The handles, by which the apparatus is held and actuated, that is to
say, the wooden handles at the ends by which they are caught, aro
usually surrounded by metal ferrules, which by the shrinkage of the
wood often come off and allow the handle to split. To prevent this, in
reducing the handle for the reception of the ferrule, I turn a recess at
the inner end of the check, and when the ferrule is driven on by means
of a suitable tool I depress the end of the ferrule so as to fill the turned
recess; the ferrule thus grips the root of the recess all round, and
cannot by any possibility come off.
To make this instrument so that all parts of the animal's coat may
be accessible thereto, and in such a manner that it may be actuated by
either the right or left hand, instead of centring the actuating handlo
upon a stud as herein-before described, I centre a double jaw upon such
a stud and secure the handle in the said jaw by a pin in such a manner

page_text: that it can be turned to one or the other side of the fixed handle, and
operated indifferently by the right or left hand, a stud projecting down-
wards from said swinging double jaw engages with the upper plate, and
causes it to be reciprocated correspondingly with the movements of the
jaw and reversiblo handle.
Another arrangement whereby the two toothed plates or blades are
caused to move simultaneously in opposite directions is effected by
keeping the bottom or base plate separate from both handles, and
centring the said handles upon a common centre or stud fixed in the
said base plate, or in a projection therefrom. At the joint the two
handles are "halved" together like a pair of tongs or the drawing
instrument known as dividers, and the shoulders formed upon the said
“halved" joint serve to limit the travel of the cropping blades or plates.
These are actuated by studs extending downwards (from tails or
extensions formed on the handles) and entering the said plates. One of
the studs enters and drives the top plate, the other passes through an
opening in the top plate and drives the lower or second; the teeth of
the two cropping plates or blades should in this case be different from
cach other.
To dispense with the employment of screws and nuts, which by
becoming loose and shaky cause rapid deterioration of the cutting parts,
I employ plain instead of screwed guiding studs, and in lieu of nuts
and washers to keep the upper plate or blade from lifting I arrange a
flat spring, which presses upon it, the pressure being intensified by a
pallet spring and washer applied at the stud whercon the moving handle
is centred. Instead of a nut and washer the said stud is formed with
an oblong head, the handle and pallet spring washer having a cutting
formed in them, the interior diameter being equal to the length of the
head of the stud, so that these parts can be expeditiously placed upon
the stud or removed therefrom to allow of the removal of blunt cropping
blades or plates and the substitution of others.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Courtois in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
COURTOIS, of 2, Rue St. Appolinc, Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Courtois, Her
special licence that I, the said Charles Courtois, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Courtois, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN Apparatus for Clipping or SheARING HAIR FROM HORSES OR OTHER
ANIMALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Courtois, 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 Charles Courtois, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 of reference marked thereon, that is to
say :-
My Invention consists in the application, as hereafter described, to
instruments for clipping or shearing hair from animals, of a plate or
base plate forming a part with or connected to a metal rod fixed in a
handle. Two holders are secured by rivets on the base plate and pass
through two knives having cutting edges; one (the first) knife in most

page_text: cases does not move on the base plate where it is placed, the second has
an alternate to-and-fro motion on the first. These two knives made of
steel (each may have a special motion) are first cut and then toothed,
and they each have a groove at the side opposite to the teeth to receive
a projection or stud formed on the base plate, and the motion is limited
by the studs which receive the shocks produced alternately, whereby the
studs do not receive any shocks and consequently do not come loose by
the working of the instrument.
The accompanying Drawings show several illustrations of how the
Invention may be carried into effect.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 is a side view of a clipping
machine made according to one arrangement of my Invention. It com-
prises a base plate a with projection a¹ united to or forming a portion
of a metal rod b inserted in the handle of wood c; and here I may
mention an important application. It is known that wood shrinks in
drying, whereby the ferrule c' often becomes detached; to avoid this I
form a groove or slit in the wood in the spot corresponding with the
base of the ferrule, and when the ferrule is placed in position on the
handle I compress the edge of the ferrule at c³ into the groove or slit,
whereby the ferrule is securely fixed to the handle.
The first comb & having cutting teeth is formed with two apertures
for the passage of two holders or studs e rivetted on the base plate a,
the second comb f which is placed on the first is also provided with
two apertures for the passage of the two holders or studs; but these
apertures are longer than the play desired to be given to the said comb f,
a play which is limited by the opening formed in the middle and
at the base of the combf, which contains the arm a³ of the base plate a,
and against the sides of which the sides of the opening in the
movable comb abut at each movement, whereby the holders or studs are
O prevented from being shaken.
Two plates g of thin steel forming springs are placed one on each side
under the projection of the comb f. The two holders or studs e pass
through two washers h which completely cover the two openings of the
comb during movement, and two nuts ³ keep the two combs d and ƒ
5 one against the other. The washers / could in similar manner form
springs in order to give a slight pressure on the two combs, but I
believe it is preferable to employ the springs & placed under the projec

page_text: tion of the comb f; these springs g could, if necessary, be rivetted for
the same purpose on the comb d.
To communicate the to-and-fro motion to the comb ƒ a pin i is
rivetted under the base plate a and kept in the projection a'; this pin i
is the centre of motion of the second lever j which it passes through,
on which a washer and a nut are mounted in order to serve as a centre
of motion for this lever j, and towards the end of lever j on the under
side there is a pin which enters a hole in the comb f. By this arrange-
ment if the teeth of the combs d and fare engaged between the hairs
of a horse holding the handle c in the left hand, and if an alternate
to-and-fro motion is imparted to the handle of the lever j with the
right hand the same is transmitted to the comb f, the teeth of which
cut the hair engaged between the teeth of the two combs.
To clip certain parts of the horse, and for persons who are accustomed
to use the left hand it would be more convenient to hold the machine 1
with the right hand and to operate it with the left. For this purpose I
employ the arrangement shown in face and side view at Figures 3
and 4. Here the pin i carries a piece k describing the arc of a circle
round the said pin i. This piece carries underneath a projecting
piece which enters into a long slot in the comb f, in order to com- 2
municate motion to it, the piece k carries two projections between
which the end of the lever is placed, a cylindrical rod passes through
this part ji as well as the two projections k³, at. the ends of which this
rod is rivetted. With this arrangement the handle C of the lever 6 can
be held with the left hand and the lever operated with the right, but 2
when required, or as desired, the lever j may be placed in the position
shown by the dotted lines on the opposite side, then the instrument can
be held with the right hand and operated with the left.
It will be understood that this reversing of the driving lever may
be obtained by any other convenient and suitable mechanical arrange- 30
ment.
Figures 5 and 6 represent one of my improved clipping machines, the
two levers or handles C and j of which may be operated by both hands
or with one hand, as required, for communicating motion to each of the
combs with cutting teeth d and f. These combs move in contrary 85
directions to one another; they are mounted on the base plate a, where
the two studs or holders e are rivetted. The third stud is rivetted on the

page_text: projection a', in order to pass through the joint of the two handle
levers Cand j. This joint is made in iron in halves for each of the levers,
in form like a divider joint in a drawing instrument, whereby the
motions in both directions are limited by the construction of this joint,
always in order to avoid the two guiding studs or holders e from being
shaken or struck.
The two handle levers a and j are prolonged at the bottom of the
combs with cutting teeth d and f, and each end of these levers has a pin
below one which enters the top comb, the other which passes through
an aperture formed in the combf to drive the bottom comb d. With
this arrangement the two combs d and ƒ are each driven in contrary
directions. In this case the conformation of the teeth of the comb d
may remain as they are in the clippers above described, and the con-
formation of the teeth of the other f may have the form shown at
Figure 5.
Owing to the speed with which motion is communicated to these
apparatus and the resistance sometimes encountered, according to the
nature of the animal's coat, the cutting parts become rapidly deteriorated,
the screws or the pins, nuts, threads, &c., hitherto employed for uniting
the different parts become quickly loose from the continual shaking
which they receive. These jarrings or jerks loosen the nuts, and con-
sequently the pieces not being well held together the instrument soon
gets out of order. Besides, if the parts are changed it is impossible to
have the holes bored and threaded with such precision that the holes
bored in the other pieces will precisely agree with the original; the
thickness of metal employed also being necessarily limited the thread
does not get sufficient hold. All these causes combined the instrument
soon gets out of order, and bad work is produced because the two combs
are not in regular contact.
In order to remedy these different defects in clipping apparatus I
dispense with the screws and bolts. Figures 7 and 8 illustrate a face
and side view of apparatus constructed in this way. The base plato a,
its heel or projection a³ and rod b, as well as the handle O remain as
before; the two studs or holders e arc rivetted on the plate a on which
the first comb d is placed, (this comb being cut out as well as the combƒ
by means of a press;) the combfis placed on the first comb d, on which
a pallet spring abuts, which also is supported on the projection a¹ of

page_text: the base a. The lever j, the end of which carries the projection j';
drives the comb f. The desired pressure is exerted on the spring / by
the strong washer m, provided with a lever or strut m³, forming a spring
fixed to the lever by means of a small hole formed towards the end
of the lever m², which receives a stud or holder n fixed on the leverj. {
The pin is here formed with a head; it is firmly rivetted to the
projection a¹; it receives the washer m, the aperture in which is oblong,
in order that it may pass over there under the head i, which has two
lateral projections i cut underneath with an inclined plane, as shown at
Figure 8ª, in such manner that when the washer m and spring lever m
on the head of the bolt is placed, as shown by the dotted lines, Figure 7,
and the lever m² is brought from left to right on the handle j; the
lever m' pressing by its own elasticity on the handle j is held in position
by the stud n. This movement causes the washer m to pass under the
two projections of the pin i, whereby all the pieces are united with the
required pressure for proper operation. When the comb teeth ceaso to
cut the spring lever m² is raised or released, and turned to the left in the
position of the dotted lines in order to take it off, as well as the lever j
and the spring l'; the two combs d and ƒ can then be raised and taken
off and replaced by two others, which can be easily placed on the frame
because all the combs are cut out by a stramp with the same tools; the
other pieces are refitted as before, and work with the same instrument
can be continued.
Sometimes the pin 2 might be inconvenient to be employed. I propose
to form at its upper end a strong square projecting thread, as shown at
Figure 9. A hollow thread in the washer m is formed, Figure 10, and a
spring lever m¹ is fastened to this washer by two rivets, as shown.
This stud or handle, Figure 10, operating in the same manner as that
described for Figures 7 and 8.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my
improvements in apparatus for clipping or shearing hair from horses or
other animals,-
First. The employment of a base plate a carrying two combs, with
the projection a' on base plate, substantially as described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The employment of projection a' for limiting the motion of

page_text: the movable combs, substantially in manner and for the purposes
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The arrangement or arrangements described, whereby the
combs are mounted and maintained on the instrument without screws,
and the friction of the cutting parts regulated by a spring or springs,
all substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Fourth. Securing the movable lever by a spring, whereby the motion
thereof is regulated, substantially in the manner described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
Fifth. The mode and means employed for taking the instrument to
pieces, and for putting it together again without tools, whereby
sharpened blades may with facility be replaced for blunt blades, all
substantially in the manner described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Courtois, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
C. COURTOIS, JEUNE. (L.S.)