US1379662A - Barber's hair-cutting machine - Google Patents

Description

- E.-'V. N. TOMASULO;

BAYRBERS HAIR CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 8, 1919.

1,379,662. Patented May 31,1921.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

hwew/zor E. V N. TOMASULOQ ARBER'S HAIR CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION ru zn OCT- 8, 19m.

' Patented May 311 11921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a Z M? Z 13 m w w a Ewen?? EPIFANIO V. N. TOMASULO, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO.

BARBERS HAIR-CUTTING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 31, 1921.

Application filed October 8, 1919. Serial No. 329,308.

' T 0 all whom it may concern:

ton-and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Barbers Hair-Cutting Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to barbering; and the objects of my improvement are to perform operations of this kind, such as haircutting and the like, with greater ease and rapidity, saving the time of the barber and of the customer; and to cut the hair more evenly and smoothly, eitherof uniform length all over the head, or with gradually and smoothly increasing length from one part of the head or neck to another, as well as readily permitting any abrupt-v change from shorter to longer hair where this is required. Other objects of my improvement are to afford the barber all the ease of holding and guiding the machine that has been afforded by the well known clippers to which the barber has become accustomed, while realizing the just mentioned advantages; to provide for easy running of the machine, without use of excessive power or exertion by the barber, and without overheating; to practically prevent either entrance of cuttings to or leakage of lubricant from the mechanism of the device; and to avoid injury or unpleasantness either to the barber or the customer, incident to the operation of the machine by electric or other power. Other objects will appear in the course of the ensuing description.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated, for example, in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a barbers hair-cutting machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the same with the casing-head and cover re moved, to show the interior construction;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the casing head;

Fig. 4: is a similar view from the opposite side, showing the casing slightly modified;

Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of the complete machine, the section being on vertical planes corresponding to the broken line 5,5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same, with the cover removed;

Fig. 7 is a detailperspective view of the worm gear and roller wrist-bearing Fig. 8 is a similar view of the lever; and

Fig. 9 is-abottom plan view of the complete machine As herein shown,and as I prefer to construct' my invention, there are parts like those found in-an ordinary well known hairclipper; these being the lower cutter-plate 1 with the teeth 2 of any desired coarseness or fineness, along its front edge, and the upper cutting-plate 3 with similar teeth along its front edge, to cooperate with the lower plate by sliding transversely thereacross, in the well known manner of clippers of this kind. The casing-head 5 is also somewhat similar to those of such ordinary clippers; having its front lower edge 6 bearing on the ridge 7 that the upper plate 3 has across it just back of the teeth.

The casing 8 has at the top of its front end the post-lug 9 extending forwardly and upwardly, with the post 10 fixed therein and projecting up therefrom substantially at right angles to the plane of contact of the cutting-plates 1 and 3. The casing-head 5 has a neck 11 on its top, fitting down on the post 10 and yie'ldably held down against the upper plate 3, as before mentioned, by a thumbnut 12 with a. spring washer 12' interposed against the top 'of the neck 11. The casing 8 also has the brackets 13, projecting forwardly and upwardly from the bottom of its front end, to which brackets 13 the lower cutting-plate 1 has itsrear end part screwed firmly. The upper cuttingplate 3 has transverse slotsll near opposite ends, receivingguide-blocks 15 fixed in the lower plate 1; and'has in the middle of its rear edge the notch 16. The casing-head 5 has at the rear end of its top a boss 17 by which it pivotally bears on the top of the casing Sin a depression 17' at the base of the post lug 9; and at one side of its inner front wall this head 5 has a slot 18 in which is received the adjacent guide-block 15, to keep the casing-head 5 from turning on its post 10. These are usual details of the well known clipper before mentioned.

The casing 8 extends back from the casing-head 5 and cutting plates 1 and 3 a considerable distance, and has the latter inclined upwardly and forwardly from it at a substantial angle, that here shown being about forty-five degrees. The bottom 19 of the casing, like the bottom of the lower.

of the machine is closed effectively against... the entrance of cuttings or the escape of lubricant. The flat bottom 19 oins the flat bottom of the lower cutting-plate 1 through a convex curve 20 of ample radius, this curve being the bottom of the front end of the casing, where it forms its junction with the plate 1.

The top of the casing 8 has an opening with a removable cover plate 21 held therein by suitable screws entering parts of the easing 8 adjacent to the edges of the openlng.

The right-hand side of the casing 8 has, near the rear end thereof, a lateral properly shaped finger-grip. 22, and extending back from this rear end at this side is the handle 23. At the left, or opposite side, the casing 8 has the thumb-engaging lug or element 24 extending upwardly and laterally therefrom, near the rear end thereof, and has extending back from this rear end at this opposite side, the handle 25. These parts 22, 23, 24: and 25 are shaped substantially the same as those of the well known clippers before mentioned; so that the machine may be held in the manner that the barber is accustomed to, from long experience with the ordinary clippers. The machine differs essentially from such ordinary clippers, however, not merely in the provision for power operation, as will presently be described, but in the combination with such accustomed disposition of the handles and finger and thumb engaging elements of the peculiar disposition of the handle part thus constituted relative to the hair-cutting part comprising the before described cutting-plates and their accessories, and the bottoms of these parts, of the substantial general inclination to each other and joined by a part of ample prominence, as the curve 20. As here shown, the casing bottom 19 is of about the same width as the bottom of the cutting-plate 1, as is also the junction curve 20, which latter also conforms transversely to the substantially flat formation of these bottoms. With such ample area, and suflicient prominence at the junction, from which the bottoms recede upwardly from each other at such a substantial angle, there is constituted a sufiicient support for the machine against the neck or side of the head of the customer, while the head part of the machine, or hair-cutting means, comprising the head 5 and the cutting-plates 1 and 3, is inclined out away from the head by reason of the handle part being swung in by the action of the barbers hand, as the machine is passed up the sides of the head from the neck toward the top of the head of the customer.

This machine thus affords a practical means whereby the hair can be cut of regularly increasing length from the neck up to and including the top of the head of the customer, without the necessity of using hand scissors to smooth the hair cut or to finish around the top of the head, as where the lower parts are cut with either a hand or power operated clipper and the hair on the top is cut with scissors. The curved junction and the contiguous prominent or flat part of the casing or handle-part bottom thus constitute a heel or fulcrum for accurate control of this swinging or inclining action of the barber, so that he can produce very smooth and attractive work with great facility.

The just described improvement may be realized either in hand-operated or poweroperated machines, the latter being exemplified herein, with certain improvement of the mechanism, as will now be described. A hand machine of this kind may have the usual operative connections between the handle parts and the hair-cutting means, as is well known in such machines; although they have the parts differently disposed.

The rear end of the casing 8 has an interior boss 26 at its left side, with a bore receiving the bushing 27, held therein by'a set screw 27 in the top of the boss, which bushing receives in its front end the rear shaftextension of the worm 28 which has its front shaft-extension in a boss 29 forming part of the left casing side at the 100 front end thereof, with a small bushing 30 pressed into it to form the shaft bearing. The rear end of the bushing 27 is counterbored and the rear shaft-extension of the worm 28 is bored and slotted; these 1 parts receiving the clutch-hub 31 of the flexible shaft 32. This hub is retained by a dog 33 yieldably entering or leaving an annular groove 34 around the hub 31; being held for this by a spring 35.held down in a 110 barrel 36 by a cap 37 the barrel being screwed into an opening in the side of the outer enlarged part 27 of the bushing 27 just to the rearof the casing 8, and the cap being screwed onto the outer end of the 115 barrel.

The worm gear 38 is journaled on a screw 39 in a suitable hub on the bottom of the casing interior, and meshes with the worm 28. In the upper side of the gear 38 is fixed 120 the wrist pin 40 on which is a small roller sleeve 11. The gear bearing-screw 39 has its head sunk in the gear, out of the Way of this roller sleeve 41.

The lever 42 has its fulcrum-screw 43 125 passing up through its hub 44 into a bearing-lug 45 on the front end of the post-lug 9. This pivot or fulcrum-screw has its axis parallel with that of the worm gear 38. It I is locked in the lug 4.5 by a lock-nut 46 at the no top. The lever 42 has the short front arm 47 extending upwardly and then downwardly and engaging in the middle notch 16 of the upper cutting-plate 3. This lever 42 also has the long rear arm 48 curving down through the middle of the open front end of the casing 8 and extending back across the upper side of the worm gear 38, where it is widened and thickened and has in its lower side the elongated slot 49 that receives the pin 40 and roller-sleeve 41. The lower edges of this part of the lever, around the slot 49, extend very close to the gear side, to retain the lubricant around the wrist bearing and prevent its splattering to other parts of the casing. This function is also served by the closed top of the lever, over the slot 49, which top also keeps the rollersleeve 41 down on its pin 40 without any special retaining means.

The cover plate 21 is preferably fitted inside rabbeted edges of the top opening of the casing 8; and the rear edge 50 of the lower cutting-plate 1 also preferably fits in a rabbet along the front end of the casing bottom. The casing-head 5 is approximately bell-shaped in front, as it widens down from its top neck 11 to the cutting-plates 1 and 3. Its bottom, at its sides, extends very close to these plates, and the sides of the front end of the casing 8 and the sides of the casinghead 5 conform closely; the casing end preferably having rabbets 5 receiving the ends of the head 5 as closely as is consistent with the slight relative movement the head 5 must have in adjusting it down against the cutting plates 1 and 3 as before described.

An oil hole 51 is provided in the top of the casing-head 5 over the inclosed pivot bearing of the lever 42; and an oil hole 52 opens from the outside of the casing 8, at the left, into the worm-shaft bearing in the bushing 30 of the boss 29. The rear worm bearing is oiled through the open end of the bushing 27 when the flexible shaft 32 is disconnected. The lever arm 48 has the oil hole 53 down into its slot 49 from its top.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the only difference is in its having ventilating slots 54 and 54.in the right-hand side and rear end, respectively, of its casing 8, a substantial distance up from the casing bottom 19. These slots 54 and 54 preferably have screens 55 and 55, respectively, across them inside the casing, which permit passage of air into and out of the casing to cool the mechanism therein, but which practically prevent entrance of cut hair or other foreign matter which would clog the mechanism. By having these slots well up from the bottom, there is practically no escape of lubricant; because of the inclosure of the wrist bearing by the lever arm 48, as before described, and because these slots are remote from the rapidly turning worm 28. The

gear 38 turns relatively slowly, and does not throw Off a noticeable amount of lubricant. Also, it is preferable to use a lubricant of stiff consistency for the worm and gear, which is not thrown ofi' easily, but which would work out through any crevices if these were left in the extreme lower parts of the casing. Where the slight heating of the machine, due to the rapid running of the worm, is not objectionable, these vents may be dispensed with, as is the case in all of the examples except the modification of Fig. 4. This heating is never suflicient to injure the machine, but may become slightly unpleasant to the customers head and neck where the bottom and sides of the machine directly contact with the skin, and also to the barbers hand. There is not so much heating in this present machine with the relatively long rear lever arm 48, giving the gear mechanism a great mechanical advantage in reciprocating the cutting-plates, as there is with the fulcrum of the lever located back in the casing 8, closer to the wrist bearing.

y having this fulcrum in the casing-head 5, in front of the clamping post, the maximum advantage in this respect is attained; and by having this pivot parallel with the gear axis, and not attempting to pivot the lever on the clamping post, as has been customary in hand-clippers and also in many power clippers, the operative connection between the handle part and the hair-cutting parts of the clipper is simplified, because the very slight discrepancy between the motions of the short front lever-arm 47 and the upper cutting-plate 3 is practically negligible, whereas, if the discrepancy would be between the long rear arm 48 and the worm gear 38, it would be so considerable as to require complicated means for operatively connecting t e gear and lever.

The worm and worm gear are located well forward in the casing, leaving ample room for the rear worm-shaft bearing inside the casing, and reducing the extension at the rear to merely that required for the detachable shaft-connect-ion. This connection being far up between the handles 23 and 25, avoids obstruction to the ready swinging of the machine as before described, such as occurs with the shaft-connection at the extreme rear end of the machine, and is out of the way of the barbers fingers.

The neck 11 on the top of the casing-head 5, unitary therewith, is shaped to receive around it a suitable hook or other hanging means on the barbers stand or other means on which the machine is kept while not used, and to avoid sliding off this hook or the like, preventing engagement therewith of the thumb-nut 12. Thus, the adjustment of the cutting means is not disturbed, as is the case where the thumb-nut has the neck with which hanging engagement is made.

. ment of its objects as enumerated, but being deemed preferable in the present example. Therefore, while I have shown and described certain preferred details rather specifically to elucidate the construction and use of my invention, as is required, I do not wish to be understood as being limited to such precise showing and description, but having thus fully described my invention, what I- claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a barbers hair cutting machine, a casing means for leading a revolving shaft into said casing, a lever mounted in the easing, mechanism housed within the casing for converting the revolving motion of the shaft to an oscillating motion of the lever, said casing and lever being bent upwardly at the working end, fixed and movable cutting plates mounted at said turn-ed up portion and means for fulcruming the lever within said turned up portion on apivot which extends at an acute angle to the plates, said lever having connection with the movable plate to vibrate the same.

2. In a barbers hair cutting machine, a casing'means for leading a revolving shaft into said casing, a lever mounted in the casing,'mech'anism housed within the casing for converting the revolving motion of the shaft to an oscillating motion of the lever, said casing and lever being bent upwardly at the working end, fixed and movable cutting plates mounted at said turned up portion and means for fulcruming the lever within said turned up portion on a pivot which extends at an acute angle to the plates, said lever having connection with the movable plate to vibrate thesame, said lever fulcrum being in a plane parallel to the main body of'the casing.

8. In a barbers hair cutting machine, a casing means for leading a revolving shaft into said casing, a lever mounted in the easing, a mechanism housed within the casing for converting the revolving motion of'the shaft to an oscillating motion of the lever, said casing and lever being bent upwardly at the working end, fixed and movable cutting plates mounted at said turned up portion andmeans for fulcruming the lever within said turned up portion on a pivot out of a perpendicular with said plates, said lever having connection with the movable plate to vibrate the same, the casing being formed in a gradual curve at the angle of turn thereof to provide a rocking base for the tilting of the cutters.

4. In a barbers hair cutting machine, a casing means for leading a revolving shaft into said casing, a lever mounted in the casing, mechanism housed within the casing for converting the revolving motion of the shaft to an oscillating motion of the lever, said casing and lever being bent upwardly at the working end, fixed and movable cut: ting plates mounted at said turned up portion and means for fulcruming the lever within said turned up portion, said lever having connection with'thei movable plate to vibrate the same, and screened ventilating openings in the casing to prevent over heating without exposing the mechanism to clogging with hair.

5. In a barbers hair cutting machine, a casing means for leading a revolving shaftinto said casing, a lever mounted in the casing, mechanism housed within the casing for converting the revolving motion of the shaft to an oscillating motion of the lever, said casing and lever being bentupwardly at the working end, fixed and movable cutting plates mounted at said turned up portion and means for fulcruming the lever within said turned up portion, said lever having connection with the movable. plate to vibrate the same, the extent of the lever from the fulcrum to the mechanism, within the housing being much greater than the extent from the fulcrum to the movable plate. 7

6. In a barbers hair cutting machine, a casing, a fixed cutter plate on the casing, said casing having a portion of the upper part thereof bent upwardly and spaced away from the fixed cutter plate, a movable cutter plate mounted so as to move on the fixed plate, and means on saidbent up upper portion of the casing for retaining the movable plate in place against the fixed plate, anoper ating device for the movable plate, and means for suspending it from said bent up portion.

7. In a barbers hair cutting machine a casing, a fixed cutter plate onthe casing, said casing having .aportion of the upper part thereof bent upwardly and away from the fixed plate, a movable cutter plate mounted on the fixed plate, a tension cap for retaining the movable cutter plate againstthe fixed plate, means for operating the movable plate, andmeans on the said bent up portion to retain thetension cap in adjusted position thereon, said means being confined to the said upper portion so as not to interfere with the space between it and the fixed and movable plates.

8; In a barbers hair cutting machine a casing, a fixed cutter plate on the casing, said casing having a portion of the upper part 7 adjusted position thereon, said means being confined to the said upper portion so as not to interfere with the space between it and the fixed and movable plates, the operating device for the movable plate comprising a lever suspended from said bent up portion of the casing, and an oscillating power driven mechanism in the casing, adapted to swing the lever, as and for the purpose described.

-9. In a barbers hair cutting machine a casing, a fixed cutter plate on the casing, said casing having a portion of the upper part thereof bent upwardly and away from the fixed plate, a movable cutter plate mounted so as to move on the fixed plate, a tension cap for retaining the movable cutter plate against the fixed plate, means for operating the movable plate, and means on the said bent up portion to retain the tension cap in adjusted position thereon, said means being confined to the said upper portion soas not to interfere with the'space between it and the fixed and movable plates the operating device for the movable plate comprising a rotary power driven member having an eccentric element thereon, a lever suspended from the casing, and engaging the said eccentric element, said eccentric element being thereby freed from the duty of supporting said lever, and connection between the lever and the movable plate whereby it is moved to and fro by the oscillations of the lever.

10. I11 a barbers hair cutting machine a casing, a fixed cutter plate on the casing, said casing part thereof spaced from the fixed plate, a movable cutter plate mounted on the fixed plate, a tension cap for retaining the movable cutter plate against the fixed plate, means for operating the movable plate, and means on the said spaced portion of the having a portion of the uppercasing to retain the tension cap in adjusted position thereon, said means being confined to the said portion so as not to interfere with the space between it and the fixed and movable plates.

11. In a hair clipper, a casing having a convex forward portion, a stationary cutter blade secured to said portion, the blade having its outer surface flush with said convex portion, a movable cutter mounted upon the stationary blade, a lever pivoted adjacent said movable cutter the axis of the pivot being perpendicular to a plane defined by the major portion of the casing, a tension cap secured to the forward portion of the casing by means of a bolt having its axis perpendicular to the cutter blade, said tension cap bearing at its forward portion upon said movable cutter and mechanism within the casing in engagement with the lever to oscillate the same.

12. In a barbers hair cutting machine a casing terminating in an upwardly directed cutter blade, a convex curve upon which the device may be tilted while in operation, a curved lever mounted by means of a pivot which depends from the top of the casing adjacent the movable blade and above the stationary plate and in engagement with said movable blade, and means for operating said lever.

13. In a barbers hair cutting machine a substantially rectangular casing having handle extensions and finger grips, said casing adapted to receive and house operating mechanism for a power operated clipper and screened ventilating apertures suitably located about the casing and a removable cover for the casing.

EPIFANIO V. N. TOMASULO.

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