Patent GB-634315-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for washing drinking glasses and the like
IPC: A47L15/00
Filed: 1946-12-13
Abstract: 634,315. Washing glass tumblers. BURNETT, M. A. Dec. 13, 1946, Nos. 36843, 36844 and 36845. Convention dates, May 2, July 4, and Sept. 18. [A Specification was laid open to inspection under Sect. 91 of the Acts, Sept. 29, 1947.] [Class 138 (i)] Also in Group XXX] A machine for washing glass tumblers comprises an endless conveyer 23 adapted to feed the glasses on to a stationary support 38 which is provided with a canopy 50 and a system of jets for spraying water, or water and steam, over the interior and exterior of the tumblers, each tumbler being moved along the support by the pressure of succeeding tumblers fed on to the support by the conveyer. The apparatus shown in Figs. 2 and 3 comprises a sheet-metal trough 1 which is attached to a bar counter 18 by means of a bracket 14 and is surrounded by a skirt 7 having an upstanding rim portion 11. Two platforms 19 are longitudinally disposed inside the trough on opposite sides of the transverse centre line of the trough, and an endless belt 23, 24 running over rollers 25, 26 is adapted to travel along the upper ribbed surface 20 of each platform 19. The driving roller 25 of each conveyer is mounted upon horizontal stub axles 27, 28, Fig. 7. The axle 28 carries, outside the trough, a sprocket wheel 33 which is driven by a chain 62 from an electric motor 56, Fig. 4, through a gear box 57, the motor and gear box being mounted in a casing 51 disposed below the counter 18 ; the axle 27 is journalled in a bearing 29 which is removably mounted on one wall of the trough 1 so that it can be withdrawn to permit removal of the roller 25. The driven roller 26 of each conveyer is freely rotatable upon an axle 34, Fig. 2, the ends of which pass through the sides of the trough and are carried by a yoke having a screw 36 for adjusting the tension of the belt. The space between the two belts 23, 24 is bridged by the plate 38, Fig. 8, which rests upon angle members and is provided with spaced parallel ribs 41, side flanges 46, three openings 42, 43, and drainage slots 44. The plate 38 is located a slight distance below the level of the upper portion of the belt 23. Fitted over the plate 38 is a transparent canopy 50, Figs. 2 and 3, of inverted U-shape which rests upon the rim portion 11 of the skirting 7 and encloses branch pipes 71, 75 for spraying cold and hot water on to the glasses on the plate 38. The cold water branch 71 comprises a D-shaped header 79, Fig. 5, having two upstanding nozzles 84, and a header 80 of inverted U-shape connected thereto and having two small outlets 89 on their inner sides. The hot water branch 75 differs from the branch 71 in that it has only a single upstanding nozzle 84 and the curved portion of the header 79 is omitted. The branches 71, 75 are mounted over the trough 1 with the legs of the headers 80 located in notches in the sides of the plate 38 ; the two nozzles 84 of the branch 71 are disposed below the two openings 43 in the plate 38, and the single nozzle 84 of the branch 71 is disposed beneath the opening 42. The branches 71, 75 are fed with cold and hot water through pipes 65, 66 which are controlled by valves 69, 72, Fig. 3, the hot water being heated in an electric heater 63 disposed inside the casing 51. The hot water in its passage to the branch 75  passes through a bell-jar 73 into which a liquid detergent is discharged by a drip-feed control valve 77. In operation, the glasses to be washed are placed in turn and in spaced relation on the conveyer 23 which has transverse ribs 37 to locate the glasses. The glasses are fed one by one from the conveyer 23 on to the plate 38, each glass being guided in this movement by spring strips on the sides of the rim 11 of the skirt 7 and being pushed by the one behind it successively over the three openings 42, 43 in the plate 38. When over the opening 42, the branch 75 sprays hot watar over the inside and outside of the glass through a nozzle 84 and outlets 89 ; over the first opening 43, cold water is similarly sprayed over the inside and outside of the glass by the main portion of the branch 71, and when over the second opening 43, cold water is sprayed into the inside of the glass from a nozzle 84 in the branch 71. After the final cold water rinsing, the glass is pushed on to the conveyer 24. If desired, the glasses may first be rinsed with cold water and then washed with hot water, and a further nozzle may be arranged to provide a final rinsing with cold water. The sprayed water passes through the openings 44 in the plate 38 into the trough 1 which has a sloping bottom 2 leading to a drain pipe 3 as shown in Fig. 2. In a modification, the cleaning may be effected by the provision of steam jets additional to the hot water jets.