Patent GB-190821052-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Coin-freed Automatic Machines for Polishing Boots or Shoes.
Inventor: SMITH ROBERT MACKINLAY
Filed: 1908-10-06
Granted: 1909-01-21
Abstract: 21,052. Smith, R. M. Oct. 6. Boots &c., cleaning &c.-A coin-freed machine is provided with an adjustable seat 6, Fig. 2, for the user, who places his feet upon a pair of rests 8 which he then slides along rails 115 into the machine. The sides and heels of the boots are operated upon by sets of rotary brushes and rollers 17, 18, 19, 20, mounted on carriages 13 which are automatically run to and fro along the boot twice during the whole operation. Each carriage is turned through a quarter-revolution at the end of each reciprocation to cause a different brush to bear upon the boot and the carriage. Its guides and its driving-mechanism are mounted on a transversely-movable framework, which is continuously urged by weighted cords towards the rest 8 to cause each brush to follow the contour of the boot. The front or toe portion of the boot is blacked and polished by means of continuouslymoving bands 74, Fig. 10, mounted in a framework 70 which is periodically raised and reversed, the movements of the framework being controlled by those of the brush carriages. The carriages 13 are mounted by means of nut portions 31 on screwed shafts 28, 14 rotated by spur and sprocket gearing from the parallel shaft 12, which is continuously driven by the main shaft 10 through bevel-wheels 117. The shaft 12 drives shaft 28 by means of either the pair of spur-wheels 49, 47 or the wheels 51, 48 and idle wheel 50, and the sleeve 46 carrying the wheels 47, 48 is automatically shifted to effect the reversal of the shafts and therefore of the brush carriage by means of a guided rod 40 actuated as follows. Near the end of its forward travel the carriage compresses the spring 41 on the rod 40 and then raises a lever 43 so as to disengage an arm 44 from a notch in the rod 40. Under the force of the spring 41 the rod therefore moves longitudinally, and the driving takes place through the train 51, 50, 48. The reverse of this occurs when the carriage has reached the end of its rearward journey, the rod 40 being released by the raising of a latch 55 by means of the projecting arm 57. The cylindrical brushes 17, 18, 19 and buffing-roll 20 are rotated continuously from the grooved shaft 12 by means of the tongued bevelwheel 29, which is mounted on the carriage and through chain gearing rotates the central spindle 23 carrying a spur-wheel in mesh with spur-wheels 22 on the brush axles. Blacking is supplied to one of the brushes from an annular vessel on the carriage through a perforated depending chamber in contact with the brush. The brush carriage is turned through a quarter revolution at the end of each single journey to bring the next brush into operative position by means of forked rods 62 which engage projecting pins 61 on the carriage frame. A ratchet device holds the carriage against rotation in the wrong direction, and over-rotation is prevented by a pivoted bolt which normally engages one of four bosses on the under part of the carriage but is released at the moment of adjustment by contact of an engaging pivoted arm with a fixed stop 68. The cleaning-bands 74, Fig. 10, for operating on the toe portion of the boot pass around rollers 75 and are kept taut by spring-influenced rollers 76, the whole being mounted in the framework 70 rotatable about the shaft 84, which is supported by arms 71 swivelled on a shaft 73 rotated from a shaft 10. The bands are actuated by cord gearing from shaft 73 through bevel gear and shaft 82. Loosely mounted on one arm 71 is a spurwheel 88 connected to the framework 70 through a ratchet mechanism and arranged to gear with the toothed quadrant 89 when the arms 71 are raised. By this means the framework is reversed during its ascent but descends without rotation. Locking- means released by trip mechanism are provided normally to hold the framework against rotation. The polishing-band is slightly nearer than the blacking-band to the shaft 84 so that the latter band alone comes into contact with a blacking- distributing pad 104 when the framework is raised. The arms 71 are connected by cords 98 to weights 114 tending to raise the framework, which is however normally held down to the boot by a cord 113 attached at one end to a sector 97 connected with the arms 71 and at the other end to a carriage 100 slidable on rails 101. This carriage is provided with a pawl 102, which usually engages a fixed rack 103 but is released by trip mechanism when the brush carriage moves forwards and comes into contact with the carriage 100. The two carriages, then coupled together, move forwards until the frame 70 is fully raised. On the return journey, when they reach the rack 103, the coupling-device is released so that the brush carriage continues its rearward travel alone while the carriage 100 is held stationary by the rack, and keeps the framework 70 in the operative position. Advertisements may be exhibited on a transversely travelling band carried by a pair of rollers 4, Fig. 2, actuated by belt gearing 5 from any convenient part of the apparatus.