Patent GB-753946-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to a machine for drying and steaming hats and the like
IPC: A42C1/04
Filed: 1954-07-07
Abstract: 753,946. Hot drying and steaming machines. CASSE, M. July 7, 1954 [July 8, 1953], No. 19873/54. Class 63. [Also in Group XIII] A machine for drying and steaming felt hats has a number of individual devices D, Figs. 1, 2, for simultaneous treatment of a number of hats, these devices being arranged in a circle around a vertical axis A-A and forming part, with the circuits of air used in drying the hats and circuits of steam used in heating parts of the devices, of a unit mounted to rotate about the axis A-A whereby the devices D present themselves in succession at a single loading and unloading station P. The unit is rotatably mounted in a frame 1 by means of a ball race 7 and balls 8 and comprises a lower annular chamber 17 connected by hollow radial arms 19 to the lower vertically movable parts 61 of the devices D and by intake passages 13 to a fan chamber 24 containing an electrically driven fan V; this chamber 24 is connected by tubes 23 forming part of a heat exchanger 16 to an upper chamber 25 formed with apertures 29, each one in communication with an upper fixed part of a device D. Each fixed part comprises a cylindrical double wall 50, Fig. 6, closed at its lower end by a wall 51 which is covered by a removable plate 52 of rustless metal of shape corresponding to that of the hat brim, and the space 53 encompassed by the double wall 50 may be closed off from the upper chamber 25 by a manually-operated shutter 54. The interior of the double wall 50 communicates with the upper part of the heat exchanger 16 by pipes 55, 56 supplying steam and with the lower part by pipes 58, 59 for discharge of condensed water. The lower part of each device D comprises a tube 61 vertically slidable in fluid-tight manner in the corresponding arm 19, and having at its upper end an annular double wall 63, the interior of which is connected by pipes 65, 67 to the pipes 56, 58 respectively. The double wall is covered with a rustless metal plate 68 supporting a perforated block 69 adapted to receive the crown of the hat C. The upper open end of the tube 61 communicates with the block 69. The tube 61, which is capable of occupying the extreme upper and lower positions shown in Fig. 1 at D<1> and D<2>, has apertures 70 formed therein which communicate with the atmosphere in the lower position D<2> and with the interior of the tubular arm 19 in the upper position D<1>. The lower part of the device D comprising the tube 61, double wall 63 and block 69 tends to drop to its lowermost position D<2> and is raised to the upper position D<1> by a counterweight 71 and chains 73 passing over sprockets 74 carried by the arm 19 and fixed to the lower end of the tube 61; it is lowered by raising the counterweight 71 by hand operation of a bell-crank 80 connected by a link 78 and spring-loaded bolt 76 to the counterweight 71. The upper and lower parts of each device D are clamped together when the link 78 and bell-crank 80 are in dead-centre position, the clamping pressure being controlled by the spring 77 of the bolt 76. Steam enters through a pipe 35, Fig. 1, into the heat exchanger 16 and reaches the double walls 50 and 63 of each device D. The fan V draws air through the chamber 17, the air passing through the pipes 23 where it is heated and reaches the chamber 53 of each device D which has been loaded at position P, Fig. 2. The hot air passes through the hat C and returns to the chamber 17 via tube 61, apertures 70 and arms 19. A steaming action also occurs owing to the action on the hat fibres of the steam formed by evaporation of water in the hat material.