IMPROVED MEANS FOR WASHING WOOL
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Hallen, of Cornwall Road, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS
FOR WASHING WOOL."
Sealed the 20th February 1857, and dated the 23rd August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Hallen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
August 1856.
I, EDWARD HALLEN, of Cornwall Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MEANS FOR WASHING WOOL," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a frame filled in with wire or other open material
in its sides or bottom, or both, to allow the water to enter or pass out freely,
similar to a seive, during the operation of washing the wool, to keep a fresh
supply of water, or drain the water off when required. This frame may be
made of any form, and either in one entire piece, or in detached parts to take
to pieces, so as to pack into a small compass. This frame may be used in
still water, in a running stream, or under a fall of water, or water may be
pumped into it so as to keep a current running through it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Hallen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HALLEN, of Cornwall Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Hallen, Her special licence, that I, the said Edward Hallen, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Hallen, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS FOR WASHING
WOOL;" upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Hallen,
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 Edward Hallen, 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
(that is to say):-
My Invention for "Improved Means for Washing Wool," consists of a
frame (inside which the wool is put) filled in, partly or in the whole, with
wire or other open material in its top, sides, ends, or bottom, alltogether or
in any part of them, to allow the water to enter and pass out or run through
it, in a similar manner as it does through a seive, during the operation of
washing the wool, so as to keep a fresh supply of water to circulate amongst
the wool, or to drain off the water when required. This frame may be of 'any
form, and either in one entire piece, or in detached
as to pack up in a small compass for export.
still water, in a running stream, or under a fall of water, or water may be
parts to take to pieces, so
This frame may be used in

page_text: pumped into it so as to keep a current of water running through it. It also
may be used in a cistern filled with water by a pump, or by a spout conveying
water from a higher source into the cistern.
For the purpose of showing the manner in which I employ this kind of
frame for "Improved Means for Washing Wool," I have hereunto annexed a
Sheet of Drawings, made to a scale of three-quarters of an inch to the foot,
in which I have shown four different means of using it in combination with
framework, and have employed the same letters of reference, as nearly as I
can, to represent similar parts where different views are shown, and now
proceed to describe the Drawings, and how the wool is to be washed.
Figure 1 is a plan of a frame, made of two sides a, a, two ends b, b, and
one loose frame c to form the bottom, which are shown as filled in with wires.
a, a, are the top parts of the side frames made of angle iron, and have each
of their ends running beyond the length of the frame, for the purpose of
resting on pieces of timber (which support the frame), running across a stream
or other water, as may be selected. e, e, Figure 2, are the bottom parts of the
sides, of angle iron, the reverse of a, a, for the bottom c to rest on, and are
connected to a, a, the top bars, by means of iron bars rivetted to a, a, & e, e,
at each end & in the middle. The top & bottom bars a, a, & e, e, have holes
drilled into them to rivet the wires in, & these wires are strengthened by
horizontal rods, fastened to them by smaller wire twisted round them,
similarly to the rods shown in the elevation of the end marked f, f. Figure 2.
Figure 2 shows an elevation of one of the ends 6; the top & bottom rails are
of angle iron, & the bottom rails are reversed, to allow the loose bottom to
rest on them; these are fastened together by bars rivetted to them in the same
manner as in the sides last described. The wires are fastened to the top &
bottom rails as in the sides a, a; and f, f, are cross rods fastened as before
described in the sides a, u. The ends & sides are fastened to each other
with bolts & nuts, so as to take asunder, if required. The bottom frame c, c, c, c,
is of flat iron, welded or rivetted together at the corners, and the wires run
lengthwise, and are supported in several parts by cross bars d, d, d, d, rivetted
to the sides of the frames c, c, c, c. This bottom is loose, & rests upon the
angle iron of the bottom rails of the sides a, a, and ends b, b.
Figure 3 shows a section across the frame at A, A, to show more clearly
how the sides and ends support the bottom.
g
Figure 4 is an elevation, & Figure 5 a plan, to show a circular frame or
iron basket, composed of a ring 9 of angle iron at top, & a bottom plate h with
a flange, joined together by upright bars i, i, i, bolted to eacb, & wires rivetted
into g&h, which wires are strengthened by cross wires x, x, fastened to them

page_text: The
with wire twisted round both. The bottom plate h has a centre pin fastened to
it, to drop into a hole in the plate k, which forms a false bottom for the cistern,
& which is perforated with holes to let the dirt & water through. This plate
k rests on flanges at 1, 1, in the sides of the cistern & in its centre.
cistern is formed of wrought or cast iron plates, with flanges all round to bolt
n is a rake formed like a cross, with a
them together & to the bottom plate.
corresponding cross at the bottom, with arms turned up till they are fastened
into the upper cross pieces, into which rods of iron are fitted, as shown by the
dotted upright lines. The bottom cross of the rake at its centre has a pin,
which drops into a hole in the circular frame, which keeps the rake in its
place; the upper arms of this rake rest in notches at p, p, p, p, on a circular
ring bar q, so as to fix the rake when the circular frame g is in the water,
which circular ring is attatched to the sides m, m, m, m, of the cistern. The
circular frame may be made in one or more parts, and (if in more than one)
bolted together in the centre of the uprights i, i, i, for convenience of carriage,
& is hung to 4 ropes, fastened to eyes rivetted into the ring g, which four ropes
áre joined together at their top, & hooked or fastened to a larger rope, working
over a pulleys, which pulley is worked by a crab or manual labor to raise &
lower the frame. To the ring 9 a handler is fixed, for the purpose of turning
it backwards & forwards, which operation causes the rods of the rake n to
stir the wool about. When the wool is deemed clean, the pulleys is turned
to raise the frame out of the water, which causes a similar frame to descend
from the opposite side into the other half of the cistern, and in its turn to be
ready to be operated on while the former is draining. Beneath the bottom
plate of the cistern a cock is put, to draw off the water or scour out the dirt
which may have accumulated. t is a pipe to supply the cistern with fresh
water, provided with a cock to regulate the quantity required. The partition
plate in the cistern does not run so high as the sides & ends, for the purpose
of allowing the water to run from one cistern to another when the frame
descends and raises a portion of the water.
Figure 6 shows a plan, & Figure 7 a section through B, B, of a cistern,
wherein a frame a is shown, fixed to the links of endess chains. This frame
is formed of frames welded or rivetted together at the corners, and filled in
with wirework similar to that described in the former Figures. These frames
are screwed together so as to form a long square frame, having a flap or door
to put in & take out the wool, which flap or door must be fastened with a bolt
to keep it from opening. This door or flap is also filled in with wire. Each
frame is fastened to links of endess chains, which, in this instance, work round
a set of three wheels partly in the water, and also round another set of three

page_text: above them, each set connected together by flat plates of iron. Motion is
given to these wheels by horse, water, or steam power, or by manual labour
working a strap which runs round a pully 6 hung on the shaft c, working
in plummer blocks supported on standards fixed to the cistern, and running
through all the upper wheels, and keyed thereto. The links of the endess
chains are made of iron, and traverse on the plates connecting the wheels,
& thus cause the frame to enter and leave the water, and the water to rush
through the frame. Through the door or flap of the frame the wool is put in
& taken out. The Drawing shows how several of such frames may be applied.
I use this frame of wirework in a similar manner with the endless' chains and
wheels described in Figures 6 and 7, working horizontally, by which means
the frame works entirely in the water, and the door or flap is altered so as to
be on the upper side to put in and take out the wool.
Figures 8 and 9 show a frame made of wrought or cast iron, with a per-
forated bottom to drain off the water or dirt. 6 is a hollow iron shaft, turned
by horse, water, or steam power, or by manual labour, perforated with holes,
through which the water is conveyed to the circular frame. To this shaft
four sets of iron arms are bolted, all dissimilar in size, with upright bars
fastened therein at such distances that no two bars shall move at the same
distance from the centre of the shaft, so that every particle of wool may be
disturbed as the shaft revolves. The perforated plate or false bottom is
supported on flanges inside the frame & on a circular bearing piece in its
centre, which carries a centre pin to work in the bottom of the upright shaft.
This bearing pin has a flange at bottom, which screws to the bottom plate of
the cistern. To regulate the supply of the water which comes from a tank
above, a cock is provided, & in the bottom of the frame a waste pipe, with a
cock, is also provided to carry off the dirt or to drain the frame. This frame
and cistern may each be made in one or more parts; if in more than one,
each part with upright flanges, so as to be bolted together, and the arms
are made to be disconnected from the upright shaft for convenience of
carriage.
I use perforated zinc or other material, as well as wire, in the frames, to
allow the water to enter & pass out. I also use diagonal as well as horizontal
rods, as described, to strengthen the wire.
I also use such a frame as described at a, Figure 7, rivetted or bolted to a
wheel, or at the end or any part of an arm or arms fixed to an upright or
horizontal shaft, which is made to revolve by horse, water, or steam power,
or by manual labour, to cause the frame to be partly or entirely immersed in
the water.

page_text: Having described & ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which it is to be performed, it must be clearly understood that I
do not confine myself to the particular sizes, forms, proportions, or positions
of the different parts herein-before described, provided such variations as may
be adopted carry into effect my said Invention; that I do not claim all the parts
separately as my Invention, but that what I do claim are, the combinations of
the several parts as herein-before described in this Specification, & also of
such means as are illustrated, as shown in Figures 1, 2, & 3, in the Figures
4 & 5, in the Figures 6 & 7, and in Figures 8 and 9 as my "Improved Means
for Washing Wool." This Invention is applicable to washing hair, rags,
grain, &c.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Hallen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred & fifty-seven.