Improvements in or relating to the Cleaning of Carpets and the like.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 5th June, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Oct., 1889-Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Cleaning of Carpets and
the like.
I, SYDNEY SIMMONS of Belle Isle, Kings Cross, London, N.W., Proprietor of the
Patent Carpet Beating Works, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Hitherto carpets, rugs and the like have been cleaned by beating or by blowing the
dirt out of them by a blast of air; in the present invention I propose to combine in
one process or apparatus these two and hitherto distinct methods.
In carrying out my invention I prefer to employ for the beating part of the process
a machine having a suitable hollow box or casing with a longitudinal shaft or
equivalent carrying beaters pivotted or otherwise secured in such a manner that as
the shaft revolves the beaters fly out centrifugally and strike the carpet which is
supported upon a suitable frame or support. The design of this support may vary
but I prefer to employ two longitudinal bars or rods over which are passed rubber,
leather or other bands and between these two a third longitudinal bar which may be
arranged at a lower or different level than the others and whose position is adjustable
so that the bands can be tightened when required.
The air blast which may be of any required strength is conveyed by suitable flexible
or other pipes to a long nozzle or jet or series of nozzles or jets disposed at any desired
angle to the surface of the carpet and adapted to blow right into or through the fabric
or only partly into it or along the surface, in advance or behind the beaters and from
above or below the carpet.
The carpet may be caused to travel by the action of the beaters upon it or may be
moved by hand or by rollers.
Dated this 5th day of June 1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Cleaning of Carpets and
the like.
I, SYDNEY SIMMONS, of Belle Isle, Kings Cross, London, N.W., Proprietor of the
Patent Carpet Beating Works, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Hitherto carpets, rugs, and the like have been cleaned by beating or by blowing
the dirt out of them by compressed air; in the present invention I propose to combine
in one process or apparatus these two and hitherto distinct methods.
In carrying out my invention I prefer to employ for the beating part of the process
a machine having a suitable hollow box or casing with a longitudinal shaft or
equivalent carrying chains or beaters pivotted or otherwise secured in such a manner
that as the shaft revolves the chains or beaters fly out centrifugally and strike the
carpet which is supported upon a suitable frame or support. The design of the support
may vary but I prefer to employ two longitudinal bars or rods over which are passed
rubber, leather or other bands and between these two a third longitudinal bar which
may be arranged at a lower or different level than the others and whose position is
adjustable so that the bands can be tightened when required.
The air blast which may be of any required strength and heated if desired is conveyed
by suitable flexible or other pipes to a long nozzle or jet or series of nozzles or jets
CD 077

page_text: disposed at any desired angle to the surface of the carpet and adapted to blow right
into or through the fabric or only partly into it or along the surface, in advance or
behind the beaters and from above or below the carpet.
The carpet may be caused to travel by the action of the beaters upon it or may be
moved by hand or by rollers.
In the accompanying drawings ;-
Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a carpet cleaning machine constructed
according to my present invention and of a portion of which Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
section looking towards the front and Fig. an end elevation of some of the driving
mechanisın.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
A is the hollow box or casing B Fig. 1 the shaft supported longitudinally therein
and C the beaters which are pivotted or otherwise suitably secured to the shaft B in
such manner that as the said shaft is rotated the beaters will fly out centrifugally so as
to strike the carpet. D D¹ are the two longitudinal bars or rods and E the india-
rubber, leather or equivalent bands which pass over the said bars or rods and support
the carpet X against the blows from the beaters C. The bar D is supported on the
legs D2 (only one of which is shown in the drawings) and the bar D₁ is supported on
the legs D³ between which and the floor Y are interposed buffers or shoes F of india-
rubber or equivalent resilient material so as to absorb the noise caused by the striking
of the beaters on the carpet or prevent its transmission to the floor Y and to save the.
carpet from damage by the beaters. Gis the third longitudinal bar which as shown
in the drawings passes transversely through all of the bands E and to its ends and if
desired to suitable parts between its ends are connected rods H whose effective lengths
are adjustable by right and left handed screwed nuts H' or by other suitable means
the lower ends of the rods H being made fast in any convenient manner to the floor Y
or other suitable fixture. It will readily be understood that by shortening the effective
lengths of the rods H the tension on the bands E will be increased and in the
reverse manner by increasing the effective length of the rods H the bands will be
slackened.
J is a perforated or reticulated roller which may be formed of wire cloth or any
other suitable material and which is supported in bearings advantageously in the ends
of the casing and which may be driven by a band K from the shaft B or in any other
convenient manner; or the said roller J need not be positively rotated but may
depend for its rotation upon the movement over it of the carpet X. It is generally
preferred to make J in the form of a revolving roller as it then assists the travel of
the carpet; it may however be a fixture in the form of a box or chamber or even
merely a sheet of some openwork or perforated material. When in the form of a
roller it is preferred to arrange it so that the carpet in passing over it will be bent so
as to open the pile and thereby enable the dust to be more freely blown out by
the blast.
L is a pipe which may be secured rigidly either to the outside or as shown in the
drawings to the inside of the casing A and which is connected with an air pump, fan
or equivalent apparatus for providing a constant supply of compressed air. L' are
flexible branches secured in any convenient manner to the pipe Las also to the pipe M
which the said branches connect with the pipe L. This pipe M at its ends and if
desired at any intermediate part is supported in suitable bearings M' secured to the
casing "A and permitting of the pipe M being moved longitudinally therein. The
pipe M itself may constitute a long nozzle by being formed with a fine longitudinal
slit or it may be provided with one or more longitudinal rows of perforations or jets
but I prefer to fit into it a row of nozzles such as are marked M2 in the drawings
which may deliver their jets of compressed air in a direction towards the axis of the
roller J so that the said jets will blow the dust through the carpet X into the roller J;
but in place of this I may preferably arrange the nozzles so that they will deliver their
jets of air at an angle more or less acute to the carpet and if necessary so as to blow
only partly into it or along or over the surface thereof as shown in fig. 1 of the
accompanying drawings. For providing for an even subjection of all parts of the

page_text: carpet to the air blast the pipe M may be longitudinally reciprocated in its bearings M¹.
This may be effected in many different ways and as an example I have represented
one arrangement which is shown most clearly in figs. 2 and 3 and which consists of a
crank N connected by a rod N¹ to the pipe M and carried on a shaft rotated through
a bevil gear O from the shaft J¹ of the roller J which as before described may be
driven in any suitable manner from the shaft B; or the crank shaft may be driven
direct from B or in any convenient manner.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows;-
The carpet X by hand or any convenient system of feeding rollers or equivalent
mechanism is fed into the machine where it may be first subjected to the action of the
beaters which loosen the dust and then to the action of the air blast which blows the
dust over or through the carpet and thus completes the process the dust thus driven
out from the carpet being drawn out from the casing by a suitable fan or equivalent;
the process may however he reversed in so far that the carpet may be subjected first
to the air blast and then to the beater, but this is not preferred.
It will thus be seen that in the before described machine the carpet or other fabric
to be cleaned is operated upon simultaneously by the air blast and the beaters that is
to say one part is being blown upon or into at the same time as another part is being
beaten; but the machine might be so arranged that the air blust would operate upon
practically the same part of the fabric as the beaters and simultaneously therewith;
but, if desired the carpet may be operated upon by the beaters and compressed air at
successive stages instead of simultaneously as before described.
The casing A is provided with suitable sight holes and doors for enabling the
attendants to ascertain the state of the working of the machine and to have access to
the interior for cleaning and other purposes.
The pipe M like the pipe L may be either at the outside or inside of the casing A
the essential requirements being that the jets of air will be delivered preferably on to
or it may be through the carpet and that the dust loosened or blown out by the air
may preferably be blown into the casing A.
The before described apparatus although specially applicable to the cleaning of
carpets may be used for cleaning other fabrics.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is ;-
1. In apparatus for cleaning carpets and the like the combination in the same
machine of beaters and air blast substantially as and for the purpose herein-
described.
2. Subjecting carpets and the like to the combined and simultaneous action of
rotating beaters such as B and a jet or jets of compressed air substantially as and for
the purpose herein described.
SYDNEY
SIMMONS.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicant.