IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRYING CLOSETS AND DRYING HORSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bradford, of Cathedral Steps, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, and 63, Fleet Street, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Washing Machine Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRYING CLOSETS
AND DRYING HORSES." "
Sealed the 23rd November 1869, and dated the 28th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bradford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th May 1869.
I, THOMAS BRADFORD, of Cathedral Steps, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, and 63, Fleet Street, London, in the County of Middlesex,
Washing Machine Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRYING CLOSETS
AND DRYING HORSES," " to be as follows:-
I construct an enclosed drying closet of brickwork, iron, or other
suitable material, provided with a stove at one or both sides, or under-
neath, in the usual manner, and also with a suitable door or doors, and
ventilated in the ordinary or any other convenient manner. This closet

page_text: may be made of any required dimensions and of various forms. In the
centre or other convenient part thereof I mount an upright shaft
supported by a suitable footstep beneath and by a top bearing above so
that it can revolve, and I attach thereto either toothed gearing or any other
convenient appliance by means of which it may be caused to revolve
either by power or by manual labor. To this upright shaft (inside the
closet) I attach a series of horizontal arms arranged radially one below
the other in a spiral form from top to near the bottom of the shaft in
such a manner that when the clothes or other articles to be dried are
hung thereon they shall every one hang clear of the rest. The arms.
may be attached to the shaft either by iron sockets similar to those used
in joining iron gas pipes or by any other similar means. The upright
shaft with its spirally arranged arms thus forms (as it were) a revolving
spiral clothes horse, which may be either used in connection with an
ordinary open fire or stove or inside the drying closet, and it may either
be so arranged as only to be turned in order to bring each individual arm
within reach of the door as required when placing or removing the
clothes or other articles to be dried, or it may be constantly turning (if
preferred), in which latter case it will act as a spiral fan, increasing the
ventilation and materially expediting the drying process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Bradford in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BRADFORD, of Cathedral Steps, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
and 63, Fleet Street, London, in the County of Middlesex, Washing
Machine Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Lotters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-uinc, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Bradford, Her special licence
that I, the said Thomas Bradford, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Bradford, my excentors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no fa

page_text: "
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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRYING CLOSETS AND DRYING 'HORSES,' upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Bradford,
my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 Patcut.
. NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Bradford, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
I construct an enclosed drying closet of brickwork, sheet iron, or
other suitable material, provided with a stove at one or both ends or
sides, or underneath, in the usual manner, also with a suitable door or
doors, and ventilated in the ordinary way or in any other convenient
manner. This closet may be made of any required dimensions and of
various forms. In the centre or other convenient part thereof I mount
an upright shaft supported by a suitable footstep beneath and by a top
bearing above, so that it can revolve, and I attach thereto either gearing
or any other convenient appliance by means of which it may be caused
to revolve either by power or manual labour. To this upright shaft
inside the closet I attach a series of horizontal arms arranged radially one
below the other in a spiral form from the top to near the bottom of the
shaft in such a manner that when the clothes or other articles to be
dried are hung thereon they shall hang clear of the rest. The arms may
be attached to the shaft either by iron sockets or "tees" similar to those
used in joining iron gas pipes or by any other suitable means. The
upright shaft with its spirally arranged arms thus forms a revolving or
stationary spiral clothes horse, which may be used either in connection
with an ordinary open fire or stove or inside an enclosed drying closet,
and it may either be so arranged as only to be capable of being turned
by hand in order to bring each separate arm immediately opposite to
the door, step, or platform as required, according to.its position or height

page_text: for placing thereupon or removing therefrom the clothes or other articles
to be dried, or where desirable it may be constantly turning, in which
latter case it will act as a spiral fun, increasing the ventilation and
materially expediting the drying process.
"
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in the Construction of Drying Closets and Drying 'Horses,'
I will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed and carried into practical effect; and
in order that the same may be clearly understood I have hereunto
annexed a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked thic
same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof.
In the annexed Drawing Figure 1 represents the application of my
Invention to a brick drying closet or building of one or more storeys,
a brick shaft a, a, open from the bottom to the top of the building being
required, in the centre of which is placed the upright shaft b, b, the
lower end of which is supported in a suitable footstep c, c, beneath, and
its upper end in a similar bearing above. In the case of a building more
than one storey in height the shaft may also be supported by inter-
mediate bearings if required. The horizontal rods or arms d, d, for
hanging the clothes arp mounted spirally one above the other upon the
upright shaft, being (by preference) attached thereto by means of iron
sockets or "tees" similar to those used in connecting iron gas pipes, so
that they may be readily removed and replaced when required. A
door e, e, opens into each flat or storey to give access for placing the
clothes or other articles to be dried on the revolving arms and removing
them therefrom, are the furnace doors for heating the closet.
Figure 2 shows the same arrangement applied to an iron closet with a
single furnace, and Figure 3 represents the spiral drying horse as arranged
for open air use and driven by a small windmill. This arrangement
without the windmill is the form in which the drying horse would be
used for drying clothes either in the open air or in an ordinary drying
room.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention, the employment for such purposes of an upright
shaft so mounted as to be capable of revolving, and having arms

page_text: extending radially therefrom in a spiral form, and enolosed or otherwise,
substantially as shown on the Drawing and herein-before particularly
described, without confining myself to the precise details of construction,
and whether such shaft may be driven by hand or by power, or merely
capable of being turned when required.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bradford, have hereunto seb
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
0 Witnessed by,
GEORGE DAVIES, C. É.,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
THOMAS BRADFORD. (L.S.).