IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND DRYING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John M Naught and William MeNaught, junior,..
both of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND DRYING WOOL AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 18th July 1865, and dated the 1st February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John McNaught and
William M°Naught, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st February 1865.
We, JOHN MCNAUGHT and WILLIAM MCNAUGHT, junior, both of Rochdale,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND DRYING
WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for washing
and drying wool and other fibrous materials.
In the Specification of a Patent granted to William M Naught, of Rochdale,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and dated the 6th of December, 1862,
(No. 3274), a washing machine is described in which the fibre is fed into a
trough at one end, and by means of screw blades or propellers on a longi-
tudinal axis the fibre is carried to the other end of the trough together with
the liquid in which it is immersed, and there the washed fibre is deposited on
an endless apron which raises it out of the trough and delivers it to squeezing
rollers, whilst the liquid, being driven through the apron, returns under a.
false bottom, with which the trough is furnished, to the end at which the fibre.
is fed in.

page_text: Now our present Invention has for its object the improvement of such
machines, and for this purpose (referring to washing machines) instead of
employing an endless apron, which performs the office of a travelling sieve,
we prefer to use an inclined stationary sieve, upon which the materials and
liquid are propelled by the action of the screw blades; the liquid passes
through the sieve, and the materials are deposited thereon. From this inclined
sieve the materials are moved up an inclined plane, and by preference by
means of a series of combs, prongs, or scrapers, which are attached to a frame.
This frame rests on guides parallel with the said inclined plane, and has a
reciprocating motion imparted to it, which is conveniently done by means of
a crank or cranks acting upon slotted or hooked fixings attached to the said
frame, the slots or hooks of which are of such a length and in such a position
as to allow the said frame to rest upon the said guides. When the said cranks
are at or near a horizontal position the motion of the said cranks below that
position drags the said frame up the guides, but in performing the half revo-
lution above the said position they come in contact with the top of the said
slots or hooks, lift the frame off the guides, carry it backwards, and lower it
down the guides to be again dragged up. The use of the guides is to support
the said frame and prevent the said combs, prongs, or scrapers from rubbing
upon the said sieve or incline. When the fibrous material has been raised to
the top of the incline it falls upon a series of rollers, all revolving in one
direction. These rollers convey it to the squeezers. The last of these rollers
should be as small as possible consistent with strength. The above-described
mechanism may be applied to washing machines wherein the material is
ngitated by revolving or reciprocating rakes or beaters, or by any other means.
Or such material may be moved up the inclined plane by endless chains laid so
close as to press upon it; or such chains might be armed with combs, prongs,
or scrapers.
Our improvements in drying consist in employing a series of rollers, all
moving in the same direction, actuated by carrier wheels, bevil wheels, or
worm wheels, or by other means, the peripheries of which rollers may be
either perforated metal or wire gauze ; at the opposite end to which the geering
is attached to such rollers is a pipe furnished with nozzles which protrude
into the ends of such rollers; into this pipe heated air is forced and conveyed
by the nozzles into the interior of the rollers, from whence it escapes through
the perforations in the metal or the meshes of the gauze. Underneath the
said rollers is a corrugated shelf or platform fitted to the under side of such
rollers. The fibrous material is laid upon these rollers and carried forward,
thereby subjected to the action of the heated air, and dried as it travels over

page_text: them. These rollers may be either continuous or in tiers one over the other,
and arranged so as to convey the material backwards and forwards and allow
it to fall from the upper tiers to the lower.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John McNaught and William M Naught in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 29th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JOHN
MCNAUGHT and WILLIAM MCNAUGHT, junior, both of Rochdale, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Hor
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John McNaught and William McNaught, Her special licence that we,.
the said John M Naught and William M Naught, our executors, administrators,.
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John McNaught and William,
McNaught, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND DRYING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John M°Naught and
William McNaught, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, 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 John McNaught, on behalf of myself and
the said William McNaught, 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 thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for washing
and drying wool and other fibrous materials..
In the Specification of a Patent granted to William McNaught, of Rochdale,

page_text: in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and dated the Sixth of December 1862
(No. 3274) a washing machine is described in which the fibre is fed into a
trough at one end, and by means of screw blades or propellers on a longi-
tudinal axis the fibre is carried to the other end of the trough, together with
the liquid in which it is immersed, and there the washed fibre is deposited on
an endless apron which raises it out of the trough, and delivers it to squeezing
rollers, whilst the liquid being driven through the apron returns under a
false bottom, with which the trough is furnished, to the end at which the fibre
is fed in.
Now our present Invention has for its object the improvement of such
machines, and for this purpose. (referring to washing machines) instead of
employing an endless apron, which performs the office of a travelling sieve,
we prefer to use an inclined stationary sieve or trough, upon which the
materials and liquid are propelled; by the action of the screw blades the
liquid passes through the sieve, and the materials are deposited thereon.
From this inclined sieve or trough the materials are moved up an inclined
plane, and by preference by means of a series of combs, prongs, or scrapers,
which are attached to a frame. This frame rests on guides parallel with
the said inclined plane and has a reciprocating motion imparted to it, which is
conveniently done by means of a crank or cranks acting upon slotted or
hooked fixings attached to the said frame, the slots or hooks of which are of
such a length and in such a position as to allow the said frame to rest upon
the said guides. When the said cranks are at or near a horizontal position
the motion of the said cranks below that position drags the said frame up the
guides, but in performing the half revolution above the said position they
come in contact with the top of the said slots or hooks, lift the frame off the
guides, carry it backwards, and lower it down upon the guides to be again
dragged up. The use of the guides is to support the said frame and prevent
the said combs, prongs, or scrapers from rubbing upon the said sieve or
incline. When the fibrous material has been raised to the top of the incline
it falls upon a series of rollers all revolving in one direction. These rollers
convey it to the squeezers. The last of these rollers should be as small as
possible. consistent with strength.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of one of our improved machines applicable
for washing wool or other fibrous materials; Figure 2 is a plan, Figure 3 an
elevation, and Figure 4 a cross section of same; Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10,
are parts of the said machine.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, a is a cistern; b, a false bottom in the same,
supported by stays, and perforated for a short distance from the end-c with

page_text: small holes; d is a shaft supported in bearings on the cistern, upon which are
fixed the propellers e, e; f is an inclined sieve or trough, of perforated metal
or other material, up which the wool or other material is carried by means of
the lifter g to the small rollers h, h, and by them forward to the squeezer
rollers i, i. An elevation of the rake or lifter is shewn at Figure 8. Figure 9
is a plan, and Figure 10 is an end view of the same. This latter view also
shews a cross section of inclined sieve f, also the crank k and its shaft.
In Figures 8, 9, and 10, a is a frame of wood, or any other suitable
material, to which are fixed teeth or prongs b', b, for raking or carrying wool
along; c, c, are brackets fitted to frame on which the cranks k act to give it
motion; d', d', are strips on the frame by which it is supported as it slides
along the ledges u, u, and which prevent it from going too low into the sieve
or trough f, in which it works, so as to keep the teeth or prongs b', 6', from
bearing on the bottom of sieve or trough. The wool or other material to be
operated upon is put into the cistern a, above the false bottom b, along with
the necessary liquid. The shaft d being set in motion by pulley j carries
round the propellers e, e, which are so curved and set as while scouring the
wool also to carry it along to the bottom of the inclined sieve or trough f,
which is of sheet metal perforated all over with small holes. The lifter g, as
before described, is made to move backwards and forwards in the sieve or
trough by means of the cranks k, k, which are made to revolve by the
wheels 1, 1, which receive their motion from the wheel m fitted on the shaft n,
on the other end of which is fixed a pulley o, set in motion by a strap from
the pulley p on the shaft q, which is driven through the pulley r. The rake
or lifter is lifted up by crank pins 8, 8, as they enter the loops t, t, and carried
down toward the propellers as the cranks pass over the top centre, then, as.
the cranks continue to revolve, they drop the rake or lifter on to the ledges
u, u, and then by passing against the faces of the brackets c¹, c', they push
the rake or lifter up the inclined sieve or trough, and so the wool or material
is carried forward, and some of it is thrown over at the end on to the rollers'
h, h, which are all made to revolve in the same direction, that is, towards the
squeezer rollers i, i, by means of the small wheels represented by red circles
v, v, in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are also set in motion by the pulley w
driven by a strap from the pulley x on the shaft q. This shaft q also com-
municates motion to the squeezer rollers i, i, by a pinion and wheel, it also
actuates the beater y. The beater y revolves at a high velocity, opening and
throwing the wool or material to the back of the machine as it leaves the
squeezer rollers. The water pressed from the wool as it passes through the
squeezer rollers falls into a trough, and from thence along another trough z'

page_text: into the cistern a, and passing along under the false bottom b, when it is
heated it rises through the perforated plate at c, where it comes again under
the action of the propellers. Figure 7 shews one of the propeller blades.
Figure 5 shews another method of fixing the propellers on the shaft d.
Figure 6 shews their position as they appear in the end view, if set in a spiral
form, as shewn in Figure 5.
The above-described mechanism may be applied to washing machines
wherein the material is agitated by revolving or reciprocating rakes or beaters,
or by any other means. Or in some cases we employ no separate agitator,
but cause the lifting apparatus above described to work partly immersed in
the liquid in the vat, and it then works efficiently as an agitator as well as a
lifter. Or in place of using apparatus such as above described for raising the
material out of the vat, such material may be moved up the inclined plane by
endless chains laid so close as to press upon it; or such chains might be armed
with combs, prongs, or scrapers.
Figures 11 and 12 shew a machine for washing wool and other fibrous
material, in which machine revolving beaters or rakers are employed, and in
which the material is raised from the washing vessel by endless chains with
prongs, dragging it up an inclined sieve or trough.
a is a tank; b is a revolving rake with a single row of prongs; b is another
revolving rake with a double row of prongs.
By means of the wheels c³, represented by red lines in Figure 12, the rakes
are made to revolve in the same direction, 6' running at double the velocity of
rake 62, so as to comb the wool from each set of prongs as they rise out of the
liquid and carrying it down again into the liquid deposit it at the bottom of
inclined sieve or trough f, to be taken by the prongs on the endless chains g,
which are kept constantly revolving.
Our improvements in drying consist in employing a series of rollers, all
moving in the same direction, actuated by carrier wheels, bevil wheels, or
worm wheels, or by other means, the peripheries of which rollers may be
either perforated metal or wire gauze. At the opposite end to which the
gearing is attached to such rollers is a pipe furnished with nozzles which
protrude into the ends of such rollers. Into this pipe heated air is forced and
conveyed by the nozzles into the interior of the rollers, from whence it escapes
through the perforations in the metal or the meshes of the gauze. Under-
neath the said rollers is a corrugated shelf or platform fitted to the under
side of such rollers. The fibrous material is laid upon these rollers, carrie.l
forward, and thereby subjected to the action of the heated air, and it is dried
as it travels over them. These rollers may be either continuous or in tiers

page_text: one over the other, and arranged so as to convey the material backwards and
forwards and allow it to fall from the upper tiers to the lower.
Figure 13 is a plan of part of our improved machine for drying wool.
d', d', is a frame or sides of an enclosed case; e, el, are rollers, the periphery
of which are wire gauze or thin plates perforated; f.f, are perforated pipes
in the centre of and revolving with the rollers. These pipes communicate
with the tuyeres g¹, g'. The rollers e', e', are made to revolve slowly in one
direction, and the wool being placed on the top is passed from one to another.
The tuyeres g', g', (which also act at one end as nozzles for the rollers to
revolve upon) supply the interior of the rollers with hot air which, passing
through the gauze or perforated plate periphery, dries the wool as it passes
over.
In Figure 14 h is a curved shield placed under the rollers, which throws
the air (passing out from the under side of the roller) upwards through the
spaces between the rollers, and thereby prevents the wool from falling down
the spaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said John McNaught have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOHN M NAUGHT.
(L.S.)