IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR IRONING ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Westerby, of Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR IRONING ARTICLES
OF WEARING APPAREL."
Sealed the 31st January 1879, and dated the 3rd August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Westerby at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd August 1878.
ALFRED WESTERLY, of Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR IRONING ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL.”
My Invention relates to an improved construction of machine for ironing articles
of wearing apparel, and consists in mounting the heated or ironing roller in move-
able bearings, which are capable of being raised and lowered in vertical guides.
This object is effected by placing the bearings of the ironing rollers in vertical
guides in the main framing of the machine and above the clothed roller.
The bearings are attached to pendant rods carried by levers having their fulcrums
at some point on the upper part of the framing, and the levers are attached by rods
to a treadle below, and which is provided with counterweights, so that the heated
roller shall always be held at a suitable distance from the clothed roller, and thus
prevented from scorching this latter when not in use.
When it is desired to bring the ironing roller into operation the attendant places
his foot upon the treadle lever, and that brings down the ironing roller on to the
clothed roller. When it is required to on the contrary throw the roller out of work,
the attendant simply lifts his foot from the treadle, and then the weighted lever
will lift the ironing roller from the clothed roller.

page_text: Motion is communicated to the ironing and clothed rollers from any prime mover
by means of gear wheels, which are so arranged that the heated roller shall have a
greater number of revolutions than the clothed roller, so as to obtain a polish
upon the article being ironed.
The ironing roller I form with shoulders and of less width than the clothed roller,
and by this arrangement I am enabled to iron with greater facility many kinds of
articles, such as turn down collars and other articles which have to be folded for
use, and which require to be ironed on portions only of each side. I am also enabled
to iron the articles in what is known as a "wet state," and without specially
preparing them for the machine, the facility with which the heated roller is raised
off the articles being ironed, enabling me to pass over any rucks and avoid making
creases.
The ironing roller may be heated by gas, steam, or in any other convenient
manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alfred Westerby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd February
1879.
88
ALFRED WESTERBY, of Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR IRONING ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL."
My Invention relates to an improved construction of machine for ironing articles
of wearing apparel, such for example as collars and cuffs, the object being to
facilitate the operation of ironing, and to keep the heated roller clear of the clothed
roller when the machine is not in action.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved
machine, and Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.
A, A, are side frames or standards secured together by the tie rods B, B. The
ironing rollers are shewn at C and D, the upper roller C, which is the heated roller,
being made hollow from end to end to receive an iron heater, or the roller may be
heated by gas or steam. This roller I prefer to make of steel with a working
surface of less breadth than that of the under roller D, which is a clothed roller.
The roller D works in fixed bearings in the standards A, and the roller C is
mounted in bearings G', which are free to slide in vertical guides in the standards.
The two rollers receive an independent rotary motion from the same driving shaft E.
Upon this shaft is mounted a spur pinion e, which gears into a spur wheel d on the
axle of the roller D. On the driving shaft E is also keyed a spur wheel e¹, which
gears into a pinion e² in gear with a spur pinion c on the hollow axle of the roller C.
Thus when motion is imparted by steam or other motive power to the driving
shaft E, the rollers C and D will be driven independently of each other at speeds
determined by the arrangement of gearing employed.
It is in general preferred that the heated roller shall have a surface speed of six
to one of the clothed roller in order to impart a gloss to the work presented to its
action by the more slowly moving clothed roller.
In order that the heated roller C may stand clear of the clothed roller when the
machine is not in action, the sliding bearings C₁ of this roller are connected by
pendent rods C² to rock levers Cs, which have their fulcrums on a tie rod B³, carried
by cross pieces A', bolted to the head of the standards. Pendent from the outer ends
of these rock levers Cs are link rods C, which are jointed to a rocking frame F,
which has for its fulcrum the tie rod B. This rocking frame is furnished at its
front with a treadle board F¹, and at its back with counterweights F³. The action
of these counterweights will be to depress the outer or back ends of the rock
levers C³, and thereby to lift the bearings C₁ and their roller C and sustain the
latter clear of the clothed roller.
When it is desired to bring the machine into action the attendant sitting in
front of the machine will depress the treadle board with her foot, then rapidly
introduce into the bite of the rollers the collars or cuffs intended to be ironed,
keeping up a succession of these articles set abreast of each other and on following
lines until the whole batch has been passed through the machine. The collars or
cuffs thus passed under the action of the glossing roller will fall in succession out
of the machine on to a suitable receptacle, and when all have passed through the
attendant will release the treadle board from the pressure of her foot, and the
heated roller will then rise clear of the clothed roller. The articles thus passed
through the machine may be subjected a second, third, and even a fourth time to
the action of the glossing roller C to bring them to the required finish. As the
pressure put on the articles is regulated by the foot of the attendant it will be seen
that all danger of crushing the goods, which is liable to occur where rigid or
unyielding pressure is used, will be avoided.
It should be remarked that by contracting the width of the polishing surface
of the heated roller, as shewn in the Drawing, facility is provided for ironing

page_text: certain kinds of articles which have to be folded for use, such as turn down
collars, and which require to be ironed on portions only of the surface. Thus the
clothed roller will form a travelling table for such articles each time they are
passed through the machine, and present only when required those portions to the
heated roller which are intended to be finished with a polish.
In Fig. 1 supports are shewn at the opposite ends of the roller C for carrying
the gas pipe when gas is used for heating the roller, but these of course will
not be required when an iron heater is employed.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Machines
for Ironing Articles of Wearing Apparel," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the application to ironing machines fitted with a
clothed roller, driven from the main driving shaft, of a heated roller, driven also
from the driving shaft, and mounted in sliding bearings connected with a counter-
weighted rocking frame, and capable of receiving pressure from the attenḍant, as
and for the purpose above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Westerby, have hereunto set my band
and seal, the Third day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-nine.