Improvements in Drying Apparatus for Bottles, Jars and similar Receptacles.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drying Apparatus for Bottles, Jars and similar
Receptacles.
I, THOMAS PUGH RICHARDS, of 3 and 5, Salthouse Lane, in the City of Liverpool,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
This invention relates to drying apparatus for bottles, jars, and similar
receptacles, in which hot dry air is used as the drying medium."
Apparatus according to this invention comprises an air heater, wherein the
requisite hot dry air is generated, and specially formed apparatus by which bottles,
jars, and similar receptacles are dried.
An air heater according to my invention consists of a vessel or chamber filled
with or containing a nest of tubes. The air to be heated may pass through
such tubes, whilst the heating medium may surround said tubes or vice-versa.
The heating medium will, in most cases, be steam, and may be either live steam
or exhaust steam; or I may use hot air or gases as the heating medium. In the
form I at present prefer, the air heater comprises a cylindrical shell whose ends
are closed by two tube plates. Extending from one tube plate to the other are a
number of tubes. Suitable steam inlet and exhaust pipes allow steam to circulate
around said tubes, within the shell, and the said exhaust pipe may be fitted with a
steam trap. Outside of each tube plate is mounted a conical cover, and into said
conical covers lead the cold air inlet pipe and hot air outlet pipe, respectively, so
that such air passes through said tubes. The form, size, and arrangement of said
air heater and tubes will vary with varying requirements.
The air to be heated in the above described heater may be supplied by a fan,
air pump, or other air propelling apparatus.
The air heated in said heater is conducted to the drying apparatus where it is
employed.
A novel form of apparatus for drying bottles, jars, and similar receptacles,
consists of a revolving hollow table, preferably of sheet metal, which revolves upon
a hollow spindle communicating with the interior of the table. The base in which
said spindle is stepped is also hollow, and into such hollow base the hot air supply
pipe is led. Around the upper edge of said table are a number of apertures into
which are screwed nipples of novel form, and on these nipples are placed, mouth
downwards, the bottles to be dried. The said nipples possess a valve, a spring,
and a projecting spindle, so arranged that the weight of the bottle depresses such
spindle and spring and opens the valve to allow the hot air to enter the bottle.
When a dried bottle is removed the spring automatically closes the valve and
5 prevents the escape of hot air from the unoccupied nipple. The table may be
rotated by worm gear driven by belting or other suitable gear. The bottle-washer
places the wet bottles upon the nipples and they are dried as they revolve and
before they reach an attendant who stands by and removes them from the table.
Instead of the travelling table above described I may employ fixed horizontal

page_text: pipes provided with the nipples above described, said pipes being supplied with
hot air.
One of the effects of quickly drying bottles by hot air is that the space and time
now occupied by bottles which dry by drainage is economised, and another effect
of the hot dry air is that their surface dries with a bright polish which is not
usually obtained in the slow process of draining.
1 1
1000
•
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drying Apparatus for Bottles, Jars and similar
Receptacles.
I, THOMAS PUGH RICHARDS, of 3 and 5, Salthouse Lane, in the City of Liverpool,
Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to drying apparatus for bottles, jars, and similar
receptacles, in which hot dry air is used as the drying medium.
Apparatus according to this invention comprises an air heater, wherein the
requisite hot dry air is generated, and specially formed apparatus by which bottles,
jars, and similar receptacles are dried.
In the drawings hereto annexed Figure 1 is a sectional view of the air heater
which I employ. Figure 2 is a plan of the bottle drying apparatus, Figure
being a sectional elevation thereof, and Figure 4 a plan of the base thereof.
The air heater which I employ consists of a vessel or chamber a, containing a
nest of tubes b. The ends of the shell a, are closed by the tube plates c, and
outside each tube plate is mounted a conical cover d. Into these conical covers
are led the cold air inlet pipe e and the hot air outlet pipe f, so that the air to be
heated passes through the tubes b. The chamber a is heated by steam, which
circulates amongst the tubes b, said steam entering the chamber by the pipe g and
leaving it by the pipe gl. The outlet pipe gl may be fitted with a steam trap. The
air to be heated in the above described heater may be supplied by a fan, air-pump.
or other air propelling apparatus.
The form, size, and arrangement of the air-heater above described may be varied
to suit varying requirements, and instead of the air passing through the tubes b,
the arrangement may be reversed, that is to say, the steam may pass through the
tubes whilst the air to be heated circulates around them.
The air heated in the said heater is conducted to the bottle drying apparatus,
which I will now describe.
Upon reference to Figure 2 and 3 it will be seen that a hollow sheet metal
table h is mounted upon a hollow standard h¹. The base in which the standard
is stepped is also hollow, and into such hollow base is led the hot air supply pipe f.
Disposed around the table h are a number of apertures which receive nipples k
of novel form, and on these nipples are placed, mouth downwards, the bottles,
jars, or other receptacles to be dried. The said nipples possess a valve k¹, a
spindle, and a spring k³, which are so arranged that the weight of the bottle, I,
depresses the spindle and spring and opens the valve k to allow the hot air
within the table h to pass through the said nipple into the bottle, and in this
.

page_text: manner the bottle is dried. When a dried bottle is removed, the spring ³
automatically closes the valve and prevents the escape of hot air from the
unoccupied nipple.
Rotary motion is imparted to the table h by the belt pulley m, through the
shaft m¹, worm m² and worm wheel m³ on the standard h¹.
The bottle washer places the wet bottles upon the nipples k and they are dried
as the table revolves and before they reach an attendant who stands by and
removes them from the nipple.
Instead of the rotating table above described, I may employ fixed horizontal
pipes provided with the nipples above described, said pipes being supplied with
hot air in any suitable manner.
By the employment of hot air for drying bottles in the manner above specified,
the space and time now occupied by bottles which dry by drainage are greatly
economised, the drying of a bottle being accomplished during one rotation of
the table.
Another effect produced by drying bottles with hot air is that the bottles are
dried with a lustre or polish not obtained by the present slow drainage drying
plan.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
-
1. The herein described method of drying bottles, jars, and similar receptacles,
which consist in introducing into the interior of said receptacles a blast of heated
dry air, substantially as described.
2. In combination, an air heater, comprising a tube filled vessel wherein air is
heated by surface contact, and a hollow table, pipe, or other chamber supplied with
air thus heated and provided with nipples for the reception of bottles jars, and
the like, to be dried, whereby such bottles are dried by air introduced into their
interior, substantially as described.
3. In combination, an air heater, a hollow table supplied with air from said
heater, by means of its hollow spindle, spring controlled air delivery nipples on
said table for the reception of bottles to be dried, and means for revolving said
table, arranged and operating, substantially as described.
4. In apparatus for drying bottles, jars and similar receptacles by hot dry air,
the nipple k, adapted to enter the neck of such bottle, provided with a spring
valve which is depressed by the weight of the bottle, whereby the passage of hot
air through the nipple is permitted whilst a bottle rests thereon, but is cut off
when the bottle is removed, substantially as described.
Dated this 28th day of March 1899.
J. A. COUBROUGH,
Chartered Patent Agent, 10, St. George's Crescent, Liverpool,
Agent for the Applicant.