IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TIN PLATES, TERNE PLATES, AND OTHER METAL COATED PLATES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas and Edward Sumner Morris, both
of Penclawdd, in the County of Glamorgan, Tin Plate Manu-
facturers, and Frederic Edward Abel, of Penclawdd, aforesaid,
Metal Broker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR CLEANING TIN PLATES, TERNE PLATES, AND OTHER METAL COATED
PLATES."
Sealed the 4th June 1875, and dated the 8th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas and
Edward Sumner Morris at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 8th December 1874.
We, JOHN THOMAS and EDWARD SUMNER MORRIS, both of Penclawdd,
in the County of Glamorgan, Tin Plate Manufacturers, and FREDERIC
EDWARD ABEL, of Penclawdd, aforesaid, Metal Broker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING TIN PLATES, TERNE PLATES, AND OTHER METAL COATED PLATES," to be
as follows:-
Our Invention relates to that stage of the manufacture of tin plates
and other metal coated plates at which the oil or grease which adheres

page_text: to the said plates when they are withdrawn from the grease pot is
removed, and our said Invention consists of the arrangements of
apparatus herein-after described for removing the grease from such
plates.
According to one arrangement two or more cylindrical brushes are
mounted on horizontal spindles which revolve in bearings in the sides of
a box or case containing bran or other cleansing substance. These
spindles are parallel to each other, and by preference in the same
horizontal plane, and are set at such a distance apart as to allow the
brushes mounted on them to touch or nearly to touch each other, and are
driven by suitable mechanism outside the box. Inside the said box
elevators consisting of buckets carried by endless bands mounted on
band pulleys are so arranged, that when the apparatus is in action the
buckets shall scoop up the bran from the lower part of the box and
discharge it on to the revolving brushes. The said box is covered by a
lid in which a slot is formed through which the plates to be cleaned are
introduced and withdrawn.
The
According to another arrangement instead of using cylindrical brushes
we use two discs mounted on a horizontal spindle which revolves in
bearings in the sides of the box on the opposed faces of which discs a
brushes are formed or affixed, the distance between the said discs being
such that the said brushes shall touch or nearly touch each other.
lower portions of these discs and of the brushes thereon dip into the bran
in the lower part of the box, and carry a portion of it up to the plates
which are introduced and withdrawn as herein-before described with
reference to the preceding apparatus.
Instead of causing the discs aforesaid to dip into the bran it may be
fed on to them by means of the elevators herein-before described.
According to another arrangement brushes of any suitable form are so
mounted in a box or case as to be capable of oscillatory or reciprocatory
motion therein, such motion being imparted to them by cranks, cams,
excentrics, or other suitable mechanism. In this arrangement the
elevators herein-before described are used to carry up the bran to the
brushes.
Each of the several apparatuses herein described is furnished with an a
adjustable cradle or stop for limiting the descent of the plate which is.

page_text: being cleaned. The said stop is supported by hooks or projections at
each side of the box so as to be capable of being shifted higher or lower,
according to the size of the said plates.
In some cases we combine with either of the said apparatuses hollow
rollers heated by steam, hot water, or hot air or gas, and driven by the
band pulleys or other mechanism by which the brushes are driven,
between which rollers the plates to be cleaned are passed in the event of
the grease having hardened on them and requiring to be melted. After
being passed between the rollers the said plates are passed between the
brushes.
The aforesaid rollers may be mounted and used apart from the other
portion of the apparatus.
Instead of using several revolving or reciprocating brushes a single
brush may be used, but we prefer to use two or more brushes in order to
operate on both sides of the plate at once.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomas and Edward Sumner Morris in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
THOMAS and EDWARD SUMNER MORRIS, both of Penclawdd, in the
County of Glamorgan, Tin Plate Manufacturers, and FREDERIC EDWARD
ABEL, of Penclawdd, aforesaid, Metal Broker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said John Thomas, Edward Sumner Morris, and
Frederic Edward Abel, Her special license that we, the said John
Thomas, Edward Sumner Morris, and Frederic Edward Abel, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
John Thomas, Edward Sumner Morris, and Frederic Edward Abel, our
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: 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 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TIN PLATES, TERNE PLATES, AND OTHER METAL
COATED PLATES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
John Thomas, Edward Sumner Morris, and Frederic Edward Abel, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Frederic Edward Abel, on behalf of
myself and the said John Thomas and Edward Sumner Morris, 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 :-
Our Invention relates to that stage of the manufacture of tin plates
and other metal coated plates, at which the oil or grease which adheres
to the said plates when they are withdrawn from the grease pot is
removed, and our said Invention consists of the arrangements of
apparatus herein-after described for removing the grease from such
plates.
According to our Invention two or more cylindrical brushes are
mounted on horizontal spindles which revolve in bearings in the sides of
a box or case containing bran or other cleansing substance. These
spindles are parallel to each other, and by preference at the same or
nearly the same level, and are set at such a distance apart as to allow
the brushes mounted on them to touch or nearly to touch each other and
are driven by suitable mechanism outside the box. Inside the said box
elevators consisting of buckets carried by. pitch chains mounted on
sprocket wheels or by their equivalents, are so arranged that when the
apparatus is in action the buckets shall scoop up the bran from the
lower part of the box, and discharge it on to the revolving brushes.
The apparatus is furnished with an adjustablo cradle or stop for
limiting the descent of the plate which is being cleaned. The said stop

page_text: is supported by hooks or projections or their equivalents at each side of
the box, so as to be capable of being shifted higher or lower, according
to the size of the said plates.
Instead of using several revolving brushes a single brush may be used,
but we prefer to use two or more brushes in order to operate on both
sides of the plate at once.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, we will proceed
to describe the manner in which it is to be performed, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures
marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan of our improved
apparatus. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both
Figures. The pitch lines of the toothed wheels are indicated by dotted
circles and the directions in which they revolve are indicated by
arrows.
A is a box containing bran; a', a³, is the framing; B is the driving
shaft on which are keyed a driving pulley b' and toothed wheels b³, b³,
which shaft revolves in bearings 6ª, 6*; C¹, C³, are shafts which revolve
in bearings c³, c³, and respectively carry toothed wheels c³, c³, the former
of which gears into the wheels 6² and c³; 0', c', are cylindrical brushes
keyed on the shafts C¹, C2; D¹, D³, are shafts which revolve in
bearings d³, d, and respectively carry toothed wheels d³, d³, and sprocket
wheels d', d. The wheel & gears into the wheels b³ and ď³; e¹, e¹, are.
sprocket wheels keyed on the shafts E, E, which revolve in adjustable
bearings e³, e²; F, F, are pitch chains which carry buckets f, f; G is a
stop or cradle consisting of a bar which extends across the machine and
fits between ledges a³, a³, on the sides of the box A; 9', g¹, are horns or
projections arranged at intervals, which horns prevent the plates from
slipping off the stop G; a³, a³, are doors through which the bran is
removed after use; H is a stage on to which the bran falls from the
brushes, from which stage the said bran is pushed right and left toward
the elevators by a scraper I so as to be taken up over and over again by
the said elevators. The scraper I is worked by cranks e³, e³, affixed to
the shaft E, the said cranks being connected to the said scraper by
connecting rods i, i. The coated metal plate to be cleaned is passed
down between the brushes c', c', until its lower edge rests upon the
stop G. The said plate is then withdrawn, having during its descent and

page_text: ascent been brushed by the revolving brushes with the bran supplied to
them by the elevators.
The arrangement of elevators herein-before described is applicable to
other machines for cleaning metal plates, where it is desirable to elevate
the bran or other cleansing substance repeatedly to the cleaning 5
surfaces.
By mounting the brushes at or about the same level so that the plates
shall be passed between them in a vertical or nearly vertical direction as
described, we avoid the disadvantage of one brush or the plate passing
-between the brushes screening the lower brush from the bran which 1
would be the case if one brush were mounted over the other, and we
thus cause each brush to receive its proper share of bran which is
continually passing down with the plates.
If desired an additional cylindrical brush or pair of brushes may be
mounted at the side of the machine, and driven by suitable gear from 1
the shaft for dusting the plates when necessary.
A single brush instead of a pair of brushes may be combined with an
elevator or elevators, but we prefer to use a pair of brushes so as to
operate on both sides of the plate at the same time.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner 2
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood
that we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein-before
described, as they may be varied without departing from the nature
of our Invention, neither do we claim any of such details otherwise than
as herein-after stated, but we claim as our said Invention,-
21
Firstly. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the
improved apparatus herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings for cleaning tin plates, terne plates, and other metal
coated plates, that is to say, the combination of a box for containing the
bran, cylindrical brushes mounted at or about the same level, and 30
elevators for raising the bran to such brushes, essentially as described
and illustrated.
Secondly. The modification herein-before described of the said
apparatus, that is to say, the combination of a single cylindrical brush, a
box for containing the bran, and an elevator or clevators for raising the 35
bran to the said brush, essentially as described.

page_text: Thirdly. The application to machines for cleaning tin plates, terne
plates, and other metal coated plates of elevators for raising to the
cleaning surfaces the bran or other cleaning substance used.
Fourthly. Mounting the cylindrical brushes of machines for cleaning
tin plates, terne plates, and other metal coated plates at or about the
same level, essentially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Edward Abel, have here.
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH,
Staple Inn,
London.
FREDERIC EDWARD ABEL. (L.S.)