Improvements in Machines for Cleaning Knives and Boots.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Apr., 1896-Accepted, 16th May, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cleaning Knives and Boots.
I, GEORGE SCRATTON, of The Vicarage, Stickford, in the County of Lincoln,
Clerk in Holy Orders, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (partly com-
municated from abroad by Arthur Scratton, of Patiño Cué, Paraguay, South
America) to be as follows:
My invention relates to an improved machine chiefly designed for cleaning boots
and shoes but also applicable for cleaning knives.
In carrying out my invention I provide a suitable frame provided with a table
and having mounted beneath it a shaft designed to be operated by a treadle, in
which case the shaft is cranked by a wheel or handle.
On the said shaft is
mounted a wheel or disc of such diameter that it will project several inches above
the table through a slot or opening formed therein, and on the lateral faces of
this wheel or disc are brushes which are made detachable and in sections to
permit of their being removed and replaced. The brushes of one side of the
disc are intended for use in brushing off dust and dirt and the brushes on the
other side for polishing the boots after they have been blacked. The brushes
may be arranged with intervals between them or placed close together.
The application of the blacking may be accomplished by hand in the usual
manner or a special wheel having on the periphery felt, bristles or the like.
It will be advantageous to clean the boots upon a last or tree which is provided
with a long handle for facilitating the manipulation of the same.
One of the advantages of my invention is that the brushes instead of being
curved to the periphery of a wheel are flat and therefore less expeusive to
manufacture.
When my machine is to be used for cleaning knives arrange outside the
brushes a ring or border of emnery, leather or the like.
Dated this 2nd day of July 1895
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cleaning Knives and Boots.
1. GEORGE SCRATTON, of The Vicarage, Stickford, in the County of Lincoln,
Clerk in Holy Orders, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (partly a
communication to me by Arthur Scratton, of Patiño Cué, Paraguay, South
America) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improved machine chiefly designed for cleaning boots
and shoes but also applicable for cleaning knives.
In carrying out my invention I provide a suitable frame supporting a table,
having mounted beneath it a shaft designed to be operated by a treadle, in which
case the shaft is cranked, or by a wheel or handle. On the said shaft is a
wheel or disc of such diameter that it will project several inches above the table

page_text: through a slot or opening formed therein, and on the lateral faces of this wheel or
disc are formed or fixed brushes. The brushes of one side of the disc are say for
use in brushing off dust and dirt and the brushes on the other side for polishing the
boots after they have been blacked. The brushes may be arranged with intervals
between them or placed close together.
To enable the invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings in which :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation; and,
Figure 2 is a transverse section of a boot cleaning machine constructed according
to the said invention.
a is the framing of the machine having the table or flat top b, and c is the wheel
or disc carrying the brushes d, d and mounted upon the shaft e carried in bearings
beneath the table b. As shewn in the drawing, the shafte is represented as being
cranked and connected with the treadle, but, if desired, the said shaft may be
rotated by means of a handle, in which case it is extended through one side of
the framing. As hereinbefore stated the brushes d, d on the two sides of the
disc can be made in sections to permit of their ready removal and replacement,
or formed on the faces of the disc.
In using the machine the boot is first brushed by the brush on one side of
the disc, which brush serves as, say, a dust or dirt brush and the boot is then
polished by means of the brush on the other side of the disc. Or the brushes
on both sides of the disc may be used as polishing brushes in which case an
operator can hold a boot in each hand.
The blacking may be applied to boots by hund in the usual manner, or a
special wheel mounted, say, on one end of the shaft e may be employed for this
purpose, the said wheel having its periphery covered with felt, bristles or the like.
One of the advantages of my improved machine is that the brushes are flat
instead of being curved (as is usual with brushes mounted on the periphery of a
wheel) and are therefore less expensive to manufacture than curved brushes.
When my machine is to be used for cleaning knives, I make the diameter of
the wheel somewhat greater than the diameter of the brushes so that a ring or
border projects beyond the brushes, which ring or border may have emery, leather
or the like applied to it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A machine for cleaning knives, boots and the like wherein a disc or wheel
having cleaning brushes or surfaces upon its side faces is employed, substantially
as described.
2. A boot cleaning machine having upon its side faces brushes made in sections
substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of the improved boot cleaning machine hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 2nd day of April 1896.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.