AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CARPETS AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CARPETS AND OTHER
TEXTILE FABRICS." A communication from abroad by Johann Zacherl, of
Vienna, in the Austrian Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th November 1881.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING CARPETS AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS." [A communication from
abroad by Johann Zacherl, of Vienna, in the Austrian Empire.]
This Invention relates to an improved method of cleaning carpets and other
textile fabrics of large size and an apparatus appropriate thereto.
The improved method consists first in causing the carpet to pass between two
sets of beaters, which by a suitable mechanisin may be set in motion in such a way
that both sides of the carpet are worked upon at once by the said beaters,
provision being made to facilitate the falling down of the dust, and to prevent its
falling back by causing the carpet to travel in a direction slightly inclined from
the vertical line; secondly, in brushing the carpet between two or more sets of
brushes and rollers entirely separated from the beating mechanisın; and, thirdly,
in powdering the carpet with insecticide powder after being cleaned and before its
being rolled-up for storing or transport.
I will now proceed to describe the apparatus, by the aid of which this improved
method of cleaning carpets is carried into effect. Endless feeding girths or belts
guided over rollers suitably placed, and upon which the carpet or stuff to be cleaned
is fixed by means of clamps or holdfasts of any suitable construction carry the carpet
into the beating mechanism, thence into the brushing mechanism, and finally under
the device where it is powdered with insecticide powder, after which the carpet may
be rolled-up for storing or transport. Two or more such feeding girths or belts

page_text: may be arranged at suitable distances from one another to enable large carpets or
fabrics to be cleaned to be fastened thereupon. In order to compensate for the
slackening of the girths or belts, each of them is guided over two belt-pulleys, one
of which is fixed while the other is moveable, and may be shifted by means of a
sliding-carriage actuated by adjusting screws.
The carpet is first conveyed into the beating mechanism, which consists of two
parallel and horizontal axles, upon which the beaters are arranged side by side and
actuated by cam or tumbler shafts, causing the beaters alternately to move slowly
away from and violently against the carpet, which being guided between the two
sets of beaters is worked upon at the same time on both sides, whereby a thorough
cleaning is secured. The beaters are by preference arranged with spring action,
the cam or tumbler shaft being made to act upon tail pieces so as to draw the
beaters away from the surface of the carpet against the action of the springs, which
then throw the beaters against the carpet when released by the cams. In order to
regulate the force of the blows, the tumbler shafts or cam shafts, or other part or
parts of the beating mechanism may be made adjustable. The whole beating
mechanism is enclosed in a case, communicating with a chimney and the blast pipe
of a blowing or suction fan. One or more sides of this case may be made of glass
to enable the operation of the apparatus to be observed.
From between the beating mechanism the carpet is carried into the brushing
mechanism. This consists of two or more brush rollers rotated by driving belts or in
any other convenient manner, and so arranged that the carpet or fabric is brushed on
both sides; opposite each brush roller an ordinary roller is arranged and the carpet
passes between the brush and the ordinary smooth roller. The brush rollers_or_the_
smooth rollers may_be_made_adjustable-to-increase or reduce the pressure of the
brushes upon the carpet or fabric.
After having passed out of the brushing mechanism the carpet is carried under
the powdering device where the carpet is powdered with insecticide powder. The
said powdering device substantially consists of a polygonal drum made to turn
round its axis, and containing the insecticide powder. The sides of this drum are
formed of wire gauze or perforated metal, the powder falling through the sides of
the drum drops into a hopper, to which by an eccentric and connecting rod an
oscillating motion is imparted. The powder falls through the slit of the hopper
upon the carpet which is moved along under the said hopper and may then bo
rolled up for storing or transport.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on tho
11th May 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING CARPETS AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS." A communication from
abroad by Johann Zacherl, of Vienna, in the Austrian Empire.
This Invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus for cleaning
carpets or other like fabrics, and it consists, firstly, in the method of treating carpets
or other like fabrics for removing therefrom the dust and dirt, and for making them
insect proof by subjecting the fabric first to the action of beaters while travelling
in or nearly in a vertical direction and upon both its surfaces simultaneously;
secondly, subjecting the carpet to the action of brushes arranged to brush both its
surfaces simultaneously but successively, that is to say, by causing the upper surface
to be brushed at a point in advance of that where it is brushed on the undersido
and while the carpet is travelling in a horizontal direction; thirdly, distributing
over the cleaned carpet an insecticide powder to guard it against the attack of moth
or analogous insects; and, lastly, rolling it into a roll for delivery or storage.
The Invention further consists in the apparatus for carrying out the above
described method step by step and automatically, though it will be readily under-
stood that any of the well known carpet cleaning machines or any preferred
machine of this class may be employed in conjunction with mechanism for dis-
tributing the insecticide powder over the upper or nap surface of the carpet.
In practice I preferably arrange the apparatus so that the beaters will be located
in a room underneath that where the other cleaning and the insect powder
distributing devices are located, though this is not absolutely necessary, as they
may be located in the same room where the latter devices are located and isolated
therefrom by a dust partition. Of course it will be necessary that the brushes and
powder distributor be located sufficiently above the beaters to cause the carpet to
travel in or nearly in a vertical direction.
If the ceiling of the room is not sufficiently high for this purpose the carpet may
however be carried to a point as high as is necessary and then caused to travel
downward to the brushing mechanism. This may be readily effected by means of
guide rolls over which the carpet travels on leaving the beater chamber to cause it
to travel horizontally through the brushing and powder distributing mechanism
after passing vertically through the beater chamber.
The annexed Drawings shew an arrangement in which the beaters are located
in a room underneath that where the other cleaning and the insect powder
distributing devices are located; the lower room is represented on Sheet I. and the
upper room on Sheet II.
In these Drawings Figs. 1 and 1a is a side elevation of my improved machine;
Figs. 2 and 20 is a front elevation thereof, the beater-housing being removed;
Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are detailed views.
The carpet is stretched upon a series of endless belts i that pass over a corre-
sponding series of pullies c, c', thence through the beater-chamber over rollers y', y',
under rollers y, y, and between them and the brushes t, t, t', t¹, respectively, under
the insecticide powder distributor and over the small roll j, and back to the
pulleys c', c.
Each of the pulleys c¹ is made adjustable independently of the others, so that the
slack of any one or more of the carrying belts may be taken in or the tension of
said belts adjusted.
As shown in Fig. 1, this is effected by mounting each pulley e' upon a sliding
bearing d that is adapted to be moved towards or from the pulleys c upon its
supporting frame or standard a' by means of the set screw f. The latter work
in bearings in the standards and pass through threaded blocks attached to the

page_text: slides d. The pulleys c are all mounted upon a common shaft that has its bearings
in the frames or standards a¹, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
The fabric to be cleaned is placed in a roll or folded on a shelf L or a trough;
one end thereof is clamped or otherwise attached to as many belts as the width
of the carpet may require, the apparatus is then set in motion and the carpet
conducted through the operating devices until its opposite end is between the
pulleys c when said carpet end is also attached to the belting, the apparatus having
previously been stopped.
From the pulleys c the carpet passes into the beating chamber p where it is
subjected to the action of a series of beaters n that operate upon both faces of the
carpet.
The beating chamber is connected on the one hand with the floor of the room
above, and is supported on the other hand by columns C and cross girts E, F, to
which latter are attached the tappet-shafts q and beater shafts k, Fig. 4.
The beater shafts / carry a series of beaters n of cane, wood, or metal, or other
suitable flexible material. The beater ends are slightly curved to avoid the
damaging effect resulting from the contact of their ends with the carpet.
Each of the rings, Fig. 3, loosely mounted upon the shaft k is provided on the
one side with a socket 3, Fig. 4, in which the beater is fastened and on the other
with a tappet 2. In each of these rings is arranged a spiral spring f, one end of
which is fixed to a square shaped feather which lies in a correspondingly shaped
groove g and is moveable therein, the other end of the said spring is fixed to the
inner side of the ring kl. In the middle of every set of rings there is a worm
wheel keyed upon the shaft & into which gears the worm of an endless screw
supported by bearings fixed upon the girders-E, F.-It-is-evident that by turning
the screw in one direction or the other all springs f will be bent or loosened and
the strength of the blows of the beaters regulated at will.
The beaters are acted upon and set in motion by a cam shaft q, upon which
rings q, q, are so fitted that they may be shifted lengthwise. Each of these
rings q is provided with a cam or nose q³, by which the tappet of the corresponding
beater ring is pressed towards the girder, whereby the beater n is brought in the
position shewn by dotted lines, Fig. 1, the spring f being bent at the same time.
As soon as the nose q³ releases in its movement the end of the tappet the beater
is thrown forward again by the force of the spring, thus subjecting the carpet
passing between two series of beaters to a beating upon both surfaces simul-
taneously. The cam shaft q carries as many cam rings q2 as there are beaters upon
the beater shaft k.
As it may sometimes be desirable to throw out of gear soine beaters, or every
second, third, etc., beater, ring hooks 7 of the form shewn in Figs. 5 and 6 may be
put upon the shaft between two cam rings q2, whereby any number of beaters
may be shifted so as not to engage with the cam q³, as shewn at x in Fig. 2.
In their normal position the beaters are held in a nearly vertical direction, the
carpet travelling in the saine direction to the brush mechanism. In this manner
no dust or dirt beaten out of the carpet can settle upon it, as is the case where the
carpet travels in or nearly in a horizontal direction.
The dust is removed from the chamber p by means of a suitable blowing or
exhaust apparatus and carried through a chimney to the outer air.
Figs. 1 and 2 represent an apparatus for removing the dust from chamber p;
it consists of two horizontal tubes t arranged within the mould shaped bottom of
the dust chamber p, and provided on their undersides with slots v. V is a tube
leading the air coming from a blowing fan or blast engine into said tubes t, out
of which it passes through the said slots v, thereby removing the dust from
chamber p.
In order to enable the attendant to watch the progress of the beating I provide
the chamber p with a sliding sash, through which the operation of the beaters may
be observed and through which ingress may be had to and egress may be had from
the beating chamber.

page_text: From the chamber p the carpet passes through O, Fig. 1, over two rollers y, y,
above which are located two brush cylinders t, t, whereby the upper face of the
carpet is brushed as it travels over the rollers. From the rolls y, y, the carpet
passes under rollers y', y', below which are located two brushes t, t, that brush
the underside of the carpet. It will be seen that both faces of the carpet aro
brushed simultaneously but at different points. The upper face is brushed first,
so that any dust that may sift through or adhere to the underside of the carpet
while passing over rollers y, y, and being acted on by the brushes may be removed
by brushes t, t³.
The carpet after leaving the brushes 12, 13, passes over a small roll j that serves
to open or divide the nap and guide the carpet to the winding roll. Above tho
roll is located the insect-powder distributor, composed of a bolt or screen u of fine
wire cloth or other suitable material, through which the powder is sifted. The
bolt is preferably of hexagonal form, though it may be made cylindrical or other
form in cross section. The bolt u is surrounded by a casing u' to prevent the
powder from flying over the room. The said casing is open at bottom and has a
distributor u attached thereto. The distributor is preferably made of cloth, felt,
or other like material, and is made in two parts, which parts are arranged to leave
a narrow opening between their lips. The distributor u² may, if desired, be made
of some rigid material, such as thin board or sheet metal; in either construction a
reciprocating movement is imparted to the distributor spout us by means of an
eccentric and the connecting rod u to more evenly distribute the powder
delivered from the bolt.
As will be seen, the rolls y, y, y', y', serve not only as support and guide rolls,
but also as a means to hold the carpet to the brushes.
Either the rolls y or y¹, or the brushes t', t2, are made adjustable vertically,
preferably the latter (the brushes), to adjust their action upon the carpet and
compensate for wear.
The carpet after leaving the insecticide powder distributor passes to a winding
roll K mounted on supports Z, where it is wound into a roll for delivery or
storage, after being thoroughly cleaned and protected against the ravages of the
insects.
Under some circumstances it may be necessary to pass the carpet more than
once through the machine, and to avoid the loss of the insect powder the driving
belt for the eccentric is shifted from the driving pulley thereof on to an idle pulley
to throw the eccentric out of operation.
The apparatus is driven from any suitable prime motor by pulleys and belts.
Of course it will be understood that the insect powder distributor may be
applied to any of the well known carpet cleaning machines, and it is not absolutely
necessary that the cleaning mechanism described should be employed in conjunction
therewith.
Instead of the trough L, Fig. 1, Sheet I., a delivery roll may be employed upon
which the carpet is first wound.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
claim,
First. The herein described method of treating carpet, which consists in the
following successive steps, to wit:-First, beating the carpet simultaneously upon
both sides while the said carpet is travelling in a vertical or nearly vertical direction;
secondly, brushing the upper and underside of the carpet simultaneously but upon
different parts, and while the carpet is travelling in a horizontal or nearly
horizontal direction; and, lastly, distributing over the nap side of the carpet, and
while travelling in the said horizontal or nearly horizontal direction, an insecticide
powder, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Second. In a machine for cleaning carpets an insecticide powder distributor
arranged to distribute the insecticide powder over the nap surface of the carpet

page_text: after being acted on by the cleaning devices, as set forth, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
Third. In a carpet cleaning machine the combination with the endless carrier
belts i, the pulleys c, c¹, the rolls y, y, y¹, y², j, and the brushes t', t, t², t, of the
insecticide powder distributor, consisting of a bolt or screen and a reciprocating
distributing spout, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Fourth. In a carpet cleaning machine the combination with the belts i, pulleys
c, c¹, rolls y, y, y¹, y', j, brushes t¹, t¹, t, t, and the beaters n of the insecticide
powder distributor, composed of a bolt or screen and a reciprocating distributing
spout, all arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. In a carpet cleaning machine the combination with the cleaning mechanism
of the insecticide powder distributor, composed of the bolt u, its enclosing case u¹
and distributing spout u², the eccentric u³ and connecting rod ut, all arranged to
operate as and for the purpose specified.
Sixth. In a carpet cleaning machine the combination with a double series of
beaters, the said series being arranged opposite one another, and two or more
brushes of endless belts arranged to travel in or nearly in a vertical direction
while passing through the beating mechanism, and in a practically horizontal
direction while passing from the beaters through the brushes, substantially as and
for the purpose specified.
Seventh. The combination with the endless belts i of the pulleys c', arranged
for adjustment independently of one another, whereby the tension of any one or
more belts may be adjusted, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Eighth. The combination with the beater shafts and the beaters n of the cam
shaft both kinds of shafts arranged parallel to and opposite-one.another,-the-
-carpet-passing in a vertical or nearly vertical direction between them, substantially
as and for the purpose described.
Ninth. A beater shaft provided with rings carrying the beaters n and tappets,
in each of which rings is arranged a spiral spring with one of its ends fixed to the
shaft, and with the other end to the ring in combination with a worm wheel
keyed upon the same shaft and gearing with an endless screw, by the turning of
which the said springs may be more or less bent, thereby regulating the strength
of the blows of the beaters.
Tenth. In combination with the described beater shaft and beaters, a shaft q
carrying rings, each provided with a cam shiftable lengthwise upon said shaft q,
the cams acting upon the tappets of the beaters so as to retract the beaters from
the carpet and cause them to strike against it as soon as the tappets are released
from the cams, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Eleventh. A shaft 9 provided with cam rings q² shiftable lengthwise in
combination with hooks, Fig. 5, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Twelfth. The combination with the carrier belts i, the brushes t', t2, and the
distributor of the chamber p, and the beating mechanism arranged within the
said chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Thirteenth. In a carpet cleaner the combination of a fan or blast engine with
tubes V and v, v', the latter arranged under the beating mechanism, and provided
with slots on their undersides through which air is driven to remove the dust from
the chamber p.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
d night 1...