IMPROVE. MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOOTS AND SHOES, ALSO APPLI- CABLE TO THE CLEANING OF OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Churchman and Frederick
Braby at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 30th October 1866,
We, HENRY CHURCHMAN, of Horsham, in the County of Sussex, and
FREDERICK BRABY, of Fitzroy Works, Euston Road, in the County of,
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOOTS AND SHOES, ALSO APPLI-
CABLE TO THE CLEANING OF OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in the.arrangement of a series of brushes upon one
or more revolving discs, cylinders, or drums in such manner that the boots or
shoes when applied thereto are successively cleaned from dirt, blacked, and
polished thereby.
The arrangement and mode of. action of the said revolving brushes may
be variously modified; thus in one arrangement we place six discs upon a
revolving horizontal spindle carried by a suitable framing, each two of which
discs have a concave brush surface formed between them to suit the rounded.
surface of the boots to be cleaned. The one circular concave. brush thus
formed is of bristles of a very stiff nature, and serves to remove the dirt from
the boots. The second has softer bristles, and is supplied with.blacking from.
a trough or revolving perforated cylinder arranged above the brush, and..
serves to black the boots; and the third is provided with bristles of the
requisite fineness for polishing the boots when applied thereto. The two discs
forming each brush are not fixed rigidly together, but are capable of being.

page_text: moved further apart or closer together to suit the size of the boot to be
cleaned, which is effected either by the action of a series of springs alone'
pressing the discs together, whereby the boots of larger size are made
themselves to press the discs apart, or by springs in combination with a set of
screw spindles, whereby the distance of the discs may be regulated. The
brush surface between the discs is for this purpose either divided into two
parts, one part being fixed to each disc, or the bristles are fixed on a flexible
back, such as leather or india-rubber, the edges of which are fixed to each
disc, and which is capable of expanding and contracting as the discs move
further apart or nearer together.
The boot to be operated upon is placed upon a slide which is pushed under,
over, or against the revolving wheel brushes, the said slide having by
preference a plate which is held in an inclined position by means of a spring,
so that the boot being placed upon such plate is kept up to 'the brushes by
the action of the spring, the plate becoming depressed as the boot advances.
If requisite a last or tree may be placed inside the boot to keep it distended
while being cleaned..
Instead of the three-wheel brushes being fixed together on one spindle as
described, each one may constitute a separate machine, and such separate
brushes may be arranged end on end, so that the hollow of the one brush is
opposite the hollow of the next, whereby a boot may be simultaneously acted
upon by two of the brushes. Also, instead of the two discs of each wheel
being adjustable, they may be fixed rigidly together. If requisite bristles:
may also be fixed on the edges of the discs; also in place of making the brush
surfaces concave they may be-cylindrical, or even convex.
In another arrangement instead of forming three separate wheel brushes
only one of large diameter is employed having three different brush surfaces
upon it, one division being of a nature to clean off the dirt, the next to apply:
the blacking, and the third to polish, so that the boot is cleaned, blacked, and
polished by one revolution of the brush.
In another arrangement two separate revolving discs are arranged opposite
each other at a convenient distance apart, each disc having bristles fixed upon
the opposite flat faces, and if requisite also upon the circumference, and a
narrow cylindrical brush is placed between the two discs, but somewhat above
them, so that a boot being inserted between the discs one side thereof is
cleaned by each disc, while the top is cleaned by the cylindrical brush.
In another arrangement the just mentioned two discs are provided with
bristles for cleaning off the dirt on their circumference, and upon their
opposite faces are formed, first, an annular brush surface for polishing, and,.

page_text: secondly, a central brush surface for applying the blacking, so that a boot is
first applied to the circumference for removing the dirt, and on then being
passed between the discs is first blacked and then polished. Or one disc.alone
may be employed having bristles upon the circumference and both flat
surfaces.
The revolving brushes may be mounted and driven in various ways, thus
they may be simply provided with two side frames carrying the spindle driven
by a crank handle turned by band, or they may be mounted on a table and
worked by a treadle similar to a lathe; or, again, they may be driven by
means of a pulley and strap from a steam engine or other prime mover.
From any part of the before described apparatus there may be made to
project a plate with an edge for scraping off the dirt from the sole of the boot
or shoe, such plate having a curvature at the end for clearing out the hollow
between the sole and upper.
The above-described improved apparatus may also be employed for cleaning
other articles, such as plate, in which case other substances, such as whiting,
rottenstone, or other polishing substances are applied to the brushes in place
of blacking.
Instead of bristles other materials such as leather, india-rubber, or a
strong pile fabric may be employed to form the brush or polishing surfaces.