Improvements in Barrel Washing Machines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 16th Dec., 1899
Improvements in Barrel Washing Machines.
I, ADAM DANNER, a resident of Bronx River Road, Yonkers, Westchester
County, State of New York, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to an improved machine for washing and scrubbing
barrels. The invention comprises novel means for lifting the barrels out of the
soaking-tank, a novel construction and arrangement of the brushes, and various
other features of improvement, by which the manipulation is facilitated, a thorough
cleansing is effected, and objectionable wear avoided.
In the accompanying drawing:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of my improved barrel washing
machine.
Fig. 2a plan, showing the scrubber in section, on line 2, 2, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 a detail of the brake-mechanism.
Fig 4 an end view, partly in section, of the scrubber.
Fig. 5 a detail of the mechanism for vertically adjusting the side brushes.
Fig. 6 a detail of the top brush holder.
Fig. 7 a plan of the side brush and holder.
Fig. 8 a perspective view of one of the side brushes.
Fig. 9 a longitudinal section of the slide 1, on line 9, 9, Fig. 10, and
Fig. 10 a section on line 10, 10, Fig. 9.
The letter, represents the soaking-tank of the barrel washer, provided with
inclined bottom rails ¹, and side rails a³, which are laterally adjustable, so as to
center barrels of different sizes. Across the rear end of tank a, is bung a main
shaft b, which receives intermittent rotating motion from pulley b¹, in manner
hereinafter described. To the shaft b, are attached a pair of parallel lifters c, c,
(Fig. 2) which raise the partly filled barrel out of tank a, and transfer it to a pair
of inclined rails d, along which it rolls to the scrubber.
Each lifter c, is made in the form of a true circle which turns on its center,
and is provided with a segmental recess c¹, that joins the perimeter of the circle
at an acute angle to form a hook . The two onds of the notch or recess c', thus
merge into a curved edge that extends concentrically around the center line of the
shaft b, which constitutes the axis of the lifter.
The shaft b, is so rotated that when the recess c', is opposite the row of barrels
in tank a, it dwells for a considerable length of time, to permit the foremost
barrel e, to roll over the beak of the hook into the recess. The shaft then makes
a complete turn to convey the entrapped barrel to the inclined rails d, and again
present the recess c', to the line of barrels. Thus each barrel has ample time to
roll into the recess, and an empty lift is prevented.

page_text: The curved periphery of the lifters serves as a stop, to hold the row of barrels
back as the lifters rotate, and detain the next barrel at such a radial distance from
shaft b, that it will lie directly in front of the recess, when the latter again faces
the barrels. A cock, permits the sediments to be drawn off tank a.
The driving pulley, transmits continuous rotating motion to a counter-shaft f,
hy wheels 6, 63, 64, f, and chain f³, the transmission shown in the drawing
causing one rotation of shaft f, for eight revolutions of pulley 6 The shaft f,
carries a cam, the groove of which is engaged by a pin 7, passing through the
slotted end of lever, the other end of which, when thrown inwards, is adapted
to lock the pulley b', to shaft b, by clutch f. At each eighth revolution of shaft f,
the cam will so oscillate lever ft, as to lock the pulley to shaft b, for a complete
revolution of the pulley, and to then release the pulley from the shaft. In this
way the shaft b, will participate in each eighth rotation of shaft f, and thus the
intermittent rotating motion of the lifters c, hereinabove referred to, is obtained.
By sliding pin f, out of engagement with cam f, the intermittent rotary motion
of shaft b, may be stopped. A tappet f, on shaft f, operates a brake-lever f,
carrying shoe. This shoe engages a brake and balance wheel b³, fast on shaft,
(Fig. 3) while such shaft is to remain stationary, and releases it while the shaft
is to rotate. Thus a prompt and accurately timed action is assured.
The inclined rails d, deliver the barrels, one by one, upon the conical heads g¹,
of a pair of parallel shafts y, hung across frame B, of the scrubber. One of these
shafts is shown to be rotated from shaft f, by sprocket wheels f, g³, and chain g³,
and it in turn transmits motion to the other shaft g, by sprocket wheels g', and
chain g
As a harrel is rapidly rotated by the heads g¹, it is subjected to the action of
an upper hrush that cleans its sides, and of two lateral brushes that clean its heads,
and chime. All of these brushes are so lung, that when a barrel rolls upon its seat,
they will be momentarily displaced by such barrel, and will then at ouce resume
their operative position. This feature I consider of importance, as it prevents
the brushes from becoming used up or damaged by violent impact, and thus their
life is greatly prolonged.
The upper brush h, is curved to correspond to the contour of the barrel staves.
Its head, is clamped to a holder h, which is by stop-hinge 7%, pivoted to a
vertically adjustable rack . This rack is engaged by pinion 5, by which it is
set, and is locked in position by pawl and ratchet h. The holder ³, carries the
sprinkler h, and is provided with a lever 48, upon which is mounted the weight h³,
(Figs. 1 and 6). When a barrel rolls upon its support, the brush will be displaced
or tilted in the line of barrel-motion, and will swing back into its proper position
when the barrel has settled upon its sent.
The side brushes for scrubbing the heads and chimes are laterally displaceable
and are made of the peculiar form illustrated in Fig. 8. That is, the twigs,
bristles, rattan or other material which forms the scrubbing body of the brush is
short and straight along one edge of the brush head, as at i, and is partly over-
lapped by the longer and inclined bristles &c., ", that form the main body of the
brush. The innermost tufts or rows of straight bristles, which are overlapped
by the inclined bristles, taper in length to form an inclined edge which is
parallel to and abuts against the outermost inclined edge of the bristles . In
this way open dirt-accumulating spaces between the bristles i, i, are avoided, and
the tapering straight bristles serve as an abutment for the inclined bristles. The
brush made as described will thus have a notched and undercut edge of peculiar
construction which will engage the chime of the barrel (Fig. 7) while the inclined
bristles, will engage the head, and also both sides of the recess beneath the
chime. As this recess is very apt to harbor dirt, it is particularly desirable that
it should be thoroughly scrubbed, and I consider the construction of the brush,
by which this desirable object is attained, of great importance.
The brushes are capable of vertical, and also of backward and forward adjust-
ment, to set them to barrels of different sizes, and they are furthermore adapted

page_text: fo slide laterally in and out, so as to clean the chime and engage the head as the
barrel rolls into its place. The construction is as follows:
j, are vertically movable cross-heads engaging rails, of frame B, and connected
to a crank-shaft, by links. This shaft is locked in position by a pawl and
ratchet, and may be rocked, to raise or lower the cross-heads, by lever ♬
engaging spanner-hole of head. Each cross-head j, carries a bracket, to an
upwardly extending arm of which is fulcrumed an elbow-lever k, carrying
weight A¹.
The lower arm of the elbow-lever engages a laterally movable slide 1, guided
on bracket, by rollers, engaging elongated slots 7, of the slide. In order to
set the brushes laterally further in or out, to fit shorter or longer barrels, the
engagement between the parts A, 7, is effected by an intermediate socket, which
is adjustably clamped to slide 1, by screw 3. This socket is engaged by the lever k,
and if the position of the slide is to be changed, that of the socket is first corre-
spondingly adjusted. The forward end of the slide 7, carries the bearings 14, of a
set screw m, that engages a tapped lug ¹, of the brush-holder n. This set screw
permits the brush to be set in a radial direction to heads of different diameters,
so that the brush may work well into the corners underneath the chime:
The operation of my improved machine will be readily understood.
The brushes being properly adjusted, the barrels will be raised, at intervals,
out of the soaking-tank and transferred by the lifters c, to the scrubber.
barrel rolls upon its seat, it will swing the upper brush sideways, and slide the
lateral brushes outwards, but as soon as the barrel is properly seated, the brushes
will at once resume their operative position by means of their weighted lever-
connections. The barrel will now revolve rapidly, several times, to be thoroughly
rinsed and scrubbed, and will then be bodily thrown off its seat, by impact with the
next barrel, as the latter rolls into place. Thus a continuous operation goes on, and
each barrel will be thoroughly cleansed in all its parts in an effective and reliable
manner.
As each
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. A barrel washer provided with a soaking-tank, a rotatable shaft, and a
circular lifter concentrically mounted upon the shaft, and having a curved
segmental recess that merges into the perimeter of the disk which extends con-
centrically around the shaft, substantially as specified.
2. A barrel washer having a brush provided with straight end bristles which
taper in length at their innermost edge to form an inclined surface, and with
longer correspondingly inclined body bristles against which the inclined end
bristles abut, substantially as specified.
3. A barrel washer provided with a brush adapted to engage the side of a barrel,
a laterally swinging brush holder, a weighted lever secured to the brush holder,
a vertically adjustable rack, and a stop-hinge for pivoting the brush holder to the
rack, substantially as specified.
4. A barrel washer provided with a vertically adjustable bracket, a slide, rollers
mounted on the slide which engage the bracket, a weighted lover pivoted to the
bracket and actuating the slide, and a brush secured to the slide, substantially as
specified.
5. A barrel washer provided with a vertically adjustable bracket, a slide, rollers
mounted on the slide which engage the bracket, a socket, means for adjustably
clamping the socket to the slide, a weighted lever pivoted to the bracket and
engaging the socket, and a brush secured to the slide, substantially as specified.
6. A barrel washer provided with a vertically adjustable bracket, a slide, rollers
mounted on the slide which engage the bracket. a weighted lever pivoted to the
bracket and actuating the slide, bearings on the slide, a set screw engaging the
bearings, and a brush holder engaged by the set screw, substantially as specified.

page_text: 7. A barrel washer provided with a crank shaft, means for rocking and locking
said shaft, a pair of cross-heads, links that connect the crank shaft with the
cross-heads, brackets having arms and carried by the cross-heads, weighted levers
pivoted to the bracket-arms, a pair of slides guided on the brackets and actuated
by the weighted levers, and brushes secured to the slides, substantially as speci-
fied.
8. A barrel washer provided with a soaking-tank, a main shaft, a lifter mounted
thereon, a loose pulley on the shaft, a counter-shaft driven thereby, a cam on the
counter-shaft, and a clutch lever and clutch adapted to intermittently lock the
louse pulley to the main shaft, substantially as specified.
9. A barrel washer provided with a soaking-tank, a main shaft, a lifter and
brake-wheel mounted thereon, a loose pulley on the main shaft, a counter-shaft
driven thereby, a cam and tappet on the counter-shaft, a clutch lever, clutch
and brake operated thereby, the clutch and brake being adapted to intermittently
engage the pulley and brake-wheel respectively, substantially as specified.
10. A barrel washer, substantially as herein shown and described.
Dated this 7th day of November 1899.