A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR WASHING LINEN IN LAUNDRIES AND ELSEWHERE, AND ALSO FOR VARIOUS OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1872

page_text: : PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Edward Gedge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st November 1872.-A communication from abroad by Pedro
Palau, of 37, Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, Paris, France.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR
WASHING LINEN IN LAUNDRIES AND ELSEWHERE, AND ALSO FOR VARIOUS OTHER
PURPOSES," & communication to me from abroad by Pedro Palau, of 37,
Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, Paris, France, to be as follows:-
This apparatus is composed, as.illustrated on the accompanying Sheet
of Drawing, of a wooden vat A resting upon three feet, and of an iron
lid O. Under the bottom of this vat is fitted a copper boiler C provided
with a small furnace H, grater, and a chimney or flue c, h, having a
valve V to regulate the draught, and a small door P for the introduction
of the fuel. The apparatus is further provided with an ascending tube
T for the elevation of the liquid and a discharge pipe I.

page_text: Working of the Apparatus:-The linen ¹ is placed in the vat A, the
water and other substances which are to form the lye are poured in, and
filtering through the linen fall into the space e, and from thence by the
tube t into the boiler, compelling the air enclosed in this latter to issue
by the syphon tube 8 until the liquid arriving at the end 8¹ of this latter
fills it, and consequently prevents its entrance into the boiler by reason
of the opposing pressure of the concentrated air which it contains.
Method of Operating:-The fire is lit in the furnace H and the lye in
the boiler heated until it produces a head of steam sufficiently powerful
to push the liquid into the ascending tube T and cause it to issue there-
from and spread over the linen. When the liquid reaches the lower end
of the tube T the steam finds free passage and consequently the pressure
ceases, then the liquid which is contained in the space e meeting no
further resistance falls into the boiler by the tube t, and so on suc-
cessively. If during the operation the syphon 8, 8³, should not have
emptied itself, the air enclosed in the boiler finding no issue would
prevent the entrance of the liquid, and it is to obviate this that its
curved end 8¹ is at a little above the lower end of the tube T, so that
when the liquid comes level with this point it dislodges the contents of
the syphon without the least resistance:
The main features of this Invention are the reversed syphon S, S¹, the
furnace H, the position of which permits the union of the boiler C with
the vat A without fear of the heat of the one injuring the other, and
the chimney or flue c, h, the double object of which is draught, with
consequent issue of the gasses of combustion and the introduction of the
fuel. Based on these principles this apparatus may be used for making
coffee and a variety of other purposes, employing vats or reservoirs of
various shapes and sizes, and united to or separated from the boiler as
may be most desirable.