AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CLEANING TIN PLATES
Year: 1878

page_text: - LETTERS PATENT to Tom Miles Richards, of Tonna, Aberdylais, in the County
of Glamorgan, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CLEANING
TIN PLATES."
Sealed the 4th April 1879, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, and
dated the 30th August 1878
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Tom Miles Richards at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th August 1878.
TOM MILES RICHARDS, of Tonna, Aberdylais, in the County of Glamorgan.
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CLEANING TIN PLATES."
"AŃ
My Invention consists of an improved machine for cleaning tin plates. The said
improved machine is composed of a top circle cleaner made to rotate in the one
direction, and of a bottom circle cleaner made to rotate in the reverse direction.
From the centre of the top cleaner a pipe or hollow shaft is carried up to a hopper
containing the bran or material employed in cleaning the plates, such material
passing down the said pipe to the space between the cleaners. The top cleaner is a
fixture to the pipe, and is driven by means of a bevel wheel on the pipe gearing
with a similar wheel on the driving shaft of the machine. The bottom cleaner is
carried on the upper end of a vertical shaft, which is driven by bevel gearing from
a horizontal shaft deriving its motion by a belt or strap from the driving shaft. The
tin plate to be cleaned is inserted between the top and bottom cleaners, the rotary
notion of which in reverse directions causes the bran to effectually clean the plate.
The cleaned plate is carried out of the machine by a pair of rolls, the upper one of
which (or it might be the lower) is driven by a strap from the driving shaft, and
the lower one by toothed gearing from the upper. The whole of the parts are
carried by a suitable frame provided with feed and delivery platforms or boards for
the plates, and also feed and delivery rollers if thought desirable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Tom Miles Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th April
1879.
TOM MILES RICHARDS, of Tonna, Aberdylais, in the County of Glamorgan. "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CLEANING TIN PLATES."
-
My Invention consists of an improved machine for cleaning tin plates. The said
improved machine is composed of a top cleaner made to rotate in the one direction,
and of a bottom cleaner made to rotate in the reverse direction. From the centre of
the top cleaner a pipe or hollow shaft is carried up to a hopper containing the bran
or material employed in cleaning the plates, such material passing down the said
pipe to the space between the cleaners. The top cleaner is a fixture to the pipe, and
is driven by means of a bevel wheel on the pipe gearing with a similar wheel on the
driving shaft of the machine. The bottom cleaner is carried on the upper end of a
vertical shaft, which is driven by bevel gearing from a horizontal shaft deriving its
motion by a belt or strap from the driving shaft. The tin plate to be cleaned is
inserted between the top and bottom cleaners, the rotary motion of which in reverse
directions causes the bran to effectually clean the plate. The cleaned plate is carried
out of the machine by a pair of rolls, the upper one of which (or it might be the
lower) is driven by a strap from the driving shaft, and the lower one by toothed
gearing from the upper. The whole of the parts are carried by a suitable frame
provided with feed and delivery platforms or boards for the plates, and also feed and
delivery rollers if thought desirable.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a front elevation and Figure 2 a side eleva-
tion of my improved machine for cleaning tin plates. a is the top cleaner and b the
bottom cleaner. The top cleaner a is fixed to the lower end of a vertical pipe c,
which is free to be turned in guides d, d, in the frame of the machine. The upper
end of the pipe c is in communication with a hopper e containing the bran or
material for cleaning the plates. This material passes down the said pipe c into the
top cleaner a, which is made hollow as shewn, and thence through holes f, f, in the
face of the top cleaner to the space between the two cleaners. g is a valve or shutter
worked by a handle outside the hopper to control the passage of the bran or other
material into the pipe c. The pipe c with the top cleaner receives rotary motion
by means of a bevel wheel h on the said pipe gearing with a similar wheel i on the
driving shaft of the machine. The bottom cleaner b is fixed to a vertical shaft l,
which rests in a footstep m, and is driven by bevel gearing n, o, from a shaft p
deriving its motion by a strap q from the driving shaft k. The gearing is arranged
(as shewn) so that the top cleaner a turns in a contrary direction to the bottom
cleaner b. r, r, are a pair of rolls for receiving each tin plate as it leaves the
cleaners a, b, and carrying it out of the machine. One of these rolls is driven by a
strap 8 from the driving shaft l, and the motion is transmitted to the other roll by
toothed gearing t, t. u is the feed board and v the delivery board. The cleaners
may if preferred be driven by straps and pulleys from a vertical driving shaft
instead of by bevel gearing, as shewn. The cleaners are faced with sheepskin or
other suitable material.
One advantage of my improved machine is that it is not necessary for the rotary
cleaners to work in a box containing the cleaning material, because the material in
limited quantities is supplied according to requirement through the pipe c, which
forms the shaft of the top cleaner a. Each plate is supplied with a fresh quantity
of clean or unused material instead of the same material being employed to clean a
number of plates, as is the case when the cleaners are enclosed in a box containing
the material.
I am aware that it is not new to employ movable top and bottom cleaners,
between the surfaces of which the plates are passed for the purpose of cleaning the
same.

page_text: what I claim as my Invention is,
Constructing tin plate cleaning machines, substantially as herein-before described
and represented in the accompanying Drawings, with top and bottom rotary cleaners,
the bran or other cleaning material being supplied through a pipe which forms the
shaft of the top cleaner, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Tom Miles Richards, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-nine.
T. M. RICHARDS. (L.S.)