CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR Cleaning ROADS OR WAYS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1849

page_text: WALKERS SPECIFICATION
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Agent, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eleventh day of January, in the twelfth year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Walker, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Walker, my exors, adûiors, and assigns, and such others as
I, the said William Walker, my exors, adññors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR Cleaning
ROADS OR WAYS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER SIMILAR
PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said
William Walker, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto bad, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Walker, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, the following expla-
nation thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in machinery or apparatus for cleansing
roads or ways, which improvements are also applicable to other similar pur-
poses, consists,-
First, in the peculiar construction and arrangement of a machine designed
for the purpose of cleansing or sweeping the surface of the road or way, and
also the side channels, leaving the soil so swept in a ridge parallel to the line
of road, to be, subsequently raised by mechanical means or manual labor, if
preferred, and deposited in a cart or vehicle adapted for that purpose.
The second part of my improvements consists in the construction and
application of a machine, which may either be employed as an auxiliary to
the above-mentioned machine to raise the soil (already swept into ridges), and
deposit it in a cart or vehicle, which either precedes or follows it, or it may
be used by.itself for the purpose of sweeping or cleansing the surface of the
road, and raising the soil at the same time.
The third part of my Invention consists in the construction and application
of a low bodied cart, nearly circular, constructed of sheet iron or other
material, and so arranged that it may be raised or lowered to any convenient
height from the surface of the road, and is admirably adapted as a tender to
the second named machine, or as an ordinary scavenger's cart, to be filled in
the usual manner.
Having thus stated the nature and objects of my said improvements, I will
proceed to describe the method of carrying the same into practical effect,
which will be readily understood upon referring to the Drawings annexed, and
the following description thereof.
In Sheet 1 of the Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a plan view of my improved
machine for sweeping the surface of the road, and collecting the soil into rigcles
parallel with the line of road, and Fig 2 is a side elevation of the same.
The principal novelty of this machine consists in an improved rotary brush
for sweeping or cleansing the channel at the side of the road.
a, a, is
the carriage framework, and b, b, the locomotive wheels; c, c, is a rotary brush
placed in a diagonal position to the line of progression, and driven by means of a
spur pinion d, gearing into a spur wheel e attached to one of the locomotive
wheels b. The spur wheel f, attached to the opposite wheel b, drives the shaft g,
which, by means of the spur gearing h, and cross straps i, actuates the shaft k,

page_text: upon which the rotary channel brushes l. 1, are fixed; the channel brushes.
are composed of a series of straight brushes placed in diagonal positions
around the shaft, and so constructed as to be capable of being contracted
or expanded at pleasure, in the manner hereafter described with reference to
Figs. 6 and 7, Sheet 2. It will be observed that there is a pinion m, m, at
each end of the shaft g. These pinions can be connected to and disconnected
from the shaft g by coupling boxes or otherwise, so that the shaft g may be
driven from either of the wheels e or fat pleasure. It will also be seen the
frame n, which carries the diagonal brush c, swivels upon a centre at o, and is
capable of being turned round into the reverse or opposite position to which.
it is represented in the Drawing, so as to bring the pinion d into gear with the
wheelf. Thus it will be evident that the machine can be made to sweep the
soil towards either side of the road or towards the centre as preferred. When:
the diagonal brush is driven from the wheel f, the channel brushes must be
driven from the wheel e, and vice versa, in order to equalise the drag as much.
as possible. p, p, are palls or catches which fall into a notch in the frame n,.
so as to hold it and the diagonal brush in the required position. The action
of the machine is as follows:-The diagonal brush being set in the required.
position according to which side of the road is intended to be swept, the
channel brush on that side must be expanded, and the opposite channel brush.
contracted so as not to touch the ground. As soon as the machine is set in
motion the expanded channel brush will cleanse the soil from the channel,
sweeping it forward in a diagonal direction towards the centre of the road, and
the diagonal brush c following will sweep it either towards the centre or the
side of the road (according as it is set), leaving it in a ridge parallel to the
line of road.
In Sheet 2 of the Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a section of the apparatus for
raising the soil from the ground, and Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same with.
one of the wheels and the side casing removed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the
machine complete, and Fig. 4 is a back view of the same. a, a, are the loco-
motive wheels of the machine which are keyed fast upon the axle b, b, and support
the working parts of the apparatus by means of the framing c, c; d, d, is a spur
wheel keyed upon the axle 6, and gearing with a spur pinion & which is keyed
fast at or near the end of a transverse shaft f; 9 is another transverse shaft which,
as well as the shaft f, is supported in suitable bearings in the frame c. Upon
these two shafts are mounted pulleys h, h, around which pass endless bands i,
to which the lifting buckets k, k, are attached; 1, 1, is a rotary brush, which
is driven by means of the bands m passing around the pulleys n, n, and may,

page_text: be raised up from the surface of the road, when necessary, by turning the
handle.o; p is the discharged trough. The action of the apparatus is as
follows-Supposing the machine to be proceeding along the road, the revo-
lution of the locomotive wheels a, a, will (by means of spur wheel d) set all the
working parts of the apparatus in action. The revolution of the rotary brush
will cleanse the surface of the road acting in the same manner as a succession
of brushes, and will raise or sweep the soil thus collected up the curved
plate q, throwing it into the recess or reservoir formed by the part r of the
casing, from whence it will be taken by the buckets k, k, raised in a perpen-
dicular direction, and, finally (as the buckets pass over the centre), discharged
along the trough p. Of course, it will be evident that the discharging trough p
may be turned in any direction either forwards, backwards, or over the side,
as found most convenient, and also, that it may be made of any requisite
height. It will also be perceived that this machine may be used as an
auxiliary to the preceding one, in order to raise the soil swept into ridges
by the same, and deposit it in a suitable detached receptacle; or, it may be
used independently of any other machine, both as a sweeping and lifting
machine. The principal advantages of this part of my Invention are that
the machine, being entirely separate or detached from the cart, may be kept
constantly at work, the carts being taken away to the depôt for the soil as they
are filled, and replaced by empty ones; and also, as the carts have not to bear
the additional weight of the machine, they will necessarily contain a greater
amount of soil, and therefore, a smaller number of carts and machines will be
required to perform a given amount of work than when the machine is
manently attached to the vehicle.
per-
Fig. 5 shews a modification of or addition to the above described machine
to be used principally to raise the soil swept into ridges by the first
described machine. t is a roller revolving in the direction of the arrow,
and furnished with longitudinal strips of iron u, u, curved as shewn in
the Drawing. As the machine progresses, the front part of the curved
plate acts as a scoop, and with the assistance of the roller t raises the soil
and throws it into the recess, from whence it is taken by the buckets q, q;
the rotary brush 1, 1, follows and collects any soil that may escape the scoop v.
Figs. 6 and 7 shew a side elevation and section of an expanding brush to be
used in any or all of the foregoing machines. The axis a, a, of the brush is
made tubular and encloses a shaft b, upon which a right and left hand screw is
éut. These screws act upon pins which are fixed to the bosses c, c, sliding
outside the shaft. a. To the bosses c, c, are attached the arms d, d, which

page_text: carry the lags e, e.
As the brush wears away and consequently diminishes in
diameter, it may be restored to its original dimensions by turning the shaft b
by means of a key, the action of the right and left hand screws forcing
the bosses c, c (and consequently the lags e, e, containing the brushes),
outwards; ff, are spiral springs in order to give the brush some degree of
clacticity.
The third part of my Invention is exhibited in Sheet 1 of the Drawings,
Fig. 3 being a side elevation, and Fig. 4 a section of my improved cart
for removing the soil raised by the second described machine, or by hand;
which is also applicable to various other useful purposes, such as carrying and
dispersing water, liquid manure, &c., or for cleansing footpaths, courts, alleys,
and other like places. It may also be used in some cases as a fire engine by
slightly elevating the locomotive wheel, and attaching thereto a winch handle.
a, a, is the body of the cart, and b, b, are the locomotive wheels. There is a
space c in the front of the cart, in which the cover d of the same slides.
When used for carrying and discharging soil, &c., the cart may be tilted over,
as shewn by red lines in Fig. 4, by the following means:-There is a curved
rack attached to the sides of the cart, in which a pinion gears. The
pinion f is wrought by the wheels g, g, being actuated by means of the winch
handle h. When required to be used as a common watering cart, an ordinary
branch pipe and distributor must be screwed or otherwise fastened on to the
valve i at the bottom of the cart; and when desired to force water, &c., to any
great distance for spreading liquid manure, cleansing courts, and other like
purposes, a rotary pump may be applied, and actuated in the following
manner-To the axle or one of the locomotive wheels is attached a spur
wheel k, driving a spur pinion 7, keyed upon the spindle m of the rotary pump n;
o is the discharging pipe, and p is a disc for spreading or distributing the
water, &c.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said improvements,
together with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of the machine for
sweeping the soil into ridges, as exhibited in Sheet 1. of the Drawings, and
more particularly the construction and application of the revolving channel
brushes, and the method of expanding and contracting the brushes when
required, and also the means shown and described for changing the position of
the diagonal brush, so as to sweep forwards either side of the road.
Secondly, I claim the novel and peculiar construction and arrangement of

page_text: machinery exhibited in Sheet 2 of the Drawings, for cleansing the surface of
the road, raising the soil, and depositing it in a suitable receptacle entirely.
detached from and independent of the cleansing machine.
And, thirdly, I claim the general construction and arrangement of the cart,
as exhibited in Sheet 1 of the Drawings, more particularly the method of
tilting the cart, and the application thereto of a rotary pump, in the manner
and for the purposes above more particularly set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-nine
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of July in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Walker came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-nine.