Improvements in Cleaning and Dusting Metal Plates and Sheets.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Dec., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 6th May, 1891-Accepted, 6th June, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cleaning and Dusting Metal Plates and Sheets.
I RICHARD BEAUMONT THOMAS of Moorlands Lydney in the County of
Gloucester Tin Plate Works Manager do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
In the Specification of my Patent No. 16065 dated the 8th day of December
1886 I described certain means and appliances for cleaning and dusting metal plates
and sheets such for example as tin or terne plates whereby these plates and sheets
shall be so cleaned and dusted without the usual protracted manual labour at the
present necessary therefor.
Now the object of this my present invention is to improve and simplify these
means and appliances in such wise as while the desired operations are performed as
efficiently as aforetime to reduce the cost of the apparatus to render the same less
liable to damage the plates and sheets and to further reduce the necessary manual
labour. The still further advantage is also produced that the whole apparatus is
rendered more compact so that it takes up less room and that the working thereof
is the easier effected.
To carry out this object in a suitable framing I mount a series of rollers where
around I fit on each side of the apparatus an endless band preferably a chain band.
At the proper intervals I secure to these bands transverse stretchers and on each
stretcher secure or fit the carriers for the plates. Each carrier consists of two or
more shaped bars or rods one leg of which is secured to the stretcher at the
desired position in its length. The bands are caused slowly to travel and in one
position in the apparatus the bands and therefore the Ụ shaped carriers are caused
to assume a vertical position or thereabouts and immediately thereabove is fitted a
rack or receptacle into which the plates to be treated are placed one by one and the
bars of this rack are so arranged as to pass between the bars of the carrier and
therefore as the carrier is raised as the bands travel the carrier lifts the plate out of
the rack and carries off the same. This plate in the carrier on the bands is then
passed along above an upwardly curved platform wherein are shudes or other
suitable cleaning materials to the other end of the apparatus where it is led in a
reverse position along above another upwardly curved platform wherein also are
shudes or other cleaning materials to the former end of the apparatus whence it is
returned to the opposite end of the apparatus being properly cleaned in this passage
through the materials in the two platforms though I can also fit more platforms in
the same manner if desired and make the plate pass along them all.
The plate then having arrived at the opposite end of the apparatus to that at
which it entered is then by the descent of the bands back to the starting position
aforesaid ejected out of the carrier and falls into an arranged receptacle from the
bottom whereof an inclined plane or passage leads it to the dusting apparatus
whereinto it is forced to enter.
This dusting apparatus consists of preferably two pairs of rolls and one of each
pair of rolls is the holding roll while the other is the cleaning or dusting roll. The
holding roll may be made of metal or other hard material and may if desired be
covered by india rubber or other suitable material while the dusting roll may be
made of any material and is covered by sheepskin or any other suitablo material.
These rolls are arranged alternately that is to say if the holding roll is the upper-
most in the first pair of rolls the dusting roll is the uppermost in the second pair of
rolls or vice versa.. Two pairs of rolls are generally enough but of course I can add
thereto if desired.

page_text: As is aforesaid the plate is forced to enter between the first pair of rolls it may
be by the inclined plane or passage and when it is passed out of this dusting apparatus
it is properly cleaned and dusted as the dusting rolls are caused by any suitable
gearing to revolve in the same direction as the holding rolls but at an increased
speed and treat the faces of the plate alternately.
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T
1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cleaning and Dusting Metal Plates and Sheets.
I RICHARD BEAUMONT THOMAS of Moorlands Lydney in the County of
Gloucester Tin Plate Works Manager do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
In the Specification of the Patent granted unto me dated the 8th day of
December 1886 and numbered 16065 I described certain means and appliances
for cleaning and dusting metal plates and sheets such for example as tin or
terne plates whereby these plates and sheets shall be so cleaned and dusted
without the usual protracted manual labour at that present ordinarily. necessary
therefor.
Now the object of this my present invention is to improve and simplify these
means and appliances so described as aforesaid in such wise as while the desired
operations are performed as efficiently as aforetime to reduce the cost of the
apparatus to render the same still less liable to and capable of damaging the
plates and sheets and to further reduce the required and necessary manual labour.
The additional advantage is also produced that the whole apparatus is rendered
more compact so that it takes up less room and that the working. thereof is
the easier effected and is less expensive.
--In-order-the-more-clearly-to-explain-this-my-present-invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed I refer to the accompanying drawings
wherein
Figure is a side elevation with part of the casing removed for purposes of
exposure of this my improved apparatus for cleaning and dusting metal plates
and sheets.
Figure-2-is-an-elevation-partly-in-section_of_the_one_the_delivering_end_of_
the apparatus and
Figure 3.is an elevation of the other the entering end of the apparatus.
I construct a suitable framing A the sides whereof are preferably closed by
a casing as is shewn and in this framing AI transversely and horizontally
mount in manner as is hereinafter described a series of rollers where around I
fit on each side of the apparatus an endless band B it may very conveniently
be a chain band.
At the proper intervals 1 secure to these bands B transverse stretchers C and
on each stretcher C I secure or fit a carrier for a plate which carrier consists
of two or more U shaped bars or rods Done leg of each bar being secured to
the stretcher C at the desired position in its length as shewn at D'. The bands B
are caused slowly to travel and in the proper position in the apparatus near
one the entering end of the framing A and in the lower part thereof the
rollers E and E wherearound these bands pass are so mounted that the bands B
and therefore also the carrier D are caused to assume a. vertical or a nearly.
vertical position as is shewn in Figure 1 in readiness to receive a plate F..for
treatment which plate is placed in a rack G mounted on.. the framing A
immediately above the carrier D when in this position and this rack G consists
of two or more properly curved and shaped bars or rods so arranged and fitted
as is shewn in Figures 1 and 3 that the bars of the carrier D
can pass between

page_text: them and to and for this rack G. adjustable guide posts or bars H can be fitted
on both sides.to the framing A to ensure that the plate F must be properly
placed therein. Therefore as the carrier D when in this position rises with the
travel of the bands B it lifts the plate F out of the rack G and carries off
the same when another plate can be placed in the rack in readiness to be
carried off by the next carrier and so on.
The bands B with the plate in the carrier D then pass round and over the
upper roller E and along above an upwardly curved platform J which extends
from side to side of the framing A on which platform J are shudes or other
suitable cleaning materials and the bands B pass to or towards the other end of the
framing A under a series of rollers K it may be three in number mounted
parallel or thereabouts with the platform by which arrangement the plate is
caused to enter the cleaning material and to take an upwardly curved course
therein and thus the plate and especially the upper surface thereof will be most
efficiently cleaned.
The bands B then pass round and over the upper roller K¹ of this series and.
along above another upwardly curved platform L which also extends from side
to side of the framing A on which platform L also are shudes or other cleaning
materials and the bands B pass back to or towards the former the entering end
of the framing A, under a series of rollers M it may be three in number
mounted parallel or thereabouts with the platform L whereby obviously the
carrier D is reversed in position and by this arrangement likewise the plate is
caused to enter the cleaning material and to take an upwardly curved course
therein and thus the plate and especially the now upper surface thereof which
was the lower surface when the plate was in the cleaning material on the
platform J will be most efficiently cleaned.
The bands B then pass round and over the upper roller M' of this series
back again to the opposite end of the framing A. where they pass round and
over a roller N mounted at or near this the delivering end of the framing A
and in the upper part thereof and then down this ead of the framing A and
round and under a roller O mounted at or near this same end of the framing A
and in the lower part thereof back to the roller E hereinbefore described and
the roller can very conveniently be so fitted it may be as is shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 as to be adjustable whereby the desired tension of the bands B
may be maintained.
As the carrier D on the bands B3 passes round and over the roller N it is obvious
that the plate must be and is ejected thercout and the plate falls into a receptacle P
arranged therefor from the bottom of which an inclined plane or shoot Q leads it to
the dusting appliances and forces it to enter therein.
The dusting appliances consist of preferably two pairs of rolls and one roll R of
each pair of rolls is the holding or feeding roll and is made of metal or other suitable
hard or other material and may be covered by india rubber or other proper holding
material while the other roll S of each pair of rolls is the dusting or cleaning roll
and may be made of any suitable material and is covered by sheepskin or other
proper cleaning material. When there are two pairs of rolls the same are arranged
as is shewn in Figures 1 and 2 alternately or that is to say if the holding roll R be
as is perhaps most convenient the uppermost in the first pair of rolls the dusting
roll S is the uppermost in the second pair of rolls by which arrangement the surfaces
of the plate are treated alternately and both surfaces are properly dusted. The
rolls Rand-S are revolved in opposite directions whereby their surfaces where they
approximate to each other move in the same direction which is and must be with
the travel of the plate as is shewn in Figure 2 by the arrows and they are adjustably
mounted in the framing T so that any desired pressure can be put on the plate as it
passes between them and they are so fitted in any usual and convenient manner.and
with such proper and ordinary apparatus and gearing that the dusting rolls S revolve
at a speed greatly increased above that of the holding rolls R preferably about

page_text: three times as fast. When the plate issues from between the rolls it can be
removed and it has been properly cleaned and dusted in its passage through this
apparatus as is desired.
I consider that in most cases it is best and most conducive to the proper and
efficient working of the apparatus as also to the due desired economy in the same to
fit and arrange and use the two platforms and the two pairs of rolls hereinbefore
described and shewn in the accompanying drawings and that these two platforms
and two pairs of rolls are amply sufficient to properly clean and dust the plates but
it is obvious that when I may desire so to do I can fit and arrange in the same
manner other two or four or more similar platforms and pairs of rolls causing the
plates to pass along above and between them all in the due succession in the same
manner their surfaces being treated alternately. Again on the other hand when for
any cause it may be expedient or desirable or necessary to clean or dust only one
surface of each plate I can obviously fit and arrange and use only one platform or
one pair of rolls in the same manner and when only one pair of rolls is so used it
may sometimes be convenient to fit and arrange on one or both of the sides of the
one pair of rolls formed and operated in manner as hereinbefore described any
ordinary and usual pair or pairs of feeding rolls as may be desired.
I have shewn in the accompanying drawings only two carriers for purposes of
clearness but in practice I place the carriers on the travelling bands rather close
together so that there may be a constant succession of plates passing through the
cleaning material on the platform or platforms and issuing from between.the pair or
pairs of rolls. It is obvious also that the rollers K must be so formed that the
carriers D can pass under or through them and it is most convenient and preferable
to form all the rollers as is shewn in the accompanying drawings wherein each
roller consists of two fianged wheels-mounted-in the proper positions near the ends
of a shaft. When the apparatus is arranged as is shewn in the accompanying
drawings it is obvious that the two treatments that each surface of the plate under-
goes-are-transverse-or-at-right-angles-to-cach-other-as and because the axes of the
rollers and of the rolls are transverse or at right angles to each other and I consider
that in most cases this is best and most conducive to the proper and effective
cleaning and dusting of the plates but it is obvious that I can arrange these afore
said axes of the rollers and of the rolls parallel to and with each other when I may
desire so to do or otherwise as may be necessary or convenient in each particular
case..
The movements of the several parts of this apparatus hereinbefore described may
be produced in any convenient manner and by and through any usual and suitable
apparatus and appliances. Ishew in the accompanying drawings what I consider
to be a very appropriate arrangement wherein the power is applied through the
usual pulley to the roller M' which may be toothed or otherwise so formed as to
impart the required motion to the travelling bands B and a toothed wheel on the
shaft of this roller M' through the usual and ordinary pinion spur wheels shaft
pulleys and belting imparts the required motion to one of the rolls it may be the
roll R which again through the ordinary toothed wheels drives the other roll or
rolls at the necessary differing snood or snoods as is borninhafova dozomibed.

page_text: with one dusting roll S revolving in opposite directions and at differing speeds
substantially as and for the purpose herein before described and declared.
3. The apparatus for cleaning and dusting metal plates and sheets substantially
as hereinbefore described and shewn in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this wat to
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