A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING FLOORS AND OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Kay, of Edinburgh, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING FLOORS AND OTHER
SURFACES."
Sealed the 29th November 1870, and dated the 9th June 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Kay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th June 1870.
I, WILLIAM KAY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "A NEW
OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING FLOORS AND OTHER SURFACES,"
to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention which relates to a new or improved machine to be
used for washing and cleansing floors and other surfaces, consists of a
framing supported on wheels, and on which it is travelled over the floors
and other surfaces to be washed and cleansed. On the framing are
carried two tanks or cisterns, one of which holds the cleansing water or

page_text: other liquid, whilst the other receives the water or other liquid after it
is made dirty by having been employed in the washing or cleansing
operation.
On the lower part of the machine a revolving brush is carried, and in
front of it is a rose or perforated pipe, by means of which the washing
or cleansing liquid is discharged from the tank or cistern containing
it on to the floor or other surface to be washed, the brush referred to is
geared by bevil or mitre wheels to the shaft of two other brushes, and
as it revolves it rotates these brushes also, all the brushes being brought
into contact with the surface washed or about to be washed. To the
rear of the said revolving brushes a travelling web is placed, which as
it travels wipes up the water or other liquid, the web is preferably
covered with loose or hanging pieces of cloth or other absorbent material
which takes up the liquid, and as it revolves over the rollers on which
it is carried it is passed under or between one or more pairs of pressure
rollers, which squeeze out the water or other liquid which it has absorbed,
and this water or liquid is thence discharged into the dirty water or
liquid tank or cistern. The rollers carrying the travelling cloth are
driven from one of the wheels on which the mechanism is carried by
means of a belt, but it may be otherwise driven. A valve or cock is
provided for opening or closing the discharge of water or other liquid as
required.
In place of using revolving brushes as herein-before set forth recipro-
cating or sliding brushes may be used, or a brush carried on a band, belt,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Kay in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KAY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Bend greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the 33rd
year of Her reign did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give

page_text: and grant unto me, the said William Kay, Her special license that
I, the said William Kay, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Kay, my executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE
FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING FLOORS AND OTHER SURFACES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Kay, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Kay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention which relates to a new or improved machine to be
used for washing and cleansing floors and other surfaces, consists of a
framing supported on wheels, and on which it is travelled over the floors
or other surfaces to be washed and cleansed. On the framing are carried
two tanks or cisterns, one of which holds the cleansing water or other
liquid whilst the other receives the water or other liquid after it is
made dirty by having been employed in the washing or cleansing
operation.
On the lower part of the machine a revolving brush is carried, and in
front of it is a rose or perforated pipe by means of which the washing
or cleansing liquid is discharged from the tank or cistern containing it on
to the floor or other surface to be washed; the brush referred to is geared
by bevil or mitre wheels to the shaft of two other brushes, and as it
revolves it rotates these brushes also, all the brushes being brought into
contact with the surface washed or about to be washed. To the rear of
the said revolving brushes a travelling web is placed, which as it travels
wipes up the water or other liquid, the web is preferably covered with loose

page_text: or hanging pieces of cloth or other absorbent material which takes up
the liquid, and as it revolves over the rollers on which it is carried it is
passed under or between one or more pairs of pressure rollers which squeeze
out the water or other liquid which it has absorbed, and this water or
liquid is thence discharged into the dirty water or liquid tank or cistern.
The rollers carrying the travelling cloth are driven from one of the wheels
on which the mechanism is carried by means of a belt, but it may be
otherwise driven. A valve or cock is provided for opening or closing the
discharge of water or other liquid as required.
In place of using revolving brushes as herein-before set forth recipro-
cating or sliding brushes may be used, or a brush carried on a band,
belt, or roller may be employed.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now procced more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a side
elevation of the new or improved machine or apparatus which constitutes
my said Invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are respectively an end elevation
and plan of the same. On these different Figures corresponding parts
are indicated by the same letters of reference.
This machine or apparatus consists of two tanks or cisterns A and B.
placed one above the other, and supported on wheels C and D, as shewn
on the accompanying Drawing, and which wheels may or may not be
provided with india-rubber or other elastic tyres.
Underneath the front part of the lower tank or cistern A a revolving
brush or scrubber E is supported by means of brackets F, as more par-
ticularly seen at Figure 1, and immediately behind the brush or
scrubber E, and arranged at angles thereto, two other revolving brushes
or scrubbers G and H are attached to the under side of the tank or
cistern A as more particularly shewn in plan at Figure 3. The shaft
or axis of the revolving brush or scrubber E is geared with the axis of
the corresponding brush or scrubber G by means of bevil wheels a and b,
as seen at Figures 1 and 3, and by this means the brush or scrubber G
is caused to revolve with the same circumferential velocity as the brush
or scrubber E. On the end of the shaft of the brush or scrubber E,
opposite to that on which the bevil wheel a is situated, a bevil wheel c is
placed which gears with a corresponding wheel & placed on the adjacent

page_text: end of the axis of the brush or scrubber H, as shown in plan at Figure 3
and by which the said brush or scrubber is caused to rotate. At the
front of the tank or cistern A, and immediately above the brush or
scrubber E a rose or perforated pipe I is attached, as shewn at Figures 1
and 3, and at the rear of the brush G an endless travelling web J is
situated. The said web may be formed of cloth, felt, or other absorbent
material, and it is passed over, under, and round a number of guide
rollers e, f, g, and supported respectively in brackets above and beneath
the tanks or cisterns A and B, as shewn more particularly at Figure 1.
The guide roller / also acts as a stenting roller, by means of which the
web J is kept in a state of tension, and immediately above the guide
roller a pressure roller K (herein-after more particularly referred to)
is situated, as shown. As the web J revolves it is also conducted through
a chamber or passage K extending across the interior portions of the
tanks or cisterns A and B, as shown in dotted lines at Figure 1. And
in order to re-establish communication between the two parts of the
said cisterns or tanks, which would otherwise by this means be destroyed
or cut off, curvilinear or angular ducts or passages L are attached
to the sides of the tanks or cisterns A and B, as shewn, by which
means a free passage is established between the two portions of the
said tanks or cisterns round the ends of the said chamber k, or the
machine may be so arranged that the tank or cistern A will occupy
the entire space in front of the chamber k, and the tank or cistern B
the space behind the said chamber. The various revolving portions
By
of mechanism herein-before described are rotated in the manner now
about to be set forth. The revolving brush or scrubber E is rotated
by means of a band or belt M passed round one of the carrying
wheels C, a groove being formed in the said wheel to receive it, and
the band or belt M is also led round a pulley N, fixed on the axis of
O the revolving brush or scrubber E, as shewn at Figures 1 and 3.
this means the other brushes or scrubbers G and H respectively are
also rotated through the intervention of the bevil wheels a, b, c, and d,
as herein-before described. The endless web J is caused to travel
by a similar belt or band O also passed round the herein-before mentioned
5 wheel C and round a pulley P fixed on the axis of the guide roller f, as
shewn. Two handles Q and R respectively are attached to the front and
rear or back of the machine, as shewn, by which it may be dragged or
pushed in a forward direction. The handle Q is by preference attached
by means of pins or hinge joints, so that when not in use it may be turned

page_text: back and rested on the top of the tank or cistern B, as shewn in dotted
lines at Figures 1 and 3.
Having thus described in detail the various parts or pieces of
mechanism which conjointly constitute my said Invention, I now
proceed to set forth its system or mode of operation. The tank or
cistern A is filled with water or other cleansing liquid which is dis-
charged on to the floor or other surface to be washed or cleansed (in
front of the revolving brush or scrubber E) by means of the rose or
perforated pipe I, and the amount of water or cleansing liquid passing
through the said rose or perforated pipe I is regulated by a sluice or
valve (not shewn on the Drawings) by the attendant raising or lowering
the handle x, shewn at Figures 1 and 3, or a stop-cock may be employed
for that purpose. As the machine is moved by the attendant along the
floor or surface to be washed or cleansed the brushes or scrubbers E, G,
and H are rotated by means of the arrangement of mechanism hercin-
before set forth, and by their rubbing or frictional contact with that
portion of the surface over which they are passed the dirt or adherent
matter is removed therefrom, and together with the water swept towards
the rear of the machine by the brushes or scrubbers G and H, where the
dirty water is lapped or wiped up by the travelling web J and carried up
through the chamber or passage k, and as the web is passed between the
pressure rollers and K. the said dirty water is expressed therefrom, and
falls or flows into the upper tank or cistern B, from which it is removed at
convenient intervals through the pipe & provided with a stop-cock m, as
shewn. The endless travelling web J may be covered with loose pieces
of cloth, felt, or other absorbent material in order that the dirty water
on the surface being washed or cleansed may be more completely taken
up, but such loose pieces of cloth are not essential, as I have found a
plain web or felt sufficient for the purpose, and in order to prevent any
irregularity in the surface of the web J causing it to foul in passing
between the rollers f and K, a pad n of india-rubber or other elastic
material is placed between the upper plate o of the bracket and the
top of the bearings of the roller K, as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, thereby
giving the roller sufficient play to allow the web to pass through.
1"
In lieu of actuating the revolving brushes or scrubbers E, G, and H
by means of a belt or band, as herein-before described and shewn on the
Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended, the said brushes or scrubbers may
be rotated from the axis of the carrying wheels C by means of spur

page_text: gearing, and in lieu of employing revolving brushes or scrubbers sliding
or reciprocating brushes may be used, it being understood that I do not
confine myself to the particular arrangement of mechanism herein-before
set forth and illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, as such mechanism may be modified.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion
that what I consider novel and original and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
The construction and general arrangement of the machine for washing
or cleansing floors or other surfaces, as herein-before described and
shewn on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Kay, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.
WILLIAM KAY. (L.S.)