Improvements in Bottle Washing Apparatus.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottle Washing Apparatus.
I, WILLIAM EVANS, of 5, Clifford Street, Eccles New Road, Salford, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and to be as follows:-
My said invention relates to bottle washing apparatus and has for its object to
greatly facilitate the washing of bottles and effect the same automatically.
In a machine constructed in accordance with my invention I provide a horizontal
row of scrubbing brushes, any suitable number of such brushes being employed.
The stems of the brushes are secured to spindles mounted to revolve in bearings
provided by a carriage which is adapted to slide horizontally in ways formed
in a fixed part of the frame. Instead of securing the stems of the brushes rigidly
to the revolving spindles I might secure them with a ball and socket joint, the
ball and socket being formed with projections and recesses so that the spindle
will effect the rotation of the brush stem.
By these means the brush stems are rendered flexible.
The brushes are revolved at a high speed in the following manner.
Upon the main driving shaft of the apparatus which is driven by power from a
suitable source, is mounted a chain wheel from which motion is imparted by means
of a driving chain to a chain wheel mounted on a counter shaft revolving in suit-
able bearings formed in the frame of the apparatus.
The other end of the counter shaft carries a bevel wheel giving motion to a bevel
wheel upon the extended end of one of the spindles carrying the scrubbing brushes.
The latter bevel wheel is mounted loosely upon the shaft by a slip feather and
groove permitting the shaft to revolve and also to slide within the bevel wheel.
The shaft extending from one of the spindles carrying the brushes is provided with
a pinion and similar pinions are mounted to gear with each other upon the ends
of the brush spindles so that the driving pinion communicates motion to the train
of pinions and the brushes are revolved. I arrange that the row of brushes shall
be advanced into the bottles to be washed, shall remain therein for a certain period
so as to thoroughly scrub out the bottoms of the bottles, usually the dirtiest part,
and be then retracted to their initial starting point. To effect this I provide a
reducing train of gearing giving slow motion from the main driving shaft to a
countershaft carried in suitable bearings in the frame of the apparatus.
Upon this countershaft, I loosely mount vertically arranged cams and sliding
in bearings in the cam are two rods each connected at their upper ends to one
end of the sliding carriage. Upon the countershaft are mounted two pinions
gearing with and communicating slow motion to spur wheels revolving in bear-
ings formed in the frame of the apparatus. The spur wheels are provided with
bowls or projections arranged in contact with the cams which rock loosely upon
the countershaft as described. As the spur wheels are revolved the bowls act upon
the cams and rock them in the arc of a circle in a forward direction, the rods

page_text: sliding in the cams correspondingly advancing the sliding carriage and the
revolving brushes to their maximum traverse. The revolving shaft driving the
brush spindles is slid within the bevel wheel during the traverse of the sliding
carriage as will be understood. The spur wheels then continue to revolve through
a partial revolution without affecting the cams, a dwell being formed on the cams
at this point.
The further revolution of the spur wheels causes the bowls to reverse the cams
thus retracting the carriage.
The bottles to be washed are contained within boxes which are formed with
circular openings through which the bottles are inserted, corresponding openings
being formed in a sliding lid. When the boxes are filled the lid is slid longitu-
dinally removing the openings therein out of alignment with the openings in the
box and thus locking the bottles in position. I prefer that this sliding lid shall
be operated automatically and the means to effect this will be hereafter described.
The necks of the bottles protrude from the boxes and are loosely embraced by a
perforated board or plate slidably mounted upon spindles secured to the boxes.
The bottles are held loosely in the boxes and are wholly or partially surrounded
by fixed brushes. To carry the boxes I provide two spider wheels or dises of
suitable diameter mounted to revolve in bearings provided by brackets secured to
the sides of the water tank. The spider wheels are intermittently revolved and
the boxes are secured to the spider wheels with the bottle necks arranged towards
the brushes. As the brushes enter the restricted openings or necks of the bottles,
the bottles being loose within the boxes are revolved on their axes in contact
with the fixed brushes by the jambing of the brushes in the bottle necks, and the
outside of the bottles are thus cleansed. As the carriage is further advanced
projections secured to the carriage come into contact with the slidable perforated
cover of the box embracing the bottle necks and push the same, against the action
of springs, firmly upon the shoulders of the bottles and thus holds them rigid
within the boxes. The bottles are thus securely held whilst being subjected to the
scrubbing action of the brushes.
When the brushes are withdrawn from the bottles I arrange that the spider
wheels shall be automatically revolved just sufficient to bring the mouths of the
succeeding box of bottles in line with the revolving brushes. This is effected in
the following manner. Upon the interior face of one, or it might be both of the
spider wheel or wheels, is provided a number of teeth or projections.
Gearing with these teeth is a pinion mounted upon a shaft revolving in bear-
ings in the frame of the machine."
The other end of the shaft carries a ratchet wheel, and to operate the ratchet
wheel a pawl is provided which is carried by a rod sliding in bearings in the
frame of the apparatus. Stops are formed on the sliding rod and these stops are
arranged to come at times into contact with the sliding brush carriage. As the
carriage is advanced it comes into contact with one of the stops and the rod is
slid so that the pawl slips over one or more teeth of the ratchet. When the brush
carriage retreats and the brushes have been withdrawn from the bottles, the other
stop on the sliding rod comes into contact with the carriage and the rod is reversed,
the pawl carried thereby operating the ratchet and revolving or partially revolving
the shaft on which it is mounted. Motion is thus communicated to the pinion
gearing with the teeth on the spider wheel, so that the spider wheels and the
boxes carried thereby are revolved to the required extent. It will be understood
that the teeth on the spider wheel, pinion and ratchet are so proportioned as to
revolve the spider wheel just sufficient to bring the mouths of the bottles in the
following box exactly into alignment with the revolving brushes.
I also provide means for automatically rinsing the bottles and removing them
from the boxes when the same have been washed.
At each side of the frame I mount pivotted levers, which engage with stops
upon two pairs of sliding bars one pair of the sliding bars carrying a transverse
pipe provided with rinsing nozzles.

page_text: The pivotted levers are connected to rods the other ends of the connecting rods
being pivotally secured to the sliding carriage.
When the carriage is at its initial starting point the sliding bars are in their
lowest position. As the carriage is moved outwards the connecting rods depress
one end of the pivotted levers, correspondingly raising the other ends and with
them the sliding rods. By these means the rinsing nozzles are raised and inserted
into the necks of the inverted bottles in the box immediately above them. The
pipe carrying the rinsing nozzles is in communication with the water supply from
the main or other source and the sliding carriage is arranged to operate a suitable
valve governing the supply of water to the rinsers so that a jet of water is injected
into the interior of the bottles. The valve is then closed by a spring or the
like.
Cups connected to pipes may be employed to carry off the water as it falls out of
the bottles.
To release the bottles and remove them from the boxes I provide an incline or
cam which comes into contact with a stud upon the sliding cover of the boxes after
the bottles have been rinsed, so that the cover is slid until the perforations therein
correspond with the perforations in the boxes. The other pair of sliding rods
operated by the pivotted levers are connected together by a transverse bar carrying
pushers which are operated by the pivotted levers to enter the necks of the bottles
and push them upwards out of the box. The bottles then come into contact with
a fixed rack which engages the projecting inverted bottles below the shoulder
and withdraws them from the boxes as the spider wheels are revolved. The
bottles are withdrawn from the rack before the next box is emptied. As the
empty box is revolved it is refilled by the attendant with bottles to be washed
and an angular stop or cam again operates to close the sliding lid and retain the
bottles within the box. The apparatus is enclosed within a suitable protective
casing.
The following is a short description of the action of my improved bottle washing
apparatus.
The tank having been filled to a suitable level with water and the apparatus
started, the operator fills each box as the drum intermittently revolves with dirty
bottles taken from the soaking water. As the bottles revolve immersed within
the water they fill and are again half emptied as they attain a horizontal position
opposite the brushes. From the point at which they were put in the box the
bottles when disposed opposite the brushes have revolved through a half circle
or thereabout. The brushes advance, and entering the bottle necks revolve the
bottles on their axes. The further advance of the brushes causes the bottles to
be held tightly within the boxes and subjected to the scrubbing action of the
brushes. When the brushes are withdrawn the drum is revolved sufficiently to
bring the next box of bottles into position and so on. As the boxes of washed
bottles assume a vertical position the bottles are first rinsed and then ejected
from the boxes and removed by the rack as described. The empty boxes are then
refilled by the operator.
It will thus be seen that with the exception of filling the boxes with bottles and
removing the washed bottles, the apparatus is automatic in its action and one
attendant only being required to each apparatus, an enormous quantity of bottles
may be economically washed with ease and despatch.

page_text: The remaining figs, are detail views.
In a machine constructed in accordance with my invention I provide in a suit-
able tank A a horizontal row of scrubbing brushes a¹ any suitable number of such
brushes being employed.
In the drawings the machine is constructed for six scrubbing brushes although
more or less may be employed.
The scrubbing brushes are of the usual type and two are shown in the drawings.
The stems of the brushes are secured to spindles a mounted to revolve in bear-
ings provided by a carriage b which is adapted to slide horizontally in ways c
formed in a fixed part of the frame B.
Instead of securing the stems of the brushes rigidly to the revolving spindles a,
I may secure them with a ball and socket joint as shown in Figs. 11 and 11, the
ball being formed with projections a² and the socket with an annular recess to
accommodate the projections so that the spindle will effect the rotation of the
brush stem.
By these means the brush stems are not only revolved but are rendered flexible,
and have a great amount of play and will thus more effectually scrub the sides
of the bottles.
To maintain the brush stems in perfect alignment with the mouths of the
bottles so that the brushes are accurately directed I provide a guide plate a³
through perforations in which the brushes slide. The brushes are revolved at a
high speed in the following manner.
Upon the main driving shaft C of the apparatus which is driven by power
from a suitable source is mounted a chain wheel d from which motion is imparted
by means of a driving chain to a chain wheel mounted on a counter shaft
revolving in suitable bearings formed in the frame B of the apparatus.
The other end of the counter shaft carries a bevel wheel giving motion to
a bevel wheel e upon the extended end e¹ of one of the spindles a carrying the
scrubbing brushes.
The latter bevel wheel e is mounted loosely upon the shaft by a slip feather
and groove, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2, permitting the shaft to revolve and
also to slide within the bevel wheel. The shaft is provided with a pinion f
and similar pinions fl are mounted to gear with each other upon the ends of the
brush spindles a so that the driving pinion f communicates motion to the train
of pinions and the brushes are revolved. I arrange that the row of brushes shall
he advanced into the bottles to be washed, shall remain therein for a certain period
so as to thoroughly scrub out the bottoms of the bottles, usually the dirtiest part,
and be then retracted to their initial starting point. To effect this I provide
a reducing train of gearing giving slow motion from the main driving shaft to
a countershaft carried in suitable bearings in the frame of the apparatus.

page_text: This train of gearing is shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4.
Upon the driving shaft C is mounted a pinion g gearing with a pinion g¹. Upon
the axis of the pinion g¹ is mounted a pinion 92 meshing with a spur wheel g³
the spur wheel g³ is mounted upon a countershaft h which is thus slowly revolved.
Upon this countershaft h I loosely mount vertically arranged cams i i, and
sliding in bearings in the cams are two rods jj each connected at their upper ends
to one end of the sliding carriage b. Upon the countershaft are mounted two
pinions gearing with and communicating slow motion to spur wheels
revolving in bearings formed in the frame of the apparatus. The spur wheels
are provided with bowls or projections m m arranged in contact with the cams i i
which rock loosely upon the countershaft h, as described. As the spur wheels 11
are revolved, the bowls m m act upon the cams ii and rock them in the arc of a
circle in a forward direction the rods jj sliding in the cams ii correspondingly
advancing the sliding carriage and the revolving brushes to their maximum
traverse. The revolving shaft e¹ driving the brush spindles a is slid within the
bevel wheel e during the traverse of the sliding carriage as will be understood.
The spur wheels then continue to revolve through a partial revolution without
affecting the cams ii a dwell being formed on the cams at this point..
The further revolution of the spur wheels 17 causes the bowls m m to reverse the
cams thus retracting the carriage.
The operation of the cams i will be more apparent from an inspection of Figs. 13
and 14, Sheet 3 of the drawings.
In Fig. 13 is shown in full and dotted lines the various positions assumed by
the cam. The length of traverse of the carriage is indicated by the dotted
line 5. To the right of the fig. the cam i is shown in dotted lines in the position
it assumes when the carriage is commencing its forward traverse.
The bowl m is then at bearing against the inclined portion of the cam i, as
the spur wheel 7 revolves, the bowl turns the cam through an arc of a circle
and when in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 13 the carriage has been
moved through about half of its traverse. The further revolution of the bowl
from position 1 to 2 advances the cam i and carriage to the end of its traverse
and the brushes a¹ then revolve within the bottles, From 2 to 3 there is formed
a dwell in the cam i, the revolution of the bowl m not affecting the cam, so that
the brushes are allowed sufficient time to thoroughly cleanse out the bottles. At
the point 3 the bowl m bears on the straight portion of the cam and swings the
same back thus retracting the carriage to its initial starting point. From 4 to
the point there is another dwell when the carriage is again advanced as
described.
In the above description I have alluded to one cam and bowl m as shown in
Figs. 13 and 14 but it will be understood that the cam and bowl are duplicated
as previously mentioned and the description of one suffices for the other.
The bottles to be washed are contained within boxes which are formed with
circular openings through which the bottles are inserted, corresponding open-
ings being formed in a sliding lid o. When the boxes are filled the lid o is
slid longitudinally removing the openings therein out of alignment with the
openings in the box and thus locking the bottles in position. I prefer that this
sliding lid o shall be operated automatically and the means to effect this will be
hereafter described, The necks of the bottles protrude from the boxes n and are
loosely embraced by a perforated board or plate p slidably mounted upon
spindles secured to the boxes n.
The bottles are held loosely in the boxes and are wholly or partially surrounded
by fixed brushes 72 (see Fig. 10).
To carry the boxes n I provide two spider wheels or discs D, of suitable diameter,
mounted to revolve in bearings provided by brackets E secured to the sides of the
water tank. The brackets E are formed with fixed rings q and the spider wheels 1)
carry internal rings D' revolving upon the fixed rings of the brackets E. The
spider wheels D are connected together by suitable cross stays or the like and are

page_text: .
intermittently revolved carrying the boxes secured around the peripheries of the
spider wheels with the bottle necks arranged towards the brushes. It will be
understood that the boxes containing the bottles are arranged radially around the
peripheries of the spider wheels. The boxes may be packed closely together or
be arranged at intervals.
As the brushes enter the restricted openings or necks of the bottles, the bottles
being loose within the boxes n are revolved on their axes, in contact with the
fixed brushes 72 by the jambing of the brushes in the bottle necks, and the out-
side of the bottles are thus cleansed.
As the carriage is further advanced projections r (see Fig. 2) secured to the
carriage, come into contact with the slidable perforated cover of the box contain-
ing the bottle necks and push the same, against the action of springs 3, firmly
upon the shoulders of the bottles and thus holds them rigid within the boxes.
The bottles are thus securely held whilst being subjected to the brushes during the
remainder of the inward traverse and dwell of the carriage.
When the brushes are withdrawn from the bottles I arrange that the spider
wheels shall be automatically revolved just sufficient to bring the mouths of the
succeeding box of bottles in line with the revolving brushes.
This is effected in the following manner. Upon the interior face of one, or it
might be both of the spider wheel or wheels D, is provided a number of teeth or
projections (Fig. 1).
Gearing with these teeth is a pinion 2 mounted upon a shaft s revolving in
bearings in the frame of the machine.
The other end of the shaft carries a ratchet wheel t, and to operate the ratchet
wheel a pawl is provided, the pawl being pivotted on a spindle 2 carried in a
bridle supported by arms pivotted on the shaft s.
The bridle is connected by a pin or stud to a rod t sliding in a bearing t
fixed to the frame of the carriage. A secondary or check pawl is pivotted at
on the bearing and engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel t.
Stops are formed on the sliding rod and these stops are arranged to come
at times into contact with the sliding brush carriage b
and the
When.
As the carriage b is advanced it comes into contact with the stop
red is slid so that the pawl t slips over one or more teeth of the ratchet t.
the brush carriage retreats and the brushes have been withdrawn from the bottles,
the other stop on the sliding rod is acted upon by the carriage and the rod
is reversed or slid back, the pawl & carried thereby, operating the ratchett and
revolving or partially revolving the shaft s on which it is mounted. Motion is
thus communicated to the pinion gearing with the teeth on the spider wheel D,
so that the spider wheels and the boxes carried thereby, are revolved to the
required extent. It will be understood that the teeth on the spider wheel D
pinion and ratchet are so proportioned as to revolve the spider wheel just
sufficient to bring the mouths of the bottles in the following box exactly into
alignment with the revolving brushes.
I also provide means for automatically rinsing the bottles and removing them
from the boxes when the same have been washed.
At each side of the frame I mount pivotted levers u, which engage with stops u¹
upon two pairs of sliding barselone pair of the sliding bars carrying a trans-
verse pipe w provided with rinsing nozzles w¹ which are of the usual or ordinary
construction.
The pivotted levers u are connected to chains u² the other ends of the connecting
chains being secured to the sliding carriage b.
When the carriage is at its initial starting point the sliding bars are in-
their lowest position. As the carriage is moved outwards the connecting chains 3
depress one end of the pivotted levers u, correspondingly raising the other ends
and with them the sliding rods v. By these means the rinsing nozzles are
raised and inserted into the necks of the inverted bottles in the box immediately

page_text: above them. The pipe w carrying the rinsing nozzles w¹ is in communication
with the water supply from the main or other source and the sliding carriage b
is arranged to operate a suitable valve governing the supply of water to the rinsers
so that a jet of water is injected into the interior of the bottles. This arrange-
ment is shown in Figs. 12 and 13.
The pipe communicates with the main or other source of supply and with the
pipe w. The supply is governed by a valve which is weighted and assumes
normally a vertical position in which position the valve is closed.
The carriage when advancing and retreating raises the valve spindle to the
horizontal as shown in Figs. 12 and 13 but only opens the valve when retreating
causing a jet of water to be injected into the bottles through the nozzles w¹.
Cups connected to pipes may be employed to carry off the water as it
falls out of the bottles.
To release the bottles and remove them from the boxes n I provide an incline
or cam y (Fig. 9) secured to the tank A which comes into contact with a stud y'
upon the sliding cover 0 of the boxes π after the bottles have been
rinsed, SO that the cover ( is slid until the perforations therein
correspond with the perforations in the boxes. The other pair of sliding rods el
operated by the pivotted levers u are engaged together by a transverse bar²
carrying pushes which are operated by the pivotted levers to enter the necks
of the bottles and push them upwards out of the box. The bottles then come into
contact with a rack, which may be fixed to the machine or be manipulated by
the attendant, which engages the projecting inverted bottles below the shoulder
and withdraws them from the boxes as the spider wheels are revolved. The
bottles are withdrawn from the rack, or a fresh rack substituted before the next
box is emptied. As the empty box is revolved it is refilled by the attendant with
bottles to be washed and an angular stop or cam again operates to close the
sliding lid and retain the bottles within the box. The apparatus may be enclosed
within a suitable protective casing,
The following is a short description of the action of my improved bottle washing
apparatus.
The tank having been filled to a suitable level, with water and the apparatus
started, the operator fills each box as the drum intermittently revolves, with
dirty bottles taken from the soaking water. As the bottles revolve immersed with-
in the water they fill and are again half emptied as they attain a horizontal
position opposite the brushes. From the point at which they were put in the box
the bottles when disposed opposite the brushes have revolved through half a
circle or thereabout.
The brushes advance, and entering the bottle necks revolve the bottles on their
axes. The further advance of the brushes causes the bottles to be held tightly
within the boxes and subjected to the scrubbing action of the brushes. When the
brushes are withdrawn the drum is revolved sufficiently to bring the next box
of bottles into position and so on. As the boxes of washed bottles assume a vertical
position the bottles are first rinsed and then ejected from the boxes and removed
by the rack as described. The empty boxes are then refilled by the operator.
It will thus be seen that with the exception of filling the boxes with bottles and
removing the washed bottles, the apparatus is automatic in its action, and one
attendant only being required to each apparatus, an enormous quantity of bottles
may be economically washed with ease and despatch.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1) The improved bottle washing apparatus constructed arranged and acting
substantially as described and illustrated.
2) In bottle washing apparatus the arrangement and combination of parts
comprising the reciprocating brush carriage 6 mechanism for traversing same to

page_text: and fro and gearing for revolving the scrubbing brushes substantially as described
and shown.
3) As means for actuating the sliding brush carriage b the cam i within which
the rods slide, the countershaft / driven at a reduced speed from the main driving
shaft, the spur wheels driven from the countershaft and carrying bowls m
engaging with the cams to rock them upon the countershaft and thus reciprocate
the carriage substantially as described and illustrated.
4) The cams arranged for actuating the reciprocating carriage and to permit
of a dwell of the same to allow for the efficient scrubbing and cleansing of the
bottles and operated substantially as described and illustrated.
5) In bottle washing apparatus, the improved method of rinsing the washed
bottles and ejecting same, operated in the manner, and substantially as described
and shown.
6) In apparatus of the indicated nature the method of rotating the drum carry-
ing the bottle boxes consisting of a pinion gearing with teeth or projections
carried by the drum the pinion being rotated by means of a ratchet and pawl
actuated from the sliding carriage substantially as described and illustrated.
7) The improved bottle boxes formed with a sliding bottom to retain the bottles
in the boxes and a cover adapted to allow the bottles first to be rotated on their
axes and then to jamb the same tightly within the boxes, the sliding bottom being
actuated by inclines substantially as described and shown.
8) The improved ball and socket joint for the brushes of bottle washing
apparatus substantially as described and illustrated in Figs. 11 and 11' of the
drawings.