Improvements in Barrel Washing Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 15th Jan., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Barrel Washing Machines.
I, CHARLES LIEBMANN KLINE, of No. 254, West 133rd Street, New York, in
the State of New York, United States, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement: -
In the Specification of Letters Patent No. 24043 dated the 11th day of Decem-
ber A.D. 1894, I have described a barrel or keg washing machine or apparatus
connected with a motor adapted to give to the barrel carrier a four way motion
similar to that which is given to the barrels when they are washed by hand.
The motor described in the before mentioned specification is connected with a
wheel located under the cleansing vat and it gives to the said wheel an oscillating
motion. This oscillatory motion may be described as reciprocation along curved
lines. The carrier which was employed for holding the barrel or keg to be washed,
was supported upon a pivoted standard in such a manner as to partake of the
motions of the wheel and these motions, in combination with others caused by
curves and by sloping tracks for the carriers, enabled me to give to the barrel or
keg the movements required for thorough cleansing.
The apparatus described is capable of cleansing several kegs or barrels at the
same time, there being a series of carriers arranged around a circular vat and
having the means for attachment to the oscillating wheel at different points.
It is found in practice that, under certain conditions, the circular arrangement
of the carriers is a disadvantage, as it leaves less freedom for conveying the kegs
or barrels from the carriers to the spraying machines. For this reason I have
devised a straight-away arrangement of the carriers and motor devices, the vat
being made rectangular and the oscillating wheel being dispensed with. I have
also altered the details to a considerable extent, as will be made plain hereinafter.
My present invention will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my keg washing apparatus arranged in proximity
to a vat;
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of one of my keg washing devices;
Fig. 3 is a plan of a vat, showing also plans of two of my keg washing
mechanisms along one side of the said vat, the keg washers on the opposite side
of the vat being removed to show certain details of construction; and
Fig. 4 is a detail view.
In the drawings, 1 is a pulley driven from any suitable engine or source of
energy, and 2 and 3 are connecting rods running from the crank shaft of the
said pulley to sliding bars 4 and 5, located on opposite sides of a vat, 6. The
sliding bars are supported upon rollers 7, 7, 7, journaled in small frames 8, 8, 8,
located upon the floor or any other suitable base or support. By virtue of their
connection with the pulley in the manner described, the sliding bars 4 and 5
will be caused to reciprocate in straight lines whenever the pulley is operated.
The sliding bars are enlarged at several points, as shown at 9, 9, and at the
enlarged portions they are slotted, as shown at 10, 10, to receive rocking

page_text: boxes 11, 11. The said boxes 11, 11, are hung on pivots 12, 12, which enter
journals 13, 13, secured to the sliding bars. When in position the boxes 11, 11,
are adapted to rock or tilt on their pivots when the sliding bars reciprocate. In
the centre of each box is a socket, 14, for receiving the lower end of a coupling
rod, 15, as will be explained hereinafter.
To the upper end of the coupling rod 15 is secured a pin, 16, which pin is
adapted to move in a slot, 17, made in the lower tubular portion, 18, of the
rocking frame, 19. To the pin 16 is attached a link, 20, the other end of which
is secured to an angular crank lever, 21. Now the crank lever 21 is pivoted to
a shaft, 22, which, through the medium of a ball bearing, 23, forms the immediate
support for a divided box, 24, on which the frame 19 is sustained. The shaft 22
is itself supported at opposite ends in cross pieces 25 and 26. Now the rocking
frame 19 is secured to the box in the following manner: The box being made in
two parts, divided along the line 0--0 is grooved vertically along its sides and is
also provided with a horizontal groove along its bottom. There is an opening 29
in the frame 19 just above the tubular portion 18. The halves of the box 24
are put successively into the said opening and then pushed up so that the grooves
in the sides of the box run upon the inner edges of the frame 19 above the
opening 29 and are guided and held thereby. Thereafter a key 30 is run through
slots 31, 31, from side to side of the said frame 19 and through the groove in the
bottom of the box 24. This completes the union of the frame 19 and the box 24
and thereby gives to the said frame a sort of swivel connection with the shaft 22.
That is to say, after the box 24 has been put in place, as above described, the
frame 19 is secured between the standards 27 and 28 in such manner as to have a
free pivotal connection with its support and to be capable of swinging upon its
pivot as upon a universal joint. Above the central part of the frame, it again
becomes tubular, as at 32, the tube forming a socket for a connecting arm, 33,
which is set into the said socket without being secured thereto. In other words,
the connecting arm has considerable freedom of movement within the socket,
being held in place mainly by the weight of the carrier 34 to which it is attached.
The means of attachment between the carrier 34 and the connecting arm 33
are a pair of lugs 35, 35, bolted to the floor or bed plate of the carrier, and a
crown or ball head, 36, supported between the said lugs and within an opening, 37,
in a head, 38, upon the upper end of the arm 33. The parts last described
constitute the means of connection between the tilting frame 19 and the carrier 34,
and it is obvious that the connection is made free and practically universal by
means of the ball joint at the shaft 22 and the crown joint within the lugs, 35, 35.
On the tops of the standards 27 and 28 are curved rails 39 and 40, the said
rails being not only curved as respects a horizontal position but also sloping down-
ward in a curve from a high point at one end to a low point at the other. From
the bedplate of the carrier depend lugs 41, 41, between which are pivoted
rollers 42, 42, adapted to travel upon the tracks 39 and 40. To one pair of the
lugs, 41, 41, are attached rods 43, 43, carrying rollers 44, 44, at their lower ends.
The last named rollers are arranged upon opposite sides of one of the tracks
already mentioned and serve to swing the carrier in line with the horizontal curve
of the said track. It is only necessary to have one pair of rollers 44, 44, for
each, but if desired two pairs of such rollers can be employed, one depending from
each pair of lugs 41, 41.
Lest I should be misunderstood on this point I should say that each carrier runs
upon four tracks, every one of which is curved as described. There will be a pair
of side rollers on two of the said tracks while, by preference, there will be no
sire rollers upon the two tracks farthest away from the vat. Fig. 2 shows a pair
of rollers on the inner side of the carrier but omits them on the outer side.
the other hand, Fig. 4 shows the two pairs of rollers in dotted lines.
On
Above the bed plate of the carrier are standards 45, 45, to the upper end of
which are pivoted curved fingers 46, 46, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The fingers
are arranged in pairs and there are two pairs on every carrier. It will be seen
:.

page_text: that two pairs of fingers are adapted to catch and hold a keg or barrel of the
proper dimensions and that the weight of the said keg or barrel will serve as an aid
in the holding thereof. On each of the fingers farthest away from the vat is a
detent pin, 47, for preventing the outer fingers from tipping too far away from
the vat and releasing the keg or barrel on that side. The other fingers are
purposely adapted to tilt over towards the rat and in practice it is customary for
the operator to pull up a keg or barrel along the side of the vat until it rests in
the curve of the inner fingers when they have been tipped down toward the vat;
then he pulls the barrel still higher in a direction to withdraw it from the vat
and in doing so draws it over into the space between the two fingers into the
position shown in Fig. 2. The barrel is then released by the operator and held
in place by the fingers.
At 48 is shown a sluice-way for carrying the water that has been used in
cleansing a keg or barrel back into the vat.
It will be understood that before beginning the use of my keg washer, the
vat is partly filled with water into which the kegs or barrels to be cleansed
are thrown. These having been partly filled with the cleansing liquid are drawn
up as just now described until they are supported by the fingers upon the carriers.
Either one keg or barrel, or a plurality of the same may be drawn up at the
same time. For different sized vats I shall employ a different number of keg
washers, as will be readily understood. One or more kegs having been drawn
up till they are supported by one or more carriers, I may then connect them with
the motive apparatus in the following manner, it being assumed that in the
first instance the coupling, 15, is drawn up out of connection with the rocking
box 11. When this is the case the crank arm 21 and the link 20 occupy the
position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. If now, I take hold of the free end of the
crank arm 21 and lift it until I have turned the upper end of the link past the
pivot of the said crank arm, then the weight of the coupling rod 15 carries it down
into the socket 14. In starting up the apparatus this will ordinarily be done
before the pulley 1 is set into operation. It is not necessary, however, that such
should be the case, since it is very easily possible to make the connection between
the coupling rod 15 and the rocking box 11 while the sliding arm is in rapid
operation. In fact, I find that this can be done without sensible shock to the
apparatus at any point. In other words, the several carriers are quite independent
of one another and it is possible to operate any number of them, from one up to
the limits of the machine's capacity, while it is also possible to switch in a
hitherto unused machine at any time during the operation.
It will be sufficient therefore to detail the action in respect to a single carrier.
The connection between the coupling rod 15 and the box 11 having been estab-
lished, as already described, and the motor having been started, the sliding bars 4
and 5 will begin to reciprocate and one of them will throw the rod 15 and with
it the lower end of the frame 19 back and forth with a rapid motion. The said
frame being jointed as described to the shaft 22 by means of a ball connection,
the upper end of the said frame will be also reciprocated by the movement of the
sliding bar. The object of the rocking box 11 and the ball joint for the frame. 19
is to allow for slight variations from an absolute rectilinear reciprocation of the
sliding shaft. The whole structure gives greater freedom to the movements of
all the parts. Morcover, the loose nature of the connection between the rod 33
and the socket in the tube 32 tends to relieve the strain upon the carriage and
upon the frame 19 by reason of the travel of the carrier upon a curved track.
For we must understand that the reciprocating movements of the upper part of
the frame 19 are communicated to the carrier through the rod 33 and its means
of attachment to the carrier and we must also understand that the guiding
rollers 44, 44, in their travel on either side of their respective tracks or rails
cause the carrier to swerve to one side and the other at each reciprocation. As a
consequence the carrier receives a compound motion made up of the back and
forth reciprocations, the up and down movements along the rails, and the out

page_text: and in movements along the same rails. This compound movement being
repeated rapidly throws the liquid in the keg or barrel in just the manner adopted by
hand operators for cleansing the same sort of liquid holders. I thus accomplish
by machinery and with great gain in rapidity the cleansing of articles hitherto
difficult to make clean.
By reason of the straightaway arrangement described in this specification I inter-
fere less with the operation of other apparatus usually found in breweries where,
among other places, my apparatus is likely to be used.
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 keg washing apparatus, substantially such as described in the foregoing
specification.
2. The combination with a carrier and supports therefor, of a reciprocating
bar, suitable intermediate mechanism, and coupling devices for uniting the said
intermediate mechanism to the said reciprocating bar, one part of the said
coupling devices being a sliding rod, and the other part being a pivoted or rocking
box, as described.
3. The combination with a carrier and supports therefor, of a reciprocating bar,
a pivoted frame connected with the said carrier, a sliding rod connected with the
said pivoted frame, and a tilting or rocking box upon the said reciprocating bar,
the said rocking box having a socket for receiving the said rod, as and for the
purpose set forth.
4. The combination with a carrier and supports therefor, of a reciprocating bar,
a frame connected with the said carrier and joined by a wrist connection with a
suitable shaft or support, a sliding rod mounted in the said frame, means for
shifting the said sliding rod, and a rocking or tilting box co-operating with the
said rod to form a coupling device, as set forth.
5. In a keg washing machine, a carrier mounted upon sloping rails and joined
to a frame which is centrally pivoted, a reciprocating bar in line with the further
end of the said frame, and coupling devices for connecting the frame and the
reciprocating bar, the reciprocating bar being adapted to move back and forth
in a straight line, as and for the purpose set forth.
6. In a barrel or keg washing machine the combination of one or more barrel
holding devices, supports therefor, a reciprocating bar, intermediate mechanism
for transmitting motion from the reciprocating bar to the barrel holding device
or devices, and coupling mechanism for throwing the intermediate mechanism
into and out of connection with the reciprocating bar, one element of the coupling
mechanism being loosely pivoted as described, to give freedom to the action of
the connected parts.
7. In a barrel or keg washing machine, the combination of one or more barrel
holding devices, supports therefor, a reciprocating bar travelling back and forth
in a straight line, intermediate mechanism for transmitting motion from the
reciprocating bar to the barrel holding mechanism, such intermediate mechanism
consisting of a frame centrally pivoted so as to have a wrist motion, the said
frame having also a wrist connection with the support for the barrel holding
device or devices, together with coupling mechanism for uniting the said recipro-
cating bar and the said frame.
8. In a keg washing machine, a carrier mounted upon rails which slope down-
ward and have also a horizontal curve, rollers bearing on the upper faces of the
said rails, and other rollers bearing on the side faces of one or more of the said
rails, the carrier being suitably connected with reciprocating mechanism, as set
forth.
9. In a key washing machine, a pair of standards alongside a cleansing vat,
the said standards carrying suitable rails, a carrier with rollers resting on said
rails, and a frame joined to the said carrier by a wrist joint, the said frame being

page_text: connected to a split box, as shown, the said split box surrounding a suitable shaft
supported in cross pieces which are secured to the said standards, as set forth.
10 A coupling device for joining a reciprocating bar with a carrier frame,
the said coupling device consisting of a rod or pin sliding in a slotted tube, a pin
connected with the said rod and passing through the tube, a link connected with
the said pin, and a crank arm joined to the said link and pivoted at a point inter-
mediate between its ends, as set forth.
Dated this 18th day of January A.D. 1897