Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Nov., 1898-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1899
Fig. 1 of the drawings is a view in front elevation of the improved starching
machine.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, viewed from the left-hand side as shown
in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a central vertical cross-section of the upper part of the machine.
Fig. 4 is an end view of the sectional case for the feed-roll, detached and
partly opened.
A is the main frame of the machine provided with the supporting legs Al
B is a clothed drum journaled at each end in a bearing-block B₁ movable
vertically in the slideway A3 formed on the main frame.
One of the drum-journals B projects through its bearing-block and is pro-
vided on its projecting end with a gear-wheel B fixed thereon and adapted to
mesh with and be driven by the gear-pinion B fixed upon the hub of the drive-
pulleys B, said pulley and pinion being rotatively supported upon the shaft 15
fixed in the frame of the machine.
The drive-pulley 15 is adapted to receive a driving belt in the usual manner,
whereby comparatively slow rotary movements may be imparted to the drum.
C is a cylinder or roll journaled at its ends in the upper part of the main frame
with its journals C projecting exteriorly of said frame and each provided with a
fixed pulley C adapted to receive a driving-belt, whereby comparatively rapid
rotary movements may be imparted to the roll.
The axes of the drum and roll are parallel with each other and they are shown
in the same vertical plane.
.
The drum and rolf are held in yielding engagement with each other by means
of the weight W which is adjustably movable along the arm of the rock-lever
W fixed upon the shaft W rotatively supported in bearings in the frame of
the machine.
This rock-shaft is provided near each end with an offset rock-lever W* con-
nected by a link W with the movable bearing block B on one of the drum-
Scurnale

page_text: By adjusting the weight along its supporting arm, the engaging pressure
between the roll and drum can be correspondingly varied.
D is the feed-table from which the goods to be starched are fed in between the
drum and roll.
"
This table is supported by the uprights D', D¹, secured to the cross-rod or
shaft 13 by means of the clamp-plates D and screws 100, whereby the table
can be removed when desired for convenience in cleaning the machine.
His the delivery table or box which receives the goods after they have been
passed between the roll and drum, and which also removes from the periphery
of the drum any accumulations of starch which may gather thereon. The delivery
table is provided on its inner edge with a thin metal plate H adapted to engage
the peripheral surface of the drum.
The delivery table is removably secured to and supported by the cross-rod H³
by means of the uprights H³ clamp-plates H and screws H in the same
manner as the feed-table.
Fluid or semi-fluid starch is deposited upon the feed-table and upon the goods
as they are fed from said table, by means of the nozzles F depending from the
overhanging supply-pipe F which leads from the rotary pump the pump
being operated by means of the belt 1, and pulleys F on the pump-shaft
and 15 on the shaft or journal of the feed-roll C.
Starch is supplied to the pump through the pipe from the starch-reservoir
F which is located directly beneath the delivery table or box H, the latter
being provided with bottom apertures H through which the starch which is
removed from the drum by the delivery table returns to the reservoir, through
its subjacent open top.
The several delivery nozzles are provided with valves
of starch to the feed-table can be regulated.
whereby the supply
The pipe leading from the rotary pump is provided with a lateral branch F
leading to the open top of the starch reservoir F; and a safety-valve F" in
said lateral pipe permits the starch to flow there-through back into the reservoir
when the nozzle valves F are closed, or when the supply from the pump exceeds
the discharging capacity of the nozzles.
Fresh starch may be supplied to the reservoir as needed.
The feed-roll U is partly inclosed by the sheet-metal case 03 comprising two
like approximately semicylindrical sections hinged together at C along their
upper edges and provided with end-walls Capertured at C to receive and fit
around the roll-journals.
The case is removably secured in position to inclose the roll on the top, front,
back and ends, by means of the screws C7 inserted through screw-threaded
apertures in the frame-projections and adapted to enter the respective sockets
formed in the end-walls of the case-acctions whereby the case is supported
and its sections held together.
The feed-roll C is preferably provided with a polished, smooth imperforate
metal surface, as bronze.
The drum is clothed preferably with a bed R of soft rubber having a smooth
imperforate surface, and a covering of one or more plies of thin textile fabric R'.
The feed-roll is operated with a peripheral velocity several hundred times as
great as that of the drum.
The operation of the machine is as follows:
The goods to be starched are fed in by hand from the feed-table between the
roll and drum and delivered upon the delivery table fully charged with starch.
The speed of the goods is comparatively slow, being that of the drum, and the
speed of the roll being several hundred times greater, each portion of the goods
is acted upon hundreds of times in rapid succession, and the particles of starch are
driven into the pores of the fabric with great force.

page_text: The amount of starch forced into the goods can be varied by a variation in the
relative peripheral speeds of the roll and drum.
The yielding surface of the drum permits the goods to be partially embedded
therein so that those portions of the goods having seams and other normal pro-
jections will present comparatively smooth surfaces to the roll, whereby approxi-
mately the whole surface of one side of the goods will contact with the roll.
It is preferable to use cold starch in connection with starching apparatus for
the reason that if hot starch is employed and allowed to cool on the goods it
cannot be easily removed.
It is almost impossible to send goods to the ironing machine without an uneven
deposit on the surface which greatly mars their finished appearance.
It is, however, well known that hot starch will penetrate the goods much more
freely than cold starch; also that the hot starch runs out of the goods more freely.
This invention comprises the method of applying the starch cold to the cold
fabric of the goods, and at the very instant of application, to heat the particles
only which are actually applied and inserted in the fabric, and at the same time
and instant to heat only the particular parts of the fabric to which the heated
starch is applied.
The particles of starch most heated enter the fabric and are partially cooled
before they can escape therefrom.
No particles left on the surface are heated to such a degree as to become sticky
or changed in character upon returning to their normal cool temperature.
This heat is produced by the friction of the roll slipping upon the goods and
surface-applied particles of starch.
Since the goods are continually traveling with their supporting drum, the
action upon the successive particles is instantaneous and must be considerable to
leave the starched goods warm to the touch, as is the case in practice.
This friction and the resultant heat can be regulated by varying the speed of
the roll and the position of the weight which determines the engaging pressure
between the roll and drum or goods on the drum.
It has been demonstrated by the use of this invention that a smooth polished
starch-feeding roll can be safely rotated in contact with the fabric with a peripheral
speed several hundred times greater than that of the fabric, and that such move-
ment of the roll upon the fabric and applied starch produces an appreciable
frictional heat, and that such heat is considerable at the line of contact between
the roll and fabric, being sufficient to make quite hot both the fabric and starch
just as they come in contact with each other between the roll and drum, so that
the fabric is in the best condition to receive the starch, and the starch to penetrate
the fabric.
In starching goods composed of two or more plies of fabric, such as collars and
cuffs, a surplus of starch is forced through the outer ply or plies next the feed
roll into the space between the plies.
The ply or plies next the roll are superheated, that is made hotter than the plies
next the drum, and receive the superheated particles of starch more readily,
causing a slight accumulation or surplus between the plies of differing tempera-
tures.
As the goods advance between the roll and drum, the surplus is forced back and
out, being wholly expelled and removed from the outer and inner surfaces of
the plies by the pressure between the roll and drum as the goods finally pass
through.
The invention is not limited to the use of a rotary drum as a carrier for the
gonds, as any known movement of a yielding bed to carry the goods past the
rapidly rotating feed-roll is within the spirit of the invention.
To prevent the escape of particles of starch thrown by centrifugal force from
the ends of the roll, the drum or bed is provided with end-flanges B7 and the
end-walls of the roll-case C are extended within such flanges approximately
to the peripheral surface of the bed or drum, whereby any starch which escapes

page_text: Past the lower edge of the end walls of the case will be arrested by the end-
Hanges B'
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. In a starching machine, the combination with a movable fabric-carrier
having a yielding embedding surface, and means for imparting to the carrier
comparatively slow carrying movements; of a co-operative charging roll; means
for imparting to the roll a comparatively high rate of peripheral speed; and means
for producing and regulating a yielding pressure between the roll and carrier,
substantially as described.
2. In a starching machine, the combination with a rotary drum having a
yielding embedding surface; and means for imparting to the drum a comparatively
low rate of peripheral speed; of a co-operative feed-roll; means for imparting to
the feed-roll a comparatively high rate of peripheral speed; and a feed-table for
feeding the starch and goods to the roll and drum, substantially as described.
8. In a starching machine, a rotary charging and discharging roll; and
means for imparting to the roll a comparatively high rate of peripheral speed; in
combination with a rotary embedding drum co-operative with the roll; and menus
for imparting to the drum.a comparatively low rate of peripheral speed; bearings
for the drum-journals movable toward and from the roll; and means for pro-
ducing a yielding pressure between the roll and drum, substantially as descríbel.
4. In a starching machine, the combination with a rotary drum having a
yielding embedding surface; and means for imparting to the drum a comparatively
low rate of peripheral speed; of a feed-roll having an imperforate smooth
polished surface co-operative with the drum; and means for imparting to the roll
a comparatively high rate of peripheral speed, substantially as described.
5. The hereindescribed method of starching fabrics which consists in charging
with a uniform quantity of starch all parts of the fabric, and at the instant of
applying the starch heating the fabric-parts to which the starch is applied and
the particles of starch inserted therein, successively and to a comparatively high
temperature, substantially as described.
6. The hereindescribed method of starching two-ply goods, which consists in
heating some particles of the starch and one ply of the goods to a comparatively
high temperature, inserting the superheated starch in the respective plies with
a surplus of starch between them, and expelling the surplus from between the
plies by pressing the plies together, all in one continuous operation.
7-In a starching machine, the combination with a starch-feeding roll; and
means for rapidly rotating the roll; of a removable stationary case for the roll,
substantially as described."
8. In a starching machine, the combination with a supporting bed having
end-flanges; and means for slowly moving the bed; of a co-operative feed-roll;
means for rapidly rotating the roll; and a stationary case for the roll having
end-walls located within the bed-flanges and extending approximately to the
bed, substantially as described.
9.-lu a starching machine, the combination with the rotary embedding drum
and feed-roll; a feed-table; and a starch-reservoir; of a receiving table or box
having a bottom-outlet communicating with the starch-reservoir; a drum-engaging
knife on the inner end of the receiving table; a pump; a supply-pipe leading
from the starch-reservoir to the pump; and a delivery-pipe leading from the pump
to the feed-table, substantially as described.
10. In a starching machine, the combination with a starch-reservoir; a pump;
a supply-pipe leading from the starch-reservoir to the pump; and a delivery-pipe
provided with a valved nozzle; of a lateral branch extending from the delivery-
pipe to the starch-reservoir; and a safety-valve in said lateral pipe, substantially
as described.

page_text: Lake's Improvements in Machines for Diareniny
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11. In a starching machine, the combination with a feed roll having an imper-
forate smooth metal surface; and means for rapidly rotating the roll; of a
co-operative drum having an imperforate smooth rubber surface; and means for
slowly rotating the dram; and means for producing uniform pressure between
the drum and roll, whereby said smooth metal and rubber surfaces
co-operate to charge the goods with a surplus of starch and to discharge the sur-
plus, only, from every part of the goods, substantially as described.
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.