IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR SCOURING WOOL
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Petrie, Junior, of Rochdale, in the County
of Lancaster, Ironmonger, and Samuel Taylor, of the same place,
Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR SCOURING WOOL."
Sealed the 8th July 1853, and dated the 11th January 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Petrie and
Samuel Taylor at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 11th January 1853.
WE, JOHN PETRIE, Junior, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster,
Ironmonger, and SAMUEL TAYLOR, of the same place, Mechanic, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR SCOURING WOOL" to be as
follows:-
Our Invention consists in a novel arrangement of apparatus for
conveying wool into water or other cleansing liquids, and for removing
it therefrom. The material is conveyed to the trough containing the
water or other cleansing matter by a travelling surface, from which it
is forced downward by a plunger extending at intervals into the fluid;
from this end of the trough the wool is conveyed forward by rakes, and

page_text: submitted to the action of a revolving apparatus, which lifts it from the
water or other cleansing liquid, and deposits it on to a travelling cloth
furnished with squeezing rollers, or delivers it into a skip or other
recentacle
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Petrie and Samuel Taylor in the Great
Seal Patent Office, on the 9th July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
JOHN PETRIE, Junior, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Iron-
monger, and SAMUEL TAYLOR, of the same place, Mechanic, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said John Petrie and Samuel Taylor, Her special
licence that we, the said John Petrie and Samuel Taylor, our or one of
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said John Petrie and Samuel Taylor, or one of us, our executors, ad-
ministrators, and 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR SCOURING WOOL," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said John Petrie and Samuel
Taylor, or one of us, by an instrument in writing under our hands.and
seals, or hand and seal of one of us, 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Petrie (on, behalf of myself

page_text: and of the said Samuel Taylor) do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):
Hitherto the operation of washing or scouring wool has been per-
tormed either entirely by hand labour or with the assistance of some
contrivance for stirring or moving the wool about in the water or
washing liquid, the other necessary operations being performed by hand.
It will be easily understood that the employment of much hand labour
not only enhances the cost of washing and scouring, butalso renders it
a long and tedious operation to clean large quantities of wool. The
object of our improvements relates to the employment of mechanical
means for washing the wool, and thereby to dispense almost entirely
with the use of hand labor. With our novel or improved arrange-
ment of apparatus the attendant is only required to place the wool on
a travelling endless band, whereby it is conveyed forward into the
washing trough or vessel into which it falls, and is immediately
forced downwards beneath the surface of the liquid by a rotating plunger
or fan wheel, which also has the effect of pushing or carrying it forward
under the operation of a vibrating fork or frame, which is mounted
horizontally in the vessel, and as it moves up and down agitates the wool
in the liquid. The stirring or agitating operation is further assisted by
two other vibrating frames furnished with prongs or teeth, and which
frames are mounted and actuated in such a manner that they not only
agitate and move the wool about in the water, but also have the effect
of carrying it forward to the end of the trough, from which, when the
wool has been thoroughly washed, it is lifted or raised out of the water
by a rotating drum armed with teeth, whereby it is deposited on a
second travelling endless band, which carries it forward to a pair of
squeezing rollers, whereby the water is squeezed out or expressed,and
the wool is then allowed to fall into any suitable receptacle placed
below.
In order, however, that our Invention may be more clearly under-
stood we have shewn in the accompanying Drawings two views of
an arrangement of machinery, which will be found convenient for

page_text: carrying out our improvement. Fig. 1, is a longitudinal vertical
section of the machine, shewing all the principal working parts; and
Fig. 2, is a plan view of the same, in which is represented the
gearing whereby the working parts are actuated. a, a, a, a, is a trough
or vessel made of wood, iron, or other suitable material, and partly
filled with water or other liquid for washing or scouring the wool. It
is provided with a perforated false bottom a*,ax, ax, through which dirt
and other heavy impurities that may be mixed with the wool may pass
when washed away from the fibres, after which the residuum may
be drawn off when required. The wool to be operated upon is placed
by the attendant on the travelling endless belt b, b, which we prefer to
construct of strips of metal jointed together in any convenient manner.
By the onward motion of this travelling band the wool is conveyed
forward and depositedatone end of the trough, where it is immediately
submerged by the action of the arms of the rotating plungers c, c.
By the operation of the plunger the wool is carried under the horizontal
vibrating frame d, which, as it moves up and down, agitates and
washes the wool in the water. A vertical vibrating arm e, with teeth or
prongs at its lower end, as seen in the plan view, also assists in wash-
ing or stirring the wool, and by its peculiar motion drags the wool
forward from under the vibrating frame d, and leaves it to be again
laid hold of and carried still further forward a second and similar
vibrating arm ex. These arms e, and ex, are actuated by cranks f, f*,
and work in swivel sockets or guides g, gx, which are attached to the
upright standards h, x. It will, therefore, be seen that as the cranks
ffx, rotate, the forked ends of the arms e, ex, will be made to dive
into the water in the trough a, and traverse a curve somewhat like that
shewn by dots in the Drawingat Fig. 1. Motionis communicated to the
several working parts just described from the main driving shaft i, on
which is mounted the wheel or pulley, which is driven by a band or
strap coming from any prime mover. On the main shaft i, is keyed
the pinion, which, by means of the toothed wheels 1, and m, actuate
the rotating plunger c, and the travelling endless band b. A bevil
pinion n, also keyed on to the main shaft i, gears into a bevil wheel on
the end of the longitudinal shaft o, o, which, by means of the mitre

page_text: wheels or bevil gearing p, px, drive the crank shafts f, fx, and by that
means actuate the vibrating arms e, ex. The horizontal vibrating
frame d, is actuated by an excentric q, on the long shaft o. A pendaut
rod, shewn by dots in Fig. 1, extends down from the excentric q, and
is connected by a screw bolt, or in any other convenient manner, to an
arm or lever on one end of the shaft of the vibrating frame d, as shewn
in the Figure. The wool having been washed by means of the several
parts just described will, by the operation of these parts, have been
conveyed to the end of the trough, from whence it will be lifted up by
the prongs or teeth of the rotating lifting drum or wheel r, r, which
consists principally of a hollow drum having a series of slots or
openings made therein to allow the teeth or prongs s, s, to protrude
when required. These teeth or prongs are attached to bars provided
at their ends with bowls or anti-friction rollers t, t, which run in an
excentric groove or cam u, fixed on a shaft inside and at one or both
ends of the drum 7. By this means the prongs or teeth are protruded
from the drum r,, at a certain part of their rotation, while during the
remaining portion they are withdrawn into the drum, as shewn in the
Figure. Upon slow rotation, therefore, being communicated to this
drum or wheel ne prongs or teeth will lift the wool out of the water
in the trough, and pass it under the roller v, whereby it is conveyed on
to the travelling endless belt w, and is thereby conducted to the pair
of squeezing rollersa, a, from whence, after having the water expressed
out of it, the wool is deposited in any suitable receptacle below. All
these parts only require a slow motion, which iscommunicated to them
from the band wheel or pulley y, by means of the toothed wheels z, z,
shewn in the Drawing, or other suitable gearing, as will be well under-
stood by any intelligent mechanic. At Fig. 3, we have shewn another
form of lifter to be used in place of the drum or wheel 7,7, represented
in Figs. 1, aud 2. The lifter shewn in Fig. 3, consists of three arms
1, 1, 1, mounted on a shaft 2, and each carrying at the end thereof a
tumbling lever 3, to one end of which is affixed a series of prongs or
tines 4, whereby the wool is lifted out of the water as the shaft 2, rotates;
and at the other end of the said lever there is a bowl or auti-friction
roller, which, as the arms are brought round, comes in contact with a

page_text: fixed cam piece 5, and causes the levers to tumble over and deposit
the wool on to the travelling endless band 6, as shewn in the Drawing.
At the back of the levers 3, there is a plate 7, of sheet iron, which, as
the arms 1, move round, is made to scrape along the curved part of the
trough, and gather up all the wool that accumulates at that end. It
should be observed, that when the levers 3, are tumbled over by the
cam 5, they fall on to two rollers 8, one of which is mounted at each side
of the trough for the purpose of raising the teeth or prongs 4, overthe
edge of the trough as the arms 1, 1, 1, are carried round. In place of
the rotating plunger c, shewn in the Drawings, a reciprocating plunger
may be used. This will merely consist of a pendant arm, with a plate
or frame at the lower end, and attached to one end of a vibrating arm
or lever, which may be actuated in any convenient manner from the
main shaft.
Having now described our Invention, and the best means with which
we are at present acquainted for carrying the same into effect, we would
observe, in conclusion, that we do not intend to confine ourselves to
the precise arrangement of parts herein shewn and described, nor to
the manner shewn of actuating these parts, although we have found
the same to answer practically. The arrangement, construction, and
operation of the several parts may doubtless be varied without departing
from the nature and object of our improvements; but that which we
consider to be new, and therefore desire to claim as the Invention
secured to us by Letters Patent as aforesaid, is, the general combination
of parts herein shewn and described, or any mere modification thereof,
whereby the wool, when deposited in the trough, may be submerged by
a rotating or reciprocating plunger, then stirred, agitated, and worked
about in the water by vibrating or reciprocating beaters or agitators,
and, finally, when properly washed, lifted out of the trough by means
of a rotating wheel, drum cylinder, or frame, armed with teeth, prongs,
or tines, the whole of such parts being actuated by mechanical means
instead of by hand labour. We also claim the use of the rotating
plunger c, and the vibrating or reciprocating arms e, for stirring,
agitating, and moving forward the wool in the trough.
We further claim the exclusive use of the lifting drum wheel or

page_text: frame, above shewn and described, for raising the washed wool out of
the water, and depositing it on a travelling endless band or other
contrivance for conveying it to the squeezing rollers orsome receptacle
for receiving it, whether the said lifting apparatus be used alone or in
combination with any of the other parts.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Petrie, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN PETRIE I (1.8)