Improvements in Squeegees or Devices for Applying Water, Varnish, and other Liquids to Surfaces.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Squeegees or Devices for Applying Water,
Varnish, and other Liquids to Surfaces.
We, CHARLES EDWIN KILMER, of No. 35 Seventh Street, in the City of Troy,
County of Rensselaer, State of New York, United States of America, Tax
Expert, and WILLIAM RANDEL, of No. 152 Orchard Street, in Elizabeth, in the
County of Union, State of New Jersey, United States of America, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
Our invention has relation to devices for applying liquids to surfaces for purposes
of cleaning, as, for example, in washing windows or painting walls or floors, or for
any other purposes, such, for example, as applying oil or stain or varnish to floors.
The object of our invention is to provide a device of this general character which
shall be not only simple in construction and inexpensive, but exceedingly efficient
and capable of being used with ease and rapidity, so that large surfaces may be
thoroughly covered in a much shorter time than is possible with brushes or other
devices of like character. Our device comprises a reservoir for the liquid having
a long, narrow mouth and a pad of fibrous or spongy or absorbent or other material
of any suitable character applied to the mouth of the reservoir to regulate and
control the flow of the fluid and to distribute it uniformly over the surface to
which it is to be applied. It will be evident that the device may be constructed
in many different forms according to the nature of the particular uses to which it
is to be applied, and we shall describe hereinafter two of such forms in order to
illustrate the practical embodiment of the invention.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of our device, adapted particularly
for the cleaning of windows;
Figure 2 is a vertical, cross section of the same;
Figures 3 and 4 are views similar respectively to Figures 1 and 2, but showing a
slightly different form of the device and one adapted particularly for the application
of oil or other liquid to floors or other horizontal surfaces.
The device comprises a reservoir A which may be made of any suitable material
and of any suitable size or shape, according to the requirements of the work to be
performed. It may be provided with a suitable filling cap a and has an elongated,
narrow mouth a', the body of the reservoir being flattened to bring its walls a
and a close together to form the mouth a' between them. The reservoir may
also be provided with a suitable socket at for the reception of the end of a handle,
which is represented in part at B. It is unnecessary herein to refer separately
to the different forms of the reservoir represented in Figures 1 and 3, inasmuch as
such differences are purely matters of choice and convenience, the reservoir shown
in Figure 1 being so shaped and its socket a' being so applied thereto as to permit
the mouth of the reservoir to be brought into proximity to a vertical wall or other
surface, as indicated at C in Figure 2, while the form of reservoir shown in
Figure 3 is adapted to bring the mouth into proximity to a floor or other
horizontal surface, as represented at D in Figure 4, the socket B being secured to
the reservoir in the proper position to permit such use of the device.
It will be readily understood that the liquid, whatever its character, cannot well

page_text: be applied to the surface to be operated upon directly from the mouth of the
reservoir A. We have therefore applied to the mouth of the reservoir a pad,
preferably of felt or other fibrous or spongy or absorbent materiel, through which
the liquid oozes from the reservoir and by which it is applied to the surface to be
operated upon. It will be evident that this material, of whatever character, may
be applied in many different ways, but we prefer to apply it in the form of a strip
or strips E E' which surround the mouth of the reservoir and meet below it, and
we prefer also to provide means for compressing the material E E' more or less,
so that the flow of liquid through the same may be regulated. For the purpose
of providing for the compression of the material E E' and at the same time for
holding it firmly in place we prefer to secure to opposite sides of the reservoir
flaps F and F which are free except near. their upper edges and extend somewhat
beyond the mouth of the reservoir. The strips E E' are placed between these
flaps and the walls of the reservoir, projecting beyond the outer edges of the flaps,
and are squeezed together between the lower edges of the flaps below or beyond
the mouth of the reservoir. To press the flaps together more or less and thereby
to compress the material E E¹ more or less, we have provided clamping bolts f
and thumb-nuts, which engage bearing strips f applied to the outside of the
flaps. By such means the escape of the fluid from the reservoir may be controlled
and the degree of saturation of the felt or other material E E' may be regulated,
so that more or less fluid may be applied, according to the necessity of each case.
In Figures 1 and 2 we have represented the reservoir as provided with a clip a
for the reception of a scraper G of rubber or other material, such as is commonly
employed in cleaning windows.
It will be readily understood from the foregoing description that our device is
capable of a great variety of uses and that it may be varied according to
the necessities of each particular use without departing from the spirit of our
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. A device for applying liquids comprising a reservoir having an elongated,
narrow mouth, a pad applied to said mouth to regulate the escape of liquid from
the reservoir and to distribute the liquid over the surface operated upon, flaps
secured to said reservoir on opposite sides of the mouth and projecting beyond
the same to hold said pad between them and clamping devices to press said flaps
more or less firmly together, substantially as shown and described.
2. A device for applying liquids comprising a reservoir having an elongated,
narrow mouth, a pad applied to said mouth to regulate the escape of liquid from
the reservoir and to distribute the liquid over the surface operated upon, flaps
secured to said reservoir on opposite sides of the mouth and projecting beyond the
same to hold said pad between them, bearing strips applied to the outside of the
flaps and clamping bolts and nuts to press said flaps more or less firmly together,
substantially as shown and described."
Dated this 15th day of September 1896.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
London, Chartered Patent Agent,
For the Applicants.