Year: 1886

page_text: I GILES ATHERTON of the Virginia Mills, Stockport in the County of Chester,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention (communicated
to me from abroad by George Yule of Newark in the State of New Jersey, United
States of America) to be as follows:-
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This Invention relates to the drying of felt hats at a certain stage or at certain
stages in their manufacture. For this purpose a specially constructed form of
hydro-extractor is used. A vertical spindle carries at its upper end a small
perforated or pervious cage which is just about large enough to receive the body
part of a single hat in such a manner as that the hat sits snugly in the cage
without moving about the brim resting on the rim of the cage. The said spindle
is driven by bevel friction gear receiving motion from a horizontal shaft. The
spindle can be raised by means of a treadle and when so raised is not acted upon
by the driving gear. When the foot is pressed upon the treadle to stop the
revolution of the cage a friction brake disc on the spindle is brought into contact
with an annular surface on the framing and the revolutions are thereby quickly
arrested. A detent holds down the treadle so that the machine can be left with
the spindle out of driving contact with the friction gear. The said detent can be
easily disengaged by means of the foot when it is desirable to start the machine.
By preference the spindle and gearing are enclosed within a cast metal bulbous or
suitably shaped pillar having an opening closed by means of a door for access to
the bearings and gearing the horizontal shaft being carried by a bracket projecting
from one side so that the machine is self-contained. The machine is capable of
being driven at a high velocity such for example as about three thousand
revolutions per minute more or less as desirable.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents..

page_text: I GILES ATHERTON of the Virginia Mills, Stockport in the County of Chester,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (communicated
to me from abroad by George Yule of Newark in the State of New Jersey, United
States of America) and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement and
accompanying drawings :-
This Invention relates to the drying of felt hats at a certain stage or at certain
stages in their manufacture. For this purpose a specially constructed form of
hydro-extractor is used. A vertical spindle carries at its upper end a small
perforated or pervious cage which is just about large enough to receive the body
part of a single hat in such a manner as that the hat sits snugly in the cage
without moving about the brim resting on the rim of the cage. The said spindle
is driven by bevel friction gear receiving motion from a horizontal shaft. The
spindle can be raised by means of a treadle and when so raised is not acted upon
by the driving gear. When the foot is pressed upon the treadle to stop the
revolution of the cage a friction brake disc on the spindle is brought into contact
with an annular surface on the framing and the revolutions are thereby quickly
arrested. A detent holds down the treadle so that the machine can be left with
the spindle out of driving contact with the friction gear. The said detent can be
easily disengaged by means of the foot when it is desirable to start the machine.
In order that the invention may be fully understood I will describe the same
with reference to the accompanying drawings which are made to a scale of about
two inches to the foot. In the said drawings Fig. 1. represents a vertical section
and Fig. 2. a plan view of the complete machine. In the said Figs. a. is a hollow
stand which is made in the form of a bulbous pedestal and serves to enclose
the gearing and also as a framing to carry the bearings for the revolving shaft.
Openings closed by means of binged doors a¹ are provided as means for obtaining
access to the bearings and parts in the interior of the pedestal. In bearings b. bi
a spindle c is fitted to revolve and carries at its upper end a perforated cylindrical
cage d. Upon the said spindle is fixed a bevel friction pinion e. which in the
example is in contact with a bevel friction wheel f. The pinion e. is by preference
formed of leather rings tightened up between two discs or flanges e¹ e¹ by means of
a nut and turned to the required bevel form upon the working face. I do not
however confine myself to this formation. The bevel wheelf is fixed upon the
inner end of a driving shaft g. which revolves in bearings or in a long bearing
formed in the bracket n. which projects from one side of the pedestal a. Upon the
outer end of this shaft a strap pulley i. is fixed and serves as means whereby
the machine is driven. A treadle lever k. passes through an opening in the foot of
the pedestal and is hinged upon a joint pin l. The inner end of the said lever
extends below the lower end of the spindle c. When the foot is pressed upon the
treadle the spindle is raised there being a little freedom for it to slide end wise in
its bearings. When the spindle is not so raised the pinion e. rests upon the driving
wheel f. which when rapidly revolved by means of a driving strap imparts a rapid
revolving motion to the spindle and as a consequence to the cage d. When the
spindle is raised by pressing the foot upon the outer end of the treadle lever the
pinion e is lifted out of contact with the driving wheel. Upon the lower end of
the said spindle is fixed a disc m. and upon the under surface of the lower
bearing b¹ is formed an annular surface to correspond with the face of the said disc
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page_text: the two opposed faces being turned to flat surfaces. When the spindle is raised as
aforesaid the disc m. is lifted into frictional contact with the said annular surface
upon the bearing 6 the result being that the wheel f. ceases to act upon the
bevel pinion and that the frictional contact of the parts m. and b' effects the quick
cessation of the revolutions of the spindle. A hooked detent o. is hinged to the foot
of the pedestal and its upper end enters a slot in the treadle. When the latter is
depressed to raise the spindle as aforesaid the hooked end of the detent passes over
a part of the treadle as indicated in Fig. 4 and the treadle is thereby held down so
that the foot can be removed from the treadle and the machine be left with the
spindle and cage out of revolving action. The hat to be dried is placed in the cage
with the brim resting upon the rim of the cage somewhat as indicated by p. which
represents a felt hat in a stage of its formation. The detent o. is then pushed or
"knocked off" by means of the foot so as to liberate the treadle. The spindle
being thus permitted to drop the revolution of the cage commences as soon as the
bevel pinion comes into contact with the driving wheel. The spindle may be
driven at a high velocity such for example as about two thousand revolutions per
minute the small diameter of the cage admitting of a high speed. Such a speed
has the effect of discharging the water from the hat with great rapidity so that
two three or more hats may be partially dried per minute the drying being com-
pleted in the stove. The cage is surrounded by a guard r which intercepts the
water which is conveyed away by means of an outlet pipe. When adapting the
machine to the treatment of soft felts it is preferred to form the cage with a flange
as indicated by d in Fig. 3. in order that the soft brim of the hat may be better
supported or for the same reason to adapt a flanged ring to fit upon or to be
secured to the cage. Such a ring is indicated by Fig. 5. To answer the same
purpose an inner cage having a flange may be adapted to fit into the cage which is
designed to be used for hard felts. The standard or framing may be made of any
suitable form other than the form indicated in the drawings. If preferred for any
reason the parts might be so arranged as that the spindle would be lifted to start
it in motion and be lowered to arrest its rotation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
(1) The combination of parts constituting the complete apparatus substantially
as and for the purpose set forth and indicated hereinbefore and in and by the
accompanying drawings.
(2) The machine for use in the drying of felt hats having a pervious cage
adapted to hold a hat secured to the upper end of a vertical spindle which can be
lowered so that a bevel friction wheel or pinion upon the spindle rests upon or
comes into contact with a rapidly revolving bevel friction wheel substantially as
set forth and indicated.
(3) In a centrifugal drier for felt hats the cage d. adapted to hold a single hat
in combination with parts for quickly and readily starting and arresting the rapid
revolution of such cage substantially as set forth and indicated.
(4) In a centrifugal drier for felt hats the treadle k, the detent o. or an equivalent
device for holding down the treadle and the parts m. and b¹ constituting a friction
brake substantially as set forth and indicated.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.