Improvements in Apparatus for Washing and Cleansing Calico Printers' Blanketing.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 22nd July, 1895-Accepted, 14th Sept., 1895
PROVISIONAL DE
Improvements in Apparatus for Washing and Cleansing Calico
Printers' Blanketing.
We JOHN HAWTHORN and JOHN PEMBERTON LIDDELL of the Firm of John
Hawthorn and Company of Newtown, New Mills, near Stockport, in the County
of Chester, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
Our said invention relates to the apparatus used by calico printers in connection
with their printing machines to wash and cleanse the blanketing used in such
machines as is well understood. According to our invention we provide a trough
or casing in which a cylinder or roller is carried in bearings. The blanketing from
the printing machine is led by suitable carrying rollers towards this cylinder, and
is led partly around the same, being subjected to the washing and scrubbing
operations as it passes around the cylinder. On leaving the cylinder it passes over
carrying or guide rollers to drying cylinders and thence back to the printing
machine. In passing round the cylinder the discoloured face of the blanketing is
presented to the action of the water and the scrubbing brushes, the back being
untouched and therefore not unnecessarily wet, as in some blanket washing machines
at present in use. The cleansing or scrubbing brushes which we use consist of a
series of concave brushes the bristle being set in concave backs of a curve corre-
sponding to that of the cylinder so that the bristles are all of equal length. These
brushes are reciprocated across the path of traverse of the blanketing and are strung
or mounted upon a common shaft or bar which is slid to and fro by a cam or crank
or other suitable means. The said concave brushes are arranged in a series or rank
when strung upon the shaft or bar, and practically form one long sectional brush
extending across the blanketing. The bristles are set in the concave backs in rows
which extend diagonally from corner to corner of the backs, and the backs
themselves have not vertical sides but are of a rhomboid shape, the upper angle of
one side overhanging the lower angle of the abutting side of the next back.
provide for the adjustment of the pressure of each brush section against the
Thus we
blanketing, by weights, springs and set screws or other means.
enabled to set the outer brush sections for example, harder up against the edges of
the blanketing, which are as a rule the most discoloured and require the most
scrubbing. These concave brushes are preferably of some depth, covering perhaps
a sixth of the circumference of the cylinder so that a large area of brushing surface
is applied to the blanketing. One, two or more of these ranks of concave brushes
might be used.
We
are
In a convenient form of apparatus we might use one such rank or section of
reciprocating brushes in combination with a revolving brush at another part of the
cylinder. Such revolving brush or brushes might also be reciprocated across the
blanketing, such reciprocation being a novel feature in connection with these
In combination with the brushes we provide spart
revolving cleansing brushes.
0 pipes discharging water or other cleansing liquid upon the blanketing as it leaves the
cylinder. A revolving brush is preferably provided to act upon the blanketing
the function of such revolving brush being to remove excess of moisture before the
blanketing passes to the drying cylinders. The bearings of the revolving brush or
brushes can be set forward so as to bring any required pressure of the brushes to

page_text: bear upon the blankoting. The water ejected from the spurt pipes is carried away
from the foot of the trough.
Dated this 20th day of October 1894.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
Improvements in Apparatus for Washing and Cleansing Calico
Printers' Blanketing.
We JOHN HAWTHORN and JOHN PEMBERTON LIDDELL of the Firm of John
Hawthorn and Company of Newtown, New Mills, near Stockport, in the County
of Chester, Engineers, 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 and accompanying drawings:-
:―
Our said invention relates to the apparatus used by calico printers in connection
with their printing machines to wash and cleanse the blanketing used in such
machines as is well understood. According to our invention we provide a trough
or casing in which a cylinder is carried in bearings. The blanketing from the
printing machine is led by suitable carrying rollers towards this cylinder and is led
partly around the same, being subjected to the washing and scrubbing operations
as it passes around the cylinder. On leaving the cylinder it passes over carrying
or guide rollers and thence back to the printing machine. In passing round the
cylinder the discoloured face of the blanketing is presented to the action of the
water and the scrubbing brushes, the back being untouched and therefore not
unnecessarily wet, as in some blanket washing machines at present in use.
The
cleansing or scrubbing brushes which we use consist of a series of concave brushes
the bristles being set in concave backs of a curve corresponding to that of the
cylinder so that the bristles are all of equal length. These brushes are reciprocated
across the path of traverse of the blanketing and are strung or mounted upon a
common shaft or bar which is slid to and fro by a cam or crank or other suitable
meaus. The said concave brushes are arranged in a series or rank when strung
upon the shaft or bar, and practically form one long sectional brush extending across
the blanketing. One, two or more of these ranks of concave brushes might be used.
In a convenient form of apparatus we might use one such rank or section of
reciprocating brushes in combination with a revolving brush or brushes at another
part of the cylinder. Such revolving brush or brushes might also be reciprocated
across the blanketing, such reciprocation being a novel. feature in connection with
these revolving cleansing brushes. In combination with the brushes we provide
spurt pipes discharging water or other cleansing liquid upon the blanketing.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood and the ambit of our
claims properly defined and ascertained we will now proceed to describe our
improved apparatus more particularly, reference being had to the annexed three.
sheets of illustrative drawings.
Fig. 1 (Sheet 1) is a plan view of the apparatus a portion of the length being
shown removed in the drawing for want of space in the appointed size of sheet.
Fig. 2 (Sheet 2) is an end elevation of the apparatus at the end marked “A” in
Fig. 1, the driving pulley which appears on the outer end of the cylinder shaft in
Fig. 1 being removed in Fig. 2 to show the reciprocating cam and other parts more
clearly. Figs. 3 and 4 on Sheet 2 also illustrate the anti-friction rollers and, parts
which engage with the cam disc to reciprocate or move the concave brushes to and
fro, these rollers and parts being also removed in Fig. 2 for the sake of
clearness.

page_text: Fig. 5 (Sheet 3) is a cross sectional view of the apparatus at the line C D Fig. 1
while Figs. 6 and 7 are an end view and back view respectively of one of the
concave brush sections.
The apparatus in its general arrangement consists of a semi-circular trough or
receptacle a supported on end frames or standards b. The bearings of the various
rollers and brushes are supported upon the standards and ends of the trough and
also on side brackets c which are bolted upon the tops of the trough ends. The
trough a contains a central revolving cylinder X which in revolving carries round
with it the blanketing Z in the indicated direction. The cylinder X is carried by
a shaft a' which runs in bearings on the trough ends. On one of the outer ends of
the cylinder shaft a¹ we fix a pulley d, motion being imparted from a suitable
counter shaft and pulley to the shaft a' and cylinder by the driving belte. On the
other end of the cylinder shaft a¹ (that is to say at the end marked "A" in Fig. 1)
we place a loosely revolving pulley f which is formed with a sleeve boss f¹ and
runs loosely on the shaft a¹ between the fixed collars ff. The sleeve boss f¹ has
formed or secured upon it a cam disc fs formed so as to give a throw at any fixed
point when revolving. The pulley is driven by a belt g from the counter shaft
or from any other suitable source and is preferably driven at a considerably higher
speed than the shaft a¹ with its cylinder. The concave scrubbing brushes to which
we have already referred are marked and appear most clearly on Sheet 3 of the
drawings. The concave backs of the brushes are made concentric with the
central blanket carrying cylinder X and are furnished with ranks of bristles h¹
which by reason of the concentricity of the concave backs are all of equal length,
a useful feature of novelty in such brushes which makes their scrubbing action
much more equal and effective than if the backs were straight and the bristles of
unequal length. The concave brushes h are arranged in a rauk or series of
independent members or sections as appears most clearly in Fig. 1 each individual
section (one such section appearing in Fig. 6) carrying a back bracket h² by which
it and in the same manner all of the other sections are strung or threaded upon a
common carrying bar i which extends the entire length of the apparatus (see Fig. 1)
and slides in bearings i bolted to the end standards
The brush sections are
secured to the bar i by set screws h³
serving to fix the section in
its adjusted position upon the bar
screw * which is screwed
into the bar i serves to adjust the brush section towards the cylinder X.
Further adjustment is also provided for by the presence of set screws.
(see Fig. 2) whereby the slide bearing blocks ¹ can be adjusted to any desired
position. Our plan of dividing what would otherwise be a continuous longi-
tudinal scrubbing brush into a series of sections as described is advantageous
from many points of view. Those acquainted with the washing of printers'
blanketing are aware that it is usually the outer edges of the blanketing
which are the most foul and require the greatest amount of scrubbing. This being
the case we can by our plan of sub-division of the brushes, set up those sections
which are nearest the ends of the bar or which bear upon the dirtiest portions of
the blanketing to act with greater pressure and therefore greater cleansing power
than those towards the centre which are not required to press so heavily upon the
blanketing. Again if a brush section is injured or worn it can be removed and
replaced without renewing the others. These and other advantages render our
sectional arrangement of brushes particularly valuable. The required reciprocatory
inotion is imparted to the bar i and to the attached brushes in the following manner.
At that end of the apparatus which carries the cam disc f³ we mount upon the bar i
two brackets or horns and it see Figs. 3 and 4. The bracket is fixed upon the
bar by set screws and the bracket is connected to it by a tie bolt, a block of
rubber or equivalent elastic body or spring being interposed between the two
brackets. The brackets are furnished with anti-friction rollers held a sufficient
distance apart to admit the thickness of the edge of the cum disc f. The elastic
medium between the brackets admits of a certain degree of automatic self
adjustment of the anti-friction rollers to the cam side and prevents jar and knocking.
the set screw
while the set
. 22

page_text: "
When the disc f³ is revolved by the described means the bar i and consequently
the string on rank of brush sections are reciprocated to and fro across the
blanketing as it is carried round by the cylinder X in the direction indicated by the
- arrows. The necessary water or other detergent is supplied by the spurt pipes
hereinafter referred to. By making arrangements for altering the speed of the
pulley we can impart any desired rate of reciprocation to the brushes / apart from
and independently of the speed of the blanket. A suitable speed of the recipro-
cating brushes is about 150 strokes per minute with the blanketing travelling at
about 90 feet per minute. The bristles h¹ of the brushes are or may be set in
the curved backs in rows which extend diagonally relatively to the traverse of the
blanket as appears in Fig. 7, and the backs themselves may be formed of a
rhomboid shape as appears in the same fig. We might however form the brush
sections with vertical sides.
As shown in the drawings the brushes h are of considerable depth so as to cover
a reasonably large portion of blanket surface.
When the blanketing Z has been scrubbed by the concave brushes h in the
indicated manner, it next encounters a revolving circular brush k which is carried
on a shaft k¹ in bearings I supported on the ends of the apparatus. This circular
brush k is run at a considerable speed relatively to the speed of the blanketing and
is driven from a pulley m see Fig. 1 fixed on one end of the shaft k¹ and connected
by a short belt with a pulley n on the shaft o¹ of the succeeding circular brush o.
The shaft o' of the brush o carries on its opposite end another pulley p which is
driven by a belt y from the same counter shaft which drives the pullies d and for
by any other suitable driving means. The brushes and o should run at a speed
of about 550 revolutions per minute under the conditions hereinbefore referred to
in determining the speed of the reciprocating brushes h.
3
Returning to the circular brush we arrange to reciprocate it to and fro in
addition to its revolving motion and this reciprocation is obtained from the same
cam disc which bas already been described as reciprocating the concave brushes h.
To a bracket o extending from the side 6 we pivot a vibrating lever q¹ the upper
end of which is furnished with a pair of anti-friction rollers g2 between which the
edge of the cam disc f³ revolves, just as in the case of the anti-friction rollers 2ª³, and
so vibrates the lever q³ to and fro. On the opposite side of the lever q'is an anti-friction
roller which enters between two collars on the end of the shalt k'. Thus the
vibrating movements of the lever are imparted to the shaft and the brush k as it
whirls round is also reciprocated to and fro. It will be noted that the pulley m on
the end of the shaft k¹ is deep enough on its periphery to allow of this reciprocating
motion without unshipping the belt a connecting it to the pulley n on the shaft of the
brush o.
The brush o is revolved in the manner we have already described but is
not reciprocated. The bearings 1 of the brush k are carried on the end standards b
while the bearings o' of the brush o are carried on the superposed side brackets c.
In both cases the bearings of the brushes k and o are made adjustable towards
the cylinder X by means of set screws r passing through fixed blocks or abutments.
In the arrangement we have illustrated there are three spurt pipes s, s¹, s². The
first spurt pipe s discharges down upon the face of the blanketing immediately in
front of the concave brushes h. The next spurt pipes washes off and removes
the dirt loosened by the brushes and also wets the face of the blanketing
preparatory to the action of the circular reciprocating brush k which still further
brushes and cleanses the blanketing.
The last spurt pipe washes the face of the blanketing in conjunction with
and after the operation of the circular reciprocating brush k and imparts the
needful wetting to the blanketing prior to the final cleansing by the revolving
circular brush o. The blanketing then passes beneath a nipping or binding
roller t the shaft t' of which is carried in bearings in side levers u pivotted at ul to
the side brackets cas clearly shown in Fig. 2. The levers are weighted by
means of adjustable weights so as to impart the desired pressure of the roller t
upon the blanketing.

page_text: By being thus held firmly against the cylinder X the blanketing is carried round
without slip or distortion. Upon leaving the binding or nip roller t the blanketing
is passed over the successive guiding rollers v, v', ' and is then led way to the
drying cylinders. The water or cleansing liquid thrown from the spurt pipes and
falling into the trough a is drained away through the orifice 10.
We do not confine ourselves to the exact disposition of parts and details herein
set forth. For example instead of having one rank of reciprocating brushes h we
might have more than one and we might also increase the number of circular
brushes either reciprocating or non-reciprocating.
The number of the spurt pipes might also be varied.
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. The general arrangement, construction and combination of parts comprising
our improved apparatus for washing and cleansing calico printers' blanketing,.
substantially as described and as illustrated.
2. In apparatus for washing and cleansing calico printers' blanketing the recipro-
cating concave brushes h consisting of sections strung or supported upon a carrying
sliding bar or shaft and formed with backs about concentric with the cylinder
carrying the blanketing, and with bristles of equal length, the said brush sections
being separately adjustable towards and from the blanketing substantially as
described and shown.
3. The reciprocating rank of brush sections h strung upon a carrying bar the
said bar being furnished with anti-friction rollers carried on brackets pressed
together upon an interposed elastic medium, the rollers engaging with a cam disc
by the revolution of which the bar and brushes are reciprocated substantially as
described and shown.
4. In apparatus for washing and cleausing printers' blanketing the employment
of cylindrical brushes arranged not only to revolve but also to reciprocate to and
fro substantially as described and shown.
5. Reciprocating the cylindrical revolving brush or brushes from a cam disc
or its equivalent by the means and substantially as described and shown.
6. In apparatus for washing and cleansing printers' blanketing the combination
of a rank or ranks of brushes reciprocating across the path of traverse of the
5 blanketing with a circular revolving brush or brushes also caused to reciprocate
across the blanketing as described and shown.
7. In apparatus for washing and cleansing printers' blanketing the combination
of the reciprocating brushes h the circular revolving and reciprocating brush k and
the circular revolving but non-reciprocating brush o arranged and acting in unison
substantially as described and as illustrated.
B
8. In apparatus for washing and cleansing printers' blanketing and as means
for effecting the reciprocation of the brushes and k the cam disc mounted and
operating in the manner and substantially as described and as shown in the
drawings.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Chartered Patent Agents,
For the Applicants.