MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING CARPETS, MATTING, AND SIMILAR FABRICS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS,
HORN, of 13, Little Stanhope Street, Mayfair, Upholsterer and Decorator,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of March
(One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one), in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Horn, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full
power, ,sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Horn, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Horn, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING CARPETS, MATTING, AND SIMILAR FABRICS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas Horn, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Horn, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
[Prise Sd.]

page_text: ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed; that is to say:-
My said appara! us or machinery consists of two parts, both or either of
which may be used for cleansing carpets, matting, and other similar fabrics
according to my Invention. One part of this machinery is intended to be
employed to beat and brush out the dust from carpets, matting, and other
similar fabrics, an operation now performed by hand. The other part of the
machinery is intended to be used for further cleansing such articles by scouring
them, and then drying them, so as to make them fit for use.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of an arrangement of machinery
embracing both the said objects, the parts on the right of the central line a, b,
being those appropriated to the beating and brushing processes, and those on
the left of that line those required for scouring, dressing, and drying. A, A,
is a strong framework; B is a wooden roller mounted in standards at the
rear or front end of the apparatus, on which the carpet (or other article) to
be cleansed is rolled; and C, a similar roller mounted in standards on the
opposite side (of the division of the apparatus), by which the carpet is drawn
through the machine, and on which it is wound after being beaten and
brushed. Each of the rollers B and C is furnished with a canvas web which
is sufficiently long to extend from the one roller to the other. One end of
each of those webs is attached to its roller, and the other end of it is furnished
with metal eyelet holes, by means of which one end of a carpet to be cleansed
may be secured to it.
The rollers B, C, and E must be made of such a
length, and consequently the machine and the canvas webs must be made of
of such a width, as to receive the widest carpets which the machineis intended
to be capable of cleansing. E is a large wooden cylinder which is mounted
on the framework a little way in advance of B, and at a sufficient height
above it to allow the carpet to pass freely between them. d, d, are several
tappets which project at right angles from the cylinder E, and each of which
catches against an eccentric F as the cylinder E is made to revolve. Gis
one of several beaters or flails which are fixed parallel to one another across
the whole width of the machine, each of which beaters is fixed upon an
eccentric, the eccentric being mounted upon an axle in the frame. The
tappets d, d, alternately raise and liberate each beater, and in this way they
are made by means of their weight, and by springs attached to them as shewn
in the Figure, to give a succession of smart strokes to the carpet passing
beneath them. D, D', are two cylinders upon which are mounted radial
brushes to brush the carpet on both sides as it passes between them. One
end of a carpet to be cleansed is to be secured by means of twine to the end
of the web attached to the roller B, the other end of the carpet being in like

page_text: manner secured to the end of the canvas attached to the roller C. The web
attached to the roller B, and the carpet secured to it, is then to be wound
upon that roller, the canvas web attached to the roller C being therefore
drawn through the machine with one end of it near to the roller B, and in
such a position that it may draw the carpet through the machine whilst it is
undergoing the operations of beating and brushing. A bar a which extends
across the whole width of the machine is placed in such a position that the
carpet, and also the web to which it is secured may be drawn over it. Above
this bar is placed a similar bar y, mounted upon hinges, and weighted so as to
cause it to press upon the carpet and canvas web when passing between the
bars,and thus form a drag for the purpose of causing the carpet to be stretched
between the two rollers B and C sufficiently tight to sustain the action of the
beaters. When the carpet leaves the brushes it passes over a bar or roller Z,
the object of which is to prevent the carpet pressing too much upon the brushes
mounted upon the cylinder D. Motion is given to the different parts by
wheel-gearing in manner represented in the Drawing; that is to say, the
carpet is, by means of the canvas web attached to the roller C, drawn
through the machine, and wound on that roller by turning a crank handle
H, which turns two wheels of equal numbers fixed on the ends of the
brush cylinders D and D¹. On the axis of the wheel 11 there is a pinion
which takes into a wheel I on the roller C. The cylinder E, through which
the beater is actuated, is turned by a crank handle K, which turns a pinion
f, which takes into a wheel L on the cylinder E. The whole of the
apparatus just described, namely, that on the right side of the line a, b, is
boxed in by closely-fitting boarding, in order to prevent the dust from flying
about, and also to deaden the noise caused by the beaters. Should the
carpet be so charged with dust as not to be sufficiently freed from it by
passing it once through the machine, it may be passed through a second
time, or oftener if necessary, to effect the object in view. If it is further
required to cleanse the carpet from stains or grease, or to freshen it in an-
pearance, it is next transferred from the beating and brushing division of
the machinery to the scouring and drying part, which is on the left of the line
a, b, and may be left unenclosed. M is a damping cylinder, which may either
revolve along with the carpet, or may have a reciprocating motion given to it
by being connected to some of the revolving parts of the machinery, as shewn
in the Drawing, for the purpose of assisting in the scouring the surface of the
carpet or other fabric. This cylinder is heated interiorly by steam, hot air, or
water, and has several layers of felt, blanketing, or other fabric wrapped round
it, which are kept constantly in a moist state by a jet of water m, directed

page_text: upon the cylinder from some convenient source of supply, or by having the
cylinder perforated with numerous small holes, and introducing the moistening
liquid by a pipe into the interior of the cylinder. N is a brushing cylinder, on
which are fixed several brushes of a considerably finer quality than those
mounted upon the brush cylinders D and D', and upon the end of the
cylinder N is mounted a pinion, which takes into the wheel R, from which it
receives motion. When the roller M is intended to have a reciprocating
motion, that motion is produced by the means shewn in the Drawing, the
motion being received from the pinion upon the end of the roller N,as shewn.
When this reciprocating motion is not required, the connection of the parts
with the pinion at the end of the roller N must be broken, leaving the roller
M to be turned by the carpet as it passes under it. O is a drying cylinder,
kept at a moderate heat by steam or hot air. P is a receiving roller, to
which is attached a canvas web (similar to those attached to the rollers Band
C), for the purpose of drawing the carpet or other fabric through the machine,
motion being given to this roller and its web by means of the crank handle Q.
which works a pinion which takes into the wheel R on the end of the roller
P. In order to pass a carpet through this part of the machinery it is first
disconnected from the canvas web attached to the roller B,and the end of the
carpet thus disconnected from that web is then secured to the web attached to
the roller P, in like manner as already mentioned. The carpet or other
fabric,as it is drawn from the roller C, will pass beneath and be subjected to
the action of each of the three cylinders M, N, and O, and then be finally
wound upon the receiving roller P. In case the passing of the carpet once
through the machine should not produce the required effect, it may be passed
through it a second time, or oftener if necessary.
A modification of the preceding arrangement of machinery, in so far as
regards the first part or division of it, is represented in Figure 2. The chief
points of difference in this modification are, first, that the beaters are made of
gutta percha, or some other similar flexible material, and are hinged to a
rotating cylinder, and they are thus made to strike or act upon the carpet or
other article; and, second, that the brushes have a to-and-fro or reciprocating
instead of a rotary motion given to them. S is a rotating cylinder, with its
beaters (which I call centrifugal beaters), and T the to-and fro movement by
which the brushes are actuated. The wheel and other gearing by which
these parts are worked is clearly shewn in the Drawing, and needs no further
description.
Either division of the machinery may, as before mentioned, be used
independently of the other. For example, a carpet may be beaten and

page_text: brushed by hand in the ordinary manner, and then passed through the
scouring and drying part of the machinery only, or a carpet may be passed
through the beating and brushing part of the machinery only, without passing
through the other part. In using that part of my machinery, which is for
Scouring carpets and other fabrics, any of the agents or materials ordinarily
employed in scouring such carpets or other fabrics may be used to effect or
complete the desire scouring or cleansing operation.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I claim as of my
Invention,-
Firstly, the employment of beaters in machinery for cleansing carpets and
otherlike fabrics mounted upon eccentrics, and acting in manner herein-before
described.
Secondly, the employment of beaters in such machinery hinged upon a
rotating cylinder, and acting in manner herein-before described.
Thirdly, the employment of revolving brushes in such machinery for brush-
ing both sides of a carpet or other fabric at the same time, in manner herein
before described.
Fourthly, the employment in such machinery of reciprocating brushes, as
before described.
Fifthly, the constructing, such machinery for scouring carpets or other
fabrics, as aforesaid, with damping, brushing, or dressing and drying cylinders,
in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Horn, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Tenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred