IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND IN APPARATUS FOR DISINFECTING CLOTHES AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Oscar Schimmel at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 13th October 1883.
OSCAR SCHIMMEL of Chemnitz in the Kingdom of Saxony
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE METHOD OF AND IN APPARATUS FOR DISINFECTING CLOTHES AND FOR OTHER
ANALOGOUS PURPOSES
"
The object of this Invention is to effect the perfect disinfection of clothes linen
goods parcels bales & by means of a portable apparatus
The system of disinfection which is effected with this apparatus consists in the
combination of hot air and steam the disinfecting apparatus can be constructed in
various sizes and is composed of two walls, the floor, the lid, and the front and
back walls or ends
All these parts are composed of iron plates placed a short distance apart
the space between which plates is filled with a nonconducting material such as
asbestos slagwool or ashes and other analogous material
The front end wall consists of two doors one above the other the upper one is
arranged for the purpose of permitting the entrance of a carriage to hold the goods
to be operated upon and the lower door admits a system of steam pipes preferably
fitted with radiating discs mounted on wheels to be placed therein or withdrawn
therefrom for heating the air
All the walls of the apparatus are so constructed as to be easily taken apart in
order to facilitate removal from place to place, and they can be also as easily reset
and placed in position
Large steam pipes in a coil form are placed upon a separate and distinct frame
provided with wheels and can be removed from the apparatus when required for
cleaning or repairing purposes The heat only is utilised from this coil of large
steam pipes, the circulation of steam and heat in such pipes being sustained by a
constant supply of steam
In addition to the foregoing I fit a number of smaller steam pipes having small
holes saw cuts or other perforations throughout their entire length to carry currents
of steam into the upper chamber for purposes of disinfection
This combination of smaller steam pipes is placed under the floor alongside
the walls and is as before mentioned pierced over its entire length with small holes

page_text: through which the steam flows quickly and regularly into the interior of the
apparatus
Above the pipe systems a strong frame of wire work is fixed upon which large
parcels of goods and bales are placed; by means of frames which are attached to
the carriage and which may be simultaneously removed from the apparatus the
upper carriage is mounted on wheels which run upon rails such rails being fastened
to the walls longitudinally the carriage is provided with bars and hooks upon which
the objects to be disinfected are hung either singly or in bags or bales
At the back of the apparatus is placed a discharging pipe which can be closed by
means of disc or other valves; this pipe serves for discharging steam and hot air
after the disinfection process is over-Other openings are provided through which
fresh air enters when necessary but these openings are closed while the disinfection
process is being carried on.
The disinfection process is effected as follows:-After opening the door of the
apparatus the goods carriage is drawn out and this as well as the wire work is then
laden with the objects to be disinfected
This being done the carriage is pushed back into the apparatus, the door the air
holes and the valves are then closed and steam is turned on to the large steam
pipes and so continued until the thermometré affixed in the interior of the
apparatus, (the scale of which however can be read from the outside indicates from
100 to 110 degrees centigrade-When this temperature is reached the steam is
turned on to the smaller pipe system which admits the steam directly into the
interior of the apparatus and so continued until a temperature of from 125 to 130
'degrees centigrade is obtained, this temperature is kept up for half an hour by the
same means the steam is then shut off from the small steam and the air entrance
openings in the discharge pipe are opened. After a lapse of about fifteen minutes
during which time the larger pipe system is gradually closed to the steam the
drying process of the disinfected objects is completed and at the same time
the vapours developed and formed are carried away by the strong circulation of
the air current the persons attending the disinfecting apparatus may then open the
door and take out the carriage; remove the disinfected objects and goods without
incurring any risk or danger to their health