Improvements in Machines for Drying and Ironing.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Apr., 1890-Accepted, 16th Aug.,
1890
2
Improvements in Machines for Drying and Ironing.
I, ALEXANDER JAMES ELI of the firm of Hughes Eli and Hughes of 76, Chancery
Lane London W.C. Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of this Invention
(a communication to me from abroad by A. Choteau Senior of Compiègne France)
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof that is to say :-
My invention relates to Improvements in Machines for Drying and Ironing and has
for its object to effect with economy and without rubbing, the drying and ironing of
linen and other clothes. Heretofore experiments have been made with a view to
discover a practical means of completing the out door drying process by rapidly
extracting the water contained in the washing clothes.
No method however which would promote the preservation of the said clothes had
hitherto been devised, and had it not been for the manifold inconveniences with
which I met by using similar means it could not have been hoped for a long time to
obtain so concluding a result. Such result is fully realized in the machine herein-
after described which like the egg of Columbus will suprise no one.
Every body has seen paper manufactured at the Paris Exhibition first in the state
of liquid paste having only a very thin consistence and carried upon an endless felt
band passing successively over numerous cylinders, when it was subsequently seen
issuing in a smooth and firm condition like mangled linen. Such is the result
obtained by treating linen or other clothes with my improved drying and ironing
machine which I terin the "Universal."
To obtain by the means actually in use firm and smooth linen, many successive
operations by hand are required and depend in most cases upon changes of temperature
and frictional effects which cannot be applied to the drying of linen without subjecting
it'to rapid deterioration. Such a process is highly unsatisfactory for an intelligent
laundry-man.
The drying machine herein introduced has none of the defects of the other methods
and machines as its name "Universal indicates its rational use will enable it to be
universally adopted-This machine dries and irons, after they have been partly dried
out of doors, pillow cases, table cloths, napkins, aprons, dusters, curtains and generally
all flat clothes.
The operation is effected without friction and does not wear the clothes out,
while producing work of a superior and remarkable character-The clothes are not
rubbed as under the ordinary heavy and hard ironing process, the fibres of the linen
or cotton goods subjected to its action are not displaced even in the finest and most
worn out linen or other clothes; the heat of the cylinder is very moderate (about
120° C) which is an important feature in its practical use.
Erected in a new establishment, this machine economizes twice its cost, as with.
its use drying on grass plots or in air lofts can be almost entirely dispensed with.
The same applies when hot air drying ovens are used as they can be greatly decreased
in number by using my improved machine.
And in order that my invention may be more fully understood I have shown the
same on the accompanying drawings in which
Fig. 1 is a side view of the roller straps and india-rubber bands of my improved
machine.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.
Fig. 3 shows the positions of the guiding rollers A. B, and
Fig. 4 is a general view of the machine.
avlindrisal Proved rollar for holding this india rubber bands in nosition

page_text: and at suitable intervals. R is a smooth cylindrical roller upon which a felt band
passes. R is a smooth cylindrical roller. P is a counterweight for holding the
india rubber of the lower roller R" well against the clothes when the latter pass
between the india-rubber and the felt. vis a small device for regulating the position
of the upper roller R. K is the scraper furnished with a counterweight P. This
scraper consists in its most improved form of a pointed bar of copper, iron, or steel
which has for its object to detach the linen from the large cylinder I should the
former adhere too closely to it. F is the felt. G shows the curved shape of the
receiving table or board; M is the cylinder arranged on the top of the machine.
.
I arrange moreover two rollers A and B at one end of the machine slightly above
the curved table G upon which the dried and ironed clothes are received so that when
the latter issue from the machine at the end of their course they pass between an
upper heated cylinder A and the felt, there being a certain amount of lateral
compression exerted against the clothes which pass subsequently between the two
cylinders A and B the latter being covered with a sufficient layer of paper, india-
rubber or of any other suitable material according to requirements.
This arrangement has for its object to impart a greater amount of gloss, lustre, and
polish to the linen or other clothes thus treated.
T is a table for inserting linen or other clothes between the large cylinder Land
the felt F. This table is fixed to or is formed in one with a bracket T secured to
the frame of the machine and its front edge is rounded off and overlaps a roller T
which is carried in bearings capable of sliding on guides on the said bracket and
connected to the fixed part U of the machine by means of a rod carrying a spring S¹
coiled thereon for allowing the said roller to give way or move back according to
the different thicknesses of clothes passing between the felt carried thereby and the
cylinder L.
My improved machine for drying and ironing washing clothes is derived from a
careful study of paper making machines, and the novel application of the process of
paper manufacturing by means of cylinders to machines for drying and ironing linen
and other clothes is an essential feature of my invention.
The piece of linen or other material required to be dryed and ironed passes first,
according to my invention over the large cylinder L and is seized on its return motion
by the set of straps C after having been disengaged from the cylinder L by ihe
scraper K. This piece of linen is carried away by the felt F on its leaving the large
cylinder and passes subsequently between the rollers R1 and R and between the
extreme rollers A and B which impart a glossy appearance to the linen the latter
falling now upon the receiving table G. Thus the web of the fabric is not contracted
the mere compression of the felt sufficing in the course of a 5 meters travel over
the large drying cylinder to obtain a perfect drying free from any defects whatsoever.
The mo sture absorbed by the felt in the course of its contact with each piece of
linen or other material is evaporated by the small felt drying cylinder O so that the
felt band returns continually and alternately upon the receiving table where the linen
piece is found always dry and warm.
After having passed over the cylinder L the linen piece is automatically taken up
by the scraper K upon which it slides in order to reach the set of straps C set in
motion by the felt which now carries the linen piece onward. The workwomen
feeding this machine are not disturbed in their work in any manner likely to affect
the speed of the machine, the production of which depends upon the ability of the
hands.
The width of the receiving table is equal to the length of the cylinders which is
about 2.60 m. and the mean speed of the machine is 7 meters per minute or there-
about so that the drying of a table cloth 7 meters in length for instance would only
occupy one minute. Three women suffice to feed 120 sheets per hour and two folders
used to the work can keep up this supply while the number of table napkins fed at
the same time by three women may reach from 1500 to 1800 per hour in the case of
skilled hands. Thus it will appear obvious that the result obtained by this machine

page_text: has never been yet approached and that the number of hot air drying apparatus, lofts,
and costly plots of ground hitherto required can be considerably reduced by using
this machine which produces moreover exceedingly fine work.
This machine will be of great value for establishments where the clientèle consists
chiefly of hotels, restaurant keepers, hair dressers and the like, as all flat clothes can
be successively washed, dried and folded without interruption.
The glossing or glazing of table linen is produced by compression between the felt
drying cylinder O and the linen drying cylinder L. This compression is rendered
elastic by means of a spring S tending to bring the two cylinders in close proximity
so that it is sufficient to maintain them slightly separated in order to facilitate the
passage of clothes furnished with buttons such as pillow cases and the like.
The felt band being from 7 to 8 mm. thick prevents these buttons from being
broken.
This felt band is moreover guided by the mechanism and cannot deviate from its
course.
My improved machine is constructed with care and precision and consumes a small
amount of power and steam. An automatic blow off cock allows the
of water
escape
proceeding from the steam introduced in the cylinders at 90° only which is a proof
that such steam is usefully employed. It has been already stated that the whole
machine was heated by steam produced in any suitable manner, but I may also heat
the same by internal gas petroleum or hot air apparatus-In such cases I may form
holes in the various cylinders to promote the heating and lighten the weight of the
cylinders The felt drying cylinder may be replaced in some cases by several small
cylinders.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is
1. A machine for drying and ironing linen and other clothes comprising chiefly a
large ironing cylinder and a felt drying cylinder arranged, constructed and operating
substantially as and for the purpose described.
2. In a drying and ironing machine the special table for inserting linen or other
clothes between the large cylinder and the felt substantially as and for the purpose
described.
3. In a drying and ironing machine the arrangement of a set of straps with india
rubber bands substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. In a drying and ironing machine the arrrangement of a scraper for detaching
the clothes from the large cylinder arranged near the two rollers R and R2 substantially
as and for the purpose described.
5. In a drying and ironing machine the arrangement of a felt drying cylinder
substantially as and for the purpose described.
6. In a drying and ironing machine the roller R over which passes the linen
detached from the large cylinder previous to being acted upon by the set of straps
which holds it against the felt substantially as and for the purpose described.
7. In a drying and ironing machine the arrangement of a pair of extreme glossing
rollers A. B. substantially as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 22nd day of April 1890.
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.