IMPROVEMENTS IN TM MACHINERY FOR SCOURING on WASHING AND DRYING WOOD AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Petrie, junior, of Rochdale, in the County.
of Lancaster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TM
MACHINERY FOR SCOURING on WASHING AND DRYING WOOD AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Petrie, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1873.
I, JOHN PETRIE, junior, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster,
5 Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SCOURING OR WASHING AND DRYING WOOL AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to that part of scouring or washing .
machines which is used to lift and deliver the material from the trough">
For this purpose. I employ a fork or rake jointed to a lever which is:

page_text: attached to a shaft carrying a toothed wheel in gear with another, upon
the shaft of which is a lever connected by a link to the end of the said
fork or rake. The two wheels revolve with uniform speed in opposite
directions, and alternately raise the fork or rake out of the trough and
lower it therein, thrusting it forward during the former of those motions.
When this takes place the prongs arrive against another vibrating rake,
situate on the outside of the trough, and deposit the material thereon,
the retreating motion of the first-mentioned rake leaving it. The prongs
of the vibrating rake are mounted on centres carried by a frame, and arc
kept at an angular position by a plate pressing on their tail ends, but
after they have been charged with the fibrous material this plate is
withdrawn, and the prongs turning into a horizontal position permit the
lifted material to fall upon a roller, or creeper, or other ordinary
travelling surface or receptacle, from whence it may be delivered to
squeezing rollers, if they be employed.
4.
In drying wool or other fibrous material after it has been scoured or
washed, I employ a chamber with a perforated top upon which the
material is placed, and through which heated air is blown, as in those
machinès now in use; but I employ a novel arrangement for admitting
air to the fans, whereby the current is more equally distributed. For
this purpose, I pass through the chamber a pipe, open at one or both
ends, and provided with branch pipes which supply the inlet sides of the
fans.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Petric in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25
30th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PETRIE, junior, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto-

page_text: me, the said John Petrie, junior, Her special license, that I, the said
John Petric, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Petric, junior, my exccutors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,.
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
WASHING OR SCOURING AND DRYING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon
the condition, amongst others, that I, the said John Petric, junior, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
immediately after the date of the said Letters.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Petric, junior, dò hereby
declare the nature of my said 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), that is to
say: :-
: ;
My Invention relates, firstly, to that part of washing or scouring
machines which is used to deliver the material from the trough, for
which purpose I employ a fork or rake connected to two revolving.
toothed wheels which rotate at uniform speeds in contrary directions,
and by their combined operations raise the said fork or rake out of the
trough and lower it therein, thrusting it forward during the former of
those motions to deliver the material thereon, and depressing it during
the latter to rake forward and convey another portion from this fork
or rake. The material is removed by another vibrating rake situate on
the outside of the trough, and is by that agency deposited upon a creeper,"
rollers, or other ordinary travelling surface or receptacle, from whence it
may be delivered to squeezing rollers, if desired.
Another part of my Invention relates to machinery for drying wool or
other fibrous materials after it has been washed or scoured, and consists
5 in a novel arrangement for admitting air to the fans employed therein,
whereby the current is more equally distributed.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a portion of the
trough (the delivery end) of a washing or scouring machine, and Fig. 2
is a partial cross section thereof.
At 1 is the trough, and at 2 the last usual rake for conveying the
material forward, and to which a vibratory motion may be communicated
in any manner now adopted. At 3 is a shaft, to which rotatory motion
is communicated by means of a strap 4 passing around the pulley 5, and
upon this shaft 3 is a lever 6, connected at its outward end to a rod 7,
which is also jointed to one end of a lever 8 turning upon a centre 9,
and carrying at the other end thereof the lifting rake 10. The above-
mentioned centre of motion 9 of the lever 8 is carried by an arm 11.
attached to a shaft 12, upon which is a spur wheel 13 driven by another
wheel 14 on the main shaft 3 before mentioned. Upon the shaft 12 is a
disc 15, to which is jointed one end of a rod 16, the other end thereof
being connected to a lever 17 fast upon a rocking shaft 18 which carries
an arm 20, which at its upper end is jointed to a frame 19, which is also
supported by another arm 21 turning on a centre 22. Upon the
upper part of the frame 19 is mounted a plate 20, so as to be capable of
sliding longitudinally thereon in guides, and this plate is furnished with"
a toothed rack 23.
At 24, 24*, are two series of teeth extending across the machine, and
one of which is shewn detached at Fig. 3. These teeth turn upon
centres 19*, 19*, and are provided with projecting parts 25, 25*,
extending through apertures formed in the plate 20.
At 26, 26*, are toothed quadrants turning upon centres, and in gear.
with the rack 23, provided also with tails ends which carry projecting
pins 27, 27*. This arrangement of plate 20, rack 23, and other parts
connected therewith is repeated, as will of course be understood on the
other side of the machine, in order that the motion of the teeth 24, 24*,
may be squared.
It is well known to those who understand machines for washing or
scouring wool and other fibrous materials that the said materials are
gradually moved from one end of the trough to the other, at which
latter situation they have to be removed by some arrangement of lifting
apparatus, for which purpose I employ the fork or rake 10, and the

page_text: arrangement and construction of the parts connected therewith having
been explained, I now proceed to point out the operation thercof.
.
According to the positions of the parts shown in the Drawing the
fork 10 is partially raised, and is in a horizontal position, having the
fibrous material thercon which it has lifted from the trough, and motion
is being communicated thereto by the levers 7, 11, which are moving in
contrary directions, as indicated by the arrows, and it will be seen that
while the said lever 7 is tending to lower the fork by turning it upon
the centre 9, the other lever is tending to raise it, and it is thus while
bodily carried upward and forward kept in a horizontal position, or
thereabout, and this motion continues until it has reached a certain
clevation during the motions above described; the rotation of the
disc 15 will 'thrust the rod 16 in the direction of the arrow, thereby
through the medium of the lever 17 turning the arms 20, 21, and
consequently frame 19 downward upon the centres 18, 22, and the
rakes 24, 24*, are thus caused to pass between the clevated prongs 10
and the projecting.pin 27, then arriving in contact with the lever 20 will
cause the quadrant 26 to turn upon its centre and give motion to the
rack 23, and consequently plate 20 in the direction of the arrow. By
these means the said plate 20 is caused to act upon the tail ends 25, 25*,
and turn the teeth 24, 24*, upon their centres, so as to approach cach
other and enclose the fibrous material (or a portion thereof) resting on
the fork 10: A further revolution of the shaft 12 will now reverse the
direction in which the rod 16 has been moving, and the effect will be to
cause the levers 20, 21, to rock back, carrying with them the teeth 24, 24*,
and material carried thereby, and when these have arrived at any desired
position on the outside of the trough 3 the projecting pin 27* arrives in
contact with the lever 21, by which means the quadrant 26 is turned
upon its centre. so as to cause the rack 23 to slide in the opposite
direction to that above mentioned, thereby by means of the plate 20
turning the teeth 24, 24*, into a vertical position, and the material
which they have stripped from the fork 10 is consequently free to fall.
In the Drawing it is supposed to pass on to rollers 30, which carry
ordinary squeezing rollers 31. When the rake 10 begins to pass
downward from its elevated position the combined action of tho
cranks 6, 10, allow it to turn upon the centre, so that it. gradually
assumes a vertical position (or thereabout) above the fluid in the trougli,

page_text: and it then dips therein, raking forward the material and raising a
portion thereof into the position above described.
The second part of my Invention is shewn at Figs. 4, 5, the former of
which is a cross section of a wool drying machine of ordinary construction,
with my improvement adapted, and Fig. 5 a portion of the same taken
longitudinally in plan.
At 31 is the framework, and at 32 the wire gauze or other such covers.
upon which the material to be dried as placed, the side and end framings.
being closed, as is now practised, and it being desired as is well known
to pass a current of air by means of fans into the chamber beneath
the covers 32, so that it may be forced through the material resting
thereon.
At 33, 33*, are two series of fans mounted upon shafts 34, 34*, driven
by the motive power. The end fans at the situations marked A, B, are
supplied with air through apertures 35, 35*, formed in the casing, and it
may be so at the other end of the machine, not shewn in the Drawing,
and it is to supply the intermediate fans C, D, E, F, and the others of
the series not shewn to which my Invention refers. For this purpose,
I adapt a pipe 36 along the length of the machine, and open to the
external atmosphere at one or both ends. From this pipe there extends
between the fans C, D, E, F, a cross passage 37, the ends of which are
open on each side, as at 38, 38*, which openings are opposite to the
centre of each fan; the air therefore passing through the pipe 37 and
apertures 38, 38*, is drawn by the fans and expelled into the chamber
beneath the covers 32, and this air may be heated if desired in any
ordinary manner, the plan view, Fig. 5, being broken off; one cross
pipe 37 only is shewn, but it will of course be understood that the
arrangement is repeated for each pair of fans along the machine, and,
if desired, the end fans A, B, may be supplied with air in a similar
manner, or the passage 37 may be placed between each pair of fans.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, and for the purposes above set forth,—
Firstly. The use of the lifting fork or rake 10 actuated by two wheels
revolving in opposite directions, and operating substantially as described.

page_text: Secondly. The use of the vibrating teeth 24, 24*, substantially as
described.
Thirdly. The use of the air tube 36 and cross passages 37, as illustrated
at Figs. 4, 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Petric, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
JOHN PETRIE, JR. (L.S.)