IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING OVENS AND APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR DRYING LACE AND OTHER FABRICS IN A STATE OF TENSION
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Frederick Edwards of N° 5 Cambridge Gardens
Notting Hill in the County of Middlesex for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN DRYING OVENS AND APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR DRYING LACE
AND OTHER FABRICS IN A STATE OF TENSION
"
(Void by reason of the Patentee having neglected to file a Specification in
pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Frederick Edwards
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th June 1883.
GEORGE FREDERICK EDWARDS of N° 5 Cambridge Gardens Notting Hill in
the County of Middlesex IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING OVENS AND APPLIANCES
"
CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR DRYING LACE AND OTHER FABRICS IN A STATE OF
TENSION
"
My invention relates to drying ovens for lace and other fabrics, wherein these
fabrics are stretched on frames that rest in a horizontal position one above the
other upon ledges in the oven where they are subjected to the requisite heat for
drying them. In such ovens, as used heretofore, the frames have all to be drawn
out at one and the same end of the oven after the drying has been completed, and
being at different levels, they have to be raised or lowered by machinery in order
to place them upon a table or platform situated outside the oven, where the fabric
is removed from the frame; or the platform is raised or lowered to the different
levels of the frames.
My present improvements have for their object to expedite and facilitate the
removal of the frames from, as also their introduction into the oven, and to dispense
with the raising and lowering apparatus.
For this purpose, I firstly arrange the oven with doors or covered openings at
both ends, so that the upper frames can be removed from one end thereof and the

page_text: lower ones from the other end, and, secondly, I provide at each end of the oven a
series of fixed platforms, situated one above the other, at heights corresponding to
the levels of the several frames in the oven, that is to say, at the one end there are,
say, three or more platforms corresponding in height to the uppermost frames,
while at the other end there are, say, three or more platforms corresponding in
height to the lower frames. By this arrangement, each frame can be drawn directly
from the oven on to its platform, and the frames can be drawn simultaneously
from each end of the oven, resulting in a considerable saving of labor and time.
Instead of heating the oven by means of pipes or plates heated by steam
or hot water, as heretofore, I apply direct heat by means of a series of gas
jets arranged at the bottom of the oven, thus applying the necessary heat more
economically and also avoiding the expense of the pipes or hot plates, or other
appliances for the equal distribution of the heat.
According to another improvement, I construct the frames with adjustable
longitudinal bars and cross bars so that these can be set to any position corre-
sponding to the varying length and width of the fabrics to be stretched thereon,
thereby avoiding the necessity of having a great number of frames of different
sizes. In order to adjust the cross bars to the varying positions of the longitudinal
bars, they are formed of two lengths overlapping each other, and secured together
by g screw bolts or otherwise, so as to form a sliding joint whereby the bar can be
lengthened or shortened as may be required.
They may be secured by screw bolts, tongues or dowels to the longitudinal bar
and sides of the frame.