A NEW OR IMPROVED MAchine for CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE FORKS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Hutchison, of No. 25, Berger Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Boot Manufacturer, for an Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED MAchine for CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE FORKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Hutchison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st January 1880.
EDWARD HUTCHISON, of No. 25, Berger Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Boot Manufacturer. "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND
POLISHING TABLE FORKS."
In constructing a machine according to my Invention I form a support for the
forks consisting of two parallel bars, one of which has a groove formed in one of
its edges, and is fixed to supports on a foundation plate or base, the other bar being
so mounted as to be capable of adjustment nearer to or farther from the fixed bar,
the amount of adjustment being sufficient to admit of forks of different sizes being
placed endwise between the said bars. The adjustment and fixing of the moveable
bar are effected either by a screw, or by wedges, or by a slot and screw arrangement,
or by any other suitable means. In the adjustable bar, and in a direction at right
angles to its length, I form slots or recesses, in which I mount sliding bars or
sliders, one end of each of which projects from its slot or recess, and has a groove
or depression formed in it for the purpose herein after described. The said sliding
bars or sliders are provided with a spring or springs which admits or admit of their
yielding or retiring within their slots or recesses when pressed endwise. Between
the said fixed bar and sliders the forks are held or supported, their ends resting in
the grooves in the said bar and sliders. Above and below the said forks I arrange
brushes, the ends of which are supported by guide rods or by slots formed in
plates or frames affixed to the base plate, to which brushes reciprocatory motion in
the direction of the length of the forks is given by a crank or cranks, or by a lever
or levers, the said brushes being connected thereto by links or rods. When cranks
are used, motion may be communicated to the shaft carrying them, or on which
they are formed, either directly or through the medium of toothed gearing. The
rods or slots by which the brushes are guided in their motion are so formed as to
cause the said brushes when the machine is worked to follow or nearly follow the
form of the upper and lower faces of the forks as they lie in the machine. By this
D
071

page_text: means the action of the brushes is rendered nearly equal on every exposed part of the
forks. The only parts of the forks which are not exposed to the action of the
brushes are the extremities of the prongs and handles, which rest in the grooves in
the bars and sliders herein before described, and these parts are effectually cleaned
and polished by the slight friction to which they are subjected by the working of
the machine. Below the said brushes I arrange a drawer or receptacle to receive
the powder used in cleaning the forks, as hereinafter described.
In using this machine the adjustable bar is secured at such a distance from the
fixed bar as to admit of the forks to be cleaned being held between the said fixed
bar and the ends of the sliders. The forks after being covered with a suitable
polishing paste are then secured in their places by pressing one end of each fork in
the groove in one of the sliders, and the other end in the groove in the fixed bar, the
springs of the sliders causing the forks to be securely held when so placed. The
brushes are then caused to move to and fro by the mechanism herein before described
until the forks are cleaned. A little dry polishing powder is then thrown on
the brushes, and the machine is again worked until the forks are sufficiently
polished when they are removed from the machine.
The machine herein before described may be so formed as to be capable of being
screwed to a table or dresser, or it may be supported by legs or standards formed
on or secured to it, and the whole of the mechanism may be enclosed in a suitable
case.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Hutchison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st July
1880.
EDWARD HUTCHISON, of No. 25, Berger Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Boot Manufacturer. "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND
POLISHING TABLE FORKS."
In constructing a machine according to my Invention I form a support for the
forks consisting of two parallel bars, one of which has a groove formed in one of
its edges, and is fixed to supports on a foundation plate or base, the other bar being
so mounted as to be capable of adjustment nearer to or farther from the fixed bar,
the amount of adjustment being sufficient to admit of forks of different sizes being
placed endwise between the said bars. The adjustment and fixing of the moveable
bar are effected either by a screw, or by wedges, or by a slot and screw arrangement,
or by any other suitable means. In the adjustable bar, and in a direction at right
angles to its length, I form slots or recesses in which I mount sliding pegs or
sliders, one end of each of which projects from its slot or recess, and has a groove
or depression formed in it for the purpose herein after described. The said sliding
pegs or sliders are provided with a spring or springs which admits or admit of their
yielding or retiring within their slots or recesses when pressed endwise. Between
the said fixed bar and sliders the forks are held or supported, their ends resting in
the grooves in the said bar and sliders. Above and below the said forks I arrange
brushes, the ends of which are supported by guide rods or by slots formed in plates
.or frames affixed to the base plate, to which brushes reciprocatory motion in the
direction of the length of the forks is given by a crank or cranks, or by a lever
or levers, the said brushes being connected thereto by links or rods. When cranks
are used motion may be communicated to the shaft carrying them, or on which
they are formed, either directly or through the medium of toothed gearing.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe the
manner in which it is to be performed, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon; the same letters and
figures of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures of the Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan of my said machine, Figures 3, 4, 5,
and 6 are details herein after referred to.
a, b, are the two parallel bars or shelves, between which the forks ¹ are
supported; b¹ is the groove formed in the edge of the shelf or bar b, and c is the
support or standard to which it is affixed; a', a², are the sliders or sliding pegs
mounted in recesses in the bar a; a², a³, are the grooves formed in their projecting
ends, and a³ is a strip of vulcanized india-rubber, against which their inner ends
bear. This arrangement admits of the forks being readily placed in and removed
from the machine, the india rubber yielding slightly when the ends of the handles
are pressed into the grooves a³, a², in the sliders a', a', thus allowing the said sliders
to retire partly within their grooves or recesses. The forks when placed in the
machine are held or supported between the spring sliders a¹, a', and the bar or
shelf b, as shown in the Drawings; a is a plate by which the recesses in the bar a
are covered, and the pegs are prevented from rising. The bar a and parts carried
by and affixed to it are shown separately in transverse section (taken on the line Z,
Figure 2) in Figure 3, and in edge view in Figure 4. The said bar a is mounted
between ribs d', d, formed in a standard or frame d so as to admit of its being
moved nearer to or farther from the fixed bar or shelf b, the adjustment and fixing
of the said bar a being effected by means of the screw e, which passes through a
screwed hole d³ in the standard or frame d, its end working in a bearing e¹ secured
to the bar a. The standards or frames c and d, which are shown separately in
Figures 5 and 6, are screwed or otherwise secured to a base f.
g, g, are the brushes by which the forks are cleaned and polished; h, h, are the

page_text: guide rods by which the said brushes are supported, and on which they travel,
they being secured to the said rods by loops or staples g', g'; i, i, are the cranks
to which the brushes are connected by means of rods j, j, the said cranks being
keyed to a rotatory shaft ¹ mounted in bearings 2, 12, secured to the frame or
standard c; js is a pinion keyed to the shaft j', with which pinion a toothed
wheel k gears, the said wheel being keyed to shaft working in bearings, k², and
carrying at one end a fly wheel, and at the opposite end a cranked handle k',
by means of which motion is communicated to the brushes when the machine is
worked.
In using this machine the bar a is adjusted by turning the screw e to such a
distance from the fixed bar or shelf b as to admit of the forks to be cleaned, being
held between the said fixed bar and the ends of the sliders a¹. The forks after
being covered with a suitable polishing paste are then secured in their places by
pressing one end of each fork in the groove a² in one of the sliders a¹, a¹, and the
other end in the groove b¹ in the fixed bar b, the spring a³ causing the forks to be
securely held when so placed. The brushes g, g, are then caused to move to and fro
by turning the handle k until the forks are cleaned. A little dry polishing powder
is then thrown on the brushes, and the machine is again worked until the forks
are sufficiently polished, when they are removed from the machine.
Figure 7 is a plan, Figure 8 is an end elevation, and Figure 9 is a vertical
section (taken on the line Y, Figure 7) of a modification of the machine herein-
before described. In this arrangement the toothed wheel and pinion are dispensed
with, the brushes are supported in and guided by slots formed in the sides of the
machine, and both bars of the fork holder are made adjustable, and are provided
with spring sliders, and with sliding plates so arranged that the said plates may he
simultaneously advanced and withdrawn, the object of the said plates being to
support the forks, and thus to facilitate the placing and securing of them in the
machine. The brushes are provided with springs which admit of their yielding
when passing over the uneven surfaces of the forks.
f, f, are the sides of the machine, and f³, f, are the slots formed therein. The
brushes g, g, are mounted in cases or carriers gå, g²; g*, g*, are the springs which
are placed between the backs of the said brushes and the said cases or carriers,
which are provided at their ends with spindles g³, g³, to which the rods j, j, are
connected, and which carry anti-friction rollers, g, which travel in the
slots f, f. 9, 9, are other anti-friction rollers working on pins go, go, carried by
links g', g, working on the spindles g³, g³; 9³, g³, are pins or wires, one end of each
of which is formed into a loop which surrounds the inner end of one of the
pins g, ge. The other ends of the said pins or wires go, go, project through the
brush carriers 92, 93, and around them are placed coiled springs g³, g³, which are
kept in place by washers and pins go, go, the said springs being compressed
between the said washers and the outer faces of the brush carriers g², g². The
object of this arrangement is to admit of the brushes yielding when required, and to
restore them to their proper positions after they have been caused to turn partly in
passing over the uneven surfaces of the forks.
a, l, are the two bars or frames of the fork holder, both of which are adjustable,
and are connected as herein after described so as to move simultaneously; a³, 1¹, are
the two supporting plates carried by the said frames. Figure 10 is a plan of the
frame a, part of the covering plate at and two of the sliders a', a', being removed
in order to show the arrangement of the sliding supporting plate a³. The plate a*
is kept in place by the screws a*, a*; Figure 11 is a section of the said frame
taken on the line X, Figure 10. Both the Figures 10 and 11 are drawn of the full
size. In this arrangement spiral springs a, a, are used for the sliders a', a¹. The
arrangement of the sliders and supporting plate in the frame is similar to that in
the frame a.
In order to project and withdraw the sliding supporting plates a³, 11, simul-
taneously, and to cause the two frames a, l, to advance towards and retire from
each other simultaneously, I use the following arrangment in addition to the

page_text: screw e-m is a spindle which passes through a hole formed longitudinally in the
said screw e, and has formed on it a screw m¹, see Figure 9, a cam m², and a
boss m³, on which is cut a spiral groove m¹. The boss m³ is surrounded by
a collar n, having a tongue n' formed on it, which passes through a slot in
a bar o (not shown in Figure 8) through a screwed hole, in which the screw e
passes. The screwed end m¹ of the spindle m is engaged with a screwed hole
formed in a boss as, on the frame a. The boss m³ is connected with the collar n by
a screw n², the end of which engages with the spiral groove m' in the said boss m³.
a, a, are forked lugs formed on the underside of the frame a, and a' is another
forked lug formed on the underside of the supporting plate a³. On the underside
of the frame other forked lugs are formed, one of which is shown at 1, Figure 9,
and on the underside of the plate is another forked lug 3. The pairs of lugs a³, as,
12, 12, engage respectively with pins formed on levers p, p, affixed to rocking
shafts p, p, working in the sides f¹, f¹, of the machine, and connected by bars p², p².
The lugs a,, engage respectively with pins formed on bell crank levers q, q',
jointed to brackets q², q², formed on the undersides of the frames a, 1; the said bell
crank levers being connected respectively by rods q, q', jointed thereto and to
arms q, qo, affixed to a rocking shaft r, mounted in bearings 1, 1, affixed to the
basef, is a spring connected to one of the sides of the machine and to a finger ³,
on the shaft r.
The action of this arrangement is as follows:-In order to adjust the frames a, l,
carrying the sliders to the necessary distance apart according to the size of the forks
to be cleaned the screw e is turned in one or other direction, the motion thus
imparted to the frame a being communicated through the medium of the levers p, p,
and connecting bar p² to the frame 1, which is thus caused to advance or retire
simultaneously with the frame a. When the frames are thus adjusted the forks
are placed between the sliders a¹, a', their ends being supported by the plates a³, 1';
the spindle m is then turned to the left, the effect of which is, firstly, to cause
the frames to advance sufficiently to cause the forks to be gripped between the
ends of the spring sliders a¹, a', and, secondly, to cause the plates to be withdrawn
beneath the said sliders, the latter motion being effected by the cam m², bearing on
the projecting end of the bell crank lever q, which is thus caused to turn partly on
its centre, and by the engagement of the pin on its other arm with the forked
lug a to withdraw the plate as, the plate being simultaneously withdrawn by a
like motion of the bell crank lever q¹, motion being communicated thereto from the
lever through the rods q, q, and rocking shaft r. By a reverse motion of the
spindle m the lever q is liberated and the forks are released, the supporting plates
being returned to the position shown in the Drawings by the spring
Figure 12 is a plan, and Figure 13 is a side elevation of another modification
of the machine hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. In this
arrangement the brushes instead of being mounted on guide bars or in slots are
carried by slides working on guide bars, the connecting rods being jointed to the
said slides instead of to the brushes, which are carried by levers jointed thereto and
to the said slides.
8, 8, are the guide bars affixed by screws to the sides of the frames c, d; t, t, are
the slides working thereon; u, u, are the levers jointed thereto and to brackets v, v,
to the lower ends of which brackets the lower brush of the pair of brushes is
secured, the upper brush being connected thereto by the engagement of lugs on its
ends with slots formed in the said brackets. One of the said lugs is shown at g",
and one of the said slots at v¹, Figure 13. The upper brush is pressed towards the
lower one by a spring w, which is compressed between the back of the said brush
and a rod w, by which the upper ends of the brackets v, v, are connected; u¹, u¹ are
weights which counterbalance the weight of the brushes. I prefer in this arrange-
ment to make only the frame a adjustable, I therefore dispense with the mechanism
for connecting it with the frame . For advancing and withdrawing the supporting
plates a³, 1 (not shown in Figures 12 and 13) I use the arrangement of mechanism

page_text: herein before described with reference to Figures 7, 8, and 9, or mechanism
analogous thereto.
In the Drawings I have illustrated the machine so formed as to be capable of
being screwed to a table or dresser, but if preferred legs or standards may be
formed on or secured to it so as to raise it to a convenient height, and if desired a
drawer or receptacle may be arranged below the brushes to receive the powder
falling from them when the machine is being worked, and the whole of the
mechanism may be enclosed in a suitable case.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
it is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the
precise details herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
as they may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention, but I
claim as my said Invention of "A New or Improved Machine for Cleaning and
Polishing Table Forks,"
-
Firstly. A machine in which the forks are held or supported by their extremities,
and are cleaned or polished by means of brushes, to which reciprocatory motion is
imparted.
Secondly. The arrangement herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings for securing table forks while they are being cleaned or
polished, that is to say, a holder or support consisting of a fixed bar and an
adjustable bar supported parallel to each other in a suitable frame, and having
grooved edges or having mounted in them spring pegs or sliders, the ends of which
are grooved, the extremities of the forks when they are secured in the apparatus
resting in the grooves in the said bars or sliders, essentially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Hutchison, have, hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
EDWARD HUTCHISON. (L.S.)