AN IMPROVED BOOT AND SHOE CLEANING APPARATUS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilson, of Bradmore House, Chiswick, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED BOOT AND
SHOE CLEANING APPARATUS."
Sealed the 16th. March 1858, and dated the 18th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
September 1857.
J, THOMAS WILSON, of Bradmore House, Chiswick, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED BOOT AND SHOE CLEANING APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of certain improved mechanical arrangements in
combination with revolving brushes of new and peculiar form as regards their
external shape, by the use of which the operation of cleaning boots and shoes
by machinery is rendered inore efficient and expeditious than heretofore. The
general arrangement of the above-mentioned improved apparatus is as
follows: In a suitable framing I arrange and dispose in pairs, one above the
other, brushes of different degrees of hardness; that is to say, the lowermost .
pair are for brushing off the dirt, the next pair are for the blacking, and the
third pair for shining. The boots, &c., to be cleansed have hooks placed
therein, which are afterwards suspended upon an inclined rod or bar, each
hook being successively taken hold of by the cross bars of a species of endless"

page_text: ladder, which is caused to pass between the aforesaid brushers for cleaning the
boots, &c., and outside thereof for delivering them at top of the apparatus
when cleaned, and for taking up from below dirty boots, &c., to be cleaned, so
that it will appear evident, as long as the boots, &c., are supplied to the
apparatus, they will be successively cleaned and discharged therefrom. The
brushes are intended to be adjustable, so as to suit different sizes of boots and
shoes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th March 1858. •
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILSON, of Bradmore House, Chiswick, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Wilson, Her special licence, that I, the said Thomas Wilson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Wilson, my executors, 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 "AN IMPROVED BOOT
AND SHOE CLEANING APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Wilson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Wilson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, 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:-
This Invention consists of certain improved mechanical arrangements in

page_text: combination with revolving brushes of suitable forms, by the use of which the
operation of cleaning boots and shoes by machinery is rendered more efficient
and expeditious than heretofore. The general arrangement of the above-
mentioned improved apparatus, together with the mode of its operation, is as
follows: Enclosed in a suitable framing I arrange and dispose revolving
brushes of different forms and degrees of hardness, placed in sets one above
the other. The lowermost set are for brushing off the dirt, the next set for
blacking the boots or shoes, and the third set for polishing the same. The boots
and shoes to be cleaned are placed on suitable lasts having hooks attached to
them which are afterwards suspended from an inclined rod or feeder, down
which they slide until brought in contact with the cross bars of an endless
ladder, by which, when motion is given to the handle of the machine, they are
passed up between the aforesaid sets of brushes to the top of the apparatus;
they are then disconnected from the ladder and suspended on an incline rod
ready for removal. The upward motion of the endless ladder can be suspended
by drawing back the clutch on the driving shaft, and the boots or shoes may
thus be subjected to a longer action in either set of brushes when required.
The blacking brushes are supplied by means of boxes made with a trough to
contain water, which is conveyed by capillary attraction to the brushes, and by
them to the blacking placed in a dry state above the trough; the upper part
of the boxes is ridged or corrugated, so that the brushes in passing over the
ridges are relieved of any superfluous blacking they may contain. By
adjusting the slide bars on which the brushes revolve I accommodate boots and
shoes of different sizes.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the illustrative Drawings hereunto annexed, by means of
the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon respectively as
follows:--
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 exhibits a front elevation of my improved apparatus for cleaning
boots and shoes; Figure 2, an elevation, taken with the side removed;
Figure 3, a back elevation; and Figure 4, a top plan view of the same.
Enlarged views of certain parts of my improved apparatus are shewn at
Figures 5 and 6, which are respectively front and side elevations of the endles
ladder; Figures 7 and 8 are side and front elevations of the last and hook;
Figures 9 and 10 are front and end elevations of a blacking box; Figure 11
exhibits the way in which the hooks are taken up by the ladder; and Figure
12 shews the manner in which the hooks are disengaged from the same.
At

page_text: each of the foregoing Figures of each Sheet of Drawings I employ similar
letters of reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts
appear, or can be seen at each of the said Figures respectively.
A shows the frame of my improved apparatus; B, the outer casing of the
same; C, D, E, and F, the lowermost set of brushes for taking off the dirt;
G, H, I, and J, the next set for blacking; K, L, M, and N, the uppermost
set for polishing. O is the feed rod on which the boots and shoes to be
cleaned are placed; P, the endless ladder by which they are carried up
between the brushes; and Q shows the rod by which they are discharged from
the machine; S is a clutch placed on the driving shaft, by disconnecting which
from the driving pulley the upward progress of the boots may be delayed
without retarding the revolution of the brushes; T is the handle by which
motion is communicated to the machine; U shows the blacking boxes, in
which V is the water trough; W, the capillary attracter, by which moisture is
conveyed to the brushes; X, a recess in which blacking is placed; and Z are
ridges or corrugations by which the brushes are relieved of any superfluous
blacking they may contain. a are slide bars for adjusting the brushes to suit
<lifferent sizes of boots and shoes, and 6 is the last and hook on which the boots
are placed; a proportionately short last being used on which to place shoes.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of "An Improved Boot and Shoe Cleaning Apparatus," together
with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical
effect, I hereby declare in conclusion, that what I claim as my Invention is
the mechanical arrangements in combination with the revolving brushes,
herein-before described for cleaning boots and shoes, as set forth and
represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whercof, I, the said Thomas Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square, London.
THOMAS WILSON. (L.S.