Improvements in Brushes for Cleaning the Interiors of Bottles and other Vessels.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Mar., 1886.
Complete Left, 27th Jan., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 8th Mar., 1887.
RESERV
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brushes for Cleaning the Interiors of Bottles
and other Vessels.
I ALBERT JULES THEODORE WILD of No. 7 Denman Street Southwark in the
County of Surrey Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES FOR CLEANING THE INTERIORS OF BOTTLES AND OTHER
VESSELS to be as follows:-
I construct my improved brush of a circular shape as hitherto made, the bristles
being held as heretofore in a handle or rod of twisted wire.
I improve the present form of brush by substituting instead of the straight tuft at
the top thereof in the form as now made a tuft in the form of a semi-circle or fan
fixed within two flexible metal plates of copper or other non-corrodible metal, the said
plates being attached to the top of the wire rod and the said two plates lying together
form a split tube. These flexible plates allow of the top tuft being contracted or
expanded as may be required to suit the size or shape of the interior of the bottle, and
also for convenience of insertion through the bottle's neck I cover the said twisted
metal rod with a tubular handle of wood or other material in conjunction with the
driving machinery and having with it connecting and disconnecting gear for stopping
the rotating of the brushes when the bottle is withdrawn from the brush. By this
means I avoid the strain or frixtion of the bottle's neck upon the brush, if
rotating, as hitherto ; which strain often resulted in untwisting or loosening the twists
of the metal rod and so looseing also the bristles of the brush.
The formation of the brushes as above described enables the interior of the bottles,
particularly the bottom parts thereof to be thoroughly reached and cleaned, which is
not accomplished by the straight or rigid tuft at present in use.
ALBERT JULES THEODORE WILD.

page_text: Improvements in Brushes for Cleaning the Interiors of Bottles
and other Vessels.
I, ALBERT JULES THEODORE WILD, of 7 Denman Street, Southwark, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
:-
My invention relates to brushes for washing bottles and similar vessels, and to
mechanism for use in operating such brushes.
Heretofore brushes of this class have usually been composed of two or more wires
twisted together with bristles between them, and have been provided at one end with
a straight tuft for cleaning the bottom of a bottle.
This tuft has generally been formed by binding a number of bristles to the stem in
such a manner that a portion of the said stem, between the body of the brush and the
tuft, is destitute of bristles. Owing to this arrangement the operative surface of
the brush is not continuous, so that when in use a part of the interior surface of the
bottle is not acted upon by the brush. Also, in using a brush having a twisted wire
shank as hereinbefore mentioned in a bottle washing machine, it sometimes happens
that the said brush is rotated in a contrary direction to that in which the shank is
twisted, the result of which is that the latter is frequently untwisted, owing to the
friction between the bristles and the bottle, and the brush is consequently rendered
useless.
The objects of my invention are to obviate these defects, that is to say, to construct a
brush in such a manner that the operative surface of the same is continuous, or un-
interruped, so that no part of the interior of a bottle cleaned thereby is not acted upon
by the bristles; and to provide means for disconnecting the brush from the driving
mechanism of the washing machine in case the latter is rotated in the wrong
direction. To attain these objects my said invention comprises the improvements
hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a brush constructed according to my
invention.
Figure 2 is a view of the brush in a position at right angles to that shown in a
Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan of the said brush.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of a bottle washing machine provided
with connecting and disconnecting mechanism, the brush being shown disconnected
from the driving gear.
Figure 5 is a plan of the same showing a bottle applied to the brush and the latter
in gear with the driving mechanism.

page_text: a is the shank of the brush, and bare the bristles which can extend for any desired
distance along the shank, for instance, as indicated by the dot-and-dash lines Figures
1 and 2, and which are twisted between the wires of the shank in the ordinary
These bristles constitute the body c of the brush and, when twisted, form a
manner.
spiral or helix.
d is the tuft or top of the brush the bristles of which are in contact with the bristles
of the body c. as shown in Figure 2.
In forming this tuft or end the two semicircular portions of the upper convolution
or disc of the helix of bristles are bent towards each other upon a diameter
passing through the centre of the stem, the bristles of each semicircular portion being
prevented, as far as possible, from moving relatively to each other, so that when the
said portions are brought together and secured, as shown in Figure 1, the tuft has the
fan-shaped appearance shown in Figure 2.
I can employ any suitable means for retaining the bristles of the tuft in position.
As shown in the drawing, I clamp the bristles against the shank by means of a plate e,
the edges of the said plate being preferably bent slightly inwards, as shown in
Figure 3, to increase this clamping action.
The
This plate is made narrow at its centre and is twisted between the wires of the
shank of the brush with the bristles, in such a manner that it occupies a position
below the upper convolution of the same, as shown in dotted lines in Figure
said plate is subsequently bent towards the shank with the bristles in the manner
herein before described, the ends of the said plate being held together by means of a
staple f, as shown in Figure 2, or by other suitable means.
It will be seen that in a brush constructed as hereinbefore described, the bristles of
the tuft, or end of the brush, are in close proximity to the bristles of the body, so that
the operative surface of the brush is continuous or uninterrupted.
Instead of making the tuft semicircular it can be made square or of any other
desirable shape, provided the bristles of the upper convolution of the body are
sufficiently long to allow them to be trimmed as desired.
Instead of providing the tuft with only a single row of bristles as hereinbefore
described, it may comprise two or more rows arranged at angles to each other; or the
end of the brush may be composed entirely of bristles, so as to be continuous with the
body portion c at all points.
In order to prevent the shank of the brush from being untwisted, in case the latter
is rotated in the opposite direction to that in which the said shank is twisted, I
provide the apparatus shown in Figures 4 and 5. This apparatus comprises a frame
upon which the driving shaft is mounted. The said shaft is made in two parts h, h,
on the adjacent ends of which are formed or secured the two parts i, ¹ of a clutch
having inclined teeth.
Motion is imparted to the said shaft by means of a pulley h³ on the part h, and is
communicated to the brush, which is secured in the outer end of the part h¹, when the
shaft rotates in the proper direction for the teeth to engage. Should the pulley be
rotated in the opposite direction the teeth of the part of the clutch would slide over
the teeth of the part 1, so that the said brush would not be rotated.
The part of the shaft is hollow and contains a spiral spring k, one end of which
bears against the end of the part h of the driving shaft, while the other end bears
against the shank a of the brush. The part of the clutch is thus normally held out
of engagement with the part i, the spring k moving the part of the shaft longi-
tudinally forward in its bearing to the position shown in Figure 4.
Owing to this arrangement the brush remains stationary when no bottle is thereon.
When however a bottle is pushed onto the brush the spring k is compressed and
the two parts of the clutch are caused to engage, whereby motion is imparted to the
brush.
In order to support the brush in a substantially horizontal position, and to prevent it
from gyrating, I pass the shank of the same through a tube secured to a standard on the
frame g. This tube forins a bearing for the said shank, and also serves, in some cases,

page_text: for the introduction of water into the bottles during the washing, if the said pipe is
connected with a water supply.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
First A brush for the purposes specified, the bristles of which are so arranged
that the operative surface of the brush is continuous or uninterrupted, as above
set forth.
Second-The improved brush constructed substantially as hereinbefore described,
for the purposes specified.
Third In a bottle washing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft carrying
the brush, of means for automatically disconnecting the brush from the driving
mechanism, for the purposes specified.
Fourth-The combination with a brush for washing bottles and similar articles,
of a tube surrounding the shank of the same, substantially as described for the purpose
specified.
Fifth The improved apparatus constructed and arranged substantially as described
for the purpose specified.