AN IMPROVED DAMPING AND CLEANING APPLIANCE
Year: 1885

page_text: I, WILLIAM WILSON, of No 2 Randolph Street, Sunderland, in the County of
Durham, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN
IMPROVED DAMPING AND CLEANING APPLIANCE, to be as follows:-
My invention consists in the attachment to an ordinary sponge or to material of
a similar character of a reservoir of water with an arrangement for supplying the
sponge with a limited quantity of water as required and an arrangement for
renewing the supply of water when the contents of the reservoir are exhausted.―
I construct the water reservoir in the form of an india rubber ball of, sufficient
thickness to restore itself to its spherical form by its own clasticity.-On one side
of the ball I form a ring of india rubber, moulded with the ball itself or moulded
seperately and then cemented on, and I perforate the india rubber with a pin hole
or holes within the ring so that water can be squeezed out, but will not flow out
itself. On the opposite side I attach a small piece of perforated vulcanite, wood,
ivory, or other suitable material, or I form a slightly projecting and thickened
opening of the india rubber and I have a suitable plug by which to close the orifice.
-To the ring before described, I attach a piece of fine sponge by tying it over the
ring. To bring my appliance into action, I remove, the plug of the orifice in the
ball, collapse the ball by pressure and insert the opening in water.-On releasing
the ball, the elasticity of the india rubber causes the water to be sucked in and
I then insert the plug.-When the ball is then pressed the water having no other
outlet, must pass by the pin-holes to the back of the sponge, giving it any desired
degree of dampness.-It is thus always available for imunediate use when the
reservoir is charged with water.
My invention may be modified by constructing part of the reservoir of wood
metal, vulcanite or similar material and part of india-rubber with a pad and spring
inside to keep the india rubber distended excepting when pressed in, and in such case
I prefer to attach the sponge to the non-elastic part and to have the filling
appliance for the reservoir also attached to, this part, so that the india rubber may,
be un-perforated.

page_text: I WILLIAM WILSON, of No 2 Randolph, Street, Sunderland in the County of
Durham, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN
IMPROVED DAMPING AND CLEANING APPLIANCE and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention consists in the attachment to an ordinary sponge or to material of
a similar character of a reservoir of water with an arrangement for supplying the
sponge with a limited quantity of water as required and an arrangement for
renewing the supply of water when the contents of the reservoir are exhausted.→
I construct the water reservoir in the form of an india-rubber ball of sufficient
thickness to restore itself to its spherical form by its own elasticity.-On one side
of the ball I form a ring of india-rubber moulded with the ball itself or moulded
seperately and then cemented on and I perforate the india-rubber with a pin-hole
or holes within the ring so that water can be squeezed out but will not flow out
itself. On the opposite side I attach a small piece of perforated vulcanite, wood,
ivory or other suitable material or I form a slightly projecting and thickened
opening of the india-rubber and I have a suitable plug by which to close the orifice.
To the ring before described I attach a piece of fine sponge by tying it over the
ring. To bring my appliance into action, I remove the plug of the orifice in the
ball, collapse the ball by pressure and insert the opening in water.-On releasing
the ball, the elasticity of the india-rubber causes the water to be sucked in and
I then insert the plug.-When the ball is then pressed the water having no other
outlet, must pass by the pin-holes to the back of the sponge giving it any desired
degree of dampness.-It is thus always available for immediate use when the
reservoir is charged with water,
My invention may be modified by constructing part of the reservoir of wood,
metal, vulcanite or similar material and part of india-rubber with a pad and spring
inside to keep the india-rubber distended excepting when pressed in, and in such
case I prefer to attach the sponge to the non-elastic part and to have the filling
appliance for the reservoir also attached to this part, so that the india-rubber may
be unperforated.
Having thus described the nature of my invention I will proceed more particu-
larly to describe the manner in which the same is to be operated reference being
had to the drawings hereto attached.-I however wish it to be understood that
many varieties of form may be adopted and I describe one only as an illustration
of the essential features of my invention.
Fig. 1. is a section and Fig. 2. is a drawing of a damping and cleaning appliance
according to my invention in both which figures A. A. is an india-rubber ball more
or less filled with water. -There is a brass attachment to the same the detail's of
which are as follows.-There is a plug C. in it which can be taken out or loosend
when it is desired to fill the reservoir A. with water and replaced when it is filled
so as to be watertight-D. is an internal flange convex towards E. forced through
a small opening in the ball, E. is a washer fitting outside the ball and concave
towards D. so as to fit to the ball but flat on the top where it is pressed towards

page_text: the flange D. by the nut F. so as to make a watertight joint.-G is a piece of hard
rubber attached securely and watertight to the ball A. (or it may be made of soft
rubber if a small tube be fitted to the inside of it so as to resist the pull of the
string or wire by which the sponge is attached) H. is a piece of sponge secured to G.
by means of wire or string or other convenient means. In that part of the ball
immediately over the centre of the sponge I make holes with a needle or pin so
as that on the application of adequate pressure water can pass from within the
reservoir to the sponge but so that with slight pressure it will not pass unless in a
very minute quantity.-If a damping appliance be so constructed the reservoir
being filled with water, pressure upon A. will gradually moisten the sponge to the
required degree and render it available for the purpose intended.-This damping
appliance may be made in various sizes, and for water or other fluids; for cleaning
windows, for cleaning slates, for damping adhesive labels, for closing envelopes, for
blacking for boots, for furniture polish, for oil or for various chemicals, and other
purposes, and as I have said the detail's of its construction may be varied in many
ways as for instance by the use of an automatic valve instead of a screw opening
for replenishing the reservoir.-I prefer to make the weights of parts such as that
if laid on a table the moistened part shall not be in contact with the table.
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
The use of reservoir and sponge or a mass of analagous material substantially as
described, whereby any desired degree of dampness can be given to the sponge so
long as the reservoir be supplied with fluid.