IMPROVEMENTS IN WRINGING MACHINES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lewis, of Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRINGING MACHINES,
PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS."—A
communication from abroad by Stephen Wing and Henry Holly, of
Norwich, United States of America.
Sealed the 29th September 1865, and dated the 1st April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lewis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
April 1865.
I, HENRY LEWIS, of Cheapside, in the City of London, Merchant, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRINGING
MACHINES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS," to
be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in making one or both rollers employed in
wringing machines of cork, or in covering them with cork, so as to make
them sufficiently elastic to answer the purpose intended; also in self-adjusting
traversing guides for pressing up the edges of the cloth or clothes as they pass
in between the rollers. The traversing guides consist of two plates hollowed⚫
out in the centre; they are free to traverse on bars running across the
machine and are pressed towards each other by springs.

page_text: The Invention consists, secondly, in the construction of rollers for wringing
machines and other purposes. This part of the Invention is exhibited in its
most complete form in the accompanying Drawing, shewing a longitudinal
section of a roller. The roller bere represented is composed of cork covered
with a layer of cloth and supported by a rigid core of metal, but the material
of all the parts may be varied at will.
A is a shaft, which I prefer to make of iron galvanized, with a ridge
extending along the entire length. I prefer to make this by soldering a wire
upon the surface of A, or letting it partly into A and then soldering it, but
the object may be accomplished by making a square shaft with corresponding
holes in B, B, B. B, B, B, are castings adapted to slip endwise along the
shaft A, but so fitted that each is restrained from turning around thereon.
Each piece B is armed on each side, at its periphery, with a flange b, b¹;
this may be roughened or toothed, or otherwise made irregular, in order the
better to fulfil the function of holding firmly the elastic material, but they
have been found very successfull even when entirely plain and quite smooth.
C, C, C, are rings or discs of cork or other suitable elastic material, which are
introduced by slipping them on from the end of the shaft, one being intro-
duced after each piece B, b, so that the rings C and castings B, 6, alternate,
as represented. On these parts being forcibly compressed and held together
the cork is indented and compressed at the points b, b, more than it is at
points nearer the shaft, and is condensed more at all these points than at and
near the periphery of the roller; this causes the cork to be grasped and held
very firmly at and near its centre, while its exterior is but slightly condensed,
and is ready to act with its full measure of elasticity in yielding to inequalities
in the clothes. Rubber or other elastic or compressible material may be
used in place of cork for the rings C, but I have found cork to be cheaper and
more durable. I cover the roller and secure the ends by means now to be
described :-D, D', are plates or rather open wheels of galvanized iron of the
form represented, and H, H, are pins which extend through holes H', H¹, in
the shaft A. These pins H, H, secure the wheels D, D', and also the addi-
tional rings or plates E, E¹, and by confining these in the relations represented
they secure the enveloping cloth G. To apply these properly we first com-
press the mass of material B, C, to the proper extent, acting in the line of the
axis and insert in the holes H, H', short temporary pins, not represented. I
then compress the entire periphery of the roll radially by enclosing it in a
hollow cylinder of less diameter than itself. I afterwards force the entire roll
endwise out therefrom, applying the cloth tube G properly to one end before
the movement commences and fitting it to each part successively as it escapes..

page_text: These operations are best conducted after the cork or other elastic material C
has been reduced, by the application of moisture or heat, or both, to its most
yielding condition, and the same is the case in the operations for securing the
ends. These latter consist in first folding the ends of the cloth or other
enveloping material G over upon the ends of the roller, laying the folds
properly disposed upon the outer face of the wheels d, d¹, next applying the
rings E, E¹, in such position that the points e, e¹, coincide with the open spaces
in the wheels D¹, D', next pressing together these rings E, E¹, with such force
as to drive the points e, e¹, through the spaces in D, D¹, into the cork, and
by thereby carrying the folded part of the cloth through the holes in D into
the cork it draws it endwise towards each end of the roll and causes it to fit
very tightly. We lastly drive out the short temporary pins referred to above
and substitute longer pins, which are allowed to remain, being each embedded,
or partially embedded, in a corresponding cross groove on both D and E, so
On
that it prevents their turning as well as prevents the end movement.
releasing the roll from its confinement it will now be found completely and
tightly enveloped by the cloth G and by the several end pieces, and with its
elastic discs in such condition that while very tightly compressed and firmly
held near its centre it is very open grained and elastic at its periphery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Lewis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LEWIS, of Cheapside, in the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Lewis, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Lewis,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Lewis, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WRINGING MACHINES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF

page_text: ROLLERS," (communicated to me from abroad by Stephen Wing and Henry
Holly, of Norwich, United States of America), upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Lewis, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
"should particularly 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 Henry Lewis, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
This Invention consists, first, in making one or both rollers employed in
wringing machines of cork, or in covering them with cork, so as to make
them sufficiently elastic to answer the purpose intended; also in self-adjusting
traversing guides for pressing up the edges of the cloth or clothes as they pass
in between the rollers.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a front elevation, and Figure 2
a side elevation of a wringing machine constructed according to this part of
the Invention. Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of one of the rollers,
A, A, are two standards, which may be made in the form shewn, or in such
other form as will answer the purpose; each of these standards is provided
with two legs B, B, as shewn in Figure 2, which legs, when the machine
is in use, are placed astride the side of a tub to hold the machine thereto.
One of each pair of legs is provided with set screws C, C, which may be
screwed against the tub to hold the standards firmly. The standards A are
connected at the top by the bar D, and at the bottom by the bar E and.
'inclined board F, which conducts into the tub the water that runs from the
rollers. The standards A are perforated for the shaft G of the lower roller H,
which shaft is provided with a crank I to turn it when squeezing the water
from the cloth or clothes. The shaft, or the journals of the shaft of the upper
roller J turn in grooves in the standards A, and the boxes, one of which is
shewn at K, bear on the journals of the upper roller and press it against the
lower one, or on to the cloth or clothes which pass between the rollers. The
boxes K are pressed on to the journals of the upper roller by springs, one of
which is shewn at L, and the pressure of the springs may be adjusted by the
serews in the standards, one of which is shewn at N. The traversing guides
consist of two plates P, P, hollowed out in the centre; they are free to

page_text: traverse on bars R, R, running across the machine, and are pressed towards
each other by springs S, S, fastened to the standards A; these guides press
up or in the edges of the cloth or clothes as they enter between the rollers.
The rollers H and J are made of cork, they may be made of a single piece, if
large or thick enough, or of a series of dises placed upon a shaft, in either
case a metal disc should be fastened to the shaft by two or more rods T, T,
passing through it and through the cork discs, and also through, another
metal disc at the opposite end; the rods should be provided with screw nuts
to draw the metal discs towards each other and clamp or press the cork discs
together and hold them firmly and prevent the shafts from turning in the
discs. When the rollers are made in this manner, if the central discs become
worn by use they can be taken off and put at the ends, and the end discs put
in the middle.
I claim under this part of the Invention, first, making one or both rollers
employed in wringing machines of cork, or covering them with cork, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Second, the employment in wringing machines of self-adjusting traversing
guides for pressing in the edges of the cloth or clothes as they pass in between
the rollers, substantially as herein-before described.
The Invention consists, secondly, in the construction of rollers for wringing
machines and other purposes. This part of the Invention is exhibited in its
most complete form in Figures 4 to 14.
Figure 4 is a side view of one of the improved rollers; Figure 5 is a
longitudinal central section; Figure 6 is a cross section ou the line S, S, of
Figures 4 and 5; Figure 7 is a cross section on the line T, T, of Figures 4
and 5; Figure 8 is an end view, and Figure 9 a side view of the exterior end
plate or wheel; Figure 10 is an inside view of the same, or a view of the face
which is presented against the roller; Figure 11 is a view of the exterior face.
of the inner or first end plate. This plate is applied before and underlies the
plate shewn in Figures 8, 9, and 10; Figure 12 is a side view of the same;
Figure 13 is a side view of plates or wheels introduced between the discs of
elastic material throughout the entire length of the roller. Similar letters of
reference indicate like parts in all these Figures. The roller represented in
these Figures is composed of cork covered with a layer of cloth and supported by
5 a rigid core of metal, but the material of all the parts may be varied at will.
A is a shaft, which I prefer to make of iron galvanized, with a ridge A¹
extending along the entire length. I prefer to make this by soldering a wire
upon the surface of the shaft A, or letting it partly into the shaft and then
soldering it, but the object may be accomplished by making a square shaft

page_text: with corresponding holes in B, B, B. B, B, B, are castings adapted to slip
endwise along the shaft A, but so fitted that each is restrained from turning
around thereon. Each piece B is armed on each side, at its periphery, with
a flange b, 6. This may be roughened or toothed, or otherwise made irregular,
in order the better to fulfil the function of holding firmly the elastic material,
but they have been found very successful even when entirely plain and quite
smooth. C, C, C, are rings or discs of cork or other suitable elastic material,
which are introduced by slipping them on from the end of the shaft, one being
introduced after each piece B, b, so that the rings C and castings B, b, alternate,
as represented. On these parts being forcibly compressed and held together
the cork is indented and compressed at the points b, b, more than it is at
points nearer the shaft, and is condensed more at all these points than at and
near the periphery of the roller; this causes the cork to be grasped and held
very firmly at and near its centre while its exterior is but slightly condensed,
and is ready to act with its full measure of elasticity in yielding to inequalities
in the clothes. Rubber or other elastic or compressible material may be used
in place of cork for the rings C, but I have found cork to be cheaper and
more durable. I cover the roller and secure the ends by means now to be
described:-D, D¹, are plates or rather open wheels of galvanized iron of the
form represented, and H, H, are pins which extend through holes H¹, H', in
the shaft A. These pins H, H, secure the wheels D, D¹, and also the addi-
tional rings or plates E, E¹, and by confining these in the relations represented
they secure the enveloping cloth G. To apply these parts properly I first
compress the mass of material B, C, to the proper extent, acting in the
line of the axis, and insert in the holes H¹, H', short temporary pins, not
represented. I then compress the entire periphery of the roller radially by
enclosing it in a hollow cylinder of less diameter than itself. I afterwards
force the entire roller endwise out therefrom, applying the cloth tube G pro-
perly to one end before the movement commences, and fitting it to each part
successively as it escapes. These operations are best conducted after the cork
or other elastic material C has been reduced by the application of moisture or
heat, or both, to its most yielding condition, and the same is the case in the
operations for securing the ends. These latter consist in first folding the ends
of the cloth or other enveloping material G over upon the ends of the roller,
laying the folds properly disposed upon the outer face of the wheels D, D',
next applying the rings E, E¹, in such position that the points e, e¹, coincide
with the open sides in the wheels D, D', next pressing together these rings
E, E', with such force as to drive the points e, e', through the spaces in D, D¹,
-into the cork, and by thereby carrying the folded part of the cloth through the

page_text: holes in D into the cork, it draws it endwise towards each end of the roll and
causes it to fit very tightly. I lastly drive out the short temporary pins
referred to above and substitute longer pins, which are allowed to remain,
being each embedded, or partially embedded, in a corresponding cross groove
on both D and E, so that it prevents their turning as well as prevents the end
movement. On releasing the roller from its confinement it will now be found
completely and tightly enveloped by the cloth G and by the several end pieces,
and with its elastic discs in such condition that while very tightly compressed
and firmly held near its centre it is very open grained and elastic at its
periphery.
I do not confine myself to the employment of the materials mentioned, as
brass may be used instead of galvanized iron, and rubber cloth or rubber alone,
or any other suitable material, instead of cloth, for the envelope G.
I claim under this part of the Invention for the construction of rollers for
wringing machines and other purposes,―
First, the employment in the construction of rollers of soft pieces C, C,
hard pieces B, B, and the ridged or equivalent shaft A, A¹, arranged to operate
together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Second, I claim, in connection with the yielding pieces or discs C, C, and
hard pieces B, arranged as specified, the employment of the projections b, b',
or either of them, arranged substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Third, I claim the combination of the tightly fitted covering G with discs of
soft material C and means of confining the same, substantially as and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Fourth, I claim the spurred plates or wheels at one or both ends of the
roller as represented at E, c, arranged as shewn relatively to the open plate D,
covering G, and pin H, or their respective equivalents, for the purpose herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lewis, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
H. LEWIS. (L.S.)