Improved Apparatus for Washing and Cleaning Railway, Road, and other Vehicles, also House Fronts and the like.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 21st Mar., 1894-Accepted, 21st Apr., 1894
Improved Apparatus for Washing and Cleaning Railway, Road, and
other Vehicles, also House Fronts and the like.
EDWARD MCRPHY 33 Wretham Road Handsworth Birmingham Railway
Traffic Superintendent do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
An improved method for washing and cleaning railway carriages, private and
public carriages, omnibuses, cabs, tramway cars, and road or other vehicles of any
description.
The invention consists of an apparatus which by means of a hose, water, or stand
pipe, conducts water through the handle of a brush (the handle to form one part or
be composed of fractional parts and it may be made of bamboo, hollow iron, wood,
or other material) to a reservoir attached to the top of the said brush, and having
perforations in front or elsewhere, to admit of a spray, flow or exit of water being
distributed over the top of the brush on to the surface of the vehicle, house front,
sign board and the like, which requires to be cleaned, and I propose to fix over the
reservoir a box with a perforated bottom, and forming part of the aforesaid
apparatus, wherein can be placed soap powder, or other preparation which can be
sifted into, or mixed with the water by the force of the latter coming through the
hollow handle or pipe leading into the reservoir fixed on the brush. The soap
powder or other preparation can of course be either used or not in the process of
washing as is considered desirable.
This combined apparatus I claim to be not only a water distributor, but also, at
will, a distributor of soap or other cleansing powder at the same time, and possesses
the following distinct and economical advantages:
1. It avoids the immense waste of water now daily going on in the washing of
carriages, vehicles, houses and the like, as aforesaid, under the old plan of using
buckets, or troughs into which brushes are continually dipped, and the water
thereby speedily made dirty, and such dirt conveyed to the article being washed
until a renewal of the water takes place.
2. It ensures clean water, and the soap powder or other cleansing preparation
referred to being used as desired, and avoids streaks of dirt being left on carriages
coaches and the like, as aforesaid after they have been washed, owing to the
continued application of dirty water.
3. It saves the nuisance of water being splashed in yards, on pavements, railway
station premises, sheds and the like, as the water would trickle down, following the
brush, to the ground or into drain pipes, as may be arranged.
4. It saves the time now wasted in fetching water from a distance to the place
where the process of washing is being performed.
5. It saves the use of buckets.
6. It saves the construction and expense of troughs where used, the space they
occupy, and the cost of maintenance.
7. It ensures panels of vehicles such as railway coaches, omnibuses, tramway
cars, cabs, and the like, and the fronts of houses windows, shutters and the like,
being thoroughly and economically washed and scoured.
8. It saves the time of men engaged in washing house fronts, sign boards, and
the like, going up and down ladders to fetch water.
9. It saves the necessity of men having so many articles with them when they
are engaged in washing on ladders, scaffolding, and the like.

page_text: The combined apparatus, the principle of which I have explained, saves so much
labour, and is so effective, simple and inexpensive that it requires to be only once
seen in use to induce the public to adopt it for washing and cleausing purposes in
the manner described.
It can also be readily used by unskilled persons who could at less cost more
fiequently do work which is now performed by skilled workmen when engaged
washing painted house fronts, sign boards, and the like.
T1000
E. MURPHY.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Washing and Cleaning Railway, Road, and
other Vehicles, also House Fronts and the like.
I, EDWARD MURPHY, of 33 Wretham Road, Handsworth, near the City of
Birmingham, Railway Traffic Superintendent, 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 a combined apparatus for cleaning or washing surfaces,
generally, but which is particularly applicable for cleaning and washing railway
carriages, omnibuses and other public and private vehicles, also house-fronts, sign-
boards, halls, pillars, floors and other like surfaces.
My invention consists in employing in connection with a brush, mop or other
frictional scrubbing or cleaning expedient, a dual water service, one for delivering
clean water for swilling purposes and the other for delivering soapy or like water
used for cleaning only.
A hose pipe is connected to the dual service of the said combined apparatus, and
the connection between them is made by a two-way cock, adapted for cutting off
the supply of both the said services, or for turning either of the respective services
independent of the other, as the same are required.
By employing such an apparatus as described, the following advantages accrue.
Waste of water, occasioned by the use of buckets or troughs into which mops or
brushes are continually dipped, is avoided, and further, a perfectly clean surface,
free from streaks of dirt, is obtained owing to contaminated water not being used
over again. Splashing of water about railway station premises, yards, sheds and
the like is minimised, whilst time wasted in fetching water from a distance to the
place where the washing is being performed is saved. The use of buckets is
dispensed with, and the expense in the construction and maintenance of washing
troughs and the space occupied by them is also saved.
The cleansing of the panels of vehicles and the like, and of the fronts of houses,
windows, shutters, pillars and other structures is efficiently and economically
performed whilst the time of men engaged in the said cleaning is saved and the use
of many articles which it is now necessary for men engaged in cleaning operations
on ladders, scaffolding and like to have with them, is dispensed with.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents in elevation a railway-carriage-
cleaning broom provided with improvements constructed, arranged and applied
according to my invention.
Figure 2 represents, in front elevation, and upon an enlarged scale, the head end
of the combined apparatus, showing the disposition of the pierced distributing
chambers of the dual service, and it also shows in continuity with one of them, the
soap supply casing.
Figure 3 represents a transverse section of the said head end upon the dotted
lines CD Figure 4. This view exemplifies more clearly how the distributing
chambers which terminate the dual service are arranged relative to the soap
chamber and the bristles part of the brush.
Figure 4 represents a longitudinal section upon the dotted lines A B Figure 1.

page_text: Assuming that the cleaning prior to the swilling is required to be effected, then
the plug of the cock g is turned so as to open communication between the hose
pipe, and the service d, when water passes into the chamber 2, and also rear-
wardly into the soap chamber e, and becomes there charged with the soap or other
cleansing material which may be either in a solid, soft or powdered state, contained
within it, and by the back pressure of the water, the said water constantly runs in
and out of the soap box and is then distributed in jets upon a vertical or other
surface at the same time as the bristles of the brush are rubbing backwards and
forwards over the surface being cleaned.
By delivering soap suds during the time that a brushing of a surface is being
performed, the said surface is readily cleaned, and after this, the plug of the
cock g, is further turned, the supply of water to the soap chamber is cut off, and
communication is established between the hose pipe h, and the clean water supply,
when clean water is delivered to the distributing chamber c², and from thence
through the piercings c³, onto the surface being cleaned, whereby the said surface
is swilled and all traces of soap suds and dirt removed.
Instead of employing two pipes c and d, a single pipe with a double service may
be used and instead of employing dual pipes or double services for conducting
water for both swilling and cleaning, I may employ a single service only up to near
the distributing chambers where a like-way cock as at the tail end of the handle, is
fitted, so that by turning the two-way cock, water may be admitted into either of
the distributing chambers, or it may be cut off, as required.
Instead of communication between the soap chamber e, and the soap-suds
distributing chamber d², being made by piercings d, communication may be
made by end inlet piercings (or by a short connecting pipe) which allow the
water to enter the soap casing and coming in contact with the soap, which is
marked i, and then leave by the piercings d, as outlets, whereby water is made
to pass in a circuitous manner before being delivered by the distributor.
Or the end d', of the pipe d, may be in direct communication with the soap
chamber.

page_text: Instead of the water service running axially up the handle, the same may lie
within a channel in the side of the said handle.
I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the exact disposition
of the distributors relative to the brush as shown, as the parts may be arranged
or combined in any desirable way, nor do I limit myself to the particular form
of brush illustrated, as any other cleaning device may be used.
The application of my invention to mops and other cleaning devices differs in
no essential respect from its application to a brush as herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. In a combined apparatus for washing or cleaning purposes, providing or
fitting the same with dual distributors, one for swilling water and the other for
soap suds or other cleansing preparation. substantially as described and set forth.
Secondly. In a combined apparatus for washing or cleaning purposes, employing
in connection with the same, a dual water service preferably terminated by
distributors one of which is in communication with a supplementary chamber
containing soap or cleaning substance, substantially as and for the purpose as
described and set forth.
Thirdly. In the head or brush end of a combined apparatus for washing or
cleaning purposes, the general construction, arrangement and combination of the
parts, substantially as described and set forth.
Fourthly. The improvements in combined apparatus for washing or cleaning
surfaces, substantially as described and set forth.
Dated this 20th day of March 1894.
EDWARD MURPHY,
By Henry Skerrctt,
6, Livery Street, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.