AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR IRONING, CALENDERING, OR SMOOTHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hook Davey, of Islington, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR IRONING,
CALENDERING, OR SMOOTHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS."

page_text: into the roller which is hollow, the other roller being provided with a
cloth covering. The rollers are pressed into close contact by the aid
of weighted levers, one roller being mounted in sliding bearings to allow
of the linen being passed between. The rollers may be thrown out of
contact by a treadle operating through levers in connection with the
journals of the movable roller. A sliding tray is fitted beneath the
rollers to receive the linen or other articles passing through the machine
and enable them to be reached by the attendant from the front of the
machine in order to pass them a second time through the rollers if
necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hook Davey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOOK DAVEY, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Hook Davey, Her special licence
that I, the said William Hook Davey, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Hook Davey, 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
MACHINE FOR IRONING, CALENDERING, OR SMOOTHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hook
Davey, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hook Davey, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
My Invention relates to an improved machine by the aid of which
household linen and other fabrics may be rapidly ironed or calendered
with a high degree of finish.
The machine consists of a pair of metal rollers of which one is smoothly
polished and heated by a jet of gas introduced through the roller journal
into the roller which is hollow, the other roller being provided with a
cloth covering. The rollers are pressed into close contact by the aid of
weighted levers, one roller being mounted in sliding bearings to allow
of the linen being passed between. The rollers may be thrown out of
contact by a treadle operating through levers in connection with the
journals of the movable roller. A sliding tray is fitted beneath the
rollers to receive the linen or other articles passing through the machine
and enable them to be reached by the attendant from the front of the
machine in order to pass them a second time through the rollers if

page_text: also hollow, and is in communication with a flue g to carry off the
products of combustion and in which is fitted a throttle valve or damper
to regulate the draught. The upper roller is of metal covered with felt
or flannel, and is preferably of larger diameter than the under roller c
which is of polished metal. The journal boxes or bearings of the
roller bare provided with friction rollers against which the journal of
roller 6 revolve, and the boxes k are fitted to slide in vertical guides
in the end frames a. The roller b is pressed down on the under
roller by two weighted levers h, pivoted at h¹ to brackets on the side
frames and provided with friction rollers i carried on the ends of screwed
stems attached to levers h, which rollers bear on the journal boxes k.
The stems may be screwed more or less into levers h to accommodate
a top roller of larger or smaller diameter. The weights are made
adjustable along levers and may be fixed at any position to regulate
the pressure as required, and the levers h may be connected loosely
together where they cross. n is the table fitted in grooves in the side
frames a on a level with the passage, between the rollers, and o is a
sliding tray carried on ribs cast on frames a into which the articles
fall after passing through the rollers. The tray is fitted so as to enable
the articles to be removed by the attendant without leaving the front
of the machine, which is a great convenience, saving time when passing
the articles twice through the machine. In order to lift the roller b
from contact with roller c two side levers p take under the journals of
the roller 6 which are prolonged at each side of the framing, said levers p
being each pivoted at p¹ to the framing, and weighted at the front end
to counterbalance the cross bar r, to which said levers are connected
by rods 8. This cross bar moves in slots in frames a and is operated
by a treadle t pivoted to the framing in rear of the cross bar r on which
the treadle bears; u is a hook fixed on the floor to hold the treadle
down when required to keep the roller b raised off the under roller for
any length of time. The rods & are divided at the middle and threaded
the one part with a right and the other with a left handed screw, and
united by a socket s¹ tapped with a right and left handed thread, so
that the position of levers p may be adjusted to accommodate a roller
of different diameter.
Having described the nature of my Invention and in what manner the
the same is to be performed, I would observe that I do not claim as of
my Invention the use of a pair of rollers, as such have been used before

page_text: for the purpose but geared together, the rollers in my machine are not
however geared together, but the upper roller is rotated by contact with
the lower heated roller or with the linen or articles passing between, and
I declare that what I do claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
-
1st. The combination with the lower heated roller c of the upper or
covered roller b rotated by roller c and pressed into contact therewith
by the weighted levers h, arranged above and bearing on the movable
journal boxes k by means of the friction rollers made adjustable, all as
and for the purpose herein described and shown in the Drawings.
2ndly. The combination with the rollers b, c, of the sliding tray
arranged as and for the purpose set forth.
3rdly. The combination with the movable upper roller 6 of the counter-
balanced side levers p, connecting rods 8, cross bar r, and treadle t,
arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hook Davey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
WILLIAM HOOK DAVEY. (L.S.)