IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEEPING OR WASHING AND RINSING MACHINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lee Norton, of the Imperial Works, Bromley-
by-Bow, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEEPING OR WASHING AND RINSING MACHINES."
Sealed the 23rd June 1857, and dated the 28th January 1857.
'PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lee Norton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th January 1857.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of the Imperial Works, Bromley-by-Bow, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention. for
"IMPROVEMENTS, IN STEEPING. OR WASHING AND RINSING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists of a frame supporting two or more rows of wooden
beaters, lifted up by a corresponding number of lifting arms, keyed upon two
or more horizontal shafts, and a trough (provided with a false bottom), which is
moved upon rails by means of wheels, and. is caused. to move to and fro by
means of a rack and pinion, or, by other means. The wooden. beaters. fill. the
trough from side to side, and the trough is moved when all the beaters are up.
The motion of the trough can be regulated to move more or less quickly, as
desired. The articles to be steeped or washed are placed into the trough, which
:

page_text: is then filled with water or other suitable fluid. Steam may be applied
underneath the false bottom, if required, by means of a suitable pipe.
In order to rinse the articles which have been steeped or washed, a cylinder
having a series of curved spikes placed in a spiral direction on the periphery
of the cylinder is used, the axis of which cylinder moves in bearings in the
framework of the machine. This cylinder has given to it two different motions;
one a forward and backward motion, given to it by means of an excentric, or
crank, or other apparatus; the other, a continuous slow forward motion in one
direction. Below, and partly encircling one side of the cylinder, is placed a
perforated diaphragm or false bottom, for the purpose of guiding and bringing
in close contact the wool or other material with the curved spikes of the
cylinder. A number of such cylinders may be arranged in one machine. The
wool or other material is delivered to the machine by a feed sheet through a
pair of feed rollers, and when the wool or other material has passed through
the cylinder or cylinders it is lifted out of the trough in which the cylinder or
cylinders work by means of an endless chain or other suitable apparatus. The
trough is filled with water or other liquid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,, filed
by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE NORTON, of the Imperial Works, Bromley-by-Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her- heirs and successors, give and grant unto
ine, the said James Lee Norton, Her special licence that I, the said James
Lee Norton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others' as
I, the said James Lee Norton, 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 STEEPING OR WASHING AND RINSING MACHINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I; the said James Lee Norton; my. executors

page_text: 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 James Lee Norton, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of a frame supporting two or more rows of wooden
beaters; lifted up by a corresponding number of lifting arms, keyed upon two.
or more horizontal shafts, and a trough (provided with a false bottom), which
is moved upon rails by means of wheels, and is caused to move to and fro by
means of a rack and pinion, or by other means. The wooden beaters fill the
trough from side to side, and the trough is moved when all the beaters are up..
The motion of the trough can be regulated to move more or less quickly,
as desired. The articles to be steeped or washed are placed into the trough,
which is then filled with water or other suitable fluid. Steam may be applied*
underneath the false bottom, if required, by means of a suitable pipe..
In order to rinse the articles which have been steeped or washed, a cylinder,
having a series of curved spikes placed in a spiral direction on the periphery
of the cylinder, is used, the axis of which cylinder moves in bearings in the
framework of the machine. This cylinder has given to it two different motions;
one a forward and backward motion, given to it by means of an eccentric,
or crank, or other apparatus; the other, a continuous slow forward motion in
one direction. Below, and partly encircling one side of the cylinder, is placed a
perforated diaphragm or false bottom, for the purpose of guiding and bringing
in close contact the wool or other material with the curved spikes of the
cylinder. A number of such cylinders may be arranged in one machine. The
wool or other material is delivered to the machine by a feed sheet through a.
a pair of feed rollers, and when the wool or other material has passed through
the cylinder or cylinders it is lifted out of the trough in which the cylinder -or
cylinders work by means of an endless chain or other suitable apparatus. 'The'
trough is filled with water or other liquid.
.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto"
aunexed.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 3
is a plan, of a steeping or washing machine arranged according to my
Invention...
a, a, is a trough (for containing the liquid in which the articles are to be
steeped or washed), with a perforated false bottom; a!, and, is,mounted on
wheels a², a, which run on rails b, b. On each side of the trough a are
standards,c, c, carrying axes d, d, which are geared together and receive
rotatory motion from a pinion on the axis e, and, this receives motion from a
driving. belt;.f,f,.f, are curved arms or wipers, keyed on the axes d, d, for
giving, an up-and-down motion to the beaters 9, 9, which, are formed with
openings g¹, g', through them to allow of the passage of the wipers, and it is
by coming in contact with the upper ends of these openings that the beaters
are raised, and when the wipers travel out of the openings the beaters fall by
their own weight. In order to cause the trough.a to move backwards and
forwards, so as to carry the whole of its contents under the beaters, a rack h
is formed on the side of the trough, and into this works a pinion i, carried by
the frame, and receiving motion from a pawl j, mounted on the lever k. This
pawl j drops into the teeth of a ratchet wheel l, fixed on the same axis as the
pinion. The lever k receives a to-and-fro movement from a link which
connects it with an eccentric on one of the axes d.. When the beaters arrive
at one end of the trough, the pawl j is thrown out of the teeth of the wheel e..
and another pawl, also carried by the lever k, but on the other side of its
centre of motion, is thrown into gear with another ratchet wheel, which is also.
fixed on the axis of the pinion i, but has its teeth turned in a direction the
reverse of that of the teeth of the ratchet l; this causes the trough to travel
'till the beaters come to its other end, when the pawls are again reversed.
When the soaking or washing is complete, the axes m and n are turned by
means of the handle o, so as to cause the short arms p, mounted on the axes
m and n, to drop into teeth formed on the beaters, and.so to support them
above the level of the trough, which may then be drawn away so as to receive
a fresh charge. By this, beating operation, which alternately squeezes the
liquid out of the articles, and allows them re-absorb it, the steeping or washing
is quickly effected.
Figure 4 is a side view, and Figure 5 is a longitudinal section, of a
machine for rinsing fibrous or other, materials after they have been steeped or
washed.
a, a, is the frame of the machine; is a trough for containing water or

page_text: other rinsing fluid; c is an axis, passing from side to side of the machine, and
having mounted on it the toothed cylinder d. The axis c is carried by two
levers e, one on each side of the machine, and turning on centres el.
Attached to the frame f is a link, connecting the end of the lever e with the
pin g, carried eccentrically by a disc mounted on the axis h, which receives
motion from a driving band i. In this way a forward and backward motion
is given to the cylinder d, and it also receives a continuous slow forward
motion by means of the following driving gear:-On the axis h there is a
pinion which drives a spur wheel on the axis j, and on this axis is a bevilled
pinion working with another bevilled pinion on the axis k, and this at its
further end has keyed on it a worm k', working with a worm wheel on the
axis l. From a drum on this axis a band passes to a drum which runs loose
on the axis c, and attached to this drum is a pinion m, which by the inter-
mediate wheels n and o, mounted on a stud carried by the lever e, drives the
toothed wheel p, keyed on the same axis c with the cylinder d. The fibrous
or other materials are fed into the machine by the endless apron 7, which is
driven in any convenient way, and they fall into the trough b, and are taken
by the teeth of the cylinder, against which the materials are kept by the
inclined ledge o¹ in the trough. When the materials are on the spikes of the
cylinder, they are by its rising and falling motion alternately raised out of
the liquid in the trough and dashed down into it. The continuous motion of
the cylinder ensures that the whole of the material being similarly acted on.
After the rinsing is complete, the materials are caught by the spikes on the
endless band r, which passes round two rollers, the upper one of which is
mounted on the axis l. The materials brought up by the band r are passed
between squeezing rollers, not shewn in the Drawing, and are by them
discharged in a partially dry state.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.,
J. L. NORTON. (L.S.)