AN IMPROVED APPARATUS OR DEVICE FOR CLEANING WINDOWS AND OTHER GLASS SURFACES
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Cawley Ashwell at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th August 1878.
WILLIAM CAWLEY ASHWELL, of the City and State of New York, United States
of America, now of King William Street, in the City of London. "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS OR DEVICE FOR CLEANING WINDOWS AND OTHER GLASS SURFACES."
My Invention relates to an improved apparatus or device for cleaning the windows
of houses and other structures, the said apparatus being also applicable for cleaning
other glass surfaces, such for instance as glass roofs and coverings.
The said apparatus is simple in construction, of small cost in manufacture, and
very effective in its operation. Amongst other advantages it provides means
whereby windows at a considerable height may be cleaned by a person standing on
the ground or on the floor of a room, thereby preventing the danger of falling, to
which persons are frequently exposed who have to ascend ladders, or otherwise to
endanger their lives, in order to be in close proximity to the window.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I attach to a piece of wood or metal,
herein-after called a block, which is preferably flat in form and of suitable dimen-
sions, a strip of india-rubber, which extends along the whole length of the said
block. The said strip is fastened along one side, thereof to the block in such a
manner that the portion of the india-rubber projecting beyond the part which is so
fastened is free to be caused to stand up at an angle from this part along its entire
length. Underneath the free end of the india-rubber strip I attach to the block
another piece of india-rubber, which projects upward in curved form, or somewhat
like a tube, and the free end of the aforesaid strip rests upon this tube from one
end to the other thereof, and the strip is thus caused to be maintained at an
angle.
Instead of the curved piece or tube of india-rubber I may use any other suitable
material, which may be of any suitable shape, so long as it serves the purpose of
maintaining the said strip of india-rubber at the desired angle, the object of the
said strip having this angle given to it being that in drawing it over the glass to
be cleaned the edge of the strip will be in contact with the glass. The block is

page_text: furnished with a short handle to be grasped by the person using the apparatus
when employed for cleaning windows which are easily accessible, and it is furnished
with a socket when designed to be used for cleaning windows in clevated positions.
Into this socket a handle may be fixed of any suitable length, thus enabling a
person to raise the apparatus to considerable heights, and operate the same from
below.
In cleaning, a window or other glass surface with the said apparatus the glass is
first moistened by means of a sponge or other substance which has been dipped in
water, and then the india-rubber, strip is drawn down firmly along the glass, when
it will be found that the dirt has been entirely removed from the surface over
which the said strip has passed, and this surface will be perfectly clean and bright
without any further operation. The dirt is then wiped off the said strip, which is
at once ready to clean another portion of the glass.
The operation is very quickly effected, as, there is, no necessity for the use of
cloths or other materials to rub the glass, and a great number of windows may be
effectually cleaned in-a-very short space of time...