Improvements in the Rollers of Washing and Fulling Machines and analogous Appliances.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 30th May, 1895-Accepted, 13th July, 1845
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Rollers of Washing and Fulling Machines
and analogous Appliances.
I, ALEXANDER THEODOR SARFERT, Manufacturer, of 107, Zwickauerstrasse,
Chemnitz, in the Kingdom of Saxony, 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:-
Hitherto it has been usual, to wash piece-goods by means of smooth or grooved
rollers made of wood, indiarubber, or iron. The elasticity, however, even in the
case of indiarubber rollers, is so small, that it does not provide the friction
necessary for a rapid washing process; consequently it is necessary to apply
strong pressure, the cleaning is imperfect, much water and soap are used, and much
time is required. The present invention has for its object, to avoid these
drawbacks.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a cross section of a washing machine embodying my invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same;
Fig. 3 is a separate view of the roller, partly in section;
Fig. 4 shows on a larger scale a portion of the surface of a washing roller;
Figs. 5 and 6 represent a modification.
The rollers a and b are surrounded with coils of indiarubber hose pipe, the ends
of which communicate with air supply-pipes situated in the interior of the rollers,
by means of radial branch pipes, as shown by Fig. 4. This communication
may be established not only at the ends, but also at some intermediate points of
each pipe coil, in order to keep the latter filled with air pumped through the
supply-pipe, and to ensure, that the pressure exerted by the hose upon the fabric
passing between the rollers will be uniform at all points. Owing to the flattening
of the hose-pipe at the points of contact, and the fact, that at the said points the
windings of the upper roller form an angle with those of the lower roller, or the
tangents of the helices cross each other, the friction produced between the india-
rubber and the fabric is so great, that it will materially accelerate the process of
cleaning and in some cases the latter will take little more than one third of the
time usually required.
As the hose pipe will accommodate itself to any inequalities of the surface, such
machines are suitable for washing the very thinnest kinds of fabric, and any
unequal wear and tear of the rollers is avoided. The air supply pipe / may be
omitted, if the interior of the hose pipe is placed in communication with the
interior of the hollow roller, and the air is pumped into the hermetically closed
interior of the roller. In some cases, it is sufficient, to surround one of the two
rollers with a coil of indiarubber pipe containing compressed air, while the
other is a plain roller. Such rollers may be used also in some kinds of fulling
machines.
In Fig. 3 the hose pipe forms a simple screw-thread or a single helix arouud
the roller, but if it is desired, to obtain a steeper thread, and therefore a larger
angle between the threads of the upper and those of the lower roller at the point
of contact, a multiple screw thread may be produced by winding on the roller two
or more hose-pipes side by side, as indicated by Figs. 5 and 6, which show a
quadruple screw-thread. The hose-pipes forming the multiple screw thread may

page_text: be connected by means of pipes as indicated by Fig. 6, so as to establish com-
munication between the interior of all the hose pipes, or each hose pipe may form
a closed space by itself.
For some purposes it is sufficient, to fill the hose pipes with air at ordinary
atmospheric pressure. The number of hose-pipes mounted on a roller may be
increased, until they are parallel with the roller axis, in which case it may be
advantageous, to impart to one of the rollers a reciprocating motion parallel to
its axis.
In Fig. 1, W represents a piece of textile fabric dipping into a washing trough
and passing between the rollers s and b. Fig. 4 shows a method of securing the
air-tube to the grooved roller.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
1 claim is:
1. In washing and fulling machines, an elastic roller, the surface of which is
formed by one or more indiarubber pipe coils filled with air at atmospheric or
higher than atmospheric pressure, substantially as described.
2. In washing and fulling machines, a pair of rollers carrying flexible pipe coils
filled with air, and so arranged, that the upper and lower coils cross each other
at the points of contact, substantially as described and represented by the
drawings.
3. An elastic roller for washing and analogous machines, constructed and adapted
to operate substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 28th day of May 1895.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents.