IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas William Wilson, of the Firm of Wilson
& Co., Grocers and Wine Merchants, of Woodbridge, in the County
of Suffolk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William Wilson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th February 1875.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM WILSON, of the Firm of Wilson & Co., Grocers
and Wine Merchants, of Woodbridge, in the County of Suffolk, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR CLEANING BOTTLES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to apparatus or machinery for cleansing or
washing bottles, and consists in various novel contrivances whereby this
operation is effected in a more expeditious, economical, and satisfactory
manner than has heretofore been practicable.

page_text: My improved apparatus or machine has a large central toothed wheel
whose journals are supported to turn freely in bearings in a suitable
frame or standard and geared with a pinion or a series of pinions
arranged around the said central wheel. The shaft or axis of the
latter is provided with a crank handle or a pulley, or other means for
giving it motion, and by giving the said central wheel a moderate
speed a very rapid motion is imparted to the said pinions, which is very
advantageous in the operation of bottle washing, and by this arrange-
ment of wheel gearing I obviate the delay and inconvenience arising
from the slipping or breaking of belts or straps which is of frequent
occurrence in other bottle washing machines. Each of the said pinions
is fitted with a bottle brush formed to pass through the neck into the
body of the bottle in the usual manner. I prefer to have three pinions
and three brushes of different sizes, as this number is the most generally
convenient. These brushes are ordinarily constructed with a rod or
stem of twisted wire which is inserted into the socket of a rotating
spindle, leaving the brush and stem otherwise unsupported. It is not
possible to give the said stems or rods any very great thickness, as they
would then not pass through the bottle necks. Therefore when any
pressure to one side or the other is exerted upon the brush, when the
same is rotating within a bottle, the brush stem is liable to be bent and
frequently is very much bent so that the machine has to be stopped and
the brush removed and straightened. I obviate this difficulty in the
following manner, that is to say, I attach to the spindle or shaft of the
pinion a metal tube which encloses the brush stem and extends nearly
to the brush. Or I make the said shaft or spindle hollow or tubular
and extend the same, enclosing the stem to or nearly to the brush.
This tube or tubular spindle is made small enough to pass through the
neck of the bottle, and supports the brush while rotating therein in such
a manner that it will not be possible to bend the stem of the brush.
Heretofore in the washing or cleansing of bottles it has been usually
necessary to first place them in a vat or other vessel containing water or
other liquid to fill them before brushing them. This process is not only
inconvenient and dilatory, but is very wasteful of the liquid. I there-
fore adopt other means for supplying the necessary liquid to the bottles
and obviate the above-named disadvantage. For this purpose I combine
with the aforesaid hollow or tubular spindles which carry the rotating
brushes an apparatus for injecting water into the said bottles as they are

page_text: being brushed. This apparatus comprises a cock or valve placed at the
rear or outer end of each spindle and connected with a water supply pipe
or main. From this cock or valve I extend a rod which connects with
a collar fitted loosely on that portion of the tube which is just outside
the neck of the bottle when the brush is inserted therein. When the
bottle is pushed up to this collar it forces the same back and thereby opens
the said valve or cock which then admits the water through the hollow
or tubular spindle to the bottle. The pressure upon the said collar need
be only momentary, and when this pressure is relaxed the valve is closed
by a weight or spring properly arranged for this purpose.
being brushed. This apparatus comprises a cock or valve placed at the
rear or outer end of each spindle and connected with a water supply pipe
or main. From this cock or valve I extend a rod which connects with
a collar fitted loosely on that portion of the tube which is just outside
the neck of the bottle when the brush is inserted therein. When the
bottle is pushed up to this collar it forces the same back and thereby opens
the said valve or cock which then admits the water through the hollow
or tubular spindle to the bottle. The pressure upon the said collar need
be only momentary, and when this pressure is relaxed the valve is closed
by a weight or spring properly arranged for this purpose.
The portion of the tube or spindle which enters the bottle is
perforated with small holes or slots for the admission of the liquid into
the bottle.
Instead of the aforesaid loose collar and rod I may use a chain or.
cord or other means for operating the said valve or cock.
Although I am enabled in all ordinary cases to dispense with the pre-
liminary filling of the bottles, as above described, yet I provide means for
filling them when required as follows, that is to say, in connection with
the above described machine I employ an arrangement of racks placed in
a row in any convenient part of the premises where the bottles are stored
for cleansing. And I mount on wheels or rollers a vat or tank containing
water or other liquid, and move the same under the said row or series of
racks. The said racks are fixtures, and I mount on wheels or rollers a
vat or tank containing water or other liquid and move the same under
the said racks containing the bottles to be filled, and the bottles are
immersed by raising the vat to the rack by wheels, pulleys, weights, or
racks and pinions. Or instead of the above I use an apparatus which
consists of a portable tank made of wood, iron, or other suitable material,
in which rotates a wheel with divisions to receive bottles to be immersed
in water or other liquid contained in the said tank, the weight of the
empty bottles in one section of the wheel causing it to rotate and bring
the full bottles round to the cleansing machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas William Wilson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILLIAM WILSON, of the Firm of Wilson and Co., Grocers and Wine
Merchants, of Woodbridge, in the County of Suffolk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas William Wilson, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas William Wilson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
William Wilson, 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 APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR CLEANING
BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
William Wilson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
should
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
par-
ticularly 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 Thomas William Wilson, 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
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
My said Invention relates to apparatus or machinery for cleaning or
washing bottles or similar vessels, and consists in various novel con-
trivances wheroby this operation is effected in a more expeditious,
economical, and satisfactory manner than has heretofore been practicable.

page_text: According to the first part of my Invention I construct an apparatus
or machine which has a large central toothed wheel whose journals are
supported to turn freely in bearings in a suitable frame or standard and
geared with a pinion or a series of pinions arranged around the said
central wheel, and each carrying a brush. The shaft or axis of the
central wheel is provided with a crank handle, or a pulley, or other
means for giving it motion, and by giving the said central wheel a
moderate speed a very rapid motion is imparted to the said pinions and -
brushes, which is very advantageous in the operation of bottle washing,
and by this arrangement of wheel gearing I obviate the delay and
inconvenience arising from the slipping or breaking of belts or straps
which are of frequent occurrence in other bottle washing machines,
though in some instances I may use pulleys and belts.
The manner in which I carry my said Invention into practice is fully

page_text: Therefore when any pressure to one side or the other is exerted upon the
brush, when the same is rotating within a bottle, the brush stem is
liable to be bent and frequently is very much bent so that the machine
has to be stopped and the brush removed and straightened. I obviate
this difficulty in the following manner, that is to say, I attach to the
spindle or shaft d of the pinion a metal tube d¹, shewn in dotted lines,
which encloses the brush stem c³ and extends nearly to the brush. Or I
make the said shaft or spindle hollow or tubular, and extend the same,
enclosing the stem c¹ to or nearly to the brush c. This tube d¹ or tubular
spindle is made small enough to pass through the neck of the bottle and
supports the brush c while rotating therein in such a manner that it will
not be possible to bend the stem of the brush. The latter may be con-
structed of hair or other fibre, india-rubber, or other suitable material.
Heretofore in the washing or cleaning of bottles it has been usually
necessary to first place them in a vat or vessel containing water or other
liquid to fill them before brushing them. This process is not only in-
convenient and dilatory, but is very wasteful of the liquid. I therefore
adopt other means for supplying the necessary liquid to the bottles and
obviate the above-named disadvantages. For this purpose I combine
with the aforesaid hollow or tubular spindle d' which carry the rotating
brushes can apparatus for injecting water into the said bottles as they
are being brushed. This apparatus comprises a cock or valve e placed
at the rear or outer end of each spindle, or one or more of them, and
connected with a water supply pipe or main B, The stem or plug of
this cock or valve carries a wheel or pulley e¹, and from a pin, or stud,
or arm e³ on one side of this pulley I extend a rod f which connects
with a tube g fitted to slide telescopically within another tube h fixed to
the frame in front of the pinion b, as shewn in Figure 1. The said
tube g extends to or nearly to the brush c, as shewn in Figure 1, and is
made of the proper diameter or bore to receive within it the bottle necks.
It has on its extremity a collar g' which acts as a stop against the
collar h' to limit the movement of the tube 9. when the same is pushed
back or into the tube h. The tube h has long apertures or slots h² in its
sides, and through these slots pins 9² fixed in the sides of the tube g
project. To these pins 92 the aforesaid rods ƒ are connected. The
pulley e¹ has wound upon it a cord or chain e³ whose lower end carries a
weight e, or is attached to a spring or connected with a lever and sliding
weight for closing the valve or cock e.

page_text: In using this machine the bottles are placed upon one or other of the
brushes c and pushed up against the collar g¹, forcing the tube g back
in the tube h. This action of the tube g causes the opening of the
valve e, and water is thereby supplied through the tubular shaft d and
tube to the revolving brush. The pressure upon the telescopic
tube g need be only momentary, and when this pressure is relaxed the
valve is closed by the aforesaid weight, spring, or lever.

page_text: material. In using this apparatus the empty bottles to be washed or
filled are placed in the divisions on one side of the axis of the wheel j,
as shewn in Figure 3. The weight of the empty bottles in this section
of the wheel causes it to rotate and immerse them in the liquid in the
tank. As the supply of empty bottles is continued the wheel turns
further round on its axis carrying the bottles through the liquid and
soaking them therein, and at the same time the bottles that have been
thus subjected to the action of the liquid are being raised by the wheel
on the other side of the tank, and as they rise out of the latter they are
removed and taken to the cleaning machine or otherwise cleaned.
This last described apparatus obviates the breakage of bottles which
so frequently occurs in the ordinary method of cleaning them, and the
cutting of the hands of the operator, and it ensures the thorough washing
of the bottles, with great economy of time and labour. Instead of
making the rotating part of the said apparatus circular, as shown, I may 1
make it square or of any other suitable shape.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The apparatus for cleaning bottles consisting of a rotating
brush mounted in a pinion or axis, or two or more brushes so mounted a
and geared in connection with a driving wheel, by which the required
motion is imparted to the said brushes.
Second. The combination with the said rotating brushes and their
driving mechanism, of devices for supplying water to the bottles being
cleaned, as herein set forth.
Third. A machine for cleaning bottles with the large central driving
wheel, the brushes connected with the said wheel by toothed gearing
or by belts and pulleys, and fixed in hollow or tubular axes or spindles,
the telescopic tubes, the cock or valve for supplying water to the
bottles being cleaned, and the other parts of the said machine con- 3
structed, combined, and operating as herein set forth.
Fourth. The machine or apparatus consisting of the wheel or rotating
part set at an angle or inclination, and provided with divisions or com-
partments for holding the bottles, and supported to turn freely on its
axis or shaft which is mounted on or over a vat or tank, and so arranged 3
that as the said wheel is caused to rotate by the weight of the bottles the

page_text: latter will be immersed in the liquid in the said tank for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas William Wilson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
THON. WILLIAM WILSON. (L.B.)