IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING WINDOWS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Gardner at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 21st July
1865.
I, CHARLES GARDNER, of Dover, in the County of Kent, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING
WINDOWS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in apparatus intended to
clean windows of shop fronts and upper windows by a rapid process, avoiding
danger to the persons occupied in such work.
With regard to windows of shop fronts I propose to employ a brush or
brushes rising and falling in contact with the glass by the following means:--
I fix in the shop front, beneath and at the sides of each window, socket
plates, into which vertical rods are inserted and held, in order to act as guides
for the brushes, which are provided at each end with tubular pieces to fit the
rods. The brush is then to be placed on and between the rods, and a cord
being attached to the brush board and carried over a pulley fixed over the
window, the brush is to be pulled upwards against the window by the cord
and will return by the action of a vulcanized india-rubber or other spring;
above the window I apply a horizontal pipe with jets, from which water is
supplied to flow down the glass in order to assist the operation of cleaning.
The water is to be conveyed to the pipe by a vulcanized india-rubber tube in
connection with a tap in or outside the house, such tube being easily adapted
and removed at pleasure. When one window is cleaned the rods and brushes

page_text: are to be transferred to the others successively, or all the windows may be
cleaned at once. In lieu of socket plates, in some cases I propose to insert
a metallic groove horizontally in the shop front, below, above, or at the sides
of the windows, in order to slide the brushes or polishers therein, this would
be applicable to the inside of windows; in such cases the brushes or polishers
are to be furnished with T-pieces to form feet or guides for travelling in the
grooves; thus each window can be traversed by the brush in succession, or
the whole of the windows may be cleaned at one time.
Another method of applying the brush or polisher is as follows:-I form a
circular or any other form of brush or polisher back with bristles accordingly,
and fix a slot to the back, which enables the brush to slide up and down a
vertical plate, which plate traverses the horizontal upper and lower horizontal
guide rods; behind the plate a vertical toothed rack is fixed, and a pinion
being set on a spindle passing into the brush back it will follow that as the
brush rises and falls by the cord and spring it will rotate and brush or polish
the window by such action in combination or not with the flow of water; or
in lieu of the rack and pinion a pulley may be applied to the spindle and
the cord may be passed under the same, so that by the rising and falling
of the brush or polisher rotary motion is at the same time afforded. In all
cases the bristles should stand out on an angle so as to penetrate the corners
of the windows and sills. The brushes may be made of an oblong, square, or
semicircular or arched form, or in form of a cross, to suit the shape of the
windows to be cleaned, and they may be made with bristles, cane, rush, or
any other suitable material, and by preference a few layers of wash leather,
cloth, or other fabric should be arranged between the series of bristles or
other material of the brush in order to form the polisher.
Another method consists in the application of two vertical rods in sockets,
one at each extremity of the shop front, and in applying between and upon
these rods a long horizontal bar with short tubes, forming T-pieces, at each
end thereof, in order to slide the horizontal bar up and down the rods. The
brush back is provided with a metallic groove or slot which enables it to
travel from end to end of the horizontal bar; then by means of the cords and
springs the brush and bar is caused to ascend and descend and traverse the
entire area of glass forming the shop front. If necessary, the vertical rods
may be fixtures and secured by brackets or other attachments to the shop
front. In order to clean the inside of the window simultaneously with the
outside I pass the cord over the outside pulley to an interior pulley, or over
one pulley only, from which a cord descends to another brush or polisher, so
that while one ascends the other falls, and vice versa.

page_text: Another example consists of a cylindrical brush which is caused to rise and
fall against the surface of the window, the friction causing a rotary motion of
the brush. For upper or lofty windows I apply a trough or reservoir of water
screwed below the sill, from which vertical rods ascend, and between which
rods the brush or polisher is drawn up and down, as before described, or water
may flow from a tube above the window; this method obviates the necessity
of the servant being exposed to danger.
Another example consists in the construction of apparatus on similar prin-
ciples, but rendered portable. I propose to form a carriage or platform on
small wheels capable of travelling on the pavement, standards being erected
on the platform or frame; the requisite rods and bars before described as
applicable to the shop fronts are arranged in connection with the standards,
and the brushes, polishers, pulleys, springs, and cords, are applied in accord-
ance with the other examples. In order to acquire a supply of water a
horizontal tube with jets is fixed to the upper part of the standards, and a
vulcanized india-rubber tube or other hose is conveyed therefrom to the water
supply of the house. By this form of portable apparatus the windows of shops
may be cleaned daily at a trifling cost, and without danger of breaking glass
or of accident to servants, besides effecting the work far more efficiently than
can be done by mere hand labour. I propose in some cases to use a band
polisher made on the same principle, and also to use a polisher composed of
india-rubber covered with wash leather or other fabric.