IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwin Grisdale, of 25, Cranbourne Street, in
the County of Middlesex, Photographer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS."
Sealed the 14th February 1865, and dated the 23rd August 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Edwin Grisdale
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd August 1864.
I, JOHN EDWIN GRISDALE, of 25, Cranbourne Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Photographer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of.
machinery or apparatus for washing photographic prints, and consists, ac-
cording to one arrangement, in the employment of a peculiarly constructed
revolving drum in combination with a trough, in which such drum is partially
immersed. The prints to be washed are taken from the water in which they
have been placed on their removal from the fixing bath, and are packed in

page_text: one or more piles, which piles are placed round the circumference of the
drum, each pile being composed of alternate prints and sheets of wire gauze,
or other open or reticulated fabric, so that no two prints shall be in contact
with each other. These piles are held in their places on the drum by
means of open frames or gratings, which bear against the opposite surfaces
of each pile, and are secured to the arms of the drum by screws or other-
wise, the whole or a portion of such frames or gratings forming part of the
drum itself.
Or, according to another arrangement, the piles above described may be laid
flat upon a disc, which is made to revolve either vertically or horizontally in a
trough or cistern, provision being made in the horizontal arrangement for
allowing the piles to be brought in or out of contact with the water as
required. The process of washing consists in alternately driving out the
moisture from the prints by the centrifugal action of the revolving drum or
disc, and saturating the prints again. During the first part of the process the
prints are not immersed, but when the second part of the process, namely, the
saturation is to be effected, the trough or cistern is to be supplied with water,
or the prints may be brought down into the water, and caused to revolve
therein until thoroughly saturated, when the water may be run off from the
trough again, or the drum or disc elevated, and the moisture expelled by
centrifugal force as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Edwin Grisdale in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
EDWIN GRISDALE, of 25, Cranbourne Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
roigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto ue,
the said John Edwin Grisdale, Her special licence that 1, the said John
Edwin Grisdale, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Edwin Grisdale, my oxecutors, 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

page_text: 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 FOR WASHING PHOTOGRAPHIC
PRINTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Edwin
Grisdale, my executors 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 John Edwin Grisdale, 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 Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
centrifugal machinery or apparatus for washing photographic prints, and
consists, according to one arrangement, in the employment of a peculiarly
constructed revolving drum in combination with a trough, in which such
drum is partially immersed. The prints to be washed are taken from the
water in which they have been placed on their removal from the fixing or
other bath, and are packed in one or more piles, which piles are placed round
the circumference of the drum, each pile being composed of alternate prints
and sheets of wire gauze, or other open or reticulated fabric, so that no two
prints shall be in contact with each other. These piles are held in their places
on the drum by means of open frames or gratings, which bear against the
opposite surfaces of each pile, and are secured to the arms of the drum by
screws or otherwise, the whole or a portion of such frames or gratings forming
part of the drum itself.
Or, according to another arrangement, the piles above described may bo
laid flat upon a disc, which is mado to revolve either vertically or hori
zontally in a trough or cistern, provision being made in the horizontal
arrangement for allowing the piles to be brought in or out of contact
with the water as required; or in lieu of the photographic prints being dis-
posed in the form of piles or packs round a drum or revolving disc, they
may be laid separately and individually round the surface of a drum, a
webbing of open or reticulated fabric being wound on such drum simul-
taneously with the placing of the prints thereon, so as to interpose a thickness
of the fabric between each. succeeding layer of prints. The process of

page_text: washing consists in alternately driving out the moisture from the prints by
the centrifugal action of the revolving drum or disc, and saturating the
prints again. During the first part of the process the prints are not
immersed, but when the second part of the process, namely, the saturation
is to be effected, the trough or cistern is to be supplied with water, or the
prints may be brought down into the water, and caused to revolve therein
until thoroughly saturated, when the water may be run off from the trough
again, or the drum or disc. clevated, and the moisture expelled by centrifugal
force as beforo.
.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purposo
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
samo letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all tho Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of what
I consider to be the best form of my improved centrifugal machine for
washing photographic prints, as it will accommodate prints of all the sizes
ordinarily produced; Figuro 2 is a corresponding transverse vertical section
of the same, with the lid or cover open; and Figuro 8 is a side elevation of
the trough, showing the means I prefer to adopt for regulating the ingress
and egress of water to and from the same.
A, A, are the main standards or supports of the machine, to which is bolted
the semicylindrical trough B. This trough is provided with a hinged lid or
cover C, which, when closed, fits over the trough, and incloses a revolving
drum D situate inside the trough, and when open, as shewn in Figure 2, rests
upon two supports a, which turn upon centres at 6, and can be adjusted
against the main standards A when not in use, as shewn by the dotted lines.
c is a pin passing through a curved slot in each support, for the purposo of
retaining them when opened out for supporting the lid or cover.
In its open
position this lid or cover may be used as a table by placing a board thereon.
The drum D is composed of perforated metal or wire gauze d, supported by
end dises or plates having arms e cast therein or secured thereto, and revolving
round the shaft E as a contro. As it is necessary that a high velocity bo
imparted to this drum, any convenient arrangement of multiplying gear
should be employed; but the arrangement which I prefer to uso is that
illustrated in my Drawings. It consists either of one or a pair of bevel
wheels F, F, in the centre of which are fitted or formed the small bevel
pinions G, G. These wheels are provided with long bosses, which revolve
loosely upon the spindles H formed upon a boss I, which is keyed on to the
shaft E. The pinions G gear into and describo an orbit round the fixed bovel

page_text: wheel K, which is secured to or formed in one piece with a stationary cubular
socket or long boss L screwed into one of the two plummer blocks M, M,
which support the shaft E. The bevel wheel or wheels 'F gear. into. a. bevel
pinion N provided with a long boss or cubular socket O, which revolves freely
on the shaft E. The socket or boss O of the bevel pinion N is brazed or
soldered to bosses p on the spherical chamber P, which consequently revolves
therewith, the chamber P inclosing the whole. of the before-mentioned
gearing, and being connected by screws or otherwise at its bosses p, p, to
the end discs or plates of the drum D. This chamber is made fluid-tight, and
is supplied with oil inside through a screwed nozzle q, which oil when the
chamber is rapidly rotated is scattered over the gearing and working centres,
thereby keeping the parts well lubricated. The dirty oil passes off along the
surface of the shaft E, and escapes by openings made for that purpose at r, r,
in the main standards, a cam or other receptacle being placed to receive the
droppings. In place of making the drum D perfectly cylindrical, I prefer to
augment its diameter slightly at two points, as shewn at s, &, in order that the
water to be driven off may.have a tendency to collect at such parts, and be
there expelled; but I do not confine myself to this particular form of drum.
The photographic prints to be washed are placed round the drum between the
convolutions of a web t (shewn in red lines) of fibrous material of open
texture, which is wound round the drum whilst the prints are being applied.
The outer convolutions of this web are by preference of a thicker and stouter
material than the inner convolutions, and the loose end is secured by pins,
hooks, and eyes, or other convenient fastenings; Q is a roller mounted upon
a pair of spring arms R, for receiving this web when being unwound from the
drum. The springs R cause the roller to bear against the periphery of the
drum, and thereby ensure the winding of the web in a compact and regular
manner round the drum. When the web is wound on the drum, and the
prints disposed amongst the convolutions, the lid or cover C is closed over the
drum, the roller Q being sprung back to allow of the closing of the lid, and
the operation of washing is commenced. This consists, in the first place, in
imparting a rapid rotatory motion to the drum by turning the winch handle S,
whereby the moisture which adhered to the prints on their removal from the
water in which they had been placed, after being taken from the fixing or
other bath, is driven off by centrifugal force. Clean water is then admitted
into the trough B by the pipe T'and passage U, the latter being cast or other
wise formed by preference on the end of the trough; V is a discharge pipe for
emptying the trough. These two pipes T and V are by preference made of

page_text: some flexible material, such as india-rubber, and are opened and closed
alternately by the prossure thereon of a ball W carried by a crank on the
spindle X. A metal strap. Y curved at the ends embraces both the pipes, and
when the spindle is turned to one side or the other, the ball comprosses one
or other of the pipes against the curved end of the metal strap, and closes it;
Z is a pointer attached to the spindle, which indicates on a dial plate the
opening or closing of either of the pipes. When the ball is in its mid position
both pipes will remain open; on first supplying the trough the inlet pipe will
be opened and the outlet closed until a sufficient quantity of water has entered.
The ball is then brought into its mid position, when the water will flow out as
fast as it enters, thereby producing a constant change of water whilst saturating
the prints, which is effected by revolving the drum in the water for a minuto
or two. The inlet is then closed, and as the outlet still remains open the
trough is emptied, and the water absorbed by the web and prints is again
driven off as before by the action of centrifugal force. These operations of
alternato expulsion of the moisture by centrifugal force and re-saturation
with fresh water are repeated until all trace of the chemicals employed
in the baths is removed from the prints, the entire process being effectually
completed in from about 15 to 20 minutes, in lieu of occupying 8 or 10
hours, as is the case with the ordinary mode of washing. The ends of
the lid or cover C may be provided with glass, for the facility of inspecting
the interior of the trough, and seeing that the proper quantity of water is
suppliod thereto. In placing the prints round.the drum 1 prefer to have a
space at the points s, s, so as not to impede in any way the escape of the
water at those parts.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereiu-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the system or mode of washing photographic prints by alternately
saturating them with water, and expelling such water by centrifugal
machinery, substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of a revolving drum of perforated metal wire
gauze, or other open or reticulated material, in combination with a trough for
the purpose of washing photographic prints, by alternately saturating the
same with water, and expelling such water thereform by centrifugal force, as
herein-before described.

page_text: Third, the application and use of a revolving disc in combination with a
trough or vessel, for the purpose of washing photographic prints, in the
manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edwin Grisdale, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-five.