IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CHIMNEYS AND PREVENTING SMOKY CHIMNEYS
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Ross at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 6th March 1879.
WILLIAM ROSS, of 53, Lamont Road, Chelsea. "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS
FOR CLEANING CHIMNEYS AND PREVENTING SMOKY CHIMNEYS."
This Invention relates to apparatus for the more convenient and expeditious
cleaning of chimnies, and is especially useful as a preventive of smoky chimnies.
For this purpose I provide a vertical opening or funnel extending upwards from
the basement (or any other preferable part of the building) to a short distance
above the chimney or chimnies. Across the upper part of such opening I fix a
horizontal rod extending over and a little above the whole length of the chimney:
At a few inches above this rod I fix a second rod of equal length. These rods are
held in their position by means of metal supports projecting from between the
chimnies. At the vertical opening before mentioned and between the two horizontal
rods I fix, so as to revolve in suitable bearings a spindle, on which are keyed two
pulleys, one smaller than the other. I now place a grooved wheel pulley (hereafter
termed the travelling pulley); to this wheeled pulley a smaller pulley is fixed on a
spindle. This pulley travels with facility between the upper and lower rods. A
chain passes upwards from the basement through the vertical opening over the
larger of the two pulleys beforementioned along upper rod directly over the central
line of chimney or row of chimnies to a pulley fixed on a spindle revolving in fixed
bearings. This pulley is made fast at the end of the two horizontal bars, and at a
distance a little beyond the row of chimnies the chain passes over and under last
mentioned pulley in a reverse or return direction thence made fast to the spindle
of the travelling pulley.
I now have a rope, one end of which is made fast to a windlass fixed below the
before mentioned opening or funnel; the other end of the rope passes up the
opening side by side of the chain first referred to, and passes over the smaller of
the two pulleys attached to the upper part of the vertical opening, and thence over
the smaller wheel of the travelling pulley. The end of this rope is furnished with
a sweeping brush, and a little below the brush a counter weight of about 30 lbs. is
attached.
The method of operating my Invention is as follows:—
On pulling the adjusting chain the travelling wheel or wheels, and with the same
the counterweighted maning brush is drawn directly over the chimney or any one

page_text: of a row of chimnies, upon which the rope to which the sweeping brush is attached
is lowered and raised down the chimney by means of the windlass before mentioned.
When one of a row of chimneys has been cleaned a second may be undertaken by a
fresh adjustment of the sweeping brush, and so on to bring the brush back to the
vertical opening, it is only necessary to slacken the adjusting chain, and wind up 5
the windlass to which the rope is attached till the brush is brought back to the
vertical opening; and by unwinding, the brush and weight descends the vertical
opening.
For the purpose of guarding against the effects of the weather I cover the appa-
ratus forming the object of this Invention with a light roof or cover suitably 1
supported.