Improvements in Bottle-washing Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Complete specification Left, com ., Accepted
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottle-washing Machines.
TOUT
I, THEODORE SAUNDERS, of Danbury, in the County of Fairfield and State of
Connecticut, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINES,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in machines
for washing bottles, glasses, and similar vessels, and has for its objects to provide
means for subjecting the interior of the vessel to be washed to the action of a
forcibly-impelled jet of water, to provide also mechanical cleansing devices adapted
to exert a sweeping or scraping action thereon, to provide means for imparting the
needful rapid rotary movement to the mechanical cleansing devices, and to provide
means for holding the bottle or glass in proper position for the operations just
enumerated:
My invention furthermore contemplates the use either of cold water as drawn
from ordinary supply pipes or of hot water, in which case no connection with a
water supply under pressure is necessary, but in place thereof is required a steam
jet to supply the needed power.
With these ends in view my invention consists in the construction and com-
bination of elements hereinafter fully set forth, and then recited in the claims, and
particularly in the combination, with the means for operating the water jet, of
mechanism for simultaneously actuating the mechanical cleansing elements, in the
method of obtaining hot water for use in the apparatus, and in the means for
upholding the bottle or glass while subjected to the operation of washing.
In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may fully
understand its construction and method of operation, I will describe the same in
detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this
Specification, in which-
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of a bottle washing machine made in
accordance with my invention;
Figure 2 is a detail plan view, the spindle being sectioned ;
Figure 3 a detail transverse section through the spindle driving blades or
buckets;
Figure 4, a sectional elevation of a somewhat modified construction adapted for
washing glasses.
Like numerals denote the same parts in all the figures of the drawings.
Referring now particularly to Fig. 1, 1 is a pipe which is adapted to supply the
washing apparatus with water and also serves to support it.
For the purpose of receiving the waste water, and for a further purpose presently
to be explained, the apparatus is preferably mounted over a tub 2, from which any
convenient waste pipe 3 extends.
Upon the vertical portion of the pipe 1, which is screw threaded, as shown, is

page_text: secured a casing 4, into which a jet tube 5, adapted to take water from the supply
pipe, is led. This casing has discharge opening 6 in its top wall, through which the
water may escape after actuating the blades and return down the side of the casing
into the tub.
In suitable bearings and extending longitudinally of the casing is mounted a
rotative spindle 7, provided with projecting buckets 8, against which the stream
from the jet tube 5 is thrown for the purpose of imparting revolution to the spindle
in its bearings.
Above the casing the spindle is jointed, and upon the removable upper section
thereof, numbered 9, are secured several short chains 10, each preferably having a
globular weight 11 attached to its extremity. The end of the upper section of the
spindle carries a brush 12, adapted to co-operate with the chain in removing any
sediment or deposit from the inner surface of the glass.
While the arrangement shown is preferable, I do not wish to be understood as
.making it essential.
An induct tube 13 divides with the jet the water from the pipe 1 and conducts
substantially half of the supply upward through the casing and discharges it into
the vessel to be washed when the same is in position. A drain pipe 14 extends
downward out of the vessel, substantially parallel with the tube 13, and conducts a
portion of the water from said vessel into the tub.
Surrounding the tubes and the casing in which the spindle has its bearing is a
cap 15, upon which is removably secured a ring 16, bearing a frame 17, adapted to
support the bottle to be washed. The spindle and the tubes project upward through
the cap 15, (see Fig. 2,) and a raised wire support 18 is adapted to uphold the
bottle so that it may drain. The foregoing parts form a complete operative bottle
washing apparatus for use with an ordinary water supply under pressure.
The added devices for the employment of steam will now be described.
Surrounding the pipe 1 below the casing is a union 19, having short tubes 20,
extending downward and outward therefrom, said tubes being connected to the
pipe 1, as seen at Figs. 1 and 4. These tubes are closed by any suitable caps,
except when steam is to be used, at which time they are left open and the tub is
filled with water to a point above their opening, as shown.
21 is a steam pipe having a suitable cock 22 for regulating the supply. During
the use of the steam for injecting the water the water supply pipe is preferably
closed by cock 23.
When operating as shown at Fig. 1, the bottle is inverted over the spindle and
tubes, the brush yielding so as to pass through the neck and the chains hanging
against the spindle, as will be readily understood, so long as the spindle is idle.
When in this position, the neck of the bottle is supported on the wire guard and
the frame supports it from the sides. When the water is turned on, not only is a
stream of water forcibly injected into the bottle through pipe 13, but that portion
of the water supply which enters the chamber through the jet pipe and engages the
buckets on the spindle causes the latter to rotate very, rapidly, whereby the chains
are thrown outward, (see Fig. 1,) and operate with a scraping action against the
glass. The brush at the top of the spindle not only cleanses the bottom of the
bottle, but also distributes the water from the induct pipe, which is thrown against
its under side. The water escapes from the interior of the bottle in part through
the drain pipe 14 and in part from the mouth of the bottle over the outside of the
apparatus, whence it returns to the tub.
per-
In operating this machine with a steam jet a water supply under pressure is not
required. The short tubes 20 are opened and the steam from the pipe 21 is
mitted to flow through the main supply pipe. As it passes upward and divides
to enter the jet tube and induct tube it draws from the tub water, which, entering
by the tubes 20, is driven into the bottle and is utilized in substantially the same
manner as the water obtained from the supply pipe, as heretofore described.
The apparatus shown at Fig. 4 is substantially identical with that exhibited in
the preceding figures, except that the holding frame therein shown, and denoted

page_text: by 24, is changed in shape, so as to afford the glass proper support, and a brush 25
is substituted for the chains shown in the bottle washing machine.
In my invention I do not wish to be confined to the details of construction herein
shown and described, since many minor changes involving only mechanical skill
may be made therein without departing from the spirit and aim thereof, which
consists, mainly, in the use of the water pressure not only to inject the water into
the bottle, but to impart movement to the mechanical cleansing appliances.
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 I
claim is:
:-
1. The combination, with the supply pipe, of the casing mounted thereon and
provided with discharge openings at its top, a vertical spindle journaled in the
casing and having buckets and chains and a brush secured thereon, the induct tube
extending upward outside the casing and discharging into the vessel parallel to the
spindle, and a frame carried by the casing and adapted to support the bottle, sub-
stantially as specified.
2. The combination, in a bottle washing machine, with the main supply pipe and
a vessel, as the tub 2, arranged adjacent thereto, the auxiliary steam pipe entering
the supply pipe, the pipes 20, adapted to take water from the tub, and washing and
scraping devices fed by the main pipe, substantially as set forth.
3. In a bottle washer, the combination, with the main supply pipe and a reservoir
surrounding it, of the casing having the rotary spindle, bearing buckets and
brushing devices, a jet pipe adapted to supply the buckets, an induct whereby
water is introduced into the vessel, a support for the vessel, the pipes 20, and the
auxiliary steam pipe connected to the supply pipe, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination, with the casing, the spindle journaled therein, and the
means for operating the spindle, of the cap, the induct and educt tubes extending
vertically through the cap parallel with the spindle, the frame secured to the cap
and adapted to uphold the bottle, and a support secured to the cap and adapted to
engage the mouth of the bottle, whereby free exit is afforded the water, sub-
stantially as set forth.
Dated this 28th day of November 1890.
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.