Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Disinfecting and Drying Clothes and other Articles or Materials.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 26th July, 1895-Accepted, 31st Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Disinfecting and Drying
Clothes and other Articles or Materials.
1, HENRY CROFTS LONGSDON of the Firm of W. Summerscales and Sons
Limited of Keighley in the County of York, Laundry Engineers and Machine
Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows, that is
to say:-
It has for its object the production of means or apparatus to be used for the
disinfecting of clothes and other articles or materials by the employment of
steam which shall allow such disinfecting process to be economically performed
while when effected the clothing or other articles acted upon are quickly and
thoroughly dried.
The chamber or receptacle into which the clothing etc. has to be placed to
be acted upon, is preferably of cylindrical shape and is mounted or fixed in any
appropriate position relatively with a steam generating boiler.
This cylindrical receptacle has suitable inlet and outlet pipes together with their
stop-valves so that steam may be conducted and made to pass into it from the
generator as and whenever necessary.
The steam generating boiler is preferably of the kind having internal flues,
although other classes of boilers might be employed, and through these flues
or through other parts of the structure which is of a high temperature during the
process of generating steam, are pipes or tubes arranged to pass and lead both
into the cylindrical receptacle and into a cavity surrounding or encircling said
receptacle.
On the clothes etc. being placed into the receptacle, steam is admitted thereto
from the generator in the well known manner, however, to keep said steam at a
high temperature by preventing condensation as far as possible, and so enabling
it to act with the greatest efficiency, air is propelled through the pipes in the flues
of the generator and made to enter the cavity surrounding the receptacle containing
the clothes, and as the pipes through which the air passes are necessarily
kept at a high temperature said air will keep the chamber it enters at as high a
temperature as is the steam inside the receptacle thus preventing condensation.
After the disinfection of the clothes has. been effected, the steam from the
generator is shut off and the exhaust valve is opened to allow that remaining in
the receptacle to escape, while the heated air from the pipes in the flues in them
conducted to the interior of the receptacle by which the desiccation of its contents
is quickly and thoroughly effected.
The propelling of the air as above described, is effected by a fan, or other air
propeller operated by a separate motor or by being coupled in a convenient manner
to a wheel rotated by the steam generator's feed pump.
Dated this 25th day of October 1894.

page_text: Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Disinfecting and Drying
Clothes and other Articles or Materials.
I, HENRY CROFTS LONGSDON of the Firm of W. Summerscales and Sons
Limited of Keighley in the County of York, Laundry Engineers and Machine
Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
It has for its object the production of means or apparatus to be used for the
disinfecting of clothes and other articles or materials by the employment of steam,
which shall allow such disinfecting process to be economically performed while
when effected the clothing or other articles acted upon are quickly and thoroughly
dried.
In the accompanying sheets of drawings which are illustrative of my
invention ;-
Figs. 1 and 2 are end and sectional elevations of my improved apparatus as
arranged within a building.
Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal section and plan of same.
AA indicate the walls of the building and B the chimney.
The chamber or receptacle a, into which the clothing etc. has to be placed as by
being carried therein by the trellis or lattice-work vehicle b, is preferably of
cylindrical shape and is mounted or fixed in any appropriate position relatively with
a steam generating boiler c, while doors d and e are at opposite ends thereof so that
the one opens into the room f which may contain the infected clothing, and the door e
opens into the room g for receiving the clothing after being disinfected, thus one lot
is kept entirely clear of the other.
This receptacle a has suitable inlet and outlet pipes and k respectively together
with their stop valves m n so that steam may be conducted and made to pass into
it from the generator c as and whenever necessary.
The steam generating boiler c is preferably of the kind having internal flues o as
shown, although other classes of boilers might be employed and through these
flues o or through the flues p beneath or in such position with the furnace in the
flue o as shall afford them considerable heat, are pipes q which are arranged to pass
or lead both into the receptacle a and into a cavity surrounding or encircling said
receptacle a.
On the clothes etc. being placed within the receptacle a, steam is admitted
therein from the generator c through the pipe h and valve m in the well knowд
manner, however, to keep said steam at a high temperature by preventing
condensation as far as possible, and so enabling it to act with the greatest
efficiency, air is propelled through the pipes into said cavity rand as these
pipes are kept at a high temperature by passing through the flues as above described,
said air will keep said cavity at nearly as high a temperature as is the steam
within the receptacle a thus preventing condensation. Or this condensation may 4
be prevented sufficiently well by having the receptacle a covered by any
substance or material which is a bad conductor or which prevents the radiation
of heat.
After the disinfecting of the clothes has been carried out, the steam from the
generator is shut off by the valve m and the exhaust valve n is opened to allow
that remaining in the receptacle to escape into the chimney B, while the valve & is
closed and the valvest is opened so that the heated air from the pipes q is now
conducted into the receptacle a by which means the drying or desiccating of its
contents is quickly and thoroughly effected.

page_text: The propelling of the air through the pipes o as above described is effected by
a fan u or other air propeller operated by a separate motor or by being coupled in
any convenient manner to a wheel or pulley rotated by the steam generator's
feed pump w.
In order to cause the articles within the receptacle a to cool quickly after having
been treated as above described, cold air is admitted through the pipe x to said
receptacle a at which time the pipes q are closed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what
I claim is ;-
1. The combination and arrangement of means forming the disinfecting and
drying apparatus herein described substantially as specified.
2. In disinfecting and drying apparatus the combination of a receptacle for the
articles to be treated, a steam generator, means for supplying steam from one to
the other, pipes arranged so that air passing through them to the receptacle shall
be heated and a propeller for forcing air through said pipes substantially as set
forth.
Loto
thin th day at
H. C. LONGSDON,
Per Samuel Hey,
Agent.
Lozoa the A
H. C. LONGSDON,
Per Samuel Hey,
Agent.