Improvements in Machines for Dampening Fabrics.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th July, 1897-Accepted, 20th, Nov., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Dampening Fabrics.
I, EDWARD WATSON BUELL, of 395 Fifth Avenue, Chicago, in the County of
Cook, and State of Illinois, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment:
The invention has relation to a dampening machine suitable for dampening
grods and articles in the process of laundrying the same after they have been
starched. The invention has in view among other objects the adaptation of the
invention to a use upon comparatively heavy line of goods and articles, to provide
means for preventing the adhesion of goods or articles to the dampening rollers, and
to provide means for automatically controlling the operation of the devices
employed to prevent such adhesion, also to prevent the application of water to the
article after it is dampened and during its passage from the dampening rollers.
As this machine is intended for dampening starched goods, it seems to be
proper to state that the liability to dislodge or remove the starch from the goods
in an application of water for dampening the same, renders it essential to maintain
a. perfect control of the amount of water which shall be taken up by the dampen-
ing rollers and the amount which shall be delivered therefrom to the goods or
articles being dampened thereby. Now, while dampening shirts and other goods
and articles which are comparatively heavier than collars and cuffs and which
require a larger quantity of water to be absorbed by the dampening rollers, the
same conditions of control of the quantity of water exists as in dampening collars
and cuffs so as to prevent displacement or removal of the starch whereby when
ironed a defective finish would result. Again, difficulties occur in dampening
shirts and other large goods or articles which are not present in operating upon
smaller articles, like collars or cuffs, in that in such former articles there are
portions which are thinner than others and therefore are liable to adhere to the
rollers after passing between the same and to become wound upon one or the other
of the rollers rendering it necessary to stop the machine to disengage the article
from the rollers. Another difficulty to be overcome is that there is a liabilty of
water dropping from the dampening rollers upon an article after it has passed
between said rollers and this is also to be prevented.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following
description and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the
claims.
Referring to the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a substantially central vertical section of the principal elements of a
machine embodying my invention.
Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the principal portions shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the relative arrangement of the water-
receiving doffers and their connection with the trough.
Fig. 4 is a front view of the active face of the doffer employed in connection
with the upper dampening roller, and

page_text: Fig. 5 is a similar view of a like portion of a doffer employed in connection with
the lower dampening roller.
Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures of the drawings.
A represents any suitable frame work for supporting the movable and fixed
portions of the machine. B and B represent the dampening rollers which con-
sist of a body or shell b, a rubber periphery 61 and an 'absorbent covering b². The
rubber periphery serves as an elastic non-absorbent body or periphery of the
dampening rollers which permits the passage of protuberances, such as buttons,
seams and other inequalities of thickness and by their embedment in said elastic
element insures uniformity of dampening at and about the same, with that pro-
duced at other portions of the article. The covering 2 may consist of any suit-
able number of layers of cotton cloth or of any suitable thickness of absorbent
material whether applied in one or more layers. The requisite characteristic of
the absorbent covering is that it shall be limited in its absorbent capacity so that
it shall not take up more water than can be controlled by a proper adjustment of
the dampening rollers against the goods being dampened or against each other.
As in dampening shirts and other large articles the said rollers are adjusted
with a pressure sufficient to produce a trough of water at, along and allove their
line of contact, it is possible by the use of the rollers without any absorbent cover-
ing to produce such a body of water at that place, the invention is not necessarily
limited in this regard to the use of the particular dampening rollers thus far
described.
Cand C represent the water supply rollers of the machine and D and D¹
represent the water troughs or tanks employed in connection with said rollers.
The water rollers C and Cmay be of any suitable and usual construction, but are
preferably formed of a non-corrosive material, such as brass, and may be either
plain or corrugated on their peripheries to facilitate the carriage of the water
from the troughs to the dampening rollers by the rotation of the water rollers
when partly submerged. Any suitable gearing may be employed to rotate the
several rollers in the direction indicated by arrows and any suitable adjusting
means for regulating the distance between, or contact pressure of, the dampening
rollers B and B may be employed.
E represents a table for the support of goods and below the contact line of the
dampening rollers there is a delivery shelf to which, or to a cleat G thereon, is
secured a casting H which is one of a pair employed for maintaining the delivery
shelf in position by embracing a tie rod I and a shaft F as shown. A duplicate
casting is employed at the opposite end of the shelf whereby it is supported.
J represents a yoke of which there are two, one at each side of the machine.
At the extreme ends of the yoke there are formed boxes J' which are hollow as
shown at the left of Fig. 1, and contain a spring J² encircling a rod J at the top
of which is formed a bearing J for the shaft of a water supply roller.
An adjusting nut J5 serves to compress the spring against a shoulder formed on.
the bearing rod and thus to yieldingly force the water supply roller against the
adjacent dampening roller. All of the bearings of the water supply roller are
similarly constructed. Going now to the central portion of the yoke J it will be
observed that its upper edge is slotted as at J". Reciprocations are produced by
means of projecting lugs J7 formed on the yoke between which an eccentric K
operates, said eccentric being operatively mounted upon the shaft upon which
is also mounted a lever L whereby the eccentric may be rotated to raise and lower
the yoke. The yoke is maintained in a vertical plane by being slotted to embrace
the shaft between the eccentric and the frame of the machine and by a guide
bolt or lug J* seated in the frame."
It now remains to describe the means for preventing the adherence of the
dampened goods or articles to the dampening rollers. M represents a doffer which
is applied to each of the dampening rollers at a point below their line of contact.
with each other. Each of the doffers consists principally of a blade m, presented
to the periphery of the roll angularly, as shown, so as to act to strip from the roll

page_text: an approaching edge of an adhering article and to direct an advancing portion of
an article which adheres to the roll at any rearward point so that in either case
the article shall be directed upon the delivery shelf F under all conditions when it
does not naturally arrive at that point. In addition to the blade m, the dotter
comprises an opposing wall m¹ the upper edge of which is also intended to con-
tact with the roll thereby preventing a too positive contact of the bade portion m.
The two walls converge and join each other as shown. At each end of the doffer
there is provided a bearing m² by which the doffer is supported in operative posi-
tion upon a rod N which is bifurcated to rest upon the shafts B2 and B7 respectively
of the two dampening rollers. The opposite end of the rod N is supported by
the yoke J in any desired manner. In this instance a bracket N' is secured to
the yoke and the rod N is seated in said bracket, in this instance by screw-thread-
ing. A nut N2 is threaded on the rod and a coiled spring N encircles the rod
between the nut and the bearing. m². A collar or shoulder N is formed on the
rod above the bearings. The bearings m³ are made tapering inwardly from both.
sides, as at m³, for the purpose of enabling the doffer to seat itself properly against
the dampening roller.
The bearing may be tapered from one side only in order to give the desired
looseness of fitting upon the rod N whereby the doffer may tilt in either direction
across the rod. The contact of the coiled spring while it serves to press the doffer
yieldingly against the dampening roller also permits of said tilting movement
thereof.
In dampening any class of goods wherein a comparatively large quantity of
water or moisture is employed and where such goods are liable to adhere to the
dampening rollers, the doffers thus far described are adapted and competent to
perform the desired-function of preventing such adherence but where as is the case
of heavier goods a larger quantity of water or moisture is employed the <offers
while they separate the goods from the rollers also tend to collect water or
moisture from the rotating dampening rollers and to direct said water upon the
goods which are passed between the rollers, thus deteriorating the uniformity of
the dampness in the goods. To obviate this difficulty and to adapt the one
machine for use upon both classes of goods I provide means whereby the collection
and transfer of water from the rollers to the goods by the doffers is prevented.
In Figs. 3, 4, and 5, one form of construction for that purpose is illustrated.
The front wall m, of each of the doffers is provided with a water receiving
passage m. This front wall or blade portion m, which acts to gather the water,
will when applied to the lower dampening roller B naturally receive and conduct
the water through the passage or passages m into the interior of the doffer, but
the blade portion of the doffer applied to the upper roller B requires the provision
of an upward extension m³ of the lower walls of the water passage m³ in order to
direct the water to said passage.
As the water is collected within the doffer it may be conveyed therefrom to any
suitable point by the flexible pipe m which, if desired, may deliver the water into
the lower trough 13 of the machine.
In bringing the parts of the machine into motion the lever L has been thrown
from a substantially vertical position to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 that is,
inclined to the front. Goods are fed from the table E between the rollers. The
water supply rollers carry the water upwardly until it comes into contact with
the dampening rollers and if the contact pressure of the water supply rollers is
slight the absorbent coverings of the dampening 'rollers take up the water to their
fullest capacity, but if said contact be firm the capacity to absorb is limited in
proportion to said pressure so that a less quantity of water is carried up by each
covering above and below the point of contact of the water supply rollers there-
with. This variable pressure of the water supply rollers against the dampening
rollers is regulated through the medium of a single device, the lever L. The
further the lever is depressed from a vertical position the greater the pressure of
the water rollers. The same manipulation of the lever serves to lift the doffer

page_text: blades into contact with the dampening rollers and by bringing the lever to a
vertical position the water supply rollers may be entirely separated from the
dampening rollers and the doffers also separated therefrom, as for example when
the machine is idle. So also by a lesser movement of the lever L and by a proper
adjustment of the springs N on the doffer rod the water supply rollers may be
separated from, while the doffers remain in working contact with, the dampening
rollers, as for example when said rollers are sufficiently supplied with moisture
for successive operations on a limited quantity of goods.
It is apparent that the details of the connecting and supporting devices may be
varied in numerous particulars of construction and arrangement and yet serve the
purpose of their use. The invention is therefore not limited in this regard but
may be altered in construction and arrangement to any degree within the scope of
mechanical skill without departing from the spirit of the invention.
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. In a dampening machine comprising dampening rollers arranged to run in
connection with each other, doffers arranged to contact with said rollers below the
bight thereof, substantially as specified.
2. In a
dampening machine comprising dampening rollers arranged to run in
connection with each other and to permit the automatic passage of goods there-
from on or into a suitable receptacle, the combination with said rollers of doffer
blades arranged to prevent adhesion of goods and to permit of their unobstructed
passage, substantially as specified.
3. The combination of a dampening roller and a tiltably mounted doffer, sub-
stantially as specified.
4. The combination of a dampening roller, and a tiltably and yieldingly
mounted doffer, substantially as specified.
5. The combination with a dampening roller, of a doffer constructed to con-
tact with the dampening roller at two points and to be tiltingly supported, sub-
stantially as specified.
6. The combination of a dampening roller and a reciprocatively supported
doffer, substantially as specified.
7. The combination with a dampening roller, of a doffer tiltingly, yieldingly
and reciprocatively supported, substantially as specified.,
8. The combination of a dampening roller, a doffer, and means for forcing the
doffer yieldingly against said roller and for separating the doffer from said roller,
substantially as specified.
9. A dofter having a blade portion and a parallel portion for contact purposes
and a bearing which permits a tilting movement of the doffer, substantially as
specified.
10. A doffer having water passages therein, substantially as specified.
11. A doffer having water passages in the blade portion thereof, substantially
as specified.
12. A doffer having water passages therein and a water-directing extension,
substantially as specified.
13. A doffer having means for the collection and the discharge of water, sub-
stantially as specified.
14. A tiltably mounted doffer having means for the collection and discharge of
water and flexible means for receiving and conveying water from the doffer sub-
stantially as specified.
15. The combination with the dampening rollers, of water supply rollers and a
doffer mounted in yokes, and means for bodily raising and lowering said yokes,
substantially as specified.
16. The combination of dampening rollers, doffers, and yokes, and means for
raising and lowering said yokes, substantially as specified.

page_text: 17. The combination with dampening rollers, of water supply rollers and
doffers, and of means for simultaneously separating the water supply rollers and
doffers from the dampening rollers, substantially as specified.
18. The combination with a dampening roller, of a doffer, a rod for supporting
the doffer, said rod being slidably supported at one end and secured to a movable
part at its other end and means for raising and lowering said movable part, sub-
stantially as specified.
19. The combination with a dampening roller, of a doffer, a rod for supporting
said doffer, a coiled spring encircling said rod, a bearing on the doffer through
which said rod passes a collar on said rod above said bearing and means for
reciprocating said rod, substantially as specified.
20. In a dampening machine, doffers supported by a yoke, and an eccentric
operatively connected with the yoke, for raising and lowering the same, substan-
tially as specified.
:
21. In a dampening machine, a yoke, dampening rollers, and doffers mounted
thereon, said yoke being slotted and provided with projections at the ends of the
slot, in combination with a shaft passing through said slot and provided with an
operating lever, and an eccentric rigidly mounted upon the shaft between said
projections, substantially as specified.
22. In a dampening machine, a doffer, a rod carrying and supported to recipro-
cate said doffer in its relation to the dampening roller, and means to produce the
reciprocation of said rod, substantially as specified.
23. In a dampening machine, a doffer, a rod carrying and supported to reciprocate
said doffer in its relation to the dampening roller, means to produce the recipro-
cation of said rod, and a coil spring encircling said rod and yieldingly supporting
said doffer, substantially as specified.
24. In a dampening machine, a doffer, a rod carrying and supported to recipro-
cate said doffer in its relation to the dampening roller, means to produce the
reciprocation of said rod, a spring for supporting said doffer, and an adjusting
nut for said spring, substantially as specified.
25. In a dampening machine, a doffer, a supporting rod for said doffer bifur-
cated at its upper end and passing upon opposite sides of a guide, a reciprocating
yoke by which said rod is carried, and means for reciprocating said yoke, sub-
stantially as specified.
26. In a dampening machine, a doffer, a supporting rod for said doffer bifurcated
at its upper end and passing upon opposite sides of a guide, a reciprocating yoke
by which said rod is carried, means for reciprocating said yoke, and an operating
lever for actuating said reciprocating means, substantially as specified.
27. In a dampening machine, a reciprocating yoke, a doffer carried thereby,
projecting lugs on said yoke, an eccentric located between said lugs, and means
for rotating said eccentric to reciprocate the yoke, substantially as specified.
28. In a dampening machine, the combination with the dampening rollers, of
a reciprocating voke carrying at opposite ends water supply rollers, doffers, located
upon said yoke intermediate of said water supply rollers, means to reciprocate
the yoke to move said water supply rollers and doffers to and from the dampening
rollers, and water troughs carried by said yoke beneath the water supply rollers,
subsantially as specified.
29. In a dampening machine, the combination with dampening rollers, of a
reciprocating yoke carrying at opposite ends water supply rollers, doffers located
upen said yoke intermediate of said water supply rollers, and means for recipro
cating the yoke to move said water supply rollers and doffers to and from the
lampening rollers, substantially as specified.
30. In a dampening machine the combination with a dampening roller and a
water supply roller, of a doffer in contact with said dampening roller, a trough
beneath said water supply roller, and means for conveying the water collected by
aid doffer to the trough substantially as specified.
31. In a dampening machine, the combination with a dampening roller and

page_text: a water supply roller, of a doffer provided with a trough, a trough beneath said
water supply roller, and a flexible connection between said doffer and the. trough
beneath said water supply roller, substantially as specified.
32. The combination with a dampening roller, of a doffer, a rod for supporting
said doffer, a coil spring encircling said rod and vieldingly supporting said doffer,
and a bearing for the doffer through which said rod passes, the inner face of said bear-
ing being inclined in its relation to the rod so as to permit a tilting of the doffer,
substantially as specified.
Dated this 5th day of July 1807.