US1521620A - Cleaning machine - Google Patents

Description

Jan, 6," 1925.

1,521,620 J. B. HADAWAY CLEANING MACHINE Filed June 14, 1919 Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

UNITED ssrss JOHN B. HADAWAY, F SVVAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE, MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATE-RSGN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Application filed June 14,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. HADAWAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer tain Improvements in Cleaning Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters'on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the cleaning of such material as shoe uppers of cloth .or leather, when such material has become I soiled.

The present practice of cleaning shoe uppers, particularly when the shoes are to be packed for shipment, is to rub the material, by hand, with an erasing substance such as rubber. This practice has the advantages that there is no oil which can be thrown off so as to get on the goods, and there is no abrasion of the goods, and no separate cleaning fluid or similar substance is required.

Important features of the present invention reside in a novel organization of poweroperated means which, while simulating the hand method of cleaning above referred to, and retaining the characteristicadvantages thereof, render theoutput uniform as compared with hand cleaned goods, and provide for performing the operation continuously at a faster speed than is possible when the work is performed manually. 1

Another objection to the ordinary hand method of cleaning colored shoe uppers by a rubbing action with gum is that the operator usually rubs the material longitudinally or in one plane so as to result in making a smooch upon the goods. A further important feature of my invention resides in the provision of novel means whereby the cleaning element always moves in a curved path and also toward and from the work so that, as the material is shifted along while in contact with the cleaning material, the rubbing lines upon the goods are constantly crossing each other. V

With these and other features of my. invention, which will be hereinafter more specifically referred to, the invention consists in the cleaning device substantially as here inafter described and claimed.

CLEANING MACHINE.

1919. Serial No. 304,237.

. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one machine or device embodying my improvements.

' Flgs. 2, 8 and 4c are views similar to .a

portion of Fig. 1, but illustrating other embodiments of my invention.

Referring Ifirst to Figfl, a suitable base 12 is formed or provided. with a standard having arms 13,141. At the end 'of arm 13 1s a bearing 15 in which is mounted a shaft 16 having means for rotating it such as fast 1, the means for varying said throw may' consist of a plurality ofholes in the arm 24-, the end of the link 25 being adapted to be engagedwith either one of said holes. Y

The spindle 22 is preferably adapted to V be shifted endwise in the bearings 20,21, a spring 26 confined betwee'nthe bearings 20 and the hub 23 serving to yieldingly hold the spindle 22 and the rribbenpresently described, in its lower position' Suitably attached to the loweriend of the spindle 22 and at one side of the axis thereof is a holder 27 for the'cleani'ng material 28. J As shown. said holder is open from end to end to enable a piece of the cleaning material to be inserted-and then, as it wears, to be ad justed as by pushing it down." The holder 27 may beof any shape or kind and may be provided with any suitable means for gradually ejecting "or pressing the material 28 down as it wears The cleaning material 28 is preferably what is known as art gum,

and it is so carried bythe holder 27'as to projectat the lower end of the latter;

IVhen themachine of the type illustrated in Fig. 1 is in operation, a short radius of oscillation is imparted to theholdcr 27 and the rubbing 'inaterial 28, which latter has a combined twisting and oscillating movement relatively to the work which will be fed along, in contact with the lower end of said material, by the operator.

The holder 27 may be supplied with new material either through an open upper end 7 and may be fed downward by any suitable In Fig. 2 the parts having the same ref" 7 erence numerals as in F ig.- 1 are or may be the in structure. Said figure, however,- illustrates means whereby the holder and the rubber carried thereby moves in a com plete circular path instead of oscillating;

For this purpose a pulley 30 is secured to the spindle 22, said pulley and the spindle and the rubber beingretatecl by means of a belt 31-. A spring 82 confined between the bearing 20 and the pulley 3O yieldin ly holds the spindle in its lower position, but

at the same time permits the spindle to be either shifted upwardly by the operators pressure of thework against the rubber, or to cause the spindle and its rubber to shift i'yertieally, this latter movement being ef= fected by means of a stationary cam rib 88 which may be a part of the bearing 21, and a cam 34 carried by the pulley so.

In Fig. 1 I- have indicated, by arrows ad= jacen't the rubber 28, the approximate path of movement which said rubber has rela tively' to the work; In Fig; 2 I have indi= cated by the line a the path which the rubber follows when the cam 34 is not riding on the cam rib 33, the line 6 indicating the path in a higher plane which is followed by the tip" of the rubber 28, while the cam 3: is riding over the cam rib 83; In plan View the lines a and 32 would, of course, describe a circle. Fig. 2 being a perspective, however, the lines a and 37,- by comparison; indicate that during a part of the rotation of the rubber its tip is in a lower plane than when said tip is moving through that portion of the path indicated by the line i). This, when the work is being fed along by the operator,- results in the rubber making a rapid series of rubhing contacts with the work, all of which will be in the same direction but, owing to the feeding the work along, the curved lines or paths of rubbing contact will cross each other; In Fig. 3 the structure is substantially the same. as in Fig. 2 excepting that the cani and cam rib are omitted so that the tip of the rubber 28 moves in a circular path of uniform plane. a

The modification shown in Fig. 4 is the same asth'at shovn in Fig. l ex'cept that 3e and cam rib 33 have been added to produce a light pounding against the work.

The actuating mechanism in Fig. 1 is preferable because the rubbing path of contact with the work is not only curved, but is also back and forth so as to very closely simulate the most eli'ective rubbing movement that is erformed manually; This movement is particularly effective because there is a continual flexing 01 the tip of the rubber back and forth at the ends of the rubbing strokes.

Of course, any means for removing the small particles of rubber which will be contiuually leaving the cleaning material may be simple ed, such as suitable brushing or vacuuin' t eviees not necessary to illustrate.-

When the modification shown in Fig. 4 is used the tip of the cleaning material 28 will have not only the peculiar back and forth rubbing movement in a curved path, but also will be rapidly moved to and from contact with the materiaL 'Owing to the fact that the work is held against the tip of the material 28,- and thefact that the said material audits holder may yield, due to the spring 26, the cam mechanism of Fig; 4; will result in constantly varying the amount of pressure or contact with the work because the mere act of the operator in presenting the work to the rubber will cause the work to tend to somewhat follow any ver ticalmovements of the rubber so that, as the latter reeiprocates or oscillates, it has a motion which might be compared somewhat to a light hammering contact between the rub her and the work.

By the term rubber employed herein I mean to include any material which cleans by a rubbin action, whether the material be art gum or caoutchouc; or some equivalent thereof, which cleans without abrasion or without the addition of some othe r substance; When art gum is employed, it is desirable tc strengthen it to reduce its liability to break -Suchstrengthening may be eiiected by a core of tough or fibrous material. 1

Having described claim is z i 1. A cleaning device of the character described comprising arnbber carrier mounted to move about an axis ofise't from the center of the rubber and open from end to end to enable the r'ubberto be adjusted therein, and means for actuating said carrier.

2; A machine of the character described comprising a work-engaging member.v and mechanically actuated means for moving it bodily in the plane of the work and intermittently toward and away from that plane,

3, A machine of the character described comprising a spindle having a holder at one side of the axis of said spindle, cleaning ma terial carried by said holder, said holder comprising a tube open from end to end to my invention, what I scribed comprising, in combination, a cleaning member, means for moving said member in engagement with a piece of work, means to press said member against the work, and means intermittently to vary the pressureon said member.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a holder having rubbing material, and mechanism for imparting to said holder co-ordinated movements in different planes to move the rubbing material in a three-dimensional orbit.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a spindle having a tubular holder laterally offset therefrom, a rubber adjustably. fitted within said holder so as to protrude from one end thereof, and means for shifting the holder around the axis of the spindle.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a spindle having a holder, a rubber carried by said holder, and means for imparting reciprocatory and oscillatory motion to the spindle and holder.

10. In a machine of the class described,

in combination, a holder, cleaningmaterial adjustably mounted therein to beadvanced as it wears away, a rotarys'haft, and connections therebetween to oscillate said holder bodily to and fro once for each rotation of the shaft, said connections being adjustable to vary the extent of the oscillations.

11. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a work-engaging member, a

rotary shaft, andconnections therebetween' to'move said member bodily in engagement with a piece of work and to move it intermittently toward and from the Work.

12. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a work-engaging member, a rotary shaft, and connections between said member and shaft to move the former about an axis located exteriorly thereof and to pound it against the work, said connections including coacting parts arranged to be separatedor brought together according to the pressure of the work against said member so that varying said pressure will vary the pounding action of said member.

13. A cleaning machine comprising, in combination, a flexible stick of cleaning material, a support therefor, and mechanism to move the support back and forth with the stick in rubbing engagement with a piece of work, the stick and support being relatively arranged so that the stick flexes'reversely at opposite ends of its rubbing strokes in imitation of hand manipulation, for the purpose described.

14. A machine as defined by claim 13, in combination with a cam for intermittently varying the pressure of the cleaning material on the work. g

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN B. HADAWAY.

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