US716157A - Window-cleaner. - Google Patents

Description

No. 7|a,|57. Patented Dec. 16, I902.

c. A. WHEELER.

WINDOW CLEANER.

(Application filed Apr. '7, 1902.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: INVENTOR RRrs PETERS cc. PHom-uwm WASHINGTON n c UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

WIN DOW -CLEAN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,157, dated December 16, 1902.

Application filed April '7, 1902.

To aIZZ whom/it may concern:

Beitknown thatLOARRIEAeNEs WHEELER,

a citizen of the United States, residing in Albany, in the county of Albany, in the State of 5 New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Window-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

Myimproved apparatus is adapted for washing the exterior faces of the sashes, both upper and lower, while the operator stands and works the device in the interior of the building. The parts are portable, and one set will serve for a great variety of sizes and styles of windows.

I adapt the carrier, which aids to effect the cleaning, to run up and down on a guide, with means for operating it. The guide is a part of a frame with two divergent arms, which can be easily dismembered, and which frame when adjusted for use presents what I term a hook, fitting over the upper edge of the sash, so that its weight is supported thereon,

with room for changing the position to a lim ited degree both in the vertical and in the horizontal planes. I provide two different cleaning devices, which maybe, respectively, a brush and a wiper set at an angle in a carrier which is by a cord coacting with gravity moved up and down on the guide-arm on the outside of the sash, and by changing the position of the frame by acting on the arm on the inner side of the sash I change the hori-.

zontal angle, so that either one or the other is applied against the glass and alsovary at will the force with which it is pressed thereon and becomes efiective.

The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a side elevation with the sash shown in vertical section. In this figure the handle is in position for use. Fig. 2 is an elevation at right anglesto theview in Fig. 1 with the handle removed. The remaining figures represent portions on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in central vertical section, showing the fountain and valve on a larger scale. Fig. 4. is a corresponding plan View. Fig. 5 is a plan View of Serial No. 101,659. (No model.)

the washing and wiping device, with a horizontal section of a portion of the upright guide along which it is reciprocated. This is on a still larger scale. Fig. 6 is a side elevation corresponding to the adjacent portion in Fig. 1, showing a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

A is a tube, of gas-pipe or other suitable material, having a slot (1, extending longitudinally a great portion or the whole of its length.

A is a head or crotch adapted to hook over the top of the sash and to rest steadily thereon, allowing for all the usual differences in thickness of different sashes. A socket ain the head A is adapted to receive a rod 0, which may be of hard wood equipped to serve as a handle. Its end is adapted to be inserted in the socket a and removed, as required, in adapting the device for use or for storage.

D is a carrier adapted to move easily up and down in the slotted tube A and having a thin web D extending out through theslot a and engaged at its outer end with a pair of clamps D D operated by a screw E, so that they may strongly engage the body of a brush G. Attached to the same carrier and set at a sufficiently different angle is a pair of clamps D operated by a screw F, adapted to engage a wiper H.

The upper side of the clamp D holding the brush, is adapted to receive water and to deflect it toward the bristles. Water being supplied. at short intervals, as will presently appear, the brush is kept thoroughly wetted while the washing is being performed.

M is a water vessel mounted in the head or hook A and having an aperutre min the bottom stopped by a conical valve P, the body of which is preferably made of soft metal cast on a straight wire P. The wire rod of this valve extends up through'a corresponding small hole m in the close-fitting cover M.

Q is a plug stopping a larger hole in the cover M. I

The water vessel M is so set that the car rier when drawn upward sufficiently strikes the lower end of the conical valve P and lifting it lets down water onto the inclined top of IOO the clamp, from whence it is distributed through the brush. A cord I, attached to the carrier D, leads up the slotted tube A and, being guided over a deeply-grooved pulley J, extends down to the operator, who may hold the cord in one hand and operate it, alternately pulling and releasing it while she holds the handle with the other hand. The operator can see perfectly at all stages how the work is proceeding and may draw the brush forcibly upward against the valve and receive a fresh accession of Water from the reservoir M either at each rise of the brush or at convenient intervals, as it is judged expedient.

A coarse sponge B introduced in the hook A forms a cushion to soften the contact of the frame with the upper edge of the sash.

- Either with or without such cushion the device may be turned horizontally, so as to present either the brush G or the wiper H to the outer surface of the glass and allow the operating of the device to alternately wash and wipe the window. Drawing the handle inward into the room presses the wiper or the brush more forcibly against the glass, while moving the handle downward and outward toward the window removes both devices from the glass and allows the apparatus to be lifted off and transferred to another window, or, taking care to have the water-reservoir M previously emptied, the device may be laid on its side and the handle 0 unshipped, so that it will occupy but a small space when. standing in a corner or otherwise put away for subsequent use.

It will be understood that the water may be supplied to the reservoir M While the device is in the upright position either by lifting the cover M or by removing the plug Q and introducing the water through a sufficient orifice thus presented and reinserting the plug. The wiper may be removed and exchanged at short intervals by operating the screw F.

In any case where the device does not allow the washer and the wiper to traverse to the bottom of the sash the whole of the lower pane or the lower edge thereof can usually be reached with facility from below by the hand and Washed and wiped in the ordinary way.

The unshipping handle is an important member of the combination not onlybecause it allows the device to be, packed in smaller compass for storage and transportation, but also, and more important, because it facilitates the application of the device to the windows and its removal therefrom.

The wiperH maybe of anysuitable form of flexible soft rubber strip properly held in a body or holder.

Modifications may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing theadvantages of the invention. The socket a, in which the handle is set, may be screw-threaded and the handle correspondingly formed. Such is indicated in Fig. 6.

The dimensions and proportions of the apparatus may be varied within wide limits.

The handle may be set at Various angles. I prefer for general work about the angle shown, say thirty degrees. However set, it allows the washing or wiping action to be performed on the outer face of the glass with varying force, according as the handle is moved toward or from the window. All the manipulations can be performed with ease while the operator stands on the floor of the apartment.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a window-cleaning apparatus, a guide Ahaving a hook A at its upper end, in combination with a carrier D movable along such guide having an attached cleaning device and with the cord I and pulley J arranged to aid in reciprocating these parts, and a bandle O rigidly connected to the hook at an angle, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein specified.

2. In a window-cleaning apparatus, a guide A having a hook A at its upper end, in combination with a carrier D adapted to travel along such guide with an attached cleaning device, the cord I and pulley J serving with gravity for reciprocating these parts, and a handle 0 rigidly connected to such hook at an angle, said hook having a socket for receiving said handle at will, all substantially as herein specified.

3. In a Window-washer, having a carrierl) and means for raising it, the water-reservoir M having a valve P in its base, with its lower end projecting into the path of the carrier, substantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

C. AGNES WHEELER.

Witnesses:

J. B. OLAUTIoE, M. F. BOYLE.

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