USRE12172E - Starching-machine - Google Patents

Description

'REISSUED NUV. 24, 1903.

W. J. ASHER.

STARGHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 4, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEEET 1.

3 noentoi No. 12,172.. 1 I REISSUED NOV. 24, 1903. W. J. ASHER.

STARCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEU.4,190Z

2 sHnBTssHEM 2.

animate; I @Q g 24am.

6. Maine 13 a UNITED STATES,

Reissued November 24, 1903;

PAT ENT OFFICE.-

STARCHlNG-MACHlNEr SPECIFICATION forming part of Beissusd Letters Patent No. 12,172, dated November 24, 1903'. Original No. 680.559, dated August 13. 1901. Application for reissue filed December 4, 1902. Serial No. l33.845.

ject of my invention is to overcome these dif-' ficulties.

In carrying. out my invention the collars, cuffs, or other goods are fed from a table .upon the endless apron and between the same and another endless apron, which aprons pass over and between rollers and down through the vat or receptacle of hot starch mixture.

. As the apronsemerge-from the vat they pass over a roller similar to the first roller and beyond which the aprons separate. At the point of separation I place a roller woundwith wire spirally in opposite direction from the center. This roller preferably travels faster than I the-apron and acts tospread'out evenly the upper apron. The upper'apron then passes between rollers which remove from the apron by a squeezing operation the surplus starchy mixture. The apron then passes and meets the first apron, and the two pass the stretchroller. At this meeting-point the upper apron from which the starchy mixture has been squeezed, comes in' contact with the surface ot'v the collars, cuffs,- or similar articles and re moves, or, in other words, absorbs, from the surface thereof the surplus starchy mixture. At this roller the aprons again separate, the upper one passing forward and the lower one rearward. The stretch-roller is adjustable, so that a tension may be applied to the upperapron, and Iemploy another stretch-roller at the back end of the machine and over which the lower apron passes, which serves the additional purpose of allowing one of the rollers and the apron to be shifted, so that r the collars an l cuffs instead of passing to the rear of the-imachine to'be removed by a second attendant may be caused to fall upon the DIVISION A.

upper apron and be carried forward to the at-. 'tendant feeding the same into the machine? It is necessary to guide both aprons as they pass through the machine, because they are liable to move to either one side or the other of the machine. To rectify this movement of the aprons, I provide guide-cams upon shafts in bearings and rollers overwhich the aprons pass, which rollers act together with the guidecame. 'in bearings which at one side of the machine are pivoted, while the bearings at the other side of the machine have a motion in line with the frame of the machine. I em ploy one of these devices for each of the aprons, and

The'guide-cams and-their shafts are they are located adjacent to where the aprons I pass downinto the vat of starchy material.

Thepeculiarconstruction ofthese guide-cams .one set of guide-cams, their shafts, and the adjacent parts of the machine. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the two guide cams shown'in Fig. 4, their shafts being in section and the view showing the smallercam first and the larger cam behind. Fig. 6 is a partial eleva-- tion and cross-section of the two shafts of the guide-cams, their gears, andadjacent parts on line 6 6, Fig. 4, looking toward the righthand frame; and Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but with the guide-cams in the reverse position. In Figs. 5, 6, and 7the parts are shown as of the same size as those in Fig. 4.

Power is communicated to the starchingmachine by the belt 2 and the fast and loose pulleys 4 5 on the shaft 6, and the belt 2 is moved to stop and start the machine by the belt-shifter 3. 'The shaft 6 is in bearings 7 8 upon the frame of the machine, and the said shaft carriesworm-wheels 9 10. These orniends of the shafts of the main roller ad, and

through the worm -wheels 9 10 and worm- ,be removed. a

gears 11 12 and the rollers 01 a the aprons are driven and'motion communicated to the other devices of the machine.

Upon the shaft of the roller a is a spurgear 13. (Shown by dotted lines, Fig. 1, and full lines, Fig.4.) This gear meshes with a small spur-gear ,14 on the shaft of the Spreading-roller 15. The aprons c 0' pass over a portion of the surface of the main rollers a a,

and I prefer to make the surface of the roll ers a and a with spirally-arranged ribs, as shown in Fig. 4, as the same assists in evening the aprons.

In the sheet-metal vat 'm is placed the hot starch material or mixture, and in the va't, supported by suitable frames, are series of rollers 21, between and around which pass the endless aprons c a; Adjacent to the lower portion of the vatm I place a steamjacket'22 for the purpose of keeping the mix ture hot and the lower end of the vat is provided with a discharge tube and valve 32, by.

means of which the contents of the vat can The spreading-roller 15 from the center to the ends, and the same is caused to travel faster than the apron by the relative sizes of the spur-gears 13 14, and in this way the wet belt is spread .out and evened as it passes around over the said roller 15. The rubber'squeezing -rollers b b are in suitable bearings upon adjustable bearingboxes 25, capable of a certain extent of movement by means of a screw, (shown in Fig. 1,) and the bearings of the roller b are in levers v 26, pivoted to the bearing-boxes 25, (shown in Fig. 1,)to the free ends of which levers some ,form of a weight device is preferably connected, the action of the levers being to press thesqueezing-rollers tightly together for the purpose of removing any surplus ofstarehy material from the upper apron c as the same passes between the said squeezingrollers. The starchy material so removed falls upon the back of theapron c as the same descends into the vat.

The stretch-rollers'd dhavebearings in 'movable frames, the said frames being connected to the screws 19, whichscrews maybe turned by handles to feed the same frames nearer to or farther from one end of the machine. The bearings of the stretch-roller d are fixed in the frames; but the bearings of the stretch-roller d are in the form of jaws into which the ends of the shaft of the roller are received. The apron 0 passes from the rubber rollers b b to and around the stretchroller d,while the apron 0 passes from the main roller Ct to and under the surface of the roller (1 and then over the surface of the roller d and away to. the rear of the machine over the stretch-roller d. This stretch-roller d is also in movable bearings operated by handles and screws 18. The special function of the roller d is to stretch the apron c, the apron 0 being stretched by the stretch-roller d and shafts i i.

I is wound with wire spirally and closely in oppositedirections adjusted at the bearing boxes 25 of the squeezing-rollers.

The'stretch-roller (F may be moved considerably nearer to the machine, so as to slacken up the apron c sufficiently for the roller (if to be lifted out of its bearing-jaws and placed in the jaws 21, which are in a plane forward of the bearings of the stretchroller (1. 1

Each ef the devices employed by me to return either one or both of the endless aprons into the proper path consists of rollers and guide-cams. e 2' represent the rollers, ff one pair of guide-cams, and g g the other pair of guide-cams.

The guide-camsff are upon shafts h h, and the guide-carhsg g are upon The respective ends of the shafts are received in bearingboxes vin suitable frames held in place by the action of springs.

The shafts h it have bearing-blocks 30 at their respective endsfand the shafts it" have bearing-blocks 33 at their respective ends. One bearing-block 30 (see Fig. 3) is pivotally secured in an opening in the frame'of the machine, while the other. bearing-block 30 is in a frame k ,v which frame is provided with a downwardly-extending portion carrying one end of they roller 2-, while the other end of the roller e is carried in a pivot 31. (See Fig. 3.)

The bearing block 33 at one end of the shafts it" is pivotally held in a frame 7a, which frame 7c is connected to a bracket-portion of the main frame (see Fig. 2) by pivot-points,

upon which "the same may swing, and the.

lower end of the frame k has a bearing for one end of the roller e. The bearing'block 33 at the'other'end of the shafts'i i, is pivotally held in a frame 70, which frame has a downward-extending portion forming a hearing for the other end of the roller 6'.

Each of the frames 7.: 70 is made with outwardly-extending arms having forked ends,

which ends rest upon and straddle portions of the frame. The shafts h h and it" are connected together by gears 27 28, and chains 29, passing around the shafts h and 'i, have 'rro their respective ends rigidly fastened to'the frame of themachine. The frames is and k are supported at the arms, which arms are forked and rest upon the. frame of the machine. The function of the chains-29 and gears 27 and 28 will be hereinafter more fully described. p

In the operation of the machine the collars,

cuffs, and similar articles to be starehed are placed upon a feed-table 1 and are fed by an attendant between theapronscc, where they come together adjacent to the feed-table and pass over the main roller a. The said articles are then carried between the two aprons down into the vat of hot starch mixture and/ between the series of rollers 20 21 in a tortu ous direction, and in transit the starch is thus worked through the aprons into the celllars-and cuffs, and as the aprons pass out of the vat they pass over the roller a and sepa-.

rate at the spreading-roller 15, the action of starched goods absorbs from them-the surout the upper apron as the same passes over roller b and between the same and t down into the vat.

- 34 and up over the roller 0,

. inbefore described, as well as the fact that,

' toward theii-lrward end of the machine. The

- placed in the jaws 24, and the stretch-roller cams and their shafts and bearings it will be .tion of movement of the aprons and the va- -rio'us rollers, and after the apron passes pass beneath the roller (1. The apron c to theroller d, carrying goods to the operator feeding'the same into the machine, except where specially specified which, as hereinbefore described, isto smooth said roller 15. The goodsstarched continue upon the apron c toward-the stretch-rollerd and the apron 0 passes forward ar'o nd' the h eroller b, which rollers squeeze the starch from the apron c, and the surplus falls upon the back of the same apron, passing in the opposite direction around the rollers b and a down into the vat. The arrows indicate the direcaround the roller b' it passes rearward toward the stretch-roller d and there meeting the plus starch as thego'ods 'and the two aprons passes around the roller d'ahd again'forward over the roller e'to the roller b, and so again The apron c continues upward over the roller d and rearward down the starched goods upon itssurface and delivering thesame to be removcdattherollerd byan attendant. From the roller d the apron passes around a roller and at this point beneath the apron a drippan l is provided for receiving any surplus starch that may fall from the surface of the apron c:" The apron c' then vpasses to and around a roller adjacent to the main roller a, and so downward into the vat, aronndthe series of rollers 21, and upadjacent to the feed-table, and over the roller 36, and thence to and around the main roller a to complete the operations. The functions'of the squeezing-rollers b b and the spreading-roller 15 have been hereeach of the mainrollers a and a has a spirally-wound surface in opposite directions and performs the function of a spreadingroller.v If it is desired to return the starched the machine, the screws 18- are rotated to slacken th'fipron 'c' and bring the 'roller d roller (1 is then lifted out ofits bearingsand d is then moved by the screws jrearward of the machine until the proper tension is brought to bear upon the apron c. In this position it will be seen that the starched goods do not continue upon the apronc', but after passing around the roller d continue forward upon the apron 'c'togbe removed by the attendan t-who 'fed the'm'into the machine.

It is to'be remarked that the parts shown in Fig. 1 connected to the frame of the machine are duplicated upon the other side of to the con trary. In connection with the guidenoticed that these devices are similar, and a description of the parts specially shown in Fig, 4-will serve to describe the operation of both devices.

.Fig. .5, three By reference to Figs.'4, 5, 6, and 7 it will be noticedthat the shaft h carries the guidecam f and passes through the cam f' and that the shaft h, which carries the cam f, passes through the .cam f and that the cam f is smaller than the cam f to an extent equal in the diameter of the cam to. twice the dis tance between the centers of the shafts h h, and the peculiar construction of the cams will be noted particularly from Figs. 4 and -5, and in Fig. 5 it will be seen that these cams are not a complete circle,

right-hand end (looking from-the rear of the machine) of the said shafts and that the frame In? roller'e and is provided with arms, forked at the ends to straddle portions of the frame thatare inclined to a horizontal line. In the operation of, this guiding device and for the will suppose thatv purpose of illustration we v the apron c is running 'ofi to the left of Fig. 4 and strikes the guide-cam f, coming be: tween the edge of the cam and the roller e. This will cause the cam to move with the apron and roller and to rotate its shafthand through the gears 27 and 28 to rotate the shaft h and the cam f in an opposite .direction, and this rotation will tend to feed the apron toward the right-hand side of the machine, or toward the cam f, because the guideroller e will thus be swung out of square with the machine. It will be noticed that should thecam f t-urnin the direction of the arrow, I quarters of a revolution the reduced periphery willfallow the apron to pass free, the'parts at this time occupying the ,position'show'n in Fig. 7. Should the apron then" "ome into. contact with .the cam .f', itwiill, so the same to rotate in the direction of-.th e'ari'ow, Fig. 7, turning its shaft and through the and the guide-cam f. The first movement produced by'the apron coming into contact with the guide-camfwill, through the intervention of the gears'and the chain 29, impart a swinging movement to theframe k and e, moving the end of the roller' the roller nearest the point of vision in Fig. 1 toward the rearward part of the machine, so that the roller e will not be at right angles to the frame of the machine, but, swinging on the pivot 31, will occupy an angular position to the apron and frames of the machine, so as to feed the apron toward the opposite side of the machine in the direction of the guide-camf, and when the aproncomes against the guide-cam f the 7 conditions are reversed, so that the roller e swings toward the trout portionp'f themagears 27 and 28 the shaft but that a portion of the periphery for about one-quarter the circumference is of slightly less radius than the.

at its lower-end carries onebearing of the chine to again cause the apron to travel toward the guide-camf, the frame k meanwhile moving over the surface of the frame at the forked end ofits arms. roller e, with the frame k, has a similar motion and the guide-cams g g a similar action herein have, in accordance with the requ'ire-.

ment of the oflice, been embodied in a divi i sional application for reissue, filed the 8th day of June, 1903, Serial No. 160,664.

' Having thus described my invention what I claim isl 1. In a starching-machine, the combination with endless aprons receiving the goods and means for starching the same, of means for separating the path of the aprons and means for removing the surplus starch from one apron, and means for returning the said apron for it to take up the surplus starch from the collars,'cuffs, or similar articles, substantially as set forth.

2. In a'starching-machine, the combination with an endless apron, and a roll or series of rollers around which the same passes in starching the goods, of a roller 15 around which the apron passes, squeezing-rollers between which the apron is passed to remove therefrom the surplus starch, a roller (1 under which the apron thereafter passes in contact with starched goods so that the apron removes from the starched goods thesurplus starch, and means for supporting the starched goods while the said apronjpasses in cont-act therewith, substantially as set forth. I

3. Ina starching-mach'ine, the combination with the endless apron,'and the rollers mountedin bearings for conveying and delivering the starched goods to the rear of the ma-' chine, of devices forming a second set of bearings for one of the rollers whereby said roller may be shifted from one position to another to alter the relation of the'apron for changing the direction of the travel of the The apron-guide or starched goods at the pleasure of the operator, so that the said goods may be delivered either toward .the rear or toward the front of the machine, substantially as set forth.

4. In a starchi-ng-machine, the combination .with the endless apron, of the stretch-rollers (1 01 and a movable roller d, frames carrying the same and screws for adjusting the position of the said frames and rollers, and jaws. 24 upon the adjustable frames of the roller dfor receiving the shaft of the roller d so as to change the direction of travel of the starched goods, substantiallyas set forth.

5. The combination in a starchingmachine with the endless apron, of the stretch-rollers (1 (Z and a movable-roller 01', frames support,

ing the same and screws for-moving the said frames and rollers to tighten and adjust the positions of the aprons, and jaws 24 upon the frames-of the rollers d d for receiving the shaft of the roller d in a position above the roller 61 so as to divert the path of the starched goodsto the front of the machine instead of to the rear,-substantially as set forth. 7 I

6. In a machine, the combination with an endless apron, of the spreading and evening roller 15 having spiral ribs upon the surface thereof in opposite directions from the center and means for causing the said roller to travel at a different speed from-that of the apron passing over the same, substantially as set forth.

7. In astarching-machi'ne, the combination with the endless aprons and the vat for hot starch material, of a series of staggered spaced-apart rollers within the vat and out of contact-with one another andbetween which the endless aprons pass, Fhe main roller a at the exit of the aprons and a main roller a at the inlet of the aprons, the.'said roller a having spiral ribs on the surface thereof in opposite'directions from the center-toward the ends,substantially asand for the purposes set forth. 1 *8. In astarching-maehinmthe combination with an endless apron, of means-for guiding the apron,--means' for removing the surplus starch therefrom, and means for guidin g the said apron for it 'to take up surplus starch from the starched articles, substantially as set forth. v

WILLIAM J. ASHER. Witnesses: F. L. FREEMAN,

H. M.GILLMAN, Jr,

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