US495244A - dixon - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. G. DIXUN.

COLLAR 0R GUFI' DRYING MACHINE.

No. 495,244. Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

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(No Model.) Sheets-Sheet. 2. J. G. DIXON.

v COLL-AR 0R GUFI' DRYING MACHINE. p No. 495,244. l Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. G. DIXON.

- GOLLAB. oR-GUPF DRYING MACHINE. En No. 495,244. Patented Apr. 1l, 1893.

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45; AHORA/EVS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN G. DIXON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HERMANN WILCK, OF SAME PLACE.

COLLAR OR CUFF DRYING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,244, dated'April 11, 1893.

Application led February 28, 1891. Serial No. 383,278. (No model.)

T @ZZ whm t Wwf/y concern: represents a vertical longitudinal section of Be it known that I, JOHN G. DIXON, a citimyimproved collar and cuff drying machine, zen of the United States, residing in the city, showing the drying chamber with its vesticounty, and State of New York,have invented bule at the ingoing end and vthe pendent 55 certain new and useful Improvementsin Colvalves at the outgoing end, also the adjustlar or Cuff Drying Machines, of which the able compartment containing the driving following is a specitication. sprocket-Wheels. Fig. 2 is a top-view of a This invention has reference to certain im? Inodied form of carrierframe, showing its provements in the patent for collar and cuff connection with the drive-chains and the 6o IO- drying machines for which Letters Patent tracks on which itis moved. Fig. 3 is a perwere granted to me, No. 431,7 66, dated July spective view of a portion of the drying 8, 1890, which improvements are designed with chamber, with the casing broken away so as the view of simplifying the construction of to show the relative position of the tracks, the apparatus and of rendering the same more steam pipes', sprocket-wheels, drive chains 65 I5 elfective while in use, especially as regards and carrier-frames.

the shutting out of the cold air from the dry- Similar letters of reference indicates correing chamber, the arrangement of the curved spending parts. tracks vfor the movable carrier-frames, and Referring to the drawings, A represents the the arrangement of the driving sprocket drying chamber which is supported on cross- 7o 2O wheels in a separate compartment, said comtimbers made vin the shapeof a rectangular partment being made movable and adapted boxor compartment the walls of which are to be arranged relatively to the drying chammade of wood and lined with sheet metal. ber so that the endless chain by which the The drying chamberA is provided with inlet carrier-frames yare moved can be tightened openings a at the bottom, for the admission 75 from time to time as required. Y of cold air, and with outlet openings a at the The invention consists substantially as top part for the escape of the hot air and the hereinafter shown and described of an immoisture evaporated from the articles passedy proved collar and cuff drying machine which through the drying chamber. In the drying is composed of a drying chamber having horichamber A are arranged a number of hori- 8o zontally arranged steam-coils, and movable zontal steam-coils B, the lowermost coil of valves at the out-going end. Endless drivewhich is arranged close to the bottom of the chains are mounted on guide sprocket-wheels drying chamber and extended from one end Y and are moved by rotary sprocket-wheels of to some distance from the opposite end, while larger size which are arranged in a separate the remaining coils are arranged at properin- 85 compartment which is capable of adjustment tervals one above the other. The coils B extoward the drying chamber so as to keep the tend alternately from opposite ends of the endless drive-chains taut. To the endless drying chamber but terminate at some dischains are pivoted a number of carrier-frames tance from the opposite end-wall, so as to leave on which the screens containing the collars a sufficient space for permitting the passage 9o 4o and cus are placed. At the out-going end of the carrier-frames alternately around said of the drying chamber an auxiliary endless steam-coils in their'passage through the drychain is arranged. carrying pendent valves ing chamber. Above and close tothe steamthat are so arranged as to drop into the space coils B are arranged horizontal tracks C C between two carriers, said valves preventing which are preferably supported on brackets 95 the ingress of the cold air into the drying b attached to the side-walls of the drying chamber. chamber A. On the tracks C C are guided a The invention consists further of certain n umber of carrier-frames D which are moved additional details of construction, which will over the tracks in close proximity to the steambe fully explained hereinafter and finally .coils so as to receive the full effect of the ra` roo 5o pointed out in the claims. diant heat of the steam-pipes. The carrier! In the accompanying drawings, Figure l frames D are supported on rollers or wheels applied to diagonally opposite corners of the same, said carrier-frames being pivoted by laterally-extending center pivots d to the drive-chains E which are guided over sprocket-wheels E that are arranged alternately at opposite ends of the drying chamber but intermediatelybetween thesteam-coils arranged 1n the same, as shown clearly in Fig. l. The shafts of the sprocket-wheels E are supported in suitable journal bearings of the sidewalls of the drying chamber A, said sprocketwheels serving simply as guide-wheels for the drive-chains, while two sprocket-Wheels E2 of larger diameter than the sprocket-wheels E serve `as driving wheels for the endless chains E. The larger driving sprocket-wheels E2 are located in an independent compartment F which is supported by anti-friction rollers on longitudinal supporting timbers attached to the tloor. The auxiliary .compartment E is, like the drying chamber7 made of wood lined with sheet metal and contains the driving sprocket-wheels. The driving sprocketwheels E2 extend through an opening in the top-part of the compartment F so that the drive-chains can pass from the same to the vestibule A at the in-going end of the drying chamber, as shown in Fig. l. The shaft of the sprocket-wheels E2 is supported in bearings of the compartment E and receives rotary motion by suitable transmission from a power-shaft, while all the movable parts of the apparatus receive their motion from the shaft of the sprocket -wheels E2. Setscrews f pass through the end-wall of the compartment F next adjoining the wall of the drying chamber A and press against said eudwall, said screws serving to adjust the relative position of the movable compartment F to the drying chamber Aand permit thereby the taking up of the slack of the drive-chains in case of the stretching or lengthening of the same by use. The drive-chains form, in connection with the carrier-fram es pivoted thereto, a so-called endless sectional apron which is continually kept in motion so as to pass the articles placed on the saine through the drying chamber and subject them during their passage, to the drying action of the heat in the same.

The carrier-frames D are made of oblong shape and adapted to support the screens on which the articles to be dried are placed. The carrier-frames D are provided with wheels or rollers d that are placed on short axles located at diagonally opposite corners of the same, said rollers or tram-wheels being designed to support the weight ot' they carrier-frames which are placed on the drive-chains while moving over the horizontal parts of the tracks and to maintain the carrier-frames in a horizontal position while the drive chains are moving over the sprocket-wheels at the curved portions of the tracks. The roller d at one corner of the carrier-frame D is guided along the track attached to one side-wall of the drying chamber, while the roller d at the diagonally opposite corner of the carrier-frame is guided along the track vsupported on the opposite side-wall of the drying chamber. When drying heavy and bulky articles 'on the carrierframes they may be arranged with rollers d at each corner, in which case two tracks are arranged at each side of the drying chamber for the rollers as shown in Fig. 2. At the points where the carrier-frames pass around the sprocket-wheels, the guide tracks are curved and extended over and parallel with the horizontal track portions next below the same, as shown in Fig. 1, the inner curved portions of the track being provided with gaps or recesses bx for the passage of the pivots connecting the frames D with the drive-chains. By means of the curved end-portions of the ltracks C C the carrier-frames D are readily transferred from the upper tracks to the intermediate and lowermost tracks in the drying chamber. By the curved end portions of the tracks certain defects in the arrangement of the tracks described in my prior patent were overcome, inasmuch as it enables the rollers of the carrier-frames to leave the end of one track and pass along the overlapping extensionsof the curved end portions and the curved portionsuntil the carrier-frames haverounded the sprocket-wheels and arrived at the next horizontal track portion. While rounding thev supporting sprocket-Wheels E the weight of the carrier-frames is entirely upon the pivots of the drive-chains which are supported at that time by the sprocket-wheels E. It will be observed that no gaps are required in the curved portions of the tracks for those rollers which are at that time either at the front or rear of the carrier-frames, whereby a steady and easy motion of the frames around the sprocket-wheels is obtained. The gaps are only suliciently large to permit the passage of the connecting pivots or trunnions of the carrier-frames and chain, but not large enough to allow the guide-rollers to pass through the same, so that the latter are compelled to move along the tracks and produce thereby the steady, horizontal motion of the carrier-frames through the drying chamber. The curved end portions of the tracks are like the horizontal portions supported by brackets extending from and attached to the side-walls of the drying chamber. The forward end of each carrier-frame D is provided with an upwardly extending liange dX which is nearly equal in width with the height of the narrow vestibule A arranged at the in-going end of the drying chamber A. This vestibule is formed of parallel walls which form a throat-like extension of the drying chamber above the compartment F. The vestibule is of somewhat greater length than the Width of a carrierframe, so that the ilanges on passing into the same partially close the vestibule, byl which the ingress of a good deal of cold air which would seriously injure the ventilation in the drying chamber is prevented. The flanges dx are preferably made of sheet iron and pro- IOO l'IO

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vided with flexible edges of canvas 'or o ther suitable material so as to makeaperfect joint when passing through the vestibule A.

At the outgoing end of the drying chamber A where the drive-chains with their carrierframes make their exit from the same, it is impracticable to use a vestibule in the same manner as at the ingoing end of the drying chamber, for the reason that in drying collars or cuifs or like articles they are liable to curl up or increase otherwise in bulk and size so as to be liable to be scraped o from the carrier-frames when passing through the narrow exit opening. To prevent, however, the entrance of cold air at the outgoing end, movable valves g are arranged which are applied to an endless chain g that is supported on sprocket wheels g2 and arranged between horizontal partitions g3 at some distance from the bottom of the drying chamber. These horizontal partitions gS are attached to the side-walls of the drying chamber and form two passages, the upper for the return-motion of the valves and the lower for the carrierframes. The sprocket-wheels g2 are driven by suitable transmission from the sprocketwheel E next above the outgoing end of the drying chamber as shown in Fig. 1. The valves g are pivoted to the endless chain g and are so arranged as to drop in the space between two adjoining carrier-frames. The chains g are propelled at the same rate of speed as the drive-chains tol which the carrier-frames are pivoted, so that the pendent doors or valves g travel with the same speed and keep thereby the outgoing passage at the rear of each carrier-frame closed. The endless chain g is prevented by horizontal rails g4 from sagging by the weight of the pendent valves. While the valves move through the lower passage, their upper ends will be close to the lower horizontal partition g3, while their lower ends will drag upon the floor of the drying chamber. As each Iof these valves emerges from the drying chamber, it will be lifted by the endless chain g around the sprocket-wheels and passed in inclined position through the narrow upper passage between the partitions gs until they are dropped again into the space between the carrierframes, the valves keeping thereby the outgoing air passages closed while allowing the carrier-frames to pass from the drying chamber A into the adjoining compartment F. When drying more bulky substances, it may be desirable to use movable valves operated by an endless chain at the ingoing end of the drying chamber in the same manner as at the outgoing end.

The operation of the apparatus is similar to the one described in my prior patent before referred to, with this diiference that the screens are placed on the sectional apron at the upper part of the driving sprocket-wheels E2 near the vestibule at the ingoing end of the drying chamber. The articles that are to be dried are then conducted through the .drying chamber and dried by the heat produced in the same by the steam-coils, the moisture evaporated being carried on' by the upward draft established between the bottom and top-Ventilating yopenings of the drying chamber. When the carrier-frames leave the drying chamber the articles on the same are conducted to the box of the compartment F, where they are taken off from the carrier-frames by the attendants, and subjected to the ironing operation.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, witha drying chamber having guide-tracks provided with curved portions at alternately opposite ends, of guid- -ing sprocket-wheels at the curved portions, a separate movable compartment for receiving the articles when dried, driving sprocketwheels of larger diameter in said compartment, endless drive-chains over the guiding and driving sprocket-wheels, and means for adjusting the separate compartment relatively to the drying chamber so as to keep the drive-chains taut, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, of a drying chamber, horizontal heating coils in the same, tracks having curved end portions at alternately opposite ends, endless drive-chains, guiding sprocket-wheels for said chains located in the drying chamber, driving sprocket-Wheels outside of the same, an auxiliary endless chain at the outgoing end of the drying chamber and pendent valves applied to said chain and adapted to close the outgoing end of the drying chamber, so as to prevent the ingress of the cold air, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, withra drying chamber, of endless drive-chains, carrier-frames pivoted thereto, horizontal partitions at the outgoing end of a drying chamber, an endless chain moving at the same speed as the drive-chains and valves pivoted to said auxiliary chain, said valves dropping between the carrier-frames and being adapted to close the outgoing end of the drying chamber and prevent the ingress of the cold air, substantially as set forth. Y

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as vlol:

IIO

my invention I have signed my name in presv Witnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, CHARLES SCHROEDER.

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