1C DESICCATION 



Along the middle of the building a strong beam of timber e e extends, and is sup 

 ported by cast-iron pillars ; from this beam, to bearings on the side walls, a series 

 of rails are carried in a cross direction, over which rails the wet cloth is to be hung in 

 folds, and the steam or vapour emitted in drying is allowed to escape through aper- 

 tures or ventilators in the roof. 



The mode in which the cloth is delivered on to the rails, on either side of the beam 

 will be best understood by reference to the delivering carriage, which is shown, with 

 its rollers partly in section. 



The wet cloth is first to be coiled upon a roller, and then placed in the carriage, ns 

 at/, with its pivots bearing upon inclined planes. The carriage is to be placed at the 

 commencement of the rails, running upon the middle beam, and also upon the side- 

 bearings or railways extending along the side walls of the building, parallel to and 

 upon a level with the same beam. It is made to travel by means of an endless band 

 passing over two riggers g and h, in fig. 599, and over pulleys and a band-wheel 

 attached to the carriage, as will be explained. The rigger g, which moves this endless 

 band, is actuated by bevel gear, seen at b, which is pnt in motion by a pinion at the 

 end of a revolving shaft leading from a steam-engine. 



In the same./^., k k, is the endless band passing over a pulley under the band-wheel, 

 and over the pulley n, by which it will be perceived that the traversing of the band, as 

 described, would cause these pulleys and wheels to revolve. On the action of the 

 band-wheel m, there is a drum against which the roll of wet cloth /presses, and as 

 this drum revolves, the roll of wet cloth is, by its friction, made to turn in a contrary 

 direction, and to deliver off the cloth on to the periphery of the drum, whence it passes 

 over a roller and descends to the rails. Upon the end of the axle of the band wheel 

 m, there is a pinion which takes into the teeth of the large wheel, and upon the axle 

 of this large wheel there is a pinion that actuates the intermediate wheel which turns 

 another toothed wheel. This last-mentioned toothed wheel takes into cogs upon the 

 side railway, and hence, as the train of wheels moves round, the carriage to which the 

 wheels are attached is slowly impelled forward. 



As soon as the wheels begin to move, and the carriage to advance, the wet cloth 

 begins to uncoil, and to pass down over the first roller ; a small roller attached to the 

 carriage, as it passes over the rail in succession, holds the cloth against each rail for a 

 short space of time, and prevents it from slipping, by which means the cloth descends 

 in folds or loops between the rails, and is thereby made to hang in a series of folds or 

 loops, as shown in the figure. 



It will be perceived that as the pivots of the cloth roller/bear upon inclined planes, 

 the roller will continually slide down as the cloth diminishes in bulk, keeping in con- 

 tact with the drum, and delivering the cloth from the roller on to the several rails, as 

 described. 



In order to stop the carriage in any part of its course, or to adjust any of the folds 

 of the cloth, a man is usually placed upon the platform travelling with the carriage, 

 over which he has perfect command. This apparatus may be also employed for taking 

 the cloth when dried off the rails ; in which case the carriage must be made to travel 

 backwards, and by first guiding the end of the cloth on to the roller/, and then put- 

 ting the wheels in a retrograde motion, the cloth will be progressively coiled upon the 

 roller/, in a similar way to that by which it was uncoiled. 



DRYING MACHINE (CENTRIFUGAL). (Hydro-extracteur ; Machine a essorer, Fr.) 

 By this contrivance, Pentzoldt was enabled to deprive all kinds of wet clothes in a few 

 minutes of their moisture, without compression or heat. Kelly, a dyer, and Alliott 

 a bleacher, have since obtained a patent for the above machine with improvements. 

 Pig. 600 represents a partial section of the machine. A, A, is the frame; N, tin- 

 vertical shaft turning in the step a, fixed on the bridge b. This shaft bears on its 

 upper part a friction cone c, from which it receives its movement of rotation, as will 

 be presently shown ; c is a drum containing two concentric compartments de, of the 

 form represented in the figure ; this drum moves freely upon the shaft B, and r.-t- 

 when it is not in motion upon two conical projections /, g, which form a part of tho 

 shaft. These two compartments are each composed mainly of metal, and their sides 

 consist of tinned iron wire coiled circularly at very small distances from each other, 

 and soldered together crosswise by small strips of metal. The top which cov 

 inner compartment d, is secured by bolts and screws to a circle of iron which retains 

 the wire sides of the same metal, but that which serves as a cover to tho little com- 

 partment e, in which alone the goods are placed, is disposed so that it may bo removed 

 with ease, when these are to be introduced or withdrawn. It is furnished with an 

 outer and inner border, disposed so that when the top is fixed the inner border 

 presses upon the convex circumference of tho central compartment, while the exterior 

 border falls outside of the edges of the other compartment. While the machine is at 

 work, the second plate is maintained in its place by pins or bolts, not shown in tho 

 figure. 



