Page:Cassier's Magazine Volume XV.djvu/325

Rh difficulty the steam has in getting away is still a fault in these later machines.

An arrangement has been tried for blowing away the steam from the clothes directly they have passed from the heating surfaces, but its efficiency is doubtful. Fig. 19 shows an ironing machine which ought to dry linen after once passing through. It is really two Decoudin ironers combined into one, and thus does away with the handling of the goods between each feed. The special point about it is the endless band on the first roller for preventing the linen from clinging to the roller. The rollers are both padded, and hence the band should allow the moisture to pass through it into the padding of the first roller, unless it can absorb largely itself. One fault is that the moisture, which in its heated state would evaporate, has not time to do so while the linen is passing between the rollers; but this is overcome, at least partly, by the surface between the two rollers being heated. The speed of the machine is about 17 feet per minute. It appears to be a genuine attempt to overcome the loss of time and labour in passing linen twice through a Decoudin ironer, and has the merit of presenting a good arrangement for feeding the linen in.

In comparing the merits of these various machines, it may be noted that, provided the metal surfaces are well polished, there is no need to fear the linen sustaining wear when drawn over them, even when under considerable pressure such as is used in the Decoudin ironer. So far as economy is concerned, it must be remembered that the same number of attendants are required whether the machine does much or little work; and also that there is a practical limit to the speed at which a machine can run, because if too quick, the articles cannot be fed in evenly. The machine is required to deliver the articles

free from creases, of correct and even shape, and with a good finish on the surface. The greater the heat, the better is the finish of the surface.

So far as speed of working is concerned, any machine which runs at 25 feet per minute, and dries the linen properly by once passing through, is not far wrong. The value of the heating surface is governed by the degree of pressure with which the article is held against it; by the temperature to which it is heated,—that is, by the pressure of steam it will stand; and by the ease with which the water can be got away from it in the form of steam. A further point is the ease with which goods can be fed in correctly.

One difficulty, not yet satisfactorily overcome in most machines, is in finishing starched goods, owing to their sticking to the padded surfaces. The calendar, however, is satisfactory in this respect. On the whole, the machine shown in Fig. 18 appears to present many good qualities, and to be fairly free from faults.

In Fig. 20 is shown the principle of working of a collar and cuff machine,