Fuente: WIPO "rice" 15,029. Adams, C. S., and Rice, A. J. Aug. 1, A.D. 1903, [date applied for under Patents Act, A.D. 1901]. Bottles, washing. - Milk bottles and similar articles are cleaned and sterilized by subjecting them to the action of several jets of water or washing-fluid of gradually-increasing temperature. Fig. 1 shows a plan of apparatus for carrying out the process constituting the invention. A tank is divided into three compartments 1, 2, 3 by partitions 4, 5, and above it is mounted a pair of angleirons 6 constituting ways for the passage of boxes 28 containing inverted bottles, the last box pushed on at the left hand of the machine, serving to move forward all the others on the guide-ways 6. Beneath the bottle mouths and in line therewith are two pipes 10, 11 having orifices 12, the portions of the pipes in one compartment being cut off from those in the other compartments by plugs. The two portions of the pipes 10, 11 in each compartment are connected by a pipe 20 with a rotary pump 17, 18, 19, one for each compartment, the supply pipe 21 of each pump being respectively connected with the same compartment. The bottles may be subjected to the action of a washing-liquid in the compartments 2, 3 and to boiling water or steam in the compartment 1. The exterior of the bottles is cleansed by the jets when the bottle mouths do not stand directly above the orifices 12. At first, the liquid in all the tanks is heated by steam injected through pipes 23, but subsequently all the heating is effected in the compartment 1 by pipes 2, 4 heated by the exhaust steam from the engine 15 which drives the pumps, and the liquid from the compartment 1 overflows into the compartment 12 and thence into the compartment 3 from which it is drawn off, so that the temperature of the liquid becomes gradually less in each compartment from 1 to 3.