Roll press for removing the water from laundered washing or other textiles

Claim 1

In a roller press for removing water from clean wet washing having roller means against which the washing may be pressed, said roller means including at least one rigid roller and at least one elastic roller comprising a plurality of resilient, pressurized wheel-like elements having cylindrical solid outer portions juxtaposed to one another about a common shaft; the improvement comprising annular, interlocking tongue and groove element means on adjacent, flat peripheral side surfaces of abutting wheel-like elements near the outer peripheral surface thereof and in line with the solid outer cylindrical portions thereof; and end pressure plates maintaining an initial, predetermined axial force on said wheel-like elements sO that relative movement of the outer peripheral surfaces between any of the wheel-like elements in a direction transverse to the axial direction of said elastic roll is substantially minimized under normal and extreme loading conditions, thereby aiding in reducing wear and abrasion of the roller surfaces, and in achieving a relatively smooth outer cylindrical elastic roll surface.