IMPROVEMENTS IN WRINGING, MANGLING, AND WASHING MACHINES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jesse Cherk, late of the City, County, and State of
New York, in the United States of America, but at present of 23, Southampton
Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WRINGING, MANGLING, AND WASHING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jesse Cherk at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th March 1880.
JESSE CHERK; late of the City, County, and State of New York, in the United
States of America, but at present of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRINGING, MANGLING, AND WASHING MACHINES."
The Invention has for its object improvements in wringing, mangling, and
washing machines.
I will first describe my Invention as applied to a wringing machine.
The framing of the machine consists of a pair of jaws and a lever at each end of
the rollers, the jaws being held at the required distance apart by a stretcher rod
which acts at the same time as a fulcrum for the jaws.
One pair of these jaws is formed with bearings for the lower roller spindle,
guards to the ends of rollers and bearings for stretcher and fulcrum rod.
The other pair of jaws is formed with bearings for stretcher and fulcrum rod,
seats for springs, and tenons and shoulders for lever beams.
The lever beams are formed at one end with bearings for the top roller spindle,
and at the other with seats for C or elliptic springs, and intermediate thereof are
mortices fitting the tenons before mentioned, and such lever beams work on bolts
or rivets which connect them to their supporting jaws.
C or elliptic springs shaped at their ends to fit the seats before mentioned, act to
impart the necessary pressure to the top roller.
The two pairs of jaws are connected together by a stretcher rod which also acts
as a fulcrum for the jaws.
The rollers are formed of india rubber in any well known manner.
A wringing machine thus constructed has unusual self adjusting capacity and.
durability; and the C or elliptic springs are compressed when articles are inserted
between the rollers, the ratio of pressure being proportional to the bulk of the
articles. No change or adjustment is required.

page_text: The strain on the springs being uniformly distributed, they are unusually strong
and elastic.
Thumb screws are employed for the purpose of adjusting the machine to different
thicknesses of tubs, and may be used for the purpose of increasing the tension of
the springs, the stretcher rod acting as a fulcrum for the purpose. An inclined
apron or guard with returned ends hung on the stretcher rod is employed to
prevent contact of the articles with the framing of the machine, and in some cases
the rollers are geared together to ensure their revolving at equal surface speeds, as
is well understood.
Mangling machines are constructed similarly to the above, except that I make one
or both of the rollers of hard material, and an inclined guide board is employed on
each side of the lower roller.
I construct washing machines in a similar manner to the wringing machine,
except that in lieu of one lower roller I employ two, and I form the upper roller of
larger diameter than the lower rollers, whilst I form the surfaces of one or all of
the rollers of india rubber provided with a number of diamond or other shaped
projections or frictional surfaces in lieu of forming them all fluted, ribbed, or
corrugated as heretofore.
In lieu however of mounting the lower rollers in bearings formed in pivotted
jaws as above described, they may be mounted in bearings formed in the jaws
carrying the lever beams of the upper roller.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Jesse Cherk in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th September
1880.
JESSE CHERK, late of the City, County, and State of New York, in the United
States of America, but at present of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRINGING, MANGLING, AND WASHING MACHINES."
The Invention has for its object improvements in wringing, mangling, and
washing machines.
The framing of the several machines consists of a pair of jaws and a lever at each
end of the rollers, the jaws being held at the required distance apart by a stretcher
rod which acts at the same time as a fulcrum for the jaws.
Two of these jaws are formed with bearings for the spindle or spindles of the
lower roller or rollers, guards to the ends of rollers, and bearings for stretcher and
fulcrum rod.
The other two jaws are formed with bearings for stretcher and fulcrum rod, seats
for springs, and tenons and shoulders for lever beams.
The lever beams are formed at one end with bearings for the top roller spindle,
and at the other end with seats for C or elliptic springs and intermediate thereof
such beams are formed with mortices fitting the tenons before mentioned, and such
lever beams work on bolts or rivets which connect them to their supporting jaws.
C or elliptic springs shaped at their ends to fit the seats before mentioned, act to
impart the necessary pressure to the top roller.
The two pairs of jaws are connected together by a stretcher rod which also acts
as a fulcrum for the jaws.
The rollers for washing and wringing machines are preferably all formed of
india rubber, but one or both of those for mangling machines are made of hard
material, and in some cases I form one of the washing machine rollers of other
material than india rubber.
Thumb screws at the lower ends of two of these jaws are employed for the
purpose of adjusting the machine to different thicknesses of tubs or supports, and
may be used for the purpose of increasing the tension of the springs, the stretcher
rod acting as a fulcrum for the purpose.
For wringing machines, an inclined apron or guard with returned ends is hung
on or fixed to the stretcher rod to prevent the articles passing through the machine
from coming in contact with the framing thereof, and in wringing and mangling
machines I sometimes gear the rollers together, as is well understood.
Mangling machines are made with an inclined guide board on each side of the
lower roller.
In washing machines I preferably employ two lower rollers, and I form the
upper roller of larger diameter than the lower rollers as usual, but according to my
Invention, I form the surfaces of one or all of the rollers of india rubber provided
with a number of diamond or other shaped projections or broken frictional surfaces
in lieu of forming them all with continuous fluted, ribbed, or corrugated surfaces as
heretofore.
In lieu of mounting the lower rollers of washing machines in bearings formed in
pivotted jaws as above described, they may be mounted in bearings formed in the
jaws carrying the lever beams of the upper roller.
And in order that my said Invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying-Drawings, more fully
to describe the same.

page_text: Figure 1 is an end view, Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is a partial side view
of a wringing machine constructed according to my Invention; Figures 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, and 10, are detail views of separate parts thereof; Figure 11 is a cross section
of a mangling machine; Figure 12 is a side view of parts thereof looking in the
direction of the arrow A, and Figure 13 is a side view of parts thereof looking in.
the direction of the arrow B.
Figure 14 is a cross section of a washing machine; Figure 15 is an end view,
Figure 16 a cross section, and Figure 17 a plan of a washing machine slightly
modified from that shown at Figure 14; Figure 18 is a plan of part of one of the
lower washing rollers, showing the form I prefer to adopt for the surface thereof,
and Figure 19 is a plan of parts of the two lower washing rollers, showing a band
working in grooves therein to prevent the clothes passing down between the said
rollers, and Figure 20 is an end view of one of the C springs.
In all the Figures like parts are marked with similar letters of reference.
In the washing, wringing, and mangling machines shown in the Drawings,
except that represented at Figures 15, 16, and 17, the framing consists of a pair of
jaws a, b, and a lever c at each end of the rollers d, e, the jaws being held at the
required distance apart by a stretcher rod f which acts at the same time as a
fulcrum for the jaws a, b.
The two jaws a are formed with bearings a¹ for the spindle d' of the lower
roller d, guards a² to the ends of the rollers, to prevent the clothes being drawn in
between them and the framing, and jaws and bearings a³ for the stretcher and
fulcrum rod f.
The two jaws b are formed with bearings b' for the stretcher and fulcrum rod f,
seats b³ for C or elliptic springs g, and tenons b³ and shoulders 6 for the lever
beams c.
The lever beams care formed at one end with bearings c¹ for the spindle e² of the
top roller e, and at the other end with seats c2 for the C or elliptic springs g, and
intermediate thereof are mortices c³ fitting the tenons b³.
These lever beams c work on bolts or rivets passing through holes in the
tenons 6 and mortices c³, thereby connecting the lever beams c to their supporting
jaws b.
The Cor elliptic springs g are shaped at their ends, as shown at Figure 20, to fit
the seats 6' and c³, the parts g¹, g', being employed to fit the seats b², c², and the
projecting parts g² being employed to pass on the outside of the jaws b and lever
beams c to prevent lateral motion.
The stretcher rod f serves to connect together the jaws a, b, and also acts as a
fulcrum for the said jaws.
Thumb screws 6 at the lower ends of the two jaws b are employed for the
purpose of adjusting the machine to different thicknesses of tubs X or other
supports, and such screws may also be used for the purpose of increasing the
tension of the springs g, the stretcher rod facting as a fulcrum for the purpose.
From this arrangement it results that the jaws grip more tightly the tub or
support, as greater strain is brought upon them by the passage of the garments or
articles between the rollers; this obviates the tendency which bas heretofore
characterised such machines to become loose on their supports when subjected to
an unusual strain.
The rollers d, e, for washing and wringing machines are preferably formed of or
covered with india rubber, but one or both of the mangling machine rollers are
formed of hard material, and in some cases I may form one of the washing machine
rollers of other material than india rubber.
For wringing machines an inclined apron or guard h with returned ends h¹ is
hung on or fixed to the stretcher rod f, to prevent the articles passing through the

page_text: machine from coming in contact with the framing thereof, and in wringing and
mangling machines I sometimes gear the rollers together, as is well understood.
Mangling machines are made with an inclined guide board h on each side of the
lower roller.
In washing machines I preferably employ two lower rollers d, and I form the
upper roller e of larger diameter than the lower rollers d, but according to my
Invention, I form the surfaces of one or all of the rollers d, e, preferably the lower
rollers d, of india rubber provided with a number of diamond or other shaped
projections or frictional surfaces, in lieu of forming them all fluted, ribbed, or
corrugated as heretofore.
In lieu of mounting the lower rollers d of washing machines as described with
respect to Figures 1 to 14 in pivotted jaws a, they may, as shown at Figures 15,
16, and 17, be mounted in bearings formed in the jaws or end frames b carrying
the lever beams c, and such end frames b are provided with guards 65 at each side
of the rollers d, e, to protect the goods being washed from passing in between the
ends of the rollers and the end frames b. The seats 62 for the lower ends of the
springs g are formed in plates be hung on the axes of the lever beams c, and
screwed to the side of the tub X, the end frames 6 being also screwed to the tub.
I have represented the washing and wringing machines fixed to a tub X, but the
mangling machine is shown fixed to a bar X¹, which may be fixed to a table or
other support.
Washing, wringing, and mangling machines constructed as herein described, have
unusual self adjusting capacity and durability, and the C or elliptic springs g,
instead of being opened out as heretofore in proportion to the pressure exerted are,
according to the present Invention, compressed when articles are inserted between
the rollers d, e. The pressure increases with the bulk of the article, and no change
or adjustment is required. The strain on the springs being uniformly distributed,
they are unusually strong and elastic, and their strength is not impaired by use.
I would here remark that although according to my Invention I prefer, as above
described, to employ C or elliptic springs to act upon the lever jaws, other
descriptions of springs may be employed for such purpose.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode in which
I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I claim is,-
First. My improved wringing, mangling, and washing machines, substantially as
described and represented by the annexed Drawings.
Second. The combination of pivotted jaws a, b, lever beams c, rollers d, e, and
springs g, substantially as described.
Third. The combination of pivotted jaws a, b, lever beams c, rollers d, e,
stretcher rod f, and C or elliptic spring g, substantially as described.
Fourth. The employment in washing machines of one or more india rubber
rollers formed on their surfaces with diamond or other shaped projections or broken
frictional surfaces in lieu of having them all with continuous fluted, ribbed, or
corrugated surfaces as heretofore, substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jesse Cherk, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.