IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING MACHINES.
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Walton, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING, WRINGING,
AND MANGLING MACHINES.".
Sealed the 7th June 1864, and dated the 11th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicholas Walton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1863.
I, NICHOLAS WALTON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING;
WRINGING, AND MANGLING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of
machinery forming combined or separate apparatus for the purposes of
washing, wringing, and mangling, whereby the articles so treated are pre-
vented from being torn by the process of washing, as is the case by the
machines at present in use, and whereby greater efficiency and rapidity of
operation is effected.
I
I propose to make the bottom of the washing machine in a slanting position
or form, the dash consequently working thereon with an oblique reciprocating
motion derived from a cranked driving shaft, and a rod connecting it with the
centre of the back of the dash, which is made with a series of spaces or slots
from one-eighth to one inch apart, and in order to prevent the clothes from
being worked behind or through these spaces I place behind them a screen-

page_text: On the
work, which allows of the free passage or rush of the water or suds.
top of the tub I place a tray for the purpose of rinsing, blueing, and starching,
which tray also forms a lid to the tub. Behind the tub is a drop leaf to form
a table to fold the clothes on ready for mangling. The mangle is fixed over
the driving wheel of the dash, so that one shaft shall drive the dash and the
bottom roller of the mangle; and in order that the mangle and its top roller
may not be worked at the same time as the washing apparatus I employ a
wedge or lever to throw the top roller out of gear, so that the lower shaft
and roller are not encumbered with the weight. I apply a copper bottom to
the tub in order to maintain the heat of the water by means of a small coke
fire underneath the apparatus. At the bottom of the dash friction rollers are
applied to assist its movement, and at the back of the dash I attach a steel
spring, with an eye in it, through which the straight shaft passes with a set
screw to hold the shaft and dash together: The, shaft slides through the eye
of the spring, so that whilst the stroke of, the dash is not altered, I can alter
the space for the clothes so as to wash one article or five hundred according
to the size of the machine which performs the essential operations of washing,
viz., rubbing, squeezing, slushing, and constantly turning over and spreading
the clothes, so that each piece receives a due amount of pressure and con-
sequent cleansing.
Another method of forming the machine is to make a three-quarter round tub
and a dash the same shape, with loose rollers on each, the dash and tub being
both ribbed. The dash is hung in a slot, so as to rise and fall according to
the bulk of the clothes, to be washed. Then by working the dash backward
and forward the clothes are washed.
I also form the tub of a semicircular form or thereabouts, and make the
dash of a complete circle on the principle last described, except that the dash
is driven round by a shaft and crank, and the bottom of the tub is forced up
by springs, so as to create pressure on the clothes according to their bulk,
thus giving the friction of the knuckles and avoiding the risk of tearing the
clothes. To form the wringer I employ hollow tubes for the standards of a
square or oblong square form, with the corners rounded out; the two rollers
work in the standards, the lower one being turned by a handle, and the upper
one resting on the lower one. I cover the rollers with india-rubber to obtain
a better squeezing surface, and I obtain increased pressure by applying an
india-rubber band over or around each shafts of the rollers, so as to draw
them tightly together; or I apply in the upper part of each tubular standard
a spiral spring cast or moulded in india-rubber, and held in position by tight-
ening screws, which also serve to increase the density or contraction of the

page_text: springs which bear upon the two ends or shafts of the upper roller. An apron
underneath the lower roller carries off the water from the clothes into the
washer. The wringer may be fixed to the top of the washing machine by
means of a jaw or grip hinged to the tubular standards, and actuated by a
screw.
springs which bear upon the two ends or shafts of the upper roller. An apron
underneath the lower roller carries off the water from the clothes into the
washer. The wringer may be fixed to the top of the washing machine by
means of a jaw or grip hinged to the tubular standards, and actuated by a
screw.
The mangle, washers, and wringer may be employed separately or com-
bined in one machine by placing the washer on a stand, and fixing the mangle
on ton at one and and the
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nicholas Walton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NICHOLAS
WALTON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred. and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Nicholas Walton, Her special licence, that I, the said Nicholas Walton,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the said Nicholas
Walton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend; within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Nicholas Walton, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nicholas Walton, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of

page_text: machinery forming combined or separate apparatus for the purposes of
washing, wringing, and mangling, whereby the articles so treated are pre-
vented from being torn by the process of washing, as is the case by the
machines at present in use, and whereby greater efficiency and rapidity of
operation is effected.
I make the bottom of the washing machine in a slanting position or form, the
dash consequently working thereon with an oblique reciprocating motion
derived from a cranked driving shaft, and a rod or two rods connecting it
with the centre of the back of the dash, which is made with a series of spaces
or slots from one-eighth to one inch apart; and in order to prevent the clothes
from being worked behind or through these spaces I place behind them a
screenwork, which allows of the free passage or rush of the water or suds.
On the top of the tub I place a tray for the purpose of rinsing, blueing, and
starching, which tray also forms a lid to the tub. Behind the tub is a drop
leaf to form a table to fold the clothes on ready for mangling. The mangle is
placed and fixed over the driving wheel of the dash, so that one shaft shall drive
the dash and the bottom roller of the mangle; and in order that the mangle
and its top roller may not be worked at the same time as the washing apparatus,
I employ a wedge or lever to throw the top roller out of gear, so that the
lower shaft and roller are not encumbered with the weight. I apply a copper
bottom to the tub in order to maintain the heat of the water by means of a
small coke fire underneath the apparatus. At the bottom of the dash friction
rollers are applied to assist its movement, and at the back of the dash I
attach a steel spring, with an eye in it, through which the straight shaft
passes, with a set screw to hold the shaft and dash together. The shaft slides
through the eye of the spring, so that whilst the stroke of the dash is not
altered, I can alter the space for the clothes so as to wash one article or five
hundred, according to the size of the machine which performs the essential
operations of washing, viz., rubbing, squeezing, slushing, and constantly
turning over and spreading the clothes, so that each piece receives a due
amount of pressure, and consequent cleansing.
Another method of forming the machine is to make a three-quarter round
tub, and a dash the same shape, with loose rollers on each, the dash and tub
being both ribbed. The dash is hung in a slot, so as to rise and fall according
to the bulk of the clothes to be washed. Then by working the dash backward
and forward the clothes are washed.
I also form the tub of a semicircular form or thereabouts, and make the
dash of a complete circle, on the principle last described, except that the dash
is driven 'round by a shaft and crank, and the bottom of the tub is forced up

page_text: by springs, so as to create pressure on the clothes according to their bulk,
thus giving the friction of the knuckles and avoiding the risk of tearing the
clothes.
:
:
Fig. 1 represents a front view of the wringer, and Fig. 2 an end view of the
same.
a is the frame of galvanized iron; b, b, the clips which secure the wringer
to the sides or edges of the washing machine; c, c, are thumbscrews for
tightening the grip, as at Fig. 2; d, d, are. india-rubber rollers, and e, the
slanting board. or apron to carry the water back into the machine. The
pressure of the rollers is caused by helico-spiral springs formed of steel band
(shewn at Fig. 3) enclosed in spaces in the frame, and held in position by
face plates f, f, which can be removed by unscrewing the bolt when it is
desired to take out the rollers.
Fig. 5 shews an arrangement of self-acting compound lever for the purpose
of creating an excessive pressure on the upper roller of a mangle. It will be
seen that the weight a acting upon the long arm of the bell-crank lever b
tends, by means of the connecting rod c, to force the jointed arms d, d, out-
wards, the lower one being secured to the mangle frame, and the upper one
being bent over the journal of the upper roller, it is obvious that the down-
ward pressure may be regulated to any desired degree. The mangle, washers,
and wringer may be employed separately or combined in one machine by
placing the washer on a stand and fixing the mangle on top at one end, and
the wringer at the side or the other end.
Fig. 5 shews a front view and Fig. 6 a side view of the row of wooden bars
or rods against which the dash forces the clothes. a, a, are the bars, placed
an inch apart. In the side view they are shewn in a slanting position, say,
at an angle of about 45 degrees, more or less. The front of the dash b is made
on the same slant, and thus the clothes are forced against the bars; the space c
between them and the front of the machine permits the water to rush through
and past the clothes, carrying the dirt with it. The object of putting the
bars and dash on the slant is this, the clothes being pressed against the bars
are compelled to take the slanting position, and the moment the dash recedes
the clothes drop over or fall backwards, being as it were top heavy. The
next action of the dash then acts upon what was previously the upper portion
of the clothes, but which has now become the lower, and thus a rotary
motion of the clothes is effected. This is the great feature of success in my
improved washing machine.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark, in conclusion, that I do

page_text: not limit myself to the precise details and configuration of parts herein
expressed and shewn, as the same may obviously be varied or modified without
in any way departing from the principles on which it is based; but what I
claim and desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters
Patent are, the general arrangement and combination of apparatus sub-
stantially as herein described and shewn, constituting "Improvements in
Washing, Wringing, and Mangling Machines," according to the title hereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nicholas Walton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JOHN WARLICK,
Manchester.
NICHOLAS WALTON. (L.s.)