A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Benjamin, of Abbey Road, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING
MACHINE."
Sealed the 5th February 1869, and dated the 7th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Benjamin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th August 1868.
I, HENRY BENJAMIN, of Abbey Road, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
WASHING MACHINE," to be as follows (that is to say) :-
My Invention has reference to the construction of a simple and
inexpensive washing machine whereby the oporation of washing is more
effectually and advantageously performed than at present, and consists
of a star-shaped metallic cylindrical vessel or chamber (charged with the
boiling water and various washing compounds) mounted upon a standard
frame through the medium of trunnion bearings secured thereto, so as
to revolve freely upon the same by means of a winch handle turned by

page_text: hand or otherwise, in connection with which a pipe leading from one
of the said trunnions is employed for conveying away the steam, air,
or otherwise through perforations in the body of the said washing
machine during the washing process. A man-hole plate opening inwards
into one of the said star-shaped projections being also employed provided
with an external screw fastening, by means of which the clothes are
inserted or withdrawn. By the above arrangement the said articles
under operation are projected against the star-shaped sides, and thereby
cleansed independently of any intermediate beaters through the medium
of the hot water and compounds alone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Benjamin in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BENJAMIN, of Abbey Road, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Benjamin, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Benjamin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Benjamin, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING
MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Benjamin, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Benjamin, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and the Drawings therein referred to (that is
to say):
My Invention has reference to the construction and employment of a
simple and inexpensive washing machine whereby the operation of
cleansing articles of clothing or otherwise is more effectually and expe-
ditiously performed with greater economy than at present, and consists
of a hollow quadrangular star-shaped vessel (charged with boiling water
and the necessary washing compounds) in which the clothes or other
articles to be washed are placed, provided with a covered opening for
inserting or withdrawing the clothes, by the arrangement of which the
said articles under operation (as the chamber revolves) are projected
against the angular cavities, and thereby cleansed independently of any
intermediate stirrers or beaters hitherto in use.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood
and readily carried into effect I now proceed to describe the same by
the aid of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters
and figures thereon marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a vertical front view of my new or improved washing
machine; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a top or plan
view thereof; Fig. 4, a sectional side elevation, showing the hollow
trunnion and perforated cap; Fig. 5, perspective view of the apparatus
with lid or cover removed; and Fig. 6, a detached sectional view of the
hollow trunnion and bearing separately shown. In each Figure the same
letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, stand or base upon which the body of the machine revolves;
B, B, star-shaped quadrangular chamber, provided with oblique inden-
tations C, C, formed in the angular sides of the same for presenting
additional rubbing surfaces to the clothes; D, D, lid or cover fitted
externally to the mouth or opening in the body; E, E, catch fastenings
for securing and maintaining the said cover fluid-tight upon its seat
and admit of being readily removed as required; F, F, winch handle
keyed to the driving trunnion G, G, concentrically fixed to the body
of the machine for giving rotatory motion to the same by hand or
otherwise; H, H, hollow trunnion secured in like manner to the body
of the machine, through which the air, steam, or otherwise given off

page_text: during the washing process is allowed to escape through the aperture H';
I, I, perforated cap for preventing the hollow trunnion from getting
clogged; J, J, bearings upon which the trunnions work; K, K, outlet
pipe or tap, through which the water is discharged from the body of the
machine.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my
said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and
carried into effect, I would have it clearly understood that I do not
intend to confine myself to the precise details herein-before set forth and
described, as the same may be otherwise varied without departing from
the general principle of this my said Invention, nor do I claim as new
and of my said Invention the exclusive use of the several parts or
combinations, except when the same are employed in and for the
purposes of my said Invention, which I hereby declare to consist in the
construction and arrangement of the several parts in connection with
the mode of employing the same in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Benjamin, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
HENRY BENJAMIN. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOMAS M. CORNOCK,
(Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,)
Law Chambers,
Chancery Lane.