IMPROVE- MENTS IN WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING MACHINES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR DYLING OR BLEACHING PURPOSES, TO BE CALLED THE NOTTINGHAM WASHING MACHINE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Barton, of the Town and County of the
Town of Nottingham, Mechanist, and Thomas Soar, of. Radford, in
the. County of Nottingham; Mechanist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING MACHINES, APPLICABLE ALSO
FOR DYLING OR BLEACHING PURPOSES, TO BE CALLED THE NOTTINGHAM
WASHING MACHINE.""
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated 'the 30th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Barton and
Thomas Soar at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 30th March 1861.
We, GEORGE BARTON, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham,
Mechanist, and THOMAS SOAR, of Radford, in the County of Nottingham,
Mechanist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING MACHINES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR
DYEING OR BLEACHING PURPOSES, TO BE CALLED THE NOTTINGHAM WASHING
MACHINE, to be, as follows:-
Our improved machines are constructed mainly of the following parts, and
consist of an oblong box or trough, made either of wood, cast or wrought iron,
or other materials, supported on legs or a frame at a convenient height from
the ground; the bottom of this box or trough is formed within of such shape
that with the two ends it represents six sides of a decagon. When this box
or trough (hereafter called trough only) is made of wood, part of the bottom
has upon it three or more strips, made of similar material, the width of the

page_text: trough; when the trough is made of iron or other material, not before
mentioned, such strips are then made of such similar material as that of which
the trough is composed. Intermediately from each end of the trough, at
each side thereof, and nearly level with the top is a bearing, which carries the
ends of an axle lying horizontally across the width of the trough. On this
axle is a casting or castings, in which are a number of sockets, arranged in
two or more rows, into which wooden plugs similar in character to dolley pegs
are driven; or the plugs are made of cast or wrought iron or other suitable
material. The axle at one or both ends protudes a little beyond the outside
of the trough, having a lever or levers secured to one or both ends, as may
be required. There is a stud at the end of the lever or levers, which receives
a pin in the end of the connecting rod or rods, moved by a similar pin in
the opposite end, which pin is fast on a wheel at one end of the trough;
these wheels (when two are used) are connected together by being keyed on
the same axle, lying in bearings at one end of the trough, and are driven
by similar wheels, either of larger or smaller diameter, according to the
speed at which it is desired to move the pegs inside the trough. These last-
named wheels are fast on an axle lying above the first-mentioned axle, and
where it is required to attach wringing or mangling rollers to the washing
machine the axles of the wheels may form the axles of such rollers, the end
of one such axle being provided with a fly wheel, fitted with a handle for
turning the machine.
The action of the machine may be explained as follows:-When motion
has been communicated to the fly wheel, a to-and-fro movement from end to
end of the washing machine is communicated to the pegs, which radiate from
the axle above named, by which means the clothes, articles, or fabrics to be
washed or cleansed will be moved from end to end of the machine without
being unduly rubbed, or in anywise trapped or injured, the end of the plugs
being a short distance from the bottom of the trough, so that with the aid of
warm soft water and soap the articles are effectually washed or cleansed from
the dirt which they contained. When the machine has a metal trough, we
provide it with pipes underneath pierced for gas jets, the pipes being connected
to a gas pipe. The water may be heated by means of gas jets, but where gas
cannot be obtained, the trough may be furnished with a small furnace under-
neath, fed from one side of the machine, a flue passing under the bottom into
the nearest chimney, or, where convenient, we propose to heat the water by
means of a steam pipe inserted in the trough, the steam escaping near the
bottom thereof into the water to be heated. In larger washing machines
requiring greater power than can be supplied by hand labour we provide the

page_text: machines with a fast and loose pulley on the fly wheel axle, and drive them
by steam or other power. The soiled water is allowed to escape from the
trough by a plug or cock near the bottom.
We propose to use these machines for dyeing or bleaching purposes as
well as for the purposes herein-before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Barton and Thomas Soar in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
BARTON, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, Mechanist,
and THOMAS SOAR, of Radford, in the County of Nottingham, Mechanist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said George Barton and Thomas Soar, Her special licence that we,
the said George Barton and Thomas Soar, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said George Barton and Thomas
Soar, our 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, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR DYKING OR
BLEACHING PURPOSES, TO BE CALLED THE NOTTINGHAM WASHING MACHINE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said George Barton
and Thomas Soar, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 we, the said George Barton and Thomas
Soar, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
Our improved machine is constructed mainly of the following arrangement,
and consists of on oblong box or trough made either of wood, orcastorwrought
iron, or other material, supported on legs or on a frame at a convenient height
from the ground. The bottom of this box or trough is formed within of such
shape that with the two ends it represents six sides of a decagon. When this
box or trough (hereafter called "trough" only) is made of wood, part of the
bottom has upon it three or more strips, made of similar material, the width of
the trough. When the trough is made of iron or other material, not before
specially mentioned,such strips are then made of such similar material as that
of which the trough is composed. Intermediately from each end of the trough,
at each side thereof, and nearly level with the top, is a bearing which carries
the ends of an axle lying horizontally across the width of the trough; on this
axle is a casting (or castings), in which are a number of sockets arranged in
two or more rows, into which wooden plugs, similar in character to dolley
pegs, are driven, or the plugs are made of cast or wrought iron, or other suit-
able material; the axle at one or both ends protrudes a little beyond the
outside of the trough, having a lever or levers secured to one or both ends, as
may be required. There is a stud at the end of the lever or levers which
receives a pin in the end of a connecting rod or rods, moved by a similar pin in
the opposite end, which pin is fast on a wheel at one end of the trough. These
wheels (when two are used)are connected together bybeing keyed on the same
axle, lying in bearings at one end of the trough, and are driven by similar
wheels, either of larger or smaller diameter, according to the speed at which
it is desired to move the pegs inside the trough. These last-named wheels are
fast on an axle lying above the first-mentioned axle, and where it is required
to attach wringing or mangling rollers to the washing machine, the axles of
the wheels may form the axles of such rollers; the end of one such axle
being provided with a fly wheel fitted with a handle for turning the
machine.
The action of the machine may be explained as follows:-When motion
has been communicated to the fly wheel, a to-and-fro movement from end to
end of the washing machine is communicated to the pegs which radiate from
the axle above named, by which means the clothes, articles, or fabrics to be
washed or cleansed will be moved from end to end of the machine, without
being unduly rubbed or in any wise trapped or injured, the ends of the plugs

page_text: being a short distance from the bottom of the trough, so that with the aid of
warm water and soap, the articles are effectually washed or cleansed from the
dirt which they contained. When the machine has a metal trough we pro-
vide it with pipes underneath, which are pierced for gas jets, the pipes being
connected to a gas pipe. The water may be heated by means of the gas jets,
but where gas cannot be obtained we furnish the trough with a small furnace,
placed underneath, which furnace is fed from one side of the machine, a flue
passing under the bottom into the nearest chimney; or, where convenient, we
propose to heat the water by means of a steam pipe inserted in the trough,
the steam escaping near the bottom thereof into the water to be heated.
In larger washing machines requiring greater power than can be furnished
by hand labour, we provide the machines with a fast and loose pulley on the
fly wheel axle, and drive them by steam or other power. The soiled water
is allowed to escape from the trough by a plug or cock near the bottom.
We propose to use these machines for dyeing or bleaching purposes
as well as for the purposes herein-before mentioned.
Having thus stated the nature of our said Invention, we now proceed to
described the manner of performing the same.
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 an end view of a washing
machine combined with a mangle. The several corresponding parts in each
view being lettered alike, the following description will apply to each.
A represents the washing trough supported by the legs B; two of these
legs project above the trough at one end and form the bearings C for the
mangle rollers D, E; the bearings are connected at the top by a tie bar F;
above the top roller is a spring G, which is made to press upon the bearings
of the top roller by the screw and hand lever H with a greater or less force,
according to the thickness of the articles required to be mangled. The
bearings of the top rollers, which are pressed by the spring, are free to
slide up and down on V-grooves at the upper end of the two legs which
form bearings for the roller D; at one end of the axle of the roller 1) is a
toothed wheel I; this wheel is shown out of gear in Figure 2, and there is
a similar wheel on one end of the handle shaft K, gearing into another
wheel L, which said wheel L drives a pinion on the boss of the fly wheel M ;
on the wheel L is a stud carrying one end of a connecting rod N, the other
end of which embraces a pin in one end of a lever O, which communicates
a to-and-fro movement to the axle of the dolley pegs, which are inserted in
sockets P on the peg shaft. The shape of the trough inside, with the strips
thereon, is shown by the dotted lines Q, in Figure 1.
Figure 2 shows the machine in gear for washing clothes or other articles.

page_text: The water in the trough can be let out at pleasure by pulling out the plug R,
and when the machine is required for mangling or wringing, the small
handle and lever S are lifted up, and the shaft is pushed towards the fly
wheel until the wheel T gears into the wheel I, when the hand lever may
be lowered, and the mangle is ready for use, during which time the washing
machine is at rest.
In Sheet 2, Figure 3 is a sectional view in the direction of the length of
the trough, shewing it as furnished with a small furnace underneath; the
standards carrying the angle rollers are broken away. The inside of this
trough also is provided with strips, the same as shewn at Figure 1 first described,
but which said strips are not shewn in this Figure. Figure 4 is an end view of
the same, with a portion of the trough broken away to shew the partition which
divides the flue from the furnace, and the furnace door is shown open. Figure
5 is a plan of the same machine, with the bottom of the trough broken away
to show the position of the fire bars and the course which the flue takes, the
heat from the fire passing in the direction of the arrows to the chimney.
In Figures 3, 4, and 5, U represents the furnace; V, the partition; W,
the bridge dividing the furnace from the flue X; and Y is the chimney.
Figure 6 is a plan of the under side of the trough provided with a pipe Z,
which is pierced for gas jets.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention and in what
manner the same may be performed, we declare that we claim the general
arrangement and combination of parts constituting the maching herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Barton and Thomas Soar, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-sixth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
CHARGE PARTON
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON.
Patent Office,
Nottingham.
THOMAS SOAR.
(L.S.)