A WASHING MACHINE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Weston, of No. 6, Pond Hill, Sheffield, i
the County of York, for the Invention of "A WASHING MACHINE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Weston at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th August 1858.
I, GEORGE WESTON, of No. 6, Pond Hill, Sheffield, in the County of York,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A WASHING MACHINE,"
to be as follows:-
It is intended to effect the operation of washing by causing a series of
wooden frames to slide side by side in opposite directions, in alternate succession,
by suitable arrangement, such as cranks, eccentrics, cams, or other mechanical
contrivance for effecting the purpose, such frames to be constructed with an
opening betwixt the rails (or cross bars), through which the articles to be
operated upon are made to pass, each side of such opening to be formed of
loose rollers that can turn upon their own axis, the frames to be held in
contact with any flexible contrivance, so that they will accommodate to any
varying thickness of article. The above contrivance to be carried on in a tub
or other vessel containing the usual composition used in the operation of
washing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Weston in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, GEORGE
WESTON, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, One; thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said George
Weston, Her special license that I, the said George Weston, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Weston,
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 WASHING MACHINE," upon
the condition (amongst others) that the said George Weston, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 George Weston, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of a frame, wood or iron, as in ordinary washing
machines, in which I cause a number of wooden frames to slide by side
_of_each_other_in_opposite directions, in alternate succession, by suitable
mechanical arrangements, that is to say, I use four wood frames with rollers
fixed in and two quadruple cranks, by the revolution of which two of the said
frames are caused to rise and two to descend simultaneously by rods which
are used to couple the wood frames to the said cranks. The frames are so
constructed with an opening lengthways containing two or more rollers that will
work freely on its axis, and be sufficiently wide betwixt them to admit of any
ordinary article of clothing, woollen or other clothes, to pass through the said
opening of the whole of the said frames. The said frames are held by some
flexible contrivance that will accommodate itself to the varying thicknesses of

page_text: any article that may be submitted to the operation of washing, that is to say, the
frames are to be held together by either springs or weights, or the like, the
ends pressing against the frames to be provided with an antifriction pulley.
A tub or vessel is necessary to hold the liquor with which the clothes are
washed, and in which the frames perform the operation by the turning of a
handle.
The mode of operating is as follows:-Having steeped the clothes ready to
be washed by putting the articles in the opening in the frames when they are
in straight line, insert one end of the article and gradually draw it through
from one side to the other, at the same time turning the handle, which causes
the frames to rise and fall, carrying along with them the article, and rubbing
the same in a similar manner as when washed with the human hands until
clean.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"A Washing Machine," and in what manner the same is to be and may be
performed, I would remark, in conclusion, that what I claim is the novel and
improved mode above particularly described and represented of constructing
"A Washing Machine," and the mode set forth therewith for the purpose of
effecting more perfectly than heretofore the operation of washing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Weston, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
GEORGE WESTON. (L.S.)
Witness,
MATTHEW WOODWARD.