CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS. OF CERTAIN MACHINES FOR WASHING AND WRINGING OF LINEN, WOOLLEN, WOOL, COTTON, SILK, VELVET, OR ANY OTHER COMMODITY THAT REQUIRES WASHING, CLEANSING, OR SCOURING
Year: 1801

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
MEDHURST, of Pentonville, in the County of Middlesex, Mathematical
Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, in and
by His Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of
July, in the forty-first year of His reign, for Himself, His heirs and successors,
did give and grant unto me, the saig George Medhurst, His especial license,
full power, sole priviledge and authority, that I, the said George Medhurst,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, by myself or themselves, or by my
or their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others' as I, the
said George Medhurst, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should, at any
time agree with, and no others, during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of
His Majesty's United Kingdom called England, His Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS. OF
CERTAIN MACHINES FOR WASHING AND WRINGING OF LINEN, WOOLLEN, WOOL, COTTON,
SILK, VELVET, OR ANY OTHER COMMODITY THAT REQUIRES WASHING, CLEANSING,
OR SCOURING," for which His Majesty's Letters Patent were granted to one
James Wood, in the Parish of Saint Mary, Newington, in the County of
Surry, Mathematical Instrument Maker, on or about the Twenty-first day
of April, in the thirtieth year of His said Majesty's reign,, and which by
assignment is now the property of me, the said George Medhurst; in .which
said Letters. Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said George

page_text: Medhurst, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Medhurst, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by the Plans or
Drawings upon these Presents, and as follows, that is to say:-
Fig. 1 represents an end view of the washing machine. A is the handle
of the machine, fixed upon the axis of the crank. Round the square hole of
the handle are formed teeth, from four to ten in number, so as to make a small
wheel, the teeth of which work in the teeth of the larger wheel C, and turns
it round it's center, and this wheel turns the other equal wheel D. The number
of teeth upon each of these two equal wheels should be six or eight times as
many as the number of teeth upon the handle. The axis of the wheel C & D
pass through the end of the tub or receptical of the machine, and project on
the inside about one inch, see Fig. 2; and the projecting part of the axis is
square, or has a square hole on or within which the rollers r, r, are to fit, and
are,turned round as the wheels are turned; the other end of the rollers turn in
a notch at the other end of the receptical. On these rollers is put the endless
cloth or net, Fig. 4, which is to hang down within the receptical nearly to the
bottom. Into this net the linen or other things intended to be washed is to be
placed, and as the rollers are turned round by the wheels, the endless net is
turned, and every side of the linen, &c. is successively turned towards the
presser. The net has buttons and loops, or strings on it's two opposite edges,
for the purpose of spreading it open to put the linen, &c. in with more conve-
niance. Fig. 3 represents the net spread open, and Fig. 4 represents the net
buttoned, together with the linen, &c. and roller within it, ready to be placed
within the recepticle, which is done by placing the socket end x of the roller
into the spindle of the wheel first, and then the other end into the notch made
to receive it at the other end of the recepticle. The perforated presses,
Fig. 7 & 8, appear to perform the best with the net. There are two small
hooks fixed on each side of the frame of the machine at n, n, Fig. 1; their use
is to support the ends of the rollers and the net, that the water may drain from
the linen into the recepticle before it is pressed or wrung. Fig. 5 is a method
of turning the linen, &c. with a slower motion by means of a worm. A is an
end view of the recepticle and frame of the machine; B, the handle upon which

page_text: is fixed a small bevel wheel C, which turns another bevel wheel d, fixed upon
the spindle e, n; and upon the spindle are two worms e and n, which act in the
teeth of the two small wheels o, x. The axis of these wheels pass through
the end of the recepticle into the inside of it to turn the rollers in the same
manner as the wheels C and D, described in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Fig. 6
is a perspective view of the machine shewing the wheels C and D, described
in Fig. 1, and rollers within the recepticle, as described in Fig. 2, and having
the crank in the middle of the spindle as at E, instead of the end, to give
greater elasticity to the apperatus. The handle end of the spindle passes
through the eye m, which is screwed to the leg of the machine, and the other
end is supported by the hoop p, which is screwed to the other leg of the
machine. On each side of the recepticle against which the linen, &c. is
expressed are rails fixed, projecting about half an inch on the inside, and
answering to the rails of the presser, either horizontal or otherwise; or instead
of rails fixed to the receptical the inside may be cut in channels so as to
leave a projecting part opposite to each rail of the presser. Fig. 9 is an end
view of a machine furnished with two pressers, which act at right angles to each
other. A, B, C, D, is one end of the frame; the end C, D, are the legs that
support it, and the ends A, B, support the sides and end boards that compose
the recepticle for the water and linen, &c., upon which the cover E shuts
down to keep in the steam and heat. P, P, shews the ends of the pressers,
consisting of two or three rails, as described in Fig. 7 and 8. These are fixed to
the ends of the spring poles Ps, Ps, which are morticed into the top rail at s, s,
and the ends of these rails move in two holes s and s in the ends of the
recepticle, by which the presser is kept in its proper position. G is the centre
of the crank spindle, which has a double throw at each end of it, which are
at right angles, or in opposite directions to each other at the same end of
the spindle, but the two ends correspond with each other. One of the cranks
at each end, as O, with it's pall, takes hold of the spring pole s, n, and the
other crank p, with its pall, takes hold of the spring pole s, m, whereby the
two pressers are moved up and down alternately as the handle a, spindle G,
and fly wheel F, F, are turned round; shews the end of a slip of wood nailed
to the bottom of the recepticle all along, to fill up the angle. This slip should
be a little concave, and the lowest rail of one of the pressers, as i, should be
a little wider than the others, so as to project below them, by which means
the linen, &c., is turned by the working of the machine. t, s, shews the end
of a shelf, fixed strongly within the recepticle all along from end to end, just
under the cover, and as close to the hinged side B of the cover E as can be
admitted. After the linen is washed it is to be taken out of the water, and

page_text: laid upon the shelf t, s, and the cover of the machine shut and pressed down
upon it, to force the water out of the linen, &c., and facilitate the drying.
Fig. 10 is an end view of a machine having a triple pressure, and producing
a double effect. A, B, C, D, is one end of the frame; E, F, G, H, is
the recepticle of the water and linen, &c.; I is the end of the railed presser,
described in Fig. 7 & 8, which is hung at H, so as vibrate from side to side.
Upon each end of the axis of the presser at K is fixed an arm a, a, and upon
which
the extremities_of_these arms are jointed the pressing rods a, e, a, e, pass
through two holes in the top of the recepticle at E and F, and their lower ends
are attached to their respective pressers, the ends of which are seen at e and e.
These perpendicular rods and pressers ascend and descend upon the linen, &c.
as the presser I vibrates from side to side, each presser meeting the linen, &c.
in an opposite direction. A scale of an inch to a foot is given to ascertain the
proportions of the several Figures.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said George Medhurst, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Third day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and one.
Inrolled the same Third day of August, in the year above written.