IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Cocker, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Grocer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES FOR
DOMESTIC PURPOSES."
Sealed the 10th November 1876, and dated the 22nd May 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Cocker at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd May 1876.
JOSEPH COCKER, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Grocer. ** IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WASHING MACHINES FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to the washing machines employed for domestic purposes,
that is to say, to apparatus employed in the cleansing of wearing apparel and other
household linen and articles.
In apparatus which has been constructed previously to my Invention a number
of small rollers have been arranged below a large roller which has been rotated to
and fro, the articles being washed being inserted between the said rollers, and it is
to this class of machine that my Invention relates.
In the first place I employ a fluted, grooved, or beaded roller, the journals of
which are formed to revolve in bearings formed in suitable standards in connection
with smaller fluted, grooved, or beaded rollers mounted above the lower roller, and
pressed towards the said lower roller by means of springs. I prefer to employ
two upper rollers formed with journals which work in slots formed in end standards
which may be secured to the sides of a tub or vessel to contain the water and the
articles to be washed. A saddle is mounted on the journals of the top rollers at
each end, and a screw bolt to which a spiral spring is hooked or attached passes
through the said saddle, and is provided with a wing nut, by means of which the
downward pressure of the upper rollers may be adjusted. I may employ a wooden
spring bar or caoutchouc or other springs in lieu of the said spiral springs, and I
may employ three or more upper rollers in connection with a larger lower roller."
I prefer to encircle the top rollers with an endless cloth or web which acts to guide
the articles from one roller to another.
In the second place I employ an upper fluted roller in connection with two or
three lower fluted rollers, or with two lower fluted rollers in combination with a
central plain roller, an endless cloth or web being applied to the said lower rollers.
[Price Gd.]

page_text: In such a case the upper roller is pressed towards the lower rollers by means of
springs which can be adjusted so as to regulate the pressure of the said roller upon
the articles being washed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Cocker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
November 1876.
JOSEPH COCKER, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Grocer. "IMPROVE
MENTS IN WASHING MACHINES."
My Invention relates to the washing machines employed for domestic purposes,
that is to say, to apparatus employed in the cleansing of wearing apparel and other
household linen and articles.
In apparatus which has been constructed previously to my Invention a number
of small rollers have been arranged below a large roller which has been rotated to
and fro, the articles being washed being inserted between the said rollers, and it is
to this class of machine that my Invention relates. I employ a fluted, grooved, or
beaded roller, the journals of which are formed to revolve in bearings formed in
suitable standards in connection with smaller fluted, grooved, or beaded rollers
mounted above the lower roller, and pressed towards the said lower roller by
means of springs.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I have appended
hereunto a Sheet of Drawings made about half the full size, and marked with
letters of reference, corresponding marks indicating the same parts in the various
Figures referring in this place to the said Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a front view partly in section of a washing machine constructed
in accordance with my said Invention; Fig. 2 is an end view of the rollers detached
from the machine; and Fig. 3 is a side or end elevation of part of the complete
machine.
The
In the said Figures A is a tub or receptacle to which standards B, B, are secured
by means of bolts a, u. The said tub is represented in section in Fig. 1, and in the
example is supposed to be circular or oval in form, but it may be of any suitable
form. Each standard B is formed with three slots, the central slot receiving the
axles of a lower roller b, and the side slots the axles of two upper rollers c, c.
said rollers are formed of sycamore or other suitable wood or material, and have
fluted or beaded peripheries. The axles of the lower roller rest in the bottoms of
the central slots in the standards or in bearings fitted therein, and one of the said
axles is provided with a winch handle d, or is cranked to form a handle, whereby
the said roller may be rotated. The axles of the upper roller do not touch the
bottoms of the slots, the said rollers being sustained by the bottom roller
Saddles e, e, rest upon the axles of the upper rollers at both ends of the said rollers,
and these saddles are connected by means of rods f, f, with springs g, g, which tend
to draw down the said rods, and thereby to press the upper rollers upon the lower
roller. One of the said springs is seen most clearly in Fig. 3. The tension of the
said springs may be regulated by means of nuts on the upper ends of the said rods,
the said nuts being either formed to be turned by means of a key or formed as wing
nuts to be turned by hand, as preferred.
I do not confine myself to the form and material of these springs, and may use
spiral steel springs, caoutchouc springs, or a wooden spring bar, or any other suit-
able description of spring. I prefer to encircle the top rollers with an endless cloth
or web, which acts to guide the articles from one roller to another, but I have not
considered it necessary to represent such a cloth in the Drawings.
When used in the process of washing the articles to be washed may be placed in
the tub along with hot water and detergent, and the articles introduced between

page_text: the lower and upper rollers either singly, or two or more together, as found most
convenient. The handle & may now be turned backwards and forwards, or in any
nanner found to have the best offect.
I do not confine myself to the use of two upper rollers as more than two may
be employed if preferred.
In the concluding part of my Provisional Specification I referred to an arrange-
ment which I have purposely not included herein, and I therefore make no claim
in respect of such arrangement; but I do claim-
First. The combination and arrangement of parts substantially as and for the
purposes set forth and indicated herein-before and in and by the accompanying
Druwings.
And, Secondly. The employment of a lower fluted, grooved, or beaded roller of
a comparatively large diameter in connection with two or more smaller upper
rollers, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set forth and indicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Cocker, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Signed and scaled by the said
Joseph Cocker, in the
presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentee,
3, Princess Street,
Manchester.
JOSEPH COCKER. (L.S.)