IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR WASHING CLOTH AND SIMILAR MATERIALS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Patterson, of Beverley, in the County of York,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR WASHING
CLOTH AND SIMILAR MATERIALS."
Sealed the 1st September 1854, and dated the 10th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Patterson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
March 1854.
I, JOHN PATTERSON, of Beverley, in the County of York, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
FOR WASHING CLOTH AND SIMILAR MATERIALS " to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the employment of a cage or box, having the tops
and bottom perforated or made in the form of a grate. The openings in the
top are made to correspond in position with the closed portions at the bottom,
and the bottom bars are placed opposite to the spaces in the top. The cloth or
other articles to be washed are put into the cage or box, which is suspended in
a cistern or tub containing water, such cistern being closed by a cover or lid,
held down in its place by a cross bar or other suitable arrangement. To the
top and bottom of the cistern are fitted internally a number of projecting pieces
corresponding to the openings in the top and bottom of the cage, to which a
vertical vibratory motion is communicated by means of a pair of rods attached
to each side of the same and actuated by levers or other suitable mechanical
arrangement..

page_text: By this means a pressure is exerted alternately on the upper and under
sides of the articles to be washed, thus producing an efficient washing
action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Patterson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PATTERSON, of Beverley, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Patterson, Her special license that I, the said John
Patterson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or, such others as I, the
said John Patterson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR WASHING CLOTH AND SIMILAR MATERIALS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Patterson, by an instrument 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 John Patterson, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of machinery
or apparatus for the purpose of effecting the mechanical washing and cleansing
of woven fabrics and other articles or materials in a more efficient and
economical manner than has hitherto been accomplished by the ordinary
means in use. The machine or apparatus which I employ for this purpose

page_text: consists essentially of a cage, box or chamber, the top and bottom of such cage
being perforated or grated. These two perforated diaphragms are so arranged
that such aperture in the top is directly over a closed or solid space in the
bottom, and this extends throughout the entire series of openings; every opening
in one diaphragm or side being directly opposite to a solid part in the other. The
cloth or the articles to be washed, are deposited in this cage or box, and the
cage so charged is suspended inside a tub or cistern containing water,
the cistern being closed by a cover or lid, held down by a cross bar or other
suitable fastener. To the inside of both the top and bottom of the water cistern
are fitted a number of projecting pieces corresponding to the openings in the.
top and bottom of the cage, and as the latter is made to traverse vertically.up
and down by the action of a lever and pair of connecting rods or other
mechanical arrangement, considerable frictional pressure is alternately exerted
upon the upper and lower sides of the articles under treatment, so as to produce,
an efficient and rapid cleansing action. And in order that my Invention may.
be properly understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on
the Sheet of Drawings.hereunto attached. Figure 1 on my Sheet of Drawings
is a longitudinal section of the water cistern or reservoir a, with its contained
clothes cage or box 6; the tub or cistern has a cover c, to which are attached
by nails or screws the pressers d. The bottom surface of the tub has also
fast upon it a set of pressers c. The clothes receptacle, or cage b is grated or
barred, as at g; the upper grating being moveable, to allow the clothes being
deposited in and removed from the box or cage. This adjustable grating is
held in position by catches a, fixed to the body of the box, and the cover c is
held down firmly by the cross bar y. Rods or pieces of wood h are attached to
the cage and to the arms i, as delineated in Figure 4 of my Drawings, and by
the action of this apparatus the cage is moved up and down. The full details
of the apparatus are laid down in the additional Figures in my Sheet of
Drawings. Figure 2 is a transverse section of the cistern and clothes box.
Figure 3 is a plan of the cistern without its cover or lid, and thus showing the
clothes box. Figure 4 is an end, and Figure 5 a side elevation of the machine;
at j is a shaft, to which the arms i and the lever K are attached; a weight / is
attached to the lever K, and the momentum thus derived produces a violent
pressure on the clothes at the termination of each stroke. Motion is com-
municated to the machine through the handle m, by which the lever K is
moved back and forward; the tub may be emptied, when required, by the
plug hole at n. Although I prefer to have the projecting pieces or pressers
freed or entirely stationary whilst I give motion to the cage or clothes holder,
I do not confine myself to this precise arrangement, as the same or a similar

page_text: effect may be obtained by having the clothes box stationary and the pressers
moveable; nor do I confine myself to any particular form of openings in the
clothes box, or the pressers working therein; and, although I prefer to wash
with a vertical traverse action, yet it will be obvious to the practical man
that a similar effect is obtainable by making either the clothes box or
pressers to traverse in a horizontal direction, or in a circular or curvilinear
path.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,--
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or appa-
ratus to be used for washing cloth and similar materials, as herein-before
described.
Second, the combination of a perforated box or chamber, and pressers,
as herein-before described, for the purpose of washing cloth and similar
materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Patterson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN PATTERSON. (L.S.)