IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING FABRICS, AND FOR CHURNING
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Addy, of Pigot Street, in the City of
Manchester, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR WASHING FABRICS, AND FOR CHURNING."
Sealed the 24th October 1861, and dated the 4th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Addy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
May 1861.
I, WILLIAM ADDY, of Pigot Street, in the City of Manchester, Mechanic,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WASHING FABRICS, AND FOR CHURNING," to be as follows:-
.My improved machinery for washing and churning consists of a cylindrical
or polygonal. vessel with internal ribs or projections, and a perforated partition.
When my improved machinery is used for washing there are two doors
required for admitting and removing the fabrics which are agitated when the
cylindrical or other .shaped vessel rotates by striking against the internal
circumference thereof and against the perforated partition through which
the wash water circulates freely; but when my improved machinery is used
for churning, only one door is required, or a portion of the circumference can
be removed for the purpose of thoroughly cleansing the interior.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Addy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ADDY, of Pigot Street, in the City of Manchester, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, 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 me,
the said William Addy, Her special licence that I, the said William Addy,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Addy, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WASHING FABRICS AND FOR CHURNING," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Addy, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 William Addy, 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
(that is to say) :-
My improved machinery for washing and churning consists of a cylindrical
or polygonal vessel with internal projections and a perforated partition. When
my improved machinery is used for washing there are two doors required for
admitting and removing the fabrics, which are agitated when the cylindrical
or other shaped vessel rotates by striking against the internal circumference
thereof and against the perforated partition, through which the wash water
circulates freely; but when my improved machinery is used for churning, only
one door is required.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference

page_text: being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of my improved machinery for
washing fabrics; Figure 2 is a side view of the sanie. a is an eight-sided
vessel supported by the trunnions 6 in the side frames c. I wish to remark
here that the vessel may be cylindrical, if preferred, or made with any other
convenient number of sides. It is divided into two parts by the perforated
partition d, and each division is provided with an opening e, for introducing
the articles to be washed. The openings e are closed by the lids f; the upper
one is left out in the Drawing, but the lower one is shewn in its place, and it is
secured by a screw bolt, or in any other convenient manner. The hemispherical
projections g are attached to the interior of the vessel for the purpose of
assisting in turning the fabrics over. The mode of operation is as follows:-
When the requisite part of the articles to be washed have been placed in one
of the compartments of the vessel a, the corresponding lid f is secured, and
the vessel a is then turned half round by means of the handle h and pinion i,
which gears into the wheel j, fixed to one of the trunnions b. The remainder
of the articles to be washed are then placed in the other compartment with
the hot water and soap or other washing ingredient; the other lid is then
secured, and a rotary motion is given to the vessel until the washing is com-
pleted, the operation being greatly expedited by the action of the water
dropping through the perforated partition on to the fabrics in the lower
compartment, and by the rolling over of the fabrics occasioned by their action
against the sides of the vessel, the partition d, and by the projections g. The
valve opens from the inside of the vessel a, and allows steam to blow off
when required. The squeezing or wringing rollers land m may be applied
above the vessel a, and when they are so applied I make use of the false lid n,
which is hinged at o. This lid n is made to fit over the openings e in the
vessel a, as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 1, when the squeezing rollers are
in operation to convey the water that is expressed from the fabrics into the
vessel a. When the wringing rollers are employed, the pinion i is drawn out
of gear with the wheel j, and into gear with the wheel P, which communicates
motion to the lower roller l, as clearly shewn in the Drawing.
When my improved machinery is employed as a churn, the valve k is placed
in the reverse direction in the side of the vessel a, that is to say, it is made to
admit air into the vessel, and the spindle of the valve comes against an incline
fixed to the inside of one of the frames c, so as to allow air to enter at every
rotation of the vessel a, thereby facilitating the process of churning. I

page_text: also prefer to place ribs across the interior of the vessel in lieu of the
projections g.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, I declare
that I claim the peculiar combination and arrangements of parts, as shewn and
described, when used for washing fabrics and for churning.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Addy, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.