IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hook Davey, of Blundell Street, Caledonian
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and Machinist, for the
No text detected.
Sealed the 22nd December 1865, and dated, the 30th June 1865.
L
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hook Davey at
the, Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1865.
I, WILLIAM HOOK DAVEY, of Blundell Street, Caledonian Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Machinist, do hereby declare, the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
I suspend two plungers or beaters from arms mounted on a rocking shaft,
such beaters being rectangular frames of a length nearly equal to the length
of the chamber or vessel in which they are disposed, and with the beating
surface along the lower side, and presented parallel to the bottom of the
vessel. They are disposed one on either side of the rocking axis, and there-
fore, counterbalance each other; a reciprocating motion is imparted to the
beaters by the rocking motion of a shaft, which is fitted in suitable bearings
at either end of the machine; on one end of this shaft is fixed an arm and
Lew of the
crank pin, which is connected by a suitable connecting rod to another crank
on a rotating shaft, but which cránk is of lesser radius, and so that a complete
revolution of said crank only imparts an oscillating or a to-and-fro motion to

page_text: partial
rotary or rocking motion of the shaft carrying the beater. The rotating
crank shaft may be provided with a fly wheel and winch handle for driving it
by hand, or with fast and loose pullies, in order to drive it by power. The
vessel I prefer to be of greater length than breadth, and with the beater
suspended near the sides, while the sides are inclined or curved inwards at the
bottom, which is thereby narrowed or contracted in breadth. The beaters
are suspended at each end, there being two double arms, one at each end of
the oscillating shaft. I make the vessel of considerable depth, with a cover
or top to enclose the whole, and with a tray-like recess, in which the clothes
may be laid to drain after removal from the machine, a funnel-shaped channel
conducting the water by a narrow slot back into the machine. Water, soap,
and other detergent material are of course used in this machine and as in
the other crank arm with which it is connected, and consequently
ordinary
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hook Davey in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Hooк DAVEY, of Blundell Street, Caledonian Road, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer and Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto I, the
said William Hook Davey, Her special licence that I, the said William Hook
Davey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Hook Davey, 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 "In-
.PROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Hook Davey, my executors or administrators, 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

page_text: 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 Hook Davey, 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 Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
I suspend two plungers or beaters from arms mounted on a rocking shaft,
such beaters being rectangular frames of a length nearly equal to the length
of the chamber or vessel in which they are disposed, and with the beating
surface along the lower side, and presented parallel to the bottom of the
vessel. They are disposed one on either side of the rocking axis, and there-
fore counterbalance each other. A reciprocating motion is imparted to the
beaters by the rocking motion of the shaft, which is fitted in suitable bearings
at either end of the machine; on one end of this shaft is fixed an arm and
crank pin, which is connected by a suitable connecting rod to another crank
on a rotating shaft, but which crank is of lesser radius, and so that a complete
révolution of said crank only imparts an oscillating or to-and-fro motion to the
other crank arm with which it is connected, and consequently a partial rotary
or rocking motion of the shaft carrying the beater. The rotating crank shaft
may be provided with a fly wheel and winch handle for driving it by hand, or
with fast and loose pullies, in order to drive it by a strap from any suitable
power. The vessel I prefer of greater length than breadth, and with the
beaters suspended near the sides, while the sides are inclined or curved
inwards at the bottom, which is thereby narrowed or contracted in breadth.
The beaters are suspended at each end, there being two double arms, one at
each end of the oscillating shaft. I make the vessel of considerable depth,
and with a cover or top to enclose the whole, and with a tray-like recess, in
which the clothes may be laid to drain after removal from the machine, a
funnel-shaped channel conducting the water by a narrow slit back into the
machine. Water, soap, or other detergent material are of course used in
this machine and as in ordinary

page_text: the parts being firmly bolted together by bolts b, b, securing metal straps c, c.;
it is mounted on suitable feet or pedestals d, d, all as seen; at each end.are
bolted metal plates F, F, F, to which are fixed the bearings 9, 9, to carry the
oscillating shaft h, such plates having suitable strengthening ribs f. ff. These
plates, which form ends to the machine, carrying it to a higher level, are
furnished with grooves formed by ribs cast on the inner surface, between
which grooves I insert a back board i, i, a sloping top board k, k, and the
inclined shoot board 1, for running down the water at the back into the
machine, also a low piece m in front. The case a, a, is made with the
upper part of the front hinged at p, while to the upper part of a the
sloping flap R is hinged at r. By folding one or both of these parts 9 and R
down on their hinges p and r, as seen dotted in Fig. 2, more or less facility
may be had for access to the machine for introducing or removing the clothes
or material to be washed; a suitable button or other fastening is provided to
hold the part up in position. On the shaft h are fixed two double arms s, s,
from which the beater frames T, T, are suspended by joint pins t, t; these
frames terminate at bottom in the beating surfaces U, U, of the configuration
shown in the cross section, Fig. 3, but they may be of any other form desired.
A reciprocating motion is imparted to the beaters by the rocking action of
the shaft h; this rocking action is communicated by a crank arm v fixed on ḥ,
and placed in connection with a crank pin w by a connecting rod y, the radius
of the crank pin w being less than that of the corresponding pin of v; a
revolution of the crank pin w produces simply a double oscillation of the
arm v; this oscillatory motion being communicated to the shaft h produces
the oscillations of the double arms 3, s. I mount the crank pin w in a radial
slot in the disc L, in which it may be adjusted and fixed at a greater or less
distance from the centre, in order to increase or diminish the throw of the
crank, and consequently of the oscillatory motions of the shaft h, and rise and
fall of the beaters; the disc L is mounted on the shaft M, having at the other
end fast and loose pullies N, N, for communicating motion by strap from a
steam engine or other suitable power; a winch handle may, however, be
substituted, and the machine driven by hand. As seen in the section, Fig. 3,
I make the bottom of the vessel a, a, of a curved and beaded form, which
provides a roughened surface to produce friction on the material under
operation, and which by reason of the concave surface will be driven by the
downward pressure of the beaters from one side to the other, and so press
and agitate the clothes or material being operated on, and so wash and cleanse
them. The inclined bracket-like pieces j, j, are intended to throw the beaters
off one another in the event of their contact; or instead of such bracket

page_text: pieces the beater may be carried up solid to the top of the inclined pieces j;
a plug or tap is provided at one end of the machine to draw off the water
near the bottom. Instead of the beaters being in one piece the whole length,
they may be divided into sections, and even duplicate beaters might be
disposed at different distances from the fulcrum or rocking shaft h; a staple
and pin is also applied to keep up the lower flap q while the machine is
at work.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrange-
ment and construction of washing machines with two or more counterbalance
reciprocating beaters or plungers acting upon the clothes or other materials
to be washed, in manner herein-before described and represented in the Sheet
of Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hook Davey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM HOOK DAVEY. (LS.)