Year: 1885

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by Walter and Echberg, of 6, Russell Street, Mel-
bourne, Victoria, Australia, Manufacturers, through their Agent, Thomas
Lancaster, also Resident in the said Colony in Australia.]
I, DAVID TOWLER of Towler & Co. Limited, of 208 Walton Road, Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Managing Director, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention (a communication from abroad by Walter and Echberg of 6 Russell
Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Manufacturers, through their Agent, Thomas
Lancaster, also resident in the said Colony in Australia) to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the doing away with the use of a dolly or its
solid mechanical equivalent in washing machines and thereby avoiding a vast
amount of unnecessary wear and tear on the clothes.
It consists in forming the washing chamber so that it shall be practically
hermetically sealed during the process of washing and shall contain a considerable
amount of air which air by the oscillation of the chamber shall be forced through
or among the clothes and water at each oscillation thereby causing violent agitation
and effectually cleansing the clothes in every part.
After numerous trials it has been found that à chamber formed of a cylinder
with conical ends supported on trunnions near the transverse centre line or central
diameter is a good shape. The air at one oscillation collects in one cone and at
the next is forcibly driven by gravitation through the clothes and water to the
other cone.
Other forms of air collecting space will do, but experiment so far has
tended to show the cone superior to any. I therefore propose while not limiting
myself to it to adopt the conical shape for the ends, and in the practical carrying
out of the invention to mount the chamber trunnions in light cast or wrought iron
frames, handles will be attached to the chamber to rock it by and a catch chain or
equivalent stop for holding the chamber (while being filled) in such position that
the door or top shall he uppermost. The door can be a large man-hole in the
centre between the trunnions, but preferably one of the cones is made to come off,
D

page_text: '
and is attached to the chamber proper by conical rubber, leather, or other suitable
joint, and tightened by screws, wedge device or other equivalent fastening-
preferably an adjustable hinge at one side and a double hook catch adjustable by
screw or a simple bolt and nut at the other or in small apparatus a simple
bayonet joint and rubber packing would do.
The mode of action is as follows: The clothes, soap and water are inserted, the
top adjusted water tight, and the apparatus rocked by hand or water power till
from practical experience the attendant is satisfied the clothes will be washed
sufficiently, it is then fixed top uppermost the top removed, and the clothes hooked
out, or the entire contents thrown out into a tub by the tilting of the chamber.

page_text: Improvements in Washing Machines.
I, DAVID TOWLER, of Towler and Co. Limited, of 208 Walton Road, Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster Managing Director do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication from abroad by Walter and Echberg, of 6 Russell
Street, Melbourne, Victoria Australia Manufacturers, through their Agent, Thomas
Lancaster also resident in the said Colony in Australia) and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-―
This invention has for its object the doing away with the use of a dolly or its
solid mechanical equivalent in washing machines, and thereby avoiding a vast
amount of unnecessary wear and tear on the clothes.
It consists in forming the washing chamber so that it shall be practically
hermetically sealed during the process of washing, and shall contain a considerable
amount of air, which air by the oscillation of the chamber shall be forced through
or among the clothes and water at each oscillation, thereby causing violent agitation,
and effectually cleansing the clothes in every part.
After numerous trials it has been found that a chamber formed of a cylinder
with conical ends supported on trunnions, near the transverse centre line or central
diameter is a good shape.
This is set forth in the accompanying drawing of a machine as actually
manufactured. A is the cylindrical body of riveted wrought iron, B, B, trunnions,
C framework of cast iron, D lid, E hinged forks passing over lugs F of lid, and
screwed tight on to the same by thumb screws G, H handle for rocking the
apparatus, tied to the frame as shown when the receptacle has to be opened,
I lower cone. The mode of action is as follows. The clothes and soap water are
placed in the apparatus while in the vertical position shown, but without lid. The
lid is now fixed on a rubber flange attached to the lid or body as the case may be,
forming a tight joint. The apparatus is now untied and rocked by handle H.
The air at one oscillation collects in one cone, and at the next is forcibly driven by
gravitation through the clothes and water to the other cone. Other forms of air
collecting space will do, but experiment so far has tended to show the cone superior
to any. I therefore propose, while not limiting myself to it to adopt the conical
shape for the ends. The door can be a large man hole in the centre between the
trunnions, but preferably one of the cones is made to come off and is attached to
the chamber proper by conical rubber, leather, or other suitable joint and tightened
by screws, wedge device or other equivalent fastening, or with an adjustable hinge
at one side, and a double hook catch, adjustable screw, or a simple bolt and nut
at the other, or in small apparatus, a simple bayonet joint and rubber packing
would do.
The apparatus is rocked by hand steam or water power, till from practical
experience the attendant is satisfied the clothes will be washed sufficiently, it is
then fixed top uppermost, the top removed, and the clothes hooked out, or the
entire contents thrown out into a tub by the tilting of the chamber.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1st. The manufacture and use of washing machines consisting of a cylindrical or
other parallel or nearly parallel sided body supported on trunnions or their
equivalent, so as to be capable of rocking, and having at each end a conical,
pyramidal or equivalent shaped space, substantially as and for the purposes
described.
2nd. A washing apparatus consisting of an elongated closed chamber, supported
on its shorter and horizontal axis on trunnions, and provided with a handle for
rocking it so arranged that the major axis shall oscillate about the horizontal line,
each end dipping below and rising above it alternately.
3rd. The manufacture and use of washing machines in which the articles to be
washed are placed in a closed chamber together with the washing liquor, and a
quantity of air, and so rocking the said chamber as to cause the air to collect at
each end alternately, and be driven through the water and clothes by the force of
gravity each time the position is reversed.