IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lumley, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the
County of Lancaster, Agent, and Wilson Parnell, of the same
Place, Book-keeper, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING
MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lumley and
Wilson Parnell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 6th October 1870.
We, JAMES LUMLEY, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Agent, and WILSON PARNELL, of the same Place, Book-keeper, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WASHING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates generally to washing machines employed in
the washing or cleansing of woven fabrics, and more particularly to
washing machines of the domestic class or such as are adapted to be
employed in the washing or cleansing of household and body linen, for
which purpose our said Invention is very well adapted.

page_text: In machines as usually constructed the articles in process of being
washed are subjected to a beating or dashing action.
In machines constructed in manner according with our said Invention
the action or operation corresponds more nearly with the action or
operation of rubbing as when the said articles are washed by hand, a
domestic machine adapted to be worked by hand being constructed as
or similarly as follows :—
The receptacle to contain the articles to be washed is made in the
form of a circular or nearly circular tub or vat, and is or may be
mounted on suitable legs or feet or on a suitable stand, and is provided
with suitable means for withdrawing water from the said receptacle.
The inner or upper surface of the bottom of the said receptacle is cor-
rugated or formed or provided with a number of projecting ribs, bars,
or rounded surfaces which radiate from or nearly from the centre of the
said bottom. A disc or piston a suitable degree less in diameter than
the inside of the said receptacle is similarly fitted or formed with
radiating corrugations, ribs, bars, or rounded surfaces, and is furnished.
with suitable appliances whereby a to-and-fro rotatory or circular
vibrating motion may be imparted to the said disc or piston, as, for
example, the said receptacle may be fitted with a central shaft or pillar
passing through a central orifice in the said disc or piston, and the said
disc or piston may be fitted with vertical pillars on which acts a hori-
zontal hand lever which swivels on the said central shaft or pillar, so
that when a vibrating or rocking movement is imparted to the said
hand lever the said disc or piston will be caused to rotate or vibrate to
and fro. In the case of large machines, or when preferred, the said
horizontal lever may be actuated by means of a rotatory shaft fitted with
a fly wheel and with suitable appliance for turning the same by hand
or by power or other means than the said horizontal lever may be
employed so long as a suitable to-and-fro circular vibrating movement
is imparted to the said disc or piston.
When operating with the said machine the articles are placed within
the said receptacle, and the said disc or piston is placed on the top of
the said articles with its corrugated or ribbed surface downwards, water
and a suitable detergent, as for example, soap, being added. The said
disc or piston is then actuated in manner as above indicated, the
cleansing of the articles being effected by the action of the aforesaid
corrugated or ribbed surfaces upon the said articles in conjunction with

page_text: the rubbing and rolling action of the said articles upon each other. The
said disc or piston is, by preference, perforated, and is so arranged as
that it may be readily removed from the interior of the receptacle, but
in the case of large machines it may be sufficient to raise the said disc
or piston to a height sufficient for the introduction or withdrawal of
the articles into or from within the said receptacle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Lumley and Wilson Parnell in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 6th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,. we, JAMES
LUMLEY, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Agent, and
WILSON PARNELL, of the same Place, Book-keeper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said James Lumley and Wilson Parnell, Her special
license that we, the said James Lumley and Wilson Parnell, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
James Lumley and Wilson Parnell, our 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 WASHING MACHINES,'
upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said James Lumley
and Wilson Parnell, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals (or under the hand and seal of one of us) 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 James Lumley, do hereby declare
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to
say:-
Our Invention relates generally to washing machines employed in the
washing or cleansing of woven fabrics and more particularly to washing
machines of the domestic class or such as are adapted to be employed i
in the washing or cleansing of household and body linen, for which
purpose our said Invention is very well adapted.
In machines as usually constructed the articles in process of being
washed are subjected to a beating or dashing action.
In machines constructed in manner according with our said Invention
the action or operation corresponds more nearly with the action or
operation of rubbing as when the said articles are washed by hand, a
domestic machine adapted to be worked by hand being constructed as
or similarly as follows:-
The receptacle to contain the articles to be washed is made in the
form of a circular or nearly circular tub or vat, and is or may be
mounted on suitable legs or feet, or on a suitable stand, and is provided
with suitable means for withdrawing water therefrom. The inner or
upper surface of the bottom of the said receptacle is corrugated or
formed or provided with a number of projecting ribs, bars, or rounded
surfaces which may radiate from or nearly from the centre of the said
bottom. A disc or piston a suitable degree less in diameter than the
inside of the said receptacle is similarly fitted or formed with corru-
gations, ribs, bars, or rounded surfaces, and is furnished with suitable
appliances whereby a to-and-fro rotatory or circular vibrating motion
may be imparted to the said disc or piston, as, for example, the said
receptacle may be fitted with a central shaft or pillar passing through
a central orifice in the said disc or piston, and the said disc or piston
may be fitted with vertical pillars on which acts a horizontal hand
lever which swivels on the said central shaft or pillar, so that when a
vibrating or rocking movement is imparted to the said hand lever the
said disc or piston will be caused to rotate or vibrate to and fro.
In order that the Invention may be well understood I have furnished
to accompany this Specification a Sheet of Drawings made for the most
part about one quarter of the full size and having letters of reference
marked thereupon, to which Drawings I will in this place refer.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a hand washing machine, and Fig. 2
is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a machine

page_text: adapted to be actuated by steam power, and Figs. 4 and 5 are views
illustrating the formation of the rubbing surfaces.
In Figs. 1 and 2 a is the circular or nearly circular tub or receptacle ;
bis the bottom thereof, and c is the disc or piston. The bottom c is
shewn in plan at Fig. 4 where d, d, are the aforesaid projecting ribs
or bars. The under side of the disc or piston c is also formed or fitted
with the said projecting ribs or bars or the said bottom and the under
side of the said disc may be formed or provided with projections differing
in form from those shewn in the said Fig. 4, as, for example, rounded
surfaces may be employed, as illustrated at Fig. 5. In this example
nobs or buttons e, one of which is represented about the full size at
Fig. 6 are fixed in the said bottom or disc or in both. A central pillar f
is fixed to the bottom c and an orifice of a suitable size is formed in the
centre of the said disc, so that the said disc may be capable of rotation
around the said pillar. Other orifices may be formed in the said disc
to allow water to pass more readily from one side of the said disc to
the other, such orifices being shewn at h in Fig. 2. A hand lever i is
mounted on the pillar ƒ and is formed with two orifices at k, k, through
which the rods or bars 1, 1, fixed to the disc pass when the said lever
is slid into its working position on the said pillar. The said lever may
be readily removed by sliding the same from off the pillar in an upward
direction, and the said disc may then be lifted out of its place in the tub.
The articles to be washed having been placed within the tub and a
suitable quantity of water and of soap or other detergent having been
also placed or poured therein the disc is to be placed in position within
the tub with its lower surface resting on the said articles, and the hand
lever having been placed in position a vibrating motion is to be imparted
to the said lever by means of which motion the said disc will be caused
to have the herein-before mentioned to-and-fro rotatory or circular
vibrating movement. The cleansing of the said articles is effected or
promoted by the rubbing action of the aforesaid corrugated, ribbed, or
rounded surfaces upon the said articles in conjunction with the rubbing
and rolling action of the said articles upon each other or by the rubbing
together of different parts of the same article. The hand lever i may,
if preferred, be actuated by means of a rotating shaft fitted with a fly
wheel and with suitable appliances for turning the same by hand. A
prop m is jointed to the said hand lever and the lower end of the said
prop is forked, and the said forked end rests in notches formed near the
centre of the disc c. By pressing downwards upon the lever i when the
'

page_text: collar n has been fixed immediately above the said lever by means of
the pin o an additional downward pressure may be imparted to the said
disc. The said prop may be dispensed with if not thought to be required
or necessary. The water may be discharged from the tub through a
plug hole shewn at p.
In Fig. 3 the central pillar is made hollow and a shaft s is fitted to
rotate within the said pillar. The upper part of the said shaft is fitted
with a cross head t which corresponds in its action to the aforesaid
lever i and the lower end of the said shaft is fitted with a bevil wheel or
segment of a wheel which gears with a wheel or segment v fixed to
the rocking shaft w. A rocking motion is imparted to the shaft w by a
crank on the driving shaft x acting through the connecting rod y which
is jointed to the lever z. A vibrating rotatory motion is thus imparted
to the disc c. The articles in process of being cleansed are in this
example represented at j.
i
Having now described the nature of our said Invention together with
our methods of carrying the same into pratical effect, I would have it
to be understood that what we desire to claim as secured to us by the
herein-before mentioned Letters Patent is, the making, vending, and
employment of washing machines constructed in manner substantially as
herein-before described and set forth, and as illustrated and indicated by
.the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lumley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Signed and sealed by the said
James Lumley, in the presence
of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentees,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.
JAMES LUMLEY. (L.S.)