A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Pearson, of Brierley Hill, in the County of
Stafford, Cooper, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING
MACHINE."
Sealed the 1st September 1858, and dated the 12th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Pearson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
March 1858.
I, WILLIAM PEARSON, of Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford, Cooper, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
WASHING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
My new or improved washing machine consists of a circular tub or vessel
supported by preference ou legs at a suitable distance from the ground. To
the bottom of the tub or vessel, a rubber, constructed as herein-after explained,
is fixed. In the axis of the vessel a vertical spindle is fixed, and on the said
spindle a second or upper rubber constructed as herein-after explained works.
The said upper rubber is provided with a handle, by which handle it can be
turned upon its axis or spindle, with a reciprocating motion in the tub or vessel.
The upper and loose rubber consists of a circular disc of wood, upon the under
side of which discs strips of wood or zinc having a fluted or undulating figure,
are disposed in a nearly radial manner.
The lower and fixed-rubber consists of strips of wood or zinc-similar to those

page_text: of the upper rubber, the said strips being permanently fixed to the bottom of
the tub or vessel.
The articles to be washed are placed upon the lower rubber, the upper
rubber being temporarily removed, and water or other washing liquid being
placed in the tub or vessel, the upper rubber is replaced in the tub, and a
backward and forward circular motion being imparted to it by its handle, the
articles are rubbed between the fluted or undulating surfaces of the two rubbers
and thereby washed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Pearson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PEARSON, of Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford, Cooper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight.hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Pearson, Her special licence that I, the said William Pearson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Pearson,
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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING
MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Rearson, 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 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 Pearson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say.:-
My said Invention consists of a new or improved washing machine con-

page_text: structed in the manner berein-after particularly described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawing. Figure 1 represents in transverse vertical sec-
tion a washing machine constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2
represents a horizontal section of the same taken through the line ȧ, Figure 1.
My said new or improved washing machine consists of a circular tub or
vessel b, supported by preference on legs c, c, at a suitable distance from the
ground. To the bottom of the tub or vessel b, I fix a rubber d, the said
rubber d being constructed in the manner herein-after explained. In the axis
of the said tub or vessel 6 a spindle e is situated, the said spindle being fixed
securely in its place by a wedge ƒ being passed through a hole in the bottom
of the said spindle e, the said wedge f wedging against the support g, upon
which the tub or vessel b rests. On the said spindle e a moveable rubber h
works, the said rubber h being constructed in the manner herein-after ex-
plained. The under side of the moveable rubber h is represented in plan in
Figure 3.
The said upper or moveable rubber h is provided with a bandle i, by which
handle the said rubber can be turned upon the spindle or axis e with a reci-
procating motion in the tub or vessel b. The under surface of the rubber h
is cut away near the spindle e as represented for the purpose of allowing the
said rubber when it is depressed in the tub to pass over the enlarged part e
of the spindle e, and to be brought into contact with the lower and fixed
rubber d. The said cut away portion is marked k in Figures 1 and 3. Icon-
struct the working or rubbing surfaces of the said fixed and moveable rubbers
d and h in the manner represented in plan in Figure 4, and in transverse
vertical section in Figure 5, which said Figures represent on a large scale the
working surface of a portion of a rubber constructed according to my Inven-
tion. The said rubber, Figures 4 and 5, consists of strips of wood, zinc, or
other suitable material having a fluted or undulating figure as seen in
Figure 5.
The rubbers, Figures 4 and 5, are disposed in a nearly radial manner upon
the under surface of the upper rubber h, and upon the bottom of the tub
or vessel b, as will be understood by reference to Figures 2 and 3, in which
said Figures the fluted or undulating surfaces are marked l. The said fluted
surfaces may be fixed to the rubbers by nails or in any other convenient
manner.
The articles to be washed are placed on the lower rubber d, the upper
rubber having been temporarily removed, and water or other washing
liquid being placed in the tub or vessel b, the upper rubber h is replaced and
depressed in the tub until it comes in contact with the articles to be washed.

page_text: A backward and forward circular motion is then imparted to the moveable
rubber h by its handle i, and the articles are rubbed between the fluted or
undulating surfaces of the two rubbers d and h, and thereby washed.
Although I prefer to mount and support my new or improved washing
machine in the manner described and represented in Figure 1, yet the said
machine may be mounted and supported in any other convenient way, or the
said machine may be used without any support.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
carrying. the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention the new or improved washing machine herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a circular
washing machine consisting of a fixed and moveable rubber upon the
working surfaces of which rubbers, strips of wood, zinc, or other suitable
material of a fluted or undulating figure are disposed in a nearly radial
manner, the articles being washed between the said fixed and moveable
rubbers as herein described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Pearson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM PEARSON. (L.S.)
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.