IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING FABRICS."
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Wardley, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Commission Agent, for the Invention of “IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wardley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1873.
I, CHARLES WARDLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Commission Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
" IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
for
My improved machinery consists of a drum with a corrugated surface,
and of two rollers, one placed at each side of the drum, which rollers are
pressed against the surface of the drum by springs or other equivalents;
under the drum and rollers is a cistern containing water, and the cistern
is provided with partitions and guide rollers. The corrugated drum is
turned round by steam or other motive power, and in revolving it

page_text: imparts rotary motion to the side rollers, and the fabric to be washed is
drawn forward by the nip of the side roller and the drum; when the
fabric has dipped into the water in the cistern it is taken upwards again
and passed through a guide near the side roller over which it again
passes, and then it dips again into the cistern and again rises to be again
passed through a guide and taken over the side roller. When the fabric
has been traversed to the end of one side roller it is guided by the rollers
in the cistern to the other side roller over which it travels in the same
manner, and as the drum revolves the side rollers are moved to and fro
by the corrugations on its surface, thereby producing a compressing and
beating action on the fabric which effectually washes it as it passes
through the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Charles Wardley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WARDLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Commission
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Wardley, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles Wardley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Wardley, 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," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Wardley, 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

page_text: cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calender months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Wardley, do hereby declare
5 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 consists of a drum with a corrugated surface,
and of two rollers, one placed at each side of the drum, which rollers are
pressed against the surface of the drum by springs or other equivalents;
under the drum and rollers is a cistern containing water; as the drum
revolves the side rollers are moved to and fro by the corrugations on its
surface, thereby producing a compressing and beating action on the
fabric which effectually washes it as it is dipped into and lifted out of
the water in the cistern in passing through the machine.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 is an end view of my improved machinery for washing fabrics;
and Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.
a is the centre drum which is made with five or other uneven number
of corrugations; and b, b, the side rollers; the drum a revolves in fixed
bearings, and the rollers 6 are supported in the levers c which vibrate on
trunnions supported in adjustable bearings; the lower ends of the
levers c fit on the bars d, supporting the india-rubber or other springs e,
the tension of which can be regulated by the hand wheels fand the
screws on the ends of the bars d. The side rollers 6 can be held in
contact with the centre drum a by weights and levers or other equiva-
lents. The drum a is turned round by steam or other motive power, and
in revolving it imparts a rotary and to-and-fro motion to the side
rollers b, b. These combined motions produce a compressing and beating
action on the fabric passing around the side rollers which effectually and
rapidly washes it as it is dipped into and lifted out of the water in the
cisterns h. represents a spirt pipe which may be applied at one or
both sides of the drum a.

page_text: The progress of the fabric through the machine is shewn best in
Fig. 2, and the fabric is guided in traversing from one end of the side
rollers to the other by the guide pegs 9, 9, or by means of partitions and
rollers in the cistern as now customary.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I declare that I claim the corrugated
drum a and the combination thereof with the side rollers b, b, for
washing fabrics, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Wardley, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-four.