IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SOAPING, WASHING, FULLING, MILLING, WRINGING, MANGLING, AND IRONING CLOTHES AND FABRICS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Walton, of the City of Worcester, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SOAPING,
WASHING, FULLING, MILLING, WRINGING, MANGLING, AND IRONING CLOTHES
AND FABRICS."
Sealed the 16th November 1866, and dated the 19th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Nicholas Walton at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th May
1866.
I, NICHOLAS WALTON, of the City of Worcester, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR SOAPING, WASHING, FULLING, MILLING, WRINGING, MANGLING, AND IRONING
CLOTHES AND FABRICS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in machinery or apparatus
applicable to the purposes of a laundry, and for fulling and milling cloths,
aud consists of new means of soaping clothes and fabrics, of washing, and
lifting them out of the suds to drain, of wringing, mangling, and ironing them,
an of fuiling or milling woollen fabrics.
The apparatus for soaping the clothes consists of a tub of metal or wood,
or the two combined, perforated at the bottom and sides with holes, the cover

page_text: being a lid equal to the internal diameter of the tub; this lid has in the centre
a raised surface or slab containing a socket hole or bearing for the purpose of
receiving the pressure caused by a male screw rod passing through a cross
head or bear having a female screw cut therein; this cross bead is adjusted
on the top of the-tub by means of two uprights formed by the elongation of
two opposite staves, or otherwise, and by two horizontal grooves therein, into
and between which the cross head is easily set or placed and removed. The
top of the screw rod (above the threads) is perforated with a hole for the
reception of a lever, which being worked by hand forces down the disc or
cover.
The method of using the apparatus is as follows:-The disc, cross head, rod,
and lever being removed from the tub the articles to be suaped are thrown in
and the tub is placed in the suds which rush in through the holes; the appa-
ratus being then put together pressure is applied and the articles are pressed
iuto a mass, whereby the soap is forced into every pore, nearly all the water.
being expelled; the apparatus is then removed from the suds, and the lid
being removed the articles are released by inverting the tub; they are left in
a mass for a sufficient time to cause a slight amount of fermentation to take
place, after which they are removed to the washing machine. This process
enables the clothes to be easily cleansed by the washing machine, as the dirt is
thereby already half removed or separated. The tub may be lowered and
hoisted into and out of the suds by means of a rope or chain gearing and a
crank handle and pulley, and placed on a draining board. This process saves
the ordinary method of soaping the clothes by hand. One person can do as
much work as ten in the same time and more effectively.
In washing machines I improve the same by forming the vertical ribs in
front of the machine of boards or slips instead of round rods; these boards extend
to and touch the front board, in order to prevent the clothes from getting
round the rods, and also to cause the water to rush back through the same
spaces in which it enters, thus forcing back the clothes; this improvement is
very suitable for washing wool or oily waste, and also for fulling and milling
cloths. In lieu of the crank shaft working above the machine I place it on
a level half way the vertical width of the dash, and through a stuffing box on
the side of the machine; by placing the shaft at such a level the action of the
cranks comes direct in the centre of the dash and makes a thrust in the line
of unotion of the dash. The same result may be accomplished by placing the
driving shaft above the machine in suitable bearings, and actuating the crank
shaft placed, as above described, by means of toothed wheels. propose
to heat the water in the machines by means of steam pipes under a false,
I

page_text: bottom, or by means of a metallic bottom and by gas burners or coal, charcoal,
or other fuel. I propose to lift the clothes from the washing machine by
means of a network of rope or wire, or by coarse open canvas or fabric to let
the water drain. off. This lifter has four corners to which eyes are attached,
and. is lifted by means of four ropes or chains and hooks, the ropes passing
over a grooved pulley above the machine attached to a beam or otherwise;
the ropes then pass down to a winding roller actuated by a crank attached to
the side of the machine, and controlled by a pall and ratchet.
When the clothes are properly washed the net is placed by one of its sides
between the dash and the clothes, and is caused to descend and travel under
and around them by the repeated motions of the dash and the rotating motion
thereby imparted to the clothes; when the edge of the net is fairly brought up
on the front of the clothes the machine is stopped, and the four ropes or chains
are attached to the corners of the net, whereby the clothes are lifted in a body
from the water and suspended to drain, after which they are conveyed to the
wringing machine, which consists of a framework and sides and top; the
upper part of the front being open and exposing the series of rollers; the main
large roller of wood or metal or other material receiving motion from a driving
pulley, small cog, and large toothed wheel, accomplishing a slow powerful motion.
This roller is set in fixed bearings; the periphery of this main roller is pressed
upon by two, three, or other number of smaller rollers, by preference covered
with india-rubber, vulcanized or otherwise; these smaller rollers are caused
to act with great pressure by means of bearings moving in sliding grooves,
such bearings being forced against the periphery of the main roller by means
of toggle-jointed levers and connecting rods with adjustable weights at their
extremities, or by powerful helical springs. In front of the internal rollers a
running roller is set in bearings; around this and under the main roller, and
above and over the smaller rollers, an endless sheet of network or open
canvas is passed; this baud or sheet returns under the series to the front
roller, motion being communicated to the machine and main roller, the others
turn by friction and the wet clothes are fed on the sheet, and thus brought
under or between the main roller and smaller rollers successively, thus causing
a successive or continuous wringing, after which they fall backwards and
drop down into a receptacle under the rollers, and are removed at pleasure.
The water expelled falls through the endless sheet on to a tray, and thence
down a pipe to the waste or drain. This machine may have a second or
pressing roller over the front running roller, in order that the clothes may be
stretched or dragged into the machine iustead of merely being fed directly to
the pressing rollers, in which case the clothes are first passed between the

page_text: two front rollers; the object of this is chiefly to treat woollen and some other
fabrics which would more readily be wrung by such stretching or strain. The
endless cloth may be dispensed with, as the clothes will still travel through,
but not with such certainty; endless tapes will also answer the purpose.
Where two or three small rollers are employed a bar is placed above the rear
roller, and let in grooves in the inside of the machine; this bar prevents the
clothes from curling forwards over the rollers to the front, and causes them to
fall down behind the rollers into the receptacle. Where a greater number of
rollers are employed the clothes can be fed from the front and delivered
out at the same place, or even passed through several times before being
delivered. This machine will mangle and iron. I prefer to employ a hollow
main metallic roller heated by steam passing through its hollow shaft; the
other rollers should be also of metal, similarly heated in connection with a
steam jacket.
In some cases it would be advantageous to use such heated rollers for
wringing.