IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND WRINGING CLOTHES OR FABRICS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius Ives, of New York City, United States of
America, Merchant, but now residing at Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND
WRINGING CLOTHES OR FABRICS."
Sealed the 18th November 1862, and dated the 30th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius Ives at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
May 1862.
I, JULIUS IVES, of New York City, United States of America, Merchant,
but now residing at Bow, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND
WRINGING CLOTHES OR FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My improved machinery for washing and wringing clothes or fabrics consists
principally in the employment of two or more elastic rollers made of vul-
canized india-rubber or other suitable elastic, material, and mounted and
actuated in such a manner that the surface-speed of both these rollers will be
always the same, and consequently there will be 'no-tendency to rub or tear
any article or fabric that may be passed between them. On the axles of each
of these rollers is mounted a cog wheel, and both of these cog wheels are of
equal diameter and number of teeth. These wheels gear into each other, and

page_text: on the axle of one of them is keyed a winch handle whereby it is turned, and
upon communicating motion to one roller the other will be necessarily made
to rotate at the same speed. The bearings of the upper roller are kept down
by means of a strong wooden spring, the pressure of which is capable of
adjustment by gauge or set screws from above. The teeth of the cog wheels
on the ends of the elastic pressing rollers are of such length as to admit of
the rollers yielding in a vertical direction, in order to allow a considerable
thickness of material to pass between them without the wheels becoming
ungeared. The pressing rollers are mounted in a slotted frame which is
secured to a suitable tub or vessel (containing water or suds) by means of a
lever fastener, consisting of a pair of lever arms and cross pieces. The
arms are mounted and turn on studs fixed in movable side arms which are
adjustable horizontally, so as to admit of the apparatus being adapted to
vessels having sides of different thicknesses. A tightening screw is passed
through the cross piece at the upper end of the lever arms, and bears against
a cross piece which forms part of the fixed framing of the machine, so that by
turning this screw the lower ends of the lever arms may-be made to clip or
hold tightly on to the sides of the vessel to which it may be adapted. In
order to wash, clothes with this machine they may be simply soaked in suds
or soap and water, and then passed several times, between the rollers, which,
when expressing the water will at the same time force out the dirt. The same
machine will serve both to wash and wring the clothes; and if for the latter
purpose a little tighter nip be required than is found necessary when washing,
this additional pressure may be obtained by screwing down the tightening
screws which act on the ends of the wooden spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julius Ives in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
IVES, of New York City, United States of America, Merchant, but now
residing at Bow, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Julius Ives, Her special licence that I, the said Julius Ives,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Julius Ives, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY
POR WASHING AND WRINGING CLOTHES OR FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Julius Ives, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Julius Ives, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof':
My improved machinery for washing and wringing clothes or fabrics
consists principally in the employment of two or more elastic rollers made of
vulcanised india-rubber or other- suitable elastic material, and mounted and
actuated in such a manner that the surface speed of both thèse rollers will be
always the same, and consequently there will be no tendency to rub or tear
any article or fabric that may be passed between them. On the axles of cach
of these rollers is mounted a cog wheel, and both of these cog wheels are of
equal diameter and number of teeth. These wheels gear into each other, and
on the axle of one of them is keyed a winch handle whereby it is turned, and
upon communicating motion to one roller the other will be necessarily made
to rotate at the same speed. The bearings of the upper roller are kept down
by means of a strong wooden spring, the pressure of which is capable of
adjustment by gauge or set screws from above. The teeth of the cog wheels
on the axles of the elastic pressing rollers are of such length as to admit of
the rollers yielding in a vertical direction, in order to allow a considerable
thickness of material to pass between them without the wheels becoming
ungeared. The pressing rollers are mounted in a slotted frame wbich is
secured to a suitable tub or vessel containing water or suds by means of a
lever fastener consisting of a pair of lever arms and cross pieces. The arms are
mounted and turn on studs fixed in moveable side, arms which are adjustable
horizontally so as to admit of the apparatus being adapted to vessels having

page_text: sides of different thickness. A tightening screw is passed through the cross.
piece at the upper end of the lever arms, and bears against a cross piece
which forms part of the fixed framing of the machine, so that by turning this
screw the lower ends of the lever arms may be made to clip or hold tightly on
to the sides of the vessel to which it may be adapted.
In order to wash clothes with this machine they may be simply soaked in.
suds or soap and water, and then passed several times between the rollers
which, when expressing the water will at the same time force out the dirt.
The same machine will serve both to wash and wring the clothes, and if for
the latter purpose a little tighter nip be required than is found necessary when
washing, the additional pressure may be obtained by screwing down the
tightening screws which act on the ends of the wooden spring.
And in order that the said. Invention may be more fully understood and
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe.it in detail, with reference to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in
section, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the machine.
The rollers a and b are prepared for the reception of the india-rubber
covering by first varnishing the shafts, then wrapping them with twine and
coating them with cement before they are forced into the cylinders constituting
their working surfaces.
By this means the chemical action between the iron and the india-rubber is
prevented, the india-rubber is permanently secured, and the risk of staining
the clothes by discolored moisture from inside the rollers is obviated.
The upper roller 6 is carried in slides c that work in the frame of the
machine, and are pressed down by the springs d with a force that may be
regulated by the screws e, thus occasioning an uniformity of pressure and of
action that obviates any necessity for special attention, and causes the machine
to adapt itself to any inequality in the distribution of the material without
materially impairing its efficiency.
The frame for securing the machine to the tub is composed of two levers f,
connected by cross bars and pivoted to the machine by the moveable arms g,
which are adjusted to any length required by means of the thumbscrews h,
which clamp the teeth of the washers i into the serrations of: the side arms.
The pins hold the arms square. When the frame is adjusted to the
thickness of the tub in the manner described, the machine is firmly held and
secured by the set screw l.
The frame may be made in any manner that admits the application of the
essential feature of my. Invention, but I prefer the mode of construction illus-

page_text: trated in the Drawing. The pins m fix the limit to which the upper roller is
permitted to rise; the cog wheels are shewn at n, and the handle by which
the machine is operated at o.
I claim as my Invention,―
1. The machine constructed and arranged, substantially as described, for
the purpose specified.
2. Preparing the rollers with varnish, twine, and cement, for the reception
of the india-rubber in the manner described.
3. The application of the spring bearings and adjusting screws to the
rollers. And,
4. The clamping frame constructed with adjustable fulcra, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Ives, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JULIUS IVES. (L.S.)