IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Ellis, of 91, Gracechurch Street,
in the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
Sealed the 3rd May 1870, and dated, the 23rd February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Ellis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 23rd February 1870.
I, GEORGE HENRY ELLIS, of 91, Gracechurch Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention:
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING,"
to be as follows :-
My improvements consist in providing a small neat frame with handle
suitable for actuating by hand, and mounting therein rollers and other
appliances for washing, wringing, and mangling..
For the two former purposes I usually employ a pair of corrugated or
other shaped rollers, and one plain roller between them. In the two.
spaces between these three rollers I dispose fixed or flexible rubbers.
made of wood, india-rubber, brushes, or other suitable material, by

page_text: preference formed to resemble the knuckles of the hand. I may use less
or more than three rollers, and in certain cases the rubbers may be
removed and the rollers used alone. The position of the rollers may be
reversed by putting two plain rollers at the outside and a corrugated
roller in the centre of the frame. The plain rollers are intended chiefly
for "
wringing." The rollers are made of india-rubber, wood, or other
suitable material. I provide a board covered with flannel or felt, upon
which clothes to be treated are laid after being well soaked in washing
liquid, or they may be spread upon the side of a wash tub, or upon a
common washing board. The apparatus is then drawn or rubbed to and
fro upon the linen until the washing and wringing are effected. The
rollers press or squeeze-the-linen-and-hold-it-firmly-in-position-while-the-
rubbers are acting upon it; thus maintaining a mutually dependent and
simultaneous action of rubbing and squeezing most effectual in the
cleansing of dirty linen.
For the purpose of mangling I employ two or more plain rollers of
wood or other suitable material mounted and used substantially, as above
described.
Instead of using the rollers made solid I occasionally make them
hollow with suitable means for filling them with hot water
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Henry Ellis in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY ELLIS, of 91, Gracechurch Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors
give and grant unto me, the said George Henry Ellis, Her special
licence that I, the said George Henry Ellis, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Henry Ellis,
my 'executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 APPARATUS FOR. WASHING, WRINGING, AND MANGLING,"-
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Henry
Ellis, 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 George Henry Ellis, do hereby
declare 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, reference being had to the Drawing.
hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:
My improvements consist in the employment of a small frame with
a handle suitable for being actuated by hand, and mounting therein
rollers and other appliances for washing, wringing, and mangling.
To make my Invention better understood I will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1
is an elevation of my improved apparatus for washing and wringing;
and Figure 2, section of same on line A, B, of Figure 1; Figure 3,
section of rubber on line E, F, of Figure 2; Figure 4, plan; and
Figure 5, section (on line G, H, of Figure 4) of the washing board I
prefer to use with my improved washing apparatus; Figure 6, elevation
of my improved apparatus for mangling; and Figure 7, section of same
on line C, D; and Figures 8 and 9 shew in section modifications in the
construction of the mangling apparatus. Figures 1, 2, and 3 are drawn
to full size scale, and Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 half full size scale.
of
In Figures 1 and 2, a, a, a, is a hand frame furnished with a pair
corrugated rollers b, b, with the plain roller c between them; the rollers
b, b, may be other shaped than corrugated. In the two spaces between
the three rollers b, b, and c, I fix solid or flexible rubbers d, d, made of
wood, india-rubber, or other suitable material, or formed of brushes, and
by preference of a shape to resemble the knuckles of the hand (as

page_text: shewn) both top and bottom, so that when one side is worn the rubber
may be reversed. The rollers b, b, and c, which are made of india-
rubber, wood, or other suitable material, may be, less or more than three
in number, and in certain cases the rubbers d, d, may be removed and
the rollers used alone. The position of the rollers may be reversed by
putting two plain rollers at the outside and a corrugated roller in the
centre of the frame, the plain rollers being chiefly intended for
wringing.
The washing board shewn in Figures 4 and 5 has its surface formed
with channels or corrugations, as shewn in Figure 5, and is mounted in
-suitable-side-pieces-9,-with-handles. The-board-is-also-perforated with
holes h, to allow the water or other washing liquid to run off.
To perform the washing and wringing operation by my improved
apparatus I make use of the board shewn in Figures 4 and 5 (or other
suitable board) on which the clothes or other articles to be washed are
laid after being well soaked in a washing liquid, or they may be spread
upon the sides of an ordinary wash tub or machine. The apparatus
shewn in Figures 1 and 2 is then drawn or rubbed to and fro upon the
linen until the washing and wringing operations are effected.
rollers in turning press or squeeze the linen and hold it firmly in position
while the rubbers are acting upon it, thus maintaining a mutually
dependent and simultaneous action of rubbing and squeezing most
effectual in the cleansing of dirty linen.
The
The mangling apparatus shewn in Figures 6 and 7 consists of a hand
frame e, e, e, in which are mounted the two plain rollers f, f, made
of wood or other suitable material. More than two rollers may be
employed if required. In certain cases I employ only one roller, as
shewn in Figure 8, when the roller f, f, is placed on the spindle i, so
that it may easily turn thereon; k, k, are handles fixed at each end of
the spindle.
In the modification shewn in Figure 9 the roller f, f, is made hollow
and of metal not corrodible by contact with water, the ends being made
fast to the spindle i, the ends of which turn freely in the handles k, k.
The roller is provided with a nozzle / furnished with a screw cap, through
which nozzle the roller may be filled with hot water. Similar hollow
rollers may be employed for the apparatus shewn in Figures 6 and 7.
To make use of these apparatuses the articles to be mangled are
spread upon a suitable board and the apparatus drawn or rubbed to and

page_text: fro thereon, substantially as described for the washing and wringing
apparatus. When hollow rollers are employed they are filled with hot
water before using the apparatus.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein laid down; but what I
claim is,―
Firstly. The general arrangement or construction of apparatus for
washing and wringing in combination with a washing board, substan-
tially as herein-before described and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5 of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The general arrangement of apparatus for mangling, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and represented in Figures 6, 7, 8,
and 9 of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Ellis, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
CTORAL HENRY TILTS
101