AN IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR PRESSING LARD
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th April 1874.-A communication from abroad by Elbridge
Marshall, of Tola, in the County of Allen, and State of Kansas,
United States of America.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lanc, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR
PRESSING LARD," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in washing machines by which
the same may be made simpler and cheaper, and also be used with
greater convenience, and it consists of a separate washing box set into a
common wash tub and provided with a pivoted hand lever which
operates a grooved beater by toggle joint levers for pressing and rubbing
the clothes against the grooved sides and top of the wash box and
washing them thoroughly thereby.
The washing box which is of oblong form is rounded off and tapering
at the corners to fit firmly into a common round or oval wash tub. One

page_text: side of the washing box against which the clothes are pressed is suitably
grooved and has hinged to it a top piece which is also grooved or
corrugated at the lower sido for rubbing the clothes thereon. At the
opposite end of the box is a strong central support, to whose upper end
a hand lever is pivoted, which connects by a vertical rod with toggle
levers. The vertical rod is pivoted to the hand lever at its upper end
and the latter is provided with a serics of pin holes to allow the
lengthening and shortening of the leverage, and thereby the changing
of the position of the beater from a vertical to an inclined or angular
position, thus producing a rotary motion of the clothes during the
process of washing. The lower end of the vertical rod is pivoted as
above mentioned to toggle levers which extend in longitudinal but
opposite directions in the washing box, said levers being pivoted on tho
one side to an upright plate or beater branching out diagonally to the
sides of the same while a forked lever is pivoted on the opposite side by
means of a hinged rod passing through staples to the lower part of the
wash box. The upper part of the beater is provided with a rounded off
top bar which presses the clothes towards the grooved top piece before
mentioned. The top bar is connected to the beater and carried thereon
by short rods or pins which form open spaces for the passage of the
water above the beater on pressing the clothes against the sides of the
box. Two metallic rods are pivoted to the sides of the vertical rod
before mentioned and connect with the upper part of the beater near its
sides in any suitable manner, securing thereby stiffness and steadiness
of the beater in its forward and return motion.
To the bottom of the wash box are secured in a longitudinal direction
two or more guide strips of wood or galvanized metal which taper off
toward the beater so as to carry the same along the strips without
producing any friction with the bottom of the wash box. The space
between the strips allows the water to pass frcely under the beater when
drawn backward, while the beater carries the water along in its forward
motion and forces it upward through the bulk of the clothes and
facilitates their turning. The clothes are placed in the box between the
grooved side and the beater, and the top is closed down and a sufficient
quantity of water added thereto. The hand lever is then worked up and
down which produces the reciprocating motion of the beater by the
motion of the toggle levers, and thereby the rubbing, pressing, and
squeezing of the clothes till they are perfectly cleaned.

page_text: The washing box may be provided with or without a bottom, which
obviates in the latter case the liability of the box to leakage or corrosion,
but requires the inclined guide strip to be attached to the bottom of the
wash tub. The whole machine may therefore be furnished at less
expense and the tub used separately while fully preventing leakage and
making the machine handier and more useful during its operation. This
machine may also be used for pressing lard by putting the lard in a bag
between the beater and the side and placing it in an inclined position
for the clear lard to run off.