IMPROVE- MENTS IN WASHING MACHINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilson Salmon, of Mile End Old Town, in
the County of Middlesex, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WASHING MACHINES."
Sealed the 10th August 1863, and dated the 17th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilson Salmon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th February 1863.
I, THOMAS WILSON SALMON, of Mile End Old Town, in the County of
Middlesex, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the combination of a moveable box, to contain the
clothes or articles to be washed, with a reciprocating frame, the relative
motions of such box and frame in opposite directions being adapted to wash
the clothes or other articles with increased rapidity. The bottom of the box
on which the clothes or other articles are placed is furnished with a series of
flutes or projections with spaces between them, and the reciprocating frame is
also furnished with similar flutes or projections, also with spaces between
them, the clothes or other articles being placed between the two operating
surfaces. The box rests on friction rollers mounted in a stationary frame, and
is worked to and fro by means of a lever having its fulcrum in fixed standards;
the reciprocating frame is also connected to the said lever, and is suspended
on two cross shafts or axes resting on the said fixed standards. By this
combination of mechanism the required relative motions are imparted both
to the box and the reciprocating frame by working the said lever. The

page_text: reciprocating frame is adjustable, as to its distance from the bottom of the
box, by raising or lowering the standards on which its cross shafts or axes
rest, and fixing them at the required height.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wilson Salmon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILSON SALMON, of Mile End Old Town, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Wilson Salmon, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Wilson Salmon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Wilson Salmon, 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 WASHING MACHINES,"
upon
the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Wilson Salmon, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Thomas Wilson Salmon, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in Washing Machines" consists in the
combination of a moveable box, to contain the clothes or articles to be washed,
with a reciprocating frame, the relative motions of such box and frame in
opposite directions being adapted to wash the clothes or other articles with

page_text: increased rapidity. The bottom of the box on which the clothes or other
articles are placed is formed or furnished with a series of flutes or cross bars
with spaces between them, and the bottom of the reciprocating frame is also
formed or furnished with similar flutes or cross bars, also with spaces between
them, the clothes or other articles being placed between the two operating
surfaces of the box and frame. The box rests on friction rollers mounted in
a stationary frame, or is mounted on rollers running on such frame, and is
worked to and fro by means of a lever having its fulcrum in fixed standards.
The reciprocating frame is also connected to the said lever and is suspended
on two cross shafts or axes resting on the said fixed standards. By this
combination of mechanism the required relative motions are imparted to both
the box and the reciprocating frame by working the said lever. The recipro-
cating frame is adjusted as to its distance from the bottom of the box by
raising or lowering the standards on which its cross shafts or axes rest, and
fixing them at the required height.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented different
views of the machine above referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is an end elevation;
Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same.
In these several Figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts.
A is the foundation frame of the machine; B is the moveable box intended
to contain the clothes or articles to be washed. The bottom of this box is
formed with a number of flutes or cross bars C, and also with a longitudinal
opening D, for the escape of water, which is withdrawn from the box as
required through a tap E. F, F, are friction rollers on which the box is
mounted, such rollers working on surfaces G, G, curved as required in order
to preserve the parallelism of motion of the box; H is a double lever connected
to the box B by pins I, fitting in slots on the arms K fixed to the sides of the
box. This lever has for its fulcrum a cross shaft L, working on the fixed
standards M, and is connected at its lower end to the reciprocating frame N,
the other end of such frame being suspended by links O from a cross shaft P,
parallel to the shaft L. It will thus be seen that the lever H is connected to
the box B and the frame N on opposite sides of its fulcrum L, and therefore
that by its being worked to and fro it will cause the said box and frame to be

page_text: .
worked to and fro in opposite directions in relation to each other. In this
manner the clothes or articles being placed on the fluted bottom of the box
containing water, and the soap or other cleansing material, and the frame N
being placed over them, and the ends of the shafts Land P, from which the
frame is suspended, being inserted in their bearings in the standards M, then,
on the lever H being worked to and fro, the clothes or other articles will be
rubbed as required between the fluted surfaces of: the box and frame, which
are moved to and fro in opposite directions by the action of the levers. If
preferred, the above described motions of the box and frame in opposite
directions might be produced by other mechanism in substitution for the said
lever. The required distance of. the two operating surfaces apart may be
-adjusted by raising or lowering the standards M (which carry the ends of the
shafts L and P, from which the frame N is suspended), and fixing them by
means of adjusting pins Q, as shewn,
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is the combination of a box to contain the clothes or articles to be
washed with a frame suspended over them, such box and frame being worked
in opposite directions by means of a lever as described or by other similar or
suitable mechanism, in order to produce the required rubbing of the clothes
or other articles as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wilson Salmon, have hereunto
my band and seal, the Tenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight bundred and sixty-three.
THOMAS WILSON SALMON. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
Patent Agent,
50, Chancery Lane.