AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR WASHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Cooper; of Herne Hill, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
WASHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS."
Sealed the 4th July 1873, and dated the 24th April 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Cooper at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th April 1873.
I, CHARLES COOPER, of Herne Hill, in the County of Surrey, don
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR WASHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an apparatus which I term a steam washer,
to be placed in a washing copper, consisting of a plate which fits into '
the pan of the copper and rests against the sides thereof at a short
distance from the bottom. In this plate are a number of openings,
each having a guard over it to prevent its being clogged up by the linen,-
and from the centre of the plate rises a hollow column open at bottom,
where it communicates with the space below the plate, and closed at top,-

page_text: where it is provided with a number of downwardly directed nozzles,
which radiate in all directions round the head of the column. Holes
are also provided about the middle of the column.
The steam washer being placed in the copper with a suitable quantity
of soap and water therein, the linen or other fabrics are placed on the
plate around the column, and heat being applied the water is caused
after a short time to rise through the column, whence it is discharged
through the holes and nozzles on to the linen, through which it passes
down to the bottom of the pan again, this circulation being maintained
as long as the heat is applied and the supply of water is sufficient until
the linen is cleansed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Cooper in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
COOPER, of Herne Hill, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Cooper, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles Cooper, my executors, administrators,
and assigns,for such others as I, the said Charles Cooper, 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 "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR WASHING LINEN AND OTHER FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Cooper, 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.

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Cooper, 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 Sheet of Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
My Invention relates to an apparatus of very simple and inexpensive
construction, which I term a steam washer, to be placed in a washing
copper consisting of a plate fitting into the pan of the copper and resting
therein at a short distance from the bottom, in which plate are a number
of openings, each having a guard over it and. from the centre of the
plate rises a hollow column open at bottom to communicate with the
space below the plate, and closed at top where it is provided with a
number of downwardly projected nozzles.
.
vertical section of same placed in the copper.
A is the plate provided with a flange or rim B around the edge, which
rests on the bottom of the copper pan C. This plate is made slightly
convex, and from the centre rises the tube or column D; E are per-
forated guards or domes over holes F in the plate A, to keep a space
clear over the holes for the steam to collect in, and prevent the holes
being choked by the linen; H are the nozzles. The column D is
preferably made slightly conical, and the cap which carries the nozzles is
made detachable, so that the height of the column may be readily
adapted to the depth of the pan by fitting on another cap.
The action of the washer is as follows:-The copper C is filled with
water to the level indicated at x, and a suitable quantity of soap cut in
slices is placed beneath plate A. The clothes or other material are
placed upon plate A, not rolled up, but laid out smoothly and pressed
well down until the copper is filled nearly up to the nozzles H. The.
cover of the copper is then put on and heat applied. As soon as the
water boils it rises through column D, until it flows out through the
nozzles H on to the linen, down through which it percolates, returning

page_text: to the bottom of the pan C. This circulation of the boiling water
is maintained continuously, and rapidly cleanses the linen or other
materials. The washer is made of sheet metal, tinned copper, or block
tin for example.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the improved apparatus herein described consisting of plate A
with perforated domes E over holes F, hollow column D, and nozzles H,
the whole constructed, applied, and operating substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cooper, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.