A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE AND A NOVEL MODE AND MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING THE MEY SAID MECHANISM BEING ALSO-APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lowis Augustus Aspinwall, of Albany, in the
State of New York, but at present of 89, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
WASHING MACHINE AND A NOVEL MODE AND MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING THE
MEY SAID MECHANISM BEING ALSO-APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lewis Augustus
Aspinwall at the Office. of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th October 1874.
I, LEWIS AUGUSTUS ASPINWALL, of Albany, in the State of New York,
but at present of 89, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
WASHING MACHINE AND A NOVEL MODE AND MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING THE
SAME, THE SAID MECHANISM BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY," to be
as follows:-
The fabrics or articles are passed through a pair of grooved rollers, the
grooves being longitudinal or approaching more or less to that direction,

page_text: one roller being of india-rubber and smaller in diameter than the other
roller which is of wood, the said rollers receiving an oscillating motion
while at the same time partaking of a revolving progressive motion, and
so that the surface speed of one roller is slightly less than the surface
speed of the other roller. The rollers are held against one another by
springs.
I prefer to construct machines according to this Invention in the
following manner :-The top roller is made the largest in diameter and
of wood, the bottom roller is somewhat less than half the size and is
made of india-rubber; both have regular longitudinal grooves or
corrugations, they are placed in the trough of the machine, the upper
one having its bearings in the sides of the trough above the water level,
and the lower one having its bearings in wooden levers having their
fulcra in the sides of the trough and being attached to a cross bar on the
trough by means of rods, which pass through the said cross bar and have
thumb nuts at the top, which nuts bear on cylindrical rubber springs,
and can regulate the pressure wherewith the rollers are pressed against
one another. The cross bar is bevilled and placed so close to the upper
part of the top roller as to form a receptacle for soap, which is thereby
transmitted to the roller and thence to the fabric. The bottom roller
receives motion from the top roller by means of spur wheel gear, so
proportioned that the bottom roller receives a slightly smaller surface
speed than the top roller.
The peculiar oscillating and revolving motion i prefer to produce in
the following manner :-The spindle of the upper roller carries a driving
handle, a pinion, and an internal spur wheel all in one or in one casting,
and running loosely on the said spindle; the pinion gears into a spur
wheel about double its diameter and having its bearing in a bracket
fastened to the outside of the trough, this spur wheel again gears into an
internal spur wheel loose on the spindle and having one of its spokes
forming the bearing for a pinion, which gears into the above first named
internal spur wheel; this pinion is fast on the same spindle as a small
eccentric or crank disc, which by means of a wooden connecting rod or
link (wooden in order to deaden the noise) transmits oscillating and at
the same time progressive rotary motion to a crank arm, which is fixed
to the upper roller spindle; the said crank disc and pinion thus receive a
planetary movement, the pinion gearing with and revolving in the
opposite direction to that of its internal spur whicel, and the crank disc.

page_text: giving a continuous to and fro or oscillating movement to the crank fixed
on the upper roller spindle.
The above named oscillating and revolving movement may also be
applied to other machinery requiring such movement, for instance, flax
breaking machinery.
The things to be washed aro guided to the rollors by a removable
slanting board, having projecting converging side pieces or guides.
The feed may be made variable or stopped altogether when required,
which especially for larger washing machines is an advantage by
modifying the moving mechanism as follows:-
.
The first pinion (which is described above as in one with the handle)
is then made loose on the boss of the first named internal spur wheel,
and another handle is fixed on the said boss in front of the loose handle,
between the two handles there is a spring, say of india-rubber, and by
tightening up a thumb nut the two handles may be put into frictional
contact so as to move together, but nevertheless so that the loose handle
may be stopped at will by taking hold of it with one hand, while the
other handle is turned; the feed or progressive rotary motion of the rollers
is thus arrested while the oscillating motion is continued. For larger
power a strap pulley is substituted for the outer handle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEWIS
5 AUGUSTUS ASPINWALL, of Albany, in the State of New York, but at
present of 89, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
0 year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall,

page_text: Her special licence that I, the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Lewis Augustus Aspinwall, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE AND A NOVEL
MODE AND MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING the same, thE SAID MECHANISM BEING ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall, my exécutors, or admini-
strators, 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 Scal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall, 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :—
The fabrics or articles are passed through a pair of grooved rollers, the
grooves being longitudinal or approaching more or less to that direction,
one roller being of india-rubber and smaller in diameter than the other
roller which is of wood, the said rollers receiving an oscillating motion
while at the same time partaking of a revolving progressive motion, and
so that the surface speed of one roller is slightly less than the surface
speed of the other roller. The rollers are held against one another by
springs.
And in order that this my Invention may be more fully understood, I
will describe the same with reference to the accompanying Drawings, of
which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a washing machine constructed
according to this Invention; Figure 2, a plan; Figure 3, a section through
the line A, B, Figure 2; Figure 4, a section through the driving gear of
the machine; and Figure 5, a section through a modified arrangement of
driving gear. The top roller A. is made the largest in diameter and of
wood or similar suitable material, the bottom roller B is somewhat less

page_text: than balf the size and is made of india-rubber; both have regular
longitudinal grooves or corrugations as shown; they are placed in the
trough C of the machine, the upper one A having its bearings a, a, in
the sides of the trough above the water level, and the lower one B having
its bearings in wooden levers D, having their fulcra in the sides of the
trough, and being attached to a cross bar E on the trough by means of
rods e, which pass through the said cross bar and have thumb nuts e¹, at
the top, which nuts e¹ bear on cylindrical rubber springs b, and can
regulate the pressure wherewith the rollers A and B are pressed against
one another. The cross bar E is bevelled as shewn, and placed so close
to the upper part of the top roller A. as to form a receptacle for soap,
which is thereby transmitted to the roller and thence to the fabric.
The bottom roller B receives motion from the top roller A by means of
spur whicel gear, so proportioned that the bottom roller B receives a
slightly smaller surface speed than the top roller A.
The peculiar oscillating and revolving motion I in this instance
produce in the following manner:-The spindle a¹ of the upper roller
carries a driving handle d, a pinion f, and an internal spur wheel Fall
in one or in one casting and running loosely on the said spindle a¹; the
pinion gears into a spur wheel 7 about double its diameter and having
its bearing in a bracket fastened to the outside of the trough C; this
spur wheel again gears into an internal spur wheel G loose on the
spindle a, and having one of its spokes forming the bearing for a
pinion h, which gears into the above first named internal spur wheel F;
this pinion is fast on the same spindle H as a small crank disc h¹, or it
might be an eccentric, which crank by means of a wooden connecting
rod or link i (wooden in order to deaden the noise), transmits oscillating
and at the same time progressive rotary motion to a crank arm I, which
is fixed to the upper roller spindle a¹, the said crank disc and pinion /
thus receive a planetary movement, the pinion / gearing with and
revolving in the opposite direction to that of its internal spur wheel F,
and the crank disc ' 'giving a continuous to and fro or oscillating
movement to the crank I fixed on the upper roller spindle.
The above described oscillating and revolving movement gear may also
be applied to other machines requiring such movement, for instance, flax
breaking machines.
The things to be washed are guided to the rollers by a removable
slanting board J, having projecting converging side pieces or guides ;. --

page_text: Fourth. The peculiar modified arrangement of the said revolving and
oscillating motion as applied to washing machines and other machinery,
substantially as described and illustrated with reference to Figure o of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
DAV
23 BestC and mustrated with reference to figure o or
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Augustus Aspinwall, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
L. AUGUSTUS ASPINWALL. (L.S.)