IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: Sealed the 29th November 1859, and dated the 13th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Oliver Maggs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th June 1859.
I, OLIVER MAGGS, of Bourton, in the County of Dorset, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in washing machines. For
this purpose a hollow box, by preference of an hexagonal section, the sides
being parallel to the central axis, is employed, on the interior of which are
fixed strips of wood or other suitable material, so as to form fluted' surfaces
longitudinally of the box. In one of the sides of the box there is an oblong
opening, which is closed by a cover having a projecting flange which projects
beyond the sides of the opening, and fits against the interior of the case, the
cover being screwed up by means of a screw or screws against the interior of
the case. This opening is for the purpose of putting in and taking out the
articles to be washed. Through the centre of the box a fluted axis passes, the
ends of which pass through stuffing boxes in the ends of the exterior box, and

page_text: turn in bearings in a suitable frame; and on one of the axes of this roller,
outside the box, there is a toothed wheel, into which a toothed wheel, which is
turned by a crank handle or otherwise, gears; this latter toothed wheel also
gears with a wheel having internal teeth in connection with the exterior box.
By this means when the crank handle is turned the fluted axis is caused to
revolve in one direction, and the exterior box in the other direction; or in
some cases the fluted axis may be dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Oliver Maggs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OLIVER
MAGGS, of Bourton, in the County of Dorset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Oliver Maggs, Her special licence that I, the said Oliver Maggs,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Oliver
Maggs, 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 Oliver Maggs, 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 Oliver Maggs, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in washing machines. For
this purpose a hollow box, by preference of an hexagonal section, the sides

page_text: being parallel to the central axis, is employed, on the interior of which are
fixed strips of wood or other suitable material, so as to form fluted surfaces
longitudinally of the box. In one of the sides of the box there is an oblong
opening, which is closed by a cover, having a projecting flange which projects
beyond the sides of the opening, and fits against the interior of the case, the
cover being screwed up by means of a. screw or screws against the interior of
the case.
This opening is for the purpose of putting in and taking out the
articles to be washed. Through the centre of the box a fluted axis passes, the
ends of which pass through stuffing boxes in the ends of the exterior box, and
turn in bearings in a suitable frame; and on one of the axes of this roller,
outside the box, there is a toothed wheel, into which a toothed wheel, which is
turned by a crank handle or otherwise, gears; this latter toothed wheel also
gears with a wheel having internal teeth in connection with the exterior
box. By this means when the crank handle is turned, the fluted axis is
caused to revolve in one direction, and the exterior box in the other direction;
or in some cases the fluted axis may be dispensed with.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood, and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a transverse section of a washing machine constructed
according to my Invention. a is a hollow hexagonal box, on the interior of
which are fixed strips b, of wood or other material, so as to form fluted
surfaces longitudinally of the box. Or in place of the strips b, semicircular
or other projections may be formed on the interior of the box. c is an oblong
opening in one of the sides of the box; this opening is for the purpose of
putting in and taking out the articles to be washed; it is closed by a cover d,
having a projecting flange d', which projects beyond the sides of the opening,
and fits against the interior of the case. The flange d' is kept pressed against
the interior of the case by means of the screw e, as shewn. Through the
centre of the box a, a fluted roller f passes; this roller is furnished at each of
its ends with spindles, which pass through stuffing boxes in each end of the
box a, and turn in bearings in the frame g. On one of the spindles of the
roller f, outside the box a, there is a toothed pinion h, the pitch line of which
is shewn in red lines at Figure 1 of the Drawings. Into this pinion another
pinion i, turning on a stud or pin carried by the framing, gears. This
pinion also works into teeth formed in the interior of a ring j, connected to the
exterior of the box a, the pitch line of the teeth of this ring, and also of the
pinion working into it, are shewn by red lines in Figure 1 of the Drawings.

page_text: On the spindle of the fluted roller there is a crank handle, and when this handle
is turned, the fluted roller is caused to revolve in one direction, and the box a
in the other direction. In some cases the centre roller f may be dispensed
with.
Figures 2 and 3 shew respectively a side view and an end view, partly in
section, of the machine shewn in Fig. 1.
In witness whereof, I, the said Oliver Maggs, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
HENRY GOODFELLOW.
OLIVER MAGGS. (L.S.)