An Improved Washing Machine.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 8th May, 1894-Accepted, 16th June, 1894
An Improved Washing Machine.
I, HARRY CHRISTOPHER ATKINS Filtering Engineer, 27 Agamemnon Road
West Hampstead. N.W. do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This machine is suitable for washing an endless band of material, such as is used
with some kinds of filtering machines & paper making machines. It may also be
used for other purposes.
This washing machine consists of two sets of ribbed rollers, placed one
immediately above the other, or some of the rollers may be plain.
They are bored through their longitudinal axis, so that they may be threaded
on spindles or shafts, & the spindles are attached to a frame. This arrangement
may be termed the washer. It is caused to travel horizontally to & fro in a cistern,
& may be entirely or partly under water.
The material to be washed is caused to travel between the two sets of rollers
whilst they are running to & fro. It thus gets a repeated tapping by the ribbed
rollers & this has the effect of freeing it from dirt &c.
Rollers are provided for conducting the material along its course. These
may be plain rollers or they may be formed of a number of rods & such rods may
be free to revolve. on their longitudinal axis, or they may be fixed and covered
with loose tubing, or both. Such a roll may travel faster or slower than the
endless band of material, & yet avoid straining it, in the way an ordinary plain
roll would, under similar circumstances.
To keep the material in due tension, one or more stretch rolls are provided.
This roll runs loose on a shaft. The shaft passes through sliding bearings, & is
fitted near each end with a pinion gearing into a fixed rack. Attached to one of
the sliding bearings, is a frame which supports a worm spindle with a handle.
This gears into a worm wheel fixed on one end of the shaft. Turning the handle
causes the worm wheel to revolve. This turns the shaft, & the pinions. As the
pinions gear into the fixed racks, the shaft is caused to travel to any desired
extent, to stretch or loosen the material. Or the same object may be effected in
other ways.
Dated this 8th day of August 1893.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Washing Machine.
I HARRY CHRISTOPHER ATKINS Filtering Engineer 27 Agamemnon Road
West Hampstead, N.W. do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This machine is suitable for washing or cleaning an endless band of material
▷ such as is used with some kinds of filtering machines and paper making machines.
It may also be used for other purposes.
This washing machine consists of two sets of ribbed rollers, placed one
immediately above the other, or some of the rollers may be plain.

page_text: They are bored through their longitudinal axes, so that they may be threaded!
on spindles or shafts, and the spindles are attached to a frame. This arrangement
may be termed the washer. It is caused to travel horizontally to and fro, or in the
In some
form of a circle, in a cistern, and may be entirely or partly under water.
cases water is not required and the cistern can be dispensed with, for instance for
beating carpets.
The material to be washed or cleaned is caused to travel between the two sets
of rollers, whilst the latter are also travelling. The material thus gets a repeated
tapping by the ribs on the rolls & this has the effect of freeing it from dirt &c.
Or loose articles may be placed between nets, the nets caused to travel between the
rollers, & the articles will thus be washed.
They are bored through their longitudinal axes, so that they may be threaded!
on spindles or shafts, and the spindles are attached to a frame. This arrangement
may be termed the washer. It is caused to travel horizontally to and fro, or in the
form of a circle, in a cistern, and may be entirely or partly under water. In some
cases water is not required and the cistern can be dispensed with, for instance for
beating carpets.
The material to be washed or cleaned is caused to travel between the two sets
of rollers, whilst the latter are also travelling. The material thus gets a repeated
tapping by the ribs on the rolls & this has the effect of freeing it from dirt &c.
Or loose articles may be placed between nets, the nets caused to travel between the
rollers, & the articles will thus be washed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section & Fig. 2 is a plan-showing the ribbed rolls arranged-
to travel to & fro.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section & Fig. 4 is a plan showing the ribbed rolls arranged
to travel in the form of a circle.
Fig. 5 is a section showing the form of one of the ribbed rolls.
Similar letters of reference denote similar parts in all the figures.
In Figs. 1 & 2 a a are the ribbed rolls threaded on rods or spindles a¹ a¹ &
supported at each end by a frame b. The frame & ribbed rolls form the washer,
& it is caused to travel to & fro on the rails 6'. The washer is actuated by the
rods e c attached to two discs c'c' mounted on a shaft c¹¹. This shaft is caused to
revolve, by pulley the discs revolve also & the travel of the washer is obvious.
The discs have slots c¹ so that the rod e can be shifted nearer the centre, & the
length of the stroke & the travel of the washer made greater or less.
e,
d is the material to be washed or cleaned. It passes under the roller between
the ribbed rulls a a & is conducted from the cistern by the roller e¹.
In Figs. 3 & 4 a a are the ribbed rolls threaded on rods or spindles a' a¹. The
spindles radiate from an axle fattached to the end of a vertical shaft /'. This
shaft is fitted at the other end with a bevel wheel f". There is an exactly
similar arrangement of ribbed rolls attached to an axle, shaft & bevel wheel, under
the material to be washed; but this shaft passes through a stuffing box k. Upon
a horizontal shaft g is mounted a bevel wheel g' which gears into the bevel
wheel. There is a similar arrangement underneath the cistern. By causing
the two horizontal shafts to revolve, it is obvious that the vertical shafts f¹ must
revolve & that the ribbed rolls are caused to travel in a circle or circular form.
The two horizontal shafts 9 may either travel independently of each other, or
they may be fitted with two toothed wheels so as to cause the ribbed rolls above,
to be exactly over the ribbed rolls below the material which is being washed.
Fig. 5 shows a section of a ribbed roll a, the ribs on the surface & the spindle a¹
passing through the centre.
The ribbed rolls may either be of the same diameter from end to end or they
may be of tapering form when intended to revolve in a circular form.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion & in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
In washing cleaning or beating apparatus, an arrangement of ribbed rolls
travelling to & fro or travelling in the form of a circle, constructed & arranged
substantially in the manner herein described, & shown in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 8th day of May 1894.