An Improved Washing Machine for Clothes, Fabrics, Wool, and such like.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 11th June, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Washing Machine for Clothes, Fabrics, Wool, and
such like.
I, ROBERT AUSTIN, of 102 Cooper Street, Surry Hills, near Sydney in
the Colony of New South Wales, Miller, 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 invention of an improved washing machine consists of a box which is
rhomboidal in plan with tapering ends and is supported on trunnions at each side
so as to admit of its being rocked or swung to and fro. A door or cover for filling
and emptying said box may be made in any convenient part of it but I prefer
that one of its ends should be hinged so as to form a lid or cover for the purpose
stated.
The inner faces of this box are by preference ribbed or corrugated although if
preferred they may be made plain or with knuckles or projections of any desired
size and shape. Across the centre of the upper portion of this box I provide a
comparatively thick transverse fixed shaft to which are attached two or more
depending legs or blades which work loosely in slots in said shaft and are twisted
so as to assume a shape similar to that of the arms of a windmill or of a screw
propeller. The trunnions on either side of the box are by preference supported
between two friction rollers having their bearings in some suitable framing and on
the other side by means of a cross bar the ends of which form the handles by which
said machine may be rocked or swung to and fro.
The taper at each end of the box is peculiar thus the bottom and one side
converge to a point level with the top and at the extreme end of one side of the box
while the taper at the other end converges similarly to a point at the extreme end
of the opposite side of the box.
For convenience in wringing the washed material 1 attach an ordinary machine
"wringer" on the end of a swinging frame pivotted to the main framing so that
such wringer will take over the opened end of the box when said box is in a
certain or "
emptying" position and when the box is in action will swing out of
range of the same. I also provide a catch or handle which will tip or tilt the
wringer board close down on the edge of the box so as to catch over the same and
thus hold said wringer and its swinging frame firmly to said box. The box is kept
in this "emptying or "still" position by a lock consisting of a lever or handle
pivotted at the bottom to the main framing and having a catch to take on to the
upward projecting arm or standard of the motion handle when in a certain position.
I also provide rollers or wheels on the framing so that the machine may be easily
moved or wheeled from place to place by lifting one end of said framing.
Referring now to my drawings:-
-
Figure 1 shows a sectional elevation of a washing machine constructed according
to my invention (when said machine is in action).
Figure 2 is a side elevation of same showing the box swung on to its end in
its "emptying" position and fastened in such position and with its lid or cover
open.
Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 2.
Figure 4 shows a plan of Figure 1 with the box in horizontal section.
Figure 5 shows a cross-section of the box and the handle by which it is
worked.

page_text: Figure 6 is a plan of the contrivance by which the door or lid is fastened when
it is closed.
•
A is the rhomboidal box having a lid A hinged at A³ and having a flap A³
hinged to such lid at A. As is a cam lever attached to the bottom of the box by
which said lid is securely fastened. A°A° are the trunnions by which said box is
supported and A' are the friction rollers which support said trunnions. These
friction rollers have their bearing in the framing 13 which is here shown in a
familiar form but which may assume any other form so long as it is of a convenient
height and sufficiently strong for the purpose. C are the arms each of which
'terminate in a disc or boss C surrounding the trunnions and attached to either side
of the box. These are connected by the loose cross bar C² the ends of which
serve as handles for working the machine and which is kept in place by oil pipes C³
taking in grooves C around cross bar C². D is the horizontal shaft in which are
slots D' for the reception of the upper ends of the twisted blades D'. Each end
of this shaft extends through the sides of the box and each of the ends are reduced
in diameter. On the shoulder thus produced by the reduction of the size of this
shaft fasten a leather or rubber washer D³ and between it and the metal
trunnions AI place a wooden disc As the outer face of which is recessed and has
radial grooves A' in it to admit of the escape of any water that may ooze through
at these points.
دو
To the trestle legs are pivotted at E' the swinging arms E at the top of which
is securely fastened a wringing machine or wringer E of ordinary construction
having a pivotted ledge or sill E³ under which takes the short end of hand lever E
to press the inner edge of said sill downwards. In Figure 1 this wringer E' and
its swinging frame are shown in the "out of range" position they take up when
the washing box is in action and in Figure 2 they are shown as they are when the
box is idle and the wringer is in use. The box is kept in the idle or emptying
position by means of lever F pivotted at F¹ and having catch F2 taking on to one
of the arms C and holding said arm and the washing box firmly to itself. The
lever in its out of range position is shown in dotted lines Figure 2. Rollers B are
fixed on one end of the trestle frame so that by lifting the other end the machine
may be pushed or pulled and running on said rollers is easily moved from place to
place.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The box A. is first swung on and held
there by means of the lever F and catch F2 on arm C and the lid A' opened as
shown at Figure 2 when it is supplied with water and with the clothes or other
materials to be cleaned; the lid is then closed and fastened down by means of the
eccentric hand lever A shown in Figure 6. The box A is then released by
disconnecting the lever F from arm C and swinging the box to the opposite
extremity of its stroke that is to say until it turns upside down. This motion is
continued to and fro as long as is thought necessary the contents of the box being
thus swung from end to end and the blades or arms D' swinging also from the
position shown in full lines to that shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 with the result
that the clothes or other materials are speedily cleansed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1-
First. A washing machine consisting of a rocking or swinging box which is
rhomboidal in plan and tapering at each end and is provided with a lid or
cover substantially as herein described and explained and as illustrated in my
drawings.
Second. A washing machine consisting of a rocking or swinging box which is
rhomboidal in plan and tapering at each end and is provided with a lid or cover
such box having a fixed horizontal shaft arranged transversely across the centre
of its upper portion to which are attached two or more depending legs or blades

page_text: which by preference are twisted substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and explained and as illustrated in my drawings.
Dated this Fourteenth day of December One thousand eight hundred and
ninety-one.
Witness:
FRED WALSH, Fel. Aust. Inst. P.A.
Dated this 27th day of January 1892.
ROBERT AUSTIN.
ABEL & IMRAY.