IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING-MACHINES
Year: 1883

page_text: i
LETTERS PÅTENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine Lake
and Co Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING-MACHINES communicated to him from abroad
by Konrad Grav, of Christiania, Norway
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th April 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents
Southampton Buildings London, "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WASHING-MACHINES
[A communication to him from abroad by Konrad Grav, of Christiania, Norway]
"
The object of the present invention is to produce an improved washing-machine,
so constructed and arranged that the wear and tear of the clothes will be considerably
reduced and much economy effected as regards soap and the time occupied in
washing the clothes, as compared with the machines at present in use; and by
means of which improved machine the finest curtains or other cotton fabrics can be
washed without tearing the same.
In carrying the said invention into practice I provide a box or case which may
be of wood lined with tin or other suitable material; in this box I fit a cylindrical
vessel or receptacle provided with a journal at each end and carried in suitable
bearings in the said box or case. This receptacle is formed of thin sheet metal and
consists of two discs connected by a number of pieces of corrugated metal, fixed in
the form of a ring. These pieces are so fixed that some of them overlap the pieces
adjacent thereto leaving a narrow space for the admission of water when the
receptacle is rotated, and the corrugations are so arranged that the water, as it
enters, will be directed towards the centre of the receptacle. One of the aforesaid
pieces is hinged to the said discs and provided with a suitable catch or lock, so as
to form a door which may be opened insert the clothes in the said receptacle.
A crank handle is fitted upon one of the aforesaid journals for facilitating the
rotation of the said receptacle, and within the latter a number of longitudinal and
radial ribs are fixed, the radial ribs being attached to the discs in such a manner
that those on one disc are not opposite those on the other disc, and the longitudinal
ribs being attached to the aforesaid pieces
I also provide rods or stays for firmly connecting the said discs and strengthening
the said receptacle
$

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and of an
Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said William Robert Lake in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th November 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of. Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING-MACHINES A
communication to me from abroad by Konrad Grav, of Christiania, Norway,
The object of the present Invention is to provide an improved washing-machine
so constructed and arranged that the wear and tear of the clothes or other articles
washed thereby will be considerably reduced as compared with the machines
heretofore employed for this purpose, and fine cotton fabrics, such as curtains, can
be washed by the said machine without being torn. The said Invention, moreover,
effects great economy in the consumption of soap and the time occupied in washing
the clothes or other articles.
The said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,
Figure 1 is a central vertical section, and
Figure 2 a plan of the improved machine.
a is a box or case which may be of wood lined with tin or other suitable
material; b is a rotary vessel or receptacle for the clothes or other articles to be
washed. This receptacle is provided with a journal or axle cat each end and is
carried in bearings d in the said box or case. The receptacle b is formed of sheet
metal and consists essentially of two discs e connected by a number of corrugated
plates ff so arranged that each plate ƒ slightly overlaps the adjacent plates f¹
leaving a narrow space between the plates for the admission of water from the
box a into the receptacle b, and for facilitating the circulation of the water through
the said receptacle when the latter is rotated. The corrugations are so arranged
that the water, as it enters, will be directed towards the centre of the receptacle,
and, for the same purpose, the plates fare provided with longitudinal ribs g, which
may be of wood or other suitable material.
One of the plates fis hinged to the said discs at fª and is provided with a suitable
catch or lock h, so as to form a door which may be opened to introduce into the
receptacle b the clothes or other articles to be washed, and which can then be
securely closed.
A crank-handle i is fitted upon one, of the axles o to facilitate the rotation of
the said receptacle. In large machines I sometimes fix a toothed wheel on the
said axle and gear therewith a pinion arranged to be rotated by a crank-handle.
Three radial ribs or projections j are fixed to each of the discs e. On one of the
said discs a rib is fixed at one extremity of each of the plates fl as shown in full
lines in Figure 1, and on the other disc a rib is fixed at the other extremity of each
of the said plates as shown in dotted lines in the said Figure.
I sometimes provide rods or stays at k for firmly connecting the said discs and
strengthening the said receptacle. Z is a plug inserted in an aperture provided in
the box a for draining the water therefrom.
It is obvious that the construction of the improved machine may be somewhat
varied if desired, for example a larger or smaller number of the corrugated plates
and the ribs or projections may be employed.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that claim:—
The improved washing-machine wherein I employ the rotary vessel or receptacle

page_text: consisting essentially of the discs and the corrugated plates and provided with
the radial and longitudinal ribs, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Twelfth day of November in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.