CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING APPARATUS
Year: 1885

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I MARTIN FRIEDRICH DIEDRICK CHRISTIAN DAUNMEYER residing at 1339
Howard Street, in the City and County of San Francisco, State of California,
one of the United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING APPARATUS," and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
My Invention relates to certain improvements in washing apparatus or devices
in which clothes are cleansed by the operation of a continuous stream of hot water;
and it consists of an outer Enclosing vessel or boiler, and an interior diaphragm or
partition formed with walls and top of a material which is a non-conductor of heat;
this diaphragm resting upon the bottom of the outside boiler, and having a space
beneath it, and passages by which the water may pass from above into this space
with directing plates and upwardly extending pipes, whereby the circulation is
maintained; all of which will be more fully explained by reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a view of one form of my device.
Fig. 2 shows another arrangement of passages and parts,
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a large apparatus.
A is an exterior boiler or containing vessel of any suitable or desired size, which
is fitted to receive water and clothing, and to rest upon the stove, or to have an
independent heater as may be best suited for the work to be done. B is a device
which is fitted to rest upon the bottom of the boiler. The top and walls of this
device are made of a material or a filling which is a non-conductor of heat, so that
little or no heat passes directly through the top and walls of this device.
It is made a little smaller in every direction than the interior diameter of the
boiler, and the sides extend downward, so that a space is left between the bottom
of the boiler and the top of this device.
.Either the sides, as shown in Figure 1, or the ends, as shewn in Figure 2, are
continued down so as to rest upon the bottom of the boiler, while the intermediate
portion forms spaces, as shewn at C, through which the water coming down around
the sides of this device may pass freely into the spaces beneath it.
DD are horizontal plates which extend a short distance inwards toward the
center from the ends in Figure 1, or from the sides as in Figure 2, and these serve
to give direction to the inflowing current of water, so that it passes directly towards
the center over the bottom of the boiler.
Through the center or ends of the top, large openings are made, and pipes E
extend upward to a point near the top of the boiler.
In Figure 1. I have shewn two pipes, the upper ends of which may be curved or
have deflectors for the purpose of discharging the water from the pipes over the top
of the clothes.

page_text: The ebullition of the water beneath the device B, causes the hotter portion of the
water and steam to pass upward through the pipes E and be discharged in a constant
stream over the top of the clothes.
C
This produces a certain vacuum in this chamber below, and the result is that the
water is forced downward through the clothes by atmospheric pressure passing
around the sides and thence beneath through the open spaces C. In some cases,
doors or flaps Ḥ are hinged so as to fall down over the spaces C, and close them
against any outward flow of water from the chamber beneath.
The hinges are so arranged that the doors will easily open inwardly to admit the
water.
The horizontal plates D just above these spaces serve to direct this Current along
the bottom of the boiler and prevent its intermingling or interfereing with the water
which is in the upper part of the Chamber, thus causing a smooth and rapid flow
of water all. the time.
By reason of the non-conducting material forming the top and sides of this device,
little or no heat passes directly up into the body of water which fills the boiler above
this Chamber, and consequently the heat is confined in the chamber of the device B,
thus causing a powerful current to be discharged upward through the pipes, and an
equally strong-downward current through the clothes, which are thus very effectually
cleaned.
I have shewn the apparatus having the pipes, or passages formed interior to the
outer walls of the vessel, and in Figures 2 and 3, I have shewn the pipes or
passages E, opening outward from the space below the diaphragm and extending
up exterior to the vessel, discharging into its upper part, around its periphery, as
before described.
Around the exterior sides of the vessel, at intervals, are passages F, which extend
from near the bottom to a point above the level of the non-conducting diaphragm B,
which in this Case fits the vessel closely.
Above this diaphragm are numerous openings leading from the interior of the
Chamber A into the exterior chambers or passages F, and near the bottom of the
vessel A, below the level of the openings which lead into the pipes or passages E,
are a similar series of openings from the lower part of the Chamber A, into the
lower part of the exterior chambers or passages F.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare. that what
I claim is
1. In a washing apparatus, a chamber having its top and walls made non-heat-
conducting, with intermediate spaces opening from above to the chamber beneath,
in combination with vertical pipes or passages extending upward from said chamber
to the top of the boiler, together with deflectors, valves, and guides, substantially as
herein described.
2. In a washing apparatus, a main vessel or chamber, having a close non-heat-
conducting diaphragm within it, supported at a point near its bottom, pipes or
passages leading from the space beneath the diaphragm to points near the upper
part of the vessel, in combination with exterior chambers having openings or
passages connecting the upper part with the main chamber just above the
diaphragm, and the lower part with the space beneath the diaphragm, substantially
as herein described.