CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MACHINE FOR WASHING OR CLEANSING LINEN AND VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1808

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHESTER
GOULD, of the Parish of St. Luke, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of May, in the
forty-eighth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Chester
Gould, my executors, adññors, and assigns, during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MACHINE FOR WASHING OR
CLEANSING LINEN AND VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Chester Gould, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
four calendar months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Chester Gould, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say :--

page_text: The object of my Invention of improvements to a washing machine is to
construct it on such a plan that wearing apparel, household, and bed furniture
may be washed and cleansed in it mechanically without rubbing by hand, and
without danger of injuring the goods.
The annexed Drawing represents my improved washing machine compleat
and fit for use. A is the principal part of the machine, being a box or cistern
of proper shape and dimensions, standing on feet of convenient height. B is
a drum wheel, fitted on centers to turn freely within the box or cistern A.
C is the cover, connected with the box A by means of proper hinges or other-
wise. D is a fluted roller, fitted or connected with the said cover C, as
appears by the Drawing. E is the working handle. The box A is made of
different dimensions, according to circumstances. The middle size is two feet
eight inches in length, one foot six inches wide, and one foot two inches deep.
It is commonly made narrower at the bottom than at the top, so that it may
not require so great a quantity of water or lather. The drum wheel B is
made of such dimensions that when placed within the box A there will be a
space on each side and at the bottom of about two inches. It has a number
of holes in each end to admit the lather inside; and the laths or slips com-
posing the circumference are at such a distance from each other as to admit
the water to pass freely. The fluted roller D is less than the drum B nearly
in the proportion which appears by the Drawing. When cloaths are to be
washed by this machine, they are first soaped and placed on a cloath of con-
venient length, usually about three yards long, then wound about the drum
wheel B, the cistern A being filled with a proper quantity of water. The
cover C is then brought down on the cistern A, and secured by proper hooks
and eyes or otherwise. The fluted roller D then rests on the drum wheel B,
which is loaded with cloaths, as above said. The working handle E being
turned about moves the roller D, which turns the drum B, so that the cloaths
are constantly passing between the two. The bearings which supports the
roller D are connected with a proper spring, which yields to any unevenesses
which may happen in the cloaths about the drum B. A wooden spring on the
top of the cover C, of equal length with it, and connected with both the
bearings, is most convenient. The spring is connected with a screw or screws
in such manner that by means of them the said roller D may be moved up
or down such a convenient distance as may be required for the different quan-
tities of cloaths which may be put on the drum B, according to circumstances.
The said spring and screw are not visible in the Drawing. The said machine
is made of deal and elm, or other proper materials.
The above is the description of my washing machine as I commonly manu-

page_text: facture them, but they may be modified and varied in several respects, as
circumstances may require, provided the principal improvement of passing the
goods between the two rollers B and D is preserved. There is a cock, valve,
or other proper convenience at the bottom of the cistern A, for the purpose of
drawing off the dirty water or lather.
In witness whereof, I, the said Chester Gould, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eight.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord 1808, the aforesaid Chester Gould came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eight.