MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND WRINGING CLOTHES AND SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1860

page_text: MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND WRINGING CLOTHES
AND SIMILAR ARTICLES."-A communication from abroad by Josee Johnson
and Elliott Dickerman, both of the City of New York, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 4th December 1860, and dated the 24th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th September 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND WRINGING
CLOTHES AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," a communication from abroad by Josee
Johnson and Elliott Dickerman, both of the City of New York, in the United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and arrangements of
machinery or apparatus for washing and wringing clothes and similar articles,
which washing and wringing apparatus may be either combined in one
machine, or used separately, as desired.
According to one part of this Invention it is proposed to employ for the

page_text: washing of clothes and similar articles a roughened faced revolving disc in
combination with a roughened wash-board, such disc and wash-board being
mounted parallel to each other, and placed in a vertical or nearly vertical
position. The disc and wash-board are contained in a suitable wash tub or
vessel half filled with water, so that the disc may be only partially immersed
therein. A rotatory motion is imparted to the disc by a winch handle, and
the clothes to be washed are placed between its roughened face and the
roughened surface of the wash-board. When the disc is mounted on a
horizontal axis it may be pressed against the clothes by a helical spring, or
other suitable contrivance, but when the axis is inclined downwards, the
gravity of the disc will be sufficient to impart the requisite pressure to the
articles to be washed. The operation of washing is effected by rotating the
disc, which causes the clothes to roll in a mass over the surface of the wash-
board, alternately leaving and entering the water as they are carried round.
This alternate immersion of the clothes and removal from the water, com-
bined with the pressure of the disc, has the effect of alternately saturating
them and expelling the water or washing liquid therefrom, without the
injurious rubbing of the fabric so objectionable in most washing machines.
The improved wringing machine, which constitutes the second part of this
Invention, consists of a pair of india-rubber or other elastic rollers backed by
one or more rigid rollers, the axes of the elastic rollers being allowed to play
freely in the standards of the machine, so as to enable the elastic rollers to
adjust themselves to the thickness of clothes passed through them. The
rollers may be tightened up or compressed by screw spindles acting upon the
bearings of the upper or rigid rollers, and the whole is so made as to be
readily applied to the side of the improved or other washing machine, or to
the edge of an ordinary wash tub.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the 'year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
-assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom.
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING AND
WRINGING CLOTHES AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," a communication from abroad. by
Josee Johnson and Elliot Dickerman, both of the City of New York, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instru--
ment in writing under my hand and seal, or under the band and seal
of one of them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six.
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters.
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and. arrange-
ments of machinery or apparatus for washing and wringing clothes, and
similar articles, which washing and wringing apparatus may be either com-
bined in one machine, or used separately, as desired.
According to one part of this Invention it is proposed to employ for the
washing of clothes and similar articles a roughened faced revolving disc in
combination with a roughened wash-board, such disc and wash-board being
mounted parallel to each other, and placed in a vertical or nearly vertical
position. The disc and wash-board are contained in a suitable wash tub or
vessel half filled with water, so that the disc may be only partially immersed
therein. A rotatory motion is imparted to the disc by a winch handle, and
the clothes to be washed are placed between its roughened face and the
roughened surface of the wash-board. When the disc is mounted on a
horizontal axis, it may be pressed against the clothes by a helical spring, or

page_text: other suitable contrivance; but when the axis is inclined downwards the
gravity of the disc will be sufficient to impart the requisite pressure to the
articles to be washed. The operation of washing is effected by rotating the
-disc, which causes the clothes to roll in a mass over the surface of the wash-
board, alternately leaving and entering the water as they are carried round.
This alternate immersion of the clothes and removal from the water, com-
bined with the pressure of the disc, has the effect of alternately saturating
them and expelling the water or washing liquid therefrom. without the
'injurious rubbing of the fabric so objectionable in most washing machines.
The improved wringing machine, which constitutes the second part of this
Invention, consists of a pair of india-rubber or other elastic rollers, backed by
one or more rigid rollers, the axes of the elastic rollers being allowed to play
freely in the standards of the machine, so as to enable the elastic rollers. to
-adjust themselves to the thickness of clothes passed through them. The
rollers may be tightened up or compressed by screw spindles acting upon the
bearings of the upper or rigid rollers, and the whole is so made as to be
readily applied to the side of the improved or other washing machine, or to
the edge of an ordinary wash tub.
I
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all
the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings is a vertical section of one form of my improved
washing machine; Figure 2 is a cross section on the line S, S, in Figure 1,
-the left half of this Figure being a view from the left in Figure 1, showing
the face of the wheel or disc E, and the right half being a view from the
right in Figure 1, showing the face of the wash-board A; Figure 3 is a section
of the same parts on the line T, T, in Figure 2, showing the machine when
inclined from the horizontal position; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the
machine intended for expressing the water from or wringing the clothes;
Figure 5 shows the wringing device attached to the washing machine; and
Figure 6 shows the wringing device attached to an ordinary wash tub.
In that portion of the Invention relating to the washing of clothing, shown
in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5, A is a corrugated wash-board, which may form one
side of a case, as represented, or it may be separate therefrom, if desirable;
B, B, are the sides of a case, which serves the purpose of a tub. The
bottom C of this case is made semi-cylindrical, and is formed of wood, or
other suitable material. This case is supported upon legs, and is either set

page_text: with the axis of the semi-cylinder horizontal, as shown in Figure 1, or with
the same inclined from the horizontal at an angle of about thirty degrees, as
represented in Figure 3. On the side B opposite the wash-board A, I provide
a long bearing b, in which I hang a shaft D perpendicular to the face of the
wash-board A. On the inner end of this shaft I fix a wheel or disc E, nearly
as large as will turn in the case B, C, and having its face corrugated or
otherwise roughened. Upon the other end of D I attach a crank F about
equal in weight to E, with a handle f, as represented. The shaft D is free to
slide longitudinally in the bearing b, so as to bring the face of E nearer to or
further from the face of A.
The operation of this portion of the Invention is as follows:-The case
A, B, C, is partially filled with water, soap suds, or other proper cleansing fluid.
The wheel or disc E is slid back from the wash-board, and the clothes inserted
between such board and the disc. The wheel or disc E is now slid towards A,
either by a spring I, as shewn in Figure 1, or by gravity of the parts, as shewn
in Figure 3. Upon the wheel E being rotated through the shaft D and
'crank F, the clothes form themselves into rolls, and. roll. around between the
faces of A and E alternately, absorbing water as they dip into it, and again
parting with it as they come above the surface, aided by the pressure of E and
the rolling motion. By reversing the motion of E the clothes are unrolled
and rolled again in the opposite direction, thus presenting new surfaces to the
action of the machine. I prefer the construction of machine shown in
Figure 3, and to operate by turning E alternately to a small extent in opposite
directions. The gravity of D, E, F, tends to hold E always against the
clothes with sufficient force to act on them properly. If a large quantity is
introduced, or a large bundle of clothes formed, E yields by the sliding of D
in its bearing b. If, on the contrary, but few clothes are introduced, or the
clothes become very thinly spread, E approaches nearer to A.
:
The advantages due to this portion of the Invention are as follows:-First,
the clothes can be introduced and removed from the machine by simply sliding
back the disc E without lifting or removing any part of the machine.. Second,
the clothes can be examined at any moment during the operation without
difficulty. Third, should any small portions remain dirty, they can be rubbed
by hand upon the wash-board A, as in an ordinary wash tub. Fourth, the
disc or rubber E being but partially immersed, and having no tendency to float
away from A, but tending by its own weight and that of the crank F to slide
towards it, it requires little force to keep E in proper contact with the clothes,
and it is consequently operated with greater ease. Fifth, the clothes being
alternately in and out of the liquid, a more thorough displacement of the

page_text: '
portion of the liquid absorbed is caused at each revolution. Sixth, the clothes
are more thoroughly mixed, and consequently more uniformly acted upon.
Seventh, the clothes being permitted to roll around between the surface of
A. and E instead of being continually 'rubbed, there is less wear upon
the fabric.
I will now describe that portion of the Invention which relates to the
expressing of the water from or the wringing of clothes. .
In Figures 4, 5, and 6, R, R¹, are two india-rubber rollers, or rollers
covered or clothed with india-rubber; G, G, are two inelastic rollers;
H, H', represents the frame of the machine, with slots h, h¹, for the reception
of castings, or boxes K, K¹, which hold the shafts of the rollers, as will be
.herein-after described. The shaft of the lower inelastic roller G¹ rests in
bearings in the lower portion of h, h¹. It may, if desired, have an elastic box
.under it, though this is not essential. The lower elastic roller R¹ rests directly
on the roller G¹, the castings K¹ in which it is supported being held in the
slots h, h¹, so as to have free vertical movement therein. The upper elastic
roller R rests on R₁, and has its shaft held by similar castings K, so as to
have free vertical movement. The roller G rests on the upper elastic roller.
Its shaft is held in boxes J, J, within the slots h, h¹, and above the boxes K, K¹,
of the elastic rollers. These boxes J, J, are acted upon and forced downwards
by. screws L, L, by which the pressure may be regulated. These boxes may
be provided with india-rubber or other springs, suitably arranged to give
additional elasticity to the system, though it is not usually necessary. Two rigid
or. inelastic rollers of small size may obviously be substituted for, the single
ones, G and G¹, if desired, the two lying side by side, and near together. Or, if
desired, three rollers may be employed, one in the situation represented by
G or G', and the others disposed one on each side of R or R. By this con-
struction the elastic rollers are held between the inelastic ones, and the
elasticity of the entire roller brought into action when any article is drawn
through the said rollers.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The part H, H', is secured
upon A, as shown in Figure 5, or upon an ordinary wash tub, as shown in
Figure 6, by placing the legs M, N, M³, N', astride of the edge. The parts
H', H', being, connected to H, H, by straps Y, Y, so as to turn at a; by
inserting wedges W, W, the upper ends of H', H', are forced out, and the legs
N, N', are made to approach M, M', and thus tightly embrace the side of the
machine or wash tub. By applying power to crank P; which is keyed on to
the shaft of R', the system of rollers R, R', G, G', is rotated. The garments
are passed between the rollers R, R', and by the pressure thereof the water is

page_text: expelled from them. The screws L, L, regulate the pressure of the rollers to
suit the thickness of the articles to be wrung. Whenever a thick mass is
received between R, R¹, the india-rubber in contact therewith yields, or is
compressed to a certain degree, tending by such compression to force R, R¹,
apart. This force being received on the rigid rollers G, G', causes the rubber
in contact therewith to be compressed to a certain degree, somewhat corre-
sponding to the magnitude of the mass received between R, R¹. So soon as
the thick mass has passed through between R, R', the elasticity of both sides
of the elastic rollers R, R¹, tends to bring these rollers again tightly into
contact. Thus the elasticity of those portions of the elastic rollers which are
in contact with G, G¹, aids the elasticity of those parts in contact with the
clothing being operated on, and the shafts of R, R', move slightly upward
and downward by the sliding of K, K', in the slots h, h¹, each time that a
thick mass of clothing is received or discharged.
I do not wish to confine myself to any particular degree of inclination of the
wash-board A and disc E, but I prefer to place them at an angle of about
seventy degrees from the horizon.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of machinery
or apparatus for washing and wringing cloths and similar articles, as herein-
before described.
Second, the application and use to and in the wringing or squeezing of
clothes of rollers composed either wholly or partly of india-rubber or other
elastic material, combined with rigid or inelastic rollers, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)