IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINERY
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WASHING MACHINERY."-A communication from abroad by Thomas
Mayall, residing at Roxburgh, in the State of Massachusetts, United
States of America.
Sealed the 7th June 1864, and dated the 12th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th December 1863.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
A principal defect in the operation of the many washing machines that
have heretofore been invented has been that their action upon the goods to be
cleansed has not approximated sufficiently near to the manipulation of the
ordinary rubbing and squeezing movements to which they are subjected when
the work is done by hand.
The object of this new machine is to subject the goods to be cleansed to a
like treatment as when operated upon simply by hand labor, and at the same
time to prevent their being exposed to injury. These results are obtained
with much less labor and with greater celerity than can otherwise bo
accomplished.

page_text: The essential features of the new machine consist in the use of a fluted
elastic roller, made of vulcanized india-rubber or gutta percha, and also of a
fluted elastic rubbing board or surface between which the goods to be
cleansed are subjected to a rubbing motion similar in its effects to that
produced by hand. In some cases a plain and a fluted roller are combined,
between which the goods are squeezed. In addition to these features the
receptacle for containing the goods and the cleansing liquid rests upon an
elastic bed, and the elastic rollers upon yielding journals, for purposes which
will be herein-after explained..
'
The arrangement of machinery preferred is as follows:-The receptacle
for containing the fabrics to be cleansed and the cleansing liquid has a semi-
circular bottom lined with vulcanized india-rubber, attached to the lower part
of which is a fluted elastic rubbing surface; above this is a fluted elastic
roller made of or covered with vulcanized india-rubber, gutta percha, or other
elastic impermeable material, between which and the corrugated bed or
surface the goods to be cleansed are rubbed and passed by the revolution of
the corrugated roller. The two surfaces which thus act upon the goods
being elastic and corrugated as described, an effect similar to hand rubbing
results without injury to the fabrics. The goods then pass between the
upper part of the fluted roller above mentioned and the under periphery of
a similar elastic fluted roller, both rollers being caused to rotate by suitable
gearing by which the goods are subjected to a squeezing process; thus by the
action of the fluted rollers and the rubbing board or surface the goods are
alternately rubbed and squeezed, and are never exposed during the whole
operation to anything but the action of soft elastic surfaces which preclude
the possibility of their being strained or otherwise injured. The fluted rollers
after being revolved with regard to each other as described can have their
motions changed by turning the shaft or axis by which they are moved in a
reverse direction, which will have a tendency to ensure the certainty of
bringing each portion of the goods under the action of the elastic vulcanized
india-rubber rollers and rubbing board or surface. Swinging frames are used
to keep the goods from rolling up and passing out of the receptacle; when
either one of these is swung back the goods will be raised out of the machine
In order to adapt
by turning the rollers in the requisite direction therefor.
the machine to varying thicknesses of goods, and to prevent any accidental
obstruction from interfering with its operation, the vessel is hung up on an
elastic bed or spring which allows it to yield in a vertical direction, and thus
causes the rubbing board or surface to adapt itself to whatever passes between
it and the roller, whether it be thick or thin. So also the rollers may have

page_text: their journal boxes set upon springs, and have vertical adjustment for the
same purpose. It will be observed that the elastic vulcanized india-
rubber upper
roller may,
if desirable, be formed with a plain elastic periphery
instead of a corrugated one, but the latter form is considered preferable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators,
and 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINERY," a communication to me
from abroad by Thomas Mayall, a person resident at Roxburgh, in the State
of Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The principal defect in the operation of the many washing machines that
have heretofore been invented has been that their action upon the goods to be

page_text: cleansed has not approximated sufficiently near to the manipulation of the
ordinary rubbing and squeezing movements to which they are subjected when
the work is done by hand.
.
The object of this new machine is to subject the goods to be cleansed to a
like treatment as when operated upon simply by hand labor, and at the same
time to prevent their being exposed to injury. These results are obtained
with much less labor and with greater celerity than can otherwise be
accomplished.
The essential features of the new machine consists in the use of a fluted
elastic roller, made of vulcanized india-rubber or gutta percha, and also of a
fluted elastic rubbing board or surface between which the goods to be cleansed
are subjected to a rubbing motion similar in its effects to that produced by
hand. In some cases a plain and a fluted roller are combined, between which
the goods are squeezed. In addition to these features the receptacle for
containing the goods and the cleansing liquid rests upon an elastic bed, and
the elastic rollers upon yielding journals, for purposes which will be herein-
after explained.
The arrangement of machinery preferred is as follows:-a, a, a, in the
Drawings represent the supporting framework of the machine; b, b, b, is the
receptacle for containing the fabrics to be cleansed and the cleansing liquid.
To the semicircular bottom of the vessel b, b, b, is attached a fluted elastic.
rubbing board or surface c, c; d, d, is a fluted elastic roller made of or
covered with vulcanized india-rubber, gutta percha, or other elastic imper-
meable material, between which and the elastic corrugated surface or bed c, c, the
goods to be cleansed are rubbed and passed by the revolution of the roller d, d.
The two surfaces which act upon the goods are elastic, and corrugated as
described to produce the same effect as hand rubbing without injury to the
fabrics, however delicate they may be. The goods then pass, as shewn in
Figure 3, between the fluted roller d, d, and the under periphery of a similar
elastic roller e, e, revolved like the roller d, d, by suitable gearing, by which
they are subjected to a squeezing process; thus by the action of the rollers d
and e and the rubbing board c, c, the goods are alternately rubbed and squeezed
in the same manner as by hand, and are never exposed during the whole
operation to anything but the action of soft elastic surfaces, which preclude
the possibility of their being strained or otherwise injured. The rollers d
and e, after being revolved with regard to each other, as described, can have
their relative motions changed by turning the crank by which they are moved
in a reverse direction, which will have a tendency to ensure the certainty of
bringing each portion of the goods under the action of the elastic vulcanized

page_text: india-rubber rollers and rubbing board; f, f, are swinging frames, to keep
the goods from rolling up and passing out of the receptacle b, b; when
either one of these is swung back the goods will be raised out of the machine
by turning the rollers in the requisite direction therefor. In order to adapt
the machine to varying thicknesses of goods, and to prevent any accidental
obstruction from interfering with its operation, the vessel b, b, is hung up on
elastic bed or spring g, g, which allows it to yield in a vertical direction, and
thus causes the rubbing board or surface to adapt itself to whatever passes
between it and the roller, or whether it be thick or thin. So also the rollers
d and e are to have their journal boxes set upon springs, and to be susceptible
of vertical adjustment for the same purpose. It will be observed that the
elastic vulcanized india-rubber upper roller e may, if desirable, be formed
with a plain elastic periphery instead of a corrugated one, but the latter form
is considered preferable. I claim,―
First, the combined arrangement herein described.
Second, the combination of an elastic fluted roller d with an elastic fluted
or corrugated rubbing board or surface c, as described.
Third, the combination of an elastic fluted roller d with an elastic squeezing
roller e, operating together as set forth.
Fourth, the combination of the parts g, b, and c, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
m
GEC. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.D.)