A NEW AND USEFUL OR IMPROVED MACHINE EITHER FOR SUPPORTING CLOTHES OR OTHER ARTICLES TO BE DRIED, OR FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Brown Hawse, of the State of Vermont,
of the United States of America, for the Invention of " A NEW AND USEFUL
OR IMPROVED MACHINE EITHER FOR SUPPORTING CLOTHES OR OTHER ARTICLES
TO BE DRIED, OR FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES."
Sealed the 16th April 1861, and dated the 10th January 1861.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Benjamin Brown Hawse at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 10th January 1861, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT,
KNOWN, that I, BENJAMIN BROWN HAWSE, of the State of Vermont, of the
United States of America, have Invented "A NEW AND USEFUL OR IMPROVED
MACHINE EITHER FOR SUPPORTING CLOTHES OR OTHER ARTICLES TO BE DRIED, OR FOR.
OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," and do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which it is to be performed or made to operate,
are fully described and represented in the following Specification and the
accompanying Drawings, of which Figures 1 and 2 are front and side elevations;
and Figure 3, a vertical and longitudinal section of such machine; Figure 4
is a top view of it; Figure 5 represents it in a folded state.
The nature of my Invention consists in a new and useful machine or clothes.
supporter, as constructed not only of a post or standard, a cap pulley and a.

page_text: folding frame arranged as herein-after described, but with the cap pulley and
the folding frame so applied to the post or standard as to be capable of being
simultaneously revolved thereon, substantially in manner and while connected
by a cord or line as herein-after described.
In the Drawings A exhibits a cylindrical post or standard, at whose upper
end is a head a which serves to support a cap pulley B, which is so applied
to the said head a, or the post, by means of a pivot a and a bearing step b
(see Figure 3,) as to be capable of being revolved on the post. Besides such
pulley a folding frame C is applied to the said post, this frame being composed
of two hubs c, d, and two series of bars e, e, e, e, e, f, f, ƒ, ƒ, f. Each hub
should be applied to the post in such manner as to be capable not only
of being moved either upward or downward, but of being swivelled or
turned around thereon. Each of the sets or series of arms contains a like
number of such arms, which are arranged in radial directions relatively to their
hub. The longer arms e, e, e, e, e, are jointed to the lower hub, while the
shorter arms f. f. f, f, f, are also jointed to the upper hub, and in such manner
as to enable each arm to be moved in the sector of a circle and in a vertical
plane. The shorter arms at their outer ends are respectively jointed to the
longer arms at or about their middles. Furthermore, the longer arms are
connected by suspension lines or cords arranged as shown at 9, 9, 9, &c., in
Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4. A sheave his applied to one side of the lower hub,
while the opposite side of such hub has a clamping lever i affixed to it. A
rope or line is fastened to one of the longer arms e, e, and from thence is
led upward through the pulley B, thence down around the sheave h, thence
upward and again through the pulley B, and from thence downward between
the clamp lever i and the hub d, and through an eye or staple m projecting
from the hub or conduit c. By pulling on this rope the lower hub will not
only be raised toward the upper hub, but both hubs may be elevated simul-
taneously toward the head a. The upper hub on being raised against the
said head will be stopped thereby so as to cause the further draft on the rope
to effect the expansion of the folding frame to such extent as to extend and
tighten its suspension lines g, g, g, &c. By turning down the longer arm of
the clamp lever the rope will be pinched to the hub. By means of a knot n
tied on the rope 1, the folding frame may be prevented from being lowered
beyond a certain distance, the said knot, when the frame is at such a position,
being in contact with the staple herein-before mentioned. The folding frame
and the cap pulley may be simultaneously revolved on the post, the rope l
operating to so connect the said pulley with the frame as to cause the former
to revolve with the latter. Therefore, when it may be desirable to use the

page_text: machine for supporting clothes or other articles to be dried, the frame C may
be lowered sufficiently on the post A to admit of the clothes or articles being
affixed to and suspended from the lines g, g, g, &c., after which the frame may
be raised upward so as to elevate the clothes to a height above a persons
head, or out of the way of a person while passing by and close to the post.
A machine constructed as above described and used for suspending wet
articles in the air in order that they may be dried by such air, will be found
to be of great convenience and utility, as it can be employed in the yard or
in the apartment of a building, or on its roof, as circumstances may require,
and will occupy little room that may be useful for other purposes. By turning
the several arms e, e, e, e, e, upward toward the post the whole frame may
be collapsed, or so contracted on the post as to cause the machine to occupy
buta small space in comparison to what it will take up when the folding
frame may be in an unfolded state.
I claim the above described improved machine as constructed of a post, a
folding frame, and a cap pulley, and with the cap pulley and the folding frame
so applied to the post as to be capable of being simultaneously revolved
thereon, and of operating in other respects substantially in manner as described,
when connected by a line applied to them as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Brown Hawse, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 18th day of December 1860.
BENJAMIN BROWN HAWSE. (L.S.)