IM- PROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Reynolds, of Llandrinio, near Oswestry,
in the County of Montgomery, Cooper, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES.”

page_text: ribbed roller, the said top ribbed roller constituting the rubber of the
machine. The ribs of the said roller or rubber are situated parallel or
nearly so to the axis of the roller. These top and bottom rollers are
supported in a frame which is fixed in the tub or vessel in which the
articles are to be washed. The lower series of plain cylindrical rollers
turn in bearings in the uprights of the carrying frame, and have a limited
longitudinal motion therein; and the upper ribbed roller or rubber is
capable of a vertical motion in its uprights for the purpose of permitting
it to be pressed into contact with the lower rollers and of rising from
the said lower rollers.
The bearings in which the axis of the top ribbed roller or rubber
turns consist of blocks of wood or other materials having inclined slots
in them, in which the ends of the axis turn. These blocks are pressed
down by means of coiled springs, the upper ends of the said springs
being connected to the lower ends of the said blocks, and the lower ends
of the springs to projections on the uprights of the machine. By the
action of these spring bearings the ribbed roller or rubber is pressed
into contact with the plain bottom rollers, and is capable of yielding
upwards for the purpose of permitting articles of different thicknesses
to be passed through the machine.
A rotatory motion is given to the top roller or rubber by means of a
winch or handle on one end of its axis, and the motion is transmitted to
the under plain rollers by the friction of the top ribbed roller and the
linen or article between them. The ribs of the top roller or rubber,
besides serving to press and rub the articles against the plain under
rollers, also facilitate by their biting action the drawing of the articles
through the machine.
The linen or article to be washed having been thoroughly soaked in
the water in the tub or vessel in which the machine is fixed, one edge
of the said article is placed between the ribbed top roller or rubber and
the plain under rollers, and the said ribbed roller is then rotated by its
winch or handle. By the motion of the said topped ribbed roller or
rubber the linen or article is seized and drawn through the machine, the
said linen or article as it passes through the machine being very
efficiently rubbed and squeezed between the top ribbed roller or rubber
and the plain under rollers, and thereby washed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Reynolds in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
REYNOLDS, of Llandrinio, near Oswestry, in the County of Montgomery,
Cooper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Reynolds, Her
special license, that I, the said Thomas Reynolds, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Reynolds, 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 Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Reynolds, 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 per-
formed, 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 Thomas Reynolds, 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 :—
My Invention consists of the combination or arrangement herein-
after described of the parts of washing machines, by the use of
which combination or arrangement the articles are very efficiently
and readily washed.
A washing machine constructed according to my Invention consists
essentially of a series of three plain lower cylindrical rollers and a top

page_text: I
ribbed roller, the said top ribbed roller constituting the rubber of the
machine. The ribs of the said roller or rubber are situated parallel or
nearly so to the axis of the roller. These top and bottom rollers are
supported in a frame which is fixed in the tub or vessel in which the
articles are to be washed. The lower series of plain cylindrical rollers
turn in bearings in the uprights of the carrying frame and have a
limited longitudinal motion therein, and the upper ribbed roller or
rubber is capable of a vertical motion in its uprights for the purpose of
permitting it to be pressed into contact with the lower rollers, and of
rising from the said lower rollers.
The bearings in which the axis of the top ribbed roller or rubber
turns consist of blocks of wood or other materials having inclined slots
in them in which the ends of the axis turn. These blocks are pressed
down by means of coiled springs, the upper ends of the said springs
being connected to the lower ends of the said blocks, and the lower ends
of the springs to projections on the uprights of the machine. By the
action of these spring bearings the ribbed roller or rubber is pressed into
contact with the plain bottom rollers, and is capable of permitting
articles of different thicknesses to pass through the machine.
A rotatory motion is given to the top roller or rubber by means of a
winch or handle on one end of its axis, and the motion is transmitted to
the under plain rollers by the friction of the top ribbed roller, and the
linen or article between them. The ribs of the top roller or rubber,
besides serving to press and rub the articles against the plain under
rollers also facilitate by their biting action the drawing of the articles
through the machine. The under rollers may be ribbed similar to the
top rollers.
The accompanying Drawing represents a washing machine constructed
according to my Invention. Figure 1 being a side elevation of the said
machine partly in vertical section; Figure 2 an end elevation of the
same; and Figure 3 a cross section of the same.
Figure 4 is a modification of the same as herein-after explained.
The same letters indicate the same parts.

page_text: pieces represented, and the frame thus made is fixed in the tub or vessel
in which the articles are to be washed, the said tub or vessel containing
the washing liquid. The ribs of the upper and under rollers b, c, d, e,
are situated parallel to the axis of the said rollers. The lower
rollers c, d, e, may be plain instead of ribbed. The axis 6' of the top
roller or rubber 6 turns in spring bearings or blocks f, f, having inclined
slots in them, the ends of the axis of the said roller turning in the said
slots. By means of the said slots the spring bearings f,f, can be readily
lifted from the ends of the axis 62 when it is required to remove the
roller 6 from its uprights a, a. The blocks or bearings f, f, are pressed
down by the coiled springs h, h, so as to hold the top roller in contact
with the under rollers. The said bearings f, f, also permit the top roller
to yield upwards to accommodate the machine to articles of different
thicknesses. The top roller or rubber 6 is turned by the winch or
handle k.
The outer rollers c, e, of the under series may be geared together by
a band, as illustrated in Figure 4. The said band is marked and
passes around a roller m turning in the frame i of the machine. By thus
gearing the outer lower rollers c, e, together the drawing or carrying of
the articles through the machine is facilitated.
In using the machine the linen or article to be washed having been
thoroughly soaked in the water or washing liquid in the tub or vessel in
which the machine is fixed, one edge of the linen or article is placed
between the ribbed top roller b and one of the outer ribbed or plain
rollers o or e, and the said ribbed top roller is then rotated by its winch
or handle k. By the motion of the said top roller 6 rotation is com-
municated to the under rollers, and the linen or article is seized and
drawn through the machine, the said linen or article as it passes through
the machine being very efficiently rubbed and squeezed between the
top roller or rubber and the ribbed or plain under rollers and thereby
washed.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
3 as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in washing
machines herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying

page_text: Drawing, that is to say, the combination of a rotating top ribbed roller
with a series of rotating plain or ribbed under rollers, whereby the
articles as they are drawn through the machine are rubbed and squeezed,
and thereby washed, the said rollers being arranged and worked sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Reynolds, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS REYNOLDS. (L.S.)