US14818A - Improvement in wash ing-machin es - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES T. KING, OF NFV YORK, N. Y.

iIVIPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES T. KING, of the city of New York, county and State ot' New York, did obtain Letters Patent of the United States of America for an Improvement in \Vashing Apparatus, dated October 21, 1851, reissued April 13, 1854; that I have since that date made certain improvements on my invention to be called .T. T. King-s Alkaline Steam Vashing Apparatus, for which improvement, together with the original invention, Letters Patent have been granted in England, dated April 6, 1854; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus. Fig. 2 represents a front View of the saine. Fig. 3 is a crosssection showing the arrangement of the internal pipes to admit and exhaust the steam. Figs. 4 and 5 represent different arrangements of the internal pipes, ttc.

The nature of my improvement consistsin constructing a rotary cylinderin such a manner that a current of steam can be admitted into the cylinder, entering t-he saine at the bottom under the suds and clothing and escaping again at the upper part while the cylinder is in motion or stationary, and a current of hot or cold water or steam can be admitted into the cylinder above the clothing and escape at the lower part of the cylinder while in motion or stationary. By this operation the steam after heat-ing the water or suds to 212o rises to the top and lls the upper part of the cylinder with steam saturated with alkaline properties, at the same time raising the clothing into the upper part of the cylinder and expanding the fibers of the fabric. The motion of the cylinder changes the position of the clothing in such a manner that it is alternately in steam and suds. The steam while expanding .the fibers of the fabric (just what a Woman rubs the clothing for) allows the alkaline properties of the suds toneutralize the oily or vegetable particles of matter which hold the dirt to the fabric, when the same rinses off without any pressure, friction, or rubbing, and by letting in steam over the clothing after it is washed the dirty suds can be forced out at the bot- Patent No. 14,818, dated May 6, 1856.

tom, thereby saving the time necessary forit to run out, and more eftectually carries 0E the impurities, and by the arrangement of letting in hot water at the top of the cylinder over the clothing and out under it while the cylinder is in motion, the clothing without being removed is thoroughly rinsed as well as washed in the saine machine. By this process any quantity of clothing (the number of pieces depending upon the size of the apparatus) can be washed and rinsed in from ten to fifteen minutes without theleast injury to the fabric.

For all diseased clothing this machine is invaluable. The constant escapes of steam through the fabric carries off all the volatile matter, so that the clothes, no matter how much they may be filled with contagion, after being washed in this machine are asthoroughly purified as when new.

Similar letters represent the same parts in all the figures.

A is the washing-cylinder, made of wood or any other material, with projections a on the inside to change the position of the cloth- 1ng.

B is a frame screwed on the front of the cylinder and constituting the front axle, as well as the frame for the door O, through which the clothes are put in and taken out of the cylinder. This door is fastened by screws or springs and made tight by packing round the edge.

D are small valves inserted into the wood in the front of the machine with strainers on the inside, or they may be placed on the outside periphery of the cylinder, entering into the pipe F, which will constitute the strainer, and they may be made to open and shut by the revolving of the cylinder.

E is a frame screwed on the back endof the cylinder and constituting' the back axle, said axle being made hollow to allow a pipe to pass through.

F are perforated pipes fastened to the inside of the cylinder, and through which the steam or hot or cold water are let into the cylinder and the waste steam escapes.

Gis a pipe, passing through the hollow back axle, made conical on the inside, and upon which said conical part the pipes F are iitted. This pipe is divided into two parts and the conical part has two openings corresponding with the openings of the upper and lower pipes F. In the lower part of the pipe G a pipe O is screwed in to admit steam from a boiler and into the lower pipe F. In the upper part of the pipe G a pipe is screwed, into which the pipes K, I, and L are connected. Consequently the waste steam can escape through the upper pipes F and through the upper part of the pipe G and the pipe L, or hot or cold water can be let into the cylinder through the pipes K or I, respectively, and through the upper pipes F, and by connecting the steam-pipe C with pipes K, I, or L with stop-cock, the steam may be let in at the top through pipe F and out at the bottom through valve D.

H is a bracket screwed on the main frame and fastened to the pipe G to prevent the latter -from turning while the cylinder is in motion.

L is a pipe leading the escape steam from the cylinder to the steam-condensing apparatus M, or anywhere else it may be desired.

K is a pipe connected with the hot water.

I is a pipe connected with the cold water.

T is a tub covering the lower half of the front of the machine, provided with the door C, corresponding with the door C in the cylinder, and sufficiently large to allow the latter to open through it when the clothes are required to be taken out. This tub has a pipe p at one side leading to the sewer, provided with a valve, by which the dirty suds or water are let off, and a communication is made with a lower cistern, likewise provided with a valve to collect the clean suds.

V is a cistern, placed under the tub T and provided with a waste-pipe and valve at the bottom leading into the sewer.

W is the main framing which supports the cylinder.

M is a steam-condensing apparatus consisting of a vessel or cistern with partition a dividing one-third of the depth of said cistern into two apartments united with each other under plate t).

c is a ball-cock by which the cistern is kept supplied with cold water a few inches above the plate b.

d is a vacuum-valve, which will supply the steam-chamber with air where a vacuum is created and prevent the water going up pipe L.

Eis a waste-pipe. The water in this cistern will be more or less saturated with alkaline properties, and after washing clothing not much soiled can be pumped into the machine.

Instead of arranging the pipes which admit Athe steam or water, and through which the waste steam escapes, as above described, the same may be made as represented in Fig. 4, in which case a pipe divided in four parts is cast on or attached to the frame E, projecting partly into the cylinder A, and to which the pipes F are firmly attached. That part of the pipe projecting outward forms then at the same time the back axle of the cylinder and receives at its end a fou r-way valve m on a slide, and which said valve is held stationary by the bracket II. The steam-pipe C and the pipe to which the exhaust-steam pipe L, as well as the hot and cold water pipes I and K, are connected are in that case attached or screwed into the valve m in such a manner that the steam shall always enter the lower pipe F,while the escape-steam escapes through the upper pipe F, or warm or cold water or steam can be let into the cylinder through the latter.

Instead of arranging the pipes F as represented in Figs. 2 and 3, in which case the same are fastened to the inside of the cylinder A and turn round the pipe G, the same maybe made fast to the pipe G, as shown in Fig. 5, where only two pipes are required, one standing upward and the other downward, and being fast to the pipe G are held in that position through the bracket H. Those pipes are in that case protected by the screen N.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: I-lalf fill the cylinder with hot water through the pipes K, G, and F and putin soap or any other alkaline preparation sufficient to make a good suds, and then put the clothing in the cylinder, close the door C tight, let in steam through the pipe O, open the escape-steam pipe, and set the machine in motion. In about ten minutes time shut the steam otf again, close the escape-steam pipe L, open the valves D in front of the machine, and let out the dirty suds into the tub T and out of the same through the pipe p into the sewer. Now open the valves or cocks in the pipe K and let in warm water, and then through the pipe I clean cold water until it runs out clear through the valves D. Then stop the machine with the door C downward and opposite the door C', when the clothing can be taken out and will be found both washed and rinsed and perfectly clean.

To prevent the clothing from getting twisted, the motion of this machine is so arranged that the cylinder turns several times one way and then the same number of times the other way, reversing its own motion.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The construction of a rotary cylinder in connection with internal and external pipes, arranged in such a manner that through said pipes steam can always be let into the lower part of the cylinder and escape at the top while the cylinder is in motion or stationary, and that by the same arrangement hot water, cold water, or steam can be let into the cylinder at the top and escape at the bottom while said cylinder is in motion or stationary.

JAMES 'l`. KING.

I'Vitnesses:

J. H. CoNsELYEA, E. BENJAMIN.

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