US422144A - Washing-machine - Google Patents

Description

M del.) o L. J. MONTGOMERY 8v C. P. TOWNSEND.

WASHING MACHINE.

No. 422,144. Patented Feb.25,1890\.

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UNITED STATES PATENT l OFFICE.

LEVI JAMES MONTGOMERY AND CLARK PLUMLEY TOVNSEND, OF BROKEN BOW, NEBRASKA.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 422,144, dated February 25, 1890.

Application filed .Tuly 31,1888. Serial No. 281,530. (Model.)

T @ZZ whom, it may concern: ter-boiler or steam-generator of the appara- Be it known that we, LEVI JAMES MONT- tus, and has in its closed top CZ an opening eoMERY and CLARK PLUMLEY TowNsEND, of d', through which the water or washing-liq- Broken Bow, in the county of Custer and uid will be poured into it, and this opening 5 State of Nebraska, have invented a new and will be'closed by a screw-cap or plug d2,fltted Improved Clothes-Vasher, of which the folto a collarV or flange at the opening, and lowing is a full, clear, and exact description. shown in dotted lines in Fig. l of the draW- 6o Our invention relates to an apparatus ings. The compartment D communicates whereby clothes may be washed without n1e with the one C only by means of a thimible c,

1o chanical rubbing or" squeezing of them by fitted in or to the partition a and projecting hand and with economy of time and labor; outward therefrom soas to make a joint with and the invention has for its object to proan upper tube of the clothes-box, as hereinvide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient after explained. A tube E,which is preferclothes-washer in which circulating hot wa* ably run vertically through the boiler-com- 15 ter and steam are utilized in a manner assur` partment D, has a lower elbow or bend e',

ing quick and Vthorough cleansing of the which projects into the clothes-box compartclothes and without injuring them. ment O at its bottom, and an upper elbow e,

The invention consists in certain novel feawhich projects through the thimble c into tures of construction and combination of the compartment (l, butis sufficientlysmaller zo parts of the clothes-washer, all as hereinafter than the thimble to provide a somewhat nardescribed and claimed. Y row annular steam-outlet F between the el- Reference is to behad to the accompanying bow and the thimble, and through which drawings, forming a part of this specification, steam will pass from the boiler-compartment in which similar letters of reference indicate D to the clothes-box. 2 5 corresponding parts in all the figures. At the bottom of the compartment C is fixed Figure l is a central longitudinal section or fitted an auxiliary floor G, which slants at of the preferred form of our `improved its central portion and lengthwise from a 8O clothes-Washer. Fig. 2 is a vertical tianspoint a little above the open end of the elbow verse section thereof, taken on the lineoc n in e of the pipe E to the farther end of the bot- 3o Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectom proper of the boiler A, and the floor also tion of a modified form of the washer operatslants to said bottom at the sides of the boiler ing on the same general principles; and Fig. and is provided with holes gone next the 4 is a vertical transverse section thereof, farther end and one at each side of the comtaken on the line y y in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a partment (Las shown in Figs. l, 2, and 5 of 35 plan view of the boiler of the washer, the the drawings. These holes g allow circulalclothes-box being removed; and Fig. 6 is a tion of boiling water and steam from the bot- Vertical transverse section taken through the tom of the compartment C up through the steam-generator of the washer and on the tube E, and thence to the top of the clothesline e ,e in either Figs. l or 3. box.

4o We will first describe the washer in its The clothes box or holderB in its preferred preferred form and with more special referform is made as a cylindrical case, which fits ence to Figs. l, 2, 5, and 6 of the drawings, as within the boiler-compartment C and has op- 95 follows: posite side trunnions or gudgeons l) l), by

The washer consists of two main partsa which it is journaled in open notcli-bearings 45 boilerA and a clothes box or holderB-which, at the top of the boiler. A portion of the pe- When the washer is in use, is placed withinA riphery of the box B is formed as a door H, the :main opeirtopped section or compartwhich is hinged at h at one side or end, and roo ment of the boiler, as hereinafter explained. may be held closed bya suitable catch, lug,- The boilerA is preferably made in elongated or button 7a. The door is provided with a 5o rectangular form, and is divided by a verseries of perforations hwhich allow free cirtical transverse partition ainto two compartculat-ion of water and steam through it and ments-a large one C to receive the clothesthe clothes which the box contains when the 105 box B and a small one D, which is the wawasher is in use. The clothes-box has a suitable'handle or bail b', by which it may be lifted from the boiler.

Across the top and inside of the clothes-box B is fixed a plate J, preferably of semi-cylindrical form and provided throughout with a series of perforations j, permitting escape of steam and Water from the chamber K, formed inside the plate J, and which had entered said chamber from the generator through an imperforate tube or pipe L, which is iixed at one end to the plate J, and is adapted to nt closely at its other end onto or over the thimble c, which projects from the inner wall d of the generator.

The operation of the clothes-washer is as follows: A proper quantity of water or washingdiuid will be placed in the clothes box compartment C of the machine, and the boilercompartment D will also be charged with water or washing-fluid, and it may be up to the outlet F, and the cap or plug (Z2 will then be applied. The clothes-box B is then placed on the boiler A in such (not Working) position that it may be turned to bring the door H uppermost, so that clothes may be placed within it. The box B is then turned (see arrow) and adjusted so that the projecting end of tube L engages the thimble c, as shown in Fig. l, and its journals also enter their bearings in boiler A.

When the washer is placed on a stove or heater and the fluid in the compartments C D boils, a circulation of the fluid will be established in the clothes-box B and in the compartment C by passage or flow of the fluid through the bottom holes g, and thence through the tube E, up to and through the clothes-box tube L and into the chamber K, and thence through the holes j of the plate J, down upon the clothes in the box. The

`steam generated 'in the boiler-compartment I) will, under considerable pressure, escape at the annular opening F in the thimble c, and there will meet the water flowing` from the tube E into and along the tube L, the steam-j et thus acting` as an injector to stimulate the water-circulation through said tube, the clothes-box, the compartment C, and the tube E, thereby causing the mingled circulating water and steam to be thrown downward forcibly onto the clothes in the box and inducing a strong suction of the washing-fluid downward through the clothes to quickly and thoroughly cleanse them without subjecting them to mechanical manipulationsuch as rubbing or squeezing themand reducing to a minimum the labor required of the operator.

We briefly explain the modified form of washer shown in Figs. 3 and t as follows: The clothes-box B', instead of being made cylindrical, is made square or rectangular in general form and occupies quite all of the boiler-compartment C, in which it is suspended by the edge lianges of its iixed or closed top resting on the boiler. The perforated bottom H of this box B is hinged at one side and latched at the other side. The box is provided with a transversely-ranging upper perforated tube J, forming a chamber K, which communicates by a tube L with the outlet F of the steam-generator D. The operation of this modified form of washer is substantially like the other, except that the clothes to be washed will be placed in the box B while it is out of the boiler, and the clothes-charged box will then be inverted and placed in the boiler-compartment C andwith its tube L engaging the thimble c of the steam-generator, and when the clothes are Washed the box B will be bodily lifted out of the boiler and may be carried to any rinsing-vessel, into which the clothes may be discharged after the box-door H is opened. The cylindrical clothes-box B above described may also be lifted from the boiler and carried toany desired place with the clothes in it; but by journaling said box on the boiler the washed clothes may be removed from it by simply turning it around until its door H is uppermost, and the door may then be opened to allow the clothes to be removed from the box without the labor and inconvenience involved in lifting the entire clothesbox from the boiler.

Itis not essential that the bottom G be employed; but by using it the downward circulation of water through the clothes in the box B or B and through its perforated door H is maintained more equally, and a more uniform cleansing of all the clothes in the box is thereby assured, as will readily be understood.

Having thus .fully described our invention,

what we claim as new, and desire to secureV by Letters Patent, is-` 1. In a clothes-washer, the combination of a removable clothes box or holder having a lateral opening for admission of steam, and

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a tube L, leading from said opening part Way around the interior of the clothes-box, with the main boiler A, having a double bottom forming a steam-generating space or chamber, and a pipe E, communicating with such space and having a laterally-projecting top portion which coincides and communicates with the opening in the clothes-box when the latter is placed in the boiler, as shown and described.

2. In a clothes-washer, the combination of a main boiler having a lateral compartment D, a clothes-box located in the said main boiler and having an open-ended tube that extends through its sides, a steamgenerating chamber at the bottom of said boiler, and a tube connecting the said chamber With the tube in the clothes-box and passing through a thimble c in compartment D, which is large enough to allow space for passage of water, as shown and described.

LEVI JAMES MONTGOMERY.

CLARK PLUMLEY TOWNSEND.

Vitnesses:

VINNEL BARNES, M W. BARNES.

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