USRE8134E - Improvement in washing-machines - Google Patents

Description

L, CAL 2Sheets8heetl.

Assignor to C. A, DODGE. Washing Machine.

No. 8134. Reissued March 26,1878.

F N T III 2 SheetsSheet 2.

L. CALDWELL.

Assignor to G. A, DODGE.

Washing Machine. No. 8,134. Reissued March 26,1878.

WITNESSES v INVENTOR .fifidcfim /w 1,; GM Wm (L M W.

'To all whom itmay concern: Be it known that I, LEVI CALDWELL, of

U I ED} STATES PATEN OFFICE.

IKLEVI OAEDWEIJL, or eunenr'rsrown, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR To .CYRUS'AQDODGE. 1

IMPROVEIV liiENT INTWASHINVG-MAOHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,659, dated'Septemberf24, 1872; Reissue No. 8,134, dated March 26, 1878; application filed February 1, 1878, v I

Burgettstown, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing- Machines; and I do hereby declare the'following to be a full,'.clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in pounder washing-machines.

Heretofore, in the so-called pounder washing-machines, wherein the pounders are attached to and actuated by a lever, the pounders have been made of nearly the same diameter as that of the tub, and the lever arranged and adapted to have only a vertical movement imparted thereto. This class of washing-machines has been found to be objectionable in use, for the reason that they require a large outlay of powerto manipulate the large I cumbersome pounder-s, and also from the fact that the pounder failed to properly cleanse .the clothes, as it was continuously operated in the same vertical plane, and hence the clothes could not be subjected to the variable action necessary to produce the most effective results.

The object of my invention is to provide a pounder washing-machine of such construction that the pounder-may be of any desired size, and although its diameter may be much less than the diameter of the tub, the actuating-lever is constructed and arranged in such a manner that it may have vertical, longitudinal, and lateral movements imparted thereto, whereby the operator is enabled to vary the position of the pounder at will, and place it in any desired portion of the tub. Such a construction of pounder washing machines allows of the employment of a comparatively small and light pounder, which may be freely operated with a slight expenditure of power, and the entire surface of the clothes in the tub be subjected to the action of the pounder without any. stoppage of work on the part of and arranged to have longitudinal, lateral,- and vertical movements imparted thereto,"

whereby, the pounder may be readily placed in any part of the tub.

My invention further consists of a pounder washing-machine having the combination,

with an actuating-lever adapted to have vertical, lateral, and longitudinal movement imparted thereto, of a pounder and a verticallyadjustable pounder-shaft. g

My invention furthor consists in the combination, with an actuating-lever adapted to have vertical, lateral, and longitudinal movements imparted thereto, of a pounder and pounder-shaft, the latter connected with the actuating-lever in such a manner that it may have 'a'rocking movement, and thus allowthe shaft to be retained in a vertical position regardless of the position or inclination of the actuating-lever.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of my improved pounder washing-machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the pounder, pounder-shaft, and actuating-lever. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the standard for receiving the actuating-lever. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of said standard. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of my invention, showing the pounder when it is being oper-= ated in close'proximity to the standard which Fig; 6 is a side supports the actuating-lever. elevation, illustrating the pounder placed in the tub farthest from the standard. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the machine, showing th pounder placed in one side of the tub. Arepresents a bench of any suitable dimen sions, supported upon legs B B, and provided at or near one end with an upright post or standard, 0, having a hole or eye, a, through its upperend. D represents a tub of any desired size, placed on the bench A.

An actuating-lever, I, has secured to one of its ends a rod, b, the end of which is pointed and bent to pass through the eye 0 in the post 0. Rod 1) has a free longitudinal movement within its fulcrum or eye 0, in order that the free end of the leveri may be moved toward or from the center of the tub.

It will be observed that the upper portion of standard 0 is flattened or reduced in thickness, and the eye a iscountersunk on opposite sides of the standard, as shown at 01. As the eye 0 serves as a fulcrum for the actuatinglever, the opposite surfaces of the standard adjacent to said fulcrum are cut away at cl, to allow the free or outer end of the actuatinglever to be readily moved either in a vertical line, as illustrated in Fig.- 1, or in a lateral direction, as shown in Fig. 7

H represents the pounder-shaft, having a pounder, G, secured to its lower end by means of a cross-bar, E. Founder-shaft H is provided with any desired number of holes, 0, in-

order that. it may be secured in a verticallyadjustable manner within the oblong or rectan gular. slot f in the actuating lever I by means of a removable pin, a.

The oblong or rectangular slot in the actuating-lever permits the pounder-shaft to have a rocking movement therein, whereby said pounder-shaft may retain a vertical position regardless of the position or inclination of the actuating-lever. This construction causes the lower face of the pounder to be maintained in a plane parallel with the bottom of the tub, and hence causes the pounder to strike squarely and firmly, on the clothes in the tub, and thereby bring every portion of the lower surface of the pounder in direct contact with its work in any part of the tub at every stroke of the actuating-lever. 4

The pounder G consists of two inverted cups, G, which together form the interior space 9 and outer annular space 9. The lower edges of cups G are turned over, as shown at h, in order to aiford a smooth surface to the working-face of the pounder and prevent undue wear to the clothes; and, also, such construction serves to add strength to the cups G of the pounder.

As the actuating-lever I, carrying thepounder G, is worked up and down in any part of the tub, it causes the pounder to operate on the clothes in the tub, and at every downward stroke of the pounder the air is forced from the interior spaces g g by the water in the tub, thereby forming a partial vacuum within the inverted cups, and thus, when the pounder 'is raised, the clothes beneath the pounder are drawn up with it until the pounder leaves the.

water and suds, when air flows into the cups and releases the clothes, which latter fall back into the tub. The position of the clothes in 'a portion of the clothes and allowing them to fall back, and again raising the clothes in another part of the tub.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the operation of my improved pounder washing machine is not dependent on a pounder of any particular size or construction, as the pounder is readily carried to any portion of the tub, and the actuating-lever is constructed and arranged in such a manner that the clothes in any part of the tub may be subject d to the action of the pounder.

Very little power is required to operate a washing-machine constructed in accordance with my invention. Ample leverage is provided-for the manipulation of the pounder, which is comparatively light, and thus rendered easy of operation. The free or outer end of the lever is held by the operator, and by moving the free end of said lever toward or away from the center of thetub in any direction the pounder may be carried to any portion of the tub without the necessity for releasing the operators grasp on the lever, and without ceasiugthe effective strokes of the pounder on the clothes in the tub.

I do notlimit myself to any particular con-' struction of pounder or actuatin g-lever; neither do I restrict myself to the particular construction and arrangement of actuating-lever an fulcrum herein shown and described.

My improvement involves a radical departure in the construction and principle of operation in pounder washing-machines, the invention consisting, broadly, in a pounder washing-machine provided with an actuating-lever and a pounder, the latter adapted and arranged to be moved vertically,-laterally, and longitudinally, whereby it may be actuated in anypart of the tub.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a pounder washing-machine, the combination, with a pounder shaft having a pounder secured thereto, of an actuating-le ver fulcrumed in such a manner that said lever may be freely moved in a longitudinal, lateral, and vertical direction, and carry the pounder to any part of the tub, substantially as set forth.

2. In a pounder washing-machine, the combination, with a vertically-adjustable poundershaft having a pounder secured thereto, of an actuating-lever fulcrumed in such a manner that said lever may be freely moved in a longitudinal, lateral, and vertical direction, and carry the pounder to any part of the tub, substantially as set forth. I

3. In a pounder washing-machine, the combination, with a vertically-adj ustable poundershaft having a pounder secured thereto, of an actuating-lever fulcrumed in such a manner that said lever may be freely moved in a longitudinal, lateral, and vertical direction, the pounder shaft being pivoted to said lever,

whereby said pounder is adapted to have a rocking movement, substantially as set forth 4. In a pounder washing-machine, the coms,1a4 c '3 bination, with a pounder shaft having a In testimony that I claim the foregoing I pounder consisting of inverted cups or veshave hereunto set my hand this 28th day of sels secured thereto, of an actuating-lever January, 1878. fulcrumed in such manner that said lever may 1 LEVI CALDWELL. be freely moved in a longitudinal, lateral, and Witnesses: vertical direction, and carry the pounder to S. P. REDDELE, any part of the tub, substantially as set forth. THOMAS AcKLEsoN.

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