The washing machine is rightfully considered one of the most important inventions of mankind in the 20th century, which significantly eased the fate of women and deprived them of the fetters of communal slavery. Before the appearance of a simple washing machine, only a manual washing board was in use.
When was the first washing machine
The thorny path to fame washing machine took place in the vastness of America. But there is no exact answer in what year the washing machine was invented, and who was the discoverer. For the right to be called such, several inventors of different devices are fighting at once.
The prototype of the drum washer
The first washing machine, which at least somehow looked like a modern drum, was patented only in 1851 by the American James King. This apparatus had a drum with holes for draining water, mounted on a rotating axis. Laundry and soapy water were placed in the drum, but the rotation was carried out manually.
The first public laundries opened in the California goldfields in the 1950s. Animals were used to start the mechanism. In one wash, it was possible to process a large amount of laundry at once.
After the first such successful experience, America was covered with a “washing” wave, and several thousand patents were issued within a few years. No, there were only a few workers, the rest remained on paper.
Mass production
William Blackstone is also credited with the first inventors of the washing machine. In 1874, an American designs a new model. It's simple - the "washerwoman" was developed as a gift for his wife's birthday. Later, it was this version that went into mass production. The company, founded by an inventive American, still makes washing machines.
In Europe, washing machines did not appear until 1900, when Miele & Cie offered a wooden butter churn with rotating blades. The European "discoverer" was the same Carl Miele.
First electrically driven machine
In 1908, the first electric machine appeared. The inventor was Alva Fisher, the machine was named Thor. A couple of years later, the Hurley Machine Company takes over mass production. The device was equipped with a wooden drum capable of rotating in both directions. There was also a lever for coupling the rotator to the motor shaft.
By 1920, more than a thousand companies fought for a buyer and offered not at all antediluvian mechanisms, but compact equipment. Wood has finally been replaced with durable enameled steel. It is now possible to wring out laundry in the drum, drain pumps and mechanical timers have appeared.
At this time, the machines were just divided into two types: activator with vertical loading and an activator at the bottom, and drum machines - more complex and not so reliable, they were distinguished by gentle washing and water saving.
Who and when invented the machine
The first automated washing machine appeared in America in 1949. At this time, such a profession as a laundress disappears, now it is enough for housewives to load laundry into the washing machine and start the process.
The end of the 70s was marked by the appearance of a microprocessor in typewriters and the appearance of a drying function, however, too uneconomical at that time. Now users can choose the desired washing mode. Machines of various sizes appear - depending on the needs of the user.
The last years of the 20th century gave the world the revolutionary Fuzzy Logic system, which allows you to control the temperature and hardness of water, the amount of laundry and the required amount of detergent, and, of course, a lot of program options to choose from.
Recently, manufacturers have focused on the development of "smart" technologies such as self-selection of the mode, an automatic sensor system, searching for solutions to problems on the Internet.
