Monday, July 23, 2012

The very first dishwasher





The very first dishwasher (1887): Many great things have been invented by women, including the dishwasher. In 1887, Josephine Cochran built this amazing machine to wash dishes automatically. Looking from the front (left picture), we can see it's a metal box (1) with a compartment for the dishes on top (blue) and a water tank on the bottom (red). There are two hand-operated pumps on the front (2). One fills with soapy water, the other with clean water. You attach the two pumps in turn (3,4) to wash and then rinse the dishes. Looking from the side (right picture), you can see the pumps at the front (5), which send water squirting out of pipes at the top of the machine (6) over the dirty dishes. As you pump on the handle, a gear-and-rachet mechanism on the side (7) makes the crockery basket (8, green) slowly rotate inside the machine. Entirely hand-operated... and no electricity whatsoever!

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