Invalidity dossier
US 123495
Improvement in clothes-wringers
Added 9/21/2026, 9:25:47 AM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 123,495 — "Improvement in Clothes-Wringers"
Patent number: US 123,495 (also listed as US123495A / US123495D)
Title: Improvement in Clothes-Wringers
Inventor: John Makeghney (spelled "JOHr MAKEGHNEY" and "JOHN MAKEGHNEY" in the source), of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
Date of patent: February 6, 1872 (specification signed December 9, 1871)
Witnesses: Randolph H. Moore; William Faussett
Assignee: None stated in the supplied excerpt
Legal status shown: Expired — Lifetime (anticipated expiration 1889-02-06)
Classification: D06F45/00, D06F45/16
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US123495](/patent/US123495)/en
Purpose. The stated nature of the invention is "the construction and arrangement of a clothes-wringer frame," including provision for ready attachment to a tub without bruising the tub's edges.
Plain-language scope. The frame has two end pieces (A A) joined by a concave piece (B) below and a crossbar (C) above. The end pieces are vertically slotted to hold the journals of a lower roller (D), operated by a crank (E), and an upper roller (D′) resting on it. Blocks (G) with flanges (a a) sit atop the upper journals to prevent slipping through the slots. From each block a headed rod (H) extends up to support a spring (I) compressed by a set-screw (J), pressing the rollers together. The end piece also forms a box in which a rack-bar (K) slides, driven by a pivoted lever (L) whose lower cogs engage the rack-bar; a toothed projection on the lever catches in a segmental ratchet (d). A fixed foot (P) is attached under the end piece, and a matching foot (P′) on the rack-bar projects through a bottom slot, so lever and rack move that foot toward or away from the stationary foot to clamp the wringer to a tub. Both feet carry elastic (e.g., rubber) covering (e) to avoid bruising the tub.
Claims. (1) The combination of cogged lever L, ratchet-segment d, rack-bar K with foot P′, and stationary foot P, the feet having elastic covering e. (2) The combination of frame A B C, rollers D D′, flanged blocks G G, headed rods H H, springs I I, set-screws J J, lever L, segment d, rack-bar K, and feet P P′ with elastic covering E E.
What the excerpt does not establish. It contains no assignee, no ownership or assignment record, and no litigation, validity, or prior-art analysis (the "Similar Documents" list is not relied upon here). The drawing text is partly garbled, and the specification text is excerpted/OCR-degraded; reference letters appear inconsistently (e.g., "U" vs. "C" for the crossbar, "P"/"l"/"I)" for feet, "c"/"E" for elastic covering), and Figure 3 is rendered as "Fig. .5." No claim of invention broader than the quoted claims should be inferred.
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:02:26 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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