The history of the invention of the first dishwasher

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Vasily Mikhailovich Sviridov

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Published: 19-10-2018

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For those who are engaged in intellectual work, it will not be difficult to get distracted by washing dishes. The main thing is suitable washing conditions and a minimum of equipment. But even now, many people are too lazy to wash plates, pots and other utensils. What can we say about past times, when there was neither an abundance of hot water nor detergents that effectively broke down fat. Many have tried to improve the process of washing dishes by inventing various devices. I wonder who invented the first dishwasher - let's try to figure it out.

Failed Attempts

Joel Goughton is an American who received patent No. 7365 in 1850, which recorded the authorship of “an improvement for a dishwashing machine.” Before Goughton, various people made unsuccessful attempts, their names have been lost.

The device created by Goughton was a rather strange and inconvenient design:

• The base is a cylindrical container equipped with a vertical shaft through which heated water is supplied.
• Those who wanted to use the device had to work with their hands: they had to turn the handle so that the buckets would take in water, pour it out, take it in again - and so on in a circle.

Goughton's machine made it possible not to get your hands wet in water. The device was a failure and had no economic prospects - this is just an unsuccessful touch on the way to creating a real dishwasher (PMM). The unsuccessful design would have sunk into oblivion if it had not been preserved in the archives of the US Patent Office.

Another patent for a similar invention was issued to a certain L.A. Alexander in 1865. The device designed by this man also did not arouse interest among either industrialists or consumers.

Interesting! Almost at the same time as the dishwasher, the washing machine was invented - it was introduced to the world in 1851 by the American King. Today there are washing machines in almost every Russian family, but the same cannot be said about dishwashers.

Who is Josephine Cochrane?

The first usable dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane. The device did not go unnoticed - it was delivered to the 1896 World Exhibition and aroused justifiable interest among spectators.

Josephine obviously had every chance of becoming an inventor, because her grandfather invented the steamboat. His name was John Fitch. Fitch's daughter, Irene, was the wife of John Garis, a civil engineer who created the first hydraulic pump. As we can see, Josephine’s ancestors had a technical mindset and made a significant contribution to the development of scientific and technological progress in the 19th century.

Having married the politician W. Cochrane, Josephine could shift all household responsibilities to her maids - she did not have to wash cups and plates. So what made her think about automating household processes?

A woman gets down to business

The Cochrane family was not in need, and Josephine was a real lady who should not be bothered with dishes. She felt sorry for the collection porcelain. When the servants broke several items from the precious sets, Josephine decided to wash them herself. And she soon realized: this matter was not for her. Josephine said that she herself would create a machine for washing plates, but she didn’t waste words - she did come up with a machine that washed her place settings!

After the death of her husband, who left her with debts, there was not enough money - it was time to use the gift of invention to profit. After working for several months on the creation of the device, the woman turned to the Illinois branch of the US Patent Office, where she patented a “Dishwashing Machine.” The patent was issued on December 31st. 1885 Just in time for New Year's Eve.

In the explanation of the invention, J. Cochrane indicated its purpose and principle of operation:

• washing is carried out using a continuous flow of liquid;
• a soap solution or hot water is used as a liquid;
• the water is supplied to a rotating basket with racks and cages - there are plates there.

Design by Josephine

Device for washing plates, according to J. Cochrane:

• The basis of the design is a tub, metal or wood.
• The tub is divided into two reservoirs.
• The lower tank is divided into two halves - there were 2 piston-type pumps.
• At the top of the tub there was a moving base that separated the soap solution and heated water.
• A lattice basket with special stands was placed on the base located at the top; plates were placed on them.
• Working piston pumps were connected to the base by tubes; through them, heated water was directed upward to the plates.

Dishwashers.

A dishwasher is an electromechanical machine for automatically washing dishes.

Dishwashers work successfully both in catering establishments and at home.

During installation, the dishwasher is connected to electricity, water supply and sewerage.

The history of the creation of the dishwasher.

In 1850, Joel Goughton received a patent for a hand-operated dishwashing machine.

Goughton's dishwashing device was a cylindrical rack, inside of which there was a vertical shaft into which dishes were placed. Hot water pouring into the shaft flowed into special buckets, which were raised with the help of a handle and again splashed water into the shaft. This design was inconvenient and ineffective.

Drawing of a dishwasher by Joel Goughton, 1850.

In 1865, L. A. Alexander received a patent for a similar device.

These machines were not widely used.

In 1887, Josephine Cochrane created the first practical dishwasher in Chicago.

Legends are written about Madame Josephine Cochrane, great-granddaughter of John Fitch, and her dishwasher. In his youth, John Fitch, who invented the steamboat, quite quickly, after the wedding, ran away from his wife, leaving her son in her arms. Fitch Jr. had a daughter, Irene, who later married civil engineer John Garis, famous for his invention of the hydraulic pump used in the construction of old Chicago. Their daughter Josephine, born in 1839, married merchant and politician William Cochrane. They lived comfortably and periodically received guests.

When Josephine was missing several plates from her collectible porcelain sets, which had been in the family since the 17th century, she was very upset. These sets were her pride, arousing the admiration of guests at dinner parties.

Josephine herself began to wash the precious family dishes, but quickly cooled down to this activity. There was only one thing left for her to do - solve the problem in a different way - invent a dishwasher.

Josephine Cochrane’s famous phrase “If no one is going to invent a dishwasher, then I will do it myself” has gone down in history.

Madame Cochrane's husband, William, suddenly dies after a serious and short illness, and she is left without funds. Everything in the life of the unfortunate widow changed.

Josephine retired to a shed in the backyard of her house, and a few months later she patented the “Dishwashing Machine.” The patent for the dishwasher was issued on December 31, 1885, by the Illinois Branch of the United States Patent Office.

Pictured is Josephine Cochrane and her dishwashing machine.

Having patented her invention, Mrs. Cochrane first set up production of her dishwasher. Josephine sold two of her devices to a large hotel in Chicago, and received many new orders from large hotels and restaurants.

It should be noted that the dishwasher cost $150, which was a lot of money in those days.

Due to the high cost, men were especially indignant, refusing to pay a fortune for what servants do every day and for much less.

However, Josephine Cochrane showed her dishwasher at the Chicago World's Fair on April 1, 1893 and created a sensation.

4 years after introducing the dishwasher to the general public, Josephine Cochrane already advertised her commercial enterprise in periodicals.

Despite increasing sales, Josephine Cochrane continued to continually improve her invention. Her final creation was a device with a rotating system for rinsing dishes, a centrifugal pump and a hose for draining water.

Josephine Cochrane died at the age of 74 in 1913. In the last years of her life, Josephine liked to say: “If I knew everything I know now, I would never have the courage to start.”

After she died, the dishwasher company changed hands, and in 1940, under the Kitchen Aid brand, it became part of the Whirlpool Corporation.

In America , dishwashers began to be mass produced in 1930 under the Kitchen Aid brand. But at that time, they were not yet in great demand. Firstly, because it was the time of the Great Depression, and secondly, those who could afford to buy something preferred a refrigerator: they had just begun to be produced, and it is clear that preserving food in such a difficult time was much more important than washing dishes.

In Europe, Miele was the first to produce dishwashers. At first, Miele produced dishwashers that required muscular strength to operate.

The first electric dishwasher was manufactured by Miele in 1929.

The Miele electric dishwasher had a cylindrical shape and could be moved using three wheels. Dishes were loaded into it through a hinged lid. However, interest in dishwashers has been lukewarm. The “soulless piece of iron” did not inspire confidence in either housewives or bar and restaurant owners in such an important task as washing dishes. And this was not surprising. The quality of work of those machines left much to be desired.

In 1924, Englishman William Howard Leavens created his compact dishwasher suitable for home use. It contained almost all the elements of a modern device, including a front door for loading dishes, a tray and a rotating sprayer. In 1940, dryers were added to the dishwasher design.

However, due to their high cost, dishwashers were not widely used until the 1950s.

Automated dishwashers.

The first automated dishwasher was offered again by Miele in 1960.

The dishwasher was a large iron tank on legs. The dishes were secured in a special wire container. The rocker that sprayed water was driven by electricity.

The washing process looked like this: hot water with a soap solution was poured into the unit, the dishes were washed in this liquid, which was then drained. And then a new portion of clean water was automatically poured into the tank.

European housewives liked the car. People began to purchase these devices en masse.

Miele dishwasher, 1960.

By the 1970s, dishwashers began to be widely used in the homes of North Americans and Western Europe, and became a common household fixture.

Modern dishwashers.

In 1978, Miele launched its high-tech home appliances, including dishwashers, with microcomputers and touchscreen electronics, to public acclaim.

Miele dishwasher, 1978.

Following Miele, other manufacturers of large household appliances began to actively develop and produce modern dishwashers. The design and functionality of new dishwashers were constantly improved.

As a result, in 1980, Siemens offered the first models of built-in dishwashers.

Modern dishwashers are reliable and popular!

Dishwashers. History of the dishwasher.

Women's site: I-the-most-beautiful.rf (www.i-kiss.ru)

Operating principle

The first dishwasher ran on steam power. Operating principle:

• Under the lower container there was a stove heating the water.
• When the water was heated, the pump pistons, experiencing pressure, began to move - they pumped water upward into the chamber with the plates.
• The rotating base was also powered by steam.

It’s interesting that the inventor also thought about drying. The utensils dried under the influence of high temperatures generated during washing. True, in reality it was not possible to achieve complete dryness.

Market promotion

J. Cochrane did not come up with her device for fun. Having patented it, she began to promote her creation to the masses by organizing her own production.

Soon two devices were sold to a large Chicago hotel, and then orders came one after another - profitable hotels and restaurants became interested in the new product.

The cost of the new item was $150. If recalculated at the current exchange rate, it is about $4,500. Not cheap. Even wealthy Americans did not want to buy devices for that kind of money - the labor of servants was cheaper.

After being shown at the exhibition on April 1, 1893, the car was noticed. And not only industrialists, but also clergy. As befits representatives of the church, they condemned the technical innovation, calling it “immoral.” The maids were most worried - the machine was “encroaching” on their work.

Success of the invention

Cochrane's invention instantly gained a huge number of customers. The first two machines were sold to a large hotel in Chicago, and then orders from restaurants and other public institutions poured in one after another. It was not easy for ordinary people to afford such a device: the machine cost $150, which was an unaffordable sum at that time.

The general public saw Cochrane's brainchild in 1893 at the World's Fair in Chicago. The invention created a real sensation. Although there were those who criticized the device, in general the dishwasher gained more and more popularity and was readily sold all over the world. And the inventor improved its design until her death in 1913.

Industrial production

Four years after the demonstration of the invention, J. Cochrane was registered. Her advertisement appeared in periodicals. Sales grew, but the owner of the patent and the enterprise continued to improve the design of her device. The final version was enriched with the following innovations:

• the rinsing system involved rotation;
• a centrifugal pump was used;
• a drain hose was equipped.

When the inventor died in 1913, the company she founded acquired a new owner. Since 1940, the company became part of the industrial giant Whirlpool.

The woman who invented the first dishwasher

The new dishwashing machine saw the light of day only 35 years later. And its inventor turned out to be... a woman. Josephine Cochrane, great-granddaughter of steamboat inventor John Fitch and daughter of civil engineer and hydraulic pump inventor John Garis.

If you believe the legend, having once decided to wash the collectible family porcelain set on her own, Josephine quickly became disillusioned with this activity and declared: “If no one is going to invent a dishwasher, I’ll do it myself!” With this phrase she went down in history.

Cochrane literally locked herself in a shed near her home and a few months later, in late 1885, submitted a “Dishwashing Machine” to the US Patent Office. In the accompanying letter, the inventor described the principle of operation of the apparatus as follows: “My invention relates to the improvement of machines for washing dishes under a continuous stream of soap suds or clean hot water, which is supplied to a basket holding racks and cages containing dishes, while how the basket rotates..."

The first European PMMs

The pioneer in the European market was the Miele company - it was the first in Europe to produce dishwashers. Before this, the company successfully dealt with bicycles and washing machines.

Having started with the production of dishwashers that needed muscle power, Miele soon moved on to producing devices that were more comfortable to use. The first electric machine was released in 1929. It had a cylindrical shape, and objects were loaded into it by opening the lid. Even now in the world, and especially in Russia, there is less interest in this technique than in other household appliances, let alone in those days - there was no special demand for devices for washing kitchen utensils.

"Who if not me?"

The first notable attempt to create a dishwasher appears in the archives of the US Patent Office on May 14, 1850. The interesting thing is that creation begins around these times. It was on this day that the bureau issued a patent for “improving a machine for washing dishes.” Its owner was the American Joel Guoton. It’s difficult to call Guoton’s device a full-fledged first dishwasher, especially since it rather complicated the washing process rather than made it easier.

First electric dishwasher

The first automatic PMM was released by the same . Year of manufacture: 1960. Decades passed before the process could be automated. True, the next new product looked unsightly - it was just an iron container to which legs were attached. The utensils were placed in a special wire container, and the rotation of the rocker was powered by electricity. How the first electric dishwasher worked:

1. The soap solution was fed into the apparatus.
2. The utensils were processed in a solution.
3. The dirty liquid was being drained.
4. The next batch of water was automatically supplied.

Finally, housewives received at least some real help from inventions and industry. Automated Miele machines have opened a new stage in the development of dishwashers. The new product was in demand - wealthy citizens willingly bought the cars.

Miele did not remain alone for long in the European dishwasher market - the idea was soon picked up by other companies. Thus, the Italian company already introduced its version of the PMM to the market in 1965. Yet the spread of these devices was negligible compared to other household appliances.

Dishwashers in the USSR

In the USSR, household dishwashers were not produced. But special units were produced for catering, schools, hospitals and other public institutions. The main manufacturer of such devices was considered to be the Trade Mechanical Engineering Plant in Grodno (Belarus). The company is still operating today. The latest models produced at this plant have a production capacity of up to 2800 items per hour. The price of Belarusian industrial PMMs is up to 100,000 rubles, which is half the price of Western brands.

The history of the dishwasher

1885 is the year the dishwasher was created. Of course, attempts to build a unit that relieves a person of the burden of washing dishes have been made before. The first recorded fact of creating a prototype of a modern dishwasher occurs in 1850. Then the American Joel Houghton received a patent for “improving a machine for washing dishes.” It was a mechanical device made of wood. The handle, which a person had to turn, set buckets of water in motion, which alternately splashed onto the dishes. The mechanism turned out to be inconvenient and ineffective. Who would have thought, but it was a woman who was able to bring the development to fruition and her name was Josephine Cochrane, the great-granddaughter of the inventor of the steamship. She even set up mass production in America. The first car was far from ideal, but it greatly simplified the difficult life of women. The device was shaped like a tub. In its upper part there was a grate on which plates, cups and cutlery were conveniently placed. At the bottom there were two piston pumps, which supplied water upward through tubes, where it mixed with soap suds and poured over the dishes. The machine was powered by steam and, according to Cochrane’s idea, it was supposed to not only wash, but also dry dishes due to the high temperature inside.

How did a lady from a wealthy family who had a staff of servants come up with such a brilliant idea? The fact is that the Cochranes had a collection of valuable porcelain services, which delighted many guests. The set was very fragile and from time to time, through negligence, the servants broke precious dishes when washing. Josephine tried to wash the dishes herself, but such a dirty task was unworthy of a true lady.

Josephine Cochrane's determination helped solve the problem - she set out to create the first dishwasher on her own. Her phrase “If no one else is going to invent the dishwasher, then I will” became famous throughout the world and became firmly established in history. Fortunately, the inventive gift that was passed down to her gave her such confidence.

Cochrane's invention instantly gained a huge number of customers. The first two machines were sold to a large hotel in Chicago, and then orders from restaurants and other public institutions poured in one after another. It was not easy for ordinary people to afford such a device: the machine cost $150, which was an unaffordable sum at that time. The general public saw Cochrane's brainchild in 1893 at the World's Fair in Chicago. The invention created a real sensation. Despite its success, many people, especially representatives of the church, called the dishwasher “immoral”, and some, especially zealous clerics, even “a fiend of hell.” But the most vehement protest was expressed by the servant girls, who believed that the invention would take away their jobs. In general, the dishwasher gained more and more popularity and was readily sold all over the world. And the inventor improved its design until her death in 1913. After she died, the dishwasher company changed hands, and in 1940, under the Kitchen Aid brand, it became part of the Whirlpool Corporation.

Almost all manufacturers of household appliances began to produce miracle devices that greatly simplify life. In 1964, after the world's first built-in stove was launched into production, the legendary Bosch company began producing a dishwasher. This time was a real kitchen breakthrough for the German brand.

It is interesting that the spread of dishwashers in everyday life went hand in hand with the then developing feminism. In the 60s, the role of women began to change; now it is not unusual for them to go to work. There was less and less time for washing dishes, and dishwashers began to gradually turn from an element of luxury into necessary household appliances. Bosch has helped the better half make housework easier. The first dishwasher ended the era of washing dishes by hand. This saves time, effort and water. And it always gives brilliant results.

In our country, automation of dishwashing did not proceed so quickly. In the Soviet Union, for example, only industrial dishwashers were produced for schools, hospitals and businesses. The first built-in dishwashers appeared in 1980. Nowadays, built-in models are the most popular in the dishwasher market.

Dishwashers were invented specifically to make a woman’s life much more comfortable and freer, freeing her from daily monotonous work and freeing her up for more interesting activities. Kitchens "Maria" treat the difficult life of women with understanding and take care of delicate hands. That's why we give you a Bosch dishwasher! Only from October 3 to October 31 when purchasing 3 units of equipment, Siemens or Neff. Find out more about the conditions of the promotion from the manager-designers at the Maria Kitchen Studios.

Once settled in your apartment, a Bosch dishwasher will allow all family members to spend more time together. Agree, walking with children in the fresh air is much more pleasant than washing dirty dishes. Don't deny yourself the pleasure!

About detergents

For a long time, devices created to replace manual washing of cups, spoons and other utensils did not cope with the tasks. And it was not only the imperfection of their designs, but also the ineffectiveness of detergents. Real powerful chemistry - the kind we are dealing with now - only appeared in the mid-80s. It was created by Professor Denis Waterby. The released product was called "Cascade". Modern detergents act in the same way as “Cascade” - step by step, “cascade”.

Variety of shapes and sizes

Nowadays, a dishwasher is not a luxury item. Almost every family has such equipment. Thanks to it, for sparkling cleanliness, you only need to load the plates and glasses into the machine, add a cleaning solution, a little time and “voila” - the dishes are sparkling! In addition, when using such a machine, not only time is saved, but also the most precious resource - water, which is already quite scarce in many areas.

Nowadays there are dishwashers of both industrial sizes and modest ones for the smallest kitchen, there are very expensive appliances, and there are budget ones: choose exactly the option that your family will like.