Looks kinda like a breast drill. but...

[rusty]

>gotta be a patent on the contraption

There are hundreds and hundreds of mop wringer patents. One might get the impression that civilization had come to a screetching halt pending the invention of a proper way of wringing out a mop, and hundreds of inventors were furiously trying to solve the problem....

'twister' is hopeless, there is a textile machine named a twister, there are thousands of patents :(
--edit--
hmm, patent classes are your friend - duh-

This is likely the one Branson posted....
(I found half a dozen gear driven mop wringers )...

[rusty]

Additional patents for right angle gear driven mop wringers
(covers only a 15 year span, seems to have been somewhat of a fad...)

77639 Improved mop-wringer. ; Mills,W.R.
699953 Mop and wringer therefor. ; Hilker,E.
704132 Mop holder and wringer. ; Smith,A.W.
704133 Mop holder and wringer. ; Smith,A.W.
716417 Combined mop and wringer therefor. ; Hilker,E.
744196 Combined mop and wringer therefor. ; Hilker,E.
752679 Combined mop and wringer. ; Hilker,E.
758753 Combined mop and wringer. ; Hilker,E.
775463 Mop or wiper. ; Thomas,H.O.
781849 Mop-holder. ; Smith,A.W.
790988 Floor or wall wiper or mop. ; Thomas,H.O.
820145 Combined mop head and wringer. ; Shobe,J.S.
847123 Combination mop and wringer. ; Rosser,H.L.
848781 Combined mop head and wringer. ; Thomas,H.O.
897465 Combined mop and wringer therefor. ; Bilker,E.
973612 Mop attachment. ; Arrant,W.E.
989315 Combined mop head and wringer. ; White,G.S.

[Billman49]

Don't have a clue how it actually works (maybe the whole tool is a mop and wringer, missing its mop) - but found this one on a Google search.... all you keen folks in the USA can search the patents database for this one as patent date and makers are shown...

Ooops, sorry - hadn't read the above comments on page 2 before I posted this...

[Billman49]

Couldn't wait - Hilker's Patent Combined Mop and Wringer - US 758753 A

PATENTED MAY 3, 1904.

E. HILKER. COMBINED MOP AND WRINGER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1903.

Patented May 3, 1904.
 

EDIVARD HILKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED MOP AND WRINGER

[Billman49]

The wooden model I've posted above was patented earlier:

US 716417 A

Description 
 
No. 7l6,4l7. Patented Dec. 23, I902.

E. HILKER.

COMBINED MOP AND WRINGER

[Billman49]

Now we know what it is, the examples are comomng thick and fast - here's one on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Hilker-rag-mop-w-crank-wringer-/290978352909?nma=true&si=MHYqihkfBpqzonMlgWbm5488bUQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Called elsewhere a rag mop, as opposed to a string mop that is common today, I guess the mop was made of strips of old cloth that hang loosely from the hook, pass over the support and round the other end loop. In use they hang down, below the head, but to wring them out the handle is turned and they are pulled taught over the intermediate support, which also swivels out of the way as the mop is tightened.... So yes, you do keep your hands dry....

[johnsironsanctuary]

This changes everything!  I think that we need to change the site name to"PAPAWSMOPWRINGER" as soon as possible! OK, maybe not, but now we know how vital mop wringer technology was to the development of the machine age.