FR2686911A1 - DEVICE FOR STOPPING A WASHING MACHINE DRUM. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for stopping in a predetermined position of a washing machine drum. The device comprises: a brake (15-17) biased by a spring (21) from a rest position to a brake position of the drum; a cam (24) for releasing the brake and for returning it to its rest position; and a lever (26) cooperating with the brake to retain it in an intermediate standby position when the brake is released. The pulley (10) of the drum is provided with a notch (10-1) on its circumference, an extension (26-2) of the lever coming under the action of the spring to abut against the circumference in the standby position and being capable of entering the notch allowing the brake to return to its braking position. A switch (28) cooperating with an arm (26-3) of the lever is provided to start the motor when the lever is in the standby position.

Description

The present invention relates to washing machines and

  especially top-loading ones.

  To load or unload the drum of a

  top load wash, usually turn

  ner the drum from an initial position to a position where

  can access a drum door This rotation operation

  tion of the drum requires a certain effort to overcome the imbalance of the drum, which is particularly important if the laundry contained in the drum is not spun. During the unloading of the drum, it tends to return to its position.

  initial and must therefore be held at the same time as it is unloaded

  ge If you accidentally let go of it during these operations, the

  drum could turn with its hatch open and laundry

cradle at the bottom of the tank.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a device for stopping a washing machine drum in the hatch position at the top at the end or during an interruption of a

wash cycle.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide such a device making it possible to hold the drum in position

  hatch at the top during its unloading.

  These objects are achieved thanks to a drum stop device in the top hatch position inserted in a

classic wash.

  A washing machine comprises a drum placed in a tub and driven by an axis. This axis is generally linked to a pulley located outside the tub and which is

  driven by a motor via a belt.

  According to the invention, the circumference of the pulley (or any other circular part mounted on the axis) is provided with a notch serving to identify the hatch position at the top of the drum. This notch is capable of cooperating with an arm

  of a sensor lever as described below.

  A brake is biased by a spring towards a posi-

  drum braking This brake can be of any type

  that, for example a band brake or a shoe brake, susceptible

  ble to act on a part involved in the transmission of

  drum movement, such as drum pulley, belt

  wheel or axis The brake cooperates with the aforementioned lever so that a movement of the brake towards the braking position tends

  to tilt the lever arm in contact with the circumference -

rence of the pulley.

  At the end of a drum rotation cycle, the brake

  is released from a rest position where it does not brake the drum

  bour and joined a waiting position where it is retained by the lever whose arm abuts against the circumference of the pulley This waiting position is such that the brake does not yet brake the drum A detector means, such as a

  switch actuated by a lever cam, causes the power supply

  Drum drive motor The drum begins to rotate until the lever arm is opposite the notch provided on the circumference of the pulley The lever, acted on by the brake and the spring, continues its tilting

  thanks to the fact that the lever arm can penetrate the enco-

  che, and allows the brake to return to its braking position of the drum. When the brake returns to its braking position, the detector means is deactivated to cut off the supply to the motor. At the start of a new cycle of rotations, the brake is returned to its rest position against the spring by an appropriate means, such as a spiral cam, making it possible to release

  the brake at the end of a new cycle.

  The present invention relates more particularly to a stop device in a predetermined position of a drum driven by a motor to perform cycles of rotation around an axis secured to a frame. This device comprises: a brake biased by an elastic force from a rest position to a braking position of the drum; means for releasing the brake and for returning it to its rest position; a first lever articulated on the frame cooperating with the brake to retain it in an intermediate waiting position when the brake is released; a circular piece secured to the drum, provided with a notch on its circumference, an extension of the

  lever coming from said elastic force abut against the circumference

  ferenoe in said waiting position and being capable of penetrating into the notch allowing the brake to return to its braking position; and means cooperating with the lever to start the engine when the lever is in the

waiting position.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the brake comprises: a tape partially disposed around said circular part and secured by one end of the frame;

  and a second lever articulated on the frame comprising an end

  free mite secured to the other end of the ribbon and urged by a spring so as to tension the ribbon around the circular part, means being provided for transmitting the rotation

  from the second lever to the first lever.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, said means for releasing the brake comprises a cam

acting on the second lever.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention,

  the means for starting the engine comprise an inter-

  switch operated by an arm of the first lever.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first and second levers are linked to each other by a

finger and notch connection.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the circular part is a belt drive pulley

  of the drum, the ribbon being provided to press the belt.

  These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be discussed in more detail.

  in the following description of particular embodiments

  liers made in relation to the figures attached among the-

  which: FIG. 1 represents an embodiment of a drum stop device according to the present invention in a rest position; Figure 2 shows the drum stop device of Figure 1 in a standby position; and FIG. 3 represents the device for stopping

  drum of Figures 1 and 2 in a braking position.

  In the description below, we will use terms

  such as "left", "right", "above" These terms have a

  aim of simplification of the description compared to the figures

  and should not be considered as limiting.

  In Figure 1 is shown a pulley 10 secured to a washing machine drum driven by a belt 11 connected to a drive motor not shown The pulley 10

  and the drum, not shown, rotate around a solid axis 12

  daire of the frame 13 of the washing machine.

  According to the embodiment of the invention shown in the figures, there is provided a tape brake 15 acting on the pulley 10 This tape 15 extends above the pulley 10 near its circumference One end of the tape 15 is fixed to the frame 13 to the left and below the pulley 10 The other end of the ribbon 15 is fixed to the right of the pulley 10 to

  the free end of a lever 17 The lever 17 extends substantially-

  ment radially with respect to the pulley 10 and is articulated to its right on a plate 19 integral with the frame 13 The free end

  lever 17 is biased downwards by a tension spring

  tion 21 connected to the plate 19 The spring 21 therefore tends to tighten

the ribbon 15 around the pulley 10.

  The position of FIG. 1 corresponds to a rest position where the drum of the washing machine can freely rotate. The lever 17 is held in a high position by a cam 24 and the ribbon 15 therefore does not come into contact with the pulley 10 The cam 24 is a spiral cam located below the lever 17 and cooperates with a finger 17-1 of the lever The finger 17-1 extends forward approximately at the center of the lever 17 and rests on a large diameter part of the

cam 24.

  A lever 26 with several radial arms is articulated on the plate 19 to the left of the cam 24 An arm 26-1 of the lever 26 extends to the right and comprises at its distal end a notch in which the finger 17-1 is housed The walls of this notch are substantially parallel to a straight line passing through the axes of articulation of the levers 17 and 26. Thus, the levers 17 and 26 are linked in rotation. The lever 26 further comprises a detector arm 26-2 extending substantially. tangentially to the pulley 10 downwards, and a switch actuation arm 26-3 extending towards a switch 28 which is located here, for reasons of space, under the lever 26 This switch can be arranged in any other suitable place and we can even omit the actuating arm 26-3 by having

  the switch 28 in the extension of the arm 26-1 or 26-2.

  The distal end of the arm 26-3 serves as a cam to actuate the switch 28 In FIG. 1, the switch 28 is deactivated but it is activated as soon as the lever 26 rotates clockwise The lever 26 is arranged towards

  the front with respect to the belt 11 so that the arm detects

  26-2 may reach an area around the circumference of the

  pulley 10 next to the belt 11 without touching the latter.

  The levers 17 and 26, and the cam 24 are thin elements, for example formed from stamped sheet metal, situated in distinct planes so as not to interfere with each other in their movements. The finger 17-1 is in fact a part of the lever 17 folded forward substantially at 90 relative to the lever 17 and to the walls of the notch of the lever 26 Likewise, the free end of the lever 17 is folded back to 90 so that the ribbon 15 can be properly fixed therein any means judged

suitable by those skilled in the art.

  According to the invention, the circumference of the pulley 10 is provided with a notch 10-1 into which is likely to penetrate the distal end of the arm 26-2 to cause the

  braking of the drum, as will be described below.

  Figure 2 shows the device of Figure 1

  in a standby position Cam 24 has been rotated

  tion, by a motor not shown, clockwise

  of a watch When the rung between the part of large di-

  meter and the small diameter portion of the cam 24 arrives at the finger 17-1 of the lever 17, the lever 17 is released and lowers under the action of the spring 21 By lowering, the lever 17 drives the lever 26 clockwise via finger 17-1 The lever 26 rotates until its arm 26-2 abuts the circumference of the pulley The device is then in a position waiting o the lever 17 has not yet been lowered enough to stretch the ribbon 15 around the pulley 10 In this waiting position, the arm 26-3 actuates the switch 28 which controls the stopping of the drive motor of the cam 24 and the supply of the pulley drive motor 10 so that the pulley

  rotates at low speed clockwise.

  The pulley 10 starts to turn without being braked by the ribbon 15 until the notch 10-1 arrives at the end of the

arm 26-2.

  FIG. 3 represents the device of the preceding figures in a braking position The notch 10-1 arrived at the end of the arm 26-2 Under the action of the spring 21 by means of the lever 17 and the finger 17-1, the end of the arm 26-2 enters the notch 10-1, the lever 26 continuing to rotate clockwise

  watch During this rotation, the arm 26-3 deactivates the inter-

  breaker 28 which cuts off the power to the drum drive motor, and the lever 17 lowers while tightening

the ribbon 15 around the pulley 10.

  Of course, the location of the notch 10-1 is chosen so that the braking position of FIG. 3 corresponds

  in the hatch position at the top of the drum.

  At the start of a new rotation cycle, the cam 24 is rotated in a clockwise direction, which has the effect of gradually lifting the lever 17 by relaxing the ribbon 15 The rotation of the cam 24 is stopped when the switch 28 was successively activated then deactivated, which corresponds to the passage of the lever 26 of the

  position from Figure 3 to the rest position from Figure 1.

  The final position of the cam 24 in FIG. 1 does not matter,

  provided that the lever 17 is raised enough.

  Those skilled in the art can easily carry out a

  adequate grammator to exploit information from the inter-

  switch 28 in order to control the motor of cam 24 and the

  drum drive motor according to the above.

  It was assumed above that the ribbon 15 came to press

  directly on the circumference of the pulley 10 but, preferably

  rence, the tape 15 is provided to press on the belt 11 which is generally made of a material having a strong adhesion, which considerably increases the braking efficiency. This solution is generally simpler to implement because the belt 11 is shown, often exceeds a groove of the pulley 10, or is not disposed in a groove If the belt 11 does not exceed a groove, the width of the ribbon 15 is chosen to be less than or equal to the width of the belt.

  Many variations and modifications of the pre-

  invention will appear to those skilled in the art, particularly in

  concerning the arrangement of the various parts of the provision

sitive and the choice of the type of brake.

Claims (5)

  1 device for stopping in a predetermined position a drum driven by a motor to perform cycles of rotation around an axis secured to a frame (13), characterized in that it comprises: a brake (15- 17) biased by an elastic force (21) from a rest position to a braking position of the drum; means (24) for releasing the brake and for returning it to its rest position;   a first lever (26) articulated on the cooperating frame   rant with the brake to hold it in an intermediate waiting position when the brake is released; a circular part (10) integral with the drum, provided with a notch (10-1) on its circumference, an extension (26-2) of the lever coming by said elastic force to abut against   the circumference in said waiting position and being suscep-   tible to penetrate the notch allowing the brake to return to its braking position; and means (28, 26-3) cooperating with the lever for   start the engine when the lever is in the posi- Waiting tion.   2 stop device according to claim 1, charac-   terized in that the brake comprises: a strip (15) partially disposed around said circular part (10) and secured by one end of the frame; and   a second lever (17) articulated on the frame comprising   nant a free end integral with the other end of the ribbon and biased by a spring (21) so as to tension the ribbon around the circular piece, means being provided for transmitting the rotation of the second lever to the first lever (26).   3 Stop device according to claim 2, charac-   terized in that said means for releasing the brake comprises   a cam (24) acting on the second lever (17).   4 stop device according to claim 1, charac-   terized in that the means for starting the engine comprise a switch (28) actuated by an arm (26-3) of the first lever (26).   Stop device according to claim 2, characterized in that the first (26) and second (17) levers are   linked to each other by a finger link (17-1) and a notch.   6 Stop device according to claim 2, charac-   terized in that the circular part is a pulley (10) of   belt drive (11) of the drum, the ribbon being provided to press the strap.