GB1350911A - Washing and like clothes or fabric treating machines - Google Patents

Abstract

1350911 Machinery safety devices; cams BRITISH DOMESTIC APPLIANCES Ltd 8 July 1971 [3 July 1970] 32376/70 Headings F2J and F2K In a washing machine or spin dryer having a door 2 providing access to an electric motor driven rotatable clothes drum (not shown) and a sequence timer mechanism (not shown), controlling a pre-set cycle of operations of the machine, which rotates during a washing cycle of the machine, there being one or more predetermined position or positions in which it stops the wash drum, a cam disc 12 is rotatably coupled to the timer and prevents opening of the door 2 by means of a manually operable latch mechanism 8 except when the timer mechanism is in one of the predetermined positions. The latch mechanism comprises a Bowden cable 9 the inner wire 27 of which is connected between a bell crank 21 (Fig. 5) and a pivoted spring- loaded door latch 30 (Fig. 6). The inner wire 27 may be raised to release the door latch 30 by pressing a button 7 provided the machine is in a stopped condition (Fig. 5). In this condition a projection 16 on the cam disc 12 raises the end 18 of a pivoted cam follower lever 15 which via a flexible link 19 raises a latch actuating member 20 slidably within a slotted portion of the bell crank 21 (Fig. 4) into the path of movement of the manual push button 7 operation of which rocks the bell crank 21 about fulcrum 25 (Fig. 5) to raise the cable 27 to release the latch 30. At any other time during the washing cycle, the cam follower lever 15 rides on the annular flange 13 such that the latch actuating member 20 is spring biased at 22 downwardly (Fig. 3) out of the path of the door opening push button 7 which is thus rendered ineffective during the programme of operations when it is unsafe to open the door. Further alternative embodiments utilizing a cam and follower controlled by a sequence timer for rendering ineffective the manually actuated push button to prevent unsafe opening of the door during certain programmed stages of the wash cycle are illustrated in Figs. 7 to 13 (not shown), the cam projections 16 being replaced by notches (53) into which the cam follower lever can move to establish the mechanical connection between the push button and the door latch for release thereof, movement of the cam follower lever out of the notches to ride on the annular cam disc (49) again rendering the push button ineffective.