GB2172309A

GB2172309A - Washing and spin drying machine

Info

Publication number: GB2172309A
Application number: GB08601460A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Heinz Herbertz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1985-01-25
Filing date: 1986-01-22
Publication date: 1986-09-17
Also published as: DE3502496C1; GB2172309B; GB8601460D0

Abstract

A washing and spin-drying machine for bedding feathers and fibres includes a drum (3), which has a concentric opening (17) on one face. The drum is contained in a housing (2) having an inlet/outlet compartment (16) provided with filling and emptying pipes (18, 19) for the pneumatic loading/unloading of the machine and communicating with the drum interior. The drum opening (17) is provided with an internally opening closure member (22) operable from outside the machine. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Washing and spin-drying machine for bedding feathers fibres and similar materials The invention relates to a washing and spindrying machine for bedding feathers, fibres and similar material.

The invention is concerned with the provision of certain improvements in such machines.

According to the present invention there is provided a washing and spin-drying machine for bedding feathers, fibres and similar material, including a drum having a concentric opening on one face, a housing containing the drum and having an inlet/outlet compartment provided with filling and emptying pipes for the pneumatic loading/unloading of the machine and communicating with the drum interior through an opening which is at least as coextensive as the drum opening, the drum opening being provided with a closure member which is operable from outside the machine, for movement between inwardly opening and closed positions.

The filling and emptying pipes may open at least approximately radially into the inlet/outlet compartment enabling the axial length of the machine to be kept short.

The inlet/outlet compartment may contain a rotary valve, which, in one position, opens the mouth of the filling pipe and closes that of the emptying pipe, and in another position closes the mouth of the filling pipe and opens that of the emptying pipe, thus making possible a simple switch over arrangement between the filling and emptying pipes.

Preferably the rotary valve is provided with an operating cylinder which engages the valve approximately tangentially thereto.

Conveniently a rinsing jet outlet opens into the inlet/outlet compartment which, after the machine has been filled and before the closure member has been closed, enables the inlet/outlet compartment to be rinsed clean of any clinging washing.

In order to resist the passage of washing into the annular gap between a face-wall of the drum and the edge - lying opposite - of the inlet/outlet compartment or of the rotary valve contained in it, or between the face-wall of the drum and the housing wall lying opposite it, it is proposed that, the compartment be surrounded by an annular duct for compressed air which communicates via apertures with this annular gap. In this fashion a pneumatic seal is created, which acts to reduce wear and prevent a disturbance by washing being squeezed between stationary and moving parts.

This pneumatic seal can be still improved by the provision of a contactless seal in the an nular zone surrounding the communicating apertures.

The closure member turns with the drum and conveniently is mounted in a bearing arranged centrally to the drum.

In as far as the drum contains a hub, its end could form this bearing. With a drum without a hub it is convenient to connect the bearing by means, e.g. bars, with the edge of the drum opening.

In order to be able to provide as simple an arrangement as possible for the closure member, the latter is preferably self-closing.

According to a preferred embodiment for machines with a hubless drum, the closure member consists of a closure plate, which is spring-loaded into the closed position.

An advantageous solution with regard to the operation of this closure plate consists in that the closure plate is positioned at the end of a slide member, which is displaceably mounted in a bearing and whose other end, which is located in the inlet/outlet compartment, is displaceable by an operating cylinder also positioned in the compartment, the closure member being openable against the action of a spring which surrounds the slide member.

A specially preferred embodiment for widely used machines with a central hub differs in that the closure member consists of flaps which are spring-loaded into the closed position.

A simple operation of these flaps from outside is made possible by connecting the flaps to a slide bushing mounted centrally in the inlet/outlet compartment which may be acted on by an operating cylinder located in the compartment by means of which the flaps may be pivoted between open and closed positions.

A machine of the invention wili now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a machine showing a first arrangement of closure member, Figure 2 is a front view of the machine, Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through a loading/unloading compartment of the machine but to an enlarged scale and showing another arrangement of closure member, the section being taken on the line Ill-Ill in Fig. 4, and Figure 4 is a section taken along the line IV IV in Fig. 3.

The washing and spin drying machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2 consists of a housing 1, which includes a washing compartment 2 and which surrounds a perforated drum 3.

The drum 3 is mounted in a bearing 4 and is driven from an electric motor 5 through a belt drive 6. Outside the housing 1 is located a blower 7 for filling the drum and a further blower 7' for emptying the drum. The blower 7 is provided on its suction side and the blower 7' on its pressure side, with a common rotary valve 8, which, dependent on its position determined by an operating cylinder 8', connects one or other of the blowers with the inner space of the washing compartment 2. From the pressure side of the blower 7 a line 9' containing an electrovalve 9 branches off for a purpose to be described later.

Into the washing compartment 2 leads at least one line 10 for the supply of washing and rinsing water. Further, the washing compartment 2 is provided with a floor outlet valve 11 and waste water removal line 12 which is connected to the suction side of a pump 13, the pressure side of which is connected by a line 14 with a rinsing jet outlet 15 in a washing inlet/outlet compartment 16.

This compartment 16 is set into an opening of the housing 1, which opening lies concentric to, and is at least as coextensive as, an opening 17 in the drum 3. Into the compartment 16 a filling line 18 and an emptying line 19 open approximately radially. The compartment 16 contains a rotary valve 20, which, according to its angular position which is controllable by an operating cylinder 21, either opens the mouth of the filling line 18 and closes the mouth of the emptying line 19 or vice versa.

The opening 17 in the drum 3 may be closed by means of a closure plate 22, shown in the open position and which is positioned at the end of a slider member 23. The member 23 is displaceably mounted in a bearing secured for example by means of a bearing support of bars in the opening 17. Between the bearing 24 and the other end of the slider member 23 a helical spring 25 is constrained to urge the slider member 23 into the closed position of the closure plate 22. The closure plate 22 is opened by means of an operating cylinder 26, which is stationary and is located centrally in the compartment 16. The piston rod of the cylinder bears on the free end of the slide 23.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate with a construction of loading/unloading part of the machine otherwise the same as in Figs. 1 and 2, another arrangement of closure member for the opening 17 in the drum 3. This has a hub 30, into which is screwed a pin 31, on which a slide bushing 32 is displaceable. The slide bushing 32 carries three short rods 33, equally spaced by 120 degrees, to whose ends flaps 34 are linked in such a way that, on displacement, of the slide bushing 32 out of the position shown in the lower half of Fig.

3, into the position shown in the upper half of Fig. 3, the ends of the flaps 2 near their pivots run onto a shoulder 30a of the hub 30 and thereby the flaps are swung into the open position. Such movement of the slider is by means of the operating cylinder 26. The flaps 34, analogous to the plate of Fig. 1, are urged into the closed position by a pressure spring 35, in which the aforesaid ends of the flaps abut the points of a star-shaped insert 36 in the opening 17.

Figures 3 and 4 show, furthermore, the function of the pipe 9 branching off from the pressure side of the blower 7. This pipe 9 opens into an annular duct 40, which concentrically encircles the compartment 16 and communicates, via a number of apertures 41 over its circumference, with the gap between the wall of the housing 1 and the opposite end face of the drum 3, close to the narrower annular gap between the end face of the drum 3 and the annular face - lying opposite - of the rotary valve 20. The air entering the gap via the annular duct 40 and the apertures 41 during loading of the machine, leads to the fact that, during the intake of washing by means of the filling blower 7, a lower vacuum prevails in the annular gap than in the inside of the drum 3.Therefore in the annular gap there is a stream of air directed radially inwards, which reliably prevents washing from entering this annular gap and becoming compressed there and creating problems, as well as the relevant machine parts located opposite one another and moving relative to one another, from wearing. In order to improve still further this pneumatic seal,.a half-labyrinth seal may be located in the gap between the housing 1 and the end face of the drum 3 in addition.

The cylinders 8', 21 and 26 may be pneumatic.

The machine operates as follows: For ioading, the rotary valves 20 and 8 are moved, by means of their operating cylinders, into the position in which the filling pipe 18 is connected via the inner space of the drum 3 with the suction side of the blower 7. The blower 7 is switched on and the electrovalve 9 is opened. To increase the loading capacity of the machine, the drum 3 may be brought up to a speed at which the centrifugal force overcomes the force of gravity, so that the washing therein moves onto the perforated circumferential wall of the drum. The closure plate 23 according to Fig. 1 or the flaps 34 according to Fig. 3 are meanwhile held in the open position by means of the cylinder 26, which, especially when flaps 34 are employed assist a rapid distribution of washing. After release of the cylinder 26 and the thereby closure of the plate 23 or the flaps 34, normal washing, rinsing and spin-drying take place. Subsequently the rotary valves 8 and 20 are changed-over, the closure plate 23 or flaps 34 opened by means of the cylinder 26, and the blower 7' switched on. This now presses the washing out of the drum 3 by means of compressed air via the compartment 16 into the emptying pipe 19. For a quicker freeing of washing, the drum may also be driven at this stage but of course at a correspondingly lower speed. Even with this operation the closure member 22, 34 assists in loosening of the washing which has been compressed by the preceding spinning operation.

The rinsing jet outlet 15 enables after the machine has been loaded, the compartment 16 to be rinsed clear of any washing whereafter the closure member 22, 34 is closed.

This is important in ensuring as far as possible that no unwashed or only partially washed washing is carried out of the machine with the clean washing. This is particularly important should bedding feathers being washed be contaminated with pathogenic substances at all.

Claims

1. A washing and spin-drying machine for bedding feathers, fibres and similar material, including a drum having a concentric opening on one face, a housing containing the drum and having an inlet/outlet compartment provided with filling and emptying pipes for the pneumatic loading/unloading of the machine and communicating with the drum interior through an opening which is at least as coextensive as the drum opening, the drum opening being provided with a closure member which is operable from outside the machine, for movement between inwardly opening and closed positions.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the filling and emptying pipes open at least approximately radially into the inlet/outlet compartment.

3. A machine according to claim 2, wherein the inlet/outlet compartment contains a rotary valve, which, in one position, opens the mouth of the filling pipe and closes that of the emptying pipe and in another position, closes the mouth of the filling pipe and opens that of the emptying pipe.

4. A machine according to claim 3, wherein the rotary valve is provided with an operating cylinder which engages the valve approximately tangentially thereto.

5. A machine according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a rinsing jet outlet opens into the inlet/outlet compartment.

6. A machine according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the inlet/outlet compartment is surrounded by an annular duct for compressed air, which communicates via apertures with the annular gap between a facewall of the drum and an adjacent housing wall.

7. A machine according to claim 6, wherein the annular zone of the annular cap surrounding the communicating apertures is sealed with a contact-free seal.

8. A machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the closure member is mounted in a bearing arranged centrally to the drum.

9. A machine according to claim 8, wherein the bearing is connected by bars with the edge of the drum opening.

10. A machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the closure member is self-closing.

11. A machine according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the closure member consists of a closure plate which is springloaded into the closed position.

12. A machine according to claim 11 as appendant to claim 8, wherein the closure member is positioned at the end of a slider member which is displaceably mounted in the bearing and whose other end, which is located in the inlet/outlet compartment, is displaceable by an operating cylinder also positioned in the compartment, the closure member being operable against the action of a spring which surrounds the slider member.

13. a machine according to one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the closure member consists of flaps which are spring-loaded into the closed position.

14. A machine according to claim 13, wherein the flaps are connected to a slide bushing mounted centrally in the inlet/outlet compartment which may be acted on by an operating cylinder, located in the compartment, by means of which the flaps may be pivoted between open and closed positions.

15. A washing and spin-drying machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 or to Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.