US1325234A

US1325234A - Wringer mechanism for clothes-washers.

Info

Publication number: US1325234A
Application number: US21286718A
Authority: US
Inventors: Forrest J Couch; James F Wallace
Original assignee: ROCHESTER WASHING MACHINE CORP
Current assignee: ROCHESTER WASHING MACHINE Corp
Priority date: 1918-01-21
Filing date: 1918-01-21
Publication date: 1919-12-16
Anticipated expiration: 1936-12-16

Description

F. J. COUCH AND J. F. WALLACE,

WRINGER MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES WASHERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.2I. 1918.

1 25,234. Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1 INVENTORS [ZzzmsJCZuc a Jamgsi- [ace ATTORNEYS.

F. L COUCH AND J. F. WALLACE. WRINGER MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES WASHERS.

' APPLICATION HLED JAN-2i. BIB. 1,325,234. Patented Dec. 16,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHE 2.

INVENTORS Gawc WITNESSES: 7 BYJ;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FORREST J. COUCH, OF SPENCERPORT, AND JAMES F. WALLACE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS, BY MEISNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ROCHESTER WASHING MACHINE CORPORATION, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WRINGER MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES-WASHERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

Application filed January 21, 1918. Serial No. 212,867.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Fonnns'r J. (lotion and JAMES F. WALLACE, of Spencerport and Rochester, respectively, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wringer Mechanism for Clothes-Washers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked. thereon.

The object of our invention is primarily to afford a safety device for wringer mechanisms of the general type in which the wringer is adjustable with reference to the washing machine or tub. More specifically the invention is designed to provide interlocking devices that prevent adjustment of the Wringer mechanism, as a whole, at all times when the wringer rolls are in operation, and permitting such adjustment only when the wringer rolls are idle. An additional pur pose of the improvement is to afford a simple and practicable mechanism which is so arranged as to readily permit the necessary accessibility or removability of parts both for assembling and repair. To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of an apparatus constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3 -3 of Fig. 1';

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the wringer mechanism Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View on line 55'- of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the base on which the mechanism is supported.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate the same parts.

A particular field of application of the improvements is in domestic clothes washing machinery where a wringer is power driven, and so arranged with reference to a plurality of tubs or washing receptacles as to bring it into different positions for cooperation with any of them. An objection heretofore has been that if the wringer support or mechanism be released for adjustment While the wringer rolls are in operation, the entire mechanism is likely to be rotated with some force and injure the operator. The principle of this phase of our invention is likewise applicable in other relations, and for convenience of illustration it is shown here as applied to the type of washing apparatus above mentioned.

1 designates the washer, preferably in the form of a tub, upon which is fixedly mounted a casting 2 including a base 3 and an upstanding bearing 4:. 5 designates the wringer support in the form of an arm, resting upon the base 3, and having a hollow end portion which engages the bearing 4 and is rotatable about the same, as will appear more fully presently. The wringer, which is mounted upon the support 5, is designated generally by 6 and includes rolls to which power is transmitted by the driven shaft 7. The driven shaft 7 is journaled in a bearing of a standard 8, preferably formed integral with the support 5, and it has fixed thereon a bevel gear 9 which engages both of the oppositely disposed

bevel pinions

10 and 11. The latter are loosely mounted upon a driving shaft 12 which is journaled vertically in the support 5, its upper end extending within the bearing 13, while its lower end extends downwardly in the bearing 4 of the base. The lower end of the driving shaft 12 carries a key 14, which engages a cooperating slot in the upper end of a hollow power shaft 15. This arrangement permits the support 5, together with the driving shaft 12, to be lifted off of the base 3, if it is desirable to remove the wringer mechanism as a single unit. It will be noted that the shaft 12 is smaller in diameter than the shaft 15 and slides into its upper end. The opening in the bearing 4 is somewhat larger than the shaft 12 to allow the key 1 1 to be readily lifted therefrom. This construction also perniits a slight rocking of the shaft 12, when excess strain is applied to the shaft 7, due to unevenness in the thickness of the object passing between the rolls of the wringer. The bevel pinion's 10 and 11 are operated by a clutch 16 which is keyed to and slidable on the driving shaft 12, being selectively engageable with said pinions in order to drive the shaft 7 in opposite directions. The position of the clutch 16 determines the direction of movement of the driven shaft 7, and the clutch is operatedby a controlling device in the form of a. plate 17 which carries an eccentrically mounted projection 18 engaging the guideway 19 on the clutch. The plate 17 is adjustable by a handle 20, and when the latter is in the vertical position shown in Figs. 3, at and 5, the clutch in neutral position and the driven shaft is idle. To effect movement of the driven shaft 7, the clutch handle 20is moved to the right or left against one of the stops 21, causing the clutch to engage one of the

bevel pinions

10 or 11. The oscillatory clutch controlling member 17 is ournaled in acover portion 22, which is attached to the standard 8 in any convenient way, and serves to inclose the clutch mechanism and cooperating gears.

The support 5 is adjustable to different positions upon the base 1 for the purpose of varying the position of the wringer. To this end, the base 3 has a series of openings 23, which are preferably arranged as shown in Fig. 7, but may be otherwise disposed to establish certain predetermined positions for the wringer. The support 5 is held in place by means of a retaining device, preferably in the form of a spring controlled pin 24, governed by the spring It carries a finger piece 26 by which it can be lifted to disengage it from the openings 23, with which the pin cooperates to hold the support in any adjusted position. If the retaining pin 2% should be lifted, and the support 5 thus released when the driven member 7 is in motion, it will cause the bevel gear 9 and the entire wring-er support to move bodily around the pinion with which the clutch is engaged. If this takes place unexpectedly, upon lifting the retaining pin, the support is likely to strike and injure the operator. To overcome this, we employ interlocking means between the clutch and the retaining device, whereby the latter cannot be retracted from its locking position except when the clutch is disengaged from both the

pinions

10 and 11 and the driven shaft 7 is idle.

This can be accomplished in various ways, and we preferably employ a supplemental spring controlled pin 27, housed in the cover portion 22 and engaging the upper end of the pin T he upper end of the supplemental pin 27, when in normal position, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 5, terminates just below the clutch controlling device 17. The latter is provided with an opening or recess 28, which, when the clutch is in neutral position, lies in the path of the supplemental pin 27 and permits the latter to move upwardly. The clutch controlling plate 17 also has stop portions 29 which overlie the supplemental pin 27 and prevent its upward movement when the clutch is shifted to either of its operative positions. When the clutch is thus shifted, and the driven shaft 7 is in operation, one of the stop portions 29 lies in the path of the supplemental pin 27, preventing its upward movement, and the latter in turn prevents upward movement of the retaining pin 24: so that the support 5 cannot be released. l l hen the clutch is shifted to its neutral position, the supplemental pin 27 is engageable with the opening 28, and the retaining pin 2% can then be lifted to disengage it from the opening in the base. The support 5 is then adjustable about the bearing l to any desired position. By releasing the retaining pin 24., the latter drops into the selected opening and the position of adjustment is again retained. To remove the wringcr, the support 5 with all of the mechanism mounted thereon can be lifted bodily from. the base 3, the weight of the parts being sufficient to hold the assemblage in operating position.

Vi e claim as our invention:

1. The combination with a base, of a support adjustably arranged on the base, a driven shaft and a driving shaft both j ournaled in said support, gears loosely mounted on the driving shaft and cooperating with the driven shaft to move it in opposite directions, a clutch slidable on the driving shaft into selective engagement with said gears, a retaining device acting to hold the support in adjusted position on the base, and interlocking means between the retaining device and said clutch whereby disengz'agement of the retaining device from the base is permitted when the clutch is in neutral position and prevented when the clutch is engaged with one of said gears.

The combination with a base, of a support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shaft and a driving shaft both journaled in said support, gears loosely mounted on the driving shaft and cooperating with the to move it in opposite direcdriven shalt tions, a clutch slidable on the driving shaft into selective engagement with said gears, a slidable retaining pin carried by the support and engaging openings in the base, and a stop controlled by the position of said clutch and acting when the latter is engaged to limit the outward movement of the pin and prevent its disengagement from the base.

The combination with a base, of a support adjustably arranged on the base, a driven shaft on the support, a retaining device acting to hold the support in adjusted position on the base, and means cooperating with said retaining device and acting to prevent its disengagement from the base when the driven shaft is running and to permit such disengagement when the driven shaft is idle.

4:. The combination with a base, of a support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shaft on the support, a slidable retaining pin acting to hold the support in adjusted position on the base, and means cooperating with said retaining pin and acting to prevent its disengagement from the base when the driven shaft is running and to permit such disengagement when the driven shaft is idle.

5. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shalt journaled in the support, a driving shaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaft and driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction including oppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movable selectively into engagement therewith, a retaining device acting to hold the support in adjusted position on the base, and interlocking means between said clutch and retaining device acting to hold the latter engaged with the base when the clutch is engaged and to release the retaining device when the clutch is in neutral position.

6. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shaft jcurnaled in the support, a driving shaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaft and driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction including oppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movable selectively into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pin mounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openings in the base, a supplemental spring controlled pin engaging the first mentioned pin, and a movable controlling device for said clutch having a recess which receives the supplemental pin and permits disengagement of the retaining pin when the clutch is in neutral position.

7. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shaft journaled in the support, a driving shaft also arrangedon the support, gearing connectlng the driving shaft and driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction including oppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movable selectively into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pin mounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openings in the base, a supplemental spring controlled pin ongaging the first mentioned pin, and an oscillatory clutch controlling device connected to the clutch and provided with stop portions, one of which lies in the path of the supplemental pin when the clutch is engaged, and a recess intermediate said stop portions which receives the supplemental pin when the clutch is in neutral position and permits disengagement of the retaining pin.

8'. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shaft journaled in the support, a driving shaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaft and driven shaft for moving the lat ter in either direction including oppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movable alternately into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pin mounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openings in the base, and a movable clutch controlling device having stop portions that prevent movement of the retaining pin when the clutch is engaged, and an opening that permits movement of the retaining pin when the clutch is in neutral position.

9. The combination with. a base, of a clothes wringer support rotatively mounted on the base, a driven shaft journaled in the support, a driving shaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaft and driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction including oppositely ar ranged gears and a slidable clutch member movable alternately into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pin mounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openings in the base, a removable cover portion, a supplemental. spring controlled pin mounted on the cover portion and engaging said first mentioned pin, and a movable clutch controlling device having an opening which receives the supplemental pin when the clutch is in neutral position.

10. The combination with a base including an upwardly projecting bearing, of a clothes wringer support rotatably mounted on said bearing, a power shaft journaled in the base, a driving shaft journaled in said support, extending loosely in the bearing and having a rocking and removable engagement with said power shaft, and a driven shaft journaled in the support and operated from said driving shaft.

11. The combination with a base, of a support rotatably mounted on the base, a wringer supported on said support eccentrically with reference to said axis of rotation of the support, a power shaft supported on the base and connected with the wringer in line with the axis of rotation of 5 said support, a clutch connection interposed between the power shaft and the wringer, and means for holding the support against rotation on the base, said means preventing the release of the support while the clutch is connecting the power shaft with the 10 wringer.

FORREST J. COUCH. JAMES F. \VALLAGE.