US1391754A - Washing-machine - Google Patents

Description

D. L. BAIR.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION msn JULY 1. 1919.

Patented Sept. 27,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

D. L. BAIR.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLlcATloN msn JULY 1, Isls.

Pateted Sep 2 SHEETS--SHEEI 2.

DEAN L. BAIIR.,` 0F PORTLAND, OREGON.

WASHING-MACHIN E.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 27, 1921.

Application led July 7, 1919. Serial No. .309,224.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DEAN L. BAIR, a citizen 0f theUnited States, residing at Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to washing machines in general,` and particularly to such machines as are used to wash and scrub floors, the object of my invention being to provide a machine that will scrub and dry a floor as the machine is passed thereover.

I accomplish the above object by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this application for Letters Patent, like characters of reference indicating like parts throughout the several views thereof, and 1n which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my machine in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the machine.

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively transverse sectional elevations upon lines 3-3 and 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the brush supporting and regulating mechanism.

i Fig. 6 is a plan view of the nut arrangement in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the water valve.

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view of the Water valve.

Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of the Water control mechanism.

Fig. 10 isan elevation of the subject matter of Fig. 9.

In general my invention consists of a housing mounted upon wheels and having therein a. water chamber and an air heating chamber; a scrubbing brush and a drier or wiper member each mounted within said housing; means to operate said brush and said wiper member; a water supply system ;y

and a system for removing the waste Water recovered from the floor 1n the process of scrubbing. y

The housing 11 consists of two compartments 12 and 13, each formed by a substantially semi-cylindrical diaphragm wall transversely disposed within 'said housing 16 upon a core 17,

said Walls meeting at their adjacent edges in close proximity to the floor, within which compartments respectively are rotatably mounted the scrubbing brush 14 and the wiping member 1,5.

The brush is` composed of suitable bristles and the wiper member is composed of strips 18 of suitable material, such as felt or the like, disposed upon the face of a core 19, said strips being disposed parallel to the axis of said core and transversely of the machine.

In order to allow adjustment for the wear upon the bristles 16 and the felt strips 18 I mount the respective shafts of the brush and the wiper member upon arallel side links 20 and 21 respectively, sa1d links being pivotally mounted at one end thereof upon a cross shaft 22 centrally disposed and `our naled within the housin 11. As the bristles and felt strips wear t ese side links may rotate upon shaft 22 thereby allowing the brush and wiper member to lower and thus keep the bristles and felt strips in contact with the floor.

Tocontrol the raising and lowering of the brush and of the wiping member, thereby insuring that the bristles and the felt strips may be just in contact with the floor Without being so far depressed as to cause excessive Wear or destruction thereto, .I provide rod 23 pivotally attached to the respective links 20 and 21, said rods being threadedly connected to wing nuts 24 rotatively mounted upon the housing l1.

To allow said brush and said wiper member to rise should they encounter any obstacle upon the floor I provide that said rods 23 shall be connected to the wing nuts 24 by means of a nut 25 rotatively fixed within a socket in the hub of the wing nut, but longitudinally movable therein, as shown in Fig. 5. A spring washer 26 is inserted between the lower face of nut 25 and the bottom of the socket to provide a slightly ieldable nature to the support of the brus and of the wiper member. The wing nuts 24 are each rotatively mounted but longitudinally fixed upon the housing 11 by means of a washer 27 and a nut 28 threaded upon an elongated stem 29 of the wing nut.

To drive the brush le and the wiper member 15 I provide an electric motor 30 mounted within housing 11 andconnected to shaft 22 by a sprocket' chain 31.` Said shaft`22 is connected to the brush by sprocket chain 32 and to the wiper member by sprocket chain 33, the latter operating over an idler sprocket 34 upon an extension of link 2l for the uipose of rotating the wiper member in the irection of the arrow in Fig. 1.

To provide water for the scrub brush and deposit the water upon the floor forwardof said brush, I provide in the housing 11 a water chamber 34 having a suitable water controlling valve therein. A convenient form for this valve is illustrated in Fig. 1, and in larger scale details in Figs. 7 and 8, and consists of a cylindrical valve member 35 rotatably mounted Within a cylindrical lower portion 36 of the chamber 12. The

valve member 35 is rotated by means of a lever 37 upon a shaft 38 extending from said lever through a stuffing box to connect with said valve member 35. The cylindrical portion 36 of chamber 12 is provided upon the bottom thereof with a transversely disposed slot or port 39, and the valve member 35 is provided with several transversely disposed rows of ports of various sizes, as 40, 41 and 42, either row of said ports being disposable in registration with port 39 by means of lever 37, thus, by bringing the desired size of port, 40, 41 or 42, into registration with port 39 the operator is enabled to control 'and regulate the ow of water before the brush. The upper portion of valve member 35 is open into chamber 34', thus permitting the free flow of water therefrom into valve i member 35.

Between the brush 14 and the wiper member 15, and adjacent the floor, is a receiving member for receiving the water from the brush and from the wiper member. This receiving member is transversely disposed within, and extends from side wall to side wall of, the housing 11. It consists of a cylindrical member 43 open at the top thereof,

and having forwardly and rearwardly ex? tending downwardly curved flanges 44 and 45 respectively, terminating respectively adjacent the brush 14 and the wiper member 15, as shown in Fig. 1. The substantially cylindrical walls of compartments 12 and 13 are downwardly extended and relatively converged until they meet at a point 46 within cylindrical member 43 of the receiving member, as shown in Fig. 1.

Thus the water collected and thrown oif by either the brush or the wiper member will flow upward upon its respective flange' 44 or 45 into the member 43, and any water thrown off above said flanges will strike the depending portion of the walls of compartments 12 or 13 and flow therefrom into the memberl 43, the entrance of the point 46 into member 43 preventing the water frqrii being thrown entirely over said member into the opposite one of compartments l2 or 13.

To prevent water from being'carried entirely around by the brush or by the wiper member I provide wiper flanges 47 hinged upon the peripheral wall of the respective compartment 12 or 13, and adapted to contact respectively with the bristles or with the felt strips 18, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. It is necessary that the flange 47 shall be adjustable toward the brush and the wiper member respectively in order to accommodate the wear thereon, and for the purpose of such adjustment I provide a lever 48 attached to the flange 47 at the hinged portion thereof the opposite end of said lever being pivotaliy connected with a sleeve 49 threaded upon the extension 29 of the respective wing nut 24, as shown in detail in Fig. 5. The relative pitch of the threads upon rod 23 and extension 29 is such that as proper vertical adjustment of the brush or wiper member is made simultaneously as proper adjustment of the respective flange 47 is attained.

To assist in the drying of the floor as the machine passes thereover I provide a supply of heated air directed immediately rearward of the wiper member 15. To accomplish this I provide a blower 50 coupled to motor 30 and connected to an air chamber 51 in the housing 11 rearward of the wiper member 15, by means of a discharge pipe 52, the air from blower 50 thus passing through pipe 52 into chamber 51 and being discharged therefrom by means of atransversely disposed nozzle 53. Within chamber 51 is located an electric heater 54 for the purpose of heating the air passing therethrough.

The housing 11 is mounted upon wheels 55, front roller 56, and rear caster 57, and is provided with a handle 58 whereby the machine is propelled and guided.

To provide a source of fresh water supply as well as wastewater removal means, I connect the machine to a walter faucet 59 by means of a hose 60, and to a waste water sink 61 by means of a hose 62, there being connected into thesehose lines a power unit and a suction unit respectively.

The power unit consists of a hydraulic motor 63 with its discharge pipe having two branches, one branch 64 delivering a certain portion of the discharged water into the sink 61 by means of pipe 65, and the other branch 66 connecting with hose 60 and therethrough delivering a certain portion of the discharged water to the machine. A valve `67 regulates and controls the relative portions of the discharged waterthalt flows from the branches 64 and 6 6 so that exactly the amount of water desired may be delivered to the machine while the balance of the water required to run the motor 63 is delivered to the sink. i

'Ithe motor 63 is connected belt 68 to a .suction pump (Shthe suction port thereof being connected to hose 62 and the discharge port delivering water into sink 6l through pijIic 70.

n order to make tlus a portable unit I mount thc motor (i3 and the suction pump 69 upon a bracket T1 which has a hook 72 thereon adapted to hook over the side of the sink and thereby support both the motor 63 and the suction pump 69, so that after placing the bracket 72 in place upon the sink all that has to be done to place the machine in operation is to connect the motor 63 to faucet 59 and connect electric wires 78 into some convenient source of electric` current.

lVhile valve controls the Water delivcry to the floor in front of the brush 14, and valve 67 controls the amount of water delivered into chamber 34', it is desirable to have a further regulating device just at the hand of the operator so that immediate control of the water supply may be at command of the operator to prevent such pressure arising within chamber 34 as would too forcibly eject the water therefrom through valve 35.

It is also desirable to have a regulating device just at the hand of the operator to control the suction line 62. so that the suction may be instantly regulated to the amount of water being used. This I accomplish by means of the device illustrated in Fig. 1, and in detail in Figs. 9 and 10.

Rotatably mounted in each of the handle bars 58 is a tube 74, the adjacent ends of these tubes being in contact centrally of the handle bars 58, and the other ends of said tubes extending beyond the handle bars and having thereon a valve plug 75. A valvecasing 76 surrounds the plug 75 and is rotatably fixed by a dowel 80. A stay rod 77 extends entirely through the two casings TG. plugs 75, and tubes 74, and prevents the spreading of the handle bars 58 by the nuts 78 upon each end of rod 77, while said handle bars58 are prevented from approaching each other by means of collars 79 upon tubes 74.

Each valve casing 76 is provided with two port openings 81 and 82 which may be connected together by the port 83` lupon valve plug 75. or disconnected by turning said plug until said port 83 is out of registration with either one of ports 81 or 82.

Upon the right hand side, as illustrated, the hose is connected to port opening 81, and port opening 82 is connected by a hose 84 to water chamber 34 in housing 11.

Upon the left hand side, as illustrated, hose 62 is connected to the respective port Vopening' 81, and port opening 82 is connected byl hose 85 to a pipe 86, which pipe terminates in an open end within receiving member 43,

lowering said links,

`In operation, the hands of the operator respectively grasp the tubes 74 to propel the mechanical equivalents or substitutes that may fairly be considered to come within the scope and purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having disclosed my invention so that others may be enabled to construct and to use the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portable washing machine having therein scrubbing means, a propelling handle, and sleeves upon said handle, in combination with a hydraulic system comprising a hydraulic motor; a suction pump operated by said motor; a plurality of hose connectingl said machine with said motor and with said suction pump; valves controlling the flow of water through said hose; and means whereby said valves are operated from said handle by movement of said sleeves.

2. In a washing machine, a cylindrical rotary scrubbing brush; side links supporting said brush; a hinged wiper adapted to contact with said brush; and means whereby may be simultaneously adjusted the vertical position of said brush by raising or .and the position of said wiper relative to said brush by rotating the wiper upon its hinge.

3. A scrubbing machine comprising a portable scrubbing member; a hydraulic motor; a pump operated by said motor; a hose connection from said motor to a source of water supply under pressure; a hose connection from said motor discharge to said scrubbing member; and a hose connection from said scrubbing member to said pum 4. In a washing machine, a substantial y rectangular box like casing open upon the lower side thereof and mounted upon wheels; a pair of substantially semi-circular diaphragm walls transversely disposed within said housing and integrally joined at their adjacent edges to form a downwardly projecting transversely disposed edge; a rotary brush mounted within the chamber formed by one of said walls; a rotary drier mounted within the chamber formed by the other of said walls; a transversely disposed hollow member open upon the top thereof the presence of a witness at Portland, to receive said downwardly projecting county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, this edg; anl forwarly and rerwardly eX- 16th day of June, 1919. ten ing ownwar y curved anges u on 5 said hollow member. p DEAN L' BAIR In witness whereof I claim the foregoing Witness: as my own I hereunto affix my signature in C. F. BLAKE.

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