US1391939A - Ventilating appliance for clothes-drying machines - Google Patents

Description

c. w. COLLINS. VENTILATING APPLIANCE FOR CLOTHES DRYING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 20,1919.

Patented Sept. 27, 1921.

T F. E H A S T E F. H S 7.

l'\ ink APPLICATION FILED NOV-20 I919.

' PatentedSept- 27, 192 1.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. UNITED STATES CHARLES W. COLLINS, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

VENTILATING APPLIANCE FOR CLOTHES-DRYING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 27, 1921..

Application filed November 20, 1919. Serial No. 339,379.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. CoLLINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating Apphe ances for Clothes Drying Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus fpr the purification of air in clothes-drying machines for separating and removing lint or the like from .theair which is utilized as the drying medium.

The invention although especially designed for use in the clothes-drying machine illustrated and described. in U. S. Patent No. 1,155,468 issued to me October 5, 1915, may be employed in other applications.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of devices which essentially includes a reversible screen which in one position serves to arrest lint or other foreignsubstances carr ed by a current of air passing through such screen, and inan other or reversed position of the screen the air current serves to remove the collected substances or dirt from-the screen.

The invention further consists in the use in connection with a chamber or conduit through which currents of air are caused to travel for the purpose of drying clothes therein of a by-passage through which such air currents escape for the purpose of removing and conveying the dirt from the screen to the external atmosphere.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section ofa clothes drying machine with the present invention applied thereto.

, Fig. 2 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view through 3-3 of Fig. 2. r i I The drier shown in said drawings is sub stantially similar to the one shown in the patent above referred to and illustrates such parts thereof as are deemed necessary for an understanding of my improvements.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates a substantially U-shaped casing or tank having superposed horizontally arranged conduit members 6 and 7 connected at their rear ends .by a curved way 8. At their forward ends, .said conduits are each proyided; with a two-part spring "closing door, of which the upper door 9, opens outwardly andthe lower door 10 opens inwardly with regard to the respective conduits.

An endless conveyor chain 11 extending about suitable guides, such as 12, passes through both of said conduits, the way 8 and also protrudes from the front of the duit 6 is an opening 16, Fig.1, communicating with an endof an air, heating compart ment 1' 7 contain ng a radiator or system of pipe 0011s. 18 which are connected by'a pipe 19 with a source of steam supply, not shown.

Air is admitted at the rear end, desirably of the compartment ,17 through aninlet 2O, whence it travels among the radi-' ator coils to becomeheated before enteringthe forward end-of the conduit 6 and through which the air is drawn .rearwardly by means -of a power driven suction fanor blower 21.

'According to the present invention this fanis'connected by a pipe 22 with the forward end of conduit 7. and also by means of a bypass pipe 23 with a chamber 24 which communicates with chambers 25 and 25 opening into the top and bottom, respec tively, ofthe conduit 6 in proximity of the rear end of the latter. 1

Provided for the openings 26 between conduit 6 and the chambers 25 and 25 are foraminated or screen gates 27,27 hingedly connected to the casing at the rear of the openings 26 by means of fulcrum shafts 28, 28 These gates are of sufiicient lengths to meet, or nearly so when swung into the po sitions in which they are represented by full lines in Fig. 3 whereupon they constitute a transverse partition in the conduit 6.

Valves Y29 and 30 are respectively provided for the inlet ends of the pipes 22 and 23. These valves are preferably of the balanced or butter-fly type, the same being secured intermediate -their-'-wi'dths to crank haft 1. a d 30 T r s 2?? assist)? of the respective shafts are connected by rods 31 and 32 with a crank-arm 33 provided on the fulcrum shaft 28, and the crank-arm 33 of the latter is, in turn, connected by a rod 34 with a crank arm 33 provided on the fulcrum shaft 28 The aforesaid valves 29 and 30 are operatively connected together by the respective cranks and rods 31 and 32 in a manner so that when one is open the other one is closed. Said valves are, moreover, operatively connected with said fulcrum shafts 28, 28 by means of the rod 34 and crank arms 33, 33 in such a manner that the screen gates 27, 27 will be caused to extend across the duct 6 when the valve 29 is open; and with the valve 30 open when the gates are brought into the openings 26 which communicate through chambers 25, 25 with. the by-pass pipe 23.

35 represents a weight attached to a crank arm 33 provided on one of said fulcrum shafts for the purpose of yieldingly holding the gates 27, 27 in positions to extend across the conduit 6. 36 represents a crank handle secured to the shaft 29 whereby the screen gates and valves may be manually operated and controlled.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

As the drums 15 are moved in the direc tion of the feathered arrows shown in Fig. 1, they will successively encounter the screen gates 27, 27 to swing the same from the full line positions in which they are shown in Fig. 3 to the positions in which the are indicated by broken lines 27 in such view. This, it is to be understood, will occur while each drum is passing through the gate-way, so to speak, of the conduit 6.

After a drum has passed beyond the gates the weight 35 asserts its power to return the gates to their original'positions. As hereinbefore mentioned, the valve 30 is closed and valve 29 is open when the gates are in the positions denoted by full lines in Fig. 3 whereby the suction created by the blower 21 will compel all of the air currents from the heating compartment 17 to pass through the screens of the gates when the air is traveling as indicated by arrows W through the conduit 7 to reach the blower connection 22. a

When the screen gates are in dotted line 27 positions Fig. 3, or as indicated'in Fig. 1, the valve 30 is open and the air currents, are diverted through the bypass pipe 23. Hence it is apparent that the air currents must travel through the screens of the gates in either of the above explained positions of the same. 'When extending across the conduit 6 the screens of the gates intercept the lint, etc, but when the gatesare positioned in the outlets of the conduit into chambers 25, 25 the lint, etc., will be on the outer sides of the screens and the air currents passing outwardly therethrough will be capable of dislodging such substances and conveying them to the blower without passing through the conduit 7.; V

It may be said that, the clothes when approaching the region of the gates become quite dry and therebeyond the lint becomes exceedingly volatile. Such volatile lint if permitted to travel with the air currents through the conduit 7 becomes saturated with moisture in the latter and if allowed to be deposited upon the drums tend to close the foraminations of the same to prevent the air for drying from. passing through the drums with a loss in the efliciency of the.

machine. The present invention overcomes the above noted objections by withdrawing nearly allof the lint from the machine be fore the drying air encounters the relatively wet drums.

hen it is desirable to continue the bypassing of the drying air for a period longer than would prevail when controlled by the travel of a drum by the gates, the operator may control the gates and valves through the instrumentality of the crank handle 36.

. This crank handle may also be employed to regulate such apparatus independently of the automatic control accorded by the drums. p

, hat I claim, is v 1. In clothes-drying machine having a drying chamber with. an air inlet at one end thereof, an air outlet at its other end and a second air'outlet between such ends, of means to eifect the discharge of air through either of said outlets selectively,"and a screen arranged to be used interchangeably in both of said'outlets.

2. In a clothes-drying machine'having a drying chamber with an air inlet at one end thereof, an outlet at its other end and a second air outlet between such ends, and means to effectthe flow of air alternately'through both of said outlets, a screen gate provided within said chamber, means for regulating said gateto cause the same to be positioned across the chamber and the second named outlet respectively when the air is discharged from' said chamber through the first and second named outlets.

3, In a clothes-drying machine having a I outlet at the other end and a second outlet lected into the other of said pipe connections when the air currents pass through the latter.

4:. In a clothes-drying machine having a drying chamber provided with an outlet at one end and a second outlet intermediate its ends, an air fan connected with both of said outlets, valves for the respective outlets, a screen gate operatively connected to both of said valves, means to yieldingly retain said gate in position to screen the air passing through the aforesaid end outlet, a clothes containing drum, and means to effect the travel of said drum through said chamber whereby said drum is instrumental in moving the gate and valves into positions whereby the air is caused to be temporarily discharged from the chamber through the gate and the second named outlet.

5. In a ventilator for clothes drying-Inachines, the combination with a drying chamber having an air inlet at one end, an air intermediate the length of said chamber, a suction fan, pipe connections between each of said outlets and the fan, and valves for the respective pipe connections, of a screen gate provided interiorly of the drying chamber, and means for operating said gate to position the same alternately across the second named outlet and across the chamber between the two outlets, said means being connected with said valves whereby the said fan isrendered operative to efiect the passage of air through said gate in both of the aforesaid positions thereof. I

6. In a clothes-drying machine, a suction fan for supplying clothes drying air to the machine, a screen gate provided in the machine, and means to regulate the position of the gate whereby the air is caused to pass alternately through the gate from opposite sides thereof.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 10th day of October, 1919.

CHARLES W. COLLINS. Witnesses: 1

PIERRE BARNEs, ELIZABETH JOHNSON.

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