US1496305A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

June 3, 1924. 1,496,305

H. W. DOUGHTY ET AL WASHING momma Fild April 8; 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INV T0186 By M.$W

H. w. DOUGHTY ET AL Jung 3, I924.

WASHING MACHINE Filed Anril 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE Y Patents June 3, 192 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN w. DOUGHTY AND cnonen DAVIS, or BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, As SIGNORS TO THE NINETEEN HUNDRED WASHER COMPANY, or BINGHAMTON', NEW

YORK, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

WASHING MACHINE.

Application filed April 8,

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HERMAN WI DOUGIP. Ti; and GEORGE L. Dnvrsycitizens of the United States, and residents of Binghamton, county ofBroome, andlStatefof New York, have jointly invented certainnew and useful Improvements in lVashing Machines, of which the following is adescription.

This invention relates to washing machinesfor Washing clothes, and particularly to machines of this character which are operated by power as gdistinguished fromhand Operated machines. Certain features of our invention, however, are applicable alike to machines of both of thesetypes, as will appear hereinafter. I f

The primary object of our invention is to provide a machine of. the character de scribed, 'whichshall be at once accessible,

convenient and eiiicient.

The particular type of machine illustrated and described herein iswhat is sometimes called the agitator type. That is to say, it includes a stationarytub for receiving the clothes'to' be washed and the cleans ing fluid, such as soapy water, and a mova ble[ agitator within the tub; and adapted by its movement to agitate the cleansing fluid and the'clothes and thus cause the cleansing fluid to penetrate the clothes and clean them. Heretofore theagitator in machines of this type has generally been so arranged as to overlie the clothes during the Washing operation. This has itnecessary to remove the agitator before clothes could be placed in the tub or removed therefrom. In order to eliminate this inconvenience we have placed the agitator adja cent the bottom of the tub, so that it underlies the clothes, and \ve have discovered that an agitator so placed is more efficient if of an unsymmetrical design. Accordingly it is one object of our invention to provide an agitator which is adapted to underlie the clothes, and which is so designed as to render it highly efficient.

Another object of our invention istoprovide novel and efficient actuating meansfor the agitator.

Still another object of our invention isto provide improved means for..mounting the agitator on its actuating shaft.

With these and other objects in. view, as will appear hereinafter, our invention con- \for 1922. Serial Nb. 550,607.

sists in the parts, combinations and devices described herein, and more particularly fined in the appended claims.

I Referring to the drawings? Fig. 1 is'an elevation of our improved machine, partly in section; Ifilig. 2 is a planjof the agitator;

' Fig. 8 is a horizontalsectional view taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the parts'shown inFig. 3; Fig. 5, is an enlarged sectional view of the chain tightening device shown in Figs. 3 andhand g Fg. 6 is a sectional view on line VI-VI ofFigziZ.

In the drawing 10 designates the frame supporting our as for example, that shown in the drawing (Fig. 1) wherein it isprovided with. three supporting legs 11. j Upon this frame is mounted the tub 12, which may be of any desired shape and construction. As herein shown the tub ,is cylindrical in design. It is open at the top where it is preferably provided with a removable or hinged cover (not means (which we will describe later) being provided for oscillating it through the vertical shaft 15. This, shaft 15 projects through the bottom Of thetub 12. Leakage is preventedby the'provision of a stufling box such as indicated at 16. We preferably mount the agitator on the shaft 15 in the following..man11er. lVe seoure 'thef agitator 13 in any. suitable. manner,,as indicated at ;17

toa spider 18- of any suitable rigid material, the agitator being preferably domed at thecenter, as indicated at 19, so. asv to overliev the spider. This spider 18 in turn improved machine, which frame may be of any suitable design,

will be noted that the vanes or ribs 14 are' unsymmetrically arranged. The purpose of so arranging the vanes is that wehave found that if the agitator surface is symmetrical there is a marked tendency for a single one of the many pieces of laundry in the tub to cling to the .agitato-r, an action which interferes seriously with the efficiency of the machine in washing. This action is apparently due to the fact that the oscillation of the agitator sets up currents in the fluid contents of the tub w'hich move centrifugally of the agitator. And if the agitator is symmetrical these currents act with substantially equal force throughout the periphery of the agitator and tend to stretch the most available piece of laundry over the surface of the agitator and keep it there. I

e have discovered, however, that by arranging the agitator unsymmetrically the equality of the currents is disturbed and as a result the piece of cloth in contact with the agitator will not be retained there but will be moved off to one side by the unequal currentsv acting upon it.

Many different unsymmetrical designs of agitators will accomplish this result and therefore come within the scope of our invention. The particular unsymmetrical design illustrated in Fig. 2 is formed by spacing one consecutive pair of vanes, such for example as the vanes 14, 14 farther apart than other similar pairs. We have found that by using an agitator of this type no single piece of cloth remains in contact with the agitator for anundue length of time.

Coming now to the means for actuating the agitator, we provide'the shaft 15 at a point 'below the bottom of the tank 12 with a drum 21 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4:). Mounted adjacent this drum is the connecting rod 22 which is adapted to be .reciproc ated by the crank 23. This crank 23 is controlled by the clutch 24 and when the clutch is engaged the crank 23 is rotated by the vertical shaft which in turn is operated by the motor 26, or any other suitable source of power.

The clutch 24 which we have provided is novel, so far as we are aware. It comprises the collar 24; which is pinned or secured in any other desired manner to the vertical shaft 25, and the collar 24 which is integral with the crank 23 loosely mounted on said shaft. The collars 24, 24*, have coacting clutch teeth which, when the crank is elevated as shown in Fig. 1, en gage to drive the crank. hen, however, the crank is depressed the teeth are disengaged and the crank remains idle. Any suitable and convenient means, such as the hand lever 24 with its connections may be employed for elevating and depressing the crank 23 to engage and disengage the clutch.

The advantage of the clutch which we have described above resides primarily in its ease and economy of manufacture. It requires no keys, keyways or splines. All that is necessary, so far as theshaft 25 is concerned, is the securing of the collar 24 thereto, as by means of th pin illustrated.

The means for operatively connecting the connecting rod 22 to the drum 21, as herein shown, comprise two flexible members 27, 28. The member 27 may be in the form of a single chain 27, one end of which is secured to th drum at 29 and the other end of which is secured to the connecting rod 22 at a point 30 which is toward the crank end of the latter. The other flexible member 28 may be in the form of a double chain, one end of which is secured to the drum at the point 32 and the other end of which is secured to the connecting rod 22 at the point 33 which is at or toward the free end of the connecting rod. As will appear from the drawing, the flexible members 27 and 28 are so arranged that they are adapted to wind up on the drum 21 in opposite directions.

By virtue of the construction just described the drum 21 and through it the agitator 13 are oscillated in a regular and quiet manner. 7

In the course of continued oscillation of a part such as the agitator 13, considerable strain is placed upon the driving means, due largely to the rather sudden reversals in the direction of movement of the "parts. As a result,'if no provision were made to guard against it, the flexible members might become loose. The result would be an inelficient and noisy drive. Accordingly we have provided means for automatically takup any slack that may occur in the flexible members.

This automatic take-up means, 'as herein shown, comprises a bolt 33, one end '34 of which is adapted to engage the flexible member 27 and the otherend of which passes through the eye 30 secured to the connecting rod 22. The end 35 is 's'crewthreaded and provided with a nut 36 whiclnjin c'ooperationwith the eye 30, secures the'fiexible member 27 to the connecting rod. For ke'eping this nut 36 tight we provide a spring such as 37, (Figs. 3, 4 and 5), one end of which is secured to the connecting rod 22 at 38 and the other end of which engages a notch in the nut 36. During the reciprocation of the connecting rod 22 there are intervals of time, such as those occurring upon the reversal of movement, during which the flexible members are not subjected to tension by the normal operation of the machine. At such times, if there is any slack in the flexible members, the spring 37 will rotate the nut 36 and take it up. Thus the arrangement described serves to maintain the flexible members 27, 28, taut at all times.

The washing machine herein shown has been found in practice to be very eflicient as a clothes washing mechanism and very convenient to operate and keep clean. The agitator being at the bottom and there being no obstruction in the tub above the agitator,

it is a very simple matter to place clothes in the tub and to remove them therefrom. We are aware that agitators or' dollys have heretofore been placed adjacent the bottom of the stationary tub of a washing machine. But so far as we are aware we are the first so to arrange the operating mechanism of an agitator which is located adjacent the bottom of the tub that there is no obstruction above the agitator. Also, the agitator as a whole may be readily removed from the tub when desired, for the purpose of cleaning.

The actuating mechanism which we have provided for oscillating the agitator are particularly efflcient and noiseless in operation, due in part to the automatic take-up means which we have provided.

modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What we claim 1s: 1. In a wash ng mach1ne,a container, an

agitator located therein, and means for actuating said agitator,'said agitator inclnding a plurality of vanes of which those located at oneport-ion of the agitator are spaced differently than the remainder.

' 2. In a washing machine, a container, an agitator located therein, andmeans for actuatingsaid agitator, said agitator including a plurality of vanes between one consecutive pairof which there is a greater distance than there is between certain other consecutive pairs. 1

3. In a washing machine, a container, an agitator located adjacent the bottom thereof, and means for oscillating said agitator, said agitator being provided on its upper surface with a plurality of radially disposed vanes between one consecutive pair of which there is a greater distance than there is between certain other consecutive pairs.

HERMAN w. DOUGHTY. GEORGE L. DAVIS.

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