US1697220A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 1, 1929. 1,697,220

- G. P. ANSTISS WASHING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1927 I 4 Sheets- St 1 Jan. 1, 1929.

G. P. AN STISS WASHING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1927 Witness I I Jan. 1,1929.

G. P. ANSTISS WASHING MACHINE I Filed April 23, 1927 4 She s-Sheet 4 Patented Jan. 1, 1929. I I v UNITED STATES: PAT ENTIOFFICE.

GEORGE P. ANSTISS, 01 OAK PABK,,ILLIN OIS, ASSIGNOB TO G. S. BLAKESLEE (30.,

,GICEBO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

wasnme macnnm. Application filed April as, 1927. Serial No. lessee.

My invention relates to machines for washcontents of the basket, the baskets being ing dishes and other articles, and has particmoved through the machine pastv the paddle ularly .to do with washing machines of the wheel compartment by an endless conveyor, type in which the articles to be washed, while the upper flight of which travels above the 0 contained in a basket or other suitable receplevel of the water in the tank. It should be m tacle, are moved through the machine past understood, however, that generically conmeans, such as a paddle wheel or wheels, that s dered my invention is not limited to t 0 arserves to throw water forcibly against the tlcular arrangement shown and describe ,as

articles. In its broadest aspect my invention it may be applied to washing machines in, In is not concerned with the particular means emwhich the washing is accomplished in other 65 vployed for effecting the washing, although ways, as, for example, by the use of jets w more specifically considered it includes imthrough'which the water is discharged under proved means by which this is accomplished. pressure, such as are well known to those The primary feature of my invention which I familiar with the art.

I believe to be generically new is the incorpora- In the accompanying drawings,- 1

tion in a washing machme of the type referred Fig. ;1 isa plan view of mv im roved washto of means for advancing the articles to be 111g m l n P Of the p 0 the i g washed through the machine intermittently, being broken away to expose some of the-opor in other words, by stages, the propelling crating parts enclosed therein;

means being normally inactive, and beingar- Fig.2 is a perspective view of the ratchet 75 ranged to be set in operation during a prewheel-that forms part of the mechanism by determined interval after which it will stop which the'baskets are advanced through the v and remain inactive until it is again started. m ch ne;

The starting of such advancing means is un- Fig: 3 is also a perspective view showing der the control of the operator and is preferother; parts of the advancing mechanism and o ably accomplished by the introduction of a f h means for COIItrOHinP' the Operation basket into the machine, although it may be 0f he lln lng devices; I

accomplished by. a separate manual opera- Fig. is a perspective view showing the tion. In either case, however, it automaticontrolling device by which the starting and cally stops. after advancing the articles to phing f the adva ci g m i m iS I 85 apredetermined extent. In connection with o led; this operation of the advancing means, my Fig.5 is a longitudinal vertical section on invention also includes means for automatiine-5 5 of Fi 1, the intermediate portion cally spraying the articles as they pass out f the'machinebeing omitted; of the machine, so'that they are rinsed and Fig. 6 P i V i l ross-Sec ion on 90 dried after the washing operation,the-sprayllrie 66 of Fig. 5; ing water being supplied only while the 7 is a partial vertical cross-section on washed articles are moving out of the ma line 7,-7 of Fig. 5; and 1 chine, so that it is not wasted. In addition Fig 8 is a side elevation of part of the disto these features, my invention also 'includes harge end of the machine, being in part a 95 I \improved means for moving the; bask ts longitudinal vertical section on 'l1ne 8--8 of through the machine, by which danger of g- 51', a h Vertical p ying device g, damage in case the progress of the baskets ShOWII', partly in section. is interfered with, is avoided,.and also certain Describing now the embodiment of my inother improvements of amore specific charvention'shown in the drawings, it will be seen 100 acter which will be hereinafter pointed out. reference to Fig. 1 that the machine com- In the accompanying drawings I have ,gprises an elongated casing 9 havin an offset chosen to illustrate my invention as incor-i portion 10 at one side, the latter orming a porated in a dish washing machine com ris-; :"paddle wheel compartment, while the' main ing a casing that encloses a tankover w ich body f the casing forms washing and rins- 1 5 the baskets containing the dishes are moved, ing compartments, in the usual way. The and a compartment at one side of the casin bottom of these compartments constitutes a in which is containeda rotatin paddle whee tank'll having two compartments adapted to "the blades of which take up 5m water from containwashing and rinsing water res ecthe tank and throw it forcibly against the tively, the tank-being divided midwaym its no 4 length by a transverse partition 12, as indiends so that the baskets may be introduced at one end and withdrawn at the other. The

casing also encloses the paddle wheel, as

shown in Fig. 5, in which the walls 17, 18 constitute the ends of the paddle wheel compartment, and 19 indicates the top thereof.

In the construction illustrated the paddle wheel is in the form of a shaft 20 that extends longitudinally through the paddle wheel compartment and carries a number of paddles or blades 21 secured thereto at intervals along its length and spirally arranged so that the dip successively into the water in the tan as the shaft rotates. This arrangement is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The shaft 20 is journaled in suitable bearings 22,

23 carried respectively by plates 24, 25 secured to the end walls 17, 18, as shown in Fig. 5. Also secured to said end walls and to the plates 24, 25 by bolts 26 are two brackets 27 28, that extend longitudinally of the shaft 20 and are provided with vertically disposed end plates 29, 30, respectively, to which are secured cap plates 31, 32. Between the plates 29, 31 are mounted. anti-friction bearings 33 which support the shaft 20, and similar antifriction bearings 34 are mounted between the plates 30, 32, asshown in Fig. 5. Adjacent to the inlet end of the machine the shaft 20 carries a pulley 35 over which runs a-belt 36 driven by a motor 37 that is preferablymounted on a stand 38 located above one end of the paddle wheel compartment 10, as best shown 1n Fig. 1. By this means the shaft 20 is driven from the motor 37 and in the present machine it is intended that when the mathe worm and an adjustable plate 41 dis osedover the end of the shaft and telescopically fitted on a boss 42 carried by a plate 43 that is secured in position opposite the end of the shaft 20 in the manner hereinafter described.

An anti-friction bearing 44, similar to thev being such that by screwing said bolt in or out the plate 41 may be adjusted longitudinally of the shaft 20 to adjust the ball bearings 40, 44, and also the worm 39, which, as shown in Fig. 6, is connected with the shaft 20 by a key 47 so that it may move longitudinally of the shaft but rotates therewith.

The worm 39 meshes with and drives a worm wheel 48 mounted on and keyed to a transverse shaft 49 journaled in suitable bearings carried by the side walls 50, 51 of a housing 52 which is preferably integral with the plate 32 and encloses the worm wheel 48 and worm 39, as best shown in Fig. 6. The plate 42 is secured to the housin 52, with the boss 42 concentric with the shaft 20, by means of bolts 53, as best shown in Fig. 5. Said plate may therefore readily be removed when de sired. A cover plate 54 forms the top of the housing 51, as best shown in Fig. 6.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the housing 52 lies outside of the casing and adjacent to the forward end of the paddle wheel compertinent, and as best shown in Fig. 6 the shaft 49 extends through said housing toward the adjacent side wall 55 of the casing. Mounted on its inner end portion between two collars 56, 57 is a ratchet Wheel 58 that is keyed to said shaft so that it rotates therewith. Also mounted on said shaft next to the inner face of said ratchet wheel, is a disc 59 that is loose on .the shaft and has secured to its hub portion a sprocket wheel 60. Screws 61 serve to secure the sprocket wheel to said disc. At what is normally the upper portion of the disc 59 it is provided with a pc- As shown in Fi 6,

ment with the teeth of said ratchet wheel.

The arrangement of these parts is best shown in Fig. 8. A spring 65 tends to move the pawl 63 into engagement with the ratchet wheel, as indicated bydotted lines in said figure. Obviously, when the pawl 63 engages 'the ratchet wheel, if the ratchet wheel be rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 8, the disc 59 will rotate with said ratchet wheel and with the shaft 49, but when the pawl 63 is out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, as shown in full lines in Fig. 8, the ratchet wheel may rotate in that direction independently of said disc.

For normally holding the :pawl 63 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 58 so that the shaft 49 and ratchet wheel may rotate without rotating said disc, a tripping device in the form of a swinging arm 66 is provided, said arm being loosely mounted on the shaft 49 adjacent to the outer face of the ratchet wheel 58, as best shown in Figs. 6 and 8. Said arm extends out av short distance beyond the periphery ofthe ratchet wheel and is beveled at its outer face, as shown at 67 in Fig. 8. A roller 68 mounted on a laterally projecting pin 69 secured to the pawl 63, overlies the trip arm 66 and is adapted to ride on its bevel surface 67. The length of the arm 66 is such that when the roller 68 rides up on said arm the pawl 63 is moved radially out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 58, but by in the recess 62 in the disc 59. Bearing in mind that the shaft 49 and ratchet wheel 58 are constantly rotating, whereas the disc 59 and sprocket wheel 60 are stationary, if the trip arm 66 be swung to the right as viewed in Fig. 8, to permit the pawl 63 to engage. the ratchet wheel, as ,;soon as such engagement takes place the ,disc 59 and sprocket wheel 60 rotate with the ratchet wheel 58, and the pawl 63 will be, of course, carried around with said disc. When, however, the parts have made a complete rotation the roller 68 will encoun ter the trip arm 66 and will ride up on its bevel surface 67, thereby moving the pawl 63 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 58 dependently of said disc.

and stopping the rotation of the disc 59. The ratchet wheel will then continue to. rotate in- Whenever, therefore, the disc 59 is set in motion it will make a single complete rotation and then stop. Thefunction of this mechanism is to advance the baskets through the machine a distancecorresponding tothat measured by a single rotation of the sprocket wheel 60 each time the trip arm 66 is actuated, so that the baskets will move intermittently through the machine.

The intervals during which the baskets rechine in the following 7 mounted on transverse shafts 73, 74;, as best main stationar may, ofcourse, by appropriate y actuating the trip arm 66.

Rotation of the sprocket wheel 60 is made effective to move the baskets through the mamanner: An endless chain 7 0 extends longitudinally through the machine with its upper flight above the level ofthe water in the tank, said chain being sup-' ported at its ends by sprocketwheels 71, 72

shown in Fig. 5. The shaft 74 is mounted in suitable bearin s in the casing of the machine and is driven; rom the sprocket wheel 60 by a chain 7 5 that runs over the latter sprocket wheel and over a sprocket wheel 7 6 a on and kefyed to the shaft 74,- as shown 1n the latter gure. The shaft 73 is preferably veyor continues to move be controlled mounted mounted in bearing blocks 7 7 adjustable lon- 1" gltudinally of the machine so that the tension of the conveyor may be adjusted.

As shown in Fig. 6, the conveyor 7 0 is supported at its margins by I channel shaped tracks 7 8 laced near theopposite side walls of the was ing and rinsing compartments, in position'to receive the longitudinally extending members or chains that form the side portions of said conveyor. The side members 0 the conveyor rise a short distance above the side margins of the tracks 78 so that they are adapted to support baskets 79 which rest on travels through frictional engagement therewith. In prior constructions it has been cus- 1,

tomary to provide the conveyor with lugs or equivalent devices to positively engage the baskets and move them along through the machine, but such construction is objectionable because it sometimes happens that some-obstacle prevents the outgoinglbasket from leaving the conveyor, in whic case the'conbreakage is likely to follow. By depending only on frictional engagement between the baskets and the c ongf' veyor for advancing them thi ough themiachine there is no danger of damage from any such cause.

Since the sprocket wheel 60 is norm lly stationary theuco'nveyor chain is als mally stationary, but said sprocket wheel and the conveyor may be set in motion by tripping the arm 66 as has been described. This may be done by a separate manual operation, but it is desirable that the'conveyor be automatically started as soon as a fresh basket is placed in position on it, and I have pro vided mechanism for that purpose. By reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that a lever or trigger 80 is pivotally mounted to swing in a horizontal plane in such position that it projects into the path of the baskets, said lever being mounted on the lower end of a vertically disposed rock shaft 81 provided with a spring 82 which tends to return-the. lever 80 to its. normal position at right 'angles to the path of the stop under the influence of said spring and stops it when it is restored to its normal position. The upper end of the rock shaft 81, W l11Cl'1 ]S journaled in a bearing 84:, as shown in Fig, 5, is 'rovided with a crank 85, which is cOnnecte by a connecting rod 86 with a crank 87 carried by a similar rock shaft 88 at the opposite end of the machine. As best shown in Fig. 8, the latter rock shaft has an arm 89 at its lower end which engages a slot 96 in 'one end portionof an actuating bar 91, the

baskets. A suitable 83' limits the movement of said lever opposite end of which is connected by :a-

pivot 92 to the tri arm-'66. The arrange- ,ment is such that w 18H a basket engages and rocks the rock shaft 88 in such direction as to move the actuating bar 91 to the right as viewed in Fig. 8. This moves the trip arm 66 out from under the roller 68, thereby permitting the pawl 63 to engage the ratchet wheel 58; consequently the disc 59 and sprocket wheel 66 rotate, thereby advancing the conveyor until the sprocket wheel has made a complete rotation. whereupon it stops. The lever is so located that when the operator places a basket on the inlet end of the conveyor it actuates said lever and sets the conveyor in motion, but if desired it would be quite practicable to operate the lever 80 by hand if that way of starting the conveyor were preferred.

The advancement of a basket from the inlet end of the machine during the periodic movement of the conveyor makes way for the application of another basket to it, and in this way a succession of baskets may be int-roduced into and delivered from the machine. In their movement ast the paddle wheel the contents of the has ets are first washed by water from the washing compartment and then rinsed by water from the rinsing compartment. After the washing and rinsing has been done it is desirable that the dishes or other articles be sprayed as they leave the mai only at such times as a asket is moving out of the machine, so that there will be no wastage of the hot water used for that purpose, I provide spraying means controlled by the rotation of the disc 59. As shown in Fig. 7, a transversely disposed pi e 93 is mounted at the outlet end of the casing over the path of the baskets, said pipe being provided with perforations 94 in its under sideso that it discharges spray water downwardly upon the contents of the baskets. I also provide a vertically disposed spray pipe 95 at one side of the path of the baskets, said pipe being pro vided with lateral openings 96 arranged to discharge spray water laterally upon the con- 104 having a head 105 that engages the va ve-.'

stem 103 18 mounted in an upright position under said stem and is pivotally supported at ,106 by means of a link 107-pivotally con nected at 108 with one of the walls of the casing. At its lower end the plunger 104 carries a roller 109 that is adapted to rest in the recess 62 when the disc 59 is in its normal 1e pipe is provided with a quick' )osition, and to ride on the periphery of said disc as the latter rotates. At its upper end the plunger 104 is provided with a vertical slot 110 into which extends a guide pin 111 carried by a bracket 112 secured to the valve .102 and depending therefrom. By this arrangement the plunger 104 is held in proper position and is free to move upward to actuate the valve stem 103 to open the valve and permit the discharge of spray water. This occurs whenever the disc 59 b'egins to rot-ate, since the roller 1.09 then rides up on the periphery of said disc, thereby moving the plunger 104 upward and opening the valve 102. As soon as the disc completes its rotation the roller 109 drops into the recess 62 and the spray valve automatically closes. The plunger 104 serves also to center the disc 59 in its normal position after ithas completed its rotation, owing to the fact that the curvature of the recess 62 corresponds substantially to that of the roller 109.

Obviously since the disc 59 rotates only while the conveyor is moving to advance the baskets through and discharge them from the machine the spraying mechanism will operate only to spray the outgoing basket, after which it will stop until the next basket is beingdischarged.

The operation of the machine has already been quite fully explained, and, therefore, it is not thought necessary to restate it. It will be seen that the ratchet wheel 58 and disc 59 with the pawl 63 constitute optionally controlled intermittently operating clutch mechanism by which the conveyor is driven to a predetermined extent each time the tripping device is actuated tooperatively connect loo said clutch members, said tripping'device being restored to its normal position immediately after it has been actuated by the spring 82. By the construction described the disc 59 makes a complete rotation before stopping, but obviously provision could readi e made so that the clutch members would be disengaged after less than a complete rotation of said disc.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the mechanism by which I accomplish the stated objects of my invention ma e modified in many particulars, and I wis it to be understood that the claims hereinafter made are not intended to be limited to the specific construction shown and described except in so far as special features of such construction are particularly claimed.

1 What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A washing machine com rising washing 1 means, conveyor means opera 1e to move the articles to be washed past said "washing means, clutch mechanism for driving said conveyor means from said driving means, including a constantly driven clutch member and a normally stationary clutch member adapted to be connected therewith, one of sai clutch members being in the form of a ratchet wheel and the other clutch member having a pawl adapted to engage said ratchet wheel, a tripping device for moving said pawl out of engagement with said ratchet wheel when said clutch members-are rotated in unison to a predetermined extent, and means operable to actuate said tripping device to permit said pawl to engage said ratchet wheel.

2. A washing machine comprising washing means, conveyormeans operable to move baskets containing the articles to be washed past said washing means, continuously operating driving means, intermittently operating means for driving said conveyor means from said driving means, and means actuated by the introduction of a basket into the machine for startin said conveyor means.

3. A washing mac ine comprising washing means, conveyor means operable to move means,

baskets containing the articles to be washed past said washing means, continuously oper. ating driving means, intermittently o erating clutch mechanism for driving sai conveyor means from said drivin means, and means actuated by the intro notion, of a basket into the machine for actuatingsaid clutch mechanism to connect said conveyor means with said driving means.

4. A washing machine comprising washing means, conve or means operable to move baskets containing the articles to be washed .past said washing means, continuously operating driving means, intermittently o erating clutch mechanism for driving sai conveyor means from said driving means, a trip device for actuating said clutch mechanism to disconnect said conveyor means from saidj driving means,and means operable by.

6. A-was hing machine comprising wash-- ing means, normally stationary conveyor means adapted to be actuated to move the articles to be washed past said washing means, s raying means adjacent to-the outlet end 0 the machine, and means for actuating said conveyor means to a predetermined extent and contemporaneously opening said valve, said actuating means being controlled I automatically, or by hand, optionally.

7. A washing machine comprising washing means, an endless conveyor operable to move the articles to be washed past said washing means, continuously operating. driving means, a ratchet wheel driven by said driving means, a rot-ating disc connected with said conveyor for driving the same, a pawl carried by said disc and adapted to'engage said ratchet wheel for coiinectm said disc therewith, a trip device norma ly holdingsaid pawl out of engagement with said ratchet wheel and movable to' rmit it to engage the same, and means opera le to actuate said trip device to release said awl.

8. A washing match ing means, an endless conveyor operable to means, a ratchet wheel driven by said driving means, a rotating disc connected with said conveyor for driving the same, a'pawl carried by said disc and adapted to eng age said ratchet wheel for connectin said opening said valve.

9. A washing machine comprising washing means, an endless chain conveyor adapted to support and frictionally engage baskets containing .the articles to be washed and move them past said washing means ,,,.con-

'tinuously operating driving means, and in-- ine comprising wash-.

move the articles to be washed past said washing means, continuously operating driving termittently o crating means for drivin said conveyor rom said drivingmeans, sai operating means bein controlled automatically, or by hand,'opt1ona1ly.

10. A washing machine comprising washing means, a conveyor adapted art and frictionallyengage baskets containmg the articles to be washed and move them past said washing means, baskets seating upon said conveyor, conveyor operating to supmeans, and means controlling the operation of said operating means, said. controlling means including a trigger extending into the at-h of the entering basket, the baskets being ree from the conveyor except for the frictional contact between the conveyor and said baskets.

GEORGE 1?. AN STISS.

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