US1756318A - Washing machine with multiple liquid-impelling device - Google Patents

Description

April 29, 1930. w. H. voss 6,

WASHING MACHINE WITH MULTIPLE LIQUID IMPELLING DEVICE Filed March 13,, 1925 s Sheets-Sheet 1 aw/(1W. 5547055;

April 29, 1930.

w. H. voss WASHING MACHINE WITH MULTIPLE LIQUID IMPELLING DEVICE Filed March 13 1925 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 r m m April 29, 1930.. v H v 1,75 ,31

WASHING MACHINE WITH MULTIPLE LIQUID IMPELLING DEVICE Filed March 13,1925 1 5 Sheets-sheaf, s

Patented Apr. 29,1930

WILLIAM H. voss, or DAVENPORT, IOWA WASHING MACHINE WITH MULTIPLE LIQUID-IMPELLING DEVICE Application filed March 13, 1925. Serial No. 15,219.

' washing machine which will effect a thorough agitation of the materials to be washed irrespective of their position in the tub.

Another ob ect of my invention is to provide a multiple liquid agitator construction in for a Washing machine wherein the liquid thattheffilfiitidisposed between tlmserotat agitators operate in the liquid of the tub with the fabrics therebetween so that a thorough washing action is imparted to the fabrics from a plurality ofpoints or zones within the tub.

Still another object of this invention resides in providing a multiple liquid agitator construction including an agitator mounted in the bottom of the tub where it will operate to impel the liquids in a general direction upwardly and for also another liquid agitator in the tub above and in spaced relation from the lower liquid agitator, the second liquid agitatorfunctioning to impel the liquid downwardlyijiiiageneralrdirection so ing liquid agitators will be thoroughly cleansed. I

Still anotherobject of this invention resides in providing the tub with an upstanding drive shaft and in providing the drive shaft with one or more liquid agitators which are adaptedto be rotated by said shaft but slide longitudinally thereof so as to be bodil detachable from said shaft and removable rom the tub. I

Another object of the invention resides in providing a washing machine tube with a shaft extending upwardly from the bottom thereof and providing the shaft with a liquid agitator generally in the form of a flat disk adapted to lie substantially snugly against the bottom of the tub and slightly spaced therefrom, the liquid agitator being provided with upwardly projecting liquid impelling means, together With' a second agitatormounted on said shaft in such a way that the second agitator, while being rotated by said shaft, is free to adjust itself automatically to operate substantially at the water level of" the tub, said second agitator having depending liquid impelling means thereon adapted to force the liquid downwardly in a generaldirection toward the first mentioned agitator.

Still another object of this invention rcsides in providing the tub of the washing machine with a shaft projecting upwardly through the bottom thereof and in providing the shaft with one or more rotatable liquid agitators which'are adapted to be driven by said shaft, together with a water tight arrangement of shaft construction so that the liquid in the tub will not tend to leak through the) bearings for the shaft in the bottom of the tn Yet another object of this invention resides in providing the bottom of the tub with a water drain and in suitably inclining the bottom of the tub so that the liquid will drain therefrom. 7

Yet another object of this invention resides in providing the tub with an inclined bottom and with a centrally upstanding shaft, together with a liquid agitator operatively mounted oiftlie' shaft and positioned *adjaeefifthe bottom of the tub, said liquid agitator being (provided with a depending flange extending below the surface of the tub and adapted to prevent fabrics from lodging sides in providing a hinged construction for the top of the tub which is adapted'to provide a positive stop for the full open position of the hinged cover.

Yet another feature of the invention resides in providing a tub with a centrally positioned upstanding shaft and in providing the shaft with a water tight driving connec- 7 tion with one or more liquid agitators, said connection and liquid agitators being constructed and arranged -to ermit the quick endwise removal of the liquid agitators from the shaft.

Yet another feature'of my invention resides in the novel construction of afloating liquid agitator constructed of metal and provided with depending liquidf impelling members which are adapted to thoroughly agitate the liquid as the liquidagitators floats substantially on the surface of the liquid.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a perusal of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherem:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the interior of the tub showing the upper and lower li uid impelling members. v

igure 2 is a sectional view of the tub and liquid impeller construction. lFigure 3 is a plan view ofthe bottom of the tu Figure 4 is a bottom view of the under face of the upper liquid impeller.

. 2 preferably made of metal.

I broken Figure 5. is a side View of the sleeve which provides a water tight connection for the drive shaft.

Figure 6 is a plan View of the upper face of the lower liquid impeller. 1

Figure 7 is a broken detailed View of the hinge connection for the cover of the tub.

Figure 8 is a view of the cover shown in osition. s

And,- i ure 9 is a view showing the pivoted joint etween the the top and the cover of the tub.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, my washing machine comprises the usual support 1 carrying the substantially circular tub This tub is provided with a bottom 3 preferably having a central aperture upwardly through which projects into the tub a central drive shaft for the tub. 5

' In order to provide a Water tight construction to permit this upstanding drive shaft to project upwardly through the tub, the central aperture in the bottom of. the tub 3 is provided with a substantially disk-like mom: her 4 which is formed with a downwardly depending tube like flange 5 internally screw threaded. This disk-like member lis bolted to the inner face of the bottom 3 of the tub by means of a Wooden circular block 6 and an outward reinforcing disk-like members 7 A series of bolts 8 securely fasten the inner disklike member 4, the wooden circular block 6 and the outer reinforcing disk 7 to the bottom of I the tub 3. The outer reinforcing member 7 is also provided with an outwardly projecting boss 9 which forms a lower bearing for the upstanding shaft 10. The tubular sleeve 5 which is interiorly threaded has screwed projections.

thereinto an upstanding tube or sleeve of shaft 10 is riveted as at 12, an outer casing 13 made of aluminum. In the preferred form the casing is provided with one or more feathers 14; either formed integrally therewith or in any other desired manner. The

upper portion of sleeve" 13 is preferably formed substantially circular or 'domelike.

The inside of the sleeve 13 is provided Witl upper and lower bearings 15 and 16 respectively which contacts with the outside periphery of the brass tube or sleeve 11 and thereby form steadying bearings for the sleeve. The lubrication therefore is effected at thesetwo points by the soapy water in the tub.

The bottom 3 of the tub is placed on a slant or incline so that it will drain to one side. And the lower side is provided with a drain hole 16 formed with a spout- 17.

The liquid agitator mechanism of the, tub preferably comprises one or more liquid impelling members which are adapted to be alternately rotated by means of the shaft 10. This shaft 10 is preferably driven by suitable power operated automatic reversing mechanism as is well known in the art. In the preferred form illustrated the liquid impelling mechanism comprises a lower liquid agitator generally in the form of a substantially flat disk-like member 18 which is provided on its upper surface with gne or more upstanding Inv the present instance these prOje c'tiOnsar'e shown as a plurality of blades 19, preferably formed in radial arrangement from the axis of oscillation of the liquid impeller. The hub of the liquid impeller is provided with a central bore which receives the sleeve 18. And the bore is provided with one or more slots 20 which fit overthe feathers 14 so that while the li uid impeller is rotatably driven by the sha t 10 it is free to slide longitudinally thereof so as to be detachable completely from the tub at a moments notice. This liquid impeller being heavier than the water, it is normally ,arranged to be positioned at the bottom of the tub in juxtaposition to the bottom wall 3 thereof, being slightly spaced from the bottom of the tub to permit free rotation of the liquid impeller. This spacing isv accomplished by means of stops 21 on the lower ends of the feathers 14. These stops engage the under surface of the liquid agitator 18 and prevent it from moving downwardly in the bottom of the tub 3. I 2 In order to prevent fabrics or other materials from lodging beneath the liquid agitator 1 8, that is, getting in betweenthe bottom of the liquid agitator l8 and the bottom of the tub, the liquid agitator is provided with a peripheral" downwardly depending flange 22 which forms a guard. Inasmuch as the bottom of the tub 3 is inclined and since the depending flange 22 would strike the bottom of the tub as the liquid agitator oscillates, the bottom is provided with a circular groove 23 so that. the flange 22 when it rotates will de pend the-reinto. and will project below the plane of the bottom of the tub. This provides a very snug arrangement of the bottom of the tub and the liquid agitator so as to actually preclude any fabrics from lodging beneath the liquid agitator 18 as it oscillates. It will be noticed that the groove 23 is made deeper on the higher side of the bottom of the tub to prevent contact between the flange 22 and the bottom of the groove or sides thereof. This groove is provided with a trench 24 connecting with drain 16.

For the purpose of providing a thorough and effective agitation for all of the fabrics in the washing machine tub, and from every point or zone of the tub, I provide a second liquid agitator which is adapted to operate on the liquid level. or at the liquid level and to agitate the water downwardly toward the lower liquid agitator. This lower liquid agitator, by its construction, in turn throws the water in a general direction upwardly toward the upper liquid agitator whereby fabrics which are positioned between these two liquid agitators are most thoroughly.

cleansed from above and below. In this way no portion of the fabrics within the tub become stagnant. This, upper liquid agitator is made of metal or of any durable substance which will not lie-effected by the water. I have provided a construction whereby this upper liquid agitator is adapted to automatically follow the liquid level, for instance, if the tub be completely full of water the liquid agitator will be positioned substantially at the top of the tub as it rotates. On the other hand if the tub be only half full of water this liquid agitator will'be so positioned substantially half way the height of the tub as the liquid agitator rotates. In order to permits this liquid agitator to rotate on the surface of the water, in the present instance, I provide it with an air compartment, constructed as to give it desired buoyancy so that it will sink to a desired depth in the water, just enough to emerge the liquid impelling member thereon into effective position to produce'the best agitation of the fabrics and the liquid in the tub. Any desired degree of submergence of the liquid agitator may be secured by varying the capacity of the air chamber in the liquid agitator. In the preferred form of construction this upper liquid agitator 25 is formed of upper and lower sections 26 and 27 suitably bolted together as at 28and provided with an inner lining.

39 is hinged The joint between these sections 26 and 27 is made water tight'in any suitable manner.

The air chamber is denoted by the nlnneral 29; The lowersection 27 is provided with the hub 30, which hub is formed with oppositely disposed slots 31 adapted to fitthe feathers with the liquid levelin the tub. In addition,

this hub is provided with a flange which forms a hand hold whereby theliquid agitator may be quickly removed from the tub.

The bottom portion of the liquid agitator is provided with depending liquid impelling members 33 of any desired form. These members are generally disposed so as 'to throw the water downwardly toward the lower liquid agitator and arearranged to impart effective agitation to the fabrics and the liquid in the tub.

The top of the tub is provided with a closure. In'the present form the top is provided with an inner rim like member 34 provided with a substantially large opening. At one end of this rim 34 is provided with two spaced apart projections 35 and 36, each of which is provided with a downwardly depending ear 37 having a bore 38. The cover between these ears 37. This cover is formed as a flat top for the tub. The cover is likewise cut away to correspond to the opening between the portions 35 and 36 and is formed also with downwardly depending ears 4O likewise provided with bores 41. Pins 42 hingedly connect the cover 39 to the rim projections 35 and 36. As shown in Figure 8, when the cover is thrown to its full open position, the top of the cover will strike against ledge 43 and prcventit from further opening. The rear portion of the cover, as at 44, is cut away to fit the ledge 43 when the cover is in closed position. Inaddition the cover 39 is provided with a hand hold formed of a depressed portion 45 so that there are no upstanding projections on the surface of the cover, or on the surface of the rim portion 34 of the cover. In this way the top of the tub is formed at a level surface.

In the operation of my improved device when the shaft 10 is alternately rotated, the lower metal liquid agitator 18 will be likewise rotated to agitate the liquid and fabrics and cause a general upward movement thereof At the same time the upper aluminum liquid agitator is rotated by shaft 10 and due to the air chamber and the'proportioning of parts, it will rise and seek its level according to the amount of water in the tub. The weight of the liquid agitator and the capacity of the air' chamber is arranged so as to sufficiently submerge the liquid agitator into the water almost to the top line of the adapted to be adjustably maintained in spa ed apart relation so as toreceive there? bet een variant volumes of the materialto -bg/leansed, and means for positively rotating said liquid impelling members.

2. In a washing machine, a. tub adapted to contain liquid, a drive shaft projecting into said tub, means for rotating said drive shaft, and a lurality of separate liquid impelling mem ers .slidably mounted on and adapted to be positivelyrotated by said shaft,

o'said members having liquid impellers facing each other. 3. In a washing-machine, a tub adapted to contain liquid, a drive shaft projecting into said tub, means for rotating said shaft, a

plurality of liquid impelling members operatively driven by said shaft, and means for permitting said liquid impelling members to move bodily, relatively.

4. In a washing machine, a tub adapted into said tub, means for rotating'said shaft, :1 liquid impeller disposed at the bottom of said tub and operatively driven by said shaft, a second liquid impeller operatively driven by said shaft, said second liquid impeller being constructed and arranged to rotate .in various horizontal planes in said liquid in spaced relatlon from and above said first mentloned liquid impeller.

5. In a washing machine, to contain cleansing liquid, a drive shaft adapted to project into said tub, two liquid to contain liquid, a drive shaft projecting,

a tub adapted 7, In a washing machine, a tub adapted to contain a liquid, a shaft adapted to pro'ect into said tub, means for rotating) said sha t, a liquid impelling member slida ly keyed on said shaft and removable endwise therefrom,

saidliquid impelling member adapted to be positioned adjacent the bottom of the tub and having upwardly projecting liquid impelling means, a second liquid impelling member slidably keyed on said shaft and removable enclwise therefrom, said second liquid impelling member being constructed and arranged to rotate substantially on the surface of the liquid in the tub. I 8. In a washing machine, in combination with a tub having a flat inclined bottom, a liquid impelling member adapted to rotate adjacent to said bottom, said liquid impelling member having upwardly projecting impelling means and a downwardly projecting peripheral flange, and a circular channel of variable depth for thereception of said flange.

impeller members mounted on said shaft and 7 adapted to be rotated thereby, one of said liquid mpeller members being "adapted to rotate in a fixed plane, the other member belng constructed and arranged to auto- 9. In a Washing machine, a tub having a bottom provided with acentral aperture, a rigid facing for the inner Wall of said bottom, said facing having a tubular interiorly threaded flange fitting intg the central aperture of said tub bottom, a reinforcing block disposed on the outer face of the tub bottom, and means for connectin said tub bottom,the inner facing and said In 00k, a tube screwed into said tubular flange and projecting into the tub above the normal liquid level thereof, a shaft passing through said sleeve and extending above the end of the sleeve inthe tub, a closed ended casing enclosing and connected to the upper end of the shaft and-bearing laterally on the upper and lower portion of the tube as it rotates, and a plurality of liq- ,said liquid lmpelllng member comprlslng a.

. matically shift longitudinally of said shaft.

:obcorrespond to the height of liquid in said 6. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to contain cleansing liquid, a liquid impelling member mounted to rotate in the bottom of said tub, asecond liquid impelling member in said tub composed of material, of greater specific gravity than the liquid, means for rotating said second member in said tub, said second member and means being constructed and arranged to permit said second member to rotate substantially on the surface of the liquid and to permit it automatically to move lengthwise of its axis of rotation during rotation so as to be capable of rotating in any plane correspondingv to the liquid level in said tub...

lower section having an integral head portion provided with slots adapted to pass over the feathers on said sleeve and a hub section having an upstanding handle hold, said last section having dependin liquid impelllng means integral therewith, and an upper section adapted to make a water tight fit with the lower section and means for detachably connecting said sections together to form an interior air chamber. j

'11. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to contain cleansing liquid, two liquid impelling membersdisposed in said tub, means for positively rotating said members, and'means for ermitting said members automatically to shi t relatively during rotation to vary the distance therebetween. I

12. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to contain a cleansing liquid, a vertical shaft upstanding from the bottom of said tub, a liquid tatable adjacent the bottom of the tub and provided with upwardly projecting liquid impelling means, a second liquid impelling member rotatable with said shaft in the liquid above and in spaced relation to the first member, said second member having depending liquid impelling means, said liquid impelling members being slidable endwise of said shaft for removal therefrom and from said tub.

13. "In a washing machine the combination of a tub, a shaft extending into said tub, a liquid impelling member located on said shaft at the bottom .of the tub arranged to throw the washing liquid toward the top of the tub, and

another liquid impelling member adapted to rotate in spaced relation from the first member and adapted to'throw the liquid toward the first mentioned member, one of said members being slidable on said shaft.

.14. In a washing machine, the combination of a, tub, a shaft extending into said tub,'and liquid impelling members rotatable disposed on said shaft in vertically superimposed, spaced-apart relation and adapted to circu-, late the washing liquid in a general direction toward each other, one of said members be- Y ing slidable on said shaft.

15. .In a washing machine, a combination of a tub, two oscillatable members mounted in the tub in spaced apart superimposed relation and adapted to receive the clothes therebetween, said members having liquid impolling vanes extending toward each other, and one of said members being shiftable on said shaft.

16. In a washing machine, the combina tion of a tub, two alternating rotary members mounted in the tub in spaced-apart superimposed relation and adapted to receive the clothes therebetween, said members having liquid impelling vanes extending toward each other, and said members being relatively movable-toward and from each other.

17. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, two alternatingrotary members mounted in the tub in spaced-apart superimposed relation and adapted to receive the clothes therebetween, said members having liquid impelling vanes extending toward each other, and one of said members being arranged automatically to follow the water line in the tub;

18. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, two alternating rotary members mounted in the tub in spaced apart superimposed relation and adapted to receive the clothes therebetween, said members having liquid impelling vanes extending toward each other, the lower member being disposed adjacent the bottom of the tub and the upper member having means causing it to float in the liquid and to follow the water line.

19. In a washing machine, the combination posed relation and adapted to receive the clothes therebetween, said members having liquid impelling vanes extending toward each other, said members being constructed and arranged to automatically move relatively to ward and from each other depending upon the quantity of clothes therebetween.

20. In a washing machine, the combination with the tub, a liquid agitating member of greater specific gravity than the liquid in the tub, means for oscillatably supporting the agitator within the tub, said means being constructed and arranged to permit the free vertical movement of the agitator in the tub and said agitator having liquid impelling means of substantial width depending outwardly from its underportion so as to cause a circulation of-the washing liquid and said agitator having a float adapted to render the agitator buoyant, and a second agitating member mounted on said supporting means.

21. An agitator for a washing machine composed of metal and having a hollow portion forminga float, said portion having a substantially .circular bottom wall formed ating from the under surface of the body, 7

said means increasing in width from the inner to the outer portions thereof whereby to effect a circulation of the water.

23. In a washing machine, the combination .of a tub, a single shaft adapted to extend vertically into said tub and adapted to be driven first in one direction and then in the other, a plurality of liquid impelling members mounted on said shaft for rotation there- Willi]? and freely slidable endwise of said s a t.

24. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, a shaft extending into said tub and a plurality of liquid impelling members mounted on said shaft and freely slidable thereon.

25. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, a shaft extending into said tub, and a plurality of liquid impelling members mounted on said shaft and freely slidable thereon, said members being provided with vanes extending toward each other.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

WILLIAM H. voss.

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