US1933413A - Driving mechanism - Google Patents

Description

' DRIVING MECHANI SM Original Filed June 29, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 31, 1933. P. BRUCKMANN ET AL 1,933,413

DRIVING MECHANI SM Original Filed June 29, 1927 2 SheetsSheet 2 Y of the drum may be had. Accordingly, after the Patented Oct. 31, 1933 TE TO FEE 1,933,413 nmvmo MECHANISM Peter 0. Bruckmann, William R.- Hager, and John i C. Griflith, St. Louis, Mo., assignors, by mesne assignments, to United States Hofil'man Machinery Corporation, New York, N. Y., a cor- 1 poration of Delaware ApplicationlJun'e 29, 1927, Serial No. 202,271

Renewed February 19, 1932 7 Claims. -(o1.19.2 135 This invention pertains to washing machines for laundries and more particularly to driving mechanism for the same. I

Most large washing machines for laundry use are constructed with a large rotating drum enclosed within a tub and arranged to be rotated 1 therein-in order to agitate the clothes being washed. The drum is provided with a door through which the contents may be inserted or removed. The tub, which is usually cylindrical in form, is also provided-with a door for access to the drum. vWhen it is necessary to insert or remove articles from the drum, the'doors of the drum; and the tub must be brought into registry With eachpther so that access to the interior drum has been stopped, it must usually be moved until its door comes opposite the door of thetub. Such a drum, when loaded with goods, is ex tremely heavy and the movement thereof by hand would be extremely difhcult and very slow.

One of. the objects of-thisinvention, therefore,

is to provide means wherebytpower may be ap-' sition after it has been brought to such afposition Another object of thisinvention, thereforejis to provide means wherebypower may be applied by the application of power drive. i I

to the drum for turning the same througl1;any-

desired short interval of-time and to provide means for stopping and holding the drum in any adjusted position. a

Another object is to provide such moving and holding means which may be applied alternately in quick succession.

Another object 0f thisinvention-is to provide means for interlocking the driving mechanism and the door of the tub so that the door cannot.

be opened while the drum is moving. 1 I

Another object is to provide such interlocking means which'will prevent starting of the drum when the door is open. a v 1 Further objects will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanyin d aw snw ch Figure 1 is a planview, of a power driven laundry tub embodying this "invention;

@ Figure ,2 is a right hand end view of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged detail .showing the door vl qcking mechanism; and

ing mechanism taken online 4-4 of Figure 2. i

Referring now'to the drawings, 1 designates a laundry tub which in the illustration is cylindrical in form and which provides both a container for the washing medium and a housing for the drum 2. The drum 2 is mounted in any suitable manner for rotation within the tub 1. I, The details of this mounting are not shown in the drawings, as such details are wellknown inthe art.

. Mounted in any suitable manner von the tub 1 isa frame 5, upon which the driving mechanism may be 'mounted. This mechanism includes a shaft 6 connected by suitable gearing enclosed withintheend housings 7 to drivethe drum 2. Fixed to theshaft 6 is a pulley 8 adapted-to receive a belt for driving the same. ,On opposite sides of the pulley 8and loose on the shaft 6 are idler pulleys- 9 and 10. The pulleys 9 and lil'are adapted-to receive driving belts. As is usual in such a drive, the belt on one of these pulleys is an open one, while the other belt is crossed so that by shifting one or the other of these belts to the pulley 8, the drum may be drivenin either direction. A belt shifter 11 provided with belt shifting loops 12 is provided to move one or, the other belt to the pulley.8. Automatic mechanism, indicated generally at 4, is adapted to move the shifter 11 back and forth periodically was to shift'one or the other belt to the pulley 8 in order to impart to the drum an intermittentrotation in opposite directions, Mechanism for this purpose is well known in the art and is, therefore, not shown in the drawings and vneed not be described in detail.

Arranged within the pulley 10 is a clutch 13 adapted for operation to connect this pulley with the shaft 6 for driving the latter. The clutch 13 maybe provided with an operating member 14 adapted to be engaged by a shifter. 15. This shifterisslidable on the shaft 6 and the arrangements are such that when it is shifted tothe right, Figure 1, its conical end portion is brought into engagement with'the operating member 14 so as to operate the clutch to connect the pulleylO with the shaft 6 for driving the drum.

4 Mounted on a stationary part 16 of theframe 5 is a similar clutch'l'? having an operating member 18 engageable by the opposite end of the shifter 15 when the latter is moved to the left,

Y r r .60 I Figure 4 is a sectional detail of theinterlock- Figure l. The clutch 17 provides a brake adapted to hold the shaft 6 stationary when the drum has been moved to adjusted position.

' The shifter 15 is operated by a lever 19 pivoted at 20 on the frame 5 and connected by a link 21,

i a bell crank 22 and a link 23 with an operating lever 24. The lever 24 provides a manipulative element whereby the operator may move the shifter 15 so as to either apply power for moving the drum or set the brake 1'? so as to hold the drum in adjusted position. It will be seen that by moving the lever 24 upward or downward the power may be applied to the drum for as short an interval as desired and the brake 17 may be immediately set at any desired point. This provides that the drum may be inched along from any position in which it may happen to stop to such a position as to bring its door opposite the door of the tub.

The tub I is provided with sliding doors 25, each having a handle 26, by means of which it may be slid upwardly so as to open the same. An auxiliary door 27 may be provided for observing the interior of the tub at any time.

In order to prevent opening the door 25 while the tub is rotating and also to prevent starting the tub in rotation while the door is open, looking mechanism is provided. Mounted to slide on the frame 5 is a block 28 (see Figure 3) having a slot 29, through which a screw 30 passes, so as to hold the block to the frame and at the same time permit sliding movement thereof along the frame. Adjustably mounted on the block 28 by means of pin and slot connections is a plate 31 having downwardly projecting lugs 33, which, in certain positions of the block 28, will stand opposite the ends of a pair of rails or ribs 32, one of which is secured to each of the doors 25.. In the position shownin Figure 3, the lugs 33 are clear of the rails 32, and in this position the doors may be opened. When the block 28 is shifted to the left, from the position shown in Figure 3, these lugs move into position opposite the ends of said rails so as to prevent opening the doors. The block 28 is secured by means of a bracket 34 to the link 21, so as to move therewith. By this arrangement,

when the lever 24 is moved so as to render the I clutch 13 operative to move the drum, the block 28 moves to the left, so as to prevent opening of the doors 25. The lugs 33 then stand in front of the ends of the ribs 32 and in this way the opening of these doors is prevented, while the drum is in motion.

An operating handle 35 is connected to a sliding link 36 which, in turn, is connected by means of a crank arm 37 to a shaft 38, the rotation of which operates to throw in or out the automatic mechanism 4 so as to start or stop the normal operation ,of the drum. The link 36 runs substantially parallel with the link 23. Both of these links move longitudinally in their normal operation, and both are arranged to slide through a block 39 mounted on the tub. This block is shown in section in Figure 4 and is provided with a bore 40 running transversely of the bores through which the rods 23 and 36 slide, so as to intersect said bores. Mounted in the bore 40 and between the rods 23 and 36 is a locking device comprising a pair of dogs 41, each having a rounded end adapted to fit into a notch 42 in one or the other of the rods 23 and 36. These dogs are bored to receive between them a spring 43 tending to separate the same. As shown in Figure 4, it will be seen that the length of the combined dogs 41 is too great to fit between the rods 23 and 36 unless the notch 42 in one of them stands opposite a dog 41 so that its end may be seated therein. Accordingly, when one of these rods is moved so as to displacethe notch 42, the other will be locked against movement by the dogs. The rods are thus interlocked'so that when one is in operative position, the other will be locked in inoperative position. Accordingly, when the drum is in motion, the lever 24 will be locked against movement, and when the lever 24 is moved so as to operate either the clutch 13 or the brake 17, it will be impossible to start the drum with the handle 35.

In order to indicate the position of the drum, the end of the drum shaft has mounted thereon and outside of the housing 7 a pointer which rotates with the drum. An index 45 may then be placed on the outside of the housing 7 so as to show that position of the drum in which its door registers with the door 25 of the tub. This enables the operator to move the drum around to the proper position and lock the same before opening any of the doors.

In order to protect the mechanism mounted on the frame 5 and to prevent accidental contact therewith of any person passing behind the machine, a screen or guard 46 may be mounted on the frame 5 in rear'of said mechanism, as indicated in Figures 1 and 2. This may be constructed of perforated sheetmetal, wire mesh or any other suitable material.

It will be seen, therefore, that this invention provides a simple and effective means for controlling a laundry drum of this type. When the drum is stopped the door 25 may be opened and, while open, it will be impossible to start the driving mechanism. While this door is open the'operation of the clutch 13 will also be prevented so that there will be no possibility of moving I the drum with the door open. Accordingly, it will be perfectly safe for the operator to remove and replace the contents of the drum. When the door is closed, however, the drum mayv be.

inched along to the" desired position by means of the handle 24, even when the belt shifter is in neutral position. It will be noted that when the shifter 11 is in neutral position'so thatthein the details of construction without departing.

from the spirit of this invention; it is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a laundry machine the combination with a heavy drum and power connections for driving the same, of control mechanism, comprising, belt shifting mechanism for driving said drumin opposite directions including a loose pulley adapted to receive the driving belt when in non-driving position, a' clutch on said pulley engageable to drive said drum, a brake operable to stop said drum, and a manipulative element connected for movement in one direction to engage said clutch and release said brake, and for movement in another direction to release said clutch and set said brake. I

2. In a laundry machine the combination with a movable drum enclosed in a tub providedwith a door, of driving mechanism for the drum, controlling means for said mechanism, movable means cooperative with the door adapted to lock said controlling means in inoperative position when the parts are in such position that'the door may be opened, a clutch adapted to engage the.

drum with said driving mechanism, a brake operable to stop said-drum, and a manipulative element connected for movement one direction to engage said clutch and release said brake, and

for movement in another direction to release said clutch and set said brake.

3. In a laundry machine having a movable drum enclosed in a tub provided with a door, driving mechanism for the drum, controlling means for said mechanism, movable means cooperative with the door adapted. to lock said controlling means in inoperative position when the parts are in such relation that the door may be opened, a clutch adapted to engage the drum with said driving mechanism, a brake for the drum, and

means for alternately operating said clutch and said brake, said locking means being adapted to lock said operating means so as to permitinching the drum and also'to permit braking the same.

4. In a laundry machine having a movable.

drum, the combination with a tub enclosing said drum and, having a doorway, of a door slidable across said doorway, a rib secured to the door and extending lengthwise of the path of movement of the door, driving mechanism for said drum, a clutch for engaging'the drum and drivtherein;

ing mechanism' for driving, said drum in opposite directions, including a loose pulley adapted to receive the driving belt when in non-driving position; a clutch on said pulley engageable to drive said drum;v a brake operable to stop said drum; a manipulative element connected for movement in one direction to engage said clutch and release said brake and for movement in another direction to release said clutch and set said brake; and means cooperative with the belt shifting mechanism and the manipulative element to lock the same against simultaneous opera-- tion.

6. A structure as setforth in claim 5, wherein the means to lock the belt shifting mechanism and the manipulative element embodies a fixed block, two rods slidable vthrough. the same in spaced relation, each rod having a recess formed and an expansible locking element mounted between said rods'in a recess in said block, the ends of said block standing in the path or" movement of the recesses as the rods are shifted.

'7. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub provided with a door; a drum mounted for rotation in the tub and likewise provided with a door; means including a power driven element.

for imparting rotative movement to the drum; operator operated means for rendering the same effective; a. lock for the tub door; a brake associated with the powerdriven element; aclutch also associated therewith; and operator operated means for alternately rendering the clutch and brake effective, said means also being inter-related with the door lock and acting to free said lock when and only when the drum is at rest, whereby the drum may be inched to effect registry of the doors and then brought to rest and the door lock moved to inoperative position.

PETER o. BRUCKMANN. WILLIAM R. HAGER. JOHN CrGRIFFITH.

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