US2048199A

US2048199A - Timing device

Info

Publication number: US2048199A
Application number: US630021A
Authority: US
Inventors: John W Racklyeft
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1932-08-23
Filing date: 1932-08-23
Publication date: 1936-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 1953-07-21

Description

July 21, 1936- J. w. RACKLYEFT TIMING DEVICE Filed Aug. 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR (JOHN W RACKLYEFT July 21, 1936- J. w. RACKLYEFT TIMING DEVICE Fil ed Aug. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR doH/v W RACKLYEF T TTORNEY Patented July 21,, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIMING DEVICE John W. Backlyeit, Cleveland, Ohio Application August 23, 1932, Serial No. 630,021

6 Claims. (Cl. 192-142) This invention relates to timing devices, and in particular devices for the control of washing machines and other appliances in which it is desirable to operate the appliance over various predetermined time intervals.

One 01' the objects of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive timing device for the control of washing machines and other appliances. A further object of this invention is to provide a timing device for motor driven appliances, in which the timer may be set to an "ofl, and on, or a motor running position, and at third position in which the motor willoperate for a predetermined selected period of time. whereupon it is automatically stopped by the timer.

With these and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in some of its embodiments in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an enlarged plan view of the gear mechanism of a washing machine with certain of the parts broken away for convenience of iilustratlon. of the washing machine frame and mechanism taken on line 2-2, Figure 7. Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3, Figure 2. Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view of the timing mechanism shown in Figure 2. Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of the indicating dial 0! the timer. Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 66, Figure 2, of the timer driving mechanism. Figure 7 is a side elevational view of a washing machine illustrating one mode of practicing my invention.

For the sake of illustration, I have shown my timer in connection with the washing machine of the agitator type, comprising a washing tub I, in which there is provided a vertically oscillatable dasher or agitator 2. The agitator is driven by means 01 an electric motor 3 through suitable gearing which will be described in detail present- The operation of the agitator'is controlled by means of a control lever 4. The duration of time which the machine runs is under control of a manually adjustable indicating dial 5, which is located at a convenient point in the frame 6 ot the machine. The operating mechanism of the machine comprises a worm I and a worm gear 8. These gearsare housed within a suit:

. turn, is driven by the electric motor 3.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view able gear case 9 which is provided with a cover it. The worm gear is rigidly secured to a driving shaft ii, upon which is secured a pulley i2.

The pulley i2 is engaged by a belt l3, which in The 5 worm gear 8 is arranged to provide a bearing for a pin i4, which is fixedly secured to one end of a connecting rod I5. At the opposite end of the rod IS, a corresponding pin it. is secured. The pin i6 is journaled in a reciprocating rack bar l0 H, which engages with a pinion i 8. The pinion i8 is rigidly secured to a shaft iii, to which the agitator 2 is secured and thereby driven, when the motor 3 is running and the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1. g 15 The worm gear 8 meshes with a gear 20, which is provided for driving a wringer (not shown). The teeth of the mutilated pinion gear 2i, engage with the rack teeth 22 of the laterally movable rack bar bearing member 23. The control lever 4 is operably connected to the pinion 2| to shift the rack bar into and out of engagement with the pinion i8, for the purpose of connecting and disconnecting the agitator 2 from its dri ing mechanism. 25

The connecting rod I5 is provided with an upstanding lug 24 to drive a star gear 25, which is carried upon the end of a shaft 26. The shaft 26 is journaled at one end in a housing member 21, which is secured to the cover iii of the gear case 9. Upon the rotation of the worm gear I, the lug 24 will advance the star gear one tooth for each revolution of the worm gear. The other end of the shaft 25 is journaled in a bearing 5! and is provided at its extreme end with a cam or eccentric portion 28. The eccentric 28 is fitted into a suitable opening 28, provided by a pawl 30. This pawl may be conveniently formed from a stamping, and it is provided with an inturned side 3|, the upper end of which engages with the teeth of the gear 32.

The pawl is slidably received in a guide way, which is provided by the intumed lips 33 of the frame 34. A spring 35 holds the pawl in contact with the eccentric 28, and the gear 32. A second pawl 36, is journaled on a pin 31 which is carried by the housing 34. A spring 38 holds the pawl 36 in contact with the gear 32. The gear 22 has a portion 39 from which several 0! the gear teeth have been removed so that when the gear is in the position shown in Figure 3, the operation of the pawl 30 will not eii'ect its rotation. The gear 32 may be formed with ratchet teeth if desired, instead of the conventional gear teeth shown.

The pawl 36 is provided for the purpose of preventing the reverse movement of the gear, and it has two fingers 40 and 4|, which fit in the spaces between the gear teeth. The use of the two fingers is necessitated by reason of the removal of the gear teeth from the space 39, for if none of the gear teeth were removed, a single finger on the pawl 36 would sufflce for this purpose.

A block or lug 42 is carried by and near the outer edge of the gear 32 for the purpose of shifting the operating member 43 of a switch 44. The switch 44 is normally maintained in the position shown in full lines of Figure 3, by means of a spring (not shown). In this position, which is the closed position of the switch, the electric motor 3 is connected to a source of electrical current supply. The dotted line position for the switch, as shown in Figure 3, corresponds to the open position of the switch in which the motor is disconnected from the source of electrical current supply. The electric cord from the switch for making connection with the electrical current supply line is indicated by the numeral 45. The electric cord between the switch and the motor is indicated by the numeral 46.

The gear 32 is provided with a boss 41 for, receiving a shaft 48, which is held in position thereat by means of a set screw 48. The indicating dial or knob 5 is secured to the outer end of the shaft 48. This dial is provided with suitable graduations to indicate the approximate time interval the motor will operate when the dial is set with such graduation opposite to the arrow 50. The dial is also marked to indicate the off and on positions of the motor.

When the indicating dial is in the oif position, the parts of the timing device are in the position shown in the dotted lines of Figure 3, and the switch 44 is in its open position. When the dial is in the on position, the parts of the timing device occupy the full line position illustrated by Figure 3, in which the motor switch is in the closed position and the motor is connected to a source of electrical current supply.

When the device is in the position illustrated by the full lines in Figure 3, the gear 32 will not be driven, by reason of the fact that the pawl 3| is operating in the portion 39 of the gear from which the gear teeth have been removed. If it is desired to operate the washing machine over a given length of time, the indicating dial is turned counter-clockwise direction to the time desired, and the timing device then commences to operate, and runs for the period for which it has been set.

The fingers 40 and 4| of the holding pawl engage the gear teeth at an angle so that the gear may be manually rotated in a counterclocbwise direction as viewed in Figure 3 against the action of the holding pawl. The indicating dial 5 provides a convenient means for manipulating the device in the aforesaid manner. The lug 42 is arranged with respect to the toothless portion of the gear and the switch operating member 43 so that the switch is opened by the action of the pawl 3| Just before the toothless portion of the gear is brought into registry with this pawl. The indicating dial and the gear 32 may then be moved a slight amount to bring the toothless part of the gear into registry with the pawl II and while this operation is being performed the lug is moved out of contact with the switch operating member and the switch then snaps to its closed position connecting the motor of the machine to a source of electrical current supply. whereupon the pawl 3| merely reciprocates into the toothless part of the gear and does not efl'ect rotation of the gear. 32.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that this 5 device readily lends itself for use in washing machines and other appliances in which it is advantageous to automatically control the operation of the mechanism over a given length of time. By reason of the cutting away of some of the gear teeth, the appliance may also be used when it is not desired to time its operation.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular forms of apparatus shown and described and the particular procedure set forth are presented for purposes of illustration and explanation and that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as described in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a power operated machine having a driving motor and a reciprocating member connected to the motor by a motion-converting speed-re- 25 ducing power transmission, the combination with a timing device comprising a switch for the m0- tor, and manually settable means comprising a mutilated gear, a pawl for driving said gear through various selected angles of less than three hundred and sixty degrees, said pawl being ineffective for driving said gear when registering with the toothless portion thereof, a driving connection between the reciprocating member of said machine and said pawl, a member carried by said a gear for operating said switch, and a manually adjustable indicating dial for setting said means to operate said switch after a predetermined selected time interval.

2. The combination with an electric motor operated mechanism, of an automatic timer therefor driven by the motor for stopping the mechanism after it has been operated a predetermined number of times; said timer comprising a motor control switch for effecting the aforesaid operation of stopping the mechanism and manually settable and power operated actuating means for said switch, said power operated actuating means including a single control member and a disconnectible driving connection with the motor whereby at the will of the operator as determined by the adjustment of the control member the motor may be operated either under control of the automatic timer or independently thereof.

3. The combination with a motor operated mechanism, of an automatic timer therefor driven by the motor for stopping the mechanism after it has been operated a predetermined number of times; said timer comprising a control device for eifecting the aforesaid operation of stopping the mechanism and manually settable and power operated actuating means for said control device, said power operated actuating means including a single control member and a disconnectible driving connection with the motor comprising a pawl and a mutilated gear whereby at the will 01. the operator as determined by the adJus-tment of the control member the motor may be operated either under control of the automatic timer or independently thereof.

4. The combination with a motor operated mechanism, of an automatic timer therefor driven by the motor for stopping the mechanism after it has been operated a predetermined number of times; said timer comprising a control device for effecting the aforesaid operation oi stopping the mechanism and manually settable and power operated actuating means for said control device said power operated actuating means including a single control member and a disconnectible driving connection with the motor comprising a mutilated gear and a driving pawl for engaging successively the teeth of said gear in driving the same and a retaining pawl for preventing at all times backward movement 01 said gear whereby at the will of the operator as determined by the adjustment oi the control member the motor may be operated either under control of the automatic timer or independently thereof.

5. The combination with a motor operated mechanism, of an automatic timer therefor driven by the motor for stopping the mechanism after it has been operated a predetermined number oi times; said timer comprising a control device for effecting the aforesaid operation of stopping the mechanism and manually settable and power operated actuating means i'orsaid control device, said actuating means including an indicator and a disconnectible driving connection with the motor whereby at the will of the operator as determined by the adjustment of the indicator the motor may be operated either under control of the automatic timer or independently thereof.

6. In a power operated machine having a driving motor and a driven mechanism operatively connected to the motor, a switch for-the motor and a timing device comprising manually settabie means including a mutilated gear, a pawl for driving said gear through various selected angles of 10 less than three hundred and sixty degrees. said pawl being ineffective for driving said gear when registering with the toothless portion thereof, a driving connection between the driven mechanism and said pawl, a member carried by said gear for 15 operating said switch and a manually adjustable indicating dial ior actuating said switch with said pawl in its ineffective driving position for operating the motor independently oi the timing device,

said indicating dial being also effective for set- 2 .ting said means to automatically operate said switch to stop the motor after a predetermined selected time interval.

JOHN W. RACKLYEFT.