US2207215A - Wringer and drainboard apparatus - Google Patents

Description

July 9,1940 .1. c. cLAPPER IET Al. 22075215 WRINGER AND DRAINBOARD APPARATUS Filed July s1,r 19s? Patented July 9, 1940 A UNITED STATES WRINGER AND DRAINBOARD APPARATUS John C. Clapper and David A. Constance, Altoona, Pa.

Applicationv July 31, 1937, Serial No. 156,821

2 Claims.

` The present invention relates to washing machines and more Vparticularly to a novel wringer and drainboard relationship. The wringer and drainboard arrangement to bedisclosed herein is adaptable for use in conjunction with washing machines of the domestic type or in association with commercial laundry equipment.

An object of the invention is to provide a safe,

simple wringer and drainboard arrangement in order that an operator, standing in any position about the wringer, may quickly feed through said wringer. a large quantity of washed material without fear of injury to the operator.

Another object of the invention Vresides in the use of horizontally disposed rollers which may turn in either direction, to facilitate the progress therethrough of the material to be wrung out and vat the-time provide for ldisposal of the water passing from the material effected by the wringing action of the rollers.

'Other objects and advantages will become apparent in View of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a domestic type of washing machine" disclosing a rear view of the combination guide member and drainboard;

Fig. 2 is also an elevation showing a side View of the same;

v Fig. 3 is a top plan view showing the disposal of the rollers, the drainboard, and their relation- 'ship to the tub;

Y Fig. Llis a cross sectional View in detail of the rollers and the drainboard, the drainbo-ard being shown in an alternate position in broken lines; and, Fig. 5 is a view in perspective partially in cross section showing one form of drainboard that might be used as an element in our novel arrangement.

Referring to the drawing, a domestic type washing machine IU having casters or wheels Il providing for the portability of the device in the usual manner, is depicted as having a casing `I2 for housing driving mechanism for operating a-vertically alined shaft, within a tubular housing I3, which shaft engages a driving train within a protecting casing I4 which is operatively ,connected to a roller I5. A cooperating roller I6 is provided for association with the roller I5. Said rollers are mounted on bracket member I1 having suitable bearings therein for the reception of shaft portions I8 lying in the same horizontal plane. Revoluble supports I9 supported on the bracket member Il are mounted for rotation about an axis passing through said bracket member and having secured thereto at As more clearly shown in Fig. 4 a spring means l5:

22l is-secured on said bracket members I'I in a suitable manner for engaging the pin member 23 on said revoluble supports I9 in order that the drain Aand guide board 2l may be supported in a position above the roller I6 when the said 10 rollers are so operated to pass clothes, about to be wrung out, upwardly through the passage between said rollers.

The spring means 22 comprises a conventional leaf spring as illustrated in Fig. 4, bent as shown to securely engage and hold the pin member 23 secured to the revolvable support I9 when same is moved to its upper position as is also illustrated. The frictional engagement between the pin member 23 and leaf spring 22 is such as normally to hold the guide member 2| in the position shown in dot and dash lines in this figure, but not great enough to prevent the rotation of the arm I9 by the operator to release the pin 23, whereby the guide member 2| may take the position shown in full lines.

A feed baille member 24 is'hingedly supported at 2da on the rear `portions of bracket member I'I in such a manner that when said bafe member is arranged in its highest position and said rollers are operating to pass clothes upwardly therebetween, then clothes will be fed from roller I6 and on to the drainboard and guide member 2 I.

The drainboard and clothes guide 2| comprising a flat sheet like body portion with its opposite side flanged upwardly to provide guide portions may have a series of perforations 25 therein arranged in a geometrical or other pattern o-r they may take the form of that in drainboard 2|', as depicted in Fig. 5, showing lateral slit-like perforations 26, each of said perforations being provided with a depending lip portion 21. The drainboard and guide member may be coated with any suitable material.

A handle member 28 is provided on protecting housing I4 to permit arranging gears therein for operation of the rollers in such direction that clothes may pass therethrough' downwardly or upwardly.

With the drainboard 2| in position beneath the wringer rollers I5 and I6, and with the handle 28 so set that the wringer rollers will operate to pass clothes therethrough downwardly, an operator may then, from any position about the wringer rollers, without special care being taken to protect himself or herself from the action of said rollers, merely place clothes upon the two rollers which will then engage the clothes to be wrung out, wring them out and pass them on the drainboard and clothes guide 2l. Water wrung out from said clothes will pass through the perforations 25 back into the tub of the washing machine, the clothes passing on and down the guide member into a clothes basket or other receptacle, not shown, which may be there provided for the reception of wrung out clothes or other material.

When the wringer is to be arranged so that the rollers pass wet clothes therebetween in an upward direction, then the drain and guide board 2l is swung out and above the roller I6 in a manner to cause the pins 23 to engage the spring members 22 locking the drainboard and guide member 2l in its upper position. The hinged baiiie member 24- is then swung about to its upper position. The operator may then simply reach for clothes that have been washed in the tub and place them in proximity to the lower portion of the line of contact between the two rollers, the clothes will then be wrung out and passed upwardly and by the operation of the baille member 24 the clothes will be urged over perforated drainboard and guide member 2i from whence they may pass tothe clothes basket or other receiving means provided for that purpose.

The drainboard 2l has been designed particularly for use with the arrangement just disclosed. Clothes passing through the rollers in the manner heretofore described and fed on to said drainboard 2 I pass downwardly also in the manner already described. Water wrung out from said clothes, however, will adhere to the surface of the drainboard and guide member and by capillary attraction will seek the lower edges of the lips 2? and drip therefrom back to the tub beneath. The wrung out clothes will thereby be sufciently dry and effectively separated from the wrung out water.

Previously, operators of wringers having dual rollers haveA found when using wringers having vertically disposed rollers that they must assume a certain position relative to said rollers and that much caution must be exercised in order to prevent portions of the person from being engaged between the wringing surfaces of the rollers during their operation, for the wet material must be fed horizontally and sometimes started by pressing the said material between the rollers with the ngers. rThis fact is evidenced by the appearance on the market of many safety devices for ceasing action of said rollers when a inger of the operator or other foreign member is engaged between the operating portions of the rollers. Though such safety devices may be incorporated in a clothes washer and wringer, embodying our invention, it is believed that the need for such safetyl devices is lessened by our novel and advantageous arrangement.

In accordance with our invention, it is to be understood that the bracket member I'I and case ing I 4 may be pivotally connected with tubular housing I3 and hence may be swung about in a complete circle,'if necessary, whereby a single wringer and drainboard outt will suflice to complement a plurality of. tubs. When the bracket member is so mounted, a suitable key or lockl not shown, may be provided to lock bracket member I'I to housing I3 in any operative position. A

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in our device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawing and described in the specication but only as indicated in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A wringer and drainboard assembly comprising a frame, substantially horizontally disposed substantially parallel rollers mounted in said frame, the axes of which rollers lie in substantially the same horizontal plane, an inclined perforated drainboard of appreciable length suspended from said frame by swingable linkage means near the upper end thereof and adapted to be supported near its other end, said linkage being selectively operable to permit the upper end of said drainboard to be positioned below the plane of said rollers and the same end to be positioned above said plane, holding means associated with said assembly for holding said drainboard in secure position with one of its ends positioned above the axis of said rollers, whereby when said .drainboard is in its first position with respect to the rollers clothes to be Wrung out may be fed to the upper surface of said rollers and passed therethrough on to the drainboard, the water from the wrung out clothes passing through the perforations in the drainboard and the relatively dry clothes moving on along the drainboard to a receptacle which may be placed below the lower end thereof, and when said drainboard is in said second position, clothes to be wrung out may be ied to the lower surface of said rollers, passed upwardly through the rollers and on to the drainboard. e

2. The structure recited in claim l, and a baille member hingedly mounted on said wringer assembly and operable to be swung to an upward baffling position when one end of said drainboard is in position above the axis of said rollers, whereby clothes to be wrung out fed upwardly through said rollers will be urged to move on to said drainboard, said baiile member being further operable to be swung to a lower out of the way position when the upper end of said drainboard is mounted below the axis of the said rollers, whereby substantially the entire upper surfaces of the rollers are free for the application thereto of clothes to be wrung out and passed on to said perforated drainboard.

JOHN C'. CLAPPER. DAVID A. CONSTANCE.

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