US2228319A - Safety device for clothes wringers - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 14, 1941. Q LUNDSTRQM 2,228,319

SAFETY DEVICE FOR CLOTHES WRINGERS Filed May 27, 1958 Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Carl G. Lundstrom, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor of one-fourth to A. Anstrom, Boone, Iowa Application May 27, 1938, Serial No. 210,396

3 Ciaims.

In the art of power driven domestic clothes wringers it is the practice to provide relatively great spring pressure tending to hold the wringer rolls toward each other. In such Wringers and in the event that an operator should have her fingers caught between the rolls, this spring pressure in some instances crushes the finger bones and seriously injures the hands.

To avoid this danger wringers of this class are now generally provided with a so-called safety release, by the timely and successful operation of which the spring pressure on the roll is released and the operators fingers may then be withdrawn.

The object of my invention is to provide a safety wringer feeding device of simple, durable and inexpensive construction and comprising a clothes feed plate and a safety feed roll, so arranged relative to the power operated wringer rolls that during an ordinary clothes feeding operation the operators fingers will engage a raised rib upon the delivery end of the feed plate and the operator will thereby be warned as to the proximity of the wringer roll, and in the event that the operators fingers are moved beyond that point and should engage the wringer roll and should be moved thereby toward position for entering between the wringer rolls, the fingers will first be drawn between the upper wringer roll and my improved safety roll, and in this connection it is my object to so position the safety roll and to apply such slight amount of yieldin pressure to it that the pinching or gripping pressure so applied to the fingers will be so slight that it could not injure the fingers and the operator could readily and easily withdraw the fingers, which of course would be done instinctively and instantly when such pinching pressures were applied, thus avoiding the necessity for the oper- 40 ator to consciously grasp and operate a safety release device under the conditions of shock, surprise and pain which the operator experiences when the necessity for operating safety release devices arises.

Figure 1 shows a vertical transverse sectional view of a clothes wringer provided with my improved safety devices, the one at the right being shown in its lowered position for feeding clothes to the wringer, and the one at the left being 50 shown in elevated position where it will not retard the passage of clothes from the wringer.

Figure 2 shows a detail side view of a portion of the safety roll supporting frame with the safety roll therein. The dotted lines show the position of the delivery edge of the feeding plate.

Figure 3. shows a detail side View of a portion of a wringer frame and a portion of my improved safety device in position therein, part of the wringer frame being shown in section to illustrate the slot therein, and the dotted lines show 5 the remainder of the slot and the roller for supporting the safety frame within said slot. A portion of the clothes feeding plate is also broken away to show portions of the safety frame; and

Figure 4 shows a detail edge view taken from the side adjacent the clothes wringer rolls and. illustrating a portion of'the safety roll and the adjacent end portion of the safety roll frame.

Referring to the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral [B to indicate generally the frame of the clothes wringer and H the upper wringer roll and I2 the lower wringer roll. These parts are all of the ordinary construction new in common use and belong to that class of domestic clothes wringers which are power operated and in which the rolls are yieldingly held together at considerable pressure. The means for applying the pressure are not shown as they are in common use.

Formed in the wringer frame i0 adjacent the upper wringer roll is a slot I3 extended downwardly and toward the wringer rolls. Slidingly and rotatably mounted in this slot is a roller [4, pivoted to the arm l5 of the safety frame. A similar arm [5 is mounted in the same manner at the opposite end of the wringer frame, and the safety roll It is rotatably mounted in these arms. These arms 15 are formed with extensions H which project outwardly and downwardly from the wringer frame and to which the clothes feed plate I3 is fixed. The lower outer edge of this feed plate is preferably curved and rounded at I9, and at the upper delivery edge there is formed a raised rib 20 for the purposes hereinafter made clear. These parts are normally so positioned that when the roll I 6 is in engagement with the upper wringer roll H, the delivery edge of the clothes feed plate is in approximately the same horizontal plane as the horizontal center of the upper wringer roll, and the safety roll it is in position in engagement with the upper wringer roll and spaced apart from the lower wringer roll, as shown at the right in Figure l.

Mounted upon the extensions ll are rollers 2i, and the adjacent edges of the wringer frame are formed with rounded notches 22 and 23 to receive the rollers 2| and thereby hold the safety frame either in its lowered or elevated position. In Figure l the roller 2| is shown by dotted lines to be in position in the lower notch 22, and at the left in Figure 1 the roll 2| is shown by dotted lines to be in position in the upper notch 23. A contractile coil spring 24 is secured at one end to the lower edge of the clothes feed plate and at its other end to the wringer frame, and this spring normally holds the parts in the position shown at the right in Figure 1.

In practical operation, and assuming that the operator was feeding clothes to a wringer over the feed plate shown at the right in Figure 1, then, as is well known, the operators fingers would be above the feed plate and pressing the clothes toward the upper wringer roll, and customarily the operators thumbs would be in position for grasping the lower outer edge of the feed plate. Normally, the clothes are forced beyond the delivery edge of the feed plate, and they then engage the adjacent horizontal central portion of the upper feed roll which carries the clothes downwardly. When the clothes are moved downwardly a short distance they are engaged by the safety roll I6, which is being rotated by its contact with the wringer roll I I, and the clothes are thereby forced downwardly into position for entering between the wringer rolls. During this normal operation, and in the event that the clothes are relatively thick, the safety roll IE will freely swing on the rollers I4 away from the upper wringer roll II, and the safety device does not in any way interfere with this normal operation.

In the event, however, that a careless operator should move the clothes upwardly over the feed plate to the delivery edge thereof, the rib 20 extending across the feed plate would be engaged by the fingers, and in this way the operator would be warned and could withdraw her fingers. In the event, however that the operator should extend her fingers downwardly beyond the end of the feed plate to a position between the wringer roll II and the safety roll IS, the spring 24. being relatively small in size would, however, exert some pressure tending to pinch the operators fingers between the safety roll and the upper wringer roll, and under such conditions and without conscious thought the operator would instantly withdraw her fingers. This may be readily and easily done because the amount of pressure applied to the spring 24 is so slight that it would not prevent such movement and would not injure the fingers, so that under no conditions of actual use would the operator ever insert her fingers and have them pinched, as before described, and then continue to extend them downwardly and inwardly between the wringer rolls.

The safety device on the opposite side is moved to the position shown at the left in Figure 1 so that the safety roll [6 would not interfere with the passage of the clothes. This may be done by simply grasping the feed plate and moving it outwardly and upwardly so that the roller l4 moves up to the notch of the slot l3, whereupon the roller 21 will enter the notch 23 and hold it in its position.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a clothes wringer having a frame and wringer rolls, of a safety roll, a frame in which the safety roll is rotatably mounted, means for slidingly connecting the frame of the safety roll with the wringer for permitting movement of the safety roll upwardly and away from the upper wringer roll and downwardly toward the lower portion of the upper wringer roll, a spring for yieldingly holding the frame of the safety roll toward the upper wringer roll, the wringer frame being formed with notches and the safety frame being provided with a device to enter said notches whereby the safety frame may be supported by said spring in either its elevated or lowered position.

2. The combination with a clothes wringer having a frame and wringer rolls, of a safety roll, a frame in which the safety roll is rotatably mounted, guides at the upper ends of the safety frame, the wringer frame being formed with slots to slidingly and pivotally receive said guides, extensions at the ends of the safety frame, the wringer frame being formed with notches to receive said extensions, and a contractile spring attached to the safety frame and to the wringer frame, for yieldingly holding the safety frame toward the wringer and permitting pivotal movement of the safety frame toward and from the wringer frame and also for holding the safety frame in either its elevated or lowered position.

3. The combination with a clothes wringer having a frame and wringer rolls, of a safety roll, a frame in which the safety roll is rotatably mounted, said wringer frame being formed with slots extending downwardly and toward the wringer frame, and also with two notches, rollers at the upper end of the safety frame slidingly and rotatably mounted in said slots, rollers at the sides of the safety frame to enter said notches, and a contractile coil spring secured to the safety roll frame and to the wringer frame, for the purposes stated.

CARL G. LUNDSTROM.

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