US2342259A - Wringer - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 22, 1944.

N. 1., ETTEN WRINGER Filed May 21, 1941 UNITED Patented Feb. 22, 1944 wamona l Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo, Iowa Application May/21,1941, Serial No. 394,393 a 1' Claims. (of. 88-263) This invention relates to wringers and more particularly to a wrlnger release mechanism whereby the pressure between the rolls may be released by pivotal movement of the complete frame either manually or by roll drive torque as.

contrasted with movement ofspecific release con- It is believed by the applicant that one of the deficiencies of the prior devices has arisen from the fact that they have been not only somewhat unsatisfactory in operation but have been unduly complicated and have thus been extremely expensive to build and-incapable of. successfully competing with the present commercial structures.

. For example, in most, if not all, of the prior art devices the inventors have attempted to reach their objective by providing a gear frame positively fixed to a wringer column and then enclosing this frame in a secondary frame or housing adapted to support the rolls and to move with respect to the gear frame. This type of construction has required the use of universal joints between the driving gears and the roll shafts and has, of course, required twoseparate and distinct frames, which obviously increased manufacturing costs and detract from the usefulness of the device.

In addition to the disadvantages arising by reason of the manufacturing costs of the devices, the applicant has found that in any of the articulated frames disclosed in the prior art the mechanism can be released only by a manual push and pull on the frame or roll structure itself and even in the event that the mechanism becomes overloaded to such a point as to stop rotation of the rolls and stall the motor, the release is incapable of actuating itself automatically. It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a wringer wherein the pressure may be released by pivotal movement of the wringer frame, and wherein the construction is characterized by a single unitary conventional frame structure as contrasted with any type of articulated frame or frame surrounded by a shiftable housing.

A further object of the invention is to provide leased by shifting movement of the gear frame relative to the wringer column as contrasted with ing in relation to a stationary gear frame.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wringer frame mounted for relative movement with respect to. a stationary wringer column, wherein a balance spring is provided to prevent motion of the wringer frame in response to the normal torque of the wringer drive shaft, and wherein shiftable release devices are provided to permit the wringer pressure to be released in response to the abnormal torque strains such as are encountered whenever the wringer reaches an extremely overloaded condition.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wringer mechanism including a wringer mounted in shiftable relationship with a stationary wringer column, a release lever mounted on said 'wringer, and indexing mechanisms associated with said release lever to establish a normal wringer location in any one of several angular positions around the wringer columns.

These and other important objects are accomplished in the present invention by the structure disclosed in the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in which Fig. 1 1s a side elevation of a preferred embodiment. of the present invention showing certain parts of the wringer frame structure broken away.

Fig. Z'is an enlarged detailed plan sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed'end elevational view taken substantially on the plane of the line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

In the-wringer chosen as illustrative of the principles of this invention and disclosed in the drawing, the upper roll it and lower roll I: are mounted for rotation in bearings such as it provided in the end stiles I 4 and I! extending upwardly from the opposite ends of the horizontal lower channel It. The entire structure thus far described is mounted in fixed relationship with a gear housing I! by a plurality of bolts l8 and the gear housing I! is arranged to enclose forward and reverse drivingpinions 20 and 2|, a driving gear 22 and a selective clutch 23 keyed to the drive shaft 24 and arranged to be moved into forward or reverse driving positions by a manually operable control handle 25.

A roll stop, mechanism such as shown in applicant's Patent 2,307,368 is also enclosed within the gear housing I] so that the drive to the rolls is automatically interrupted when the pressure between the rolls is released.

The operating pressure between the rolls H and I2 is maintained by a flat leaf pressure spring 28 extending between the upper roll bearings l3 and adapted to be flexed downwardly by a pressure adjusting screw 21 mounted on the top frame or cover 28. The cover 28 is pivotally secured to a bracket 23 on the gear case I] by the rivet 3i.

At the opposite end of .the top frame It a toggle reset mechanism is provided which consists of a manually operable reset lever 32 pivotally connected with thetop frame 33 and arranged to cooperate with a compression link 33 extending between an anchor pin 34 affixed to suitable brackets on the end stile l4 and a pin 3| mounted between the side walls of the lever 33. From the above structure it will be seen that in order to apply the initial operating pressure between rolls ii and I! it is only necessary to move the lever 33 inwardly so that it will cooperate with the link 33 and draw thetop frame downwardly to compress the spring 28 and apply a downward force to the bearings of the upper roll ll.

Shortly before the toggle mechanism reaches its dead center positionthe tip 38 of the link 33 will be engaged the latch 31 carried on the vertical slide plate 33. The slide plate 38 is arranged for vertical shifting movement and is urged yieldingly upwardly by the coil spring 38.

The wringer mechanisms as thus far described are quite conventional and therefore will not be described in greater detail. It is to be particularly noted, however. that the end stiles l4 and I! and channel ii are rigidly bolted to the gear housing l'l so that all of these elements comprise, in effect, a single unitary frame which moves as a unit as contrasted with any of the double frame works or articulated fname of prior art wringers of this general class.

The entire frame work of the wringer is supported by a sleeve 4| mounted in telescopic recured on the threaded ends of said rods, as shown in Fig. 1.

It is to be particularly noted that since the lever 45 has one of the links 41 or 48 on either side of the center 48, movement of the lever 43 in either direction will cause the latch 41 to release.

In order to operate the lever 45 in response to swinging movements of the wringer frame about the wringer column 43, an anchor arm 51 is provided. The arm 51 is mounted on a sleeve 53 holes 6 I.

At the outer endof the anchor arm 51 an actuating roller 82 is mounted. This roller 82 any typical stationary wringer column such as is ordinarily provided on a washing machine, and which ordinarily houses a rotatable vertical driving shaft such as the shaft 24 illustrated in the drawing. By this arrangement the entire wringer structure is free to swing about the wriner column 43. i

It is, however, the purpose of the present invention to provide a normal position for the wringer and to provide a mechanism such that any deviation from the normal position will cause the latch 31 to operate and release the pressure between the rolls II and II. To accomplish this result a lever is mounted on a stud 43 extending downwardly from the lower surface of the gear housing II, which upon DIV-7 otal movement of the housing, actuates associated mechanism to cause the latch 31 to release. To accomplish this result a pair of operating rods 41 and .43 are pivotally connected to the lever 45 and are arranged to extend to a bell crank II pivoted on a cross pin 53 attached .to suitable lugs l3 on the lower surface of the about the cross pin 52 in response to-movement of the lever 45. The rods 41 and 43 extend loosely through suitable apertures in the vertical arm of the lever II and have abutting nuts: se-

extends upwardly from the arm 51 to engage aslot 63 in the lever 45, the arrangement bein such that when the anchor arm 51 is held stationary with respect tothe wringer column by Q means of the index pin 59, any movement of the wringer frame will cause the stud 48 and lever 45 to shift with respect to the roller 62 and will thus cause the lever 45 to swing in one direction or the other around the stud 48 so that one of the links 41 or will move the bell crank 5i and release the latch 31.

As thus far described, it will be obvious that any external force operating on the frame of the wringer or on the wringer rolls will cause the wringer structure to shift with respect to the wringer column 43 and will release the pressure of the spring 26. It is not desirable, however, that this releasing action take place in response to extremely small forces such as may be exerted accidentally in the normal operation of the wringer, and for this reason I provide a center boss 64 at the external end of the anchor arm 51 which is adapted to be engaged by a pair of centering springs 85 and 66 mounted on 'a pilot rod 81" and extending between the boss 34 and one of a pair oi" lu s 68 or GQf-formed on the lower surface of the horizontal channel member ii of the wringer frame It will be seen from examt'ation of Fig. 2 that since the boss 84 istngiiihally maintained in a stationary position,;sprlngs 65 and 66 will act on the wringer frghi-hndkeenit in 9, normally centered position, but whenever external forces are exerted on the wringer frame in either direction, one of thesprings or 66 will flex viewed in Fig. 2, so that the torque of the drive shaft tends to move the wringer frame upwardly 'or in a counter-clockwise direction, as also the event the wringer-rolls are overloaded in an.

extreme degree or in such a manner as to stop their rotation, the torque from the drive shaft 34 will build up to such an extent that it will becapable of compressing the spring '8, moving the wringer frame bodily against the action of this spring and releasing the spring pressure by the action of the lever II, as hereinbefore described.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention in compliance with the patent statutes, I am aware that it is subject to numerous modifications and alterations, and therefore I wish to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a wringer, a frame, a plurality of resilient rolls mounted for rotation within said frame, a spring arranged to urge said resilient pressure rolls into pressure relationship with each other, and a latch to retain said spring in pressure applying position, the combination of a drive shaft for said rolls, forward and reverse driving gears for said rolls and means for selectively engaging said gears, shiftable devices responsive to the torque of said drive shaft, means responsive to shifting movement of said devices to actuate the aforementioned latch, and spring devices adapted to balance the normal torque of said shaft to prevent said latch from,

releasing responsive to normal torque and to permit release responsive to extreme torque.

2. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, a column on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls in the frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means for releasably applying pressure on said rolls including a reset mechanism; a release mechanism comprising an anchor member con nected to the column, resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normally holding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism.

3. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, a column on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls in the frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means for releasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; a release mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column, resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normally holding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism, said resilient means comprising springs carried by the frame, and a boss on said anchor member and located between said springs.

4. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, a column on which the frame is selectively adiustably mounted, rolls in the frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means for releasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; a release mechanism comprising an anchor member connected 'to the column, resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normally holding the frame in selected position, lever lever means pivotally connected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism, said resilient means comprising springs carried by the frame, and a-boss on said anchor member and located between said springs, one of said springs being stronger than the other of said springs to compensate for the force imposed by the drive means in the normal direction of driving the wringer.

5. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, a column on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls in the frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means for releasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; a release mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column, resillent means between the frame and the anchor member for normally holding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism, said lever means comprising a pivot stud carried by the frame, and 'an actuating pivot stud carried by said anchormember.

6. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, a column on which the frame is selectively adiustably mounted, rolls in the frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means for releasably applying pressure on said rolls including resetmechanism; a release mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column, resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normally holding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism .and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism, said lever means comprising a lever element pivotally connected to the frame and having a slot, and an actuating pivot stud on said anchor member and extending into said slot.

7. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, a column on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls in the frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means for releasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; a release mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column, resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normally holding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism, said lever means comprising a lever element pivotally connected to the frame and having a slot, an actuating pivot stud on said anchor member and extending into said slot, and connecting links pivotally connected to said lever element and to said reset mechanism.

NICHOLAS L. E'I'IEN.

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