US2482717A - Driving head for wringers - Google Patents

Description

Sept; 20, 1949.- J. OAKLEY 2,482,717

\ DRIVING HEAD lFOR WRINGERS Filed Dec. 15, 1945 A I l@ y ////7//////////// 1N V EN TOR.

lay/dm@ AQ Patented Sept. 20, 1949 y l ,i2,4s2;71.7 r

` )DltrvrNGfHE-AD FOR WRINGERS- John Oakley, springfield,

kins Machine and GearQomrany, West Spring,- Afielcry-Mass., a corporation 'o"i"Mat'sv"sachufSetts'A .Application December 13, 19459SetlxNoh634p38- illclaim: (o1.za-LWe) Thisdnvention relates .to .driving mechanism andfisl'di`rected more particl'arly-towringer heads illl'iich.-'areusedl connection `with a washing mahine forldrivng the Vwringer .thereo'f.

l,"Iheelitnrinkiipal bjets fo'f 'the .invention .are directedto`lthe provisin of a wringer headw'hich ist-oharacteizedby V'sl'iftable means for driving opposite 'siciteueirections- According tospeialfeatures fthe invention,

the wringer head-'fmechaiiismtissi-mple in form v,

so thatythe parts may beleconomically produced and readilyfand easily,assembled.V whileatithe same'tim'e the mechanism'is e'icien't in operation.

With the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claim hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view through a wringer head embodying the novel features of the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional plan views on the lines 2-2 and 3-3 respectively of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the clutch shifter of the mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, the invention will be fully described.

A housing 2 is provided which may have a cover 4 secured thereto in any convenient manner. The housing will be adapted for disposition at the upper side of a column which usually extends upwardly at a side of the tub of a washing machine.

A drive shaft is ordinarily journalled for rotation in the column referred to and is coupledfin some suitable manner to a drive shaft 6 which Mass. assigner-,weeris journalled at its upper and lower ends in the housing for rotation on a vertical laxis, as shown.

A driven gear 8 is rotatable in the housing on an axis transverse to that of the drive shaft and is adapted to be operatively connected to a roll or rolls of a wringer which may be secured to the housing.

Upper and lower driving gears or pinions ID are rotatable on the drive shaft 6 and are held against axial Vdisplacement relative to said shaft by snap rings I2 which are seated in grooves I4 provided in the shaft.

A clutch member I6 is slidable up and down in f slots -218on-.opposite sides of the fbore-of- `.the .clutchemember so vthat vthe said Vclutch member .is'rrotatedrby thedriveshaftl. Y

.-'Ilhe driving'imembers-lz are:provided-withpro-A jections-.II `which are.engageable-withother projeotions-v I--of itheyclutch member `IBfwhen the .saidmemberis-shiftedefrom---the*neutral ,position shownftoan-uppenorlower operatingtposition.

. With thedrive l s haftlirotatingfinga certain .dil rectionithe driven-gear 8. is .rotated inone..dir ec .tieneorath'e other` depending -upon- .which=driven gear. Iilthe tclutch.xmember =VI6 :isy in :engagement with. In this manner the driven gear may be driven in the direction desired.

Various means may be employed for shifting the clutch member I6, the embodiment of the invention shown being for illustrative purposes. An operating member 30 has a shaft portion 32 oscillatable in the housing and provided with a pin 36 on'which a block 38 is pivoted. Said block 38 is disposed in a circumferential groove of the clutch member I6 and the pin 36 is disposed eccentrically relative to the axis of the shaft portion 32, all as shown.

As the member 30 is engaged for oscillation in one direction or the other from the neutral position shown, the pin moves the block 38 up or down and thereby the clutch member I6 is operatively engaged with one or the other of the driving members I0.

The shaft portion 32 is provided with a circumferential groove 40 and a screw 42 in threaded engagement with the housing has an inner tip 44 disposed in said groove to prevent axial displacement of the operating member.

Detents 46 in a bore 48 of the shaft part 32 are urged outwardly by a spring 50. Grooves 52 in the bore for the shaft part 32 are provided for receiving the detents so that the said shaft part and operating Vmember are releasably held in neutral or an operatingV position of the clutch member. Y

The components may be economically produced since burring operations and the like are not necessary, as on the ends of the driving pinions, since the ends of the teeth are not rotated in contact with other parts.V

Assembly of the parts is easily and readily accomplished by moving the drive shaft upwardly through the lower bearing therefor and passing it through the pinions and clutch member in the order to provide the arrangement shown.

The invention may be embodied in other speon the shaft 6 from theneutral position, shown 55 cic forms without departing from the essential alisaviv characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A driving head construction for wringers comprising in combination, a housing having upper and lower aligned bearings for a vertical drive shaft with adjacent inner ends in spaced relation and a side bearing for a driven gear rotatable on on a horizontal axis, a drive shaft rotatable in said aligned bearings, drive pinions independently rotatable on said drive shaft, said drive shaft provided with spaced annular grooves and snap rings in said grooves abutting inner ends of said pinions and holding and locating the same with their outer ends adjacent inner ends of the aligned bearings and theirinner ends spaced apart, a gear rotatable in said side bearing having teeth in operative engagement with said pinions, a clutch member having an outer annular groove therearound reciprocable on said drive shaft and slidable driving connections between said member and drive shaft, certain of the teeth of said pinions extending inwardly from inner ends thereof, said clutch member being recipro- 4 cable from a central neutral position in opposite directions to operative positions above and below said neutral position and provided with projections on opposite ends thereof engageable with the inwardly extending teeth of the pinions when in an operative position, an operating member oscillatable in said housingon a certain axis having a projection disposed eccentrically relative to said axis, an elongated block in the groove of the clutch member rotatably receiving said projection, and a spring detent in said housing engage- `able with said operating member for holding it in various positions.

JOHN OAKLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,325,884 Tolll Dec. 23, 1919 1,558,074 Bried Oct. 20, 1925 1,853,919 More Apr, 12, 1932 1,923,380 Hunt et al. Aug. 22, 1933 2,133,568 Perkins Oct. 18, 1938 2,281,885 Litle May 5, 1942 2,281,886 Schultze May 5, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 280,675 Great Britain Nov. 24, 1927

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