US2699849A - Drive for washing machines - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 18, 1955 w. R. FOSTER ET AL 2,699,849

DRIVE FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed June 13, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Wnus 21 Farm Kim/er A. WP!!- BY 4M ATTORNEYJ Jan. 18, 1955 w, FOSTER ET AL 2,699,849

DRIVE FOR WASHING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 13, 1952 FIEE 9Q 1N ENTORS (ll/1.1.1: E. FOJTFB #022? K. Wan/e A TORNEYJ Jan. 18, 1955 w. R. FOSTER ET AL 2,699,849

DRIVE FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed June 13, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INIENTORJ Waws 2. Farm than A. Wan-u- ATTORNEYS United States Patent DRIVE FOR WASHING MACHINES Willis R. Foster and Harry K. Wethe, Webster City, Iowa,

assignors to Solar Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application June 13, 1952, Serial No. 293,482

Claims. (Cl. 1923.2)

This invention relates generally to improvements in clothes washing machines of the type employing a receptacle for the clothes and cleansing liquid, with the receptacle arranged for spinning rotation to centrifugally expel the liquid, and an agitator element for washing the clothes, and relates more specifically to improved drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator.

A Washing machine of the general type with which our present invention is to be used is shown in the George P. Castner Patent No. 2,513,845, issued July 4, 1950, and is characterized in that the rotary receptacle is driven from an electric motor through the intermediary of a rotary fluid coupling having high initial slippage so that the receptacle may be gradually accelerated. This has a number of advantages as set forth in detail in thepatent, chief of which is the fact that the starting load on the motor is reduced and the usually unevenly or eccentrically loaded receptacle may be brought up to centrifuging speed with a minimum of vibration. The machine further employs an oscillating agitator driven from an electric motor through a transmission unit which converts rotary motion to oscillating motion. In the patent separate motors are employed for driving the receptacle and the agitator.

It is the primary object of our invention to provide an improved fiuid drive arrangement and drive mechanism by which a rotary receptacle and agitator may both be driven from a single electric motor instead of the two motors present in previous machines, and at the same time to provide a mechanism for this purpose which is itself not only quite simple in construction but conveniently assembled and serviced as well as practical and effective in operation.

Another object is to provide drive mechanism wherein the motor is arranged with its shaft upwardly and vertically extended, with the fluid coupler mounted directly upon the upper end thereof and selectively connected to the shaft by means of a solenoid operated clutch. Thus the drive through the coupling to the clothes receptacle may be established or disabled as required while the motor remains in an operating condition. Also forming part of this mechanism is a belt pulley fastened to, the motor shaft to be driven thereby at all times and adapted to be connected by a belt to the transmission unit which drives the agitator. Power. transmission to the agitator may then be controlled by means of another clutch in .a fashion similar to that set forth in the George P. Castner application Serial No. 787,626, filed November 24, 1947, now Patent No. 2,625,244, patented January 13, 1953, or by any other appropriate means. Further in accordance with our invention the belt pulley for driving the agitator transmission is so shaped and arranged that it forms a component part of the clutch controlled torque transmission to the fluid coupling.

Still another object of our invention is to provide an improved clutch actuating mechanism which is simple and inexpensive in construction and which is specifically constructed in such fashion that chattering and rattling noises will be prevented at all times.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed in the course of the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the drive mechanism constituting our present invention including the drive motor but omitting elements of the washing machine itself aside from the two belts through which power is taken from the drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator.

Fig. 2 is a composite edge and elevational view of the link forming a part of the clutch actuating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1, with the fluid coupling and associated elements mounted upon the motor shaft shown in diametrical section.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan and horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 in Fi 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view through the central part of the structure shown in Fig. 2 but showing the fluid drive clutch in its disengaged position.

Since the details of the clothes washing machine for use with which our invention is adapted are shown and described in detail in the prior Castner patent and application previously identified herein, this showing is not repeated and it is believed sufficient to state that the pur pose of our drive mechanism is to transmit power from a single electric motor A to upper and lower drive belts B and C, which are respectively connected through suitwhich is press fitted a bushing able pulleys for rotating the clothes receptacle and energizing the transmission unit which oscillates the agitator. It is, of course, obvious that the specific manner in which these belts are connected to these elements is entirely immaterial so far as the present invention is concerned, and also that the drive may be taken from the motor and from the fluid coupling, designated generally at D, mounted thereon through other suitable drive transmitting means if so desired.

The motor A is suspended from a motor mounting plate 10 by means of screws 11 and suitable shock absorbing bushings 12 and the mounting plate 10 is, of course, suitably supported in the framework of the clothes washing machine itself. In any event, the motor is arranged with its shaft 13 projecting vertically upward from the mounting plate 10 with the fluid coupling D arranged upon the upper portion of the shaft.

Arranged on the lower part of the motor shaft 13 is a pulley 14 having a belt groove 15 to receive the belt C and this pulley is firmly secured to the shaft by means of a set screw 16, as seen in Fig. 3. The upper side of the pulley 14 is then provided with a slightly enlarged, annular flange 17 within which is secured a clutch lining 18. Said clutch lining which serves as the female clutch part is made of some frictional material such as fiber or belting and is annular in shape with a tapered inner clutch surface 19 which cooperates with the correspondingly tapered outer surface 20 of a clutch disk or male clutch part 21. This disk has a central opening 22 in 23 rotatable upon the upper part of the motor shaft 13, as well as vertically slidable thereon. The said bushing is a press fit into the lower axial bore 24 of a fluid drive shaft or adaptor 25 which forms the core member of the fluid coupling D. The lower tubular portion of this shaft 25 extends down to meet the clutch disk 21 and mounted upon this lower part of the shaft, immediately above the disk, is a ball bearing 26, the inner race 27 of which is slidable axially upon the shaft. The outer race 28 of the bearing is a press fit in an annular retainer or shift collar 29 which has, ad acent its upper portion, a narrow inturned flange 30 overlying this bearing race. As will be later described this collar 29 forms part of a shipper or clutch shifting meclzlanism by which the clutch is engaged and disengage Turning now to the construction of the fluid coupling D itself, the aforesaid drive shaft 25 forms the core of this coupling by which it is arranged upon the motor shaft, and secured to the upper part of shaft 25 is an impeller or driving element 31 provided centrally with a hub 32 having a key 33 engaging a keyway 34 in the shaft. The impeller 31 is thus driven by shaft 25 and is held against upward displacement thereon by means of a snap ring 35 engaging a groove 36 in the shaft and overlying the hub 32. The impeller 31 is dished downward at 37 around its margin and provided immediately therewithin with a plurality of radial vanes 38. The driven element of the coupling consists of a housing, deslgnated generally at 39, enclosing the impeller and made plug 46 so that the housing may be supplied with fluid as required. The upper section 40 of the housing is dished downward like the impeller around its peripheral edge 47, while the lower' section 41 is correspondingly but upwardly dished at 48 and provided with a series of radial vanes 49 spaced from and facing the aforesaid vanes 38. The said lower section 14 is further provided at its center with a tubular and upwardly extending hearing sleeve 50 and the same is journaled by means of bushlugs 51' about the upper portion of the drive shaft or adaptor 25. Bearing washers 52 are located between the upper end of the sleeve 50 and underside of the impeller hub 52 and any end play which may be present or which may develop between the driving and driven parts of the coupling is continually taken up by means of a bearing ball 53 urged upwardly by means of a spring 54 against a thrust washer 55 at the center and underside of the upper housing section 40. The spring and ball are received in an upwardly opening bore 56 in shaft 25 and this end play take-up means is the subject of our copending application Serial No. 292,336, filed June 7, 1952, now Patent No. 2,665,553, patented November 12, 1954. Formed at the underside of the lower housing section 41, centrally thereon, is a belt pulley 57 having a belt groove 58 receiving the aforesaid belt B for driving the receptacle and this pulley formation also is centrally recessed to receive a fluid seal 59 surrounding the lower part of the shaft 25. The underside of this pulley formation further stands immediately above the retainer 29 and is annularly faced off at 60 for engagement by an upwardly projecting circular flange 61 formed on the upper side of the retainer. While this element 61 is here shown and described as a circular flange it may instead consist of a series of spaced lugs and serve its purpose equally well as will be pointed out hereinafter.

The clutch 21-18 is engaged and disengagedby means of a clutch or shipper lever, designated generally at 62, made up of two side bars 63 and 64 spread apart adjacent one end to loosely embrace the mechanism immediately below the coupling D, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. 1 Where these bars 63 and 64 meet adjacent and beneath the coupling they are apertured at 65 to receive a pivot bolt 66 by which the lever 62 is pivotally mounted on an upwardly turned bracket 67 formed from or secured to the motor mounting plate 10, with this arrangement obviously permitting the leverto be swung upwardly and downwardly about its pivoted end. Toward the swinging end of the lever the same is biased upwardly by means of an expansion coil spring 68, the upper end of'which is received in a cap 69 with a center opening 70 engaging a lug 71 on the underside of the lever. The lower end of the spring 68 is braced or rested upon the motor mounting plate 10, or more specifically upon the upper end 72 of the solenoid mounting bracket 73 which is bolted at 74 to the adjacent edge of the plate. The bracket 73 hangs vertically alongside the motor A and mounted by bolts 75 on the bracket is a solenoid 76 having a vertically reciprocated plunger 77. The adjacent swinging end of the lever 62 projects outward above the solenoid 76 some distance thereabove and is connected to the solenoid plunger 77 by a retractile coil spring 78. The upper end 79 of this spring is hooked through a slot 80 in the lever 62 and the lower end 81 is hooked, to engage an opening 82 in the short end 83 of: an L-shaped link 84. Where this end 83 meets the upwardly extending leg of the link 84 hinge eyes 85 are formed on thelinkj for pivotally engaging a cross pin 86 carried by the solenoid'plunger 77 and the upper extremity of the link is notched at 87 to receive the adjacent end portion of the lever 62. One side bar 63 of the lever 62 is then foreshortened and provided at its lower corner with a lug 88 forming an abutment against which the notched or forked upper end of the link 84 may rest. It is obvious that with the spring 78 thus arranged in connection with the lower end 83 of the link that the spring tension will? tend to turn the link on the pin 87 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in fli l ing, hold the upper end of, the link firmly against said The aforesaid shift collar 29 is provided with diametrically opposed and radially extending bosses 89 which loosely fit between the spread-apart portions of the side bars 6364 and these elements are connected by means of screws 90 which are threaded at 91 to the side bars and also screwed into tapped sockets 92 formed in the bosses 89. Lock washers 93 lock the screws to the lever while the threaded connectionbetween the screws and bosses 89 permits the necessary limited, pivotal action in these points as the lever is swung upward and downward in the operation of the mechanism, which will now be described. 1

The fluid coupling D is only partially filled with fluid so that when at rest the body of fluid will lie below the upper or driving vanes 38. In the manner set forth in the Castner patent hereinbefore identified the impeller 31 is then provided with a starting vane 94, here shown only in Fig. 3, which is long enough to dip into the body of fluid when at rest and which is, of course, located inwardly of the driven vanes 49. It will thus be apparent. that when torque is applied to the shaft 25 and the impeller 31' set in motion this starting vane 94 will act on the fluid so that it will gradually assume driving engagement with the vanes 3849, whereupon the housing 39' will be rotated. Such action, of course, drives the belt B and it' will be observed that the coupling will thus have a high initial slippage characteristic to permit a very desirable, gradual acceleration of the receptacle driven by this belt.

Normally the spring 68 swings the clutch lever 62 up ward from its position of Figs. 1 and 3 to about the position indicated in Fig. 5. Since this lever is connected through the screws 90 to the collar 29 the latter will be correspondingly moved upward a slight amount and the flange 61 thereon will thus be moved upward into contact with the surface 60 on the underside of the pulley 57 and will lift the entire fluid coupling, causing the clutch disk 21 to be lifted out of engagement with the clutch lining 19, also as seen in Fig. 5. The entire upper portion of the drive mechanism, above the lower clutch element, may slide axially along the motor shaft 19 for this purpose and it will, of course, be readily apparent that when the clutch elements 21-18 are so disengaged there will be no torque transmission between the motor shaft and the coupling and the receptacle will not be driven by the motor A. To set the receptacle in operation, then, the solenoid 76 is energized so that it retracts its plunger 77' or pulls the same downward and the resulting pull upon the spring 78 will overcome the resistance of the clutch disengaging spring 68 to swing the clutch lever 62 downward to the position of Figs. 1 and 3. As this occurs the clutch disk 21 is moved down into driving engagement with the clutch lining 18, which is being rotated by the motor, and torque transmission then occurs from the motor through the coupling to the receptacle.

The pulley 14 rotates at all times with the motor shaft 13 so that the belt C leading to the agitator trans-- mission is continuously driven. A separate clutch (not here shown) may then be employed for selectively disabling this drive to the. agitator Whenever required, has been previously explained.

With the clothes, receptacle in operation the drive thereto may be disabled when the centrifuging action is completed by de-energizing the solenoid 76, whereupon tween the relatively rotating and non-rotating parts and sole function the lifting of the fluid coupling 13 and that it is not intended for and does not serve as a brake.

The use of the link 84 pivotally connected to the solenoid plunger 77 andslida-bly associated with the clutch shifting lever 62 is desirable in that high initial tension may thus be brought about in the spring 78 and so that high initial tension is not necessary in the spring in its free state. The tension of the spring 78 will at all times hold the link 84 against the lug 88 so that no rattles or other undesirable noises may occur and the length of the notch 87 in the link is such that the necessary freedom for movement of the lever 82 is made possible even though this travel may vary due to manufacturing variations. It will also be observed that the pivot connection between the clutch lever 62 and collar 29 is exceedingly simple, using only the screws 90 which are tapped in both the lever and the collar with provision for the necessary minor pivotal motion between these parts provided by the rocking action of the collar upon the screws. Thl-S motion is so minor that the axial travel along the screws is negligible and may, in practice, be ignored.

It will thus be apparent from the foregoing that we have provided a very simple and comparatively inexpensive drive mechanism admirably meeting requirements in driving both the receptacle and the agitator of a clothes washing machine from a single motor and one which is not only so constructed that it will operate with satisfactory results over long periods of time but which is so arranged that servicing may be carried out with a minimum of clifiiculty.

'It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described our invention, what We claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: i

1. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising in combination, a single motor having a shaft, means secured on the shaft adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling both rotatably and axially slidably mounted on the shaft, said coupling having driving and driven elements and means on the latter for driving connection to the receptacle, and cooperating clutch parts connected respectively to the driving element and the shaft and operative by movement of the coupling axially on the shaft to selectively transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element.

2. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising in combination, an electric motor having a shaft, means secured on the shaft adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling both rotatably and axially slidably mounted on the shaft, said coupling having driving and driven elements and means on the latter for connection to the receptacle, cooperating clutch parts connected respectively to the driving element and the shaft and operative by movement of the coupling axially on the shaft to selectively transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, and solenoid operated means for moving the coupling to actuate the clutch parts.

3. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising in combination, a motor having a shaft, means secured on the shaft adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling rotatably and axially slidably mounted on the shaft, said coupling having driving and driven elements and means on the latter for connection to the receptacle, cooperating clutch parts connected respectively to the driving element and the shaft and operative by movement of the coupling axially on the shaft to selectively transmit torque from the shaft to the drivingelement, spring means biasing the coupling in one direction to normally hold the clutch parts out of engagement, and solenoid operated means operative to overcome said spring to move the coupling in the opposite direction to engage the clutch parts.

4. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having a shaft, a motor mounting plate supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for both rotation and upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movement of the latter to transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, and means 6 for moving the coupling on the shaft to engage and dis engage said clutch parts.

Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having a shaft, a motor mounting plate supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for both rotation and axial upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts on the first belt pulley and on the driving element of the fluid coupling and engageable and disengageable by upward and downward movements of the coupling to selectively transmit torque from the motor shaft to the driving element, and means for raising and lowering the fluid coupling.

6. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising a single electric motor having a shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, a male clutch part on the lower side of the driving element of the fluid coupling and the first belt pulley having a cooperating female clutch part on its upper side, and means for engaging the underside of the fluid coupling and bodily raising and lowering the same on the shaft for selectively transmitting torque through said clutch parts from the motor shaft to the driving element of the coupling.

7. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having a shaft, motor mounting means supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements with respect to the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movement of the latter to transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, a shift collar slidably and rotatably supported about the motor shaft, a shift lever and means mounting the same for swingable movements up and down, means pivotally connectlng the lever and shift collar whereby movement of the lever will lift the collar against and raise the fluid c-oupl-mg to control the transmission of torque through the clutch parts from the shaft to said driving element, and means for swinging said lever.

8. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having a shaft, a motor mounting plate supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid couplrng on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movement of the latter to trans-- mit torque from the shaft to the driving element, a shift collar slidably and rotatably arranged about the shaft, a shift lever pivoted to the motor mounting plate and swingable up and down, means pivotally connecting the lever and shift collar whereby movement of the lever will lift the collar against and raise the fluid coupling for controlling the transmission of torque through the clutch parts from the shaft to said driving element, a spring biasing the lever upwardly to normally disengage the clutch parts, and a solenoid operatively connected to swingvthe lever downward and engage the clutch parts.

9. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having a shaft, a motor mounting plate supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements on swingable up and down, means pivotally connecting the lever and shift collar whereby movement of the lever will. lift the collar against and raise the fluid coupling to control the transmission of torque through the clutch parts from the shaft to said driving element, a clutch disengaging spring normally swinging the lever upward ill to disengage the clutch parts, a solenoid having a plunger movable upwardly and downwardly, and a spring stretched between the plunger and lever for pulling the lever downward to engage the clutch parts when the solenoid is energized.

10. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clotches washing machine, comprising an electric motor having a shaft, a motor mounting plate supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling fol connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movement of the latter to transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, a shift collar slidably and rotatably arranged about the axis of the shaft, a shift lever pivoted to the motor mounting plate and swingable up and down, means pivotally connecting the lever and shift collar whereby movement of the lever will raise the collar against the underside of the fluid coupling and lift the coupling to control the transmission of torque through the clutch parts from the shaft to said driving element, a clutch disengaging spring normally swinging the lever upward to disengage the clutch parts, a solenoid having a plunger movable upwardly and downwardly, a link having short and long ends and pivoted at the junction thereof to the plunger, the upper extremity of the long end of the link having a notch loosely receiving the lever, a retractile coil spring stretched between the short end of the link and the lever and operative to pull the lever downward on energization of the solenoid to engage the clutch parts, and the lever having an abutment acting as a stop for the upper extremity of the link whereby the pull of the retractile coil spring will bias the link tightly against the abutment.

11. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor havinga shaft, a motor mounting plate supporting the motor with its shaft extending vertically upward, a first belt pulley'secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movemet of the latter to transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, a shift collar rotaably connected to the driving element of the coupling and having diametrically opposed pivot bosses, a shift lever pivoted at one end to the motor mounting plate for up and down swinging movements,

. 3 said lever having two side bars spread apart to loosely embrace said. shift collar and means pivotally connecting.

these spread portions to said pivot bosses whereby up and down movements of the lever will correspondingly position the coupling, and means for swinging the lever.

12. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having an upright shaft, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above thepulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven elements of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements on the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movement of the latter to transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, a shift collar rotatably connected to the driving element of the coupling and having diametrically opposed pivot bosses, a shift lever, means mounting the same for up and down swinging movements, said lever having two side bars spread apart to loosely embrace said shift collar, the said pivot bosses and the adjacent portions of said side bars having aligned tapped openings, screws threaded through these openings and pivotally connecting the lever and collar, and means for swinging the lever.

13. Drive mechanism for the receptacle and agitator of a clothes washing machine, comprising an electric motor having an upright shaft, a first belt pulley secured on the motor shaft and adapted to be connected to drive the agitator, a rotary fluid coupling on the motor shaft above the pulley and including driving and driven elements, a second belt pulley on the driven element of the fluid coupling for connection to drive the receptacle, the fluid coupling being mounted for rotation and upward and downward movements with respect to the motor shaft, cooperating clutch parts secured to the shaft and to said driving element of the coupling and engageable on downward movement of the latter to transmit torque from the shaft to the driving element, a shift collar slidably and rotatably supported about the motor shaft, a shift lever and means mounting the same for movements up and down, means pivotally connecting the lever and shift collar whereby movement of the lever will lift the collar against and raise the fluid coupling to control the transmission of torque through the clutch parts from the shaft to said driving element, and means for swinging said lever, the said shift collar having an upwardly projecting narrow element for engaging and lifting the coupling with a minimum of frictional contact between collar and coupling. I

14. Drive mechanism for the rotary part of a clothes washing machine, comprising. apower rotated shaft, a

rotary fluid coupling both rotatably and axially slidably mounted on the shaft, the said coupling having cooperating vaned driving and driven elements and means on the latter for transmitting torque to said rotary part of the machine, and cooperating clutch parts connected respectively to the driving element of the coupling and to the said shaft and operative by movement of the cou-.

pling axially on the shaft to selectively transmit torque fromthe shaft to the said driving element of the coupling. 15. Drive mechanism for the rotary receptacle of a clothes washing machine, comprising in combination, a-

motor driven shaft, a rotary fluid coupling mounted for rotation and bodily axially slidable movement with respect to the shaft, the said coupling having cooperating driving and driven elements and means on the latter for connection to drive the receptacle, cooperating clutch parts connected respectively to the shaft and to the driving element of the coupling, and means for shifting the coupling axially along the shaft to selectively engage and disenage the said clutch parts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,142,199 Lysholm et al. Jan. 3, 1939 2,627,189 McFarland Feb. 3,1953

2,648,212 Sharp Aug. 11, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 449,819 Great Britain July 6, 1936

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