US2832207A - Washing machines - Google Patents

Description

F. R. SIBBALD WASHING MACHINES 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 27, 1955 April 29, 1958 F. R. SIBBALD {2,832,207

WASHING MACHINES Filed April 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n l Q m. Mimi? United States Patent WASHING MACHINES Frederick Roy Sibbald, Greenford, England, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 27, 1955, Serial No. 504,158 Claims priority, application Great Britain May 7, 1954 1 Claim. (Cl. 68-22) This invention relates to Washing machines of the type intended to be used with a power-driven wringer or ironer, and is concerned with the drive to the wringer or ironer,

According to the invention a washing machine includes a container for washing liquid having a washing impeller in it, and a driving motor mounted under the container and connected to drive the impeller, and is characterised by a flexible drive, connected to the motor through a freewheel or unidirectional clutch, and terminating, adjacent the top of the container, in a vertical shaft connected to a power-driven wringer or ironer, or an upwardly facing power take-off for driving such a wringer or ironer, and means for reversing the motor at will.

The use of a flexible drive enables the coupling or driving shaft for the wringer to be brought close to the corner of the casing.

Preferably the impeller is also driven through a freewheel or unidirectional clutch arranged so that rotation of the motor in one direction drives the impeller and not the wringer or ironer, whilst rotation in the other direction drives the wringer or ironer and not the impeller.

In one form of the invention the lower end of the flexible drive carries a shaft with its axis horizontally driven by a belt and pulleys from the motor.

The arrangement described provides an extremely simple form of drive for a power-driven wringer since the control is eifected solely by a reversing switch which may be situated in any convenient position, and may incorporate an ofi position for stopping the motor. No gears are involved and no clutches except the freewheel devices which require no manual operating means.

Accordingly it is preferred that to maintain simplicity the wringer should be driven in one direction only. This a does not necessarily involve any sacrifice of usefulness if the wringer is mounted so as to be capable of turning about a vertical axis, so as to enable clothes to be fed to it direct from the container or to be delivered from it directly towards the container.

Thus accordingto a further aspect of the invention, a washing machine including a container for washing liquid of approximately square plan form is provided with a wringer pivoted about a vertical axis adjacent a corner of the container, and has at least two operative positions in each of which it extends generally parallel to one side of the container, means being provided for driving the wringer in one direction only, so that in one position clothes can be fed to it direct from the container whilst in the other position clothes can be delivered from it didirectly towards the container.

The invention may be carried into practice in a number of ways but one specific embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a general view of a washing machine incorporating the present invention,

Figure 2 is a detailed elevation partly in section of the the motor and pulley assembly of the washing machine,

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic end elevation of part of one of the clutches of the motor assembly in its free position,

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view similar to Figure 3 with the clutch in the engaged position, and

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of the machine showing the two positions of the wringer.

In the embodiment to be described the washing machine comprises a container 10 for washing liquid of approximately square plan form mounted in an outer casing 11 and having in a side wall of it a disc-like impeller 12 driven by an electric motor 13 situated underneath the container. A pulley 14 on the impeller shaft is connected by a belt 15 to a pulley 16 mounted freely on the motor shaft. The latter pulley is arranged to be coupled to the shaft by means of a unidirectional inertia-operated clutch indicated generally at 17. t

This clutch may be of any desired form, but conveniently is constructed as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Thus, a driving member 18 is rigidly secured to the shaft 19 of the motor 13 by means of a grubscrew 20. The

driving member 18 has a flange 21 carrying a coupling member 22 which is pivoted to the flange 18 by a rivet 23, so. that it can swing about an axis parallel to the motor axis. As shown in Figures 3 and 4,. the coupling Referring now to Figure 2 it will be seen that the pulley i 16 which carries the belt drive to the impeller of the washing machine is not keyed to the shaft of the motor and accordingly it is free to rotate on it. It is retained on the shaft by an end collar 24. Keyed to theside of the pulley adjacent the motor is a clutch plate 25. As

shown in Figures 3 and 4,the plate 25 has six equally spaced peripheral projections 26 and the outer ends of these projections are turned at right angles towards the motorand parallel to its axis to aiford clutch dogs 27. Itwill be seen from Figures 3 and 4 that these clutch dogs are not tangential to the plate but are inclined to such a tangent. Thus, when the motor is started up in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figures 3 and 4, the acceleration is considerable and the centrifugal force acting on the coupling member 22 is negligible so that its inertia tends to swing it anticlockwise about its pivot 23 and one end 28 of it is swung out between two adjacent dogs to engage one of the dogs at its trailing end 32 i. e. that nearest the axis of the motor. The other end 29 of the coupling member 22 engages the shaft of the motor which acts as a stop for it. Accordingly the clutch is engaged and the motor drives the pulley through it.

It will be appreciated that the driving torque exerted by the clutch plate on the coupling member 22 is in such a direction as to prevent the latter from returning to its free position, and accordingly the clutch remains engaged so long as the driving torque is maintained. In order that the clutch is only engaged if the motor is started in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 3 and 4, a stop 30 is provided on the driving member 18 thus preventing the coupling member from moving clockwise as viewed in Figure 3 beyond its free position. Hence, if the driving member 18 is started up in an anti-clockwise direction, the coupling member will merely press against its stop 30. In order to keep the coupling member pressed against its stop, it may be desirable to arrange Patented Apr. 29, 1958 3' its centre of gravity slightly to the right (as viewed in Figure 3) of the line joining the axes of the shaft 19 and the pivot 23.

If the clutch stops in the engaged position, and the motor is then started up in the're verse direction the coupling member 22 will be disengaged from the trailing end 32 of the dog. As soon as the end 28 of the con pling member 22 leaves the trailing end its arcuate onter surface meets the internal side of the adjacent dog and it is immediately turned to its free position as shown in Figure 3.

At its other end the motor shaft also carries a free pulley 34 which can be coupled to the shaft by a similar unidirectional inertia clntch generally indicated at "3 5. The two clutches 17 and 35 are arranged to engage in opposite directions of rotation of the motor shaft." As is shown in Figure 1 the second pulley 34 is connected by a belt 36 to a pulley 37 mounted to rotate on a shaft 38 connected to the end of a flexible drive 39. The drive extends horizontally under the container and thence curves upwardly in a corner of the casing to terminate level with the top of the container adjacent a corner of it. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 the flexible drive terminates in an upwardly facing power takeofi .40 to which a detachable wringer 31 is connected. It will .be appreciated that if a permanently attached power-driven wringer is employed, the flexible drive terminates in a vertical driving shaft connected to drive the wringer.

As is shown in Figure 1, at a convenient position in the casing 11, a reversing and off switch 41 is-provided which is connected in the circuit of the motor 13 so that the rnotor can be switched 01? or run in either direction of rotation. Thus, when the motor 13 runs in one direction the clutch 17 will be engaged to drive the impeller 12 for washing, whilst the (other clutch 35 will be disengagedso that the wringer will remain stationary. By reversing the direction of the motor the impeller can bebrpught to a standstill and the wringer operated.

As is shown in Figure 1, a cooling fan 42 for the motor as situated between the clutch :17 and the motor. This fan iskeyed to the motor shaft and carries an outwardly directed annular flange 43 parallel to the axis of the motor shaft. As is shown in Figure 1, this flange 43 affords a friction wheel engaging a cQ-operating friction wheel 44 on the shaft of an emptying pump 45 for emptying the container. As elaimed in assignees Patent No. 2, 3 th litl o the emptying P m .45 y

incorporate a hose having a storage position in which its end is blocked by a stationary bung so as to prevent emptying of the container except when desired. :In .an alternative arrangement, the emptying pump may-serve as a counter-shaft to which the end of the flexible drive is a tac ed a t be d i en y the sam e d pulleys whenever the wringer is beingdriven. In these i um an mpel e w l be st nary "while the container is being emptied.

I th r an em n d ibed t e wri e pe a in nedi n nly fo the kg ,Q simp i an to give added versatility it is mounted on its vertical mounting take-01f coupling 40 so. that it can be adjusted about a ert ca xi a cen th came of the cq ta nc o number of operating positions. Thus, as is shown diagrammatically'in Figure 5, it can extend along either of the two sides of the container adjacent its vertical mounting. Accordingly in the position shown in full lines in Figure 5 the wringer will deliver clothes away from the container, so that clothes which have been washed in the container can be fed direct to the wringer and delivered thence to a tray or direct to a rinsing bath. n t e th hand in t oth P i n sho in s in lines in Figure 5, it will deliver clothes towards the container so that the clothes taken from a rinsing bath can be wrung directly from the rinsing bath. In addition the wringer may have further positions projecting over the side of the machine.

Preferably the wringer is provided with a pressure release device to enable the rollers to be separated to enable clothes to be withdrawn.

The use of a power-driven wringer rotating in only one direction renders possible considerable simplification in construction as well as in operation. In particular, if a safety device is incorporated to switch off the motor, or separate the rollers, or both, if the hand of the user comes dangerously close to the rollers, this device need only be provided on one side of the wringer since the same side is always the entry side.

It will be appreciated that apart from driving a wringer the power take-off coupling may be employed for driving an ironer for ironing clothes.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A washing machine comprising, a container .for washing liquid, a washing impeller disposed within said container, a rotatable driving member adjacent the top of said con-tainer adapted to operate an auxiliary appliance, a reversible driving motor beneath said container and having its shaft substantially horizontal, first drive means between said motor and impeller and including afirst unidirectional clutch mounted at one end of said motor shaft for driving said impeller in one direction only when said motor is rotating in a forward direction, second drive means between said motor and driving member and including a second unidirectional clutch mounted at the opposite end of said motor shaft connected to a flexible shaft to rotate said driving member only in one direction when said motor is rotated in the reverse di rection, said flexible shaft extending substantially the lengthof said motor toward said first unidirectional clutch and thence upwardly along said container to said driying member, and switch means for reversing rotation of said motor to effect separate operation of said first and second clutch means and thus operation of said impeller and driving member.

References .Cited in the file .of this patent UN TED $TA E$ PTE T

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