US2934927A

US2934927A - Closure means for washing machine

Info

Publication number: US2934927A
Application number: US754438A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank A Gerlach
Original assignee: American Laundry Machinery Co
Current assignee: American Laundry Machinery Co
Priority date: 1958-08-11
Filing date: 1958-08-11
Publication date: 1960-05-03
Anticipated expiration: 1977-05-03

Description

May 3, 1960 Filed Aug. 11, 1958 F. A. GERLACH CLOSURE MEANS FOR WASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Shet 1 May 3, 1960 Filed Aug. 11, 1958 F. A. GERLACH 2,934,927

CLOSURE MEANS FOR WASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZIP INVENTOR. FRANK A. GEPLACH ATTOENEYS CLOSURE MEANS FOR WASHING MACHINE Frank A. Gerlach, (Iincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ghio Application August 11,1958, Serial No. 754,438

Claims. (Cl. 68-143) The invention relates to novel and improved closure means for a commercial washing machine, and the invention is especially advantageously adapted for use with the type of washing machine having a relatively large work-holding cylinder which is rotatable within a fixed tub, casing or housing. The cylinder has foraminous or perforate wall portions, to provide access of the washing or cleaning liquid to the work, and the tub, casing, or housing retains the liquid at a preselected level with respect to the location of the cylinder.

To avoid confusion in an understanding of the following description I will use the term cylinder in referring to the inner, movable, work-containing element, and the term casing in referring to the outer shell, housing or tub which is fixed, and which holds the processing liquid, usually a soapy detergent, or a hydrocarbon'type solvent. The type of cylinder door now to be disclosed is usable in the machines known in the art as washers, and also washer extractors, and other advantageous applications of the invention will be familiar to those skilled in the commercial laundry art.

Cylinders such as those comprised herein are usually divided into compartments by either one or more vertical partitions transverse to the axis of rotation, and/or one or more horizontal partitions usually on planes coincident with the axis of rotation. Each compartment of course must be provided with a door for loading and unloading. and the door for each compartment must be registrable with a door or opening in the casing. Automatic control means is sometimes provided for either the accurate registration of both doors when the cylinder is stopped, or for convenient inching of the doors to registration. The cylinder door or doors may sometimes be located in the peripheral wall, but a door or doors in the cylindrical end wall is frequently used, especially in the multi-compartment type of cylinder having partitions dividing the cylinder, or a part thereof, into sectors of, for example, 120 degrees or 180 degrees. The 120 degree type is rather common, having three partitions arranged in a Y, the compartments being conveniently loaded or unloaded through a small end door in the compartment end wall. Each compartment door, as previously indicated, is successively registrable with a door in the end of the casing. An extra-large laundry Washerextractor of the Y type will be hereinafter described as one embodiment of the present invention.

My novel door arrangement was devised especially to meet the problems encountered with a large cylinder having a diameter of around six feet. With the usual door arrangements this size of cylinder is difficult to unload, requiring the operator to reach far down and back into the compartment. An arrangement commonly used prior to this invention arranges one leg of the Y-partition in a horizontal position at one side of a vertical center line through the center of extractor when the device is in loading and unloading position. The compartment on the opposite side of the vertical center line is then in position to be loaded or unloaded. In this position the two 2,934,927 Patented Mays, 1960 partitions defining this compartment slope respectively upward and downward away from the axis of the cylinder, and a centrally located rectangular door in the end wall of the compartment has its hinge in a vertical plane. This arrangement is satisfactory in some machines but when the cylinder has a diameter of six feet, for instance, as disclosed herein, the operator has difiiculty in reaching far down and back into the compartment in unloading clothes therefrom. In the improvedform of door arrangement I have devised, the loading and unloading position is at one side of a vertical central plane through the cylinder, above a horizontal central plane. The bottom partition of the compartment to be loaded or unloaded is aligned with the bottom edge of the casing opening, on a horizontal line, and preferably on a central plane through the rotational axis.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved door arrangement which greatly facilitates loading and unloading of a compartment in a cylinder of the nature described.

A further object of the invention is to provide a compartment door in two parts, a first part hinged on an axis which is vertical when the cylinder isstopped in unloading position, and a second part hinged on an axis which is horizontal when the cylinder is in the same position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of the nature indicated in the last preceding paragraph in which the first part is a main door and the second part partially overlies the first part and assists in securing it in position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of the nature indicated in the last two preceding paragraphs in which the hinge axis for the said second door part lies substantially in the plane of a compartment partition which constitutes the compartment floor in unloading position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fitted two-part door of the character indicated in the last three preceding paragraphs which the door is substantially sector-shaped in contour having terminal radially extending edges at approximately a ninety degree divergence.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the following specification, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of a cylinder fitted with a two-part door embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a washerextractor with casing and cylinder doors open.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views taken on the respective section lines 33, 4-4 and 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the section line 66 of Fig. 4.

The cylinder has the usual perforated circumferential wall 10 and end walls l1, 12, plus the Y design partitions 12a, 12b, 12c, suitably reinforced as by external ribs 13, 'bands 14, and secured together as by welding W. A gudgeon 15 (Fig. l) is secured to each end wall to support the cylinder for rotation in outboard bearings such as 16 (Fig. 2) on the casing 17.

Front cylinder wall 11 has three openings for access to the respective compartments. Each opening is in the form of what is for convenience termed a truncated sector, and extends arcuately from a partition. The door 18 fits without undue clearance into the door opening, the door sheets or plate proper being flush with the surface of cylinder end head 11, flanges 18a (Fig. 4) acting as abutment and sealing members along the arcuate edges. A small angle member 1812 on the inner face of the door around the perimeter provides an inwardly extending flange effective to prevent work from slipping out and to reinforce the door sheet. Radial battens 18c further stiffen the door.

The cylinder door is formed from two cooperating parts which may be regarded as a main door or first part 18 and an auxiliary door or second part 20. Door 18 is swingable on. a vertical hinge 19 which is outwardly offset from the plane of the door panel to permit the door to be swung outwardly substantially through an arc of 180 so as to lie flat against the outwardly opened door 24 of the casing.

The auxiliary door or flap 20 is hinged to the head plate 11 along the line of the partition, indicated at 12b, Figure 3, and is of appropriate width to extend out across the gap between the cylinder and the tub or housing, when open. In the closed position, door 20 overlies the lower part of the main door, resting upon flanges 18a (Fig. 3) and upon a cross strip 18d. Two latches or bolts 21 on the flap door and two on the main door are used to lock the doors against the tub head. The latches are simply fiat bar members 21a slidable in a body or housing 21b, a pin 21c in the bar fitting through a slot 21d in the housing to limit bar movement. Each bar has a grip part 21c at one end, and the outer end has an open slot-21f, adapted to cooperate with a stud 22 and nut 23. Each stud has a base 22a, (Fig. 4) by which it is secured to the head plate 11. In opening the door, the nuts are slacked off by partially unscrewing them and the bolt bars retracted. The nuts need not be removed, the door and latch clearing them by a slight margin, the door flange being notched if necessary, as at N. The locking arrangement is simple, with no springs or other parts to become fouled with lint or other deposits. Primarily it provides a very secure closure to withstand the heavy pounding and pressure of the large work load.

The tub, or casing, door 24, which will preferably be similar in shape but somewhat larger than the cylinder doors, is vertically hinged, as at 24a. When it has been opened and one of the cylinder doors has been registered or spotted, the bolts are released, the flap door 20 lowered and the main door opened. The compartment being thus extensively exposed down to its floor level, unloading is easily done, any part of the work load at the left tending to slide down to the most accessible position.

What is claimed is:

1. Cylinder door closure means for a washer of the type having a cylinder rotatable on a horizontal axis in a fixed casing, said cylinder having peripherally spaced partitions extending longitudinally in planes converging towards and coincident with the axis of rotation whereby to divide the cylinder into a plurality of sector-shaped compartments each extending inwardly from a cylinder end wall, and wherein one such compartment has a door opening of generally sector-shaped contour in its portion of the said end wall, said door opening having a first and a second edge diverging radially outwardly towards an outer circumferential door edge, one such radial edge of said door opening being substantially coincident with the plane of a bounding partition, and said plane being the plane of article discharge when the cylinder is stopped in unloading position for the last said compartment and said casing also having a door opening registrable by cylinder rotation with said cylinder door opening, said closure comprising a first door part swingable on first hinge means disposed along said first edge, and a second door part swingable on second hinge means along said second edge, said second hinge means extending in a horizontal plane when the cylinder is in unloading position, said two door parts cooperating to close said cylinder door opening when they are moved to door closed position.

2. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein said first hinge means extends in a vertical direction when said cylinder is in said unloading position.

3. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein said cylinder door opening is spaced laterally from the cylinder center line, and extends upwardly from a horizontal axial plane when said cylinder is in said unloading position.

4. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein a portion of said second door part overlaps and securely holds said first door part when both said door parts are moved to closed position.

5. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein said first door part is swingable outwardly through said casing door opening when the cylinder is in unloading position, and wherein said second door part is swingable outwardly to a substantially horizontal position, the free swinging edge being supportable on the lower edge of the open casing doorway likewise when said cylinder is in unloading position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 923,971 Hey June 8, 1909 962,887 Bolger June 28, 1910 1,307.919 Mulligan June 24, 1919 1,660,808 Olney Feb. 28, 1828 2,144,157 Jorgeson Jan. 17, 1939 2,674,869 Shields Apr. 13, 1954