US3264847A

US3264847A - Agitator system for centerpost agitator washer

Info

Publication number: US3264847A
Application number: US453884A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leslie A Johnson; William A Wasemann
Original assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp
Current assignee: CBS Corp
Priority date: 1965-04-28
Filing date: 1965-04-28
Publication date: 1966-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-09

Description

2' EW 3,641,340 AGITATOR SYSTEM FOR CENTERPOS'I' AGITATOR WASHER Filed April 28, 1965 g 9, 1963 s... A. JOHN$ON ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheer. 1

FIG.1.

INVENTORS Leslie A. Johnson William A. Wcsemunn WITNESSES ha im Q, 1966 L. AJJQHNSON mm. 3,264,,fi

AGITATOR SYSTEM FOR CENTERPOST AGITATOR WASHER Filed April 23, l965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,264,847 AGlTATQlR SYSTEM FOR CENTERPOST AGITATUR WASHER Leslie A. Johnson and William A. Wasemann, Mansfield, ()hio, assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 453,884 Claims. (Cl. 68-23) This application is a continuation-impart of our copending application Serial No. 310,700, filed Sept. 23, 1963, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to was-hing machine apparatus, and more particularly to washing machine apparatus of the centerpost agitator type.

If uniform cleansing action is to be obtained in a conventional oscillating centerpost agitator washer, the clothes must be circulated, that is, change positions with respect to each other. The regular straight bladed agitator can provide adequate circulation for small loads. This type of agitator usually has blades which are longer at the bottom than at the top, and acts as a centrifugal pump to produce a circulatory motion in the clothes being washed. However, the circulation tends to slow down and finally stop as the load size is increased. Another type of agitator which aids in circulating clothes in a washing machine is the spiral, or screw-type, the name being descriptive of the shape of the agitator blades. Because of the screw action of this type of agitator, the working stroke of the agitator pulls the clothes downward, while the reverse stroke pushes the clothes upward. However, the opposite strokes are of approximately the same effectiveness as the working stroke so that there is a substantial cancellation of the circulation of the clothing which greatly limits the effectiveness of the screw type of agitator system. In both the above-mentioned types of agitators, the clothing or spinner basket is usually rigidly fixed to the washer during the washing cycle.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved washing machine apparatus.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide new and improved washing machine apparatus wherein superior circulation of clothes to be washed is provided over presently known systems.

Generally, the present invention provides in washing machine apparatus a spinner basket in which clothes are placed to be washed which is free to move in one direction in response to oscillation of the agitator, but is prevented from moving in the other direction when the agitator reverses. This lack of freedom of rotation in one direction of the spinner basket causes an overall change in position of the clothes for each oscillatory cycle of the agitator, thus providing increased circulation of clothes for improved cleansing action over other conventional types of washers.

During the oscillation of the agitator, the clothes undergoing washing are subjected to alternating screw-down and screw-up forces by the screw-type agitator. The stroke of the agitator in one direction of rotation is reduced in accordance with the load imposed upon the agitator, and the coaxially outer basket containing the clothes rotates in the other direction (counter to the agitator one direction of rotation) toa degree proportional to the reduction of the agitator stroke in that one direction. The outer basket is prevented from rotating counter to the agitator during the agitator stroke in the other direction and, accordingly, there is a net difference in the screw-down and screw-up forces exerted proportional to the load of clothes. Since the net difference in these forces during successive oscillations of the agitator are additive, the clothes tend to have Patented August 9, 1966 "ice a continuous net advance in a circulating path, with the degree of force exerted to effect the circulation being proportional to the load.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent when considered in view of the following specification and drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side sectional view of the washing machine apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of one screw-type agitator suitable for use in the invention;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a diagrammatic character of one type of transmission arrangement which may be used in practicing the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a generally diagrammatic top view of the tub interior showing the motions involved according to the invention.

Referring now to the FIG. 1, an outer tub 2 is shown rigidly secured to a gear housing 4 through the bolts 6 and 8. Together the outer tub 2 and the gear housing 4 form a stationary structure. A pulley .10, which is driven by an external motor, not shown, is connected to a driving shaft 1 2 which is supported by the bearing structure 14. The shaft 12 extends into the gear frame 16. Within the gear frame 16 is a gear train driven by the shaft 12. The general arrangement of the gear train and frame is of well known character in the art, with the output provided at the output shaft 18 driving the agitator in oscillating fashion during the wash and rinse portion of the washing machine cycle. The output shaft 18 is supported by the bearing structure 20 and extends up through the outer tub 2.

The transmission will be described in some detail in connection with FIG. 2, but for present purposes it will suffice to say that it is of the so-called coaxial type in which an inner shaft of the coaxial structure oscillates the agitator when the input shaft 12 is rotated in one direction, and the outer spin tube of the structure is used for the spin cycle of the washing operation, the spin cycle occurring when the input shaft 12 is rotated in the opposite direction.

In the present example, the inner shaft of the coaxial driving shaft 18' is the inner drive shaft 21, and the outer tubular member is the upper spin tube 22. Fitted over the upper spin tube 22 is the basket hub 24, which is rigidly keyed to the spin tube 22. Secured to the basket hub 24 is the spin basket 26 which is fixed to the basket hub through the bolts 28. The spin basket 26 is concentrically disposed with respect to the outer tub 2 and serves to hold clothing to be washed. Various apertures are provided in the side Walls of the spinner basket 26 so that washing fluid may readily pass into and out of the basket.

The agitator 30 is of the screw or spiral type having the blades 31 which extend from the bottom of the agitator 30 and spiral around the agitator toward the top of the agitator. As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the agitator includes a shallow dome-shaped base 35 which serves as a clothes guard, a hollow stem 36 secured by hub 32 to the inner shaft 21, and the blades 31. The blades include the inclined plane portions 37 and generally vertical wall portions 38 which spiral inwardly from bottom to top along the radially outer edges of the inclined plane portions. The screw action of an agitator having such a blade configuration is such that when the agitator is rotated in the counterclockwise direction the clothing contiguous thereto will be forced, or expressed in another way, screwed down, toward the bottom of the agitator, while on the other hand, when the agitator is rotated in the other direction (the clockwise direction) the clothing will be forced, or screwed up, toward the top of the agitator. If the agitator is moved equal amounts in the clockwise and counterclockwise direction there will be a tendency to cancel any overall change in position of the clothing during one complete oscillatory cycle. However, the apparatus of the present invention overcomes this difficulty as described hereinafter.

The agitator member 30 is fitted over the drive shaft 18 and attached to the inner drive shaft 21 via the hub connector 32. The agitator 30 is thus driven in an oscillatory manner during the wash cycle. The spinner basket 26 is connected to the outer spin tube 22 which is not rotatable in both directions during the wash cycle, but may be rotated during the spin cycle. The agitator motion is thus independent of the spin motion. The spin tube 22, the basket hub 24, the spinner basket 26, and the gear frame 16, therefore, move and may rotate as one unit.

To provide, during the wash cycle, that the spinner basket 26 can rotate in only one direction, the over running clutch arrangement 34 is provided. The overriding clutch, in the embodiment shown, comprises a coil spring made of wire having a square cross section. The coil of wire is disposed over the gear housing 4 at the area A. One end of the wire is fitted to the gear housing 4 at the area A. The upper portion of the clutch 34 is fitted around the area B of the gear frame 16. The operation of the overriding clutch is such that rotation of the gear frame 16 in one direction will cause the square cross section wire to tighten and thus exert forces at the areas A and B to rigidly hold the gear frame 16 through the area B to the stationary gear housing 4 by exerting pressure at the area A. When there is rotation in the opposite direction, however, the wire 34 will tend to loosen and permit the gear frame 16 to freely rotate with respect to the stationary gear housing 4.

The particular mechanical arrangement permitting the spinner basket 26 to rotate in one direction but not in the other has the effect of circulating the clothes during each oscillatory cycle of the agitator. This can be seen from the following: Assuming that the driving stroke of the agitator is in the counterclockwise direction, as shown by the heavy arrow 40 in FIG. 4, clothing within the spinner basket due to the action of the screw-type agitator will be driven downward toward the bottom of the spinner basket 26 during this portion of the oscillatory cycle of the agitator. The spinner basket during this portion of the oscillatory cycle is not free to rotate in the opposite direction under the reactive force of the agitator, because the overriding clutch mechanism 34 is engaged, rigidly holding the gear frame 16, the upper spin tube 22, the basket hub 24 and the spinner basket 26 to the stationary outer tub 2 and gear housing 4. On the clockwise, return stroke of the agitator 30, indicated by the heavy clockwise arrow 42 in FIG. 4, the clothes Within the spinner basket 26 are driven upward due to the screw action of the agitator, which tends to circulate the clothes within the spinner basket. Moreover, during this half of the oscillatory cycle of the agitator in the clockwise direction, the spinner basket 26 and connected assembly is free to rotate because the overrunning clutch mechanism 34 is now disengaged permitting independent movement of the gear frame 16 with respect to the gear housing 4. Therefore, due to the reactive force of the agitator shaft 21 against the gear frame 16 and so against the spinner basket 26, when the agitator moves in the clockwise. direction an opposite reaction torque will be directed against the spinner basket 26 causing it to move in the counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the relatively short arrow 44 of FIG. 4. The are of the movement of the agitator 30 will be reduced by the amount that the spinner basket 26 moves in the counterclockwise direction, and this is indicated in FIG. 4 by the reduced length of the arrow 42 (corresponding to the clockwise agitator stroke) relative to the length of arrow 40 (corresponding to the counterclockwise agitator stroke). The difference in length of the two strokes indicated by

arrows

40 and 42 corresponds to the proportional advance of the spinner basket indicated by arrow '44.

By thereby permitting the basket 26 to rotate a given amount in the opposite direction to the rotation of the agitator 30, the clothing within the spinner basket will move an amount somewhat different from that moved during the driving stroke of the agitator. Therefore, during a complete oscillatory cycle there will be a net change of position of the clothing within the basket enhancing circulation and cleansing action within the washing apparatus. This is to be distinguished from the cancellation of circulatory action which occurs when the spinner basket cannot rotate in either direction, and the clothing will be forced downward the same amount it is forced upward by the opposite portion of the oscillatory cycle.

To clarify the precise manner in which the load imposed upon the agitator results in a reaction torque causing the basket 44 to rotate counter to the agitator, the transmission arrangement of FIG. 3 will be described in some detail. The input shaft 12 carries the input pinion 50 which drives spur gear 52 and an aflixed pinion 54 journaled in the gear frame structure 16 along an axis offset from the axis of the input and

output shafts

12 and 21. The pinion 54 in turn rotates spur gear 56 which has one end of an eccentric crank 58 pivotally attached thereto with the other end of the crank connected to rock segmental or sector gear 60 which is also journaled from the gear frame along an offset axis. The sector gear 60 meshes with the output pinion 62 on the bottom end of the inner drive shaft 21. As the sector gear is rocked first one way and then the other way by rotation of the gear 52 carrying eccentric crank 58, the agitator is correspondingly oscillated so long as the input shaft is driven in a clockwise direction and the gear frame is prevented from turning. However, with this type of transmission arrangement in which some of the gears of the train are journaled in the gear frame along an axis parallel to but offset from the input and output axis, if the motion of the agitator when moving in a clockwise direction is retarded by a heavy clothes load, the continued rotation of the input shaft coupled with the retarded rotation of the output shaft will cause the sector gear 60 to proportionately climb around the output pinion 62 to a new position angularly displaced in a counterclockwise direction from its old position. The gear frame 16 is equally angularly displaced in a counterclockwise direction, and since the spinner basket 26 is directly connected to the gear frame the basket is accordingly rotated to the same extent as the gear frame in the counterclockwise direction. When the agitator is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the clutch spring 34 of course prevents any clockwise rotation of the gear frame. Thus, when the agitator is being rotated in a counterclockwise direction all of the torque is delivered to the agitator and accordingly is able to turn in the counterclockwise direction against a clothing load resistance which would retard its turning in a clockwise direction.

It will be appreciated that the degree to which the clockwise stroke of the agitator is reduced is proportionate to the resistance of the clothing load encountered by the agitator. Thus, heavier wash loads will result in a greater differential between the screw-down force (counterclockwise agitator stroke) and the screw-up force (clockwise agitator stroke) than the differential which occurs with lighter wash loads. This is advantageous in that water circulation to the clothes is normally more restricted with a heavy clothing load, which tends to compact, than with a light clothing load. Thus, the degree to which the clothes are progressively circulated, as distinguished from simply being moved back and forth between two locations, is dependent upon the size of the washing load.

The circulating force obtained by the differential between the screw-down and screw-up agitator strokes is augmented by providing agitator blades which are of greater diameter at the bottom than at the top of the agitator. The vertical wall portions of the agitator blades particularly in the lower part of the agitator, work somewhat like a centrifugal pump tending to move the clothes radially outwardly regardless of the direction of the agitator stroke. The net result is a circulation of the clothes with greater effectiveness than that which can be obtained by either screw-type agitator alone of uniform diameter, or by straight blades alone.

The apparatus of the present invention thus has a dual advantage. First, a centrifugal pump action is provided causing circulation of clothes due to the shape of the agitator blades. Second, a net circulatory interchange of position of the clothes over a complete cycle is provided due to the spinner basket 26 being permitted to rotate in response to the opposite direction of rotation of the agitator 30, while being fixed in position when the agitator is rotated in the other direction.

The general arrangement of the gear train and the rotatable gear frame as shown is conventionally used in centerpost agitator washing machines to first obtain the oscillatory washing motion, and subsequently obtain the high-speed spin drying by reversing the input shaft direction of rotation. However, the provision of an arrangement in which the reaction torque drive arrangement is used in the manner described to obtain the differeutial in the alternate agitator strokes, coupled With a screw-type agitator which utilizes this differential in the Way described is believed to be new.

- We claim as our invention:

ll. In a clothes washing machine including a centerpost oscillating agitator and an outer rotatable spin basket:

reaction torque drive means connected to oscillate said agitator and concurrently impose counter rotative forces upon said basket;

means restraining rotation of said basket in one direction so that counter rotation of said basket relative to said agitator occurs only during the stroke of said agitator in one direction; and

screw-shaped blade means on said agitator for obtaining a differential in the screw-down and screw-up effect of said agitator during alternating strokes thereof in accordance with the degree to which the stroke of said agitator in said one direction is reta-rded by the load imposed upon said agitator by said clothes.

2. In a clothes washing machine including a centerpost oscillating agitator and an outer rotatable spin basket:

means restraining rotation of said basket in one direction so that counter rotation of said basket relative to said agitator occurs only during the stroke of said agitator in said one direction; and

said agitator includes screw-shaped blade elements thereon to exert a screw-up force upon the Washing load when rotated in said one direction, and a screwdown force when rotated in the opposite direction,

said blades being of decreasing diameter from bottom to top of said agitator.

3. A clothes washing machine comprising:

a centerpost agitator including screw-shaped blades thereon of decreasing diameter in a bottom to top direction;

an outer spin basket for holding a load of clothes to be washed;

means preventing rotation of said spin basket in one direction but permitting rotation thereof in the opposite direction;

drive means connected to oscillate said agitator, and.

selectively rotate said spin basket, said drive means being of a reaction torque character and arranged so that a reduction in angular displacement of said agitator stroke in said one direction imposed by said clothes load effects a proportional angular displacement of said basket in said other direction to obtain a differential between the screw-down force and screw-up force exerted upon said clothes by said agitator during oscillation thereof.

4. In a coaxial centerpost agitator and spin basket type of washing machine:

means for rotating said agitator in oscillating fashion;

means for holding said spin basket from rotating in one direction 'while permitting it to rotate in the opposite direction counter to the concurrent rotation of said agitator and to a degree proportional to the reaction torque imposed upon said agitator by said clothes; and

means for exerting alternate screw-down and screw-up forces upon said clothes with said agitator during alternate strokes thereof to enhance circulation of said clot-hes in said basket as a result of the differential in angular displacement during alternate strokes of said agitator.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein:

said means for exerting said screw-up force with said agitator operates during the period of the agitator stroke which is subject to reduction in angular displacement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,734,367 2/1956 Geldhof 68l33 2,751,773 6/ 1956 Woodson 6823 FOREIGN PATENTS 195,882 2/1958 Austria. 275,342 6/1914 Germany.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE INCLUDING A CENTERPOST OSCILLATING AGITATOR AND AN OUTER ROTATABLE SPIN BASKET: REACTION TORQUE DRIVE MEANS CONNECTED TO OSCILLATE SAID AGITATOR AND CONCURRENTLY IMPOSE COUNTER ROTATIVE FORCES UPON SAID BASKET; MEANS RESTRAINING ROTATION OF SAID BASKET IN ONE DIRECTION TO THAT COUNTER ROTATION OF SAID BASKET RELATIVE TO SAID AGITATOR OCCURS ONLY DURING THE STROKE OF SAID AGITATOR IN ONE DIRECTION; AND SCREW-SHAPED BLADE MEANS ON SAID AGITATOR FOR OBTAINING A DIFFERENTIAL IN THE SCREW-DOWN AND SCREW-UP EFFECT OF SAID AGITATOR DURING ALTERNATING STROKES THEREOF IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE STROKE OF SAID AGITATOR IN SAID ONE DIRECTION IS RETARDED BY THE LOAD IMPOSED UPON SAID AGITATOR BY SAID CLOTHES.