US3413729A

US3413729A - Centrifugal laundry drier

Info

Publication number: US3413729A
Application number: US611428A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wagner Alfred
Original assignee: MASCHINENFABRIK BERNHARD J GOEDECKER
Current assignee: MASCHINENFABRIK BERNHARD J GOEDECKER
Priority date: 1967-01-24
Filing date: 1967-01-24
Publication date: 1968-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 1985-12-03

Description

Dec. 3, 1968 A. WAGNER CENTRIFUGAL LAUNDRY DRIER Filed Jan. 24, 1967 \NVENTOR BY ALFRED WAGNER m MW M United States Patent 3,413,729 CENTRIFUGAL LAUNDRY DRIER Alfred Wagner, Munich, Germany, assignor to Maschinenfabrik Bernhard J. Goedecker, Munich, Germany Filed Jan. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 611,428 Claims. (Cl. 34-58) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A centrifugal laundry drier whose top-suspended basket has an imperforate, downwardly flaring, conical outer wall and two hingedly attached bottom Wall sections to permit bottom discharge. The bottom rim of the outer wall is notched, and the notches are bounded by the bottom wall portions when the basket is closed to provide radial discharge apertures for the extracted water.

Background of the invention This invention relates to automatic laundry equipment, and particularly to a bottom discharging centrifugal laundry drier.

Bottom-discharging centrifuges are commonly employed in the separation of solids from liquids. They lend themselves readily to auomatic operation if the solids drop spontaneously from the centrifuge basket through the opened bottom after extraction. The known bottom-discharging centrifuges are not suitable for drying wet wash because the relatively light textile pieces cling to the basket after spinning, and cannot be discharged spontaneously by gravity through the open bottom.

Summary of the invention The object of the invention is an improvement in the top-suspended basket of an otherwise substantially known centrifuge which makes the centrifuge suitable for extracting water from wet wash, and for spontaneously discharging the partly dried material when the bottom of the basket is opened.

The centrifuge basket of the invention has an imperforate outer wall which is annular about the axis of basket rotation and flares conically in a downward direction. The bottom wall of the basket may be moved toward and away from a position of engagement with the outer wall in which the bottom wall downwardly closes the basket.

Radially extending openings in the basket for discharge of extracted water are jointly bounded by the outer wall and the bottom wall so that material caught in the openings during spinning of the basket is released when the bottom wall is moved away from the outer wall by a hydraulic motor.

It has been found that extracted Wash is released readily from the basket of the invention and drops from the basket when the bottom wall is moved away from the position of engagement with the annular outer wall.

Brief description of the drawing The sole figure of the attached drawing shows a centrifugal laundry drier of the invention in elevational section on the axis of basket rotation.

Description of the preferred embodiment The illustrated centrifugal drier has a supporting frame 21 and an approximately cylindrical outer shell 22. A basket 1 is suspended on the frame 21 by means of a normally vertical tubular shaft 2 and a universal joint 3, conventional in itself, and only partly indicated. The joint 3 and a non-illustrated pulley on the shaft 2 are enclosed in a housing 4 mounted on the frame 21 which also supports a hydraulic drive motor 5.

Patented Dec. 3, 1968 The basket 1 has an annular, imperforate, outer frustoconical wall 23 which defines the top opening of the basket and flares downwardly from the opening, and is divided into two compartments by partition walls 24, 25, which are attached to a cross bar 26 fixedly mounted on the lower end of the shaft 2.

A rod 6 is coaxially arranged partly within the tubular shaft 2, and its upper end is connected by a non-illustrated thrust bearing to the piston, not shown, in the hydraulic jack 7 which is mounted on the housing 4. The lower end of the rod 6 projects from the shaft 2 and is linked by a pivot 8 to two

extensible arms

9, 9 fixedly attached to the flat, imperforate bottom walls 11, 11' of the two basket compartments. The walls 11, 11' are attached to the partitions 24, 25 by respective hinges 10, 10'.

Notches 12 circumferentially spaced about the lower rim of the basket wall 23 and the circumferential edges of the bottom walls 11, 11' bound small radial openings in the basket 1 when the bottom walls are held in the illustrated operative position by the fluid pressure in the jack 7.

A brake 13 whose elements are mounted partly on the shaft 2 and partly on the frame 21 in a conventional manner, not illustrated in detail, permit the basket 1 to be arrested in any desired angular position.

Permanent magnets

14, 15 on diametrically opposite parts of the basket walls 23, 11, 11 cooperate with a non-illustrated sensing coil on the shell 22 and electrically operated controls of the motor 5 and the brake 13 in a known manner, not illustrated, to stop the basket in the two positions in which the basket compartments are axially aligned with the discharge opening of a loading chute 16.

An annular pipe 19 connected to a water line (not shown) and provided with downwardly directed perforations spaced about its circumference and not visible in the drawing is mounted horizontally on the chute 16 and is centered precisely on the nominal position of the basket axis. A cylindrical band 20 of sheet metal is attached to the outer face of the frustoconical wall 23 by radial partitions 27 in such a manner that several circumferentially distributed upwardly open compartments tapering downwardly toward restricted axial openings are formed about the basket wall 23.

A chute 28 coaxially arranged under the basket 1 and integral with the shell 22 leads to a horizontal belt conveyor 17 whose discharge end is located above an inclined elevator 18. A portion of the casing 22 forms a curb about the basket 1 and is provided with a drain 29.

The afore-described apparatus is operated as follows:

The two compartments of the basket 1 are sequentially aligned with the chute 16 and are charged with wet wash. The motor 5 is started and rapidly accelerates the basket 1 to its operating speed. The charge in the basket is driven toward the outer wall 23 by centrifugal forces, and water thereby extracted from the charge leaves the centrifugal drier through the notches 12 and the drain 29.

If the charge of the basket 1 is not properly balanced or becomes unbalanced during extraction so that the shaft 2 deviates from its normal vertical position, the tube 19 is axially aligned with the external compartments between the band 20 and the wall 23 on the side of the basket 1 which holds the lighter load, and water discharged from the pipe 19 restores the needed balance, the water being retained longer in the outer compartments than in the opposite inner basket compartment which also receives liquid from the pipe 19.

When extraction is completed, the basket 1 is stopped, and the fluid pressure in the jack 7 is released so that the bottom walls 11, 11' swing downwardly in opposite angular directions from a common horizontal plane into the chute 28 until they are approximately vertical. The extracted wash drops through the chute 28 on the conveyor 17, and is transferred to the next processing step by the elevator 18.

Centrifugals of the invention have been provided with automatic timing devices and controls, conventional in themselves, which position the basket 1 for loading, start and stop the spinning movement, open the basket bottom for unloading, and again close it prior to the next loading step. The entire cycle of operations is being performed in two minutes, and does not require an operator.

A hydraulic motor 5 has been found most advantageous for the desired rapid acceleration of the basket 1, but the most important feature of this invention which permits automatic bottom discharge resides in the downwardly flaring imperforate wall 23 of the basket. Centrifugal forces tends to drive portions of the extracted material into the holes of a perforated basket with sufiicient force to lock the extracted goods to the basket, making bottom discharge impractical. If portions of the wash are driven into the notches 12 while the basket 1 spins, they are released when the bottom walls 11, 11 are dropped.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a centrifugal laundry drier having a normally vertical drive shaft and a basket mounted on the shaft for rotation with the shaft about a common, vertically extending axis, the basket having an opening at the top, the improvement which comprises:

(a) an imperforate outer annular wall of said basket extending about said axis, said wall defining said opening and flaring in a downward direction from said opening;

(b) bottom wall means, said bottom wall means and said annular wall constituting members of said basket;

(0) actuating means for moving one of said members toward and away from a position relative to the other member in which the bottom wall means substantially close said basket in a downward direction; and

(d) drain means for removing liquid from said basket while said bottom wall means are in said position thereof.

2. In a drier as set forth in claim 1, said outer wall and said bottom wall means jointly bounding a plurality of circumferentially spaced radially extending openings in said basket when said bottom Wall means is in said position, said openings constituting elements of said drain means.

3. In a drier as set forth in claim 1, said bottom wall means including two wall members pivotally secured to said outer wall for swinging movement about respective horizontally extending axes, said wall members extending substantially in a common plane in said position of the wall means, and moving in opposite angular directions from said plane when said bottom wall means are moved away from said position by said actuating means.

4. In a drier as set forth in claim 3, said actuating means including a rod member extending axially along said shaft, means for moving said rod member axially relative to said shaft, and linkage means connecting said rod member to said wall member for swinging the same about said horizontally extending axes when said rod member moves relative to the shaft.

5. In a drier as set forth in claim 4, said shaft being tubular and a portion of said rod member being received in said shaft.

6. In a drier as set forth in claim 5, said outer wall being substantially conical, and said wall members and said outer wall jointly bounding a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially extending openings in said basket when said bottom wall means is in said position of engagement, said openings constituting elements of said drain means.

7. In a drier as set forth in claim 1, said actuating means including a motor and motion transmitting means interposed between said motor and said one member.

8. In a drier as set forth in claim 7, said motion transmitting means including a motion transmitting member extending in the direction of said axis and being moved in said direction by said motor when said one member i moved by said actuating means.

9. In a drier as set forth in claim 1, a support, a portion of said shaft axially remote from said basket being suspended from said support, and balancing means responsive to a deviation of said axis from a vertical position for loading a portion of said basket to restore said vertical position.

10. In a drier as set forth in claim 9, said balancing means including a tubular ring mounted on said support above said basket and centered on said axis in said vertical position, said ring being formed with perforations for downward axial discharge of a liquid from the same, and a plurality of upwardly open compartments, said compartments being circumferentially distributed on the outside of said annular wall, normally aligned with said openings in the direction of said axis, and formed with restricted downward openings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 970,022 9/1910 Dinsmore 3458 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,234,182 5/1960 France.

JOHN J. CAMBY, Acting Primary Examiner,