US3597777A

US3597777A - Clothes washing machines and methods of operating the same

Info

Publication number: US3597777A
Application number: US3748A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peyton W Douglas
Original assignee: Blackstone Corp
Current assignee: Valeo Engine Cooling Inc
Priority date: 1970-01-19
Filing date: 1970-01-19
Publication date: 1971-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 1988-08-10

Abstract

A clothes washing machine and method of operation are provided in which a high speed spin and drain cycle is locked in immediately after the wash cycle in all washing programs followed by a deep agitated rinse and a final high speed spin and drain for regular clothes and a final slow speed spin and drain for delicate fabrics and wash and wear clothes.

Description

United States Patent Peyton W. Douglas Lakewood, N.Y.

Jan. 19, I970 Aug. 10, 1971 Blackstone Corporation Inventor Appl No. Filed Patented Assignee CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES AND METHODS OF OPERATING THE SAME 4 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

US. Cl. 8/159, 68/12, 68/23.7 lnt. ..D06t 33/02, D061 37/36 Field oi'Search ..68/12, 23.6,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,841,003 7/1958 Conlee 68/12 R 3,103,803 9/1963 Rhodes 158/12 R X 3,110,852 11/1963 Brucken et a1 68/12 R X Primary Examiner-William 1. Price .4!torneyBuel1, Blenko and Ziesenhcim ABSTRACT: A clothes washing machine and method of operation are provided in which a high speed spin and drain cycle is locked in immediately after the wash cycle in all washing programs followed by a deep agitated rinse and a final high speed spin and drain for regular clothes and a final slow speed spin and drain for delicate fabrics and wash and wear clothes Patented Aug. 10, 1971 3,597,777

INVENTOR Peyton W. Douglas CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES AND METHODS OF OPERATING THE SAME This invention relates to clothes washing machines and methods of operating the same and particularly to a clothes washing machine with a locked in high speed spin cycle following every wash cycle,

It is general practice in the art of washing machines to have a wash cycle followed by a spin cycle. In the case of ordinary clothes the spin cycle is a high speed cycle whereas in the case of delicate and permanent press cycles the spin cycle is a low speed spin cycle. This is generally accomplished by a selector switch which sets the cycles for regular or delicate fabrics at the option of the operator. Unfortunately the low speed spin cycle drain period is usually not satisfactory to rid the container of water and suds because the pump is also running at slower than normal speed and is not capable of eliminating the suds and water. As a result, after the slow spin and drain cycle of the usual delicate fabric program, there are still quantities of suds and water left in the clothes and container which carry over into the next cycle which is an agitated deep rinse cycle. This contaminates the deep rinse water with suds and dirty wash water.

I have found that this problem can be eliminated by locking in a high speed cycle immediately after the wash cycle in all washing programs followed by a deep agitated rinse and a final high speed spin and drain for a regular clothes program and a final low speed spin and drain for delicate clothes. This solves the problem of carry over of water and suds from the wash cycle and yet protects delicate and permanent press clothes from destruction and from wrinkles setting in the clothes.

Preferably I provide in a clothes washing machine having an outer tub, an inner rotatable tub, a reciprocable agitator and drive means selectively reciprocating said agitator, and rotating said inner tub at a slow or a high speed, the improvement comprising a control system operating said drive means so that following every operation of the drive means to reciprocate the agitator in a wash cycle, the inner tub is next rotated at high speed, followed by at least one deep rinse cycle and the inner tub is then rotated at slow speed for delicate fabrics and at high speed for regular fabrics.

1n the foregoing general statement of my invention l have set out certain objects, purposes and advantages of my invention. Other objects, purposes and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated schematically a control circuit according to my invention.

Referring to the drawings 1 have illustrated a two speed reversible motor and an input source of current ll. Between the current source of 11 and the motor 10, I provide a double program timer switch 12 which controls circuits l3 0 delicate fabric finishing and the other 20 for rotating said inner tub at high speed for regular fabrics, both for sufficient time to extract water from the clothes.

in the foregoing specification, l have set out certain preferred embodiments and practices of my invention, however it will be obvious that the invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a clothes washing machine having an outer stationary tub and an inner rotatable tub, a reciprocable agitator in said inner tub, and drive means selectively reciprocating said agitator and rotating said inner tub at one of a slow spin and drain cycle and a fast spin and drain cycle, the improvement co mprising'a control system operating said drive means to provide a wash cycle in which the agitator reciprocates in said inner tub, a first spin and drain cycle at high speed after each wash cycle in which the inner tub is rotated at high speed, a deep agitated rinse in which the agitator reciprocates following each first spin and drain cycle and a final selected second spin and drain cycle at one of a slow speed rotation of the inner tub for delicate fabrics and a high speed rotation of said inner tub for regular fabrics.

2. In a clothes washing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive means includes a motor rotatable in one direction to reciprocate the agitator and in the opposite direction at two speeds for rotating the inner tub at high speed and at low speed.

3. In a clothes washing machine as claimed in claim I wherein the first. spin and drain cycle is locked in and cannot be bypassed.

4. A method of operating a clothes washing machine having an outer stationary tub, an inner rotatable tub and a reciprocable agitator in the inner tub, comprising the steps of:

a. loading clothes to be washed in said inner tub;

b. reciprocating the agitator in a wash cycle;

c. rotating said inner tub at high speed while draining said outer tub immediately following the wash cycle;

d. reciprocating the agitator in a deep rinse cycle immediately following said high speed rotation, and

e. rotating said inner tub selectively at one of a high speed rotation for regular fabrics and a slow speed rotation for delicate fabrics.

Claims

2. In a clothes washing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive means includes a motor rotatable in one direction to reciprocate the agitator and in the opposite direction at two speeds for rotating the inner tub at high speed and at low speed.
3. In a clothes washing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first spin and drain cycle is locked in and cannot be bypassed.
4. A method of operating a clothes washing machine having an outer stationary tub, an inner rotatable tub and a reciprocable agitator in the inner tub, comprising the steps of: a. loading clothes to be washed in said inner tub; b. reciprocating the agitator in a wash cycle; c. rotating said inner tub at high speed while draining said outer tub immediately following the wash cycle; d. reciprocating the agitator in a deep rinse cycle immediately following said high speed rotation, and e. rotating said inner tub selectively at one of a high speed rotation for regular fabrics and a slow speed rotation for delicate fabrics.