US975573A - Washboiler. - Google Patents

Description

G. ROBINSON.

WASHBOILER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.1Z,1905.

975,573. Patented N0v.15, 1910.

In ve n tar dfirwvn/ are,

WASI-IBOILER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

Application filed April 12, 1905. Serial No. 255,087.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGIANA ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Washboilers, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to washing machines and more particularly to the class known as wash-boilers, and in which are employed means to throw up, by the action of the steam generated in the bottom of the boiler, a torrent of steam and water which will be caused to pour down upon the clothes and to freely and fully circulate therethrough.

Among the objects of this invention may be noted the following: to provide a washboiler in which the steam may be quickly generated and caused to forcibly impel the water upon and vigorously circulate the same freely through and among the clothes; to provide an automatic wash-boiler with means whereby the same may deliver, downwardly from its top, a continuous stream of water and steam in all directions and with great force; to provide a washboiler in which there will be included a fountain-body having means whereby it may be quickly set in place and firmly held and secured in the holding-vessel without vibration; to provide a wash-boiler with a fountain-body so constructed and disposed in the holding-vessel that free circulation through and around the said body will be provided for both water and steam; to provicle a wash-boiler with a fountain attachment, having a receptacle for holding either hard or soft soap, whereby the latter may be easily and quickly dissolved for saponifying the water; and to provide an attachment, as an article of manufacture, whereby the ordinary wash-boiler or holding-vessel may be rendered capable of use in connection with my invention.

Other objects will be disclosed during the course of this description, and with them all in View, together with those above enumerated, this invention consists in the parts, features and combinations of elements hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have provided drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical, central section of the holding-vessel with my invention applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing the cross-bar 16.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the vertical wall or body of the holding-vessel, which may be of any desired form, or have any conventional shape which may be found suitable for the purposes, and in the center of the bottom 2 of which, and on the inside thereof, is per manently set or secured, by any suitable means, or formed integral with the material of the bottom, a hollow projection 8, which is provided with a plurality of spaced, angular slots 4, open at the top of said projection. The cover 5 of the holding-vessel is provided with the depending flange 6 set upon the shouldered portion 7 of the body 1; and said cover 5 is provided with a handle 8, secured thereto by any suitable means, such as screws or rivets 9. The cover is also provided with a steam-outlet pipe 10, screwed thereinto and communicating with the interior of the holding-vessel, and provided at its top with the hinged valve-lid 11, weighted by means of the conical lug 12, so as to hold the said lid 11 normally closed. As will be obvious, when the steam pressure within the holding-vessel becomes too great, the valve-lid 11 will be lifted and the extent of such lift will be limited by means of the stop 13, secured to the pipe 10, projecting above the top of the latter and extended to a position such that the lid 11 can never assume the vertical, hence, providing an automatic or gravity valve for closing the steam-outlet pipe 10. The stop 13 consists of a piece of spring or flexible material and, if elastic, will be curved as shown into proper position and will operate so as to cause the lid 11 to rebound should the latter be thrown open with any force; and, if of flexible material, said stop will be bent into proper position for securing its function and may be adjusted or changed to any other desired position. Placed within the holding-vessel is the fountain-attachment, which consists of the conical body-portion 14, having its bottom extended or flared so as to cover nearly the entire bottom of the vessel, but leaving, as shown in the figure, suflicient space for the free circulation of water and steam between the said fountainbody and the walls of the holding-vessel. In order to avoid sharp edges, the bottom of the conical body is turned up, as shown at 15, to provide a rounded edge or heading. The conical body is braced by the cross-bar 16, which also supports a depending sleeve 17, which telescopes the pro ection 3 and carries on its inside pins 18, spaced to correspond with the angular slots 4, whereby said pins may be entered in said slots and, by turning the fountain-body, caused to enter the horizontal. portion of said slots, thus locking the fountain-body1n position by means of a bayonet joint connection. To support the conical body above the bottom of the holding-vessel, and also provide means for spacing said body from said bottom 2, a series of rings 19, in any suitable number, are looped through the bottom of the conical body 14 and around the flange 15 thereof, said rings being properly secured and held, substantially in the position shown, by soldering the same to the body 14. This constructlon not only properly supports the fountain attachment, but also spaces the latter from the bottom of the holding-vessel for permitting the free circulation of water and steam between the latter and the conical-body 14, and under, around and through the fountain attachment; but, it will be understood that, though the fluids have free circulation around the fountain attachment, the space between the lower edge of the conical body and the bottom of the holding-vessel is not large enough to allow any of the work to be drawn into the conical body. Obviously, the bayonet-joint connection between the holding-vessel and the fountain attachment is so located as to also space the latter from the bottom2, and to limit the extent to which the fountain attachment may approach said bottom. The bayonet connection also has the function of preventing too much weight being applied to the supporting-rings or feet 19, and the latter in turn prevent too much weight being brought to bear upon the pins of the bayonet-joint. Hence, there is a reciprocal and mutual cooperation between the supports for the fountain-body and the connection between the latter and the bottom of the holding vessel. 7

Extending longitudinally and centrally of the conical body 14, and supported by the cross-bar 16, is the vertical, passage-pipe or stem, one portion 20 of which is made of solid or imperforate material, and the other portion 21 of which is perforate or foraminous and may be made of wire-gauze of any suitable kind. The portion 20 of the pipe or stem extends a short distance below the junction 22 thereof with the conical. body 14, such junction being secured by means of soldering, riveting or otherwise. The foraminous portion or stem 21 of the pipe constitutes a soap-holder and has at its top the partition 23, which has the function of a stop for preventing the soap from being floated or forced into the upper portion 20 of the stem, but permits thepassage of all fluids, as it is made perforate the same as the pipe-section 21. It is not essential that this stop 23 be provided, although it is found to be useful when hard soap in any form is used. At a point between its ends, the foraminous section 21 is provided with the arched collar 24, for the reception of the top of the sliding door 25, which'closes the opening to the soap-chamber and the bottom of which slides between the portion 21 and the inverted thimble 26 upon which the portion 21 rests and to which it is connected, and by means of which the pipe, as a whole, is securely held in place by soldering or otherwise securely fastening the said thimble 26 to the cross-bar or brace 16. A small handle 27 may be provided for sliding the door 25, when desired. The top of the pipe-section 20 is provided with a plurality of angular slots 28, said slots opening at the top of the pipe, as clearly shown. These slots 28 receive pins 29, carried in corresponding number on the inside of the sleeve 30, which latter snugly fits the top. of the pipe and is formed on, or connected to, the circular concavo-convex cap-plate 31. This construction makes a handy connection for readily applying and removing the dome generally in dicated by 32. Supported by the cap-plate 31, by means of the radial pins 33, is the dome-plate 32, said pins also having the function of spacing the dome-plate 32 from the cap-plate 31 the requisite distance to permit the free and easy passage of a continuous stream of fluid. The dome-plate 32 is curved at its center toquite an elevation above the cap-plate 31 and above the upper end of the pipe or stem 20, in order to provide a pressure chamber 34, for a purpose to be presently described. The curvature and form of the cap-plate 31 and dome-plate 32 are such as to provide a downturned out- 7 eral direction of such stream being substantially midway between the fountain-body and the walls of the holding-Vessel.

The structural features being now understood, the operation of the boiler as a whole and of the fountain attachment individually will be obvious from the following: The fountain-body is placed in the holding-vessel and the several pins 18, carried by the sleeve 17, are centered so as to enter the vertical portions of the angular slots 4, and, when said pins have been bottomed in said slots, a slight turn is given to the fountainbody in the proper direction, so as to carry said pins to the end of the horizontal portions of said slots, thus tightly and securely locking the fountain-body to the bottom of iao the holding-vessel. The sleeve 17 snugly fits and slides over the projection 8 on the bottom 2 and thus aids in preventing wabbling or looseness between the parts; and the fountain-body is still further steadied and rigidly held by the engagement of the feet 19 with the bottom 2, said feet going firmly into engagement with said bottom when the pins 18 bottom in the slots 4; and it will be readily understood that the form of the feet is such that their contact is not extensive, is quite smooth and is, consequently, substantially frictionless or anti-frictional. Hence, the feet do not retard the movement, of the fountain-body, necessary to properly set and fasten it in place, and such movement is so slight that the bottom 2 is not materially worn; yet, by the means described, and by using, or providing, the requisite number of feet 19, the fountain-body is tightly held in the holding-vessel and prevented from ha"- ing any movement therein or independently thereof and, consequently, said body is completely braced and steadied and prevented from vibration and movement such as would ordinarily be caused by the action of the steam and water within the conical bodyportion 14. When thus set in place, the fountain-body practically covers the bottom of the holdingvessel but is sufficiently spaced from the bottom of the latter, by the feet 19, to permit the free circulation of the fluids under the same and therebetween and the bottom of the boiler. Soap in any form may be used and, will be placed in the perforate portion 21 through the door 25 before the fountain-body is placed in the holdingvessel; and will be, therefore, always submerged and readily and quickly dissolved, resulting in quick saponification of the fluid in the holding-vessel. If hard soap in any form is used and should not be thoroughly dissolved before steam is generated under the conical body 14, the fluids might force the same up through the pipe-section 20 and out through the dome into contact with the clothes in lump form, which, of course, is objectionable. Hence, the efficacyof the stop or diaphragm 28 at the top of the foraminous section 21. If it is desired to add more soap, during the operation ofthe boiler, the same can be readily done by inserting the same in the top of the stem 20 by removing the dome therefrom. Obviously, as the steam is generated under the conical body 14:, it will rise and the water will be carried with it through the foraminous portion 21 and up through the portion 20, and from thence will flow in a continuous sheet from and around the bottom of the dome, this action taking effect with such force as to not only suds the water, but to agitate the clothes and drive the soapy water and steam thoroughly through and among the same. The fluids pass up the pipe into the dome with considerable force, in the natural operation of the boiler, and are carried with great power against the walls of the chamber 34 in said dome, thus creating a supplemental force by deflection to drive the fluids with increased power down upon the clothes contained in the holding-vessel. The natural action of the fluids, aided and accelerated by the pressure chamber 34, results in driving said fluids down through the clothes and under the conical body 1% and up again through the pipe thereof, creating rapid and forceful circulation which, in a very short time, will thoroughly cleanse the clothes.

It will be observed that the shape and structure of the fountain-body are such as to allow the clothes to move freely about the same and within the holding-vessel without entanglement, and by forming the beading 15 on the bottom of the body-portion 14, sharp edges are avoided which might cut or tear the clothes, Obviously, the lower edges of the cap and dome plates may be rounded if found necessary, for the same reason, they being, in any event, made smooth so that the clothes may not be cut or torn when they are withdrawn from the holding-vessel; but it will be noted that there is ample space around the dome to enter and withdraw the clothes without contact therewith.

It will be understood that a great amount of steam is generated in the holding-vessel and that a great portion of it will seek the top thereof, in which event there would be a tendencv to force the cover 5 ofi the holdingvessel unless locking means were provided. To avoid this and the use of the objectionable catches or locking devices, the steamoutlet 10 is provided, the hinged valve-lid 11 of which readily lifts-or yields to any pressure which could possibly force the cover 5. As soon as the pressure of the steam is relieved through said valve the latter will instantly close by gravity, as will be readily understood, and the steam pressure is prevented from throwing the valve too far back by setting the stop 13, which prevents the same from reaching the vertical, and makes it ever ready to assume its closed position when the pressure is relieved, the valve be ing thus purely automatic.

The entire fountain attachment, obviously, may be readily detached from the holdingvessel and removed therefrom, and the dome can be removed from the top of the pipe in the same manner, thus permitting the attachment to be readily cleaned and dried.

Various modifications may be made in the combination of the elements and the structural features of the fountain attachment, without departing from the spirit of my invention, and within the scope and principle of the latter; and, it will be obvious that the fountain attachment may be sold separately from the holding-vessel as an article of manufacture, thus permitting it to be used in connection with any form of holdingvessel by merely applying to the bottom of the latter a slotted pro eotion such as 3. Hence, as to certain of the features of my invention, I do not purpose so limiting my claims as to confine the fountain attachment to use and combination with a holdingvessel.

In order that the structural and elemental features of my invention may be readily appreciated, the following are noted as among its advantages: When the fountainbody is set in place, the sleeve 17 telescopes and closely fits the projection 23, and the pins 18 bottom in the angular slots 4 simultaneously with the engagement of the feet 19 upon the bot-tom 2 of the holding-vessel. Thereby, it is instantly known that proper cooperation has been obtained and that but a slight turn is required to firmly set and hold the fountain attachment in the holdingvessel; and the several means just described give the fountain attachment a firm and steady position in the holding-vessel without possibility of movement or vibration independently of the latter. lVhen the fountain attachment is thus placed and firmly set and spaced from the bottom thereof by the feet 19, perfectly free and complete circulation of water and steam through and among the clothes, through the fountain-body and all around the latter, and between the same and the holding-vessel, is permitted. The form of the fountain-body and the mode of its disposition in the holding-vessel, including its highly domed plate 32, are such as to accelerate steaming and the passage of the fluids freely through the same to be delivered from the top thereof directly down upon the clothes in a continuous stream in all directions, and the large space, or pressure chamber 34;, aids in driving the fluids with great force directly down upon the clothes, said chamber, in fact, increasing the speed of circulation of the fluids and, consequently, the force with which they will be driven upon, through, and among the clothes, the resulting agitation thoroughly cleansing the same. The location of the foraminous soap-chamber, so that it will always be submerged, provides for the thorough dissolution of the soap, or saponifying substances, during the steam generation period and also provides a large quantity of water, within the conical body 14, completely saturated with soap and ready to be acted upon directly by the steam and carried up through the fountain attachment for forcible delivery upon the clothes. By providing the steam-escape valve in the cover of the holding-vessel, any excess of steam pressure is automatically carried off without disturbing the washing process, though the operation of this valve will not perceptibly reduce the temperature in the holding-vessel, the fluids therein being, in consequence, maintained at an approximately even and very high temperature. The escape-valve also has the function of prevent ing the unbalanced pressure of fluid, within the holding-vessel, from causing such agitation as would result in vibration and dancing of the structure, as a whole. These are all important functions and advantages; and the fact that the fountain-body or attachment can be used in connection with any form of holding-vessel with very little trouble or addition of means, adds great value to this invention, in that the life of so the holding-vessels may be considerably less than the fountain attachment and what may put the one out of use may not affect the other; and, moreover, if the fountain attachment should, in any manner, become destroyed or rendered incapable of use, a new one couldreadily be secured in the open market, or even a different form of fountain attachment might be used in the old holdingvessel. These are not only valuable structural and functional features, but are also highly valuable and advantageous from a commercial standpoint.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wash-boiler comprising a holdingvessel, a fountain-body set in said vessel and having a flared open bottom, and means for spacing said bottom from and rigidly supporting the same on the bottom of said vessel, whereby free circulation through and around said body is provided for water and steam, said means including supporting devices attached to the fountain-body for engagement with the bottom of the holdingvessel and a centrally disposed pin and slot connection between the fountain-body and said vessel, the construction and disposition of parts being such that the supporting devices engage the bottom of the holding-vessel simultaneously with the bottoming of the pins in said slots.

2. In combination, in a wash-boiler, a holding vessel; a fountain attachment; means for supporting said attachment in said vessel with its bottom spaced from the bottom of said vessel; said attachment consisting of a conical body-portion, a pipe passing through the latter and h( ving means at its top for delivering fluid into said vessel, and said pipe having a foraminous section closed at top and bottom, for holding soap, within said body-portion, so as to be confined and submerged in the fluid within the latter.

3.'In combination, in a wash-boiler, a holding vessel; a fountain attachment; means for supporting said attachment in said vessel with its bottom spaced from the bottom of said vessel; said attachment comprising a conical body-portion having means at its top for delivering fluid into the vessel, and a foraminous pipesection located Within the said body-portion, said pipe-section having a door for the admission of soap thereto located near the bottom of said body-portion.

4. As an article of manufacture, afountain-attachment for Wash-boilers consisting of a conical body-portion having means for delivering downwardly a continuous stream of fluid, a transverse brace or bar connected to said body-portion above its bottom and within the same, a stem sustained by said brace and extending through the vertex of said body-portion, and means, on the bottom of said brace, for securing the attachment to a suitable holding-vessel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GEORGIANA ROBINSON. Witnesses:

CHAS. MOC. CHAPMAN, M. Hnnsxovnz.

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