US1718261A - Clothes-washing machine - Google Patents

Description

June 25, 1929. D. a. SMELLIE CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet" 1 000090 0 060 0090900 adeooeeooo ooeeooueoe .2 D. cs. SMELLIE 1,7 3 61 I CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE Filed Now 5, 1924 q Sheets-Sheet v3 Fig .3.

57 sa V 54 Do ald 6.5mellie Fig.4.

B AH'orn'e part of the actuating, mechanism; and

UNITED sr Patented June 25, 1929.

i DQNALD G. SMELLIE, 01"

mYwoon, ILLINOIS, a'ssronon To a coaronarrorr or 01110.

- 1 ,71 ,261, Fr es.)-

rim noov'na comm,

cmrnns-wasmno' MACHINE.

:bpplioation filed Iovember 3 The primary object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved type of e clothes washingmachine wherein the washing element, comprising the well known vacuum cup, is actuated in a novel manner by a new form of mechanism and more particularly wherein there is combined in the clothes washing machine acentrifuge whereby. the clothes may be washed and rinsed and wrung out without removing them from the machine. I- The invention involves not only novel mechanism for operating the vacuum cup but also includes anew and novel method of centrifuge driveand mounting together with a novel and' eflicient form of drive there- 1 for, the'whole being so arranged and constructed that the operation of washing clothes may be done with the least expenditure of human effort and with a maximum of convenience.

For a clearand full understanding of my invention, reference ishad to the accompanying drawings wherein?- Figure 1 is a substantial through the machine; v Fig. 2 is anenlarged detail of the upper part of they actuating mechanism;

\ Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the lower sectional View Fig. 4 is an enlar cup elevating cam.

The machine disclosed in the drawings has the usual main supporting frame and tub 11 having a top-12. Located centrally of the bottom of the tub there is rovided a housing for the operating shaft w ich housing tapers onic'ally in both directions substantially-from the tub tom, and which is indicated generally by 13. Suspended from this conical housing 13'is a cylindrical housing formed as a part of the conical housing and extending downwardly from substantially the bottom of the tub wherein the speed reducing mechanism is housed this cylindribal housing'being denoted by numeral 14, Within housings 13 s and 14 there is a series of shafts comprising central'shaft 15 which is the shaft for driving the washing mechanism' and which has formed on the up er end thereof an angular crank '16, the angu arity being one-half of the desired cup throw. Immediately surrounding shaft 15 is provided annular shaft 17 carrying at its upper end a slotted glnde 18.

ged view of the vacuum mechanism cups.

through the co-operation of and 31. As shown in the dra the vacuum'cup 30-will have a substantial rocking 110 1924. serial no; 741,4;

Qn shaft 15 and at the base of crank 16 there IS provided-a cam member 19 whose upper face is inclined one-halfthe hngle ofthrow of the vacuum on v rocking mechanism. Driven b crank 16 t ere is provided a memher whic may be termed the cup rocking which comprises member 20 havmg located centrally thereof a bore inclined relative to its exterior bearin mounting one-half the angle of the desire cup throw adapted for mounting on crank 16 andzhavlug/a lower face normal to the axis of the bore, the sum of the angularitios ofthe. crank 16 and bore of member '20 being the desired tot'al crank angle. The lower face of this member120 is also provided; with a tooth 21 co-operating with guide slot 18 in annular shaft 17, and theentire member is'secured to crank 16 by means of capscrew 22. Mounted on member 20 by means of the ball bearl ings 23 and lock ring 24, are two members 25 .and'26 whichconstitute the actual means impartilnlg rocking motion to the washing ember 25-hasformed thereon teeth 27 asis clearly shown in the dra 0 and member 26 is provided with an fillsing shaft portion such as 28 on w 'ch is mounted cup arm member 29 to which the vacuum cups 30 are secured at its extremities. Gear teeth 27 on member 25 co-operate with 8! gear teeth 31 on an'nularmember 32 to pro- Y vent relative rotation between annular mem- 'ber 32 and the vacuum clip operating means comprising members 20, 25 and 26 when i there are the same number 'of teeth in each of the gears 27 and 31. Should it be desirable to. have relative rotation between these two parts such-may be readily obtained and inatdefini amount by varyin the number of teeth in the two gears an the consti'uction can. be such that the relative rota,- tion between the parts will be either clockwise or counterclockwise as found desirable The-o ration of the mechanism thus for describe is, that onrotation of shafts 15- and 17 which necessarily rotate v her as. will be hereinafter more fully escribed, crank. pin 16 will be causedto rotate and due to its angularity and that of member 20 the cup operating mechanism 26 and 25 10 will be caused to have a gyratory motion since substantial rotary motion is gear teeth 27 i-movement andthe actual travel thereof will be through an ellipse the major axis of which is vertical, and due to the slight angularity at which the cups enter-the water, and because of the angle atwhich they operate on the clothes contained in the machine-there will be a certain tendency to cause the whole 7 sustaining structure, or what might be better termed the constraining structure, comprising annularmember 32 and the parts associated therewith, to rotate somewhat about itsaxis, or it may be that under certain con-' ditionsof loading; the member 32 will not .revolve. but that instead the clothes will traverse thecircumference of the centrifuge, and thus the cups will not always operate on the clothes at the same point but will traverse the circumference of. the tub acting on various portions of the clothes contained therein at. various times.

Surrounding the upper part of the coni struction thus far described there is provided v entangled therein,

I mounted on shaft 28 and may protection at member .32 to prevent Water and soap from being splashed up into the mechanism and to prevent clothes becoming anyway en- The vacuum 'cup carrying lowed to rotate freely thereon was is found more practical "in actual operation. this parti'eular matter not being in any way of the essenceof the invention. 1 J

So far the description of the construction of this machine has only been in connection with the upper end of the vacuum clip driving means and now a.descrintion will be Jgiven of the upper end of the centrifuge comprising an annular Annular member 32 heretofore noted decreases atthe lower-end to a smallerdiameter shaft 35 which is mounted in ball'bearings 36carried by the upper portion of conical housing 13, and in turn within the lower portion of the annular part 32 there is provided a' ball bearing mounting 37 in which runs the inner cup driving shaft. Mounted on annular member 32 is a further annular member 38 comprising the supports for the centrifuge tub and which isprevented from rotation relative thereto by means of stud '39, the centrifuge tub being indicated at 40 as a large diameter basket provided with perforations 41 through which the water from the clothes maybe ejected. .A floating sleeve or collar ,81 surshroud 32 rounds the conical center of the washing compartment serving to prevent the load of clothes from gradually tightening downon the center portion of the container and being unduly stretched or' torn on account of the combination of a centrally directed motion of the cups in a substantially vertical plane; and a lateral component due to the} assage of the cup from one side of its elliptical orbit to the other while in contact with the clothes. i

The upper part of the drive mechanism having been described, the lowerrpart will now be described and then the relation between the two parts will be'evident.

For rotating shaft 15 there is provided a friction disc of large diameter, the friction disc having a square centralopening receiving squared portion 42 of 'shaft 15 whereby rotation of disc 45 will rotate shaft 15. ,-It should be noted that that portion of shaft 15 which projects below the lower end of annular shaft 17 is' squared as at 42, and

immediately below the lower end of shaft 17 there is provided a collar 43 secured to shaft 15 by pin 44.

f v ,Extending upwardly from disc 45 there is V f an annular member '46 carrying P1118 47 co-operating vwith'cam grooves 48' formed in annular shaft 17.

On the annular a closure plate 50 secure thereto by means such as bolts 51 and inthis plate is provided bearing 80 in which disk 45-is mounted for rotation. Pivoted'to boss 52 formed on plate 50-there is'provided a cam raising mech} housin 14 there is secured anism 53 pivoted on a member such as 54."

This cam member comprises an arcuate cam of this cam portion attheflat 55 there .is provided shoulders such as .57 adapted to co-operate with washer 58 capscrew 59.

The outer annular shaft 35 comprising the centrifuge. drive is provided at its lower erid withla friction disc 60.

For driving the entlre machine therc is provided anelectric motor 61 mounted on arm 62 which arm is pivoted on the bottom of tub 11 by means 0 a pinsuch as 63,'the other end of'the pivoted arm being'carried on a crank 64 which crank through' blo- lckand slot 65 and 66 respectively allows pivoted arm 62 to be raised or lowered. Mounted on shaft '67 of motor '61- there are two bevel friction discs 68 and 69 respectively adapted to co-operate with bevel discs 45 and 60 respectii'rely.-

now be set forth. i

For washing clothes the machine .is operated in the condition as shown in the draw:

The construction of the machine having 4 been described, the operation thereof will vformed with flats at each end such as 55 and H a rising portion as at 56.- On thelower end secured to the lower end vof shaft 15 by a member such as ings .withthe exception that crank 64 is turned'so asto bring' bevel-wheels45 and '68 into contact. Then on;operation of the 1' motor, wheel- 68 will-be driven through 'op-- 5 eration of motor shaft 67 and wheel 45 will in'turnbe driven, but at a; relatively low rate of speed due to the difference in peripheral'len'gths of wheels (SB-and 45. Through (co-operation ofthe square opening in' disc' crank 16 will be rota ed causing gyratio'n of cup carrying shaft 28, since rotation thereof is prevented by coaction of gear teeth 27 and 31. i

. orderto wrin them, crank arm 64' isturned I'upwardto take discs68 and out of con- -tact and cam lever 53 is swungabout its pivot to raise shaft 15 on camtraek 56 and to sustain the shaft in raised position-on flat. '25 portion 55 of the cam. Raisingof shaft-15 will-cause"shaft 17 to be raised therewith. due to collar 43 secured to, shaft 15 and since pins 47 remain'stationary they will. because of the inclination of .cam grooves 48 cause 180 degree rotation of shaft 17 with respect to shaft 15, which rotation causes v the member 20 because of (reaction between slot 183.116. tooth 21 to rotate through an angle of 180 degrees aroundaxis of crank 16 whereby the angularity of-the crank 16 and the bearing seat onanemher 20compensate and. the" cup operating shaft 28 is brought into a vertical position. Raising of shaft 15 notonly acts as. above mentioned 40-. but also raise's the entire cup drivingmet-h anism andthereby raises the cups out of the water so that the. centrifuge may be operated without conflict therewith.

,Foruactual .rotation of the centrifuge,-

crank shaft 54 is raised still further until disc 69 contacts with disc and on operation ofthe 'motor outer annular shaftf35 will be' caused to.-rotate at relatively high speed because of the approximately equal 50 perimeter of the dise'faces and .because of the connection by'member 39 between-the upper enlarged annular end 32 of the shaft and member 38 .of the-eentrifugeithe centrifuge will be caused to rotate at relatively high'spe'ed. I

--Attention;i s directed to 'thedesign' of the T entire mechanism whereby the matter of as- Sernbly is'greatly simplified noting particularly the construction wherein the entire 00 mechanism for driving .the machine comprises two units, one the large'unit-contained in conical housing 13 and annular housing 14, which unit. is put in from the bottom of-Ithe machine and then secured '6 in place the other unit comprising the piv- After theclothes have been washed,

. in slot 66. By this construction it is made very "easy to service this machine since "should anything go wrong theentlre works may be-taken out with a minimum of'tro uble and anew unit-may be replaced or a service unit substituted while repairs are being made atsome place where there are ample facilities for such repair work.

Another important feature is the construction-whereby danger of oil leakage of I v the machine is substantially eliminated inso that any oil or grease from the working parts will fall down into the lower'part of housing 14 and will drain down into the solidbottom cam portion .ofpivoted lever 53, which,'should this beco'me full will over-. s5

- flow slightlyand give indication, that there is'an excess of oil in which event itis very easy to remove this member and to empty out such exc'essoiL. I i V It will be seen from the abovc de'serip tion that I have provided a washing machine which is very simple in construction and one in which there is provided very novel means of shifting from washing con-- dition to condition for-centrifuging and one wherein the-matter of assembly and repair is greatly simplified because of the partieu lardesign employed. 'Also the design is one wherein the parts are easy to manufacture, simple and durable. A

I' claimi v v v 1." In a clotheswashing machine, a revolubly driven shaft having an angular crank-thereon, agitating means 'gyrated'l'iy the crank, and means simultaneously raising the agitating means and compensating for the angularity of the crank. 1

2. In a clothes-washing machine, a rev olubly driven shaft, having an .angular crank, a bushing thereon of angularity equal thatofthe' crank, a gyrating member mountedon the bushing in operative relation'anil v I means limiting relative rotation of the shaft and the gyratorymember. a

3. Ina clothes washing machine, :1 revolubly driven shafthaving an angular crank,- a bushing mounted thereon having interior and'exterior bearing surfaces disposed in. angularrelation equaling the angularity of: the crank; and means varying the total angularity of the crank and its bushing. .7

4. In a clothe. washing machine, a revolubly' driven sha an angular crank there-- on, a ,member fgyrated byrevolution of the shaft, and means including an annular shaft surrounding the driven shaft and having pin and slot connection therewith to on relative rotation of the shaft vary the effective angularity of the crank.- v

5; In a clothes washing machine, a driven I I a Q shaft, an angular crank onf the shaft," an

bushing having a' proj ecting tooth, an annu 'lar shaftabout' the driven shaft, driving angular bushing onthe crank andanxagitating member mounted on' the bushing,'.the

.i means "for-theI driven and annular shafts,

I the a'nnul'ar shaft having a slot, at itsiipper "end;;and1-at its vlow'ei: en d having pin and inclined. slot connection with thedrivingmeans, and means moving the driven and" annular shafts longitudinally relative to the" drivingmeans.

6. In a clothes washing machine, a'driven shaft, clothes lagitating means amount-ed thereon, :and meansvertically moving the driven; SllllfllQOIl'lPllSlIlg a nember having a cam surface supporting said shaft and havingiwell definedfiat surfaces at-its high and-low points, said memberenclosing the lower endof said shaft.

; 7.- A clotheswashing machinecomprising a receptable and a supporting frame, a vertical shaft mount/ed c'entrallyf'of' the re.-

' ceptacle and having an oblique crank portion -at the free. end,"a clothes agitator .mountedonsaid crank portion, a source. of power, and means acting simultaneouslyto raise said clothes agitator to move" said .oClOtllS agitator to a position COtlXliLl'; with '-said vertical shaft,- and to disconnect it from thefsourcexof power.

8, A clothes washing machine comprising 1 a receptacle, a supporting'frame' thereon, a

vertical shaft mounted centrally of the receptacle, a clothes agitator mounted on said verticalshaft with its axis at an angle to that or the shaft, means to raise said shaft and agitator andsimultaneously' to move said agitator to 'a position coaxial with said vertical sha 9. In a cldtheswashing machine, a tub,

- operating means centrally disposed thereof,

an open top protecting shell surrounding the operating means, clothes agitating means operated by'the operating means, the clothes agitating means having aproteetive portion for the operating means and a telescoping shel l ov'erla ping the open :top protecting shell and thejprotecting portionrcarried by theclothes agitating-means. j:

1-0. In a clothes washingmachine, a driven shaft, an angular crank on said shaft, .an agitator-supporting bushingo'n the angular crank having an angularly disposed bore,

an annular shaft enclosing the driven shaft power transmission means and State. of Illinois, this andadaptedto rot-ate. therewith, ineaxis pre ventingrelative rotation bbetweenfsaid bush"-' 'ing and said: annular shaft and means to rotate said annular shaft relative to said 6.0L

driven shaft to vary the total angularity of the angular-crank and'the bushing.

c '11-. Inaclothes washing'machine, a dri'ven' 1- shaft, an angular crank on said shaft, an 1 agitator supportingbushing on the angular crank having an angularly dis 'osedbore, an. annular shaft enclosing thedrivenshaftand 7 adapted to rotate therewith, means )revent ing relative rotation between saidv ushingf and said anni'ilarshaft comprising a project ng finger on said bushing 1n interfitting:

relation with the slottedendof said annul'ar shaft, and means to rotate said annular the total angularity of the angular: cran and the bushing.

number of teeth of the two toothed members.

'13. In a clothes washing machine an agitating cup gyratlngmechanism comprising shaft relative to said driven shaft to 'varK I a driven shaft, an angular. crank on said shaft, cup-carrying arms rotatably mounted on said crank and differential me ans giving said cup-carrying arms an angular rotation lcssthan that of said angular crank.

-' 14.,A- clothes washing machine comprising a tub.'- having a housing at its "center, said-housing-consisting of a frusto-conlcal portion extending into said tuband providing supporting means for agitating means in said-tub, an inverted frusto-conlcal port on extending below said tub' andproviding sup.- r

port for a driven shaft'extending through said housing and a cylindrical housing having a bottom closure which encloses said in verted frusto-eonical portion and houses the connected to the driven shaft.-

Signed at Chicago,:in the county of Cook,

toberpA D. 1924. g

' j DONALD G.- s ELn E.'-..

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