US2359834A - Wringer for washing machines - Google Patents

Description

4 G. CLFIELDS 2,359,834v

WRINGER FOR WASHING MACHINES Fiied Aug. 22, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet'l l1 INVENI' OR.

GEORGE C- F'lf lDs ATTORNEY Oct. 10, 1944. G. c. FIELDS WRINGER FOR WASHING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 22, 1941 A TTOIE'A/EY Oct. 10, 1944. G. c. FIELDS WRINGER, FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 22, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR. 6501565 C-P/l-ZDS i/vzy d w/MM.

001. 10, 1944. C FIELDS '7 2,359,834

WRINGER FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 22, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENT OR. GEO/F65 C- FIELDS BY m 21;

Patented Oct. 10, 1944 wnmenm ron WASHING mumps- George 0. Fields, Euclidl Ohio, as'signor to The Apex Electrical Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio. a corporation of Ohio Application August 22, 1941, Serial No. 407,925

- Claims.

This invention relates to washing machines and more particularly to a combined washing and wringing machine in which the wringer is constructed, arranged and mounted so as to provide the maximum of safety for the operator.

Combined washing and wringing machines wherein the wringer rolls are driven from the power unit utilized to drive the washing machine have been used for a number of years.

the courts and the washing machine industry.

Numerous safety devices have been applied to wringers from time to time. vices have been designed with the object of con- Most of such detributing to the safety of the operator. Certain of such safety devices include a safety release bar or lever which is placed on the wringer in a. position convenient to theoperator and in the .event that the operator or the clothes are entangled in the rolls of the wringer, it is intended that the safety release bar be tripped so as to bring about a release of the pressure on the rolls and/or an interruption in the drive to the rolls. Such safety devices are frequently employed by the operator to disentangle garments which may be caught in or wound about the wringer rolls. Safety devices of this character are exemplified by the device shown in the patent to Judelson 1,726,301 and the adoption of such devices has contributed to the wide current use of the combined washing and wringing machine.

tangled or caught in the wringer, the operator's mental reactions are such that a safety release '40 It will be appreciated that such safety devices may be quickly tripped without serious injury to the clothes. When, however, the hands, hair or other parts of the person of the operator are caught in the wringer, the shock and pain occasioned thereby is such that the operator is rendered momentarily incapable of voluntary action. Washing machines are ordinarily operated by women, and as a class of persons they seem to be particularly susceptible to adverse mental and physical reactions in emergencies occasioned by use of machinery. Usually there is an involuntary or instinctive reaction on the part of the operator which causes the operator to push the wringer away from the body or to pull the body away from the wringer. There seems to be a naturally developed characteristic of the species to separate itself from the thing which has caused or iscausing pain.

I am aware that attempts have been made to utilize this instinctive reaction of the operator to actuate a safety mechanism in the wringer.

.For instance, it has heretofore been proposed to mount the wringer so that the instinctive reactions of the user will cause the wringer to swing about a vertical axis and effect a stopping of the wringer roll drive mechanism. It ap-- pears, however, that such attempts have resulted in mechanisms presenting other dangers, complicated wringer constructions and resulting high costs so that devices heretofore proposed to take advantage of the operators instinctive reactions have not been accepted or adopted by the public generally.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide a wringer which will respond to the instinctive reactions of the operator and thereby operate a safety release for the wringer and provide a wringer which will be free of defects, dangers and disadvantages heretofore found in wringers intended to respond to the instinctive movements of the operator.

It is a further object offmyinvention to provide a wringer according to thepreceding objects, wherein the safety feature of the instinctive release is obtained without resort to extensive redesign or costly modification of the conventional washer and wringer assembly.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a wringer according to the preceding ob jects wherein the wringer and its supporting tube may be easily rocked as a unit about a point near the bottom of the supporting tube and such rock- .ing movements effect the operationof a safety release.

A further object of my invention is to provide a wringer and wringer support assembly according to the preceding object wherein the wringer is raised vertically in response to such rocking movement so that the weight or inertia of the wringer may be utilized to maintain the wringer in operating condition.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a wringer according to the preceding objectswherein the weight of the wringer is carried by a fulcrum near the juncture of the wringer and the wringer column so as to obviate the necessity for a cantilever type of support extending longitudinally beneath the wringer.

It is a further object to provide a wringer according to the preceding object in which the force required to effect release is substantially the same throughout the full length of the wringer.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a wringer supported for lateral, instinctive operator movements by a mounting near the wringer column and in which an operating rod extending beneath the wringer is restrained against such movements at a point remote from the column, whereby the release actuating pressure is made uniform throughout the wringer.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a wringer according to the preceding objects which is adapted to be swung about a vertical axis so as to place the wringer in various positions with respect to the washing machine and wherein such bodily swinging movement will not actuate the safety release.

Other objects and advantages relating to simplicity in construction, efiicierrcy in operation and economies in manufacture will appear from the following description and the appended drawings; wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a combined washer and wringing mechanism made according to my invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic showing of the wringer assembly movements when operated according to my invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view diagrammatically showing a wringer made according to my invention;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a wringer head and wringer column assembly made according to my invention;

Figure 5 is a view, partly in section, taken as indicated in lines 55 of Fig. 4;.

Figure 6 is a view taken on theplane indicated at 66 of Figure 4;

Figure '7 is a sectional view showing the wringer column and tube connections at the lower end of the wringer column Figure 8 is a sectional view taken as indicated at-B-B of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is an elevation with parts broken away showing details of the release operating mechanism;

Figure 10 is an end view of the release trip mechanism taken as indicated in lines Ill-l0 of Figure 9;

Figure 11 is an enlarged detail showing of a safety release trip connection;

. Figure 12 is a perspective view taken at the under side of the wringer showing details of the operating crank guide;

- Figure 13 is an elevation of a modified form of interlock for the wringer made according to my invention;

Figure 14 is a sectional view taken as indicated at M-l4 of Figure 13 Figure 15 is an elevation of the modified form showing the clutch shaft turned to an operating position; v

Figure 16 is a perspective fragmentary view of the wringer trip release-mechanism showing the position of the parts subsequent to wringer release.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a combined washer and wringing machine wherein the washing mechanism indicated in itsentirety as at 6 comprises a tub supported on a frame and legs and wherein the frame conceals a power unit which is adapted to supply the drive for the wringer indicated in its entirety as at I. This drive is preferably carried to the wringer in the conventional manner; that is, by projecting a part of the gear case for the driving mechanism through the wall of the tub frame where a vertical shaft in the gear case may rotate a vertically extending driving member housed within the wringer column indicated at 8. As best shown in Fig. '7, the projecting portion of the gear case indicated at 9 provides a bearing for the vertically extending shaft l0 which is slotted as at H to receive a flat driving strap l2. Th slot H is tapered as shown to permit the strap l2 to tilt in response to wringer head connected to the wringer head shaft M in a similar manner (as shown in Fig. 4). The top end, however, is free of cotter pins or the like so as to permit upward movement of the wringer head. The wringer column 8 is also secured to the washing machine tub at points throughout its height so that the column 8 provides a relatively rigid, vertically extending shell adapted to house the tube l6 and the shaft I2 therein. The tube It is loosely connected to the gear case as shown in Fig. 7 by means of an overhanging tab I! on the base of the column 8, which loose connection permits the tube to rock about its lower end. The rocking axis is indicated diagrammatically in Figs. 2 and 3 as at 20.

Figures 1 and 2 indicate at A a vertical axis of the wringer and tube assembly '|-l6, and the lines A and A" indicate positions that may be assumed by the wringer and tube assembly when this assembly is moved by the operator in the instinctive manner heretofore described. It will be understood that the movements indicated by the lines A, A and A" of Figs. 1 and 3 and the dotted line positions of the parts in Fig. 2, have been exaggerated in this diagrammatic showing for the purpose of better illustrating my invention.

With the wringer 1 extending over the washing machine, as shown in Fig. 1, where it may be used to wring clothes from one side of the wringer to the other, the operator (if on the as shown in Fig. 2. Thus it will be understood 7 that the instinctive movement of the wringer brings about a compound movement of the wringer and tube assembly so that they are both rocked and lifted at the same time. Coincidental with the rocking and lifting movements of the wringer, a crank rod 25 arranged on the underside of the wringer is turned on its axis so that the upturned end 26 (see Fig.3) rocks through' the positions indicated at B, B and B". The downtumed end 21 of the crank arm 25 is engaged with the wringer and tube assembly to effect the operating movements 3, B and B" of the upturned end. In the perspective showing of Fig. 3, 28 indicates a plate member which stinctive release mechanism it may be considered It will be noted as a fixed supporting surface. that the fulcrum axis 20 is indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 as being on a pin arranged in a slot of the tube It so that this pin cannot contribute to the vertical supporting effect of the wringer and tube assembly. The bracket 30 extending outwardly from the supporting plate 28 is merely a guide bracket arranged to hold the crank rod 25 in position beneath the wringer. Since the outer end of the crank rod 25 has no supporting function, there is no outboard or cantilever support beneath the outer end of the wringer. The bracket 30 being fixed to the supporting plate, prevents the crank rod 25 from moving bodily in response to operator. movements imparted to the wringer head. The crank rod is free to turn on its own axis, however, and the member 30 provides an outboard guide for the crank rod so that both the crank rod and member 30 may be made of light, inexpensive stock. Thus it will be observed that the major part of the weight of the wringer and tube assembly is borne by the inner end of the crank rod as at 21. The supporting plate 28 is provided with an elongated opening 3| so that the tube It is free to move in a plane normal to the axis of the crank rod 25 in response to the operators instinctive actuating movements.

Fig. 5 shows the tube IS in its normal operating position; ,thatis, on an axis corresponding to the dotted line A in Fig. 1 and the movement of the tube and wringer head part 33 which is tele'scoped thereover is indicated by dotted line positions 34 and 35. The telescoping overlap between the lower part 33 of the wringer head and the upper end of the tube It functions to maintain the wringer and tube It as a unitary assembly whereby the wringer is supported as a cantilever and prevents the outer end of the wringer from dropping downwardly. The telescoping overlap between 33 and it permits upward movement of the wringer head with respect to the tube. A limited amount of upward movement is occasioned by the instinctive releasing operation which swings the wringer on its supporting crank. The minor axis of the elongated opening 3|, combined with the connection with the downturned end 21 of the crank arm, operates to restrict the movements of the wringer and tube assembly to the plane of the major axis of the elongated opening, this axis being indicated at D. In this manner all intiveposition, When either of the bars the incline and carry the driving clutch stinctive pushing or pulling movements applied to the wringer are reflected in movements along the major axis D and said movements effect a turning of the crank 25 which turning is utilized on its upturned end at 26 to trip a safety release device indicated in its entirety as at 38.

I prefer to. employ a conventional wringer frame structure such as that shown in Fig. 9,

wherein the top bar 39 of the'wringer is pivoted to the wringer head as at 40 on one end and is latched to the wringer frame as at'4l at its other end; The top" bar 39 carries a leaf spring 42 which'in latched position of the wringer bears on the top wringer roll bearings so as to urge the top wringer roll 43 against the lower wringer roll 44. The lower roll 44 is provided at the wringer head end thereof with a roll stop 45 which functions to interrupt the drive from the wringer head part 45 to the roll shaft 41 when the top bar is unlatched at. Other types of roll stops may be employed in a wringer mount ing made according to my invention and I have for purposes of illustration shown one that I have found to be simple and efilcient. the advantages of a roll stop is that when the pressure. between the rolls is relieved by an unlatching of the top bar, the rotation of the lower roll is stopped and there is' no tendency to draw any part of the operator in between the rolls in their open position.

It has been found that merely relieving the pressure between the rolls is not always suificient to prevent injury to the operator in the event the lower roll is permitted to continue turning, since the hair or flesh of the person caught in the wringer may be woundor abraded by the lower roll if it is permitted to turn. The roll stop which I have shown is constructed so that the roll stop may move axially away from the roll 44 in the event that the pressure between the rolls is relieved; The roll stop body turns in a bearing block 5| which is inclined so that when roll pressure is applied, the roll stop 45 moves down the incline and the drive clutch jaws 50 thereon engage the clutch pin 49 on the roll shaft 41. As soon as the roll pressure is relieved the spring 48 is effective to force the roll stop up jaws 50 out of the path of the lower roll. The wringer is preferablyprovided with trip bars 54 and 55 which are operatively connected at their inner ends to the latch which functions to hold the top bar of the wringer frame in latched opera- 54-55 is rocked upwardly in the direction of arrows 56 (Fig. 10), the inner end thereof effects an unlatching of the top bar so that the top bar flies upwardly in response to the expansion of the leaf spring 42 and this movement in turn effects a stopping of the roll as above described.

The trip bar arrangement that I .have shown is more or les conventional and as will be understood from further description, the trip bars may be omitted inasmuch as certain of the releasing functions thereof'are accomplished by themstinctive operator movement applied to any part of the wringer or wringer head. The wide current use of trip bars of this character may make it desirable to retain this type of safety feature along with the instinctive safety release of my invention and I contemplate that it may be de- One of arrangement 'of the wringer release mechanism shown in Figures 9, 10,11 and 16, 58 is a reset handle or bar pivoted as at 58 to the top bar 89 of the wringer. As will be understood from the following description the top bar 39 of the wringer and the reset handle 58 swing upwardly about the pivot 40 for the top bar when. the wringer is released so as to relieve the pressure between the rolls 43 and 44. Figure 9 shows the position of the parts of the trip release and associated wringer elements prior to the release of the wringer. To facilitate the disclosure a portion of the reset handle 58 is broken away. The reset handle has a U shaped cross-section best shown in Figure 16 and one side wall of the U shaped member 58 is broken away in Figure 9 to expose a bail member 62 which is pivoted to the end of the wringer frame as at 63. The member 62 is normally urged upwardly by a spring 64 which has one end thereof anchored to the end frame of the wringer and the other end thereof anchored to the bight portion of the bail 62. The member 62 is U shaped in cross-section and is arranged to embrace the sides of the end of the wringer frame with the bight portion thereof positioned adjacent ears 13-14 on a rocker member 10. Spaced l nks or toggle members 60 are pivoted at one end as at 68 to the wringer frame and at the other end to the reset handle 58. The pivotal connection between one link 6|! and the reset handle 58 includes a pin 4| having an extended shank adapted to ride beneath the inclined edge of the keeper 6| integrally formed on the ball 62. The other link 60 (see Figure 16) is connected to the reset handle by a flush type rivet Ma and thus the latching of the reset handle in the position shown in Figure 9 is effected only by the pin 4|. The particular reset handle and latching thereof forms no essential part of my invention and corresponds to that shown in the patent to Kaufiman 2,216,395. The link 68 is so proportioned with respect to the bail member 62 that when the link is swung about its pivot 68 in resetting the wringer, the pin 4| will carry the link 68 down beneath the inclined keeper 6| to a position past vertical or dead center. When the ball 62 is rocked downwardly about its pivot 63, the inclined keeper forces the pin 4| and assocated link 60 to swing outwardly beyond its vertical or dead center positiofi? As soon as the pin 4| has passed beyond the dead center position referred to, the energy stored in the main leaf spring 42 causes the reset handle and its associated parts to move quickly to the released or exploded posit on illustrated in Figure 16. The rocking of the bail 62 downwardly may be effected by either of two means. namely, rocking of the release bar 54 or by a rocking of the member 25. Operation of either means ultimately effects the same result, namely, the outward swinging movement of the link 60 and its assocated pin 4|.

The leaf spring 42 and its mounting in-the wringer so as to keep the rolls under pressure are also quite conventional in this art. The leaf spring has the ends thereof arranged to bear against the bearing blocks for the top roll 43. The central porton of the leaf spring 43 bears against an abutment mounted centrally of the top frame member 38. Thus when the top frame member'39 is in its latched position, as shown in Fig. 9, the ends of the leaf spring bear against the bearing blocks of the upper roller 43, which pressure is in turn transmitted by roller contact to the lower roller 44. This type of leaf spring mounting for applying pressure to the wringer rolls is disclosed in the patent to Kauffman above referred to. It is pointed out in this connection that the leaf spring mounting and the toggle and I handle latch construction employed in-conjuncoperative position may be modified without de-' parting from the scope of the invention defined in the claims. It will be understood that the leaf spring when under tension constantly urges the top bar 39 and its associated latch member 58 in an upward direction and that this movement is only restrained by the keeper 6| acting on pin 4|. It will be observed that the extension 69 on release bar 55 engages the upper edge of an offset portion 62a of the member 62, so that when the bar 55 is moved in the direction of arrow 56, the member 62 and its keeper 6| are moved downwardly to free the pin 4| and thus release or explode the wringer.

As heretofore pointed out the release of the wringer relieves the roll pressure so as to bring into operation the roll stop 45 and the wringer is thus placed in a condition where there is no movement of the rolls and no pressure therebetween. The wringer may be easily restored to operating position by swinging the member 58 about its pivot 59 so as to force the latch pin 4| into the slot in member 62 and behind the keeper 6|.

According to my invention I propose to utilize the above-described latch and release mechanism and to actuate the same by the movementimparted to crank rod 25 in response to instinctive actuation of the wringer. The mechanism to effect this includes a rocker member 10 pivoted on the wringer frame as at 12. The rocker member has a pair of ears I8 and 14 which overhang the lower cross bar I5 of the bail 62. Rocking of the member 10 about its pivot 12 in either direction will cause one of the ears 13-14 'to move the ball 62 downwardly and thus release the latch pin 4| and effect the opening or exploding of the wringer. The member III has a pair of spaced ears I6 and 1! at its lower edge which extend outwardly to embrace the upturned end 26 of the crank rod 25 and the movement of the portion 26 is effective to rock the member 10.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 9, the support plate 28 has a circular periphery portion which is arranged to be rotated within the column 8 and a portion which extends above the column beneath the wringer head to carry the guide plate 30. The guide plate 30 has upwardlyturned ears and 8|, the ear 8|! being arranged near the wringer head so as to transmit the load of the wringer downwardly to the supporting bracket 28 and thus the member 80 corresponds to the fulcrum shown diagrammatically at 28 in Fig. 3. The wringer in its entirety may be considered as a cantilever projecting laterally of the wringer tube l6. The telescopic connection between the wringer and the tube as at 33|6 permits a limited raising and lowering of the wringer on the tube, but clockwise swinging of the wringer about the bracket 86 is precluded by reason of the telescopic joint 33-| 6 and the restraint at the lower end of the tube as at (Fig. 7). It will be observed that if the wringer could swing clockwise about this bracket 80, the bottom of the tube would also have to swing clockwise about the bracket 80. The clockwise swing of the bottom of the tube is prevented by its attachment to the machine. A plate 83 is welded as at 84 to the end of rod 25' and depends therefrom downhead for movement in the supporting plate. Thecentral portion of the crank rod 25 is bent downwardly as at 25A to clear the water flume, 86 and the portion outwardly of 25A is guidedin the ear 8| so as to restrict the crank rod 25 to rocking movement on its longitudinal axis. Said rock-' ing movement is permitted as the wringer is instinctively moved by the mounting shown in Fig. 12 where a depending bracket 81 carried by the bottom frame member of the wringer supports a cross bar 88 having a'pivoted length 89 secured thereto by pivot 98. It is pointed out that the rod 25 is welded or otherwise fixed to the link 88 and that the link 88 has a length corresponding to plate 83. This arrangement provides that instinctive movements of the wringer efiect a tuming of the crank rod 25 on its axis. From the preceding description of the connections between crank rod 25 and the wringer, it will be understood that the crank rod is supported and guided for limited oscillation about its longitudinal axis freely with respect to the wringer and that neither the guide plate 38 nor the crank rod 25 extending outwardly beyond the bracket 28 are designed to support the wringer. A further advantage of my construction is that. all surfaces of the wringer and head are responsive to instinctive movements and the force required to effect release is substantially the same throughout the wringer in any given horizontal plane. Although the force required to effect release may vary in different horizontal planes, the distance of the wringer from its rocking axis 28 renders such variations unimportant.

The wringer head includes a casting I88 shaped to house the wringer gears I8I, I82 and I83, the gears IM and I83 being mounted for free rotation on the vertical shaft I84. A clutch member I85 is keyed to the shaft I84 and mounted thereon for movement axially of the shaft so that the clutch member may transmit through the clutch teeth I86 a drive to either of the gears I M or I83. The clutch member I85 may be shifted axially by an eccentric pin I81 carried on the handle shaft I88. The shifting of the clutch brings about a forward or reverse drive to the driven gear I82 on the wringer roll shaft in the usual manner.

According to my invention, I prefer that the wringer be provided with an interlock so as to obtain the advantages and safety features attending the use of such devices, such advantages being more particularly pointed out in the patent to Eden 1,408,869. I have provided a relatively inexpensive design of parts to obtain said advantages. The handle shaft I88 is provided with a flat side as at I89 (see Fig. 6) and a plate II 8 is fixed to the shaft exteriorly of the gear case. The plate I I8 is generally circular in contour and is notched as at III, H2, H3 and H4. The notches III, H2 and I I3 are rounded to yieldingly hold. a roller H5 carried by a vertically slidable plate H8.

The plate H6 is slotted to move on the handle shaft and is normally urged downwardly by spring 1. Thus the handle is yieldingly retained in either the neutral position shown in Fig. 6 where the roller is in notch I I2 or in driving position wherein the roller would be in notches III or I I3.

It will be understood by those familiar with this art that notch III will establish a drive in one direction and notch II3 will establish a drive in the opposite direction. The notch H4 is proportioned to embrace a tongue II8 struck inwardly from the II 8 is moved upwardly to its raised position, plate I I8 will be locked against rotation.

With the parts arranged as shown in Figs. 4 I

and 6, the plate 8 may be moved to its extreme upward position by a. raising. of the "swing lock latch I28. The latch I28 is provided with a pin I2! anchored in the swing lock pin I 22. A spring I23 carried by the supporting plate 28 normally urges the pin I22 downwardly so as to project the I22 through notches I24 lower end of the pinv formed in the collar I25 which is rigidly securedin column 8 and thus a lock'pin I22 is manually raised so as to free the lower end of the pin from the'notch I24, the wringer may b bodily swung by the operator and arranged in any desired position with respect to the washing machine tub. coincidental with the raising of the pin I 22, the pin I2I carried thereby will engage the lower end of the will be impossible to raise plate H6 and raise the tongue H8 thereon into the notch H4 of the plate H8 and thus it will be impossible to shift the wringer gears while the\wringer is being swung from one position to anotherwith respect to the'tub. Conversely it the swing lock pin I22 when the handle shaft I88 is turned out of the neutral position shown in Fig. 6. It is pointed out that when the swing lock pin I22 is in its lowered position it is spaced from the lower end of the plate H8 and that the wringer mayrespond to the instinctive operator movements without interference by the swing lock mechanism.

I am aware that the manipulation of the wringer which is required to swing the same from one position to another with respect to the tub may in the above-described form of my invention inadvertently cause a, movement of-the winger and tube assembly corresponding to an release of the wringer. To insure against such inadvertent releases of the wringer I have provided the modified form of. interlock which is particularly adapted to my invention and which is shownin Figs. 13 to 15, inclusive. In this form of interlock, the swing lock pin I22, the supporting plate 28, the collar I25 and the column 8 are associated in the same way as in the preferred embodiment. The main distinction over the preferred embodiment resides in changes in the vertically sliding plate and the plate which turns with the handle shaft, which changes provide that a portion of the vertical sliding plate will embrace the swing lock pin so as to prevent any movement of the wringer with respect to the supporting plate 28.

It will be understood from the description -of the instinctive wringer operation that prevention of movement of the wringer and tube assembly in the supporting plate 28 prevents any instinctive releasing action. Accordingly, the lower end of the vertically sliding plate I38 is widened as at I3I and laterally extending ears I32 embrace the upper end of the swing lock pin I22 when the wringer handle is arranged as shown in Figs. 13 and 14. The clutch handle I88A is shown as depending in dotted outline in Fig. 13. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 13, the wringer is precluded from lateral bodily movement with respect to the supporting plate 28 and is required to remain in the plane indicated at I3A. When plate I I6 so that when' the plate fixed part of the washing machine frame structure. When the swing the swing lockpin I22 is raised and the wringer is being swung.into the desired position with respect to the tub, the vertical plate I30 may be raised in the usual manner by lifting the same through pin I2I and the tongue I33 will be relines at m and the bottom of the notch I33 is well within the are indicated at I40. The periphery of the disc I35 between the notches I31- I38 and I39-I38 functions as a cam surface so' as to lift the roller H5 and its associated plate I30 so that the ears I32at the bottom of the plate I30 are above the plane of the swing lock pin I22. This raised position of the plate I30 is .shown in Fig. 15 where the clutch shaft handle side of said tub, a tube surrounding said shaft, a wringer mounted on said tube, said tube and wringer being connected to each other and pivotally supported on said frame for limited rocking movement of the tube in a vertical plane with respect to the tub and frame about a point near the bottom of the tube, said bottom of the tube being restrained against movement away from said tub, a safety release on said wringer adapted to relieve the pressure between the wringer rolls, and means including a crank rod. operatively connecting said safety release and said wringer and tube assembly to actuate said safety release upon manuallyimparted rocking movements effected in the wringer and tube assembly.

3. A combined washing and wringing machine comprising a washing tub, a wringer drive shaft surrounded by a tube extending upwardly along side of said tub, a wringer assembly mounted on said shaft, said wringer assembly and shaft being connected to each other and pivotally supported on said tub for limited rocking movement of the I08A is turned to a position indicating that the drive is being transmitted to the wringer rolls.

With the parts in the last described position, it will be observed that the ears I32 no longer embrace the swing lock pin and thus the wringer is free to respond to instinctive movements and release by the operator. With this form of interlock, it may be desirable, to retain the trip bar release 54-55 inasmuch as the operator upon being caught in the rolls might turn the handle I08A to the neutral position shown in Fig. 13 before resorting to any instinctive releasing motions. As above pointed out, with the handle in neutral position shown in Fig. 13, the wringer cannot be released by'instinctive pushing or pulling movements and, therefore, it appears that it would be desirable to have the trip bar release 5455 available.

Although I have shown and described two forms of my invention in considerable detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in this art that numerous modifications may be made there-- in without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. In this connection I desire to point out that various types of wringer frames and gearing may be employed, the main requirement in this respect being that the wringer have a release or latch device to relieve the pressure on the rolls, which device may be operated by'the rocking movement of the crank rod 25.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

-1. A combined washing and wringing machine comprising a washing tub and a wringer drive shaft extending upwardly along side of said tub, a tube surrounding said shaft, a wringer mounted on said tube, said tube and wringer being connected to each other and pivotally supported ith respect to said tub for limited ro king movement of the tube in a vertical plane about a point near the bottom of the tube, said bottom of the tube being restrained against movement away from said tub, a. safety release on said wringer adapted to relieve the pressure between the wringer rolls, and means operatively connecting saidsafety release and said wringer and tube assembly to actuate said safety release in response to rocking movements of the wringer and tube assembly. l

2. A combined washing and wringing machine comprising a washing tub having a frame, a wringer drive shaft ex nding upwardly along tube in a vertical plane about a point near the bottom of the shaft, the bottom of said tube being restrained against movement away from said tub, a safety release on said wringer adapted to relieve the pressure between the wringer rolls, and means operatively connecting said safety release and said wringer assembly to actuate said safety release in response to rocking movements of the wringer assembly and shaft.

4. A washing machine and wringer combination comprising a supporting plate fixed relatively to the washing machine, an oblong opening in said plate, a tube mounted below said plate and extending upwardly into said oblong opening, a wringer assembly mounted on said supporting plate for movement longitudinally of said opening, the bottom of said tube being restrained against movement outwardly away from the machine, a safety release on the wringer, and means comprising a crank rod operatively connected to said safety release, supporting plate and wringer and tube assembly, whereby the safety release is actuated upon movement of th assembly longitudinally of said opening.

5. A safety mounting for a wringer having horizontally arranged rolls to provide for bodily horizontal movement of the wringer comprising a washing machine, a rigid supporting member connected to the machine, a second supporting member mounted on the first supporting member for rotation about a vertical axis, a wringer ineluding a. wringer head and frame, a bearing member on said second support, a link supported on said bearing member and connected to said wringer head whereby the weight of the wringer is carried to the first supporting member through the link, the bearing member and th second supporting member, a safety release on said wringer frame adapted to relieve the pressure between the rolls, and means connecting said link and said safety release to convert link movement into safety release actuating movement.

6. A safety mounting for a wringer comprising a washing machine, a rigid supporting member connected thereto, a second supporting member mounted on the first supporting member for rotation in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis,

crank spaced from the first crank and connected thereto to provide for parallel crank motion, a

release on said wringer frame adapted to relieve the pressure between the rolls, and a member connected to said cranks and to said safety release to effect actuation in response to manual movement of the wringer on its crank support.

'7. A wringer mounting comprising a washing machine having a rigid support member, a wringer having a head including reversing gears and a frame including a pair of rolls and a safety release, a plate mounted on said rigid support a member for rotational movement about avertical axis, a boss on said wringer head extending downwardly through said plate, a tube having the lower end thereof connected to said support, ex-

tending upwardly and connected by a telescopic overlapping connection to said boss, wringer drive means within said tube and boss, the telescopic connection between said tube and boss preventing a tilting of the wringer and tube assembly in the vertical plane through the frame and tube with respect to the supporting member, and means connecting said head and plate to provide for a bodily movement of the wringer transversely of the support member, said means including a member operatively connected to said safety release to actuate said release upon said transverse bodily movement of the wringer.

8. A wringer mounting comprising a washing machine having a rigid support member, a wringer having a head including reversing gears and a frame including a pair of rolls and a-safety release, a plate mounted on said rigid support member for rotational movement about a vertical axis, means including a tube telescopically connected to said head and extending downwardly therefrom, the lower end of said tube and said washing machine having overlapping projections to prevent relative vertical movement, the connection between said means and head preventing a tilting of the wringer in the vertical plane of the wringer rolls and tube with respect to the support member, means connecting saidhead and plate .to provide for a bodily movement of the wringer transversely of the support member, said last-named means including a member operatively connected to said safety release to actuate said release uponsaid transverse bodily movement of the wringer.

9. A wringer mounting including a'washing machine having a rigid support member, a wringer assembly having a head, reverse drive means and a frame including a pair of rolls and a safety release, a bearing mounted on said rigid supporting member for rotational movement about a vertical axis, means to mount the wringer assembly on said bearing for rocking movement,

with respect to said bearing, latch means to restrain the bearing against rotation, control mech anism for said reverse drive means, and means connecting said control means and said latch means to restrain the wringer against rocking movement when said latch means ing for rotational movement.

10. A wringer mounted on a washing machine for indexing movement to difierent positions with respect to the machine, a mounting for the frees the bearwringer including means to permit lateral bodily movement of the wringer in any one of said positions, a latch to lock said wringer in any one of said positions, reverse drive means/to establish forward, neutral or reverse drive condition for the wringer rolls, interlocking means for the latch and reverse drive means to prevent drive to the rolls when the latch is released and prevent latch release during forward or reverse drive, said interlocking means including a mechanism to prevent lateral bodily movement of the wringor when the latch is released.

l GEORGE c. FIELDS.

Images