Patent ID: 8833111
Filing Date: 2014-09-16
Classification: D06F,F16D

Abstract:
1. A clutch arrangement for an automatic washing machine including a cabinet, an engine, two concentric shafts in communication with the engine for producing power output, a fluid reservoir tub, a basket to hold objects to be washed, and an agitator comprising a lower conical flap, the clutch arrangement comprising: two concentric drive shafts that pass vertically through a bottom of the fluid reservoir tub, the basket being assembled around an outer shaft of the two concentric shafts at a center of a bottom of the basket, and the agitator being attached to a coupler, the coupler being attached to an inner shaft of the two concentric shafts; a fixed cog disposed over an exterior periphery of the outer shaft at a position sufficiently high above the bottom of the tub to limit obstruction of the fixed cog by fluid-borne foreign objects; a movable body movable vertically over the two concentric shafts, according to a level of fluid present in the tub to clutch and declutch on the fixed cog, the movable body being vertically disposed inside the coupler as far as the level of the fluid present in the tub allows; the movable body comprising guides for engaging inside the coupler for allowing the movable body and the coupler to spin in unison, the guides being a limit to a vertical ascending movement distance of the movable body, the movable body comprising an inner cog for engaging and disengaging the fixed cog, depending on the movable body's vertical position in relation to the two concentric shafts, the movable body comprising at least one flotation chamber; an air chamber arranged to provide a dry condition to the inner cog and the fixed cog when the fluid reservoir tub is filled with the fluid, the air chamber defined in part by the coupler and at least a portion of the flap of the agitator above at least one level orifice in the agitator, the at least one level orifice disposed below the fixed cog, and delimited in a lower part of the air chamber by the at least one level orifice in the agitator, wherein inside the air chamber the inner cog of the movable body clutches and declutches on the fixed cog in the dry condition; and a lifting chamber formed by at least a portion of a lower part of the lower conical flap of the agitator below the at least one level orifice, and delimited in an upper part of the lifting chamber by the at least one level orifice, wherein in an agitation mode the lifting chamber becomes flooded with the fluid so that the flotation chamber of the floating assembly becomes submerged in the fluid and thereby gains lift; wherein a rotational energy of the inner shaft is transmitted to the coupler, then to the movable body and, in turn, to the fixed cog when the movable body is in a clutch position, and wherein relative movement between the inner shaft and the outer shaft is provided when the movable body is not in the clutch position.