Patent GB-625324-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to washing machines
IPC: D06F37/20
Filed: 1945-08-23
Abstract: 625,324. Washing-machines. BRITISH THOMSON-HOUSTON CO., Ltd. Aug. 23, 1945; No. 21558. Convention date, Aug. 25, 1944. [Class 138 (ii)] [Also in Groups II, XXIV, XXIX and XXXII] A combined washing and drying machine comprises a spinner basket 2 for receiving clothes to be washed and centrifugally dried, a motor, a pump driven by the motor, and a coupling or clutch distinct from the pump but operable by the pump discharge for connecting the spinner basket to the motor, the coupling including two adjacent co-operating members which have permanent driving connections to the motor and spinner basket respectively and are arranged to have a driving connection established between them when fluid is delivered to the coupling by the pump, the latter connection being maintained substantially only so long as the pump continues to operate and fluid pressure generated thereby is transmitted to the coupling. General arrangement.-The spinner basket 2, Fig. 1, which has centrifugal discharge openings 3 substantially at liquid level, is fixed in a carrier 4 mounted on a hub 7 on a tubular driving shaft 9 as shown in Fig. 5; a rubber sleeve 7a seals the space between the basket and the hub. An agitator 11 is fixed to the upper end of a drive shaft 13 which is journalled in the shaft 9. The gearing and motor for driving the spinning and agitator shafts 9, 13 are enclosed in a two-part shell 22, 32, which is mounted in an opening 23 in the bottom plate 24 of an outer casing 1. A flexible annular ring 25 is clamped between the casing 22 and the plate 24. Driving mechanism (first embodiment).-The motor 31a, Fig. 5, which is carried in a frame 31, is journalled at its lower end in a bearing 37, and at its upper end in the lower part 34 of a rotatable frame 34a; the part 34 is journalled in the motor frame, and the upper part 35 of the frame 34a is fixed to the spinner shaft 9. The agitator shaft 13 is adapted to be oscillated from the motor shaft 33 through the medium of crank mechanism and gearing 43 ... 50 on the two parts of the frame 34a. During washing, the agitator is oscillated by holding the frame 34a stationary relatively to the motor shaft 33 by the engagement, under the action of a spring 57, of a conical brake surface 54 on a cup-shaped member 55 with a brake member 56 on the motor frame; the member 55 is carried from the member 34 by curved radial spring arms 62. For centrifugal drying, the basket 2 is clutched to the motor shaft 33 by the expansion of a bellows 64 against the action of a spring 67 so as to move a clutch member 63 into engagement with a clutch surface 69 on the member 55, and also to lift the latter member from the brake 56. The bellows 64 is extended by oil admitted through a passage 70 in the motor shaft 33 from a port 71, which is connected with a rotary-vane oil pump positioned at the base of the motor shaft and having an intake 40 communicating with an oil sump at the bottom of the shell 32. The pump comprises vanes 42 fixed on the motor shaft and rotating in an eccentric bore 38. When the port 71 is opened by the energization of a solenoid valve 73, oil is admitted so as to expand the bellows 64 and establish the friction drive of the spinner basket. In order to prevent expansion of the bellows until the motor is up to speed, an outlet 76b in the bellows is only completely closed by a centrifugal valve 76a when the motor reaches the desired speed. Oil from the rotary-vane pump is also supplied through passages 77 ... 84 for the purpose of lubricating the bearings of the shafts 9, 13, 33, and, in addition, it is sprayed from a fitting 83b over the inside of the casing 22 for cooling purposes. Driving mechanism (second embodiment).-In the arrangement which is shown in Figs. 11 and 13, and also described in Specification 637,503, the agitator is oscillated by a hydraulic motor which is journalled at its lower end in the motor frame 31 and comprises a vane piston 89 fixed to the agitator shaft 13 and adapted to oscillate in a cylinder formed by members 86, 87, 88 on the spinner shaft 9. Oscillation of the vane 89 is effected by supplying oil to the opposite sides of the vane alternately through passages 107, 108 under the control of a rotary tubular valve 100. Oil is supplied to the interior of the valve 100 from the outlet 99 of an eccentric-vane pump comprising vanes 97 on the motor shaft rotating in an eccentric bore 98 in the member 87. As the valve 100 is rotated through reduction gearing 103, 104, 107a from the motor shaft, oil from the interior of the valve is discharged first through an annular groove 110 and passage-107 so as to rotate the vane and agitator in clockwise direction, and then, when the vane has rotated through substantially 180 degrees, through an annular groove 116 and passage 108 so as to rotate the vane and agitator in the opposite direction. When one of the passages 107, 108 is supplying oil under pressure, the other passage is connected to a discharge outlet 109 through an annular groove 118 in the valve 100. Oil is supplied to this mechanism through passages 92 ... 94 from a rotary-vane pump 42 at the lower end of the motor shaft, the outlet from the pump being opened when the solenoid valve 73 is energized. When the agitator is oscillated, the spinner basket is held against rotation by the engagement, under the action of a spring 122, of a conical brake member 121 splined on the member 87 with a brake surface 123 on the motor frame. The brake member 121 is moved clear of the surface 123 by the expansion 'of a bellows 130 when oil from the pump 42 is admitted thereto through passages 77, 78, 79, 127 by the energization of a solenoid valve 133 so as to close a normally-open discharge opening from the passage 77; at the same time, oil is admitted from the passage 127 through a passage 134 to the interior of a two-part fluid coupling 126 so that the spin basket is driven from the motor shaft. The solenoid valve 73 need not be de-energized for centrifugal drying, in which case the agitator oscillates at a gradually decreasing speed as the spinner basket is accelerated. If desired, this valve can be arranged only partly to be seated when deenergized so as to provide in this condition a shorter stroke of the agitator for use in washing delicate clothes. Driving mechanism (third embodiment).-In the arrangement shown in Fig. 19, rotation of the frame 34a is prevented during washing by a conical brake member 141 which is mounted on an annular piston 142 in a cylinder 143 on the motor frame; the member 141 is urged upwardly by springs 143a into engagement with a brake surface 145 carried by spring arms 146 on the frame member 34, and, in this position, lifts a clutch surface 147 clear of a complementary clutch surface 148 fixed to the rotor of the motor 31a. For centrifugal drying, a solenoid valve 149 is energized so as to transmit oil pressure from the vane pump 42 to the cylinder 143, and, thereby, disengage the brake members 141, 145 and engage the clutch members 147, 148. Driving mechanism (fourth embodiment).-In the arrangement shown in Fig. 18, the agitator does not, as in the previous embodiments, oscillate while the basket is being accelerated to motor speed. The shaft 33 is slidably and rotatably journalled in a sleeve 152 on which the rotor 65 of the motor is fixed. The vanes 42a of the rotary-vane pump at the base of the motor are carried by the sleeve 152 and rotate in the eccentric bore 38 so that, whenever the motor rotates, oil is discharged by the pump. The pump discharge leads to a chamber 155 which is disposed beneath the pump 42 and communicates by a passage 70 in the shaft 33 with the interior of a clutch comprising a member 160 fixed to the rotor 65 and a member 161 pinned to the shaft 33. During washing, a solenoid valve 156 is energized so as to release oil pressure in the chamber 155 and passage 70, whereby springs 162 acting between a clutch member 63 and a cup 165 on the clutch member 160 collapse bellows 64 and retract the clutch member 63 from engagement with the clutch member 55; springs 166 then cause the latter to move into engagement with the brake 56. At the same time, the springs 162 act through the bearing member 167a of the clutch member 63 to urge the clutch member 161 into engagement with the clutch member 160. For centrifugal drying, the solenoid valve 156 is energized, with the result that oil pressure builds up in the interior of the clutch members 160, 161 and bellows 64 so that the clutch member 161 is lifted to disconnect the shaft 33 from the motor, the clutch members 55, 63 are engaged and the brake 56 disengaged. Driving mechanism (fifth embodiment).-In this arrangement (Fig. 20, not shown), the agitator is oscillated at low speed by means of a sector gear which is eccentrically mounted on the upper frame member 35 and is reciprocated by crank mechanism driven by the motor shaft. Mounting of spinner basket and driving mechanism.-The spinner basket and driving mechanism are supported by springs 214, Fig. 1, arranged between a flange 215 on the casing 22 and flanges 216 surrounding the opening 23 in the bottom plate 24 of the casing 1. For damping the amplitude variations of the basket, friction pads 218a carried by the flanges 216 engage between spaced vertical spring strips 219 which are pivoted on the flanges 215 and pressed together by springs 221 at their lower ends. When the basket is full and the springs 214 are compressed, the pads 218a are disposed at the upper ends of the strips 219 where there is considerably greater frictional damping than at the centre of the strips which is the position of the pads when the basket is empty. In a modification, the casing 22, Fig. 19, has a member 226 with a concave spherical surface 227 seating upon the complementary surface 224 of a member 223 carried by a cylindrical pedestal 222 on the bottom plate 24, and a rubber ring 228 is keyed under compression between flanges 229,