Patent GB-624628-A (GB)
Title: Wringers
IPC: D06F45/18
Filed: 1946-08-27
Abstract: 624,628. Wringers. LOVELL MANUFACTURING CO. Aug. 27, 1946, No. 25651. Convention date, Aug. 27, 1945. [Class 138 (ii)] A wringer'having a control member for its driving mechanism movable to a neutral position and to drive the rollers in either direction and an index lock yieldingly biassed to a locking position and having cam means to move the index lock from the locking position upon swinging the wringer, an interlock between the index and the control means being provided so that the index lock is locked in the driving position but not in the neutral position of the control member. Pressure and roller-separating means.-Pressure is applied to the rollers 1, 2, Fig. 9, which are carried by bearing blocks 3 in guides 4, by a leaf-spring 6 having a pressure adjustment 7 and mounted in a pivoted top frame 8. The end of the top frame remote from the pivot is releasably held by a toggle comprising links 9, 11, held by a latch 14 which can be released by trip bars extending along the front and rear of the machine. Mounting means.-The wringer is detachably mounted on a post 18, Fig. 10, by spaced bearings 21, 22 on a tubular portion 17 of a head 16. Each bearing extends half way round the post 18 in opposite directions so that the weight of the wringer keeps the bearings in engagement with the post 18, but permits easy removal of the wringer by tilting it. In the modification shown in Fig. 26, the head is mounted on the post 18 by two sets of roller bearings 134, 135, which are offset from each other on opposite sides of the post 18 and have tapered portions to engage the post. Driving and reversing means.-The lower roller is drawn through a coupling 27, Fig. 10, reversible gearing consisting of a bevel wheel 25 which is connected to the coupling and engages two bevel wheels 23, 24 loosely mounted on a driving shaft 30. This shaft also carries a slidable clutch member 32, which can engage either of the bevel wheels 23, 24 through co-operating teeth and notches 33 ... 36 ; the taper on the teeth and notches tends to cam the clutch member 32 to the neutral position. The member 32 is controlled by a member 37 centred by a spring 39, which acts on projections 38 and is held in the head 16 by projections 40. The member 37 is moved vertically by an offset projection 44 of a member 45, which engages a slot in the member 37. The member 45, which is keyed to a shaft 42 having an operating handle 41, has a cam face 46 with a central notch which engages the latching projection 50 of a spring-biassed pivoted bell-crank 47. In the neutral position of the handle 41, the bell-crank 47 is held by the notch clear of the member 37. When the handle is moved in either direction, the bellcrank is first moved further away from the member 37 and is then caused by the spring 51 to engage either the top member 37 or a slot 53 in the latter, according to the direction in which the handle 41 is turned ; the clutch member 32 is then engaged with the corresponding bevel wheel 23, 24 to effect driving of the rollers in the desired direction. Return of the handle 41 to the neutral position unlatches the member 37 which is then returned to the neutral position by the spring 39 and the camming action of the faces 33 ... 36. To prevent the transmission of jarring to the handle when the clutch is moved to the neutral position by the spring 39, some lost motion may be provided between the handle and the shaft by fixing the handle by a screw engaging on elongated slot in the shaft. Safety release.-This is achieved by pivotally attaching the head member 16, Fig. 9, to a bottom frame member 71 by pins 74, 86, and providing two pivotal bell-cranks 89, Fig. 13, spring-biassed against extensions 93 of the bottom frame 71. Pivotal movement of the frame in either direction causes one or other of the bell-cranks 89 to effect release of the latch 50 and permit the spring 39 to return the clutch to the neutral position. When this feature is not required, the head is rigidly attached to the frame by providing extra lugs. Indexing means.-In the neutral position of the clutch, the wringer is yieldably held in one of four operating positions on the post 18 by a spring-pressed slidable bush 54, Fig. 10, which is carried in a hole 55 on a flange of the member 17 and engages chamfered holes 58 in an indexing collar 20. Manual movement of the wringer is sufficient to raise the bush 54 against its spring 59 and allow the wringer to be rotated to another position. A sleeve 60a prevents upward movement of the wringer by the action of the spring 59. The wringer is made inoperative while it is being swung by a spring- pressed pin 62 which engages at its upper end a slot in a cam 61, fixed to the shaft 42, so as to lock the latter in the neutral position. When the bush 54 is engaged in one of the index holes 58, a spring 63 is effective to urge the pin downwardly so that the shaft 42 is then freed by the cam 61 to permit the handle 41 to be operated to engage the clutch 32 ; the cam 61 also moves the pin 62 still further downwardly so that it engages the hole 58 in the collar 20 and locks the wringer in position. In the modification shown in Figs. 19 and 20, an index collar 97 has radial notches 98 with tapered mouths 99 which co-operate with a plate 101 slidably mounted between ears 102, 103 on the head 16. In the neutral position of the clutch, the plate is urged upwardly by a spring 109 into a central notch in a cam 110 mounted on the shaft 42, and the tapered lower end 100 of the plate 101 engages the tapered faces 99 on the index collar ; a pin 107 then engages a slot 111 in the plate 101 to lock the clutch in neutral position. The wringer is then yieldably held in position by a spring 108, and can be swung manually into the desired position. When the clutch is engaged the cam 110 forces the plate 101 downwardly so that the end 100 slides beneath the index collar 97 and its edge engages in a notch 98 ; the pin 107 then slides in a slot 112 and locks the plate 101 and wringer in position. In the further modification shown in Fig. 22, an index collar 113 has V-shaped notches 114 adapted to be engaged by a pin 116 which is carried on a leaf-spring 115 fixed at its upper end to the head 16. Also mounted on the head 16 is a slidable plate 119 which carries a cam 124 at its lower end and has its upper end pressed by a spring 122 into contact with a cam 123 on the shaft 42. In the neutral position of the handle 41, the pin 116 is yieldably held in one of the index notches 114 by the spring 115. During swinging movement of the wringer, the pin 116 moves in a slot 117 in the head into a position in which it serves as a stop to prevent the cam 124 and plate 119 from moving downwardly so as to engage the clutch 32. When in an indexed position, the movement of the shaft 42 to engage clutch 32 causes the cam 123 to force the plate 119 downwardly so that the face 126 on cam 124 engages a face 127 in the slot 117 and locks the pin 116 in the indexing slot 114, thereby preventing wringer movement. The modification shown in Fig. 26 provides two conical projections 142 on the bottom flange 141 of the head 16, the corresponding index collar 144 having four conical depressions 143, opposing pairs of which are adapted to engage the projections 142. For positively locking the wringer in indexed position when the clutch is engaged, the hooked lower end of a pivoted lever 145 then engages under the index collar 144. The lever 145 is moved to this position when the clutch is engaged by the action of a cam 148 on the shaft 42 on the upper end of thelever 145, in the neutral position of the clutch, a spring 151 moves the lever 145 away from the collar 144. Frame construction.-The lower frame member 71, Figs. 2 and 8, has integral draining boards 77 which are narrower at the head end than at the outer end, and depending side walls 76 enclosing the head 16. A water collector 5 is welded to the underside of the lipped edges of the boards 77. The guides 4 for the roller bearings are received in notches in the frame member and welded to tabs thereon. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 describes also a modification, Fig. 30 (Cancelled), of the arrangement shown in Fig. 26, in which the upper end of the lever 145, instead of being associated with the clutch, is adapted to be operated by a push-button. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.