Improvements in Driving Mechanism for Washing and like Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Sept., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 23rd June, 1899-Accepted, 12th Aug., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Mechanism for Washing and like Machines.
I, HENRY CROFTS LONGSDON, Managing Director of the Firm of W. Summer-
scales and Sons Limited, of Keighley, in the County of York, Laundry
Engineers and Machine Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows, that is to say:-
It relates to improvements in driving mechanism for washing and like.
machines wherein after rotary motion has been transmitted thereto for a certain
time or number of revolutions in one direction it is reversed and made to move
or perform such rotations in the opposite direction for a like period or for about
the same number of revolutions, and my invention consists in constructing and
arranging such driving mechanism so that all the movements desired may be
imparted thereto through a single driving belt and that in a thoroughly
efficient manner.
In carrying my invention into effect I mount three driving pulleys upon a
fixed stud the two outer ones being for transmitting motion to the machine
while the pulley situated between them is the loose or idle pulley.
The driving pulley which is on or near the outer end of the stud or shaft has
a sleeve fixed upon it to extend through the other two pulleys and carry a
toothed driving wheel at its end approaching the machine thus the other two
pulleys revolve upon this sleeve. The driving pulley nearest the machine has
also a toothed wheel secured to it and this wheel gears directly with the toothed
wheel transmitting motion to the rotary drum or the like in the machine, while
said pinion on the last named pulley is further geared by intermediate wheels,
to the toothed wheel on the driving pulley first before named by which means
when the driving belt is on the outermost pulley rotary motion is transmitted
through it and its pinion together with the intermediate wheels to the pinion
on the innermost pulley which will thus impart motion to the machine as
described and at such time the said innermost pulley will be running idly. On
the belt being moved on to the innermost driving pulley the pinion thereon will
still transmit motion to the machine but in the opposite direction, and at such
time the outermost pulley, its pinion and intermediate gearing wheels will be
running idly.
In order to move the driving belt from one pulley to another, the belt guide
is operated by a lever arm extending from a shaft carrying a coupling device
which gears with a worm wheel driven by a volute flange or scroll fixed on the
machine's driving wheel.
This flange or scroll is for the greater part of its length concentric with the
machine's wheel upon which it is fixed, while for the remaining part it is of a
volute form sufficiently to move the worm wheel with which it gears one or more
teeth as may be desired so that after such scroll has revolved for a certain
number of revolutions it will have intermittently moved the worm wheel to
complete nearly a whole revolution, and when it is moving same through the

page_text: space of the last tooth, a projection on this worm wheel will come into contact
with a like projection on the coupling above referred to, thus the shaft to
which this latter is fixed will be moved to shift the belt as desired so that the
operations are reversed and the worm wheel will be rotated in the opposite
direction until it again operates the coupling as will be understood.
A hand wheel is fixed on the outermost pulley so that when the driving belt
is on the loose pulley the machine may be thereby manually operated, while
appropriate locking levers and catches are employed for laying hold of a notch
in said. hand wheel to secure same when moved into a desired position..
Dated this 22nd day of September 1898.
HENRY C. LONGSDON,
Per Samuel Hey,
Agent.
Improvements in Driving Mechanism for Washing and like Machines.
I, HENRY CROFTS LONGSDON, Managing Director of the Firm of W. Summer-
scales and Sons Limited, of Keighley, in the County of York, Laundry
Engineers and Machine Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say:
It relates to improvements in driving mechanism for washing and like
machines wherein after rotary motion has been transmitted thereto for a certain
time or number of revolutions in one direction it is reversed and made to move
or perform such rotation in the opposite direction for a like period or for about
the same number of revolutions, and my invention consists in constructing and
arranging such driving mechanism so that all the movements desired may be
imparted thereto through a single driving belt and that in a thoroughly.
efficient manner.
In order that my said invention may be readily understood, I have hereunto
appended sheets of drawings illustrative thereof, in which:-
Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of a washing or cleansing machine
having my improved driving mechanism applied thereto.
Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of parts shown by Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is an elevation partly in section, of certain of the parts illustrated by
Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a section on line A B of parts shown by Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a plan of the parts illustrated by Fig. 3 also partly in section.
Figs. 6 and 7 are front and sectional side elevations of the large driving
wheel to which is affixed the scroll part hereinafter described.
Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the large driving wheel and parts in connection
therewith, but shows a modification in the construction thereof.
Fig. 9 is a sectional plan of parts illustrated by Fig. 8.
Figs. 10 and 11 are front and end elevations (enlarged scale) of the locking.
mechanism for the belt forks.
Fig. 12 is a sectional view, taken on the line C-D) of parts shown by Fig. 11.
Fig. 13, 14, 15 and 16 are detail drawings, also enlarged scale of parts herein-
after referred to.
Similar letters and figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout the
several views.
The class of machines to which my invention is applicable is that in which a

page_text: cage or receptacle a for containing the clothes or other articles to be washed or
cleansed is mounted upon a shaft a to revolve, within an outer casing or com-
partment b.
In carrying my invention into effect I mount three pulleys c, d and e upon a.
fixed stud g, the two outer ones c and d being for transmitting motion to the
driving wheel mounted on the shaft a while the pulley e situated between
them is the loose or idle pulley.
The driving pulley c is fixed upon a sleeve c¹ formed upon a wheel, said
sleeve being made to extend also through the two pulleys and e, the former:
being mounted upon the sleeve of the wheel in order that these may
revolve loosely thereon.
This wheel gears directly with the toothed driving wheel f transmitting
motion to the drum or cage a, and further by the intermediate wheels h¹
(secured together and mounted to revolve on the stud 2) and the driving wheel f
to the wheel c², by which means when the driving belt is on the pulley & rotary
motion is transmitted through it and the pinion 2 together with the intermediate
wheels to the driving wheel in the direction shown by the arrow and
at such time the said wheel and pulley d will be running idly. While on the
belt being moved to the driving pulley d the pinion will transmit motion
direct to the wheelf but in the opposite direction to that before described, and
at such time the intermediate wlicels hand wheel and pulley will be
running idly.
In order to move the driving belt from one pulley c or d to the other, the
bar k, which carries the belt forks k, and is mounted in bearings (in the
former of which a slot, is made) is operated by the lever extending from
the shaft carrying the coupling piece m¹ which gears with the worm wheel m
revolving on the said shaft, by means of the projections m³ m³ formed on said
worm wheel and coupling piece respectively, motion being imparted to the
worm wheel by the volute flange or scroll fi fixed on the driving wheel f.
The flange or scroll f¹ is for the greater part of its length concentric with
the driving wheelf upon which it is fixed, while for the remaining part (which
preferably extends for the distance marked 1 to 2 Fig. 6) it is of a volute form suffi-
ciently to move the worm wheel m one tooth (or more if desired) so that after said
scroll has revolved for a certain number of revolutions it will have inter-
mittently moved the worm wheel m to complete nearly a whole revolution; and
when it is moving same through the space of the last tooth, the projection m³
will come into contact with the projection m on the coupling piece m¹ thus
the shaft to which said coupling piece m¹ is fixed will be moved to cause the
lever arm to move the bark and thus shift the belt from one fast pulley to
the other so that the operations are reversed and the worm wheel m. will be
rotated in the opposite direction to that above described until it again operates
the coupling piece m' as will be understood.
If desired I may make the scroll or volute flange without the concentric parts
and to have a groove as shown by Figs. 8 and 9, into which take the teeth
of wheel m, said scroll being of such a formation as to move the wheel m
through the space of one tooth for each revolution of the wheelf as above
described. I preferably however, make use of the scroll part as, shown by
Figs. 6 and 7. A hand wheel n is fixed to the sleeve c¹ of the driving pulley "c
so that when the driving belt is on the loose pulley e the machine may be
thereby manually operated. A hand lever o mounted in bearings o¹ is made
use of to shift the belt from either of the driving pulleys c or d on to the loose
pulley e, while the cage c of the machine may be stopped at and held in any
convenient position by moving said hand lever o into the position shown by
Figs. 10 and 11 so that the projection o³ formed on said lever will fall into a
corresponding notch or opening n¹ formed in said wheel n. The lever o is
preferably provided with arms o³ so that the projection o³ will be easily guided
laterally into the notch n¹ when the lever o is being operated to stop the rota-

page_text: tion of the machine. In order to prevent said lever o from being accidently
raised from the position which it occupies when the machine is stopped, I
mount a lever p on the pin 2 the projection 2 on said lever passing over the
flat part n formed on the wheel n, in which position it is held by the piston q
operated by the spring q¹.
The framework r which carries the studs g, h² shaft 7 and other parts of the
driving mechanism is preferably formed with an annular ring which takes
over the bearing parts s as shown by Fig. 4 so that said framework may be
adjustable concentrically with said shaft a, in order that the driving pulleys
may be readily adjusted to meet the angle of the driving belt. The framework r
is provided with slots through which pass the screws s¹ for fixing said frame-
work to the end frame t of the outer casing b.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
In machines for washing or cleansing clothes or the like of the class described,
driving mechanism the same being constructed and arranged to operate sub-
stantially as herein specified.
HENRY C. LONGSDON.
Per Samuel Hey,
Agent.