Improvements in Washing Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Washing Machines.
We, JAMES BINGHAM ALLIOTT and JOHN MCCLURE CALDWELL PATON, both of
Bloomsgrove Works, Nottingham, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in washing machines of the type known
as rotary washing machines, and it has for object to render such machines more
suitable for use in lunatic asylums or other places where through carelessness,
stupidity, or of set purpose, semi-imbecile attendants upon the machines, or others
who have access to them, may expose themselves to injury from the machine in
the ordinary course of working.
Now according to this invention to obviate the above mentioned liability to
danger an arm or part I will call the door stop and which is adapted when opposite
the outer door of the machine to prevent its being opened is carried by a movable
part of any suitable construction and which I will assume to be and will call a
sliding bar so arranged in relation to the part or parts it is needful to shift in order
to put the driving means into gear with the machine proper that so long as the
same are in gear the door stop cannot be moved from opposite the door and when-
ever the door stop is not opposite the door the driving means cannot be or be
placed in gear with the machine proper.
The door stop can be arranged in contact, or almost in contact, with the door
or with the apparatus used in closing or securing it, and be so arranged in relation
to, or connected, or adapted to be connected, by suitable means, for example rods
and levers, to the driving or controlling gear of the machine that the machine
can only be set in operation when the door stop is in its place in contact, or almost
in contact, with the door of the machine, or with the apparatus used in closing or
securing it, the said stop nioreover being so arranged that it can only be put into
a position to enable the machine to be set in operation when the door has been
closed, and when withdrawn from its position in connection with or proximity to
the door, in order to admit of the door being opened, it will prevent the machine
being put into gear. In one arrangement the movement necessary to enable the
door to be opened is a movement back of the door stop into a position behind or
beyond the door hinge.
In some cases whether or not the cage or basket of the machine has hand gear
fitted to it to enable the cage to be moved by hand after the ordinary driving
mechanism has been thrown out of gear, we provide in conjunction with the door
stop and its carrier suitable cage locking mechanism so arranged as to control
and be controlled by the door stop so that the latter can only be withdrawn to
permit of the machine door being opened, when the cage of the machine is locked
in a position such that the door therein is opposite to the door in the outer casing
of the machine. An arrangement for this purpose comprises a bar, which may be
of joggled or cranked shape, and levers in connection with it, arranged in such

page_text: a way that the cage continues locked and cannot be released until the door in the
outer casing of the machine has been closed, and the door stop has been moved
into proper position opposite the closed door.
Improvements in Washing Machines.
We, JAMES BINGHAM ALLIOTT and JOHN MCCLURE CALDWELL PATON, both of
Bloomsgrove Works, Nottingham, Engineers, 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in washing machines of the type known
as rotary washing machines, and it has for object to render such machines more
suitable for use in lunatic asylums or other places where through carelessness,
stupidity, or of set purpose, semi-imbecile attendants upon the machines, or others
who have access to them, may expose themselves to injury from the machine in
the ordinary course of working.
Now according to this invention to obviate the above mentioned liability to
danger, an arm or part I will call the door stop and which is adapted when opposite
the outer door of the machine to prevent its being opened, is carried by a movable
part of any suitable construction so arranged in relation to the part or parts it
is needful to shift in order to put the driving means into gear with the machine
proper that so long as the same are in gear the door stop cannot be moved from
opposite the door and whenever the door stop is not opposite the door the driving
means cannot be, or be placed, in gear with the machine proper.
The door stop can be arranged in contact or almost in contact, with the door
or with the apparatus used in closing or securing it, and be so arranged in relation
to, or connected, or adapted to be connected, by suitable means, for example rods
and levers to the driving or controlling gear of the machine that the machine
can only be set in operation when the door stop is in its place in contact, or almost
in contact, with the door of the machine, or with the apparatus used in closing or
securing it, the said stop moreover being so arranged that it can only be put into
a position to enable the machine to be set in operation when the door has been
closed, and when withdrawn from its position in connection with or proximity to
the door, in order to admit of the door being opened, it will prevent the machine
being put into gear. In one arrangement the movement necessary to enable the
door to be opened is a movement back of the door stop into a position behind or
beyond the door hinge.
In the accompanying illustrative drawings Figs. 1 and 2 are elevations at right
angles to one another, Fig. 3 a sectional plan, and Fig. 4 a part cross section,
showing so much of a rotary washing machine as is necessary to illustrate the
application thereto of a door stop and controlling mechanism according to this
invention.
1 is the ordinary outer casing of the machine provided with a door 2 and within
which is mounted a rotary cage or basket 3 having one or more sliding doors 4.
The rotary cage or basket 3 is driven from a counter-shaft 5 fitted with fast and
loose pulleys and starting and stopping clutch 6. 3 is the shaft of the rotary cage
or basket and 36 the spur wheel in gear with a pinion (not shown) on the counter-

page_text: shaft 5. 7 is a hand wheel by rotating which a non-rotary screwed rod 8 is raised
or lowered so putting in or taking out of action the clutch gear 6, through a lever 9,
rock shaft 10 and lever 11. The above described mechanism is that ordinarily in
use, with rotary washing machines of the kind referred to.
12 is a door stop arranged to slide in bracket bearings 13 and 14 fixed to the
casing 1. 15 is a bar which is mounted to slide in brackets 16 and 17 and is so
arranged that, upon its being pulled forward to an extent limited by a stop 15º,
its outer end will prevent the door stop 12 from being withdrawn sufficiently to
one side as to enable the door 2 to be opened. 18 is a rod carried by and moving
with, the screwed bar 8, its upper end being arranged to work in a suitable hole
in the bracket 17, and, when raised to its highest position to pass also through
the bar 15 which is provided with a hole 15 so arranged as to be in line with the
hole in the bracket 17 when the bar is in its forward or locking position.
It will be seen that with the arrangement above described the machine can only
be set in operation when the door stop 12 is in its locking position in contact, or
almost in contact with the door of the machine. Also in Figures 1 and 3 the
door 2 is shown closed, the bar 12 being in contact therewith and the clutch 6 in
gear with the driving pulley 6. To allow the door 2 to be opened the clutch 6
must first be thrown out of operation which is done by turning the hand wheel 7
so as to lower the screwed rod 8 and move the lever 9, rock shaft 10 and lever 11.
As the screwed rod 8 is lowered the rod 18 is moved down and when the clutch
is well out of gear with the driving pulley the said rod will have passed clear of.
the hole in the bar 15, which can then be pushed inwards so as to allow the door
stop 12 to be withdrawn into a position behind the door hinge and enable the door
to be opened.
Fig. 5 shows in ront elevation a modified arrangement, the door stop being in the
locking position. Fig. 6 is a similar view to Fig. 5 but showing the movable
parts in the positions they occupy when the door is capable of being opened.
12 is the door stop whic' in this case is formed by the turned down end of a
lever 19, 19; 13 is a bracket fixed to the casing 1 and in which the door stop 12
slides. The lever 19, 19" is pivoted at 20 to the casing 1; its outer end is forked
at 19, or it may be slotted, and extends between a pair of collars 21, formed or
fixed on a rod or link 22 pivoted at its lower end to the upper part of the screwed
rod 8 to which the hand wheel 7 is fitted. 19° is a bar which (Fig. 6) rests upon
the top of the door 2 when the door is open or partly open, so preventing the rod 8
being raised and the machine started until the door has been closed.
In some cases whether or not the cage or basket of the machine has hand gear
fitted to it to enable the cage to be moved by hand after the ordinary driving
mechanism has been thrown out of gear, we provide in conjunction with the door
stop and its carrier suitable cage locking mechanism so arranged as to control and
be controlled by the door stop so that the latter can only be withdrawn to permit
of the machine door being opened, when the cage of the machine is locked in
a position such that the door therein is opposite to the door in the outer casing of
the machine. One arrangement for this purpose is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 of
the accompanying drawings. In this case 3 is a collar of large diameter fixed
to, or formed in one with the spur wheel 3b which is fixed on the cage shaft 3*;
3d is a recess formed in the periphery of the collar, this recess being so arranged
that it is opposite the end of the bar 15 when the door 4 of the rotary cage or
basket is opposite the door 2 of the outer casing of the machine. The bar 15 is of
such a length as to render the withdrawal of the door stop 12 impossible until the end
of the bar has been pushed right home in the recess 3d in the collar 3° as shown
in Fig. 2. The rotary cage or basket 3 is thus locked in the position wherein the
door 4 is opposite to the door 2 and continues locked and cannot be released until
the door 2 has been closed and the door stop 12 has been moved back into position
opposite the closed door. When the cage or basket has two doors the collar 3° is
formed with two corresponding recesses 3d.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. In a rotary washing machine a door stop adapted when in a certain position
to prevent the door in the outer casing of the machine being opened and a device
or devices that must be shifted to place the driving means in or out of gear for
driving or arresting the machine proper as the case may be, the parts being so
relatively arranged that so long as the driving means are in gear the door stop
cannot be moved into a position that will allow the door to be opened and when
and so long as the position of the stop is such as to permit of opening the door the
driving means will be and be kept out of gear.
2. In a rotary washing machine an arrangement such as referred to in the pre-
ceding Claim in combination with locking mechanism so arranged as to control and
be controlled by the door stop so that the latter can only be withdrawn to permit
of the door in the outer casing of the machine being opened when the cage is locked
in a position such that the door (or a cage door) in the cage itself is opposite to the
door in the outer casing.
3. In a rotary washing machine of the kind herein referred to the combination
and arrangement of parts substantially as illustrated in and described with reference
to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive of the drawings annexed for the purpose mentioned with
or without the means for locking the cage or basket in position as set forth.
4. In a rotary washing machine of the kind herein referred to the combination
and arrangement of parts substantially as illustrated in and described with reference
to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings annexed for the purpose mentioned.
..
LT1000
Dated this 20th day
of January 1908.
For the Applicants,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.