US3010303A - Washing machine with improved clothes agitator - Google Patents

Description

J. BOCHAN Nov. 28, 1961 WASHING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED CLOTHES AGITATOR Filed Oct. 21, 1960 H \5 ATTO RNEY United States Patent 3,010,303 WASHING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED CLOTHES AGITATOR John Bochan, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 64,141 7 Claims. (CI. 68-23) This invention relates to automatic clothes washing machines, and more particularly to a clothes washing machine wherein an improved agitator structure makes it possible to utilize a simplified drive arrangement while at the same time obtaining excellent washabllity of clothes.

In virtually all prior art clothes washing machines wherein an agitator structure is provided extending into a clothes basket so as to cause circulation of liquid in the basket to wash clothes therein, a relatively complex mechanism has been required to transform the rotary motion provided by the electric motor conventionally used as a power plant into the motion required of the agitator. This has been true regardless of the particular type of motion provided for the agitator; some of these include, for instance, vertical oscillation, oscillation in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis, orbital movement, and mechanisms providing a wobble plate effect.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide, in a washing machine, an agitator of the type which permits use of a very simple transmission structure from an electric motor in order to provide the desired washing motion of the agitator.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a hollow agitator which changes from one shape to another upon an increase of pressure therewithin, cyclic changes between the two shapes of the agitator providing the desired washing action.

In one aspect of my invention, I provide a clothes washing machine which has the conventional tub for receiving washing liquid and articles to be washed. The tub has an opening formed in its wall, and secured against that wall about the opening is a flexible hollow agitator member which extends into the tub. This agitator has a first shape when a first lower pressure is provided therewithin and changes into a second shape at a second higher pressure therewithin. The two shapes are such that cyclic change between them creates a washing motion of liquid in the tub. In order to provide this cyclic change in thepressure within the agitator, a piston is arranged to be reciprocable in a cylinder which in turn is connected through a conduit to the opening so that the reciprocation of the piston alternately increases and decreases the pressure within the agitator. The piston movement is effected very simply by use of a wrist pin assembly which translates the rotary motion of the motor shaft into the desired reciprocating motion of the piston.

The features of my invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, the single FIGURE is a side elevational view of a clothes washing machine including my improved agitator and agitator driving means, the view being partially broken away and partially in section in order to show details.

Referring now to the FIGURE of the drawing, I have shown therein an agitator type washing machine 1 having an inner clothes containing tub or basket 2 with overflow openings 2a formedadjacent its top. Tub 2 is contained within an outer imperforate tub 3 which is mounted within an appearance cabinet 4 which includes an appropriate cover (not shown) for providing access to tub 2. At the center of tub 2, extending upwardly therein, there is provided an agitator, generally indicated by the numeral 5, which forms a focal point of my invention. Agitator 5, in the specific embodiment shown, is formed as an imperforate member 6 formed of a flexible material, such, as for instance, rubber; Within the member 6 an inner rigid member 7 having openings 8 formed therein may be provided for purposes of structural strength. Openings 8 provide communication between the interior of member 7 and the exterior thereof, that is, the space between members 6 and 7.

As shown, member 7 is preferably secured at its base 9 to the bottom wall 10 of tub 2 and is provided with an outwardly extending flange 11 which helps to secure the base 12 of member 6 to bottom wall 10 of tub 2. The structure provides, in effect, a clamping relationship by virtue of which the bottom 12 of member 6 is secured to wall 10 in water-tight relation. Agitator member 6 has a number of vertically extending cylindrical side wall sections 13, 14, 15 and 16 which, when member 6 is viewed in cross section, are joined to each other in stepped rela tion, by generally horizontally extending portions .17, 18, and 19 respectively. As can be seen, the vertically arranged side portions 13, 14, 1S and 16 are relatively thick so as to be substantially immune to deformation in response to changes in pressure within the hollow member 6. Joining portions 17, 18 and 19, on the other hand, are relatively thin and are formed so that in response to an increase in pressure within member 6 they will bulge outwardly. This has the effect of raising section 14 relative to bottom section 13, section 15 relative to section 14, and section 16 relative to section 15, the top 20 of the agitator 5 moving up to the position shown in dotted outline.

At the top of vertical wall 14 of agitator 5 there is provided a resilient fin 21 which extends outwardly and upwardly, as shown. Similarly, fins 22 and 23 extend at substantially the same angle from vertical portions 15 and 16 respectively.

The interior of members 6 and 7 communicates with an opening 24 formed in the center of bottom wall 19 of tu-b 2. Opening 24 communicates in turn with the hollowinterior 24 of a shaft member 26 which, by means of a flange 27 formed at its upper end, supports the basket 2 from beneath. The shaft 26 is rotatably secured within a tubular support member 28 by m'eans'of suitable bearing members 29 and 30, preferably of the ball hearing type. Bearings 29 and 30 support shaft 26 for rotation within support 28 and also prevent axial movement of the shaft 26. Tubular support 28 is itself rigidly supported on a bracket 31 mounted on a frame 32 which, in the conventional manner, may be resiliently supported from the cabinet 4 of the machine.

The shaft 26 is rotatable within the tubular support 28 by means of a reversible motor 33 which drives the shaft 26 through a clutch 34 mounted on the motor shaft. Clutch 34 allows the motor to start Without load and then, for one direction of motor rotation, picks up the load as it comes up to speed. A suitable belt 35 joins the output member 35a of clutch 34 to a pulley 36 formed at the lower end of shaft 26, so that upon rotation of motor 33 in a first direction clutch 34 transmits the motor motion when the motor comes up to speed and thereby causes rotation of shaft 26 to effect spinning of tub 2 on the axis of shaft 26.

Because of the unidirectional nature of clutch 34, motor rotation in the opposite direction does not cause any motion to be transmitted to the belt 35 and the tub Patented Nov. 28, 1961 i a this pressure/as the piston returns to the left.

2 remains stationary. However, reverse direction of there is provided an opening 40 which leads through a conduit 41 to an opening 42 formed in the tubular support 28. A hollow space 43 is providedbetween shaft 26 and support'28, and this provides a communication between the opening 42 and an opening 44 provided in shaft 26 which connects the space 43 to the interior 25 of the shaft. In order to seal the inside of tubular support 28 from 'the surrounding atmosphere and also from liquid within tub 3, a suitable seal 45 may be'provided between the upper end of support 28 and shaft 26; a similar sealr46 may be provided at the bottom between the same two members. a a

As stated, rotation'of motor 33 in the reverse direction on liquid in tub 2. During downward movement of the fins, when the member 6 returns from its position in dotted outline to its positionin solid out-line, each of the fins tends to pull back inwardly to its position shown in solid outline or evenmore closely aligned to the vertical. This accordingly reduces the amount of push the causes the wrist pin assembly 37 to move piston 38 back and forth within cylinder ,39. This has the eiiect of raising the pressure within the conduit 41, space 43, hollow shaft center 25, and the interior of agitator 5 as the piston moves to the right, and then decreasing As will be further explained herebelow in connection with the operation of the machine, this causes the agitator 5 to effect a washing action within the tub 2.

' Completing now the descriptionof the machine prior to explaining the operation thereof, in order to introduce washing and rinsing liquid into tub 2, a suitable conduit 47 is provided having an outlet opening over tub '2 so that water introduced into conduit 47 flows into the tub.- The water is supplied in the usual 'manner well known in the art and will not be further described herein. A

In addition to causing rotation of basket 2 and operation of agitator 5, themotor 33 also drives apump 48 through a flexible coupling 49 which connects the motor shaft and'the pump shaft during washing and rinsing operations. Pump .48 discharges into a conduit 49a which leads to a nozzle 50 positioned above'tub 2 so that liquid overflowed through openings 2a may be recirculated from the tub 3 into the tub 2. If desired, a suitable filter (not shown) may be inserted in the recirculation system in order to clean and filter the liquid during the operation. This system constantly circulates the washing machine liquid from outerltub 3 through fins exert on the liquid beneath them. As a result,'the net force on the liquid from any one fin is upward, the fin exerting more force on the liquid in its flattened out position (shown in dotted outline) than when it moves down.

'Thus, a cyclic change in the shape of agitator 5, as caused by increases and decreases in the pressure therewithin, provides a net upward force. This, in turn, creates a toroidal circulatory movement of the liquid in the direction shown by the arrow in tub 2. It is to be noted that flexibility and resilience of the fins 21, 22

and 23 is highly desirable since, if there is any substan through openingsZ-aand'is returned by pump 48 to tub conduit 49a and nozzle Sit back into washtub 2 where .it overflows through'openings 2a into tub 3 to repeat the cycle. 'This recirculation system forms no part of the present invention, but is briefly described in order to complete the description of thernachine.

At the end of the washing and rinsing portions of the cycle, and in response to a reverse direction of rotation of motor 33, pump '48 discharges into a conduit 51 'which is adapted for discharge to. a stationary'tub or drain line so that the pump is eifective to drain tub 3. While any suitable pump may be used for draining purposes, I prefer to use the one just now described; it is described in detail and claimed in Patent'No. 2,883,843

issued to me on April 28, 1959, and owned by the Genoutwardly at its weakest points-portions 17, 18 and 19thereby raising parts 14, 15 and 16. The upward motion of parts :14, 15 and 16 carries with them, of course, the fins 21, 22 and 23. When liquid is present in the tub 2, the upward motion of the fins causes them to flatten out, as shown in dotted outline, thereby to increase the area of thefins which exerts an upward push 2 during operation of the machine. Then'the motor 33 is caused to operate in the direction to effect movement of wrist pin assembly 37 with no movement transmitted to belt 35 through clutch 34. As motor 33 rotates, the piston 38 will be reciprocated back and forth within cylinder 39 and, as described, this will cause cyclic increases and decreases in the pressure .within the hollow agitator 5. These increases and decreases have the effect of raising sections 14, 15 and 16 of the flexible member 6 and then lowering them so that a net toroidal circulatory effect is'provided in order to wash clotheswhich are within tub 2 in the washing liquid.

After a predetermined period of this action, the motor 33 is caused to rotate in the opposite direction. By so doing, the clutch 34 transmits motion through belt 35 so as to rotate the tub 2. This causes waterin the tub and in the clothes to be extracted centrifugally and passed out through openingsZa into the tub 3 so that pump 48 may remove the liquid by passing it out through conduit 51 to-drain. It will be understood, in. this regard, that the agitator 5 may continue to be operated during spin byincrea'ses and decreases in pressure or alternatively, if this is for some reason deemed undesirable, the wrist pin assembly 37 may be mounted to the motor by means of a one way clutch which prevents its operation in thesec- 0nd direction of rotation mentioned.

Following the-extraction operation, a supply of clean liquid is introduced through inlet 47 into the tub 2 for rinsing the clothes, and the motor 33 is again rotated in the direction to cause operation of agitator 5 without spinning the tub 2. Finally, the tub 2 is' once-more rotated at high speed to discharge the rinse water into the outer tub. This control of the provision of washing and rinsing liquid, and of the direction of operation of motor 33, may be readily controlled by any suitable sequence control mechanism (not shown), presettable by means of a manually operable memberlsuch as that shown at 52 on the backsplasher portion 53' of the machine.

It will be seen from the foregoing that my invention provides, in a washing machine, a highly effective structure for causing operation'of an agitator in which the structure for transmitting motion to the agitator and to the tub 2 is caused to be exceedingly simple.

While in accordance with the patent statutes 1' have described what at present is consideredto be thepreferred skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and I therefore aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A washing machine comprising: a tub for receiving liquid and articles to be washed, said tub having a bottom wall with an opening formed at the center thereof; a flexible hollow member extending upwardly into said tub from said bottom wall and secured against said bottom wall with its interior in communication with said opening, said member having a first shape at a first lower pressure therewithin and a' second shape at a second higher pressure therewithin, said member being formed so that cyclic change between said shapes creates a washing motion of liquid in said tub; a cylinder; conduit means connecting said opening and said cylinder; a piston reciprocable in said cylinder to raise and lower the pressure within said member; and an electric motor connected to said piston in driving relation thereto.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said hollow member has portions with fins secured thereto, said fins extending upwardly and outwardly and being formed of a flexible resilient material, said portions moving upwardly and downwardly in response to changes in pressure between said first lower pressure and said second higher pressure.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said hollow member has fins of flexible resilient material extendmg outwardly therefrom, said fins being formed to provide a liquid circulation upon cyclic change of said hollow member between said first shape and said second shape.

4. A washing machine comprising: a tub for receiving washing liquid and articles to be washed, said tub having a bottom wall with an opening centrally formed therein; a vertically extending shaft secured to said tub centrally therebeneath in supporting relation thereto; support means rotatably supporting said shaft; a flexible hollow member extending upwardly into said tub and secured against said bottom wall thereof with its interior in communication with said opening, said member having a first shape at a first lower pressure therewithin and a second shape at a second higher pressure therewithin, said member being formed so that cyclic change between said shapes creates a washing motion of liquid in said tub; a cylinder; conduit means including said support means and said shaft connecting said opening and said cylinder; a piston reciprocable in said cylinder to raise and lower the pressure within said member; a reversible electric motor; means connecting said motor to said piston to operate said piston upon rotation of said motor in at least a support means and having an' opening formed in said I center section.

6. A washing machine comprising: a tub for receiving washing liquid and articles to be washed, said tub having a bottom wall formed with a central opening therein; a flexible hollow member extending upwardly into said tub and secured against said bottom wall thereof with its interior in communication with said opening, said member having a plurality of vertical wall sections connected by generally horizontally extending sections, said vertically extending wall sections being substantially rigid and said horizontally extending sections being deformable in response to pressure within said hollow member thereby to cause the upper sections of said member to be raised, said member having fins of flexible resilient material extending upwardly and outwardly from said upper sections for effectng a toroidal circulatory motion of water in said tub upon upward and downward movement of said upper sections, said upper sections moving from a first position to their raised position in response to an increase from a first lower pressure to a second higher pressure within said member; a cylinder; conduit means connecting said opening and said cylinder; a piston reciprooable in said cylinder to raise and lower the pressure within said member; and an electric motor connected to said piston in driving relation thereto. a

7. -For use in a washing machine: a flexible hollo member adapted to extend up within a liquid and article receiving tub, said member having at least twovertically extending sections and at least one horizontally extending section joining said vertical sections, said vertical sections being substantially rigid and the horizontally extending sections being deformable in response to increased pressure within said member to cause the upper vertical section to be raised, said member having a fin formed on the upper vertical section extending outwardly and upwardly therefrom, and means for increasing and decreasing the pressure within said member thereby to cause raising and lowering of the upper vertical section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,452,966 Field Apr. 24, 1923 2,417,998 Wales Mar. 25, 1947 2,648,211 Eberlein Aug. 11, 1953 2,666,316 Candor Jan. 19, 1954

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