US2795055A - Lint remover means for driers - Google Patents

Description

June 11, 1957 .1.0. HuEBscH 2,795,055

LINT REMOVER MEANS FOR DRIERS Filed May 18, 1955 3 ShetS-Sheet l ,June 1l, 1957 J. o. HUEBSCH LINT REMovER MEANS Foa Damas 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 18, 1955 June l1, 1957 .1.0. HuEBscH 2,795,055

' um' REuovER uEANs FOR DRIERs Y A :s sheets-sheet s Filed llay 18, 1955 INVENTOR. W O. #wha/:J

BY A

LINT REMOVER MEANS FR DRIERS Joseph 0. Huebsch, Fox Point, Wis., assigner to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 1S, 1955, Serial No. 509,363

Claims. (Cl. 34--82) The invention relates to driers and more particularly to laundry Ior clothes driers of the rotating tumbler type.

The object of the invention is to provide a lint trap of simple construction located in the air circulating system of the drier adjacent the circulating fan for collecting lint and from which the lint may be readily removed by a reciprocatory scraper and dropped into a receptacle below the trap and which receptacle may readily be removed from the machine, the lint trapt itself being also preferably capable of removal as a unit from the drier.

This application is a continuation in part of my application, now abandoned, Serial No. 466,091, led November 1, 1954, for Lint Remover Means for Driers, and is an improvement :over said application in that the reciprocatory scraper is Amade in two parts which act over the major area of the lint trap to scape off -the lint therefrom and with the aid of gravity dislodge the lint from the bottom portion of the trap.

The invention further consists in the several'features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

ln the drawings:

Fig. l is a front eleva-tion view of a drier embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the drier, parts being broken away and parts 'being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end view of the lint removing apparatus, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a detailed vertical sectional View taken on the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

While the lint trap hereafter described may be used in the circulatory system of any suitable drier for laundry, garments, and textile materials, I have shown it associated with a drier of the rotating tumbler type.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the drier includes a housing 5 having an air heater section H, a tumbler section T, and a lower section more particularly described.

The tumbler section T has a perforated drying tumbler or drum 6 mounted in it and supported at its rear end on a shaft 7 journalled in the housing and carrying a sprocket 8 connected by a suitably tensioned chain C with a sprocket 9 on a lay shaft 10 which carries a large pulley 11 connected by a belt 12 to a small pulley 13 on the shaft S of an electric drive motor M. The drum 6 is open at its front end and access thereto is had through an opening in the housing section T normally closed by a door 14 pivotally hinged at 15 on the housing.

The lower section of the housing includes a space 16 and a housing 17 for an exhaust fan 18 which is mounted on the outer end of the motor shaft 13, the housing 17 having an inlet 19 communicating with the space 16 and an outlet 20.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, within the space 16 an angled bracket member 21 has its legs suitably secured as by spot welding, to the front side of the housing 17. A bar 22 is secured intermediate its ends to the legs of ...ad ses Patenti v"icc y the bracket 21 where they join each other, said bar providing supporting arms with downwardly inclined ends 23.

A lint trap is formed of a cylinder 24 of perforated sheet metal or screening, a front closed end cap 25, and a rear angle metal ring 26, one of Whose ilanges is adapted to abut the front side of the housing 17 when the trap is positioned within the space and held up at its front end by engagement of the ends 23 of the bar 22 with the inner wall of the upper portion of the cylinder 24. The end cap is provided with a depression 27 and a cross bar 28 extending over the sameto provide a handle whereby the trap may be moved to its operating position or removed therefrom.

With the above construction, air heated in the heater section H passes down into the drum section and then into the space 16 and is sucked by the fan 18 through the openings of the screen 24 and through the inlet 19 and then exhausted through the outlet 20 so that any lint from the clothes or other materials in the drum 6 carried along by the air will be caught on the outer surface of the cylinder 24.

From time to time, the lint accumulating on the screen 24 may be removed by a reciprocatory scraper preferably formed as a pair of arcuate blade members 29 that are pivotally mounted at their upper ends on the hooked end 3i) of a `rod 31 that is slidably mounted on a guide bracket 32 in the housing 5 and projects beyond the ex terior thereof and carries a handle or knob 33. Each blade member 29 has a portion 34 which lrides or is closely spaced from the periphery of the screen cylinder 24 and a laterally llared lower end 35 which acts as a cam surface to move the blade away from or to clear the cylinder when the same is inserted in position. A bracket member 36 has a channelled end 37 mounted on the hooked end 30 and extending over the pivoted end portions of the blade members 29 and has a ared front end portion 33 to aid in guiding the cylinder to its operative position. The bracket member 36 also acts as a stop engageable with the outer ends 39 of the blade members to limit their inward swinging movement so that they can be pushed laterally to a position over the cylinder 24 by the cam actions of the ends 35 when the cylinder is moved into its operative position. The blades 29 under the action of gravity are free to Contact the cylinder 24.

With this construction the operator, grasping the knob 33, may move the rod 31 forwardly and backwardly and thus similarly move the scraper blades Z9 over the screen 24 to remove accumulated Ilint therefrom which is free to drop into a drawer or receptacle 40 having a handle 40a and slidably mounted and suitably guided in the bottom portion of the space 16 and movable outwardly of the front side of the housing. Since the blades 29 act upon about two-thirds of the area of the cylinder and extend beyond the center line of the cylinder, only the lower portion of the drum or cylinder 24 is not directly acted upon by the blades, but since collected lint tends to mat itself on the cylinder, it has been found that the loosening of this mat from the major portion of the cylinder also acts to loosen that part not directly engaged by the blades, and that gravity acting on this loosened mat will act to remove the lint from the bottom portion of the drum. The lint can be removed from the trap once or twice a day, and the accumulated lint removed from the drawer 40 once a week.

The housing 7 also has a removable front panel 41 closing an opening 42 in line with that part of the space 16 enclosing the lint trap so that this trap may also be lremoved from the housing for cleaning purposes, if necessary. The front panel 41 carries a transversely disposed handle 43 which projects at its end beyond the panel and acts as a bumper to prevent laundry trucks marring the housing. Panel 41 has inwardly extending spaced slotted angle tittings`44 which engage over studs 4S' mounted in frame partsnf' thehousin'g as indica'ted'in Fig. 4.

l desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to'any particular'form'orarrangementof parts except in so far as' such limitationsare included in the claims.

WhatI claim as my invention is:

1. ln a drier having a housingfprovided'with 'a drying space and an exhaust fan housing provided with an .inlet communicating with said space, the 'combination f la foraminous lint collecting cylinderrno'unte'din sai'dspac'e at the inlet to said housing, a Vscraper comprising a pair of gravity actuated arcuate blade members pivotally ,conf nected together at one of their -en'ds adjacentthe upper end of the cylinder and slidably'movableover the major portion of the area of the cylinderand meansoperble from outside said first'namedhousing and forming a pivotal support for said blades to move saidblade ,menibers forward and back relative to saidcyliridei'.

2. In a :drier havinga housingprovided with a drying space andan exhaust fan'hou'singprovi'ded'with an inlet communicating with'said ls'pace, "the combination' of a foraminous lint collecting cylinder mounted in a substan-l tially horizontally disposed position in said space at the inlet to said housing, a rod slidably mountedabove said cylinder and extending lengthwise'thereof and having an exteriorly'disposed operating connection, a pair' of gravity actuated arcuate scraper blades engageable withthe cylinlder throughout the major portion of its-cross sectional area and pivotally suspended at their upper ends from said rod for movement therewith lengthwise ofthe cylinder.

3. In a drier havinga housing provided with a drying space and an exhaust .fan housing provided with an inlet communicating with saidspace, f the combination of a foraminous lint collecting cylinder mounted in said space at the inlet to said housing, a rod 'slidably mounted above said cylinder and having an eXteriorly disposed operating connection and an inner' hooked end, a pair of scraper blades pivotally mounted at their upper ends on the hooked 'end' ofsaidwrod and` movable therewith lengthwise of the cylinder to remove lint therefrom.

4. In a drier having a housing provided with a drying space and an exhaust fan housing provided with an inlet communicating with said space, the combination of a foraminous lint collecting cylinder detachably mounted in said space at the inlet to said fan housing, an opening in said housing adjacent said cylinder to permit removal of said cylinder therefrom, a removable. panel covering said opening, a scraper blade slidably movable overa portion of said cylinder, a lintcollecting receptacle below said cylinder and said panel and removable from the bottom portion of said space, and means operable from outside said tirst named housing to .move said blade forward and back relative to said cylinder.

5. In a drier having a housing providedwith a drying space and an exhaust fan housing provided with an inlet communicating with said "space, the combination of n toraminous lint collecting cylindermounted in said space at the inlet to said fan housing, a scraper comprising blade members pivotally p connected together at one of their ends adjacentn theupper end of` the'cylinder and slideably movable over the major portion of the area of the cylinderfeach Vblade having la laterally diverging lower end forming a cam'surface cooperating with the cylinder to move the blade laterally during the replacement of the cylinder, and means operable fromoutside said first named housing to'move said blade members forward and back relative to said' cylinder.

References Cited in the le of this patent .UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,189,777 'Bartholomew July `4, 1916 1,323,673 Broderick n.. Dec. 2, 1919 1,327,609 Bartholomew Jan. 13, 1920 1,562,531 Watkins `Nov. 24, 1925 2;l87;546 Orem Ian. 16, 1940 2,611,192 Huebsch Sept. 23, 1952

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