US3112632A - Agitator for washing machines - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 3, 1963 R. R. WALTON 3,112,632

AGITATOR FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed May 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. R. WALTON AGITATOR FOR WASHING MACHINES Dec. 3, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 4, 1962 United States Patent 3,112,632 AGITATGR FOR WASHING MACHINES Richard R. Walton, 1!} W. Hill Place, Boston 14, Mass. Filed May 4, 1962, Ser. No. 1%,384 2 Claims. (Cl. 58-54) This invention relates to clothes washing machines and similar devices and is concerned primarily with a new and improved agitator of the rotationally oscillating variety for use therewith.

The conventional clothes washer having a rotationally oscillating agitator relies upon the production of a toroidal circulation and agitation of the combined mass of clothes and liquid as a whole with incidental and accidental scrubbing of portions of clothing by the agitator blades. The result is undue power requirement, less efficient washing, as well as uneven distribution and tangling of the clothes producingunbalanced load for spin drying and making them hard to separate from each other when they are taken from the tub, as every housewife knows. If the circulation and scrubbing of the clothes could be produced at least in part indepedently of the circulation of the liquid so that the articles would present themselves one at a time to a scrubber to be scrubbed (as in hand washing) rather than be circulated as a heavy sodden mass, it is vlear that economies of power and gentler and more efficient washing would result, tangling could be eliminated and a higher ratio of clothes to liquid could be employed in the same size machine.

According to the present invention these beneficial results are achieved by the use of my new and improved agitator which is adapted to be rotataionally oscillated in a tub.

The novel agitator comprises a center post provided with liquid passages permitting free flow of liquid lengthwise thereof and having a series of longitudinally extending external projections serving not only to keep the articles being washed from clogging the liquid passages but also to scrub the articles as the agitator oscillates. A series of flexible vanes extends outwardly from such post near one end. The agitator is adapted to be mounted vertically in a tub and to be oscillated rotationally by suitable driving mechanism. When so operated in a tub containing liquid and articles to be scrubbed the vanes impel the liquid and articles away from one end of the center post causing a corresponding circulation of liquid and articles toward the post near the other end thereof. The articles are drawn by liquid flow into contact with the projections while the liquid passes beyond the projections into the passages where it is free to flow toward the vanes since the articles are kept from clogging the passages by the presence of the projections. The circulation thus presses the articles against the projections which scrub them much like an old fashioned hand wash board, each article slowly migrating along the projections toward the vanes. When the articles reach the area of the vanes they are impelled outwardly into the tub away from the agitator. The scrubbing action upon the articles is individual, in marked contrast with the conventional action, cleaning is very effective yet gentle, the load is evenly distributed, no tangling occurs, and power consumption is greatly reduced as compared with standard machines. Greatly increased loads may' be washed in the same size tub with little or no change in the otherwise reduced power requirements. Furthermore, frequency of oscillation may optionally be increased to reduce the length of the cycle.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a presently preferred embodiment of my invention as applied to a standard clothes washing machine.

FIG. 1 is a Vertical cross-sectional view, one fourth scale, of a standard clothes washer tub in which the novel agitator of my invention is mounted on a rotationally oscillatable drive shaft;

FIG. 2 is a top planview, three-eighths scale, of my novel agitator, omitting the tub;

IG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View, full scale, of the agitator taken on lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a similar view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an isometric view, one-half scale, of the base of the agitator center post and a single separate vane illustrating the mode of attaching the latter in slots cut in the former.

The tub of a standard clothes washer is indicated by the numeral It). Through the bottom of the tub extends a rotationally oscillatable drive shaft 12 of the usual kind. The remainder of the machine has not been shown since it is well known in the art. My novel agitator is indicated generally by the numeral 14. It comprises a generally cylindrical center post 16 having a series of vertical smooth surfaced external projections here shown in the form of integral ribs 18 which define a corresponding series of vertical grooves 29 therebetween forming longitudinally extending liquid passages. The post is hollow and is adapted to fi-t on an extension 22 of the shaft 12 and be held in place in any suitable manner as by a nut 24 (FIGS. 1 and 2), as is well known.

Near the bottom of the post is mounted a radially outwardly extending series of flexible vanes 26 which, when the agitator is installed in the tub 19, are located just above the tub bottom which preferably is elevated near its center as indicated by the numeral 28 so that the vanes may extend not only radially outwardly but somewhat downwardly for best results. Each vane 26 (FIGS. 1 and 5) is preferably shaped substantially as shown, being relatively wide in a vertical direction near the post, as at 39; somewhat narrowed near its end at 32; and again widened at the tip 35%.

As shown in the drawings both the post and vanes are made of suitable plastics suitably joined to each other as by an epoxy resin or other cement as indicated at 36. The post 16 is slotted at 38 (FIG. 5) to receive the vanes 26. The post may be molded of a phenolic plastic as is common in making ordinary washing machine agitators. The vanes are preferably of resilient flexible plastic, such as polypropylene, whose strength and resilience improve with use. Metal may be used for both post and vanes or either of them but I believe that the plastics mentioned will be found preferable for longer service, freedom from breakage and less likelihood of tearing of clothing. When the vanes are of plastic they preferably are tapered in their horizontal cross-section as indicated in FIG. 2, being thicker at the base than at the tip.

The reason for the configuration and tapering just mentioned is that I have found that for best results the vanes in use should have maximum flexibility primarily near their tips, as indicated in FIG. 2. This flexing produces a fish-tail effect with resulting optimum impelling of clothes and liquid away from the center post at the tub bottom. If resilient sheet-metal vanes are used the same type of flexing is caused by the narrowing at 32., even though the vanes are not tapered in their cross-section.

In operation I have found that my new agitator produces the surprising result of circulating the clothes and liquid, while scrubbing the clothes, in a manner Wholly new in machines of the rotationally oscillating type.

Thus, when the machine shown in the drawingsis operated with a load of clothes immersed in liquid, a generally toroidal circulation is induced as indicated by the unique character.

arrows in FIG. 1. But this circulation is not of the kind usually associated with machines of this type but is of a After the articles are whisked away by the action of the vanes from the bottom of the agitator, as it oscillates rotationally, they ascend toward the surface near the outer walls of the tub. The water flow then carries them toward the center post near the top. This continuous flow presses the articles against the oscillating ribs 13 to be scrubbed thereby, as seen in FIG. 3, while the liquid passes over, around and through the articles into the grooves which form passages 26 and flows utterly free from obstruction to the base of the agitator to be thrown centrifugally outwardly by the vanes. The liquid, it will be seen, is thus circulated in the immediate vicinity of the agitator post unimpeded by and separately from the articles of clothing, while liquid and articles together are circulating in the zone remote from the agitator. The liquid thus circulates at a different speed than the clothing, and this results in the articles presenting themselves one at a time, to the ribs of the agitator to be scrubbed as by a hand wash board. The articles slowly descend along the smooth rib surfaces during the scrubbing action and are replaced by the next succeeding articles. There is no tangling and, indeed, already tangled articles will be untangled by this unique action. Thus by my invention I eliminate tangling, the single greatest impediment to good but gentle washing. Likewise, the articles will be distributed evenly, loosely, and independently of each other around the tub, preventing imbalance in machines equipped with spin drying. A substantially higher ratio of clothes to liquid may be employed in the same size tub.

Tests conducted by a manufacturer of commercial household washing machines indicate that, in comparison with three different standard washers, the agitator of the invention gave almost identical washability results with loads of 8, 10 and 12 lbs. whereas in the standard machines the results fell off sharply at 10 lbs. and even more sharply at 12 lbs. Even with an 8 lb. load the novel agitator gave better results than any of the others.

While I have herein disclosed and described a presently preferred form of the invention and the best mode presently contemplated by me to carry out the same, it will nevertheless be understood that such is only by way of example and that the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An agitator adapted for rotational oscillation for scrubbing articles in a washing machine or similar device having a tub and oscillating driving mechanism, said agitator comprising i a center post for mounting vertically in said tub, a series of outwardly extending flexible vanes mounted at one end of said post,

each of said vanes having a vertical dimension greater than its horizontal thickness to provide vertically arranged liquid impelling surfaces for impeiling articles and liquid away from such end of said center post and causing corresponding circulation of liquid and articles toward {.16 other end thereof,

a series of external projections extending lengthwise of said center post,

said projections forming liquid passages therebetween also extending lengthwise of said post to 15 conduct liquid to the intervals between the inner ends of said vanes, said projections serving to keep said articles from clogging said liquid passages so that the liquid passes through said passages to said vanes independently of and unimpeded by said articles while the latter are drawn against and scrubbed by said projections. 2. An agitator adapted for rotational oscillation for scrubbing articles in a washing machine or similar device having a tub and oscillating driving mechanism, said agitator comprising a center post for mounting vertically in said tub, a series of outwardly extending flexible vanes mounted at the bottom end of said post,

each of said vanes having a vertical dimension greater than its horizontal thickness to provide vertically arranged liquid impelling surfaces for in'tpelling articles and liquid away from such end of said center post and causing corresponding circulation of liquid and articles toward the other end thereof, and

a series of spaced parallel ribs formed on and extending lengthwise of said post so that during oscillation of said agitator liquid will pass between said ribs to the intervals between the inner ends of said vanes while said articles are drawn against and scrubbed by said ribs.

Claims (1)

1. AN AGITATOR ADAPTED FOR ROTATIONAL OSCILLATION FOR SCRUBBING ARTICLES IN A WASHING MACHINE OR SIMILAR DEVICE HAVING A TUB AND OSCILLATING DRIVING MECHANISM, SAID AGITATOR COMPRISING A CENTER POST FOR MOUNTING VERTICALLY IN SAID TUB, A SERIES OF OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLEXIBLE VANES MOUNTED AT ONE END OF SAID POST, EACH OF SAID VANES HAVING A VERTICAL DIMENSION GREATER THAN ITS HORIZONTAL THICKNESS TO PROVIDE VERTICALLY ARRANGED LIQUID IMPELLING SURFACES FOR IMPELLING ARTICLES AND LIQUID AWAY FROM SUCH END OF SAID CENTER POST AND CAUSING CORRESPONDING CIRCULATION OF LIQUID AND ARTICLES TOWARD THE OTHER END THEREOF, A SERIES OF EXTERNAL PROJECTIONS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF SAID CENTER POST, SAID PROJECTIONS FORMING LIQUID PASSAGES THEREBETWEEN ALSO EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF SAID POST TO CONDUCT LIQUID TO THE INTERVALS BETWEEN THE INNER ENDS OF SAID VANES, SAID PROJECTIONS SERVING TO KEEP SAID ARTICLES FROM CLOGGING SAID LIQUID PASSAGES SO THAT THE LIQUID PASSES THROUGH SAID PASSAGES TO SAID VANES INDEPENDENTLY OF AND UNIMPEDED BY SAID ARTICLES WHILE THE LATTER ARE DRAWN AGAINST AND SCRUBBED BY SAID PROJECTIONS.

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