US3146196A - Laundry centrifuging machine with improved clothes container - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 25, 1964 J. BOCHAN ETAL 3,146,196

LAUNDRY CENTRIFUGING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED CLOTHES CONTAINER Filed Sept. 13, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS :roHN BOCHAN SEVERFLTT o. MOREY "WWW T'HEJR ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1964 J. BocHAN ETAL 3,146,196

LAUNDRY CENTRIFUGING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED CLOTH-ES CONTAINER Filed Sept. 13, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS J'OHN BOCHAN GEVERETT 0. MORE( mam ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,146,196 LAUNDRY CENTRIFUGING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED CLOTHES CONTAINER John Bochan and Everett D. Morey, Louisville, Ky., as-

signors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 223,333 1 Claim. (Cl. 210380) This invention relates to laundry centrifugal extraction machines such as, for instance, automatic washers and combination washer-dryers. More particularly, it relates to an arrangement which provides a clothes container structure having an improved liquid removal effect for a given rotational speed.

In the course of investigating the phenomenon of centrifugal extraction of liquid from clothes, it has been found that the extraction is effected primarily by the application of hydrostatic tension to literally suck the water out of the clothes, and that the squeezing of the clothes that occurs as a result of centrifuging is of very minor importance. In conformity with these findings, it was discovered that the clothes at the inside of a relatively thick layer of clothes plastered about the wall of a container during centrifuging became drier for a given speed than clothes at the inside of a relatively thin layer.

It is an object of our invention to provide a new and improved container construction in a centrifugal extraction laundry machine which improves the liquid extraction performance for a given rotational speed.

A more specific object of our invention is to provide such a container wherein the improved liquid extraction is achieved by forming the peripheral wall of the clothes container of an absorbent material which has the apparent effect of thickening the clothes layer so that all clothes within the basket actually are at the inner part of the layer of material.

We achieve these goals, according to our invention, by providing, in a laundry centrifugal extraction machine, a rotatable clothes container in which the outer wall is formed of absorbent material, and means for rotating the container at a speed sufficient to centrifuge liquid out of the clothes in the container. With this structure, when the clothes are plastered against the outer wall, they actually constitute the inner part of a layer of material in which a hydrostatic tension is created by centrifugal force and in which the material of the outer wall itself constitutes the outer part of the layer.

The subject matter which constitutes our invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. The invention itself, however, as to organization and method of operation together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevational view of a horizontal axis type washer with the rear panel removed to illustrate details;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the machine, partly in section and with certain surfaces broken away to show details; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view in cross section showing a second embodiment of our invention.

3,146,196 Patented Aug. 25, 1964 Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown a horizontal axis clothes washing machine as a laundry machine typical of those in which our invention may be incorporated. The machine has its operating elements included within an outer cabinet structure having a central wrap around section 1. Section 1 is supported on a base and toeboard assembly 2, and carries a separate top 3 on which is supported a backsplash panel 4. Panel 4 may, as shown, be mounted on posts 5 and is conventionally provided with appropriate electrical con trol devices (not shown) for controlling various types of washing and liquid extracting sequences.

Access to the interior of the machine is provided by a door 6 formed in section 1, mounted on concealed hinges and opened by any suitable means such as, for instance, a knee operated latch control 7. As best shown in FIG- URE 2, the machine is of non-vertical axis type, in this particular case the axis being horizontal. The machine has a clothes basket or receptacle 8 mounted for rotation on a generally horizontal axis within an outer enclosing tub structure 9. Basket 8 includes an outer peripheral wall which is formed of a thin sheet of metal 10 made foraminous by the provision of a substantial number of perforations 11 (FIGURE 2), and which is lined on its inner side by a relatively thick layer 12 of an absorbent material, such as felt for instance. In addition to felt, of course, other suitable absorbent materials such as porous ceramic, and various types of fabrics, may be provided. The essential point is that the material be one which is absorbent in the same manner that clothes tend to absorb liquid, and therefore capable of establishing a hydrostatic tension in cooperative relationship with the clothes when the clothes are pressed against the layer 12 and a centrifugal force is exerted. At its rear end, the outer peripheral wall of the basket 8 is closed by means of a suitable wall or plate 13. The basket also includes a front wall 14 which is formed so as to define an access loading opening 15 in registry with an opening 16 in wrap around section 1 provided for the door 6. The basket is rotatably supported by a shaft 17 which is mounted in an elongated bearing 18 supported from the rear wall 19 of tub 9. The tub is also provided with an opening 20 aligned with opening 16 and opening 15 so that clothes may be placed into and removed from the basket when door 6 is opened. The door is sealed against a suitable gasket 21 during operation of the machine.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1, during operation of the machine the basket is driven from an electric motor 22. The drive from the motor to the basket includes a pulley 23 which is secured to the motor shaft so as to rotate therewith and over which passes a belt 24. Belt 24 drives an adjustable sheave assembly 25 of the type which is well known for use in achieving variable output speeds from a constant input speed source. The adjustable sheave assembly in turn operates a belt 26 to cause rotation of a pair of pulleys 27 and 28 which preferably form a unitary assembly. The rotation of pulley 28 is passed on through a belt 29 to a pulley 30 which is secured on the basket shaft 17.

In this manner, motor 22 may be driven at a constant speed, and, through the adjustable sheave assembly 25, the speed imparted to pulley 30 and basket 8 may be varied so as to provide an appropriate range of speeds for the basket. For instance, for tumbling purposes during the washing and rinsing operation, a speed of approximately 47 rpm. may be provided to basket 8; tumbling may be assisted by appropriate vanes 30a extending in- Wardly from the peripheral wall of basket 8. A centrifuging speed of several hundred r.p.m. may be provided to the basket for effecting centrifugal extraction of liquid from the clothes prior to removal of clothes from the basket.

The operation of the variable speed drive briefly described above does not form a part of the present invention and is merely set forth to provide a substantially complete description of an operative machine. A detailed description of such a drive is provided, for instance, in Patent 2,970,464 issued on February 7, 1961, to John W. Toma and assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention.

The means whereby water is admitted to and discharged from tub 9 during operation of the machine are particularly shown in FIGURE 1. The water supply means includes connections 32 and 33 through which hot and cold water is supplied to the machine for the washing operation. A valve controlled by solenoid 34 admits hot water to the machine and a valve controlled by an opposed solenoid 35 admits cold water to the machine. The hot and cold water valves under the control of the solenoids 34 and 35 discharge through a common outlet conduit 36, through a suitable air gap, and then through a funnel 37 to a sump 38 formed at the bottom of tub 9. Connection of the funnel to the sump may be made through a suitable conduit 39 a portion of which is shown in FIGURE 1. The air gap provided by the funnel 37 makes it impossible for the water to be siphoned from the machine and thus to contaminate the incoming water supply line. A pressure actuated sensing device or water level control 40 controls both solenoids 34 and 35 to maintain the proper water level in the machine during the washing operation. Sensing device 40 is connected to the interior of tub 9 by a suitable line 41.

The wash and rinse water, after use, is discharged from the machine through the sump 38 mounted at the bottom of tub 9. A suitable discharge hose 42 leads from the sump to any suitable motor driven drain pump 43 which may, as shown, be driven directly from the motor 22 and which discharges through an outlet conduit 44 to a valve 45 controlled by a suitable solenoid (not shown). Pump 43 is continually operated by the motor 22, and the draining of water from the sump 38 is controlled by the drain valve, draining occurring upon energization of the solenoid.

For the apparatus described, any suitable sequence derived from the basic sequence of washing, rinsing and spinning may be utilized to effect a washing operation in the machine. Where so desired, additional elements (not shown) may be provided in the machine so as to provide a heat drying operation to heat the clothes and cause vapor migration out of them until they are completely dry. This is a conventional feature, well known to those skilled in the art, and the added structure has not been shown in the present embodiment since it does not affect in any way the operation of the machine insofar as the present invention is concerned.

It is important to note that an operator will wish the clothes to be as dry as possible where a heat drying operation is not provided, so that the clothes will not drip when they are removed from the machine and can be dried thereafter as quickly as possible. Also, where a heat drying operation is provided in the same machine, it is important that as much liquid as possible be removed prior to the heat drying operation so that the length of time for the heat drying operation may be minimized as much as possible.

As previously mentioned, it has been found that in a centrifuging operation it is not the squeezing together of the clothes by centrifugal force that effects the removal of water from them, but the creation of a hydrostatic tension as a combined result of the capillary force acting through a layer of clothes formed of absorbent material and the centrifugal force. As a result of this,

the clothes at the inside of a layer plastered around the wall of a container such as basket 8 are considerably drier than if the total thickness of the layer be low, and are considerably drier than the outside part of the layer. In order to take advantage of this phenomenon, our invention contemplates the provision of absorbent material 12 on the inside part of the outer wall of basket 8, so that when clothes are spun in the basket during high speed rotation thereof the material 12 will act as the outer part of the layer of clothes and will cause a more effective drying of the clothes themselves for a given rotational speed.

Of course, it is highly preferable that, prior to providing centrifuging in such a machine, the drain pump be caused to operate to remove all freestanding water. This is preferably done in order to minimize the quantity of water passing through the absorbent material. The removal of the freestanding water without having it pass through the material 12 may be effected in different ways. As one example, it can be seen in FIGURE 2 that material 12 is scparated into two layers 46 and 47 which are separated by an amount sufficient to permit a ring of the perforations 11 to be unobstructedly exposed to the in side of the basket 8.

As a result, the freestanding water will have these perforations to drain through, it being understood that during a certain period the drain pump will be operated while slow speed rotation continues so that the water may be removed in this manner. Then, after the freestanding water has been removed, the speed of the machine is increased as previously described, and the clothes will become plastered against the two sections 46 and 47 of the material 12. When this happens, the two sections become, in effect, the outer part of a layer of absorbent material in which the clothes form the inner part. With this arrangement, the clothes become substantially drier than would be the case if they were in the basket without the absorbent material 12.

Thus, in summary, as a result of our utilizing material 12 as part of the outer wall of basket 8 in a structure where the basket is rotatable at centrifuging speeds, the effectiveness of the centrifuging is increased.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, there is shown part of a basket 8 wherein there is a perforated outer wall portion 10 as before, but wherein the material 12, rather than being separated into two solid imperforate axially separated layers 46 and 47 as shown in FIGURE 2, is formed as a single layer 48 which is perforated just in the same manner as the outer wall part 10. In this case, of course, the draining occurs through the perforations 49 formed in the layer 48. As before, the draining of freestanding water may be provided while the basket is rotating at a slow tumbling speed. Then, when the speed is increased so that the clothes are plastered against the layer 48, the material 12 will again act as the outer part of one thick layer which includes both the absorbent material and the clothes; the clothes will consequently be dried to a greater extent for a given speed, in the same manner as before.

It will be understood that, while in accordance with the patent statutes we have described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from our invention, and it is therefore aimed in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

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

In a laundry centrifugal extraction machine:

(a) a rotatable clothes container,

(b) means for rotating said container at a speed sufficient to centrifuge liquid out of clothes in said container,

(c) said container including an outer wall of sheet metal having a plurality of perforations over substantially the entire surface thereof, and

(d) a relatively thick liner of absorbent material coextensive with the inside of said outer wall and in continuous contact therewith, said liner having a plurality of perforations therein, each of said liner perforations being in alignment with a corresponding one of said wall perforations to enhance the flow of water through said liner and out of said container, said liner increasing the apparent thickness of clothes in the container to enhance the drying of the clothes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Nov. 4, Tann July 21, Rickel Dec. 8, Tann Mar. 8, Tann Mar. 22, Smith Mar. 28, Smith Mar. 28, Haverstock Jan. 23,

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