US3483632A - Static dry control for clothes dryers - Google Patents

Description

R. D. TRIPLETT STATIC DRY CONTROL FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Deg. 16, 1969 Filed Dec. 29 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I ffoer j Z'z'pfei Z f/ Dec. 16, 1969 Filed Dec. 29, 1967 R. D. TRlPLE-TT STATIC DRY CONTROL FOR CLOTHES DRYERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 16; 1969 R. D. TRIPLETT 3,483,632

STATIC DRY CONTROL FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Filed Dec. 29, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 16,1969

R. D,- TRIPLETT STATIC DRY CONTROL FOR CLOTHES DRYERS 5 sheds-sheet 4 Filed Dec. 29, 1967 1969 R. D. TRIPLEfT STATIC DRY CONTROL FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Filed Dec. 29, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 10. W l* 65 a2 L jog 76' United States Patent 3,483,632 STATIC DRY CQNTROL FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Robert D. Triplett, Efiingham, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Fedders Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 694,543 Int. Cl. F26b 3/04, 11/04 US. Cl. 34133 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to clothes dryers and more particularly to dryers having control means for selectively permitting simultaneous rotation of a clothes-containing basket and a fan or blower to provide normal clothesdrying, or rotation of the fan only while the basket is stationary to provide static drying of the clothes.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer having control means for selectively and automatically connecting and disconnecting drive between a clothes-containing basket and a motor.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer control arrangement for automatically selecting simultaneous operation of a clothes-containing basket and blower, or operation of the blower only.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer control arrangement in which a motor-driven clothes-containing basket and blower can be simultaneously rotated or the fan only rotates, dependent upon the direction of rotation of the motor.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer control arrangement having an automatically-operable one-way clutch drivingly connecting a reversible motor to a basket during rotation of the motor in one direction and disconnecting drive between the motor and basket during rotation of the motor in the opposite direction.

A specific object of the invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer control arrangement for a clothes dryer having a clothes container or basket rotatable about a non-vertical axis to tumble the clothes, a blower or fan for circulating air over and through the clothes, a reversible motor drivingly connected to the blower to rotate the blower in both directions of rotation of the motor, and a one-way clutch operative to drivingly connect the motor to the container during rotation of the motor in one direction and to disconnect the motor from the container during rotation of the motor in the opposite direction.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention disclosed herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after the construction and operation are understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view of a clothes dryer embodying the invention, and taken along the plane of the line 11 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the dryer shown in FIGURE 1, the front panel being removed and certain parts broken away and partly sectionalized to illustrate details of the dryer;

Patented Dec. 16, 1969 ice FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the dryer, with the basket removed to more clearly illustrate details of the blower drive and air circulation arrangement;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are respectively front and side views of one of the basket front supports; and

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view of the basket rear support and fan mounting assemblies;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of the basket and blower drive mechanisms including a one-way roller clutch and pulley assembly of the basket drive mechanism;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view of the one-way clutch and pulley assembly, taken on line 8-8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the one-way clutch;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view of the clutch and pulley assembly, taken on line 10-10 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of the cabinet; and

FIGURE 12 is a sectional view of a modification in the form of a one-Way spring clutch and pulley assembly.

Referring now to the drawings, the domestic clothes dryer is provided with a cabinet generally indicated at 10 having spaced side walls 11 and 12; a rear wall 13; top and bottom walls 14 and 15; and a front wall 16. The front wall 16 has a door 17 hinged thereto and closing an opening, defined by a cylindrical flange 18, in the front wall 16, providing access to the front opening 19 of a rotatable clothes container or basket 20 for loading and unloading clothes in the basket.

The basket is mounted for rotation about a substantially non-vertical axis which, in the present case, is preferably horizontal. More particularly, the basket is substantially cylindrical in shape, having a cylindrical wall 21; a front wall 22 having the opening 19 receiving the flange 18 of the cabinet front wall 16; and a rear wall 23 having a shaft and bearing assembly 24 for the basket 20 and a fan or blower 25. The basket is supported at its front end by spaced supports or skids 26, 26 mounted on the cabinet bottom wall 15 and having arcuate upper surfaces conforming to the curvature of the cylindrical wall 21 and provided with shoes 27, 27 of suitable bearing material engaging the basket. The rear end of the basket is supported by the shaft and bearing assembly 24 and, as seen in FIGURES l and 6, the basket rear wall 23 has conically-shaped depressed portion 29 providing a mounting means in the form of a sheet-metal hub 30 secured thereto as by welding and which hub receives a balllike bearing 31 secured to a shaft 32 extending rearwardly through a hollow cylindrical portion 33 of a pulley 34 and into a supporting bracket 35 fixed to the rear wall of the cabinet by bolt and nut assemblies 36 as shown in FIGURE 6. The shaft 32 is fixed by pins 28 to the radiallyinwardly extending cylindrical portion 37 of bracket 35.

The blower or fan assembly 25 comprises a circular sheet-metal plate 38 having cut-out portions to define a plurality of radially-extending blades 39 each twisted from the plane of the plate, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 6. Referring to FIGURE 6, the plate 38 is secured at its center to the pulley 34 rotatably mounted on spaced bearings 40, 40 on shaft 32. The fan is confined between and enclosed by basket rear wall 23 particularly the conical portion 29 thereof and the front plate 41 of a duct assembly 42, the rear plate 43 of the duct assembly being spaced from the front plate 41 to provide a passage A therewith. The plate 43 is connected to bosses 44 (FIG- URES l and 11) formed in and projecting from the cabinet rear wall to provide passages B for the inflow of ambient air by the fan from vents 45 in the basket rear wall and through a plurality of circumferentially and radially spaced openings 46 in the basket rear wall and into the basket interior. As seen in FIGURES l and 3, the outer edge of the duct plate 41 is inwardly bent to provide a cylindrical flange 47 for mounting an annular felt seal 48 fixed thereto by a band 49, the seal engaging the basket rear wall to confine the air between the basket rear wall and the plate 41 for flow into and through the openings 46 in the basket rear wall. The air flows through the basket, and also the openings 50 in an upper collector duct assembly 51 secured to the front walls of the cabinet and providing a passage for flow of air from the basket through a removable lint screen or trap 52 supported in the duct. As seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, the duct assembly 51 is a rectangular shaped box-like structure having front and rear walls 53, 54; side walls 55; and top and bottom walls 56 and 57, the front wall 53 being secured to the cabinet front wall, and the rear wall 54 having the openings 50 defined by an arcuate flange 58 and engaging an annular seal 59 mounted on the cylindrical portion 19 of basket 20 defining the clothes-receiving opening of the basket. The rear wall 54 has its lower portion provided with a flange 61 forming -a ledge for supporting the lint screen 52 which is disposed with respect to the duct walls so as to filter lint in the air flowing from the basket through the duct assembly 51.

The air-circulation system further includes a second duct assembly 62 including a cylindrical conduit 63 connected to a funnel-shaped member 64 having a rectangular end receiving a complementary-shaped portion 65, defining the bottom opening of the duct assembly 50. The conduit 63 extends through the rear wall 13 of the cabinet and is connected, in conventional manner, to a standard vent or flue pipe for conducting the moisture-laden exhaust to the outside of the house.

While ambient air is drawn into the dryer by the fan through the cabinet rear wall, an air heating assembly 66 comprising, in general, a cylindrical housing 67, which may contain either a conventional electrically-energized heater 68, as shown, or gas-fired heating means, is effective to heat air drawn into and circulated through the housing 67 by the operation of the fan.

The heating assembly 66 is supported on a pedestal P mounted on the bottom wall of the cabinet. The housing 67 extends rearwardly and is connected to a triangular shaped housing 70 (FIGURE 3) forming portions of, and connected to, the front and rear plates 41 and 43 of the duct assembly 42, so that the fan is effective to draw heated air in housing 67 and through housing 70 into the passage A for mixture of the heated air with the exterior ambient air drawn through passages B, the air mixture being forced into the basket through the openings 46 in the basket rear wall 29.

The basket and fan drive assembly 71 is shown in FIGURES 2, 3, and 7 and comprises a bracket 72 having a bottom wall 73 secured, as by welding, to the cabinet bottom wall 15; spaced side walls 74 and 75; and a wall 76 extending between and connecting the side walls and merging with the bottom wall. The bracket 72 has aligned openings in the upper offset ends 74a and 75a of the side walls 74 and 75 receiving pivot members 77 fixed to and projecting outwardly of an inverted U-shaped motor support 78.

The side walls 79 and 80 of the support 78 have their lower ends formed to provide downwardly facing arcuate recesses receiving rubber bushings 81, 81 mounted hubs projecting laterally from the casing 82 of a reversible motor M. The bottom ends of each arcuate recess is defined by oppositely extending lugs 83, 83 projecting into slots at each end of an arcuately curved spring retainer or clip 84, the retainer 84 extending under and engaging the motor hub bushings 81, 81 and holding the motor on the support 78. The motor drive shaft 85 extends outwardly of the hubs 81, 81 on opposite sides of the motor and have connected thereto drive pulleys 86, 87. It may be noted that L-shaped retainer clamps C are bolted to the side walls 74 and 75 of the motor bracket 72 and bear against the offset ends 74a and 75a of the walls to prevent spreading of the walls and detachment of the motor from the bracket.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, a V-belt 88 surrounds the basket and is driven by the pulley 86 to rotate the basket. A V-belt 89 is mounted on the drive pulleys 34 and 87 and is operative to rotate the fan or blower 25. An idler pulley 90 engages belt 88 and is rotatably mounted on a bifurcated portion 91 of an arm 92 of a lever 93, the lever being pivotally supported, intermediate its ends, on the motor support side wall 79 by a bolt and nut assembly 94. The lever has the end of its other arm 95 provided with a slot receiving one end of a tension spring 96, the opposite end of the spring engaging a hook member 97 fixed to the side wall 74 of the bracket 72.

It will be apparent from the description of the basket and fan drive assembly that the idler pulley and spring arrangement is effective to provide constant tension on the V- belts 88 and 89 to prevent slippage of the belts as well as providing a self-energizing slack-adjusting and take-up system.

The present invention is directed to control means for the clothes dryer basket and blower drive systems capable of selectively providing for simultaneous rotation of the basket and blower for normal clothes-drying, or rotation of the fan only while the basket is stationary to permit static drying of the clothes. In its preferred embodiment, the present invention is directed to the provision of a reversible motor that is provided for driving the blower in both directions of rotation of the motor shaft, and an automatically-operable one-way clutch drivingly connects the reversible motor, during rotation of the motor shaft in one direction, to the basket for normal clothes-drying: rotation of the motor shaft in the opposite direction disengaging the clutch to cause the drive to the basket to be disconnected, while the drive to the blower remains operative, for static drying of the clothes.

More particularly and referring to FIGURE 9, a one- Way clutch and bearing assembly 98 surrounds the motor drive shaft 85 and is positioned Within a cylindrical housing '99 formed integral with the pulley 86. The assembly 98 comprises a unitary shell body 100 of sheet metal of generally cylindrical shape having a uniform external diameter with radially inwardly directed annular end flanges 101 and 102. Within opposite ends of the body 100 are disposed the retainers 103 and 104 each having slots for receiving axially spaced sets of roller bearings 105, 106 engaging spaced sets of cylindrical raceway sur faces 107, 108 of the motor shaft 85 and body 100. Between the spaced sets of raceway surfaces 107 and 108, the body 100 is formed to provide a clutch portion 109 having wedge or cam faces 110. These cam faces form spaces between which clutch rollers 111 are received. A molded plastic retainer 112 provides a one-piece actuating cage for the rollers 111 to maintain the rollers 111 in operative relation to the cam faces 110 and surface of shaft 85. As seen in FIGURE 10, the cage 112 is provided with roller-receiving openings circumferentially spaced about the shaft 85 and defined by bars 113. In each opening, the cage is formed to provide a thin reed type leaf spring 114, each spring having a juncture with a. her face from which it projects at a slight angle in opposite directions away from the bar and towards and almost to the ends of the openings in the cage. The roller bearing and one-way clutch assembly 98 is frictionally fitted between the cylindrical surfaces of the coaxial shaft 85 and pulley housing 99.

As shown in FIGURE 10, the clutch rollers 111 are frictionally in contact with the shaft 85 and wedge faces 110 of the clutch portion 109 of the shell body 100. Rotation of the motor shaft 85 in a counterclockwise direction, as shown by the arrow, causes wedging action of the rollers 111 between the shaft 85 and cam faces 110 thereby forcing the pulley housing 99 to rotate in the same direction as the shaft so that the shaft rotates with the housing. The wedging action also presses the outer member or shell body 100 tighter against the housing 99 resulting in more frictional force against relative rotation of slippage occurring between the shaft 85 and housing 99. As the motor is wired for bi-directional rotation, a suitable selector switch, such as a triple-pole, double-throw switch, may be provided to control the motor to rotate the motor shaft in opposite directions. When the switch is effective to obtain rotation of the motor shaft in a clockwise direction, the wedging pressure between the shaft 35, rollers 111, and the housing 99 will be released to allow the shaft to slip under the rollers and overrun the housing 99 effectively disconnecting the drive between the motor shaft and the pulley 88 and thereby the drive between the motor and the basket. (For a more complete description of the one-way clutch and roller bearing assembly, reference may be made to US. Patents 3,184,020 and 3,194,368.)

A modification of the invention is disclosed in FIGURE 12 in the form of a helically-wound spring type L.G.S. one-way clutch 115 functioning similarly to the one-way cam and roller clutch 98 shown in FIGURES 8, 9 and 10. More particularly, the basket drive belt 88 is driven by a pulley 116 rotatably supported on one end of reversible motor shaft 85 and having a cylindrical portion 117 having an outer surface 118 in alignment with the adjacent surface 119 of a collar 120 fixed on shaft 85 by a set screw 121. A helically-wound spring 122 has its coils surrounding the cylindrical portion 117 of the pulley 116 and the collar 120. The spring is formed of rectangular wire and is pre-wound to a diameter such that in its normal quiet position it firmly contacts the surfaces 118 and 119. The spring has its right end 123 received within an annular recess 124 in the collar 120 to prevent movement of the spring axially of the shaft 85.

In the described spring clutch arrangement, when motor shaft 85 turns in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the left end of the motor shaft, the shaft 85 rotates the collar 120, through their connection by the set screw 121. As the collar rotates, it has a tendency to turn relatively to spring 122 in a direction serving to wrap the engaged portion of the spring tightly around the collar 120 and the cylindrical portion 117 of the pulley 116 thus connecting the drive shaft 85 and pulley 116 to effect rotation of the pulley and thereby operation of the belt 88 to rotate the basket.

When the rotation of the motor is reversed to drive the motor shaft in a clockwise direction, rotation of collar 120 by the shaft is effective to loosen the engagement between the spring and cylindrical portion 117 of the pulley 116 to thereby release drive between the motor drive shaft and the basket.

It will thus be apparent that my improved dryer control provides for selectively and automatically coupling of the basket and fan to the drive motor during rotation of the motor in one direction for normal clothes drying, or uncoupling the basket from the motor while the fan remains operative during rotation of the drive motor in the other direction for static drying of the clothes. It will be noted the drive arrangement provides for rotation of the fan during both of these drying operations. Due to the shape of the blades of the fan and the described air circulation system environment and arrangement, it has been found the fan is substantially equally effective in either direction of its rotational movements to provide high performance air-flow characteristics capable of satisfactory normal drying of the clothes when tumbled in the basket, or static drying of the clothes in the basket when the basket is stationary.

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

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes drying machine comprising a clothes basket rotatable about a substantially nonvertical axis; an air circulation system for directing outside air through said basket and to an exhaust duct; a rotatable fan for moving air through said air circulation system; and drive means for rotating said fan and basket in one direction and reversible to rotate said fan in a second and opposite direction, said drive means including coupling means for connecting said drive means to said basket during rotation of said basket and fan in said one direction and for disconnecting said drive means from said basket during rotation of said fan in said second direction, whereby said fan is effective to direct the circulating air through said basket during rotation of said drive means in either direction.

2. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said coupling means is automatically operative to connect and disconnect said drive means and said basket.

3. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said coupling means is a one-way clutch.

4. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 3 wherein said one-way clutch is an over-running roller clutch.

5. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 3 wherein said one-way clutch is a spring-type L.G.S. oneway clutch.

6. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a reversible motor.

7. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a reversible motor, and said coupling means is a one-way clutch between said motor and said basket.

8. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a reversible motor having a shaft, 21 first drive assembly connecting said shaft to said fan for rotation of said fan in either direction .of rotation of said shaft, and a second drive assembly between said shaft and said basket and operative to connect said shaft to said basket during rotation of said shaft in one direction and to disconnect said shaft from said basket during rotation of said shaft in the other direction.

9. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 8 wherein said second drive assembly includes a one-way clutchv 10. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 9 wherein said one-way clutch is an over-running roller clutch.

11. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 9 wherein said one-way clutch is a spring-type L.G.S. .oneway clutch.

12. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 8 wherein said first drive assembly includes a first pulley connected to said fan to rotate said fan, a second pulley connected to said motor shaft, and a belt connecting said first and second pulleys; and said second drive assembly includes a third pulley, a one-way clutch between said third pulley and said motor shaft, and means for drivingly connecting said third pulley to said basket.

13. A clothes basket as defined in claim 8 wherein said fan comprises a circular plate having a plurality of blades positioned along the periphery thereof, said plate being mounted immediately adjacent said basket for rotation about said basket axis.

14. A clothes drying machine having a cylindrical clothes basket mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, said basket having a front end with an opening for loading and unloading clothes and a rear end having a number of spaced apertures therethrough.

an air circulation system comprising a fan, a first duct assembly for directing outside air to the fan, a passage leading from said fan into communication with the apertures in said clothes basket rear end, and a second duct assembly leading through the front end of 'said basket to the outside of said machine, whereby said fan is adapted to draw the outside air through said first duct assembly and direct it through said plurality of blades positioned along the periphery thereof.

basket and said second duct assembly, said plate being mounted immediately adjacent ,the rear and drive means including a reversible motor having a end of said basket, for rotation about said horiiontal axis.

shaft, a first drive assembly connecting said shaft to 16. A clothes drying machine as defined in 'claim 15 said fan for rotation of said fan in either direction of 5 wherein an air heating assembly is positioned in said first rotation of said shaft, and a second drive assembly duct assembly. I f v between said shaft and said basket and operative to R f r nces Cited v connect said shaft to said basket during rotation of N STATES PATENTS 325f; jz f unng to a 0 S aft the 2,996,809 8/1961 Sha'pter -34 '-133 X whereby said machine may be selectively operated to g} 2 1 1, Jones epal "5.T'" 34-433 drive both said fan and said basket by rotation of said g 9 Tuck et 34133 X motor in said one direction, or operated to drive only 1 66 & 34-44 X said fan by rotation of said motor in said opposite l5 a 8C et 3 5 direction, said fan being effective to direct air through JOHN J CAMBY Primary Examiner said air circulation system during both modes of operation. US. C1.X.R. 15. A clothes drying machine as defined in claim 14 19245 wherein said fan comprises a circular plate having a 20

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