US2679152A - Rotary drum laundry machine - Google Patents

Description

Ma 25, 1954 I M". KACHUCK 2,679,152.

ROTARY DRUM LAUNDRY MACHINE Filed May 28, 1951 III/11g? IN VEN TOR.

Mia-7 Kiowa Pat'nted May 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIZCE DRUM. LAUNDRY MACHINE MikeK'achuck, San Rafael Application May 28', 1951, SeriaLNoa 228,660.-

I Claim;

The present to machinesand more particularly to machinesof the typelhaving aniopenended horizontally disposed rotatable drum with an open end through; which laimdrr is introduced and withdrawn.

Therobiectot the. inventiontisto provide a. new and. noveL arrangement, whereby a. horizontally disposed opem-ended. rotatable: drummay be prowith aibearingsupportat each end withouarequirementof. a. shait. extending axially throughout Another obiectoftheinventionis to provide mnnvel-lbearingion the. openend of a.horizontally disposed rotatabledr umwhich, when in its: inoperativepositiomwillprovide free access to the interior of thedrum. for. the introduction. and withdrawal of. laundry" Mothenobjectof the: invention isto provide an improvediclosure means ior arotatable drum enclosing. housing containing. a washing. solution which. support. a. rotatable bearing for the opeirendlof. a rotary drum when closed and providefreeracceseto theinter-ior ofsaid drum for the introductionlandrwithdrawalioi. laundry when 1m its opened position.

Afunthen object; of. the inventionis to provide. a hingedlclosuremeansdor the laundry introducing opming; of. a rotatable drum enclosing housingof. a laundry machine which may be.- secured. in

fluid-tightsealing relation over. the opening. in a.

nova andnovelmannerw Qther. objeotsand advantages of the invention will beinzpartevident to thoseskilledin the art and-in partpointedsout-hereinafter in connection withltheaccompanying drawingwherein. thereis shown-by way'of. illustration and not of limitation aprefer-redl embodimentot the invention.

Im thedrawing:

Eigurm L is; afragmentary; 'frontxview. of. a preiormrofl closuremeans-for aalaaindry, ma.- chinewoonatructedlin aocordance with the invendon,

Figure 2 isa. fragmentary view showing. the door. of- Eigure Les-in its-openposition.

Rigure: 35 is: a vertical. sectional.- view. taken through, the: center. of. a. rotatable. drum: type laundry-machine otthetype contemplatedbythe present invention,

Figured-is airagmentary view taken. along line IlT-JU. oLEigure 3,.1ooking indirectionoi arrows,

Figure his .a fragmentary sectionalview. taken along, line V.--V. oLEigure l l'ooking. indirection of; arrows.. and.

Fi'lgureffil isu;r fragmentary sectional dew.- taken along, line Vie-v1.0a Figure 1. looking. in direction of arrows.

While the present invention may find applica-- tion. in. the small home laundry or washing. machine art, its principal field ofapplicationwill be found in connection with the production of thelarger machines such asare used by commercial Iaundries,. dry cleaning establishments and other industries where the washing. or cleaning of larger batches of laundry require a relatively larger laundry accommodating drum. In. the small family size washing machines the problem or supporting, the laundry accommodating drum for. rotation about a horizontal axis is. not critical. This is explained by the fact that. in, these machines. the rotating. drums. while supported'solely by astnb. shaft. or axle,. are limited in size,.being about one foot in depth and approximately two feet in diameter and have acapacity of approxi.- mately only twenty-five pounds of laundry- In the drawing, whichaccompaniesthis application, the. invention is shown. as applied to a large laundry or dry cleaning machine having a ro tatable drum of..a depth andldiameter of approximately four feet. and with a capacity of from two to four hundred. pounds of laundry. With a machine. of this larger size it will be readily seen that it. would be impractical. to. support such a rotary dnumuponastub shaft in the manner. employed with. theaforementionedhome t'ype laundry machines, a good example of which is sold under the trade name of Bendix. In these larger. machines. the employment of an. axially extending shaft. through. the center of the drum with the bearings of both ends-has the. disadvantage thatthe laundry introducing andiwithdrawingopening. in the endof. the drum must be located. at an oft-center. point. This, therefore, requires that theopeninginthe drum be brought into register with a corresponding opening in an outerenclosing housing all of. which renders the introduction and removal of the laundry from the drum an. extremely inconvenient operation. For example, it the laundry machine is. stopped with. the opening in. its. drum above the central axistheoperator will have difliculty inreaching down into the drum toremove the contents-there.- of and if on the other hand the drumis stopped with its opening below its horizontal axis the withdrawal of laundry therefrom will be complicated by the fact that the laundry near the opening will be weighted down by other. laundry'above and thus also render theremovalof. the washed laundry difiicult;

The more essential aspects of the present invention: reside in the provision of a special. form of. closure :means for an enclosing; housing? which; when closed, will provide a support for the extending or open end of a horizontally disposed rotatable drum which is mounted at its other end upon a stub shaft in the conventional manner with connections to a suitable driving unit by which the drum maybe rotated at varying speeds. In practice the drum may be rotated at one speed during the washing operation and possibly another speed during a rinsing operation and finally at an extremely high speed for a drying operation, by which-the contained rinse water is centrifugally removed.

Before describing the details of the invention reference is here made to Figure 3 of the drawing wherein the invention is shown as applied to a dry cleaning machine having a rotary drum that is supported within an enclosing housing II and for rotation about a horizontal axis by a stub shaft [2. The stub shaft 12 is journaled in a. bearing i3 and is adapted to be driven by an electric motor l4 through a multiple V-belt drive l 5. The drum I8 is perforated and in this instance is shown as having four longitudinally extending ribs 16 which are disposed in equally spaced relation about its inner periphery and at its unsupported end the drum it also has a laundry introducing and withdrawing opening I1. In the present instance, the opening i7 is approximately twenty inches in diameter and arranged in axial relation with the opening 51 of the drum I9 there is a larger opening :8 in the enclosing housing ii. For closing this opening iii in the housing ii there is a door 19 that has an axially extending hub 28 which carries a drum supporting stub shaft for supporting the open end of the drum It! as will hereinafter appear.

At this point it will he understood that the drum enclosing housing H is of water-tight con struction and will be provided with suitable pipe connections by which water and/or a dry cleaning solution may be introduced and withdrawn therefrom in accordance with a timed cycle as is now employed in automatic washing machines. These pipe connections may also include a suitable solvent filtering system through which the cleaning solution can be passed for subsequent higher speed as a preliminary drying operation and thus centrifugally remove any water remaining in the laundry within the drum.

' As shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings the closure 13 carried by the housing H is of disc-like configuration and is supported at one side by hinges 2i. Arranged in spaced relation about th opening 18 and carried by the housing I I there are three fixed bolt keepers 22 into which the ends of three bolts 23 carried by the closure member l9 extend. The bolts 23 are pivotaliy secured at their inner ends to a ring-like member 24 which is journaled for movement about the hub which, as described above, is carried by the door or closure member iii. In this instance, the ring 24 is shown as provided with a radially extended lever arm 25 by which a turning movement may be imparted thereto. The bolts 23 are also shown as provided with an adjustable clevis 26 by which their effective length can be determined. These clevises 25 are in turn pivotaliy connected with bosses 2? carried by the ring 24. In this arrangement the bolts 23 are in a sli htly elf-radial or over-center position where a suitable stop associated with the ring 24 will serve to hold the bolts 23 in what may be termed an overtoggle position when in their door locking positions as here shown. With this arrangement it will be seen that when the lever arm 25 is moved to the right or in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by arrow, the three bolts 23 will be simultaneously moved from their over-toggle position and as the lever 25 is further operated to the right, these bolts will be withdrawn from their respective bolt keepers .22 after which the door or closure member i9 will be released and free for opening. At this point it should be added that the outer ends of the bolts 23 are slidably mounted within a loosely fitting guide forming bosses 28 that are carried by the door l9.

- While the shape and number of ribs l6 mounted within the rotatable drum I0 is not critical, I have in Figure 4 of the drawing shown the rib i5 as formed of sheet metal bent into channel configuration and secured at its outer edges to the interior of the drum by spot welding. With the ribs 16 constructed in this manner and their sides inclined at equal angles it will make little difference in which direction the drum 10 is rotated.

By now referring to Figure 5 of the drawing it will be noted that the opening !8 of the enclosing housing II is formed with an inwardly extending flange 28 into which an annular flange 3% carried by the closure member 19 is adapted to extend. The flanges 29 and 30 in this instance are of diameters which will provide a relatively firm fit. Outwardly beyond the flange 30 the closure member I5 also carries a sealinggasket 3! that will insure a water-tight seal in the housing H at this point. It will be also noted that the opening ii in the end wall or" the drum [0 is provided with an outwardly flaring flange 32 which provides a funnel-like opening into which a truncated conical head 33 carried by a stub shaft 34 is adapted to tightly fit. The stub shaft 34 is journaled within the hub 20 by means of bearings 35 and at its outer end there is a thrust bearing 36 with an adjusting screw 37 by means of which it may be adjusted axially within the hub 20. In this manner it is possible to establish a firm contact between the funnel forming flange 32 upon the rotatable drum l0 andthe truncated conical head 33 carried by the stub shaft 34 when the door or closure member 19 is locked in its closed position by means of the bolts 23 as described in connection with Figure 1 of the drawing. In other words, when the truncated conical head 33 upon the stub shaft 34 is in engagement with the funnel-like flange 33 of the rotatable drum l9 it will in effect constitute the stub shaft 34 as a journaled axially extending support for the open end of the rotatable drum [0.

In Figure 6 of the drawing there is shown another detail of the invention which relates particularly to the closure securing means described above. In this latter figure of the drawing it will be noted that the bolts 23 are each provided with tapered or pointed ends 38 which are adapted to project into openings 39 carried by the bolt keepers 22. As here indicated the bolt receiving openings 39 are disposed inwardly in a slightly off-center position with respect to the normal axis of the bolts 23 so that when the bolts 23 are properly adiusted as to their length and secured by a lock nut 40 carried thereby the pointed ends 38 thereof will exert a wedging action which will operate to compress the sealing gasket 3| carried by the closure member IS and thus insure a water-tight seal at the opening l8 in the housing II. This will also insure a tight i 3 1 i i i fit between the drum engaging head 33 carried by the stub shaft 34 and the funnel forming fiange 32 carried by the rotatable drum l0.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose the invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated a specific form and arrangement, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific form disclosed, but may be embodied in other forms that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and it is desired to claim it so that all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claim are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- Apparatus for use in cleaning textiles, comprising: an enclosed liquid-tight housing adapted to contain a cleaning solution, said housing being formed at one end with a first circular opening having an inturned flange; a perforated drum adapted to contain textiles disposed within said housing for rotation about a horizontal axis, said drum being arranged coaxial with said opening and being formed at its end proximate said opening with a second circular opening having an angled outturned flange; a first bearing rigidly aflixed to the end of said housing opposite said first circular opening; a first stub shaft affixed to the end of said drum opposite said second circular opening and disposed within said first bearing so as to rotatably support said drum, power means connected with said first stub shaft adapted to effect rotation of said drum relative to said housing; a circular door for closing said first opening; hinge means interconnecting said door and the exterior of said housing whereby said door may be swung towards and away from said first circular opening; a sealing gasket affixed to the periphery of said door; a hub coaxially afiixed to said door; a second bearing disposed in said hub; a second stub shaft rotatably and axially slidably mounted in said second bearing; a closure member for the outer end of said hub; an axially movable adjusting screw coaxially threadedly mounted by said closure member; a thrust bearing interposed between the outer end of said second stub shaft and the inner end of said adjusting screw whereby may be effected axial adjustment of said second stub shaft; a truncated conical head afiixed to the inner end of said second stub shaft for closing said second circular opening when said door is moved into engagement with said first circular opening; a plurality of fixed bolt keepers mounted by the exterior of said housing in equidistantlyspaced relationship about said first circular opening; a ring coaxially rotatably mounted upon said hub adjacent the exterior of said door; a plurality of keeper-engaging bolts pivotally secured at their inner ends to said ring in position eccentric with respect to the radial disposition of said bolt keepers; and a radially extending lever secured at its inner end to said ring for turning said ring relative to said hub, said bolts being pointed at their outer ends and adjustable as to length whereby upon turning said ring their outer ends may be urged radially outwardly in unison into wedging relation with said bolt keepers so as to secure said door against said first circular opening with said sealing gasket in fluid-tight relationship thereto as said bolts approach a position in radial alignment with the axis of said hub and their respective bolt keepers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,533,596 Hinkel Apr. 14, 1925 2,066,998 Nash Jan. 5, 1937 2,074,508 Hetzer Mar. 23, 1937 2,105,248 Johnson Jan. 11, 1938 2,496,011 Mikshel Jan. 31, 1950

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