US3390554A - Washing machine with improved tub cover - Google Patents

Description

July 2, 1968 w. D. MORGAN 3,390,554

WASHING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED TUB COVER Filed Dec. 22. 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l /lV VE /V TOR. wav/DELL z2 MORGAN July f2. 1968 w. D. MORGAN 3,390,554

WASHING MACHINE WTH IMPROVED TUB COVER Filed Deo. 22. 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet P,

/Nl/E/WOR. WE/VDELL D. MQHGA/V July 2 1968 w. D. MORGAN 3,390,554

WASHING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED TUB COVER Filed Dec. 22. 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 nited States Patent Office 3,399,554 Patented July 2, 1968 3,390,554 WASHING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED TUB COVER Wendell D. Morgan, Easley, S.C., assigner to Borg- Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Iilinois Filed Dec. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 603,852 8 Claims. (Cl. 68-23) ABSTRACT F THE DXSCLOSURE An annular cover mounted on a clothes washing machine tub and having a splash guard extending over the rim of a clothes basket in the tub, the cover having an annular trough defined by radially spaced walls, and a bottom wall having drain openings, and the radially outer wall providing a well having a bottom drain opening located exteriorly of the tub and also having a dam to conne a predetermined volume of water in the trough while permitting ow of water in excess thereof over the dam into the well drain, and a honeycomb screen portion of the trough being disposed between the splash guard ring and the well drain for breaking suds and for flow of water from the tub into the well drain to control the water level in the tub.

This invention relates to clothes washing machines and more particularly to the provision of an improved tub cover for such machines.

Clothes washing machines, and particularly automatic washer types, employ a cabinet housing a stationary water-retaining receptacle or tub, an inner perforate clothes-containing basket is positioned in the tub, and an oscillatable agitator in the basket is employed for washing the clothes. Such machines are conventionally referred to as top-loaders as the cabinet, tub, and basket have open aligned tops for inserting and removing clothes from the basket. These machines provide for rotation of the basket on a vertical axis for centrifugal extraction of the water in the clothes and from the basket to the tub and an exterior drain. Electrically-operated devices, such as a motor, and solenoids and switches for brakes and clutches controlling agitator-drive and basket-rotation mechanisms are usually located beneath the tub and also switches and solenoids for water supply valves are mounted between the tub and cabinet. Sequential operation of these devices for automatic operation of the washing machine is controlled by a timer located on a back panel of the cabinet and above the tub, the timer being connected to the motor, solenoids and switches by electrical conductors or wires extending between the cabinet and the tub.

During operation of the washing machine, conventional laundering practice requires water-lill wash and rinse periods, and agitation and extraction periods, in a predetermined sequence controlled by the timer. It is important that water in the tub be prevented from overflowing the tub and into the cabinet as the water may contact the motor and electrically-operated devices causing short-circuiting and damage to the same, in the event a timer motor or water-fill valve solenoid should fail so that the valve remains open with consequent overow of the water from the tub; or, during agitation, splashing or excessive sudsing of the -water results in ejection of water over the top of the tub into the cabinet.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved cover for a tub of an automatic washing machine, and having a novel construction designed to conne water in the tub, and also to control the water in a manner to prevent ow of the water from the tub and into Contact with the motor, or electrical control devices, of the machine as well as to minimize the possibility of clothes passing from the basket into the tub.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the improved tub cover for washing machines comprises a unitary molded plastic annular cover having an outer edge formed to tightly fit on the rim of the tub; a radially inwardly extending portion, overlying the basket to provide a splash guard; and a downwardly projecting cylindrical flange located adjacent the basket rim and providing a barrier to the passage of clothes from the basket into the space between the basket and tub. The cover is further characterized Iby an annular trough for water which may be splashed over the guard, the trough having drain openings to normally return the water to the tub.

A further feature of the novel cover is a combination water level control and suds-break including a honeycomb structure of the cover disposed at a lower level than the trough and within the tub, the structure having vertical passages to permit an excess volume of water in the tub to ow through the passages and into a well of the cover for disposition to a floor drain. A dam intersects the upper ends of the passages and assists the trough draing Openings in returning splashed water to the tub, any excessive flow of splashed water in the trough overflowing the dam and being directed to the well. The honeycomb structure is effective, during the washing operation, to break down suds in the tub thereby preventing suds flowing over the cover and tub and into the cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a side sectional view of a clothes washing machine including the improved tub cover.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating, in greater detail, the tub, basket, and tub cover.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the tub cover.

Referring to FIG. 1, the clothes washing machine comprises a cabinet 11, and a base frame 12 for supporting an imperforate liquid-containing tub 13. The cabinet includes front and rear walls 14` and 15, and side Walls, one of which is shown at 16, and a top wall 17 having an access opening 18 for insertion of clothes through the aligned open tops of the tub and a perforate clothesreceiving receptacle or basket 19. The access opening 18 in the cabinet top wall is closed by a cover 20 hinged to the side wall 16. An agitator 21 is disposed within the basket 19 and is oscillatable by -a shaft 22 connected to a drive mechanism generally indicated at 23. The drive mechanism is also controllable to rotate the basket upon release of brake mechanism 24. The drive mechanism 22 is operably connected to a drive shaft 25 rotatable in opposite directions by a reversible electric motor 26 mounted on the base frame 12 of the cabinet and connected to the shaft 25 by a belt and pulley arrangement 27.

The tub 13 is supported on |braces 28 secured at their upper ends to the tub and connected at their lower ends to a mounting plate 29 having a bearing assembly (not shown) for a cylindrical support tube 31 splined to drive shaft 25 driven by a pulley 32 rotatably supported on the base 12. The tub has its bottom wall provided with a bearing and seal housing 34 rotatably supporting the basket 19. For a more complete disclosure of the tub and basket support, and agitator and lbasket drive structure, reference can be made to copending application, Ser. No. 566,449, filed July 18, 1966.

Cold and hot water is supplied to the machine by operation of a valve 35 mounted on the cabinet wall 1S and connected to hot and cold water sources (not shown) by conduits 36 and 37. The valve is provided with two solenoids operated respectively to control the valve to permit the flow of hot water or cold water, or to permit the simultaneous ow of hot and cold water to provide passage of warm water through the valve and to and through an outlet conduit 38 connected to the valve and extending upwardly between the cabinet and tub to a water inlet fiume 39 formed in the tub cover.

The level to which water rises in the basket may be controlled by .any of several conventional Water ll controls, such as a timer 4l? located in the back panel 41 of the machine, and operative to provide various timell periods of the tub by controlling energization of the solenoid-operated water valve 35 in a manner disclosed in copending application, Ser. No. 519,236, filed Ian. 7, 1966.

It will be apparent from an inspection of FIG. 1 that several electrically-operated devices, such as a solenoidoperated valve 35, motor 26, and solenoid-operated brake 24, are located in the cabinet externally of the tub. It is important to prevent water overflowing the tub and contacting these electrically-operated devices with consequent short-circuiting and damage of the devices. Such overiiow conditions can occur, for example, by failure of the electric timer motor when its control switches are closed to establish circuits energizing the water valve solenoids causing the water valve to remain open. Another example, accountable for water flowing from the tub, is splashing of water, or excessive sudsing conditions, during the agitation period.

The tub cover 42, shown in its preferred embodiment, is secured to the top of tub 13. The cover is a unitary annular member formed of any suitable molded plastic, such as polypropylene having an appropriate ller. The cover comprises generally cylindrical walls 42 and 43 converging downwardly and merging at their lower ends to provide an annular trough 44, the bottom of the trough having circumferentially spaced drainage openings 45. As seen in FIGS. l and 2, the trough of the cover is located within the open top of the tub, and the radially outer wall 42 of the cover has its upper end formed with a laterally extending annular bead 46 received within and engaging the offset circular rim 47 of the tub. The wall `42 is provided with circumferentially spaced slots 4S, as shown in FIG. 2, extending into the drain openings 45 of the cover so that, when the cover is positioned on the tub and pushed downwardly to engage the cover wall bead 46 with the tub rim 47, the cover wall 42 may flex .and move radially inwardly to tightly engage its bead 46 with the tub rim 47. It will be apparent that the formation of the plastic cover to provide the trough-defining walls 42 and 43 is also effective to impart a spring-like characteristic to the cover for this purpose. Retention of the cover on the tub may be further assured by a plurality of spring clips 49 circumferentially spaced about the tub rim and gripping the tub rim and cover bead 46, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A lfurther feature of the cover construction is that the slots 48 in the cylindrical cover wall 42 permit the cover to be flexed to permit satisfactory tight engagement with tub rims having slightly oval shapes, thereby compensating for variations in manufacturing tolerances.

Inclined upwardly and radially inwardly of the cover wall 43 is an annular water-retaining guard 50 extending over and inwardly of the rim 51 of the basket to intercept water flung upwardly from the tub during operation of the agitator in the washing and rinsing operations and during rotation of the basket in the waterextracting operation. In the event any water should be propelled, for example, by splashing, onto the exterior of the cover, the Water will flow downwardly along its upper inclined surface 52 and into the trough 44 and through drain openings 45 into the tub. A splash guard ring 53 may be positioned in an annular groove in a depending fiange of the top wall 17 of the cabinet, deiining the clothes receiving opening thereof, to direct the splashed water toward the surface 52.

A clothes guard also vforms a portion of the tub cover by the provision of a cylindrical collar 56 located radially inwardly of the inner periphery of the cover and positioned .above and in alignment with the basket rim 51 in close proximity thereto to thereby minimize the area through which any article can escape into the tub from the basket.

The cover is also formed with an enlarged section receivable within a cut-out U-shaped portion of the tub rim and having a well 57, which, as shown in FIG. 3 comprises a V-shaped wall 53, formed as a continuation and merging with the wall 42, and an arcuate wall 59, the walls 58 and 59 converging downwardly exteriorly of the tub and terminating in a tubular bottom 60 for connection to a hose 61 leading to a floor drain.

Radially inwardly of the well 51, the cover is formed with an integral screen 62 of arcuate shape as seen in FIG. 3 and merging at its opposite ends with, and forms a continuation of, the trough 44. The screen is located inwardly of the tub rim 47 and is inclined radially outwardly thereof extending from the wall 43 to the wall 59 of the well. The screen is in the form of a honeycomb with its radially outer edge and the wall 59 of the well defining a groove 63 for receiving a gasket 64 in sealing engagement with the cut-out U-shaped portion of the tub rim to prevent water iiow between the tub rim and cover. The screen has its upper surface provided with a dam 65 slightly projecting above the surface, linearly intersecting the arcuate screen, and connected to the merging ends of the outer wall 42 of the trough and the wall 58 of the well. The dam 56 is effective to direct water through the screen to the tub thereby preventing water in the trough from entering the well. However, in the event excessive Water splashing or sudsing occurs, it will be noted the height of the dam permits water to overliow the dam, a substantial portion of this water being returned to the tub by the screen area radially outwardly of the dam. However, should there be any substantial flow, the water will be directed into the well to prevent water liowing from the tub into the space between the tub and cabinet.

An important feature of the screen 62 is in providing a water level control in the event the tub should be filled with water to a level above the screen, for example, if the timer fails during water-fill and the valve remains in open position. In such event, water will rise upwardly in the tub and flow through the screen to the well and floor drain.

A further important functional feature of the screen is its ability to act as a sudsbreaker during operation of the washer. In this respect, it may be noted that the screen honeycomb structure provides a plurality of vertical passages having such depth that, during the washing operation, the screen has proven to be very effective to break down suds rising upwardly between the tub and basket. It will be apparent that, while the screen permits water to freely ow upwardly therethrough from the tub to the well to control the water level in the tub, the screen further serves to break down suds in a manner to control excessive sudsing conditions thus minimizing the possibility of suds flowing over and beyond the cover into the space between the tub and cabinet and contacting electrical components of the washing machine.

The invention is not particularly concerned with the precise construction of the automatic washing machine hereinbefore described generally, but is equally applicable to any type of washing machine embodying an inner clothes-receiving tube and an outer water-collecting tub and, accordingly, the invention is not to be limited to the construction of the washing machine elements as set forth above, except where such construction particularly concerns the invention contemplated.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the invention is not to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but to all changes corning within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a clothes washing Imachine having a cabinet, a stationary outer open-top water-containing tub in said cabinet, an open-top -perforate clothes basket movably mounted in said tub, and an oscillatable agitator in said basket; the improvement residing in an annular cover positioned on the rim of said tub and comprising means dening an annular trough within said tub, the bottom wall of said trough being provided with drain openings and also having a screen -portion for breaking suds rising upwardly between said tub and -said basket, and a splash guard ring extending radially inwardly of said trough and over the ri-m of said basket and operative to direct water, splashed -onto the interior `Surface of said ring, toward said tub, said ring having an exterior surface inclined toward said trough for ow of water, splashed onto said exterior surface, into said trough.

2. In a clothes washing machine as rdefined in claim 1 wherein said cover is a unitary exible plastic member having an outer edge resiliently engaging the rim of said tub for securing said cover on said tub.

3. In a clothes washing machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said means defining said trough are radially spaced walls, the radially outer wall being exible and resiliently engaging the rim of said tub to secure said cover member to said tub rim.

4. In a clothes washing machine having a cabinet, a stationary outer open-top water-containing tub in said cabinet, an open-top perforate clothes basket movably mounted in said tub, and an oscillatable agitator in said basket, the improvement residing in an annular cover positioned on the rim of said tub and comprising: a splash guard ring extending radially inwardly of said tub rim and over the rim of said basket, means defining a drain located exteriorly of said tub, and means in the form of a honeycomb in said tub and disposed between said splash guard ring and said rain-defining means for breaking suds and for providing passages for ow of water in said tub from said tub and into said drain to control the water level in said tub.

5. In a clothes washing machine as defined in claim 4 wherein said cover includes an annular trough between said splash guard ring and the rim of said tub and extending into said tub and Iprovided with openings in the 'bottom thereof to drain water, splashed onto the top of said guard and flowing into said trough, into said tub.

6. In a clothes washing machine as delined in claim S wherein said honeycomb forms -a portion of said trough, and a dam extends upwardly of and across said honeycomb to contine a predetermined volume of water in said trough while permitting ow of water, in excess thereof, into said drain.

'7. In a clothes washing machine having a cabinet, a stationary outer open-top -water-containing tub in said cabinet, an open-top perforate clothes basket movably mounted in said tub, and an oscillatable agitator in said basket; the improvement residing in an annular cover positioned on the rim of said tub and comprising means defining an annular trough within said tub and provided with bottom drain openings, and including radially spaced walls with the radially outer wall being flexible and resiliently engaging the -rim of said tub to secure said cover member to said tub rim, said outer wall having a plurality of circumferentially spaced vertical slots, and a splash guard ring extending radially inwardly of said trough and over the rim of said basket and operative to direct water, splashed onto the interior surface of said ring, toward said tub, said ring having an exterior surface inclined toward said trough for ilow of water, splashed onto said exterior surface, into said trough.

8. In a clothes washing machine having a cabinet, a stationary outer open-top water-containing tub in said cabinet, an open-top perforate clothes basket movably mounted in said tub, and an oscill-atable agitator in said basket; the improvement residing in an annular cover p0- sitioned on the rim of said tu-b and comprising means deining an annular trough within said tub and provided with bottom drain openings, said means defining said trough including radially spaced Walls, the radially outer wa-ll having a portion thereof disposed outwardly of said tub and providing a well having a bottom drain opening lower than said trough, and a dam between said wall portion and said radially inner wall and operative to confine a predetermined volume of water in said trough While permitting flow of water in excess thereof into said well, and a splash guard ring extending radially inwardly of said trough and over the rim of said basket and operative to direct water, splashed onto the interior surface of said ring, toward said tub, said ring having an exterior surface inclined toward -said trough for flow of water, splashed onto said exterior surface, into said trough.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,411,960 12/ 1946 Dyer y6'8-23 X 3,176,484 4/1965 Shelton 68-196 FOREIGN PATENTS 936,141 12/-1955 Germany.

561,490 4/ 1957 Italy.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner.

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