US1652424A - Clothes wringer - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 13, 1927.

' L.. CAMETO CLOTHES WRINGER Filed Deo. 2.5,. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR BY M ATTORNEY Patented VDec. 13, 1927.

UNITED STATESPATEN'T oFF-ICE.

LEON CAMETO, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,

ASSIGNOR TO MODERN FOUNDRY AND PATTERN WORKS, OE OAKLAND,CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

CLOTHES WRINGEB;

i vbetween the rollers and, in his efforts to vlo'free himself, he strikes the roller release "meanslof the wringer, should it have any, the rollers will separate apart only a'short distance and will continue to drawl the iinv Y gers therebetween' so that the wholehand and "115 evena part ofthe arm may follow before the wringer is stopped. Then, before the 'person can be released from the wringer, the drive mechanism must be reversed so that the parts already pinched will be again sub.

zoi'ected to the torture, but with diminishing pressure.l

Also, in order to separate the rollers from each other in wringers of this kind, it has heretofore been necessary to relieve the pressure on the upper roller, as otherwise, when the rollers are suddenly released from each other, loose parts are liable to be violently ejected from the wringer frame by the spring reaction, so that serious injury may often be occasioned when the wringer is left to the care of an inexperienced person.

The principal-object of this invention is to provide a clothes wringer in which the rollers are contained in separate housings adapted to be clamped together as a unit and so arranged that they can be instantaneously and completely separated from each other, and thus prevent any further injury toa persons fingers or hand that have accidentally been caught between the rollers during the operation of the wringer. v

Another object of the invention is to arrange the driving and the driven gears of the rollers at the end opposite to the wringers connection with the drive mechanism so 1 that when the housings are released by the j safety-incans, the upper roller will be immediately released from its gear connection 'f-ji'with the lower roller that carries the drive gear.

f f A further object of the invention is to retain in its housing, when the housings are separated, the roller having the spring tension thereon without necessitating releasing the operation of Wringers of- Applicationniea :December 2a, 192s. serial No. l77,331'.

the applied tension on the roller as heretofore done. i

A still furtherobjectof the invention is to provide the demountable section of the wringer with stop means so that, when it becomes necessary to o erate the safety release, the reaction ofjt e sudden release of 'the stressed wringer will be absolutely nil, in contrast to the violent movement and ejection of parts of 4other Wringers as here-v tofore have been known.

A still further object is to provide that not only shall the upper housing and its roller be entirely removable as a unit as the ideal safety feature, but that the lower roller shallalso be entirely removable from its housing for accessibility, inspection, repair and cleaning purposes.

In addition .tothe above broader features of the invention, there are certain details of design, whereby compactness, durability of structure, and positiveness and ease of operation are attained, and which details are shown on lthe accompan ing `three sheets of drawings illustrating t e present embodiment of my invention, and what I claim as new, is particularly pointedout in the appended lc aims :following this specification.

Referring'tothe drawings:

Figure 1 is a :plan of my improved clothes wringer. y y

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of it and shown attached to v a washing .machine wringer mechanism, the latter being partly in section Also, part of the'wringer is shown in section to show the normal ositio'nof the wringerrolls and the drive t erefor.

Fig. 3 is 'a central. transverse section of the wringer. c 1

Fig. `4 is a centrallongitudinal section through the housing tov show the rolls in service, and in particular` the relation between the upperprollv` spaced from the stop pins and tensioned against `the spring.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fi L but showing that the safety handle has een released, and that the compression'of the clothes immediately has lreacted and caused the upper half of the wringer to assume the at-rest or `no-pressure position shown; the' roller hubs resting on the. stop pins again by the reaction of the spring.

Fig. 6 is an outline view primarily to show that the upper housing including-its roll aluminum alloy.

can be quickly and easily detached from the lower housing.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view, and partly 1n section, of the couplin end. of t slower housing with that of t e wringer drive of Fig. 2. It is here shown-that the lower roll, by tilting, can be easily withdrawn from its drive member.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section line 8--8 of Fig. 7 g and t the bottom'housing,

along the Fig. 9 isa plan of n and in dotted lines isthe tiltable drain board.

In the drawings the wringer of my invention is indicated as a whole by the numeral 10. This wringer 10 comprises an uplper housinf` 11 and a lower housing 12, bot which ousings preferably are made of an The u per housing has thereon at one end a hoo -shaped hinge '13 F1 s. 4 and 5, which is adapted to 'hook under a pin 14 driven through openings 1n ears 15on the innerside of a flange 16 at one end of the lower housing 12. lHooks 17, integral with the casing 18 of a wringerdrive mechanism 19 Fig. 2, of a washingmachine, not shown, and bolt and nut means 20 serve the purpose as a means of securely holdingmy wringer to a washingmachine.

At the end opposite to the hook-shaped hinge 13 the upperhousing l1 has integral therewith a lug in the form of a hook 2l Fig. 5, and the lower housing 12 has integral therewith a projection 22, in which is pivot- .all secured, as indicated at 23, the `inner en s of two links 24. The outer ends of the links are in their turn pivotally secured, as indicated at'25, to a clamping member 26 provided with a curved handle 27 and with a tongue portion 28 adapted to engage with the hook 21 for holding the housings 11 and 12 locked together as a unit when the Vhinge 13 also engages in Fi 1, 2 and 4.V j In Figs. 2 and 4 it is also own that the handle 27 extends above the upper housino' 11, and is within a convenient reach of the hands of an operator, so that in emergency an outward push on the handle would release the engagement of the tongue portion 28 with the hook 21 and render the upper housing 11 instantly removable from the lower housing 12.

In roller bearings 29 Fig. 4, which are slidably secured in guides 30 Fig. 9 integral with the lower housing 12. is mounted a shaft 32, upon which is secured a roller 33, hetween the bearings, and the shaft 32 extends outside of the iiange 16 and is adapted to enter into the bored hub 34 Fig. 7, of the wringer-drive gear 35. 'The shaft has a pin 36 driven therethrough to engage the side walls of a recess 37 in the hub, so that the drive mechanism 19 can thereby communicate motion to the shaft-32 and the roller 33 secured thereto. At its outer end, relative to the pin 14, as is best shownthe drive mechanism 19, the shaft 32 has secured thereto a double drive-gear 38.

In roller bearings 39 which are slidably secured in guides 40 integral with the up er housing 11 is mounted a shaft 42, which as `securedJ thereupon between the bearings a roller 43 and at its louter end, relative .to the drive mechanism 19,' a double gear 44 adapted to be driven by the ar 38 when the housings 11 and 12 are e am ed to ether, as is best shown in Figs. 2 an 4. T e guides 30 in the lower housing serve the purpose of holding the bearings 29 in such a position on the shaft 82 that only a slight end playof the shaft is allowed in order to `assure a free an easy running of the shaft in thelower housing, and the guides 40 serve a similar purpose for the shaft 42 in the-upper housin y and are further so arranged that the gears 8 and 44 mesh perfectly when the housings are united.

A stii flat spring 45 is mounted in the upper housing and is adapted, adjacent to its ends.. to press upon blocks 46, which are provided with grooved ends for engagement with the grooved guides, and the spring may be provided with downward turned ends as a means for preventing the spring from sliding out of engagement with the blocks. A member 47 Fig. 3, embracing the spring 45 approximately at the midway portion thereof so as to be ixed thereto, is at its top preferably provided with a conical openlng 48 for receiving therein the truste-conicallend dBO of a tension-regulating screw 49, which has i thereon at its u per end a hand wheel -50 for facilitating ltsturning and extends in screw-threaded engagement through a boss 51 on a plate 52, and the bossextends through an opening in the top of the upper housing while the plate is secured to the inside of the housing by screws 53 or by any other suitable means, so that the screw 49, when engaging the opening in the member 47 will thus hold the spring 45 in a virtually central relation over the roller 43 both longitudinally and transversely in the upper housing.

Under the shaft 42 and near one end thereof the housing 11 has therein a pin 54, which is driven through the side walls of the housing and bridges the opening of the housing. and under the shaft at its opposite end another pin 55 is similarly driven through the side walls of the housing so as to bridge the opening of the housing between the gear 44 and the roller bearing 39 beside it, so that the pins 54 and 55 thus retain the shaft 42 with its roller 43 in the housing against the tension of the s rings 45 when the housings 11 and 12 are re easedfrom each other at one end, as shown in Fig. 5, or even when they are entirely free from each other at both ends.V

The wringer 10 has on each side of the lower housing a clothes board 56 provided on its upper side and at each of its ends'with a rib 57, and the clothes lboard is spaced at its inner edges 58 from the roller 33, as shown in Figs. 3 and 9, so that, when the wringer is in use, the water wrung out of the washed articles williiow down between the roller and the clothes beard and will not be liablev to follow them to the outer edge lof the v clothes board.

Under the lower housing is a drain board i sothat the water flowing down through the spaces between the linner ridges 58 of the` clothes` boards and the" roller 33 will be caused to runback into the washing,maj,- chine to which the wringerdrive mechanism 19 -is attach-ed, or to runv down into; any ,j

other receptacle,.according to the position'l upon which the wrmger is swung upon the vertical shaft of the wringer-drive mecha#V nism and according to how -the drain board is tilted. In operation, when the wringer 10 has been connected^with the drive mechanism 19 of a washing machine, and when the housings 11 and 12 have been clamped `together and the tension of the spring upon the blocks 46 has been adjusted by the screw 49, a washed article 63, passing from. one of'the clothes boards 56, will be drawn between the rollers 33 and 43 and will cause the roller 43' to rise against the tension of the spring, as shown in Fig. 4 so-that the water will be squeezed out of th as before explained, through the spaces between the lower roller 33 and the inner edges 58 of the clothes boardsgdown onto the drain board 59.

If during thev wringer 1 operation the operator accidently should get the lingers of one hand caught between the rollers, the operator can instantly extricate himself with his other handfrom his redicament by pushing the releasing han le 2.7. lin fact, the handle of the safety clamp is in v such a position that impulsively the operators hand is naturally guided to follow the top of the housing 11 to the handle, sov that the release of the clamping device isv almost automatic. When the safety clamp has thus been released the expansion :of the compressed article 63, or hand, will cause the outer end of the housingll tov be raised out of contact with the lower housing, as shown in Fig. 5, thus disengaging also the gear 44 from the gear 38 so thatno power is applied to the upper roller 43 and therefore the hitherto compressed articlefor immountings.

e article and will flow,-

Isvrisoned hand readily can be lwithdrawn.

imultaneously with the reaction of the compressed article the tension of the spring.

45 will'react and force. the roller shaft 42 toward the stop pins 54 and 55, thus dissipating the reactive force so that its effect is nil and accomplishing it in the time interval vthat it'takes the upper roller to travel a downward distance equal to the distance between the pins and the shaft I n order to resume the operation of the wrm'ger, it is only necessary to reclamp the upperv housing to the lower housingby means of the clamping device, as has been screw 49 has notV been changedI-y. f

explained, and without readjusting the ten sionv of the spring 45, since theltension will vremain the same `as before the housings y. y were separated, if the adji'istment vofftiie f1 v v `As shown in Fig.- 2, the pins 54 and'55` are so located` that the upperv roller-fis lpressed upon the-lower roller when'n"are-v ticle is between the rollers .and when.'tlief '-L housings are clamped together. In this 'in`- stance, the links 24are swung past the per-y endicular engagement suflicientfor producing an initial pressure l'duetto*theiresiliency .Qf the rollers before the upper roller 43 on its shaft 42 'is moved upward from its at-rest posi toward the upper` housing. v hus, it is obvious that`when` the housings i arefclamped together, the rollers in pressure tion on the pinsV 54and 55 by other than thinV articles passed between thefrollers.

This-initial pressure is sufhcient to.` allow an article, such as a handkerchief, toy becarried between the` rollers and thereby have the water squeezed therefrom without the upper roller moving from its at-rest position, so that therefore the wringer is always available for thinas well asV thick articles.

It should be observed that, when the clamping engagement of the housings is quickly released and the upper housing in consequence will spring upward, as shown in Flg. 5, no injury can follow from such upward springing movement, since the parts in the upper housing are retained therewithin by the pins 54 and 55. The housings, of-

course, when it is so desired, may be entirely unhooked from each other, as shown in Fig.

6, and, when the'housings are out of engagement with eachother, the-roller 33 may be removed from the low'erhousing simply by first liftin the geared end of the roller shaft 32 above t e top of the housing. The shaft with the roller thus tilted, as shown in Fig. 7 may then easily be withdrawn from engagement with the wringer-drive mechanism 19 and subsequently lifted out of the housing 12'. When the housing 12 is not connected with a wringer-drive mechanism, the roller 33 may be lifted directly out of the housing without tilting. The easy removal of the roller in 'either case facilitates the cleanin of the housing as well as the drain boardt ereunder.l

i From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages ofthe construction and method of operation will be readilT understood by those skilled in the art to which the inventionV appertains, and-while I have described the principle of operation, together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I -desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely V illustrative and that such chan es 1na7 be made, when desired, as all within-the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new 4and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the 'United States, is the following:

1. A clothes wringer comprising an upper and a. lower housing, a roller secured to 'a upper housing shaft rotatably mounted in each housing, the being hooked to the lower housing at one end thereof so that the upper housing can swing in the plane of the roller shafts and also be entirely removed lfrom the lower housing, a hook member upon the 4other end of the upper housing opposite te the end where the upper housing is hinged, a linked clamping member carried by the lower housing in juxta-position to said hook, a cam member upon said clampingmember rename adapted to connect with said hook in order to normally 'clamp the upper and lower ho'us ings together and means whereb said roll ers may be operatedin unison w en in normal position.

42. A clothes wringer com rising an upper and a lower housing, a ro ler secured to a shaft rotatably mounted in each housin the upper housing being hooked to the ower housing at one end thereof so that the upper housing can swing in the plane ofthe roller shafts and also be 1entirely removed from the lower housing, a hook member upon the other end of the upper housing opposite to the end where the upper housing is hinged, a linked clampingmember carried b the lower housing in junta-position to said ook, a cam' member upon said clamping member adapted to connect with said hook in order to normally clamp the upper and lower housings together, means whereb said rollers may be operated-in unison w en in normal' position, spring means inthe upper housing urging the roller therein outwardly and fixed stop pins extending between the side walls of the upper housing under the shaft o the roller therein adapted to limit the downward movement of said roller so that when the e housings are clamped together a slight ini- 4 tial pressure is produced on therollers.

ln testimony whereof,1 aiix my signature.

` Leon Camaro.

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