US1798730A - Filter system for laundry machines - Google Patents

Description

Mamb 31, 1931. 5, w, u H 1,798,730

FILTER SYSTEM FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES Filed Sept. 4, 1926 INVENTOQR 6501205 M flwv/MM Mum ATTORNEY Patented 31, {931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE enema W. DUNHAM, OI U'IICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO-WUIBLDBY CORPORATION,

'01 NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION 01' NEW YORK FILTER SYSTEM: FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES Application filed September 4, 1926. Serial No. 188,879.

i tank in which may be mounted a receptacle for, holdin the laundry and means for agitating the aundry to wash it, together with a circulatorysystem for circulating the laundry liquid. Means for rotating therecepo tacle may also be provided in order to extract the liquid from the laundry by centrifugal force to dr the laundry.

The laundry mac inema include a tank, inwhich ma be mounted or rotation a receptacle, which may be of the imperforate type for holding both the laundry and laun- I ry liquid. Suitable agitatin means may be provided to agitate the laun ry and laundry liquid for washing the laundry, and means may be provided for rotating the receptacle to discharge the liquid therefrom,

- thereby drying the aundry.

.A. circulatory system may be furthermore provided for continuously transferring the g aundry liquid from the bottom of the tank to the top of the receptacle for washing and rinsing, if desired. Furthermore, filter devices may be provided which may be disposed in the path of circulation of thelaundry li uid for filtering out the impurities from t e laundry liquid which have been extracted from the laundry. A cloth filter will be most desirable, because it may be made of cheap material and of fine mesh. It has been found that, during the washing operation, b the use of a filter of this kind together wit a strainer in the bottom of the tank, at the end of the washing the wash water is practically as clean and clear as when it was first ut in the machine, and that there is practical y no difference in the rinse water after it is used as compared with when it is taken from the faucet. The advantages and benefits of this method of washing are obvious. The laundry is much whiter and ab-,

-solutely free from sediment or scum either in the concentrated form which is the most objectionable, or in the distributed form, which is not so noticeable to the ordinary observer. By the invention a process and apparatus for treatin laundry 1s provided, whe eby laundry may ae subjected to its several treatments including washing by a stream of pure running water kept always substantially free from impurities.

To get proper results a very fine screen or cloth filter is necessary, an it is desirable that the filter be so located as to be easily removable for the purpose of cleaning, as the sediment and dirt from the laundry will go clog up a large surface in a short time.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from the following particular description of forms of mechanism embodying the invention or from u an inspection of the accompanying drawings; and the invention also consists in certain new and novel-features of construction and combinations ofparts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Referring now to the drawing in which there is shown for purposes of lllustration several modes of practicing the invention:

Fig- 1 is an elevation of a laundry machine with parts broken away to show the construc- 15 tion thereof; t

Fig. 2 is a more or less diagrammatic elevation of the type machine shown in Fig. 1 but having the filter in a difl'erent position; and

Fig. 3 is a detail showing a filter mounted on the discharge nozzle.

In the following description and in the claims" parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit.

Referring now to the drawing, the laundry machine may comprise the usual tank, 1, O0

which may be supported by the usual legs. The tank may be generally cylindrical and may be provided with a cover 2, as shown. The bottom of the tank may be provided with a large central opening 3 to which may be secured a horizontall disposed centrifugal pump 4 having its inta e communicating with the bottom of the tank. Projecting upwardly from the upper casing wall of the pump 4 may be a hollow pedestal 5 upon the top of which may be journalled an imperforate type receptacle 6.

Secured to the bottom of the pump4 may be a gear box 7 in which may be mounted suitab e gearing for imparting the necessary motions to the receptacle 6 and agitator 9. Suspended preferably from the bottom of the tank may be a driving motor 10 having a drive pulley 11, on which may be mounted a belt 12 which is also mounted on a driven pulley 13 to drive the mechanism in the gear box 7.

The receptacle 6 may comprise an outer wall 14 flaring slightly upwardly, a bottom 16 forming an annular trough 17, and a central hub 18 which is mounted over the pedestal 5. A suitable strengthening plate 19 may connect the bottom of the trough 17 to the hub 18. A guard ring 20 ma be provided extending upwardly and inwar ly to prevent loss of laundry from the receptacle during the several operations. A plurality of discharge openings 21 may be rovided through which the liquid may over ow during washing or rinsing, and through which it may be discharged during drying. A plurality of sediment disposing holes 22 may be provided in the bottom of the trough, these holes effectively allowing the heavy dirt from the laundry which settles to the bottom of the receptacle to pass therethrough. The amount of laundry liquid lost through the holes may be negligible compared to the amount supplied by the discharge nozzle 24, this to be described more in detail hereinafter.

A suitable agitator 9 may be provided including a plurality of blades 25 disposed in the receptacle, and secured to a hub 26. The agitator hub may be detachably connected to a central shaft 27 which may have imparted thereto a rotary oscillatory motion from the gear box 7. Surrounding the central shaft 27 maybe a tubular shaft 28 which may be detachably connected to the receptacle by the clutch 29, and from which the impeller 30 of the-pump may also be driven.

At the side of the tank a standpipe 31 may be provided, the standpipe comprising a riser tube 33 into which may be telescopically fitted a flow pipe 34 having at its upper end a goose neck nozzle 24. The flow ipe may be open at its lower end and may e provided with an opening 35 in its side wall registering with the branch 36 on the riser tube (when in the position shown).. The branch 36 of the riser tube is connected to the discharge end of the pump 4 by a flexible conduit 37 sothat vibrations due to the rotation of the recepta'cle and associated parts will not be communicated to the' standpipe 31 therethrough. It Will be understood that when the flow pipe 34 is in the position shown, the laundr liquid may be pumped from the bottom of the tank 1 up through the standpipe 31 and be discharged from the discharge nozzle 24 into the receptacle 6. It will be appreciated that by turning the flow pipe 34 or by raising it slightly the opening 35 in the flow pipe may be brought out of register with the lateral branch 36, thereby closing the standpipe to the flow of liquid. By raising the flow pipe so that the lower end thereof is above the lateral branch 36, liquid may be discharged through the standpipe and the flow pipe at this raised position may be rotated to any angular position to allow liquid to be discharged therefrom.

In the washing operation the receptacle 6' may be filled with laundry and laundry liquid, and the agitator 9 may be connected to the central shaft 27 which will have a rotary oscillatory motion imparted thereto by the gearing in the gear box. At the same time the flow pipe 34 may be in the position shown and laundry liquid may be continuously circulated from the bottom of the tank into the top of the receptacle, whence it will overflow through the discharge openings 21 back to the bottom of the tank.

In order to rinse the laundry pure water may be substituted for the washing liquid, and the operation may be carried on in the exact manner just stated. For an alternative method of rinsing, the agitator 9 may be removed and the receptacle connected by means of the clutch 29 to-the tubular shaft 28 to rotate at centrifugal discharging speed. The fiow pipe 34 may be raisedand its discharge nozzle 24 rotated so that the rinse water may be discharged from the bottom of the tank clear of the laundry machine, as for instance, into a sink. As the receptacle rotates, in this method of rinsing, a continuous flow of rinsing water may be caused into the top of the receptacle by means of a hose (not shown). In order to dry the laundry the receptacle may be caused to rotate at centrifugal discharging speed and the flow pipe may be adjusted so that no water may flow therethrough, the water collecting in the bottom of the tank, or the flow pipe may be adjusted so that the water may be dischargedclear of the machine.

As the washing operation proceeds the originally clean washing liquid ordinarily becomes soiled due to its extracting the dirt and impurities from the laundry. In order to lie keep the washing liquid comparatively pure,

a filter may be provided anywhere in the path of circulation. A coarse filter such as a screen provided.

m'aagao 39 may be rovided at the bottom ofthe tank, the screen aving a lar e foraminous flat portion, the entire area which is effective for screening even though the water becomes ve low in the tank. To take out the fine impunties from the liquid a fine mesh filter may be In Fig. 1 a finemesh filter is shown comprising a ring 41 having an annular seat 42 fitting the top of the guard ring 20 and having an annular groove 43, and bein provided with a filter cloth 44 of fine mes the filter cloth being held in the annular groove by'means of a piece of string or cord 45. The

filter cloth may rest on the top of the agitator hub 26, the osclllation of the agitator-hub during washing having no damaging effect on the filter cloth. During washing or rinsing as the liquid is discharged from the discharge nozzle 24 it is strained or filtered by the filter cloth 44 before it goes into the rece tacle.

The suds which may accumulate on t e top of the filter cloth 44 are effectively by-passed by allowing them to flow over the top of the filter cloth and down the side of the receptacle 6. The cleaning substance in the was ing li uid is to a large extent in solution, so

- that t e by-passin of the suds around the impurities from the laundry liquid will clog u the fine mesh of any cloth very quickly. The filter is easily removable for th1s purpose. Preferably the filter cloth may be of.

some cheap substance which the user of the washing machine may buy in a dry goods store, and may replace as often as desirable or necessary.

As ab we stated the filter cloth may be provided anywhere in the path of the laundrv liquid so lon as there is insured that only the filtered i uid may reach the receptacle. As a furt er example, a filter-47 may be disposed below the receptacle as h shown in Fig. 2. The filter 47 may be made up of an inner ring 48 which may rest on aniangle seat 49 secured to the pedestal 5; an outer ring 50 may be provided which ma rest on an annular angle seat 51 secured to the tank; a suitable filter cloth 52 may extend between the inner ring .48 and outer ring 50. The fit between the inner ring 48 and angle seat 49 may be made loose to allow small lateral movement of the pedestal 5. The dirty liquid may overflow the receptacle to be filtered by the filter, the liquid in the bottom of the tank being clean to be pumped from thebottom of the tank back into-the top of the receptacle.

. filtering, medium 57 3 ring, a filter cloth 0 a still further modification," the discharge nozzle me be. provided with a filter 54v as shown in ig. 3. The filter 54 may com rise an enlarged head. 55 secured to the disc arge nozzle 24 and an annular cap 56 threaded thereon between which a suitable" ma be clam ed. 1 It is obvious, that eit er one oi the filters shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3 may be used separately-or they may be used in any combination, lncluding all together, in order to insure the desired filtering action. If the filters are used simultaneously, each may be made of a difie'rent mesh to catch the impurities which are loosened from the clothes the degrees of mesh varying, the coarsest being in I the path of the liquid nearest the dischar side of the receptacle,the finest bein in t e path of the liquid just before it reac es the receptacle.

invention, an apparatus is provide which washes and rinses the clothes in the most scientific and efiicient manner. During washing the laundry liquidmay be kept so clean that with the naked e c it is impossible to v Thus it will beseen that accordin to the discern any difference in the liquid after the clothes are washed from its appearance before washing. Furthermore, the removal of suspended solid material from the flowing liquid causes the clothes to be absolutely free from either concentrated or distributed sediment of all sizes, and the clothes which are taken from the machine fectly washed.

While I have shown and described and have pointed out in the. annexed claims cer-.

tain novel features of the invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation t' 11 are prac 1ca y per may be made by those skilled in the art with put departing from the spirit of the inven- I -Iaving thus described my invention, I cla1m:

1. In a laundry machine, a tank, a receptacle mounted therein, said receptacle having discharge openings near the to thereof, and aving parts imperforate to old washing liquid during washing operations, an upper guard ring having its upper rim above said opemngs, a filter rin seated on said guard fine mesh secured to said filter ring, an a itator in said receptacle having a hub on w ich part of said cloth rests,'means for'im arting an oscillatory rotary motion to said continuously circulating washing liquid from said tank onto the top of said filter cloth.

2. In a laundry machine, a tank, a receptacle therein for holdin laundry, a circulatory system for continuously conveying laun ry liquid from said tank into the top of said receptacle, a filter of large area and agitator, and means for I fine mesh on top of said receptacle whereby suds collecting at said filter are y-passed argfind said receptacle to the bottom of said ta 3. In a laundry machine having an outer tank and-a clot-hes receptacle mounted therein for rotation to centrifugally extract water from the clothes, a filter seated on the open top of said receptacle, means for agitating the laundry for washing purposes, an means for continually circulating washin liquid from said tank onto the to of said lter.

In testimony whereof I ave hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE W. DUNI-IAM.

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