US1720465A - Clothes pounder - Google Patents

Description

July 9, 1929. c. H. CANFIELD CLOTHES POUNDER Filed Oct. 28, 1926 Patented July 9, 1929.

CHARLES HERBERT CANFIELD, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

CLOTHES POUNDER.

Application filed October 28, 1926.

as it is known that when an inverted cupmember is brought forcibly into engagement with clothes lmmersed 1n suds or the like the compressing eflect causes the air within the cup to pass through the clothes, and that when the compressing effect is relieved there is a vacuum forming tendency which sucks water through the clothes, all dirt being effectually loosened and removed. i

It is with the above broad principle in view that I have designed the present invention which has for an object the provision of a washing device which may be clamped upon the side of a tub and in which the moving parts may be swung horizontally so as to bring the cup into engagement with all the clothes being washed instead of it operating only at one very limited area.

An important object of the invention is to provide a device for this purpose embodying a cup which acts as the pounder, a lever and link mechanism being provided whereby the pounder itself maybe given relatively long travel as compared with short travel of the operating lever, the arrangement being such that the movement of the cup or pounder will be rapid at the beginning of its downward stroke, when it encounters but little resistance, and much slower upon approaching the end of its stroke when greater power is needed to compress the clothes owing to the resistance thereof. y

An important object is alsoto provide a device of this character provided with guide means connected with the cup and control- I ling the position thereof to effect tilting at the bottom of its stroke so that the imprisoned air may bubble out or escape, thereby increasing the suction effect upon the upstroke.

Yet another object is to provide a device of this character having the movable parts arranged in a certain peculiar relative man- Serial No. 144,781.

ner to insure the desired movements, adjustable spring means being, moreover, provided for assisting during the upstroke.

An additional object is to provide a device of this character which will be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply and use, positive in action, efficient and durable 1n service, and a general improvement in the art.

lVith the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention preferably consists in the arrangement and combination of parts and detailed structural features to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device showing it arranged at the top of a tub prior to being clamped thereon and showing the normal position of the parts.

Figure 2 is an elevation showing the device clamped in position and the operating lever moved to bring the pounder or cup to the lower limit of its movement, and

Figure 3 is a bottom plan View of the cup.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a bracket which is here shown as used in connection with a clamp 2 adapted to be engaged upon the up per edge of a tub A or other similar suitable receptacle. This clamp may be of any ordinary or preferred construction but it is here represented as having a depending tongue or lug 3 fitting within the tub, and an adjustable thumb screw or the like 4 adapted to engage against the outside of the tub. The

clamp also carries or is formed with an upstanding trunnion 5 upon which the bracket member 1 is detachably and rotatably mounted and this trunnion is preferably of suflicient length to project upwardly beyond the intermediate portion of the bracket, this projecting end carrying a collar 6 held in place by a removable pin 7, engageable through a hole in the trunnion and a selected. one of a plurality of holes 6 located in differ ent planes in the collar. The purpose of this feature is to permit taking up wear which may occur, it being desirable to prevent movement of the bracket along the trunnion. This arrangement also permits ready connection and disconnection.

Pivoted at 8 upon the upper end of the bracket member 1 is the main or operating lever 9 which is intended to be of some length greater than the width of the tub upon which for a reason to be explained. It is preferable that the arm 12 be urged normally toward the lever 9 by a spring 16 which may be mounted in any preferred manner as for instance byhaving its ends engageable within holes 17 and 18 in the lever 9 and arm 12 re spectivel A series of holes is provided in each of t e arms so that by shifting the posisealed. with cork or the like 17 to prevent ingressof water. i

The arm 12 carries a pounder formed preferably as a substantially conical cup 19 which is open at its bottom and which has its top carrying one or more lugs 20 to which the arm 12 is pivoted as shown at 21. For maintaining the cup in proper position and guiding it during movement of the parts, I prefer to employ a rod 22 which is slidable through the lever 9 and rigidlysecured to the cup in any desired manner asfor instance by having its lower end connected with the center of a spider which may conveniently be formed of intersecting wires or the like 23 located at and secured in any desired manner to the open end of the cup.

In order to mount the device for use. the clamp 2 is engaged upon the edge of the tub A or the like and the screw 1 is ti ghtened to maintain the proper holding action. Owing to the peculiar formation of the bracket 1 and its mounting upon the trunnion 5. it will be clear that the pivot points 8 and 11 are out of vertical alinement, the former being above but outwardly ofthe tub and the latter being below the top and spaced from the inner wallthereof. Initially the lever 9 will extend in'a probably slightly inclined position and be s aced above the edge of the tub and the arm 12 carrying the cup 19 will be in its uppermost position. Whether the clothes to be washed, and the suds, are placed in the tub before or after the device is mounted in position is immaterial.

: Assuming that the articles to be washed are in place, the-operator grasps the lever 9 at the handle or grip 10 and forces the lever downwardly. The link 14 connected with the lever and with the arm 12 will operate to force the latter downwardly. It will be noted that atthe top of the strok'e air of course fills the cup; When the lever is forced downwardly to bring the cup into forcible engagement with the clothes. the air is imprisoned and as the downward pressure is i11- creased the air is compressed or there is, at least, a tendency to compress it which will obviously result in causing the air to pass out through the clothes. When the cup reaches the bottom of the tub the clothes a re positively squeezed while the action of the guide rod 22 will result in tipping the cup slightly into the position shown in Figure 2 so that the remaining imprisoned air may bubble out and escape through the liquid The down stroke having been completed, the operator moves the lever 9 upwardly. the movement being greatly assisted by the spring 16 which tends always to swing the arm 12 upwardly. On this upstroke. there is a tendency to form a vacuum in the cup and the clothes are lifted to the surface of the liquid where the vacuum is then broken so that the clothes will drop back into the tub. Quite naturally the alternate forcing of air through the clothes on the downstrokc and sucking of suds through them on the upstroke will result in loosening the dirt so that the clothes will be very eifcctually clmmscd.

Owing to the peculiar pivoting of the arm 12 with respect to the lever 9 and the location of the points 15 and 13 at which the link '14 is piy oted to the lever and arm it is clear that at the beginning of the downstrokc the movement of the cup is rather rapid. This is desirable as it causes agitation of the suds and as no particular degree of power is needed to bring the cup into somewhat forcible engagement with the clothes. However, as the downward movement of the lever continued the speed of the cup decreases on account of the pivot and link arrmigcmcnt above mentioned and as the speed decreases, the compressive power against the clothes increases proportionately while there is no change in the rate of movement of the lever. This is also highly desirable as a greater dcgree of power is needed to force the cup down wardly as it approaches the lower limit of its movement as the compressed clothes are. at this time, ofi'ering greater resistance.

Inasmuch as the bracket carrying all the movable mechanism is pivoted upon the trunnion 5, the entire assembly may he swung horizontally so that the cup may be brought into action at different points between the opposite sides of the tub, all portions of the clothes being thus acted upon.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings, it will be apparent llll that I have thus provided'a simply connection with any ordinary tub or other similar receptacle, no special equipment being needed.

VVhil-e I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the invention. or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention I claim 7 r 1. A pound-er washer comprising a sup port adapted to be mounted upon a receptacle, an actuating lever terminally pivoted to said support for vertical swinging movement, an arm terminally pivoted to the sup port for vertical movement, a link pivotally connected with the lever and the arm near their pivoted ends and at unequal distances from the pivots thereof, and a pounder cap carried by the arm.

2. A pounder washer comprising a support adapted to be mounted upon a receptacle, an actuating lever pivoted to said support for vertical swinging movement, an arm pivoted to the support for vertical move ment, a link pivotally connected with the lever and the arm at unequal distances from the pivots thereof, a pounder cup carried by the arm, and means carried by the cup and engaging the lever for guiding the cup during its movement.

8. A pounder washer comprising a sup port adapted to be mounted upon a receptacle, an actuating lever pivoted to said support for vertical swinging movement, an arm pivoted to the support for vertical move ment, a link pivotally connected with the lever and the arm at unequal distances from the pivots thereof, a pounder cup carried by the arm, and means carried by the cup and engaging the lever for guiding the cup during its movement, comprising a rod rigid with respect to the cup and slidable through the lever.

4. In a clothes pounder oi the character described, a supporting member adapted to be clamped upon the edge of a receptacle, a bracket carried by said supporting member, an actuating lever pivoted 011 one end of said bracket for movement in a vertical direction, an arm pivoted on the other end of the bracket, the pivot points of the arm and lever being out of vertical alinement, a cup carried by the arm, and link means pivotally connected with. the lever and the arm, the distance between the pivot point of the arm and the pivotal connection. of the link means therewith being less than the distance between the pivot point of the lever and the point of connection of the link means there with.

5. In a device oi the character described, a supporting member adapted to be mounted on a receptacle, a bracket carried by said supporting member and arranged at an incline with respect to the vertical, an actuating lever pivotally connected with the upper end of the bracket, an arm pivotally connected with the lower end of the bracket, means connecting the arm and lever for simultaneous movement at different speeds, a cup pivotally carried by the arm, and guide means rigidly carried by the cup and slid ably engaging the lever for effecting tilting of the cup.

6. In a device of the character described, a supporting member adapted to be engaged upon a receptacle and having an upstanding trunnion, a bracket rotatably and detachably mounted upon said trunnion, a lever operated pounder carried by the bracket, said trunnion projecting upwardly beyond. the bracket and having a transverse hole therein, a collar on the projecting end of the trun nion having a plurality of radial holes therein located in different horizontal planes any one of which is adapted to be brought into registration with the hole in the trunnion, and a securing element passing through the registering holes.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto atfixed my signature.

CHAR-LES HERBERT GANFIELD.

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