US2372769A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

April 3 E945- J. G. DE REMER 2,372,769

WASHING MACHINE Original Filed March 18, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 18, 1939 J. G. DE REMER I 2,372,769

WASHING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 www April 3, 1945. v J. G. DE REMER 2,372,769

' WASHING MACHINE original Filed March 18, 19:59 3 sheets-sheet 5 Patented Apr. 3, 1945 WASHING MACHINE Jay Grant De Reiner, Darien, Conn., assignor to J. G. De Remer- Research Corporation. Union City, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey original application Maren is, 1939, sei-iai No. v 262,652, now raient No. 2,350,218, dates May 30, 1944. Divided and this application April 11,

1940, Serial N0. 329,069

ing centrifugal separating apparatus for drying and is a division of my application Serial No.

' y 262,652, filed March 18, 1939, which issued as Patent 2,350,218 on May 30, 1944.

According to a preferred form of the present invention, the laundry machine comprises an imperforate type clothes basket positioned within an outer tank with driving devices for impressing both a spinning motion and a gyrating motion on the basket. The driving devices may be suitably positioned under the tank and the basket may be supported in the tank by a suitable drive shaft or pedestal assembly comprising an outer tubular gyrating shaft and an inner spin shaft. The gyrating shaft may have a large friction gear secured thereto and the spin shaft a somewhat smaller friction gear. The driving devices may comprise a main electric drive motor having a fri-ction gear on each end engaging the gyrating and spin shaft friction gears respectively.

'I'h laundry machine according to the invention is particularly adapted for full automatic operation. A special shifting element may be provided for shifting between the washing and drying positions. This shifting element may comprise a brake ring which engages the spin shaft gear to move it up and down. During the washing operation, the brake ring may engage the spin shaft gear, holding it stationary and removed from its drive motor gear. For drying, the shift velement may vpermit the spin shaft gear to engage its drive CCL 15-23) ous contacts and sector rings for controlling enmotor gear, the brake element Aentirely releasing the spin shaft gear during the drying operation. The gyrating shaft gear and its motor gear are in engagement continuously during both Washing and drying operations.

The shift element may -be operated by a suitable nut and screw mechanism driven 'by a small reversible electric control motor which operates to move the shift element first to its washing position and then to its drying position. Suitable contact and circuit devices may be provided for automatically operating and reversing the control motor.

According to a preferred form, the contact and circuit devices may comprise a stationary dial having a iirst series of contacts for controlling hot and cold water supply valves, a second series of contacts for controlling the control motor, and sector rings for controlling the main drivemotor.l Suitable clockwork is provided for driving a contact arm through a suitable clutch whereby the contact arm may be adjusted independent of the clockwork. This contact arm engages the varitirely automatically the sequence of operations so that the clothes, when once placed in the basket, may be washed, rinsed and dried entirely automatically, each operation being timed without further attention from the operator after the clothes have been placed in the basket.

For performing the various operations on the clothes, a special imperforate basket may be provided having a clothes'retaining ring for preventing lwater from being splashed out of the basket during washing and for preventing clothes from being discharged during drying. The tank may have a special cover cooperating with the basket, which cover has an upper wall and a depending wall spaced therefrom to deect any liquid splashed above the 'basket back into the basket.

The tank bottom may be of special construction comprising a bottom wall having an annular trough-shaped member and a separate annular reenforcing member secured to the bottom of the annular Wall, Iboth these annular mem'bers being secured to a sleeve or pedestal which houses the drive shafts. The tank may be of relatively small capacity, being merely large enough to hold the -basket without appreciable y reservoir space since lprovision is made for pumpcarried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of the laundry machine with parts shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the main drive shaft assembly;

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a completely automatic operation;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a detail of the gyrating ring used for the washing operation.

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

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, certain specific disclosure of the invention is made for purposes of explanatin, but it will be understood that the details may be modified in various respects without departure from the broad aspects of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly, to Figs. 1 and 2, the laundry machine comprises, in general, an outer tank ID enclosing an imperforate type clothes basket II. The basket II is supported by a drive shaft assembly, including a spin shaft I2 and gyrating sleeve shaft I3. Main electric motor I4- drives both the spin shaft I2 and gyrating shaft I3, and control motor automatically shifts the machine back and forth between washing and drying operations. Pump I5 is for the'purpose of emptying the tank into a sink or the like.

The basket II is made of suitable material, such as sheet metal and comprises a dished bottom 20 running into an upwardly and outwardly aring side wall 24. The amount of flare will depend upon design but may be comparatively small, as illustrated. An annular ring 25 having apertures 26 is secured to side wall 24. Ring 25 has an inturned flange 21 for retaining the laundry during the washing and drying operations.

A plurality of baiiles 28 are secured to the side wall 24 to assist in agitating the laundry during the washing operation. Two diametrically opposed bafdes may be used, as shown, or any larger number. The basket II is supported by stub shaft 2| having a top plate 22. bottom wall 20 of the spinner is'secured between The plate 22 and cooperating plate 23 by welding,

brazing, or in any other suitable way.

Tank I0 is made up of a structural base ring 3| supporting an annular side wall 32 and in turn supported by legs 33, three legs being shown for purposes of illustration. The bottom of the tank is made up of an annular trough 34 secured to the sleeve or pedestal 35. An annular ared bracing member 36 is secured to sleeve 35 and to the bottom of trough 34, as indicated particularly in Fig. 1.` The sheet metal members 32, 34, 35 and 36 may be secured together by welding or brazing, or in any other way well known in the art.

The cover for tank IU comprises a at ring 37 seated within the upper edge of the tank and having an annular seat 42. Seated on this seat is central lid 38 having a depending ared wall 39. Secured to the top of wall 39 is a flat wall 40. Walls 39 and 4I) provide a chamber and act as baiiles to prevent water from being thrown out of the machine during the washing operation. At the same time, walls 39 and 40 have aligned openings for feeding wash water through supply hose |38.

'Ihe drive shaft assembly comprises sleeve 35 which journals sleeve shaft I 3,. which in turn journals spin shaft I2. The sleeve or pedestal 35 carries a lower shoulder ring 44 providing a radial bearing for gyrating shaft I3 and a collar is secured to shaft I3 to provide a vertical thrust bearing operating against ring 44.

The spin shaft I2 comprises a lower section 50 and upper section 5| connected by a universal joint 52, permitting the upper section 5| to spin with the lower section 50 and also to execute a conical precessing movement about the center of universal joint 52, as will be explained more in detail hereinafter. Ring 53 is secured to gyrating sleeve I3 and supports bearing sleeve 54 for Journalling lower section 50. Bearing wash ers 55 act between ring 53 and the shoulder on universal Joint 52 to take the vertical thrust of spin shaft I2.

The upper section 5| has a sleeve 55 flxedly secured thereto, this sleeve being splined to receive a complementary splined end 5l of basket stub shaft 2|. Spring 58 acts between a recess in upper section 5I and the bottom of stub shaft 2| for a purpose hereinafter described.

To overcome precession, the gyrating shaft I3 applies an accelerating force to the precessing basket shaft made up of shafts 5| and 2| above universal joint 52. To impart thisaccelerating force, friction rings 50 are secured to the upper edge of gyrating shaft I3. Friction rings 60 cooperate with a spherical cup or plate 6| which is secured to sleeve 62, which in turn supports bearing bushing 63 journalled on sleeve 56. The bushing 63 is flared at both ends for a purpose hereinafter described. The spherical friction surfaces on cup 6I and friction rings 5I) are laid out about the center of universal joint 52 when in its lower or drying position, indicated in Fig. 2.

For transferring weight from the basket to the spherical cup 6I, a sleeve 64 is provided, journalled on cup 6| by bearing ring 55. A shield 56 is secured to cup 6| and carries a felt washer 61 bearing against ring 64 for the purpose of retaining lubricant withn the shield 66 and for preventing water from getting into the bearing mechanism. Shield 68 is secured to gyrating sleeve I3 to prevent water getting into the drive shaft assembly.

In the position shown in Fig. 2, the parts are in their drying position and the drying operation has just begun. Spin shaft I2 rotates ata centrifugally extracting speed and at the same time gyrating shaft I3 rotates in the same direction at a slower speed. The friction members S0 and 6I carry the basket shaft 2|, 5I journalled in bearing B3 in a conical path.

For washing, a gyrating ring 1I is secured to vgyrating shaft I3. Ring 1|, shown in detail in Fig. 5, has an off-center recess 'l2 adapted to receive a ring or bushing I3 tapered to seat easily within recess l2. Spin shaft I2 is raised in a manner hereinafter described to cause ring 'I3 to seat in recess 12. Ring 'I3 is journalled radially by bearing 16 and axially between collars 'I4 and 'l5 fixed on shaft 56.

For driving the machine, an electric motor I4 is bolted to saddle 19. Saddle I9 has side ears 'I1 pivoted at 8| to side walls I8 of hanger 80. Hanger is suspended from pivot 82 secured to base ring 3|.

The shaft of electric motor I4 carries bevel friction gears 83 and 84, engaging respectively gears 85 and B5 on lower section 5I) and gyrating shaft I3. Spring 8l acts between the adjacent lesr 33 and an ear 11 of saddle 'I9 to yieldably urge friction gears 83 and 84 into engagement with friction gears 86 and 85. A stop 89 is secured to a leg 33 and an adjustable screw 88 is secured to saddle I9 to limit the upward movement of gear 83 when it is disengaged from gear 86 for the purpose hereinafter described.

Referring to Fig. 2, the pump 6 comprises a casing 9| having an impeller 92 pinned to lower section 50. The casing 9| is journalled on shaft asvaveo i as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

The water flows in the direction of the arrows and the iiexible hose 95 resists the torque on casing 9| caused by the pumping action.

The position of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is the drying position at the beginning of the drying operation. To shift from drying position to washing position, the spin shaft I2 is elevated,

this disengaging drive gears 83 and 86 and engaging gyrating bushing 13 with the recess in gyi -collar engages gear 86 to elevate spin shaft I2, to disengage gears 83 and 86 and to4 stop the spin of shaft I2. The brake collar has trunnions |02 supported between arms 10|. The raising and lowering of arms IOI is done by control motor I which is supported on plate |04 (Figs. 1 and 4).

Plate |04 is supported by the hangers |03 and by the adjacent leg 33 of the machine. Plate I 04 also supports a worm gear reduction unit ||2 made up of a worm |05 on the drive shaft of motor I5, which meshes worm wheel |06 on screw vshaft |01. Screw shaft |01 engages nut |08 having trunnions |09 connected t-o the forked end of arm I|0 which is secured to pivot shaft III. Pivot shaft I I is supported by hangers II3 from the bottom of plate |04 and carries the arms |0I.

It will be apparent from Fig. 1 that when current is supplied to control motor I5, it. will rotate screw shaft |01, causing nut I 08 to move downwardly, which in turn imparts upward movement to brake collar |00 which shifts the machine from the drying to the washing position in the manner described above. Reversal of the control motor I5 will bring the parts back to the position shown in Fig. l.

The above described machine is especially adaptable for full automatic operation. With such operation, it is only necessary for the operator to place the clothes in the basket and make certain settings and thereafter all washing, rinsing and drying is done entirely automatically, each operation being timed, and no further attention from the operator is necessary until it is time to remove the clothes from the basket fc-r hanging out to dry or for ironing.

Referring now to Fig. 3, a circuit arrangement is shown for controlling the automatic operation. The arrangement comprises a dial having a clock shaft I I6 which may be the minute shaft of any suitable clock mechanism, either electric or spring driven. Secured to minute shaft IIB is a contact arm |I1 which may be secured to shaft IIS'by any ordinary friction clutch commonly used in clocks, wherebythe contact arm ||1 may be rotated by the operator independent of the clock mechanism. Arranged in the path of the contact arm are sector rings IIB, |I9 and contacts I-I3I.

The several sector rings and contacts are connected tca source of power I|4 which may be any ordinary A. C. or D. C. household power line, which power is controlled by a switch |I5. Con

nected in circuit is the main drive motor I4 of the machine and the control motor I5. Also connected in circuit is a solenoid operated Water valve |35 connected in a hot water supply line H and a second solenoid operated water valve |36 connected in a cold water supply line C. Connected in the hot water line H is a soap box |31 in which may be placed soap chips or soap powder which is carried into the machine by the flow o! hot water. Pipes H and C are connected to hose |38 which sses h tank I0. pa t rough the cover of It will be understood that, if desired, the solenoid valves |35 and I 38, soap container |31, contact dial and control switch built into the machine. 5 may be suitably Operation The drying operation will rst be since the machine is shown in'positioriieseitlg beginning of this operation. The nut |08 has just reached its uppermost position on screw shaft |01 and the brake ring |00 has just permitted friction gear 86 to engage motor friction gear 83 and has just released gear 88 from braking action Gyrating shaft I3 is already moving at washing speed and spin shaft I2 is beginning to rotate at drying speed. In explaining this operation, it will be first assumed that the clothes and everything spinning with the basket are perfectly balanced with respect to the basket axis. In actual practice this condition will rarely or seldom occur and the basket will spin about a 'theoreti-A cal center of mass spaced from the geometrical basket axis, but the correcting action is substan tially the same in both cases.

The basket II lpartakes of two movements, (l) a spinning movement about its own axis, and (2) a gyrating movement about the center of uni versal joint 52, the basket axis describing a conical surface. Friction rings carry friction cup 6 I in a circular path, the basket shaft 2| spinning within cup 6| by means of bearings 63 and 85.

It will thus be seen that the gyro-stabilizer including gyrating shaft I3 exerts a force on the basket II tangential to its conical precessional movement. The direction of rotation of gyrating shaft I3 is the same as the direction of spin shaft I2 and gyrating shaft I3 impresses an accelerating force on the precessional movement of the basket. The tangential accelerating force causes the basket to move in a direction at right angles to the force or toward true vertical position, the friction surfaces B0 and 6I permitting the basket II to take a true central position in which the vertical axis of drive shaft section 50 coincides with the basket axis, assuming the clothes are evenly distributed and everything secured to and partaking of the same movement as the basket II is perfectly balanced about the basket axis.

In case the clothes are not evenly distributed, the gym-stabilizer will center the entire whirling mass about the theoretical center of mass which will differ slightly from the axis of the spinner basket andshaft 2|. In this case, there will be a slight circular motion of the spherical cup or disc 6| on ring 60, but the correcting force atin toward true vertical due to the correcting action of gyrating shaft I3 will nevertheless continue to exist.

After the basket II has been spun at centrifugally extracting speed a sufficient iength of time to expel the water from the clothes, the automatic control operates control motor I5 in such direction as to drive nut |08 downwardly on screw shaft |01. This causes brake ring |00 to engage spin gear 86, disengaging it from d;ive gear 03 and arresting the spinning movement of spin shaft I2. Further downward movement of nut |08 elevates spin shaft I2, raising the universal joint 52 off thrust bearing 55, compressing spring 58 and moving sleeve shaft 56 and gyrating ring 13 upwardly to engage in the socket 12 of gyrating ring.r 1|, the tapered surface of these members facilitating seating of these parts.

It will be noted that the basket partakes of no upward movement, but that the basket shaft 2| telescopes down within sleeve shaft 56, compressing spring 58, Friction members 60 and 6| maintain contact, the aring ends, of bearing bushing 63 accommodating the upward shift of universal joint 52 which places it slightly off center with respect to the center of curvature of the spherical surface of friction members 6D, 6|.

This is the washing position. The gyrating shaft i3 carrying gyrating ring 1| positively moves ring 13 in a circular path. but the basket shaft 2| partakes of no rotation about its own axis because spring 58 provides sufficient contact pressure between gear 86 and brake ring IUD to hold these members in non-slipping relation during Washing.

Thus the basket ii with its measured contents of water and clothes is gyrated about the center of universal joint 52 in elevated position, the agitator blades 28 helping to tumble the clothes, opening them up and exposing all parts to the washing action of the water. The ring 25 and iiange 21 on the basket prevent the water from sloshing out during washing, the bales 3.9 and 48 on the tank cover directing any water which might spout upwardly back into the basket and preventing this water from discharging out of the machine.

After the clothes are Washed for a sumcient length of time, the control motor i5 drives the nut |88 upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1, this movement disengaging gyrating rings 1| and 13, engaging the universal joint 52 with thrust bearing 55, engaging spin gear 86 with motor gear 33 and disengaging the brake ring |00 from the spin gear 85.4 The frctional surfaces of gears 83 and 86 permit the necessary slipping to drive spin shaft i2 up to centrifugally discharging speed. Here again spring 58 helps supply the necessary downward pressure to spin gear 86. Most of the weight of basket and contents during drying is borne by spherical friction members 50 and 6|.

The automatic control functions as follows: Assume the contact arm ||1 is resting off all contacts-in position X from a previous run and the switch I I5 is open. The machine is in the washing position. The clothes will be placed in the basket and the soap container |31' will be lled. 1t is only necessary then toclose power switch ||5 and to start the minute driving hour shaft H6.

Engagement of arm I |1 with contact button |20 operates cold water solenoid |36 to deliver a measured amount of cold water into basket The moving arm ||1 contacts sector rings ||8, H9, thereby starting the one-quarter horse power main driving motor I4. The machine being in the washing position, the clothes are then given a pre-rinse in cold water of, say, five minutes until the contact arm l1 hits button |2|. This causes control motor i5 to shift the brake ring |00 to the drying position. The machine now spins the water out of the clothes for, say, five minutes until arm ||1 reaches buttons |22, |23.

It will be understood that the time that arm ||1 remains in contact with any of the buttons |20|8| depends upon the width of the buttons, with any given width of arm. The widths of the various buttons may, therefore, be selected to allot the proper times to carry out the functions controlled by the widths of these contacts. For example, contact button |20, operating cold water solenoid |36, may cause cold water to flow for one and one-half minutes, assuming the water supply is adjusted to four gallons per minute and the capacity of the basket is six gallons. The width of button |2| may be selected to operate control motor i5 just alittle longer than is necessary to drive nut |08 from its lower to its upper position.

Upon contacting button |22, the control motor i5 will be reversed, thereby returning the machine to washing position. At the same time, contact with button |23 opens hot water valve |35, causing hot water to pass through the soap box |31 and fill the basket with a predetermined amount of hot water and soap. The machine will now wash for a predetermined time, say, ten to twenty minutes, until contact arm ||1 engages button |24 which again shifts the machine to the drying position.

The machine will dry for a predetermined time, say, five minutes, until contact arm ||1 contacts button |26 which causes the machine to shift to washing position. Contact with button |25 opens hot water valve |35 to give the clothes a hot rinse.

The hot rinsing will take place for, say, ve minutes, until contact arm H1 touches' button |21 which shifts the machine to drying position, after which the machine may dry for, say, five minutes. The drying operation continues until contact arm ||1 touches button |29 which shifts the machine to Washing position. Contact with button |28 again opens hot water valve |35 which.

fills'the basket with hot water for a second hot rinse.

This hot rinse may continue for, say, ve minutes, until contact arm ||1 hits button |38 which shifts the machine to the drying position. This drying operation will continue for, say, ten or fifteen minutes, if it is desired to spin the clothes dry enough for ironing, or until contact arm ||1 enga/ges button |3| which shifts the machine to washing position, or ready for the next batch of clothes. As the arm i1 passes off of sector rings i8, i9 to position X, main drive motor I4 stops and, if desired, the clockwork may also have been set to stop automatically.

The machine is now at rest and in the starting position. The clothes have been spun dry and may be removed from the machine by the operator. The new batch of clothes may be placed in the basket; the soap box |31 filled again, and the automatic control set to operate upon this batch of laundry in the same manner as above described.

Thus, it will be seen that a combined washing and drying machine is provided that is simple in construction and operation. Both spin and gyrating shafts are located below the basket to permit easy access to the top of the basket. Since the basket spills no water during washing, a minimum amount of water is consumed. A suitable water level in the basket for Washing will be about even with the holes 26.

'Ihis type of machine also lends itself admirably for full automatic operation, as both washing and drying operations may be carried on with the clothes in the same container. No water circulation is required since water is prevented from sloshing out of the basket during washing and the tank I0 may be made of minimum capacity since .asva'zoe v board effect on the moving clothes during the it does not have to store water. The pump I6 runs only during the drying operation when water is being expelled from the basket. The guard ring effectively prevents` the discharge of clothes during washing and drying and the large number of holes 2-6 permit the water to be expelled during drying.

The washing action is achieved by the gyrating shaft rotating at the same speed as is used for correction purposes during the drying operation. A positive gyrating drive is achieved for the washing operaton.

The machine may be almost completely made of pressed metal parts and impregnated oilless bearings may be used. Due to the absence of toothed gears, the machine will be noiseless in operation and due to the perfect gyro-balancing obtained, the tank and frame will stand at substantially complete rest when the machine is either spinning or washing.

The frictional engagement between cup 6I and rings 60 is established by the weight of the spinner basket, clothes and water, and 'suitable guards are provided for preventing water from getting into the bearings and for preventing grease from getting onto the friction surfaces.

The two-part cover for the tank is convenient, as itis only necessary to remove the center lid 38 for inserting clothesv into the basket and removing them from the basket. The ring 3'! normally stays in place and acts as a guard to prevent water discharged from the basket Il during dry--` ing from' splattering out of the tank l0. The guard ring 31 is completely removable from the tank for cleaning purposes and to permit the spinner basket to be removed. This member may be easily lifted out of the machine, the splined basket shaft 2l lifting out the sleeve shaft 56 and being easily replaceable therein.

Various modifications of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, if automatic operation is not desired, the control motor I5, reduction gears I I2 and nut and screw bolt assembly |08, |09 may be eliminated and a simple pedal placed on the end of arm lill with suitable catch mechanism for shifting between washing and drying positions. Also, the

bailies 39 and 40 in the tank cover forming concentric chamber 4I may be conveniently used as a soap chamber.

Also, if desired, provision may be made for reversing the main drive motor Il during some of the operations, for example, during the rinsing operation in the event trouble is encountered from clothes becoming tangled in the basket due to continuous rotation of the basket in one direction.

Also, if itis desired to gyrate the basket at high speeds during the Washing operation, a counterweight may be applied to offset any tendency of the machine to lurch around during Washing.

washing operation.

'I'he above mentioned copending parent application,.no,w Patent 2,350,218, contains claims to the feature of stabilizing the basket by the use of a hollow shaft surrounding the spin shaft to apply a stabilizing movement to the basket assembly and also contains claims to the manner of driving the friction gears on the spin shaft and gyrating shaft by friction gears mounted on opposite ends of the driving motor.

Reference is also made to copending application, Serial No. 379,238, filed February 1'1, 1941, as a division of the above-mentioned parent case, and which contains claims to the mechanism for shifting between the washing and drying positions and to the-electrical controls and contacts for determining the sequence of events of washing, rinsing, drying, etc. y

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a combined washing and centrifugal drying machine, a clothes basket, a tank surroundn ing said basket, supporting devices for said tank and basket, said supporting devices including a universal pivot device under said basket, said basket being of the imperforate type comprising a bottom wall and an annular substantially vertical side wall, a ring comprising an annular side wall disposed within said basket, said ring havside wall near the middle part thereof, said ring converging inwardly and upwardly and merging into an inwardly extending fiange, a shaft connecting said basket and said universal pivot device, a drive shaft driving said pivot device, means for spinning said drive shaft for centrifugal extraction, means for imparting a motion to said basket shaft laterally of its axis for wash- 111g.

2. In a laundry machine, a tank, a cover on said tank having a depending annular wall, a laundry basket within said tank sufficiently imperforate to hold liquid for washing purposes, a universal pivot device under said basket and supporting said basket, means for imparting a motion to said basket shaft laterally of its axis to agitate said basket and its contents for washing, means for spinning` said basket about its own axis for drying, said basket having an annular side Wall and an imperforate inwardly extending annular top wall forming an opening into which said cover wall projects, said cover wall The counterweight would be applied either to vided with vertically extending corrugations all around the sides and may be provided with circular eorrugations on the bottom to serve as a washand basket top wall constituting baiiles to deflect liquid splashed. during Washing back into the basket.

3. In a laundry machine, a tank, a cover comprising a, ring seated on the top edge of the tank, said cover also comprising a central lid seated on said ring, said lid having an upper wall and a depending dish-shaped lower wall spaced therefrom, said lid walls having aligned openings, a, laundry basket within said tank sufciently imperforate to hold liquid for washing purposes, a. universal pivot device under said basket and supporting -said basket, means for gyrating said basket about said universal pivot device to agitate said basket and its contents for washing, means for spinning said basket about its own axis for drying, said basket, havabout its own axis for drying, said basket having a bottom Wall, an upstanding annular side wall, said basket having discharge openings to pass liquid during drying, a guard wall secured to said side wall externally thereof and extending above said discharge openings for returning to the basket any liquid passing out of said discharge openings during washing, the top of said side wall having an inwardly extending annular imperforate top wall forming a restricted' top opening to provide access to the interior of the basket.

5. In a washing machine, va basket sufficiently imperforate to hold both laundry and laundry liquid for washing, a universal pivot device under the basket, a. shaft connecting said universal pivot device and basket. means for gyrating said basket about said universal pivot device for washmg, means fomspinning said basket about its own axis for drying, said basket having a bottom wall, an upstanding inner annular conical side wall converging inwardly and upwardly and having discharge openings at its maximum diameter well below the top of the basket, said basket having an outer annular side wall disposed outwardly of said inner side wall, and connected thereto below said openings, an inwardly extending annular top wall connected to the top of said inner side wall and forming a restricted opening to provide access to the interior of the basket, all of said walls being imperforate except for said discharge openings, whereby to prevent liquid being splashed out of the basket during the Washing operation and to prevent clothes from being discharged from the basket during the drying operation.

JAY GRANT DE REMER.

Images