WO1994025661A1

WO1994025661A1 - Washing machine having a filter removeable from above

Info

Publication number: WO1994025661A1
Application number: PCT/IT1993/000050
Authority: WO
Inventors: Urbano Petito
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-04-28
Filing date: 1993-05-17
Publication date: 1994-11-10
Anticipated expiration: 1995-10-28
Also published as: ITMI930831A0; IT1272377B; AU4353293A; ITMI930831A1

Abstract

Washing machine having a perforated filter (41) resting in a vertical tubular body (20) which, in addition to the holes for inflow (30) of water and outflow (31) after filtering, extends vertically upwards to a level not lower than the highest level reached by water in the machine, communicating with an aperture (22) made in one side (13) of the washing machine (10) through which by means of a handle (44) and pulling means (43) the filter (41) can be extracted for cleaning purposes without any risk of water spilling out from inside the machine (11).

Description

Washing machine having a filter removeable from above The invention concerns electric appliances for washing objects especially clothing and household linen. Present-day washing machines do a complete wash without human intervention apart from putting the articles to be washed and a detergent inside the machine, setting it to carry out a washing sequence suited to the dirtiness or delicary of the articles inside. Threads, fluff and other materials often became detached from the articles in the machine and can seriously damage its delicate works.

For this reason the washing and rinsing water is carried by a special pump through a filter to catch these mater¬ ials. This filter is usually placed near the bottom of the ma¬ chine, a position which creates some problems. One is that stagnant water collects near the door of the filter; ano¬ ther is that if the filter is so clogged as to obstruct the passage of water, the machine remains full, or nearly so though cleaning the filter necessitates its removal. Clearly, when doing this, the water which may amount to quite a quantity left in the machine, will drain out onto the floor, it being almost impossible to put any adequate receptacle under the filter door because it is placed so low down on the machine.

On the other hand the efficiency of the machine is affec¬ ted by the cleanliness or otherwise of the filter which, if clogged, may present problems. The above invention overcomes this difficulty as will be explained below.

Subject of the invention is a washing machine comprising a drum, loaded from the side or from above, a pump for draining off dirty water and a filter on the outflow pipe fitted inside an internal vertical tubular body having inlet and outlet holes at different levels near its lower end.

The inlet hole is connected to the pipe draining the water from the machine and the outflow hole, lower down, is con- nected by a pipe to the drainage pump.

The above tubular body communicates with an upper aperture opening onto the outside of the washing machine at a level higher than the maximum level of water inside. The filter is connected by a pulling means to a handle placed inside said aperture.

The vertical distance between inlet and outflow holes is greater than the height of the filter.

The length of the pulling means determines the position of the filter between inlet and outflow holes when the handle is in place inside the above aperture.

Length and width of said aperture are not less than the same dimensions of a cross section of the tubular body; in this way the filter can pass through said aperture. It is clear from the foregoing -that when the water is being run off it enters the tubular body with no risk of its spil- ling out from the upper aperture, passes through the filter and is then drained away outside the washing machine. By pulling on the handle the filter can be raised up and lifted out through the upper aperture for cleaning. The filter is p-referably of the openwork type with suitab- ly perforated sides.

In one preferred execution the tubular body has a constant square or rectangular cross section and the openwork filter is substan ially parallelepiped in shape, its length and width corresponding to the internal length and width of the tubular body and being respectively less than the width and height of the aperture connecting the tubular body with the outside of the machine.

In washing machines loaded from the front the tubular body is placed close to an inside corner between the front and one side of the machine.

The aperture connecting the tubular body with the outside is made in the front of the washing machine or, if the ma¬ chine is loaded from the top, it is made in the top surface. Preferably the tubular body connects with the front of the machine and therefore the above upper aperture on the outside corresponds to an aperture made in one side of the tubular body.

To extract the filter by pulling on the handle, said filter will move upwards, parallel to itself, till it reaches the aperture made in the front of the washing machine.

On reaching this point it is pulled forward horizontally, parallel to itself, through said upper aperture and so towards the outside of the machine.

In a preferred execution the ha-ndle is virtually shaped like a box and is housed in a chamber, at the upper end of the tubular body, said chamber communica ing with the aperture on the front of the machine.

When not in use said handle therefore lies entirely inside said chamber, its forward surface being substantially flush with the front surface of the machine, from where it can be easily pulled out to lift up the filter.

This handle is made practically in two parts: a lower part into which the fingers can enter and an upper part,hook-

-shaped or of some other shape, for an easy grip by the fingers.

Once outside its chamber, the handle is pulled to extract the filter from the tubular body, and therefore from the machine itself, by merely raising it.

The pulling means between handle and filter may be a strip of metal or plastic.

All four sides of the filter, parallelepiped in shape, are perforated while the pulling strip is fixed firmly to a central point on the base of the filter.

The invention clearly offers many advantages.

The filter can be cleaned even when the machine is full of water with no risk of spillage onto the floor. Taking the filter out and putting it back is extremely simple and its extensive filtering surface ensures maximum efficiency.

All the above is easy and inexpensive to make.

Characteristics of the invention will be made still clearer by the following example of its execution illustrated by diagrammat ically drawn figures.

Fig. 1 The washing machine with filter removeable from above Fig. 2 The washing machine partially cut away.

Fig. 3 The machine with the filter being pulled out.

Fig. 4 The machine with the fulter fully out.

Fig. 5 The filter drawn separately. The washing machine 10 with top surface 15, bath 11 loaded from the front and window 12 contains the oblong vertical tubular body 20 of a constant rectangular cross section, fitted in an inside corner of the machine between the front

13 and one side 14'. At the upper end of said tubular body 20 is the chamber 21, parallelepepid in shape, with its aperture 22 opening out onto the front 13 of the machine, as wide as said tubular body 20.

At the rear of said body's lower end is the inlet hole 30 connected by the discharge pipe 35 to the bath 11, and the outflow hole 31 below connected, by the pipe 32, to the drainage pump 33.

The filtering device 40 comprises the filter 41 with its perforated sides 42 connected by the pulling means 43 to the handle 44 inside the chamber 21 on the tubular body 20.

Said handle 44 consists of a box-shaped body with a lower cavity 45 and a downward sloping piece 46 above.

External dimensions of said handle 44 correspond to those of the chamber 21 and therefore to those of the aperture 22 The pulling means 43 is a metal strip fixed centrally to the base of the filter 41 and also centrally to the under surface of the box-shaped body of the handle 44.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the water draining off from the machine enters through the inlet hole 30 in the tubular body and leaves from the outflow hole 31 after passing through the perforated sides 42 of the filter 41. The impurit ies , or anything else detached from the articles during the washing process, are trapped inside the filter. To remove the filter, it can be simply drawn up from the tubular body housing it by the pulling strip 43 and handle 44 (Figs. 3, 4).

Once lifted out through the aperture 21 (Fig. 5) thorough cleaning becomes a simple matter.

The handle 44 is shaped to facilitate entry of the fingers which can grip if firmly and pull the filter out of the machine .

When not required the front of the handle lies flush with the front of the washing machine, as in Fig. 1.

Claims

C l a ims

1. Washing machine ( 10) comprising a bath ( 11), a dis¬ charge pipe (35) to carry away dirty water, and a pump (33) for draining said water out through a filter (41), characterized in that the filter (41) rests freely inside an internal vertical tubular body (20) at whose lower end there is an inlet hole (30) connected to the pipe (35) for draining water from the bath ( 11) and an outflow hole (31) below the inϊet hole, connected by a pipe (32) to the drainage pump (33), said tubular body (20) communica¬ ting at the top with an aperture (22) opening onto the outside of the machine ( 10), at a level higher than the maximum level reached by water in the bath ( 11), the filter (41) being connected by a pulling means (43) to a handle (44) placed inside said aperture (22), the vertical dis¬ tance between the two lower holes (30,31) being greater than the height of the filter (41), the length of the pulling means (43) being such as to determine the position of the filter (41) between the two holes (30,31) when the handle (44) is inside the above aperture (22), the length and width of said aperture being not less than the length and width of the cross section of the tubular body (20), so that du¬ ring its discharge from the bath ( 11) the water enters the tubular body (20) without any risk of spillage through the aperture (22), passes through the filter (44) and is then drained away outside the machine 10, while by taking hold of the handle (44) the filter (41) can be entirely lifted out through the upper aperture (22) for cleaning purposes.

2. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the filter (41) is of the perforated kind .

3. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the cross section of the tubular body (20) -is constant, square or rectangular, and in that the shape of the perforated filter (41) is substan ially parallelepiped, of a length and width corresponding to the internal length and width of the tubular body (20), the horizontal length and the height of the filter (41) being less than the width and height respectively of the aperture ' (22) through which the tubular body (20) communicates with the outside of the machine ( 10), and which houses the handle (44).

4. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that in washing machines ( 10) loaded from the front, the tubular body (20) is situated inside a cor- ner comprised between the front ( 13) and one side wall ( 14).

5. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the aperture (22), through which the tu¬ bular body (20) communicates with the outside , is made in the front wall ( 13) of the washing machine ( 10).

6. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that ,especially when the washing machine ( 10) is loaded from above, the aperture through which the tubular body (20) communicates with the outside is made in its top surface ( 15).

7. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the tubular body (20) is practically in contact with the front ( 13) of the washing machine ( 10), the upper aperture (22), through which said body (20) com¬ municates with the outside of the machine ( 10), corresponding to an aperture made on the side of said tubular body (20) in contact with the front wall ( 13) of the washing machine (10) so that the filter (41) can be easily extracted by pulling on the handle (44) causing the filter to translate upwards, parallel to itself, till it reaches the aperture (22) made on the front wall ( 13) of the washing machine ( 10) from where it is made to translate through said upper aperture (22) towards the outside of the machine ( 10).

8. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the handle (44) is substantially in .the form of a box end is lodged in a chamber (21) at the upper end of the tubular body (20), .communica ing with the aper¬ ture (22) on the front of the machine ( 10) so that when the handle (44) is not required it fits completely inside said chamber (21) with its outer surface virtually flush with the front ( 13) of the machine ( 10) while it can be easily pulled out for extraction of the filter (41).

9. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 8, characterized in that the handle (44) is practically in two parts, a lower cavity (45) into which the fingers enter and an upper part (46) in the form of a hook or in any case so shaped to allow the fingers to grip the handle (44) and pull it out of the chamber (21) containing it to achieve the pul¬ ling movement needed to bring the filter (41) up through the tubular body (20) and therefore outside the machine ( 10).

10. Washing machine ( 10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the pulling means (43) of the filter(41 is a metal or plastic band.

11. Washing machine (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that the filter (41) is perforated and pa¬ rallelepiped, perforated on all its sides (42),with the pul- ling means (43) fixed to the base of said filter in a central position .