Reversing mechanism for washing-machine drives

Application filed June 26, 1920. Serial No. 391,882.

To dll w h om it may concern:

Be. it known that I, John R. Spencer, a citizen of. the United States, and a resident of Erie, in the county, of Erie and 5 State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Reversing Mechanism for Washing-Machine Drives, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to driving· mecha¹⁹ nisms for washing machines or similar apparatus and has for an object to produce a driving mechanism which is simpler in construction and more positive and effective in operation than similar mechanisms now in 15 use and known to me.

This and other objects which will be made apparent throughout the further description of my invention, are. attained by means of a mechanism embodying the features ²⁹ herein described and illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof.

. In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation, of a washing machine shown in con²⁵ nection. with a sectional view of a portion of a. driving mechanism embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2—2 of Figure 1 and 'Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view for graphically il30 lustrating the principle of operation of the mechanism embodying my invention.

In. washing machines employing- a revolving clothes-carrying cylinder or drum it. is desirable to periodically reverse the 35 direction of rotation of the cylinder or drum and one of the objects of my invention is to produce means for effectively and positively accomplishing such reversals.

Another object is to produce a. driving40 mechanism for such machines in which more effective means are employed for reversing the rotation of the cylinder or drum than are now employed ancl known to me.

A further object is to produce a driving 45 mechanism for washing machines and similar apparatus employing a reversing mechanism so arranged that the clutch shifting device is moving at maximum speed at the time of releasing one driving mechanism and 50 just prior to the engagement of the other driving mechanism.

The . mechanism illustrated as an embodiment of my invention includes a driving gear 5 which is rigidly mounted on a shaft o5 6 secured or operatively coupled to the rotating cylinder or drum, As- shown, the gear 5 is a bevel gear and is located within a casing 7 which may be .secured to the frame 8 of a washing machine. This gear is continuously in mesh with two gears 9 and 60 10 which are shown as bevel gears located at. diametrically opposite points, with relation to the gear 5, and which are loosely mounted, on a shaft 11. A bevel gear 12 is shown rigidly mounted on the shaft 11 and 65 meshing with a bevel gear 13 mounted, on a shaft 14. The shaft 14 ma v be driven by. a motor 15, or any suitable driving mechanism, and as shown, a reduction, gearing 16 is located between the motor and the 70 shaft 14.

The gears 9 and 10 ape adapted to be alternately coupled to the-shaft 11 so that one or the other imparts rotation from the shaft 11 to the gear 5 and consequently to 75 the rotating drum or cylinder. As illustrated, this is accomplished by means of a clutch member 17 which is .splined or otherwise mounted on to the shaft 11 so that it is adapted to be moved into clutching 80 engagement with either the gear 9 or the gear 10. As shown, the clutch member 17 is provided at each encl with longitudinally projecting teeth 18, which are adapted to engage corresponding teeth 19 formed on 85 the gears 9 and 10. It will, of course, be understood from the illustration that the teeth 18 at one encl of the member. 17 move out oi engagement with the teeth 19 of one of the gears 9 and 10 as the teeth 18 90 at the other end of the member move into engagement with the teeth 19 of the other gear. With this arrangement one of the gears is operatively disconnected from the shaft 11 as the other is operatively coupled 95 to it. It will also be. understood from an inspection of the drawings-that the gears 9 and 10 are so located with relation to the gear 5 that they will drive) the gear 5 in opposite directions, assuming' rotation in loo one direction of the shaft 11.

. In the apparatus illustrated, the operation of the clutch- member 17 is controlled by a clutch shifting lever 20, which may be fulcrumed on-a) stationary. pin- 21 locatM 105 withm the casing 7- As shown, the lever may project through . a suitable slot 22 formed in the casing so that if may-be employed in manually shifting the clutch) 17.

This clutch shifting lever is .controlled by no a stop 23 through the agency of a finger 24 carried by the lever 20, As shown, the stop

1,504,084 compress the spring 30.. It will also be apparent that the spring in being compressed will resist the compression movement of the lever until the lever has reached an intermediate position in which the pivot points of v'¹the spring blocks 31 and 32 lie in the same straight line with the pivot point of the lever 20. It will also be apparent that any further motion of the lever past this midposition will cause the compressive force of <’ the spring to exert itself in continuing the movement of the lever.

In the drawings, the arrangement of the lever 20, the snap spring 30 and the operative connection between the lever .20 and ^;;1the clutch member 17 is somewhat diagrammatic, but illustrates the principle of operation of this portion of the apparatus. It will, of course, be apparent that the clutch member 17 and its operating mechanism s > must be so designed that one of the gears 9 and 10 is operatively disconnected from the shaft 11 before the other gear is operatively coupled to it. In order ...to accomplish this and at the same time reduce the shifting mo- ^!'O tion of the clutch member and, therefore, the range of neutral positions to a. minimum, I employ a lost motion connection between the lever 20 and the clutch member. With this arrangement one of the gears 9 ⁹³and 10 will be effective as a positive driving element of the gear 5 and consequently of the gear 25 until after the lever 20 has moved well past its mid position. This insures a positive and rapid operation of the clutch ^1,)0member 17 and effects a quick reversal of the gear 5 and consequently the clothes-carrying cylinder, since the clutch member is so designed that as soon as one of the gears 9 or 10 is rendered ineffective as the driving 105 agent of the gear 5, the other gear is rendered effective. This is accomplished by. so proportioning the clutch member 17 with relation to its travel and also with relation to the travel of the lever 20 that the teeth 18 i at one end of this member engage the teeth 19 of the adjacent gear immediately after the teeth 18 at the other end of the member have disengaged the teeth 19 of the adjacent and co-operating gear. . ^{1; 1}

One of the principal features of my invention is the mechanism disclosed for operating the lever 20. This mechanism is so arranged that the number of revolutions between each reversal of the gear 5 may ⁵-^Jbe varied by merely varying the extreme positions or the limits of travel of the lever 20 or its stop engaging finger 24. It is also so arranged that the stop 23 engages the finger 24 while moving at substantially its !-> greatest speed. This occasions a quick and positive operation of the clutch shifting ' mechanism, consequently renders the entire operating mechanism more effective in operation and reduces the length of time durq is mounted on a gear 25 which is relatively mounted on a short shaft 26 carried by the gear 5. The gear 25 meshes with & stationary gear 27, which in Figure 2 is 5 shown rigidly mounted on a bearing housing of the shaft 6. The stop 23 is preferably located near the periphery of the gear 25 and as illustrated, forms, in effect, a lateral extension of one of the teeth of that gear. It io will, of course, be understood that this special arrangement of the stop is merely illustrative and is not an essential detail of the invention.

During the operation of the apparatus 15 each of the gears 9 and 10 are periodically operatively coupled to the shaft 11 so as to impart rotation to the gear 5, first in one and then in the other direction. The gear 5 in rotating about its axis causes the gear 25 ϊίι to roll around the gear 27 and at the same time rotate about its mounting shaft 26. This causes the stop 23 to occupy varying positions with relation to the gear 5 at the end of each revolution of. the cylinder, but 21 after a predetermined number of revolutions of the cylinder, the relative positions of the gears 5 and 25 are such that the stop 23 moves into engagement with the finger 24 and shifts the position of. the lever 20 r for the purpose of disengaging the clutch member from the operative gear and moving it into clutching engagement with the other gear 9 or 10.

It will, of course, be apparent that the stop 23 is effective as a positive power driven airent only so long as one or the other of the gears 9 and 10 'is operatively coupled to the shaft 11, and that consequently some means must be employed for carrying the 40 lever 20 past the neutral position, in which the clutch member 17 is out of engagement with both of the gears 9 and 10, and into cou^: pling engagement with the other gear. As shown in the drawings, a snap spring 30 is 45 employed for the purpose of continuing the motion of the lever initiated by the stop 23, so as to ensure a positive and effective operation of the clutch member 17.

The snap spring 30 is illustrated as a com50 pression spring, one end of which is carried by a spring block 31 pivotally secured.to the lever 20 and the other end of which is carried by a spring block 32 pivotally secured to the casing 7 at a point substantially mid55 way between the extreme limits of travel of the lever 20. Assuming that the gear 5 is rotating in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 3 and that the stop 23 has just encountered the finger 24 of the lever 60 20, it will be apparent that a further rotation of the gear 5 in the direction of the arrow will positively move the lever toward its intermediate position and that this motion of the lever will not only shift the po65 sition of the clutch member 17, but will also

1,504,084 iilg 'whioh the cylinder stands still between reversals.

In the apparatus illustrated the sta. p?^nar7. S^{ear 4S} provided with 13 teeth, 5 whereas, the. gear 25, which meshes with it, is/ provided with 15 teeth. As shown in Figure 3, the extreme positions of the lever 20 li re .such that the arc a,' subtended by: the F^freihe-positions of the lever aiicl measured io f rom the .center . Of the gear 5 at its extreme positions iii which the stop 23 engages ⁵ the -finger 24, : is 3 tooth spaces measured oh the gear 27. Every revolution of the gear 5 will cause the stop 23, ear15 Hed ;by‘ the. gear 25 to fall back 2 tooth spaces with, relation to the gear 27. Consequently with a continuous rotation in one direction of the gear 5,. the stop 23 will m ^-° finger engaging position everv 20 15th 'revolution. The reversal of the gear 5 and - the operation of the clutch shifting inechahism,'however, occasions a shifting of the position of the finger 24 and also causes the stop 23 to.Move back through the finger 25 engaging position after each such reversal.

As shown, the shifting of the lever 20 causes the finger 24 to occupy a position 3 tooth spaces (measured on gear 27) ahead of its original position when the reversal in rotation of the gear 5 is taken into account. At the time Of reversal the shifting of the finger 24 causes the stop 23 to occupy a position, with relation to the new position of the finger 24, that it would have ³⁵ occupied after 10 revolutions, assuming that the count began with the stop 23 in a finger engaging position corresponding to the new position Of the finger 24. Under such conditions, five revolutions of the gear 5 will 40 bring the stop into engagement, with the finger 24 in its new position. In other words an operation of the mechanism which causes the lever 20 to move from the full line to the dotted line, position in Figure 3, will ⁴⁵ cause a reversal, of the gear 5, assuming that the gear 5 is moving in the direction of .the arrow in Figure 3. This reversal causes the stop 23 to move back through the position indicated in full lines in Figure 3, 50 and a continuation of the rotation of the gear 5 in a direction opposite than that indicated by the arrow would cause the stop to again Occupy this position after 15 revolulions. The finger 24 occupies the dotted ⁰⁵ line .position, and will, therefore, prevent a continuation of the reversed rotation of the -gearh 'since it will intercept the stop 23 •and thereby. cause a second reversal of the .. _?h.. gear 5- before tbe stop has completed 15 and '.before .it has / again Oc..cupied the full. line, position in Figure’ 3.

The.· stop 23 in the full line position occupies' a position with relation fd the finger 24 in the.dotteddine; position that it would ⁰⁸ have’ occupied after' 10 revolutions, assuming that the count began with the stop 23 in the new or dotted line position and with the gear 5 rotating in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow. Consequently 5 revolutions of the gear 5 will bring the. stop to the clotted line finger engaging position. Inasmuch as the reversal does not take place until the clutch member 17 is actually disconnected from one of the gears 9 and 10 and is moved into engagement with the other gear, the gear 5 will make 5 and a fraction revolutions between each reversal. From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the number of reversals between revolutions may be varied by changing the ratios of the gears 25 and 27 or hv changing the extreme limits of travel of the finger 24. Either of these changes may be made .without great expense and without necessitating a redesigning of other parts, consequently apparatus embodying my invention may be reconstructed to suit operating conditions with a minimum amount of expense and labor.

It will be apparent that the curve generated by the stop 23 is an epicycloid and that, the stop is moving through the flat portion of this curve and at substantially its greatest relative speed with relation to the finger 24 at the time it engages the finger. It will also be apparent that the speed of the stop is not appreciably diminished until after it has moved the finger 24 well past the mid position.’ With this arrangement, the finger will be carried past the mid or neutral position while the stop is moving at its greatest finger displacing speed and . as a result the inertia of the moving lever and the. impelling force of the spring 30 will positively and. quickly shift the clutch member. 17. This is a material advantage, since a slow shifting of the clutch mechanism, which permits a dwell of the edges of the clutch teeth for an appreciable period is objectional because it is liable to break the clutch teeth and damage other portions of the driving mechanism.

While I have illustrated and described but one embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, additions and omissions in the operating mechanism may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my. invention as set forth by the appended claims. ‘