Washing machine

May 16, 1961 j. _F. belaieff 2,984,094

WASHING MACHINE

Filed Oct. 28, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1

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May 16, 1961

Filed Oct. 28, 1958

J. F. BELAIEFF

WASHING MACHINE

2,984,094

Sheets-Sheet 2

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J. F. BELAIEFF

WASHING MACHINE

May 16, 1961

Filed Oct. 28, 1958

2,984,094

Slieets-Sheet 3

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2,984,094

WASHING MACHINE

James Frank Belaieff, Collonge-Bellerive, Switzerland, assignor to Frame S.A., Fribourg, Switzerland, a Swiss company

Filed Oct. 28,1958, Ser. No. 770,055

Claims priority, application Switzerland Nov. 8, 1957

Claims. (Cl. 68—24)

The present invention has for object a washing machine of the type comprising a rotary drum permitting of washing and wringing, secured to a nonvertical driving shaft rotating in at least one bearing provided in one of the end walls of a tank suspended elastically inside a frame. Washing machines of this kind, at present known, do not permit efficient wringing of the linen after washing, because the irregular distribution of the linen, loaded with water, along the inner wall of the drum, does not permit of driving said drum at a sufficient rotary speed to obtain a sufficient expulsion of water from the linen, under the action of centrifugal force. Indeed, the irregular and unbalanced distribution of the bundles of linen soaked in water, creates forces which have a destructive action on the frame of the machine and on the bearings of the shaft carrying the drum, the values of which are a function of the speed of rotation and of the diameter of the Hmm. Now, experience has shown in actual fact that in a washing machine of normal or standard dimensions, comprising, for example, a horizontal drum of a diameter of 40 to 60 cm. (i.e. about 15 to 23 inches), it is practically impossible to drive the said drum at a speed exceeding 400 or 500 revolutions per minute, while, in order to obtain a wringing of the linen which may be* considered as sufficient, a speed of rotation of at least 600 to 700 revolutions per minute would be necessary.

The washing machine, object of the present invention, tends to overcome this disadvantage by the fact that the said drum is provided with a balancing device formed by inertia bodies immersed in a liquid and rolling freely inside at least one annular shaped chamber, hermetically sealed and fixed to the drum, transfer passages being provided between the said inertia bodies and the walls of the chamber and by the fact that the free section of the said transfer passages, the density of the inertia bodies and the viscosity of the liquid filling the chamber, have values such that for the speed of rotation of the drum corresponding to the washing, the inertia bodies are inactive and, under the effect of gravity, roll in the lower region of the chamber, whereas, for a speed of rotation exceeding that for the washing, but lower than that necessary for wringing, the said inertia bodies are driven in the movement of the drum and are distributed automatically along the annular chamber, so as to balance the bundles of linen irregularly distributed inside the drum.

The accompanying drawing shows diagrammatically and by way of example two embodiments of a washing machine according to the invention.

Fig. 1 is an outer perspective view of the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a view in axial section of the machine shown in Fig. 1 and equipped with inertia bodies according to a first variant.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along line III—III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view and on a larger scale of an inertia body.

Fig. 5 is a view on a very large scale of a detail.

Figs. 6 to 9 are diagrams showing the operation of a first variant of the balancing device.

Fig. 10 shows the operation of a second variant of 5 the balancing device.

Fig. 11 is a view of a variant of an inertia body, certain parts being shown in section.

Fig. 12 is a view in profile and on a large scale of an inertia body according to another variant.

Fig. 13 is a view in axial section of the second embodiment of the washing machine.

According to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawing, the washing machine comprises a frame formed by a chassis 1, fixed to a base 2 and the front wall of which 15 is provided with a door 3 giving access to the inside of a rotary drum 4 (Fig. 2) secured to the end of a driving shaft 5. The said shaft rotates freely in a bearing 6, provided in the end wall 7 of a tank 8 surrounding the rotary drum 4 the peripheral wall of which has 20 a large number of perforations 9. An electric motor M secured to the lower part of the tank 8 drives, on the one hand, a pump 11 and, on the other hand, the shaft 5 through the agency of a change speed V and a trapezoidal belt transmission 12. The tank 8 is sus25 pended inside the frame through the agency of suspension devices comprising, on the one hand, springs 14 secured to the frame and connected to the tank 8 by cables 15 passing over pulleys 16 and, on the other hand, shock absorbers 17 fixed to the tank 8 and to the frame.

The said tank 8 is thus able to move inside the frame, against the action of the suspension devices, but cannot be driven in the rotary motion of the drum 4. The rear end wall 18 of the drum is rigidly secured to the end of the driving shaft 5, and its front wall 19 is pro35 vided with a central orifice 20 and an approach passage 21,

The said rotary drum is further provided with a balancing device comprising two annular chambers 22 hermetically sealed and the outer diameter of which corre40 sponds approximately to the diameter of the drum 4.

Each chamber 22 is completely filled with a liquid, such as oil. At least two inertia bodies, formed by rollers 26 (Figs. 4 and 5), rotate freely inside each annular chamber 22. Each roller 26 is of general cylindrical 45 shape and is provided, on the one hand, with two circular roller-tracks 27 and, on the other hand, with balls 28 partly engaged in housings 29 made in each of its end faces 30 and regularly distributed along a circle concentric with the axis of rotation of the roller. The said 5θ roller-tracks and the said balls provide between the walls of each chamber 22 and each roller 26 transfer passages 31 which convey to the rollers a certain liberty of movement inside their annular chamber, by permitting the liquid to flow on either side of each roller.

The surface of the said roller-tracks 27, as well as: the surface of the balls 28, are polished and have a hardness at least equal to that of hardened steel and a very small friction coefficient, for example, at the most equal to that of hardened steel. Thus, the contact surface be₆₀ tween the rollers and the walls of the chamber 22 are reduced as much as possible, and friction is reduced to a sufficiently low degree to permit as described hereafter a movement of the rollers during the wringing in order to restore the balance of the drum 4 as the water is ex55 tracted.

The operation of the washing machine described is the following:

After having introduced the linen by the door 3 into the drum 4 and having introduced in the tank 8 the ₇0 necessary quantity of water, the user actuates a control member 32 from the position of rest O to the position L, so as to start up the electric motor M and drive

2,084,094 the drum 4 at a speed of about 60 revolutions per minute necessary for washing the linen. At this speed of rotation, the rollers 26 are inoperative and roll in the lower part (Fig. 6) of each annular chamber 22. Indeed, the friction of the rollers along the walls of the annular chambers is negligible and the said rollers cannot therefore be driven along with the drum and, moreover, the section of the transfer passages 31 is of sufficient size, relative to the viscosity of the liquid filling the chambers 22, for the resistance offered, by the said passages to the flow of liquid therethrough, to be insufficient to overcome the action of the weight of the rollers and drive them in the movement of rotation of the drum.

At this speed of 60 revolutions per minute, the weight of the rollers 26 rolling in the lower part of each annular chamber is not troublesome, all the more so since the lower part of the drum bathes in the washing water.

When the washing of the linen is finished, the user empties the tank 8 by operating a control member 33 which puts into operation the pump 11. Once the emptying is finished, the user operates the control member 32 to the position E, in order to bring about, through the agency of the change speed V, a progressive increase in the speed of the drum 4 to a speed of 600, 700 or even 1000 revolutions per minute in order to effect the wringing of the linen.

At a speed of rotation of 250 to 300 revolutions per minute, the friction of the rollers 26 along the walls of the annular chambers 22, but particularly, the liquid enclosed in the said chambers, the viscosity of which is too great relative to the section of the transfer passages 31 to allow a rapid flow of the liquid from one side to the other of each roller, drives the said rollers against the action of their gravity to above the horizontal diametral plane of the drum 4.

At that moment, the inertia bodies are rapidly accelerated up to the speed of rotation of the drum, thus bringing about a temporary increase of the couple necessary for driving the drum 4. Due to the fact that the said drum is connected to the motor M through the agency of the change speed V, the motor rotates during the whole period of acceleration of the drum, approximately at its working speed, so that, a motor M of a power equal to that of motors generally employed to drive the drum of a known washing machine of this kind, is capable of providing the temporary motor torque necessary for the setting in action of the balancing device, which occurs at a speed which is a function of the running conditions and, in particular, of the temperature of the liquid enclosed in the annular chambers 22. On the other hand, by equipping the washing machine described as in the case of washing machines of this kind at present in use, with a two speeds motor or with a change speed with two or even three speeds, at the moment of setting in action the balancing device, the motor generally rotates at a speed much lower than its working speed, so that in order to overcome the braking torque created by the sudden acceleration of the inertia bodies when the balancing device is operated, it would be necessary to over dimension the driving motor to an exaggerated degree, that is to say, to equip the machine with a motor of a power equal to a multiple of the power of motors which normally equip machines of this kind. As soon as the rollers 26 have reached the speed of the drum, the inertia bodies and the drum together are progressively accelerated to the wringing speed.

If the bundles of linen 34 soaked with water are distributed regularly of symmetrically along the inner wall of the drum, the rollers 26 distribute themselves regularly (Fig. 7) about the axis of rotation of the drum, whereas if the bundles of linen 34 are distributed irregularly, the rollers 26 place themselves automatically opposite the said bundles of linen (Figs. 8 and 9) and so as to balance said bundles.

Due to the fact that the drum is provided with two annular chambers provided with rollers forming inertia bodies and which are situated at the two ends of the drum, a practically perfect balance is obtained, so that it is possible to drive the said drum without risk of damaging the bearings or of dangerous action on the frame, at speeds quite sufficiently high to obtain an efficient wringing of the linen, so that after a short period, the user may stop the motor M, open the door 3 and withdraw his linen sufficiently wrung for it to be ironed without previous drying.

The tests carried out have shown that when the friction of the inertia bodies 26 between each other and along the walls of the chambers 22 is sufficiently low, the balancing of the lump or lumps formed by the bundles of linen 34, irregularly distributed inside the drum, takes place automatically and that, further, the relative positions of the inertia bodies are modified automatically as the extraction of the water proceeds during the wringing of the linen, so that the said device automatically maintains a practically perfect balancing oi the drum 4, in spite of the continual modifications in the weight of the bundles irregularly distributed in the said drum.

However, in order to realize such a balancing of the drum, it is still necessary that the rollers 26 be not only dynamically balanced in relation to their axis of rotation, but also that in each elementary ring concentric to the axis of the roller, the elementary masses be distributed in a homogeneous manner. Indeed, if this condition is not fulfilled, the centrifugal force acting on the elementary sector of an elementary ring comprising a larger number of elementary masses and which is furthest from the axis of rotation of the drum 4, brings about a movement of the said roller along the wall 41, until the said elementary sector which comprises a larger number of elementary masses be situated in a radial plane of the drum. Consequently, the said centrifugal force generally tends to maintain the roller out of its exact balancing position.

In order to take this action into account, the housings 29, provided for the balls 28, have a larger volume than that of the part of the ball housed inside the said housing. The volume of the space 35 (Fig. 5) is such that the weight of a corresponding volume of the material of said roller 26 is equal to the weight of the part of the ball 28 projecting from the end wall 30 of the roller 26. In this manner, the elementary masses of the elementary ring containing the balls being distributed in a homonogeneous manner throughout the volume of the said elementary ring, the centrifugal force, acting on each elementary sector of the said elementary ring, is of the same amount and therefore has no further influence on the position of the roller, so that the latter places itself automatically in its exact balancing position.

The number of inertia bodies rolling in each chamber 22 is at least equal to two. However, the smaller the number of the inertia bodies is, the greater is the volume of each inertia body. For this reason, it is often advantageous to provide for a large number of inertia bodies 26α, as shown in Fig. 10, which permits of producing a balancing device in which the annular chambers 22 are of less volume. In order to avoid an untimely driving of the inertia bodies during the period of washing, the number of the said inertia bodies is at the most equal to that filling half the length of the chamber 22 (Fig. 10).

According to Fig. 12, each inertia body is formed by a roller 266 the front faces 306 of which comprises a bearing surface 36 concentric to the axis of rotation of the roller. A ring of balls 37,. fixed on each bearing surface 36, permits of reducing, to a large extent, the friction between the roller and the walls 24 of the chamber 22.

The roller tracks 276 may be of one piece with the body of the roller or may be formed by hardened steel circles hooped on the body of the roller.

s • Fig. 11 shows a variant of an inertia body formed by a hollow cylinder 23 closed at its two ends and filled with a liquid of high density such as mercury or with pieces of a material having a density at least equal to that of steel. Satisfactory results have been obtained with iron 5 or lead shot. The end walls 25 of the cylinder are provided with balls 28c placed in the housings 38 in the shape of a portion of a sphere.

The cylinder 23 is provided with two ball bearings 39 the inner ring of which is integral with the said cyl- 10 inder, while the outer ring rolls along the wall 41 of the chamber 22. In this variant, the distribution of the elementary masses in the cylinder 23 may be of any kind, homogeneous or not, because the centrifugal force, acting on an elementary sector which comprises a larger num- 15 her of elementary masses, merely produces a rotation of the cylinder inside the outer ring of the ball bearings, but no movement of the inertia body out of its exact balancing position.

It is obvious that, in a variant of this embodiment 20 the hollow cylinder 23 may be replaced by a length of a metal bar having a high density, such as lead for example.

When the length of the cylinder 23 is small, for example at the most equal to three times the width of the ring of the ball bearing 39, the said cylinder may then 25 be provided with a single roller bearing 39.

Fig. 13 shows a washing machine of the type comprising a drum 4α supported at its two ends. In this figure, the elements and members already described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 bear the same reference ciphers. 30 The motor M drives the drum 4α through the agency of the change speed V and trapezoidal belts. This change speed is of known type comprising two grooved pulleys 42 connected by a trapezoidal belt 43 and each formed of two cheeks movable one with respect to the other. 35

The relative position of the cheeks of one of the pulleys is controlled by a control device comprising an operating member c secured to the end of a rod t which carries one of the cheeks of the pulley 42.

The tank 8, connected to the frame 1, 2 by elastic 40 devices and shock absorbers (not shown), comprises an opening 44 corresponding to a loading opening 45 made in the upper wall 46 of the frame and closed by a cover 47.

The drum 4α, carried at each end by a spindle 5 rotating freely in a bearing 6α, also comprises an opening 48, ⁴³closed by a small door 49.

This drum is provided with a balancing device similar to the one described above and which comprises two annular chambers 22 in which roll inertia bodies such as spheres 50, preferably of hardened steel. Each annular ⁵⁰chamber is formed by a dished base 51 to which is electrically soldered a dished cheek 52. An annular joint 53 ensures imperviousness and a steel band 54 applied elastically against the inner wall 55 of greater diameter of the chamber 22 ensures a practically everlasting run- ⁵⁵way.

The section of the transfer passages 31 is adapted to the density of the inertia bodies and to the viscosity of the liquid filling the chamber 22 through modification of the shape of the parts 56 and 57 of the base and the ⁸⁰cheek which form walls cutting two oppo'site angles of the chamber 22, so that the cross section of the said chamber has the general shape of a square of which two opposite angles are taken off.

The operation of this second embodiment of the wash- ⁶⁵ing machine is similar to that tii the washing machine described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, but offers from the constructional point of view certain advantages, particularly as regards the realization of the annular cham- γθ bers and the inertia bodies.

Two embodiments of the washing machine, objects of the invention, have been described above by way of example and with reference to' the accompanying drawing, but it is obvious that many variants may be pro- 75 vided. Thus; for example, the drum could be provided with only one annular chamber filled with a liquid and provided with inertia bodies. In such a case, it is preferable to dispose the said annular chamber in the median plane of the drum. Although in order to produce a dynamic balancing, at least two annular chambers provided with inertia bodies are necessary, satisfactory results have been obtained by means of a balancing device comprising only one annular chamber provided with inertia bodies. In such a case, it is however preferable to give the drum a general shape of a double cone, so that the bundles of linen distribute themselves in a nearly equal manner on either side of a diametral plane passing through the annular chamber of the balancing device.

The annular chambers could be disposed either inside the drum, or on its circumference. However, it is advantageous to provide annular chambers 22 having a mean diameter as large as possible, so as to obtain, by means of inertia bodies of a given weight, a balancing effect as great as possible. The annular chamber fixed to the front wall of the drum must necessarily, in the case of a machine provided with a side door 3, have an inner diameter at least equal to that of the channel 21 giving access to the inside of the drum 4. It is advantageous to dispose the annular chambers of the balancing device relative to the drum 4 in such a way that they are situated out of the path traversed by the drops of water expulsed from the linen during the wringing and that, further, the said annular chambers do not hinder the free circulation of the water between the tank and the inside of the drum during the washing operation.

The rollers 26 may have the general shape of barrels of double cones or any other shape whereby they may roll along the outer wall of the annular chamber with a minimum of friction between them and the side walls, so that they may adopt freely, and at any moment, their exact balancing position.

The annular chambers being subjected to relatively wide ranges of temperature, it is advantageous to fill the annular chambers of the balancing device with a liquid whose variation in viscosity in function of the temperature is relatively small. Indeed, during washing, the hot water at a temperature of about 70 to 85° C. (i.e. 158 to 185° F.) maintains inside the tank and the annular chambers a temperature about the same amount, whereas, during the periods of rinsing the cold water used lowers the temperature inside the drum and in the annular chambers to a temperature of about 15 to 25° C. (i.e. 59 to 77° F).

It is therefore advantageous that, for a variation in temperature within the said limits, the viscosity of the liquid enclosed in the annular chambers should remain as constant as possible and that the relation of the viscosities should be equal at most to 1/10.

Mineral oils of so-called “constant viscosity” as well as silicone oils have given satisfactory results.

In order to permit the expansion of the liquid enclosed in the annular chambers, corresponding to the temperature variations indicated above, it is necessary to provide, during the filling of each chamber, a space for the expansion of the said liquid.

In practice, use is made of a liquid the viscosity of which is sufficient for it to be driven in the rotation of the drum so as to constitute a driving agent for the inertia bodies in the movement of rotation of the drum, as well as a shock absorber which opposes itself during the operation of the balancing device, to a clashing of the inertia bodies which would produce a disagreeable noise for the user.

In all the embodiments described, the washing machine comprises a drum 4, 4α rotating on a horizontal axis, but it is obvious that in a modified embodiment the said axis could be slanting.