Clothes-wringer.

Application filed April 7, 1909. Serial No. 488,436.

To all whom it may concern: '

Be it known that I, Edwin Firth, a citi- : zen of the United States, residing at Attle- < boro, in the county of Bristol and State or 5 Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Wringer, of which the following is a specification. .

This invention relates to a clothes wringer of that type in which the rollers are driven 10 by intermeshing gears which do not materially vary their position with the rollers as they spread apart or move together under the varying thickness of the articles passed between the rollers.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of devices of this character so. as to be comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, reliable and efficient in use, 20 and of durable and substantial design.

With this and other objects in view, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity m the claims appended hereto. ,

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a central vertical section taken longitudinally through the. wringer. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the wringer. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the bearing plates for the rollers.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views. . ' _Ί . ,,.

Referring to the drawing, A designates the frame of the wringer which consists of end uprights 1 and 2 which are held apart in spaced relation by a top cross piece 3 and front and rear horizontally-disposed vertical plates 4 and 5 adjacent the bottom ot the standards. The lower ends of these standards are recessed at 6, and are provided with vertical members 7 fastened to the standards with their lower ends projecting over the recessed portions of the latter· so as to co। operate with the standards to support the wringer on a tub or other support there being clamping devices 8 disposed in the re25 cesses 6 and operated by screws 9 for clamping the wringer in position. lhe upper ends of the standards are provided with vertical 5o recesses 10 forming spaced parallel members 11 between the upper ends of which the cross bar 3 is disposed, the parts being secured together by bolts 12. Mounted on the frame thus formed, are the upper and lower rollers 60 B and C disposed in parallel relation and yielding with respect to each· other to accommodate themselves to the varying thickness of the articles to be wrung. The upper roller B consists of a metal tube 12^a of such 6o length that the ends thereof will engage m the^lower ends of the guideways formed by the slots 10 in the standards, and the portion of the tube or body 12^a of the roller disposed between the standards, is provided with a rubber or other compressible covering 13 The slots or guideways 10 are closed by bearing plates 14 and 15 secured to the standa?ds 1 and 2, respectively, to thereby form retainers for preventing longitudinal movement of the roller B The roller G is also constructed of a metal tubular body 16 shorter than the tubular body of the upper roller so as to be accommodated between the standards of the frame, and on this body 16 is a rubber or·, other yielding covering 17 which contacts with the covering of the up^FRtecUn the ends of the tube 16 are heads 18 and 19 having peripheral flanges 20 en- 85 gaging the ends of the tube 16, and which are prevented from rotating independently of the tube by screws 20' or equivalent fastenings passing through, the ends of the tube 16 and engaging m the heads, the 90 heads being of thimble form. I he heads are provided with gudgeons 21. centrally disposed and extending through bearing openings 23 in the standards and reduced at their outer ends 22 to engage m bearings 24 in the 95 form of bosses on the inner faces ot tne plates 14 and 15, which bosses are set into the adjacent standards of the frame, lhe head 19 of the roller C has its gudgeon 21 provided with an extension or stuu 25 ioi re- 100 ceiving the gear wheel 26 that is fastened ; thereto by a pin or equivalent means 27. . The plate 15 has an opening 28 for the stud 25 to pass through, and at one side and above

070,31^ the opening 28 is a bearing stud 29 that forms an axle for the operating crank 30 which is equipped with a pinion 31, the operating crank being held in place by a cotter 5 pin 32. The pinion 31 meshes with a gear wheel 33 secured to the shaft 34 that drives the upper roller, and this gear wheel 33 meshes with and drives the pinion 26 for the lower roller. The shaft 34, as shown in Fig.

1, extends through the roller B from one end to the other, and is so connected therewith that the roller is free to move up and down while the gear wheels 26 and 33 are maintained. in mesh, the shaft having what fnay 15 be termed a floating movement to provide for this relative movement of the parts. The outer end of the shaft to which the gear wheel 33 is secured, is reduced to form a shoulder 35 which bears against the inner 20 face of the bearing plate 15, the reduced end of the shaft extending through an opening 36 in the bearing plate. This shoulder 35 cooperates with the gear wheel 33 to prevent longitudinal movement of the floating shaft

34. The inner end of the shaft- 34 is formed into a bifurcated head 37 to straddle a transverse pin 38 riveted or otherwise secured in the extremity of the tubular body 12^a? By means of this connection with the roller

B, the same can be rotated by the shaft 34 in all positions of the roller, The shaft 34 is not secured rigidly to the gear wheel 33, but has a slight play about the pin connecting it to the said gear wheel, so that as the roller moves up and down, the shaft may rock upon its bearing 36 so as to follow the movement of the roller without materially changing or affecting the relative position of the gears 26 and 33. The opposite end of the 40 floating shaft 34 is bifurcated, as shown and as hereinbefore stated, and the bifurcation is. somewhat wider than the diameter of the transverse member or pin 38 so that while the rotation of the floating shaft will neces45 sarily cause a rotation of the roller through the engagement of the flat sides of the bifurcation or open-ended slot with the said pin, the roller will be free to rock without tending to bend or wear the said pin whether the pin be in a vertical or other position at the time the rising or falling movement of the roller occurs. Furthermore, the floating shaft is inclosed by the roller and its gear so that the wringer is not any wider than 55 wringers now in common use and there are no projecting elongated hubs or shafts adjacent the driving gearing which will necessitate the carrying of the operating crank handle to a point appreciably distant from the side of the frame. The construction of the floating shaft, furthermore, facilitates the assembling and disassembling of the parts, inasmuch as after the side plate 15 has been removed a longitudinal movement of the 1 shaft will separate the roller from the shaft, 65 as open extremity of the bifurcated end of the shaft will move readily past the diametrical pin 38. Obviously the parts can be as readily reassembled.

A tensioning device is employed for main-. 70 taiping, the rollers in cooperative relation, and this device comprises, in the present instance, a movable cross-bar 39 having its ends freely movable in the guideways or slots 10 of the standards, and the ends of 75 this cross-bar are recessed at 40 for accommodating the anti-friction wheels 41 mounted on axles 42 in the said bar, with the lower portions of the wheels bearing on the ends of the roller B that project beyond the ends 80 of the rubber covering 13 thereof. The opposed faces of the fixed and movable cross bars 3 and 39 are provided with alining recesses 43 forming seats for the ends of compression springs 44 which, by the combined 85 effect, produce a great tension on the wringer rollers. Each spring 44 is inclosed in a,' tubular housing or sleeve 45, the ends of which extend into the recesses 43 so as to thereby form guides for the springs, the 90 sleeves being of such length as to permit of unrestricted movement of the cross bar 39 toward the fixed cross bar 3.

The sleeves 45, by engaging in the sockets of both cross bars, prevent the movable 95 cross bar from longitudinal displacement. In the present instance, the bearing plates 14 and 15 extend upwardly far enough to form additional means for preventing longitudinal movement of the .bar 39. The 10® springs 44 are so placed as to exert a substantially equal pressure at both ends of the upper roller by means of the wheels 41 which/bear directly on the upper roller.

. In ^practice, the crank 30 is operated for 105 simultaneously turning the rollers to wring the articles in the usual manner. As the rollers are turned, they can freely move apart or together to accommodate the thickness of the articles passing between them, 100 and at the same time exert a substantially uniform pressure on the article. As the upper roller moves away from the lower roller, the shaft 34 will tilt and the springs 44 will be compressed, because of the movement of lie the cross bar 39 with the roller, but the movement of the shaft 34 does not, in any way, 'affect the intermeshing of the gear wheels 26 and 33, and the same is true when the upper roller moves downwardly to its 120 normal position^

From the foregoing description, -taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the advantages of. the construction and of . the method of operation will be readily ap- 1SS parent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation of the

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4. Ih a wringer, the combination of-a 65 frame consisting of connected side members having vertical slots, a lower roller, gudgeons secured to the ends of the rollei. and pioiecting outwardly therefrom, bearing plates secured to the side members to coyer the 70 slots thereof and provided with bearings m which the gudgeons are journaled, a gear connected with one of the gudgeons, an upper roller resting on the lower roller and having its ends disposed in the slots, said 75 upper roller being tubular and prevented from longitudinal movement- on the lower roller by the said plates, a cross member arranged in the upper roller, a shaft jouinaled^at one end on one of the plates and 80 having a head at the opposite end connected with the said member, a gear on the shaft meshing with the first-mentioned geai, duvin«- means for the gears mounted on that plate in which the shaft is journaled, a cross 85 bar having its ends disposed in the slots, a single wheel on each end of the cross bai and extending below the same to ride on the end of the upper roller, and resilient devices pressing on the bar to hold the said 90 wheels against the upper roller and the upper roller against the lower roller.

5. In a wringer, the combination of a frame, upper and lower rollers mounted thereon, a cross bar disposed over the upper 95 roller and having recesses, wheels journaled in the recesses and bearing on the ends ot the upper roller, said frame having a fixed cross bar disposed over the first-mentioned cross bar, said cross bars having sockets in 100 opposed surfaces, and springs arranged with their ends seated in the sockets. .

G. The combination of a frame comprising standards having slots and cross pieces connecting the standards together, a roller 105 mounted on the standards, a tubular lollei liaving its extremities movably mounted in the slots, gudgeons on the lower roller, bearino· plates on the standards and having bearings for receiving the gudgeons, said plates 110 extending across the slots to form retainers for the upper roller, a shaft in the upper roller with one end loosely connected there, with and the other end bearing in one ot the > plates, a gearing between the said shaft and 115 i the lower roller, a cross bar extending. be' tween the said plates with its ends mounted ; in the slots, and tensioning means for urging I the cross bar toward the upper roller.

₅ 7. The combination of a frame, a roller 120 > mounted in fixed bearings therein, a tubular i roller mounted in the frame above the hrst3 mentioned roller and in contact therewith, 3 said roller being adapted to move vertically r within the frame, means for holding said 125 s roller toward the lower roller, a fixed memr ber disposed diametrically m the tubular roller at one end thereof, a shaft within said invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to be tlje best embodiment J thereof, I desire to have it understood that 1 the apparatus' shown is merely illustrative, i 5 and that such changes may be made when, j • desired, as are within the scope of the claims ;

appended hereto. . ^!