Textiles: fluid treating apparatus – Machines – Tumbling
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-14
2001-05-22
Stinson, Frankie L. (Department: 1743)
Textiles: fluid treating apparatus
Machines
Tumbling
C068S210000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233981
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a clothes washing machine of the type in which the washing is received in a drum, which can be rotated about a substantially horizontal axis within a fixed tank or container.
More specifically, the invention relates to a washing machine in which the washing is loaded and unloaded through at least one external access door provided in the fixed tank and at least one drum door located in the circumferential wall of the drum.
Although usable in all washing machines having the aforementioned characteristics, the invention more particularly applies to those having a large or very large capacity, such as those used in commercial establishments. In such washing machines, the interior of the drum is sometimes subdivided into two compartments by a radial partition, access to each compartment being provided by a separate drum door. The tank is then equipped with two external access doors, respectively intended for the loading and unloading of the washing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compared with washing machines in which the washing is loaded and unloaded by means of a single front door located in the axial extension of the drum, washing machines in which loading and unloading take place from above or the side have the advantage of supporting the drum at its two ends.
However, front loading washing machines have the advantage of giving easy access to the interior of the drum by opening a single door. In the case of machines loaded and unloaded from the top or side, access to the interior of the drum requires the successive opening of the external access door and the drum door.
In washing machines loaded and unloaded from the top or side, the door of the drum conventionally comprises two leaves articulated on the circumferential wall of the drum by two hinges oriented parallel to the axis thereof. Locking and unlocking of the door are ensured by a mechanism interposed between the two leaves and which can be in different forms.
A first, frequently used locking mechanism comprises clips, which project to the outside along the edge of one of the drum door leaves, so as to be able to enter notches formed in the adjacent edge of the other leaf. In order to unlock the mechanism, it is necessary to press a button installed on the leaf carrying the clips, so as to pivot the two door leaves slightly towards the interior of the drum in order to free the clips from the notches. The other door leaf then opens automatically under the action of torsion springs associated with the hinge thereof. The same applies with respect to the leaf carrying the clips, as soon as the button is no longer pressed.
In large and very large capacity washing machines loaded and unloaded from the top or side, equipped with such a drum door locking mechanism, the need to press the leaves in towards the interior of the drum for unlocking the door represents a supplementary disadvantage.
Thus, the weight of the washing processed during each washing-drying cycle is considerable and the peripheral speeds reached by the circumferential door of the drum during the final drying operation are very high. Thus, the washing is subject to a centrifugal force such that it is in the form of a hard “wafer”, which is engaged against the cylindrical wall of the drum, when all the washing and drying operations are ended. In view of the fact that the drum door is integrated into the cylindrical wall, the washing wafer is also formed behind said door. Due to the fact that the unlocking of the drum door requires a pressing in of its two leaves, the washing disk formed at the end of the washing-drying cycle constitutes an obstacle making the opening of the door ever more difficult as the capacity of the machine increases.
There are other drum door locking mechanisms, such as link-based mechanisms, slide-based mechanisms and hook-based mechanisms, in which the opening of the door takes place without pressing the leaves into the interior of the drum. However, these mechanisms suffer from other disadvantages such as a more fragile nature, a higher cost, etc. In addition, they do not eliminate the disadvantage common to all washing machines loaded and unloaded from the top or side, which is the necessity to open two doors to obtain access to the interior of the drum.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention more specifically relates to a clothes washing machine loaded and unloaded from the top or side, in which access to the drum takes place at least as easily as in a front loaded washing machine, no matter what the drum door locking mechanism, including when the latter is a clip mechanism, whose unlocking makes it necessary to push back the leaves towards the interior of the drum.
According to the invention, this result is obtained by means of a washing machine having a fixed tank and a drum able to rotate within the tank, the tank including at least one access opening defined by a frame and normally sealed by an external access door and the drum including a circumferential wall and at least one drum door located on said wall, so that it can be made to face the external access door by a rotation of the drum, characterized in that the washing machine also comprises means for the automatic opening of the drum door, said automatic opening means including drum door unlocking means installed on a support connected to the tank and constituted by the external access door or by a retractable support, which can be placed in the tank access opening, when the external access door is open.
In the latter case, the retractable support is e.g. articulated on the frame, defining the access opening, so that it can be placed outside the tank when the external access door is closed.
The invention advantageously applies to the case where the d rum door locking mechanism comprises clips and a button fitted on a first of the door leaves and notches formed in the other leaf.
In this case and according to a first embodiment of the invention, the unlocking means incorporate an actuator, provided with a push rod oriented substantially radially with respect to the axis of the drum, in the active position of the support. The push rod is able to press the button installed on the first leaf of the drum door. As a function of the particular case, the actuator is then installed either within the external access door, or outside said door, the latter then being tightly traversed by the push rod.
In a second embodiment of the invention, also applied to the case where the drum door locking mechanism is formed by clips and complimentary notches, the unlocking means incorporate an actuator able to control the rotation of a rotary s haft mounted on the support. The rotary shaft then carries a lever able to press the button installed on the first door leaf.
The invention also applies to the case where the drum door locking m mechanism comprises a pivoting link carried by a first of the door leaves and whose ends cooperate with two pins which slide on said leaf, parallel to the axis of the drum, so as to be able to penetrate holes formed in lugs fixed to the circumferential wall of the drum.
In this case and according to a third embodiment of the invention, the unlocking means incorporate an actuator provided with a rod, which is axially movable and rotatable and which is oriented substantially radially with respect to the drum axis, in the active position of the support. The rod carries at its end a dog able to rotate the pivoting link, after the gripping means has been brought into contact with said link by a translation of the rod.
The invention also applies to a washing machine in which the drum door locking mechanism comprises a slide, which slides on a first of the door leaves, parallel to the drum axis, and locking rivets connected to the other leaf and able to penetrate slots formed in the slide. These slots have narrow portions ensuring locking when the rivets are located therein and widened portions which can be traversed by the rivets in order to permit the pivoting of the door leaves.
In this ca
Electrolux Systemes de Blanchisserie
Pearne & Gordon LLP
Stinson Frankie L.
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