GB625326A - Improvements in and relating to washing machines - Google Patents

Abstract

625,326. Washing-machines. BRITISH THOMSON-HOUSTON CO., Ltd. Aug. 24, 1945, No. 21701. Convention date, Aug. 25, 1944. [Class 138 (ii)] In a washing-machine of the kind wherein clothes are washed by agitation in a basket that is rotatable for centrifugal drying and is provided with an overflow for excess liquid, means responsive to the absence of liquid overflow are provided to prevent agitation. The invention is described as applied to the machine disclosed in Specification 625,324, comprising a casing 1, Fig. 1, enclosing a spinner basket 2 within which clothes are washed by the oscillation of an agitator 11, the actuating-mechanism for the basket and agitator being contained within a sealed casing 22. Fluid is continuously supplied to the top of the basket from the base 24 of the casing 1 by a motor-driven pump 20. Excess fluid overflows through holes 3 in the basket into a trough 34 and through apertures 18 in the agitator into a reservoir 38 on the casing 22. From the trough, or the reservoir, or both, the liquid flows through nozzles 51, 50, Fig. 3, into a cup 49, where it forms a vortex 52 before flowing out through a central orifice 53. The cup is carried by an arm 54 hinged to a plate 57 in the base 24 of the outer casing, the arrangements being such that, in the absence of overflow liquid, the cup rises under the action of a spring and opens the circuit of the main motor 48 to prevent actuation of the agitator with consequent possible damage to the clothes through their agitation in a dry state. The water supply to the outer casing is through a pipe 42, Fig. 1, controlled by a solenoid valve 40. The solenoid is in series with a switch opened and closed by the rise and fall of a float 45, Fig. 3, carried by an arm 59 also pivoted to the plate 57, the arrangement maintaining a constant level of fluid in the base of the casing.