improving the new SQ design..

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cfz2882

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thinking of ways SQ could improve the wash action of the new agitub 2018 washer while keeping the agitub design...
-larger agitator shaft pulley to let motor to rev up higher and develop more power for more aggressive acceleration and reversal-inverter parameters modified to suit.
-more aggressive agitator fins,perhaps more "speed bumps"than fins-to get some good water pulsations at agitator base.
-some short ribs-perhaps plastic added on-at lower surface of basket for some water action.
If the basket of the new machine is like the old,it is pretty light and spins through the water easy-not having much effect other than adding inertia.
 
Separate them!

Hopefully, the agitator and the tub are not bolted together and somehow, they can be separated by concentric shafts (think a solid rod inside a hollow tube, the rod to the agitator and the tube to the tub) and some way to make it so it agitates in wash and engages the tube to the motor to spin. The motor could be programmed to agitate in different ways, like 60 deg, 120 deg, and even the 210 degrees. They could even call it Arc-cu-ate again. This arrangement just has to work better than what they have. Oh, and bring back (and lower the price) of the FL too.
 
NeptuneBob's idea sounds like the Fisher and Paykel Gentle Annie of the 1990s. (Before Smart Drive). It had concentric agitator shaft and spin shaft, it rotated the agitator back and forth for wash (fast motor reversal using a 3 phase motor made by GE) and continue driving the agitator in one direction for spin. There were two pulleys, agitate and spin pulleys, only the agitate pulley was driven by the belt to motor. There was a protruding peg on each pulley, if the motor kept reversing, the two pegs never collided and the basket just more or less sat still. Once the agitator pulley kept turning in one direction, the pegs collided and then the agitator pulley drove the spin pulley around. No brake for the basket drive, though if the lid is opened it brakes electronically. A modern version might lock the lid till the basket stops.

These were elegant in their simplicity, washed very well and were amazingly reliable. I own one that has been in almost daily use for almost 30 years, it has only ever had one repair - a hose replacement. My parents had it for many years, then I have them a front load Bosch and Annie came home to me, it is now on "permanent loan" to a friend of mine.

another suggestion for Speed Queen is just pay a license fee to F&P to do a variant of smart drive, but make it with stainless steel outer drum (come on America, enamelled steel rusts out over time) and with a heavy steel cabinet instead of F&Ps flimsy drummy panels. And make it with a heavy duty control panel, not a membrane panel that splits over time like F&P ones do. Do the "built tough" thing that entices people to pay the high price for Speed Queen, but make a machine that uses modern technology to really clean well.

the link below is the Chestermike's F&P gentle Annie washer...

 
Improvements

The machine would need a slightly taller fin on the agitator, maybe an agitator that has a wider radius towards the outside of the drum, and longer wash cycles for easy improvements. Personally I see that adding the transmission back in is the best idea. However, the machine will not have the 720 degree "arc" which is likely required in low water washing. Altering the arc is another good idea. I have always dreamed of a variable arc transmission. In a computer controlled machine, the arc and agitation speeds can both change and will give a lot of flexibility.
 
 
Fisher & Paykel's SmartDrive mechanism has a direct-drive stepper motor that's computer controlled for variable arc, power, and speed.  Been on the market since mid 1990s.
 
SmartDrive

Isn't that similar to the previous Cabrio design minus the agitator? I am talking about a full transmission so that the motor doesn't have to stop and reverse directions. Nothing against the SmartDrive system, but I would prefer a variable arc transmission. I highly doubt it is even possible! Lol. Just a fantasy.
 
 
Early Oasis & Cabrio & Bravos models used the SmartDrive design with whatever modifications WP may have done.  The motor is engineered to reverse, works nicely.

Search for "Dean's Washer Videos" on YouTube.  He has a lot of F&P action, including a comparison of four selected agitation profiles at different water levels.  Most of the agitation profiles vary in reaction to the load, occasionally a longer or shorter stroke in one direction or the other.
 

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