Patent o' day for Filter-flo?

[bajaespuma]

That looks like the patent for the original filter-flo but the date is 1957. I know nothing about applying for patents, but didn't the first filter-flo premiere in 1955?

 

[gansky1]

You're right, the recirculating Filter-Flo was much earlier than this, but reading section one of the patent explanation, this patent was particularly for a self-cleaning filtering system. Look at the drawing for the patent and under the wash-tub, you'll see the filtering screen that would clean itself when the washer spins. How cool is that?? I love reading these patents.

 

[geextrarinse]

I just read that too...

Thinking it would be cool to read the original patent and inventors description of the Filter-Flo, i clicked through and found this to also be very interesting - a self cleaning version of the Filter-Flo. I wonder why they never tried this. He seems to be very intent on making it so that the operator doesn't need to fuss with the lint filter. Sounds to be a great idea as far as the sold tub is concerned... This is also basically the same concept as used in the Hotpoint tub ring filters. They were the same as Filte-Flo's but you didn't need to deal with the lint and extracted the lint with the centrifugal motion of the spin cycle...

This was neat -I'm glad you pointed it out to read...

 

[tomturbomatic]

The Hotpoint filter rings were in perforated tubs, not solid tubs like the early Filter Flo machines. With the way the water washed back over the top of the perforated tub during the spin drain, it was sort of a game of chance as to whether the lint would be flushed out of the filter ring and down the drain or flushed out and caught in the rising swirl of water that wound up flowing back into into the tub. The odds of the lint disappearing were better at the low water level. The solid tub machines depended on the tub overflowing constantly to provide water for recirculation. The filter ring would have proved problematic to use in the solid tub because the ring would be mounted where the water needed to overflow. Making sure that the filtered water circulated through the load and was not just swept back over the tub with the overflow would have taken some engineering. Plus, back in the early days of lint filters, manufacturers wanted to show consumers the presence and filtering action of this must-have feature.