Patent of the Day 3/25/2008: 1970 GE washer

[peterh770]

Today's patent is for the variable speed clutch. But the part that got me was the drawing. When did GE take the control panel off the pedestal? I thought they had the angled control panel by this time...?

 

[bajaespuma]

I had the same question.

They did, and they're using a diagram of a TOL model that was discontinued by 1964. I suppose, like myself, the inventors were using diagrams that were already on file for previous patents and having them recopied to illustrate the current patent. The last couple of patents of the day featured very precise and detailed drawings compared to some of the older patents that looked like someone got their kid to sketch their idea of a washing machine.Back then there was no CAD like todays and paying someone to do a drawing that detailed and that accurate was expensive. For any of you that remember Rapidograph pens as fondly as I do, that's exactly what they were used for.