Patent of the Day

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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Thu 6/17/2021 -- Whirlpool, peek-a-boo function for Calypso (or other machines) which allows the user a short observation of nutation/wash action under specific conditions.  There's a mistake in the logic on Fig. 6.
 
 
Thu 07/01/2021 -- General Motors / Frigidaire dated 10/19/1943 for a direct-drive, reversing-motor washing machine mechanism with "thimble-shaped agitator" which rotates at motor speed with a helical vane on the centerpost that churns the water for washing and rinsing, and a brake-and-clutch which allows rotating the tub for extraction.
 
 
Fri 9/24/2021 --

Dated 3/6/1956, topload washer with a separate/integral water heating reservoir to preheat water for a rinse following the wash period, or for washing the next load, and a solid oscillating/spinning tub with integral ramped agitation hub.  Hot rinse is touted as necessary to handle removal of soil and detergent/soap scum from fabric fibers, which contract in cold water.  Solid spin tubs are touted as superior for sanitization by way of eliminating the space between an outer tub and inner basket or lining which is an inaccessible cavity where germs, bacteria, and fungi can breed.

So, yeah, it was known 65 years ago that washers can get gnasty.
 
This looks like a very cool washer! Too bad it was never made. From the patent text:

It is definitely known that hot water expands the fibers in clothes, cold water contracts the same, thereby the dirt and detergent cling to the meshes of the fibers, causing gray colored clothes when rinsing in cold water. This condition is evidenced by the fact that present day automatic washing machines are using several spray rinses in an attempt to clear the clothes of dirt and detergents. Furthermore, many of the automatic washing machines now on the market are provided with a perforated liner arranged in spaced relation from the main body of the tub, so as to provide a cavity between the wall of the tub and the liner for the circulation of the water. This has been found necessary with some constructions in order to obtain adequate water circulation, at the expense of sanitation, in that the cavity between the liner and the main body of the tub provides an inaccessible breeding place for germs, bacteria and fungi.

This is one of the reasons I love my solid-tub washers, there is no way for anything that is in the outer tub to contact the items being washed. The exception to this is the solid-tub GE Filter-Flo's, but the water level is only right at the bottom of the outer tub for recirculation so it's reach is less to a certain extent than perforated tub washers.
 

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