US2750779A - Domestic appliance - Google Patents

Description

June 19, 1956 R. H. WHYTE DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Filed April 15." 1953 Fig.

O 0 O O O O 0 0 O 0 IN V EN TOR.

Rona/ H. Whyfe BY man His Attorney United States Patent DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Ronal H. Whyte, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application April 13, 1953, Serial No. 348,410

2 Claims. (CI. 68-19) This invention relates to a domestic appliance and more particularly to an arrangement by which the water discharged by an automatic washer may be used to remove condensed liquid from a laundry dryer.

In modern home laundries it is customary to have an automatic dryer as well as an automatic washer. Some automatic dryers are provided with some form of condensing means for the purpose of condensing the mois-' ture driven out from the clothes in the dryer. The purpose of this is to prevent the discharge of hot humid air into the room in which the dryer is located. A receptacle is often provided for catching this condensed liquid. If a floor drain is available it is possible to use a simple hose to drain such a receptacle. However, when it is inconvenient to use such a floor drain it has been necessary to either manually remove the receptacle and discharge its contents or to provide some other means for disposal of the liquid.

It is an object of my invention to use the pressure of the water discharged from the washer to remove the liquid condensed in the dryer.

It is another object of my invention to operate an aspirator means by the water discharged from an automatic washer and to use the suction provided by the aspirator means to draw the liquid condensed from a dryer and discharge it in a common stream with the water discharged by the washer into a stationary tub or other similar means of Water disposal.

In the form shown in the drawings, the aspirator means is made in the form of an inverted U-shaped tube capable of hanging on the rim of a stationary tub. The part of the tube within the tub is provided with a throat of reduced diameter to form a venturi throat. Extending into the center of this throat is the mouth of a suction tube which extends along the axis of the vertical portion of the tube and outwardly through a portion of the curved wall surface of the tube. The portion of the U-shaped tube outside the stationary tub forms the pressure inlet of the aspirator means and is connected to the water discharge means of a laundry washing machine by a suitable hose. A smaller hose extends from the outer end of the suction tube into the bottom of the liquid collecting receptacle of the laundry dryer.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanied drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view showing in elevation a laundry washing machine having its discharge outlet connected to the aspirator means hanging over the rim of a stationary tub into which the aspirator means discharges together with a vertical sectional view of a laundry dryer having a tube extending from its liquid collecting means to the suction tube of the aspirator means; and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the aspirator means shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown a laundry dryer 20 having a rotatable drum 22 within a drum chamber. At the bottom of the drum chamber there is provided an air cooled condenser 24 which is cooled sufficiently by air to condense the moisture which is driven out of the clothes in the drum 22. Beneath this condenser 24 is a liquid collecting receptacle 26. This liquid collecting receptacle 26 is made removable so that it may be carried and dumped in a suitable drain. Further description of such a laundry dryer may be found in the McCormick applications S. N. 217,618, now abandoned, and S. N. 298,566 which issued on April 24, 1956, as Patent Number 2,742,708. A condensing type of dryer is also shown in the ONeil Patents 2,334,025 and 2,369,366.

In almost all cases an automatic washer 28 is used to wash the clothes prior to using the dryer 20. For the purpose of this invention any form of washer having a pressure discharge may be used. The washer 28 includes hot and cold water pressure inlet connections 30 and 32. It also includes a discharge hose connection 34 connected to the outlet of a discharge pump which forces the Water discharged by the washer into the hose 34. Such a washer is described in the Clark Patent 2,366,236 issued I anuary 2, 1945, and the Wallis et al. Patent 2,544,- 867 issued March 13, 1951.

In many homes there is no convenient drain at the floor level. However, a great many homes have some other drain above the floor level into which the water may be discharged. In Figure l a stationary tub 36 is given as one example of such a means of water disposal. This stationary tub 36 may be supplied with a drain 38 leading to a sewer.

According to my invention I provide an aspirator means 40 having the shape of an inverted U so that it can be hung upon the rim of any tub or collecting basin. This aspirating means preferably is in the form of an inverted U-tube 42 provided that a necked-in portion 44 in the part of the straight side hanging within the tub 36. This necked-in portion 44 forms the throat of a venturi which discharges into the outlet end 50. Extending into this throat is the mouth 46 of a suction tube 48 which is located along the axis of the throat 44. The mouth 46 of the suction tube 48 is adjacent the outlet end 50 of the U-tube 42. This suction tube 48 extends through a sealed opening 52 in the outer periphery of the curved portion and the U-tube portion 42 as shown in Figure 2.

The opposite end 54 of the U-tube forms the pressure inlet of the aspirator means 40. This opposite end 54 is connected directly to the discharge end of the water discharge conduit 34 extending from the washer 28. The suction tube 48 has an inlet end 56 connected by a flexible tube 58 to the bottom of the receptacle 26. Preferably this tube 48 extends into the dryer 20 and is fastened by the bracket 60 to the upper portion of the receptacle chamber 62 within which the receptacle 26 is located. The lower end 64 of the tube extends substantially to the bottom of the receptacle. The location of the lower end 64 of the tube 58 adjacent the rear end of the receptacle 26 permits the receptacle to be withdrawn like a drawer. The flexible nature 'of the tube 58 permits the complete withdrawal of the receptacle 28 without difficulty.

As a result of this arrangement, while the clothes previously washed are being dried in the dryer 20 and while the moist air created by the drying of the clothes has its moisture condensed by the condenser 24 and collected in the receptacle 26 beneath the condenser 24 the washing of another bundle of clothes in the automatic washer 28 will cause the discharge of water from time to time through the washer pump and water discharge conduit 34 to the aspirator means 40. The flow of the discharge 3 water through the tube 42 into the stationary tub 36 will cause a suction within the throat 44 at the mouth 46 of the suction tube 48. This suction will draw the condenser moisture from the receptacle 26 through the tube 58 and the tube: 48 so thatnit will be discharged from the mouth 46 into the stream of discharge water flowing in the inverted, -Utube 42 to'the common discharge outlet 50 into the stationary tube 316,.

This discharge water by the use of a stopper in the drain may he collected in the tub 36, By removing the stopper it may be discharged through the drain 38 to the sewer. Inasmuch as both the washer and the dryer are automatic in their operation it is highly important that the draining of the receptacle 26 be automatic since if neglected it may overflow,

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination, a laundry washing machine having water inlet means and water discharge means, a laundry dryer having condensing means and liquid collecting means for condensing and collecting moisture removed from the clothes in the dryer, aspirator means having a pressure inlet and a suction inlet and a common discharge outlet, conduit means connecting said water discharge means and said pressure inlet, and conduit means having its entrance portion extending into contact with portion connected to said suction inlet for removing liquid from said liquid collecting means by the water discharged from the Washing machine.

2. in combination, a laundry Washing machine having Water inlet means and water'discharge means, a laundry dryer having condensing means and liquid collecting means for conducting and collecting moisture removed from the clothes in the dryer, aspirator means having a pressure inlet and a suction inlet and a common discharge outlet, conduit means connecting said Water discharge means and said pressure inlet, and conduit means having its entrance portion extending into contact with the liquid in said liquid collecting means and its exit portion connectcd to said suction inlet for removing liquid from said liquid collecting means by the water discharge from the Washing machine, said aspirator means being in the form of an inverted U shape capable of being hung upon the rim of a drainage receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,930,284 Reedy et al Oct, 10, 1933 2,093,589 Geldhof et al. Sept. 21, 1937 2,587,080 Abresch Feb. 26, 1952 2,607,209 Constantine Aug. 19, 1952

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