Automatic washer transmission shift mechanism
US4291556A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 4, 1979 |
| Grant date | Sep 29, 1981 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 4, 1999 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC D)Textiles; Paper
- CPC primaryD06F37/40
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A transmission shift mechanism for use in a vertical axis automatic washing machine having reversible rotary drive means has a drive gear on which is mounted an eccentric for translating rotary motion into oscillatory motion in a plane perpendicular to the washing machine axis. The oscillatory motion is transmitted to the agitator shaft of a washing machine by a rack and pinion. The pinion is rotatably mounted on the agitator shaft and has teeth on a lower surface thereof which engage teeth on an upper surface of a sleeve co-rotatable with the agitator shaft to form a jaw clutch for driving the agitator shaft from the rack and pinion. A shifter fork also connected to the eccentric operates cams to raise the pinion out of engagement with the sleeve to disengage the jaw clutch when the eccentric is rotating in a first direction, and returns the clutch teeth to engagement when the eccentric rotates in an opposite direction.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.