Washer auger with flexible ratchet drive
US5590550A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 7, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jan 7, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 7, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC D)Textiles; Paper
- CPC primaryD06F13/02
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A drive mechanism for converting rotary oscillation of a washing machine clothes agitator to unidirectional rotation of an adjoining clothes auger includes a one-piece ratchet wheel, and a cooperating one-piece pawl wheel. The pawl wheel includes integral pawls, with each pawl having an elastically flexible arm supporting a bulbous distal end. The pawl wheel is fixedly joined to the agitator for rotary oscillation therewith, and the ratchet wheel is fixedly joined to the auger. Rotary oscillation of the agitator correspondingly rotates the pawl wheel for intermittently engaging the pawls with the ratchet teeth which drive the ratchet wheel in a single direction for correspondingly rotating the auger joined thereto.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.