Automatic door and floor tilting system for a washer
First Claim
1. A walk-in washer for cleaning inanimate items in an environment which would be hazardous to a human operator trapped inside, the washer including:
- a washing chamber;
an opening for providing access to the washing chamber;
a retractable door assembly which selectively seals the opening and opens to allow a load of the inanimate items to be processed to be wheeled into the washing chamber, the retractable door assembly being cumbersome to open from within the washing chamber, the door assembly including;
a plurality of doors,a plurality of vertical hinges which interconnect the doors and allow the doors to pivot around vertical axes during opening and closing,a plurality of blowout panels which are mounted in the doors and are positioned for ready access from an interior of the washing chamber while the retractable door assembly is closed, anda blowout mechanism which releasably decouples at least one of the panels from the doors in response to outward manual pressure such that when pushed outward from the interior of the washing chamber, the panel opens out, allowing the operator to escape from the chamber interior.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Retractable doors 22 to a washing chamber 20 of a washer 10 open automatically to allow a load to be processed to be wheeled into the chamber. The doors are fitted with blowout panels 42, 44. In an emergency, a worker trapped in the washing chamber can escape by pushing the blowout panels outward. A tilting floor assembly 70 includes a floor 76 supported on a frame 74 and a lifting mechanism 90 for selectively raising and lowering a side of the frame to tilt the floor. The floor is tilted automatically during a cleaning cycle to allow cleaning fluids to drain from the load, then leveled before opening of the doors for ease of removal of the load.
35 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A walk-in washer for cleaning inanimate items in an environment which would be hazardous to a human operator trapped inside, the washer including:
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a washing chamber; an opening for providing access to the washing chamber; a retractable door assembly which selectively seals the opening and opens to allow a load of the inanimate items to be processed to be wheeled into the washing chamber, the retractable door assembly being cumbersome to open from within the washing chamber, the door assembly including; a plurality of doors, a plurality of vertical hinges which interconnect the doors and allow the doors to pivot around vertical axes during opening and closing, a plurality of blowout panels which are mounted in the doors and are positioned for ready access from an interior of the washing chamber while the retractable door assembly is closed, and a blowout mechanism which releasably decouples at least one of the panels from the doors in response to outward manual pressure such that when pushed outward from the interior of the washing chamber, the panel opens out, allowing the operator to escape from the chamber interior.
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2. A washer comprising:
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a washing chamber; an opening for providing access to the washing chamber; retractable doors which selectively seal the opening and open to allow a load to be processed to be wheeled into the washing chamber, each of the doors including; a plurality of blowout panels, and a blowout mechanism including a gasket connected to a first of the blowout panels and engaging and compressed against a second of the blowout panels, the blowout mechanism releasably coupling at least one of the first and second panels to one of the retractable doors, a preselected pressure on an interior wall of one of the panels disengaging the compressed gasket, thereby allowing the panels to swing outward, away from an interior of the washing chamber, allowing an operator inadvertently trapped in the chamber interior to escape from the chamber interior, the panels remaining in an outward position until the blowout mechanism is reassembled. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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5. A walk-in washer for cleaning inanimate items in an environment which would be hazardous to a human operator trapped inside, the washer comprising:
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a washing chamber; an opening for providing access to the washing chamber; retractable doors which selectively seal the opening and open to allow a load of the inanimate items to be processed to be wheeled into the washing chamber, the retractable doors being cumbersome to open from within the washing chamber, the doors including; a plurality of blowout panels which open while the retractable doors are closed, and a blowout mechanism which releasably couples at least one of the panels to the doors in response to outward manual pressure such that when pushed outward from the interior of the washing chamber, the panel opens out, allowing the operator to escape from the chamber interior; and tracks disposed within the washing chamber extending along the access opening and curving to run along side walls of the chamber, the tracks guiding the washer doors as they are retracted into the chamber, the doors being hinged between the panels to facilitate movement along the curving tracks. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A washer comprising:
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a washing chamber; an opening for providing access to the washing chamber; retractable doors which selectively seal the opening and open to allow a load to be processed to be wheeled into the washing chamber, the doors including; a plurality of blowout panels, and a blowout mechanism which releasably couples at least one of the panels to the doors such that when pushed outward from the interior of the washing chamber, the panel opens out, allowing escape from the chamber interior; and
,a tilting floor assembly including a floor, the floor selectively tilting to encourage cleaning fluids used in the washing chamber to drain from the load and leveling to allow the load to be loaded and unloaded from the washing chamber. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A washer of the type which sprays articles to be cleaned with a cleaning fluid which is dangerous to people, the washer comprising:
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a washing chamber; an access opening providing access to the washing chamber for loading and unloading the articles; a floor for supporting the articles in the washing chamber the floor having openings to pass the spent cleaning fluid to the sump; a sump at a bottom of the chamber into which spent cleaning fluids flow for recycling; horizontally extending tracks disposed within the washing chamber which extend along the access opening and curve to run along side walls of the chamber; automatic doors for selectively sealing the access opening, the tracks guiding the washer doors as they are retracted into the chamber such that cleaning fluids from a prior washing cycle drips off the open doors into the chamber, each of the doors including; a plurality of panels, hinges which allow the doors to pivot around a vertical axis between the panels to facilitate movement of the doors along the curving tracks, and a seal between the panels which provides a fluid tight seal when the doors are in a closed position. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A washer comprising:
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a washing chamber; an access opening providing access to the washing chamber; tracks disposed within the washing chamber which extend along the access opening and curve to run along side walls of the chamber; automatic doors for selectively sealing the access opening during a washing cycle, the tracks guiding the washer doors as they are retracted into the chamber to open the access opening between washing cycles, the doors including a plurality of panels; hinges which allow the doors to pivot around a vertical axis between the panels to facilitate movement of the doors along the curving tracks; a tilting floor assembly; and a tilt control circuit which recognizes the end of a cleaning cycle and levels the tilting floor assembly before the doors are retracted. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A washer for cleaning inanimate items comprising:
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a washing chamber; an opening for providing access to the washing chamber; retractable doors which selectively seal the opening and open to allow a load of the inanimate items to be processed to be transported into the washing chamber, the doors including; a plurality of blowout panels, and a blowout mechanism which releasably couples at least one of the panels to the retractable doors such that when pushed outward from an interior of the washing chamber, the panel opens out, allowing an operator inadvertently trapped within the washing chamber to escape from the chamber interior; a warning system for indicating that a cleaning cycle is about to commence, the warning system including a light which is visible from within the chamber and a warning light control circuit, the control circuit switching the light for a short period before the cleaning cycle commences to give the operator sufficient time to exit the washing chamber; and a switch which is engaged when one of the blow out panels opens for stopping a washing cycle in progress.
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Specification