Abstract:
947,696. Washing machines. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION. Dec. 6, 1962 [Dec. 26, 1961], No. 46127/62. Heading D1A. In a clothes washing machine having a tub 16 with an overflow port 24, a temperature-responsive device 50 responds to the temperature of liquid overflowing from the tub 16 to stop the supply of water to the tub 16. For four minutes at the beginning of the cycle, one or both (depending on the positions of manually-operated temperature-selector switches) of two solenoids controlling hot and cold water inlet valves are energized through a timer-controlled switch across which the device 50 is connected. The device 50 may be a thermistor the resistance of which decreases with rise in temperature and which always carries a current which tends to keep its temperature high and its resistance low. When the timercontrolled switch is opened (after the four minutes), the solenoids are energized through the thermistor 50 alone. When the tub 16 overflows, the thermistor 50 is cooled and the resultant rise in resistance reduces the solenoid currents to close the inlet valves. Alternatively, device 50 may be a bimetallic strip switch kept closed by a heater when the timer-controlled switch is closed, but when the latter is open overflowing liquid from the tub 16 will cool the bimetallic switch sufficiently to open it and de-energize the solenoids. For rinsing, the solenoids are energizable through a second timer-controlled switch by-passing the device 50.