US3036616A - Segregated article washing unit - Google Patents

Description

19% B. M. ALLEN SEGREGATED ARTICLE WASHING UNIT May 29 Filed NOV. 2, 1959 INVENTOR. BERTHA M. ALLEN ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,d3li,6l6 Patented May 29, 1952 3,036,616 SEGREGATED ARTICLE WASHING UNIT Bertha M. Allen, 1742 Gum St., San Mateo, Calif. Filed Nov. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 850,355 3 Claims. (Cl. 1501) The invention, in general, relates to the art of laundering and more particularly relates to the washing of a plurality of the same kind or of different kinds and varieties of small articles of clothing in a single operation.

As is perhaps well known, washing machines have been extensively developed in recent years to the end that the washing chores of a housewife have been reduced to a minimum of time and effort and that improved washing machines, both for home use and for commercial laundries have been designed to handle sheets, pillow cases, shirts, stockings, handkerchiefs, etc, in a single washing operation. One major disadvantage, however, has been frequently encountered in the single washing operation; namely the entanglement of various articles with one another and sometimes the tearing or ripping of one or more garments or articles. This problem has been increasingly encountered where an attempt has been made to speed the operation and to save on soap and water. The present invention is directed to the provision of means obviating the aforementioned disadvantages as well as reducing the time and effort of washing small clothing articles that normally are segregated or are to be segregated into individual lots.

A primary object of my invention is to provide an improved segregated article washing unit which retains a plurality of articles in segregated lots during an entire washing operation and which precludes any entanglement of the articles one with another.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide an improved segregated article washing unit of the indicated nature which maintains its closures throughout the entire washing operation and thus precludes the spilling or dislodgement of the contents of the units.

A still further object of my present invention is to pro vied an improved segregated article washing unit of the aforementioned character which is additionally characterized by its inexpensive manufacture and maintenance.

Other objects of the invention, together with some of the advantageous features thereof, will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment and cer-. tain modified embodiments of the invention which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that I am not to be limited to the precise embodiments shown, nor to the precise arrangements of the various parts thereof, as my invention, as delined in the appended claims, can be embodied in a plurality and variety of forms.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective View of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and taken on the line 2--2 thereof.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail of a modified embodiment of the invention, primarily in the closure means therefor.

FIG. 5 is another fragmentary detail of a still further modification of the invention, primariy in the closure means therefor.

In its preferred form, the segregated article washing unit of my present invention preferably comprises a series of individual containers forming part of a mesh bag or over-all network container; each of the individual containers serving to hold at least one article of clothing for washing, together with openable closure strips for the individual containers and for the mesh bag as an entirety whereby articles to be washed can be readily inserted into the individual containers and washed arti les can as readily be removed therefrom.

As a modified embodiment of my present invention, one or more of the individual containers of the mesh bag or over-all network container is or are larger in capacity than the remainder of the individual containers whereby articles of clothing of different sizes may readily be retained in the individual containers for washing in segregated lots.

In accordance with my invention, I provide an over-all network container or mesh bag 11 which conveniently can be manufactured from a single length of network fabric or mesh of any desired width. As shown particularly in FIG. 1 of the annexed drawings, a length of network material 12 is folded upon itself midway of its length, as at 13, and the thus provided adjacent longitudinal edges, as indicated at 14, are secured together conveniently by a line of stitching 16. The folded network fabric 12 is then subdivided into a series of individual containers or pockets 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, and "23 by means of a longitudinally extending line of stitching 24 at the transverse center of the length of fabric 12- and a pair of spaced lines of stitching 25 and 27 preferably at equal distance from a medial line of the folded network fabric 12. While the thus formed series of pockets, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the annexed drawings, are of equal capacity or size, it is within the purview of the present invention to make these pockets 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23, inclusive, of any desired size and of variable sizes with respect to one another. The longitudinally extending line of stitching 24 serves as the bottom of pockets 17, 13 and 19 which are open at one side of the container 11 and also serves as a bottom for the series of containers 21, 22 and 23 which open individually to the other side of the container 11. The thus formed container serves as a. receptacle for a number of articles of similar kind or of different kind, such as hosiery of different shades, or handkerchiefs, or similar small articles of clothing or the like.

In order to provide the effective closures for the series of individual containers 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23, and thereby afford a completely closed container 11 that may be disposed in a washing machine so that the contents of the individual pockets 17, 18, 19, 21, 2-2 and 23 may be washed in a single operation but as individual lots, I preferably utilize opposed strips 31 and 3 2, see FIG. 2., of a material sold commercially under the trademark Velcro; such closure strips being dry cleanable, as well as washable, and being capable of being ironed with a medium iron. The Velco closure strips 31 and 32 will adhere together and will stay together when pressure is applied to the external surfaces thereof and provide a complete closure for any unit to which they are attached. When it is desired to open the container 11 to gain access to any of the compartments 1'7, 18, 1?, 21, 22 and 23, inclusive, it is only necessary to pull the Velcro strips apart which may be done with ease by any housewife or anyone else even though unskilled in the art of closures. This type of closure; namely, the Velcro" strips 31 and 32 have been used successfully on over-all containers of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 for washing a number of items of clothing in individual lots by depositing the articles in the individual containers 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23. By successful operation, I mean that I have been able within a relatively short time to wash a number of hose without having the hose become entangled with one another or with any other item of clothing and have been able to readily segregate the various shades of hosiery in a minimum of time. It is to be understood, of course, that one set of Velcro strips 31 and 32 are stitched, preferably by two rows of stitching 33 and 34 to the length of network fabric 12 at one side thereof to effect the closure of the individual containers 1'7, 18 and 19 while another set of Velcro strips 36 and 37 are stitched by two rows of stitching 33 and 3 to the other side of the folded fabric length of material 12 to effect the closing of the individual containers 21, 22 and 23. By the utilization of such closure means, it is obvious that l hav provided an overall container with openable closures at opposite sides thereof to provide individualized compartments or con tainers 17, 13, 19, 21, '22 and 2 3 for washing segregated lots of items of clothing.

In FIG. 3 of the annexed drawings, 1 have illustrated a modified embodiment of my present invention which is especially devised for washing in segregated lots small articles of clothing as well as a larger article of cothing; namely, stockings or handkerchiefs in two sections there of and a brassiere or the like in an enlarged section thereof. To this end, I have provided an over-all mesh bag or network container 111 from a single piece of network fabric 112 folded upon itself as at 113 and which is stitched at its meeting edges 114 by a line of stitching at 116. The thus formed partial container 111 is divided into individual containers 117, 118 and 119 by means of a longia tudinally extending line of stitching 12 4 at the transverse center of the piece of folded network fabric 112, as well as by a short line of stitching 126 at the approximate longitudinal center of the folded piece of network fabric 112. That is to say, the line of stitching 126 extends from one lateral extremity of the fabric 112 to the longitudinally extending line of stitching 124 to thus provide three individual containers 117, 118, 119 of which the latter is the larger or approximately twice the size of either of the individual containers 117 and 118. This over-all container 111 is provided, as in the case of the container 11 of the preferred type with openable closures, generally indicated by the reference numerals 13% consisting of opposed strips sold commercially under the trademark Velcro, as in the case of the preferred embodiment of the invention. One set of opposed strips is applied, by means of stitching 131 and 132,, at one side and across the tops of the individual containers 117 and 118 from one end of the container 111 to the other, and the other pair of opposed strips of Velcro is applied by means of stitching 138 and 139 across the opening of the large individual container 119 which opens to the other side of the overall container 111. With this embodiment, I have been able to successfully wash in a single operation hosiery in individualized container 117, handkerchiefs in individualized container 118 and a brassiere in individual container 119, and without any damage to any of the items of clothing because of the preclusion of entanglement of these various items of clothing one with another. While I have illustrated but two small individualized containers 117 and 118 with one enlarged individual container 119, in the modified embodiment of FIG. 3, it is to be understood that this over-all container 111 can be divided by lines of stitching into any desired number of individual containers in relation to variable sizes of enlarged containers.

I have shown in FIGS. 4 and of the annexed drawings variations in closure means for the improved segregated article washing unit of the present invention as exemplified in the overall containers or mesh bags in FIGS. 1-3, inclusive. In FIG. 4, I have shown snapfastener closure means, generally designated by the reference numeral 236, for the over-all mesh bag or network unit 211. To this end, the lateral extremities of the longitudinally folded piece of network 212 are, in turn, folded upon themselves to form lap extensions 231 on each of such lateral extremities of the piece of folded network 212; and a series of female snap-fastener elements 236 are secured to the mesh 212 in spaced relationship to one another along the lateral extremities thereof for cooperation with complementary male snap-fastener elements 237 which are secured to the folded network 212 near the top of the ends thereof opposite from the lap extensions 231. By un-buttoning one or more snap-fasteners 234 access may be had to any desired one of the small individual containers or pockets of the over-all network container embodying the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, which is in enlarged detail, I provide as an alternative closure means a conventional zipper, generally designated by the reference numeral 33%) consisting of the usual track elements 331 with slider element 332 in mesh therewith. It is to be understood hat the zipper element 331? is applied to opposed lateral extremities of the over-all container 311 so that there are provided op-enable closures on opposite sides of the network container 311 and provides access to the individualized smaller containers 317, 318, etc, to which the over-all network container is divided by lines of stitching, such as the line of stitching 326 dividing the centainer into the pockets 317 and 318 in which segregated lots of the same or different types or articles of wearing apparel may be disposed for washing in a single operation and without likelihood of any entanglement between the various articles one with another.

One of the principal features of the present invention, as embodied in the segregated article washing unit depicted in the accompanying drawings is that tire formed individualized smaller containers open in opposite directions to the sides of the over-all network container thus permitting ready access into these individualized containers through the openable closures hereinabove specified for disposing different articles into the different compartments and also afiording means for maintaining the various articles in segregated lots, all to the advantage of the housewife.

It is to be understood that the appended claims are to be accorded a range of equivalents commensurate in scope with the advance made over the prior art.

I claim:

1. A segregated article washing unit comprising a flexible network container divided by intersecting lines of stitching into a plurality of individual pockets for receiving articles of apparel; one of said lines of stitching being common to all of said pockets and serving as a bottom therefor, some of said pockets opening to one side of said container and others of said pockets opening to the other side of said container, and openable closures extending along the sides of said container to close said pockets and to confine the contents of said plurality of pockets therein during the washing of the contents thereof and thereby precluding the entanglement of the contents of any of said pockets with the contents of other pockets at anytime.

2. A segregated article washing unit comprising a flexible network container divided into a plurality of small compartments for the reception of the same type or different kinds of articles of apparel for washing, some of said pockets opening to one side of said flexible network container and others of said compartments opening to the other side of said flexible container, a first closure means extending along said one side of said container for closing the compartments opening to said one side of said container, and a second closure means extending along the other sid of said container for closing the compartments opening to said other side of said container thereby precluding the entanglement of articles contained in the various compartments with one another andmaintaining said articles of apparel in segregated lots during a washing operation.

3. A washing unit for enabling the washing of a plurality of different laundry items in lots segregated from one another within the unit thereby avoiding tangling and intermingling of the laundry items of the lots one with another; said Washing unit comprising a folded flexible network sheet defining adjacent longitudinal extremities arranged together, a first line of stitching through said adjacent longitudinal extremities to provide openings at opposite sides of said sheet, a second line of stitching through said folded flexible network sheet along a transverse medial line thereof, at least one line of stitching through said folded flexible network sheet from side to side thereof to divide the same into a plurality of adjacently disposed pockets opening to one side and a plurality of pockets opening to the other side of said folded flexible network sheet, and openable closures along each side of said sheet to close said openings at opposite sides of said sheets as well as to close all of said pockets to prevent dislodgement from said pockets of any items of laundry during Washing of said items.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Pink Aug. 16, Cox June 4, Phair et a1. Sept. 2, Baxter Mar. 2, Lyon July 8, Solomon Sept. 27, Martin Jan. 31, Sparrow Sept. 18,

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