We don't even need to ask the many reasons this was never produced!

any more complex?

Vertical during the wash phase, almost, but not quite horizontal during the drying.

It could have been a total servicing nightmare, more so than most.


Lawrence/Maytagbear

Apparently Frigidaire didn't want to stray far from an agitator here. Interesting machine; I like how the tub tilts only slightly before it switches to drying mode, not completely horizontal. I wonder if it would help or hinder the drying ability?

BTW, when I heard "Frigidaire Combo", I thought it would be a "normal" washer/dryer combination like Whirlpool, Kenmore, & Philco/Bendix...never thought it would be something like this! Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!

Apparently Frigidaire didn't want to stray far from an agitator here. Interesting machine; I like how the tub tilts only slightly before it switches to drying mode, not completely horizontal. I wonder if it would help or hinder the drying ability?

BTW, when I heard "Frigidaire Combo", I thought it would be a "normal" washer/dryer combination like Whirlpool, Kenmore, & Philco/Bendix...never thought it would be something like this! Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!

Wouldn't the clothes end up getting wrapped around the agitator in the drying mode?

This would end up being one huge machine!

Talk about one complex design. This must have been someone's fantasy and was never meant to be produced. It must have weighed a ton! I also agree that it would have been a servicing nightmare! There was also eleventy billion things that potentially could go wrong. It was still a VERY facinating design. I can't wait to see the next couple designs.

I can't tell if it was meant to have a conventional oscillating agitator or if it the agitator was really a pulsator.

Thanks for this wonderful new addition. This site keeps getting better and better.

Mike

Personally I don't think this design is very complicated, the mechanism to tilt the tub is unusual, but very simple consisting of a motor, rack and switch. The Whirlpool/Kenmore Combo of the 1960's and 1970's had a more complicated system overall than this by far. I bet it would have been lighter weight than some of the other Monsters that were produced. Comparing this to some of the other market combos, the interior of this machine looks rather roomy and might be relatively easy to service, although with that said, Frigidaire was never known for their ease of service.

The Agitator is definitely an up and down pulsator style utilizing a Unimatic direct drive style transmission. I have to guess that Frigidaire was serious about this design but decided to wait and see what kind of market share the combinations would command. They did something similar with their dishwasher, waiting until 1955 to introduce their first model. I can't imagine GM would take the time and expense to go through the patents process unless they were serious about the possibility of building something similar. They were not the only company to patent a tilting tub combo, others followed later with slightly different designs.

I believe there is a very basic flaw in this design in that the clothes would be stuck to the side of the wash tub and would have a hard time peeling off and starting to tumble. Many types of fabrics would just go round and round in the dry cycle, stuck to the side of the tub and never dry. Also with the agitator in the way, it would make less room for tumbling and might leave the clothes more wrinkled that out of a convention style horizontal access drum.

I think the tilt mechanism is no more complex than your BMW rack & pinion steering and as far as complex goes nothing was ever as complex as my totally dead Kenmore Combo which I might add John LeFever and I have tried to revive for the last 15 years!
Now thats complex!

I think pasting of the clothes on the tub would be a problem that GM had not addressed in this machine at 1140 RPM's you would end up with totally flat hot clothes!

YAY BABY

JET

I have to admit as my fascination with the combos next door increased, as well as my hots for the WCI65, I did come up with a Frigidaire combo. At the age of 10 or 11, I just couldn't follow through with it all. But I did have it completely horizonal, with the jetcone pulsating away to & from the door window. And it was a solid tub, but was able to recirculate water through the fill flume after it filled with water. It didn't tumble until tub was outer tub had its water. Yup the 1010 spin speed and and "overflow" was the spray rinse b4 the first spin LOL. It also sprayed during the first spin. Had two rinses. Now, I jjust couldn't work through the thought of that whole large doughnut created by the spins and how the clothes got to tumbling during the dry process--which was not a condenser dryer. Once I did think about the tub shaking to losten the stuff from the sides.

I assume the patent of today is what this whole conversation is about. This looks like a real interesting design. From what I am viewing their seems to be something on the door. I would hope it wouldnt stop this from being viewed. Even though this wasen't put into prodution does anyone know if any was actually produced? I also would assume with a real fast spin if like the other frigidairs that spun at 1040 rpm would realy aid in fast drying. After all what other combo at that time had a real fast spin. Also of course a 220 volt makes a difference.
Peter

I didn't see this Patent of the Day, but it sounds like it used a rack and pinion to tilt the tub. The Hoover Keymatic used a simpler system - the suspension was softer at the rear than at the front, and there was a travel limiter at the front, so that as it filled with water the weight would lower the tub more at the rear than at the front, making it tilt backwards. Unfortunately to my mind this was the reverse of what was wanted - I would have it tilt forward as it filled to make the tub more "horizontal" to improve tumbling, and tilt more "vertical" as it emptied to make it easier to get spinning.

I am very taken with todays Frigidaire patent, the angled access front load combo, with tumble wash action. It looks about as close as you can get to a solid tub front loader, a concept that has intrigued me for a while.

Chris

Finally a Frigidaire FL combo!

Does this spin at 1140 RPM like the last two?

This machine is about as middle ground as you can get between top load and front load. And as Chris said it’s the closest thing to a solid basket front loader I have ever seen! The outer tub is the cabinet, just like in their early top load machines and this allows the rotating wash cylinder to be larger without having to surround it with a second outer tub. Using this design they keep water in the cylinder by recalculating the water faster than it can escape through the one row of holes in the center of the drum. Quite a fascinating design and I think it could have worked rather well.

I also love how the glass lid opens up and back, out of the way, just like a top loader.

The last Frigidaire combo comes tomorrow.

I can see this one being produced too! It's not too complicated either, with no swinging drums! GM had a hit with their Unimatic and the whole top load phenomenon had caught on
by the mid-50's, so why produce this?
Jerry

Today's Combo is our final installment in Frigidaire Combo week. Its a top loader with a up and down pulsator for wash, high speed spin for extract but here again the drying system is what is so very unusual. For dry, the mechanism locks the tub to the agitator shaft and bounces the tub straight up and down to move and bounce the clothes around during dry. I want one!

I want one too!
The wrinkles though....
Have a Merry Christmas everyone
Jerry

I would at least like to watch one of these babies in action. Was a actual prototype ever built?
Peter

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!:-)

That Frigidaire swing-tub unit reminded me of an Italian mortar-mixing machine or a piece of Naval ordnance:-).

Re. bouncing a tub full of wet clothes up & down: wouldn't that also create a lot of wear on the mechanism, and transmit a heck of a lot of vibration to the house it was installed in? Or were those intended for installation on slabs rather than wood-framed flooring?

Of all the Frigidaire combos, this one looks like the most fun - of course, you'd have to shut the lid for drying - but what a cool machine!