ROTARY CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE

A rotary centrifugal machine, for example a centrifugal extractor for removing fluids from wet laundry loads, includes a basket rotatable within a casing. A load conveyor deposits material into the basket while the basket rotates at a relatively low speed. After loading, the speed of basket rotation is increased to subject material within the basket to centrifugal forces. Unloading of material from the basket is accomplished by lifting a movable wall from the bottom to the top of the basket during low speed rotation of the basket so that material lifted above the basket wall is centrifugally thrown outward from the basket. The casing and basket are suspended by pedestal assemblies and pneumatic biasing assemblies for damping and resisting lateral casing movement. A switch operated by casing movement senses load imbalance. Automatic redistribution of an unbalanced load is effected by unloading the material and reloading it in a distributed condition. Load discharge and load recycling are carried out by an arrangement of conveyors surrounding the basket.