Patent Application
20130042656
The present subject matter relates generally to appliances such as washing machines, and more particularly to a basket assembly for a steam-augmented washing machine that includes fluid vanes for circulating the steam in the wash basket.
The use of steam in a washing machine offers various advantages and is gaining wider acceptance. In a pre-wash phase, steam may be introduced with the water to help soak the articles in the wash basket more thoroughly. During the wash phase, steam may be introduced with the detergent to increase the temperature in the wash tub to dissolve the detergent more efficiently, thereby improving the overall cleaning ability of the machine. During the post-wash phase, steam may be added to increase the temperature in the tub to sterilize the articles. The steam also functions to “soften” the clothes articles to remove any hard wrinkles that may have formed while the clothes were tumbled in the tub.
Steam may also serve to reduce water and power consumption of the washing machine by using the steam to heat the wash water instead of an immersion heater. With an immersion heater, a relatively larger volume of water is used than is actually needed for the wash cycle to ensure that the heater remains immersed in water (to prevent damage to the heater). This excess water must also be heated.
While washing machines with steam generators are known and used, the efficiency (and benefits) of these machines depends on large part on the ability to circulate the steam through and around the articles in the wash basket in an efficient manner.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a steam-augmented washing machine with an improved means for generating adequate steam circulation within and around the wash basket.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In a particular embodiment, a steam-augmented washing machine appliance, such a consumer washing machine, includes a casing and a tub disposed within the casing. The tub includes a perforated wash basket that is rotatably driven within the tub and configured for receipt of articles to be washed. The wash basket includes a side wall and an open top end through which clothes articles are loaded into the wash basket. A steam generator is disposed within the casing and is in communication with the tub to introduce steam into the wash basket. A plurality of fluid vanes are circumferentially spaced around the side wall adjacent the top end of the wash basket and have a radial aspect so as to extend radially from the side wall. With this configuration, upon rotation of the wash basket within the tub, the fluid vanes generate a circulating vertically oriented steam/air flow path through the wash basket.
It should be understood that “steam” is used herein to include a steam/air fluid flow composition.
In a particular embodiment, the steam generator is disposed so as to introduce steam into the tub at a bottom wall of the wash basket, wherein the steam is drawn into the wash basket through perforations in the side wall and/or bottom wall, or is drawn upwards along the annular space between the wash basket and tub. The fluid vanes are oriented so as to draw the steam vertically through the wash basket in either an upward or downward direction. For example, the fluid vanes may be disposed so as to extend radially inward relative to the side wall and oriented to move the steam through the wash basket in a downward vertical direction, wherein the steam is circulated through the bottom wall of the wash basket and upwards along the annular space between the wash basket and tub. In an alternate configuration, the fluid vanes are disposed so as to extend radially outward relative to the side wall and are oriented to draw the steam through the wash basket in an upward vertical direction, wherein the steam is circulated through a bottom of the wash basket and downwards along the annulus space between the wash basket and tub.
The fluid vanes may be variously configured on the wash basket. or example, in one embodiment, the wash basket includes a balance ring configured thereon at the open top end of the basket, with the fluid vanes defined on the balance ring. The balance ring and fluid vanes may be an integral molded plastic component wherein the vanes are molded directly into the ring, with the balance ring mounted to the basket side wall. In one embodiment, the fluid vanes are formed on an inner circumferential surface of the balance ring so as to extend radially inward relative to the basket side wall and are oriented to move the steam through the wash basket in a downward vertical direction. In another embodiment, the fluid vanes are formed on an outer circumferential surface of the balance ring so as to extend radially outward relative to the side wall and oriented to draw the steam through the wash basket in an upward vertical direction, wherein the steam is circulated through a bottom of the wash basket and downwards along the annular space between the wash basket and tub.
In still a further embodiment, a plurality of the fluid vanes are formed on an inner circumferential surface of the balance ring so as to extend radially inward relative to the side wall, and a plurality of the fluid vanes are formed on an outer circumferential surface of the balance ring so as to extend radially outward relative to the side wall. The sets of fluid vanes are oppositely oriented so as to generate a generally vertical circular flow path for the steam in an upward or downward direction through the wash basket and along the annular space between the wash basket and tub.
The washing machine appliance may be a conventional top load design and include a top lid that closes over the tub. In a closed position, the lid is disposed above the fluid vanes and defines a flow path boundary for the circulating steam. The lid may reflect the steam downward through the wash basket or through the annular space between the wash basket and tub.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
The washing machine 10 in
Referring still to
In the embodiment of
In an alternate embodiment depicted in
The fluid vanes 52 may be variously configured on the wash basket 24. For example, the vanes 52 may be separately formed and attached to the basket side wall 25. In another embodiment, the vanes 52 may be part of a component that is attached to the wash basket 24. For example, in the illustrated embodiments, the wash basket 24 includes a balance ring 56 mounted to the top end of the side wall 25 so as to define the open top end 30 of the wash basket. The use of a balance ring on a wash basket is well known in the art for maintaining the stability of the wash basket 24 during the various spin modes of the wash cycle. The fluid vanes 52 may be formed as integral projections of the balance ring 56. For example, the balance ring 56 may be a molded plastic component that is fixed to the top end of the wash basket 24, with the fluid vanes 52 being molded directly into the inner circumferential surface 58, outer circumferential surface 60, or both of the circumferential surfaces 58, 60 of the balance ring 56. In another embodiment, the fluid vanes 52 may be separately formed and attached to the balance ring 56.
In the embodiment depicted in
If the washing machine 10 is configured as a top loading machine, as depicted in the figures, the top lid 11 may serve to define a portion of the circulating flow path boundary for the steam/air. For example, in the closed position of the lid 11, the steam/air circulated by the fluid vanes 52 may be deflected off of the lid 11 as it changes vertical directions in the tub 22 between one vertical direction through the wash basket 24 and the generally opposite vertical direction through the annular space 62.
Although the fluid vanes 52 are described herein with respect to a steam-augmented washing machine 10, it should be appreciated that the various embodiments of the fluid vanes 52 may also be beneficial in non-steam washing machines. For example, the fluid vanes 52 may be incorporated in any manner of conventional washing machine 10 to establish/maintain a circulating air flow through the wash basket 24, which may be beneficial for any number of reasons, including increased agitation of the clothes articles, less energy and/or water consumption, enhanced cleaning, etc. Thus, the present invention also encompasses any manner of washing machine 10 that incorporates the fluid vanes 52 as set forth herein, regardless of whether or not such machine 10 is steam-augmented.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
