The present subject matter relates generally to dishwashers, and more particularly to a dishwasher macerator system.
Dishwashers generally include a macerator system having a rotating chopper blade adjacent to a filter screen to pulverize and break down relatively large food particles to a size that allows the particles to pass through the filter screen. This system is needed to prevent the food particles from clogging the relatively small spray arm jet holes in the wash system upstream of the pump, particularly in the event of a malfunction of the dishwasher's filtration system. For example, large food particles may enter into the pump inlet if the consumer has not fully and properly placed the manual filter assembly back into the unit after removal for cleaning or other maintenance, or because of improperly assembled or defective filter components.
The size of the holes in the filter screen and axial spacing between the filter screen and chopper blade are thus important considerations in the proper operation of the macerator system. The macerator blade must be maintained in extremely close proximity to the filter screen, typically within about 0.060 inch from the screen. This spacing can be difficult to maintain due to such variables as machine manufacturing tolerances, normal wear of machine components, fluctuating operational conditions, and so forth.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,872 describes a system having a dual component shaft configuration between the motor drive shaft and chopper blade. The chopper blade is rotationally fixed to the filter screen and is detachably coupled to the motor drive shaft with a spring-biased coupling designed to accommodate axial tolerances of the drive shaft. This proposed solution, however, is relatively complex and introduces an additional point of potential mechanical failure (the coupling) between the motor shaft and chopper blade.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dishwasher with an improved macerator system that maintains the critical spacing between the chopper blade and filter screen in an effective and mechanically simple means.
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 an exemplary embodiment, a dishwasher is provided having a wash chamber that is supplied with wash water from a sump by a water circulation pump assembly. The pump assembly has an inlet in fluid communication with the sump and an outlet in fluid communication with the wash chamber. A macerator system is configured with the pump assembly and includes a filter screen disposed across the inlet and a chopper blade rotationally driven by the pump assembly at a defined axial distance spaced from the upstream side of the filter screen. The chopper blade is biased to the defined axial distance by materials in magnetic flux communication so as to maintain the precise distance in both a running and unpowered state of the pump assembly.
In a particular embodiment, the pump assembly includes a motor having a permanent magnet rotor (for example, a permanent magnet DC motor) that rotationally drives a drive shaft. The drive shaft passes through the filter screen, for example through a bearing mounted in the filter screen, and the chopper blade is mounted on the end of the drive shaft at the upstream side of the filter screen. The pump assembly further includes a motor casing with a biasing element disposed therein relative to the permanent magnet rotor such that a magnetic flux communication is established between the permanent magnet rotor and the biasing element that generates an axial biasing force on the rotor.
In one embodiment, the biasing element is disposed so as to generate an axial biasing force away from the inlet, and a stop is provided against which the chopper blade is biased. This stop defines the precise axial distance between the chopper blade and the filter screen. The stop may be, for example, the upstream side of the bearing mounted in the filter screen.
In yet another embodiment, the biasing element is disposed so as to generate an axial biasing force towards the inlet that is sufficient to prevent withdrawal of the drive shaft in an opposite axial direction upon depowering the pump assembly. A stop may also be provided against which the drive shaft is biased. This stop may be, for example, the downstream side of a bearing mounted in the filter screen against which a component mounted on the drive shaft is biased, such as the hub of the pump impeller.
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.
As discussed in greater detail below, embodiments of the present invention relate to a dishwasher having an improved macerator system.
The dishwasher 100 includes a cabinet 102 having a tub 104 therein that defines a wash chamber 106. The tub 104 includes a front opening having access through a door 120 hinged at its bottom 122 for movement between a normally closed vertical position (shown in
The dishwasher 100 further includes a lower spray-arm-assembly 144 that is rotatably mounted within a lower region 146 of the wash chamber 106 and above a tub sump portion 142 so as to rotate in relatively close proximity to the lower rack 132. A mid-level spray-arm assembly 148 is located in an upper region of the wash chamber 106 and may be located in close proximity to upper rack 130. Additionally, an upper spray arm assembly (not shown) may be located above the upper rack 130.
The lower and mid-level spray-arm assemblies 144, 148 and the upper spray arm assembly are fed by a fluid circulation assembly for circulating water and dishwasher fluid in the tub 104. The fluid circulation assembly may be located in a machinery compartment 140 located below the bottom sump portion 142 of the tub 104, as generally recognized in the art. Each spray-arm assembly includes an arrangement of discharge jets or orifices for directing washing liquid onto dishes or other articles located in the upper and lower racks 130, 132, respectively. The arrangement of the discharge ports in at least the lower spray-arm assembly 144 provides a rotational force by virtue of washing fluid flowing through the discharge ports. The resultant rotation of the lower spray-arm assembly 144 provides coverage of dishes and other dishwasher contents with a washing spray.
The dishwasher 100 is further equipped with a controller 137 to regulate operation of the dishwasher 100. The controller may include a memory and microprocessor, such as a general or special purpose microprocessor operable to execute programming instructions or micro-control code associated with a cleaning cycle. The controller 137 may be positioned in a variety of locations throughout dishwasher 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the controller 137 may be located within a control panel area of door 120 and includes a user interface panel 136 through which a user may select various operational features and modes and monitor progress of the dishwasher 100.
As wash liquid is pumped through the lower spray arm assembly 144, and further delivered to the mid-level spray arm assembly 148 and the upper spray arm assembly (not shown), washing sprays are generated in the wash chamber 106, and wash liquid collects in the sump 150. The sump 150 may include a cover to prevent larger objects from entering the sump 150, such as a piece of silverware or another dishwasher item that is dropped beneath lower rack 132. A course filter and a fine filter (not shown) may be located adjacent the sump 150 to filter wash liquid for sediment and particles of predetermined sizes before flowing into the sump 150. Furthermore, a turbidity sensor may be coupled to the sump 150 and used to sense a level of sediment in the sump 150 and to initiate a sump purge cycle where the contents or a fractional volume of the contents of the sump 150 are discharged when a turbidity level in the sump 150 approaches a predetermined threshold. The sump 150 is filled with water through an inlet port 175, as described in greater detail below.
In one embodiment, a drain valve 186 is established in flow communication with the sump 150 and opens or closes flow communication between the sump 150 and a drain pump inlet 188. The drain pump assembly 174 is in flow communication with the drain pump inlet 188 and may include an electric motor for pumping fluid at the inlet 188 to an external drain system via drain 173. In one embodiment, when the drain pump is energized, a negative pressure is created in the drain pump inlet 188 and the drain valve 186 is opened, allowing fluid in the sump 150 to flow into the fluid pump inlet 188 and be discharged from fluid circulation assembly 170 via the external drain 173.
Referring to
A filter screen 320 is disposed across the inlet 336. A chopper blade 330 is mounted on the drive shaft 312 and is spaced at a defined axial distance 332 upstream of the filter screen 320, as particularly illustrated in
The above described phenomenon is problematic in that the relative axial movement of the rotor 304 (and attached chopper blade 330) must be accounted for. If the desired axial distance 332 between the chopper blade 330 and filter screen 320 is to be less than, for example, 0.060 inch (preferably about 0.030 inch) in the running operational state of the pump assembly 172, then such distance cannot accommodate the significantly greater withdraw distance of the rotor when the pump is shut off. Withdraw of the rotor in this condition would cause the chopper blade 330 to impinge against the filter screen 320. Upon a subsequent startup, this impingement would likely create a locked-rotor condition and possibly burn out the motor. The macerator system 200 in accordance with the present invention allows for precise location of the chopper blade 330 relative to the filter screen 320 without having to accommodate for relative axial movement between the rotor 304 (and drive shaft 312) and motor stator 306.
Referring to
A biasing force generated by materials in magnetic flux communication indicated by the lines 304 in
The magnetic flux communication established between the permanent magnets 304 and the stationarily-mounted biasing elements 328 generate the biasing force 340 that draws the rotor 302 towards the biasing elements 328, as indicated by the arrows in
Any manner of stop 334 may be provided to interact with the chopper blade 330 to maintain the defined axial distance 332 between the blade 330 and filter screen 320. In the illustrated embodiment, the shaft 312 passes through a bearing 322 that is mounted in the filter screen 320. This bearing 322 may be machined or otherwise formed with precise axial dimensions and mounted within the filter screen 320 in such a manner that the downstream face 324 and upstream face 326 serve as precisely-defined stops to maintain the axial distance 332 of the chopper blade 330 relative to a filter screen 320 depending on the direction of the magnetically induced biasing force 340. For example, in the embodiment of
In the embodiment illustrated in
The embodiment of
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.