Patent Application
20200208323
Laundry treating appliances, such as clothes washers, refreshers, and non-aqueous systems, can have a configuration based on a rotating laundry basket that defines a treating chamber in which laundry items are placed for treating. Laundry baskets are typically housed in a laundry tub and driven by a motor and drive assembly.
The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating appliance that has a rotatable basket that defines a treating chamber, a tub for mounting the rotatable basket, a drive assembly mounted to the tub for rotating the basket and a drive motor mounted to the tub for driving the drive assembly. The tub has a lower region comprising a central cavity and a second cavity. The drive assembly is nested in the central cavity and the drive motor is nested in the second cavity for reducing the vertical stack of tub and the motor.
The present disclosure also relates to a tub for a laundry treating appliance that has a lower region comprising a central cavity and a second cavity. A drive assembly is mounted to the tub for rotating a wash basket. A drive motor is mounted to the tub for driving the drive assembly. The drive assembly is nested in the central cavity and the drive motor is nested in the second cavity for reducing the vertical stack of tub and the motor.
In the drawings:
Aspects of the disclosure relate to a laundry treating appliance that includes a basket having at least a portion which is imperforate. By way of overview,
In more detail, and referring again to
The washing machine 10 can include a structural support system comprising a cabinet 14 that defines a housing, within which a laundry holding system resides. The cabinet 14 can be a housing having a chassis and/or a frame, to which decorative panels may or may not be mounted, defining an interior that receives components typically found in a conventional washing machine, such as motors, pumps, fluid lines, controls, sensors, transducers, and the like. Such components will not be described further herein except as necessary for a complete understanding of the invention.
A user interface 24 may be included on the cabinet 14 and may have one or more knobs, dials, switches, displays, touch screens and the like for communicating with the user, such as to receive input and provide output. The user can enter different types of information including, without limitation, cycle selection and cycle parameters, such as cycle options. A door or lid 28 may be operably coupled with the cabinet 14 and may be selectively moveable between opened and closed positions to close an opening in a top wall of the cabinet 14, which provides access to the interior of the cabinet 14.
The fabric holding system of the illustrated exemplary washing machine 10 can include a rotatable basket 30 having an open top that can be disposed within the interior of the cabinet 14 and may define a treating chamber 32 for receiving laundry items for treatment. The basket 30 can have a generally cylindrical side or tub peripheral wall 18 closed at its bottom end by a basket bottom wall 20 that can at least partially define a sump 60 and the treating chamber 32. An imperforate tub 34 can also be positioned within the cabinet 14 and can define an interior within which the basket 30 can be positioned.
The basket 30 can be rotatably mounted within the tub 34 for rotation about a vertical basket axis of rotation and can include a plurality of perforations, such that liquid may flow between the tub 34 and the rotatable basket 30 through the perforations.
A laundry mover 38 may be rotatably mounted within the basket 30 to impart mechanical agitation to a load of laundry placed in the basket 30. The laundry mover 38 can be oscillated or rotated about its vertical axis of rotation during a cycle of operation in order to produce load motion effective to wash the load contained within the treating chamber 32. Other exemplary types of laundry movers include, but are not limited to, an agitator, a wobble plate, and a hybrid impeller/agitator. The basket 30 and the laundry mover 38 may be driven by a drive assembly 90 that includes a motor 41 operably coupled with the basket 30 and laundry mover 38. The motor 41 can rotate the basket 30 at various speeds in either rotational direction about the vertical axis of rotation, including at a spin speed wherein a centrifugal force at the inner surface of the basket side wall 18 is 1 g or greater. Spin speeds are commonly known for use in extracting liquid from the laundry items in the basket 30, such as after a wash or rinse step in a treating cycle of operation. A loss motion device or clutch (not shown) can be included in the drive assembly 90 and can selectively operably couple the motor 41 with either the basket 30 and/or the laundry mover 38.
A liquid supply system can be provided to supply liquid, such as water or a combination of water and one or more wash aids, such as detergent, into the treating chamber 32. The liquid supply system can include a water supply configured to supply hot or cold water. The water supply can include a hot water inlet 45 and a cold water inlet 46, a valve assembly, which can include a hot water valve 48, a cold water valve 50, and a diverter valve 55, and various conduits 52, 56, 58. The valves 48, 50 are selectively openable to provide water, such as from a household water supply (not shown) to the conduit 52. The valves 48, 50 can be opened individually or together to provide a mix of hot and cold water at a selected temperature. While the valves 48, 50 and conduit 52 are illustrated exteriorly of the cabinet 14, it may be understood that these components can be internal to the cabinet 14.
As illustrated, a detergent dispenser 54 can be fluidly coupled with the conduit 52 through a diverter valve 55 and a first water conduit 56. The detergent dispenser 54 can include means for supplying or mixing detergent to or with water from the first water conduit 56 and can supply such treating liquid to the tub 34. It has been contemplated that water from the first water conduit 56 can also be supplied to the tub 34 through the detergent dispenser 54 without the addition of a detergent. A second water conduit, illustrated as a separate water inlet 58, can also be fluidly coupled with the conduit 52 through the diverter valve 55 such that water can be supplied directly to the treating chamber through the open top of the basket 30. Additionally, the liquid supply system can differ from the configuration shown, such as by inclusion of other valves, conduits, wash aid dispensers, heaters, sensors, such as water level sensors and temperature sensors, and the like, to control the flow of treating liquid through the washing machine 10 and for the introduction of more than one type of detergent/wash aid.
A liquid recirculation system can be provided for recirculating liquid from the tub 34 into the treating chamber 32. More specifically, a sump 60 can be located in the bottom of the tub 34 and the liquid recirculation system can be configured to recirculate treating liquid from the sump 60 onto the top of a laundry load located in the treating chamber 32. A pump 62 can be housed below the tub 34 and can have an inlet fluidly coupled with the sump 60 and an outlet configured to fluidly couple to either or both a household drain 64 or a recirculation conduit 66. In this configuration, the pump 62 can be used to drain or recirculate wash water in the sump 60. As illustrated, the recirculation conduit 66 can be fluidly coupled with the treating chamber 32 such that it supplies liquid into the open top of the basket 30. The liquid recirculation system can include other types of recirculation systems.
It is noted that the illustrated drive system, liquid supply system, recirculation and drain system, and dispensing system are shown for exemplary purposes only and are not limited to the systems shown in the drawings and described above. For example, the liquid supply, dispensing, and recirculation and pump systems can differ from the configuration shown in
The washing machine 10 can also be provided with a heating system (not shown) to heat liquid provided to the treating chamber 32. In one example, the heating system can include a heating element provided in the sump to heat liquid that collects in the sump. Alternatively, the heating system can be in the form of an in-line heater that heats the liquid as it flows through the liquid supply, dispensing and/or recirculation systems.
The washing machine 10 can further include a controller 70 coupled with various working components of the washing machine 10 to control the operation of the working components and to implement one or more treating cycles of operation. The controller 70 can include the machine controller and any additional controllers provided for controlling any of the components of the washing machine 10. For example, the controller 70 can include the machine controller and a motor controller. Many known types of controllers can be used for the controller 70. It is contemplated that the controller is a microprocessor-based controller that implements control software and sends/receives one or more electrical signals to/from each of the various working components to implement the control software. As an example, proportional control (P), proportional integral control (PI), and proportional derivative control (PD), or a combination thereof, a proportional integral derivative control (PID), can be used to control the various components of the washing machine 10.
Referring now to
The lower region 35 of the tub 34 can include a solid hub structure 72 with a central hole 74. The central hole 74 is defined by a first circular rim 78. An outer circular rim 76 circumscribes the hub structure 72 and defines the lower outer surface of the tub 34. One or more circular rims 80 can be radially positioned between the first circular rim 78 and outer circular rim 76. One or more radial ribs 84 can be spaced about the circumference of the tub 34 and extend between the first circular rim 78 and the outer circular rim 76. The radial ribs 84 can be numbered, spaced, sized, and shaped to provide the desired stiffness of the tub 34.
In an exemplary embodiment, the radial ribs 84 extend from the central rim 76 and can transition to an arcuate surface 86. The arcuate surfaces 86 of the radial ribs 84 collectively define a central cavity 88 (as best seen in
The radial ribs 84 can be spaced and angled in such a way so as to define a second cavity 94 configured to house motor 41. The second cavity 94 is spaced from the central cavity 88. In an exemplary arrangement of radial ribs 84, the second cavity 94 can be defined by radial ribs 84a and 84b and by tub surface 95. Radial ribs 84a and 84b can extend from the first circular rim 78 at an angle α until the distance between the ribs 84a, b is greater than the diameter of the motor 41. Each rib 84a, b can then transition at angle β, and again at angle δ, to form a six sided polygon support structure around the motor 41, where the ribs 84a, b extend to the second circular rim 76. The various angles that define the trajectory of radial ribs 84a, b are to provide stiffness and structure to the tub 34 as the motor 41 is housed and nested in the second cavity 94. Tub lower surface 95 can be notched or profiled to accommodate motor 41. As illustrated, the tub lower surface 95 is a generally flat, half mooned shape notched into the surface or ribs of the tub 34. By allowing the motor 41 to at least partially, if not mostly nest in the second cavity 94, the stack of the combined motor 41 and tub 34 can be reduced to provide more vertical space in the machine 10. Providing more vertical space in the machine 10 can be used to optimize cost, capacity, or spin speed, such as, but not limited to, increasing the size/space of the wash basket 30. In an exemplary embodiment, at least half the motor 41 is nested in the second cavity 94 in tub 34.
Aspects of the present disclosure can provide for a variety of benefits. It can be appreciated that existing vertical axis laundry machines have discrete structural elements such as a wash basket, tub, drive system and motor that when combined together create a system that has a combined stiffness that is a function of the stiffness of each of the elements. If any one of these elements does not have comparable stiffness it becomes the weakest link, and it dominates the stiffness of the entire structure. This means that each element has to contribute in a comparable fashion to the stiffness of the complete assembly. One benefit of the present disclosure is a product architecture that allows the motor and drive assembly to be nested up into the bottom of the tub without compromising the stiffness of either the tub or the drive. This can be accomplished by extending the structure on the bottom of the tub such as its ribs down to the lower drive plate and attaching the drive to the tub at this point instead of attaching it to the top drive plate as is typical in the state of the art. By nesting the motor and drive into the tub, the vertical stack of the tub and motor can be reduced. This means that there is additional spaced in the machine, and that space can be used to optimize cost, capacity, or spin speed.
While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation. Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the forgoing disclosure and drawings without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.
