Patent Application
20110146354
In automatic clothes washers, the system is designed to process only fabric materials; however, other foreign objects make their way into the wash chamber including buttons, coins, keys, stones, and other small objects. These foreign objects may interfere with the proper operation of the clothes washer, such as interfering with proper liquid flow through a pump or pumps used for recirculation and draining.
Prior clothes washers have addressed the problem by collecting and holding foreign objects, which may cause a number of problems. Collective materials may eventually reduce flow rates by obstructing water flow paths. Some collected materials deteriorate with time and may be redistributed on clothing or cause odor. Other types of materials may add to the accumulation process by causing materials to accumulate that might otherwise be pumped down the drain.
The invention relates to a washing machine comprising a tub defining an interior, a sump in fluid communication with the interior of the tub, a wash basket located within the interior and defining a laundry treating space, a clothes mover located within the laundry treating space and overlying at least a portion of the wash basket, and a foreign object trap located in a portion of the wash basket and having a foreign object passageway defining an inlet opening and an outlet opening, with either the inlet opening being an elongated opening having a length and width commensurate with a length-to-width ratio of 7:1 and the outlet opening having an area less than the inlet opening or the passageway is shaped to receive on edge a circular coin having a diameter of at least 24 mm without any portion of the coin contacting any portion of the clothes mover.
Referring now to the figures,
The washing machine 10 may include a cabinet or housing 12 and an imperforate tub 14 that defines an interior 15 of the washing machine 10. A sump 16 may be in fluid communication with the interior 15 of the tub 14. A drum or perforated wash basket 18 may be located within and rotatable relative to the interior 15 of the tub 14 and may define a laundry chamber or laundry treating space 19 for receiving a laundry load. A clothes mover or agitator 20 may be located within the laundry treating space 19 and rotatable relative to and/or with the wash basket 18.
The wash basket 18 and/or the agitator 20 may be driven by an electrical motor 22 operably connected to the wash basket 18 and/or the agitator 20. The agitator 20 may be commonly oscillated or rotated about its axis of rotation during a washing operation in order to produce high water turbulence effective to wash the fabric load contained within the laundry treating space 19. The wash basket 18 may be rotated at high speed to centrifugally extract the wash water from the fabric load and to discharge it from the wash basket 18.
A selectively openable lid 24 may be provided on the top of the housing 12 to provide access into the laundry treating space 19 through the open top of the wash basket 18. A user interface 26, which may be located on a console 28, may include one or more knobs, switches, displays, and the like for communicating with a user, such as to receive input and provide output.
Referring to
A pump 34 may be housed below the tub 14. The pump 34 may have an inlet fluidly coupled to the sump 16 and an outlet configured to fluidly couple to either or both a household drain 36 or a recirculation conduit 38. In this configuration, the pump 34 may be used to drain or recirculate wash water in the sump 16, which is initially sprayed into the wash basket 18, flows through the wash basket 18, and then into the sump 16. Alternatively, two separate pumps may be used instead of the single pump as previously described.
A foreign object trap 40 may be provided to stop some foreign objects, such as coins, and buttons, from reaching the pump 34 as such items may cause issues in the operation of the pump 34. The foreign object trap 40 may also be designed to allow some foreign objects, which will not interfere with the operation of the pump, such as toothpicks and lint, to pass through to the pump 34 where they may be directed to the drain. The pump 34 may be capable of handling normal quantities of these materials without a problem due to its higher torque motor and clearances within the pump 34.
As illustrated in
The foreign object passageway 52 extends from the upper side 54 of the base 42 through to the lower side 56 of the base 42. The foreign object trap 40 may include at least one foreign object passageway 52 and preferably includes a plurality of foreign object passageways 52. The plurality of foreign object passageways 52 are spaced apart from each other minimizing the chance that lint, string, etc will bridge between them and contribute to blockage of the foreign object passageways 52.
Each foreign object passageway 52 defines an inlet opening 58 (
Referring to
Opposing sidewalls 66 are connected by opposing end walls 68, which define the foreign object passageway 52. As illustrated in
The end walls 68 and side walls 66 are arranged such that any coin in the wash water flow, and of a diameter within a predetermined range, will become lodged within the foreign object passageway 52 in a manner where the coin is on end. That is the coin will remain in a plane that extends substantially in the direction of fluid flow in the foreign object passageway 52, so that the coin will not obstruct the foreign object passageway 52. Thus, even though one or several coins may be located in a single foreign object passageway 52 wash water may still flow through the foreign object passageway 52 to the region below the wash basket 18.
The plurality of foreign object passageways 52 are configured to provide a collective volumetric flow rate greater than the predetermined volumetric flow rate of the pump 34. For example, in one embodiment, the volumetric flow rate of the pump 34 may be 21 liters per minute. More specifically, as the outlet opening of the foreign object passageway 52 has an area less than the inlet opening, the foreign object passageways 52 are configured to provide a collective outlet volumetric flow rate greater than the predetermined volumetric flow rate of the pump 34. The foreign object trap 40 may be designed such that even if one or more than one of the foreign object passageways 52 has a foreign object received within it, the volumetric flow rate of the remaining subset of the plurality of foreign object passageways 52, more specifically the outlet volumetric flow rate, is greater than the volumetric flow rate of the pump 34. This ensures that the flow rate to the pump 34 is sufficient for proper operation of the pump 34.
The washing machine operates in the following manner. During a recirculation or drain portion of the cycle wash water flows beneath the agitator 20 and into the base 42. Wash water then flows into foreign object trap 40 through the inlet opening 58 and through the multiple foreign object passageways 52. Any foreign objects of a predetermine diameter carried by the flow of wash water will enter the foreign object passageway 52 and be collected within the foreign object passageway 52. Wash water and foreign objects below a predetermine diameter exit the foreign object passageway 52 via the outlet opening 60. The wash water then passes through the sump 16 and pump 34 and along the appropriate conduit to either be recirculated or drained as the case may be.
As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention is susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications, which may differ particularly from those that, have been described in the preceding specification and description. It should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art.
