Patent Application
20240352647
The present disclosure generally relates to laundry treating appliances such as a laundry dryer or washing machine.
Laundry appliances, such as clothes washers, dryers, refreshers, and non-aqueous systems, may include a rotating drum for receiving items to be laundered or dried.
A laundry appliance includes a cabinet and a dispenser. The cabinet defines an internal cavity configured to receive laundry articles for treatment therein. The dispenser has a housing and a lid. The housing defines one or more chambers configured to receive laundry treatment chemicals. Each of the one or more chambers are in fluid communication with the internal cavity to facilitate delivery of the treatment chemicals to the internal cavity. The lid is secured to the housing. The lid is configured to transition between an open position and a closed position. The lid is configured to cover at least one of the one or more chambers in the closed position. The lid is configured to provide access to the at least one of the one or more chambers in the open position. The lid has a primary cover and a secondary cover. The primary cover is movably secured to the housing to facilitate transition of the lid between the open and closed positions. The primary cover has an internal surface configured to engage the housing when the lid is in the closed position. The primary cover defines a slot along the internal surface. The secondary cover is disposed within the slot. The secondary cover is sandwiched between the internal surface of the primary cover and the housing when the lid is in the closed position.
A dispenser for a laundry appliance includes a housing and a lid. The housing defines a chamber configured to receive laundry treatment chemicals. The lid is secured to the housing. The lid has an external cover and an insert that is secured to the external cover. The lid is configured to cover the chamber in a closed position. The lid is configured to provide access to the chamber in an open position. The external cover has an internal surface configured to engage the housing when the lid is in the closed position. The insert is sandwiched between the internal surface and the housing when the lid is in the closed position.
A dispenser for a laundry appliance includes a housing, a first lid, and a second lid. The housing defines first and second chambers. Each chamber is configured to receive laundry treatment chemicals. The first and second lids are each secured to the housing. The first and second lids are configured to cover the first and second chambers, respectively, in closed positions. The first and second lids are configured to provide access to the first and second chambers, respectively, in open positions. Each of the first and second lids includes an outer cover and an insert that is secured to the outer cover.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
Systems, components, and methodologies in accordance with the present disclosure enable a laundry treating appliance to dispense treating chemistry. The present disclosure provides a dispenser for dispensing multiple treating chemistries, including both liquid and powder chemistries. Aspects of the systems, components, and methodologies described herein may also be applicable to dispensers that dispenser only liquid chemistries or only powder chemistries.
The dispenser is described herein in relation to a laundry treating appliance in the form of a washing machine for treating fabric articles according to a cycle of operation. The washing machine may be a household or commercial appliance. It should be appreciated, however, that the dispenser as described herein is not so limited and can have equal applicability to additional appliances, such as any appliance which performs a cycle of operation to clean or otherwise treat items placed therein, non-limiting examples of which include a horizontal or vertical axis clothes washer; a combination washing machine and dryer; a tumbling or stationary refreshing/revitalizing machine; an extractor; a non-aqueous washing apparatus; and a revitalizing machine.
The laundry holding system comprises a tub 14 supported within the cabinet 12 by a suitable suspension system and a drum 16 provided within the tub 14, the drum 16 defining at least a portion of a laundry treating chamber 18. The laundry treating chamber 18 may be referred to as an internal cavity and may also be at least partially defined by and within the cabinet 12. The laundry treating chamber 18 is configured to receive laundry articles (e.g., textiles, clothing articles, bedding, etc.) for treatment therein. The drum 16 may include a plurality of perforations 20 such that liquid may flow between the tub 14 and the drum 16 through the perforations 20. A plurality of baffles 22 may be disposed on an inner surface of the drum 16 to lift the laundry load received in the treating chamber 18 while the drum 16 rotates. It is also within the scope of the disclosure for the laundry holding system to comprise only a tub with the tub defining the laundry treating chamber.
The laundry holding system may further include a door 24 which may be movably mounted to the cabinet 12 to selectively close both the tub 14 and the drum 16 at an access opening 25. A bellows 26 may couple the access opening 25 of the tub 14 with the cabinet 12, with the door 24 sealing against the bellows 26 when the door 24 closes the tub 14. Alternatively, a bellows may not be included, and the door 24 can seal directly against the tub 14 when closed.
The washing machine 10 may further include a suspension system 28 for dynamically suspending the laundry holding system within the structural support system.
The washing machine 10 may further include a liquid supply system for supplying water to the washing machine 10 for use in treating laundry during a cycle of operation. The liquid supply system may include a source of water, such as a household or commercial water supply 40, which may include separate hot and cold water supplies. Hot and cold water may be supplied through inlet conduits 42, 44, respectively, directly to the tub 14 by controlling hot and cold water supply valves 46 and 48, respectively. The valves 46, 48 may direct the flow of liquid to a tub outlet conduit 50 which may be provided with a spray nozzle 52 configured to spray the flow of liquid into the tub 14. In this manner, water from the water supply 40 may be supplied directly to the tub 14.
The washing machine 10 may also be provided with a dispensing system for dispensing treating chemistry to the treating chamber 18 for use in treating the laundry according to a cycle of operation. The dispensing system may include a treating chemistry dispenser 62, described in further detail below. The dispenser 62 may be configured to dispense one or more treating chemistries directly to the tub 14 or one or more treating chemistries mixed with water from the liquid supply system through a dispensing outlet conduit 64. The dispensing outlet conduit 64 may include a dispensing nozzle 66 configured to dispense the treating chemistry into the tub 14 in a desired pattern and under a desired amount of pressure. For example, the dispensing nozzle 66 may be configured to dispense a flow or stream of treating chemistry into the tub 14 by gravity, i.e. a non-pressurized stream.
Valves 54, 56 control the flow of hot and cold water, respectively to the dispenser 62. Water may be supplied to the dispenser 62 from the water supply 40 opening one or both of the valves 54, 56 to direct the flow of water to dispensing supply conduits 58, 60, respectively. One hot and one cold dispensing supply conduit 58, 60 is shown in
Non-limiting examples of treating chemistries that may be dispensed by the dispensing system during a cycle of operation include one or more of the following: water, liquid detergents, powder detergents, fabric softeners, bleach, enzymes, fragrances, stiffness/sizing agents, wrinkle releasers/reducers, antistatic or electrostatic agents, stain repellants, water repellants, energy reduction/extraction aids, antibacterial agents, medicinal agents, vitamins, moisturizers, shrinkage inhibitors, and color fidelity agents, and combinations thereof.
The washing machine 10 may also include a recirculation and drain system for recirculating liquid within the laundry holding system and draining liquid from the washing machine 10. Liquid supplied to the tub 14 through tub outlet conduit 50 and/or the dispensing outlet conduit 64 typically enters a space between the tub 14 and the drum 16 and may flow by gravity to a sump 70 formed in part by a lower portion of the tub 14. The sump 70 may also be formed by a sump conduit 72 that may fluidly couple the lower portion of the tub 14 to a pump 74. The pump 74 may direct liquid to a drain conduit 76, which may drain the liquid from the washing machine 10, or to a recirculation conduit 78, which may terminate at a recirculation inlet 80. The recirculation inlet 80 may direct the liquid from the recirculation conduit 78 into the drum 16. The recirculation inlet 80 may introduce the liquid into the drum 16 in any suitable manner, such as by spraying, dripping, or providing a steady flow of liquid. In this manner, liquid provided to the tub 14, with or without treating chemistry may be recirculated into the treating chamber 18 for treating the laundry within.
The liquid supply and/or recirculation and drain system may optionally be provided with a heating system which may include one or more devices for heating laundry and/or liquid supplied to the tub 14, such as a steam generator 82 (
Additionally, the liquid supply and recirculation and drain system may differ from the configuration shown in
The washing machine 10 also includes a drive system for rotating the drum 16 within the tub 14. The drive system may include a motor 88, which may be directly coupled with the drum 16 through a drive shaft 90 to rotate the drum 16 about a rotational axis during a cycle of operation. The motor 88 may be a brushless permanent magnet (BPM) motor having a stator 92 and a rotor 94. Alternately, the motor 88 may be coupled to the drum 16 through a belt and a drive shaft to rotate the drum 16, as is known in the art. Other motors, such as an induction motor or a permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor, may also be used. The motor 88 may rotate the drum 16 at various speeds in either rotational direction.
The washing machine 10 also includes a control system for controlling the operation of the washing machine 10 to implement one or more cycles of operation. The control system may include a controller 96 located within the cabinet 12 and a user interface 98 that is operably coupled with the controller 96. The user interface 98 may include 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 may enter different types of information including, without limitation, cycle selection and cycle parameters, such as cycle options.
The controller 96 may include the machine controller and any additional controllers provided for controlling any of the components of the washing machine 10. For example, the controller 96 may include the machine controller and a motor controller. Many known types of controllers may be used for the controller 96. 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 effect 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 control), may be used to control the various components.
The controller 96 may be operably coupled with one or more components of the washing machine 10 for communicating with and controlling the operation of the component to complete a cycle of operation. For example, the controller 96 may be operably coupled with the motor 88, the pump 74, the dispenser 62, the steam generator 82, valves 46, 48, 54, 56, and/or the sump heater 84 to control the operation of these and other components to implement one or more of the cycles of operation.
While illustrated as one controller, the controller 96 may be part of a larger control system and may be controlled by various other controllers throughout the washing machine 10. It should therefore be understood that the controller 96 and one or more other controllers can collectively be referred to as a “controller” that controls various actuators in response to signals from various sensors to control functions the washing machine 10 or subsystems. The controller 96 may include a microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) in communication with various types of computer readable storage devices or media. Computer readable storage devices or media may include volatile and nonvolatile storage in read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), and keep-alive memory (KAM), for example. KAM is a persistent or non-volatile memory that may be used to store various operating variables while the CPU is powered down. Computer-readable storage devices or media may be implemented using any of a number of known memory devices such as PROMs (programmable read-only memory), EPROMs (electrically PROM), EEPROMs (electrically erasable PROM), flash memory, or any other electric, magnetic, optical, or combination memory devices capable of storing data, some of which represent executable instructions, used by the controller 96 in controlling the washing machine 10 or subsystems.
Control logic or functions performed by the controller 96 may be represented by flow charts or similar diagrams in one or more figures. These figures provide representative control strategies and/or logic that may be implemented using one or more processing strategies such as event-driven, interrupt-driven, multi-tasking, multi-threading, and the like. As such, various steps or functions illustrated may be performed in the sequence illustrated, in parallel, or in some cases omitted. Although not always explicitly illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the illustrated steps or functions may be repeatedly performed depending upon the particular processing strategy being used. Similarly, the order of processing is not necessarily required to achieve the features and advantages described herein, but is provided for ease of illustration and description. The control logic may be implemented primarily in software executed by a microprocessor-based controller, such as controller 96. Of course, the control logic may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware in one or more controllers depending upon the particular application. When implemented in software, the control logic may be provided in one or more computer-readable storage devices or media having stored data representing code or instructions executed by a computer to control the washing machine 10 or its subsystems. The computer-readable storage devices or media may include one or more of a number of known physical devices which utilize electric, magnetic, and/or optical storage to keep executable instructions and associated calibration information, operating variables, and the like.
The controller 96 may also be coupled with one or more sensors 104 provided in one or more of the systems of the washing machine 10 to receive input from the sensors, which are known in the art and not shown for simplicity. Non-limiting examples of sensors 104 that may be communicably coupled with the controller 96 include: a treating chamber temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a weight sensor, a load amount sensor, a chemical sensor, a position sensor and a motor torque sensor, which may be used to determine a variety of system and laundry characteristics, such as laundry load inertia or mass.
Referring to
The lids 110 are secured to the housing 108. The lids 110 are configured to transition between open positions 114 and closed positions 116. The lids 110 are each configured to cover one or more of the chambers 112 when in the closed positions 116. The lids 110 are configured to provide access to one or more of the chambers 112 when in the open positions 114. The lids 110 may more specifically be rotatably secured to the housing 108 so that the lids 110 may pivot between the open positions 114 and the closed positions 116.
Each of the lids 110 includes an outer or external cover 118 and an insert 120. The external covers 118 may be referred to as the primary covers and the inserts 120 may be referred to as the secondary covers. The external covers 118 are movably secured (e.g., rotatably secured) to the housing 108 to facilitate transition of the lids 110 between the open positions 114 and the closed positions 116. The external covers 118 have internal surfaces 122 configured to engage the housing 108 when the lids are in the closed positions 116. The external covers 118 define slots 124 along the internal surfaces 122. One of the inserts 120 are disposed within each of the slots 124 to secure the inserts 120 to a corresponding external cover 118. Each of the inserts 120 are sandwiched between an internal surface 122 of the corresponding external cover 118 that each insert 120 is secured to and the housing 108 when the lids 108 are in the closed positions 116. The lids 110 depicted herein, including their respective external covers 118 and inserts 120, may be mirror images of each other.
The external covers 118 may define or include seals or gaskets 126 that engage upper surfaces of the housing 108. The gaskets 126 protrude from the internal surfaces 122. Each of the external covers 118 may include one or more gaskets 126. One of the gaskets 126 extending from each of the external covers 118 may include an overhang 128. The slots 124 may be formed between the corresponding overhangs 128 on each of the external covers 118 and the corresponding internal surfaces 122. Stated in other terms, one of the gaskets 126 extending from each of the external covers 118 may be L-shaped and the slots 124 may be formed between such L-shaped gaskets 126 and the corresponding internal surfaces 122. If the external covers 118 include more than one gasket 126, the gaskets 126 on each external cover 118 may be concentric relative to each other and the inner most gasket 126 may define or at least partially define the corresponding slot 124. Each of the gaskets 126 may form an open loop along the internal surface 122, where the open loop has ends 130 that are spaced-apart and each extend to a common edge 132 of the corresponding external cover 118.
The inserts 120 may have ribs or ridges 134 that protrude outward from at least a portion of the outer peripheries 136 of the inserts 120. The ridges 134 are sandwiched between the overhangs 128 (or ends of the gaskets 126 that define or at least partially the corresponding slots 124) and the internal surfaces 122 of the corresponding external covers 118 to facilitate securing the inserts 120 to the corresponding external covers 118.
Sealing materials (e.g., rubbers and soft plastics such as ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber) that may be utilized to construct the lids 110 may be susceptible to discoloration and fungal growth in response to contact with water, detergent, other treatment chemicals, and any corresponding chemical reaction that may occur. Hard plastics (e.g., polypropylene) on the other hand are resistant to discoloration and fungal growth. In order to minimize discoloration and fungal growth while still allowing a seal to be made between the lids 110 and the housing 108, the inserts 120 may be made from a material having anti-fungal properties (e.g., a hard plastic such as polypropylene) while the external covers may be made from a softer material (e.g., rubbers and soft plastics such as ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber) to allow for a sealing engagement between the lids 110 and the housing 108 in order to prevent the treating chemicals from spilling out of the chambers 112.
Furthermore, the inserts 120 may positioned on corresponding external covers 118 such that the inserts 120 are disposed over the chambers 112 when the lids 110 are in the closed positions 116 so that the portions of the lids 110 having the anti-fungal properties (i.e., the inserts 120) are more likely to come into contact with the water, treatment chemicals (e.g., detergent, bleach, softer), chemical reactions, etc. that are disposed within or are occurring within the chambers 112 as opposed to the portions of the lids 110 that do not exhibit or exhibit low anti-fungal properties (i.e., the external covers 118). The inserts 120 may be removed from the corresponding external covers 118 for cleaning by sliding the inserts 120 out of the corresponding slots 124 as indicated by arrow 138 in
The functionality, external connections, etc. of a dispenser (e.g., dispenser 62) is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,885,136 filed on Apr. 13, 2017, and U.S. Pat. No. 10,584,438 filed on Apr. 13, 2017, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
It should be understood that the designations of first, second, third, fourth, etc. for any component, state, or condition described herein may be rearranged in the claims so that they are in chronological order with respect to the claims. Furthermore, it should be understood that any component, state, or condition described herein that does not have a numerical designation may be given a designation of first, second, third, fourth, etc. in the claims if one or more of the specific component, state, or condition are claimed.
The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications.
