Patent Application
20170314178
Laundry treating appliances, such as washing machines, clothes dryers, refreshers, and non-aqueous systems, can have a configuration based on a rotating container that at least partially defines a treating chamber in which laundry items are placed for treating. Traditionally, in a vertical axis washing machine, the container is a perforated basket with perforations provided along the full height of the basket, which is located within an imperforate tub, with both the basket and tub typically having an upper opening at their respective ends. The tub surrounds the basket and generally has a height as tall as or taller than the basket to catch water exiting the perforations of the basket for the full height of the basket. During a wash or rinse cycle, water is able to flow freely through the perforations of the basket, requiring the volume of the wash or rinse water to be sufficient not only to fill the basket to a predetermined level with liquid, but also to fill the imperforate tub to the same predetermined level with liquid. Thus, even with small laundry loads, the volume of water required during a wash or rinse cycle must be greater than what would be required just to fill the basket to the predetermined level if water were not able to flow out of the basket through the perforations.
A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to a cycle of operation includes a rotatable basket defining a laundry treating space. The rotatable basket also includes one or more drain holes. A centrifugally-actuated valve comprising a weighted object is configured to close the drain hole while rotation of the rotatable basket is below a first rotational speed, and move away from and open the drain hole as rotation of the rotatable basket approaches a second rotational speed greater than the first rotational speed.
A valve assembly for a rotatable basket in a laundry treating appliance includes a housing, a compression spring within the housing, and a weighted object adjacent the compression spring. At least a portion of the weighted object projects from the housing. The housing is shaped and dimensioned to mount to the rotatable basket adjacent a drain hole. The compression spring and the weighted object are disposed at an oblique angle relative to the drain hole so that the weighted object can move toward and close the drain hole while rotation of the rotatable basket is below a first rotational speed. The weighted object moves away from and opens the at least one drain hole as rotation of the rotatable basket approaches a second rotational speed that is greater than the first rotational speed.
A method of assembling a laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to a cycle of operation includes providing one or more drain holes in a rotatable basket. A valve assembly is also provided that includes a housing, a spring within the housing, and a weighted object adjacent the spring, a portion of which projects from the housing. The valve assembly is mounted adjacent to the drain hole. The weighted object is positioned to move toward and close the drain hole while rotation of the rotatable basket is below a first rotational speed. The weighted object moves away from and opens the drain hole as rotation of the rotatable basket approaches a second rotational speed that is greater than the first rotational speed.
In the drawings:
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. 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 tub 34 can have a generally cylindrical side or tub peripheral wall 12 closed at its bottom end by a base 16 that can at least partially define a sump 60. The basket 30 can have a generally peripheral wall 18, which is illustrated as a cylindrical side wall, closed at the basket end by a basket bottom wall 20 to at least partially define the treating chamber 32.
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 31, such that liquid may flow between the tub 34 and the rotatable basket 30 through the perforations 31. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated herein, the perforations 31 are only present within an upper portion of the basket side wall 18, leaving a lower portion of the basket side wall 18 imperforate. The imperforate portion of the side wall 18 may be, for example, one third to one half of the total height of the basket side wall 18. It is also contemplated that any suitable arrangement of perforations 31 can be employed, non-limiting examples of which include having no perforations 31 within the basket side wall 18, or having only a portion of the basket side wall 18 provided with perforations 31 at any suitable location along the height of the basket side wall 18.
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 system 40 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 system 40 and can selectively operably couple the motor 41 with either the basket 30 and/or the laundry mover 38.
A suspension system 22 can dynamically hold the tub 34 within the cabinet 14. The suspension system 22 can dissipate a determined degree of vibratory energy generated by the rotation of the basket 30 and/or the laundry mover 38 during a treating cycle of operation. Together, the tub 34, the basket 30, and any contents of the basket 30, such as liquid and laundry items, define a suspended mass for the suspension system 22.
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 44 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, suspension 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 80 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.
As illustrated in
The controller 70 can be operably coupled with one or more components of the washing machine 10 for communicating with and/or controlling the operation of the components to complete a cycle of operation. For example, the controller 70 can be coupled with the hot water valve 48, the cold water valve 50, the diverter valve 55, and the detergent dispenser 54 for controlling the temperature and flow rate of treating liquid into the treating chamber 32; the pump 62 for controlling the amount of treating liquid in the treating chamber 32 or sump 60; drive system 40 including a motor 41 for controlling the direction and speed of rotation of the basket 30 and/or the clothes mover 38; and the user interface 24 for receiving user selected inputs and communicating information to the user. The controller 70 can also receive input from a temperature sensor 76, such as a thermistor, which can detect the temperature of the treating liquid in the treating chamber 32 and/or the temperature of the treating liquid being supplied to the treating chamber 32. The controller 70 can also receive input from various additional sensors 78, which are known in the art and not shown for simplicity. Non-limiting examples of additional sensors 78 that can be communicably coupled with the controller 70 include: a weight sensor, and a motor torque sensor.
Turning to
A plurality of discrete valve assemblies 120 can mount to or within the lower surface portion of the basket bottom wall 20, corresponding to and surrounding each basket drain hole 116. The valve assemblies 120 are positioned such that wash liquid collected in the bottom of the basket 30 can only drain out of the basket 30 and into the tub 34 by passing through the valve assemblies 120. While the valve assemblies 120 comprise a generally square or rectangular cross section, different valve assemblies 120 that are adapted to accommodate each basket drain hole 116 are contemplated. It is contemplated that the valve assembly 120 can be any shape, unique or otherwise, defining any cross section, being sufficient to surround the basket drain holes 116. Depending on the shapes of the basket bottom wall 20 and the basket drain holes 116, the valve assembly 120 can be a plurality of shapes, being variable, unique, or rounded in non-limiting examples. While the valve assemblies 120 are illustrated herein as being integrated with the bottom wall 20 of the basket 30, it is also contemplated that the valve assembly 120 can be assembled within a washing machine 10 as a separate module. In this case, the rotatable basket 30 would be provided with at least one basket drain hole 116 within the bottom wall 20 of the basket 30. The valve assembly 120 can then be mounted adjacent the at least one basket drain hole 116.
Turning now to
A membrane seal 134 is provided that surrounds the lower end of the drain channel 130. The membrane seal 134 is illustrated herein as having a square or rectangular shape with a circular through opening 140 in the middle. It is also contemplated that the membrane seal 134 could have any other suitable shape, non-limiting examples of which include circular, oblong, or any other geometry. The membrane seal 134 is held in place against the angled surface 144 of the housing 122 by a seal cap 132 and is positioned such that the membrane seal 134 is held at an angle relative to the plane of the basket drain hole 116. The seal cap 132 follows the profile of the angled surface 144 of the housing 122, with horizontal portions at either end that accommodate at least one attachment mechanism 142 that attaches the seal cap 132 to the housing 122. While the attachment mechanism 142 is illustrated herein as being in the form of a screw, any suitable attachment method is also contemplated, non-limiting examples of which include other fasteners, adhesives, welding, molding, etc.
A weighted ball 128 is provided within the housing 122 and positioned such that the weighted ball 128 can close off the through opening 140 of the membrane seal 134 and prevent wash liquid from exiting the drain channel 130. It will be understood that the weighted ball 128 need not be formed in a ball shape, but could have any other shape such that it can suitably close off the through opening 140 of the membrane seal 134. The weighted ball 128 can be formed of any material having sufficient weight to form a watertight seal with the membrane seal 134, non-limiting examples of which include stainless steel, other metals, or weighted plastics. The weighted ball 128 is biased against the membrane seal 134 by means of a ball support 126 that is held in place by the force of a spring 124. When the weighted ball 128 is occupying the closed position and is biased against the membrane seal 134, at least a portion of the weighted ball 128 projects from the housing 122. The spring 124 and the weighted ball 128 are oriented on an oblique axis relative to the basket drain hole 116. The spring 124, illustrated herein as a compression spring 124, could also be any other suitable type of spring or biasing mechanism. The ball support 126 is illustrated herein as having a profile that is complementary to that of the weighted ball 128. It is also contemplated that the ball support 126 could have any other suitable alternate shape that would effectively contact the weighted ball 128 in order to bias the weighted ball 128 against the membrane seal 134.
Turning now to
Turning now to the operation of the valve assembly 120 as illustrated by
As the speed of rotation of the rotatable basket 30 approaches a second rotational speed that is greater than the first rotational speed, the centrifugal force of the rotating basket 30 exceeds the biasing force of the spring 124, resulting in the weighted ball 128 compressing the spring 124 and moving away from the through opening 140 of the membrane seal 134. This permits the valve assembly 120 to assume the opened position, allowing flow of wash liquid from the basket drain hole 116 through the drain channel 130 of the housing 122 and out the through opening 140 of the membrane seal 134 and into the tub 34 of the washing machine 10.
In an exemplary embodiment, it is contemplated that the force of the spring 124 will be selected such that the spring 124 will bias the weighted ball 128 against the membrane seal 134 in the closed position at rotational speeds of the basket 30 less than 30 RPM, and that the spring 124 will allow the weighted ball 128 to move away from the membrane seal 134 and assume the opened position at speeds greater than 40 RPM. However, it is also contemplated that these rotational speed values could be any suitable speed such that the valve assemblies 120 occupy the closed position at speeds of rotation of the basket 30 during wash and rinse cycles and that the valve assemblies 120 only occupy the opened position at speeds of rotation greater than those experienced during a wash or rinse cycle and that the basket 30 would only encounter during a spin cycle.
While the valve mechanism for selectively opening or the closing the basket drain holes 116 is illustrated as a centrifugally-actuated valve assembly 120, it is also contemplated that other embodiments of centrifugally-actuated valve mechanisms can be covered by the current disclosure. For example, rather than having discrete valve assemblies 120 as described herein, it is contemplated that the weighted ball 128 need not be contained within an assembly 120 or housing 122 as discussed. Rather, the weighted balls 128 could be provided adjacent the basket drain holes 116 and be biased toward closing the basket drain holes 116 simply by the presence of ramps in the basket bottom wall 20 that direct the weighted ball 128 to be positioned over the drain hole 116 such that wash liquid is not able to flow through the drain hole 116 unless centrifugal forces are sufficient to cause the weighted ball 128 to move away from the drain hole 116. Rather than being biased by a spring or held in place by a housing, the weighted ball 128 can be guided to the home position of closing the drain hole 116 by the geometry of the bottom wall 20 of the basket 30 itself, and move away from the drain hole 116 into the opened position only when sufficient centrifugal force is encountered during the spin cycle of the washing machine 10.
As may be appreciated, the centrifugally-activated valve assembly 120 enables a reduction in the required volume of wash liquid by preventing the wash liquid from draining out of the basket 30 and into the tub 34 when the valve assemblies 120 are in the closed position during wash and rinse cycles of the washing machine 10. By eliminating the need to also fill the volume of the tub 34 up to the level of wash liquid required for the size of the load being washed, the cycle of operation only uses the volume of wash liquid required to fill the basket 30 alone. This results in an overall reduction of wash liquid required to complete a cycle of operation. In embodiments in which the side wall 18 of the basket 30 has no perforations 31 at all, the reduction in wash liquid volume required would be seen with all load sizes. In the case in which a lower portion of the side wall 18 of the basket 30 is imperforate, but perforations 31 are present within the upper portion of the side wall 18 of the basket 30, the reduction in wash liquid volume required would be effective with smaller load sizes, but not larger loads.
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 can 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 have 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.
