Patent Application
20150020553
Laundry treating appliances, such as clothes washers, refreshers, clothes dryers, and non-aqueous systems, may have a configuration based on a rotating container, such as a basket or drum, that defines a treating chamber or container in which laundry items are placed for treating. The laundry treating appliance may have a controller that implements a number of pre-programmed cycles of operation. The user typically manually selects the cycle of operation from the given pre-programmed cycles. The controller then uses adjustable parameters of the selected pre-programmed cycle of operation to operate various components of the laundry treating appliance to complete the cycle, such as a wash cycle.
In one aspect, a laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic cycle of operation, includes a container rotatable about a rotational axis and having a peripheral wall and at least partially defining a treating chamber, a plurality of embossments provided on the peripheral wall and arranged in rows, with each embossment having an oblong shape defining a major body axis, and a plurality of holes formed in the peripheral wall and arranged in at least one row defining a row axis, wherein the major body axis is oriented at an angle to both of the rotational axis and at least one row axis.
In the drawings:
The invention may be implemented in any environment using a container rotatable about a rotational axis regardless of whether the container provides a treating chamber for a laundry treating appliance or not.
As illustrated in
The top wall 22 may have an openable door or lid 28 and may be selectively moveable between opened and closed positions to close an opening in the top wall 22, which provides access to the interior of the cabinet 14. A container, such as a container 30, which is illustrated as a basket, may be disposed within the interior of the cabinet 14 and rotatable about a rotational axis 31. The container 30 at least partially defines a treating chamber 32 for treating laundry, and may be positioned within an imperforate tub 34. A clothes mover 38 may be located in the container 30 to impart mechanical agitation to a load of clothing articles placed in the container 30.
The container 30 and/or the clothes mover 38 may be driven by an electrical motor 40 operably connected to the container 30 and/or the clothes mover 38. The clothes mover 38 may be oscillated or rotated about the rotational axis 31 during a cycle of operation in order to produce high water turbulence effective to wash the load contained within the treating chamber 32. The motor 40 may rotate the container 30 at various speeds in either rotational direction. Additional optional components of the laundry treating appliance 10, for instance, a balance ring for the container 30, are envisioned.
Additionally, the liquid supply and recirculation system 42 may differ from the configuration shown in
The laundry treating appliance 10 may further include a controller 54 coupled with various working components of the laundry treating appliance 10, such as the motor 40 and the pump 48, to control the operation of the working components. The controller 54 may receive data from one or more of the working components and may provide commands, which may be based on the received data, to one or more of the working components to execute a desired operation of the laundry treating appliance 10. The commands may be data and/or an electrical signal without data. The user interface 24 may be coupled with the controller 54 and may provide for input/output to/from the controller 54. In other words, the user interface 24 may allow a user to enter input related to the operation of the laundry treating appliance 10, such as selection and/or modification of an operation cycle of the laundry treating appliance 10, and receive output related to the operation of the laundry treating appliance 10.
Many known types of controllers may be used for the controller 54. The specific type of controller may not germane to the invention. It is contemplated that the controller 54 may be 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 laundry treating appliance 10 may perform one or more manual or automatic treating cycles or cycle of operation and a common treating cycle includes a wash phase, a rinse phase, and a spin extraction phase. Other phases for treating cycles include, but are not limited to, intermediate extraction phases, such as between the wash and rinse phases, and a pre-wash phase preceding the wash phase, and some treating cycles include only a select one or more of these exemplary phases.
The holes 36 are arranged and configured, such that liquid may flow between the tub 34 and the treating chamber 32 through the holes 36. As shown, the plurality of holes 36 are spatially separated and arranged in at least one hole row 68, with each hole row 68 defining a separate hole row axis 70. Each of the holes 36 of any one hole row 68 may be offset relative to holes 36 in immediately adjacent hole rows 68. All of the hole row axes 70 may be parallel to each other.
The holes 36 may further be arranged in hole rows 68 to define hole columns 72 spanning the hole rows 68, wherein the columns 72 are shown to slightly curve about the container 30 as they span the length of the rotational axis 31. Furthermore, all of the hole rows 68 and axes 70 may be parallel to all of the embossment rows 58. Alternatively, some of the hole rows 68 and axes 70 may be parallel to each other, or to only some embossment rows 58. Additionally, the hole columns 72 may be parallel to each other. The holes 36 may be, for example, mechanically formed, shaped, or molded on the peripheral wall 60. Alternate hole 36 patterns, or hole 36 patterns in addition to those described above, are envisioned. For instance, an additional hole 36 pattern may be envisioned along the axial ends of the container 30 for increased liquid flow between the tub 34 and the container 30. The embossment rows 58 and columns 66 are additionally illustrated interweaved with the respective hole rows 68 and hole columns 72.
As shown in the enlarged detail section of
Generally, in normal operation of the laundry treating appliance 10, a user places articles, such as clothing, into the treating chamber 32 of the laundry treating appliance 10. The user then selects an appropriate treating cycle for the articles, such as a wash cycle, via the user interface 24. Non-limiting examples of cycles of operation include normal, delicate, and heavy-duty. The cycle may be initiated automatically when the user closes the lid 28, or at the start of the user-selected treating cycle.
During the wash cycle, operation of the motor may accelerate the container 30 or clothes mover 38 individually, in unison, in opposing directions, or according to a predetermined alternating pattern to operably perform the selected cycle of operation. The interaction of the articles with the clothes mover 38, embossments 56, container 30, and liquid flowing in between the tub 34 and treating chamber 32 via the holes 36 causes agitation which loosens or removes unwanted soiling particles from the articles.
At the end of the wash cycle, or intermittently during the cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance 10 may also perform a dehydrating operation to remove the water from the articles. During this operation, the liquid may be drained from the treating chamber 32 and the motor 40 spins the container 30 at a high rate of speed, causing satellization of the articles against the peripheral wall 60 of the container 30. The configuration of the embossments 56 and holes 36 allow for aligning the articles about the container 30 in a balanced arrangement and further dehydration, allowing additional liquid to be drawn out of the articles by centrifugal force. The wash and dehydration cycles may each occur for a predetermined time or a variable time, as calculated by the controller 54, based on sensed characteristics of the articles or other inputs.
Many other possible embodiments and configurations in addition to that shown in the above figures are contemplated by the present disclosure. For example, one embodiment of the invention contemplates a horizontal axis laundry treating appliance 10. Another embodiment of the invention contemplates formed embossments 56 that project away from the treating chamber 32. Additionally, the design and placement of the various components may be rearranged such that a number of different in-line configurations could be realized.
The embodiments disclosed herein provide a laundry treating appliance with an embossed drum configuration. One advantage that may be realized in the above embodiments is that the above described embodiments provide for improved cycle performance of the laundry treating appliance due to the improved interaction between the articles and the drum. Additionally, the above-described embodiments provide for improved water extraction during the dehydrating operation. Another advantage that may be realized in the above embodiments is an improved load balancing during satellization, and a lower speed needed to perform satellization of the articles, during the dehydrating operation. The improved balancing and water extraction allow the motor to operate at lower speeds during the dehydrating operation, improving motor reliability. Alternatively, the improved balancing and water extraction may allow the motor to operate at higher speeds during the dehydrating operation, reducing the time needed for the dehydrating operating and reducing the overall time to complete the cycle of operation. Yet another advantage that may be realized in the above embodiments is that the configuration of the drum provides for an improved cleaning agitation during the wash cycle while providing a gentler interaction with the articles of clothing, resulting in an increased longevity of the effective article life.
To the extent not already described, the different features and structures of the various embodiments may be used in combination with each other as desired. That one feature may not be illustrated in all of the embodiments is not meant to be construed that it may not be, but is done for brevity of description. Thus, the various features of the different embodiments may be mixed and matched as desired to form new embodiments, whether or not the new embodiments are expressly described. All combinations or permutations of features described herein are covered by this disclosure. The primary differences among the exemplary embodiments relate to the configuration and pattern of embossments and hole of the drum, and these features may be combined in any suitable manner to modify the above described embodiments and create other embodiments.
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 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.
