Laundry appliance door assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10253441-B2
Application number	US-201815993661-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2018
Priority date	Jun 30, 2016
Publication date	Apr 9, 2019
Grant date	Apr 9, 2019

Abstract

A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance that comprises an inner door subassembly, an intermediate door frame, an outer door screen; and a user interface controller. The intermediate door frame is adhered to the inner door subassembly and to the outer door screen. The user interface controller is affixed to the intermediate door through an aperture in the inner door subassembly to control a user interface that is viewable through and accessible on the outer door screen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance having a front and a back with no exposed hinge mechanical fasteners comprising:
an inner door subassembly comprising at least an inner door frame, an intermediate door frame attached to the inner door frame, an outer door screen attached to the intermediate door frame, and a user interface controller; the inner door frame having a front and a back with at least one hinge seat;
at least two spaced mechanical fasteners extending from the front to the back of the inner door frame for mounting a hinge within the hinge seat;
a hinge cover having a shape complimentary to the hinge seat and adhesively bonded to the inner door frame to cover the mechanical fasteners on the back of the inner door frame;
wherein the intermediate door frame is adhered to the front of the inner door frame and covers the at least two mechanical fasteners on the front of the door frame, and the user interface controller is affixed to the intermediate door through an aperture in the inner door subassembly to control a user interface that is viewable through and accessible on the outer door screen.

2. The door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the door assembly is free of any visible mechanical fasteners.

3. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the hinge includes a wiring harness.

4. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the outer door screen includes a window combined with the intermediate door frame to form a structure to mount a controller, to form a bonded interface detail with the inner door subassembly.

5. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the inner door assembly includes a bowl mechanically sealed to the inner door frame.

6. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the user interface includes a touch film adhered to an inner surface of the outer door screen.

7. The door assembly of claim 6 further comprising a WI-FI antenna mounted into the door assembly.

8. The door assembly of claim 6 wherein the inner surface has a compound curvature.

9. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the user interface controller is mechanically affixed to the intermediate door subassembly and hidden from view by a user interface cover.

10. The door assembly of claim 1 comprising a trim ring adhered to peripheral edges of at least the intermediate door subassembly and the outer door screen.

11. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the inner door subassembly includes a door hook and a handle cover.

12. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the inner door subassembly includes a flat glass mechanically sealed to the frame.

13. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 1 further comprising a handle seat on the back of the inner door frame.

14. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 13 further comprising at least two spaced mechanical fasteners extending from the front to the back of the inner door frame for mounting a handle within the handle seat.

15. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 14 further comprising a handle cover having a shape complimentary to the handle seat and adhesively bonded to the inner door frame to cover the mechanical fasteners on the back of the inner door frame.

16. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance having a front and a back with no exposed handle attachment fasteners comprising:
an inner door subassembly comprising at least an inner door frame, an intermediate door frame attached to the inner door frame, an outer screen door attached to the intermediate door frame, and a user interface controller; the inner door frame having a front and back with at least one handle seat;
at least two spaced mechanical fasteners extending from the front to the back of the inner door frame for mounting a handle within the handle seat;
a handle cover having a shape complimentary to the handle seat and adhesively bonded to the inner door frame to cover the mechanical fasteners on the back of the inner door frame;
wherein the intermediate door frame is adhered to the front of the inner door frame and covers the at least two mechanical fasteners on the front of the door frame, and the user interface controller is affixed to the intermediate door through an aperture in the inner door subassembly to control a user interface that is viewable through and accessible on the outer door screen.

17. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 16 further comprising a peripheral flange adhered to the intermediate door frame.

18. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 16 further comprising a hinge seat on the back of the inner door frame.

19. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 18 further comprising at least two spaced mechanical fasteners extending from the front to the back of the inner door frame for mounting a hinge within the hinge seat.

20. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance of claim 19 further comprising a hinge cover having a shape complimentary to the hinge seat and adhesively bonded to the inner door frame to cover the mechanical fasteners on the back of the inner door frame.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Anand Prabhjee
• Chandrasekaran Yogesh Dhanabalan
• Heater Timothy E
• Luhahi Ndjeka K
• Ramirez Jose Aldo
• Thalls Scott T

Classifications

• D06F39/14

  Doors or covers; Securing means therefor · CPC title

• D06F39/005

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic

• D06F37/10 Primary

  Doors; Securing means therefor · CPC title

• D06F37/28

  Doors; Security means therefor · CPC title

• D06F34/32 Primary

  characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens · CPC title