Home appliance having a filter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10449552-B2
Application number	US-201715835594-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2017
Priority date	Dec 8, 2017
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

A household appliance can include a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber for holding liquid with an access opening, a nozzle emitting liquid into the treating chamber, a recirculation circuit fluidly coupling the treating chamber to the nozzle. The recirculation circuit can include a recirculation pump and a filter having a housing with an inlet and an outlet, ferrite particles located within the housing, and a magnet having a first operational state and a second operational state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A household appliance comprising:
a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber for holding liquid with an access opening;
a nozzle emitting liquid into the treating chamber;
a recirculation circuit fluidly coupling the treating chamber to the nozzle;
the recirculation circuit comprising a recirculation pump and a filter comprising:
a housing defining an interior and having a housing inlet fluidly coupled to the treating chamber and a housing outlet fluidly coupled to the nozzle;
ferrite particles located within the housing and surrounding the housing inlet and fluidly separating the housing inlet from the housing outlet; and
a magnet having a first operational state where the ferrite particles filter liquid passing from the housing inlet to the housing outlet and a second operational state where the ferrite particles do not filter liquid passing from the housing inlet to the housing outlet.

2. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the housing is rotatable.

3. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the magnet circumscribes at least a portion of the housing.

4. The household appliance of claim 3 wherein the magnet is one of a permanent magnet or electromagnet.

5. The household appliance of claim 4 wherein the electromagnet has a first state where ferrite particles act as a filter and a second state where the ferrite particles do not act as a filter.

6. The household appliance of claim 5 wherein the housing is rotated at a first speed when the electromagnet is in the first state.

7. The household appliance of claim 6 wherein the housing is rotated at a second speed, slower than the first speed, when the electromagnet is in the second state.

8. The household appliance of claim 4 wherein the permanent magnet is moveable between a first position away from the housing where the ferrite particles act as a filter and a second position adjacent the housing where the ferrite particles do not act as a filter.

9. The filter of claim 1 further comprising a pump for pushing unfiltered liquid through the ferrite particles in the housing.

10. A household appliance comprising:
a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber for holding liquid with an access opening;
a nozzle emitting liquid into the treating chamber;
a recirculation circuit fluidly coupling the treating chamber to the nozzle;
the recirculation circuit comprising a recirculation pump and a filter comprising:
an inlet fluidly coupled to the treating chamber;
an outlet fluidly coupled to the nozzle;
a housing defining an interior and having ferrite particles in the interior and fluidly separating the inlet from the outlet; and
a magnet having a first operational state where the ferrite particles filter liquid passing from the inlet to the outlet and a second operational state where the ferrite particles do not filter liquid passing from the inlet to the outlet.

11. The household appliance of claim 10 further comprising a valve moveable between a first position for filtering the liquid passing from the inlet to the outlet and a second position for not filtering the liquid passing from the inlet to the outlet.

12. The household appliance of claim 10 wherein the housing is rotatable.

13. The household appliance of claim 10 wherein the magnet circumscribes at least a portion of the housing.

14. The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the magnet is one of a permanent magnet or electromagnet.

15. The household appliance of claim 14 wherein the electromagnet has a first state where ferrite particles act as a filter and a second state where the ferrite particles do not act as a filter.

16. The household appliance of claim 15 wherein the housing is rotated at a first speed when the electromagnet is in the first state.

17. The household appliance of claim 16 wherein the housing is rotated at a second speed, slower than the first speed, when the electromagnet is in the second state.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Welch Rodney Michael

Classifications

• B03C1/0332

  using permanent magnets · CPC title

• B03C1/032

  Matrix cleaning systems · CPC title

• B03C1/0335

  using coils · CPC title

• B03C1/034

  characterised by the matrix elements · CPC title

• A47L15/4202

  Water filter means or strainers · CPC title