Laundry treating appliance lifter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10648116-B2
Application number	US-201715719682-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance having a tub with a tub interior that defines a liquid chamber, a rotatable drum located within the liquid chamber and rotatable about a rotational axis that at least partially defines a treating chamber, and a lifter housing carried by the drum and located within the treating chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
a tub having a tub interior defining a liquid chamber;
a rotatable drum located within the liquid chamber and rotatable about a rotational axis, and at least partially defining a treating chamber; and
a lifter housing carried by the drum comprising an elongated body having a stationary outer surface and located within the treating chamber, the outer surface having a plurality of spaced grooves protruding into an interior of the lifter housing, with closed cross-sectional profiles, extending longitudinally along a length of the elongated body and having a flat and uniform width between each groove.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the drum further comprises an inner circumferential surface to which the lifter housing is secured.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 further comprising at least one post connecting the lifter housing to the drum to prevent forward to aft motion of the lifter housing.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 3 wherein the at least one post snap fits in to an opposing post-receiving element on the lifter housing.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 further comprising at least one tab connecting the lifter housing to the drum to prevent side-to-side motion of the lifter housing.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 5 wherein the at least one tab snap fits in to an opposing receiver in the drum.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein at least some of the spaced grooves are parallel.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 7 wherein at least some of the spaced grooves are concave.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the elongated body has a triangular cross section.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 wherein the elongated body has a symmetrical cross-section relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongated body.

11. The laundry treating appliance of claim 10 wherein the outer surface is one of straight or concave.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 where the lifter housing comprises plastic or stainless steel.

13. A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
a tub having a tub interior defining a liquid chamber;
a rotatable drum located within the liquid chamber; and
a lifter secured to the drum and adapted to lift laundry in the drum by upward rotation of the drum, wherein the lifter comprises:
a lifter housing having at least one stationary outer surface with a plurality of uniformly spaced grooves protruding into an interior of the lifter housing, with closed cross-sectional profiles, along a length of the lifter and defining a flat width between each groove; wherein the width between each groove is less than the width of adjacent grooves.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 13 wherein the drum further comprises an inner circumferential surface to which the lifter housing is secured.

15. The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 further comprising at least one post connecting the lifter housing to the drum to prevent forward to aft motion of the lifter housing.

16. The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 further comprising at least one tab connecting the lifter housing to the drum to prevent side-to-side motion of the lifter housing.

17. The laundry treating appliance of claim 16 wherein at least one tab snap fits in to an opposing receiver in the drum.

18. The laundry treating appliance of claim 13 wherein a pair of outer surfaces defines the lifter housing.

19. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 wherein the pair of outer surfaces are spaced apart and angled toward each other.

20. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 further comprising a rounded top coupling the pair of outer surfaces.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Bauman Michael J
• Carpenter Scott E
• Howes Peter N
• Leep Nicholas
• Wohlgamuth Lindsey A

Classifications

• D06F37/06

  Ribs, lifters, or rubbing means forming part of the receptacle · CPC title

• D06F37/065 Primary

  ribs or lifters having means for circulating the washing liquid · CPC title

• D06F37/14

  Ribs or rubbing means forming part of the receptacle · CPC title