Dishwasher with rotationally mounted sprayer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11019981-B2
Application number	US-202017008833-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 1, 2020
Priority date	Jun 27, 2013
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

Abstract

A dishwasher has a treating chamber with four corners and a rotatable sprayer located within the treating chamber, where the sprayer includes two conduit segments which rotate about two different axes and a spray head which rotates about yet another axis. The combined rotation of the conduit segments moves the spray head in a non-circular path around the treating chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dishwasher for treating dishes according to an automatic cycle of operation, comprising:
a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber with four corners and a sidewall;
a recirculation system fluidly coupling at least two portions of the tub; and
a sprayer fluidly coupled to the recirculation system and located within the treating chamber, with the sprayer comprising:
a first conduit segment rotationally mounted relative to the tub for rotation about a first axis;
a second conduit segment rotationally mounted to the first conduit segment at a location radially spaced from the first axis for rotation about a second axis;
a spray head rotationally mounted to the second conduit segment at a location radially spaced from the second axis for rotation about a third axis;
a drive link coupling the rotation of the spray head with the rotation of the first and second conduit segments; and
a driver coupled to and moving one of the spray head, the first conduit segment, and the second conduit segment, thereby simultaneously rotating the spray head, the first conduit segment, and the second conduit segment such that the first conduit segment and second conduit segment are axially aligned and the sprayer has an extended length when the spray head is at one of the four corners and the second conduit segment overlaps the first conduit segment and the sprayer has a retracted length when the spray head is adjacent the sidewall of the treating chamber such that the spray head traverses a path having an outer boundary defining a squircle with four rounded corners corresponding to the four corners of the treating chamber.

2. The dishwasher of claim 1 , wherein the first and second conduit segments comprise first and second arms.

3. The dishwasher of claim 2 , wherein the spray head comprises a disc-shaped spray head.

4. The dishwasher of claim 3 , wherein the spray head comprises a plurality of outlet nozzles, wherein at least some of the outlet nozzles comprise drive nozzles, such that the rotation of the spray head is driven by the spray from the drive nozzles.

5. The dishwasher of claim 1 , wherein the first conduit segment is longer than the second conduit segment.

6. The dishwasher of claim 5 , wherein the ratio of the length of the first conduit segment to the length of the second conduit segment is 6:1.

7. The dishwasher of claim 1 and further comprising a fluid path extending through the first and second conduit segments from the recirculation system to the spray head, wherein the first conduit segment is fluidly coupled to the recirculation system and the second conduit segment is fluidly coupled to the spray head.

8. The dishwasher of claim 1 , wherein the driver comprises a pump and at least one drive nozzle provided on the spray head and fluidly coupled to the pump, such that the rotation of the spray head is driven by the spray from the at least one drive nozzle.

9. The dishwasher of claim 8 , wherein the drive link comprises a first gear set coupling the rotation of the second conduit segment with the rotation of the spray head and a second gear set coupling the rotation of the first conduit segment with the rotation of the second conduit segment.

10. The dishwasher of claim 9 , wherein the gear ratio of the first gear set is 4:1 and the gear ratio of the second gear set is 6:1.

11. The dishwasher of claim 9 wherein a gear ratio of the first gear set and the second gear set causes the spray head to rotate over twenty times faster than the first conduit segment and allows the spray head to dwell in sections of the treating chamber.

12. The dishwasher of claim 1 , wherein the drive link is configured such that the first conduit segment rotates at a lower RPM than the second conduit segment and the spray head rotates at a higher RPM than the first conduit segment and the second conduit segment.

13. The dishwasher of claim 1 , wherein the third axis passes through a center of the spray head and the path traversed by the center of the spray at the third axis comprises a square with four corners corresponding to the four corners of the treating chamber.

14. The dishwasher of claim 1 wherein the spray head overlies an entirety of a length of the second conduit segment.

15. A dishwasher for treating dishes according to an automatic cycle of operation, comprising:
a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber with four corners;
a recirculation system fluidly coupling at least two portions of the tub; and
a sprayer fluidly coupled to the recirculation system and located within the treating chamber, with the sprayer comprises:
a first arm rotationally mounted to the tub such that the first arm rotates about a first axis;
a second arm rotationally mounted to the first arm, at a location radially spaced from the first axis, such that the second arm rotates about a second axis;
spray head rotationally mounted to the second arm at a location radially spaced from the second axis, such that the spray head rotates about a third axis;

a drive link coupling the rotation of the spray head with the rotation of the first and second arms; and
a driver coupled to and moving one of the spray head, the first arm, and the second arm, thereby simultaneously rotating the spray head, the first arm, and the second arm such that as the first arm is rotated about the first axis, the second axis of the second arm is translated about the treating chamber along a first path, and as the second arm is rotated about the second axis, the spray head moves along a second path with respect to the second arm, and as the spray head is rotated about the third axis, the compounded rotation of the first arm and second arm translates the third axis of the spray head along a third path in the treating chamber.

16. The dishwasher of claim 15 wherein the first path is a generally circular route.

17. The dishwasher of claim 15 wherein the second path is a generally circular route.

18. The dishwasher of claim 17 wherein the circular route of the second path is a smaller circular route than the circular path of the first circular route.

19. The dishwasher of claim 15 wherein the third path is a generally rectangular route.

20. The dishwasher of claim 19 wherein the rectangular route has four corners corresponding to the four corners of the dishwasher.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Welch Rodney M

Classifications

• A47L15/23

  moved by means of the sprays · CPC title

• A47L15/4282 Primary

  Arrangements to change or modify spray pattern or direction · CPC title