Laundry treating appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11180885-B2
Application number	US-201916390046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2019
Priority date	Jul 27, 2015
Publication date	Nov 23, 2021
Grant date	Nov 23, 2021

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance includes a rotatable basket defining a treating chamber for receiving a load of laundry items for treatment, and an annular balance rings defining an annular chamber within, coupled with the basket for rotation therewith. The basket can further comprise a pair of walls comprising a perforated inner wrapper and an outer wall defining a space therebetween. The space fluidly couples to the annular chamber, permitting liquid to flow from the treating chamber, into the space and into the annular chamber to provide a restoring force to the system. The annular balance ring can further comprise a plurality of passages, fluidly coupling the treating chamber to the annular chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a laundry treating appliance to restore balance during an out-of-balance condition, the method comprising:
rotating a vertically oriented basket defining a treating chamber and having a basket base, an annular, imperforate outer wall extending from the basket base, and an inner wrapper concentric with the outer wall and having perforations such that a liquid within the basket is moved radially by a centrifugal force through the perforations into an annular space defined between the outer wall and the inner wrapper;
moving the liquid into an annular chamber provided at an upper end of the basket, mounted to the outer wall and the inner wrapper, and radially interior of the perforated inner wrapper, the annular chamber in fluid communication with the space via at least one inlet, utilizing the centrifugal force;
restoring balance to the laundry treating appliance utilizing a restoring force provided by the liquid within the annular chamber; and
draining the liquid from the annular chamber after balance has been restored to the laundry treating appliance via at least one outlet provided with the annular chamber, in direct fluid communication with the treating chamber and overlying the basket base.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein moving the liquid within the space into the annular chamber utilizes centrifugal force within a skewed axis of rotation.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the restoring force increases or decreases relative to an increase or decrease in a degree of the skewed axis of rotation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein moving the liquid from the space and into the annular chamber comprises moving liquid through multiple passages.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein restoring balance to the laundry treating appliance utilizes baffles disposed within the annular chamber to increase the restoring force.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the baffles are arranged in an alternating pattern along a radially inner surface and a radially outer surface within the annular chamber.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein at least one of the baffles are at least partially disposed within the space between the outer wall and the inner perforated wrapper.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein draining the liquid from the annular chamber comprises draining the liquid out through the space between the outer wall and the inner wrapper.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein moving liquid into the annular chamber further comprises moving liquid from the treating chamber through at least one fluid passage disposed along an outside surface of the annular chamber adjacent to the treating chamber.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein draining the liquid from the annular chamber comprises draining the liquid out through at least one fluid passage adjacent to the treating chamber.

11. A method of restoring rotational balance in a laundry treating appliance having a dual wall basket rotatable about a vertical axis defining a treating chamber and having a basket base from which annular, concentric dual walls extend, the method comprising:
in response to an imbalance occurring during the rotation of the basket causing the basket to rotate about a non-vertical axis, moving liquid upwardly in an annular space defined between the dual walls and into an annular chamber located radially interiorly of the dual wall at an upper end of the basket and mounted to both of the dual walls; and
draining the liquid from the annular chamber after balance has been restored to the laundry treating appliance via at least one outlet provided with the annular chamber, in direct fluid communication with the treating chamber and overlying the basket base.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein moving the liquid into the annular chamber utilizes centrifugal force.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the restoring force increases or decreases relative to an increase or decrease in a degree of the non-vertical axis of rotation.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein moving the liquid into the annular chamber comprises moving liquid through multiple passages.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprises restoring balance to the laundry treating appliance by flowing the liquid against baffles disposed within the annular chamber.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the baffles are arranged in an alternating pattern along a radially inner surface and a radially outer surface within the annular chamber.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein at least one of the baffles are at least partially disposed within a space between the dual walls.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein draining the liquid from the annular chamber comprises draining the liquid out through a space between the dual walls.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein moving liquid into the annular chamber further comprises moving liquid from the treating chamber through at least one fluid passage disposed along an outside surface of the annular chamber adjacent to the treating chamber.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein draining the liquid from the annular chamber comprises draining the liquid out through at least one fluid passage adjacent to the treating chamber.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Alexander Benjamin E
• Burgess Brent M
• Jones Christopher A
• Linden Aaron A
• Mueller Dale E
• Paustian Michele A
• Sharp Brenner M

Classifications

• D06F37/245 Primary

  Damping vibrations by displacing, supplying or ejecting a material, e.g. liquid, into or from counterbalancing pockets · CPC title

• D06F25/00

  Washing machines with receptacles, e.g. perforated, having a rotary movement, e.g. oscillatory movement, the receptacle serving both for washing and for centrifugally separating water from the laundry and having further drying means, e.g. using hot air  (control of washing or of washing and drying D06F33/00, D06F34/00; domestic laundry dryers D06F58/00) · CPC title

• D06F34/28

  Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress · CPC title

• D06F23/04

  and rotating or oscillating about a vertical axis · CPC title