Appliance and coating for same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11225747-B2
Application number	US-201916273697-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2019
Priority date	Feb 12, 2019
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

A household appliance can include a treating chamber configured to receive an article for treatment according to a cycle of operation of the household appliance, as well as a coating on at least a portion of the treating chamber. The coating can be configured to provide at least hydrophobicity characteristics to the treating chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A household appliance, comprising:
a cabinet having an access opening;
a treating chamber within the cabinet and configured to receive an article for treatment according to a cycle of operation of the household appliance;
a transparent window coupled with the cabinet aligned with the access opening and providing visual access to the treating chamber from outside the cabinet; and
a coating on at least a portion of the treating chamber, the coating configured to provide at least hydrophobicity characteristics and reversible thermochromic characteristics to the at least a portion of the treating chamber, wherein the coating is configured to provide visual indication through the transparent window of a surface temperature of the at least the portion of the treating chamber;
wherein the coating comprises a composite including carbon nanotubes and vanadium dioxide nanowires; and
wherein the visual indication comprises a color change configured to indicate at least one of the surface temperature in the treating chamber being within a desired temperature range, the surface temperature in the treating chamber exceeding a desired temperature range, a non-uniform temperature distribution within the treating chamber, or the surface temperature in the treating chamber changing over time.

2. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobicity characteristics comprise a sliding angle of at least 2 degrees and a droplet contact angle of at least 145 degrees.

3. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the coating is a thin film coating less than 700 micrometers thick.

4. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the carbon nanotubes include either single-walled carbon nanotubes or multi-walled carbon nanotubes to define carbon nanotubes.

5. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the vanadium dioxide nanowires have an average diameter of 65 nm-110 nm and a length of up to 4.5 micrometers, and the carbon nanotubes have an average diameter in the range of 2 nm-40 nm and a length of 0.1 nm-1 cm.

6. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the coating has the color change between 30° C.-250° C.

7. The household appliance of claim 6 wherein the color change of the coating changes from yellow to orange.

8. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the household appliance is a laundry treating appliance, comprising:
a drum having an inside surface defining an interior forming the treating chamber for holding the article;
a fluid delivery system in fluid communication with the interior of the drum; and
a fluid removal system in fluid communication with the interior of the drum.

9. The household appliance of claim 8 , further comprising a motor in driving engagement with the drum and configured to selectively rotate the drum and cause movement of the article within the drum.

10. The household appliance of claim 8 , further comprising a treating chemistry dispenser in fluid communication with the interior of the drum.

11. The household appliance of claim 8 wherein the coating comprises the coating on at least one surface selected from a group consisting of: a front wall of the drum, a back wall of the drum, a circumferential wall of the drum, an interior surface of a closure for the drum, a baffle extending inwardly from the inside surface of the drum, and a depression in the inside surface of the drum.

12. The household appliance of claim 11 wherein the closure comprises at least one door selectively closing the access opening and having the transparent window.

13. The household appliance of claim 8 wherein the fluid delivery system comprises at least one of a water supply, an air supply, a sprayer, an injector, a nebulizer, a pump, a steam generator, a fan, or a heater.

14. The household appliance of claim 8 wherein the fluid removal system comprises at least one of: a liquid pump, a vacuum system, a heater, a fan, an air compressor, an air source, an air tank, an air pump, a condenser system, a desiccant system, a steam drying system, an electrostatic drying system, a microwave drying system, a conduction drying system, or a convection drying system.

15. A household appliance, comprising:
a cabinet having an access opening;
a treating chamber within the cabinet and configured to receive an article for treatment according to a cycle of operation of the household appliance;
a transparent window coupled with the cabinet aligned with the access opening and providing visual access to the treating chamber from outside the cabinet; and
a composite coating on a portion of the treating chamber and comprising carbon nanotubes configured to provide hydrophobic characteristics to the portion of the treating chamber, and also comprising vanadium dioxide nanowires configured to provide reversible thermochromic visual indication of a surface temperature of the portion of the treating chamber through the transparent window;
wherein the composite coating comprises a coating thickness between 700 micrometers and 2 mm; and
wherein the reversible thermochromic visual indication comprises a color change configured to indicate at least one of the surface temperature in the treating chamber being within a desired temperature range, the surface temperature in the treating chamber exceeding a desired temperature range, a non-uniform temperature distribution within the treating chamber, or the surface temperature in the treating chamber changing over time.

16. The household appliance of claim 15 wherein the carbon nanotubes include either single-walled carbon nanotubes or multi-walled carbon nanotubes to define carbon nanotubes.

17. The household appliance of claim 15 wherein the hydrophobic characteristics comprise a droplet contact angle of at least 145 degrees.

18. A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
a cabinet having an access opening;
a treating chamber within the cabinet and configured to receive an article for treatment according to a cycle of operation of the laundry treating appliance;
a transparent window coupled with the cabinet aligned with the access opening and providing visual access to the treating chamber from outside the cabinet; and
a composite coating on a portion of the treating chamber and comprising carbon nanotubes configured to provide hydrophobic characteristics to the portion of the treating chamber, and also comprising vanadium dioxide nanowires configured to provide reversible thermochromic visual indication of a surface temperature of the portion of the treating chamber through the transparent window during the cycle of operation;
wherein the vanadium dioxide nanowires have an average diameter of 65 nm-110 nm and a length of up to 4.5 micrometers, and wherein the carbon nanotubes have an average diameter in the range of 2 nm-40 nm and a length of 0.1 nm-1 cm; and
wherein the reversible thermochromic visual indication comprises a color change configured to indicate at least one of the surface temperature in the treating chamber being within a desired temperature range, the surface temperature in the treating chamber exceeding a desired temperature range, a non-uniform temperature distribution within the treating chamber, or the surface temperature in the treating chamber changing over time.

19. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 wherein the carbon nanotubes include either single-walled carbon nanotubes or multi-walled carbon nanotubes to define carbon nanotubes.

20. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 wherein the reversible thermochromic visual

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Khizar Muhammad
• Buzzi Ermanno

Classifications

• D06F37/02 Primary

  Rotary receptacles, e.g. drums · CPC title

• D06F58/20

  General details of domestic laundry dryers  (D06F59/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• D06F39/02

  Devices for adding soap or other washing agents · CPC title

• D06F39/083

  Liquid discharge or recirculation arrangements · CPC title

• D06F39/14

  Doors or covers; Securing means therefor · CPC title