Laundry treating appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11512421-B2
Application number	US-202017130186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2020
Priority date	Jan 17, 2017
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance, such as a washing machine, having a cabinet defining an interior and defining an access opening. A lid can be movably mounted relative to the cabinet to selectively open or close the access opening. A tub can be located within the interior and the tub can contain a rotatably mounted drum, such as a horizontally rotatable drum, including a flexible fabric material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating appliance for treating a load of laundry according to a cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance comprising:
a cabinet defining an interior;
a tub, housed within the interior;
a drum at least partially received within the tub, the drum having a sidewall and a pair of end walls and defining a circumference of the drum and at least partially defining a treating chamber and having a drum opening disposed within the sidewall and the drum is configured to selectively rotate within the tub; the sidewall comprising a shell defining an exterior surface with the drum opening located in the shell;
a moveable door operably coupled to the shell and moveable between an opened position wherein access is provided to the treating chamber through the drum opening and a closed position; and
a flexible fabric material operably coupled at a first end to a portion of the drum and configured to wrap, under tension, to cover the circumference of the sidewall including the drum opening.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the flexible fabric material is configured to move between an unwrapped position and a wrapped position wherein at least a length of the flexible fabric material is wrapped around and in contact with the exterior surface of the shell.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a pin operably coupled to the drum and configured to secure the flexible fabric material in the wrapped position.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 wherein the length of the flexible fabric material is configured to be wound about an entire circumference of the drum and overlap to provide at least two layers of the flexible fabric material across the drum opening in the wrapped position.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 , further comprising a take-up device comprising a spring-loaded mechanism, the take-up device configured to take up the flexible fabric material from the drum as it moves from the wrapped position to the unwrapped position.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 , further comprising a motor operably coupled to the drum to rotate the drum in response to a signal from a controller and wherein the controller is configured to automatically operate the motor to move the flexible fabric material to the wrapped position.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , wherein the flexible fabric material includes openings to allow liquid to pass through the flexible fabric material.

8. A laundry treating appliance for treating a load of laundry according to a cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance comprising:
a cabinet defining an interior;
a tub, housed within the interior;
a drum at least partially received within the tub, the drum having a sidewall defining a circumference of the drum and at least partially defining a treating chamber and having a drum opening disposed within the sidewall and the drum is configured to selectively rotate within the tub; the sidewall comprising a shell defining an exterior surface with the drum opening located in the shell; and
a flexible fabric material operably coupled at a first end to a portion of the drum and configured to move between an unwrapped position and a wrapped position wherein at least a length of the flexible fabric material is configured to be wound about an entire circumference of the drum and overlap to provide at least two layers of the flexible fabric material across the drum opening in the wrapped position.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 wherein the shell is cylindrical and enclosed by a pair of end walls.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 , further comprising a moveable door operably coupled to the shell and moveable between an opened position wherein access is provided to the treating chamber through the drum opening and a closed position.

11. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 , further comprising a pin operably coupled to the drum and configured to secure the flexible fabric material in the wrapped position.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 , further comprising a take-up device comprising a spring-loaded mechanism, the take-up device configured to take up the flexible fabric material from the drum as it moves from the wrapped position to the unwrapped position.

13. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 , further comprising a motor operably coupled to the drum to rotate the drum in response to a signal from a controller and wherein the controller is configured to automatically operate the motor to move the flexible fabric material to the wrapped position.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 , wherein the flexible fabric material includes openings to allow liquid to pass through the flexible fabric material.

15. A laundry treating appliance for treating a load of laundry according to a cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance comprising:
a cabinet defining an interior;
a tub, housed within the interior;
a drum at least partially received within the tub, the drum having a sidewall defining a circumference of the drum and at least partially defining a treating chamber and having a drum opening disposed within the sidewall and the drum is configured to selectively rotate within the tub; the sidewall comprising a shell defining an exterior surface with the drum opening located in the shell;
a flexible fabric material operably coupled at a first end to a portion of the drum and configured to move between an unwrapped position and a wrapped position wherein at least a length of the flexible fabric material is configured to be wound about an entire circumference of the drum; and
a take-up device comprising a spring-loaded mechanism, the take-up device configured to take up the flexible fabric material from the drum as it moves from the wrapped position to the unwrapped position.

16. The laundry treating appliance of claim 15 wherein the shell is cylindrical and enclosed by a pair of end walls.

17. The laundry treating appliance of claim 16 , further comprising a moveable door operably coupled to the shell and moveable between an opened position wherein access is provided to the treating chamber through the drum opening and a closed position.

18. The laundry treating appliance of claim 15 wherein the flexible fabric material is configured to move between an unwrapped position and a wrapped position wherein at least a length of the flexible fabric material is wrapped around and in contact with the exterior surface of the shell.

19. The laundry treating appliance of claim 15 , further comprising a pin operably coupled to the drum and configured to secure the flexible fabric material in the wrapped position.

20. The laundry treating appliance of claim 19 wherein the length of the flexible fabric material is configured to be wound about an entire circumference of the drum and overlap to provide at least two layers of the flexible fabric material across the drum opening in the wrapped position.

21. The laundry treating appliance of claim 15 , further comprising a motor operably coupled to the drum to rotate the drum in response to a signal from a controller and wherein the controller is configured to automatically operate the motor to move the flexible fabric material to the wrapped position.

22. The laundry treating appliance of claim 15 , wherein the flexible fabric material includes openings to allow liquid to pass through the flexible fabric m

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Erickson Donald
• Fricke Steven
• Gianni Christian
• Kessler Thomas
• Poojary Praveen
• Roberts Erica
• Rodriguez Jaime
• Wagoner Peter

Classifications

• D06F37/04

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F37/10 Primary

  Doors; Securing means therefor · CPC title