Pet hair filter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11982039-B2
Application number	US-202217584010-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 25, 2022
Priority date	Jan 28, 2021
Publication date	May 14, 2024
Grant date	May 14, 2024

Abstract

A removable fluid pumping and filtration apparatus for a laundry treatment machine is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of selectively attachable and detachable stackable sections, the sections including a handle section and one or more further sections; wherein, when attached together in stacked arrangement to form an agitator, the plurality of sections collectively define: a cylindrical body, a hollow interior of the body, first and second opening about the exterior circumference of the body to define a water flow path into and out of the hollow interior, and placement within the hollow interior for a removable filter along the water flow path, and wherein the handle section including an area to grip onto and rotate the removable fluid pumping and filtration apparatus to facilitate insertion and removal of the agitator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A removable agitator having built-in filtration, comprising:
a handle section defining a grip to facilitate insertion and removal of the agitator into a laundry treatment machine;
an impeller section defining a hollow interior having a closed bottom, generally cylindrical sides, and an open top, the impeller section further defining a lower water opening to allow for passage of wash water into or out of the hollow interior of the agitator;
a filter section, of a generally cylindrical shape and removably attachable between the handle section and the impeller section, the exterior of the filter section defining a midsection water opening to allow for the passage of water into or out of the interior of the agitator, the filter section having a partition further defining a first, inner space open to the hollow interior of the impeller section, a second, outer space open to the midsection water opening but closed to the first space, and a filter area open to the first and second spaces configured to hold a removable filter to filter water flowing between the inner space and the outer space; and
a handle pull locking post provided within the hollow interior of the agitator, the handle pull locking post including a handle pull portion at a top end for gripping and at least one pin at a bottom end configured to selectively lock the agitator into the laundry treatment machine.

2. The agitator of claim 1 , wherein the impeller section defines a configuration of vanes about the circumference of the agitator for imparting mechanical energy to laundry items during a cycle of operation.

3. The agitator of claim 1 , wherein one or more of:
the lower water opening is formed as an array of evenly spaced slots extending circumferentially around a portion of the exterior of the impeller section; and
the midsection water opening is formed as an array of evenly spaced slots extending circumferentially around a portion of the exterior of the filter section.

4. The agitator of claim 1 , further comprising a removable filter drawer having a bottom, a front face, a rear face, and open exterior sides, wherein the filter section defines a corresponding opening about its exterior circumference into which the removable filter drawer is horizontally insertable.

5. The agitator of claim 4 , the rear face of the removable filter drawer being formed to fit a vertical contour of the partition, the partition defining a stop such that the removable filter drawer is insertable to a predefined extent.

6. The agitator of claim 5 , wherein the front face of the removable filter drawer is formed such that when the removable filter drawer is fully inserted against the partition, a cylindrical front face of the filter section is flush with the exterior of the filter section to generally continue a cylindrical exterior around the filter section.

7. The agitator of claim 5 , wherein the rear face of the filter drawer includes a mesh or other filter material, and the partition of the filter section is open to the rear face of the filter drawer to allow for a filtered flow of the wash water between the inner space within the partition and the outer space of the filter section.

8. The agitator of claim 5 , wherein the filter section defines a latch configured to hold the removable filter drawer in place within the filter section during a wash cycle.

9. A removable agitator having built-in filtration, comprising:
a plurality of selectively attachable and detachable stackable sections, the sections including a handle section and one or more further sections, wherein, when attached together in stacked arrangement to form the agitator, the plurality of sections collectively define:
a cylindrical body,
a hollow interior of the body, and
first and second openings about an exterior circumference of the body to define a water flow path into and out of the hollow interior; and

a handle pull locking post provided within the hollow interior of the agitator, the handle pull locking post including a handle pull portion at a top end for gripping and at least one pin at a bottom end configured to selectively lock the agitator into a laundry treatment machine,
wherein the agitator defines a filter holder within the hollow interior configured to hold a removable filter along the water flow path to capture particulate in wash water, and the handle section including an area to grip onto and rotate the removable agitator to facilitate insertion and removal of the agitator with respect to the laundry treatment machine.

10. The agitator of claim 9 , further comprising an impeller vertically centered within the hollow interior configured to fit and spin freely around the handle pull locking post, wherein the impeller defines a series of vanes extending radially outward from the center of the impeller so as to provide for agitation of the water within the hollow interior.

11. The agitator of claim 10 , wherein the impeller is powered to actively spin via gearing that selectively connects when the agitator is connected to a base.

12. The agitator of claim 9 , wherein one or both of the first and second openings is formed as an array of evenly spaced slots extending horizontally or longitudinally around at least a portion of the exterior of the removable agitator.

13. The agitator of claim 9 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of sections collectively define a configuration of vanes about a circumference of the agitator for imparting mechanical energy to laundry items during a cycle of operation.

14. The agitator of claim 9 , wherein the one or more further sections include a filter section and an impeller section, wherein:
the bottom of the handle section is configured to attach to the top of the filter section,
the bottom of the filter section is configured to attached to the top of the impeller section, and
the bottom of the impeller section is configured to selectively couple to the laundry treatment machine.

15. The agitator of claim 9 , wherein the one or more further sections includes an impeller section, wherein:
the bottom of the handle section is configured to attach to the top of the impeller section, and
the bottom of the impeller section is configured to selectively couple to the laundry treatment machine.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Bixby Seth E
• Murphy Sayer J
• Spicer Thomas D
• Vasko Eric J
• Hellmuth Heather A
• Ledford Michael A
• Vandervelde Meagan K

Classifications

• D06F39/10 Primary

  Filtering arrangements · CPC title

• D06F13/02

  wherein the agitator has an oscillatory rotary motion only · CPC title

• D06F17/10

  Impellers · CPC title

• D06F37/40

  for driving the receptacle and an agitator or impeller, e.g. alternatively {(D06F37/304, D06F37/308 take precedence)} · CPC title