Dish washer with eccentric protrusion in power transfer assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12226064-B2
Application number	US-202418406890-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 8, 2024
Priority date	Feb 2, 2015
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

A dishwasher may include a tub configured to accommodate one or more items to be washed, a spray arm rotatably mounted to the tub, and configured to spray water onto the one or more items to be washed, a sump disposed at a bottom surface of the tub and configured to store water and to supply stored water to the spray arm, a fixed gear unit fixed to the tub with gear teeth arranged along an outer circumferential surface of the fixed gear unit, a rotary gear unit rotatably mounted on the spray arm and configured to engage the gear teeth of the fixed gear unit, and a link member connected to the rotary gear unit and the spray arm, where the spray arm may include, a main arm with a pair of arms, and a pair of auxiliary arms rotatably connected to the main arm.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dishwasher comprising:
a tub with a space configured to accommodate objects to be washed;
a pair of main arms that are provided in the tub and that extend in a first direction and a second direction that is opposite to the first direction, and that are configured to spray wash water to the objects,
a pair of auxiliary arms that extend in a third direction different from the first direction and the second direction, and that are spaced apart from the main arms by a predetermined angle, the auxiliary arms being configured to spray wash water to the objects while rotating about a rotation axis that extends in the third direction;
an arm holder detachably inserted into the tub to support the main arms to be rotated in a floating state and configured to define a channel through which wash water flows to the main arms or the auxiliary arms;
a fixed gear that is fixed to a lower part of the tub, the fixed gear including gear teeth provided at an outer circumferential surface of the lower part of the tub;
a rotary gear rotatably mounted to the first arm or second arm and configured to engage with the gear teeth of the fixed gear, the rotary gear including an eccentric protrusion that is eccentric from a center of rotation of the rotary gear; and
a link member configured to convert a rotary force of the rotary gear into the linear reciprocating movement, and to reciprocally rotate the auxiliary arms using a predetermined elastic force,
wherein the main arms comprises an arm holder coupling unit disposed at a bottom surface of the main arms and include at least a portion of the arm holder accommodated therein, and
wherein the fixed gear comprises:
a rim part that prevents the arm holder from being separated in which an arm holder coupling unit is inserted in the center and has gear teeth formed on the outer circumferential surface; and
a gap protrusion provided in a plurality and protrude toward a center of the rim part to reduce a gap between the rim part and the arm holder coupling unit.

2. The dishwasher according to claim 1 , wherein the rim part is configured to prevent departure of the arm holder based on wash water being supplied to the arm holder.

3. The dishwasher according to claim 1 , wherein the fixed gear further comprising:
a support part extending downward at both sides of the rim part;
a fastening part formed of a protrusion protruding from a side surface of the support part and coupled to a sump cover; and
a handle part extended in a radial direction of the fixed gear that gripping when coupling or detaching the fixed gear to or from the sump cover.

4. The dishwasher according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a flow passage switcher provided inside the arm holder and configured to move vertically to selectively supply the wash water to the main arms or the auxiliary arms.

5. The dishwasher according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a sump that is mounted at a bottom of the tub and that is configured to store the wash water; and
a water supply pump configured to intermittently supply the wash water from the sump to the arm holder,
wherein the flow passage switcher is configured to repeatedly switch a wash water flow passage to the main arms or the auxiliary arms.

6. The dishwasher according to claim 4 , wherein the main arms include first and second extension parts that are rotatably coupled to the auxiliary arms, the first and second extension parts being provided with auxiliary arm connection members and are configured to rotatably support the auxiliary arms.

7. The dishwasher according to claim 6 , wherein the main arms have first and second main flow passages, the first and second extension parts have first and second transfer flow passages, and the flow passage switcher is configured to selectively open and close the first and second main flow passages or the first and second transfer flow passages.

8. The dishwasher according to claim 4 , wherein the arm holder comprises:
an inlet port that is inserted and located in a bottom of the tub and that is configured to allow the wash water to be introduced through the inlet port; and
an arm holder chamber inserted into the arm holder coupling unit, the arm holder chamber defining a channel through which the wash water flows to the main arms,
wherein the flow passage switcher is located in the arm holder chamber, the flow passage switcher being configured to move upward and downward in the arm holder chamber to sequentially switch a wash water flow passage to the main arms or the auxiliary arms.

9. The dishwasher according to claim 1 , wherein the rotary gear comprises:
a rim portion located at an outer circumferential surface of the rotary gear, the rim portion including gear teeth which are engaged with the fixed gear;
a rotation shaft accommodator located in a center of the rim portion; and
an eccentric protrusion that is spaced apart from a center of rotation of the rotation shaft accommodator.

10. The dishwasher according to claim 9 , wherein the link member coupled to the eccentric protrusion and converting the rotary force of the rotary gear into the linear reciprocating movement based on rotation of the eccentric protrusion.

11. The dishwasher according to claim 9 , wherein the eccentric protrusion is spaced apart from a center of rotation of the arm holder accommodator.

12. The dishwasher according to claim 1 , wherein the link member comprises:
a rim portion including a rectangular insertion hole located in a center of the rim portion;
a pair of main extension parts configured to extend from an outer circumferential surface of the rim portion in a direction in which the main arms extend; and
a pair of auxiliary extension parts configured to extend from the outer circumferential surface of the rim portion in a direction in which the auxiliary arms extend.

13. The dishwasher according to claim 12 , wherein the main extension parts are fastened to lower parts of the main arms and are configured to move in a direction parallel to a direction in which the auxiliary arms are rotated, and wherein the auxiliary extension parts are fastened to the auxiliary arms and are configured to reciprocally rotate the auxiliary arms.

14. The dishwasher according to claim 12 , wherein one of the main extension parts is provided with a recessed part that accommodates the rotary gear, and wherein the recessed part is provided with an insertion part, into which the eccentric protrusion is inserted.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Woo Seyoung
• Pyo Joonho
• Kim Daegyu

Classifications

• A47L15/4282

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

• A47L15/22 Primary

  Rotary spraying devices · CPC title

• A47L15/42

  Details · CPC title

• A47L15/428

  Rotary nozzles · CPC title

• A47L15/4219

  Water recirculation (A47L15/0078 takes precedence) · CPC title