Laundry treating appliance with a tub ring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9951457-B2
Application number	US-201514639457-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 5, 2015
Priority date	Mar 5, 2015
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

A tub ring mountable to an upper end of a liquid holding tub in a laundry treating appliance may include a circumferential side wall, a top wall extending radially inward from the side wall, and a plurality of radial stiffening ribs extending between the top wall and the side wall. The ribs may have a bottom edge with at least a portion inclined relative to horizontal. At least a portion of the bottom edge may also be complementary to a top wall of a balance ring.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating appliance comprising:
a tub having a peripheral wall terminating in an upper edge defining an opening to an interior of the tub for holding liquid;
a basket located at least partially within the interior of the tub and having a peripheral wall terminating in an upper edge defining an opening to an interior of the basket for receiving laundry for treatment;
a balance ring mounted to the upper edge of the basket and having a top wall with at least a portion inclined relative to horizontal and defining a top edge for the balance ring; and
a tub ring having a circumferential side wall mounted to the upper edge of the tub, a top wall overlying at least a portion of the balance ring top wall and terminating at an inner edge, and a plurality of stiffening ribs extending between the side wall and the top wall of the tub ring and having a bottom edge with at least a portion inclined relative to the horizontal defining an upper edge and a lower edge for the bottom edge and arranged complementary to the top wall of the balance ring;
wherein the top edge of the balance ring is located vertically between the upper edge and the lower edge of the bottom edge of the stiffening ribs relative to the horizontal, and the top edge of the balancing ring is positioned radially interior of the inner edge of the tub ring.

2. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the bottom edge is inclined to be complementary with the inclined portion of the balance ring top wall.

3. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 2 wherein the entire bottom edge of the stiffening ribs is inclined from the tub ring side wall to the tub ring top wall.

4. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 2 wherein the tub ring top wall extends radially inward from an outer edge, where the top wall of the tub ring joins the side wall of the tub ring, to the inner edge of the top wall of the tub ring, and the stiffening ribs terminate at one end at the inner edge of the top wall of the tub ring.

5. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 1 wherein the tub ring top wall is formed by a plurality of flat sections and a plurality of inclined sections, wherein the flat sections and the inclined sections alternate circumferentially around the tub ring and transition at the stiffening ribs.

6. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 5 wherein the stiffening ribs comprise a generally horizontal top edge, at least a portion of the bottom edge is inclined, and the tub ring top wall flat sections join the top edges of adjacent stiffening ribs, and the tub ring top wall inclined sections join the bottom edges of adjacent stiffening ribs such that each stiffening rib joins to one of the flat sections at the stiffening ribs top edge and to one of the inclined sections at the stiffening ribs bottom edge for the transition from the one of the flat sections to the one of the inclined sections.

7. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 6 wherein at least one of the inclined sections, the adjacent stiffening ribs joined by the at least one of the inclined sections, and the tub ring side wall between the adjacent stiffening ribs joined by the at least one of the inclined sections form a treating chemistry cavity, and the at least one of the inclined sections includes at least one aperture that directs treating chemistry from the treating chemistry cavity into a space between the tub peripheral wall and the basket peripheral wall.

8. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 1 wherein the tub ring top wall is annular with an outer, inclined portion joined to the tub ring side wall and an inner, flat portion, and the tub ring side wall and the inclined portion form a circumferential channel extending around the tub ring adjacent to the flat portion of the tub ring top wall.

9. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 8 wherein the inclined portion of the tub ring top wall includes at least one drainage opening fluidly coupling the circumferential channel with the tub.

10. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 1 wherein the tub ring top wall is generally flat and annular and extends radially inward from the tub ring side wall generally perpendicular to the tub ring side wall.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Hunnell John M
• Kumar Pradeep
• Sharp Brenner M
• Strain Christine L

Classifications

• D06F37/267

  Tubs specially adapted for mounting thereto components or devices not provided for in preceding subgroups (D06F37/206 takes precedence) · CPC title

• D06F37/264 Primary

  Tubs provided with reinforcing structures, e.g. ribs, inserts, braces · CPC title

• D06F37/26

  Casings; Tubs · CPC title