Laundry treating appliance dispenser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9976246-B2
Application number	US-201715497469-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 26, 2017
Priority date	Mar 21, 2014
Publication date	May 22, 2018
Grant date	May 22, 2018

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance may comprise a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber and having an opening at least partially aligned with an opening in the appliance front panel, thus providing access to the treating chamber through the front panel opening and the tub opening. A bellows may connect the front panel and the tub at their respective openings, and a treating chemistry dispenser may be provided on the bellows.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance comprising:
a chassis having a front panel with an opening;
a tub located within the chassis and at least partially defining a treating chamber, the tub having an opening at least partially aligned with the front panel opening providing access to the treating chamber through the front panel opening and the tub opening;
a bellows connecting the front panel and the tub at their respective openings; and
a treating chemistry dispenser provided on the bellows and having a receptacle configured to hold a treating chemistry, the receptacle having an opening, and a lid to selectively close the opening of the receptacle.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the receptacle comprises an open top defining the opening.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 further comprising a liquid supply system including a liquid conduit with an outlet positioned to supply liquid into the receptacle.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispenser is mounted to the bellows.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispenser is integrally formed with the bellows.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispenser is of a color different than the bellows.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispenser comprises multiple of the treating chemistry receptacles.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the bellows has a generally circular shape, and the receptacle is located on a lower half of the bellows.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the receptacle includes a bottom wall with an outlet opening fluidly communicating the receptacle with the treating chamber.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 further comprising a liquid supply system including a liquid conduit with an outlet positioned to supply liquid into the receptacle.

11. The laundry treating appliance of claim 10 wherein the outlet is positioned to supply the liquid through the opening into the receptacle.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 wherein the outlet is located on the bellows.

13. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 wherein the outlet is adjacent to the receptacle.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 wherein the receptacle includes a wall, and the outlet is positioned to supply liquid into the receptacle through the wall.

15. The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 wherein the bellows forms the receptacle wall.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Malheiros George W

Classifications

• D06F37/266

  Gaskets mounted between tub and casing around the loading opening · CPC title

• D06F39/028 Primary

  Arrangements for selectively supplying water to detergent compartments · CPC title

• D06F39/083

  Liquid discharge or recirculation arrangements · CPC title

• D06F2202/04

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic

• D06F39/04

  Heating arrangements · CPC title