Whirlpool Corporation

Anthony Mason

Victor W Cuthbert

Brenner Martin Sharp

Gerald L Kretchman

Robert A Brenner

James Phillips Carow

David W Carr

Eric Kenneth Farrington

Roger J Cartier

William L Kennedy

Victor M Vukorpa

Eric M Coates

A drive and support system for a bottom plate disposed in the bottom of a wash basket of an automatic washer. The bottom plate is driven to radially gyrate or wobble within the wash basket by an output shaft which extends upwardly though the bottom and is rotatable in a first and second direction. A spin tube is disposed coaxially about the output shaft and has a top end which engages the bottom of the basket. The spin tube is co-rotatable in the second direction with the output shaft. A universal joint pivotably supports the wash plate about the top end of the spin tube. Drive means connect the wash plate with the upper end of the output shaft such that the wash plate is disposed in an angled orientation when the output shaft is driven in the first direction and the wash plate is disposed in a level orientation when the output shaft is driven in the second direction. In this manner, the bottom plate is supported for wobbling during the wash portion of the wash cycle and is supported in a level orientation during the spin extraction portion of the wash cycle.

Drive system for a vertical axis washer

A top-loading horizontal axis automatic washer with improved accessibility to the wash basket interior and improved operating convenience of the basket doors. The washer cabinet is provided with an access opening extending partially along the front surface and top surface of the washer cabinet, providing the operator with improved access to the basket interior through an aligned tub opening and basket opening. A lid is provided on the cabinet top for selectively opening and closing the access opening. First and second door flaps are provided on the back and front edges, respectively, of the basket opening, serving as doors for selectively opening or closing the basket opening. The second door flap has an arc length approximately one-third the size of the first door flap. Both flaps are arranged so that, when opened, they are out of the path of loading and unloading clothes items from the basket. The door flaps are further arranged for simultaneous single-handed closing, whereby when the first door flap is moved from an open position to a closed position it overlaps the leading edge of the open second door flap, causing the second door flap to simultaneously move to a closed position.

Top loading horizontal axis automatic washer

A dynamic balancer for a laundry apparatus having a rotatable drum for receiving a clothes load. The rotatable drum has a horizontal geometric axis and is rotatably supported to rotate about its horizontal geometric axis. The rotatable drum includes a generally cylindrical outer wall defining the horizontal geometric axis, a first disk and a second disk. The first disk is provided for forming a first end wall of the drum and includes a balancing means including a plurality of concentric annular chambers. The second disk is provided for forming a second end wall of the drum, opposite the first end wall, and also includes a balancing means including a plurality of concentric annular chambers. The annular concentric chambers are partially filled with fluid for balancing the rotatable drum. In operation, the rotatable drum is subject to an out-of-balance mass as a result of uneven distribution of the clothes load within the drum. The out-of-balance mass creates a spinning axis distinct from the horizontal geometric axis causing vibration during rotation. The balancing of this vibration occurs as the fluid within the chambers, under the influence of centrifugal forces occurring during unbalanced rotation, is distributed within the chambers opposite the out-of-balance mass thereby correcting for the out-of-balance mass such that the geometric horizontal axis and the spinning axis are substantially coincident.

Balancer for an automatic washer

The present invention concerns a spin basket clutching device which includes a flotation device which locks the spin basket to an agitator in response to the level of wash liquid in the basket. During a wash step, the basket will be full of liquid and the flotation device floats within an inverted pocket located on the agitator skirt. During a spin step, the basket will be empty of liquid and the flotation device will drop partially out of the inverted pocket and rest partially within a pocket on the spin basket, thus locking the agitator to the spin basket for concurrent rotation. Also disclosed is a device which responds oppositely to the level of wash liquid in the wash tub locking the spin basket to the wash tub to prevent rotation of the basket during agitation of the wash liquid by the agitator during the wash step and unlocking the basket from the tub in a low liquid level step such as spin.

Flotation controlled drive for an automatic washer

A door frame is provided comprising a pair of laterally spaced, vertically directed and parallel frame members defining channels opening laterally towards each other. A bottom frame member connects between the two side frame members and defines an upwardly opening channel. A decorative panel sheet is dimensioned so that it must be bowed slightly to present its opposite edges to the channels in the side frame members. Upon releasing the panel, the edges penetrate the channel and are confined against fore and aft shifting. The dimension between a control console on the top of the door and the bottom frame member is greater than the spacing between the upper and lower edges of the panel. This allows the panel to be unbowed without interference from the bottom frame member. With the panel assuming its flattened state the panel can be shifted downwardly into the channel in the bottom frame member. A retaining strip holds the upper edge of the panel against the control console. Preferably, the retaining strip is arranged to be snap fit into place so that it can be readily removed when it is desired to change the exposed face of the door.

Interchangeable door panels for dishwasher

A clothes rollover agitation system is provided for a vertical axis automatic washer in which the agitator has a skirt portion that has an inner portion which extends outwardly and downwardly and an outer portion which extends outwardly and upwardly to assist the clothes within the washer to undergo a 180.degree. direction reversal in the bottom of the wash basket. The skirt portion stops short of the basket side wall and a removable ring member is secured to the basket wall to continue the upward and outward shape toward the sidewall. A plurality of buttons engagable in holes in the basket sidewall are used to secure the ring to the sidewall.

Clothes rollover agitation system for automatic washer

A reversing drive for a triple action agitator is provided in which the agitator has an upper portion with helical grooves formed therein and a thruster barrel is received over the agitator upper portion. The thruster barrel has inwardly directed pegs which cammingly ride in the grooves to provide vertical movement to the thruster relative to the agitator. A two position clutch has an alternating rachet-type engagement between the agitator and the thruster to prevent rotary motion between the thruster and agitator when the agitator is rotating in a first direction, but to permit rotary motion between the thruster and agitator when the agitator is rotating in a second direction when the clutch is in a first position. When the clutch is in the second position, relative rotary motion is permitted when the agitator is rotating in the first direction and is prevented when the agitator is rotating in the second direction.

Reversing drive for triple action agitator

A means for operating a washing machine transmission in a neutral state is provided which includes a reversible drive gear for driving the transmission in a first agitate direction and an opposite spin direction. A drive pawl is pivotally mounted on the drive gear. A pawl pivoting means, including a circular control spring with an outwardly extending tang, is selectively rotatable against either side of the pivoted pawl. A latching pawl selectively captures the tang when the drive gear rotation is reversed to the spin direction to operate the transmission in a neutral state until the rotation of the spin gear is interrupted. Means are provided to prevent relatching of the control spring if the rotation of the drive gear is subsequently interrupted.

Neutral pump-out for automatic washer

A suds return valve for automatic washers is provided in which a flapper valve can be manually set to save suds water for subsequent use, the valve being automatically returned to direct rinse liquid to drain after the suds water has reached a predetermined height in a storage receptacle. The valve can be manually set to use suds water in a wash cycle and the valve would be automatically returned to send water to the drain after a predetermined amount of suds water has been removed from the storage receptacle.

Suds return valve for automatic washers

A means for mounting a motor to a transmission is provided by forming a plurality of pilot studs on the motor housing to engage in resilient bushings in a mounting plate connected to the transmission, and providing tension arms to removably secure the motor to the transmission.

Easy service motor mount for an automatic washer

A transmission shift mechanism for use in a vertical axis automatic washing machine having reversible rotary drive means has a drive gear on which is mounted an eccentric for translating rotary motion into oscillatory motion in a plane perpendicular to the washing machine axis. The oscillatory motion is transmitted to the agitator shaft of a washing machine by a rack and pinion. The pinion is rotatably mounted on the agitator shaft and has teeth on a lower surface thereof which engage teeth on an upper surface of a sleeve co-rotatable with the agitator shaft to form a jaw clutch for driving the agitator shaft from the rack and pinion. A shifter fork also connected to the eccentric operates cams to raise the pinion out of engagement with the sleeve to disengage the jaw clutch when the eccentric is rotating in a first direction, and returns the clutch teeth to engagement when the eccentric rotates in an opposite direction.

Automatic washer transmission shift mechanism

A delay mechanism for providing a delay in the spin cycle of an automatic washer is operated by means of a pawl pivotable about a stud rotating on an eccentric, which in turn is engageable with a spin gear only in one direction of rotation, and thereby provides a delay of substantially one revolution of the eccentric upon a change in direction of rotation of the eccentric.

Automatic washer spin delay mechanism

A timer for a dryer includes an axially movable shaft operated by a face cam and carrying a movable gear which provides different gear ratios in a gear train between the timer motor and a camstack. The driving arrangement reduces the drive speed of the camstack so that only a small portion of the timer dial is utilized during the time in which the face cam shifts the gear train into the low speed mode of operation. Another cam mounted for mutual rotation with a gear which is ahead of the movable gear and thereby unaffected by the gear shifting operation includes a lobe which operates a contact in series with the dryer drive motor to provide intermittent operation of the motor and thus intermittent tumbling of the clothes in the rotatable drum driven by the drive motor.

Growing community of inventors

Lincoln, MI, United States of America

Anthony Mason