Maytag Corporation

The Maytag Company

Other

Electrolux Home Products, Inc.

David I Ellingson

James D Wilson

Donald E Erickson

Curran D Cotton

William J Noe

Andrew N Ellingson

Jordan S Bruntz

Daryl A Michael

Lawrence J Jordan

Lawrence L Quayle

Jon Roepke

Steven Leidig

Herbert E Scott

Vicente Marconcin Vanhazebrouck

Marcos Paulo Soares Bittencourt

James E Sparks

Marcelo Piekarski

William M Nelms

A guide wire deployment system that can be utilized as a pre-surgical procedure without the need for radiology imaging. The clip marker would include light and sonic sensors to determine angular orientation and distance from the needle. Wireless communication between the handheld insertion device and the clip marker would provide information to guide the needle to the clip marker location. The guide wire would then be pushed from the needle and laid in a path to outside the patient.

Guide wire device and method

A biopsy device to remove tissue from a patient and place a marker in the patient. The device includes a needle with an opening where tissue enters. The tissue which enters the opening is cut and stored in the device. After the desired number of tissue samples are obtained, a marker is released from the same needle opening. The biopsy sampling and marker release are integrated for one hand operation in a single device.

Biopsy with marker device and method

A washer fill system and method supply a suitable minimum amount of water necessary to wash a particular load of laundry based on readings taken from a pressure sensor that measures liquid pressure in the wash tub. Pressure sensor readings are taken intermittently during the fill process to determine when a sufficient amount of free water for washing the load of clothes has accumulated in the tub. This includes pressure readings taken while pulsing the washer motor to spin the wash basket. Other pressure readings may be taken during a pause in filling to measure the water run-off from the wetted clothes above the free water line, and the release of air bubbles from a load portion below the water line. Determining the sufficiency of the amount of wash liquid in the wash tub involves implementation of an algorithm with coefficients determined through regression analyzes, and may include other factors.

Adaptive automatic laundry washer water fill

An automatic washing machine includes a wash basin having a plurality of apertures and an annular liquid reservoir formed at an upper portion of the basin. A plurality of flow channels are arranged around the exterior surface of the wash basin. The plurality of flow channels includes upward flow channels, configured for directing wash liquid extracted from the wash basin into the reservoir under centrifugal force generated in a spin cycle. The plurality of flow channels also includes downward flow channels configured for directing wash liquid from the reservoir to a central drain following the spin cycle. The arrangement avoids the need for an outer wash tub, and at the same time provides stabilization to the wash basin during high speed spins. In another aspect, the wash basin may include wash action ramps provided on a bottom surface of the wash basin and at an upper sidewall of the wash basin. The wash action ramps, in conjunction with a sequence of wash basin acceleration and deceleration cycles, induce an effective wash action, and circulation of the wash load, in lieu of a conventional central agitator. In yet another aspect, a drive system of the washing machine comprises a drive shaft that doubles as a drain pipe for draining wash liquid from the wash basin.

Washer with drive shaft doubling as tub drain path

A high force traction apparatus which operates along the cable linear axis with no cable bending. The cable is encircled with links from several looping chain drives. The links have a concave friction surface to match the cable radius. Rollers apply pressure to multiple links thereby providing a high normal force on the cable. The staggered and synchronized links keep the high squeeze force evenly distributed. This allows the traction apparatus to impose a pulling force that approaches the cable tensile limit without cable damage.

Cable traction apparatus and method

Rapid deployment of a suspension cable is a supportive system to several high-rise building rescue methods. A cable is pre-attached in a peelable manner to the building side and rigidly attached to the building top. An emergency chase vehicle is dispatched to the building base, attaches to the lower end of the cable and then moves away from the building. The cable peels off the building and suspends from the building top to the ground at approximately a 45 degree angle. A high-rise building rescue method now utilizes this deployed suspension cable.

Peelable suspension cable positioning apparatus and method

A wash action control system is used to control the agitation speed of a washing machine. The invention includes a wash speed selection switch which controls the agitation speed of the agitator. The wash speed selection switch has an infinite number of possible wash speed settings and includes various secondary switches for affecting various aspects of the wash speed control.

Infinitely variable wash action

An improved door boot is provided for a laundry appliance. The door boot has a varying angle lip seal. The angle of the lip seal varies between .+-.15.degree. from top to bottom relative to the planar orientation of the door boot. The varying angle of the lip seal ensures optimal sealing engagement with the door plug when the door is closed, particularly for an appliance having a tub tilted at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane.

Door boot with varying angle lip seal

A utensil holder or tray is provided for use in a dishwasher for holding odd-shaped utensils. The tray is movably supported upon the upper perimeter edge of a conventional dish rack. Rollers or hooks are provided for rollably or slidably supporting the tray upon the rack. Movement of the tray upon the rack is limited by detents or the like. The tray can be quickly and easily installed on or removed from the rack.

Dishwasher utensil tray

The present invention is directed to a two chamber dishwasher pump wherein the pumping noise associated with recirculation is substantially lowered by reducing the intake area to the recirculation impeller thereby interrupting air pockets formed in the fluid while recirculating. In addition the noise associated with fluid drainage is minimized by an aperture between the drain chamber inlet and the drain outlet which allows fluid to flow from the inlet to the outlet thereby interrupting air pockets in the drain line which create the noise. In addition, fluid flows through the aperture in an opposite direction to that described above in order to relieve excessive pressure in the drain line during recirculation.

Dishwasher pump

A domestic clothes dryer construction which increases dryer capacity by allowing the length of the drum to be increased while keeping the cabinet size the same. In the present invention, the single rear cabinet panel is used as a drum support, and in so doing, eliminates the separate rear bulkhead structure attached to the rear panel of the dryer in present day dryers.

Clothes dryer

A pump mount is provided for a dishwasher having a tub with an opening in the sump defined by a radially inwardly directed annular flange. A pump housing includes a plurality of ramp members spaced around its periphery and a seal is located between the pump housing and the flange for retaining washing fluid in the tub when the pump housing is assembled to the tub. A locking member is engageable with the pump housing ramp members for assembling the pump housing to the tub. In the preferred embodiment a locking member is rotatable relative to the pump for effecting axial movement of the pump housing relative to the tube to compress the seal and form a fluid tight joint.

Apparatus and method for dishwasher pump mounting

A laundry appliance includes apparatus for analyzing the eccentricity of a rotatable member with respect to its design rotational axis when subjected to dynamic unbalance forces. An indicator is rotatable with the rotatable member and includes a predetermined detectable pattern. A sensor is juxtaposed to the detectable pattern and is spaced a predetermined radial distance from the design rotational axis of the rotatable member and indicator. The sensor is cooperable with the detectable pattern for producing an electrical signal corresponding to passage of the detectable pattern during rotary movement of the indicator to generate a stream of electrical signals representing the relative degree of radial displacement of the rotatable member from the design rotational axis. Control apparatus includes a microcontroller in circuit association with the sensor. The microcontroller is operable for receiving and analyzing the stream of electrical signals from the sensor for determining the radial displacement of the rotatable member from the design rotational axis by analyzing changes in the stream of electrical signals.

Analysis of rotational eccentricity

A control system is provided for controlling the operation of at least a pair of coin actuated appliances. A control panel area is provided which includes a coin drop mechanism, selection switches and indicators. A microcontroller is in circuit association with the coin drop mechanism, the selection switches and the indicators. The microcontroller is operable for accumulating the value of coins received and for effecting a display of the value in the indicators. Upon operation of a selection switch for a particular appliance by the appliance user, the microcontroller will effect operation of that appliance and the assignment of the displayed value to that appliance.

Control for coin actuated appliances

A combination appliance is provided having a washing machine and a dryer separately supported above the washing machine. The physical arrangement of the washing machine/dryer combination provides a compartment below the dryer cabinet and behind the washing machine cabinet. A recessed area in the top cover of the washing machine and below the bottom of the dryer defines a pocket which is in communication with the compartment. A sliding access door is operable within the recessed area and is manually movable to a posture partially within the compartment and partially within the pocket for providing clear access to within the washing machine.

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Newton, IA, United States of America

David I Ellingson