Whirlpool Corporation

Jon D Strait

David W Carr

Dale E Mueller

Hirak Chanda

Eric W Merrow

Basak Oguz

Philip J Czarnecki

Pamela R Klyn

Nyik Siong Wong

Mary Ellen Zeitler

James Andrew Oskins

Karl David McAllister

Darryl C Bodine

Kaustav Ghosh

Andrew Leitert

Jenn-Yeu Nieh

Matthew Craig Parsons

Yingqin Yuan

Amy L Rapson

Michael L Jackemeyer

John W McConnell

Sayer J Murphy

Brenner Martin Sharp

Christoph J Miller

Eric G Griswold

Michael A Ledford

Gregory R Fulmer

Eric J Vasko

Dean L Tietz

James Jeffery

Nicholas Schooley

Thomas Dell Spicer

Benjamin D Lowell

Jalindar S Dawange

Heather A Hellmuth

Meagan K Vandervelde

Anup Sudhir Bhavsar

Lauren M Lalonde

James C Miller

Mary E Zeitler

Joseph L Moulton

Michael L Jackmeyer

Andre Petronilho

Robert A Scheitlin

Matthew S Wasson

Donald R Miller

A laundry treating system includes a laundry treating appliance having a first basket for receiving a first laundry load and a first clothes mover disposed in the first basket. The laundry treating system is user configurable between first, second, and third configurations. A kit for customizing a laundry treating appliance can include a second clothes mover and a second basket configured to removably couple with the laundry treating appliance.

Laundry treating system and kit for use with a laundry treating appliance

A removable fluid pumping and filtration apparatus for a laundry treatment machine is provided. The apparatus includes a handle portion. A filter section is configured to selectively couple to an impeller of the laundry treatment machine, the filter section defining a hollow interior, a lower water opening to allow for the passage of water out of the interior space of the agitator, and an opening about the exterior circumference of the filter section into which a removable filter is selectively attachable. A handle pull locking post is provided within the hollow interior of the apparatus, including a handle pull portion at a top end for gripping against the handle portion and at least one pin at a bottom end configured to selectively lock the apparatus into the base.

Removable fluid pumping and filtration apparatus

A washing machine for treating laundry comprising a basket rotatable about a first rotational axis, having a peripheral side wall extending upwardly from a bottom wall to at least partially define a treating chamber; a clothes mover proximate the bottom wall, having a base with a centrally located hub concentric with a second rotational axis about which the clothes mover reciprocally rotates; and at least one vane having an elongated body extending away from the hub and projecting upwardly from the clothes mover to terminate in a tip.

Clothes mover for an automatic washer

Disclosed is a method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a treating chamber that receives a laundry load for treatment according to a cycle of operation. The method includes determining the size of the laundry load in the treating chamber; supplying a predetermined amount of liquid to the treating chamber based on the determined load size; applying mechanical energy to the laundry treating chamber by driving a clothes mover with an electric motor; determining a difference between an in-rush current to the electric motor and a steady-state current of the electric motor during the applying of the mechanical energy; and determining a laundry load type of the laundry load based on the determined difference.

Method to determine fabric type in a laundry treating appliance using motor current signature during agitation

A washing machine for treating laundry comprising a basket rotatable about a first rotational axis, having a peripheral side wall extending upwardly from a bottom wall to at least partially define a treating chamber; a clothes mover proximate the bottom wall, having a base with a centrally located hub concentric with a second rotational axis about which the clothes mover reciprocally rotates; and at least one vane having an elongated body extending away from the hub and projecting upwardly from the clothes mover.

A laundry treating appliance may include a treating chamber receiving laundry for treatment and a laundry mover mounted within the treating chamber for rotation about a rotation axis. The laundry mover may have a base made of a first material and a plurality of protrusions made of a different second material. At least portions of the upper surfaces of the base and the protrusions collectively form an upper surface of the laundry mover such that the laundry mover upper surface is at least partially formed of the differing first and second materials. The first material may be metal, and the second material may be plastic.

Hybrid laundry mover

A method of determining a fabric type for a laundry load can include comparing the density of the laundry load in a first wetted state, which may be a dry state or a partially saturated state, to the density of the laundry load in a second wetted state, which may be a partially saturated, fully saturated, or beyond fully saturated state, and determining a fabric type based on the comparison.

Method of determining fabric type of a laundry load in a laundry treating appliance

A method for controlling the operation of a laundry treating appliance that includes alternately supplying hot and cold water to maintain the temperature of the mixed water to a preset temperature.

Automatic temperature control for a laundry treating appliance

A laundry treating appliance may include a drum and an impeller. The impeller may have a raised center, a bottom plate, a transition region between the bottom plate and the raised center, a center post extending upward from the raised center, and a plurality of radial protrusions extending along the raised center, the bottom plate, and the transition region.

Laundry treating appliance impeller

A laundry treating appliance having a pump, such as a drain pump, with an automatic shutoff, and a method for controlling the shut off of the pump.

Laundry treating appliance with automatic pump shutoff

Growing community of inventors

Saint Joseph, MI, United States of America

Jon D Strait