Whirlpool Corporation

Raymond W Spiegel

Geoffrey L Dingler

Wilbur W Jarvis

Larry D Marks

Roger James Bertsch

Delbert M Halling

William F Robandt

A kitchen appliance is provided with a removable, replaceable front panel. The bottom edge of the panel is retained by a resilient retainer strip which fits into a channel member. The remaining edges of the panel are retained in grooves disposed in a door frame and control panel. The retainer strip and channel member are configured to snap-fit together. The retainer strip can easily be removed and reinstalled without the use of tools.

Appliance front panel retainer

A food soil handing system for a dishwasher is provided. A main carrier arm has two driver arms rotatably mounted thereon. Each driver arm turns a driver gear engaged with a stationary ring gear. Rotation of the driver arms results in rotation of the main carrier arm, providing significant torque. The main carrier arm is disposed above a drain plate having perforations to drain wash water. A pair of resilient wipers are secured to the main carrier arm to wipe across the plate as the carrier arm rotates. The wipers mash soft food particles through the perforations. Hard items are either swept around or passed over by the wipers for later retrieval.

Food soil handling system for a dishwasher

A wire harness protector for use in an appliance. The wire harness protector consists of two members. A first member is secured to the door so as to pivot therewith. A second member is also secured to the door but remains stationary when the door is pivoted. Thus, when the door is pivoted, the second member is fixed relative to the door support structure and the first member pivots with the door. Both the first member and the second member include conduits which are aligned with the hinge axis of the door. Each of the first and second members forms an enclosure for enclosing and routing the wire harness. The conduits are formed by U-shaped channels and covers therefor. The covers are held in place by means of locking snaps. The entire first and second members may each be formed in a single integral molding process from a thermosplastic material such as a fire retardant polypropylene. In an alternative embodiment, the first member may be formed of a shallow U-shaped channel and the wire harness may be secured inside the channel by means of adhesive tape so that the wires are secured in predetermined positions within the U-shaped channel.

Wire harness protector and pivotable door assembly including same

Water deflector member removably mountable to the base of a dishwasher tub in a preselected fixed position near the side edge of the door of the dishwasher such as to deflect into the tub water running down the corner between the tub side wall and the door. The preferred deflector member includes a resilient plug portion inserted into a vertical socket formed in the lower wall of the tub, a flat resilient deflector portion extending horizontally from the plug towards the door in a cantilever fashion, and a webbed portion extending in a vertical plane between the plug and the deflector portion. The webbed portion extends through a slot formed in the lower wall of the tub which further serves to drain the socket of water.

Water deflector for domestic dishwasher

An appliance adapted to be installed in a space by rolling movement. The appliance includes a housing with a mechanism projecting downwardly from the bottom portion thereof. Rollers are disposed at opposite sides of the housing to be laterally subjacent the bottom portion of the mechanism whereby the front portion of the housing may be lifted to permit rolling movement of the appliance on the rollers free of engagement of the mechanism with the subjacent surface on which the housing is being moved. Levelers are provided at the front of the housing to retain the appliance in cooperation with the rollers in a level, supported disposition.

Appliance support

A dishwasher spray arm having a top wall portion joined to a bottom wall portion. The wall portions are constructed to be formed from identical Z-shaped sheet blanks. The wall portion edges define securing structure which, while being different in the two wall portions, are each preselected to closely fit within the Z-shaped sheet blank configuration. The Z-shaped blanks define a continuing series arranged to be cut from a strip of sheet material with a common edge between successive blanks, effectively minimizing material wastage in the formation of the spray arm. In the illustrated embodiment, the top wall portion defines further structure differing from that of the lower wall portion.

Method of forming a spray arm

A dishwasher structure having a centrifugal pump for providing dishwashing liquid to a spray arm thereof. The swirling motion of the dishwashing liquid effected by operation of the pump is utilized to divert a portion of the liquid to an accumulator wherein soil material is collected from the liquid. The cleansed liquid is returned to the pump chamber to be repumped with additional dishwashing liquid. The soil accumulating chamber is arranged concentrically about a guide chamber, in turn arranged concentrically about the pump chamber to provide a compact coaxial liquid cleansing structure. A drain is provided for draining the dishwashing liquid and collected soil at the end of the dishwashing cycle. A filter screen is provided at the inlet to the pump and an improved chopper is provided for comminuting solid soil matter at the upstream side of the filter screen.

Chopper for dishwasher soil separator

A dishwasher structure having a centrifugal pump for providing dishwashing liquid to a spray arm thereof. The swirling motion of the dishwashing liquid effected by operation of the pump is utilized to divert a portion of the liquid to an accumulator wherein soil material is collected from the liquid. The cleansed liquid is returned to the pump chamber to be repumped with additional dishwashing liquid. A drain is provided for draining the dishwashing liquid and collected soil at the end of the dishwashing cycle and is controlled by a pressure-responsive drain valve which is operated by differing pressure conditions automatically during dishwashing and drain cycles respectively.

Soil separator drain valve

A dishwasher structure having a centrifugal pump for providing dishwashing liquid to a spray arm thereof. The swirling motion of the dishwashing liquid effected by operation of the pump is utilized to divert a portion of the liquid to an accumulator wherein soil material is collected from the liquid. The cleansed liquid is returned to the pump chamber to be repumped with additional dishwashing liquid. The soil accumulating chamber is arranged concentrically about a guide chamber, in turn arranged concentrically about the pump chamber to provide a compact coaxial liquid cleansing structure. A drain is provided for draining the dishwashing liquid and collected soil at the end of the dishwashing cycle.

Vertical soil separator for dishwasher

A dishwasher having improved structure for separating food soil and the like from dishwashing liquid. The soil separating structure is associated with a suction passage leading to a circulation pump of the dishwasher provided for effecting circulation of the dishwashing liquid from a lower sump portion of the dishwasher receptacle back to the dishwashing space for washing dishes and the like therein. The soil separator includes an accumulator wherein the soil is collected for subsequent discharge as desired and structure responsive to a swirling action in the suction passage for effecting a circulation of a portion of the dishwashing liquid between the suction passage and the accumulator. The structure is arranged to utilize the combined swirling and longitudinal movement of the dishwashing liquid in the suction passage for effecting the desired soil separation by centrifugal action. Discarding of the collected soil may be effected by a suitable drain pump connected to the accumulator. The swirling movement of the dishwashing liquid in the suction passage may be effected by a rotary impeller, the circulation of the dishwashing liquid in the dishwashing space may be effected by a centrifugal circulation pump, and the draining of the system may be controlled by a discharge valve. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the impeller and circulation pump is coaxially carried on a common shaft of a single drive motor.

Dishwasher soil separator

An agitator for a vertical-axis automatic clothes washing machine has a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart vanes extending upwardly from a skirt adapted to overlie the bottom wall of a tub or receptacle. A corresponding plurality of lobe-like cams projects outwardly and upwardly from at or near the periphery of the skirt in the alternate spaces between the vanes. Each cam extends approximately 5 to 15.degree. upwardly from the horizontal and is geometrically defined by two edges forming a segment of the surface of a cone co-axial with the agitator. The inner edge of each cam has the radius of the circular perimeter of the agitator skirt with which the edge is co-linear; the upper edge either has a somewhat smaller radius in a crescent-shaped configuration or has an irregular, double-lobe configuration. The upper cam edges impel the clothes upwardly as the agitator oscillates to and fro, thereby promoting a successive movement of clothes downwardly, outwardly, upwardly, inwardly, and downwardly again, within the receptacle.

One-piece agitator with clothes directing cam

A supporting and adjusting apparatus for vertically positioning an open dishrack in a dishwasher particularly of the type where the dishrack is projected outwardly of the cabinet for loading and unloading in which there are provided a pair of housings mounted on opposite sides of the dishrack with each housing having a pair of arms extending in tandem and located adjacent to the corresponding side of the dishrack. Each arm is mounted on a fulcrum and carries a wheel on the end extending from the housing so that on each side of the dishrack there are a pair of wheels engaging a supporting guide track that forms a part of the dishwasher with the tracks being projected outwardly when projecting the dishrack outwardly for loading and unloading. Each housing encloses worm wheel sector gears on the arms and a corresponding single worm gear engaging the sector gears for adjusting the arms about their fulcrums and thereby adjusting the vertical position of the dishrack.

Dishwasher rack supporting and adjusting apparatus

A spray assembly having at least one intermittently operating nozzle which comprises a spray device rotatably mounted on a pressurized water source within a washing chamber of a dishwashing appliance and having at least one nozzle thereon in isolated fluid communication with the water source so as to be operative only during select portions of a revolution of the spray device about the water source.

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Lincoln, MI, United States of America

Raymond W Spiegel