Whirlpool Corporation

Robert A Brenner

Victor W Cuthbert

Albert T Braga

Anthony Mason

Jack F Clearman

Brenner Martin Sharp

Gregory L Malchow

Kurt Werner

Anthony H Hardaway

Keith E Carr

Clark I Platt

William L Kennedy

Thomas H Buckleitner

Robert B Sherer

Jeffrey L Burk

An improved lower suspension ball or collet for a washing machine hung suspension system, the collet providing an axial channel for receiving a hung suspension rod therethrough, the collet supporting a portion of a floating base which holds the vibration inducing components, such as rotating washing machine components, the suspension rod attached at its top end to a frame such as a washing machine cabinet, the collet resiliently supported off of a bottom end of the suspension rod, the collet channel fashioned to act as a friction bushing in a spring-mass-damper arrangement. The collet comprises a tube portion having the axial channel which grips the rod to act as the friction bushing. The channel has an inside diameter smaller than an outside diameter of the rod. The tube portion provides two axially arranged slots cut therethrough offset by 90.degree.. The slots being at opposite axial ends of the tube portion and terminate shy of the respective opposite axial end of the tube portion. The axially arranged slots provide sufficient flexibility or stretch to install the rod through the axial channel. A squeezing of the collet under axial load occurs during use, tending to open up the inside curvature of the tube portion channel to conform with the outside diameter of the rod.

Automatic washer suspension system

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 compact transmission for an automatic washer which converts unidirectional rotary motion to oscillating rotary motion without the use of gears is provided. An input shaft is rotatingly driven by an electric motor and has a reversing thread connection to an intermediate member through a thread follower to cause the intermediate member, which is restrained against rotation, to reciprocate vertically. The intermediate member has an angled cam slot and follower connection with an output shaft which results in oscillating rotary motion of the output shaft. The drive member can be carried on the outside of the coaxial input and output shafts or can be sandwiched between the output shaft and coaxial, nested input shaft.

Compact transmission for automatic washer

A method for laundering a textile wash load is provided for use in a vertical axis washing machine in which a concentrated detergent solution containing a detergent concentration of 0.5% to 4% by weight is continuously applied to a spinning wash load for a predetermined time period to thouroughly wet the clothes load. The amount of detergent solution used is only slightly in excess of the amount required to saturate the clothes load at the given rotational speed. After the time period, additional water is added to the solution to dilute it to a normal concentration and then mechanical agitation and rinsing steps are conducted to complete the wash cycle.

High performance washing process for vertical axis automatic washer

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

An air actuated lint removing system for cleaning lint filters in clothes dryers includes means for moving the lint filter and an air flow directing means with respect to one another to remove accumulated lint, and lint transporting means to move the lint to a lint collection reservoir.

Air actuated automatic lint screen cleaning system for dryer

A fluid additive dispenser is provided for a clothes dryer which has a reservoir for storing a quantity of liquid additive, a body of porous material acting as a wick and having a first surface exposed to the tumbling clothes load within the dryer and a second surface for receiving the fluid additive, a conduit connecting the reservoir with the second surface of the material and a valve interposed within the conduit which is selectably operable to deliver a predetermined quantity of liquid to the second surface of the porous material. The reservoir has a horizontal cross section greater than the horizontal cross section of the conduit and is positioned above the valve to provide a relatively constant fluid head to the valve to assist in the accurate metering of the fluid through the valve. The porous material is held in a holder which is mounted to a fixed rear bulkhead of the drum.

Additive dispenser for clothes dryer

A flexible vane agitator is provided for use with a high stroke rate automatic washing machine in which the vanes on the agitator are very flexible and have a special configuration in which the thickness of the vanes decreases from a base end at the agitator barrel to a point at least half way to the end of the vane and then increases in thickness to the radial tip such that the tip is bulbous and is thicker than any other portion of the vane except for the base. The bulbous tip is rounded and has a shorter height than the base end.

Flexible vane agitator for high stroke rate automatic washer

An agitator thruster is provided for an automatic washer for increasing the rollover of clothes during the agitation portion of a washing cycle wherein the thruster moves in a vertical reciprocating motion by action of a pin carried by the thruster engaging angled side walls of a channel in the agitator barrel and being caused to move in one direction around the channel circuit, up along one angled channel wall and down along another.

Triple action agitator for automatic washers

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. Pawl pivoting means, being a circular control spring with an outwardly extending tang is selectively rotatable against either side of the pivoted pawl and a latching pawl selectively captures the tang when the drive gear is rotating in the spin direction to operate the transmission in a neutral state until the rotation of the spin gear is interrupted. Means are provided on the latch pawl to prevent relatching of the control spring if the rotation of the drive gear is subsequently interrupted.

Neutral pump-out for automatic washer

A fluid pumping agitator for use in a vertical axis automatic clothes washing machine which pumps wash liquid from an inlet in the skirt portion of the agitator to an outlet in the barrel portion of the agitator. The agitator pumps liquid in one rotational direction of its oscillatory rotational movement. The barrel portion has a chamber in which can be placed wash liquid treatment means such as a filter.

Liquid pumping agitator with barrel valve for automatic washers

A fluid pumping agitator for use in a vertical axis automatic clothes washing machine which pumps wash liquid from an inlet in the skirt portion of the agitator through a venturi to an outlet in the barrel portion of the agitator. The agitator pumps liquid upwardly in both directions of its oscillatory rotational movement. The barrel portion is provided with a filter means for treating the pumped wash liquid.

Valveless liquid pumping agitator for automatic washers

An agitator mounted wash additive dispenser and shower spray is provided for an automatic washer wherein a charge of wash additive is retained in a vertical axis agitator during an agitation step at which time it is diluted, and then is dispensed into the wash tub after the spinning step. The agitator has spray means which provide an umbrella spray of wash liquid returning from a flow passage in the agitator to the wash tub.

Agitator mounted dispenser and shower spray device for automatic washer

A weight indicator for use with a refuse compactor. Structure is provided for sensing the weight of refuse in the refuse compactor receptacle. An indicator is operatively associated with the sensing structure to provide an indication of the sensed weight to the user of the refuse compactor. In the illustrated embodiment, the sensing structure is operated as an incident of moving the receptacle to an accessible position. The receptacle is disposed to be pivoted by the weight of refuse therein when disposed in the accessible position and the sensor structure is responsive to the pivotal displacement. In the illustrated embodiment, the sensing and indicating structure are fluid operated and define a movement amplifier for facilitating readout of the weight indication.

Growing community of inventors

St. Joseph Township, MI, United States of America

Robert A Brenner