Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

General Electric Company

Zhiquan Yu

Joseph Lee McLain

Nemetalla Salameh

Christopher Edward O'Malley

Alexander Boris Leibman

James Quentin Pollett

Jeffrey Alan Kern

Christopher Gene Vowels

Ronald Miles Johnson

Daniel Stephen Renz

Robert V MacDonald, Iii

Timothy Lee Anderson

Pablo Enrique Soto Rodriquez

Pablo Enrique Soto Rodriguez

A dryer appliance or ventilation assembly, as provided herein, may include an impeller, a housing, a front duct, and a sealing gasket. The impeller may be rotatable about an axial direction to urge a flow of air. The housing may enclose the impeller within a cabinet. The housing may define an entrance upstream of the impeller to permit air into the housing. The front duct may include an attachment collar defining a duct outlet. The attachment collar may be received within the entrance. The sealing gasket may be radially positioned between the attachment collar and the entrance.

Dryer appliance and ventilation assembly

A dryer appliance, as provided herein, may include a cabinet, a drum, a drying chamber, and a supply duct. The cabinet may define an internal volume. The drum may be mounted within the cabinet. The drum may define a drying chamber, a dryer opening, an air inlet, and a fluid port. The drying chamber may extend from a front end to a rear end. The dryer opening may be defined at the front end to permit articles therethrough to the drying chamber. The air inlet may be defined at the rear end to permit air therethrough to the drying chamber. The fluid port may be spaced apart from the air inlet. The fluid port may extend from the drying chamber to the internal volume. The supply duct may extend within the cabinet to the drum upstream from the air inlet.

Dryer appliance having fluid-ventilation features

A dryer appliance, as provided herein, may include a cabinet, a drum, a motor, an impeller, and a housing. The motor may be mounted within the cabinet. The impeller may be in mechanical communication with the motor to motivate rotation of the impeller about an axial direction. The impeller may be rotatable about the axial direction to urge a flow of air from the chamber of the drum to a vent of the cabinet. The housing may include a front panel and a rear panel. The front panel and the rear panel may be spaced apart along the axial direction by a housing cavity within which the impeller is positioned. The front panel may define an entrance upstream of the impeller. The rear plate may define a circular groove may extend rearward from the housing cavity and be concentrically aligned with a circumferential perimeter of the impeller.

Dryer appliance and impeller housing

A dryer appliance and a method of operating the same to introduce a fragrance into the drying chamber include positioning a reservoir within the cabinet of the dryer appliance. The reservoir contains a fragrant additive and is positioned such that a flow of air may pass through the fragrant additive and into the drying chamber to improve the smell of the drying chamber and articles placed therein. The reservoir may be positioned within the cabinet and covered with a selectively positioned lid or may be placed in fluid communication with an air handler of the dryer appliance to permit the intermingling of the flow of air and the fragrant additive.

Fragrant additive reservoir for a dryer appliance

A dryer appliance and a method of operating the same to detect blockages are provided. The dryer appliance includes an exhaust conduit that defines a flow restriction and is in fluid communication with a drying chamber. A differential pressure sensor is operably coupled to the exhaust conduit at the flow restriction and a controller is configured for using a measured pressure differential to obtain an air flow rate and determine whether a blockage is present in the exhaust conduit, e.g., by comparing the measured flow rate to a baseline, zero-blockage flow rate.

Blockage detection in a dryer appliance

A dryer appliance and method of operation are generally provided. The dryer appliance may include a drying chamber, an air passage in fluid communication with the drying chamber, and a heater in thermal communication with the drying chamber. The method may include motivating an airflow through the drying chamber and the air passage. The method may include measuring a velocity of the airflow through the air passage. Also included may be determining an article load size within the drying chamber based on the measured velocity, and directing a power output at the heater based on the determined article load size.

Dryer appliance and method of operation

A housing for receiving an impeller is provided. The housing includes a transition duct that extends between a volute of the housing and an exhaust exit of the housing. Cross-sections of the transition duct continuously vary from an inlet cross-section of the transition duct to an outlet cross-section of the transition duct along a length of the transition duct. A related dryer appliance is also provided.

Impeller housing for an appliance

A dryer appliance is provided, including a cabinet, a drum, an outlet assembly, an exhaust sensor, and a fluid injector. The drum may be mounted within the cabinet and define a drying chamber. The outlet assembly may be attached to the drying chamber and include a conduit defining an exhaust passage in fluid communication with the drying chamber. The conduit may extend from an inlet at the drying chamber to an outlet. The conduit may further define an access port along the exhaust passage between the inlet and the outlet. The exhaust sensor may be disposed in communication with the exhaust passage. The fluid injector may be attached to the conduit between the inlet and the outlet, and be directed at the access port.

Dryer appliances and methods of operation

A dryer appliance includes a cabinet defining an interior, and a drum positioned within the interior. The drum defines a chamber for receipt of articles for drying, and includes a cylinder and a rear wall. The cylinder is rotatable relative to the rear wall. The dryer appliance further includes a heater configured to provide heat to the chamber, the heater comprising a heating element mounted to the rear wall.

Dryer appliances with improved heaters

A housing for receiving an impeller is provided. The housing includes a transition duct that extends between a volute of the housing and an exhaust exit of the housing. The transition duct defines a bend between the volute of the housing and the exhaust exit of the housing. Cross-sections of the transition duct upstream and downstream of the transition duct define a substantially rectilinear shape. A related dryer appliance is also provided.

An impeller assembly including a housing and an impeller is provided. The impeller is positioned within a volute of the housing and includes a hub and a plurality of blades. The plurality of blades are spaced about the hub along a circumferential direction of the impeller. The plurality of blades include a first pair of blades and a second pair blades. The first pair blades defines a first gap along the circumferential direction at a radially outer portion, and the second pair blades defines a second gap along the circumferential direction at a radially outer portion. The first gap is unequal to the second gap in order to reduce an amount of noise generated by the impeller assembly.

Impeller assembly for an appliance

A dryer appliance includes an impeller assembly. The impeller assembly is rotatable about an axis of rotation in order to urge a flow of air through a drum of the dryer appliance. The impeller assembly includes a base plate, a plurality of blades and a plurality of extensions. The size and position of the plurality of extensions can assist with urging the flow of air through the drum of the dryer appliance.

Dryer appliance with an impeller assembly

The present subject matter provides a dryer appliance. The dryer appliance includes an impeller assembly. The impeller assembly is rotatable about an axis of rotation in order to urge a flow of air through a drum of the dryer appliance. The impeller assembly includes a base plate and an annular front plate spaced apart from the base plate. A plurality of blades extends between the base plate and the annular front plate. The size and position of the base plate, the annular front plate and the plurality of blades relative to one another can assist with urging the flow of air through the drum of the dryer appliance.

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Mason, OH, United States of America

Zhiquan Yu