The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 19, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 15, 1997
Lucio Valent, Pordenone, IT;
Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici S.p.A., Pordenone, IT;
Abstract
A clothes washing machine, or a similar appliance such as a washer/dryer, includes a flexible duct, such as a bellows, arranged between the opening (5) of a door (4), intended for loading and unloading the clothes, and an associated opening (8) provided on an inner washing tub (10). Peripheral folds (16), the outer end (13) and a cylindrical band (15) of the bellows (12), are made with a material having elastomeric properties and a hardness of about Shore A 20 to 30. The inner end (15) of the bellows is made with a synthetic material having a hardness of about Shore A 40 to 50. The machine is low noise. A greater unbalanced load of clothes can be tolerated since the improved bellows minimize the vibrations, generated by the inner washing tub when the machine is operated, which are transmitted to the outer cabinet of the machine. The bellows have a low manufacturing cost and are interchangeable with those of conventional construction, namely those entirely made with a material of the same hardness (Shore A 33-35 or above).