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:
Apr. 18, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 20, 1998
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Kawasaki, JP;
Abstract
A washing machine includes a rotatable tub in which an agitator is disposed. A tub shaft connected to the rotatable tub is mounted on a base for rotation. A clutch is mounted on the tub shaft to be reciprocally moved so that the clutch engages a clutch engagement hole of the base and an engagement protrusion of a motor rotor alternately. An operation lever mounted on the base is operated so that the clutch is reciprocally moved. The bottom of the base includes a region of rotational locus of the clutch. The region is flat except for the clutch engagement hole so that the clutch is prevented from engaging a portion other than the clutch engagement hole. A reed switch is mounted on the base to be turned on when detecting engagement of the clutch with the clutch engagement hole. A control device proceeds from a dehydration stage to a next stage only when the reed switch is turned on. When the reed switch is not turned on, the rotatable tub is rotated at a low speed with the operation lever being maintained in the operable state, so that an operation for engaging the clutch with the clutch engagement hole is re-executed.