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. 02, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 07, 1999
Kenyon A. Hapke, Libertyville, WI (US);
Timothy Laseke, New Berlin, WI (US);
Ark-Les Corporation, Stoughton, MA (US);
Abstract
A lid lock for a washing machine or the like employs a rapid bistable electromagnetic actuator that is released at a predetermined time interval after the cessation of a spin signal, the time interval being selected to allow the spin basket to coast to a stop prior to the lid being unlocked. Because the actuator is bistable, it can remain locked despite possible power failure during which the spin basket may still be coasting yet the driving circuitry stores reserved power to unlock the lid after a suitable time delay. These same components can provide protection against entrapment in which the lid closure activates the spin cycle and lock because of a previous initiation of the spin cycle signal. Here, for the spin cycle to be initiated, the spin cycle signal must occur after lid closure.