Laundry appliance
First Claim
1. A laundry machine comprising:
- a cabinet, a laundry holding drum rotatably supported within said cabinet for rotation, said drum including a wall and a drum hatch comprising a section of said wall, a motor connected to drive rotation of said drum, a hatch engaging member actuable to couple said drum hatch to said cabinet, and a controller operatively connected with said motor, said controller configured to operate said motor to drive said drum selectively through each of;
a) an opening operation in which said drum hatch is grabbed by said hatch engaging member and said drum is rotated to expose an opening, b) a closing operation, which follows a drum opening operation and in which said drum is rotated to re-close a said opening with said drum hatch, and c) a water extraction operation.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A laundry drying machine includes a cabinet and a laundry holding drum rotatably supported within said cabinet for rotation about a horizontal axis. The drum includes a cylindrical wall and a pair of ends. A drum hatch comprises a section of the cylindrical wall. A motor is connected to drive rotation of the drum via a drive belt. A hatch engaging member is actuable to grasp and hold the drum hatch relative to the cabinet. A controller operatively connected with the motor, is configured to operate the machine through each of: a) an opening operation in which the drum hatch is grabbed by the hatch engaging member and the drum is rotated to expose an opening, b) a closing operation, which follows a drum opening operation and in which the drum is rotated to re-close a the opening with the drum hatch, and c) a drying operation.
22 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A laundry machine comprising:
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a cabinet, a laundry holding drum rotatably supported within said cabinet for rotation, said drum including a wall and a drum hatch comprising a section of said wall, a motor connected to drive rotation of said drum, a hatch engaging member actuable to couple said drum hatch to said cabinet, and a controller operatively connected with said motor, said controller configured to operate said motor to drive said drum selectively through each of;
a) an opening operation in which said drum hatch is grabbed by said hatch engaging member and said drum is rotated to expose an opening, b) a closing operation, which follows a drum opening operation and in which said drum is rotated to re-close a said opening with said drum hatch, and c) a water extraction operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A laundry machine comprising:
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a cabinet, a laundry holding drum rotatably supported within said cabinet for rotation, said drum including a wall and a drum hatch comprising a section of said wall, a motor connected to drive rotation of said drum, a hatch engaging member actuable to couple said drum hatch to said cabinet, and a controller operatively connected with said motor, said controller configured to operate said motor to drive said drum selectively through an opening operation in which said drum hatch is grabbed by said hatch engaging member and said drum is rotated to expose an opening. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A drum opening operation laundry machine comprising the steps of:
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a) rotating the drum at a drum opening speed, b) moving a hatch engaging member to couple a hatch portion of the rotating drum to a stationary cabinet, c) stopping the drive motor after a hatch opening rotation of said drum. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of operating a laundry machine through a closing operation, the laundry machine having a cabinet, a drum, a motor energisable to rotate the drum in either a forward or a reverse direction, a sliding hatch in said drum, and a hatch engaging member actuable to couple said hatch to said cabinet, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) energising said drive motor to rotate said drum in a direction to bring an opening in said drum toward said drum hatch, said drum hatch held in position relative to said cabinet by said hatch engaging member, b) moving said hatch engaged member out of said position of engagement with said hatch once said hatch has reached a fully closed position. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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28. A method as claimed in 27 wherein said step of energising said motor includes energising said motor at a closing speed slower than the normal operation speed of said motor during a drying procedure and said method of closing includes the step of (after step (b)) increasing the speed of said motor to a normal operation speed.
Specification