Basket wash

Abstract

A laundry appliance or washer for washing an associated laundry item includes a housing and an integrated agitator / basket assembly received in the housing. A drive assembly is operatively associated with the agitator and the basket for activating movement of the agitator and the basket in unison.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0001]The present disclosure is directed toward a laundry appliance or washing machine including an integral basket and agitator assembly and, more specifically, to an appliance capable of oscillating and rotating the integral basket and agitator assembly in unison.[0002]Prior domestic laundry appliances relied upon a shiftable member to selectively actuate oscillation / agitation of an agitator relative to the basket and rotation of the basket and agitator together to centrifugally extract water from the laundry items and basket. In a first position of the shiftable member, the agitator would oscillate / agitate to assist in cleaning laundry items or articles received in the basket. In a second position of the shiftable member, the basket and agitator would spin or rotate together to remove water from the basket and laundry items through openings or perforations in the wall of the basket. The washer typically employed a motor, a clutch, and a transmission to...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent is about a washer that uses the basket to wash clothes by moving it in an oscillatory manner with water, detergent, and clothes. The basket provides the motion and scrubbing action to wash the clothes. The washer does not have a separate agitator and the basket integrates with an agitator. The drive assembly actuates the movement of the basket and the agitator in unison. The method involves filling the basket with water, oscillating it and the agitator for a duration, draining the water, and spinning the basket for another duration to remove remaining water. The integrated agitator and basket design eliminates the need for repeated coupling and decoupling, improves wash performance, reduces cost and complexity, and simplifies the construction of the appliance.

Problems solved by technology

Coupling or locking the agitator and the basket together during the spin cycle and uncoupling these components to allow the agitator to oscillate relative to the basket in the agitator mode requires more complex, expensive drive arrangements.

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