IP Library Granted Patent US 11,434,600
Granted Patent B2
US 11,434,600 · App. 17/128,341 · Granted Sep 6, 2022

Laundry treating appliance door assembly comprising a plastic fishbowl

Inventors: Ethan Harbrecht (Michigan City, IN); Douglas Mikkelsen (Saint Joseph, MI); Christoph Miller (Saint Joseph, MI); Joel Sells (Watervliet, MI); Prasath M. Thirukonda (St. Joseph, MI)
Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
D06F39/14
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,434,600
App. No.
17/128,341
Granted
Sep 6, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A laundry treating appliance door assembly comprises a plastic fishbowl. Typically, laundry treating appliances, such as dryers, have door assemblies comprising glass fishbowls. Utilizing plastic enables a fishbowl to have a sharper radius of curvature than that of a glass fishbowl due to manufacturing constraints of glass. A shaper radius of curvature allows for greater capacity in the treating chamber in a laundry treating appliance.

Claims (31)

1. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance comprising:

a frame defining an opening; and

a plastic fishbowl closing the opening and comprising:

a peripheral wall defining an annulus with a central axis; and

an inner wall located within the peripheral wall to close the annulus, and defining a surface that intersects with the peripheral wall to form a first radius of curvature, with the surface having a vertical portion transitioning to an angled portion, within the transition forming a second radius of curvature;

wherein the first and second radius of curvatures are less than 200 mm.

2. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one of the vertical portion or the angled portion is planar.

3. The door assembly of claim 2 wherein the angled portion of the inner wall defines an included angle relative to the central axis that is greater than 40 degrees.

4. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the peripheral wall has a dual-wall structure comprising first and second walls.

5. The door assembly of claim 4 wherein the first and second walls form a V-shape cross section.

6. The door assembly of claim 4 wherein the first and second walls intersect to define a junction forming an apex of the peripheral wall.

7. The door assembly of claim 6 , wherein the peripheral wall has an upper portion and a lower portion.

8. The door assembly of claim 7 , wherein the depth from the frame to the apex of the lower portion of the peripheral wall is greater than the depth from the frame to the apex of the upper portion of the peripheral wall.

9. The door assembly of claim 7 , wherein the laundry treating appliance further comprises a treating chamber, wherein the upper portion of the peripheral wall and the lower portion of the peripheral wall projects different distances into the treating chamber.

10. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the laundry treating appliance is one of a vertical axis clothes washer, a combination washing machine and dryer, a tumbling or stationary refreshing/revitalizing machine, an extractor, a non-aqueous washing apparatus, or a revitalizing machine.

11. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein the entire plastic fishbowl is at least one of transparent or translucent.

12. The door assembly of claim 11 , wherein the plastic fishbowl is mounted to the frame or a window.

13. The door assembly of claim 11 , wherein the plastic fishbowl is integrally formed with the frame or a window.

14. A door assembly for a laundry treating appliance comprising:

a frame defining an opening;

a window closing the opening; and

a plastic fishbowl adjacent the window and comprising:

a peripheral wall defining at least a partial annulus with a central axis; and

an inner wall located within the peripheral wall to close the at least a partial annulus, and defining a surface that intersects with the peripheral wall to form a first radius of curvature, with the surface having a vertical portion transitioning into an angled portion, with the transition forming a second radius of curvature, and the angled portion forming an included angle with the central axis that is less than 40 degrees;

wherein the first and second radius of curvatures are less than 200 mm.

15. The door assembly of claim 14 wherein the at least one of the vertical portion or the angled portion is planar.

16. The door assembly of claim 14 wherein the peripheral wall defines a complete annulus bounding an interior.

17. The door assembly of claim 14 wherein the peripheral wall has a dual-wall structure comprising first and second walls.

18. The door assembly of claim 17 wherein the first and second walls form a V-shape cross section.

19. The door assembly of claim 17 wherein the first and second walls intersect to define a junction forming an apex of the peripheral wall.

20. The door assembly of claim 14 wherein the entire plastic fishbowl is at least one of transparent or translucent.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 21, 2020
From: HARBRECHT, ETHAN; MIKKELSEN, DOUGLAS; MILLER, CHRISTOPH; SELLS, JOEL; THIRUKONDA, PRASATH M.
To: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 054705/0373 →
Continuity (6)
Continuation 16871204 · May 11, 2020
Continuation 16583395 · Sep 26, 2019
Continuation 16391647 · Apr 23, 2019
Continuation 16161813 · Oct 16, 2018
Continuation 15255213 · Sep 2, 2016
Related Publication 20210108355A1 · Apr 15, 2021
Cited By (1)
US 12,448,717