Laundry appliance and drain pump housing
A laundry appliance includes a drain pump housing positioned in fluid communication with a tub mounted within an interior of a cabinet. The housing has a unitary, monolithic structure including a synthetic rubber material. The housing has a first opening, a second opening, and an interior wall forming a plenum positioned fluidly between the first opening and the second opening. The interior wall extends in spiral arrangement relative to a centerline axis around an impeller positioned in the plenum. A pump assembly includes the impeller rotatably coupled to a driveshaft. The impeller and driveshaft are rotatable relative to the centerline axis.
1 . A laundry appliance, comprising:
a cabinet defining an interior;
a tub mounted within the interior of the cabinet;
a laundry basket rotatably mounted within the tub, the laundry basket defining a chamber for the receipt of laundry articles;
a drain pump housing positioned in fluid communication with the tub, the housing comprising a unitary, monolithic structure formed completely of a synthetic rubber material, the housing comprising a first opening, a second opening, and an interior wall forming a plenum positioned fluidly between the first opening and the second opening, wherein the interior wall extends in spiral arrangement relative to the centerline axis around the impeller positioned in the plenum; and
a pump assembly comprising an impeller rotatably coupled to a driveshaft, the impeller and driveshaft rotatable relative to a centerline axis, wherein the centerline axis extends through the first opening, and wherein the interior wall extends in spiral arrangement from the second opening to a minimum flowpath area, wherein the impeller is positioned in the plenum.
2 . The laundry appliance of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic rubber material comprises an ethylene propylene diene monomer material.
3 . The laundry appliance of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a first neck at which the first opening is formed, wherein the first neck extends from a body at which the plenum is formed.
4 . The laundry appliance of claim 3 , wherein the first neck comprises a rib.
5 . The laundry appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first neck is extendable into an opening at the tub to provide fluid communication to the drain pump housing.
6 . The laundry appliance of claim 3 , wherein the housing comprises a second neck at which the second opening is formed, wherein the second neck extends from the body.
7 . The laundry appliance of claim 6 , wherein the second neck comprises a rib.
8 . The laundry appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first opening and the second opening are positioned in substantially perpendicular arrangement to one another.
9 . The laundry appliance of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a fastener mount extending externally from a body.
10 . The laundry appliance of claim 9 , wherein the fastener mount comprises a rib structure extending from the body to a mount platform, the mount platform comprising a fastener opening configured to receive a fastener.
11 . The laundry appliance of claim 1 , wherein the interior wall extends in spiral arrangement relative to the centerline axis from the minimum flowpath area to the second opening forming a maximum flowpath area.
12 . The laundry appliance of claim 11 , wherein the second opening is positioned radially outward of the impeller relative to the centerline axis.
13 . The laundry appliance of claim 12 , wherein the minimum flowpath area is positioned radially inward of the second opening such that the interior wall separates the second opening from the minimum flowpath area.