Controlled moisture removal in a laundry treating appliance
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsBarbara A. Balinski, Floyd G. Jackson, Karl David McAllister
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of operating a laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to a treating cycle of operation. The laundry treating appliance comprises a treating chamber for receiving the laundry that is selectively accessible through a door movable between opened and closed positions. The method comprises determining at the end of a laundry treating cycle whether the door has been opened and subsequently reclosed and reducing humidity in the treating chamber after the determination that the door has been reclosed.
Claims21
An automatic washing machine for treating laundry according to a treating cycle of operation, comprising:
- a cabinet having an interior and an exterior;
- a treating chamber within the cabinet for receiving laundry to be treated;
- a water inlet for supplying water to the treating chamber;
- a humidity reduction device located controllable to rotate about an axis to draw air from the exterior of the cabinet to the treating chamber;
- a sensor for determining the presence of laundry in the treating chamber;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the sensor, the humidity reduction device, and water inlet and configured to
- instruct operation in accordance with a plurality of cycles of operation of the washing machine, including instructing operation for at least one treating cycle where the water inlet supplies water to the treating chamber, and
- instruct, during at least one humidity reduction cycle and in response to the sensor indicating a lack of laundry in the treating chamber, activation of the humidity reduction device to draw air from the exterior into the treating chamber.
A washing machine comprising:
- a cabinet having an opening at a front side adapted for insertion and removal of laundry into an interior;
- a first means for rotation located within the cabinet;
- a second means for rotation located within the cabinet;
- a door for selectively closing the opening;
- a sensor for determining the presence of laundry in the interior and generating a first signal and second signal;
- a vent that connects the exterior of the cabinet with the interior;
- and
- a controller operably connected to the sensor, the first means, and the second means, the controller configured to
- instruct the first means to operate in response to the first signal from the sensor instructing the first and second means to operate in response to the second signal from the sensor which generates air flow in the vent and to reduces humidity by drawing ambient air in to the interior.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.