Drain system for a laundry appliance
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsDaniel A. Schurr, Michael Jon Vriezema
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A drain system for a laundry appliance is provided. The laundry appliance may be configured as a clothes dryer having a heat exchanger to cool and condense moisture-laden air received from the laundry drum. The drain system utilizes a drain structure to catch condensate from the heat exchanger and evacuate the condensate to a sump area. A blower and blower channel moves the dry air from the heat exchanger back to the drum. To prevent negative pressure in the blower channel from moving the condensate to the sump area, an air channel between the blower channel and sump area provides air flow communication.
Claims9
A drain system for a laundry appliance, wherein the laundry appliance includes a drum for processing laundry, a heat exchanger to cool and condense moisture-laden air received from the drum, and a blower channel for moving dry air from the heat exchanger to the drum, the drain system comprising:
- a drain ramp disposed under the heat exchanger, wherein the drain ramp receives condensate from the heat exchanger;
- a sump area connected to the drain ramp for collecting the condensate;
- and
- an air channel extending between the sump area and the blower channel, wherein the air channel provides air flow communication between the sump area and the blower channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.