Washing machine appliance and motor assembly therefor
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsEdward Simeon Chupka, Haotian Fang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A washing machine appliance or drive assembly, as provided herein, may include an agitator drive shaft, a stationary housing, and a motor. The agitator drive shaft may extend along a drive axis. The stationary housing may be disposed about the agitator drive shaft. The motor may be operably connected to the agitator drive shaft to drive rotation thereof. The motor may include a rotor, a stator, a support bushing, and a linear fastener. The rotor may be fixed to the agitator drive shaft. The stator may be rotationally positioned radially inward from the rotor. The support bushing may be ultrasonically welded within the stator. The linear fastener may extend through the fastener to the stationary housing.
Claims18
A washing machine appliance, comprising:
- a wash tub for the receipt of laundry articles and fluid for cleaning;
- a wash basket received in the wash tub to retain the laundry articles;
- an agitator rotatably positioned in the wash basket to impart motion to the laundry articles within the wash basket;
- an agitator drive shaft extending along a drive axis from the agitator to rotate therewith;
- a stationary housing disposed about the agitator drive shaft, the stationary housing being attached to the wash tub;
- and
- a motor operably connected to the agitator drive shaft to drive rotation thereof, the motor comprising
- a rotor fixed to the agitator drive shaft,
- a stator rotationally fixed and positioned radially inward from the rotor,
- a support bushing ultrasonically welded within the stator, and
- a linear fastener extending through the support bushing to the stationary housing.
A drive assembly for a washing machine appliance, the drive assembly comprising:
- an agitator drive shaft extending along a drive axis;
- a stationary housing disposed about the agitator drive shaft;
- and
- a motor operably connected to the agitator drive shaft to drive rotation thereof, the motor comprising:
- a rotor fixed to the agitator drive shaft,
- a stator rotationally fixed and positioned radially inward from the rotor,
- a support bushing ultrasonically welded within the stator, and
- a linear fastener extending through the fastener to the stationary housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.