Back to results
US 12,000,074 B2Granted
Laundry treating appliance with a panel
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsKurt L. Masciovecchio, Daniel Polonsky, Mark Schulz, Anne Wessel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laundry treating appliance can include a chassis defining an interior and having at least a front wall, with the front wall having a component access port providing access to an internal component of the laundry treating appliance. The laundry treating appliance can also have a panel coupled to the front wall, with the panel movable between a first position and a second position. The panel can also include a pocket handle.
Claims20
A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
- a chassis defining an interior and having at least a front wall, with the front wall having a component access port providing access to an internal component of the laundry treating appliance;
- a closure having a bottom edge and selectively movable relative to the chassis between an opened position and a closed position;
- and
- a panel coupled to the front wall and having a top edge underlying and vertically spaced from the bottom edge of the closure to define a gap therebetween, with the panel movable between a first position providing access to the component access port and a second position covering the component access port;
- wherein the panel comprises a blind pocket handle accessible through the gap when the closure is in the closed position, the blind pocket handle comprising:
- a shelf wall forming a bottom surface of the blind pocket handle and located below the top edge of the blind pocket handle;
- and
- a first sidewall intersecting the shelf wall and projecting upwardly to the top edge;
- and
- a magnet coupled to the panel and configured to magnetically engage the front wall when the closure is in the second position.
7 more elements
A combination washing and drying machine, comprising:
- a chassis defining an interior and having at least a front wall;
- a tub located within the interior and at least partially defining a treating chamber with an access opening;
- a washing circuit fluidly coupled to the treating chamber and having a wash circuit component located within the chassis;
- a drying circuit fluidly coupled to the treating chamber and having a drying circuit component located within the chassis;
- a component access port in the front wall providing access to at least one of the wash circuit component or the drying circuit component from an exterior of the combination washing and drying machine;
- a closure having a bottom edge and selectively movable relative to the chassis between an opened position with the access opening accessible from the exterior and a closed position with the access opening inaccessible from the exterior;
- and
- a panel coupled to the front wall and having a top edge underlying and vertically spaced from the bottom edge of the closure to define a gap therebetween, with the panel movable between a first position providing access to the component access port from the exterior and a second position blocking access to the component access port from the exterior;
- wherein the panel comprises a blind pocket handle accessible through the gap when the closure is in the closed position, the blind pocket handle comprising:
- a shelf wall forming a bottom surface of the blind pocket handle and located below the top edge of the blind pocket handle;
- and
- a first sidewall intersecting the shelf wall and projecting upwardly to the top edge;
- and
- a magnet coupled to the panel and configured to magnetically engage the front wall when in the second position.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.