Washing machine appliance steam option selection
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsFikreAdam Abebe Damtew, James Quentin Pollett
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Abstract
A washing machine appliance includes a wash tub, a wash basket rotatable mounted within the tub, and a heating element in thermal communication with the wash tub such that the heating element is positioned and configured to generate steam within the wash tub. A method of operating the washing machine appliance includes receiving a cycle selection and a steam option selection from the same input selector. The method also includes activating the heating element during a wash cycle of the washing machine appliance in response to the received steam option selection.
Claims20
A washing machine appliance comprising:
- a cabinet;
- a wash tub positioned within the cabinet;
- a wash basket rotatably mounted within the wash tub;
- a heating element in thermal communication with the wash tub whereby the heating element is positioned and configured to generate steam within the wash tub;
- a control panel, the control panel comprising a plurality of input selectors;
- and
- a controller, the controller configured for:
- receiving, from a first input selector of the plurality of input selectors, a cycle selection;
- receiving, from the first input selector of the plurality of input selectors, a steam option selection;
- and
- activating the heating element during the selected cycle of the washing machine appliance in response to the received steam option selection,
- wherein the first input selector is a knob,
- wherein the cycle selection and the steam option selection are based on an angular position of the knob,
- wherein the knob is rotatable through a sequence of angular positions,
- wherein a first angular position in the sequence of angular positions corresponds to a selection of a first cycle, a second angular position in the sequence of angular positions corresponds to a selection of the first cycle with steam, and a third angular position in the sequence of angular positions corresponds to a selection of a second cycle different from the first cycle,
- wherein the second angular position is the next consecutive angular position after the first angular position in the sequence of angular positions and the third angular position the next consecutive angular position after the second angular position in the sequence of angular positions, and
- wherein the steam option selection is received based on the knob rotated to the second angular position from the first angular position.
A method of operating a washing machine appliance, the washing machine appliance comprising a cabinet, a wash tub positioned within the cabinet, a wash basket rotatably mounted within the wash tub, a heating element in thermal communication with the wash tub whereby the heating element is positioned and configured to generate steam within the wash tub, and a control panel, the control panel comprising a plurality of input selectors, the method comprising:
- receiving, from a first input selector of the plurality of input selectors, a cycle selection;
- receiving, from the first input selector of the plurality of input selectors, a steam option selection;
- and
- activating the heating element during the selected cycle of the washing machine appliance in response to the received steam option selection,
- wherein the first input selector is a knob,
- wherein the cycle selection and the steam option selection are based on an angular position of the knob,
- wherein the knob is rotatable through a sequence of angular positions,
- wherein a first angular position in the sequence of angular positions corresponds to a selection of a first cycle, a second angular position in the sequence of angular positions corresponds to a selection of the first cycle with steam, and a third angular position in the sequence of angular positions corresponds to a selection of a second cycle different from the first cycle,
- wherein the second angular position is the next consecutive angular position after the first angular position in the sequence of angular positions and the third angular position the next consecutive angular position after the second angular position in the sequence of angular positions, and
- wherein the steam option selection is received based on the knob rotated to the second angular position from the first angular position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.