Method and apparatus for testing the air flow in a clothes dryer
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorGREGORY JOHN NEUMANN
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for testing the air flow in a clothes dryer by determining a pressure characteristic of the air within the drying chamber when the dryer is turned on and comparing the determined pressure characteristic to a predetermined reference value to ascertain the condition of the air flow in the dryer.
Claims20
A method for testing the air flow in a clothes dryer having a drying chamber having an access opening that is selectively closed by a door and an air flow system for flowing air through the drying chamber, the method comprising:
- inserting a probe of a pressure sensor through the access opening such that a portion of the probe lies within the drying chamber and another portion of the probe lies exteriorly of the clothes dryer;
- closing the door to seal the access opening while the probe extends through the access opening;
- activating the air flow system of the dryer;
- determining a pressure characteristic within the drying chamber based on the pressure characteristic seen by the portion of the probe within the drying chamber;
- and
- determining a value indicative of the air flow by comparing the determined pressure characteristic to a reference value.
A method for testing the air flow in a clothes dryer having a drying chamber having an access opening that is selectively closed by a door and an air flow system for flowing air through the drying chamber, the method comprising:
- inserting a probe from a handheld device through the access opening such that a portion of the probe lies within the drying chamber and another portion of the probe lies exteriorly of the clothes dryer;
- closing the door to seal the access opening while the probe extends through the access opening;
- turning on the air flow system to flow air through the drying chamber;
- determining a value indicative of the airflow;
- and
- providing on the handheld device at least one of an audio and visual display indicative of the airflow quality as a function of the measured value.
An air flow tester comprising:
- a pressure sensor configured to output a signal indicative of a pressure characteristic;
- a probe coupled to the pressure sensor and having a crush resistant portion;
- and
- a processor coupled to the pressure sensor to receive the signal and configured to determine an air flow condition based on the signal;
- and
- an indicator coupled to the processor wherein the processor is configured to control the indicator to indicate the determined air flow condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.