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US 2010/0147339 A1Published application
Dishwasher with driven spray arm for upper rack
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsROGER JAMES BERTSCH, JORDAN ROBERT FOUNTAIN
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automatic dishwasher with a drive system for driving a rotatable spray arm associated with a second rack, which is located above a first rack.
Claims21
An automatic dishwasher comprising:
- a tub defining a wash chamber for receiving utensils to be washed;
- a first rack located within the wash chamber;
- a second rack located within the wash chamber above the first rack and selectively moveable between a loading position where at least a portion of the second rack extends exteriorly of the wash chamber and a wash position where the second rack is located entirely within the wash chamber;
- a spray arm carried by the second rack, with the spray arm being movable within a range of motion and having at least one outlet for introducing liquid into the wash chamber;
- and
- a drive system having a power unit accessible from the wash chamber and a drive unit carried by the second rack and operably coupled to the spray arm for moving the spray arm within the range of motion;
- wherein the drive unit is selectively coupled to the power unit when the second rack is in the wash position whereby the power unit provides an operating force to the drive unit to effect the rotation of the spray arm.
4 more elements
The automatic dishwasher according to claim 11 wherein the drive unit further comprises a first gear carried by the drive shaft and a second gear carried by the spray arm and enmeshed with the first gear such that rotation of the drive shaft rotates the spray arm about the axis of rotation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.