# US 2014/0150286 A1 · Dishwasher, a door assembly for the dishwasher, and an associated method for drying dishware > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0150286 A1 - Document ID: US20140150286A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/173,121 - Filed: 2014-02-05 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2009-02-04 - Assignees: Electrolux Home Products, Inc. - Applicants: Electrolux Home Products, Inc. - Inventors: Ashwin Jadhav; Jeffrey E. Nelson; Dennis A. Poyner; Van P. Beck - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140150286A1 ## CPC - F26B 21/50: Ducting arrangements from the source of air or other gases to the materials or objects being dried - A47L 15/0034: {Drying phases, including dripping-off phases} - A47L 15/4257: {Details of the loading door} - A47L 15/483: {by using condensers} - A47L 15/488: {Connections of the tub with the ambient air, e.g. air intake or venting arrangements} - A47L 2301/08: Other manual input - A47L 2401/04: Crockery or tableware details, e.g. material, quantity, condition - A47L 2401/10: Water cloudiness or dirtiness, e.g. turbidity, foaming or level of bacteria - A47L 2401/19: Air humidity - A47L 2501/05: Drain or recirculation pump, e.g. regulation of the pump rotational speed or flow direction - A47L 2501/10: Air circulation, e.g. air intake or venting arrangements - A47L 2501/11: Air heaters - A47L 2501/12: Air blowers - A47L 2501/20: Spray nozzles or spray arms - A47L 2501/30: Regulation of machine operational steps within the washing process, e.g. performing an additional rinsing phase, shortening or stopping of the drying phase, washing at decreased noise operation conditions - F26B: DRYING SOLID MATERIALS OR OBJECTS BY REMOVING LIQUID THEREFROM (drying devices for combines A01D41/133; racks for drying fruit or vegetables A01F25/12; drying foodstuffs A23; drying hair A45D20/00; body-drying implements A47K10/00; drying household articles A47L; drying gases or vapours B01D; chemical or physical processes for dewatering or like separating liquids from solids B01D43/00; centrifugal apparatus B04; drying ceramics C04B33/30; drying yarns or fabrics in association with some other form of treatment D06C; drying frames for laundry without heating or positive air circulation, domestic laundry-or spin-driers, wringing or hot pressing laundry D06F; furnaces, kilns, ovens F27) - A47L: DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING (brushes A46B; cleaning quantities of bottles or of other hollow articles of one kind B08B9/00; laundry D06F); SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL (cleaning in general B08) ## Abstract A dishwasher, a door assembly for the dishwasher and a method of drying the dishware in the dishwasher are provided. The dishwasher may include a tub portion adapted to hold dishware. The dishwasher may also include a duct having an inlet proximate to the top of the tub portion. The duct may be configured to receive warm air and vaporized water from within the tub portion. The dishwasher may further include a single blower configured to direct the warm air and vaporized water into the duct during a drying cycle. The blower may be configured to operate in a cyclic manner. In various embodiments, the blower may be configured to operate in a reverse direction for at least a portion of the drying cycle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A dishwasher comprising: a tub defining an opening and an interior; a door attached to the tub and configured to selectively permit access to the interior of the tub; a duct positioned within the door and having an inlet that is in fluid communication with the interior of the tub, wherein the duct is configured to receive warm air and vaporized water from within the tub; and a blower configured to direct the warm air and vaporized water into the duct during a drying cycle of the dishwasher, wherein the blower is configured to operate in a cyclic manner during the drying cycle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein the duct extends from the inlet to an outlet and is configured to facilitate condensation of the vaporized water as the warm air and vaporized water travel from the inlet toward the outlet, and wherein the outlet is in fluid communication with an external environment, wherein the operation of the blower in the cycle manner enables ambient air from the external environment to enter the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The dishwasher of claim 1 wherein operating the blower in a cyclic manner comprises alternating between: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, and turning the blower off. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein the blower is further configured to reverse direction of operation during the drying cycle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The dishwasher of claim 4 wherein operating the blower in a cyclic manner comprises alternating between: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, and actuating the blower in a reversed direction of operation wherein ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The dishwasher of claim 4 wherein operating the blower in a cyclic manner comprises alternating among: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, actuating the blower in a reversed direction of operation wherein ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water, and turning the blower off. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The dishwasher of claim 4, wherein the duct extends from the inlet to an outlet and is configured to facilitate condensation of the vaporized water as the warm air and vaporized water travel from the inlet toward the outlet, and wherein the outlet is in fluid communication with an external environment, wherein reversing the direction of operation of the blower draws ambient air from the external environment into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The dishwasher of claim 7, wherein the ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the outlet of the duct by the same blower configured to draw the warm air and vaporized water into the inlet of the duct. ### Claim 9 A door assembly for selectively permitting access to a tub of a dishwasher, the door assembly comprising: an inner wall; an outer wall; a duct extending between the inner wall and the outer wall from an inlet to an outlet, wherein the duct at least partially defines a tortuous path, wherein the tortuous path is configured to facilitate condensation of vaporized water from warm air as the warm air and vaporized water are directed through the duct from the inlet toward the outlet; and a blower configured to draw the warm air and vaporized water into the inlet of the duct from the tub during a drying cycle of the dishwasher, wherein the blower is configured to operate in a cyclical manner. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The door assembly of claim 9, wherein the outlet is in fluid communication with an external environment, wherein the operation of the blower in the cyclic manner enables ambient air from the external environment to enter the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The door assembly of claim 9 wherein operating the blower in a cyclic manner comprises alternating between: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, and turning the blower off. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The door assembly of claim 9, wherein the blower is configured to reverse direction of operation during the drying cycle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The dishwasher of claim 12 wherein operating the blower in a cyclic manner comprises alternating between: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, and actuating the blower in a reversed direction of operation wherein ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The dishwasher of claim 12 wherein operating the blower in a cyclic manner comprises alternating among: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, actuating the blower in a reversed direction of operation wherein ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water, and turning the blower off. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The door assembly of claim 12, wherein the outlet is in fluid communication with an external environment, wherein reversing the direction of operation of the blower draws ambient air from the external environment into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The door assembly of claim 15, wherein the ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the outlet of the duct by the same blower configured to draw the warm air and vaporized water into the inlet of the duct. ### Claim 17 A method of operating a dishwasher, wherein the dishwasher comprises a tub defining an opening and an interior, a door attached to the tub and configured to selectively permit access to the interior of the tub, a duct positioned within the door and having an inlet that is in fluid communication with the interior of the tub, and a blower in fluid communication with the duct and the tub, the method comprising: initiating operation of a blower during a drying cycle of the dishwasher; and cyclically actuating the blower during the drying cycle to direct warm air and vaporized water from the tub into the duct to facilitate condensation of the vaporized water as the warm air and vaporized water travel through the duct. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the duct defines an outlet in fluid communication with an external environment, wherein the operation of the blower in the cyclic manner enables ambient air from the external environment to enter the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein cyclically actuating the blower comprises alternating between: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, and turning the blower off. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 further comprising reversing direction of operation of the blower during the drying cycle. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein cyclically actuating the blower comprises alternating between: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, and actuating the blower in a reversed direction of operation wherein ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein cyclically actuating the blower comprises alternating among: actuating the blower in a direction wherein the warm air and vaporized water are directed into the inlet of the duct, actuating the blower in a reversed direction of operation wherein ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water, and turning the blower off. ### Claim 23 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the duct defines an outlet in fluid communication with an external environment, wherein reversing the direction of operation of the blower draws ambient air from the external environment into the duct via the outlet to interact with the vaporized water within the duct to accelerate the condensation of the vaporized water. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The method of claim 23, wherein the ambient air from the external environment is drawn into the outlet of the duct by the same blower configured to draw the warm air and vaporized water into the inlet of the duct.