Dishwasher with discretely directable tubular spray elements
AssigneeMidea Group Co., Ltd.
InventorsRobert M. Digman, Mark W. Wilson, Timothy Martin Wetzel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and dishwasher utilize one or more tubular spray elements that are both rotatable about longitudinal axes thereof and discretely directable by one or more tubular spray element drives between a plurality of rotational positions about the longitudinal axes thereof. Thus, through the provision of discretely directable tubular spray elements, fluid such as wash fluid and/or pressurized air may be focused in a wash tub, in many cases providing more efficient resource usage in the dishwasher.
Claims40
A dishwasher, comprising:
- a wash tub;
- a fluid supply configured to supply fluid to the wash tub;
- a tubular spray element disposed in the wash tub and being rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof, the tubular spray element including one or more apertures extending through an exterior surface thereof, and the tubular spray element in fluid communication with the fluid supply to direct fluid from the fluid supply into the wash tub through the one or more apertures;
- and
- a tubular spray element drive coupled to the tubular spray element and configured to discretely direct the tubular spray element to each of a plurality of rotational positions about the longitudinal axis thereof.
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-43. (canceled)
A dishwasher, comprising:
- a wash tub;
- a fluid supply configured to supply fluid to the wash tub;
- a plurality of tubular spray elements disposed in the wash tub, each tubular spray element being rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof and including one or more apertures extending through an exterior surface thereof, and each tubular spray element in fluid communication with the fluid supply to direct fluid from the fluid supply into the wash tub through the one or more apertures thereof;
- a plurality of tubular spray element drives coupled to respective tubular spray elements from among the plurality of tubular spray elements and configured to discretely direct respective tubular spray elements to each of a plurality of rotational positions about the longitudinal axes thereof;
- and
- a controller coupled to the fluid supply and the plurality of tubular spray element drives and configured to supply fluid to the plurality of tubular spray elements and drive the plurality of tubular spray element drives during a wash cycle.
-48. (canceled)
A method of operating a dishwasher, comprising:
- discretely directing a tubular spray element disposed in a wash tub of the dishwasher to each of a plurality of rotational positions about the longitudinal axis thereof using a tubular spray element drive coupled to the tubular spray element;
- and
- supplying fluid to the tubular spray element from a fluid supply in fluid communication with the tubular spray element to direct fluid from the fluid supply into the wash tub through one or more apertures extending through an exterior surface of the tubular spray element.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.