Laundry treating appliance having a door assembly
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsDarryl C. Bodine, Gregg P. Fitzgerald, Stephen D. Ostdiek, Marcel Schmidt, Todd Tunzi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laundry treating appliance includes a chassis defining an interior and having a front panel defining a front panel opening. A rotatable treating chamber is located within the interior and accessible through the front panel opening. A door assembly is mounted to the chassis for movement between opened and closed positions to selectively open or close the front panel opening. The door assembly includes a window or panel slidable between first and second positions.
Claims20
A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
- a cabinet defining a front panel opening;
- a tub supported within the cabinet, wherein the tub defines a tub opening, and wherein the tub opening is partially aligned with the front panel opening and a vertical offset is provided between the front panel opening at a higher position than the tub opening;
- a drum provided within the tub to define at least a portion of a treating chamber;
- a drive system operably coupled to the drum, wherein the drive system rotationally drives the drum about a rotational axis, the rotational axis being inclined at a predefined angle relative to a horizontal axis;
- a bellows sealingly coupling the tub opening with the front panel opening, wherein the bellows forms an angled profile with a downward slope between the front panel opening and the tub opening;
- and
- a door assembly operably coupled to the cabinet.
A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
- a cabinet defining a front panel opening, the front panel opening defining a panel axis;
- a tub supported within the cabinet and defining a tub opening, the tub opening defining a tub axis, wherein a vertical offset is provided between the front panel opening and the tub opening such that the panel axis is above the tub axis;
- a drum provided within the tub to define at least a portion of a treating chamber;
- an angled bellows extending between the front panel opening and the tub opening, wherein the angled bellows angles downwardly from the front panel opening to the tub opening to promote movement of liquid and laundry items toward the treating chamber, and wherein the angled bellows forms an S-shaped profile, and further wherein the angled bellows defines a visual portion at an upper portion thereof configured to be visible through the front panel opening;
- and
- a door assembly operably coupled to the cabinet to selectively allow access to the treating chamber.
A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
- a cabinet defining a front panel opening;
- a tub supported within the cabinet, wherein the tub defines a tub opening and at least partially defining a treating chamber, and wherein the front panel opening is at a higher position than the tub opening to define a vertical offset therebetween;
- a drum provided within the tub to further define at least a portion of the treating chamber;
- a drive system operably coupled to the drum, wherein the drive system rotationally drives the drum about an angled rotational axis, the angled rotational axis being inclined at a predefined angle relative to a horizontal axis;
- an oblique bellows extending between the front panel opening and the tub opening, wherein the oblique bellows angles downwardly from the front panel opening to the tub opening to direct liquid and items toward the treating chamber, and wherein the oblique bellows has an S-shaped profile;
- and
- a door assembly operably coupled to the cabinet to selectively access the treating chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.