Laundry appliance having laundry accessories
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsSeth E. Bixby, Mark Jason Christensen, Marco Ali Curti Espinosa, Yu Liu, Sergio Moreno, Sayer James Murphy, Jonathan D. Pugh, Bruno T. Ramasco, Nicholas C. Schooley, Meagan Kathleen VanderVelde
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laundry appliance includes a cabinet. A blower is disposed within the cabinet that delivers accessory air through an accessory airflow path. An accessory bar assembly is in fluid communication with the accessory airflow path. The accessory bar assembly is configured to suspend articles therefrom and to provide the accessory air for conditioning the articles.
Claims20
A vertical axis laundry machine, comprising:
- a cabinet having a top panel that defines an access opening;
- a lid coupled with the top panel and having a lower surface, the lid being operable between a raised position above the access opening and a lowered position that covers the access opening;
- a removable panel that is selectively positioned on the top panel and over the access opening to define a processing state;
- and
- a heating element positioned proximate at least one of the lid and the top panel, wherein the heating element is configured to deliver heat to at least one of the lower surface of the lid and an upper surface of the removable panel, wherein when the removable panel is in the processing state and the lid is in the lowered position, the lower surface of the lid and the upper surface of the removable panel are pressed together to define a wrinkle processing space for treating articles of clothing.
A vertical axis laundry machine, comprising:
- a cabinet that includes a base positioned proximate a lower portion of the cabinet;
- a drawer disposed within the base and operable between a stowed position within the base and a supporting position forward of the base;
- and
- a step disposed within the drawer, wherein the step is attached to the drawer via a scissor linkage, wherein the step is configured to be operable between a flat position and a step position when the drawer is in the supporting position, the step position characterized by the step elevated above the drawer via the scissor linkage.
A laundry machine, comprising:
- a cabinet having a top panel that defines an access opening;
- a lid coupled with the top panel, the lid being operable between a raised position above the access opening and a lowered position that covers the access opening;
- a heating panel coupled with the lid and cooperating with the lid to define a wrinkle processing space for treating articles of clothing therebetween;
- and
- a heating element positioned proximate at least one of the lid and the heating panel, wherein the heating element is configured to heat at least one of a lower surface of the lid and an upper surface of the heating panel, wherein when the heating panel is in a processing state when the lid is in the lowered position, the processing state is characterized by the lower surface of the lid and the upper surface of the heating panel being pressed together with the wrinkle processing space therebetween.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.