Air seal arrangement in a clothes dryer
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorRobert R. Sisler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air seal arrangement in a clothes dryer having a cabinet housing a rotatable drum, the drum having a front wall with a loading opening therethrough and the cabinet having an access opening larger than the drum loading opening. There is a circular seal ring having a circumferential area tapered inwardly and the ring extends from the cabinet front through the access opening of the cabinet into the loading opening of the drum. A seal is provided having an area attached to the front wall of the drum circumferentially around the loading opening and a flexible area extending from the attached area toward the front of the cabinet. The seal ring and seal cooperate and overlappingly engage each other at the tapered area of the seal ring and the flexible area of the seal to provide the air seal.
Claims5
An improved air seal arrangement in a clothes dryer having a cabinet structure housing a rotatable drum, said drum having a front wall with a loading opening therethrough, said cabinet having an access opening larger than the drum loading opening, the improvement comprising:
- a first outwardly depending flange on the front wall of the drum defining the loading opening,
- fixed drum support means,
- a second outwardly depending flange circumferentially around the first depending flange, said second depending flange cooperating with the fixed drum support means to support the front of the drum,
- a circular seal ring having a circumferential area tapered inwardly, said ring extending from the cabinet front through the access opening of the cabinet and into the loading opening of the drum,
- a seal having an area attached to the first depending flange of the front wall of the drum circumferentially around the loading opening and a flexible area extending from the attached area toward the front of the cabinet, and
- said seal ring and seal cooperating to overlappingly engage each other at the tapered area of the seal ring and flexible area of the seal with the seal ring being inside the seal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.