Clothes washer having water recirculation system
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJae C. Lee, Do W. Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A clothes washing machine includes a water container, a spin-drying basket disposed in the container, and an oscillatory agitator disposed at the bottom of the basket. A plurality of upright water passages are formed in a vertical wall of the basket for conducting an upward flow of water generated by the agitator. Each passage includes vertically spaced first and second water outlets disposed above a water level in the basket. The second outlet is disposed below the upper outlet and has a lint filter. A third water outlet is formed in each passage and is disposed below the water level.
Claims10
A clothes washing machine, comprising:
- a water container;
- a dehydrating basket disposed in said water container and mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, said basket including a bottom wall and a vertical wall;
- an agitator situated above said bottom wall and mounted for oscillation about said axis, said agitator including a plurality of generally radially extending vanes for discharging water in a generally radially outward direction in response to oscillation of said agitator;
- at least one upright passage disposed in said vertical wall of said basket, said passage including a water inlet disposed adjacent a lower end thereof, a first water outlet disposed adjacent an upper end thereof, and a second water outlet disposed below said first water outlet;
- a filter mounted at said second outlet for filtering-out lint from water discharged through said second water outlet;
- and
- a drive mechanism for rotating said basket and rotatably oscillating said agitator for displacing water upwardly through said passage and out of said first and second water outlets;
- wherein said passage includes an enlargement adjacent said first and second water outlets for defining a vortex chamber with which said first and second outlets communicate.
A clothes washing machine, comprising:
- a water container including means for filling said water container with wash water to a predetermined level;
- a dehydrating basket disposed in said water container and mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, said basket including a bottom wall and a vertical wall;
- an agitator situated above said bottom wall and mounted for oscillation about said axis, said agitator including a plurality of generally radially extending vanes for displacing water in a generally radially outward direction in response to oscillation of said agitator;
- at least one upright passage disposed in said vertical wall of said basket, said passage including a water inlet disposed adjacent a lower end thereof, a water outlet situated above said predetermined level and a water outlet situated below said level;
- a drive mechanism for rotating said basket and oscillating said agitator for displacing water upwardly through said passage and out of said water outlets;
- and
- a vane disposed in the path of water running upwardly through said passage for diverting a portion of that water through said water outlet disposed below said predetermined level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.