Door boot with varying angle lip seal
AssigneeMaytag Corporation
InventorDavid I. Ellingson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved door boot is provided for a laundry appliance. The door boot has a varying angle lip seal. The angle of the lip seal varies between .+-.15.degree. from top to bottom relative to the planar orientation of the door boot. The varying angle of the lip seal ensures optimal sealing engagement with the door plug when the door is closed, particularly for an appliance having a tub tilted at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane.
Claims15
An improved door boot for a laundry appliance including a cabinet, a tub rotably mounted in the cabinet and having an open end, a door boot mounted in the cabinet and extending around the open end of the tub to define an access opening into the tub, and a door pivotally mounted on the cabinet for movement between open and closed positions and having a plug adapted to extend into the access opening when the door is in the closed position, the improvement comprising:
- a lip seal on the door boot to provide sealing engagement with the door plug;
- and
- the lip seal having a varying angle from top to bottom relative to the door boot.
An improved door boot for a laundry appliance including a cabinet, a tub rotably mounted in the cabinet and having an open end, a tubular door boot mounted in the cabinet and extending around the open end of the tub to define an access opening into the tub, and a door pivotally mounted on the cabinet for movement between open and closed positions and having a plug adapted to extend into the access opening when the door is in the closed position, the improvement comprising:
- a lip seal mounted on the door boot to provide sealing engagement with the door plug;
- the lip seal being oriented at an angle relative to the door boot.
An improved laundry appliance including a cabinet, a tub rotably mounted in the cabinet at an angle tilted with respect to a horizontal axis, and a door pivotally mounted on the cabinet for movement between open and closed positions relative to the tub, the improvement comprising:
- a tubular door boot mounted on the cabinet so as to reside in a non-vertical plane;
- a lip seal on the door boot to provide sealing engagement with the door;
- and
- the lip seal being substantially vertically oriented.
A sealing system for an appliance comprising:
- a cabinet enclosing the appliance;
- an opening in the cabinet for providing access into the appliance;
- a door boot extending around the periphery of the access opening in substantially a single plane;
- a door capable of movement between an open position and a closed position and having a door plug with a substantially planar surface and a substantially cylindrical sealing surface;
- a lip seal formed at an angle relative to the plane of the door boot so as to maintain an approximately perpendicular relationship with the sealing surface of the door plug, the lip seal engaging the door plug upon movement of the door to the closed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.