Back to results
US 8,756,828 B2Granted
Failure mode detection in an appliance dispensing system
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsMichael T. Dalton, Fredrick E. Chernetski, Karl D. McAllister
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An appliance having a dispensing system and a detection system for detecting failure modes related to the dispensing system.
Claims7
An apparatus for drying fabric articles comprising:
- a treatment chamber for receiving fabric articles to be dried;
- a source of heat to dry fabric articles in the treatment chamber;
- a dispenser to supply a fabric-conditioning substance to the treatment chamber;
- a conduit coupled to the dispenser to supply the fabric-conditioning substance to the dispenser;
- a controller;
- a first electrode located in the dispenser to be in contact with the fabric-conditioning substance in the dispenser;
- and
- a second electrode located in the conduit to be in contact with the fabric-conditioning substance in the conduit, wherein one of the first and second electrodes is charged, and the output of the first and second electrodes is coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a failure in dispensing fabric-conditioning substance has occurred based on the output of the first and second electrodes.
5 more elements
An apparatus for drying fabric articles comprising:
- a treatment chamber for receiving fabric articles to be dried;
- a source of heat to dry fabric articles in the treatment chamber;
- a dispenser to supply a fabric-conditioning substance to the treatment chamber by way of a delivery apparatus;
- a conduit coupled to the dispenser to supply the fabric-conditioning substance to the dispenser;
- a controller;
- a first electrode located near the delivery apparatus;
- a second electrode located to be in contact with the fabric-conditioning substance in the conduit;
- and
- a third electrode located in the dispenser, wherein one of the electrodes is charged so as to complete an electrical circuit between the charged electrode and at least one other electrode, the output of the electrodes is coupled to the controller, and the controller is configured to determine whether a failure in dispensing the fabric-conditioning substance has occurred based on the output of the electrodes.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.