US 12,139,837 B2
Fluid delivery system for a front-load washing appliance for delivering fluid to lifters of the drum
Marco Angelini, Folignano (IT); Matteo Carnevale, Esanatoglia (IT); Massimiliano Daniele, Milan (IT); Deepak Gupta, Varese (IT); Mauro Mancini, Fabriano (IT); and Vaclav Petracek, Poprad (SK)
Assigned to Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, MI (US)
Filed by WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION, Benton Harbor, MI (US)
Filed on Dec. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/530,635.
Application 18/530,635 is a continuation of application No. 17/980,633, filed on Nov. 4, 2022, granted, now 11,873,599.
Application 17/980,633 is a continuation of application No. 16/868,451, filed on May 6, 2020, granted, now 11,535,969, issued on Dec. 27, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/853,819, filed on May 29, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0102225 A1, Mar. 28, 2024
Int. Cl. D06F 37/06 (2006.01); D06F 23/02 (2006.01); D06F 37/30 (2020.01); D06F 39/08 (2006.01)
CPC D06F 37/065 (2013.01) [D06F 23/02 (2013.01); D06F 37/30 (2013.01); D06F 39/088 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A laundry appliance comprising:
a tub having a structural hub;
a drum that is rotationally operable within the tub;
a drive shaft attached to the drum and extending through the structural hub;
lifters that are disposed on an interior surface of the drum, wherein fluid is delivered to the drum via a fluid inlet that extends through the tub and in an axial direction parallel with the drive shaft and a rotational axis of the drum; and
a plurality of bearings that extend between the drive shaft and the structural hub; wherein
the plurality of bearings include corresponding seals that extend between the drive shaft and the structural hub;
the fluid inlet extends axially through the drive shaft to a manifold that apportions the fluid among the lifters of the drum; and
the fluid inlet is in communication with a fluid space defined between the drive shaft, the structural hub, and the corresponding seals of the plurality of bearings.