Patent Abstract:
A washing machine includes a washing machine cabinet having a top cover thereon. The top cover has an upwardly presented surface with an access opening therein and a first sloping surface extending downwardly and away from the access opening. A lid has a seal member thereon which engages the top cover for preventing fluid or condensation from moving away from the access opening down the first sloping surface of the top cover.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a sealed top cover and lid for washing machine. 
     One way to improve the accessibility to the interior of top loading washing machines is to provide an access opening which has a downwardly inclined wall adjacent the top front edge of the washing machine. However some means must be provided for preventing splashed fluid or condensation from draining downwardly and forwardly on the inclined wall to the exterior of the washing machine. Also it is desirable to confine sound within the washing machine to make it quieter in the room in which it is operating. 
     Many devices have been used for dispensing fluids such as liquid detergents into washing machines. Some of these devices have been provided inside the washing machine and some have been provided on the lid for the washing machine. These prior art devices however have been deficient in many respects. 
     Many of these devices have been small in volume. They also failed to provide a satisfactory means for metering the amount of fluid dispensed, and for permitting the user to determine the amount of fluid left in the dispenser. 
     Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is the provision of an improved sealed top cover and lid for a washing machine. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a fluid dispenser which will hold a large quantity of fluid for use in many washing loads. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a fluid dispenser which is comprised of two chambers, one of which is a reservoir chamber and the other of which is a dispensing chamber. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid which includes a counter balance for counter balancing the weight of the fluid in the fluid dispenser. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid and method for using same which permits the metering of the amount of fluid to be dispensed. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a dispenser which contains a viewing window therein for observing the quantity of fluid within the dispensing chamber. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a fluid dispenser with a window and a movable marker for marking the level of fluid desired to be dispensed. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid which includes a fluid dispenser and a seal for sealing splashed fluid or condensation inside the washer when the lid is closed. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a fluid dispenser with a valve for dispensing fluid from the fluid dispenser. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a fluid dispenser with a removable valve which can be easily removed and cleaned. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved lid having a fluid dispenser which is registered above the washer access opening when the lid is in its open position so that fluid can be dispensed directly into the access opening by gravity. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved lid which recharges the dispensing chamber each time the lid is moved to its closed position. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved lid having a dispenser with a dispensing spout that minimizes dripping. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid which is comprised of a metal lid frame and a plastic housing detachably connected to the metal frame. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved washer lid having a fluid dispenser therein which is economical to manufacture, durable in use, attractive in appearance, and efficient in operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The foregoing objects may be achieved by a combination of a washing machine cabinet having a top cover thereon. The top cover includes an upwardly presented surface with an access opening therein. A first sloping surface extends downwardly and away from the access opening and a second sloping surface extends downwardly and toward the access opening. A lid is hinged to the top cover for pivotal movement between a closed position in covering relation over the access opening and an open position. A seal member is mounted on the lid and is in sealing engagement with the top cover for preventing fluid or condensation from moving away from the access opening to the first sloping surface of the top cover. The lid may, or may not, have a fluid dispensing chamber on its lower surface. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the washer lid in its closed position. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the top cover of the present invention showing in phantom lines the position of the sealing gasket when the lid is closed. 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 5 is a front elevational view taken from the front of the washing machine as viewed in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along line  6 — 6  of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the level of fluid within the reservoir chamber before the dispensing chamber has been charged. 
     FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but showing the lid in its horizontal position with the fluid passing from the reservoir chamber into the dispensing chamber. 
     FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 7 and 8 showing the lid returned to its upstanding position with the dispensing chamber being fully charged with fluid. 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the plastic dispenser housing of the present invention, showing the valve in an exploded view. 
     FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line  11 — 11  of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line  12 — 12  of FIG.  11 . 
     FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing the interrelationship of the plastic dispenser housing, mounting bracketry and the metal lid frame. 
     FIG. 14 is an enlarged exploded view of one corner of the assembly of FIG.  13 . 
     FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken generally along line  15 — 15  of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings the numeral  10  generally designates a clothes washer using a lid assembly  68  having the fluid dispenser of the present invention. Washer  10  includes a cabinet  12  having side walls  14 , a front wall  16  and a top wall  18 . Top wall  18  includes a horizontal portion  20  and an inclined portion  22  which extends downwardly and forwardly from the front edge of the horizontal portion  20 . The top wall  18  is provided by a top cover  24  having a rear edge  26 , side edges  28 ,  30 , and a front edge  32 . A juncture or bend  34  divides the horizontal portion  20  from the inclined portion  22  of the top surface of the top cover  24 . 
     Provided within top cover  24  is a door depression  36  having a rear edge  38 , side edges  40 ,  42  and a front edge  43 . Extending upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge  43  is a lip flange  44  having a lower front edge  46  which extends upwardly and rearwardly to a ridge  48 . Ridge  48  includes opposite ends  50 ,  52  and an intermediate portion  54 . Intermediate portion  54  is slightly below the ends  50 ,  52  and is also positioned forwardly from ends  50 ,  52 . 
     Extending downwardly and inwardly from ridge  48  is a generally circular skirt  56  having a front  7  f drain surface  58 , side drain surfaces  60 ,  62 , and a rear drain surface  64  all of which surround an access opening  66 . 
     Top lid assembly  68  is comprised of a metal lid frame  70  and a plastic dispenser housing  72  which are detachably secured together. Plastic dispenser housing  72  includes a gasket seal  74  (FIG.  1 ), and a fluid chamber formed by a reservoir chamber wall  76  and a dispensing chamber wall  78 . Gasket seal  74  is elongated and includes a left end  96  and a right end  98 . As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, gasket seal  74  extends across the front of the washer door depression  36  and generally across the ridge  48 . The gasket seal  74  retains condensation in the area of the door depression  36  and also provides a reduction in agitation noise that otherwise might escape from the access opening  66  of the washer  10 . 
     A reservoir viewing window  80  is provided in reservoir chamber wall  76  and a dispensing viewing window  82  is provided in dispenser chamber wall  78 . A sliding indicator or gage  84  is mounted on a track associated with window  82  and is operable for movement along the length of the dispenser viewing window  82 . The sliding indicator  84  can be manually set as a marker at any of a plurality of positions along the length of the window  82 . Plastic dispenser housing  72  also includes a fill cap  86  which is detachably mounted over a fill opening  87  and a dispenser button  88  for dispensing fluid  90  from the dispensing chamber in a manner to be described in more detail hereafter. 
     Metal lid frame  70  includes a horizontal surface  92  (when the lid is in its closed position) and an inclined surface  94 . 
     Behind reservoir chamber wall  76  is a reservoir chamber  100  (FIG.  4 ), and behind dispenser wall  78  is a dispensing chamber  102  (FIG.  7 ). Dispensing chamber  102  is contained within reservoir chamber  100  and includes side walls  104 , a rear wall  106 , and a dispenser spout  108  which provides a dispenser opening for permitting fluid to exit from dispenser chamber  102 . The portion of the dispensing chamber  102  formed by walls  104  and  106  is attached to front wall  76  by an interference fit and a slight amount of fluid can leak by the attachment point. 
     Within reservoir chamber  100  are several stand offs  110 ,  112  which provide structural support to the walls within the reservoir chamber  100 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 15, the fill opening  87  is shown without fill cap  86  in place. With the lid assembly  68  in the generally vertical posture of FIGS. 1 and 5, the fill opening  87  is formed with a downwardly angled entry portion  89  through wall  76  and a substantially horizontally disposed cylindrical exit portion  91 . The back edge  93  of the exit portion  91  is in close proximity to and generally parallel to the back wall  99  of the reservoir chamber  100 . When fluid is poured into the fill opening  87 , it will flow into the exit portion  91  and will enter the reservoir chamber  100 . The fill can continue until fluid is observed at the lower lip of exit portion  91  at which point the reservoir chamber  100  is full. When the lid assembly  68  is in the closed horizontal posture of FIG. 4, the fluid in the reservoir chamber  100  will always be below the back edge  93  of the exit portion  91 . Thus, if the operator should forget to replace the fill cap  86 , there would not be any spilling of fluid out the fill opening  87 . In fact, fill cap  86  could be left off if desired. Further shown in FIG. 15 is a vent opening  101  that allows the reservoir chamber  100  to breath freely preventing any airlock condition. 
     Plastic housing  72  is nested within the metal lid frame  70  and is fitted beneath the curled front edge  114 . The peripheral edges of the housing  72  rest on the side edges  144 ,  146  (FIG. 13) and rear edge  148  of the metal lid frame  70 . The front edge  116  of the plastic housing  72  nests under the front curled edge  114  of the lid frame  70 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, a valve assembly  117  comprises a valve stem  118  having an upper end  120 . Dispenser button  88  is fitted over the upper end  120  and includes a sealing flange  122  thereon. Valve stem  118  includes a valving flange  124  and a retaining flange  126 . A coil spring  128  is fitted over the lower end of the valve stem  118 . The valve assembly  117  is fitted within a valve receiving bore  130  in the housing  72 . A retaining clip  132  is fitted within a retaining clip slot  134  and includes clip fingers  136  (FIG. 12) which retentively engage the retaining flange  126  to hold the valve assembly  117  within valve receiving bore  130 . The clip fingers  136  of retaining clip  132  are yieldably movable toward one another to permit the clip  132  to be removed so as to permit removal of the valve assembly  117 . This permits the easy removal of the valve assembly  117  for cleaning. 
     Referring to FIG. 11 a dispenser port  138  provides communication from dispensing chamber  102  to the valve receiving bore  130 . Fluid is permitted to enter the axial space between the valving flange  124  and the sealing flange  122 . Depression of button  88  causes the valving flange  124  to move to the left of the dispenser spout  108  as viewed in FIG. 11 thereby permitting fluid to flow out of the dispenser spout  108 . Removal of pressure from the button  88  permits the spring  128  to return the valve flange  124  to its original position, thereby cutting off the flow of fluid from the dispenser chamber  102 . 
     FIGS. 7,  8 , and  9  illustrate the method of using the dispenser chamber  102  and the reservoir chamber  100  of the present invention. Initially the lid assembly  68  is moved to its up-standing position shown in FIG.  7 . The fill cap  86  is removed and fluid such as liquid detergent is poured into the reservoir chamber  100  until fluid is observed at the lower lip or exit portion  91  of the fill opening  87 . As can be seen in FIG. 6, the front walls  76 ,  78  of the chambers  100 ,  102  are inclined toward the dispensing chamber  102  thereby causing any fluid within chamber  100  to move toward the dispensing chamber  102  when the lid assembly  68  is lowered. 
     As can be seen in FIG. 7 the initial filling of the reservoir chamber  100  does not cause any substantial amount of fluid to be within the dispensing chamber  102 . However, when the lid assembly  68  is moved to its closed position (FIG. 8) the fluid within chamber  100  flows around the rear wall  106  and both of the side walls  104  of chamber  102  and enters chamber  102  through a charging opening  107  adjacent the rear wall  106 . Returning the lid assembly  68  to its upright position as shown in FIG. 9 causes the dispenser chamber  102  to be full and ready for dispensing fluid through spout  108 . 
     The operator then depresses the button  88  and observes through window  82  as the fluid level lowers within dispenser chamber  102 . The operator can determine, by dispensing a predetermined quantity of fluid into a measuring container, what the level of the fluid within the dispensing chamber should be after the proper amount has been dispensed. The operator can then move the sliding indicator  84  to mark that position and thereafter can release the button  88  when the level of fluid reaches the level of the sliding indicator  84 . Thus, the sliding indicator  84  is set to the proper level for a particular brand or concentration of detergent. 
     On occasion the detergent may clog or foul the valve assembly  117 . This can easily be remedied by pulling out clip  132  and removing the valve assembly for cleaning. The valve assembly  117  can then be reinserted, and the clip  132  is inserted to retain the valve assembly  117  in position for operation. 
     Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the present invention utilizes a novel means for attaching the plastic housing  72  to the metal lid frame  70 . Two L-shaped brackets  140 ,  142  are fitted in the rear corners of the metal lid frame  70  under the edges  144 ,  146 ,  148  as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. L-shaped brackets  140 ,  142  are each provided with elongated slots  150  and are also provided with a bushing  170  which fits within a spring hole  172  of the metal lid frame  70 . Bushing  170  includes a cylindrical bore extending therethrough and a torsion rod spring  152  is fitted through the bore in bushing  170 . Torsion rod spring  152  includes a first end  154  and a second end  156  (FIG.  13 ). The second end  156  engages the L-shaped bracket  140 , and the first end  154  is outside the top lid assembly  68  and is adapted to engage the underside of top cover  24  to provide a counter balance to the lid assembly, counter balancing the weight provided by the fluid in the reservoir and dispensing chambers  100  and  102 . 
     A center link clamp  158  is clamped over the torsion rod spring  152  between the two L-shaped brackets  140 ,  142  so as to lock the L-shaped brackets beneath the curled lip flanges  144 ,  146  on the sides of metal lid frame  70 . The spring  152  is held to the L-shaped brackets  140 ,  142  and the center link clamp  158  by spring finger clamps  174 . 
     Four retainer pegs  160  each include a slot  162 , a shank  164  and an elongated tab  166 . These pegs  160  are fitted within holes  168  in housing  72  and the elongated tabs  166  fit within the elongated slots  150  of the L-shaped brackets  140 ,  142 . Rotation of the pegs  160  causes the elongated tabs  166  to turn below the slots  150  so as to retentively attach the housing  72  within the metal lid frame  70 . This attachment of the housing  72  to the frame  70  allows quick removal of the housing  72  so that it may be taken to a sink for flushing or cleaning should it become clogged by liquid detergents or their residue. Further, the unique system for attachment of the housing  72  to the lid frame  70  allows the housing  72  to be easily installed as an accessory since the same lid frame is used with or without the housing  72 . 
     In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, these are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Changes in the form and the proportion of parts as well as in the substitution of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as further defined in the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3