Patent ID: 7757324

Claim:
A method of operating an automatic washing machine comprising a frame; and a wash basin assembly rotatably mounted within the frame, the wash basin assembly including a wash basin container having a bottom and sidewalls extending up from said bottom; and at least one bottom ramp connected to and extending upwardly from the wash basin container bottom and presenting an upwardly inclined ramp surface, said at least one bottom ramp being fixed to rotate with any rotation of said wash basin container, said method comprising the steps of: filling said wash basin container with wash liquid to a designated level corresponding to a desired load size, said filling establishing a standing liquid level within said wash basin container below any sidewall ramp structure of said wash basin container sidewalls; and repeatedly intermittently rotatably driving and braking said wash basin container during a wash cycle of the washer, to thereby cause the wash basin container and said at least one bottom ramp connected thereto to alternatingly accelerate and decelerate, the rotation of said at least one ramp consisting of rotation with said wash basin container, said acceleration and deceleration causing said at least one bottom ramp to induce a wave wash action on wash liquid within a lower portion of the wash basin container, by liquid flowing over said at least one ramp as the liquid continues to rotate within the wash basin container following an acceleration/deceleration cycle of said wash basin container, and wherein said acceleration/deceleration cycle further induces in said wash liquid parabolic water profile formation and collapse actions serving to circulate the load so that a portion of the wash load in an upper portion of the wash basin container is circulated to a lower portion of the wash basin container, where it can be subjected to the wave wash action induced by the at least one bottom ramp.