Dishwasher spray arm with diverting valve

Abstract

An automatic dishwasher having a rotatable sprayer includes a nozzle that may be selectively fluidly coupled to a fluid supply by a control valve.

1 . An automatic dishwasher for treating utensils according to a cycle of operation, comprising:
 a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving utensils for treatment;   a rotatable sprayer comprising:
 a housing having a hub rotatable about an axis of rotation; 
 a first nozzle provided on the housing and having a first spray pattern; 
 a second nozzle provided on the housing and having a second spray pattern, different from the first spray pattern; 
 a first liquid conduit provided within the housing and extending from the first nozzle to the hub to fluidly couple the first nozzle to the hub; 
 a second liquid conduit provided within the housing and extending from the second nozzle to the hub to fluidly couple the second nozzle to the hub; 
 a liquid supply fluidly coupled to the hub; and 
 a control valve provided within the hub and comprising a valve body, rotatable about the axis of rotation, having an inlet and an outlet; 
   wherein the inlet is fluidly coupled to the liquid supply and the outlet is selectively fluidly coupled to either of the first and second liquid conduits by the relative rotational positions of the housing and the valve body, such that liquid from the liquid supply is selectively supplied to the first and second nozzles by controlling the relative rotation between the valve body and the housing.   
     
     
         2 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 1  wherein the first spray pattern is more diffused than the second spray pattern. 
     
     
         3 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 1  wherein the second spray pattern is more concentrated than the first spray pattern. 
     
     
         4 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 1 , further comprising multiple first and second nozzles on the housing. 
     
     
         5 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 1  wherein the housing defines multiple arms extending from the hub. 
     
     
         6 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 5  wherein the first and second nozzles are provided on the same arm. 
     
     
         7 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 5  wherein the first and second nozzles are provided on different arms. 
     
     
         8 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 7 , further comprising a drive system operably coupled to at least one of the housing and the valve body to control the rotation of the at least one of the housing and the valve body relative to the other of the housing and the valve body. 
     
     
         9 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 8  wherein the drive system is operably coupled to both the housing and the valve body to control the rotation of both the housing and the valve body. 
     
     
         10 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 9  wherein the drive system controls the relative rotation of the housing and the valve body to control spray emitted from either the first and second nozzles in pre-selected areas of the treating chamber. 
     
     
         11 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 9  wherein the drive system controls the relative rotation of the housing and the valve body to control a sequence of the spray emitted from the first and second nozzles in a pre-selected area of the treating chamber. 
     
     
         12 . An automatic dishwasher for treating utensils according to a cycle of operation, comprising:
 a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving utensils for treatment;   a rotatable sprayer comprising a hub rotating about an axis of rotation and an arm extending from the hub and having a nozzle provided on the arm and a liquid conduit provided within the arm and extending from the hub to the nozzle;   a liquid supply fluidly coupled to the hub;   a control valve provided within the hub and comprising a valve body, rotatable about the axis of rotation, having an inlet fluidly coupled to the liquid supply and an outlet selectively coupled to the liquid conduit based on the relative rotational positions of the valve body and the hub; and   a drive system comprising a gear train having a first ring gear provided on the hub, a second ring gear provided on the valve body, and at least one gear operably coupling the first and second ring gears;   wherein the gear train operably couples the hub and valve body to control the relative rotational positions of the hub and valve body to selectively supply liquid from the liquid supply to the nozzle.   
     
     
         13 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 12  wherein the at least one gear comprises a first idler gear directly enmeshed with at least one of the first ring gear and the second ring gear. 
     
     
         14 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 13  wherein the gear train further comprises a second idler gear enmeshed with at least one of the first idler gear and the other of the first ring gear and second ring gear. 
     
     
         15 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 14  wherein the gear train further comprises a third idler gear that enmeshes with both the first idler gear and the second idler gear. 
     
     
         16 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 15 , wherein the first and second idler gears are vertically spaced. 
     
     
         17 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 16 , further comprising a spindle shaft having three separate gear shafts with each gear shaft coupled to one of the idler gears and providing an axis about which the corresponding idler gear may turn. 
     
     
         18 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 12  wherein any of the gears in the gear train may be a drive gear. 
     
     
         19 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 18  wherein the first ring gear is the drive gear. 
     
     
         20 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 18 , further comprising a motor operably coupled with the drive gear to control the rotation of the drive gear. 
     
     
         21 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 12  wherein a gear ratio of the gear train is such that the hub and valve body rotate at different speeds. 
     
     
         22 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 21  wherein the gear ratio is such that the valve body rotates slower than the hub. 
     
     
         23 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 21  wherein the gear ratio is such that the valve body and arm remain fluidly coupled for at least one complete revolution. 
     
     
         24 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 21  wherein the gear ratio is such that the valve body and arm remain fluidly coupled for a predetermined portion of one revolution of the first ring gear. 
     
     
         25 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 24  wherein the gear ratio is such that the valve body and the arm are fluidly coupled multiple times during one complete revolution of the first ring gear. 
     
     
         26 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 12  wherein the valve body comprises a sleeve having a peripheral wall with an upper edge defining an open top and a lower edge defining an open bottom, with the open bottom forming the inlet and an opening in the peripheral wall defining the outlet. 
     
     
         27 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 26  wherein the hub comprises a cylinder having a peripheral wall with a closed top and an open bottom, with the valve body received with the hub such that the closed top of the hub fluidly closes the open top of the valve body. 
     
     
         28 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 27  wherein the hub comprises an opening in the hub peripheral wall, which is fluidly coupled to the conduit in the arm. 
     
     
         29 . The automatic dishwasher of  claim 28  wherein the hub further comprises multiple openings in the hub peripheral wall, and further comprising multiple arms with nozzles, each of the arms having a conduit fluidly coupled to a corresponding one of the multiple openings.