Overnight cycle for horizontal axis clothes washer

Abstract

A method and modified clothes washer provides for an overnight dry cycle. A standard washer is modified to draw air from external to the housing, direct the air into the tumbling drum, and remove the air with a blower to exhaust from the housing during an extended drying period overnight. By selecting this option, the consumer need not move the clothes from the washer to the dryer.

1 . A clothes washer comprising:
 a housing;   a drum rotatably received in the housing for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis and having a cavity dimensioned to receive an associated load of laundry; and   a controller for selecting an operational cycle of the apparatus, the controller including an extended drying mode selection for providing a subsequent drying cycle in the drum after a wash cycle has been completed and including a blower for introducing air from an outside source into the drum and directing air from the drum to the outside source, the extended drying mode having an operative drying period on the order of a minimum of two hours.   
     
     
         2 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein the controller includes an operator interface for selecting the associated size of the laundry load, wherein the extended drying mode selection is available for small and medium loads only. 
     
     
         3 . The clothes washer of  claim 2  further comprising a memory for providing a predetermined time for the drying cycle responsive to information selected in the operator interface. 
     
     
         4 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein the controller provides for a delayed start to the washing and drying cycles, whereby the drying cycle will occur in the same drum as the washing cycle without having to transfer the laundry load. 
     
     
         5 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein no heater is used for the drying air introduced into the drum. 
     
     
         6 . The clothes washer of  claim 5  wherein the load of laundry is dried by tumbling the laundry through drum rotation and introducing a stream of air during the tumbling. 
     
     
         7 . The clothes washer apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising an operator interface and memory operatively associated therewith for allowing selection of the size of the clothes load and retrieval of a drying time from the memory in response to the selected size of the load of clothes. 
     
     
         8 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein the blower is adapted to supply air flow to the drum cavity after the washing cycle and during at least periods of drum rotation. 
     
     
         9 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein the drying cycle is up to seven hours long. 
     
     
         10 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein the blower is operative during a latter portion of the wash cycle in order to dry an interior of the drum. 
     
     
         11 . The clothes washer of  claim 1  wherein the blower communicates with a drive motor of the drum so that heat is transferred from the drive motor to the air passing through the drum. 
     
     
         12 . A method of washing and drying laundry in a single apparatus that includes a drum that rotates about a substantially horizontal axis, the method comprising:
 washing the laundry in the apparatus; and   drying the laundry in the apparatus without removing the laundry from the drum and wherein the drying step includes directing air from outside the apparatus into the drum, and tumbling the laundry while the air is directed into the drum.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the drying step does not employ a separate heater. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the drying step includes passing the air from outside the apparatus adjacent a drive motor prior to introduction into the drum. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the air is not recirculated in the drying step. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the drying step is only available if the laundry load is a small or medium load selection. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the drying step includes retaining the laundry in the drum up to seven hours after the washing step is complete. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising an input that requires selection of an approximate number of laundry items in the load. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising delaying a start of at least one of the washing and drying steps of that the laundry is completed in an overnight time period.