Selective heating system for automatic washing machine

Claim 2

A dishwasher comprising, a casing defining a washing chamber having a sump and an access opening; a plurality of utensil supporting rack means secured to said dishwasher casing; heating means located adjacent each of said rack means; each said heating means comprising an annular heater element located in underlying relation respectively to each of said plurality of utensil supporting rack means; said heater elements each having substantially equal wattage outputs whereby said utensil supporting rack means are uniformly heated; a fill valve in fluid supply relationship to said chamber and said sump; pump means for distributing washing fluid against utensils in said rack means to be cleaned and for draining fluid from said chamber; power means for said pump means; a control circuit for said dishwasher including separate means for energizing and deenergizing each of said heating means, said fill valve and said power means; timer means for sequentially actuating said energizing and deenergizing means in a dishwashing cycle including periods of fill, wash, rinse and dry; manually operated preselectable means in electrical series circuit with certain of said timer actuated means for energizing and deenergizing said heating means whereby actuation of said manually operated preselectable means will determine which of said heating means will be operative during the dishwashing cycle.

Claim 3

A dishwasher comprising, a casing defining a washing chamber having a sump and an access opening; upper and lower utensil supporting racks secured to said dishwasher casing; heating means located adjacent each of said racks; said heating means comprising upper and lower annular heater elements having substantially equal power outputs, said upper and lower heater elements spaced below said upper and lower utensil supporting racks respectively at a distance sufficiently close thereto to exert a radiant heat drying effect upon the utensils therein such that the radiant heat imparted to the utensils does not exceed approximately 190* F.; a fill valve in fluid supply relationship to said chamber and said sump; pump means for distributing washing fluid against utensils in said rack means to be cleaned and for draining fluid from said chamber; power means for said pump means; a control circuit for said dishwasher including separate means for energizing and deenergizing each of said heating means, said fill valve and said power means; timer means for sequentially actuating said energizing and deenergizing means in a dishwashing cycle including periods of fill, wash, rinse and dry; manually operated preselectable means in electrical series circuit with certain of said timer actuated means for energizing and deenergizing each of said heater elements whereby actuation of said manually operated preselectable means will determine which of said heater elements will be operative during the dishwashing cycle.

Claim 4

A dishwasher comprising, a casing defining a washing chamber having a sump and an access opening; upper and lower utensil supporting racks secured to said dishwasher casing; heating means located adjacent each of said racks; said heating means comprising upper and lower annular heater elements having substantially equal power outputs, said upper and lower heater elements spaced below said upper and lower utensil supporting racks respectively at a distance sufficiently close thereto to exert a radiant heat drying effect upon the utensils therein such that the radiant heat imparted to the utensils does not exceed approximately 190* F.; a fill valve in fluid supply relationship to said chamber and said sump; pump means for distributing washing fluid against utensils in said rack means to be cleaned and for draining fluid from said chamber; power means for said pump means; a control circuit for said dishwasher including separate means for energizing and deenergizing each of said heating means, said fill valve and said power means; timer means for sequentially actuating said energizing and deenergizing means in a dishwashing cycle including periods of fill, wash, rinse and dry; manually operated preselectable means in electrical series circuit with certain of said timer actuated means for energizing and deenergizing each of said heater elements whereby actuation of said manually operated preselectable means will determine which of said heater elements will be operative during the dishwashing cycle.

Claim 5

An automatic dishwasher comprising, a casing defining a washing chamber having a sump and an access opening; upper and lower racks secured to said dishwasher casing in the upper and lower portions of said casing; said upper and lower racks for supporting utensils to be washed and dried; upper and lower annular heating elements having substantially equal power outputs of approximately 500 watts at 115 volts; said upper and lower heater elements spaced approximately 1 1/2 inches below their associated upper and lower racks thereby providing a radiant heat drying effect upon the utensils in each said rack which does not exceed approximately 190* F.; a fill valve in fluid supply relationship to said chamber and said sump; pump means for distributing washing fluid against the utensils to be cleaned and for draining fluid from said chamber; power means for said pump means; a control circuit for said dishwasher for sequentially controlling a dishwashing cycle including periods of fill, wash, rinse and dry; said control circuit including a timer motor, a group of cams operated by said timer motor; a group of switches operated by said cams for energizing and deenergizing said upper heater element, said lower heater element, said fill valve, and said power means; and a preselectable manually operated selector switch in electrical series with each of said timer-operated heater element switches whereby actuation of said manually operated selector switches will determine which of said timer motor operated heater element switches will be in operative relationship with the remaining timer motor operated switches during the dishwashing cycle.

Claim 6

An automatic dishwasher comprising, a casing defining a washing chamber having a sump and an access opening; upper and lower racks secured to said dishwasher casing in the upper and lower portions of said casing; said upper and lower racks for supporting utensils to be washed and dried; upper and lower annular heating elements having substantially equal power outputs of approximately 500 watts at 115 volts; said upper and lower heater elements spaced approximately 1 1/2 inches below their associated upper and lower racks thereby providing a radiant heat drying effect upon the utensils in each said rack which does not exceed approximately 190* F.; a fill valve in fluid supply relationship to said chamber and said sump; pump means for distributing washing fluid against the utensils to be cleaned and for draining fluid from said chamber; power means for said pump means; a control circuit for said dishwasher for sequentially controlling a dishwashing cycle including periods of fill, wash, rinse and dry; said control circuit including a timer motor, a group of cams operated by said timer motor; a group of switches operated by said cams for energizing and deenergizing said upper heater element, said lower heater element, said fill valve, and said power means; and a preselectable manually operated selector switch in electrical series with each of said timer-operated heater element switches whereby actuation of said manually operated selector switches will determine which of said timer motor operated heater element switches will be in operative relationship with the remaining timer motor operated switches during the dishwashing cycle.