A laundry treating appliance includes a treating chamber, an agitator rotatably mounted in the treating chamber and having a skirt and a hollow shaft extending upwardly from the skirt, and a bulk dispenser located within the hollow shaft. The bulk dispenser includes a tubular tank with a rotatable actuator on one end, a dispenser on the other end, and a shaft passing through the tubular tank and connecting the rotatable actuator to the dispenser. A screw conveyor is coupled to the rotatable actuator and is configured to move a treating chemistry through the hollow shaft. Rotating of the actuator effects a rotation of the screw conveyor, which effects dispensing a pre-determine amount the treating chemistry from the outlet.

A washing machine appliance includes a camera assembly mounted in view of a wash chamber for obtaining images of the wash chamber. The lens of the camera assembly is positioned adjacent a water outlet of a water dispenser and a controller is configured to facilitate an automated cleaning method for the camera assembly, the method including obtaining one or more images of the wash chamber using the camera assembly, analyzing the one or more images to determine an image quality, determining that the image quality has dropped below a quality threshold, and operating the water dispenser to perform a lens cleaning operation in response to determining that the image quality has dropped below the quality threshold.

A washing machine appliance includes a camera assembly mounted in view of a wash chamber for obtaining images of the wash chamber. The lens of the camera assembly is positioned adjacent a water outlet of a water dispenser and a controller is configured to facilitate an automated cleaning method for the camera assembly, the method including obtaining one or more images of the wash chamber using the camera assembly, analyzing the one or more images to determine an image quality, determining that the image quality has dropped below a quality threshold, and operating the water dispenser to perform a lens cleaning operation in response to determining that the image quality has dropped below the quality threshold.

A washing machine appliance may include a tub, a basket, an impeller base, and an extended post. The impeller base may be rotatably mounted within the basket. The impeller base may include an impeller platform and a mounting face defined on the impeller platform. The mounting face may define a recessed cup. The extended post may be removably attached to the impeller base to rotate therewith. The extended post may define an interior cavity. The extended post may include a mating collar and an attachment piston. The mating collar may be on the bottom end in selective engagement with the mounting face at the recessed cup. The attachment piston may include a piston flange extending radially outward at an upper piston end and define an upper radial contact surface in selective engagement with a portion of an inner surface of the mating collar.

A washing machine appliance may include a tub, a basket, an impeller base, and an extended post. The impeller base may be rotatably mounted within the basket. The impeller base may include an impeller platform and a mounting face defined on the impeller platform. The mounting face may define a recessed cup. The extended post may be removably attached to the impeller base to rotate therewith. The extended post may define an interior cavity. The extended post may include a mating collar and an attachment piston. The mating collar may be on the bottom end in selective engagement with the mounting face at the recessed cup. The attachment piston may include a piston flange extending radially outward at an upper piston end and define an upper radial contact surface in selective engagement with a portion of an inner surface of the mating collar.

The present invention relates to a washing machine and a spin-drying control method for the same, the washing machine including an inner tub, a drain pump, a motor and a control unit that controls the drain pump and the motor and carries out a spin-drying cycle including a sub spin-drying cycle and a main spin-drying cycle. The control unit changes a preset rotation time of the inner tub in the main spin-drying cycle according to the rotation speed of the inner tub during the sub spin-drying cycle, or determines whether to change the spin-drying time of the main spin-drying cycle according to a current value of the drain pump during the main spin-drying cycle, thereby improving spin-drying efficiency.

The present invention relates to a washing machine and a spin-drying control method for the same, the washing machine including an inner tub, a drain pump, a motor and a control unit that controls the drain pump and the motor and carries out a spin-drying cycle including a sub spin-drying cycle and a main spin-drying cycle. The control unit changes a preset rotation time of the inner tub in the main spin-drying cycle according to the rotation speed of the inner tub during the sub spin-drying cycle, or determines whether to change the spin-drying time of the main spin-drying cycle according to a current value of the drain pump during the main spin-drying cycle, thereby improving spin-drying efficiency.

A motor system can include a motor configured to be operated according to at least a portion of an operation cycle specifying at least one target speed for the motor and a controller configured to obtain an estimated winding resistance of the motor, wherein the estimated winding resistance is determined based at least in part on an estimator gain factor, and wherein the estimator gain factor is inversely dependent on a speed of the motor; wherein the at least one target speed comprises at least one low speed such that at least a portion of the operation cycle is a low speed portion of the operation cycle, the at least one low speed having a speed of less than about 10 percent of a maximum speed of the operation cycle.

A motor system can include a motor configured to be operated according to at least a portion of an operation cycle specifying at least one target speed for the motor and a controller configured to obtain an estimated winding resistance of the motor, wherein the estimated winding resistance is determined based at least in part on an estimator gain factor, and wherein the estimator gain factor is inversely dependent on a speed of the motor; wherein the at least one target speed comprises at least one low speed such that at least a portion of the operation cycle is a low speed portion of the operation cycle, the at least one low speed having a speed of less than about 10 percent of a maximum speed of the operation cycle.

A laundry treating apparatus includes a tub for holding wash water, a drum rotatably supported in the tub and including a shaft disposed perpendicular with the ground, and a sub-drum detachably mounted to an inner circumferential surface of the drum. The sub-drum is configured to wash laundry independently from the drum. A discharging area of the sub-drum includes an inlet hole configured to draw wash water into the sub-drum, an outlet hole formed in a lateral wall of the sub-drum and configured to discharge the wash water outside the sub-drum, and a filter unit disposed under the discharging area and configured to filter wash water drawn into the sub-drum by rotation of the sub-drum.