A sanitizing system for use in a laundry treating appliance and at least partially included in an agitator of the laundry treating appliance, the agitator may include a housing configured to be removably attached to a rotating drum or an impeller of laundry treating appliance, and an ultraviolet light disposed in the housing, wherein the ultraviolet light is configured to transmit ultraviolet light to articles of clothing disposed in a drum of the washing machine.

A sanitizing system for use in a laundry treating appliance and at least partially included in an agitator of the laundry treating appliance, the agitator may include a housing configured to be removably attached to a rotating drum or an impeller of laundry treating appliance, and an ultraviolet light disposed in the housing, wherein the ultraviolet light is configured to transmit ultraviolet light to articles of clothing disposed in a drum of the washing machine.

Methods of reducing a likelihood of contact between a rotating laundry-container, such as a basket or drum, located within a tub of a laundry treating appliance where the method includes rotating the drum during a measurement period, determining a torque, speed, acceleration, and position of the drum, using a parameter estimator to estimate the position of a mass relative to an imbalance of laundry and accelerating the rotation of the drum when the mass is determined to be angularly spaced from the relative position of the imbalance of laundry.

Methods of reducing a likelihood of contact between a rotating laundry-container, such as a basket or drum, located within a tub of a laundry treating appliance where the method includes rotating the drum during a measurement period, determining a torque, speed, acceleration, and position of the drum, using a parameter estimator to estimate the position of a mass relative to an imbalance of laundry and accelerating the rotation of the drum when the mass is determined to be angularly spaced from the relative position of the imbalance of laundry.

An electric motor suitable for use in a laundry machine comprises an improved stator and/or rotor design.

A washing machine appliance may include a tub, a basket, an impeller base, and an extended post. The basket may be rotatably positioned within the tub. The impeller base may include a mounting face including a threaded bracket defining a mounting thread extending about a rotation axis. The extended post may be removably attached to the impeller base to rotate therewith. The extended post may include a base body extending along the rotation axis between a bottom end proximal to the impeller base and a top end distal to the impeller base. The extended post may also include auger fin extending radially from the base body between the bottom end and the top end. The mating face may be disposed on the bottom end. The mating face may define a mating thread matched to the mounting thread to rotatably enmesh therewith.

A washing machine appliance may include a tub, a basket, an impeller base, and an extended post. The basket may be rotatably positioned within the tub. The impeller base may include a mounting face including a threaded bracket defining a mounting thread extending about a rotation axis. The extended post may be removably attached to the impeller base to rotate therewith. The extended post may include a base body extending along the rotation axis between a bottom end proximal to the impeller base and a top end distal to the impeller base. The extended post may also include auger fin extending radially from the base body between the bottom end and the top end. The mating face may be disposed on the bottom end. The mating face may define a mating thread matched to the mounting thread to rotatably enmesh therewith.

A washing machine includes a water storage tank, a vibration sensor provided to the water storage tank, a washing tub rotatably disposed in the water storage tank and configured to accommodate laundry therein, a motor configured to rotate the washing tub, and a controller. The controller is configured to: measure an unbalance (UB) value based on rotating the washing tub during a dewatering stroke; control the motor to stop rotating the washing tub based on the UB value exceeding an allowable UB value included in a preset UB table; measure a dewatering time of the laundry and a vibration value during the dewatering stroke using the vibration sensor; and change the allowable UB value included in the preset UB table based on the dewatering time and the vibration value.

A washing machine includes a water storage tank, a vibration sensor provided to the water storage tank, a washing tub rotatably disposed in the water storage tank and configured to accommodate laundry therein, a motor configured to rotate the washing tub, and a controller. The controller is configured to: measure an unbalance (UB) value based on rotating the washing tub during a dewatering stroke; control the motor to stop rotating the washing tub based on the UB value exceeding an allowable UB value included in a preset UB table; measure a dewatering time of the laundry and a vibration value during the dewatering stroke using the vibration sensor; and change the allowable UB value included in the preset UB table based on the dewatering time and the vibration value.

A variable damping shock absorber has a sleeve and a piston rod, one end of the sleeve being an opening and the other end being closed, one end of the piston rod being inserted through the opening and slidable in an axial direction inside the sleeve. Two sets of friction plates are arranged in the axial direction between an inner wall of the sleeve and an outer wall of the piston rod. A friction plate is fixed in the axial direction with the inner wall of the sleeve, and a sliding friction force between each friction plate set and the outer wall of the piston rod gradually decreases from the closed end to the opening end of the sleeve. The structure can ensure that the damping force is variable under different load and rotational speed conditions.