CN111345765A

CN111345765A - Tablet dosing system and household cleaning device with water and equipped with such a tablet dosing system

Info

Publication number: CN111345765A
Application number: CN201910710682.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 阿尔伯特·迪恩贝尔格; 索菲亚·格里姆; 乔治·施比瑟尔; 皮特·尼策
Original assignee: emz Hanauer GmbH and Co KGaA
Current assignee: emz Hanauer GmbH and Co KGaA
Priority date: 2018-12-22
Filing date: 2019-08-01
Publication date: 2020-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-01
Also published as: CN111345765B

Abstract

A tablet dosing system, in particular a domestic dishwasher, is proposed, comprising a magazine for storing cleaning tablets in a plurality of stacks arranged side by side, and an extractor for extracting the cleaning tablets from the magazine. The extractor has an extractor mechanism movably arranged relative to the cartridge, the extractor mechanism configured to: each stack is operated to extract the cleaning tablets without a change in the stack position. In a particular embodiment, the extractor mechanism is designed as an extractor roller having a plurality of extraction pockets distributed along the roller axis for receiving at least one cleaning tablet from the stack in each case. In other embodiments, the extractor mechanism is formed by a linearly movable extractor slide which can alternately operate two adjacently arranged stacks for tablet extraction.

Description

Tablet dosing system and household cleaning device with water and equipped with such a tablet dosing system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a tablet dosing system and to a water-using household cleaning device equipped with such a tablet dosing system.

Background

In conventional washing machines and dishwashers for domestic appliances, various cleaning substances are added to the wash water used in order to improve the cleaning effect or even to make it usable. These cleaning substances are generally available in different dosage forms, for example in liquid, gel, powder or compressed tablet form. Especially in domestic dishwashers, tablet forms have been shown to be a popular dosage form among end users. On the one hand, the tablet form allows easy handling of the cleaning additive, and on the other hand the user is largely relieved of dosing tasks, since he only has to count the number of cleaning tablets to be added (usually in conventional dishwashers, a single cleaning tablet is used for each operation of the machine).

Conventional domestic dishwashers have a compartment which can be closed by a flap on the inner wall of the machine door which faces the rinsing chamber when the door is closed, in which the user has to insert cleaning tablets before each operating process of the machine. During operation, the flap jumps up at a defined point in time or under defined conditions, so that the cleaning tablet can fall into the flushing chamber and meet there with the flushing water. In order to reduce the operating effort for the user, it is desirable that the user does not have to manually insert cleaning tablets into such tablet compartments before starting a new operating sequence each time. It would be desirable to have an automatic tablet dosing system that relieves the user of the task of having to be responsible for dosing detergent each time the dishwasher is started.

With regard to the prior art for automatic tablet dosing systems for dishwashers, reference is made to DE19540958A1, DE4344205A1 and WO02/058528A 1.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a tablet dosing system which enables automatic dosing of in particular square cleaning tablets with a relatively large capacity.

To achieve this object, according to one aspect, the invention provides a tablet dosing system, particularly suitable for a domestic dishwasher and comprising a cartridge and an extractor. The magazine is used to store the cleaning tablets in a plurality of stacks arranged side by side in a row. The extractor is for extracting the cleaning tablets from the magazine and has an extractor mechanism movably arranged relative to the magazine, which is arranged to operate each stack to extract the cleaning tablets without changing the position of the stack.

In the solution according to the invention, the magazine makes it possible to store the cleaning tablets not only in a single stack, but also in a plurality of stacks which are arranged side by side, in particular in a straight line. Given the installation height available for installing the tablet dosing system, for example in the door of a domestic dishwasher, the magazine can provide a correspondingly larger capacity for cleaning tablets than a magazine which provides only space for a single tablet stack. The side-by-side arrangement of the stacks in a row results in a substantially constant depth of construction compared to a single stack magazine.

In the solution according to the invention, the extractor comprises an extractor mechanism (which may also be referred to as a dosing mechanism) which can operate each of a plurality of stacks without having to move the stack in question to a specific predetermined operating position for this purpose. In contrast, the extractor mechanism has a range of action: although the plurality of stacks has positional stability, this range of action allows the extractor member to operate each stack with the purpose of extracting the cleaning tablets. The possibility of arranging the stacks in a stationary manner makes it possible, for example, to install the tablet dosing system in the door of a domestic dishwasher in such a way that the stacks are arranged side by side parallel to the door plane of the door.

In addition, the ability of the extractor to operate each stack individually allows: cleaning tablets having a contoured shape other than cylindrical or spherical may be used. While spherical or disc-shaped tablets may be collected in a random manner in a hopper and removed from the extractor at a single common extraction location, this is difficult, if not impossible, for square cleaning tablets. Such square tablets may be brought into an ordered stack by individual manipulation of each stack by the extractor mechanism until such time as the square tablets are extracted. The risk of clogging of the cleaning tablet during extraction can be kept low or even completely avoided.

In certain embodiments, the extractor mechanism is formed by an extractor slide arranged to be reciprocally movable along the stacking row. The extractor slide has at least one extraction opening (dosing opening) through which the extractor slide can be selectively moved under each of at least two stacks of the plurality of stacks. In this case, the extraction opening is sized for the cleaning tablet to fall from the magazine through the extractor slide.

The extractor slide can be moved in correspondence with each of the at least two stacks between a first slide position, in which the extraction opening is below the respective stack and allows the cleaning tablet arranged lowermost in the relevant stack to fall into the extraction opening, and a second slide position, in which the falling-in cleaning tablet is made to fall out downwards from the extraction opening. Accordingly, in the first slide position, the cleaning tablets fall from a stack into the extraction opening. By moving the extractor slide from the first slide position to the second slide position, the cleaning tablet located in the extraction opening is then transferred to a position where it can be moved down out of the extraction opening and, for example, fall into a feed-out drum of a tablet dosing system. The dispensing cartridge may also be referred to as a drop cartridge or drop chute.

In certain embodiments, the extractor mechanism is formed by an extractor roller rotatably arranged about a roller axis parallel to the stacking row. The extractor rollers each have at least one extraction pocket, distributed along the roller axis, corresponding to each of the plurality of stacks. Each extraction capsule is dimensioned so that the cleaning tablet falls from the magazine into the associated extraction capsule. By rotating the extraction roller about the roller axis, for example by about 180 degrees, the cleaning tablet that has fallen into the extraction pocket of the extraction roller can be transferred to a position where it can fall out of the extraction pocket, for example into the outfeed drum of a tablet dosing system.

For at least two stacks of the plurality of stacks, the extraction pockets corresponding to the at least two stacks may be offset from each other one by one in the circumferential direction of the rollers. This allows time-delayed operation of the different stacks by the extraction rollers.

It has been shown that in certain cases, heat can have a negative effect on the cleaning tablets stored in the cartridge. The thermal protection of the cleaning tablets stored in the cartridge can be achieved by a forced air flow which is introduced into the cartridge or/and sweeps along the cartridge wall on the outside. For this purpose, in certain embodiments, blowing means are provided for generating a blowing air flow to cool the cartridge. The blowing is advantageously introduced from the outside of the cleaning device in which the tablet dosing system is installed. In the case of dishwashers used in homes, it is possible in this way to generate a blast air stream having a temperature corresponding to the room temperature of the private home, typically between about 18 ℃ and about 25 ℃.

A typical cleaning program of a dishwasher generates a temperature of about 50 ℃ or more in the washing chamber of the machine only during a relatively short period. During other phases of the program run, the water temperature (and hence the air temperature) in the rinse chamber is typically lower than this temperature, for example during a phase of pre-rinsing the dishes with relatively cold water to achieve a coarse pre-cleaning of the dishes. In view of this, it is proposed in certain embodiments to control the blower structure such that it generates a blower air flow at least during and in particular only during the high-temperature part phase of the cleaning program of the cleaning device. The high temperature partial stage is, for example, a partial stage in which the water temperature of the clean water is at least 50 ℃.

In certain embodiments, the cartridge and the extractor are part of a pre-mountable structural unit, which may itself be mounted in the door, for example behind the outer lining of the door.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a household cleaning appliance using water, comprising a wet chamber, a door for closing the wet chamber and a tablet dosing system of the above-mentioned type incorporated in said door. The tablet dosing system has a feed-out outlet for feeding out the cleaning tablets extracted by the extractor into the wet chamber. The cleaning device is for example a domestic dishwasher.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides a domestic cleaning device, in particular a dishwasher, with water, wherein the cleaning device has a wet chamber and a door for closing the wet chamber. The door provides a reservoir for a reservoir containing a cleaning substance, wherein a feed inlet for feeding the reservoir with the cleaning substance is provided on the door. A covered drop channel is formed in the door, which drop channel opens out of the door at an access point on the wet side of the door. A controllable dosing mechanism is mounted in the door for extracting a dose of cleaning substance from the reservoir and for feeding the extracted dose into the drop channel. A service access opening, which is provided separately from the feed inlet and is detachably covered by the cover element, is formed on the door at a distance from the access point, said service access opening providing access to the drop channel and/or the dosing mechanism for the user. The expression covering the service access opening by the cover member means that the cover member can be moved (for example can be flipped open, screwed open or pushed open) by a user in order to open the service access opening. The maintenance access enables maintenance work in the drop channel and/or on the dosing mechanism, for example for cleaning purposes or in the case of a blockage of the dosing mechanism. The cleaning substance stored in the storage chamber and which can be dosed by means of the dosing mechanism is not liquid or gel-like in certain embodiments, but rather is in powder form or is compressed into defined shaped pieces (i.e. cleaning tablets). The wet side of the door is the side of the door which faces the wet chamber and is wetted during operation of the cleaning device (and thus with the door closed).

The service access in certain embodiments forms the wet side of the door. It is alternatively possible here to provide the service access on the outside of the door facing away from the wet space in the closed state of the door, although this may not be a preferred solution due to the appearance of the cleaning device.

In certain embodiments, the metering mechanism can be removed from the door through the service access. After removal of the dosing mechanism, in certain embodiments, at least part of the storage chamber is also accessible through the service access. In certain embodiments, the service inlet provides a continuous connection to the feed inlet at least in the case of removal of the dosing mechanism. The feed inlet is formed, for example, in the region of a narrow side of the door or alternatively on the inside of the door, i.e. on the side facing the wet chamber which is subjected to moisture in the closed state of the door. The user can for example use the continuous connection for introducing a brush, which can be bent if necessary, through the service access or the feed access and penetrate to reach the respective further access.

In certain embodiments, the dosing mechanism is concealed directly behind the cover member.

The metering mechanism is formed in certain embodiments by a linearly movably mounted pusher body or a rotatably mounted rotor body (for example in the form of a disk or a roller).

The cover member may be formed, for example, by a lid flap, a screw cap, or a push-pull cap.

Drawings

The invention is further explained below with reference to the drawings. Wherein:

figure 1 shows a perspective view of a domestic dishwasher with a door open according to one embodiment,

fig. 2 shows a tablet dosing system according to one embodiment, which is mounted in a door of a dishwasher and which, when viewed in a partially cut-away perspective view of the door,

figure 3 shows an enlarged view of a detail of the tablet dosing system of figure 2,

figure 4 shows a rear view of a tablet dosing system according to another embodiment,

figure 5 shows the tablet dosing system of figure 4 in a front view,

figure 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a door of a dishwasher with a tablet dosing system according to another embodiment,

figure 7 shows a perspective view of a dishwasher door according to an embodiment from the door side facing the rinsing chamber,

FIG. 8 illustrates the dishwasher door of FIG. 7 having a tablet dosing system according to another embodiment installed therein with the outer liner of the dishwasher door removed;

fig. 9a to 9d show various stages during an automatic dosing process of the tablet dosing system of fig. 8, and

fig. 10 is an enlarged portion of fig. 7 with the inlet flap open to the tablet dosing system of fig. 8, showing the extractor slide of the tablet dosing system removed from its installed position.

Detailed Description

Reference is first made to fig. 1. The dishwasher shown therein is generally designated 10 and has a typical design for private homes. The dishwasher 10 includes a machine body 12 to which a door 14 is mounted about a horizontal pivot axis (not shown). A wet chamber (flushing chamber) 16 is formed in the machine body 12. Although not shown in detail in fig. 1, the wet compartment 16 can be equipped with one or more cutlery racks and/or cutlery drawers in a manner known per se. The door 14 is used to enclose the wet chamber 16 during operation of the dishwasher 10.

The door 14 has an inner wall 18 facing the wet chamber 16 in the closed state of the door, which is formed, for example, by a metal lining. On the inner wall 18 of the door 14, a service flap 20 is arranged, which can be opened by the user if necessary and blocks the access opening formed in the inner wall 18 in the folded-closed state. In the flipped open state, the service flap 20 allows a user to access the extractor mechanism (which may also be referred to as a tablet splitter in the embodiments discussed herein) through the mentioned access opening. The extractor mechanism is part of a tablet dosing system, which will be described later, and is hidden behind the service flap 20 in the state in which it is turned closed. By opening the service flap 20, the user can effect intervention into the extractor mechanism and remove it through the access opening. This may be necessary for maintenance and cleaning purposes, for example when a situation occurs in which a tablet gets stuck in the tablet dosing system. Thus, the access opening provides a service access. The user can first try himself to remove the malfunction by opening the service flap 20 and removing the extractor mechanism and, if necessary, to clean the interior region of the tablet dosing system, after which he must call for customer service if he is not successful. The service flap 20 may be resiliently pre-biased toward its flip-closed position by a suitable spring mechanism. A discharge outlet 22, which is likewise arranged on the inner wall 18 of the door 14 and serves to discharge or in particular discharge the cleaning tablets into the wet chamber 16, also belongs to the tablet dosing system.

Furthermore, the feed flap 24 also belongs to a tablet dosing system, which covers the feed inlet and allows the user to fill a new cleaning tablet in a cartridge hidden behind the inner wall 18, not visible in fig. 1. The cleaning tablets filled by the feed flap 24 are collected in the magazine and are removed therefrom by the extractor mechanism in metered amounts, in particular one by one, and finally pass through the discharge drum, which is likewise hidden behind the inner wall 18, to the delivery outlet 22, where they are discharged into the wet chamber 16. The discharge outlet 22 is formed with the following opening portions: the mentioned drain pot opens out on its wet side of the door 14. It can be seen that the feed flap 24 is arranged in the example case shown on the narrow side 26 of the door, the inlet flap being located above and thus easily accessible to the user when the door 14 is closed and thus upright. The narrow side 26 is located outside of a sealing flange bearing surface 28 formed on the inner lining of the door 14 forming the inner wall 18 and oriented toward the machine body 12 (i.e., toward the wet chamber 16) when the door 14 is closed. The sealing flange bearing surface 28 serves to bear against an elastomer sealing flange 30 arranged on the front side of the machine body 12, extending annularly around the wet space 16, which is compressed when the door 14 is closed as a result of contact with the sealing flange bearing surface 28 of the door 14 and thus takes care of the outward sealing of the wet space 16. Thus, the dosing flip 24 is arranged outside of a sealing barrier that prevents moist, hot air from escaping from the wet chamber 16 between the machine body 12 and the door 14 during a washing operation of the dishwasher 10.

Reference is now made to the embodiment of fig. 2 and 3. The mentioned extractor mechanism, which in the example shown is formed by an extractor roller 32, can be seen in fig. 2. The extractor roller 32 arranged behind the maintenance flap 20 has a plurality of (in the example shown, a total of two) extraction pockets 34, which are dimensioned in such a way that a defined number of cleaning tablets 36, which are square in outline, can be found accommodated in each case in the associated extraction pocket 34. In the illustrated example, the defined number is one, but is not limited thereto. The extractor roller 32 is rotatably supported about the roller shaft 38, and is drivable about the roller shaft 38 by a motor drive, not shown in the drawings. In the example shown, the roller shafts 38 extend in a horizontal direction parallel to the door plane of the door 14. The extraction pockets 34 are each embodied as a groove which is formed in the roll shell, i.e. the circumferential surface, of the extractor roll 32.

The extractor roller 32 may be adjusted to different rotational positions. In the first rotational position, the open pocket inlet of one of the extraction pockets 34 is located directly below the cleaning tablets 36u, the cleaning tablets 36u being located lowermost in a stack 40 of tablets, the stack 40 being stored in a storage chamber 42. In the second rotational position (illustrated in fig. 2), the open pocket inlet of the associated extraction pocket 34 of the extractor roller 32 is located above the upper end of the discharge drum forming a discharge channel (drop channel) 44. In the first rotational position of the extractor roller 32, the cleaning tablet 36u may thus fall into the associated extraction pocket 34 due to gravity. By rotating the extractor roller 32 about the rotation axis 38 into the second rotational position, the cleaning tablet 36u located in the associated extraction pocket 34 may be transferred to a delivery position where the cleaning tablet 36u may drop out of the associated extraction pocket 34 into the discharge channel 44.

The storage chamber 42 is formed by a magazine 46 mounted behind the inner wall 18 of the door 14. The storage chamber 42 extends to the dosing flap 24 so that a user can fill the storage chamber 42 with new cleaning tablets 36 through the dosing flap 24. In the example shown, the cleaning tablets 36 are located in the storage chamber 42 in an ordered stack. The orderly storage of the cleaning tablets 36 in the storage chamber 42 is useful in the case of approximately square cleaning tablets, as shown in fig. 2, to ensure that the extractor rollers 32 can reliably grip each cleaning tablet 36 (even though they can reliably slide into the corresponding extraction pocket 34). The stack of tablets in the storage chamber 42 is oriented such that the cleaning tablets 36 in the stack can slide by gravity alone and no additional urging means are required to drive the stored cleaning tablets 36 in the direction of the extractor roller 32. As shown in fig. 2, for this purpose, the individual cleaning tablets 36 are present in a large vertical stacking arrangement in the tablet stack. Here, the cleaning tablets 36 are stacked with short narrow sides, so that the cleaning tablets are stacked on top of one another in an upright manner. In other configurations, the cleaning tablets 36 may be stacked on flat sides or with long narrow sides.

In order to increase the amount of cleaning tablets 36 that can be stored in the magazine 46, the magazine 46 in the example of fig. 2 and 3 is designed not only for receiving a single tablet stack, but also for receiving a plurality of tablet stacks, which are arranged side by side in a horizontal row. All these stacks of tablets are operated in conjunction by an extractor roller 32. The magazine 46 is fixedly mounted in the door 14, which is why the individual tablet stacks themselves are arranged in an unchangeable fixed stack position in the door 14. The extractor roller 32 has a range of action such that it can operate all the stacks of tablets (i.e. can extract a cleaning tablet 36 from each stack of tablets) without having to change the stacking position relative to the gate 14 for this purpose. In the exemplary case shown in fig. 2 and 3, the extractor roller 32 is designed to operate a total of two stacks of tablets. Depending on the number of tablet stacks, the extractor roller is provided with a total of two extraction pockets 34, which are distributed in the direction of the roller shaft 38 such that each extraction pocket 34 is arranged in the axial position of a corresponding tablet stack. Assuming that only a single cleaning tablet 36 is required during each operation of the dishwasher 10, the extraction pockets 34 are distributed in the circumferential direction of the extractor roller 32 such that only one extraction pocket 34 is located above the discharge channel 44 at one point in time, respectively, and therefore only a single cleaning tablet 36 can be fed out by the tablet dosing system into the wet chamber 16 at one point in time. In the exemplary case shown, there are a total of two tablet stacks and two extraction pockets 34 formed on the extractor roller 32, wherein each extraction pocket corresponds to one tablet stack, the two extraction pockets 34 being offset from one another by 180 degrees, for example, in the circumferential direction of the roller. This configuration of the extractor roller 32 can be seen in fig. 2.

The profile of the extraction capsules 34 on the shell of the extractor roller 32 may be such that: so that in each rotational position in which one extraction capsule 34 is ready to receive a cleaning tablet 36 from one tablet stack, the other extraction capsule 34 is simultaneously located above the discharge channel 44. Thus, the gripping of a new cleaning tablet 36 by the extractor roller 32 is accompanied by the release of another previously gripped cleaning tablet 36 from the extractor roller 32 into the discharge channel 44. In the exemplary case according to fig. 3, each 180-degree rotation of the extractor roller 32 results in a new cleaning tablet 36 falling into one of the extraction pockets 34 and simultaneously releasing one cleaning tablet 36 from the other extraction pocket 34 into the discharge channel 44. In the case of three, four or five tablet stacks, the extraction pockets 34 arranged in different axial regions of the roller circumference are arranged offset from one another by, for example, 120 degrees, 90 degrees or 60 degrees. It should furthermore be understood that the extractor roller 32 may also have more than one extraction pocket 34 per tablet stack, for example two extraction pockets. The profile of the extraction pockets 34 on the roller housing can then be selected, for example, such that the next cleaning tablet 36 is always removed from the respective other tablet stack when the extractor roller 32 is rotated further from the rotational position in which one of the extraction pockets 34 is ready to receive a cleaning tablet 36 from one tablet stack to the next rotational position in which the extractor roller 32 is ready to receive a cleaning tablet 36 again. In this way, the cleaning tablets 36 are removed from each tablet stack in the given sequence before the start of the next removal cycle, in which the cleaning tablets 36 are removed again from each tablet stack in the same sequence. It goes without saying that any sequence of removing the cleaning tablets 36 from the tablet stack can be achieved by a profile of the extraction capsules 34 on the roller shell.

The extraction pocket 34 is suitably sized so that the desired number of cleaning tablets 36 (i.e., typically a single cleaning tablet 36) are completely located therein and do not protrude radially from the roll shell. This makes it possible to configure the roller receiving chamber in which the extractor roller 32 rotates very tightly, so that the extractor roller 32 forms a sufficiently effective barrier to prevent moist hot air from escaping from the wet chamber 16 through the roller receiving chamber into the magazine 46 through the exhaust channel 44. The chamber walls of the roller receiving chamber (such chamber walls are shown at 48 in fig. 3) can be so close to the extractor roller 32 that at most only a few negligible quantities of moist hot air can flow through the remaining gap.

The extractor roller 32 may be driven, for example, by a stepping motor (not shown) driven by a control device (also not shown) arranged below the door 14. A suitable sensor system may be provided to provide information about the actual rotational position of the extractor roller 32 to the drive control means of the extractor roller 32. Such a sensor system may include, for example, one or more hall sensors, electromechanical switches, and/or other sensor elements for detecting the rotational position of the extractor roller 32.

In the other figures, identical or equivalent elements are provided with the same reference numerals as in fig. 1 to 3, but with lower case letters. These same or equivalent components are explained with reference to the above explanations of fig. 1 to 3, unless otherwise stated below differently.

Fig. 4 and 5 show an embodiment of a tablet dosing system with an extractor roller 32a, which extractor roller 32a is not designed for operation with two tablet stacks, as in the embodiment of fig. 2 and 3, but for co-operation with a total of four tablet stacks. For each stack of tablets, an own magazine cartridge 50a is formed in the magazine 46 a. The different cartridge barrels 50a are separated from each other by a dividing wall 52 a. The extractor roller 32a has a total of four extraction pockets 34a corresponding to the number of tablet stacks, which are arranged offset along the roller shaft 38a corresponding to the axial position of the tablet stacks. The receiving pockets 34a are each successive to one another at 90-degree intervals, viewed in the circumferential direction of the roll. In the view of fig. 5, the right outer receiving pocket 34a of the extractor roller 32a is shown occupied by a cleaning tablet 36 a.

The cartridge 46a is part of a system housing 54a (fig. 4) which, in addition to the cartridge 46a, forms a channel housing 56a for the discharge channel leading to the delivery opening 22a and a chamber housing 58a which receives the extractor roller 32a and forms said roller receiving chamber. The system housing 54a itself may be secured to a wall panel 60a, which is shown in fig. 4 and 5 as a rectangular panel for illustrative purposes only, and which may be, for example, part of the inner wall 18 (fig. 1) of the door. Thus, the system housing 54a can be mounted on the wall panel 60a from the rear (as viewed from the washing chamber of the dishwasher). The system housing 54a may be a unitary component, or the system housing may be formed from a plurality of separate components that may be assembled into a structural unit prior to subsequent installation of the structural unit in the door of the dishwasher.

In the embodiment of fig. 6, which proposes a roller-shaped configuration of the extractor mechanism (extractor roller 32b) as in the embodiments of fig. 2 and 3 and of fig. 4 and 5, a blowing channel 60b is machined in the door 14b of the dishwasher, which reaches up to the region of the magazine 46 b. A blower (which forms a blowing means in the sense of the invention), which is also mounted in the door 14b, in the example shown in the blowing channel 60b, serves to generate a blowing air flow which flows in the blowing channel 60b in the direction of the magazine 46 b. The blower 62b draws relatively cool air from outside the dishwasher. In certain embodiments, the blowing air directed to the cartridge 46b via the blowing channel 60b only sweeps along the cartridge wall externally without entering the interior of the cartridge 46 b. In other configurations, the blast air is introduced into the interior of the magazine 46b such that the blast air can there come into direct contact with the cleaning tablets 36b stored therein. In fig. 6, a plurality of slots 64b can be seen, which slots 64b are machined into one of the channel walls delimiting the blowing channel 60b and allow the blowing air to pass from the blowing channel 60b to the magazine 46 b.

The operation of the blower 62b is controlled by a control device, not shown. Since the rinsing liquid (rinsing water) in the rinsing chamber of the dishwasher usually reaches temperatures of 50 ℃ or more only in stages, i.e. temporarily, it is possible that the active blast cooling of the cleaning tablets 36b stored in the magazine 46b is not required during the entire duration of the operating process of the dishwasher. Instead, blower 62b may only be turned on during certain high temperature operating phases of the operating process. During which it is flooded with rinsing liquid, for example at a temperature of at least 50 c, or with air present in the rinsing mode.

Reference is now made to the embodiment of figures 7 to 10. In this embodiment, the extractor mechanism is formed as an extractor slider (dosing slider) 32c which is reciprocally movable along a linear sliding direction 62c extending parallel to the door plane of the door 14c, extending horizontally in the mounted position of the door dosing system. The sliding direction 62c corresponds to the direction in which the tablets are stacked side-by-side in the magazine 46 c. The extractor slide 32c has an extraction opening 64c which is dimensioned such that cleaning tablets 36c which are square in profile and stacked vertically can each be slid individually into the extraction opening 64 c. The extraction openings 64c are designed as drop openings, i.e. they allow the respective cleaning tablet 36c to drop completely from the magazine 46c into the discharge channel 44 c. The extraction opening 64c is bottomless and downwardly open, unlike the extraction capsule of the embodiment of fig. 2, 3 and 4, 5.

For driving the extractor slide 32c in the sliding direction 62c is a first drive unit 66c, which in the example comprises an electric motor 68c as a power source and a reduction gear 70c connected downstream of the electric motor on the power output side. The reduction gear 70c (more specifically, the driven-side end gear of the reduction gear 70 c) meshes with, for example, teeth (not visible in the drawing) formed on the extractor slider 32 c.

The range of sliding movement of extractor slide 32c is sized so that extraction opening 64c can be selectively moved under each stack of tablets. Thus, the extractor slide 32c may operate each tablet stack and individually remove the cleaning tablets 36c from each tablet stack without changing the stack position. In the example shown in fig. 7 to 10, the magazine 46c provides space for two stacks of tablets, but it will be appreciated that the magazine 46c could be configured to be larger and provide space for more than two stacks of tablets, if desired.

Fig. 9a to 9d show different stages of extracting the cleaning tablets from the magazine 46 c. The cleaning tablets extracted in this process are denoted by 36 c' in fig. 9a to 9d for better identification.

In fig. 9a, the extractor slide 32c has moved the extraction opening 64c below the one on the right in the drawing of the two tablet stacks, so that the cleaning tablet 36 c' can fall into the extraction opening 64 c. This slide position constitutes the first slide position in the sense of the invention corresponding to the right tablet stack. In this first slide position, the cleaning tablet 36 c', although it may fall into the extraction opening 64c, will not slide through the extraction opening 64c because the extraction opening 64c of the extractor slide 32c is partially above the blocking surface 72c formed on the system housing 54 c. The blocking surface 72c prevents the cleaning tablet 36 c' from falling out of the extraction opening 64 c.

The discharge channel 44c is blocked in the state of fig. 9a by a locking element 74c, which in the example shown is formed as a slide member linearly movable along the sliding direction 62c and can selectively block and open the discharge channel 44 c. For driving the locking element 74c is a second drive unit 76c, which in the example shown comprises a motor 78c and a reduction gear 80c connected to the motor on the output side. In the second drive unit 76c, the reduction gear 80c is engaged with the lock member 74c, similarly to the case of the first drive unit 66 c; the latter is designed for this purpose with teeth 82 c.

To selectively feed out the cleaning tablets 36 c' slid into the extraction opening 64c, the extractor slide 32c is then moved to a second slide position in which the extraction opening 64c is completely above the discharge channel 44c and outside the reach of the blocking surface 72 c. This situation is shown in fig. 9 b. The unblocking of the cleaning tablet 36c 'by the blocking surface 72c in fig. 9b has caused the cleaning tablet 36 c' to fall out of the extractor slide 32c and to the locking element 74c in the discharge channel 44 c. As long as the locking element 74c is in its closed position according to fig. 9b, the cleaning tablet 36 c' is prevented from falling further by the locking element 74 c.

In the slide position according to fig. 9b, although the extraction opening 64c of the extractor slide 32c is located completely above the discharge channel 44c, it is not vertically aligned with any stack of tablets. Thus, in the slide position according to fig. 9b, none of the tablet stacks can have a new cleaning tablet 36c falling into the extraction opening 64 c. For this purpose, the extractor slide 32c has to be moved back into the slide position according to fig. 9a (if tablets are to be removed again from the right-hand tablet stack) or the extractor slide 32c has to be moved further beyond the slide position according to fig. 9b until the extraction opening 64c is located at the first slide position corresponding to the left-hand stack below the left-hand tablet stack (if tablets are to be removed from the left-hand stack). Also corresponding to the left hand tablet stack, the system housing 54c has a stop surface 72c that prevents: the cleaning tablet 36c falling into the extraction opening 64c from the left tablet stack immediately slides further into the discharge passage 44 c.

The next step in the extraction process of the cleaning tablet 36 c' is to transfer the locking element 74c to the open, locked position. This is shown in fig. 9 c. The cleaning tablet 36 c' can then pass through the locking element 74c and fall in the discharge channel 44c in a direction further towards the discharge opening 22 c.

Finally, fig. 9d shows the arrival of the cleaning tablet 36 c' at the discharge opening 22 c. Where the locking member 74c again returns to its closed, locked position.

As shown in fig. 10, in certain embodiments, the extractor slide 32c may be accessed and removed by opening the service flap 20c without having to install an inner and/or outer liner of the door 14c for this purpose. Such disassembly of the extractor slide 32c may be required, for example, for maintenance purposes or for the purpose of cleaning the tablet dosing system from time to time.

Claims

1. A tablet dosing system, in particular a household dishwasher, comprising:

a magazine for storing cleaning tablets in a plurality of stacks arranged side by side,

an extractor for extracting a cleaning tablet from a cartridge, wherein the extractor has an extractor mechanism movably arranged with respect to the cartridge, the extractor mechanism being configured to: each stack is operated to extract the cleaning tablets without a change in the stack position.

2. The tablet dosing system of claim 1 wherein the extractor mechanism is formed by an extractor slide reciprocally disposed along the stacked row, the extractor slide having at least one extraction opening, the extraction opening of the extractor slide being selectively movable under each of at least two of the plurality of stacks, the extraction opening being sized such that the cleaning tablet falls from the magazine through the extractor slide.

3. Tablet dosing system according to claim 2, wherein the extractor slide is movable in correspondence of each of the at least two stacks between a first slide position, in which the extraction opening is below the respective stack and allows the cleaning tablet arranged lowermost in the relevant stack to fall into the extraction opening, and a second slide position, in which the falling-in cleaning tablet is enabled to fall out downwards from the extraction opening.

4. Tablet dosing system according to claim 1, wherein the extractor mechanism is formed by an extractor roller rotatably arranged around a roller axis parallel to the stack row, the extractor roller having at least one extraction pocket respectively in correspondence with each of the plurality of stacks, distributed along the roller axis, each extraction pocket being dimensioned such that a cleaning tablet falls from the magazine into the associated extraction pocket.

5. The tablet dosing system of claim 4, wherein for at least two of the plurality of stacks, the extraction pockets corresponding to the at least two stacks are offset from each other on a stack-by-stack basis in the roller circumferential direction.

6. Tablet dosing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a blowing device for generating a blowing air flow for cooling the cartridge.

7. Household cleaning device, in particular dishwasher, with water, comprising:

the wet chamber is used for storing the wet gas,

a door for closing the wet chamber, an

Tablet dosing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 mounted into a door, having an outfeed outlet for outfeeding the cleaning tablets extracted by the extractor into the wet chamber.

8. Household cleaning device, in particular dishwasher, with water, comprising: a wet chamber and a door for closing the wet chamber,

wherein the door provides a reservoir for containing a reservoir of cleaning material and a feed inlet for feeding the reservoir with cleaning material is provided on the door,

a covered drop channel is formed in the door, which drop channel emerges from the door opening at an opening location on the wet side of the door,

a controllable dosing mechanism is mounted in the door, which is designed to extract a dose of cleaning substance from the reservoir and to discharge the extracted dose into the drop channel,

a service access opening, which is provided separately from the feed inlet and is detachably covered by the cover element, is formed on the door at a distance from the opening area, and provides access to the drop channel and/or the dosing channel for the user.

9. The home cleaning appliance of claim 8, wherein the service access opening is formed on the wet side of the door.

10. A domestic cleaning apparatus according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the dosing mechanism is removable from the door through a service access.

11. The home cleaning appliance of claim 10, wherein at least part of the storage compartment is also accessible through the service access after removal of the dosing mechanism.

12. A domestic cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 8-11 wherein the dosing mechanism is hidden behind the cover member.

13. Household cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the dosing mechanism is formed by a linearly movably supported pusher body or a rotatably supported rotor body.

14. The home cleaning appliance of any one of claims 8-13, wherein the cover member is formed by a cover flap, a screw cap, or a push-pull cap.