CN115434120A

CN115434120A - Dosing container, dosing aid system, dosing method and computer program product

Info

Publication number: CN115434120A
Application number: CN202210617980.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: C·哈费尔; A·韦克斯勒
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2021-06-02
Filing date: 2022-06-01
Publication date: 2022-12-06
Also published as: DE102021205652A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a dosing container (1) for the adaptive dosing of a laundry treatment agent, wherein the dosing container (1) comprises: a housing (2) having a chamber (9) for receiving the laundry treatment agent; a first display device (3) for displaying a marking on a side wall of the chamber (9), wherein the marking indicates a respective fill level to be reached in the chamber (9), wherein the first display device (3) is integrated in particular in the side wall of the chamber (9); and a communication device (5) for wirelessly communicating with a control unit (10), wherein the communication device (5) is configured for: -receiving the filling level to be reached from the control unit (10) and causing the first display means (3) to display the filling level to be reached by means of the marking.

Description

Dosing container, dosing assistance system, dosing method and computer program product

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a dosing container for the adaptive dosing of laundry treatment agents, a dosing aid system for the adaptive dosing of laundry treatment agents, a method for the adaptive dosing of laundry treatment agents and a computer program product.

Background

It has been found that after the selection of a program for washing (pre-sorted) laundry by the user, a plurality of steps are always also required until the correct amount of laundry treatment agent has been put into the laundry treatment appliance. These steps are thus made difficult: the recommended amount of laundry treatment agent is usually not known to the user by memory, on the other hand it is not always possible to recognize (or estimate) and take into account all relevant influencing factors (e.g. laundry amount or laundry weight and/or local water hardness, etc.) for selecting the laundry treatment agent amount. In this context, the determination of the correct amount of laundry treatment agent and the collection of relevant information associated therewith is often associated with a certain level of effort by the user on the one hand and often leads to rather inaccurate results on the other hand. Users are often inclined to use excessive doses of laundry treatment agents, which can adversely affect washing, consume unnecessary money and resources, and are environmentally hazardous, particularly due to uncertainty and in order to speed up the process.

One solution for correct dosing, which is known from the prior art, is the use of a measuring cup, which is used by the user together with instructions given on the packaging of the laundry treatment agent, in order to obtain the correct amount of laundry treatment agent. However, the user always still relies on determining a number of parameters, such as the weight of the laundry, the water hardness and the degree of soiling, and the influence of the parameters themselves. An alternative solution provides a fully automatic dosing system in which an internal reserve of laundry treatment agent in the washing machine is used. This alternative has the advantage that: the user no longer has to physically request the correct amount of laundry treatment agent, which however requires elaborate and expensive mechanical devices in the machine. Therefore, such systems can usually only be implemented at great additional cost and cannot usually be retrofitted reasonably in older versions of washing machines. Furthermore, such systems may make flexible use of different laundry treatment agents difficult, since there is typically only one or two chambers in which a relatively large amount of laundry treatment agent is stored.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a dosing container, a dosing aid system and a method for dosing laundry treatment agents and a corresponding computer program product, by means of which a plurality of laundry treatment agents can be dosed as simply, accurately and efficiently as possible individually and based on currently relevant influencing factors.

This problem is solved by a dosing container according to claim 1, a dosing aid system according to claim 4, a method according to claim 11 and a computer program product according to claim 12. Further advantages and features emerge from the dependent claims as well as from the description and the figures appended hereto.

According to one aspect of the invention, a dosing container for the adaptive dosing of a laundry treatment agent is proposed, wherein the dosing container comprises: a housing having a chamber for receiving a laundry treatment agent; a first display device for displaying a marking on a side wall of the chamber, wherein the marking indicates a filling level to be reached in the chamber, in each case, wherein the first display device is integrated in particular into the side wall of the chamber; and a communication device for wirelessly communicating with the control unit, wherein the communication device is configured to: the control unit (which may also be integrated in the metering container) receives the filling level to be reached and causes the first display device to display the filling level to be reached by means of the marking. The expression "adaptively dosed" is understood here to mean, in particular: it is provided that such dosing can be carried out in dependence on one or more relevant parameters. The relevant parameters may for example be one or more of laundry amount, laundry type, water hardness and laundry treatment agent type. The laundry treatment agent may be a detergent and/or a laundry additive (e.g. a softener or an impregnant) for cleaning textiles. The laundry treatment agent can be in the form of a liquid, powder or gelThe form exists. Advantageously, the dosing container according to the invention may enable a user to take the correct amount of laundry treatment agent without the user having to personally consider knowledge about some influencing factors (e.g. the selected program, the weight or amount of laundry, the type of laundry, the degree of soiling and/or the water hardness). In particular, the user does not have to personally calculate or estimate: a large or small amount of a laundry treatment agent is required for good washing performance. Advantageously, the use of an unsuitable amount of laundry treatment agent can thereby be prevented or reduced. Advantageously, such dosing containers can also be used with older laundry treatment appliances without any dosing recommendation or dosing automation. Furthermore, the dosing container according to the invention can be used with a plurality of different (or almost all) types of laundry treatment agent, in contrast to washing machines with a dosing robot. That is, the user can utilize the type of laundry treatment agent with which he is familiar without having to change to a special type, as is often the case in systems which are integrated automatically in a washing machine. The laundry treatment agent type may be regarded as a general laundry treatment agent type (e.g. "full function laundry powder" or "softener") or preferably may also be the brand name (e.g. "Persil Universal

"). Furthermore, the user continues to retain this control over how much laundry treatment agent he actually wants to use, wherein, if necessary, the user can deviate from the recommended laundry treatment agent amount if this seems to be meaningful to him. Finally, the dosing container can be retrofitted relatively inexpensively, since in particular no complex changes or implementation in the laundry treatment appliance are required.

The housing of the dosing container may, for example, be made of plastic, glass and/or metal. Advantageously, it can be provided that the housing is at least partially or in certain places (in particular on its side walls) or substantially everywhere transparent, for example made of transparent plastic. In particular, the housing may be dimensioned and shaped such that a user can easily hold and/or manipulate the dosing container with one hand. In particular, the dosing container may comprise a gripping handle or grip. The chamber may in particular be enclosed by the housing or define an inner space formed by the housing. Preferably, the chamber is configured such that it can receive a laundry treatment agent. In other words, the liquid or powder may be received in the chamber without accidentally escaping or flowing out of the chamber. Preferably, the chamber may have at least one opening through which the laundry treatment agent may be injected into the chamber and poured out of the chamber. Preferably, the opening is arranged in the upper region; for example, the dosing container may have the form of a cup with a circular or oval bottom surface. For this purpose, the chamber can have a spout or spout on the opening, which is shaped in such a way that the laundry treatment agent can be poured or spread out of the chamber in a defined manner. In particular, the outlet opening can be shaped such that the discharge is achieved without droplet formation. For example, the outlet opening can be formed as a projection of the chamber wall up to the opening edge, in particular as a beak and/or a spout.

The display of the markings can be provided, for example, in the form of a transverse marking, in particular on the side walls of the chamber, for example in the form of a graduated scale. Here, a transverse marking is to be understood in particular as: when the metering container is placed for filling on the bottom surface in an upright position, in particular with the opening oriented upwards, the transverse line runs parallel to the bottom surface. Preferably, the position of the marking can be varied depending on the filling level to be achieved, in particular in the vertical lying direction (or in a direction perpendicular to the cross section of the opening of the dosing container and/or in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface of the dosing container). The fill level to be achieved corresponds in particular to the laundry treatment quantity required for the washing program. For example, the fill height to be reached may indicate a height: the laundry treatment agent should be injected into the dosing container up to said level.

On the one hand, the filling level to be reached can be conveyed directly to the dosing container. On the other hand, the dosing container can also be configured for: so that the control chip calculates the filling height on the basis of the delivered volume (or delivered laundry treatment dose). The dosing container can be configured, for example, such that it can display the filling level by means of light-emitting elements (in particular LEDs) which are arranged along the lying direction (or height direction) of the dosing container. For example, the plurality of LEDs and/or the horizontal LED array may be arranged in a vertical direction (or in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the dosing container), wherein the dosing container may be configured for: depending on the fill level to be achieved, individual LEDs or individual horizontal arrangements of LEDs are driven. These light emitting devices (or LEDs) may in particular be integrated into the side walls of the chamber. This may be understood in particular as: so that the light-emitting means are permanently and/or positionally fixed to the side walls. In particular, the light-emitting means can also be arranged inside the side walls, wherein the side walls are composed of a light-permeable (or transparent) material. The integration inside the side wall makes it possible, on the one hand, to protect the light-emitting means from environmental influences and, on the other hand, to ensure that the light-emitting means do not interfere with the handling of the cup for fixing and for filling and for pouring out the liquid. For example, it is conceivable for the LEDs to be arranged vertically one above the other and for the light to be routed via a light guide in such a way that a horizontal marking becomes visible on the side wall of the chamber in the color of each LED.

The communication means for wirelessly communicating may, for example, be integrated on a control chip arranged in or on the housing of the dosing container. For example, the communication device may be based on low-energy technology, in particular RFID ("radio-frequency identification"), identification by means of electromagnetic waves, NFC ("near field connection"), W-LAN connection and/or bluetooth.

The control unit may, for example, be integrated into (or form part of) the laundry treatment appliance. Alternatively, the control unit can also be part of a computer or of another multimedia-technology device (for example, a portable electronic-technology device such as a smartphone or a tablet). In this case, the control unit is connected to (or equipped with) a respective communication means for communicating wirelessly with the dosing container. In a special embodiment, the dosing container can have its own control unit, wherein the own control unit can assume all or at least one of the functions of the control unit. The control unit or dosing container can optionally comprise a speech recognition configured for: the user may input instructions or information (e.g., the amount of laundry, the type of laundry, and/or the degree of contamination of the laundry) through voice.

According to one specific embodiment, it can be provided that the dosing container comprises a second display device, wherein the second display device is configured to display the type of laundry treatment agent, wherein the second display device comprises a display (or screen) for displaying the type of laundry treatment agent or comprises a list for visually presenting the type of laundry treatment agent and a luminous display (leucohtanzeige) for identifying the type of laundry treatment agent or laundry treatment agents of the list. The second display means may also be located on a side wall of the housing of the dosing container. Alternatively, the second display means may also be arranged on the gripping handle of the dosing container, in particular on the upper part of the gripping handle. The second display means may also be integrated into a (partial) cap of the dosing container. In particular, the second display means may be arranged on a face parallel to the bottom face of the dosing container and/or on a face parallel to the opening of the dosing container. In other words, the second display device can be arranged such that it is oriented upwards substantially parallel to the ground when the dosing container is placed for filling on a surface parallel to the ground. Such an orientation of the second display device enables a particularly simple and efficient readout by the user. The second display device may be a small display screen or a small display. Alternatively, the second display device may be a list with laundry treatment agent types, wherein the dosing container is configured for: at least one or some of the types of laundry treatment agents are respectively indicated by means of a luminous display, in particular by the illumination of a light-emitting means (for example one or more LEDs) next to the respective type of laundry treatment agent. Such a list may comprise, for example, common names, such as detergents for very high temperatures, detergents for easy-care washing, detergents for fine washing, detergents for cotton, detergents for wool, etc. Advantageously, in this case, the user can select, from the available detergents, the detergent that best matches the one described on the second display means. Alternatively or additionally, a specific indication of the laundry treatment agent can also be provided, in particular a specific indication or type can also be provided. For example, additional descriptive instructions and/or images (in particular of the packaging of the laundry treatment agent) may also be displayed. This can be implemented in particular by means of a display screen or display. The displayed laundry treatment agent can be based, for example, on user input with respect to an existing (or available) laundry treatment agent, in particular by means of the control unit. Advantageously, by means of such an embodiment, it is possible for the user to be able to ascertain the matched laundry treatment agent and also to ascertain the required quantity of such laundry treatment agent without being completely aware of the characteristics of the existing laundry treatment agents and their interrelation with parameters (e.g. selected washing program, laundry load, type of laundry and/or water hardness). The possibility of choosing the wrong (or unsuitable) detergent can thereby be advantageously reduced. Alternatively or additionally, a voice output can also be provided on the dosing container, which voice output outputs the type of laundry treatment agent in speech.

According to one specific embodiment, the first display device is configured to: for different soiling levels of the laundry, different (in particular three) fill levels are simultaneously displayed by the marking. Advantageously, in this case, the user can select a laundry treatment dose which is matched to the respective degree of soiling of the laundry. The presentation of different options can be particularly meaningful to the user, since it may be difficult to reasonably automatically determine the degree of soiling. For example, three filling levels can be set for heavy soiling, medium soiling and light soiling of the laundry, respectively. In particular, it can be provided that the first display device is configured to: the different filling levels are displayed by color coding (farbkodierig), so that different filling levels can be assigned to different degrees of soiling by means of color coding, wherein the first display device can comprise, in particular, differently colored light-emitting means (for example, LEDs) for displaying different markings. Such a display may be provided, for example, by a traffic light system. In particular, the filling level for heavy soiling can be displayed in red, the filling level for medium soiling in yellow and the filling level for light soiling in green. This use of colours may enable a particularly simple and fast positioning for the user and reduce the risk of confusion. However, it is also possible to display different filling heights in the same color.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a dosing aid system for the adaptive dosing of a laundry treatment agent to be supplied to a laundry treatment appliance for use in a laundry treatment process is provided. Here, the dosing assistance system comprises: laundry treatment appliance (in particular washing machine), a dosing container (in particular as described herein), wherein the dosing container comprises a chamber for receiving a laundry treatment agent, and a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured for: the fill level to be achieved and the type of laundry treatment agent to be used of the dosing container are determined and transferred to the dosing container on the basis of a program selection relating to the laundry treatment process, on the basis of the water hardness of the water used for the laundry treatment process and/or on the basis of the amount of laundry to be treated during the laundry treatment process, wherein the dosing container is configured to: receiving and displaying the delivered fill level and the delivered laundry treatment agent type, wherein the dosing container is configured for: the filling level is indicated on the side walls of the chamber by means of a marking. The laundry treatment appliance can be a washing dryer or a washing machine. All the advantages and features of the dosing container can be transferred analogously to the dosing aid system and vice versa. The control unit may be part of the laundry treatment appliance or may be arranged outside the laundry treatment appliance, in particular as part of a multimedia technology device. The control unit may be configured to: information is obtained from the laundry treatment appliance and/or a database (in particular via the internet) by means of the interface. For this purpose, the control unit may be or may be connectable to the internet. Additionally or alternatively, the control unit may be configured to: it is possible to communicate with the laundry treatment appliance by means of bluetooth, W-LAN, RFID or NFC in order to obtain information which is used for determining the laundry treatment dose or the laundry treatment agent type (for example the average water hardness at the place of placement of the laundry treatment appliance). Additionally or alternatively, the control unit may have a memory unit available or comprise a memory unit, wherein the control unit may be configured in particular to: information which does not change dynamically or very little or only very little, for example water hardness or existing laundry treatment agents, is stored on the memory unit. The laundry treatment appliance can be configured in particular for: the usage parameters (in particular the water hardness and/or the quantity of laundry or the total weight of the loaded laundry) are determined by suitable means. Advantageously, the usage parameter may be determined using means already existing in the prior art, for example. Alternatively or additionally, the laundry treating appliance may comprise input means by which a user can set the water hardness. Furthermore, the laundry treatment appliance can comprise a communication device (for example bluetooth, W-LAN, RFID or NFC) and be configured for: the usage parameters, in particular the selected laundry treatment program, the water hardness and/or the laundry quantity or the total weight of the loaded laundry, are communicated to the control unit by means of the communication means. The control unit and/or the dosing container may likewise comprise corresponding, compatible communication means. The control unit may be configured to: the laundry treatment agent quantity and/or the corresponding filling level and optionally the laundry treatment agent type are determined by means of the use parameters and according to ready-made algorithms and/or arithmetic operations and are transferred to the dosing container. This transfer is preferably done wirelessly (e.g. by bluetooth, W-LAN, RFID, NFC or the like), but may also be done by a physical data line. For example, the dosing container can have a defined position, for example on the upper side of the laundry treatment appliance, for example, a contact frame (fasung) on which it is connected to the control unit via electrical contacts.

According to one specific embodiment, the dosing assistance system may comprise a multimedia device (in particular a smartphone or a tablet computer) having a computer program product installed thereon, wherein the computer program product is configured such that, when it is implemented on the multimedia device, it causes the multimedia device to assume the function of the control unit. Additional functions can be implemented, for example, by using multimedia technology devices. For example, multimedia technology devices can be used to display further information or to input additional parameters. For example, the laundry amount and/or the type of laundry can be input by means of a multimedia technology device. This can be advantageous in particular if the laundry treatment appliance used has no weighing means and/or communication means. Furthermore, the computer program product can be configured such that it requests additional information from the user or from the internet, if necessary, via the multimedia technology device. For example, the computer program product may be configured to: if multiple laundry treatment agent types are classified as equally suitable based on known parameters, additional input information is requested. Further, the computer program product may be configured to: additional context-based information (e.g. care tips for particularly dirty, difficult to clean or particularly sensitive laundry) is output to the user. For example, the computer program product may be integrated into a smart home system (e.g., boxi Home Internet). In this case, the laundry treatment appliance may also be connected to the smart home system. Such an embodiment may advantageously achieve: only one program (or only one APP application) is needed for a number of home related functions.

According to one embodiment, a computer program product may be configured to: the multimedia technology device is prompted to notify the user when the laundry treatment process is terminated. Such notification may be provided, for example, by a signal tone, text message, and/or voice message. Advantageously, the user can thus also notice the end of the laundry treatment process without he having to be within the direct effective distance of the laundry treatment appliance.

According to one embodiment, a computer program product may be configured to: the multimedia technical device is prompted to display the type of laundry treatment agent to be used for each laundry treatment process. The multimedia technology device can comprise, inter alia, a display screen, wherein the computer program product is configured to: causing a display to be made on the display screen. The display on the multimedia device may be provided in addition to or instead of the display on the dosing container. The laundry treatment type can be displayed in a text form or in an image form, for example in the form of a brand identification or as an image of the packaging. Such a display on a multimedia device enables a simpler (or less expensive) design of the dosing container in that no display means of this type are required for the dosing container. Alternatively, the display on the multimedia device can also be used as an additional information source for the user who can therefore immediately see the relevant information, regardless of whether he has just the dosing container on hand or the multimedia device.

According to an alternative embodiment, the control unit can be part of a laundry treatment appliance. Advantageously, additional multimedia technology equipment can be omitted by such an embodiment. This is in particular a possibility when the laundry treatment appliance has an integrated analysis and communication device in its own right.

According to one embodiment, the control unit can be configured to: the control unit detects and stores the type of laundry treatment agent by scanning the package of laundry treatment agent or a part of its package, in particular a bar code, a QR code, a label and/or a brand identification, wherein the control unit may be configured for: the database of the availability of the laundry treatment agents present at the user is set up by scanning packages of a plurality of laundry treatment agents. Such scanning may be realized, for example, by a scanning function of a smartphone or tablet computer, in particular controlled by a computer program product. Optionally, the control unit may be configured to: the existing inventory of laundry treatment agent is monitored and a warning is output when the amount of one laundry treatment agent type is below a threshold. The threshold value may be, for example, the amount of detergent: three average wash cycles with this laundry treatment agent required detergent amounts. In particular, the control unit may be configured to: data on usage behaviour is collected and exhaustion of laundry treatment agent is predicted. For example, the control unit may recognize that: the user always washes the sportswear on saturday and accordingly in time sends in advance a reminder to the user to purchase a new laundry treatment agent in time before that point in time.

Optionally, the control unit may be configured to: data relating to the detected laundry treatment agents are obtained from a database and taken into account for determining the fill level and/or for determining the type of laundry treatment agent to be used for each laundry treatment process. These data may be specific usage recommendations, for example, obtained from an online database or from an internal database. For example, the usage recommendations may comprise at least one laundry type and/or at least one washing program for which the laundry treatment agent is optimized. By setting up a database and optionally retrieving usage recommendations, still more accurate selections can be made for the type of laundry treatment agent and the laundry treatment agent dosage.

According to one embodiment, the control unit may comprise a speech recognition, wherein the control unit is configured to: the voice input by the user of the type and/or quantity of laundry items to be washed is detected and used to determine the laundry quantity and/or the type of laundry treatment agent to be treated during the laundry treatment process. For example, it is possible to set: the user gives the type and number of laundry items in the form of "5 pants, three T-shirts \8230;" or more specifically "5 cotton pants \8230;" or more specifically. The type and quantity of laundry items can be specified in particular for determining the weight of the laundry, whereby the laundry treatment quantity and thus the fill level to be achieved can be determined. The determination may be further refined by an early collection of user data (e.g., person X having size 40 and person Y having size 52). Input by the user's voice may be a relatively simple and fast means for conveying such information. The voice input can be particularly advantageous when the laundry treatment appliance does not have a function for determining the laundry weight. Further, the control unit may be configured to: further information (e.g. the degree of soiling) is transmitted to the control unit via speech recognition. Additionally or alternatively, provision may also be made for the information to be transmitted to the user by means of a voice message.

According to one embodiment, the control unit may comprise a locating device for determining the current position, wherein the control unit may be configured to: based on its current location, the local water hardness of the water provided by the local water supplier is found by calling from the database. The locating means can be, for example, GPS (global positioning system) and/or dial-in information based on a corresponding network (or the internet). This embodiment may be a particularly simple possibility for the user, since no input by the user is required. Furthermore, it is possible to use existing locating means (for example multimedia technology equipment), whereby ideally no or little additional costs are incurred. Furthermore, the control unit may be configured, if necessary, to: the base water hardness is precisely adjusted for each time point according to the fluctuation in time.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a method is provided for the adaptive dosing of a laundry treatment agent to be supplied to a laundry treatment appliance for use in a laundry treatment process, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

a) The control unit determines information, wherein the information comprises:

-program selection in connection with a laundry treatment process,

water hardness of the water used in the laundry treatment process, and/or

-the amount of laundry to be treated during the laundry treatment process,

b) Determining, by the control unit, the fill level to be reached of the dosing container (in particular the dosing container according to any of claims 1 to 3) and/or the type of laundry treatment agent to be used on the basis of this information,

c) The determined fill level and/or type of laundry treatment agent is delivered to the dosing container,

d) The filling level and/or the type of laundry treatment agent is/are displayed on the dosing container, wherein the filling level is displayed by means of a marking on the side wall of the chamber for receiving the laundry treatment agent.

All advantages and features of the dosing container and the dosing aid system can be transferred analogously to the method and vice versa. Preferably, in the above method, the dosing aid system described herein is used.

Furthermore, the information ascertained in step a) may comprise a list of the types of laundry treatment agents available for use. Furthermore, user input (e.g., an instruction for a quick wash course or an input for a low load of laundry) may be considered. The determined fill level and/or laundry treatment agent type can be transmitted to the dosing container, in particular wirelessly (preferably via bluetooth).

According to one specific embodiment, it can be provided that the method further comprises a preliminary step which is carried out before the actual method. In particular, these preparatory steps may be performed only once or only occasionally as a setting step (Set-Up-Schritte). For example, these preliminary steps may include:

-entering available laundry treatment agents, in particular by scanning a package of laundry treatment agents or a part of the package thereof, and storing existing laundry treatment agents in an availability database,

-retrieving data about the input laundry treatment agent from a further database, and/or

-ascertaining the current position of the laundry treatment appliance by the locating means and by retrieving from the database the local water hardness of the water provided by the local water supplier at that position.

According to one embodiment, the user may be given the possibility of making a choice between a plurality of suitable laundry treatment agent types. This provides greater flexibility to the user.

According to a further embodiment, the method may additionally comprise the steps of:

e) Recording the type of laundry treatment agent used and the amount of laundry treatment agent used and monitoring the inventory of laundry treatment agent present, and

f) A warning is output as soon as the amount of the existing laundry treatment agent type is below a threshold value.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a computer program product is provided, wherein the computer program product is configured such that: thus, when the computer program product is executed by a control unit (in particular a control unit of a multimedia technology device), the computer program product causes the control unit to execute the method steps a) to c) of the method described here. All advantages and features of the dosing container, the dosing aid system and the method can similarly be transferred to the computer program product and vice versa. The computer program product may in particular be provided as a computer program. The control unit, which may implement the method of the invention, may be any processing unit, such as a CPU (central processing unit) or a GPU (graphics processing unit). The control unit may be part of a cloud, a server and/or a multimedia technology device, in particular a computer, a mobile technology device such as for example a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, etc.

The invention also relates to a computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed by a suitable unit, cause the unit to carry out the method according to the invention. Such computer-readable media may be various digital storage media (e.g., hard disk, flash memory, servers, cloud or computer, CD-ROM, SSD cards, SD cards, DVD or USB disks or other memory sticks). In particular, the computer program product may be stored on a computer readable medium.

The features mentioned above and the individual embodiments can be combined with one another and the advantages associated with the individual features also apply to the combination of these features.

Drawings

Further advantages and features of the invention emerge from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the subject matter according to the invention with reference to the drawing. The following description is merely illustrative of the invention and should not be taken to be so: by which the appended claims are limited to one of these embodiments. The figures show:

figure 1 shows a dosing container according to one embodiment of the invention in a side view,

figure 2 shows a dosing container according to one embodiment of the invention in a top view from above,

figure 3 shows a dosing aid system according to one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 shows a dosing aid system according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, and

fig. 5 shows a schematic representation of the method according to the invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 and 2 show a dosing container 1 according to an embodiment of the invention in a side view and a top view from above. In this case, the dosing container 1 comprises a housing 2 and a gripping handle 4. The housing 2 constitutes a chamber 9 for receiving a laundry treatment agent. The housing 2 is open upwardly so that the laundry treatment agent can be introduced into the chamber 9 from above. Furthermore, the housing 2 is made of a material that is transparent, so that the filling level can be read out from the side when the laundry treatment agent is injected. In order to mark the filling level to be reached, the dosing container 1 comprises first display means 3 on the side wall of the housing 2 (or chamber 9). In this embodiment, three possible fill levels are displayed simultaneously by the three horizontal reticles of the first display means 3. The uppermost scale here indicates the filling level for heavily soiled laundry, the middle scale indicates the filling level for regularly soiled laundry, and the lowermost scale indicates the filling level for lightly soiled laundry. Furthermore, the markings can have different colors depending on the manner of the traffic light system, wherein the uppermost marking (for heavily soiled laundry) is red, the middle marking is yellow and the lowermost marking is green. The vertical position of the reticle can vary depending on the desired fill height. The required fill height depends, inter alia, on the washing program selected, the water hardness, the amount of laundry to be treated and/or the type of detergent. The colored markings can be produced by a plurality of LEDs, which when switched on each produce a colored marking in the desired position. A second display device 6 is arranged above the grip handle 4. In particular, the type of laundry treatment agent to be used can be displayed on this second display device 6. Optionally, further information (e.g. alternative laundry treatment agent types and/or further care instructions) may also be displayed on the second display device 6. Furthermore, the dosing container 1 comprises a communication device 5, by means of which communication device 5 the dosing container 1 can receive information about the filling level and the type of laundry treatment agent, in particular from the control unit 10.

Fig. 3 shows a dosing assistance system according to an embodiment of the invention. The dosing aid system comprises a laundry treatment appliance 7, a multimedia technology device 8 and a dosing container 1. The dosing container 1 may correspond in particular to the dosing container 1 shown in fig. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, the multimedia technology device 8 has the function of a control unit 10. The laundry treatment appliance 7 comprises a communication device 5, by means of which communication device 5 information (in particular program selection by the user, water hardness and/or water quantity determined by weight) is transmitted to the multimedia technology device 8. This information can be transmitted either directly (in particular via bluetooth) to the multimedia technology device 8 or indirectly (for example via a WLAN network or the internet) to the multimedia technology device 8. Optionally, instructions or information can also be transmitted to the laundry treatment appliance 7 by means of the multimedia device 8. For example, the user can initiate a washing process by means of the multimedia technology device 8 or can transmit parameters (such as program selection) to the laundry treatment appliance 7 by means of the multimedia technology device 8. With the aid of the transmitted information and possibly additional information (for example information about the existing laundry treatment agent inventory and/or information about the characteristics of the existing laundry treatment agent), the multimedia technology device 8 can now determine the filling level and/or the laundry treatment agent to be used and transmit it to the communication means 5 of the dosing container 1. The multimedia technology device 8 is configured in particular to: the packaging of the laundry treatment agent (especially the bar code or QR code on the packaging) is scanned to determine the existing inventory of laundry treatment agent. Furthermore, the multimedia device 8 can retrieve information about the laundry treatment agents available from the database. The dosing container 1 is in turn configured for displaying the delivered fill level and the laundry treatment agent by means of its display device.

Fig. 4 shows a dosing aid system according to an alternative embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the control unit 10 is integrated into the laundry treatment appliance 7. The fill level to be reached and the type of laundry treatment agent to be used are determined directly in the laundry treatment appliance 7 by means of the control unit 10 and are then transmitted to the communication device 5 of the dosing container 1 via the communication device 5 of the laundry treatment appliance 7 for display on the dosing container 1.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic representation of the method according to the invention. The first step 101 is a preliminary step in which the available laundry treatment agent is determined by scanning the packaging and in which the current position is determined by means of the locating means in order to adjust the water hardness at this position from the online database and to store it on the data memory. In a second step 102, information is collected by the control unit 10, wherein the information includes, among other things, program choices set for the laundry treatment process and/or includes water hardness and/or includes laundry amount. In a next step 103, the control unit 10 extracts from this information the filling level to be reached and the laundry treatment agent to be used of the dosing container 1. In a next step 104, the filling level and the laundry treatment agent to be used are conveyed to the dosing container 1 and finally displayed on the dosing container 1 in a step 105 by means of the first display device 3 and the second display device 6. Now, optionally, there may also be followed a step 106 in which the type of laundry treatment agent used and the amount of laundry treatment agent used therein are recorded, wherein the existing inventory of laundry treatment agent is monitored and, once the amount of the existing laundry treatment agent type is below a threshold value, a warning is output.

List of reference numerals

1. Dosing container

2. Shell body

3. First display device

4. Gripping handle

5. Communication device

6. Second display device

7. Washing article treating device

8. Multimedia technology device

9. Chamber

10. Control unit

101-106 method steps

Claims

1. A dosing container (1) for the adaptive dosing of laundry treatment agents,

wherein the dosing container (1) comprises:

-a housing (2) having a chamber (9) for receiving the laundry treatment agent,

-first display means (3) for displaying indicia on a side wall of the chamber (9),

wherein the markings indicate the respective filling levels to be reached in the chambers (9),

wherein the first display device (3) is integrated in particular into a side wall of the chamber (9), and

-communication means (5) for wirelessly communicating with a control unit (10),

wherein the communication device (5) is configured to: -receiving the filling level to be reached from the control unit (10) and causing the first display means (3) to display the filling level to be reached by means of the marking.

2. The dosing container (1) according to claim 1,

wherein the dosing container (1) comprises a second display device (6),

wherein the second display device (6) is configured to: showing the type of the laundry treatment agent,

wherein the second display device (6) comprises a display for displaying the laundry treatment agent types, or the second display device comprises a visually presented list of laundry treatment agent types and a light-emitting display for indicating each of the laundry treatment agent types of the list.

3. The dosing container (1) according to any one of the preceding claims,

wherein the first display device (3) is configured to: for different respective soiling levels of the laundry, different, in particular three, filling levels are simultaneously displayed by means of the marking.

4. A dosing aid system for the adaptive dosing of a laundry treatment agent to be fed into a laundry treatment appliance (7) for use during a laundry treatment process,

wherein the dosing assistance system comprises:

-a laundry treatment appliance (7), in particular a washing machine,

-a dosing container (1), in particular a dosing container (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the dosing container (1) comprises a chamber (9) for receiving the laundry treatment agent, and

-a control unit (10), wherein the control unit (10) is configured for finding and delivering to the dosing container (1) a filling level to be reached and a laundry treatment agent type to be used of the dosing container (1) based on the following parameters:

a program selection associated with the laundry treatment process,

the water hardness of the water used in the laundry treatment process, and/or

The amount of laundry to be treated during the laundry treatment process,

wherein the dosing container (1) is configured for: receiving and displaying the delivered fill level and the delivered laundry treatment agent type,

wherein the dosing container (1) is configured for: the filling level is indicated on the side wall of the chamber (9) by means of a marking.

5. The dosing assistance system of claim 4,

wherein the dosing assistance system comprises a multimedia technology device (8), in particular a smartphone or tablet computer, having a computer program product installed thereon,

wherein the computer program product is configured in such a way that, when it is implemented on the multimedia technology device (8), it causes the multimedia technology device (8) to have the functionality of the control unit (10).

6. The dosing assistance system of claim 4,

wherein the control unit (10) is part of the laundry treatment appliance (7).

7. The dosing assistance system according to any one of claims 4 to 6,

wherein the control unit (10) is configured to: the control unit is capable of detecting and storing the type of laundry treatment agent by scanning a package or a part of the package, in particular a bar code, a QR code, a label and/or a brand identification,

wherein the control unit (10) is configured to: the database of the availability of laundry treatment agents already at the user is set up by scanning packages of various laundry treatment agents.

8. The dosing assistance system of claim 7,

wherein the control unit (10) is configured to: data relating to the detected laundry treatment agent are obtained from a database and taken into account for determining the fill level and/or for determining the type of laundry treatment agent to be used in each laundry treatment process.

9. The dosing assistance system according to any one of claims 4 to 8,

wherein the control unit (10) comprises speech recognition,

wherein the control unit (10) is configured to: a voice input by the user regarding the type and/or quantity of laundry items to be washed is detected and used to determine the laundry quantity to be treated and/or the laundry treatment agent type during the laundry treatment process.

10. The dosing assistance system according to any one of claims 4 to 9,

wherein the control unit (10) comprises a positioning means for determining a current position,

wherein the control unit (10) is configured to: the local water hardness of the water provided by the local water supplier is found by calling from a database based on the current position of the control unit.

11. A method for the adaptive dosing of a laundry treatment agent to be supplied to a laundry treatment appliance (7) for use in a laundry treatment process,

wherein the method comprises the steps of:

a) Determining information by a control unit (10), wherein the information comprises:

-program selection in connection with the laundry treatment process,

-the water hardness of the water used in the laundry treatment process, and/or

-the amount of laundry to be treated during the laundry treatment process,

b) Determining a filling height to be reached of a dosing container (1), in particular a dosing container (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, and determining, by the control unit (10), a type of laundry treatment agent to be used on the basis of the information,

c) Delivering the determined filling level and type of laundry treatment agent to the dosing container (1),

d) Displaying the filling level and the type of laundry treatment agent on the dosing container (1), wherein the filling level is displayed by means of a marking on a side wall of a chamber (9) for receiving the laundry treatment agent.

12. A computer program product, wherein the computer program product is configured such that, when the computer program product is executed by a control unit (10), in particular a control unit (10) of a multimedia technology device (8), the computer program product causes the control unit (10) to execute the method steps a) to c) of the method according to claim 11.