EP0000942B1 - Water treatment device for a dish washer - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a water treatment device for a dishwasher, in which untreated water can be introduced on the one hand by a treatment agent in a treatment tank and on the other hand can be introduced into a brine tank for regenerating the treatment agent, a chamber unit of limited capacity and small thickness being attached to a wall of the dishwasher tank and has a vent on its top as anti-siphon protection. Water treatment is, for example, water softening, in which, according to the invention, a certain required amount of water treatment agent is regenerated depending on the nature of the water each time the machine runs.

Similar dishwashers with a small container for the water treatment agent are already known, e.g. B. for an ion exchange resin, in which a container for salt is also provided, which is used to form a brine solution, which in turn is used to regenerate the treatment agent. As part of the operating cycle of the machine, an amount of water is allowed to flow through the salt tank and the resulting brine flows through the water treatment agent to regenerate it, thereby preparing the agent for washing and rinsing in the machine. This typically takes place towards the end of the flushing, as a result of which the treatment agent is regenerated for the next operating cycle.

There are dishwashers with systems in which a number of tubes, hoses, etc., and connections are required to direct the flow of liquid through the various containers and into the machine. From FR-PS 2 336 031, however, a water treatment device of the type mentioned at the outset with a chamber unit of limited capacity and anti-siphon protection in the form of a vertically arranged free air gap is already known.

Most dishwashers must namely have an anti-siphon arrangement or an air interrupter arrangement, by means of which liquid in the machine, also called dirty water, cannot be drawn back into the water supply system. Such a situation, in which a negative pressure is created in the water supply network, can cause a pressure reversal in the entire system. Therefore, all water supply lines to the machine must be routed directly through such an anti-siphon connection.

A disadvantage of the water treatment device according to the French patent on the one hand is that a relatively large water pressure must be present at the top of the device in order to maintain the work functions. There are not only industrial areas within Europe but also residential areas where the water pressure is fairly low, e.g. B. is guaranteed solely by elevated tanks in the individual floors of the buildings. On the other hand, it is disadvantageous in the water treatment device of the known type that untreated water can flow directly into the washing tank of the dishwasher. To overcome the flow resistance in the exchanger of the water treatment device, in the known case a diffuser is used which is connected downstream of the air gap. It goes without saying that the uncontrolled circumvention of the exchange is undesirable.

The salting process in the known water treatment device of the French patent also has a disadvantage in that the same amount of raw water is always fed into a collecting container regardless of the water hardness degrees. If the water hardness is too low, too much salt can be used, and if the water hardness is very high, too little brine may be conducted from the brine tank to the treatment tank.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a simplified water treatment device of the type mentioned at the outset, while maintaining the free air gap as anti-siphon protection and avoiding excessive water losses, which works reliably regardless of the more or less high pressure in the raw water supply line.

This object is achieved in that a first chamber has an inlet from the treatment tank at its bottom and an outlet into the tank of the dishwasher near its bottom, a second chamber has an inlet near its top for receiving untreated water and an outlet at it Bottom to the treatment tank and a third chamber near its top has an inlet for receiving untreated water and near its bottom an outlet to the brine tank and that the second and third chambers have overflow openings into the first chamber below the vent.

In the new water treatment device that can be installed in a dishwasher, untreated water is treated with a treatment agent, e.g. B. an ion exchanger, introduced into a treatment tank during the washing processes, and water is supplied to regenerate the treatment agent at the end of the rinse in a brine tank. Through further developments of the invention it is possible to provide a water treatment system with which the smallest salt consumption (NaCI) can be achieved by adapting to the different types of water supply to which the machines can be connected. In different geographical areas, the water available can have different impurities (or different amounts of impurities). For example, the water can have a higher concentration of substances, dissolved salts of calcium and / or magnesium, which produce a "hard" water. Therefore, the water treatment requirements of the system may vary for any given installation.

In an advantageous further embodiment of the invention, it is expedient if a deflector is provided at the top of the third chamber for introducing a portion of the incoming untreated water into the third chamber and via the overflow into the first chamber, preferably the deflector for changing the through the third chamber to the amount of water flowing to the brine tank is adjustable. This allows the system to be advantageously adapted to the special conditions of the particular machine installation.

A preferred further embodiment of the invention is characterized in that a control is provided which consists of a valve controlled by a timer which regulates the amount of untreated water flowing through the inlet to the chambers, and that the deflector for changing the actually by the third chamber to the brine tank portion of the regulated flow is effective. This creates a simple setting system with which the amount of untreated water available to form a brine for regeneration is always supplied with a simple, timer-controlled valve arrangement. This amount of water can be partly led to the salt container and partly to the drain or to the sewer line connection of the machine. The measures of the invention provide a simple deflection mechanism, which can be adjusted by a technician or even by the user of the machine, so that the amount of water diverted from the salt container is changed in order to directly control the amount of brine produced which flows through the water treatment agent to control during the regeneration process.

The brine used to regenerate the water treatment agent is a corrosive substance, especially if it is allowed to evaporate on metal surfaces. There is experience with corrosion damage to various metal dishwasher containers, where the brine used for the regeneration is not rinsed off from the tank surfaces everywhere. The above measures ensure, however, that this brine is only fed into the dishwasher container when the water is rinsed.

The aforementioned chamber with a small thickness can be attached to the wall of the dishwasher container and z. B. made of molded plastic. In another arrangement, the chamber is formed from plastic sheet parts that are heated, vacuum formed into the desired shapes, and connected. The chamber part has such a small thickness that it fits into the space between the wall of the dishwasher container and the surrounding cabinet. Therefore, the chamber part does not protrude into the areas surrounding the machine and thus does not increase the standard size of the machine, which in practice remains within certain industrially guaranteed dimensions.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is also given when a rocker is arranged below the end of the filling line for untreated or filling water and above a partition between the washing chamber and a passage such that the filling water directly to the washing chamber and in one position of the rocker in the other position of the rocker, the fill water is first passed through the softener and then to the wash chamber. This is achieved according to the invention in that a controllable rocker for deflecting untreated water is arranged above the partition between the one passage and the washing chamber, directly or via the tank with the softening agent into the washing chamber. In this way, the untreated water supplied can be fed directly into the washing chamber without passing through the softener in one position, while the untreated water can be fed to the tank with the softening agent in the other position of the rocker.

• Fig. 1 ein Wasserbehandlungssystem, wobei das Kammerteil im Querschnitt gezeigt ist, um die verschiedenen Kammern darin darzustellen, wobei die Behälter, Ventile und die anderen Installationsverbindungen schematisch gezeigt sind,
• Fig. 2 das an der Seitenwand des Behälters der Geschirrspüimaschine angebrachte Kammerteil,
• Fig. 3 und 4 in vergrößertem Maßstab Einzelheiten der einstellbaren Strömungsproportioniervorrichtung für das Wasserbehandlungssystem und

Further advantages, features and possible applications of the invention result from the following description in connection with the drawings. It shows

• 1 is a water treatment system with the chamber part shown in cross-section to show the various chambers therein, with the tanks, valves and other installation connections shown schematically;
• 2 shows the chamber part attached to the side wall of the container of the dishwasher,
• 3 and 4 on an enlarged scale details of the adjustable flow proportioning device for the water treatment system and

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the water treatment system, in which a rocker is arranged so that the untreated or fill water in one position directly into the washing chamber and in its other position only over the softener and then in the Wash chamber can be initiated.

1 and 2, the chamber part is designated 10. It can be formed from two molded plastic parts, which are generally symmetrical and are attached by a suitable binder or a heat seal assembly. The part can also be made by blowing. The chamber portion 10 is provided with an outlet port 14 which passes through an opening in the container wall 12 of the dishwasher, and a threaded fastener 15 is attached to the port on the inside of the container wall which secures the chamber portion. Another fastening device 15 is located near the top of the chamber part, which comprises the adjusting parts of the deflection device, which will be described below. The supply of untreated water is shown by line 20, which is divided into two supply lines 21 and 22, in which electrically operated valves 23 and 24 are arranged. The chamber part is provided on its upper side with a vent opening 25 which is common to all compartments in the chamber part 10 and which provides the necessary anti-siphon arrangement. The part 10 is provided with a first or inlet passage 26 which leads from the floor in connection with the valve 23 to the top of the part 10 and via a partition 27. Untreated water fills the passageway 26 up to the partition 27, and when the valve 23 is opened, water falls through another passageway 28 referred to as the second chamber to the bottom of the part 10 and through a connecting pipe 30 into the outer tank 32 which contains the water treatment agent contains.

The treated water thus flows through an inlet 33 into the bottom of a chamber 35, which is separated from the passage 28 by a vertically extending partition 36, and then through the outlet port 14, through which the treated water enters the tank of the dishwasher. The partition 36 extends near the top of the chamber portion to below the partition 27. In the event that the flow through the tank 32 should be stopped for some reason, untreated water flowing in can fill the passage 28 and over the top of the partition 36 flow over and thus flow directly to the outlet port 14. This overflow is of course located under the vent opening 25, so that the anti-siphon arrangement is also effective under this condition.

On the other side of the chamber part 10 there is a second inlet passage 40 which is connected from the bottom to the valve 24 and the line 22. The passage 40 also extends to the top of the chamber part 10. It is separated by the partition 41 from a further chamber 45, and a further partition 46 separates the chambers 35 and 45. Under operating conditions, the passage 40 is filled to the top with previously supplied water . During the regeneration phase of the operational cycle, a fixed amount of untreated water is introduced through the opening valve 24 for a predetermined time. If e.g. B. the valve 24 allows a flow of between 5 and 6 per minute, an amount of 0.6 to 0.71 water is allowed by opening the valve for about 7 seconds. This water flows through the passage 40 into an area 48 above the chamber 45 and directly over the upper end of the partition wall 46, on which a short wall 50 is attached.

An adjustable deflecting part 52 is attached in this area. It has a first vane section 54, also shown in FIG. 4, which cuts or traverses the flow of water from passageway 40 depending on the position of the baffle, and creates the possibility that some of the flow will fall into chamber 45. The other part of this flow is directed over the deflecting part 52 and over its guide vane 55 and falls directly into the chamber 35 and from there to the outlet connection 14. Although the valve 24 is open for a certain amount of time for the passage of a certain amount of untreated water, it flows depending on the set position of the deflecting part 52 more or less this amount of water into the chamber 45, depending on the position of the deflector 52nd

The bottom of chamber 45 is connected by pipe 57 to saline tank 58, which contains a lot of salt. The resulting brine, which is formed from the untreated water, is allowed to flow into the treatment tank 32 through a pipe 59 and a check valve 60 to regenerate the treatment agent. This washing of the treating agent will result in a flow through line 33 to the bottom of chamber 35, but the amount of brine flowing is so small that there is no brine overflow through outlet port 14. The brine essentially remains in the tank 32 until another wash cycle of the machine. Then the valve 23 is opened for a while to pass untreated water through the passages 26 and 28 and the brine out of the tank 32 and through the connection 14 in to force the dishwasher tank into it. The dishwasher (not shown) drain is held open at this moment and the brine flows out of the machine. The spent brine flow is followed by treated water which passes through the regenerated agent, and the drain is then closed to fill the dishwasher tank to begin the wash cycle. Any small amount of brine remaining in the tank is thus instantly diluted and washed off the tank wall, causing corrosion is avoided.

It should be noted that the deflector is also provided with a blade part 62 which extends from the blade 55 on the opposite side of the wall 50.

If any passage is blocked, beginning with line 57, water accumulating in chamber 45 may flow into chamber 35 through wall 50 and then exit through the outlet port. Water in the passage 28 and in the chambers 35 and 45 should not be above the level 14a in the long term. Continued connection of the top of the chamber 45 to the vent 25 causes the pressure on the brine tank 58 to be only the pressure of the amount of water that accumulates in the chamber 45 during the opening of the valve 24.

3 and 4 illustrate details of the deflecting part and its position. The deflector has a cylindrical base 64 which receives the end of a molded or cast plastic cylinder 65, these two parts being held together by a suitable screw 66. A stationary cylinder member 68 is fitted through an opening in the top of the partition 12 (Fig. 2) and is held in place by the threaded fastener 15. This also fixes the upper end of the chamber part 10.

The outer end of the cylinder 65 has a flange 70 which engages a sealing ring 71 to prevent water from leaking into the dishwasher tank at this point. On the surface of the flange there is a notch 72 which provides a display with which a series of display notches 73 cooperate on the part 68, whereby the user has an indication of the position of the deflection part 52.

5 is constructed essentially the same as shown in FIG. 1, so that comparable parts are provided with the same reference numerals but with an apostrophe and are not described again.

Untreated water or filling water flows through the filling valve 23 'through the line 26' via the rocker 3 in line 4 directly into the chamber 35 '. In position 1 shown there is no softening of the untreated or fill water. The rocker 3 is brought via a rod 6 by a spring 5 into position 11, in which the fill water is passed through the softening tank 32 '. The pushing down of the rod 6 into the position I, in which the filling water is passed directly to the washing chamber via the chamber 35 ', is carried out either by a current-operated bimetal 7 or can be controlled mechanically directly by the timer. The device shown in FIG. 5 provides a device with which it is possible to redirect the filling water directly to chamber 35 'or only to chamber 35' via softener 32 'by means of a simple rocker 3.

Claims (5)

1. A water treatment device for a dishwashing machine in which untreated water on the one hand can be passed through a treatment agent in a treatment tank (32) and on the other hand can be passed into a brine tank (58) for regeneration of the treatment agent, wherein a chamber unit (10) of limited capacity and small thickness is mounted to a wall (12) of the dishwasher tank, and at its top has a vent opening (25) as anti-syphoning means, characterised in that a first chamber (35) is provided at its bottom with an inlet (33) from the treatment tank (32) and in the vicinity of its bottom is provided with an outlet (14) into the tank of the dishwashing machine, a second chamber (28) is provided with an inlet adjacent its top for receiving untreated water and an outlet at its bottom to the treatment tank (32), and an third chamber (45) is provided adjacent its top with an inlet for receiving untreated water and adjacent its bottom with an outlet to the brine tank (58), and that the second and third chambers (28, 45) have overflow openings into the first chamber (35) below the vent opening (25).

2. A water treatment device according to claim 1 characterised in that a deflection means (52) is provided at the top at the third chamber (45), for passing a part of the incoming untreated water insto the third chamber (35) and by way of the overflow into the first chamber (35).

3. A water treatment device according to claim 2 characterised in that the deflection means (52) is variable for varying the flow of water through the third chamber (45) to the brine tank (58).

4. A water treatment device according to claim 3 characterised in that there is provided a control means comprising a valve (24) which is controlled by a timer and which regulates the amount of untreated water which flows through the inlet to the chambers (35 and 45), and that the deflection means (52) is operative for varying the proportion of the regulated flow which actually passes through the third chamber (45) to the brine tank (58).

5. A water treatment device according to one of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that a controllable rocking member (3) is arranged above the partitioning wall (36') between the duct means (28') and the washing chamber (35'), for deflecting untreated water into the washing chamber (35) directly or by way of the tank (32') containing the softening agent.

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