EP0553058B1 - Dishwasher or washing machine with a dosing device - Google Patents

Abstract

In a dishwasher (2) or washing machine having a metering device (1, 1') for a liquid rinsing agent and a liquid or powdery cleaning agent, wherein each agent can be introduced separately into its own supply chamber (9) manually via an assigned filling aperture (6) of the meterer (3), at least the filling aperture (6) for the rinsing agent is provided with a filling guard (19). Said filling guard (19) prevents filling of the supply chamber of the rinsing agent meterer (3) with an unintended washing agent. The filling guard (19) can advantageously be combined with a filling aid (21; 22) which allows simple filling of the meterer, even when the appliance door (24) is partially opened. In a simple manner, the filling guard can be constructed as a strainer (20) which covers the filling aperture of the metering device and the filling aid can be constructed as a pivotable filling nozzle (22), the mesh width of the strainer (20) for the insert in the rinsing agent meterer (3) being designed in such a way that only liquid rinsing agent (13) is allowed through. As a result, interferences on the metering device and thus ensuing poor washing results are reliably avoided. <IMAGE>

Description

The subject matter of the invention relates to a dishwasher or washing machine with a metering device for a liquid detergent and with a further metering device for liquid or powder detergents, each metering device comprising a storage chamber for the detergent or cleaning agent assigned to it, which can be manually filled via a filling opening, and at least the filling opening of the dosing device for the washing-up liquid is provided with a filling protection which prevents the corresponding storage chamber from being filled with a washing-up or cleaning agent not intended for this storage chamber.

In the case of water-bearing household appliances, such as program-controlled dishwashers or washing machines, it is necessary for optimum dishwashing and spotless dishwashing or for a good washing result that a suitable cleaning and dishwashing detergent is added to the cleaning and rinsing liquid during the running process at specified times. For this purpose, the washing machine or dishwasher is equipped with a corresponding metering device for liquid or powder detergents or detergents and liquid fabric softener or rinse aid. According to this assignment, the construction or construction of the metering devices is different, i. This means that, for example, the rinse aid dispenser of a dishwasher designed for the low-viscosity rinse aid must not be filled with the more viscous liquid or powder detergent. This also applies to the metering devices used in the program-controlled washing machines, which can be filled with various liquid and / or powder additives, such as liquid detergent, washing powder or fabric softener, etc.

In a known dosing device described in EP-A-379 665 with storage containers with various liquid detergents and cleaning agents for treating laundry or dishes, each filling opening of a storage chamber of a dosing device is provided with a filling protection, which fills the corresponding storage chamber of the dosing device with a prevents unintended dishwashing detergent or cleaning agent. Filling the pantries the dosing device is usually carried out manually, for which purpose each dosing device has a corresponding filling opening for the detergent or cleaning agent intended for it. In this case, the filling protection is implemented by a cover which closes the filler neck of the metering device and has a locking mechanism which can be unlocked by an externally attachable key. This key does not fit any lid of the neighboring dispensers. The key is part of a transport container for the assigned active ingredient. Apart from the fact that the bottle-shaped large transport containers are unwieldy and complicate the filling process, there is a risk with such a filler protection that is only tailored to the design of the keys of the storage bottles that the wrong detergent or the wrong cleaner will get into the dispenser if the container is accidentally incorrectly filled . Furthermore, a key-operated filler protection is structurally very complex.

Another dosing device known from DE-A-38 31 745, in particular for dishwashers, is arranged on the inner door panel in the appliance door of the dishwasher in order to make it easier to operate and refill a rinse aid liquid and a liquid or powdery cleaning agent in a combined design. The storage chambers of the dosing device are filled manually and usually with the appliance door fully open. With this state of the art it is a problem that the rinse aid dispenser - although it is mentioned in the device instructions for use - is often mistakenly filled with the liquid detergent which is harmful to the dispenser or even with a detergent in powder form with the result that the dispensing device is defective and that Desired washing result is not necessarily achieved.

Starting from a dishwasher or washing machine with a metering device of the type mentioned with a filler protection, the object of the invention is to make the filler protection simpler and to optimize it so that the filling of a metering chamber with an unintended detergent or cleaning agent is excluded.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claim 1.

Advantageous further developments can be found in the subclaims.

The invention ensures that the filling of a dispenser with an unintended detergent or cleaning agent is excluded. This reliably prevents malfunctions and costly repairs to the dosing device and poor washing results. A filler protection is used, which is designed as a sieve covering the filler opening of the respective storage chamber of the metering device. This is a structurally simple measure, but it works optimally because the mesh size of the sieve is chosen so that only the detergent or cleaning agent intended for this pantry passes through the sieve. A further development of the invention is particularly advantageous and user-friendly if the filler protection is combined with a filler aid, in particular if the filler aid is designed as a filler neck which can be pivoted or inserted into the filler opening of the storage chamber of the metering device and which can be pivoted out or pulled out to fill the chamber is. If the filling aid according to the invention is assigned to the rinse aid dispenser, the rinse aid can be filled in or refilled without any problems even when the appliance door is not fully open, spilling rinse aid out of the question. This represents a significant simplification of the operator, in particular because the filling of the rinse aid dispenser, which usually takes a long time, can be carried out in an almost upright posture. In addition, filling aids, such as funnels or the like, which first have to be attached separately to the filler neck of the dosing device for filling, are no longer required. After one Another feature of the invention, the filler neck can be attached directly to the hinged lid of the dispenser. This allows the filling aid to be swiveled out in a manner suitable for the operator when the lid of the metering device is opened. In addition, the filling aid, which is expediently designed as a filler neck with the filling protection that ends at the end, also makes it easy to remove incorrect detergent or cleaning agent incorrectly filled in. The wrong detergent can be wiped out of the filler with the lid open or poured back into the bottle or detergent container.

The following description serves to explain the subject matter according to the invention, of which exemplary embodiments are shown in the drawings.

Figur 1

eine Geschirrspülmaschine mit einer manuell befüllbaren Dosiervorrichtung für ein flüssiges Klarspülmittel und ein flüssiges oder pulverförmiges Reinigungsmittel,

Figur 2

die Dosiervorrichtung mit einem Einfüllschutz,in der Draufsicht in Befüllstellung,

Figur 3

die Dosiervorrichtung nach der Erfindung im Teilausschnitt in der Draufsicht,

Figur 4

die Dosiereinrichtung nach Fig. 3 mit einem weiteren Ausführungsbeispiel für einen Einfüllschutz, im Längsschnitt nach der Linie IV-IV in vereinfachter Darstellung,

Figur 5

eine weitere Dosiereinrichtung für ein flüssiges Klarspülmittel und ein flüssiges oder pulverförmiges Reinigungsmittel in der Draufsicht,

Figur 6

die Dosiereinrichtung nach Fig. 5 in Befüllstellung, wobei der Einfüllschutz mit einer Einfüllhilfe kombiniert ist,

Figur 7

die weitere Dosiereinrichtung im Längsschnitt nach der Linie VII-VII gemäß Fig. 6 in Befüllstellung.

Show it:

Figure 1

a dishwasher with a manually fillable dosing device for a liquid rinse aid and a liquid or powder detergent,

Figure 2

the dosing device with a filling protection, in the top view in the filling position,

Figure 3

the dosing device according to the invention in partial section in plan view,

Figure 4

3 with a further embodiment for a filler protection, in longitudinal section along the line IV-IV in a simplified representation,

Figure 5

a further metering device for a liquid rinse aid and a liquid or powder detergent in a top view,

Figure 6

5 in the filling position, the filling protection being combined with a filling aid,

Figure 7

the further metering device in longitudinal section along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6 in the filling position.

A dosing device (1) of known design shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (see German laid-open publication 38 31 745) for a dishwasher (2) with a customary washing program with the program sections "pre-rinsing", "cleaning", "intermediate rinsing" and " "Rinse aid" is designed in a combination design and comprises a dosing device (3) for a liquid rinse aid (13) and a further dosing device (5) for liquid or powdery detergent housed in a common housing (4) with the rinse aid dispenser.

The metering devices (3, 5) have storage chambers (9, 10, 11) which can be filled manually via filler openings (6, 7, 8) for the rinse aid or cleaning agents assigned to them. For cleaning the dishes in the program sections "pre-rinse" and "cleaning", the detergent dosing device (dosing device (5)) has two storage chambers (10, 11) which can be filled with the intended cleaning agent before each washing process. According to the exemplary embodiment, the two chambers are preferably designed in a trough-like manner for receiving and dispensing a powdered dishwashing detergent to be added to the rinsing water in both quantities in the pre-rinse cycle and in the cleaning cycle, the filling of the storage chambers (10, 11) prior to dishwashing with the appliance door open ( 24) takes place. However, a liquid detergent or cleaning agent can also be metered into these storage chambers (10, 11), which then also comes into effect in the assigned program section "pre-rinse" or "cleaning". The filling opening (6) which is adjacent to the two storage chambers (10, 11) and which also fits into a storage chamber (9), see FIG. Fig. 4, opens, is used to fill or refill the rinse aid in the dosing device (3).

(14) denotes a hinged lid which can be opened by the machine program in the program section "cleaning" and which closes off the storage chamber (10) via a seal (15). The storage chamber (11) for the pre-rinse cycle, however, does not have such a lid, but could also be equipped with it. The rinse aid dispenser (dosing device 3) is also provided with a cover (16) which only tightly closes the filling opening (6) for the rinse aid (13) and thereby prevents rinsing water from entering the storage chamber (9) and diluting the rinse aid stored there . To fill the dosing device (3), the lid (16) is opened manually. Via one of the filling openings (6) adjacent rinse aid outlet opening (17), to which a corresponding outlet opening (18) is assigned in the cover (16), rinse aid (13) is added to the rinse water for dishwashing in a pre-set dosage amount by machine program in the program section "rinse aid". Outside the filler opening (6), which is tightly closed by the lid (16), the lid part covers the dosing device (3) so that a residual amount of rinse aid remaining below the lid (16) can be rinsed out completely after the dosing process and placed on the dishes. The liquid rinse aid (13), FIG. 4, which is to be filled into the storage chamber (9) of the metering device (3), is sufficient for several rinse programs and has a lower viscosity than the commercially available viscous detergents. The final rinse cycle is usually followed by a separate program section "drying", in which, thanks to the inherent heat of the dishes and the rinse aid (13) previously added in the final rinse cycle, spotless dish drying is achieved.

According to the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 2 and 3, the filling opening (6) of the metering device is to protect the metering device (1) and to avoid poor rinsing and cleaning results if an incorrect additive is used for rinsing or if the liquid or powdered detergent is mistakenly used as rinse aid (3) Provide a filler protection (19) for the rinse aid. This filling protection (19) reliably prevents the storage chamber (9) of the rinse aid dispenser from being filled with a detergent or cleaning agent not intended for this dispensing device (3). 2 shows a sieve (20) as filler protection (19), the sieve surface of which completely covers the filler opening (FIG. 3). In Fig. 2, the sieve surface is only partially drawn in to give a better view of the filler opening (6) of the rinse aid dispenser.

A sieve (20) represents a structurally simple design of a filler protection (19). The mesh size of the sieve (20) is selected so that only the detergent or cleaning agent intended for this storage chamber (9) - in this case liquid rinse aid ( 13) - the sieve (20) can pass. It is useful to adjust the mesh size of the sieve (20) to the viscosity of the intended rinse aid (13) so that the sieve (20) only lets the permissible agent through and is blocked for the more viscous or viscous detergents.

The aforementioned filler protection (19) also prevents the metering device (3) from being filled with a powdery cleaning agent if the mesh size of the sieve (20) is designed such that commercially available cleaners with the smallest grain size cannot pass through the sieve (20).

In particular, a protection of the sieve (20) according to FIG. 4 can be useful for protection against powdery detergents if, for example, a conventional metering device (1) according to FIG. 2 is used, which is used to fill up rinse aid (13) with a 6) step-shaped eccentrically offset inlet channel (21) is provided. With such a configuration of the filling opening (6), the sieve surface (20a) directly above the free inlet channel (21) could be closed and the rest of the sieve surface (20b) covering the offset step (22) could be designed with the appropriate mesh size. This design ensures that cleaner accidentally fallen through the sieve (20) does not get into the storage chamber (9), but is deposited below the filler protection (19) on the step (22). The detergent residues can be easily wiped out with the sieve (20) loose. A detachable filler protection (19) can be implemented by a sieve (20) which can be folded, swiveled or plugged in with the metering device (3).

FIG. 5 shows a top view of a further exemplary embodiment of the metering device (1 ') according to the invention for a liquid rinse aid and a liquid or powder detergent. In this metering device too, the filling openings (6 to 8) of the metering chambers (9 to 11) are each closed with a lid (14, 16) or the like, which can be opened manually or, if appropriate, by means of a machine program.

In a departure from the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, in this device the pivotable lid (16) for the rinse aid dispenser is to be opened opposite to the lid (14) of the storage chamber for the detergent. The cover (16) pivots according to FIG. 6 in the direction of the bottom edge of the appliance door and thereby favors the filling of the metering device (3) for the rinse aid (13) even when the appliance door (24) is partially open. Furthermore, the dosing device (1 ') according to FIG. 5 is equipped with a filling aid for the rinse aid described in more detail below, which is combined according to FIGS. 6 and 7 with the filling protection, which is preferably designed as a sieve (20). For the sake of a better overview, the same parts of the metering devices (1 and 1 ') are provided with the same reference symbols.

A filling nozzle (22) which can be swiveled into or inserted into the filling opening (6) of the storage chamber (9) of the metering device (3) and which can be swiveled out or pulled out to fill the chamber, is preferably provided as a filling aid and is preferably captively connected to the cover (16) (molded) and therefore can be moved together with the cover (16). When the cover (16) is designed as a hinged cover, the filling aid also carries out the pivoting movement. The filler protection (19), which is preferably designed as a sieve (20), is detachably arranged at the outlet end (23) of the filler neck (22). The filler neck (22) itself can be funnel-shaped, funnel-shaped or, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, preferably channel-shaped.

A trough-shaped design offers an optimal filling aid even when the appliance door (24) is only partially open, as is shown schematically by FIG. 7. Because, on the one hand, the view into the filling opening and the sieve (20) is not prevented during the filling process and, on the other hand, the bottle neck of the refill bottle (12) with the liquid detergent can be attached well to the dispenser so that no detergent is spilled. After the storage chamber (9) has been filled, the filler neck is pivoted into the metering device by closing the cover (16) and, as indicated in FIG. 7, is completely immersed in the chamber. The filler neck (22) is sealed off from the filler opening (6). When the lid (16) is closed, the entire filling opening (6) is sealed except for the rinse aid outlet opening (17).

It is also possible to use an immovable and e.g. B. directly with the filling opening (6) connected filling aid. The inlet channel (21), which continues at the filling opening (6) of the metering device (3) and has already been discussed in the first exemplary embodiment (FIG. 4), could advantageously be used for this purpose, which is used for attaching the rinse aid refill bottle (12). B. could be extended funnel-shaped.

The filler aid, which is expediently designed as a filler neck with the end-closing filler protection, also enables quick and easy removal of the wrong detergents or cleaning agents which have accidentally entered the filler neck (22; 21) but have not been passed through the sieve. The wrong product can be wiped out of the filler with the hinged lid open or returned to the bottle or detergent container.

As additional safety measures, the rinse aid outlet openings (17, 18) can also be provided with a filler protection (19). The filling protection combined with the filling aid can also be used for dosing devices in washing machines that can be filled with various additives, such as washing powder, liquid detergent, fabric softener, etc.

Claims (11)

1. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device (3) for its liquid rinsing medium (13) and an additional dozing device (5) for liquid or pulverulent detergents, each dozing device including a supply chamber (9, 10, 11) for the rinsing medium or detergent associated therewith, which chamber is manually fillable via a filler opening (6, 7, 8), and at least the filler opening of the dozing device for the rinsing medium being provided with a filler safety means (19), which prevents the appropriate supply chamber from being filled with a rinsing medium or detergent which is not intended for this supply chamber, characterised in that the filler safety means (19) is configured as a sieve (20), which covers the filler opening (6) of the dozing device (3) and has a mesh width which is so selected that only the rinsing medium or detergent intended for this supply chamber (9) can pass through the sieve (20).
2. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device according to claim 1, characterised in that the mesh width of the sieve (20) is adapted to the viscosity of the associated medium (e.g. clear rinsing medium 13) and is also only permeable to this medium.
3. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device according to claim 1, characterised in that the mesh width of the sieve (20) of the supply chamber for the liquid rinsing medium is smaller than the smallest granulation of the commercially available, pulverulent detergent.
4. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device according to claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the sieve surface (sieve faces 20a, 20b) of the filler safety means (19) is only partially permeable to the liquid medium (13).
5. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device according to claim 1, characterised in that the filler safety means (19) is combined with a filler aid (21; 22).
6. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device according to claim 5, characterised in that the inlet duct (21), which extends to the filler opening (6) of the dozing device (3), is configured as the filler aid.
7. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dozing device according to claim 5, characterised in that the filler aid is a filler tube (22), which can be pivoted or inserted into t6he filler opening (6) of the supply chamber (9) of the dosing device (3) or can be pivoted or drawn out of the chamber for the filling thereof.
8. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dosing device according to claim 7, wherein the filler openings of the dosing chambers are each sealed with a hinged lid or the like, which is to be opened manually or possibly by a machine programme, characterised in that the filler tube (22) is mounted on the hinged lid (16) or is pivotable therewith.
9. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dosing device according to one or more of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the sieve (20) is disposed on the outlet end (23) of the filler aid (22) or is possibly detachably disposed thereon.
10. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dosing device according to one or more of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the filler tube (22), which is combined with the sieve (20), is funnel-shaped, chute-shaped, groove-shaped or the like.
11. Dishwasher or washing machine having a dosing device according to one or more of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the outlet opening (e.g. clear rinsing medium outlet aperture 17, 18) of the dosing device for the liquid rinsing medium (e.g. clear rinsing medium dosing device 3) is also preferably provided with an appropriate filler safety means (19).

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