EP0599110B1 - Washing machines and dish washers with an improved detergent dispenser - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to washing machines and dishwashers, particularly for the household, with an improved distributor in order to facilitate the filling and dosing of the cleaning agent in powder form and other substances in powder form which are used in these washing machines and dishwashers.

This invention applies to any washing and dishwashing machine, be it for crockery or for fabric parts, for which substances are used in powder form, but it is clear that the most advantageous application takes place in laundry washing machines. Therefore, in the course of the description reference is made to a front loading laundry washing machine, it being assumed that the described and claimed with the obvious expedient changes also apply to laundry washing machines for loading from above and for dishwashers.

Laundry washing machines with a drawer which can be pulled out from the outside are known, the drawer mentioned having a plurality of sub-compartments into which the washing powder and the other substances which are used in the various phases of the washing cycle are filled. The drawer is closed again after it has been filled and the washing cycle begins, which, between the various processes which take place by means of various circuits and devices which are not described in any more detail and which are known in the prior art, provides for a water jet to selectively trickle down over the sub-compartments mentioned, and these Substances in powder form are washed away and gravity-fed into the washing container.

The devices mentioned have undergone many improvements and changes over the years, which is evidenced by the large number of patents granted on this matter.

However, none of these improvements and patents have implemented solutions to solve a problem that manufacturers have been facing for a long time when they try to meet an increasingly clear market demand: This demand concerns the possibility of the substances mentioned, however, it is mainly the detergent that can be added in such quantities that it lasts not just for one but for several washing cycles, so that the machine is given complete functional independence for a longer period of time, thereby releasing the user from the substances mentioned each time to fill in.

When a single detergent filling, which is sufficient for numerous washing cycles, takes place, said filling being poured directly from the detergent container into a designated storage container of the machine, from which the detergent is dosed and removed by gravity into a funnel flows with a controlled volume, a permanent pressure arises inside this storage container, which has the effect that it causes or promotes the appearance of relatively hard and large lumps of detergent.

This occurrence of lump formation is based on three basic causes: the first reason is that these lumps already exist in the original container and are only transferred to the machine's storage container; the second reason is that the relatively large amount of detergent, which can also be stored for a long time, exerts pressure on the lower layers of the supply, which also causes the formation of lumps by the natural adhesion and compressibility of the washing powder; the third reason, which favors the two previously mentioned, is due to the increased moisture generated by the washing machine and slowly entering the storage container, which greatly increases the formation and hardening of the lumps.

When the detergent is dosed automatically one after the other, it is poured into the above-mentioned shaft, but existing hard lumps quickly block the above-mentioned shaft and therefore impede any kind of controlled removal of the detergent.

Furthermore, the filling process, which is carried out by the user, is currently subject to errors in the metering and in particular in the intentional overdosing, which occurs in the unclear belief that a larger amount of detergent results in better washing quality.

This is absolutely not correct, as any specialist in the field knows; However, this habit of adding a different amount of detergent than the optimal one recommended by the washing machine manufacturers or the detergent manufacturers has the double disadvantage that the increased amount of detergent increases the cost of the individual laundry without this being reflected in the washing quality, and also one larger amount of pollutants is emptied to the outside, with the obvious negative effects on the environment.

Conversely, if a smaller amount of detergent than the optimal dose is added, this results in laundry with insufficient detergent concentration, which may not be to the satisfaction of the user.

The generic US-A-25 98 227 is known. This document discloses a metering device for powdery substances, in which the powdery substances are stored in a storage container. The metering device has an agitator with which the powder is fed to a drum of a washing machine with the screw screw arranged at an outlet. With this agitator, lump formation, particularly in the edge area of the storage container, cannot be avoided.

It would therefore be desirable and the object of this invention to provide such a device that the drawbacks set forth above are eliminated, and which is reliable, economical and easy to manufacture with current techniques.

• die Figuren 1 und 1A schematisch einen Querschnitt einer erfindungsgemäßen Waschmaschine für Wäsche bzw. ein Detail von dieser in Vergrößerung zeigen,
• Fig. 1B eine Außenansicht dieser Waschmaschine zeigt,
• Fig. 2 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Details der Vorrichtung von Fig. 1 zeigt,
• Fig. 3 eine Variante der Vorrichtung von Fig. 2 zeigt,
• Fig. 4 ein Detail der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung perspektivisch von oben zeigt,
• die Figuren 5, 5A, 6, 7, 11 und 11A einige Alternativen der Fronteinfüllvorrichtungen für Waschmittel zeigen,
• Fig. 8 eine Verbesserung der gemäß dieser Erfindung ausgeführten Vorrichtung zeigt,
• die Figuren 9 und 10 schematisch zwei Schnittansichten von zwei erfindungsgemäßen Dosiervorrichtungen zeigen.

These and other objects are achieved with a type of detergent storage container, which is illustrated in the following description, given by way of non-limiting example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

• FIGS. 1 and 1A schematically show a cross section of a washing machine for laundry according to the invention or a detail of this in enlarged form,
• 1B shows an external view of this washing machine,
• Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a detail of the device of Figure 1,
• 3 shows a variant of the device of FIG. 2,
• 4 shows a detail of the device according to the invention in perspective from above,
• FIGS. 5, 5A, 6, 7, 11 and 11A show some alternatives of the front filling devices for detergents,
• 8 shows an improvement of the device made according to this invention,
• FIGS. 9 and 10 schematically show two sectional views of two metering devices according to the invention.

The figures show a section of a washing machine, consisting of a washing container 1, a work surface 2, a storage container 3 for washing powder, a lid 4 for said storage container, a funnel 5, which is arranged on the bottom of said storage container and is suitable by gravity to feed detergent dispenser 6 arranged below it.

The storage container 3 contains a plurality of movable elements 7 for crushing the lumps of detergent, the said movable elements preferably being wheels similar to the cutting wheels, each of which is cylindrical in shape and provided with a plurality of outer arms 8 and radial arms 9 which hold the said outer arms 8 and transfer the motion to it.

The said movable elements are preferably arranged with axes running parallel to one another and are paired with one another in such a way that their axes are at a distance from one another which is smaller than the length of the radial arms 9.

Therefore, in each pair of said moving elements, some outer arms 8 of one element penetrate into the shape circumscribed by the outer arms of the other element.

Said movable elements can rotate, and upon rotation the outer arms of each pair of elements engage in one another, engaging with one another like a pair of gearwheels which transmit the movement to one another, in such a way that all said movable elements move simultaneously and synchronously. The rotary movement is transmitted from a suitable drive device 10, which is arranged outside the storage container, to one of these movable elements, which also transfers the rotation to the others.

Said drive device can exist in different functional configurations: for example it can be an electric motor which is connected to the axis of a certain movable element which also transfers the rotary movement to the other movable elements; or it can also be an electric motor which acts on suitable gears which are connected to the axes of the said movable elements, which in this case move autonomously and are not carried along by a certain element; or it can also be a simple electric rotary actuator which acts with its adjusting arm on a gear wheel which is connected to one of the movable elements; or it can also be a device that is connected to other rotary components of the washing machine, such as. B. the rotary motor of the drum, and which transmits the rotary movement, possibly via suitable deflections, to an axis of a specific movable element.

Of course, the above-mentioned movable elements can take on a wide variety of shapes and arrangements if they are only able to perform their function effectively, which consists in stirring the lumps of detergent and thus to shred. You can e.g. B. have the form of rotating brushes in which the radial elements rotate in different planes so as not to interfere with each other, or they consist of real wheels 12 which are provided with a plurality of closed wings 13. In this case, of course, the torque required for their movement must be greater, but this can easily be achieved with suitable reduction gears between the drive device 10 and the axes of rotation of the said vanes.

For the smooth functioning of the entire device, it is of course of fundamental importance that the said movable elements are at least partially arranged in the vicinity of the inlet opening 14 of the funnel 5, as shown in FIG. 1A.

With regard to the filling of the detergent into the storage container mentioned, it is provided that a hinged lid 4 is provided in the working surface of the washing machine, through which the user can fill the washing powder into the storage container described.

A network with sufficiently narrow meshes or a stiff filter element 16 with sufficiently small holes is advantageously arranged in the area of the feed opening of the aforementioned storage container, so that when the detergent is filled in, the user himself intervenes and crushes possible lumps and crushes them into powder, which is therefore can easily pass through said filter element 16.

However, if the washing machine is to be built over with another body, for example with a tumble dryer, as is increasingly the case, the detergent can of course no longer be filled in from above.

In this case, there is a need to fill in from another side, preferably in the upper area of the front by means of a detergent drawer which differs from the conventional detergent drawers, since this new type of drawer is not intended to accommodate a single detergent filling. but should only form an access path for the powder in the storage container described above.

For this purpose, different embodiments of the drawer mentioned can be distinguished, and Figures 5, 5A, 6, 7, 11 and 11A represent its main features.

Figures 5 and 5A show a drawer with a handle 51 and a flat bottom 52, on which a structure 53 is arranged, which forms sub-compartments and is open at the top and bottom, said structure under the action of the horizontal pressure caused by a suitable element 54 is exerted, slides horizontally on said plane in order to penetrate over the storage container, and is held above suitable by drawer guides 55 which prevent it from falling down.

The method of operation is as follows: the user pulls out the drawer 52, which contains said sub-compartment construction, fills the washing powder into the sub-compartments and, by acting on said element 54, only presses the construction 53 and not the drawer inside. The sub-compartments, which are open on the floor, continue to reach the space above the storage container 3 and let the detergent drain into it, then the construction 54 is pulled out again and the procedure described can be repeated until the storage container is filled. 6 shows another way of filling the storage container: in this case, the drawer consists of several elements 61 which are shaped as sub-compartments, are telescopically connected and end at the handle 62. The user opens when the handle 62 is pulled out the various elements 61 up to their maximum capacity; the detergent is poured onto the container, which consists of all the above elements, and the handle is inserted. In this way, the elements are telescopically pushed into one another, their total internal volume being significantly reduced, and the amount of detergent reduced by this closing process is thereby poured into the storage container.

7 shows another version of a detergent filling device: In this figure, a handle 70 is connected in an articulated manner to an open fork 71 which holds a bellows 72, the lower edges of which close the vertical detergent supply opening 74. In this case, the user simply lifts the handle 70 mentioned, which in turn lifts the fork 71, which extends and takes the bellows 72 with it. The washing powder filled into the horizontal opening 75 slips on the bellows and falls through the vertical feed opening 74 into the storage container.

Such filling devices for multiple fillings of detergent can of course be designed in all possible configurations that are within the knowledge of the person skilled in the art in this field.

A particularly effective and functional of these variants is shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A; With reference to these figures, it should be noted that the filling compartment 110 for washing powder has an open bottom, but which can be closed by a plurality of adjoining bulkheads 111, which can rotate about respective horizontal axes. The aforementioned bulkheads are articulated on a single arm 112, to which a further inner bulkhead 113 is articulated, the rear end 114 of which is provided with mutually aligned and rotatable guide means, e.g. B. two small hooks 115 and 116.

The hooks mentioned are inserted in a fixed horizontal guide 117 which is arranged in the direction from front to back and ends in a downward curvature 118 at the rear. The spatial arrangement of the components is such that, when the drawer is opened, the bulkheads are rotated so that they lie essentially in the horizontal plane and thus together form a closed bottom of the drawer onto which the washing powder is filled .

When the drawer is pushed in, as shown in FIG. 11A, the said inner bulkhead 113 is pushed in like the others, and the two hooks 115 and 116 run in the guide 117 to their rear end. As soon as they reach the downward curvature 118, said hooks align themselves vertically under the action of pressure on the drawer on said curved part of the guide and thus align the associated bulkhead 113 vertically, which advances said arm 112 during the rotational movement which, through the articulated connections with which it is connected to the various bulkheads 111, causes them to rotate in parallel and synchronously, whereby they must lie in a substantially vertical plane.

In this vertical position, the above-mentioned bulkheads no longer hold the detergent, which therefore falls into the line 119 underneath, which leads the detergent into the washing container.

A useful improvement of the invention is to provide the user with the ability to be notified when the detergent fill is running low, ie when the reservoir needs to be refilled. This is particularly useful in view of the fact that after a certain period of use, the average user will no longer get the detergent into the machine every time they are washed to fill and therefore not knowing when this will end. The improvement is to provide a weight sensor located below and outside of the reservoir, as shown in FIG. 8.

In this figure it can be seen that the storage container 3 is supported by one or more springs 81 which rest on a support 82 which is fastened to the housing of the machine (not shown). The storage container is therefore not rigidly connected to the machine, but rather is inserted into a container or vertical guides 83 which allow it to move slightly vertically, depending on the opposing forces of its weight with the detergent filling contained therein and the upward thrust caused by the aforementioned Springs 81, which are compression springs.

An arm 88 is actuated beneath said storage container, which actuates a microswitch 85, whereby, after suitable adjustment of the various elements, the storage container rises more and more when it is emptied, until, when empty, it is raised to a point at which said arm 88 triggers microswitch 85.

Advantageously, this switch operates in two different ways: it turns on an outside light and / or audible indicator that warns the user that the reservoir is empty, and it operates the machine control circuit by disabling its operation until the Storage container is filled with detergent again.

The devices shown above can advantageously with dosing devices such. B. the device described in said patent; however, this type of device has the disadvantage that in the event of moisture penetrating into the detergent storage container the washing powder, which absorbs the said moisture, tends to clump and clog the passage downwards for this detergent to fall down.

A special type of metering device for the washing powder is therefore proposed which is significantly less susceptible to the ingress of moisture, the device mentioned being designed as described below with reference to FIG. 9: instead of feeding an opening below by falling, through which the detergent enters the washing container, the detergent storage container 3 feeds an underlying recess 90 which contains a screw 91 which can be rotated about a horizontal axis and whose outlet end 92 abuts an essentially vertical line 93. Said screw is rotated by a suitable small motor 94, the function of which can typically be controlled by the programming of the washing machine.

With this device, the possibly penetrating moisture does not prevent the powder, even if it is slightly moistened, from still being able to be fed into the washing container, since the metering and the separation of the powder are no longer effected by gravity but by the rotational movement of the coils of said screw takes place, which "cut off" the exact amount of powder required and at the same time, by separating it from the rest of the powder, feeds it into said line 93 and from there into the washing container.

A variant of the device just illustrated, to which FIG. 10 relates, is to replace the small motor 94 for driving the screw with a mill 100 which is driven by a water flow which flows from a suitable line 101 onto the blades the mill mentioned is directed, and wherein the rotary shaft of the mill, possibly via suitable gear, preferably reduction gear, is connected to the rotary shaft of the screw.

In this way one avoids having to use the motor 94, the function of which is carried out by the above-mentioned mill and the water flow which, since it must be of sufficient pressure, is easily taken from a drain of the main water supply line of the machine and not by a suitable one shown electro valve can be locked.

In this way, the amount of detergent to be added to each cycle depends on the number of rotations of the screw and thus on the number of rotations of the mill mentioned and ultimately on the amount of water used, which can be controlled by opening the aforementioned electrovalve for a suitable period of time .

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other solutions can easily be found using various ways of distributing and controlling the flow of water to operate the mill, depending on whether that flow is taken before or after the safety device.

It is understood that what has been described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings has been presented only as an example of the invention and that numerous variants and changes can be made without departing from the protected scope of the patent.

Claims (15)

1. Washing machine and dishwasher, in particular for domestic use, consisting of a washing container (1), a storage container (3) for washing powder, a dosing device (6) for this washing agent, in input aperture (14) in this dosing device, a duct, which connects this dosing device to said washing container, wherein the storage container (3) contains a plurality of doses of washing agent, which can deliver the necessary washing agent to the machine if a plurality of washing cycles are to be performed one after the other, and the washing agent is periodically mixed in said storage container by a plurality of moveable elements (7), characterised in that said moveable elements are disposed with their axes parallel to one another and engage in one another in such a manner that the shafts thereof are located at a distance from one another, which distance is less than the length of the radial arms (9), said moveable elements can rotate and in that, during the rotation, the outer arms (9) of each element pair engage in one another, wherein they transfer the movement to one another.
2. Washing machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that said moveable elements are formed by wheels (12), which are provided with a plurality of closed blades (13).
3. Washing machine according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said moveable elements (7) are actuated by an appropriate drive device (10).
4. Washing machine according to Claim 3, characterised in that said drive device (10) is a motor which is connected to the shaft of a given moveable element, or in that it is a motor which acts on appropriate gears, which gears are connected to the shafts of said moveable elements, or that it is an electrical rotary actuator, which acts on a toothed wheel with its setting arm, which wheel is connected to the shaft of one of the moveable elements.
5. Washing machine according to Claim 3 or Claim 4, characterised in that a reducing gear is disposed between said drive device (10) and said moveable elements (7).
6. Washing machine according to one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that a lid (4) which is capable of being swung open is provided in the working surface, through which lid said storage container (3) is accessible.
7. Washing machine according to Claim 6, characterised in that, in the vicinity of the supply aperture of said storage container, there is provided a grid or a filter element (16) with holes.
8. Washing machine according to one of Claim 1 to 7, characterised in that it is provided with a drawer, which is held in a suspended manner over said storage container (3) by means of appropriate drawer guides (55), and is provided with a handle (51) and with a flat base (52) on which there is disposed a construction (53) which slides horizontally on said plane, forms subcompartments, is open towards the bottom and towards the top and is provided with an element (54) which is appropriate for pushing said construction.
9. Washing machine according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that it is provided with a drawer, which consists of a plurality of elements (61), which are formed as subcompartments, are connected in a telescopelike manner and end in a handle (62).
10. Washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that it is provided with a handle (70), which is connected in an articulated manner to an open cradle (71), which cradle delimits the horizontal supply aperture (75) for washing agents and retains a concertina wall (72), which can be closed around the perpendicular washing agent supply aperture (74).
11. Washing machine according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that it is provided with a drawer (110) for introducing washing agent, which drawer has an open base but which can, however, be closed by means of a plurality of adjacent partitions (111) which can rotate about horizontal shafts in each case and which are connected in an articulated manner to a single arm (112), to which an inner partition (113) is also connected in an articulated manner, the rear end (114) of which is provided with guide means (115, 116) which are aligned with one another and are rotatable, wherein said means are installed in a horizontal guide (117) which is disposed in the direction from the front to the rear and ends at the rear in a curvature (118).
12. Washing machine according to one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the storage container (3) is supported by a plurality of springs (81) which bear on a support (82) which is secured on the casing of the machine, wherein said storage container is mounted in a container with perpendicular guides (83), the base of which forms a control surface of the position of said storage container, on which an arm (88) is mounted in an articulated manner, which arm actuates an appropriate switch (85) which can display the alterations of the position of said storage container at the exterior.
13. Washing machine according to one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the washing agent container (3) supplies a recess (90) located at the bottom, which recess contains a screw (91) which may be rotated about a horizontal axis and the outlet end (92) of which enters into a substantially perpendicular duct (93), wherein said screw is displaced in the direction of rotation by means of an appropriate motor (94), the function of which can be controlled by the programming of the washing machine.
14. Washing machine according to Claim 13, characterised in that the motor (94) for driving the screw is replaced by a mill (100), which is supplied with a flow of water, which originates from an appropriate duct (101), wherein said rotational shaft of the mill is connected to the rotational shaft of the screw, optionally via appropriate transmission means.
15. Washing machine according to Claim 14, characterised in that said duct (101) comes from a branch of the main water supply duct of the machine through an appropriate controllable locking valve for this duct.

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