EP1605091A1

EP1605091A1 - Washing machine and deodorizing method

Info

Publication number: EP1605091A1
Application number: EP05250458A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hye Soon Yang; Hyung Gyoon Kim; Sang Yeon Pyo; Jae-Ryong Park; Seong Min Oak; Byoung Yull Yang
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2004-05-31
Filing date: 2005-01-28
Publication date: 2005-12-14
Also published as: JP2005342498A; KR20050114106A; CN1704518A; US20050262645A1

Abstract

A washing machine which removes offensive odour from laundry without a need to operate wash, rinse and/or dehydration modes and a method of deodorizing laundry. The washing machine includes a deodorizing tub (21) into which objects to be deodorized are placed, a duct (30) to communicate with the deodorizing tub (21) and to serve as a passage through which air containing odour particles, which are separated from the objects in the deodorizing tub (21) passes, and a deodorizing agent spray device (31a) to spray a deodorizing agent to separate the odour particles from the air passing through the duct (30). The method of deodorizing includes the separating odour particles from objects to be deodorized and removing the separated odour particles by dissolving the separated odour particles in water and then discharging the particles.

Description

The present invention relates to a washing machine comprising a tub, a drum having a plurality of holes therein rotatably mounted in the tub to receive laundry, a duct having an inlet and an outlet in communication with the inside of the tub, and means to drawn air from the tub into the duct and circulate it back into the tub. The invention also includes a method of deodorizing clothes in the washing machine.
A drum type washing machine washes laundry contained in a drum by rotating the drum and agitating the laundry in detergent and water. Compared to a conventional pulsator-type washing machine, this type of washing machine has a long washing time but reduces damage to the laundry and water consumption. As a result, the use of a drum type washing machine is increasingly common.
A conventional drum type washing machine has various modes such as wash, rinse, dehydration and dry which may be selectively combined. The removal of offensive odours such as the smell of food or tobacco from laundry using a conventional washing machine as described above, requires the use of a wash mode thereby causing the waste of electricity and water and requiring a long time to wash the laundry.
The present invention seeks to provide a system which overcomes or substantially alleviates the problems discussed above.
A drum type washing machine according to the present invention is characterised by a deodorizing agent spray head located in the duct for spraying deodorizing agent into air passing through the duct.
In a preferred embodiment, the means to draw air from the tub and into the duct and circulate it back into the tub comprises a fan mounted in the duct.
Preferably, the deodorizing agent outlet comprises a nozzle to spray the deodorizing agent into the duct in a mist form.
The drum type washing machine may include a heater in the duct to heat the air passing therethrough.
In one embodiment, the duct comprises two portions, a deodorizing duct in which the deodorizing nozzle is installed and a blowing duct in which the fan and heater are installed.
Advantageously, the inlet to the duct is located near the base of the tub and the outlet is located near the top of the tub.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a washing machine in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the washing machine; and
Figure 3 is a schematic view illustrating a deodorizing operation of the washing machine.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a washing machine according to the present invention comprises a housing 10 to define an external appearance of the washing machine, a door 11, installed on a front surface of the housing 10 so that laundry to be deodorized may be placed into the washing machine therethrough, and an operating unit 12 installed on the front surface of the housing 10 above the door 11 to control the operation of the washing machine.
A drum and tub arrangement 20 provided with a top surface that is opened toward the door 11 is placed in the housing 10. This arrangement has a double structure including a fixed tub 21 and a rotary drum 22 which serves as a deodorizing tub during a deodorizing process. Here, the rotary drum 22 is rotatably installed in the fixed tub 21 and is operated by a driving motor 41 installed on a rear surface of the tub 21. The drum 22 includes a plurality of through holes 22a formed through side and rear surfaces thereof so that the drum 22 communicates with the tub 21 through these holes and a plurality of lifters 22b installed on the inner circumference of the drum in a longitudinal direction to lift the laundry.
A water feed pipe 44 is installed above the upper surface of the tub 21 to supply water to the inside of the tub 21. One end of the water feed pipe 44 is connected to the rear surface of the housing 10 to receive water supplied from an external water supply source (not shown), and the other end of the water feed pipe 44 is connected to a detergent container 45 installed in the front surface of the housing 10. A water feed nozzle 46, to spray water to the inside of the drum 22 supplies water from the detergent container 45. A drain pipe 42 and a drain pump 43, to discharge the used water to the outside, are installed on the lower part of the tub 21.
A duct 30 to take air from the inside of the tub 21 and then recirculate it back into the tub 21 is formed on the outer circumference of the tub 21. The duct 30 is divided into a deodorizing duct 31, which is installed on the rear surface of the tub 21 in a longitudinal direction and communicates with a lower part of the rear surface of the tub 21, and a blowing duct 32, which communicates with the upper end of the deodorizing duct 31, extends along the upper surface and then communicates with the inside of the tub 21 at the upper part of the front surface of it.
A deodorizing agent nozzle 31a, to spray a deodorizing agent in mist form is located in the deodorizing duct 31 so as to remove particles of offensive odour that pass through the deodorizing duct 31. A conventional washing machine that provides a dehydration mode comprises a condensing duct to condense water in air of high temperature and high humidity emitted from the drum 20 during the dehydration mode, installed on a rear surface of a tub, and a condensation water nozzle to spray water to the air passing through the condensing duct. In an embodiment of the present invention, the deodorizing duct 31 and the deodorizing agent nozzle 31a may be incorporated as part of the conventional condensing duct and condensation water nozzle. As a result, the present invention may product a deodorizing effect on clothes without any additional components.
The blowing duct 32 is provided with a fan 32a to generate power so as to circulate air in the tub 21 and the duct 30 and a heater 32b to heat the air that is introduced into the tub 21.
A method of deodorizing laundry with the washing machine of the present invention will be described with reference to Figure 3 below.
Schematically, particles generating offensive odour, such as the smell of food, tobacco, etc., are first separated from objects that are permeated by the offensive odour. Then, the separated odour particles, together with air in the drum 20 are circulated through the deodorizing duct 31 and dissolved in the deodorizing agent. Subsequently, the deodorizing agent containing the odour particles dissolved therein is discharged out of the washing machine.
Methods to separate the odour particles from the objects to be deodorized are as follows. A first method involves mechanically agitating the objects to be deodorized. According to the first method, when the drum 22 containing the objects is rotated, the odour particles are separated from the objects by agitation, such as the frictional force between the objects or between the objects and the rotary tub 22 and the impact generated by the falling of the objects in the rotary tub 22. A second method involves applying heat to the objects to be deodorized. According to the second method, when the heater 32b is operated in conjunction with the operation of the fan 32b, a hot air draft heated by the heater 32b is supplied to the inside of the tub 21. The hot air draft contacts the objects to be deodorized and induces movement of the odour particles stuck to the objects so as to separate the odour particles from the objects. A third method is that odour particles permeating the objects to be deodorized are dissolved in water. According to the third method, when a small quantity of water in mist form is supplied to the inside of the drum 20 through the water feed nozzle 46, the odour particles stuck to the objects are dissolved in water and are then vaporized together with the water, thereby separating them from the objects. Combinations of the above three methods may be selectively used or combined so as to improve the deodorizing effect. Since the odour particles permeating the objects to be deodorized have different adhesive strengths to the objects based on the type of odour particle, in an embodiment of the invention, the above methods are suitably combined based on the adhesive strengths of the odour particles to the objects.
The odour particles separated from the objects by the above methods float in the drum 20. In order to prevent the separated odour particles from re-adhering to the objects, the separated odour particles are discharged to the outside of the drum 20.
For this reason, when the fan 32a is operated, air containing the odour particles in the tub 21 is circulated through the duct 30. Here, the deodorizing agent nozzle 31a is operated to spray the deodorizing agent into the deodorizing duct 31. Subsequently, the air ascending along the deodorizing duct 31 is mixed with the deodorizing agent causing the odour particles floating in the air to be dissolved in the deodorizing agent. Conventionally known liquid deodorizing agents may be used as the deodorizing agent. In this case, the washing machine may require an additional device to supply the deodorizing agent to the deodorizing agent nozzle 31a.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, water is used as the deodorizing agent, and the water that is supplied from a conventional water feed device may be sprayed into the deodorizing duct 31 through the deodorizing agent nozzle 31a without any deodorizing agent supply device. Generally, water is a comparatively effective solvent. For example, 53.5g of ammonia gas may be dissolved in 100g of water at room temperature. The odour particles in the air are dissolved in water, and are thus separated from the air. The water containing the odour particles is then discharged to the outside of the washing machine through the drain pipe 42 and drain pump 43.
Although the separation of the odour particles from the objects to be deodorized and the removal of the separated odour particles using the deodorizing agent were sequentially described in the above deodorizing process for convenience, the two operations may be substantially performed simultaneously.
As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a washing machine which removes particles of offensive odour from objects to be deodorized without a need to operate wash, rinse and/or dehydration modes, and a method of deodorizing clothes to reduce electricity and water consumption.
Further, the washing machine and the deodorizing method of the present invention prevent the deformation of laundry generated by washing.
Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to this embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents and the foregoing description should be regarded as a description of a preferred embodiment only.

Claims

A washing machine comprising a tub, a drum having a plurality of holes therein rotatably mounted in the tub to receive laundry, a duct having an inlet and an outlet in communication with the inside of the tub and means to draw air from the tub into the duct and circulate it back into the tub characterised by a deodorizing agent spray head located in the duct for spraying deodorizing agent into air passing through the duct.
A washing machine according to claim 1 wherein the means to draw air from the tub and into the duct and circulate it back into the tub comprises a fan mounted in the duct.
A washing machine according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the deodorising agent outlet comprises a nozzle to spray the deodorising agent into the duct in a mist form.
A washing machine according to any preceding claim comprising a heater in the duct to heat the air passing therethrough.
A washing machine according to any preceding claim wherein the duct comprises two portions, a deodorising duct in which the deodorising nozzle is installed and a blowing duct in which the fan and heater are installed.
A washing machine according to any preceding claim wherein the inlet to the duct is located near the base of the tub and the outlet is located near the top of the tub.
A method of controlling a washing machine to remove odours from laundry comprising a tub, a drum having a plurality of holes therein rotatably mounted in the tub to receive laundry, a duct having an inlet and an outlet in communication with the inside of the tub and means to draw air from the tub into the duct and circulate it back into the tub, wherein a deodorizing spray head is disposed in the duct and the method is characterised by the step of spraying deodorizing agent into the duct from the spray head to remove odours from the air passing through the duct.
A washing machine comprising a deodorizing tub into which objects to be deodorized are placed, a duct to communicate with the deodorizing tub and to serve as a passage through which air containing odour particles which are separated from the objects in the deodorizing tub passes and a deodorizing agent sprayer to spray a deodorizing agent to separate the odour particles from the air passing through the duct.
The washing machine according to claim 8 wherein the deodorizing agent sprayer includes a deodorizing agent nozzle to spray the deodorizing agent in mist form.
The washing machine according to claim 9 further comprising an air blast fan to generate power so as to circulate the air in the deodorizing tub into the duct and a heater to heat the air circulated into the duct.
The washing machine according to claim 10 wherein the duct comprises a deodorizing duct in which the deodorizing nozzle is installed and a blowing duct in which the air blast fan and the heater are installed.
The washing machine according to claim 10 further comprising a water feed nozzle to supply water in mist form to the objects contained in the deodorizing tub.
A method of deodorizing objects in a washing machine comprising separating odour particles from the objects to be deodorized and removing the separated odour particles by dissolving the separated odour particles in water and then discharging the particles.
The method according to claim 13 wherein the separating comprises at least one of supplying a hot draft to the objects to be deodorized, applying mechanical impacts to the objects to be deodorized or dissolving the odour particles in moisture that is supplied to the objects to be deodorized in a mist.
The method according to claim 13 wherein in the removing, air containing the separated odour particles in a drum is circulated into a deodorizing duct, and a deodorizing agent nozzle is operated to spray a deodorizing agent into the deodorizing duct when the air contaminated by the odour particles is circulated into the deodorizing duct.
The method according to claim 15 further comprising circulating purified air which is obtained by separating the odour particles therefrom in the deodorizing duct and again back into the drum.
The method according to claim 16 wherein the deodorizing agent containing the separated odour particles is discharged to the outside of the washing machine through a drain pipe.
The method according to claim 17 wherein water is used as the deodorizing agent.
A washing machine including a deodorizing tub having a fixed tub and a rotary tub into which objects to be deodorized are placed comprising a duct to communicate with the fixed tub through which air containing odour particles which are separated from the objects in the deodorizing tub passes and a deodorizing agent sprayer to spray a deodorizing agent to separate the odour particles from the air passing through the duct.
The washing machine according to claim 19 wherein the duct comprises a deodorizing duct having upper and lower ends in which the deodorizing nozzle is installed, the deodorizing duct being installed on a rear surface of the fixed tub in a longitudinal direction so as to communicate at a lower end thereof with a lower part of the rear surface of the fixed tub.
The washing machine according to claim 20 wherein the duct further comprises a blowing duct in which the fan and the heater are installed to communicate with an upper end of the deodorizing duct to extend along an upper surface of the fixed tub and to communicate with an interior of the deodorizing tub at an upper part of a front surface thereof.