EP2072660A1 - Household device for caring for pieces of laundry and method for removing fluff - Google Patents

Abstract

The appliance i.e. condensing dryer (I), has a drum (2) for accepting items (1) of washing, and a process air supply through which an air stream is directed to the drum. A mesh filter (8) is provided for separation of lint (9) from the cooling air stream. A lint remover removes lint, which is collected outside the process air supply on the mesh filter. A rinser washes lint from the mesh filter with rinsing fluid, where the rinsing fluid comprises a condensate. A squeegee (14) collects lint at an edge (18) of the mesh filter outside the process air supply. An independent claim is also included for a method for removing lint from a mesh filter.

Description

The invention relates to a household appliance for the care of laundry, with a process air guide, through which an air flow through a drum for receiving the laundry can be conducted and which comprises a screen for the separation of lint from the air flow, and with a device for removing the lint from the screen , Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for removing lint, which are collected on a screen arranged in a process guide of a domestic appliance for the care of laundry items and removed by a device for removing lint from the screen.

From the scriptures EP 1 788 140 A1 . EP 1 788 141 A2 and EP 1 788 141 A2 a device for drying laundry by means of an air flow is known. In the dryer, a sieve for filtering lint from an air flow of the process air guide is arranged in the region of a bearing plate. By means of a doctor blade, the lint collected in the process air duct on the screen is stripped off the screen fabric of the lint filter and stored in a container arranged adjacent to the doctor blade and to the screen. However, this container is relatively small due to the space available in the area of the squeegee. It can be used to collect lint from about 7 to 10 drying processes. Since the lint is stored in the dry state, they occupy a relatively large volume. On the one hand, the accessibility to the collecting container is restricted in these dryers, and on the other hand, the collecting volume is limited by its arrangement in a space-limited zone of the dryer, resulting in a relatively frequent maintenance interval for disposal of the lint from the container.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a domestic appliance for the care of laundry items and a method for removing lint from a sieve of the domestic appliance, which on the one hand allows improved lint removal and on the other increases the intervals for disposal of the collected lint.

This object is achieved by a domestic appliance having the features of claim 1, and a method having the features of claim 11.

An inventive domestic appliance for the care of items of laundry comprises a process air guide, through which a stream of air through a drum of the household appliance, in which the laundry items to be treated are introduced, can be conducted. In addition, the domestic appliance comprises a sieve associated with the process air guide for separating or filtering lint from the air flow, and moreover has a device for removing the lint from the sieve. This lint removing device is specifically designed so that lint collected on the screen outside the process air duct or outside the air stream can be removed. The device for removing lint comprises a rinsing device with which these lintings arranged outside the process air guide or lint outside the air flow can be rinsed off the screen by means of rinsing liquid. By this configuration, the lint removal can be improved by the sieve.

Preferably, the domestic appliance comprises a doctor blade by means of which the lint collected on the sieve in the process air guide can be removed. Preferably, the lint is collected by pressing the blade edge on the screen outside the process air duct. The squeegee is thus designed to be provided for the removal of the lint from the wire whereby only a portion of the lint can be removed by the operation of the squeegee. Another part of the lint is conveyed to the edge of the screen outside the process air duct, in particular by the squeegee, where it remains suspended on the wire. It is precisely these fluff adhering to the edge of the screen that can be removed by the device for removing lint by flushing with the flushing fluid. The household appliance thus preferably comprises the device for removing the lint and the doctor blade formed separately therefrom. Thus, the lint located locally on the wire or the lint delivered thereon can be effectively removed.

The doctor can, for example, according to the embodiment in the EP 1 788 141 A2 be designed as a push band. However, other embodiments of a squeegee are possible.

It is particularly preferred that the rinsing liquid of the rinsing device is a condensate accumulated during operation of the domestic appliance. A waste product of the household appliance can thus be used appropriately.

Preferably, the lint removed by the rinsing liquid can be conducted into a bottom group of the household appliance. In particular, a collection container is arranged in the bottom group, which is designed to receive the rinsing liquid loaded with lint and to filter the lint from the rinsing liquid. This is a particularly advantageous embodiment, since usually more space for the collecting container is available in the bottom group. This allows it to be made larger, resulting in longer maintenance intervals with regard to the removal of the lint. Particularly advantageously, the lint is thus not stored or not only in the area of the doctor blade, but transported by purging with condensed water in the area of the floor group.

In principle, the removal of the locally specifically deposited lint with rinsing liquid also has the advantage that, due to the moistening of the lint, they have a significantly lower volume than dry lint and collected lint.

By arranging a collecting container in the bottom group and collecting the lint removed with the rinsing liquid from the sieve into this collecting container, improved accessibility for a user of the domestic appliance for disposing of the lint can also be achieved.

It is particularly preferred that the collecting container has an outlet through which the lint-filtered rinsing liquid can be diverted from the collecting container. Thus, it is automatically possible to generate the removal of the lint from the rinsing liquid and to automatically generate the rinsing liquid from the collecting container. In particular, the lint-filtered rinsing liquid can be diverted from the collecting container into the floor group. In this regard, a relatively large volume for receiving condensate and rinsing liquid is available, which can then preferably be pumped off via a pump. In this context, a pumping out of the domestic appliance can be provided in a trap or siphon and thus the liquid in an external to the domestic appliance Wastewater disposal network are derived. However, it can also be provided that the condensate and the rinsing liquid are pumped into a specially designated container, which can be removed by a user of the domestic appliance to dispose of the liquid collected therein in a sink or the like.

Preferably, the collecting container arranged in the floor assembly is non-destructively detachable and thus arranged reversibly releasably in the floor assembly. This allows easy removal for disposal of the lint from the sump.

It is particularly advantageous if the collecting container has a filter device for filtering the lint from the rinsing liquid, which is arranged detachably in or on the collecting container and is permeable to the rinsing liquid. In such an embodiment, it is then no longer necessary that the entire collection container must be removed from the domestic appliance, but it is sufficient to remove the filter device. It is particularly advantageous in this context that the filter device can be disposed of in a simple and environmentally friendly manner with the filtered lint and a new filter device can be used in the collecting container in a simple and low-effort manner. In this context, a lint bag may be provided, which is flexible and, for example, similar to the principle of a coffee filter or tea filter works. Another advantage of such a design with a removable filter device and the collecting container is the fact that a user of the household appliance then does not have to touch the collected lint directly to be able to dispose of them from the sump. This therefore has hygienic advantages.

The removal of the lint from the collecting container arranged in the bottom group thus takes place in particular manually.

Due to the advantageous embodiment of the collecting container and / or its arrangement in the floor assembly and the associated larger dimensions, maintenance intervals allows disposal of these lint, which allows a significantly larger number of drying processes without emptying the lint, as are guaranteed in the prior art can. Maintenance intervals at a regular Operation of the household appliance in this context can be extended to one to six months.

In a method according to the invention for removing lint, these are collected at a sieve arranged in regions in a process air duct of a domestic appliance for the care of laundry items. The lint is removed from the screen by a lint removal device. With this device, the lint collected outside the process air duct on the screen is removed by a flushing device associated with the device by passing a rinsing liquid to the specific area of the screen and rinsing the lint from the screen.

Preferably, the lint, which are removed by the device, collected by the operation of a doctor blade, which is provided as an additional unit for removing the lint to the device in the household appliance, the edge of the screen outside the process air duct or the air flow. In principle, the lint collected in the sieve in the process air guide is thus removed from the sieve by the doctor, in which process additionally lint is deposited on the edge of the sieve. In order to remove these, the device is provided, which removes the lint attached there separately to the doctor blade by means of the rinsing of these peripheral regions of the sieve.

Preferably, the rinsing liquid loaded with lint washed down by the sieve is conducted into a bottom group of the domestic appliance. In particular, the rinsing liquid loaded with lint is conducted in a collecting container arranged in the bottom group, by filtering the lint out of the rinsing liquid. Just by this local arrangement of the collecting container this can be made larger in terms of volume due to the larger space in the floor assembly, so that it can accommodate a larger amount of lint. The maintenance intervals for disposing of the lint from the collecting container can be substantially extended. By being moist by the rinse liquid, the lint also has a much smaller volume than if it were disposed of dry and collected. Also, this can be increased in the collecting container to be collected amount of lint.

Preferably, the lint-filtered rinsing liquid is discharged through an outlet in the collecting container, in particular diverted into the bottom group. The filtering out of the rinsing liquid thus takes place automatically, wherein, moreover, a preferred automatic discharge of the rinsing liquid cleaned by the lint can also take place. In particular, the lint is filtered in a filter device of the collecting container from the rinsing liquid, which can be released from the collecting container and is permeable to the rinsing liquid.

Advantageous embodiments of the domestic appliance according to the invention are to be regarded as advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a schematic drawing. The single FIGURE shows a schematic sectional view of a domestic appliance according to the invention.

The domestic appliance for the care of items of laundry as shown in the figure is designed as a condensation dryer I.

The condensation dryer I comprises a drum 2, which is designed to receive laundry items 1 to be dried. The drum 2 is rotatably mounted about a horizontal axis 3.

In addition, the condensation dryer I comprises a process air guide, which is designed as a closed process air cycle. The process air guide comprises a falling section 4, which merges into a horizontal section 5, which again enters a rising section 6. The guided in the process air flow air flow P is guided in the duct system 4, 5, 6 of the process air duct, wherein the falling section 4 extends partially in a bearing plate 7 of the condensation dryer 1.

In the exemplary embodiment, a sieve 8 is positioned in the falling section 4 of the process air guide, which is arranged in the end shield 7. With the sieve 8 lint 9 contained in the air flow P are screened.

The lint 9 are snatched out of the laundry items 1 through the drum 2 when flowing through the air flow P and are filtered out by the sieve 8 by flowing in the direction of the arrow display in the process air. The lint 9 remain hanging essentially in the process air in the sieve 8.

In the following on the section 4 horizontal section 5, a heat exchanger 10 is provided, in which the air flow P is cooled to the condensation of the entrained water vapor. Condensed water is known per se and in Fig. 1 not shown means separated from the air flow P and disposed of. The condensation of the water from the air flow P can also be done elsewhere. In this context, the embodiment with the one heat exchanger 10 is merely exemplary. The condensation dryer I may also comprise a heat pumping circuit comprising an evaporator and a condenser, which are connected via a working medium circuit in which a refrigerant is conducted. In the working medium circuit, a compressor and a throttle are then preferably arranged so that the refrigerant can on the one hand be compressed and evaporated and on the other hand can be expanded and liquefied. By means of such a heat pump circuit, the moisture flowing out of the drum 2 can on the one hand be removed from the moisture by cooling and, on the other hand, the air stream P flowing into the drum 2 can be heated.

In the exemplary embodiment, a fan 11, which generates the circulation of the air flow P, is furthermore arranged in the process air duct. Furthermore, in the rising section 6 of the process air guide, a heating device 12 is arranged in the exemplary embodiment, through which the air flow P is reheated before it enters the drum 2.

The end shield 7 forms on the one hand a support structure for a front side of the condensation dryer I and a front support for the drum 2, and on the other hand carries a door 13 for closing the drum 2 and for closing a feed opening of the drum second

The condensation dryer I further comprises a symbolically illustrated doctor blade 14 which is designed to remove the lint 9 from the wire 8 in the region of the process air guide.

Upon actuation of the squeegee 14, the lint adhering to the wire 8 in the process air guide is stripped and removed from the wire 8. However, by this operation, it also happens that lint 9 attach to an edge 18 of the screen 8 and are transported by the squeegee 14 there.

In order to be able to remove this lint 9 adhering to the screen 8 at the edge 18 outside the process air guide or outside the air flow P, the condensation dryer I comprises a device 15. The device 15 is thus formed separately and in addition to the squeegee 14.

The device 15 comprises a flushing device 16 which has at least one spray nozzle 17. Rinsing liquid is rinsed to the edge 18 via the nozzle 17, and by this rinsing the lint 9, which adhere there, are rinsed off. The rinsing liquid is the condensate produced during operation of the condensation dryer I, which is collected in a floor assembly 21.

To promote the condensate collected in the bottom group 21 to the purging device 16, and in particular to the nozzle 17, a pump 23 is provided. Depending on the desired operating state, the condensate collected in the bottom group 21 is then either conveyed to the nozzle 17 or, if flushing of the screen 8 with flushing liquid or with condensate is not required or provided, for example, out of the condensation dryer I into a trap , For this purpose, the condensation dryer I comprises a Y-valve which is connected to the pump 23 via a line system. The two outflows of the Y-valve thus lead on the one hand to the spray nozzle 17 and on the other hand from the condensation dryer I to the outside, in this respect an outwardly leading line system is provided, which opens into the traps. The valve and the pump 23 is controlled by an electronic control unit, not shown.

The device 15 further comprises a line system (not shown) which, after rinsing the screen 8, in particular the edge 18, with the rinsing liquid, then carries the rinsing liquid, which is then loaded with the lint 9, into a collecting container 19. The collecting container 19 is arranged in the bottom group 21. Due to the larger installation space in the area of the bottom group 21, the collecting container 19 can be dimensioned larger than if it were arranged adjacent to the sieve 8 in the region of the end shield 7. However, it can also be provided that in addition to the collecting container 19 and its arrangement in a bottom group 21, a further collecting container is arranged in the region of the screen 8, which is provided for receiving the lint 9, which are conveyed by the doctor blade 14 in this further collecting container ,

The arranged in the bottom group 21 collecting container 19 comprises in the exemplary embodiment, a filter device 20, which can be removed from the collecting container 19. This filter device 20 is flexible and deformable and designed as a bag or bag. The filter device 20 is designed such that it is permeable to the rinsing liquid, but filters out the lint 9 contained in the rinsing liquid.

The collecting container 19 furthermore comprises an outlet 22, through which the lint-filtered rinsing liquid can again flow into the bottom group 21.

The collecting container 19 and in particular the filter device 20 are arranged in the bottom group 21 that they are easily accessible, for example via a flap on the dryer I from the outside and therefore can be removed easily and with little effort by a user.

It should be mentioned again that the configuration of the process air guide with the heat exchanger 10, the blower 11 and the heater 12 is merely exemplary. It is essential for the invention that the condensation dryer I has the device 15, with which the fluff 9, which are collected in particular on the edge of the screen 8 and in particular outside the process air duct on the screen 8, by rinsing with a rinsing liquid, in particular the collected condensate, away can be made, and this can be done in particular in a arranged in the bottom group 21 collecting container 19.

By disposing of this site-specific adhering lint 9 in a arranged in the bottom group 21 sump 19 may be significantly reduced due to its larger dimensions, the frequency of disposal of the lint. It can be achieved maintenance intervals, which allow the emptying of the collection container 19 must be made only in the timeframe of one to six months.

Claims (16)

Domestic appliance (I) for the care of laundry, with a process air guide (4, 5, 6) through which an air flow (P) through a drum (2) for receiving the laundry items (1) can be conducted and which a sieve (8) for deposition of lint (9) from the air stream (P), and with a device (15) for removing the lint (9) from the sieve (8), characterized in that the device (15) is designed to remove lint (9) is, which are collected outside the process air guide (4, 5, 6) on the sieve (8), and a rinsing means (16), with which these lint (9) with rinsing liquid from the screen (8) can be rinsed off. Domestic appliance (I) according to claim 1, characterized in that the lint (9) by the operation of a doctor blade (14), which (10 ), edge (18) on the screen (8) outside the process air guide (4, 5, 6) are collected. Domestic appliance (I) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rinsing liquid of the rinsing device (16) in the domestic appliance (I) incurred in operation condensate. Domestic appliance (I) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lint (9) removed by the rinsing liquid can be conducted into a base group (21) of the domestic appliance (I). Domestic appliance (I) according to claim 4, characterized in that in the bottom group (21) a collecting container (19) is arranged, which is adapted to receive the lint (9) loaded rinsing liquid and for filtering the lint (9) from the rinsing liquid , Domestic appliance (I) according to claim 5, characterized in that the collecting container (19) has an outlet (22) through which the lint-filtered rinsing liquid from the collecting container (19) can be derived. Domestic appliance (I) according to claim 6, characterized in that the lint-filtered rinsing liquid in the bottom group (21) can be derived. Domestic appliance (I) according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the collecting container (19) is detachably arranged in the bottom group (21). Domestic appliance (I) according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the collecting container (19) has a filter device (20) for filtering the lint (9) from the rinsing liquid, which detachably arranged in the collecting container (19) and for the Rinsing fluid is permeable. Domestic appliance (I) according to one of the preceding claims, which is designed as a condensation dryer (I). Method for removing lint (9), which is collected at a sieve (8) arranged in regions in a process air duct (4, 5, 6) of a domestic appliance (I) for the care of laundry items, and by a device for removing lint (9 ) are removed, characterized in that with the device (15) outside the process air guide (4, 5, 6) on the screen (8) collected lint (9) by a device (15) associated flushing device (16) are removed, in which a rinsing liquid is passed at least to the specific area (18) of the sieve (8) and the lint (9) are rinsed off the sieve (8). A method according to claim 11, characterized in that the lint (9) removed by the device (15) is actuated by the operation of a squeegee (14) for removal of air in the process air duct (4, 5, 6) Strainer (8) collected fluff (9) is formed, edge (18) on the sieve (8) are collected. A method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the rinsing liquid laden with lint (9) rinsed off by the sieve (8) is passed into a bottom group (21) of the domestic appliance (I). A method according to claim 13, characterized in that the lint (9) loaded rinsing liquid in a in the bottom group (21) arranged collecting container (19) is passed, in which the lint (9) are filtered out of the rinsing liquid. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the lint-filtered rinsing liquid is discharged through an outlet (22) in the collecting container (19), in particular in the bottom group (21) is derived. A method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the lint (9) are filtered in a filter device (20) of the collecting container (19) from the rinsing liquid, which can be released from the collecting container (19) and is permeable to the rinsing liquid.

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