EP2113605A1 - Household laundry washing and/or drying appliance and relative operating method - Google Patents

Household laundry washing and/or drying appliance and relative operating method Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2113605A1
EP2113605A1 EP08154989A EP08154989A EP2113605A1 EP 2113605 A1 EP2113605 A1 EP 2113605A1 EP 08154989 A EP08154989 A EP 08154989A EP 08154989 A EP08154989 A EP 08154989A EP 2113605 A1 EP2113605 A1 EP 2113605A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ultraviolet light
household appliance
laundry
casing
light source
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Granted
Application number
EP08154989A
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German (de)
French (fr)
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EP2113605B1 (en
Inventor
Kevin Breese
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Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
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Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
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Priority to EP08154989.1A priority Critical patent/EP2113605B1/en
Publication of EP2113605A1 publication Critical patent/EP2113605A1/en
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    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F58/00—Domestic laundry dryers
    • D06F58/30—Drying processes 
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F58/00—Domestic laundry dryers
    • D06F58/10—Drying cabinets or drying chambers having heating or ventilating means
    • D06F58/14—Collapsible drying cabinets; Wall mounted collapsible hoods
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F58/00—Domestic laundry dryers
    • D06F58/20—General details of domestic laundry dryers 
    • D06F58/203—Laundry conditioning arrangements

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a household laundry washing and/or drying appliance.
  • the present invention relates to a rotary-drum home laundry drier, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
  • rotary-drum laundry driers usually comprise a substantially parallelepiped-shaped outer casing; a cylindrical bell-shaped drum for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the casing to rotate about a horizontal longitudinal axis, and directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening formed in the front face of the casing; a door hinged to the front face of the casing to rotate to and from a rest position closing the opening in the front face of the casing to seal the casing and the bell-shaped drum; and an electric motor assembly for rotating the laundry drum about its longitudinal axis inside the casing.
  • Rotary-drum laundry driers of the above type also comprise a closed-circuit, hot-air generator designed to circulate inside the bell-shaped drum a stream of hot air with a low moisture content, and which flows through the bell-shaped drum and over the laundry inside the drum to rapidly dry the laundry.
  • a household appliance as claimed in Claim 1 and preferably, though not necessarily, in any one of the Claims depending directly or indirectly on Claim 1.
  • number 1 indicates as a whole a household laundry washing and/or drying appliance suitable to improve self-cleaning capabilities of fabrics coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • Household appliance 1 essentially comprises a outer casing 2 having inside a laundry storage compartment for housing the clothing to be cleaned, and an ultraviolet light source which is housed in casing 2 for lighting up, on command, the laundry storage compartment, so as to activate the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities, i.e. on any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • household appliance 1 is a home laundry drier which comprises a preferably, though not necessarily, parallelepiped-shaped outer box-like casing 2; a preferably, though not necessarily, cylindrical bell-shaped revolving drum 4 for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is housed in axially rotating manner inside casing 2 to rotate freely about a preferably, though not necessarily, horizontally-oriented longitudinal axis L, directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening 2a formed in the front face of casing 2; and a door 5 hinged to the front face of casing 2 to rotate to and from a rest position closing opening 2a in the front face to seal casing 2 and drum 4.
  • the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1 is defined by the empty space inside revolving drum 4.
  • Laundry drier 1 also comprises an electric motor assembly (not shown) which, on command, rotates drum 4 about longitudinal axis L inside casing 2; and a closed-circuit, hot-air generator housed inside casing 2 and designed to circulate inside revolving drum 4 a stream of hot air with a low humidity content, and which flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside drum 4.
  • an electric motor assembly (not shown) which, on command, rotates drum 4 about longitudinal axis L inside casing 2
  • a closed-circuit, hot-air generator housed inside casing 2 and designed to circulate inside revolving drum 4 a stream of hot air with a low humidity content, and which flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside drum 4.
  • the hot-air generator provides for gradually drawing air from revolving drum 4; extracting surplus moisture from the hot air drawn from drum 4; heating the dehumidified air to a predetermined temperature, normally higher than the temperature of the air from revolving drum 4; and feeding the heated, dehumidified air back into revolving drum 4, where it flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside the drum.
  • the hot-air generator draws air from revolving drum 4 (i.e. from the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) via an inlet 6 formed in the door 5 inner wall which is faced to the front opening of revolving drum 4 when the latter is in its rest position, and feeds the heated, dehumidified air back into revolving drum 4 (i.e. into the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) via an outlet (not shown) coupled in airtight manner directly to the perforated, or at any rate permeable to air, end wall of revolving drum 4.
  • Casing 2 revolving drum 4, door 5, the electric motor assembly, and the hot-air generator are commonly known parts in the industry, and therefore not described in detail.
  • door 5 of laundry drier 1 is provided with at least one electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 which is positioned on the inner wall of door 5 so as to be faced to the end wall of revolving drum 4 when door 5 is in its rest position, and which, on command, is able to light up the inside of drum 4 (i.e. the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) with an ultraviolet light having a wavelength or a wavelengths spectrum comprised between 370 nanometers and 10 nanometers (i.e.
  • the at least one electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 is turned on and off by the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle characterized by a specific switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3.
  • a given number of different photocatalyst cleaning cycles may be stored in the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, and the user can manually select the desired photocatalyst cleaning cycle, i.e. the desired switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3, via the external control panel 7 of laundry drier 1.
  • laundry drier 1 is provided with two ultraviolet electric lamps 3 preferably, though not necessarily, of fluorescent type, which are recessed on the inner wall of door 5 on both sides of hot-air generator inlet 6.
  • the ultraviolet light source may use ultraviolet LED lamps or ultraviolet Semiconductor Light Matrix (SLM) lamps or other types of ultraviolet light lamps belonging to the electric arc lamp family.
  • SLM Semiconductor Light Matrix
  • the ultraviolet light source may comprise a number of ultraviolet light lamps 3, each of which is recessed into a respective longitudinal projecting rib realized on the inner surface of the cylindrical wall of revolving drum 4.
  • the ultraviolet light source may also comprise an electronic power control unit (not shown) which drives lamp 3 to control the candlepower of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3.
  • This electronic power control unit may be electrically connected to the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, for allowing said electronic central control unit to control the candlepower of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3 according to the user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.
  • the user can manually select the desired switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3 and the desired or most appropriate candlepower of the ultraviolet light illuminating the inside of revolving drum 4 (i.e. the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1), to optimize the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of the particular photocatalyst chemical agents currently inside revolving drum 4.
  • electric lamp 3 may be able to emit an ultraviolet light having any wavelength or any wavelengths spectrum comprised between 370 nanometers and 10 nanometers (i.e. any wavelength within the ultraviolet light spectrum), and the electronic power control unit (not shown) which drives lamp 3 also controls the wavelength of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3.
  • the electronic power control unit may be electrically connected to the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, for allowing said electronic central control unit to regulate the wavelength or wavelengths spectrum of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3 according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.
  • the user can also manually select the most appropriate wavelength or wavelengths spectrum of the ultraviolet light illuminating the inside of revolving drum 4 (i.e. the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) to maximize the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of the particular photocatalyst chemical agents currently inside revolving drum 4.
  • laundry drier 1 General operation of laundry drier 1 is clearly inferable from the above description with no further explanation required, other than to state that, via the laundry drier external control panel 7, the user can request laundry dryer 1 to perform a photocatalyst cleaning cycle comprising the step of switching on the ultraviolet light lamp 3 for a given switching-on time-limit, to illuminate the laundry storage compartment (i.e. the inside of revolving drum 4) for activating the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities.
  • a photocatalyst cleaning cycle comprising the step of switching on the ultraviolet light lamp 3 for a given switching-on time-limit, to illuminate the laundry storage compartment (i.e. the inside of revolving drum 4) for activating the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities.
  • Laundry drier 1 can be used for both drying moist laundry like known home laundry driers, or activating the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents on cloudy days.
  • laundry drier 1 can also be used for accelerating the photocatalyst chemical reaction that dissolve organic stains, thus reducing the time requested for self-cleaning to any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • household appliance 1 may be a home laundry washing machine.
  • revolving drum 4 is housed in axially rotating manner into a watertight, preferably, though not necessarily, substantially bell-shaped washing tub which is suspended horizontally and in floating manner inside casing 2 via a suspension system comprising a number of coil springs combined with one or more vibration dampers.
  • the front opening of the washing tub is watertight connected to opening 2a on the front face of casing 2 via a cylindrical elastic-deformable bellows, and door 5 is hinged to the front face of casing 2 to rotate to and from a rest position in which door 5 closes opening 2a of casing 2 to watertight seal the washing tub.
  • the ultraviolet light lamp 3 may be located either on the inner wall of door 5 as disclosed above, or into a suitable seat realized on the cylindrical bellows connecting the front opening of the washing tub to the laundry loading and unloading opening 2a on the front face of casing 2.
  • the ultraviolet light source may consist of a number of ultraviolet light lamps 3, each of which is recessed into a respective longitudinal projecting rib realized on the cylindrical wall of revolving drum 4.
  • household appliance 1 may be a wardrobe-like drying cabinet preferably, though not necessarily, suitable to be placed on the worktop of a traditional laundry washing machine.
  • casing 2 consists of a parallelepiped-shaped inner foldable supporting frame comprising a bottom base plate 8 and a top base plate 9 rigidly connected one to the other via a number of foldable vertical uprights (not shown); and of a tubular-shaped external envelop 10 wrapping the inner foldable supporting frame to define on the inside a parallelepiped-shaped laundry storage compartment where to hang the clothing to be cleaned, and which is provided with a vertical zipper 11 allowing the user to manually open envelop 10 to put the clothing in the laundry storage compartment.
  • the ultraviolet light source comprises one or more electric ultraviolet light lamps 3 housed into, or at least faced to, the parallelepiped-shaped laundry storage compartment for illuminating, on command, the clothing placed therein, so as to activate the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • the ultraviolet light source preferably, though not necessarily, comprises a first electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 recessed into bottom base plate 8 for illuminating the clothing from below, and a second electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 recessed into top base plate 9 for illuminating the clothing from top.
  • drying cabinet 1 comprises an electronic central control unit (not shown) which turns on and off the ultraviolet light lamp/s 3 according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Accessory Of Washing/Drying Machine, Commercial Washing/Drying Machine, Other Washing/Drying Machine (AREA)

Abstract

A household appliance (1) comprising an outer casing (2) having inside a laundry storage compartment (4, 10) for housing the clothing to be cleaned, and an ultraviolet light source (3) for illuminating, on command, said laundry storage compartment (4) to activate the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities.

Description

  • The present invention relates to a household laundry washing and/or drying appliance.
  • More specifically, the present invention relates to a rotary-drum home laundry drier, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
  • As is known, rotary-drum laundry driers usually comprise a substantially parallelepiped-shaped outer casing; a cylindrical bell-shaped drum for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the casing to rotate about a horizontal longitudinal axis, and directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening formed in the front face of the casing; a door hinged to the front face of the casing to rotate to and from a rest position closing the opening in the front face of the casing to seal the casing and the bell-shaped drum; and an electric motor assembly for rotating the laundry drum about its longitudinal axis inside the casing.
  • Rotary-drum laundry driers of the above type also comprise a closed-circuit, hot-air generator designed to circulate inside the bell-shaped drum a stream of hot air with a low moisture content, and which flows through the bell-shaped drum and over the laundry inside the drum to rapidly dry the laundry.
  • It is the aim of the present invention to provide a rotary-drum home laundry drier suitable to be used with recently introduced fabrics having self-cleaning capabilities, such as fabrics coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents able to generate a photocatalyst chemical reaction that dissolve organic stains.
  • According to the present invention, there is provided a household appliance as claimed in Claim 1 and preferably, though not necessarily, in any one of the Claims depending directly or indirectly on Claim 1.
  • According to the present invention, there is also provided a method of operating a household appliance as claimed in Claim 14.
  • A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :
    • Figure 1 shows a view in perspective, with parts removed for clarity, of a rotary-drum laundry drier in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; and
    • Figure 2 shows a view in perspective, with parts removed for clarity, of a drying cabinet in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • With reference to Figure 1, number 1 indicates as a whole a household laundry washing and/or drying appliance suitable to improve self-cleaning capabilities of fabrics coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • Household appliance 1 essentially comprises a outer casing 2 having inside a laundry storage compartment for housing the clothing to be cleaned, and an ultraviolet light source which is housed in casing 2 for lighting up, on command, the laundry storage compartment, so as to activate the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities, i.e. on any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • More specifically, with reference to Figure 1, in the example shown household appliance 1 is a home laundry drier which comprises a preferably, though not necessarily, parallelepiped-shaped outer box-like casing 2; a preferably, though not necessarily, cylindrical bell-shaped revolving drum 4 for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is housed in axially rotating manner inside casing 2 to rotate freely about a preferably, though not necessarily, horizontally-oriented longitudinal axis L, directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening 2a formed in the front face of casing 2; and a door 5 hinged to the front face of casing 2 to rotate to and from a rest position closing opening 2a in the front face to seal casing 2 and drum 4.
  • The laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1 is defined by the empty space inside revolving drum 4.
  • Laundry drier 1 also comprises an electric motor assembly (not shown) which, on command, rotates drum 4 about longitudinal axis L inside casing 2; and a closed-circuit, hot-air generator housed inside casing 2 and designed to circulate inside revolving drum 4 a stream of hot air with a low humidity content, and which flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside drum 4.
  • More specifically, the hot-air generator provides for gradually drawing air from revolving drum 4; extracting surplus moisture from the hot air drawn from drum 4; heating the dehumidified air to a predetermined temperature, normally higher than the temperature of the air from revolving drum 4; and feeding the heated, dehumidified air back into revolving drum 4, where it flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside the drum.
  • With reference to Figure 1, in particular, in the example shown the hot-air generator draws air from revolving drum 4 (i.e. from the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) via an inlet 6 formed in the door 5 inner wall which is faced to the front opening of revolving drum 4 when the latter is in its rest position, and feeds the heated, dehumidified air back into revolving drum 4 (i.e. into the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) via an outlet (not shown) coupled in airtight manner directly to the perforated, or at any rate permeable to air, end wall of revolving drum 4.
  • Casing 2, revolving drum 4, door 5, the electric motor assembly, and the hot-air generator are commonly known parts in the industry, and therefore not described in detail.
  • As regards the ultraviolet light source, with reference to Figure 1, unlike known home laundry driers, door 5 of laundry drier 1 is provided with at least one electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 which is positioned on the inner wall of door 5 so as to be faced to the end wall of revolving drum 4 when door 5 is in its rest position, and which, on command, is able to light up the inside of drum 4 (i.e. the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) with an ultraviolet light having a wavelength or a wavelengths spectrum comprised between 370 nanometers and 10 nanometers (i.e. a wavelength/s within the ultraviolet light spectrum), so as to activate the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of any clothing stored inside revolving drum 4 and made at least partially of fabrics coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • More specifically, the at least one electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 is turned on and off by the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle characterized by a specific switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3.
  • In other words, a given number of different photocatalyst cleaning cycles, each characterized by a specific switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3, may be stored in the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, and the user can manually select the desired photocatalyst cleaning cycle, i.e. the desired switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3, via the external control panel 7 of laundry drier 1.
  • With reference to Figure 1, in the example shown laundry drier 1 is provided with two ultraviolet electric lamps 3 preferably, though not necessarily, of fluorescent type, which are recessed on the inner wall of door 5 on both sides of hot-air generator inlet 6.
  • Alternatively, the ultraviolet light source may use ultraviolet LED lamps or ultraviolet Semiconductor Light Matrix (SLM) lamps or other types of ultraviolet light lamps belonging to the electric arc lamp family.
  • Obviously, providing suitable watertight electrical connections, the ultraviolet light source may comprise a number of ultraviolet light lamps 3, each of which is recessed into a respective longitudinal projecting rib realized on the inner surface of the cylindrical wall of revolving drum 4.
  • Preferably, though not necessarily, the ultraviolet light source may also comprise an electronic power control unit (not shown) which drives lamp 3 to control the candlepower of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3. This electronic power control unit, in turn, may be electrically connected to the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, for allowing said electronic central control unit to control the candlepower of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3 according to the user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.
  • In other words, via the laundry drier external control panel 7, the user can manually select the desired switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light lamp 3 and the desired or most appropriate candlepower of the ultraviolet light illuminating the inside of revolving drum 4 (i.e. the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1), to optimize the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of the particular photocatalyst chemical agents currently inside revolving drum 4.
  • In addition to the above, in a much more sophisticated embodiment, electric lamp 3 may be able to emit an ultraviolet light having any wavelength or any wavelengths spectrum comprised between 370 nanometers and 10 nanometers (i.e. any wavelength within the ultraviolet light spectrum), and the electronic power control unit (not shown) which drives lamp 3 also controls the wavelength of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3.
  • Also in this embodiment, the electronic power control unit may be electrically connected to the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry drier 1, for allowing said electronic central control unit to regulate the wavelength or wavelengths spectrum of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3 according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.
  • In other words, via the laundry drier external control panel 7, the user can also manually select the most appropriate wavelength or wavelengths spectrum of the ultraviolet light illuminating the inside of revolving drum 4 (i.e. the laundry storage compartment of household appliance 1) to maximize the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of the particular photocatalyst chemical agents currently inside revolving drum 4.
  • General operation of laundry drier 1 is clearly inferable from the above description with no further explanation required, other than to state that, via the laundry drier external control panel 7, the user can request laundry dryer 1 to perform a photocatalyst cleaning cycle comprising the step of switching on the ultraviolet light lamp 3 for a given switching-on time-limit, to illuminate the laundry storage compartment (i.e. the inside of revolving drum 4) for activating the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities.
  • The presence of the ultraviolet light source 3 has lots of advantages. Laundry drier 1 can be used for both drying moist laundry like known home laundry driers, or activating the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents on cloudy days.
  • If candlepower of the ultraviolet light emitted by lamp 3 is greater than that of the ultraviolet component of direct sunlight, laundry drier 1 can also be used for accelerating the photocatalyst chemical reaction that dissolve organic stains, thus reducing the time requested for self-cleaning to any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • Clearly, changes may be made to household appliance 1 as described herein without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention.
  • For example, household appliance 1 may be a home laundry washing machine. In which case, revolving drum 4 is housed in axially rotating manner into a watertight, preferably, though not necessarily, substantially bell-shaped washing tub which is suspended horizontally and in floating manner inside casing 2 via a suspension system comprising a number of coil springs combined with one or more vibration dampers.
  • More specifically, the front opening of the washing tub is watertight connected to opening 2a on the front face of casing 2 via a cylindrical elastic-deformable bellows, and door 5 is hinged to the front face of casing 2 to rotate to and from a rest position in which door 5 closes opening 2a of casing 2 to watertight seal the washing tub.
  • In which case, the ultraviolet light lamp 3 may be located either on the inner wall of door 5 as disclosed above, or into a suitable seat realized on the cylindrical bellows connecting the front opening of the washing tub to the laundry loading and unloading opening 2a on the front face of casing 2.
  • Obviously, providing suitable watertight electrical connections, the ultraviolet light source may consist of a number of ultraviolet light lamps 3, each of which is recessed into a respective longitudinal projecting rib realized on the cylindrical wall of revolving drum 4.
  • With reference to Figure 2, in a further different embodiment household appliance 1 may be a wardrobe-like drying cabinet preferably, though not necessarily, suitable to be placed on the worktop of a traditional laundry washing machine.
  • More specifically, in this embodiment casing 2 consists of a parallelepiped-shaped inner foldable supporting frame comprising a bottom base plate 8 and a top base plate 9 rigidly connected one to the other via a number of foldable vertical uprights (not shown); and of a tubular-shaped external envelop 10 wrapping the inner foldable supporting frame to define on the inside a parallelepiped-shaped laundry storage compartment where to hang the clothing to be cleaned, and which is provided with a vertical zipper 11 allowing the user to manually open envelop 10 to put the clothing in the laundry storage compartment.
  • The ultraviolet light source, in turn, comprises one or more electric ultraviolet light lamps 3 housed into, or at least faced to, the parallelepiped-shaped laundry storage compartment for illuminating, on command, the clothing placed therein, so as to activate the photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities of any fabric coated with nano-particles including titanium dioxide or similar photocatalyst chemical agents.
  • More specifically, with reference to Figure 2, to ensure uniform illumination of the clothing hanged inside the parallelepiped-shaped laundry storage compartment, the ultraviolet light source preferably, though not necessarily, comprises a first electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 recessed into bottom base plate 8 for illuminating the clothing from below, and a second electric ultraviolet light lamp 3 recessed into top base plate 9 for illuminating the clothing from top.
  • Also in this case, drying cabinet 1 comprises an electronic central control unit (not shown) which turns on and off the ultraviolet light lamp/s 3 according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.

Claims (14)

  1. A household appliance (1) comprising an outer casing (2) having inside a laundry storage compartment (4, 10) for housing the clothing to be cleaned, and
    characterized by also comprising an ultraviolet light source (3) for illuminating, on command, said laundry storage compartment (4) to activate the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities.
  2. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 1,
    characterized by also comprising an electronic central control unit which turns on and off said ultraviolet light source (3) according to a user-selected photocatalyst cleaning cycle.
  3. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein said ultraviolet light source (3) comprises at least one ultraviolet light lamp (3) which is faced to said laundry storage compartment (4, 10) and emits light having a wavelength or a wavelengths spectrum comprised between 370 nanometers and 10 nanometers.
  4. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said ultraviolet light source (3) also comprises an electronic power control unit which drives said at least one ultraviolet light lamp (3) to control the candlepower and/or select the wavelength or wavelengths spectrum of the ultraviolet light emitted by said lamp (3).
  5. A household appliance as claimed as claimed in anyone of Claims 2 to 4, wherein said electronic central control unit is connected to an external control panel (7) of said household appliance (1) for allowing the user to manually select the switching-on time-limit of the ultraviolet light source (3), and/or the candlepower of the ultraviolet light emitted by said ultraviolet light source (3), and/or the wavelength or wavelengths spectrum of the ultraviolet light emitted by said ultraviolet light source (3).
  6. A household appliance as claimed in anyone of the foregoing Claims, characterized by also comprising a bell-shaped revolving drum (4) which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the casing (2), directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening (2a) formed in a main face of said casing (2), and a door (5) hinged to the main face of the casing (2) to rotate to and from a rest position closing said laundry loading and unloading opening (2a) to seal the casing (2) and the revolving drum (4); the space inside the revolving drum (4) defining the laundry storage compartment of the household appliance (1).
  7. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 6,
    characterized by also comprising a hot-air generator which is housed inside the casing (2) and is designed to circulate inside the revolving drum (4) a stream of hot air with a low humidity content, and which flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside drum (4).
  8. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 6,
    wherein the revolving drum (4) is housed in axially rotating manner into a substantially bell-shaped washing tub which is suspended in floating manner inside the casing (2); the front opening of said washing tub being watertight connected to said laundry loading and unloading opening (2a) on the main face of the casing (2) via a cylindrical elastic-deformable bellows, and said door (5) being hinged to said main front face of the casing (2) to rotate to and from a rest position in which the door (5) closes said laundry loading and unloading opening (2a) to watertight seal said washing tub.
  9. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 6 or 8, wherein said at least one ultraviolet light lamp (3) is recessed in said door (5) so as to be faced to the end wall of said revolving drum (4) when the door (5) is in its rest position.
  10. A household appliance as claimed in anyone of Claims 1 to 5, wherein said casing (2) comprises a parallelepiped-shaped inner foldable supporting frame (8, 9) and an external envelop (10) wrapping said inner foldable supporting frame (8, 9) to define on the inside a parallelepiped-shaped laundry storage compartment where to hang the clothing to be cleaned.
  11. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 10, wherein said external envelop (10) is provided with a zipper (11) allowing the user to manually open the envelop (10) to put the clothing in the laundry storage compartment.
  12. A household appliance as claimed in Claim 10 or 11, wherein said inner foldable supporting frame comprises a bottom base plate (8) and a top base plate (9) rigidly connected one to the other via a number of vertical uprights; said ultraviolet light source (3) comprising at least one ultraviolet light lamp (3) recessed in said bottom base plate (8) and/or in said top base plate (9).
  13. A household appliance as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 12, wherein said ultraviolet light lamp (3) is an electric arc lamp or a LED lamp or a Semiconductor Light Matrix (SLM) lamp.
  14. Operating method of a household appliance (1) comprising an outer casing (2) having inside a laundry storage compartment (4, 10) for housing the clothing to be cleaned, and an ultraviolet light source (3) for illuminating, on command, the laundry storage compartment (4); said operating method being characterized by comprising the step of switching on said ultraviolet light source (3) for a given switching-on time-limit, to activate the photocatalyst chemical reactions that dissolve organic stains on any fabric stored therein and which has photocatalyst self-cleaning capabilities.
EP08154989.1A 2008-04-23 2008-04-23 Household laundry washing and/or drying appliance and relative operating method Active EP2113605B1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

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Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2213947A3 (en) * 2010-01-28 2010-10-06 V-Zug AG Domestic appliance with a photocatalyst
EP2458059A1 (en) * 2010-11-29 2012-05-30 Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V. Laundry machine having drum illumination device
EP2759633A1 (en) 2013-01-29 2014-07-30 V-Zug AG Household appliance with catalytic cleaning
WO2015112682A1 (en) * 2014-01-24 2015-07-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Kit for treating a substrate
WO2015112684A1 (en) * 2014-01-24 2015-07-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Method for treating laundry
WO2016124606A1 (en) * 2015-02-03 2016-08-11 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Garment care device for drying and sanitizing garments
US9834740B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2017-12-05 The Procter & Gamble Company Photoactivators
US10098519B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2018-10-16 The Procter & Gamble Company Lighted dispenser
US10111574B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2018-10-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Method for treating dishware
US20220118129A1 (en) * 2020-10-16 2022-04-21 Matthew Steven Ramirez System and Method for Disinfecting and Drying of Personal Items and Clothing Materials

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
TR201712875A2 (en) 2017-08-28 2019-03-21 Vestel Beyaz Esya Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi A sterilization system and a door that contains it.

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US2742708A (en) * 1952-07-12 1956-04-24 Gen Motors Corp Domestic appliance
US3577650A (en) * 1969-02-18 1971-05-04 Harry Brahm Portable and collapsible clothes drier receptacle
US4199873A (en) * 1978-06-19 1980-04-29 Veach Development Company, Inc. Foldable panty hose dryer
US5664340A (en) * 1996-03-18 1997-09-09 Brown; Clay A. Ultravoilet, antibacterial, antifungal dryerlight
WO2003074776A2 (en) 2001-12-20 2003-09-12 The Procter & Gamble Company Fabric article treating method and apparatus
US6877248B1 (en) * 2004-03-05 2005-04-12 Gregory N. Cross Clothes dryer with ultraviolet light
JP2005253786A (en) * 2004-03-12 2005-09-22 Sanyo Electric Co Ltd Washing machine
EP1602774A1 (en) * 2004-05-31 2005-12-07 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Washing machine
WO2007058478A1 (en) 2005-11-18 2007-05-24 Lg Electronics, Inc. Sterilizable washing machine using ultraviolet radiation and sterilizable washing method in the same
WO2007058479A1 (en) * 2005-11-18 2007-05-24 Lg Electronics, Inc. Sterilizable drying machine using ultraviolet radiation and sterilizable drying method in the same

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2658441A (en) * 1949-11-30 1953-11-10 W B Marvin Mfg Company Room ventilating device
US2742708A (en) * 1952-07-12 1956-04-24 Gen Motors Corp Domestic appliance
US3577650A (en) * 1969-02-18 1971-05-04 Harry Brahm Portable and collapsible clothes drier receptacle
US4199873A (en) * 1978-06-19 1980-04-29 Veach Development Company, Inc. Foldable panty hose dryer
US5664340A (en) * 1996-03-18 1997-09-09 Brown; Clay A. Ultravoilet, antibacterial, antifungal dryerlight
WO2003074776A2 (en) 2001-12-20 2003-09-12 The Procter & Gamble Company Fabric article treating method and apparatus
US6877248B1 (en) * 2004-03-05 2005-04-12 Gregory N. Cross Clothes dryer with ultraviolet light
JP2005253786A (en) * 2004-03-12 2005-09-22 Sanyo Electric Co Ltd Washing machine
EP1602774A1 (en) * 2004-05-31 2005-12-07 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Washing machine
WO2007058478A1 (en) 2005-11-18 2007-05-24 Lg Electronics, Inc. Sterilizable washing machine using ultraviolet radiation and sterilizable washing method in the same
WO2007058479A1 (en) * 2005-11-18 2007-05-24 Lg Electronics, Inc. Sterilizable drying machine using ultraviolet radiation and sterilizable drying method in the same

Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2213947A3 (en) * 2010-01-28 2010-10-06 V-Zug AG Domestic appliance with a photocatalyst
EP2241826A1 (en) * 2010-01-28 2010-10-20 V-Zug AG Domestic appliance with a photocatalyst
EP2458059A1 (en) * 2010-11-29 2012-05-30 Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V. Laundry machine having drum illumination device
WO2012072472A1 (en) * 2010-11-29 2012-06-07 Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V. Laundry machine having drum illumination device
US9074760B2 (en) 2010-11-29 2015-07-07 Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V Laundry machine having drum illumination device
EP2759633A1 (en) 2013-01-29 2014-07-30 V-Zug AG Household appliance with catalytic cleaning
US10098519B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2018-10-16 The Procter & Gamble Company Lighted dispenser
WO2015112684A1 (en) * 2014-01-24 2015-07-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Method for treating laundry
CN105940151A (en) * 2014-01-24 2016-09-14 宝洁公司 Method for treating laundry
US9464375B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2016-10-11 The Procter & Gamble Company Kit for treating a substrate
US9834740B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2017-12-05 The Procter & Gamble Company Photoactivators
WO2015112682A1 (en) * 2014-01-24 2015-07-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Kit for treating a substrate
US10111574B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2018-10-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Method for treating dishware
WO2016124606A1 (en) * 2015-02-03 2016-08-11 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Garment care device for drying and sanitizing garments
RU2694916C2 (en) * 2015-02-03 2019-07-18 Конинклейке Филипс Н.В. Garment care device for drying and sanitizing garments
US20220118129A1 (en) * 2020-10-16 2022-04-21 Matthew Steven Ramirez System and Method for Disinfecting and Drying of Personal Items and Clothing Materials

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