EP2818593B1 - Laundry treatment apparatus having a water reservoir - Google Patents

Laundry treatment apparatus having a water reservoir Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2818593B1
EP2818593B1 EP13173517.7A EP13173517A EP2818593B1 EP 2818593 B1 EP2818593 B1 EP 2818593B1 EP 13173517 A EP13173517 A EP 13173517A EP 2818593 B1 EP2818593 B1 EP 2818593B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
water
reservoir
laundry treatment
unit
level
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Active
Application number
EP13173517.7A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP2818593A1 (en
Inventor
Diego Dal Ben
Paolo Ros
Daniele Solerio
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Electrolux Appliances AB
Original Assignee
Electrolux Appliances AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Electrolux Appliances AB filed Critical Electrolux Appliances AB
Priority to EP13173517.7A priority Critical patent/EP2818593B1/en
Priority to PL13173517T priority patent/PL2818593T3/pl
Publication of EP2818593A1 publication Critical patent/EP2818593A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2818593B1 publication Critical patent/EP2818593B1/en
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Classifications

    • 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
    • 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
    • D06F2103/00—Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2103/60—Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers related to auxiliary conditioning or finishing agents, e.g. filling level of perfume tanks
    • D06F2103/62—Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers related to auxiliary conditioning or finishing agents, e.g. filling level of perfume tanks related to systems for water or steam used for conditioning or finishing
    • 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
    • D06F2105/00—Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2105/38—Conditioning or finishing, e.g. control of perfume injection
    • D06F2105/40—Conditioning or finishing, e.g. control of perfume injection using water or steam
    • 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
    • D06F2105/00—Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2105/58—Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
    • 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
    • D06F2105/00—Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2105/58—Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
    • D06F2105/60—Audible signals
    • 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
    • D06F25/00—Washing machines with receptacles, e.g. perforated, having a rotary movement, e.g. oscillatory movement, the receptacle serving both for washing and for centrifugally separating water from the laundry and having further drying means, e.g. using hot air 
    • 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
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 
    • D06F33/30—Control of washing machines characterised by the purpose or target of the control 
    • D06F33/47—Responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning of pumps 
    • 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
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 
    • D06F33/50—Control of washer-dryers characterised by the purpose or target of the control
    • D06F33/74—Responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning of pumps 
    • 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
    • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
    • D06F39/08—Liquid supply or discharge arrangements
    • D06F39/087—Water level measuring or regulating devices
    • 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
    • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
    • D06F39/40—Steam generating arrangements
    • 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 
    • D06F58/24—Condensing arrangements
    • 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
    • D06F58/32—Control of operations performed in domestic laundry dryers 
    • D06F58/34—Control of operations performed in domestic laundry dryers  characterised by the purpose or target of the control
    • D06F58/50—Responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning of blowers
    • 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
    • D06F73/00—Apparatus for smoothing or removing creases from garments or other textile articles by formers, cores, stretchers, or internal frames, with the application of heat or steam 
    • D06F73/02—Apparatus for smoothing or removing creases from garments or other textile articles by formers, cores, stretchers, or internal frames, with the application of heat or steam  having one or more treatment chambers

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a laundry treatment apparatus having a water reservoir for storing water used in laundry treatment, wherein a water level detection unit is arranged for detecting at least two different levels of water in the reservoir and a control unit is adapted to control at least one laundry treatment program.
  • EP 1 899 522 B1 describes a laundry machine with a steam generating unit for supplying steam into the laundry drum. It comprises a water level detection part integrated in the steam generating unit and consists of several separate conductivity sensor electrodes for sensing the water level inside the steam generating unit.
  • the steam generating unit is constructed to receive water manually supplied by a user through a water inlet port.
  • a display using a plurality of LEDs is constructed to inform the user about the current water level.
  • EP 2 610 395 A1 discloses a condenser dryer having an inline steam generator for supplying steam into the drum for steam-treating laundry therein. Water is supplied to the steam generator from a water reservoir. The water running low is detected by a water level sensor having a floater with a magnet and a magnet field sensor. Another water level sensor is arranged at the condensate drawer and/or at a condensate collection tank that is used to collect the condensate formed out of the humidity in the drying air.
  • EP 2 014 820 A1 suggests a laundry dryer having an inline-steam generator according to the preamble of claim 1.
  • the inline steam generator is connected via a pipe to a water reservoir, wherein water is supplied to the inline steam generator when a valve in the line is opened.
  • the water reservoir is provided with a water level sensor for detecting the empty condition of the water reservoir.
  • the water reservoir is filled with condensate provided from a condensate collector provided in the bottom of the dryer.
  • EP 1 899 522 B1 discloses a washing machine having a boiler-type steam generator.
  • the steam generator is composed of a water reservoir in which a heater is arranged.
  • Three conductivity electrodes are arranged within the reservoir for detecting the minimum water level and the maximum water level.
  • an inline steam generator is provided in the laundry dryer of EP 2 287 390 A1 inline steam generator.
  • a water tank is arranged below the steam generator and the water is pumped by a water pump to the steam generator.
  • a floater and a reed sensor are provided and cooperate to provide a water level signal when the water level in the water tank is low.
  • EP 1 507 031 A1 discloses a washing machine having a boiler-type steam generator having conductivity sensors for detecting a minimum and maximum filling level.
  • a laundry treatment apparatus in particular dryer, washing machine or washer dryer which has a laundry storing compartment for receiving the laundry to be treated and a water reservoir arranged within an apparatus cabinet.
  • the apparatus has a water level detection unit adapted to detect the water level in the water reservoir.
  • the water reservoir provides water to an inline steam generating unit by means of a water supply line and a valve and/or pump which is arranged in the water supply line between the water reservoir and the steam generating unit.
  • the valve and/or pump serve for controlling or dosing the amount of water supplied from the water reservoir to the steam generating unit.
  • the apparatus comprises a control unit for controlling at least one laundry treatment program and effecting in particular the steam supply from the steam generating unit to the laundry storing compartment.
  • the water reservoir provides means for manual refilling by the user, although in a preferred embodiment of the apparatus it will be refilled automatically during normal operation from water that is pumped from a condensate collector to the reservoir.
  • the water level detection unit comprises at least two sensors that are adapted to detect different water levels in the water reservoir.
  • a first sensor is adapted to detect a first water level and a second sensor is adapted to detect a second water level in the reservoir where the first water level is lower than the second water level.
  • Preferably one or more preferably electrical output signals are created by the water level detection unit and provided to the control unit.
  • the laundry treatment apparatus may further comprise a front wall of the apparatus cabinet, a front frame extending from a base region to an upper region at the front region of the apparatus, a rear frame extending from the base region to an upper region at the rear region of the apparatus, with the water reservoir being arranged between the front wall and the front frame and/or with the laundry storing compartment being arranged essentially between the front frame and the rear frame.
  • At least one water conduit is guided between the front side and the back side of the front frame through an opening or passage in the front frame that is designed to guide the water conduit through it.
  • the water reservoir is (laterally and/or completely) covered by the apparatus cabinet such that the user cannot visually inspect the water level in the reservoir.
  • a filling inlet for manually filling the water reservoir is arranged between a front wall of the apparatus cabinet and a front frame.
  • the laundry storing compartment is a rotatable drum having a front side opening for loading the laundry and wherein the front edge of the drum is rotatably supported at the rear side of a front frame.
  • the inline steam generating unit is a flow-through or flow-type steam generator, has a low water storing capacity, stores a limited amount of water temporarily, and/or transforms water to steam essentially at the rate of water supply.
  • the inline steam generator has a very short reaction time due to its lower heat capacity and lower volume of stored water. As a result, its steam generation rate can be adjusted very accurately and quickly by controlling its water input rate and/or heating power input.
  • the steam generating unit is arranged at a bottom or lower section of the apparatus. More preferably, the steam generating unit is arranged at or at the top of a battery top cover or basement shell.
  • the water reservoir preferably comprises a container formed or essentially formed of a first or front shell part and a second or rear shell part which are joint together to form the container or the essential part thereof.
  • the shell parts may be joint together by welding, ultrasonic welding, gluing, bonding or the like.
  • the container may be a blow molded element or one or more of the shells may be blow molded elements.
  • at least one of the first or second shell parts is or has at least one transparent section through which the water level within the reservoir can be visually inspected or detected by a user and/or by optical sensors.
  • the shell with the window or all the shells (reservoir body) may be formed of a transparent material, e.g. transparent plastic or transparent polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE).
  • the water reservoir comprises a floater moving up and down according to the water level in the reservoir.
  • the movement of the floater is confined by a floater cage to a predefined and essentially one-dimensional floater path inside the reservoir.
  • the floater path is straight and vertical.
  • the floater path may be deflected. More preferably, the path does not deviate from the vertical orientation by more than 45°. More preferably, the floater path does not deviate from the vertical orientation by more than 22,5°.
  • the use of a floater eases visual inspection of the water level by a user through a window, because the floater can be prepared to be clearly visible, e.g. by a proper colored marking.
  • a floater simplifies detection of the water level by means of optical sensors.
  • the floater has a magnetic head or other magnetic element creating a magnetic force that can be detected by magnetic sensors such as REED or Hall sensors in the vicinity of the floater.
  • a third or further sensors may be provided for detecting a third or further water levels.
  • the first second, third, and further sensors are arranged to detect mutually different water levels and/or at least one of the third or further sensors is provided as a backup for at least one of the other sensors in case of a sensor fault.
  • sensors for detecting mutually different water levels are mounted at mutually different vertical (level) positions. Providing several sensors for sensing mutually different water levels is beneficial for providing a more accurate level signal to the control unit.
  • backup sensors is beneficial for optimizing the reliability of the machine and/or for protecting the user from disasters as could result for example from overheating of the steam generating unit when running out of water.
  • backups are provided for those sensors that are crucial or most important for a proper operation of the laundry treatment apparatus.
  • the sensors are magnetic sensors, e.g. REED or Hall sensors, and a floater comprising a magnetic element is arranged within the water reservoir.
  • other sensor technologies may be applied, for example but not limited to optical sensors or conductivity sensors in contact with the inter volume of the water reservoir at height levels corresponding to the water levels to be detected.
  • all sensors are of the same sensor type (REED, Hall, optical, conductivity, etc.).
  • at least two different sensor types are applied for detecting different water levels or for backing up one another.
  • Magnetic or optical sensors are preferably arranged outside the outer wall of the water reservoir.
  • the water reservoir preferably has at least one window. This at least one window can also be adapted for visual user inspection.
  • Conductivity sensors preferably have a common ground or reference electrode at a low water level.
  • combinations of signals from sensors at different height levels are combined to obtain a more precise detection of intermediate water levels that are not directly related to the individual sensor positions.
  • two REED sensors (414, 416) can be adapted to detect four different water levels as follows. When the water level in the reservoir 400 is close to its maximum, then the floater is close to the upper sensor 416 and is therefore detected by this sensor only. When the water in the reservoir is at an intermediate level, then the floater is between the two REED sensors but close enough to both of them so as to be detected by both sensors. When the water level is at a third level which is lower than both the maximum level and the intermediate level, then the floater is close to the lower sensor and is therefore detected by this sensor only. When the water level drops to a fourth level which is even lower, then the floater moves to a position which is relatively far away from both sensors, so that it is detected by none of them.
  • the signals created by the level detection sensors are provided to the control unit, where they may be used as input for controlling feedback to the user and/or controlling the laundry treatment and/or controlling further functions of the apparatus such as, e.g., internal water management operations.
  • a pump for automatically refilling the water reservoir using water from a condensate collector may be activated when the water level in the reservoir reaches a certain low level.
  • a preferred embodiment of the laundry treatment apparatus further comprises an indicator unit connected to the control unit and at least one signal line between one or more of the water level sensors and the control unit so that the user is informed about the water level in the water reservoir.
  • the indicator unit provides indicators for informing the user about different water levels in the water reservoir.
  • Such indicators may be implemented as one or more of the following: a symbol, a symbol in a display field, an acoustic indicator, a buzzer, an optical indicator, a lamp, a LED, and a vibration indicator.
  • the indicators are arranged at the user control panel and/or in the form of symbols or signs indicated in a display field, e.g. a LCD display.
  • a high level indicator may indicate that the water level in the reservoir is high.
  • a high level indicator of the indicator unit may be activated when a user is manually refilling the water reservoir, so that the user is informed that the water reservoir has been filled during the manually refilling. Since the apparatus may also be arranged for automatic refilling of the reservoir using water that is pumped from a condensate collector to the reservoir, the activation of the high level indicator may be suppressed, when the water reservoir is filled automatically.
  • control unit may receive a user activated signal from a sensor of the apparatus which is actuated by the user when manually refilling the water reservoir, so that it can activate a high level indicator specifically when the water in the reservoir reaches a high level during manual refilling by the user.
  • this user activated signal can be created by a sensor that detects the removal of a condensate drawer or the removal of a cap that provides access to an opening for refilling the water reservoir.
  • the control unit activates or suppresses a buzzer which should only provide sound when the user is manually refilling, while it should not be activated when apparatus automatically refilling.
  • an optical indicator can be activated in any case when a high water level is detected as the lamp is not annoying and still the user knows immediately that no refilling is required.
  • the indicator unit further comprises a low level indicator for indicating a low water level when the control unit is receiving a signal from at least one sensor arranged for low water level detection.
  • the indicator unit also comprises a medium level indicator for indicating a water level between the low and high level, when the control unit is receiving a signal from at least one sensor arranged for medium water level detection, or when the control unit is neither receiving a sensor signal indicating low water level nor a sensor signal indicating high water level, or when the control unit is receiving simultaneous signals from sensors arranged for detection of low and high water levels.
  • the/a level detection unit provides a single support and/or printed circuit board (PCB) for the sensors it comprises.
  • PCB printed circuit board
  • a single support is beneficial because it allows to mount all the sensors to the level detection unit within a single mounting step. If required, additional components may also be mounted on the same support such as, e.g., resistors or capacitors used to prepare or combine the sensor signals for further processing.
  • the single support and/or PCB provides a fixed spacing between the sensors that is predefined by the support/PCB und thus reduces or avoids efforts adjusting the sensors during the production of the laundry treatment apparatus.
  • the/a level detection unit and the water reservoir are prepared (e.g. with clamps, recessions, ribs, kinks, ears) so that the detection unit can be mounted in a single step on the outer surface of the reservoir.
  • the level detection unit further comprises a single electrical plug socket and a disconnectable or pluggable connection for connecting a signal line from the level detection unit to the control unit.
  • the signal line may be arranged to conduct one or more separate sensor signals at the same time.
  • the water level detection unit is surrounded by a common housing or shield.
  • the housing is beneficial for protecting the other sensor unit's components, and in particular the sensors, against water droplets that may otherwise drip on them.
  • the housing may also provide shielding of the sensor electronics against undesired electromagnetic interaction with other components of the apparatus.
  • the sensor support/PCB and the housing are designed so that the electrical plug socket and the pluggable connection are directly formed by the support/PCB and the housing components.
  • the laundry treatment apparatus is a dryer or an apparatus having drying functionality and further comprises a process air channel for guiding process air to and from the laundry treatment compartment, a heat exchanger arranged in the process air channel downstream the laundry treatment compartment for dehumidifying the process air, a condensate collector for collecting the condensate condensed at the heat exchanger, and a pump for pumping at least a portion of the condensate from the condensate collector to the water reservoir.
  • the control unit of the laundry treatment apparatus is adapted to continue a presently running laundry treatment program even when a low water level signal is received from at least one water level sensor. More specifically, this means that the steam generating unit is not deactivated when the low level signal is received.
  • This mechanism is particularly useful, if the reservoir is designed so that amount of remaining water in the reservoir at the time of first low level detection is still sufficient to finish the program.
  • the control unit is prepared to block the start of a laundry treatment program, if the low level signal is received from the first sensor before starting the laundry treatment program. This avoids the risk of the steam generating unit to run out of water during a running treatment program.
  • a drying program for drying and steaming laundry may be started with steaming as a sub-routine, even if the water reservoir is empty. During the drying process water is formed as condensate and the steaming sub-routine is started only if then enough condensate water has been collected.
  • the apparatus may implement different groups of programs, where each group of programs comprises at least one program. More preferably there is a first group of programs that are not interrupted and allowed to continue when a low water level is detected during their operation and a second group of programs that will be interrupted, halted and/or stopped. In addition, there may be a third group of programs (e.g. programs requiring water from water reservoir - e.g. for steam generation) whose start is prevented in case of a low water level in the reservoir, and there may be a fourth group of programs (e.g. programs that do not require water or require only little water or programs where laundry is dried and water is generated first by drying) whose start is enabled even on a low water level in the reservoir.
  • a third group of programs e.g. programs requiring water from water reservoir - e.g. for steam generation
  • a fourth group of programs e.g. programs that do not require water or require only little water or programs where laundry is dried and water is generated first by drying
  • control unit of the laundry treatment apparatus may be arranged to receive a water level signal from at least one of the water level sensors, that indicates a very low water level in the water reservoir so that a running laundry treatment program may have to be aborted.
  • the corresponding water level signal corresponds to a water level in the reservoir that is lower than the described low water at which programs in the first group of programs are allowed to continue. More preferably, there is at least one third sensor in the water level detection unit arranged to detect this very low water level.
  • the control unit may halt a running laundry treatment program and/or deactivate the steam generating unit and/or block the start of a laundry treatment program and/or block the start of a laundry treatment program requiring water from the water reservoir and/or replace the running laundry treatment program by a replacement treatment program not requiring water from the water reservoir.
  • program may equally refer to a sub-routine or sub-function of a program.
  • the control unit may initiate an emergency water routing when receiving the very low water signal in order to prevent the steam generating unit from running out of water.
  • the laundry treatment apparatus also comprises a condensate collector for collecting condensate formed at a or the heat exchanger and the water reservoir may comprise an overflow element and a water line for guiding water overflowing from the water reservoir to the condensate collector.
  • the overflow element becomes effective in case of overflow due to manual user filling and/or due to pumping activity when condensate is pumped from the condensate collector to the water reservoir during automatic refilling of the reservoir.
  • the overflow element helps to avoid wetting of internal parts in the apparatus cabinet.
  • the invention can also be implemented in any other type of dryer or in any other type of domestic appliance.
  • the home appliance may be a washing machine having drying function with or without a heat exchanger or condensing unit.
  • the home appliance uses a heat exchanger in which condensate is collected and preferably supplied to the liquid reservoir (62 below).
  • a laundry treatment machine in which steam is supplied to the laundry.
  • the steam may be generated from water, fragrance, a deodorant, a sterilizer, liquid detergent, a waterproofing agent or any other agent, or any combination of these agents.
  • the following groups or sub-units of the domestic appliance can be implemented individually in the domestic appliance or in any combination of the groups:
  • Fig. 1 shows a front perspective view of a partially disassembled condenser dryer that uses a heat pump system.
  • the outer appearance of the depicted dryer 2 is defined by a top cover 4, a left cover or wall 6, a front cover 8 having a loading opening 10 and a front top panel 12.
  • the front top panel 12 frames a drawer cover 14, wherein here the drawer has a condensate container that is completely pushed in a drawer compartment located at the upper part of the dryer.
  • the right portion of the front top panel 12 forms an input section 16 wherein here the details of the input section 16 are not shown (like indicators, a display, switches and so on).
  • the loading opening 10 is surrounded by a loading frame 18 which is formed in the front cover 8.
  • a filter compartment/process air channel 32 is arranged which is adapted to receive a fluff filter 34 and which is formed in a front frame 30 (compare Figs. 9 and 10 ).
  • a drum 20 is arranged at the back side of the loading opening in the front frame 30 .
  • the drum 20 is a rotating drum cylinder that is extending between the back side of the front frame 30 and the front side of a rear frame 31.
  • the open rear end of cylindrical rotatable drum 20 is closed by a compartment back wall 26 ( Fig. 2 ) which is mounted at the rear frame 31 ( Fig. 12 ).
  • Back wall 26 is preferably provided as a separate element to the rear frame 31, formed for example from a metal plate.
  • the rotation axis of the drum is horizontal, however, the rotation axis may be inclined with respect to the horizontal axis or may be even vertical with some modifications to the shown embodiment, however without the requirement to modify other groups of the dryer.
  • Fig. 29 shows in perspective back view the drum 20, the front frame 30 and the drawer housing or compartment 15a in which the condensate drawer 15a is completely inserted.
  • a window panel 22 is inserted into a front cover window opening 52 ( Fig. 4 ).
  • the window opening 52 and the window panel 22 allow visual inspection into the inside of the dryer outer body where a liquid reservoir 62 is arranged to check the liquid level (see more detail below).
  • the condensate drawer has a draw handle 24 at the drawer cover 14 to be gripped by the user for pushing the condensate drawer in or pulling it out of the condensate drawer compartment that is extending into the interior of the dryer 2.
  • Fig. 2 gives a view onto the compartment back wall 26 which has a plurality of air inlet openings 28 through which processing air enters the laundry storing compartment from the back side or rear side of the drum 20.
  • a cone 252 is arranged which has in this embodiment laundry detangling function and further supplies steam into the interior of the laundry compartment formed by the drum 20, the back wall 26, the loading frames in the front frame 30 and the loading door (not shown).
  • Fig. 3 shows a perspective front view of the front frame 30 with the front cover 8 mounted thereon. From the front top panel 12 only the drawer portion 13 with the drawer opening 36 is shown mounted at the upper section of the front frame 30. The condensate drawer and thus the drawer cover 14 are removed such that one can see details of the lower frame section of the drawer portion 13 which is surrounded by circle A. More details of view A can be seen in Figs. 18b and 18c and are described below. In the meantime it is mentioned that the lower frame section of the drawer opening 36 is exposed after extracting the condensate drawer, also exposing a user filling section 38.
  • the user filling section 38 is covered by a lid 40 which is pivotably mounted at the lower frame of the drawer opening 36 of the drawer portion 13 via hinges 48 arranged at the lower drawer portion 13.
  • the section 42 covered by lid 40 has a filter opening 44 in which a filter is inserted and has a filling opening 46 used to fill in water into the water reservoir 62 storing the water for steam generation.
  • a typical value for the water storing volume in reservoir 62 is about 1.9 liters, preferably the volume is in a range of 1 to 3 liters, more preferably from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 1.5 to 2.5 or 1.75 to 2.25 liters.
  • Typically 0.7 liters are required for a steam treatment such that about 3 steam treatment cycles can be executed with the dryer 2 without manually replenishing liquid into the reservoir when no other liquid (e.g. condensate water) is supplied thereto.
  • arranging the user filling section 38 in a lower frame portion of the drawer opening 36 allows a simple modification of standardized dryers for models that use steam generation and models that do not use steam generation.
  • models with steam generation the front top panel 12 with the user filling section 38 is used, while for models without steam generation there is no user filling section 38 and instead the lower portion of the frame of the drawer opening 36 is just a flat plate without any openings and/or lid.
  • Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of Fig. 3 partially exploded in that the front top panel 12 is lifted off from the front frame 30 and the lid 40 covering the section 42 of the user filling section 38 is also taken away.
  • the user filling section 38 is a modified embodiment in which there is no separate division bar or rib which is dividing the filter opening 44 and the filling opening 46 as compared to the embodiment of Fig. 3 . Instead there is a single opening which exposes the openings for filling in the water for steam generation and for exchanging or servicing the filter of the reservoir 62.
  • the opening 50 overlaps with the opening 44/46 when the front top panel 12 is mounted on the front frame 30, wherein the lower frame of the drawer opening 36 is arranged close to or abutting to and parallel to the front cover top frame.
  • the front top panel 12, more specifically the drawer portion 13 forming the panel frame around drawer opening 36 just has a recess or gap over the filling inlet 136 and/or filter access 134 instead of the separate openings 44 and 46 in the drawer portion 13.
  • the window panel 22 is removed such that one can see the front cover window opening 52 which allows a view to the interior of the dryer just behind the front cover 8 where the reservoir 62 is arranged behind the window opening 52.
  • the dryer models which use mainly the same components (for example the heat pump system, the base section, the front frame 30, the rear frame 31 and the drum) can be modified from between steam type by exchanging the front cover 8 having the opening 50 and 52 and the front cover having neither opening 50 nor 52. Also the front top panel 12 having the user filling section 38 or not can be exchanged between the models using the same standardized dryer (home appliance platform). In a modification the front cover 8 shown in Fig.
  • Fig. 18a shows the section A indicated in Fig. 4 in more detail.
  • Fig. 5 shows a front view of the front frame 30, the front cover 8 and the front top panel 12 without details of the input section 16 and with the condensate drawer removed such that the drawer opening 36 to the drawer compartment can be seen.
  • a level window 68 of the reservoir 62 can be seen.
  • the section A-A of Fig. 5 is shown in Fig. 6 which will be described in detail below.
  • Fig. 7 shows in top view from left to right the front frame 30, the reservoir 62, a reservoir inlet unit 70, the front cover 8 and the window panel 22.
  • the reservoir 62 and the reservoir inlet unit 70 form together a reservoir unit 60 which has the function to store water to be supplied to a steam generator, to receive water filled in by a user manually and to filter condensate water which is pumped from a condensate collector of a condensate unit 92 to the reservoir 62.
  • the reservoir 62 is forming a container composed of a front or first shell 64 and a rear or second shell 66 which are glued, welded, ultrasonic welded or otherwise mounted together.
  • the level window 68 is protruding at the front side of the front shell 64 such that it is arranged immediately behind the front cover window opening 52 in the front cover 8 in the assembled state.
  • At least the level window 68, preferably the complete front shell 64 or both shells 64 and 66 are made of a transparent material, like transparent PP, PE or acrylic glass.
  • the reservoir inlet unit 70 is a pluggable component that can be plugged into the reservoir 62 and provides the manual filling, condensate filling and filtering function to the reservoir 62.
  • the reservoir inlet unit 70 has a condensate plug 132 that is protruding from the (back)surface of the unit 70 and is adapted to be inserted in a respective coupling or socket 106 ( Fig. 15a ) at the front side of the front shell 64.
  • Condensate which was pumped from a condensate reservoir to the filter in the unit 70 exits the unit 70 towards the interior of reservoir 62 during a filling process for filling the reservoir with condensate water.
  • a second plug is a filling plug 138 which protrudes at the back side of unit 70 and is adapted to be inserted in a respective coupling or socket 108 at the front shell 64. Liquid filled in manually into the unit 70 flows into the reservoir 62 via the filling plug 138.
  • the individual elements or groups of elements of the reservoir inlet unit 70 may be integrated into the front and/or rear shell 64, 66 of the reservoir 62.
  • the reservoir 62 and the reservoir inlet unit 70 are provided as two separate components in this embodiment for simplifying the manufacturing process of the front and rear shells 64, 66, as otherwise a more complex molding process would be required to integrate the functionality of unit 70 into the reservoir 62.
  • the reservoir may be easily modified, for example in providing the shell separation in a horizontal plane instead of a vertical plane and the filter and filling openings may be arranged then in the upper shell for example.
  • Fig. 8 shows an exploded perspective view of the front frame 30, the reservoir 62, the filling unit 70, the front cover 8 and the panel 22.
  • the front frame 30 has a reservoir mounting bracket 72 adapted to receive reservoir 62.
  • Fig. 9 shows the state in which the reservoir 62 is mounted at the front side of the front frame 30 and the unit 70 is mounted at the front side of reservoir 62.
  • the reservoir and the unit 70 are dimensioned such that these make use of the hollow space or dead volume which is present in the dryer between the front side of front frame 30 and the back side of the front cover 8.
  • the structure of the front frame 30 is optimized for the supporting function of the frame in respect of mounting the components and cover elements of the dryer and the structure is further optimized and adapted such as to receive the reservoir unit 60 without compromising the required mechanical stability and by integrating the reservoir unit 60 under reduction of extra-space for it.
  • the back side of reservoir 62 (here the rear shell 66) is adapted in a way to match the front structure of the front frame 30 and distribute the volume required for containing the liquid in the reservoir to areas and spaces between the frame 30 and the cover 8 where the respective space is available under preservation of the mechanical function of the front frame design elements and the front cover 8.
  • the front frame 30 can be used in unmodified form as a platform element for a dryer model that has a reservoir unit (e.g. for the steam generation unit) as well as for a dryer model that does not make use of the reservoir unit (and the steam generation and steam treatment of the laundry).
  • the front frame 30 is adapted to receive the reservoir unit (at least partially) such that no defective mechanical properties for the general purpose function of the front frame 30 are implemented, for example a riser feed through 74 is provided in a base area of the front frame without having an effect on its structural stability, while the feed through 74 provides an important liquid passage and/or pipe supporting function without requiring additional elements. This correspondingly applies for the overflow feed through 86 shown in Fig. 14 .
  • Figs. 9 and 10 further show the arrangement of the fluff filter 34 in the process air channel section which is formed in the lower region of the front frame 30.
  • the process air that has crossed the drum 20 is leaving the laundry treatment compartment at the lower section just in front of the loading frame 18 which is closed by a loading door through the channel section formed in frame 30 towards a battery channel 78 ( Fig 11 shows upper part of battery channel as part of the upper basement shell or battery top cover 230) which provides another process air channel section formed in the base unit of the drum.
  • the air in the process air channel section of the frame 30 is passing the fluff filter 34 to remove the fluff.
  • Fluff filter 34 can be taken out of the process air channel section by pulling it upward as is indicated by the filter position shown in Fig. 9 as compared to the one in Fig. 10 , where the filter is completely inserted for proper operation.
  • Fig. 11 shows a front view of the dryer with cover 8 and top cover 4 as well as left cover 6 removed and without a lower portion of the base section.
  • On the bottom an upper portion or cover shell 230 of the base section 76 is shown which includes the upper portion 78 of the battery channel where the process air enters which comes through the process air channel section going through the front frame 30.
  • the fluff filter 34 is also removed in this figure.
  • the reservoir unit 60 is mounted and the pipes connecting the unit to other elements are shown.
  • a riser pipe 82 comes from the back side of the front frame 30 and is guided through the riser feed through 74 from where it goes upward to a filter inlet 98 ( Fig. 15b ) of the reservoir inlet unit 70.
  • a feed pipe 84 is connected to a feed outlet 100 at the lower end of reservoir 62 and goes down at the front side of frame 30 and through a supply feed recess 75 formed at the lower edge of front frame 30.
  • the riser pipe 82 and the feed pipe 84 are clamped by clamps 89 mounted at the front side of frame 30.
  • the cross-sectional view indicated by section B-B in Fig. 11 is shown in Fig. 22 (similarly in Fig. 13 ).
  • Fig. 14 is a view to the back side of the front frame 30.
  • An overflow pipe 88 is guided from an overflow feed through 86 in the upper region of the frame 30 to the lower region of the frame.
  • the pipe 88 is mechanically fixed to the frame by clamps 89 provided at the backside of frame 30.
  • the overflow feed through 86 is a passage from the front side to the rear side of frame 30 below the drawer opening 36 and is coinciding or overlapping with a overflow connection at the back side of the reservoir 62 (in front projection - compare overflow outlet 102 shown in Fig. 17c .)
  • overflow pipe 88 The outlet of overflow pipe 88 is connected to a battery inlet 90 as can be seen from Figs. 12 and 13.
  • Fig. 12 shows at 78 the upper shell of the battery channel.
  • Overflow liquid that is descending in overflow pipe 88 enters the battery channel at 90 and is guided within the battery channel towards a condensate pump unit 92 where the condensate water that has condensed from the process air at the evaporator of the heat pump system is collected together with the liquid coming down the overflow pipe 88.
  • the condensate pump unit 92 is assigned to the battery channel 78 and collects the condensate water and the overflow water from reservoir 62 in a condensate container (304 in Fig. 28 ).
  • the pump (306 in Fig.
  • the condensate pump unit 92 pumps the condensate from the condensate container to a liquid branch which has a first pump outlet 94, which is connected to the riser pipe 82, and a second pump outlet 96, which is connected to a pipe which supplies the condensate into the container (302 in Fig. 28 ) of the condensate drawer.
  • the respective flow resistances from the branch 94/96 through the pipes and vertical height difference to the reservoir inlet unit 70 and the condensate drawer are designed such that about 20% to 40% of the condensate water is supplied to reservoir 62 via unit 70 and the remainder of the condensate water is pumped to the condensate drawer (unless the filter valve 198 of the filter 190 in the reservoir inlet unit 70 is closed).
  • the water consumed by steam generator 140 is less than the condensate water which is pumped from the condensate pump unit 92 into the reservoir 62.
  • the condensate pump unit 92 provides a signal initiated by a second maximum level in the condensate tank (304 in Fig. 28 ) to the control unit 300 which then stops operation of the dryer and/or stops a laundry drying process in which the condensate is formed by the laundry drying.
  • the control unit 300 waits for the user draining the condensate drawer 15a/302 such that pump 306 can again pump condensate into the condensate tank of drawer 15a.
  • a maximum filling level in the condensate drawer 15a/302 can be monitored instead or in addition to the second maximum level for the condensate tank 304 and the dryer or the drying process may be stopped as beforehand.
  • Fig. 15a shows an exploded view of the reservoir in more detail.
  • the reservoir is composed of a front shell 64 and a rear shell 66 which are to be joined together in a vertical plane.
  • the feed outlet 100 which supplies the water to the steam generator 140 via pipe 84 is formed at the bottom end of the front shell 64.
  • the overflow outlet 102 is formed in an upper region of rear shell 66 and is to be connected to the overflow pipe 88 which is arranged at the back side of front frame 30.
  • the front shell 64 further has a condensate coupling 106 adapted to couple with the condensate plug 132 protruding at unit 70 (see Fig.
  • a seal 104 is inserted which has the form of a cylindrical sleeve with a collar. After insertion of seal 104 into the respective openings, the plugs 132 and 138 as well as an adaptor pipe connecting the overflow outlet 102 to the inlet of the overflow pipe 88 through the overflow feed through 86 are inserted to provide a sealed coupling.
  • an inlet unit recess 110 is formed which contour is adapted to receive a portion of the volume of reservoir inlet unit 70.
  • the inlet unit recess 110 is formed such that when the unit 70 is mounted on the front shell 64, the unit 70 is received flush or nearly flush with the main front surface of front shell 64 (in this case without considering the protruding level window 68).
  • a pipe recess 112 is formed which receives a filter housing 130 of unit 70 and the upper portion of the riser pipe 82 which is connected to the filter inlet 98.
  • the rear shell 66 has mounting grooves 114 formed on its back side which are adapted to receive ribs 115 which are formed on the front side of front frame 30 (see Fig. 8 ) and which serve to provide mechanical stability for the front frame structure.
  • the wall parts of the rear shell 66, which form the grooves 114, partially separate the internal volume of reservoir 62 such that it can be said that the volume of the reservoir is split into partial volumes fluidly connected to each other so that the different portions of the split volume fit into recesses of the front frame for minimizing the space requirement for the container 62 by using dead volume in the structure of the front frame 30.
  • the reservoir For determining the liquid level within the reservoir 62, the reservoir provides the level window 68 through which a floater 116 can be visually observed by the user.
  • the level is also detected electronically by using a detector unit 126 which is mounted on a side wall of the front shell 64 close to the level window 68 and adapted to detect the floater 116.
  • the floater 116 is detected magnetically, using a respective sensor of the detector unit 126 (see below) and a magnet head 117 being part of the floater 116.
  • the floater 116 is received in a cage 124 formed by respective portions of the front and rear shell 64, 66.
  • the cage 124 On the side of the front shell 64 the cage 124 is formed by a channel that is open at one side (here the back side) and on the side of the rear shell 66 the cage section is formed by a floater cam 118 which protrudes as a small rib vertically extending at the inner front side of shell 66.
  • the upper section of the open channel formed in the front shell is closed by the protruding level window 68 which has a top wall section representing the upper limit.
  • the front window section of window 68 forms the front wall restriction and two side walls of window 68 form the side restrictions for floater 116.
  • the floater cam 118 has a window section 120 which is protruding farther from the inner surface of rear shell 66 to guide the path of the floater 116 in its level changing path within the level window inner volume.
  • the cage 124 is formed of parts of the shells that have to be assembled anyway, there is no need for additional assembling steps for separately assembling the cage for the floater.
  • the floater is for example inserted in the inner volume of window 68 (one cage part) and by combining the shells the cage is simultaneously closed for the floater.
  • the window section 120 there is a detector section 122 of cam 118 subsequent to a slope or slanted section 121 from the front side of window section 120 to the detector section 122 which is recessed from the front side to the back side.
  • the detector unit 126 is arranged completely outside the water storing volume or walls such that no sealing or gasket is required for passing electrical connections to the interior of water volume or for providing an inner sealed volume for the detector unit 126 or parts thereof. This simplifies the design of reservoir 62 and reduces costs or assembling effort.
  • Fig. 17d shows a cross-section through the reservoir along the section line D-D as indicated in Fig. 16a .
  • Fig. 17d shows the floater 116 in its upper position (116a) and in its lowest position (116b) within the floater cage 124.
  • the front side with respect to reservoir 62 is shown at the right side, while the rear side is shown at the left side of Fig. 17d . So it can be seen that along the window 68 the path of floater 116 is guided parallel to window 68 and a slope is going to the recessed position within the cage 124 from the pathway going from upside to downside, wherein finally in the lowest position 116b the floater path has again a vertical direction.
  • the detector unit 126 is arranged in the region of the lower position 116b.
  • the floater 116 can be visually observed by the user in the normal water level range within container 62, while the electronic detection by the detector unit 126 detects the floater in or close to the lowest position to indicate the critical low water level or the run low of the water in reservoir 62.
  • Fig. 32 shows an embodiment of the reservoir 62 where the floater 116 is modified to floater 116'. Also the relative position of the limitations in the floater cage 124 are slightly modified in that the relative length or position of the cage portion in level window 68, the window section 120, the slanted section 121 and the detector section 122 are changed. In the floater 116' the magnet head 117' is arranged at the bottom side. As compared to floater 116, the barycenter is shifted to a deeper position within the floater 116'. This has the advantage that the risk of blocking the floater movement during descending and rising of the floater with liquid level change is significantly reduced.
  • positions 116'a and 116'b indicate the upper and lower position of floater 116' in cage 124, respectively.
  • Fig. 15a further shows cable clips 128 arranged at the front side of the front shell 64 adapted to receive the electrical wires connecting the detector unit 126 to the control unit (300 in Fig. 28 ) of dryer 2.
  • the wire path is running from left to right in front of reservoir 62 and from there further to the right where the control unit 300 is arranged on the right upper side of dryer behind the input section 16 of the front top panel 12.
  • Fig. 15b shows the reservoir 62 with the front end rear shells 64, 66 welded together, while the reservoir inlet unit 70 is shown in the non-mounted state.
  • Unit 70 has the vertically downward extending filter housing 130 for receiving a filter 190 that is filtering the fluff from the condensate water which is pumped from the condensate pump unit 92 to the reservoir 62.
  • a filter access or opening 134 is arranged at the top side of unit 70 wherein the filter access 134 provides an access to remove the filter 190 and to actuate a filter switch 192.
  • a filling inlet 136 is arranged neighboring to the filter access 134, which is used to fill in water manually by a user. In an assembled state of the dryer 2 the filling inlet 136 overlaps or coincides with the filling opening 46 shown in Fig. 4 and the filter access 134 overlaps or coincides with the filter opening 44.
  • the condensate plug 132 extends from the rear side of the filter housing 130 such as to be plugged into the condensate coupling 106 when mounting the unit 70 on the front shell 64.
  • the filling plug 138 ( Fig. 7 ) extends at the rear side of unit 70 and is adapted to be plugged into the filling coupling 108 at the front side of front shell 64.
  • the filling inlet 136 may be formed directly at the front or rear shell 64, 66 such that it is not necessary to provide a separate inlet unit 70 for manually filling.
  • the filter access 134 may be formed in the front or rear shell with the filter body at least partially formed therein for receiving the filter 190.
  • filter access 134 in front or rear shell provides receiving of the filter switch 192 with the function to switch on and off the condensate water supply into the filter.
  • an additional opening for connecting the riser pipe 82 is then arranged at the outside of the front or rear shell (i.e. the filter inlet 98 is then arranged at the front or rear shell).
  • the unit 70 is screwed to the front shell 64 using screws; however, it may be fixed in any other way to the front shell 64, for example by clamping or welding or using a glue.
  • Fig. 16a shows a front view of the assembled reservoir 62
  • Fig. 16b shows a side view
  • Fig. 16c a top view of the reservoir.
  • the condensate coupling 106 and the filling coupling 108 can be seen, each with one of seals 104.
  • the overflow outlet 102 can be seen with the seal 104 inserted.
  • Fig. 17a shows a section through the reservoir 62 along section line A-A of Fig. 16a . This section intersects the reservoir in the region where the filling coupling 108 is arranged.
  • Fig. 17b shows the cross-section along section line B-B in Fig. 16a including a section through the condensate coupling 106.
  • Fig. 17c shows a sectional view through reservoir 62 along section C-C in Fig. 16a intersecting the overflow outlet 102 formed in the rear shell 66 and projecting from its rear side.
  • Fig. 17d is a section through reservoir 62 along section line D-D in Fig. 16a . As described above, this section goes through the floater cage 124. While the sections in Figs.
  • FIG. 17a to 17d are vertical plane sections through reservoir
  • Fig, 17e shows a horizontal plane section through the reservoir along the section line E-E in Fig. 16a . It is taken in a (vertical) height where the floater 116 has its flow path within the cage 124 that is partially formed by the level window 68. At the left side of level window 68 the section goes through the detector unit 126 which has its detector sensitive zone below the travel path of floater 116 in the floater cage 124 at floater position 116b shown in Fig. 17d .
  • Fig. 17f shows an enlarged view of the level detector unit 126 taken from the area indicated by A in Fig. 15a .
  • the printed circuit board 160 of the detector unit 126 is shown in the disassembled state.
  • a REED sensor 162 is arranged at the PCB 160 adapted to detect the magnetic field of the magnet head 117 from floater 116 in floater position 116b (low water level).
  • a socket 164 is provided at the lower end of PCB 160 adapted to couple with a connector plug arranged at the end of wires for connecting the sensor to the control unit 300 of the dryer for evaluating the signal provided by the REED sensor 162.
  • the electrical wires connecting the sensor unit 126 to the control unit of the dryer are held by cable clips 128 arranged along the front side of the reservoir 62.
  • the control unit 300 recognizes that the water level in the reservoir is low and upon detecting this signal the steam generation by steam generator 140 is switched off. Additional measures can be taken by the control unit upon detecting the low liquid level, for example an acoustic or visual indication can be activated to inform the user that the water level is low. Further upon detecting the low level, the control unit can stop the steam supply too during the running process and finish the running process without modification except steam supply stopped, or it can stop the running process completely or an alternative process can be run, which does not need steam treatment for the laundry. Also, the control unit can interrupt the running program and wait for replenishing the water in reservoir 62 by the user.
  • any other sensor can be used that detects the magnetic field from the floater 116, for example a Hall sensor.
  • the detector unit 126 can be provided with another detector detecting another feature of floater 116, for example which is adapted to detect presence or absence of the floater 116 in the region where the low level is to be detected.
  • an optical sensor could be provided which detects the reflection of light emitted to the floater 116, such that the presence of the floater and absence of the floater is detected optically from the reflected light.
  • an ultrasonic reflection can be detected from the floater to sense the low liquid level.
  • a light source like an LED, a lamp or something else could be arranged on the detector unit 126 or its PCB 160 to illuminate at least a portion of the interior of the reservoir 62 such that the user can more easily visually recognize whether the floater 116 is in the region of the level window 68 or not.
  • the seat 168 for the PCB 160 is provided at the side of the front shell 64.
  • the PCB 160 has lateral protrusions 166 which are adapted to snap into latches of a second bracket 172 of the seat 168 while the opposing back side of PCB 160 is latched by elastic detents 174 provided in a first bracket 170 of seat 168.
  • the protrusions 166 are fixed in the latches by further detents 174 provided at the second bracket 172.
  • the seat 168 thus provides a socket or holder for the PCB 160 to mount it in a fixed position at a side wall of reservoir 62 to be able to detect the floater 116 in a reliable manner.
  • the detail view of Fig. 17f further shows a shield 176 which is arranged above the seat 168 and the PCB 160 inserted therein and being adapted to shield the PCB against liquid that may drip from above or may run along the outer face of reservoir 62 towards the PCB.
  • the PCB shield 176 has a roof section 178 and a side wall 180 to guide water around the PCB.
  • the side wall 180 has a deflector 182 extending at its lower end, which is inclined away from PCB to further assist in keeping liquid off from PCB 160.
  • the shield 176 and the seat 168 are formed as monolithic parts of the front shell 64, i.e. are injection molded together with the material of the front shell 64 in one run.
  • the seat 168 and/or the shield 176 may be mounted at the side wall of the reservoir 62 in a separate assembling step.
  • Fig. 18a shows a detail view of the filling area in exploded view as a detail A from Fig. 4 and as already described above.
  • Fig. 18b again shows the filling area for the reservoir 62 with the condensate drawer 302 being extracted and the lid 40 being open. It shows the embodiment where the filter opening 44 is separate from the filling opening separated by a rib and wherein the filling inlet 136 of the unit 70 is just below the filling opening 46 and the filter access 134 of unit 70 is just below the filter opening 44.
  • the filter switch 192 in Fig. 18b is at the left position within the filter access or opening 134, which means that a filer valve 198 is closed, while in Fig. 18c the filter switch 192 is in a middle position of the filter access 134 such that the filter valve 198 is open.
  • Figs. 19a and 19b are detailed cross-sectional views through the reservoir inlet unit 70 in the mounted state, corresponding to Figs. 18b and c , respectively, wherein in Fig. 19a the filter valve 198 is open, while it is closed in Fig. 19b .
  • the cross-sections of Fig. 19a and b are taken in a plane parallel to the front of the dryer through the center of unit 70, wherein the section plane is a vertical plane.
  • the filter housing 130 and the filter 190 housed therein are shown in cross-section, wherein the filter extends in vertical direction and basically has rotational symmetry in a horizontal section plane.
  • the filter 190 has a coarse filter grid 194 forming a cylindrical basket at the upper end.
  • a fine filter mesh (not shown) is supported by the coarse filter grid 194, wherein the fine filter mesh is adapted to filter the fluff out of the condensate water passing the filter 190.
  • the filter has a round passage or opening 196 which is arranged neighboring to the opening for the condensate coupling 106 which is protruding at the rear side of unit 70.
  • the filter housing 130 has a section with a lower diameter over which the upper end of the riser pipe 82 is drawn.
  • the inner of the riser pipe 82 communicates with passages 208 formed at the lower end of the filter 190 between a valve seat 206 and a valve head 200 of the filter valve 198.
  • Fig. 19a shows the valve 198 in the open state such that the passages 208 are open (the filter switch 192 is in the left position when seen in Fig. 19a ).
  • the passages 208 are closed as the valve seat 206 abuts against an O-ring 202 arranged at the valve head 200. In this position the filter switch 192 is at the right position (in the middle position within the filter access 134).
  • valve head 200 has a collector recess 210 which is arranged lower than the valve head 200 such that fluff or other debris released from the inside of the fine filter collects there without blocking the valve seats.
  • an O-ring 212 seals the cylindrical ring gap between the outside of the fine mesh (outer space 216) and filter grid 194 and the inside of filter housing 130 such that no unfiltered condensate water can pass the filter towards the reservoir 62 or towards the filter access region 134.
  • a helix-shaped spring 204 is arranged between the outside of filter 190 and the inside of filter housing 130.
  • the spring 204 is biased when the valve is open.
  • filter switch 192 is shifted to the right side ( Fig. 19b )
  • the compression force compressing spring 204 is released and the spring 204 lifts the lower section of the filter (the cylindrical pipe section below the filter grid 194) such that the valve 198 is closed.
  • the top end of filter 190 above the filter grid 194 is formed by the filter cap 217 which provides a hinge and cam connection 218 to a cam 220 which is formed at the lower side of filter switch 192.
  • the cam 220 has a cam curve 222 which interacts with pins arranged at the filter cap 217.
  • a lower section of cam curve 222 acts on the pins of the filter cap 217 (not shown) and presses the filter 190 to its lowest position within filter housing 130 such that the valve 198 is open.
  • the filter switch 192 is moved to its right position as shown in Fig. 19b , the pins at the filter 217 move upwards along the cam curve 222 due to the bias force of spring 204.
  • filter switch 192 also serves as handle or grip for removing the upper filter part from or insert it into the filter housing 130.
  • the user can manually fill reservoir 62 by supplying water or another liquid through the filling inlet 136. This gives the user the possibility to exclude condensate water from being supplied to the steam generation unit 140.
  • the user may also fill in water with an additive or an additive liquid as such into the reservoir.
  • the additive or additive liquid may be for example a treatment agent for dry cleaning, for waterproofing the laundry, for disinfecting the laundry, for softening the laundry or the like.
  • Fig. 6 shows the cross-section through unit 70 along the section line A-A in Fig. 5 .
  • the cross-section is taken through the center of filter 190 and filter housing 130.
  • the cross-section is in a vertical plane perpendicular to the front of the dryer 2.
  • the opening 196 of the filter grid 194 overlaps or coincides with the opening of the condensate plug 132.
  • the other filter grid 194 also the opening 196 in the coarse filter grid 194 is covered by the fine mesh of the filter.
  • Fig. 20a and 20b show top views to the front frame 30 and the filling area and filter access 134 of the reservoir inlet unit 70 as described above.
  • the steam generator 140 is arranged at the upper side of the upper shell or upper cover of the battery channel 78.
  • the generator 140 has a heater body 142 for heating the liquid supplied from reservoir 62, wherein the heater body 142 is of the continuous-flow heater type in this embodiment, which only heats small amounts of liquid in a pipe leading through the heater.
  • the steam generator 140 may also be a boiler-type steam generator having a container with a heater inside or outside the container to heat up larger amounts of liquid therein.
  • An inlet 144 of the heater is connected to a pump 148 which in turn is connected to the feed pipe 84 coming from reservoir 62.
  • Pump 148 has dosing function in that it pumps an amount of liquid into the heater body 142 in a controlled way (closed loop control or open loop control provided by control unit 300) such as to guarantee that nearly droplet-free steam leaves the heater body 142.
  • a controlled valve could also be provided to dose the liquid amount to be supplied to the heater 142.
  • the heater body 142 has a steam outlet 146 where the steam generated in the heater body 142 exits towards the laundry storing compartment.
  • the steam generator unit 140 uses an inline or flow-through heater in which the water is heated and evaporated to steam while the water is flowing through the heater.
  • a boiler-type steam generator may be used in which an amount of water is supplied to a boiler container and is heated therein to generate the steam which is drained or exhausted from the liquid surface to the outlet of the boiler chamber.
  • Figs. 12 and 13 further show at the rear end of the upper section or upper cover of the base or battery top cover 230 a wheel bearing 232 on which a wheel (not shown) is rotatably mounted at wheel axis 234. Only one of four wheel bearings with wheels is shown on which the cylindrically-shaped drum 20 is rotatably supported.
  • the rotatable drum is open at the front and rear side, which are closed to form the laundry storing compartment by the compartment back wall 26 and the back side of the front frame and the loading door.
  • FIGs. 29 and 30 show rear perspective views of the drum 20 and the front frame 30, wherein the front edge 21a and the rear edge 21b of the cylindrical drum wall are shown.
  • a portion of the drum cylinder is cut out to have a cross-sectional view to a drum sealing 236 provided at the front side of the drum.
  • the drum sealing 236 is shown in more detail in Fig. 31 which is similar to the cross section detail B of Fig. 30 .
  • the front edge 21a of drum 20 extends into a groove 238 formed at the backside of front frame 30.
  • an O-ring 240 having a rectangular cross-section is inserted into groove and abuts against the front edge.
  • a similar sealing arrangement is provided at the front side of the rear frame 31 or the compartment back wall 26.
  • the circular groove for receiving the rear edge 21b of drum is arranged at the rear frame 31 or the back wall 26 and an O-ring is inserted therein similar to O-ring 240 for sealing against process air or steam escape from the drum to the outside thereof or against invading of outside air into the drum. Additionally the sealing arrangement prevents jamming of laundry in the junction between drum and back wall 26 or loading opening frame and prevents escape of steam from the drum interior.
  • Fig. 21 shows a detailed view of a steam inlet unit 250 with the cone 252 corresponding to an enlargement of the circle section A in Fig. 12 .
  • Steam outlets 254 are provided at the free-standing end or the front section of cone 252 at the upper side thereof. It is to be noted that the outlets 254 do not supply processing air to the laundry storing compartment and that the rear wall openings 28 do not supply steam into the laundry storing compartment.
  • Fig. 22 shows a cross-section along the section line B-B in Fig. 11 such that the front frame 30 and the rear frame 31 are vertically intersected in their respective centers where the steam inlet unit 250 is mounted at the center of the compartment back wall 26 which is mounted at the rear frame 31.
  • the rear frame 31 preferably is formed of a plate-material, like a metal plate, which is structured by pressing.
  • the center region of the rear frame 31 forms a back channel wall 256 or back shell of a process air rear channel 258 which extends from the bottom section to a center region of the dryer back side.
  • the process air rear channel 258 is formed between the inner side of back channel wall 256 and the rear side of the compartment back wall 26 which is mounted to the rear frame 31.
  • the process air rear channel 258 guides process air from a blower, which is arranged in a base section of the dryer, upward toward the center of the dryer at the back side where the process air enters the laundry storing chamber through the air inlet openings 28 (compare Fig. 2 ).
  • Fig. 22 further shows the inner side of the upper battery channel 78.
  • the battery channel 78 is formed between an upper and lower shell forming the basement of the dryer, wherein the figures show only the upper shell as battery top cover 230.
  • the inner side of the battery channel is here shown by battery inner wall 260 of the basement upper shell 230 (lower basement shell or lower battery cover is not shown).
  • Fig. 23 shows an enlarged view of the steam inlet unit 250 arranged at the rear frame corresponding to the detail of circle C in Fig. 22 .
  • the cone 252 has a hollow interior wherein a separation chamber 264 is arranged at the front or free-standing end section of cone 252.
  • the separation chamber 264 is designed to separate steam, which is supplied into the separation chamber 264, from droplets that are transported with the steam into the chamber or which are formed at or in the separation chamber 264.
  • the separation chamber is defined at the front end side by the inner wall of the cone 252, while the back side of the chamber is restricted by a partition wall 278.
  • the steam does not distribute in all the volume of the cone, but only in the separation chamber 264 from where it enters into the laundry treatment compartment formed by the drum and the front and rear walls thereof through the steam outlets 254.
  • the steam outlets 254 are distant or offset to the walls defining the laundry storing compartment, the steam is introduced closer and more efficient to the inner or center of the storing compartment which results in a more efficient steam distribution in the compartment volume.
  • the feed through 270 has a steam inlet 273 to line 266 connecting to steam inlet 272 at chamber 264.
  • feed through 270 has a condensate outlet 274 at chamber 264 and a rear outlet 275 at the rear end of feed through 270.
  • inlet 272 is arranged above outlet 274, however they may also be arranged side by side. Also they need not end at the same plane and can be axially (with respect to the opening plane) offset to each other. I.e. inlet 272 may protrude farther into chamber 264 than outlet 274.
  • a droplet deflector or catcher may be assigned to the steam inlet 272 which assists in separating droplets from the introduced steam.
  • a shield or plate may be arranged between the inlet 272 and the outlets 254 which the steam on its path from 272 has to bypass before reaching outlets 254.
  • a rear connector 286 is mounted at the back channel wall 256 such that it receives the rear end of the feed through 270.
  • the rear connector 286 has a recess which mates in contour to the outer contour of feed through 270 with O-rings 276 arranged between the outside of feed through 270 and the inside of the recess such to seal the lines 266 and 268 at the rear end.
  • the rear connector 286 has a steam passage 288 through which steam is supplied to the inlet line 266 and has a condensate passage 290 which receives the condensate from the outlet line 268.
  • the bottom of the separation chamber 264 is defined or restricted by a collector plate 280 which may be formed as part of the cone 252, as part of the partition wall 278 or may be formed as a separate part which is mounted when assembling the steam inlet unit 250.
  • the collector 280 collects the condensate water and guides it to the condensate outlet 274 in the partition wall 278 to guide it out of the cone via the outlet line 268.
  • the partition wall 278 in this embodiment is monolithically formed with the channel feed through 270 (for example in a blow mold or injection mold process), it may be part of the cone 252 or it may be a separate element which is mounted to feed through 270 or to cone 252.
  • the cone 252 is mounted to the front side of the rear frame 31 using a mounting flange 282 which is glued, screwed, welded or otherwise mounted to the compartment back wall 26.
  • the mounting flange 282 has a bayonet connector 283 such as to mount the cone 252 on the flange 282 in a bayonet lock.
  • other ways of mounting cone on the flange may be provided or the flange 282 may be omitted and the cone 252 may be directly mounted, welded, glued or fixed to the back wall 26.
  • Fig. 24 shows the steam inlet unit 250 in an exploded view without showing the back frame 31 (back channel wall 256) and the compartment back wall 26.
  • the notches of the bayonet connector 283 and a latch 285 for locking cone 252 in the rotation end position of the bayonet connector 283 are shown.
  • spacer bars 284 extend from the back side of the bayonet connector 283.
  • the length or depth of the spacer bars 284 is selected such that they bridge the depth of the process air rear channel 258 to prevent a narrowing of the rear channel during drying operation where the laundry may press against the cone 252, or to stabilize the rear channel for example when the dryer is placed in position in the user's home.
  • Fig. 25 shows a rear perspective view of the dryer 2, where the lower section of the base unit and the right side wall are removed.
  • the rear connector 286 is mounted on the rear side of back channel wall 256 and a steam pipe 292 is fluidly connected with the steam passage 288 in the rear connector 286.
  • the steam pipe 292 in turn is connected to the steam outlet 146 of the steam generator 140 shown in Fig. 13 .
  • steam can be supplied from the steam generator 140 through steam pipe 292, through rear connector 286, through inlet line 266 and steam inlet 272 into separation chamber 264 and from there to the interior of drum 20.
  • a condensate pipe 294 is fluidly connected to the condensate passage 290 of rear connector 286 and guides the condensate water down along the pipe 294 into the condensate container 304 of the condensate pump unit 92 arranged at the back end of the battery channel (compare Fig. 13 ).
  • Fig. 26 is an enlarged view of the detail B of Fig. 25 where the mounting of pipes 286 and 294 to respective stubs of the rear connector 286 can be seen.
  • Fig. 27 shows a front view of the steam inlet unit 250 in the assembled state, but with the rear frame 31 with its center portion back channel wall 256 removed.
  • Fig. 28 shows as a block diagram some of the components of the dryer 2 and their mutual functional relation.
  • the reservoir 62 holds liquid which preferably is water.
  • the liquid level in reservoir 62 can be visually detected by a user through the level window 68 arranged at a (front) side wall of the reservoir.
  • the floater 116 is floating at the liquid surface where it is shifted up and down along its moving path within the floater cage.
  • the "liquid low" level can be detected by detector unit 126.
  • the detector unit provides a respective signal to the control unit 300 of the dryer 2.
  • sensor power supply voltage is delivered from control unit 300 to sensor 126 and/or power for operating an illumination device (e.g. LED or lamp) to illuminate the reservoir such that the liquid level can be more easily detected by the user.
  • an illumination device e.g. LED or lamp
  • the detector unit 126 has the control line or has an additional control line connected to the steam generator 140 to have a security switch-off provided to heater body 142 in case of low water level. This serves as security measure at a control level below the controller 300.
  • the user can manually fill the reservoir 62 through filling inlet 136.
  • condensate produced by the laundry drying process is sufficient to provide enough liquid to reservoir 62, wherein the condensate is provided from condensate pump unit 92 through the valve 198 and filter 190 to the interior or reservoir 62.
  • Filling inlet 136, valve 198 and filter 190 are provided in the reservoir inlet unit 70 in this embodiment, however, these elements can all or partially be integrated in the body (e.g. one of the shells 64, 66) of reservoir 62.
  • the user can manually close valve 198 to stop condensate supply to the reservoir such that the filling of the reservoir is made through filling inlet 136 only manually.
  • Valve 198 may be integrated in unit 70 or directly in the reservoir 62 or it may be arranged at another position in the supply line from the condensate pump unit 92 to the reservoir 62.
  • Valve may for example be a controllable valve, like a solenoid valve which is controlled (closed and opened) under the control of control unit 300.
  • Condensate pump unit 92 is fluidly connected to the battery channel 78 to collect the condensate water which is formed during the drying process at the heat exchanger where the process air is cooled down to remove air humidity therein.
  • the condensate tank 304 in the condensate pump unit 92 also collects condensate that has condensed in the steam inlet unit 250 and/or which comes along overflow pipe 88 from reservoir 62.
  • the liquid from steam inlet unit 250 and/or from reservoir 62 can be supplied directly into the condensate tank 304 or via the battery channel 78 where it may be introduced at any arbitrary position.
  • the pump 306 sucks in condensate from condensate tank 304 and pumps it through the branch which has the first pump outlet 94 to the riser pipe 82 for supplying condensate into reservoir 62, and through the second pump outlet 96 through a drain pipe 83 into the drawer 302.
  • a second maximum level detector may be associated to the tank 304 to detect that condensate rises to or above a maximum level of normal operation where all condensate can be pumped to drawer 302.
  • the abnormal state indicated thereby may have its origin in the drawer capacity being full and no condensate can be drained by pump 306 into the drawer (or the reservoir 62).
  • drawer 302 has another liquid level indicator which sends a signal to control unit 300 to indicate to the user that the condensate collected in drawer 302 has to be manually removed.
  • the branch 94/96 splits the condensate flow rate such that e.g. about one third is supplied to the reservoir 62 and two thirds are supplied to drawer 302.
  • the liquid from reservoir 62 is supplied to the pump 148 in the steam generator 140 which supplies controllable amounts of liquid using a control operation of the control unit 300 for the pump 148 operation.
  • the liquid from pump is supplied into the heater body 142.
  • the steam from heater body 142 is supplied through steam pipe 292 into the steam inlet unit 250 from where the steam is blown through cone 252 to the interior of drum 20.
  • Energizing and de-energizing of the heater 142 is made via control unit 300 which also monitors overheating and/or overpressure in the heater body 142.
  • User program selections and program option selections are made via the input section 16 which is connected to control unit 300, wherein the input section further indicates a status of the dryer, like selected program, remaining drying time, or any malfunction like low liquid level in reservoir 62, over-temperature in steam generator 140 or drawer 302 full with condensate to be removed.
  • a modified reservoir 400 is described in more detail. As compared to the version of the reservoir 62 described, above reservoir 400 has a few modifications and is a preferable embodiment for implementing the present invention.
  • Fig. 33 shows an exploded view of the reservoir. It is composed of a front shell 402 and a rear shell 404 which are to be joined together in a vertical plane (relating to the mounting position in the dryer).
  • the feed outlet 100 which supplies the water to the steam generator 140 via pipe 84 is formed at the bottom end of the front shell 404.
  • the overflow outlet 102 is formed in an upper region of rear shell 404 and is to be connected to the overflow pipe 88 which is arranged at the back side of front frame 30.
  • the front shell 402 further has a condensate coupling 106 adapted to couple with the condensate plug 132 protruding at unit 70 (see Fig. 15b ), and has a filling coupling 108 adapted to couple with the filling plug 138 of unit 70 (shown in Fig. 7 ).
  • condensate coupling 106 and filling coupling 108 seals are inserted as shown and described above (see e.g. Fig. 15a ).
  • an inlet unit recess 110 is formed whose contour is adapted to receive a portion of the volume of reservoir inlet unit 70.
  • the inlet unit recess 110 is formed such that when the unit 70 is mounted on the front shell 402, the unit 70 is received flush or nearly flush with the main front surface of front shell.
  • the rear shell 404 has mounting grooves 114 formed on its back side which are adapted to receive ribs 115 which are formed on the front side of front frame 30 (see Fig. 8 ) and which serve to provide mechanical stability for the front frame structure.
  • the outer form of the reservoir 400 resembles that of reservoir 62 described above. It is preferably designed so that its space requirement is minimized by using dead volume in the dryer and in particular in the structure of the front frame.
  • the reservoir For determining the liquid level within the reservoir 400, the reservoir comprises a floater 116 and a detector unit 414 that is adapted to detect the floater position electronically.
  • the floater 116 is detected magnetically, using a respective sensor of the detector unit 414 (see below) and a magnet head 117 being part of the floater 116.
  • the reservoir may have an additional level window 68 (see e.g. Fig. 15a ) through which the floater can be visually observed by the user.
  • the floater 116 is received in a cage 408 formed by respective portions of the front and rear shell 402, 404.
  • the cage 408 On the side of the front shell 402 the cage 408 is formed by a channel that is open at one side (here the back side) and on the side of the rear shell 404 the cage section is formed by a floater cam 118 which protrudes as a small rib vertically extending at the inner front side of shell 404.
  • the upper and lower limits of the cage are formed by two stoppers 405, 406 protruding from the front shell.
  • the cage 124 is formed by elements of the shells that have to be assembled anyway, there is no need for additional assembling steps for separately assembling the cage for the floater.
  • the floater Before assembling the shells 64, 66 for reservoir 62, the floater is for example inserted in the inner volume of window 68 (one cage part) and by combining the shells the cage is simultaneously closed for the floater.
  • the floater window for visual inspection is not needed in this embodiment of the reservoir 400.
  • the path of the floater within the reservoir is preferably straight and vertical and removes the risk for the floater to get stuck within the deflected path in the embodiment of 62 shown in Fig 17d or in similar embodiments.
  • a window panel 22 (cf. Fig. 3 ) in the dryer's front cover is not needed which reduces production costs. At the same time, interaction with the user can be simplified and improved, because the user does not need to inspect the window panel.
  • a detector section 409 prepared to receive a detector unit 410.
  • the location of the detector section can also be seen in Fig. 34 , which is a front view of the reservoir 400.
  • the detector section extends along the complete length of the floater cage. In other embodiments it may be preferable to design shorter detector sections so that the corresponding detector unit is smaller.
  • the detector unit 410 is arranged completely outside the water storing volume or walls such that no sealing or gasket is required for passing electrical connections to the interior of water volume or for providing an inner sealed volume for the detector unit 126 or parts thereof. This simplifies the design of reservoir 62 and reduces costs or assembling effort.
  • the plane A-A indicated in Fig. 34 is a cut through the center of the floater cage.
  • Figs. 35a and 35b are sections through the reservoir 400 along this plane with the sensor unit 410 readily mounted.
  • the sensors are REED sensors reactive to the magnetic field created by the magnetic head 117 of the floater 116. This technology is preferable because it is cost efficient and reliable. Other sensor technologies may be applied in other embodiments.
  • Each sensor is prepared to detect the floater and creating a signal depending on the distance of the floater from the respective sensor.
  • each sensor detects a certain range of water levels.
  • Different embodiments of the invention may incorporate different numbers of sensors.
  • Using more than one sensor is beneficial, because depending on the sensor technology and characteristics it allows more precise detection even of water levels that are not directly related to the individual sensor positions by evaluating the various combinations of sensor signals.
  • two REED sensors 414, 416 can be adapted to detect four different water levels as follows.
  • the floater When the water level in the reservoir 400 is close to its maximum, then the floater is close to the upper sensor 416 and is therefore detected by this sensor only.
  • the floater When the water in the reservoir is at an intermediate level, then the floater is between the two REED sensors but close enough to both of them so as to be detected by both sensors.
  • the floater When the water level is at a third level which is lower than both the maximum level and the intermediate level, then the floater is close to the lower sensor and is therefore detected by this sensor only.
  • the floater moves to a position which is relatively far away from both sensors, so that it is detected by none of them.
  • Figure 35b depicts the same section A-A through the reservoir 400 as shown in Fig. 35a , but with the front shell 402 mounted. Therefore the sensor unit 410 is hidden behind the front shell and the floater cage 408 is visible instead.
  • the floater cage in this embodiment is limited by the outer wall of the front shell 402, the cam 118 protruding from the rear shell, and the stoppers 405, 406 protruding from the front shell.
  • the floater path is completely straight and arranged vertically so that the floater can easily move up and down depending on the water level within the reservoir.
  • floater cage can be implemented in other embodiments, in particular with a deflected floater path or with the floater path not being vertical but inclined at a certain angle.
  • the floater path does not deviate from the vertical orientation by more than 45°. More preferably, the floater path does not deviate from the vertical orientation by more than 22,5°.
  • Figure 36a is an enlarged view of Detail B from Fig. 35a.
  • Figure 36b shows the same detail but with the cam 118 removed, so that only the sensor unit 310 remains visible.
  • the REED sensors 412, 414, 416 are mounted on a common support 420, e.g. a printed circuit board, which is beneficial for minimizing production cost and assembly effort.
  • the sensors are connected in parallel. More preferably additional components may be mounted on the same support such as, e.g., resistors or capacitors used to prepare or combine the sensor signals for further processing.
  • On the bottom side of the sensor unit there is a single electrical plug socket 422 providing the electrical connections to the sensors and a disconnectable or pluggable connection 424 for connecting a line from the plug socket to the control unit.
  • the electrical plug socket is at least partially formed as part of the common sensor support 420.
  • the support 420, the sensors 412, 414, 416, and possibly further components as described above are surrounded by a housing 411 to form the sensor unit 410.
  • the housing is beneficial for protecting the other sensor unit's components, and in particular the sensors, against water droplets that may otherwise drip on them.
  • the housing may provide mechanisms enabling it to be attached easily and quickly to the sensor section 409 of the reservoir 400.
  • such mechanisms are created by one or more clamps attached to the housing 411, recessions in the housing, and or small ribs, kinks, ears protruding from the housing and formed to fit with counterparts provided by the shells 402, 404 of the reservoir 400.
  • the housing is designed so that the pluggable connection 424 is directly formed by the housing components.
  • FIGS. 37a, b and 38a, b show the same views as Figs. 35a, b and 36a, b described above, respectively, but with only one REED sensor 412 instead of three REED sensors (412, 414, 416) mounted on the support 420.
  • the outer dimensions and features of the sensor unit 410 including the pluggable connection 424 remain unchanged, so that no or only minimal changes to other dryer components are necessary.
  • Figures 39a and 39b depict an indicator unit 430 used in a preferable embodiment of the invention. It comprises a high level indicator 432, a medium level indicator 434, and a low level indicator 436.
  • the high level indicator is activated by the control unit 300 when the sensor unit 410 detects a high water level in the reservoir 400.
  • the control unit it is preferable for the control unit to activate the medium level indicator, when the sensor unit detects an intermediate water level in the reservoir, and/or to activate the low level indicator when the sensor unit detects a low water level in the reservoir.
  • the symbols shown in the figures are examples and may be replaced by other symbols or other indicators in other embodiments.
  • Fig. 39c is a detail showing only the low level indicator highlighted by the circle in Fig. 39b .
  • the program/subroutine In operating the dryer 2, if during execution of a laundry treatment program (or of a subroutine within the executed program) which requires water supply from the water reservoir 400, the program/subroutine preferably is continued without suspending or terminating the program/subroutine.
  • the remaining water amount which is available within the reservoir and the line to the steam generator 140 is normally sufficient to finalize the steam treatment of the laundry without the need to stop steam generation for protecting the steam generator against a running dry by lack of water.
  • it can be checked whether the time-to-end of the steam requiring program/subroutine and/or the required water amount until end of steam requirement is below a predefined threshold and then the running program/subroutine is finished and otherwise it is suspended or terminated.
  • the predefined threshold may be correlated to the amount of water remaining when the lower water level is detected.
  • the lower water level may be detected using sensor 414 or 412.
  • Figures 40 to 42 depict perspective and exploded views that are analogous to the views shown in Figs 1 , 3 , and 8 , but each without the window panel 22 for visual inspection of the water level in the water reservoir 400.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Detail Structures Of Washing Machines And Dryers (AREA)
  • Control Of Washing Machine And Dryer (AREA)
EP13173517.7A 2013-06-25 2013-06-25 Laundry treatment apparatus having a water reservoir Active EP2818593B1 (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP13173517.7A EP2818593B1 (en) 2013-06-25 2013-06-25 Laundry treatment apparatus having a water reservoir
PL13173517T PL2818593T3 (pl) 2013-06-25 2013-06-25 Aparat do obróbki prania mający zbiornik wody

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP13173517.7A EP2818593B1 (en) 2013-06-25 2013-06-25 Laundry treatment apparatus having a water reservoir

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EP2818593A1 EP2818593A1 (en) 2014-12-31
EP2818593B1 true EP2818593B1 (en) 2021-09-15

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2016173787A1 (en) * 2015-04-28 2016-11-03 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi A laundry dryer
CN105261281B (zh) * 2015-11-11 2018-05-08 浙江创想节能科技有限公司 一种反应堆压力容器保温层进水组件功能试验装置
DE102017221722A1 (de) * 2017-12-01 2019-06-06 BSH Hausgeräte GmbH Sprüheinheit und Wäschebehandlungsgerät
CN110946467B (zh) * 2019-11-14 2024-10-18 浙江亿田智能厨电股份有限公司 一种带有定位与水位检测装置的电蒸炉供水箱
KR20210112169A (ko) * 2020-03-04 2021-09-14 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁물 건조기
EP4219820A4 (en) * 2020-09-27 2024-02-28 Qingdao Haier Drum Washing Machine Co., Ltd. WASHING MACHINE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF
CN112878003A (zh) * 2021-01-11 2021-06-01 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种蒸汽发生器及具有其的洗衣机
WO2023029193A1 (zh) * 2021-08-30 2023-03-09 无锡小天鹅电器有限公司 衣物处理装置

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KR100500887B1 (ko) * 2003-08-13 2005-07-14 엘지전자 주식회사 드럼 세탁기의 증기발생장치 및 그 방법
WO2006129916A1 (en) 2005-05-31 2006-12-07 Lg Electronics Inc. Laundry machine
US7681418B2 (en) * 2006-08-15 2010-03-23 Whirlpool Corporation Water supply control for a steam generator of a fabric treatment appliance using a temperature sensor
KR101319874B1 (ko) * 2006-12-22 2013-10-18 엘지전자 주식회사 건조기의 제어방법
PL2014820T3 (pl) * 2007-07-13 2010-07-30 Electrolux Home Products Corp Nv Sposób ustalania zapchania filtra zbiornika wytwornicy pary domowej suszarki pralniczej oraz domowa suszarka pralnicza wdrażająca taki sposób
EP2287390A1 (en) * 2009-08-18 2011-02-23 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Method of operating a steam generator of a laundry appliance, and laundry appliance for performing the method
EP2610395B1 (en) * 2011-12-28 2019-07-03 Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V. Liquid reservoir for a home appliance having a liquid level indication unit

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PL2818593T3 (pl) 2022-01-31

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