EP3221503B1

EP3221503B1 - Laundry washing machine

Info

Publication number: EP3221503B1
Application number: EP14805801.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Maurizio Del Pos; Daniele Favaro
Original assignee: Electrolux Appliances AB
Current assignee: Electrolux Appliances AB
Priority date: 2014-11-20
Filing date: 2014-11-20
Publication date: 2024-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 2034-11-20
Also published as: EP3221503A1; WO2016078720A1

Description

The present invention relates to a laundry washing machine.
More in particular, the present invention relates to a front-loading home laundry washing machine, to which the following description refers purely by way of example without this implying any loss of generality.
As is known, a front-loading home laundry washing machine generally comprises: a substantially parallelepiped-shaped outer boxlike casing structured for resting on the floor; a substantially horizontally-oriented and approximately cylindrical washing tub which is usually suspended in floating manner inside the casing, with the front mouth directly facing a laundry loading/unloading through opening realized in the front wall of the casing; a substantially cylindrical, cup-shaped rotatable drum structured for housing the laundry to be washed, and which is fitted inside the washing tub with the concavity facing the laundry loading/unloading opening, and is supported by the washing tub in axially rotatable manner so as to be able to freely rotate inside the washing tub about its substantially horizontally-oriented, longitudinal axis; a substantially cylindrical, elastically-deformable bellows which watertight connects the front mouth of the washing tub to the laundry loading/ unloading opening formed in the front wall of the casing; a porthole door which is hinged to the front wall of the casing to rotate to and from a closing position in which the door closes the laundry loading/unloading opening in the front wall of the casing for watertight sealing the washing tub; and an electrically-powered motor assembly which is structured for driving into rotation the rotatable drum about its longitudinal axis inside the washing tub.
This type of laundry washing machine furthermore comprises: a detergent dispenser which is located inside the boxlike casing, immediately above the washing tub, and is structured for selectively feeding into the washing tub, according to the washing cycle manually-selected by the user, a given amount of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent suitably mixed with fresh water arriving from the water mains; a fresh-water supply circuit which is structured for selectively drawing fresh water from the water mains according to the washing cycle manually-selected by the user, and channelling said fresh water to the detergent dispenser or directly to the washing tub; and finally an appliance control panel which is generally located on the front wall of the casing, above the laundry loading/unloading opening, and is structured for allowing the user to manually select the desired washing-cycle.
In addition to the above, high-end front-loading laundry washing machines may optionally have an internal water softening device which is located along the fresh-water supply circuit, and is structured to selectively reduce the hardness degree of the tap water channelled towards the detergent dispenser and the washing tub. The use of softened water during the washing cycle, in fact, significantly improves cleaning performances.
More in detail, the water softening device is generally internally provided with a given amount of ion-exchange resins which are capable of restraining the calcium and magnesium ions (Ca++ and Mg++) dissolved in the water flowing through the same water softening device, so as to reduce the hardness degree of the tap water directed towards the detergent dispenser and the washing tub.
In addition to the above, since the water softening capabilities of the ion-exchange resins are used to quickly drop away after a limited number of washing cycles, this high-end laundry washing machines are generally provided with an internal reservoir of salt (NaCl) to be used for selectively producing some brine (i.e. salt water) which is periodically channeled into the water softening device to regenerate the ion-exchange resins located therein. Salt water, in fact, is able to remove from the ion-exchange resins the calcium and magnesium ions previously combined/fixed to said resins.
European patent application No. 1085118 discloses a front-loading home laundry washing machine wherein the salt to be used in the regeneration process of the ion-exchange resins is stowed into a cup-shaped container which has a mesh structure and is fitted into a corresponding salt-water compartment which, in turn, is formed on the back of the detergent drawer of the detergent dispenser, immediately above the water softening device. The brine formed into the salt-water compartment is channeled by gravity into the beneath-located water softening device via a siphon assembly located at centre of the salt-water compartment.
Unluckily this particular structure of the salt reservoir appears not to facilitate the dissolution of the salt, thus the brine channeled into the water softening device has a relatively small percentage of salt which requires a longer stay of the brine inside the water softening device to restore the water softening capabilities of the ion-exchange resins.
Furthermore the siphon assembly at centre of the salt-water compartment leads to a very complicated structure of the detergent drawer with the consequent significant increase in the detergent drawer overall production costs.
Document WO 2014/121827 A1 discloses a different solution, comprising a salt reservoir of an internal water softening device consisting in a storage tank which is manually fillable with a given quantity of consumable salt or other regeneration agent and is closed by a cap; this storage tank is fitted in manually removable manner into a corresponding drawer-like supporting structure which, in turn, is recessed in manually extractable manner into the front wall of the laundry washing machine; this alternative solution is much more complicated but is free from the problems of salt dissolution.
Aim of the present invention is to realize a salt reservoir designed to eliminate the drawbacks referred above.
In compliance with the above aims, according to the present invention there is provided a laundry washing machine comprising an outer casing and, inside said outer casing, a washing tub, a rotatable drum housed in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub and structured for housing the laundry to be washed, a detergent dispenser which is structured for supplying detergent into the washing tub, a fresh-water supply circuit which is structured for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the detergent dispenser and/or the washing tub, and an internal water softening device capable of reducing the hardness degree of the fresh water that the fresh-water supply circuit channels towards the detergent dispenser or the washing tub;

the laundry washing machine furthermore comprising: a substantially basin-shaped, regeneration-agent compartment structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of consumable salt or other regeneration agent, and a water-supply line which is structured for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water of the water mains into said regeneration-agent compartment to form brine;
the laundry washing machine being characterized by additionally comprising a partitioning septum which extends inside the regeneration-agent compartment between a water inlet fluidically communicating with said water-supply line and a brine outlet of the regeneration-agent compartment, and has a water-permeable structure which is designed to slow down the outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent compartment via the brine outlet for causing a temporary stagnation of the water above the partitioning septum to improve the salt dissolution, i.e. increase the percentage of salt dissolved into the brine.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said partitioning septum causes a temporary increase of the level of water above the same partitioning septum.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said partitioning septum causes, during stagnation of the water, a quick increase of the level of water inside the regeneration-agent compartment, up to a maximum value above the partitioning septum, and then a slow lowering of the level of water down to the same partitioning septum.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the regeneration-agent compartment remains empty of brine at the end of the temporary stagnation of the water.
According to the invention, the laundry washing machine comprises at least a first drawer which is fitted/inserted in extractable manner into a corresponding drawer housing located/recessed inside the outer casing, and in that said regeneration-agent compartment is located into said first drawer.
According to the invention, said brine outlet is a pass-through opening which is formed on the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment, and is shaped/dimensioned to allow the brine formed inside the regeneration-agent compartment to freely fall on the bottom of the drawer housing.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum is structured to allow the passage of the brine through the same partitioning septum with a flowrate which is lower than that of the fresh water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum is structured to allow the passage of the water through the same partitioning septum with a flowrate which is lower than half the flowrate of the fresh water that the water-supply line pours into the regeneration-agent compartment.
According to the invention, the water-permeable partitioning septum extends inside the regeneration-agent compartment spaced from the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment, so as to form a gap immediately above the bottom of said regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum is shaped to substantially match the shape of the whole bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment, so as cover the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum has a micro-perforated structure.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum comprises a plate-like element which has a central portion provided with a plenty of pass-through micro openings which are suitably dimensioned to allow the slow flow/passage of the brine through the same plate-like element.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said plate-like element moreover has an imperforated peripheral portion encircling said central portion.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the central portion of the plate-like element is provided with a plenty of substantially evenly distributed, pass-through microholes or microslots, each preferably having a cross-sectional area lower that 3 mm².
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the plate-like element is made of plastic material, preferably via an injection moulding process.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water-supply line is structured to pours the fresh water into the regeneration-agent compartment with a flowrate ranging between 5 and 8 litre/min, and in that the water-permeable partitioning septum is structured to allow the passage of the water through the same partitioning septum with a flowrate ranging between 0,4 and 1 litre/min.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said first drawer is additionally provided with one or more substantially basin-shaped, detergent compartments which are arranged beside the regeneration-agent compartment and are each structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of detergent, softener or other washing agent; and in that the detergent dispenser furthermore comprises a drawer flush circuit which is connected to the fresh-water supply circuit, and is structured for selectively pouring the fresh water of the water mains into any one of said detergent compartments, so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the same detergent compartment and down onto the bottom of the drawer housing.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the detergent dispenser comprises: a second drawer which is fitted/inserted in extractable manner into a corresponding substantially basin-shaped, drawer housing which is located/recessed inside the outer casing, and is provided with one or more detergent compartments each structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of detergent, softener or other washing agent; and a drawer flush circuit which is connected to the fresh-water supply circuit, and is structured for selectively pouring the fresh water of the water mains into any one of said detergent compartments, so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the same detergent compartment and down onto the bottom of the drawer housing.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the second drawer is arranged horizontally beside the first drawer so that both drawers are independently movable inside the respective drawer housings parallel to one another.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said water-supply line is incorporated into said drawer flush circuit.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the drawer flush circuit is structured for pouring by gravity a shower of water droplets selectively and alternatively into any one of the detergent compartments and into the regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said first drawer additionally comprises a manually openable, lid assembly which is located on top of the regeneration-agent compartment, and is structured to selectively close/cover the upper mouth of the regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said lid assembly is structured to receive, at least when said first drawer is placed in the retracted position, a flow of fresh water and to channel said fresh water into the beneath-located regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said lid assembly is provided with a water inlet which is structured to allow the fresh water to enter into the same lid assembly, and with one or more water outlets which fluidically communicate with said water inlet and are structured to allow the water entering into the lid assembly through the water inlet to come out of the lid assembly and fall into the beneath-located regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said water-supply line is structured to selectively channel, at least when said first drawer is placed in the retracted position, the fresh water of the water mains towards the water inlet of said lid assembly.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water inlet of said lid assembly is structured to couple in detachable manner with said water-supply line for receiving a flow of fresh water.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the lid assembly is structured to spread out the received fresh water inside the regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the lid assembly comprises: a plate-like element which is structured to fit into the upper rim of the regeneration-agent compartment to cover the upper mouth of the regeneration-agent compartment; and a manually-movable trapdoor which is arranged to close a large pass-through opening which is formed in the plate-like element and is shaped to allow the user to easily manually pour the consumable salt or other regeneration agent into the regeneration-agent compartment.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said drawer housing has a basin-shaped bottom portion which is vertically aligned to the regeneration-agent drawer, is structured to collect the brine falling down from the regeneration-agent compartment, and directly communicates with a brine tank which is located underneath the drawer housing so that the brine is allowed to freely flow by gravity into the same brine tank.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized by additionally comprising an electric pump capable of selectively pumping the brine from the brine tank to said water softening device.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the regeneration-agent compartment is dimensioned to accommodate an amount of consumable salt or other regeneration agent sufficient for performing one or more of regeneration processes of water softening capabilities of the internal water softening device.
Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the internal water softening device is internally provided with a given amount of ion-exchange resins capable of restraining the calcium and magnesium ions dissolved in the water that flows through the same water softening device.
A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a laundry washing machine realized in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, with parts removed for clarity;
Figures 2 is a side view of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the top of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, with parts removed for clarity;
Figures 4 and 5 are two perspective views of several inner component parts of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, assembled to one another and with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of the detergent dispenser shown in Figure 4, with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 7 is a partially exploded perspective view of the detergent drawer of the Figure 6 detergent dispenser, with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 8 is a sectioned side view of the Figure 7 detergent drawer, with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 9 and 10 are two perspective views of the upper lid assembly of the salt compartment of the Figure 7 detergent drawer;
Figure 10 is a sectioned front view of the Figure 6 detergent dispenser, with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 11 is a sectioned side view of a portion of the Figure 6 detergent dispenser, with parts removed for clarity;
Figure 13 is a perspective view of the upper lid of the drawer housing of the Figure 6 detergent dispenser; whereas
Figures 14 and 15 are perspective views of the top portion of two further embodiments of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, with parts removed for clarity.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, reference number 1 indicates as a whole a laundry washing machine 1 which preferably basically comprises: a preferably substantially parallelepiped-shaped, outer boxlike casing 2 structured for resting on the floor; a preferably substantially horizontally-oriented, approximately cylindrical washing tub 3 which is arranged inside the casing 2 with the mouth directly facing a laundry loading/unloading pass-through opening realized in the front wall 4 of the outer casing 2; a substantially cylindrical, cup-shaped rotatable drum (not shown) which is structured for housing the laundry to be washed, and is fitted in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub 3 with the concavity facing the front opening or mouth of washing tub 3, so as to be able to freely rotate about its longitudinal axis inside the washing tub 3; an electrically-powered motor assembly 5 which is structured for driving into rotation the rotatable drum (not shown) about its longitudinal axis inside the washing tub 3; and a porthole door 6 which is hinged to the front wall 4 of casing 2 so as to be movable/rotatable to and from a closing position in which the door 6 closes the laundry loading/unloading opening on front wall 4 for watertight sealing the washing tub 4.
With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the laundry washing machine 1 furthermore comprises: a detergent dispenser 7 which is located inside the casing 2 preferably above the washing tub 3 and preferably, though not necessarily, immediately underneath the upper worktop or top wall 8 of casing 2, and is structured for selectively feeding into the washing tub 3, according to the washing cycle manually-selected by the user, a given amount of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent suitably mixed with fresh water; and a fresh-water supply circuit 9 which is connectable directly to the water mains, and is structured for selectively channelling, according to the washing cycle manually-selected by the user, a flow of fresh water from the water mains to the detergent dispenser 7 or directly to the washing tub 3. Preferably the laundry washing machine 1 additionally comprises an appliance control panel 10 which is preferably located on front wall 4 of casing 2, above the laundry loading/unloading opening and preferably also immediately beneath the upper worktop or top wall 8 of casing 2, and is structured to allow the user to manually select the desired washing cycle among a number of available washing cycles.
In addition to the above, with reference to Figures 2, 4 and 5, the laundry washing machine 1 furthermore comprises an internal water softening device 11 which is located inside the boxlike casing 2 along the fresh-water supply circuit 9 or the detergent dispenser 7, and is structured for selectively reducing, during each washing cycle, the hardness degree of the tap water that the fresh-water supply circuit 9 channels towards detergent dispenser 7 or washing tub 3.
More in detail, the water softening device 11 has a water inlet and a water outlet, and is preferably internally provided with a given amount of ion-exchange resins capable of retaining the calcium and magnesium ions (Ca++ and Mg++) dissolved in the water that flows through the same water softening device 11, so as to reduce the hardness degree of the tap water directed towards the washing tub 3.
Preferably the water softening device 11 is furthermore located inside the boxlike casing 2 immediately adjacent to detergent dispenser 7, and is preferably fluidically connected to detergent dispenser 7 so as to be crossed by the fresh water flowing towards the washing tub 3 via the detergent dispenser 7.
With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, in the example shown, in particular, the rotatable drum (not shown) of laundry washing machine 1 is preferably arranged inside the washing tub 3 with the drum rotation axis locally substantially coaxial to the longitudinal axis of washing tub 3, i.e. oriented substantially horizontally, and with the circular front opening or mouth of the drum directly aligned and faced to the circular front opening or mouth of washing tub 3, so as to receive the laundry to be washed through the laundry loading/unloading opening realized on front wall 4.
The washing tub 3, in turn, is preferably suspended in floating manner inside the casing 2 via a suspension system that preferably, though not necessarily, comprises at least one, and preferably a couple of upper coil springs 12 connecting the upper portion of washing tub 3 to the top of casing 2, and preferably at least one, and preferably a couple of vibration dampers 13 connecting the bottom portion of washing tub 3 to the bottom of casing 2. Moreover the laundry washing machine 1 is preferably provided with a substantially cylindrical elastically-deformable bellows (not shown) which watertight connects the front mouth of washing tub 3 to the laundry loading/unloading opening realized on front wall 4 of casing 2.
With reference to Figures 1-7, detergent dispenser 7 in turn basically comprises: a detergent drawer 16 which is provided with one or more substantially basin-shaped, detergent compartments 17 (three detergent compartments 17 in the example shown) each structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of detergent, softener or other washing agent, and which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding substantially basin-shaped, drawer housing 18 which is located/recessed inside the casing 2 above washing tub 3, and whose entrance is preferably located on front wall 4 of casing 2, above the laundry loading/ unloading opening realized on the same front wall 4; and preferably also a drawer flush circuit 19 which is connected to the fresh-water supply circuit 9, and is structured for selectively pouring, when the detergent drawer 16 is completely fitted/inserted into drawer housing 18, the fresh water of the water mains into any one of the detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the same detergent compartment 17 and down onto the bottom of drawer housing 18.
More in detail, detergent drawer 16 is preferably movable inside the drawer housing 18 parallel to the substantially horizontally-oriented, longitudinal axis L of drawer housing 18 between:

a retracted position (see Figure 2) in which detergent drawer 16 is completely fitted/inserted into drawer housing 18, so as to be almost completely recessed into the front wall 4 of casing 2; and
a completely extracted position (see Figures 1 and 3) in which detergent drawer 16 partly juts out from the front wall 4 of casing 2, so as to expose the one or more detergent compartments 17 at once.

In other words, detergent drawer 16 is movable inside the drawer housing 18 in a substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction d which is locally substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis L of both drawer housing 18 and detergent drawer 16, between:

a retracted position (see Figure 2) in which detergent drawer 16 is almost completely recessed into the front wall 4 of casing 2 and the one or more detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 are inaccessible to the user; and
a completely extracted position (see Figures 1 and 3) in which detergent drawer 16 partly juts out from the front wall 4 of casing 2, so that all detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 are fully accessible to the user.

In the example shown, in particular, the entrance of drawer housing 18 is preferably located on front wall 4 of casing 2, immediately underneath the upper worktop or top wall 8 of casing 2 and substantially horizontally aligned beside the appliance control panel 10. Moreover the longitudinal axis L of both detergent drawer 16 and drawer housing 18, and as a result the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, are preferably locally substantially perpendicular to front wall 4 of casing 2.
Preferably each detergent compartment 17 is furthermore dimensioned to contain a given amount of detergent, softener or other washing agent sufficient for performing only a single washing cycle.
In addition to the above, detergent drawer 16 preferably has, inside each detergent compartment 17, a siphon-assembly 22 which is suitably dimensioned/ shaped to selectively channel the mixture of water and detergent, softener or other washing agent formed inside the detergent compartment 17 out of the same detergent compartment 17 and down on the bottom of drawer housing 18.
As an alternative to siphon-assembly 22, detergent drawer 16 may have, on the bottom of the detergent compartment 17, a large pass-through opening which is suitably shaped/dimensioned to allow the mixture of water and detergent, softener or other washing agent formed inside the same detergent compartment 17 to freely fall by gravity on the bottom of drawer housing 18.
The drawer flush circuit 19, in turn, is preferably structured for directly pouring, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, a shower of water droplets by gravity selectively and alternatively into any one of the detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16, so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the same detergent compartment 17 and down onto the bottom of drawer housing 18.
Preferably, the internal water softening device 11 is furthermore connected to the drawer flush circuit 19 of detergent dispenser 7 so as to be crossed by the fresh water that is subsequently poured into the detergent compartment/s 17 of detergent drawer 16, so that the hardness degree of the fresh water of the water mains poured into any one of the detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 is reduced.
With reference to Figures 3-7, detergent drawer 16 is furthermore provided with a substantially basin-shaped, regeneration-agent compartment 20 which is located beside the one or more detergent compartments 17, and is structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of consumable salt (NaCl) or other regeneration agent suitable to be used in the regeneration process of the ion-exchange resins of the water softening device 11.
More in details, the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is preferably arranged, on detergent drawer 16, beside the one or more detergent compartments 17, so that both detergent compartment/s 17 and regeneration-agent compartment 20 are allowed to almost contemporaneously come out from the front wall 4 of casing 2 when detergent drawer 16 moves from the retracted position to the extracted position.
In other words, the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is preferably arranged on detergent drawer 16 beside the one or more detergent compartments 17 transversally to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, i.e. transversally to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16, so that the detergent compartment/s 17 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20 are arranged on opposite sides of a substantially vertically-oriented, reference plane which is parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16 inside drawer housing 18, i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16.
Preferably the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is moreover dimensioned to accommodate an amount of consumable salt (NaCl) or other regeneration agent sufficient for performing a plurality of regeneration processes of the ion-exchange resins of the water softening device 11.
Detergent drawer 16 is therefore movable inside drawer housing 18 in the substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction d between:

a retracted position (see Figure 2) in which detergent drawer 16 is completely recessed into the front wall 4 of casing 2, so that both the detergent compartment/s 17 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20 are inaccessible to the user; and
a completely extracted position (see Figures 1 and 3) in which detergent drawer 16 partly juts out from the front wall 4 of casing 2, so that both the detergent compartment/s 17 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20 are simultaneously fully accessible to the user.

With reference to Figures 7 and 8, in addition to the above the detergent drawer 16 preferably has, on the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20, a large pass-through draining opening 21 which is suitably shaped/dimensioned to allow the brine formed inside the regeneration-agent compartment 20 to freely fall on the bottom of drawer housing 18.
More in detail, with particular reference to Figures 3, 6, 7 and 8, in the example shown the detergent drawer 16 preferably comprises: a single drawer-like supporting structure 23 which is preferably made in a one piece construction, and is fitted/inserted in axially sliding manner into the drawer housing 18; and a manually-sizable front panel 24 which is arranged/located on a front side of the drawer-like supporting structure 23, so as to close the entrance of drawer housing 18 when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position (see Figure 2).
The one or more basin-shaped detergent compartments 17 and the basin-shaped regeneration-agent compartment 20 are formed directly on the drawer-like supporting structure 23 one side by side the other. The manually-sizable front panel 24, in turn, is arranged/located on the front side of the drawer-like supporting structure 23, so as to be arranged locally substantially coplanar to the front face 4 of casing 2, beside the appliance control panel 10, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position (see Figure 2).
In the example shown, in particular, the drawer-like supporting structure 23 of detergent drawer 16 is preferably made in a single piece, via an injection moulding process. Preferably the same applies to the manually-sizable front panel 24.
With reference to Figures 4, 5 and 6, the drawer flush circuit 19, in turn, is preferably additionally structured to selectively pour, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, a given amount of fresh water of the water mains also into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, so as to dissolve some of the salt contained into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 and form some brine that falls on the bottom of drawer housing 18.
In other words, drawer flush circuit 19 is directly connected to the fresh-water supply circuit 9 for receiving the fresh water of the water mains, and is suitably structured for selectively pouring, when the detergent drawer 16 is completely fitted/ inserted into drawer housing 18, the fresh water arriving from the water mains into any one of the detergent or regeneration- agent compartments 17, 20 of detergent drawer 16.
In case of detergent compartment/s 17, the poured fresh water serves to selectively flush the contents of the detergent compartment 17 out of the same compartment 17 and down on the bottom of drawer housing 18 via siphon assembly 22. In case of regeneration-agent compartment 20, the poured fresh water serves to dissolve some salt contained into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 to form some brine that falls on the bottom of drawer housing 18 through opening 21.
Preferably, the internal water softening device 11 is furthermore directly connected to the drawer flush circuit 19 of detergent dispenser 7 so as to be crossed by the fresh water that is subsequently poured into the detergent compartment/s 17 of detergent drawer 16 and optionally into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, so that the hardness degree of the fresh water of the water mains poured into any one of the compartments 17, 20 of detergent drawer 16 is significantly reduced.
With reference to Figures 3, 7, 8, 11 and 12, detergent drawer 16 additionally comprises a preferably manually-removable, water-permeable partitioning septum 25 which extends inside the regeneration-agent compartment 20 above to the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20 and its large pass-through draining opening 21, and has a water-permeable structure which is designed for preventing the grains of consumable salt to come out of the regeneration-agent compartment 20 via the pass-through opening 21 and, at same time, for allowing the brine to trickle onto the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment 20 and then freely flow by gravity towards the pass-through opening 21.
In addition to the above, the partitioning septum 25 furthermore has a water-permeable structure designed to slow down the outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent compartment 20 via pass-through opening 21 for causing a temporary stagnation of the water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, above the same partitioning septum 25.
In other words, the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 is arranged above the pass-through opening 21 so as to completely cover the latter, and is structured to allow the passage of the water/brine through the same partitioning septum 25 with a flowrate which is lower than that of the fresh water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 by drawer flush circuit 19, thus to cause the temporary stagnation of the fresh water above the partitioning septum 25.
More in detail, the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 is preferably structured to allow the passage of the water/brine through the same partitioning septum 25 with a flowrate which is lower than half the flowrate of the fresh water that the drawer flush circuit 19 pours into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, thus to cause the stagnation of the fresh water above the partitioning septum 25 for preferably 2-3 minutes.
Preferably the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 furthermore extends inside regeneration-agent compartment 20 slightly spaced from, and preferably also locally substantially parallel to, the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20, so as to form a thin air gap immediately above the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20.
More in detail, in the example shown the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 preferably extends substantially horizontally inside the regeneration-agent compartment 20 slightly spaced from, and preferably also locally substantially parallel to, the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20, so as to form a thin air gap immediately above the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20.
Furthermore the partitioning septum 25 preferably substantially copies the shape of the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20, so as cover the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20 and form a thin air gap above the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20.
In addition to the above, with reference to Figures 7 and 8, the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 preferably has a microperforated structure which is suitably designed to cause the temporary stagnation of the water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 above the partitioning septum 25.
In other words, the body of the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 is preferably provided with a plenty of pass-through micro openings which are suitably dimensioned to allow the flow/passage of the brine/water through the same partitioning septum 25 with a flowrate which is lower than the flowrate of the fresh water that the drawer flush circuit 19 pours into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, thus to cause the temporary stagnation of the fresh water into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, above the partitioning septum 25.
Preferably, these pass-through micro openings are furthermore dimensioned to allow the passage of the brine/water through the partitioning septum 25 with a flowrate which is lower than half the flowrate of the fresh water that drawer flush circuit 19 pours into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
More in detail, in the example shown, the drawer flush circuit 19 is preferably structured to pours the fresh water into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 with a nominal flowrate preferably ranging between 5 and 8 litre/min (litre per minute), and the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 is preferably structured to allow the passage of the water/brine through the same partitioning septum 25 with a flowrate preferably ranging between 0,4 and 1 litre/min (litre per minute).
With reference to Figures 7 and 8, in the example shown, in particular, the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 preferably consists in a preferably rigid, plate-like element 25 which substantially copies the shape of the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20 so as to match with the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20, and which has a central portion 25a provided with a plenty of substantially evenly distributed, pass-through micro openings 26 which are suitably dimensioned to allow the slow flow/passage of the brine/water through the same plate-like element 25. The peripheral portion 25b of plate-like element 25 encircling the central portion 25a is instead imperforated.
Preferably plate-like element 25 is moreover made of plastic material, preferably via an injection moulding process.
More in detail, in the example shown the central portion 25a of plate-like element 25 is preferably provided with a plenty of substantially evenly distributed, pass-through microholes or microslots 26 each preferably having a cross-sectional area lower that 3 mm² (square millimetres).
In a not-shown preferred embodiment, in particular, the central portion 25a of plate-like element 25 is preferably provided with a plenty of substantially evenly distributed, pass-through microslots 26 each being about 15 mm (millimetres) long and about 0,2 mm (millimetres) wide.
With reference to Figures 3-12, detergent drawer 16 preferably additionally comprises a manually openable, upper lid assembly 27 which is firmly fitted on the drawer-like supporting structure 23, on top of regeneration-agent compartment 20, and is structured to selectively close/cover the upper mouth of regeneration-agent compartment 20, preferably so as to almost completely cover the upper mouth of regeneration-agent compartment 20. Furthermore the upper lid assembly 27 is additionally structured so as to be able to receive, from the drawer flush circuit 19 and at least when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, a flow of fresh water of the water mains and to channel said fresh water into the beneath-located regeneration-agent compartment 20, preferably while spreading out the same fresh water inside the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
In other words, the upper lid assembly 27 is preferably provided with a water inlet which is faced to the outside of regeneration-agent compartment 20 and is structured to allow the fresh water to enter into the same upper lid assembly 27, and with one or more water outlets which are faced to the inside of regeneration-agent compartment 20, fluidically communicate with the water inlet and are finally suitably structured to allow the water entering into the upper lid assembly 27 through the water inlet to come out of the lid assembly 27 and fall into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
The drawer flush circuit 19, in turn, is preferably structured to selectively channel, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, a flow of fresh water of the water mains towards the water inlet of the upper lid assembly 27.
In other words, drawer flush circuit 19 is preferably structured to selectively channel, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, the fresh water of the water mains into the water inlet of the upper lid assembly 27 which, in turn, is structured to distribute the fresh water arriving from the drawer flush circuit 19 into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
In addition to the above, in the example shown the water inlet of the upper lid assembly 27 is furthermore preferably structured to couple, when the detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, in a stable, though easy detachable manner, with the drawer flush circuit 19 for receiving the fresh water of the water mains directly from the drawer flush circuit 19, and to sprinkle said fresh water into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
With reference to Figures 6-10, in the example shown, in particular, the upper lid assembly 27 preferably comprises: a plate-like element 28 which is structured to rigidly fit into the upper rim of regeneration-agent compartment 20 to substantially completely cover/close the upper mouth of the regeneration-agent compartment 20; and a manually-movable trapdoor 29 which is arranged to close a preferably substantially rectangular-shaped, large pass-through opening that is preferably formed roughly at centre of the plate-like element 28 and is suitably shaped/ dimensioned to allow the user to easily manually pour the consumable salt (NaCl) or other regeneration agent into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
The plate-like element 28 is preferably provided with a water inlet 30 which is suitably structured for receiving the fresh water from the drawer flush circuit 19 when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, and with one or more water-delivery portions 31 which are arranged on the lower face of plate-like element 28, preferably all around the central pass-through opening closed by trapdoor 29, directly communicate with the water inlet 30 via one or more internal channels, and are suitably structured to allow the outflow of the fresh water from the plate-like element 28.
Preferably the water-delivery portions 31 are furthermore suitably shaped/ structured so as to pour a shower of water droplets by gravity into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
More in detail, with reference to Figures 8, 10 and 12, in the example shown the plate-like element 28 is preferably provided with one or more internal water channels 32 each of which begins at water inlet 30 and extends inside the body of the plate-like element 28 up to reach a number of water-delivery portions 31 which, in turn, are suitably structured to allow the water flowing inside the internal water channel/s 32 to slowly come out of the plate-like element 28 and drip into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
With particular reference to Figures 5, 6, 9, and 13, in the examples shown, in particular, the water inlet 30 of plate-like element 28 preferably comprises a first hydraulic connector 33 which is integral to plate-like element 28 and protrudes from the back of detergent drawer 16 substantially parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, and is structured to substantially watertight couple in a stable, though easy detachable manner, with a complementary second hydraulic connector 34 which is preferably incorporated into drawer flush circuit 19, and is located stationary inside the drawer housing 18 so as to couple with hydraulic connector 33 when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position.
With particular reference to Figures 3 and 9-10, the trapdoor 29, in turn, is preferably laterally hinged to the plate-like element 28 so as to be able to freely rotate about a reference axis R preferably locally substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16, i.e. parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, to and from a closed position (see Figures 8 and 10) in which the trapdoor 29 is arranged substantially coplanar to the plate-like element 28 and closes the central pass-through opening of the plate-like element 28.
More in detail, trapdoor 29 is preferably rotatable about reference axis R between a closed position (see Figures 8 and 10) in which trapdoor 29 is arranged substantially coplanar to the plate-like element 28 thus to close the central pass-through opening of plate-like element 28, and an opened position (see Figure 3) in which the trapdoor 29 is moved sideways of the central pass-through opening of plate-like element 28, preferably roughly above the one or more detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 thus to partially cover some of the detergent compartments 17.
Obviously, in an alternative embodiment the trapdoor 29 could be laterally hinged to the plate-like element 28 so as to be able to rotate about a reference axis R locally substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16, i.e. perpendicular to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16.
With reference to Figures 9 and 10, the lid assembly 27 is preferably finally provided with one or more snap-on locking members 35 which are incorporated in trapdoor 29 and/or in plate-like element 28, and are suitably structured to firmly lock the trapdoor 29 to plate-like element 28 in a stable, tough easy releasable manner, when trapdoor 29 is arranged in the closing position.
As regards drawer housing 18, with reference to Figures 3, 6, 11 and 12, the bottom of drawer housing 18 is preferably divided into two separated and substantially basin-shaped, bottom portions 36 and 37 which are vertically aligned, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, respectively to all detergent compartments 17, and to the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
More in detail, in the example shown the bottom of drawer housing 18 is preferably divided into two separated and substantially basin-shaped bottom portions 36 and 37, which are arranged side by side to one another transversally to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16 inside drawer housing 18, i.e. transversally to the longitudinal axis L of drawer housing 18, so as to be vertically aligned, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, one underneath the one or more detergent compartments 17, and the other underneath the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
With reference to Figures 2, 5, 6 and 11, the basin-shaped bottom portion 36 vertically aligned to the detergent compartment/s 17 is structured to collect the mixture of water and detergent, softener or other washing agent coming out from any one of the detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 via the corresponding siphon assembly 22, and preferably communicates with the inside of washing tub 3 via a delivery duct 38 which branches off from the basin-shaped bottom portion 36 of drawer housing 18 and ends directly into the beneath-located washing tub 3, so as to allow the mixture of water and detergent, softener or other washing agent to flow by gravity directly into washing tub 3.
With reference to Figure 11, the basin-shaped bottom portion 37 vertically aligned to the regeneration-agent drawer 20, in turn, is structured to collect the brine falling down from the regeneration-agent compartment 20 via the pass-through opening 21, and preferably directly communicates, via a substantially vertical and downwards-protruding pipe-extension 39, with the inside of a small brine tank 40 which is preferably firmly attached to the bottom of drawer housing 18, underneath the basin-shaped bottom portion 37. The brine arriving onto the basin-shaped bottom portion 37 of drawer housing 18 is therefore allowed to freely flow/fall by gravity directly into the brine tank 40 through the pipe-extension 39.
Preferably the brine tank 40, in turn, is in fluid communication with the water softening device 11 via a small electric pump 41 which is structured to selectively pump the brine (i.e. the mixture of water and salt) from brine tank 40 to the water softening device 11. In the example shown, in particular, electric pump 41 is preferably an electrically-powered volumetric pump.
In an alternative embodiment, however, the suction of electric pump 41 could be connected directly to a drain sump formed on the basin-shaped bottom portion 37 of drawer housing 18, whereas the delivery of electric pump 41 could be connected to the water softening device 11.
Moreover in a less sophisticated embodiment, the brine could freely flow by gravity into the water softening device 11 through a connecting duct that branches off from the basin-shaped bottom portion 37 of drawer housing 18 and ends directly into the water softening device 11. In this case, preferably an automatic one-way valve or an electrically-operated on-off valve could be arranged along said connecting duct to control the outflow of the brine towards the water softening device 11.
With reference to Figures 3, 6 and 12, preferably the water inlet 30 of plate-like element 28, i.e. hydraulic connector 33, is furthermore structured to protrude from the back of detergent drawer 16 substantially parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, so as to cantilevered extend, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, into the adjacent basin-shaped bottom portion 36 of drawer housing 18.
In other words, the water inlet 30 of plate-like element 28 is preferably structured so as to be vertically aligned to the basin-shaped bottom portion 36 of drawer housing 18 when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position.
With reference to Figures 3, 6 and 11, the drawer housing 18 furthermore comprises a substantially vertical, partitioning wall 43 that protrudes upwards from the bottom of drawer housing 18 while remaining locally substantially parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis L of drawer housing 18, and the substantially basin-shaped bottom portions 36 and 37 are arranged on opposite sides of partitioning wall 43.
In other words the vertical partitioning wall 43 is arranged between the two substantially basin-shaped bottom portions 36 and 37 of drawer housing 18.
The detergent drawer 16, in turn, is arranged astride the partitioning wall 43 so that the one or more detergent compartments 17 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20 are arranged on opposite sides of partitioning wall 43.
More in detail, with reference to Figures 6 and 11, the bottom portion of the drawer-like supporting structure 23 of detergent drawer 16 is preferably provided with a rectilinear groove 44 which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16, i.e. parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16 inside drawer housing 18, between the one or more detergent compartments 17 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20, and the partitioning wall 43 of drawer housing 18 protrudes from the bottom of drawer housing 18 and extends upwards into the rectilinear groove 44.
Preferably the drawer-like supporting structure 23 of detergent drawer 16 is furthermore structured so to abut in axially sliding manner on the straight upper crest line 43a of partitioning wall 43, so that the detergent drawer 16 rests in abutment also onto the same partitioning wall 43.
More in detail, with reference to Figures 6 and 11, in the example shown the drawer-like supporting structure 23 of detergent drawer 16 is preferably laterally engaged/coupled in axially sliding manner to drawer housing 18 via two rectilinear runners or groves 45 that extend on the two reciprocally-faced sidewalls of drawer housing 18 locally substantially parallel to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16, i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16 and drawer housing 18. Furthermore the drawer-like supporting structure 23 of detergent drawer 16 is preferably additionally centrally coupled in axially sliding manner to drawer housing 18 at the upper crest line 43a of partitioning wall 43.
Preferably, in the example shown, the upper crest line 43a of partitioning wall 43 is furthermore covered by a longitudinal element or rail 46 which is made of a material having a low friction coefficient and/or self-lubricating properties, such as Teflon or similar polymeric materials.
Preferably furthermore, in the example shown, the two rectilinear runners or groves 45 and the upper crest line 43a of partitioning wall 43 are preferably tilted upwards to the horizontal by an angle lower that 5°.
With reference to Figures 4-6 and 11-13, the drawer flush circuit 19 of detergent dispenser 7, in turn, preferably comprises:

a plate-like water delivery member 47 which is suitably structured to form the upper lid of the substantially basin-shaped drawer housing 18, so as to be located immediately above the detergent compartment/s 17 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20 when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, i.e. when detergent drawer 16 is completely inserted/recessed into drawer housing 18, and is provided with a number of water-delivery portions each suitably structured to allow the outflow of water from the plate-like water delivery member 47 towards a respective compartment 17, 20 of detergent drawer 16; and
an electrically-operated, flow-diverter 48 which is connected to fresh-water supply circuit 9 and/or to water softening device 11 for receiving unsoftened or softened fresh water, and is suitably structured to selectively channel the unsoftened fresh water arriving from fresh-water supply circuit 9 or the softened fresh water arriving from water softening device 11, towards any one of the water-delivery portions of the plate-like water delivery member 47.

More in detail, in the example shown the drawer flush circuit 19 of detergent dispenser 7 preferably comprises: a plate-like water delivery member 47 which is suitably structured to form the upper lid of the substantially basin-shaped drawer housing 18 of detergent dispenser 7, so as to be located immediately above the detergent drawer 16 when the latter is placed in the retracted position, i.e. when it is completely inserted/recessed into drawer housing 18; and a discrete, electrically-operated, flow-diverter module 48 which is connected to the fresh-water supply circuit 9 and/or to the water softening device 11, and is firmly fixed/attached outside of the plate-like water delivery member 47, at a coupling socket 49 preferably realized on one of the two major faces of the plate-like water delivery member 47.
With particular reference to Figures 11 and 13, the plate-like water delivery member 47 is provided, on the side directly faced to the inside of drawer housing 18, with a number of water-delivery portions 51 each of which is suitably structured to allow the outflow of the water from the plate-like water delivery member 47, and with a number of water inlets 52 each of which is located at coupling socket 49 and separately communicates with a respective water-delivery portion 51 of the plate-like water delivery member 47.
Some water-delivery portions 51 are preferably arranged on the plate-like water delivery member 47 so as to be locally substantially vertically aligned, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, each to a respective detergent compartment 17 of detergent drawer 16, and are suitably structured to allow the outflow of the fresh water from the plate-like water delivery member 47 towards the beneath-located detergent compartment 17.
Preferably a further water-delivery portion 51 is arranged on the plate-like water delivery member 47 so as to be locally substantially vertically aligned, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, to the regeneration-agent compartment 20 of detergent drawer 16, and is suitably structured to allow the outflow of the fresh water from the plate-like water delivery member 47 towards the beneath-located regeneration-agent compartment 20.
More in detail, the water-delivery portion 51 associated to regeneration-agent compartment 20 is preferably suitably structured to channel the softened or unsoftened fresh water of the water mains to the upper lid assembly 27 of detergent drawer 16.
In other words, the water-delivery portion 51 associated to regeneration-agent compartment 20 is preferably suitably structured to channel, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, the softened or unsoftened fresh water towards the water inlet 30 of plate-like element 28.
With reference to Figures 11 and 13, in the example shown, in particular, the water-delivery portions 51 associated to the detergent compartment/s 17 are each preferably structured to pour by gravity a shower of water droplets directly into the beneath-located detergent compartment 17 of detergent drawer 16.
The water-delivery portion 51 associated to regeneration-agent compartment 20, in turn, preferably ends with the hydraulic connector 34 structured to couple with the hydraulic connector 33 of plate-like element 28 when detergent drawer 16 is completely fitted/inserted into drawer housing 18, i.e. when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position.
With reference to Figure 6, in turn the electrically-operated flow-diverter preferably has a main water inlet 54 which communicates with the water softening device 11 for receiving softened fresh water, and preferably also directly with the fresh-water supply circuit 9 for also receiving unsoftened fresh water; and a number of main water outlets 55 which are faced to the coupling socket 49 of plate-like water delivery member 47, and are structured to separately communicate each with a respective water inlet 52 of plate-like water delivery member 47. Furthermore the flow-diverter module 48 is internally structured to selectively channel, towards any one of its water outlets 55, the fresh water entering into the flow-diverter module 48 via the main water inlet 54, so as to be able to selectively channel a flow of softened or unsoftened fresh water into any one of the water inlets 52 of the plate-like water delivery member 47.
More in detail, with reference to Figures 4, 5, 6, and 11, in the example shown the plate-like water delivery member 47 is preferably provided with a number of internal water channels each of which separately begins at coupling socket 49, and extends inside the body of plate-like water delivery member 47 up to reach a corresponding water-delivery portion 51 of plate-like water delivery member 47. Each water outlet 55 of flow-diverter module 48, in turn, is substantially watertight coupled, at coupling socket 49, with the mouth of a corresponding internal water channel of the plate-like water delivery member 47.
Preferably, moreover, the flow-diverter module 48 internally accommodates a rotatable flow diverter (not shown) which is capable of channelling, according to its angular position, the water entering into the flow-diverter module 48 via the water inlet 54 towards any one of the water outlets 55 of the flow-diverter module 48.
In addition to the above, the flow-diverter module 48 preferably furthermore comprises an electrically-operated motor assembly (not shown) which is mechanically connected to the rotatable flow diverter for controlling the angular position of the flow diverter, and optionally also an electronic control unit which is structured to directly power and control the electrically-operated motor assembly according to electric signals arriving from the main electronic central control unit (not shown) of the laundry washing machine 1.
With reference to Figures 4, 5, 6 and 13, the internal water softening device 11, in turn, is preferably hydraulically connected directly to the plate-like water delivery member 47 of drawer flush circuit 19, so as to be crossed by the fresh water that is subsequently poured into any one of the detergent compartments 17 and optionally also into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 of detergent drawer 16, so that the hardness degree of the tap water poured into any one of the detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 or optionally into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is reduced.
More in detail, in the example shown the water softening device 11 is preferably rigidly attached to the drawer housing 18, and the water inlet and water outlet of the same water softening device 11 are preferably hydraulically connected directly to the plate-like water delivery member 47 preferably by means of two hydraulic connectors 56 that protrude from the lower face of the plate-like water delivery member 47, i.e. from the major face of plate-like water delivery member 47 provided with the water-delivery portions 51.
With reference to Figure 13, the plate-like water delivery member 47 is furthermore provided with an auxiliary water inlet 57 which directly communicates with the water inlet of the water softening device 11 via a first additional internal water channel that preferably ends into the hydraulic connector 56 suited to couple with the water inlet of the same water softening device 11; and with an auxiliary water outlet 58 which directly communicates with the water outlet of the water softening device 11 via a second additional internal water channel that preferably ends into the hydraulic connector 56 suited to couple with the water outlet of the same water softening device 11.
The auxiliary water inlet 57 of plate-like water delivery member 47 is structured to directly couple with the fresh-water supply circuit 9 while bypassing the flow-diverter module 48, so as to receive from the fresh-water supply circuit 9 a flow of unsoftened fresh water and channel said unsoftened fresh water towards the water inlet of water softening device 11.
The auxiliary water outlet 58 of plate-like water delivery member 47, in turn, is located at coupling socket 49, and is suitably structured to directly communicated with the main water inlet 54 of flow-diverter module 48, thus to channel a flow of softened fresh water from the water outlet of water softening device 11 to the main water inlet 54 of flow-diverter module 48.
With particular reference to Figure 6, the fresh-water supply circuit 9 of laundry washing machine 1, in turn, preferably comprises two independent electrically-operated on-off valves 59 and 60, each of which is separately connectable to the water mains. The electrically-operated on-off valve 59 is directly connected to the main water inlet 54 of flow-diverter module 48 via a first connecting hosepipe or manifold 61. The electrically-operated on-off valve 60 is directly connected to the auxiliary water inlet 57 of plate-like water delivery member 47 via a second connecting hosepipe or manifold 62.
In the example shown, the fresh-water supply circuit 9 preferably finally comprises a further independent electrically-operated, on-off valve 63 which is separately connectable to a source of hot water (namely the hot branch of the piping, fittings, and fixtures involved in the distribution and use of hot water in the domestic building), and is directly connected to a second auxiliary water inlet (not shown) of plate-like water delivery member 47 via a third connecting hosepipe or manifold 64.
Preferably this second auxiliary water inlet (not shown) of plate-like water delivery member 47, moreover, directly communicates with the auxiliary water outlet of plate-like water delivery member 47 via a third additional internal water channel, thus to channel a flow of hot, unsoftened fresh water towards the main water inlet 54 of flow-diverter module 48.
As an alternative, the second auxiliary water inlet of plate-like water delivery member 47 may also directly communicate with the water inlet of water softening device 11 or, better, with the hydraulic connector 56 suited to couple with the water inlet of the water softening device 11, thus to channel a flow of hot, unsoftened fresh water towards the water inlet of water softening device 11.
General operation of the laundry washing machine 1 is similar to that of the front loading washing machine disclosed in ELECTROLUX European patent No. 2554736 , the only exception being that the partitioning septum 25 with microperforated structure causes an extremely slow outflow of the brine (i.e. salt water) from the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
More in detail, when regeneration of the ion-exchange resins is to be performed, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 operates the flow-diverter module 48 so as to channel the softened or unsoftened fresh water entering into the detergent dispenser 7 towards the regeneration-agent compartment 20, and then opens for a short time either the on-off valve 59 or the on-off valve 60 of the fresh-water supply circuit 9, so as to pour a given amount of fresh water, for example 250 cm³ (cubic centimetres), into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
Due to the presence of water-permeable partitioning septum 25 that slows down the flow of water towards opening 21, the softened or unsoftened fresh water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 temporarily accumulates above the partitioning septum 25 wherein it can dissolve a great amount of salt grains and form the brine.
In other words, the partitioning septum 25 causes a temporary increase of the level of water above the same partitioning septum 25
More in detail, the partitioning septum 25 causes a quick increase of the level of water inside the regeneration-agent compartment 20, up to a maximum value above the partitioning septum 25, and then a slow lowering of the level of water down to the high of the same partitioning septum 25.
The brine formed into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 therefore slowly passed across the partitioning septum 25 and trickles on the basin-shaped bottom portion 37 of drawer housing 18. After reaching the basin-shaped bottom portion 37, the brine then falls into brine tank 40 wherein accumulates.
After a few minutes, all the brine formed into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 has moved into brine tank 40. Thus the regeneration-agent compartment 20 remains empty of brine at the end of the temporary stagnation of the water.
If brine tank 40 has room for much more brine, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 opens again for a short time either the on-off valve 59 or the on-off valve 60 of the fresh-water supply circuit 9, so as to pour some more fresh water, for example once again 250 cm³ (cubic centimetres), into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 to form some more brine which, again, slowly moves into brine tank 40.
When brine tank 40 contains a sufficient amount of brine, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 activates electric pump 41 to pump the brine into the water softening device 11.
The advantages resulting from the presence of the partitioning septum 25 on close to the bottom of regeneration-agent compartment 20 are remarkable.
Experimental tests revealed that the extremely slow outflow of the fresh water from the regeneration-agent compartment 20 significantly increases the percentage of salt dissolved into the brine which results in a much shorter stay of the brine inside the water softening device 11 to restore the water softening capabilities of the ion-exchange resins.
Moreover the imperforated peripheral portion 25b of partitioning septum 25 forces the water to flow on top of partitioning septum 25 towards the centre of the regeneration-agent compartment 20 wherein salt grains tend to accumulate, thus bringing the water in contact with a large amount of salt grains.
Furthermore the partitioning septum with microperforated structure 25 allows to greatly simplify the structure of the regeneration-agent compartment 20 thus allowing a significant reduction of the detergent-drawer overall production costs.
Last but not less important, the upper lid assembly 27 prevents any accidental pouring of detergent, softener or other washing agent into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 during the refilling of the detergent, softener or other washing agents prior to the washing cycle.
Furthermore the upper lid assembly 27 greatly simplifies the structure of the portion of plate-like water delivery member 47 located immediately above the regeneration-agent compartment 20, with a remarkable reduction of the plate-like water delivery member overall production costs.
Moreover the arrangement of the water-delivery portions 51 on the lower face of plate-like element 28, all around the central pass-through opening closed by trapdoor 29, allows a much more appropriate distribution of the water droplets inside the regeneration-agent compartment 20, thus improving formation of the brine.
Clearly, changes may be made to the laundry washing machine 1 without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, according to a less sophisticated embodiment of drawer flush circuit 19, the electrically-operated, flow-diverter module 48 may be incorporated into the plate-like water delivery member 44 as disclosed in EP2562303 .
Furthermore, according to an alternative embodiment, the one or more detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16 may be dimensioned to contain a given amount of detergent, softener or other washing agent sufficient for performing a number of washing cycles. Detergent drawer 16, furthermore, may optionally comprise, for each detergent compartment 17, a respective electrically-powered detergent feeding pump which is structured to selectively suck the dose of detergent, softener or other washing agent necessary to perform a washing cycle from the detergent compartment 17 and pump said dose of detergent, softener or other washing agent on the basin-shaped bottom portion 36 of drawer housing 18.
Moreover, according to a not-shown alternative embodiment of the upper lid assembly 27, the trapdoor 29 may be fitted in sliding manner on the upper face of plate-like element 28 so as to be able to slide horizontally, on top of the plate-like element 28, in a horizontal direction preferably locally substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of detergent drawer 16, i.e. perpendicular to the displacement direction d of detergent drawer 16.
Furthermore, with reference to Figure 14, in a less sophisticated embodiment the detergent drawer 16 lacks the manually openable, upper lid assembly 27, and the water-delivery portion 51 associated to the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is arranged on the plate-like water delivery member 47 so as to be locally substantially vertically aligned, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, to the regeneration-agent compartment 20 and is structured to pour the fresh water directly into the beneath-located regeneration-agent compartment 20 of detergent drawer 16.
Preferably the water-delivery portion 51 associated to the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is furthermore structured to pour by gravity a shower of water droplets directly into the beneath-located regeneration-agent compartment 20 of detergent drawer 16.
In other words, the drawer flush circuit 19 is preferably structured for pouring by gravity a shower of water droplets selectively and alternatively into any one of the detergent compartments 17 and into the regeneration-agent compartment 20.
Obviously the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 is still located on the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment 20 to cause a prolonged stagnation of the fresh water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment 20 by drawer flush circuit 19, above the partitioning septum 25.
With reference to Figure 15, in an alternative embodiment of laundry washing machine 1, the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is located into a supplementary, manually extractable, regeneration-agent drawer 70 which is discrete from detergent drawer 16, and is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding substantially basin-shaped, drawer housing 71 which is located/recessed inside casing 2 horizontally beside detergent dispenser 7.
In this embodiment, therefore, the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is formed into the drawer-like supporting structure 72 of regeneration-agent drawer 70, and the upper lid assembly 27 is arranged/located on drawer-like supporting structure 71, on top of regeneration-agent compartment 20.
Preferably detergent drawer 16 and regeneration-agent drawer 70 are furthermore independently movable inside the respective drawer housings 18, 71 parallel to one another.
Obviously the water-permeable partitioning septum 25 is still located on the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment 20 to cause the temporary stagnation of the fresh water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment 20, above the partitioning septum 25.
Alike detergent drawer 16, the regeneration-agent drawer 70 is movable in a substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction between:

a retracted position in which the regeneration-agent drawer 70 is almost completely recessed into the front wall 4 of casing 2 and the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is inaccessible to the user; and
a completely extracted position in which the regeneration-agent drawer 70 partly juts out from the front wall 4 of casing 2, so that the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is fully accessible to the user prior opening of the upper lid assembly 27.

In this embodiment, the drawer housing 71 that accommodates regeneration-agent drawer 70 has its own basin-shaped bottom portion for receiving the brine dripping/falling down from the regeneration-agent compartment 20 through the large pass-through draining opening 37. Brine tank 40, if present, is firmly attach to the bottom of drawer housing 71 and is connected to the basin-shaped bottom portion of the same drawer housing 71 so as to allow the brine to freely flow by gravity from the drawer housing 71 directly into the same brine tank 40.
Hydraulic connector 34, in turn, is preferably now located stationary inside drawer housing 71, and the hydraulic connector 33 forming the water inlet 30 of upper lid assembly 27 preferably now protrudes from the back of regeneration-agent drawer 70 substantially parallel to the displacement direction d of regeneration-agent drawer 70, and is structured to substantially watertight couple in a stable, though easy detachable manner, with hydraulic connector 34 when regeneration-agent drawer 70 is placed in the retracted position.
In the example shown, furthermore, the drawer housing 71 of regeneration-agent drawer 70 is preferably realized in one piece with the drawer housing 18 of detergent drawer 16, and the plate-like water delivery member 47 of drawer flush circuit 19 is preferably structured to form the upper lid of both drawer housings 18 and 71. Detergent drawer 16 and regeneration-agent drawer 70 are therefore independently movable parallel and adjacent to one another, along a same substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction d which is locally substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis L of the drawer housings 18 and 71.
Preferably, even if the regeneration-agent compartment 20 is no more incorporated in the drawer-like supporting structure 23, the manually-sizable front panel 24 of detergent drawer 16 is still dimensioned to close, when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the retracted position, both the entrance of drawer housing 18 and the adjacent entrance of drawer housing 71. Thus axial displacement of regeneration-agent drawer 70 towards the completely extracted position is exclusively allowable when detergent drawer 16 is placed in the extracted position.
Furthermore, according to a further less-sophisticated embodiment, the drawer flush circuit 19 of detergent dispenser 7 may be structured to solely pour the fresh water of the water mains selectively into any one of the detergent compartments 17 of detergent drawer 16. The laundry washing machine 1 furthermore may comprise an auxiliary fresh-water supply line which is directly connectable to the water mains and is structured for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water from the water mains directly to the regeneration-agent compartment 20, or better to the upper lid assembly 27 arranged/located on top of regeneration-agent compartment 20.
This auxiliary fresh-water supply line is therefore discrete from the drawer flush circuit 19.
More in detail, the auxiliary fresh-water supply line may comprise a further independent electrically-operated, on-off valve which is separately connectable to the water mains; and a hosepipe directly connecting said further electrically-operated, on-off valve to the hydraulic connector 34 stationary inside drawer housing 18.
In this embodiment, therefore, the regeneration-agent compartment 20, or the upper lid assembly 27 if present, receives the fresh water directly from water mains bypassing the drawer flush circuit 19.
Lastly, in a not-shown alternative embodiment of laundry washing machine 1, the laundry loading/unloading opening is located on the upper worktop or top wall 8 of boxlike casing 2, and the washing tub 3 is arranged inside casing 2 with the mouth directly facing the upper worktop or top wall 8. The rotatable drum, in turn, is fitted vertically into washing tub 3 with the concavity facing the upper mouth of washing tub 3, so as to be able to rotate about a substantially vertically-oriented, longitudinal axis.

Claims

A laundry washing machine (1) comprising an outer casing (2) and, inside said outer casing (2), a washing tub (3), a rotatable drum housed in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub (3) and structured for housing the laundry to be washed, a detergent dispenser (7) which is structured for supplying detergent into the washing tub (3), a fresh-water supply circuit (9) which is structured for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the detergent dispenser (7) and/or the washing tub (3), and an internal water softening device (11) capable of reducing the hardness degree of the fresh water that the fresh-water supply circuit (9) channels towards the detergent dispenser (7) or the washing tub (3);
the laundry washing machine (1) furthermore comprising: at least a first drawer (16, 70) which is fitted/inserted in extractable manner into a corresponding drawer housing (18, 71) located/recessed inside the outer casing (2); a substantially basin-shaped, regeneration-agent compartment (20) which is located into said first drawer (16, 70) and is structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of consumable salt or other regeneration agent; and a water-supply line (19) which is structured for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water of the water mains into said regeneration-agent compartment (20) to form brine;

wherein the regeneration-agent compartment (20) comprises a brine the laundry washing machine (1) being characterized in that: the brine outlet (21) is a pass-through opening formed on the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment (20) and is shaped/dimensioned to allow the brine formed inside the regeneration-agent compartment (20) to freely fall on the bottom of the drawer housing (18, 71);

the laundry washing machine (1) additionally comprising a partitioning septum (25) which extends inside the regeneration-agent compartment (20) between a water inlet (27) fluidically communicating with said water-supply line (19) and the brine outlet (21) of the regeneration-agent compartment (20), and has a water-permeable structure which is designed to slow down the outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent compartment (20) via the brine outlet (21) for causing a temporary stagnation of the water above the partitioning septum (25) to improve the salt dissolution, wherein the water-permeable partitioning septum (25) extends inside the regeneration-agent compartment (20), horizontally and parallel to the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment (20), and spaced from the bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment (20) so as to form an air gap immediately above the bottom of said regeneration-agent compartment (20).
Laundry washing machine according to Claim 1, characterized in that said partitioning septum (25) causes a temporary increase of the level of water above the same partitioning septum (25).
Laundry washing machine according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said partitioning septum (25) causes, during stagnation of the water, a quick increase of the level of water inside the regeneration-agent compartment (20), up to a maximum value above the partitioning septum (25), and then a slow lowering of the level of water down to the same partitioning septum (25).
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the regeneration-agent compartment (20) remains empty of brine at the end of the temporary stagnation of the water.
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum (25) is structured to allow the passage of the brine through the same partitioning septum (25) with a flowrate which is lower than that of the fresh water poured into the regeneration-agent compartment (20).
Laundry washing machine according to Claim 5, characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum (25) is structured to allow the passage of the water through the same partitioning septum (25) with a flowrate which is lower than half the flowrate of the fresh water that the water-supply line (19) pours into the regeneration-agent compartment (20).
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum (25) is shaped to substantially match the shape of the whole bottom of the regeneration-agent compartment (20), so as cover the whole bottom of regeneration-agent compartment (20).
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum (25) has a microperforated structure that causes an extremely slow outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent compartment (20).
Laundry washing machine according to Claim 8, characterized in that the water-permeable partitioning septum (25) comprises a plate-like element (25) which has a central portion (25a) provided with a plenty of pass-through micro openings (26) which are suitably dimensioned to allow the slow flow/passage of the brine through the same plate-like element (25).
Laundry washing machine according to Claim 9, characterized in that said plate-like element (25) moreover has an imperforated peripheral portion (25b) encircling said central portion (25a).
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first drawer (16) is additionally provided with one or more substantially basin-shaped, detergent compartments (17) which are arranged beside the regeneration-agent compartment (20) and are each structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of detergent, softener or other washing agent; and in that the detergent dispenser (7) furthermore comprises a drawer flush circuit (19) which is connected to the fresh-water supply circuit (9), and is structured for selectively pouring the fresh water of the water mains into any one of said detergent compartments (17), so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the same detergent compartment (17) and down onto the bottom of the drawer housing (18).
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the regeneration-agent compartment (20) is dimensioned to accommodate an amount of consumable salt or other regeneration agent sufficient for performing one or more of regeneration processes of water softening capabilities of the internal water softening device (11).
Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the internal water softening device (11) is internally provided with a given amount of ion-exchange resins capable of restraining the calcium and magnesium ions dissolved in the water that flows through the same water softening device (11).