EP4656789A1

EP4656789A1 - Detergent dispenser for washing machine and washing machine comprising same

Info

Publication number: EP4656789A1
Application number: EP25173688.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yanglei Zhu; Huiqing Shi; Michael Mitzschke; Johannes Valenta; Alper Ayhaner
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2024-05-27
Filing date: 2025-04-30
Publication date: 2025-12-03
Also published as: CN222613775U

Abstract

The invention relates to a detergent dispenser (10) for a washing machine (100), including an outer box (4) and an inner box (5) movably located inside the outer box (4). The inner box (5) includes a storage cavity (51) configured to accommodate a liquid treatment agent used for a plurality of laundries. A connecting valve (7) is arranged on a wall (510) of the storage cavity (51). The connecting valve (7) includes: a first connecting portion (71), formed on the wall (510) and including a liquid outlet (711); a sealing portion (72), configured to block or unblock the liquid outlet (711); and a sucker portion (73), formed separately and mounted to the wall (510) from inside of the storage cavity (51), where the sealing portion (72) is located inside the sucker portion (73), and when the sealing portion (72) unblocks the liquid outlet (711), the inside of the sucker portion (73) is in fluid communication with the liquid outlet (711). The invention further relates to a washing machine (100) having the detergent dispenser (10).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a washing machine and a detergent dispenser used for storing and dispensing a treatment agent, and in particular, to a connecting valve structure on a detergent dispenser.

BACKGROUND

A washing machine having an automatic detergent dosing function is usually provided with a liquid treatment agent storage box. A connecting valve is mounted to the storage box. The connecting valve may be in communication with a pumping device, so as to suck the treatment agent in the storage box. When the storage box needs to be taken out for cleaning or adding the treatment agent, the connecting valve is disconnected from the pumping device, and the connecting valve needs to block a channel through which the treatment agent flows out, to prevent the treatment agent from flowing out.
The connecting valve needs to be hermetically connected to the storage box, and needs to provide liquid communication and non-return functions. Therefore, the connecting valve usually has a complex structure, or includes many parts, which results in complex mounting. A structure of some existing connecting valves leads to a complex plastic part forming process.

SUMMARY

An objective of the invention is to resolve at least some shortcomings in the prior art.
Embodiments of the invention include: a detergent dispenser for a washing machine, including an outer box and an inner box movably located inside the outer box. The inner box includes a storage cavity configured to accommodate a liquid treatment agent used for a plurality of laundries. A connecting valve is arranged on a wall of the storage cavity. The storage cavity is detachably connected to a pumping device through the connecting valve. The connecting valve includes:

a first connecting portion, formed on the wall and including a liquid outlet;
a sealing portion, movable to block or unblock the liquid outlet; and
a sucker portion, formed separately and mounted to the wall from inside of the storage cavity, where the sealing portion is located inside the sucker portion.

An optional embodiment further includes the following: The sealing portion is elastically biased toward the first position. At the first position, the sealing portion blocks the liquid outlet. The outer box is provided with a second connecting portion in communication with the pumping device. The second connecting portion includes a pushing portion. When the inner box is at an operating position inside the outer box, the second connecting portion is detachably engaged with the first connecting portion, the pushing portion pushes the sealing portion to overcome the elastic bias and move to the second position, and the sealing portion unblocks the liquid outlet, so that the liquid outlet is in fluid communication with the pumping device.
An optional embodiment further includes the following: The second connecting portion slidably extends into the first connecting portion. The pushing portion is integrally formed on a front end of the second connecting portion.
An optional embodiment includes the following: The first connecting portion includes a first tube. The second connecting portion includes a second tube extending into the first tube. A sealing is formed between an outer side of the second tube and an inner side of the first tube.
An optional embodiment includes the following: The pushing portion is integrally formed on a front end of the second tube, and the second tube includes an entrance close to the pushing portion, so as to allow the treatment agent from the storage cavity to enter the second tube through the entrance after the sealing portion is pushed out of the liquid outlet by the pushing portion.
An optional embodiment includes the following: The sucker portion includes a sucking end close to a bottom of the storage cavity and a connecting end connected to the first connecting portion. The connecting end is arranged around an outer side of the liquid outlet.
An optional embodiment includes the following: the first connecting portion includes a connecting wall that protrudes toward the inside of the storage cavity or retracts away from the storage cavity. The connecting end of the sucker portion is hermetically connected to the connecting wall.
An optional embodiment includes the following: The connecting end of the sucker portion is slidably inserted in the connecting wall.
An optional embodiment includes the following: An outside of the sucker portion has an elastic arm. The elastic arm has a hook. The wall of the storage cavity has a limiting portion. When the connecting end of the sucker portion is slidably inserted into the connecting wall, the hook on the elastic arm is snap-fitted with the limiting portion, so that the limiting portion prevents the sucker portion from detaching from the connecting wall.
An optional embodiment includes the following: The first connecting portion includes a first tube. A groove is formed on a periphery of the first tube. The connecting end extends into the groove and is hermetically connected to the groove.
An optional embodiment includes the following: The sucker portion includes a first extension portion mainly extending in a height direction and a second extension portion at an angle to the first extension portion. The second extension portion includes a connecting end connected to the first connecting portion and a support end at a linear position opposite to that of the connecting end. One end of a spring in a compressed state is arranged on the support end, and another end is arranged on the sealing portion, to press the sealing portion toward the liquid outlet.
If technical conditions allowed, the foregoing various embodiments may be arbitrarily combined in various manners.
Another aspect of the invention provides a washing machine, including the detergent dispenser in the foregoing embodiments or a combination of the embodiments.
According to the embodiments of the invention, an improved detergent dispenser and a washing machine are provided. In particular, the assembly is simple. Because the sucker portion is separately formed, a forming process of either the sucker portion or the inner box is simpler.
Some specific embodiments of the invention are illustrated below with reference to the drawings. Other various advantages of the invention are also illustrated below along with various specific embodiments. Even though some benefits brought by the invention are not explicitly provided, a person skilled in the art can easily understand them through simple inference, and therefore they are not enumerated below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: is a schematic diagram of a front of a washing machine.
FIG. 2: is a three-dimensional view of a detergent dispenser for a washing machine.
FIG. 3: is a partial three-dimensional view of a part of an inner box of the detergent dispenser provided with a connecting valve.
FIG. 4: is a cross-sectional view of the detergent dispenser in an axial direction of the connecting valve, with an outline of a pumping device being only schematically displayed.
FIG. 5: is a view of FIG. 4 in another direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make technical problems to be resolved in the inventions, technical solutions, and beneficial technical effects clearer, the invention is further described in detail below with reference to drawings and a plurality of exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely used for describing the invention, and are not used for limiting the protection scope of the invention. Moreover, the embodiments may be described by using a same view or a plurality of views. However, not all features appearing in a same figure can be construed as features an embodiment necessarily has. On the contrary, the features may be combined in any suitable manner provided that they are technically not mutually exclusive. Moreover, for brevity, different embodiments in different aspects may be presented in a same specific design, but such presentation does not mean that the embodiments in these aspects should appear together. Descriptions of the specification and content that can be directly and undoubtedly determined by a person skilled in the art based on the descriptions of the specification should also be considered for splitting and/or combining all possible embodiments and/or technical features.
As shown in FIG. 1, a washing machine 100 includes a case body 1. The case body 1 is provided with a machine door 2, which enables communication with a drum 3 in the case body 1 after being opened. Clothes are cleaned in the drum 3. The detergent dispenser 10 is arranged on the case body 1, and is configured to dispense a treatment agent into the drum 3 during washing. At least part of the detergent dispenser 10 is movable relative to the case body 1, to allow a user to add a treatment agent to the detergent dispenser.
FIG. 2 shows a part of the detergent dispenser 10 for the washing machine 100. The detergent dispenser 10 includes an outer box 4 and an inner box 5. The outer box 4 is fixed relative to the case body 1, and includes a pipe 40 in communication with the drum 3, to deliver a mixture of the treatment agent and water to the drum 3. The inner box 5 is movably located inside the outer box 4. For example, the inner box may be pulled relative to the outer box 4. The inner box 5 is detachable from the outer box 4, or is movable to expose at least part of the inner box from the case body 1. Therefore, the user may add a treatment agent, such as a detergent, a softener, a bleacher, or a sterilizing agent for treating clothes of the user to the inner box 5.
The inner box 5 includes a storage cavity 51 that can accommodate a liquid treatment agent used for a plurality of laundries. The washing machine 100 can automatically suck a corresponding amount of treatment agent from the storage cavity 51 based on a requirement of a washing procedure. One or more storage cavities 51 may be provided. The inner box 5 may further include a dispensing cavity 52 used for manually adding a treatment agent for a single laundry.
In order to achieve automatic dispensing, the washing machine 100 includes a pumping device 6, which pumps the treatment agent from the storage cavity 51. The pumping device 6 may be a negative pressure pumping device in a form of various electric pumps, a venturi structure, or the like.
In order to achieve fluid communication with the pumping device 6 while preventing the treatment agent from flowing out through a joint when the inner box 5 is moved and disconnected from the pumping device 6, a connecting valve 7 is arranged on a wall 510 of the storage cavity 51.
As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, the connecting valve 7 includes a first connecting portion 71, which is integrally injection molded with the wall 510 of the storage cavity 51. The outer box 4 is provided with a second connecting portion 41, which can establish detachable connection to the first connecting portion 71. The second connecting portion 41 is fixedly connected to the outer box 4, or is integrally formed with the outer box. The second connecting portion 41 is further directly or indirectly connected to the pumping device 6 for fluid communication.
The first connecting portion 71 and the second connecting portion 41 are hermetically connected to each other. A specific connection manner may be any known manner, for example, mutual sleeving. One of the first connecting portion 71 and the second connecting portion 41 may extend into the other. In the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the first connecting portion 71 includes a first tube 710, the second connecting portion 41 includes a second tube 410 that slidably extends into the first tube 710, and sealing is formed between an outer side of the second tube 410 and an inner side of the first tube 710. The sealing is usually achieved through an elastic sealing ring.
In a moving direction of the inner box 5, a position of the first connecting portion 71 is opposite to a position of the second connecting portion 41. Therefore, when the inner box 5 is moved to an operating position in the outer box 4, the first connecting portion 71 and the second connecting portion 41 are engaged with each other. When the inner box 5 is pulled away from the operating position, the first connecting portion 71 is disconnected from the second connecting portion 41.
The first connecting portion 71 includes a liquid outlet 711. In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the liquid outlet 711 is located on the first tube 710.
The connecting valve 7 includes a sealing portion 72 movable between a first position and a second position and elastically biased toward the first position. At the first position, the sealing portion 72 blocks the liquid outlet 711, and at the second position, the sealing portion 72 unblocks the liquid outlet 711. In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the sealing portion 72 includes a moving member 721 made of a hard material and a sealing member 722 made of an elastic material, which are fixed to each other. In some alternative embodiments, the sealing portion 72 may overall be made of an elastic material. The spring 723 biases the sealing portion 72, so that the sealing portion 72 inclines toward the first position. At the first position, the sealing member 722 squeezes an edge of the liquid outlet 711, and the moving member 721 blocks the liquid outlet 711.
The second connecting portion 41 includes a pushing portion 411. When the inner box 5 is at the operating position in the outer box 4, the pushing portion 411 pushes the sealing portion 72 to overcome the elastic bias and move to the second position. At the second position, the sealing portion 72 leaves the liquid outlet 711, so that the liquid outlet 711 is in fluid communication with the pumping device 6. Therefore, the pumping device 6 can pump the treatment agent from the storage cavity 51.
In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the pushing portion 411 is integrally formed on a front end of the second tube 410. The second tube 410 includes an entrance 412 close to the pushing portion 411, so as to allow the treatment agent from the storage cavity 51 to enter the second tube 410 through the entrance 412 after the sealing portion 72 is pushed away from the liquid outlet 711 by the pushing portion 411, and then enter the pumping device 6.
Therefore, when the inner box 5 is moved to the operating position in the outer box 4, the first connecting portion 71 and the second connecting portion 41 are engaged with each other. In particular, the second tube 410 extends into the first tube 710, and moves, so that the pushing portion 411 pushes the sealing portion 72 away from the liquid outlet 711. The second tube 410 is in fluid communication with the storage cavity 51 through the entrance 412.
The connecting valve 7 further includes a sucker portion 73. The sucker portion 73 is separately injection molded, and is mounted to the wall 510 from inside the storage cavity 51. The treatment agent passes through the sucker portion 73, and then enters the pumping device 6 from the first connecting portion 71 and the second connection porting 41. The sealing portion 72 is mounted inside the sucker portion 73. When the sealing portion 72 is at the second position, inside of the sucker portion 73 is in fluid communication with the liquid outlet 711. It may be learned that from the above that, compared with integrally forming the sucker portion 73 on the wall 510 of the storage cavity 51, separately forming sucker portion 73 not only makes a forming process of a structure of the connecting valve 7 easier to achieve, but also makes mounting of the sealing portion 72 easier, thereby improving production efficiency and reducing production costs.
The sucker portion 73 includes a first extension portion 731 mainly extending in a height direction and a second extension portion 732 at an angle to the first extension portion 731. When the inner box 5 slides relative to the outer box 4 in a substantially horizontal direction, the second extension portion 732 is usually parallel to the sliding direction of the inner box, and therefore is substantially horizontal.
The first extension portion 731 includes a sucking end 733 close to a bottom of the storage cavity 51, so that the treatment agent can be pumped even when a liquid level in the storage cavity 51 is relatively low. The first extension portion 731 extends in the height direction to facilitate connection with a body of the connecting valve 7 at a higher position.
The second extension portion 732 includes a connecting end 734 connected to the first connecting portion 71 and a support end 735 at a linear position opposite to that of the connecting end 734. One end of the spring 723 in a compressed state described above is arranged on the support end 735, and another end is arranged on the moving member 721 of the sealing portion 72.
The connecting end 734 is arranged around an outer side of the liquid outlet 711. In this way, the sealing portion 72 and the liquid outlet 711 are both arranged on a circulation path defined by the sucker portion 73.
Connection between the connecting end 734 and the first connecting portion 71 may be implemented as follows: The first connecting portion 71 includes a connecting wall 712 that protrudes toward the inside of the storage cavity 51 or retracts away from the storage cavity 51, and the connecting end 734 of the sucker portion 73 is hermetically connected to the connecting wall 712.
In the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, a groove 713 is formed on a periphery of the first tube 710 of the first connecting portion 71, and the connecting end 734 extends into the groove 713 and is hermetically connected to the groove 713. In this embodiment, the first tube 710 forms the connecting wall 712 described above, or a wall on an other side of the groove 713 opposite to the first tube 710 forms the connecting wall 712.
The connecting end 734 may be, for example, rotatably connected to the connecting wall 712 through threads, slidably inserted to the connecting wall, or snap-fitted with the connecting wall.
In the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the connecting end 734 is slidably inserted to the connecting wall 712.
The above has advantages including easy mounting and ensuring that an extension direction of the first extension portion 731 after mounting faces the bottom of the storage cavity 51.
In order to fix the sucker portion 73 to ensure reliable slidable insertion, an outside of the sucker portion 73 has an elastic arm 736, the elastic arm 736 has a hook 737, and the wall 510 of the storage cavity 51 has a limiting portion 511 extending inward. During mounting, when the connecting end 734 of the sucker portion 73 is slidably inserted into the connecting wall 712, and the hook 737 on the elastic arm 736 is snap-fitted with the limiting portion 511, so that the limiting portion 511 prevents the sucker portion 73 from detaching from the connecting wall 712.
Through the structures of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the connecting valve 7 can be easily mounted. The first connecting portion 71 is formed on the wall 510 of the storage cavity 51, and therefore does not need to be mounted. Only the spring 723 and the sealing portion 72 need to be pre-mounted to the sucker portion 73, and then the connecting end 734 of the sucker portion 73 is engaged with the connecting wall 712, and the sucker portion 73 is pushed to slide toward a connection position. In the process, the hook 737 on the elastic arm 736 slides into the limiting portion 511, thereby completing the installation.
The specific embodiments described above and shown in the drawings are merely used for describing the invention and are not the entirety of the invention. Any form of changes made to the invention by a person of ordinary skill in the related art within the scope of the basic technical idea of the invention fall within the protection scope of the invention.

Claims

A detergent dispenser for a washing machine, characterized by comprising an outer box (4) and an inner box (5) movably located inside the outer box, wherein the inner box comprises a storage cavity (51) configured to accommodate a liquid treatment agent used for a plurality of laundries, a connecting valve (7) is arranged on a wall (510) of the storage cavity, the storage cavity is detachably connected to a pumping device (6) through the connecting valve, and the connecting valve (7) comprises:
a first connecting portion (71), formed on the wall (510) and comprising a liquid outlet (711);

a sealing portion (72), movable to block or unblock the liquid outlet (711); and

a sucker portion (73), formed separately and mounted to the wall (510) from inside of the storage cavity (51), wherein the sealing portion (72) is located inside the sucker portion (73).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that
the sealing portion (72) is elastically biased toward the first position, at the first position, the sealing portion (72) blocks the liquid outlet (711), the outer box (4) is provided with a second connecting portion (41) in communication with the pumping device (6), the second connecting portion (41) comprises a pushing portion (411), and when the inner box (5) is at an operating position inside the outer box (4), the second connecting portion (41) is detachably engaged with the first connecting portion (71), the pushing portion (411) pushes the sealing portion (72) to overcome the elastic bias and move to the second position, and the sealing portion (72) unblocks the liquid outlet (711), so that the liquid outlet (711) is in fluid communication with the pumping device (6).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 2, characterized in that
the second connecting portion (41) slidably extends into the first connecting portion (71), and the pushing portion (411) is integrally formed on a front end of the second connecting portion (41).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 3, characterized in that
the first connecting portion (71) comprises a first tube (710), the second connecting portion (41) comprises a second tube (410) extending into the first tube (710), and sealing is formed between an outer side of the second tube (410) and an inner side of the first tube (710).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 4, characterized in that
the pushing portion (411) is integrally formed on a front end of the second tube (410), and the second tube (410) comprises an entrance (412) close to the pushing portion (411), so as to allow the treatment agent from the storage cavity (51) to enter the second tube (410) through the entrance (412) after the sealing portion (72) is pushed away from the liquid outlet (711) by the pushing portion (411).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that
the sucker portion (73) comprises a sucking end (733) close to a bottom of the storage cavity (51) and a connecting end (734) connected to the first connecting portion (71), and the connecting end (734) is arranged around an outer side of the liquid outlet (711).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 6, characterized in that
the first connecting portion (71) comprises a connecting wall (712) that protrudes toward the inside of the storage cavity (51) or retracts away from the storage cavity (51), and the connecting end (734) of the sucker portion (73) is hermetically connected to the connecting wall (712).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 7, characterized in that
the connecting end (734) of the sucker portion (73) is slidably inserted in the connecting wall (712).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 8, characterized in that
an outside of the sucker portion (73) has an elastic arm (736), the elastic arm has a hook (737), the wall (510) of the storage cavity has a limiting portion (511), and when the connecting end (734) of the sucker portion is slidably inserted into the connecting wall (712), and the hook (737) on the elastic arm (736) is snap-fitted with the limiting portion (511), so that the limiting portion (511) prevents the sucker portion (73) from detaching from the connecting wall (712).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 6, characterized in that
the first connecting portion (71) comprises a first tube (710), a groove (713) is formed on a periphery of the first tube (710), and the connecting end (734) extends into the groove (713) and is hermetically connected to the groove (713).
The detergent dispenser for a washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that
the sucker portion (73) comprises a first extension portion (731) mainly extending in a height direction and a second extension portion (732) at an angle to the first extension portion, the second extension portion (732) comprises a connecting end (734) connected to the first connecting portion (71) and a support end (735) at a linear position opposite to that of the connecting end (734), one end of a spring (723) in a compressed state is arranged on the support end (735), and an other end is arranged on the sealing portion (72), to press the sealing portion (72) toward the liquid outlet (711).
A washing machine, characterized by comprising the detergent dispenser (10) according to any of claims 1 to 11.