FR2475079A1 - LIQUID PRODUCT DISPENSER, AND WASHING MACHINE HAVING SUCH A DISPENSER. - Google Patents

Abstract

LIQUID PRODUCT DISPENSER, ALLOWING TO DILUTE, IN THE WATER FOR FILLING A TANK, A PREDETERMINED DOSE OF A LIQUID ADDITIVE. THIS DISTRIBUTOR INCLUDES: A HERMETIC TANK 1 FOR STORAGE OF A RESERVE OF PRODUCT, INCLUDING A MEANS 4, 5 AND 18 FOR BALANCING THE INTERNAL PRESSURE; A DOSING CONTAINER 8 CONTAINING: A MEANS OF SAMPLING 9, 10 AND11 FOR ONE DOSE, A MEANS OF AERATION 12, 13 AND 14 AND A MEANS OF TAKING 15, 16, 17 AND 20; A VENTURI 21; AN ELECTROVALVE 22; A CAVITY 23 FOR RETAINING WATER FOR RINSING THE TUBING AND A PIPE 24 AND 25 FOR FILLING A TANK C; ELEMENTS 7, 11 AND 20 ARE HYDROSTATIC VALVES. THIS DISPENSER FINDS ITS APPLICATION IN AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES AND IN PARTICULAR DOMESTIC WASHING MACHINES.

Description

The invention relates to the technique of dis-

  tribution of liquid products; it concerns more

  precisely, a distributor of liquid product

  diluting in the filling water of a tank a predetermined dose of a liquid additive; it relates, alsoemern, a washing machine comprising such a dispenser. In a washing machine, for example a washing machine, it is necessary during the various stages of the programmed washing cycle,

  to add to the filling water of the tank,

  liquid additives such as products:

  gents, softeners, sanitizers, softeners

scented, etc ...

  At present, the domestic washing machines in use have at least one product tank in which, before the start-up operation, a predetermined dose of an additive which is to be diluted in the filling water of the

  tank. Recently, he has appeared on the market of

  washing machines, in particular dishwashing machines which comprise a dispenser comprising a reservoir for storing a supply of an additive

  liquid, a measuring container and general

  electromignetic drugs, to take a dose of product, to withdraw this dose, then to

  place it in the tank of the machine.

  According to a different technique the

  liquid product comprises: a storage tank with a reserve of a liquid additive disposed

  in the lower part of the machine and an electro-

  dosing pump (peristaltic pump) controlled by the programmer of the machine, the quantity of liquid additive dose released into the tank is determined

  by the duration of excitation of the electropump.

  The liquid product dispensers of the prior art have various disadvantages, including:

  the reserve of liquid product is in contact with the

  o atmosphere results in partial oxidation

  the product thus stored; these distributors do not

  no means ensuring the automatic and periodic rinsing of the constituent elements, finally the means for taking a predetermined dose of the product, then, to inject this dose in the water of

  the tank are relatively complex, with the result that

  increase the cost and reduce the

machine reliability.

  This is the purpose of the liquid product distributor

  according to the invention, to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks; for this purpose, such a liquid product dispenser comprises - a venturi connected between the source of running water supply and the filling orifice of the tank, this venturi comprising a vacuum outlet, - a hermetic storage tank of a reserve of liquid product, this reservoir being provided with a

  means of balancing the internal pressure of the

  see, - a metering container located below the lower level of the storage tank, said metering container comprising: means for taking a predetermined dose of the liquid product, said sampling means including a hydrostatic valve; an aeration means and a means for withdrawing the dose, this means including a hydrostatic valve and

  including a draw-off port located at the

  container and a dose evacuation port on the one hand, at the suction outlet of the venturi and, on the other hand, by means of balancing

  the internal pressure of the storage tank.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, a cavity for retaining a small amount of water

  current is arranged at the outlet of the venturi.

  According to another characteristic of the invention

  tion, the means of balancing internal pressure

  of the storage tank st wallI of a hydrostatic valve

  located near the lower level of this tank. According to another characteristic of the invention, the means for withdrawing the dose of liquid product comprises a yen making it possible to vary the position of the withdrawal orifice, in order to modify the size of the dose of product injected into the liquid. 'water of

filling ie the tank.

  The liquid product dispenser comprises

  static elements such as hydrostatic valves

  ticks that can be rinsed periodically by the water reservoir stored in the cavity disposed

downstream of the venturi.

  Other characteristics and advantages

  will be described in the following description of a

2475079.

  liquid product dispenser, made with reference to the accompanying drawings; in these drawings: FIG. 1 represents, in a schematic form,

  the basic structure according to the invention of a

  liquid product tributor; FIG. 2 represents, in a schematic form, the liquid product dispenser of FIG. 1,

  X in which the measuring container is integrated with the reservoir

  see Figure 3 shows, in schematic form, the dispenser of the liquid product of Figure 2,

  including means for modifying the

  the amount of liquid product injected into the filling water of the tank, - Figure 4 shows, in a sectional view, the details of realization of the product dispenser

liquid of Figure 3.

  FIG. 1 represents, in schematic form,

  a liquid product dispenser for taking a predetermined dose of a liquid additive from a reservoir and injecting this dose into a

  the water filling the tank of a washing machine.

  According to the invention, this dispenser comprises - a reservoir 1 for storing a reserve of the liquid product; this tank is equipped with an orifice

  filling 2 of the product, which is closed by a

  hermetic seal 3; this reservoir including a means of equi-

  liberation of the internal pressure including, for example,

  ple, a tube 4 whose upper orifice 5 opens

  above the maximum level H of the liquid; this tube being provided, possibly, at its lower end 6, with a hydrostatic valve 7 located near the

bottom of this tank.

  - A measuring container 8 whose internal volume is sensiblemernt equal to the maximum dose of the product to be taken in the tank 1; this container

  metering unit located below the lower level of the

  apparatus comprises: liquid product sampling means comprising: an inlet port 9 located at the bottom of the container and a

  link 10 in which is inserted a hy-

  drostatic 11; an aeration means comprising:

  a ventilation inlet 12 located at the upper part

  top of this measuring container, this air inlet

  tion being provided with a ventilation tube 13 whose origin

  upper fice 14 opens to the air above

  the maximum level H of the liquid product, and,

  yen of dose withdrawal comprising a tube 15

  whose lower end, or

  16 is discharged inside the container and the upper part, or discharge orifice 17, is connected, on the other hand, by means of aeration of the tank 1 via a conduit 18 and, on the other hand, to the means for injecting the dispenser via a pipe 19; in addition, a hydrostatic valve 20 is disposed between these withdrawal and discharge orifices, - a means of injecting the dose of liquid product

  constituted by a venturi, or water pump, 21; the in-

  trea2la of this trunk being connected to a source

  A, of running water supply, by an electro-

  22 valve coamined by an electrical signal CMD

  provided, for example, by the programmer of the

  China; the vacuum intake 21b of this pump is connected to the discharge orifice 17 of the withdrawal means and the outlet 21c is connected, through a cavity 23 for retaining a small amount of water, to a pipe 24 completed by a mouth 25 opening into the tank C not shown in this figure. A hydrostatic valve may be constituted, for example, by a spherical ball resting on a conical seat, this ball possibly being

  captive retention by a perforated wall.

  The hydrostatic valve 7, located at the bottom of the storage tank 1 has a

  ball whose apparent density is significantly lower than

  greater than the density of the liquid product stored in the tank; the function of this valve is to isolate the tube 4 of the reservoir when the level of the reserve of liquid product is above the level of the ball. the hydrostatic valve 11, located at the filling orifice 9 of the measuring container 8

  has a ball whose apparent density is sensi-

  Although it is higher than the density of the liquid product, this ball has a weight of value MI; it rests on its ceramic seat whose cross-section of contact has

  an Si value; the function of this valve is iso-

  1 the storage tank 1 of the measuring container 8

  when the venturi creates a depression in the tubu-

  lure 19; conversely, when the solenoid valve 22 is cut, this valve 11 must allow the transfer of a dose of product from the storage tank to the measuring container. To do this, the following condition must be satisfied: the weight Ml of the ball must be less than the thrust SiPi created by the reserve of liquid contained in the storage tank o Pi is the pressure resulting from the difference

ú475079

  product levels in the reservoir and in the

measuring container.

  the hydrostatic valve 20 located in the tube

  has a ball whose apparent density is no

  greater than the density of the liquid product; this ball has a value weight M2 and it rests on its conlque seat whose cross section has a value 32; the function of this valve is to isolate the metering container 8 of the tube 17 when the vacuum in this tube is zero; to do this, the following condition must be satisfied: the weight M2 of the ball must 8-re greater than the thrust S2P2 exerted by the liquid product, where P2 is the pressure resulting from the difference of the levels of the liquid reserve and

of the valve.

  The functioning of the liquid product dispenser shown in FIG. 1 will now be maintained. Firstly, a simplified dispenser will be considered in which the cavity 23 for retaining water and

  the hydrostatic valve 7 have been eliminated, and o the former

  tremite 6 of tu4e 4 was closed. When the electro-

  va-ne 22 is not xcitée, the pressure in the tube 19 is the ambient atmospheric pressure Po, the ball of the eye 20 is applied to its seat and the hydrostatic pressure P1 on the ball of the valve 11 allows the total filling of the metering container 8 and partial of the aeration tube 13 whose internal volume

  negligible in relation to the internal volume of the

doser.

  When the solenoid valve 22 is energized, the water passing through the venturi creates a high vacuum in the tube 19 ezD, correspondingly, above the liquid product in the storage tank, the ball of

  the valve 11 is, consequently, strongly

  folded on its seat and isolates the storage tank;

  conversely, the ball of the valve 20 is lifted from its seat, and the dose of product is sucked by the venturi and then transferred into the filling pipe 24

from the machine bowl.

  We will now consider the addition of the

  cavity 23 for retaining water; when cutting excitement

  the solenoid valve 22, the small quantity of water retained flows through the tube 19 and ensures the rinsing

corresponding tubings.

  We will now consider the addition of the

  hydrostatic valve 11; when the storage tank

  ge 1 is completely empty, the holding water of the cavity 23 flows through this valve into the reservoir and, at

  provided that the user of the machine does not reapply

  do not view the reservoir in product, in the next cycle,

  the venturi will suck this rinse water.

  Figure 2 shows, in schematic form,

  tick, a structural variant of the distributor of

  liquid product described in Figure 1. According to this

  the measuring container 8 is integrated with the inte-

  storage tank 1 of the

liquid duit.

  In this FIG. 2, the distributor is represented

  partly and identical references

  corresponding elements identical to those of

Figure 1.

  According to this structural variant, the tank 1 comprises

  - at its base, a protuberance the inside of the-

  which is disposed the metering container provided with its means of sampling, aeration, and withdrawal, the link 10 being constituted by the free space between the walls of the protuberance and the walls

of the measuring container 8.

  - At its upper part, an opening 30 closed by a hermetic seal 31 through: on the one hand, by the ventilation tube 13 and, on the other hand, by the discharge tube 19; the dimensions of the opening being greater than the dimensions of the container

doser 8.

  the operation of this structural variant

  distributor is identical to the operation

  of the dispenser as previously described.

  Figure 3 shows, in schematic form,

  the liquid product dispenser of FIG. 2 in which the level of the withdrawal orifice 16, relative to the bottom of the measuring container 8, can be adjusted in order to vary the magnitude of the product dose aspirated by the venturi . In this FIG. 3, the distributor is partially represented and

  identical references designate elements corresponding to

  pondantsiden - iciques to those of the preceding figures.

  The means for withdrawing the measuring container comprises a tube 32 made on the upper wall of the measuring container, this Vu-be passing through the hermetic seal 31 and comprising a first communication orifice.

  with conduit 18 and a second communication port

  with the pipe 19. At the lower end of this tube 32 is disposed a sliding hollow piston

  equipped with the withdrawal tube 15 and the hydrostatic valve

  20. A rigid rod 34 can slide in a hermetic seal 35 and is attached to the piston 20

-

  by a perforated mechanical connection; this rod carries,

  possibly, graduations 36 for the purpose of indi-

  visualize the size of the product dose

  which will be sucked by the venturi at each cycle of operation.

  tioning. FIG. 4 represents, in a sectional view, the details of the realization of the liquid product dispenser described in FIG. 3. The stockagel reservoir can be made of a plastic material according to an extrusion process, for example its external shapes are mainly dictated by its location in the washing machine considered. the measuring container can be manufactured in two elements: a first element which constitutes the container itself - and a second

  element, or cover, which comprises: the tube 32, the

  ventilation system 12 and, possibly, the seat and

ball of the hydrostatic valve 7.

  the hollow piston 33 is provided with a seal of

  33aeteness and a pin 33b that crosses the stem

adjusting 34.

  In the embodiment shown, the adjustment rod 34 is folded towards an outer wall of the storage tank and carries an index 34a which can be read opposite marks on this outer wall. the internal volume of the container

  for example, of the order of one-tenth of

  and sometimes a lower dose, which

  for a capacity of the storage tank of a

  or more, ensures a significant washing autonomy between each product supply. The ball of the hydrostatic valves may be made of a material such as a plastic material, a resin or

  a metal, depending on the apparent density required.

  A distributor of liquid product, according to

  the invention can equip an automatic washing machine.

  tick. The storage tank, the measuring container and its pipes can be arranged in the lower part of the machine, advantageously in the vicinity of the front of this machine; this facade is then

  equipped with an access gate to the filling port

  wise of the storage tank and to the adjusting rod

  the dose of the product to be diluted in the water

  wise of the village. Other accessories such as electrova.2-e and vernturi can be arranged in

various location of the machine.

  Now, more clearly, in

  out of the economy granted to the machine, the advantages

  tages that provides no distributeu. of liquid product according to the invet-ion: - the stock of product is isolated from the ambient atmosphere by the retenre of water which flows into the tube 19, - the largeu- the dose of product taken in the reading container is independent of the viscosity 4.i produced,

  - The tubings are rinsed cyclically and automatically

cally,

  - the absence of complex mechanisms gives the distribution

  scorer high reliability iutrinsque.

  Such a liquid product dispenser finds

  its application in domestic washing machines

whether or not.

Claims (10)

  1. Liquid product dispenser, for mixing with the filling water of the tank of a washing machine, a predetermined dose.d'un liquid additive, characterized in that it comprises: -5 - a venturi powered by the filling water of the tank, this venturi having a vacuum outlet, - a hermetic storage tank of a reserve   product, this reservoir comprising a means of equi-   liberation of the internal pressure connected to the vacuum outlet of the venturi, - a measuring container disposed below the lower level of the storage tank, this container   comprising: a means of aeration, a means of sampling   a dose of product, including a hydrostatic valve, and a means for withdrawing this dose including a hydrostatic valve, and comprising: a draw-off port disposed within this container, and an evacuation port connected to the catch Venturi depression.   2. Dispenser according to claim 1, characterized   characterized in that it comprises a retaining cavity   of water arranged at the outlet of the venturi.   3. Dispenser according to claims 1 and 2,   characterized in that it comprises a hydrostatic valve   tick located near the base of the   storage, this valve being connected by means of   breaking of the interned pressure of this reservoir.   4. Dispenser according to claim 1, characterized   characterized in that a hydrostatic valve comprises a spherical ball of determined density resting on a conical seat.   5. Dispenser according to claim 1, characterized   in that the storage tank of the tank   liquid product has, at its base, a protuberance   in which the measuring container is placed.   6. Dispenser according to claim 1, charac- terized in that the means for withdrawing a dose of product coprend means for modifying the   level of the withdrawal orifice of this dose.   7. Dispenser according to claim 6,   characterized in that the means of modifying the   level of the withdrawal orifice comprises a   metering device fixed on the upper face of the metering container, this tube comprising a sealed sliding piston connected to a rod for adjusting the height of this piston and in that this hermetic tube is connected, on the one hand, to the vacuum intake of the venturi and, on the other hand, by means of pressure balancing in the storage tank.   8. Washing machine equipped, in particular, with a   washing cycle programmer connected to an electro-   water supply valve, characterized in that it co = carries at least one product dispenser   liquid according to one of claims 1 to 7.   9. Mackine washing according to claim 8, characterized in that the storage tank and the measuring container are arranged in the part bass of this machine.   10. Washing machine according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises an accessible access door disposed opposite the storage tank and the adjusting rod of the sliding sealed piston.