IT9045716A1 - TANKS FOR CONTAINING LIQUID DETERGENTS AND RECOVERY OF WASHING LIQUID FOR WASHING MACHINES - Google Patents

Description

"TANKS FOR CONTAINING LIQUID DETERGENTS AND FOR THE RECOVERY OF WASHING LIQUID FOR WASHING MACHINES"

SUMMARY

Washing machine, preferably domestic, equipped with one or more tanks for containing liquid substances to be used in the various subsequent phases of the washing program, and also equipped with an additional tank for the recovery of the liquid used during the rinsing phases, particularly in the last of these phases.

Machine characterized in that said liquid separators are arranged in a vertical cavity positioned, in a front-loading machine, between the rear wall of the tank and the rear wall of the cabinet, and for a top-loading machine, between a of the tub walls and the corresponding cabinet wall.

DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a container-dispenser of liquid detergents for washing machines, in particular washing machines suitable for containing doses of liquid detergents to be introduced into the tub of the machines for carrying out the laundry washing cycles and to a tank for recovering the liquid. for use as a pre-wash or washing liquid in the next cycle.

The current trend that is manifesting itself in international markets is towards the use of small domestic washing machines, due to the increasingly smaller surfaces of city homes, but of increasingly higher general performance, including not only general performance washing performance but the most complete service / cost ratio. the possibility of drying in the same washing machine without the need for additional equipment, the possibility of saving and recycling a considerable percentage of water (which is becoming an increasingly precious resource) and the protection of the environment through the use of detergents liquids (less polluting - In this context, the offer of washing machines with a reduced load capacity compared to the usual capacity is naturally stimulated, and in particular a competitive ground for washing machine manufacturers, particularly front-loading, is the supply of said products maintaining the front dimensions and reducing only the depth of the cabinet and therefore of the tub.

The reason for this choice is obvious to any technician in the sector and derives from the need to minimize the cost of investments for new production equipment relating to the "shortest" product. powder detergents and liquid detergents in the washing tub, using a traditional detergent dispenser connected to said tub and divided into several separate and independent compartments for containing the respective detergents. In this way, predetermined doses of the respective powder and liquid detergents are previously poured into the various compartments of the dispenser, and these doses are removed from the tank loading water, which is selectively sent through the compartments themselves.

However, these detergent dispensers, while being satisfactory and reliable in operation, have limited capacity for containing the detergents themselves and therefore do not allow the storage of sufficient detergent doses for carrying out various washing cycles.

Washing machines are known which are designed to contain greater quantities of detergents, and in particular of liquid detergents, substantially comprising a plurality of rigid containers having a high capacity for containing liquid detergents, or of the relative component substances of the detergents themselves, said containers being connected to the tank by means of respective ducts provided with volumetric pumps, suitable for transferring liquid detergents or their component substances to the tank.

These washing machines are also equipped with conventional control devices acting on said volumetric pumps, in order to determine the transfer into the tank of metered quantities of liquid detergents or of the substances components thereof, depending on the quantity of water introduced. in the tank during the wash cycle.

However, the presence of the rigid containers considered, while allowing liquid detergents or related component substances to be fed into the tank in a satisfactory manner, has the drawback of occupying a space that is not usually available inside the washing machine and which therefore must be found on the outside.

In fact, there are and are known examples of washing machines in which said reservoirs of liquid substances are placed outside the machine itself, and are preferably collected in a special container next to the machine itself, said container being normally built with dimensions in height and depth. '' similar to those of the same machine, in order to at least partially comply with the dimensional standards in force.

Another element that emerges from the joint effort to reduce water consumption has led to the proposal of the following solution: it is known that the washing cycle of a washing machine consists in the maximum generality1 of the following phases, implemented in succession: a ( eventale) pre-wash, one wash, two or more rinses, with the possible addition of perfuming softening additives, etc.

Since it is also known that the water discharged during the last rinsing phases, in particular in the last rinse, is relatively clean, at least in terms of the residual lye content, and since it is also known that the pre-washing or washing does not require that the water to be used is absolutely clean and even less in the state of "drinkable" as guaranteed by the water supply, it was logical to use for this pre-washing or washing the water recycled for this purpose and coming from the rinses.

Therefore, the solution is known of intercepting the last rinsing loads when they are discharged from the tank, of collecting said loads in a suitable container and of pouring said water back into the tank for pre-washing or washing of the next cycle.

Also in this case, of course, the problem of finding space for said container arises again, a problem aggravated by the fact that in this case the water load to be contained can be for a single drain of over 20 liters. problem has found a partial solution with the adoption of an external tank.

Said tank, although uniform in height and depth to the dimensions of the washing machine to which it is associated, nevertheless with its mere presence it creates an overall machine-tank product that is much more bulky and above all of non-standard width.

The seriousness of these drawbacks is well known to the expert in the field (on which we will not insist further), which make these products almost unsellable and in any case difficult to install due to the high dimensional standardization on an international scale of domestic furniture and The purpose of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks described by means of some containers of liquid substances useful for washing and a recovery tank for the waste water of the rinsing phases, particularly of the last two, said containers and said tank being mounted inside the cabinet of the machine and in particular in a vertical position and next to the washing tank.

The characteristics of the invention will be better highlighted by the following description, for non-limiting example purposes only and with reference to the attached drawings in which:

- fig. 1 shows, in a schematic exploded view, a washing machine provided with a plurality of dispensing containers according to the invention, made according to a first embodiment;

- fig. 2 schematically shows, in rear view, a portion of the machine of fig. 1 housing some containers and tanks according to the invention;

- fig. 3 shows, in lateral section, the same machine shown in the previous figure.

- fig. 4 shows in perspective a variant of the invention shown in fig. 1

- fig. 5 shows, in lateral section, the machine shown in fig. 4.

The characteristics of the invention are specified in the following claims.

With reference to the figures we observe the following elements;

1) cabinet of the washing machine

2) washing group

3) work surface

4) containers of liquid substances

5) base

6) rear feeding openings of the containers 4

7) upper feeding openings of the containers 4

8) upper cover for closing the mouths 7

9) rear recovery tank

10) upper crosspiece for connecting the shells of the cabinet 1 In order to better describe the present invention, reference will be made to an example in which the washing machine is of the front loading type, but without limiting the patent to this application and to this provision, since the skilled in the art will be able to use the teaching of this patent on other apparatuses and with different geometries.

In the present example and with reference to figs. 1, 2 and 3 it can be seen that the containers 4 of substances used in the washing cycle and the recovery tank 9 are made in box-like shape and similar to each other, and are positioned contiguously along the upper rear edge of the machine, inside the cabinet. .

In this way the containers 4 can be filled with the respective liquid substances directly from above, by means of suitable feeding openings 6 protruding from the rear upper edge of said containers.

The tank 9 is placed next to the row of containers 4 for reasons of constructive convenience, but of course a structure can be provided in which said containers 4 remain in the available space near the rear upper edge of the machine, and said tank is instead arranged under said containers, practically adhering to the rear wall in the lower area, and with its width it can fully exploit the width of the piece of furniture.

This type of solution is entirely possible since it is not at all necessary for the tank 9 to be accessible by the user, much less from above.

A technical variant to this solution is represented in figure 4 β ΪΓ.

In this case, the feed mouths, identified with 7, protrude vertically from the containers 4 and are covered and protected upwards by a lid 8 which is movable and contiguous to the work surface; these mouths 7 can be accessed by lifting or rotating said cover.

Therefore, those producers who have furniture of "standard" dimensions and washing groups with reduced capacity and therefore "short" can fully utilize the teachings of this patent since for them it is only sufficient to set up said "short" washing groups within standard furniture to obtain a regular space between the tank and the rear wall, substantially as wide and high as the furniture, not used, of considerable volume, and therefore usable in full to insert the containers of liquid substances 4 and the recovery tank 9 described above.

A particularly advantageous opportunity to use this invention is obtained when the furniture of the equipment is made with detached parts that are joined only at the time of final assembly, eg. according to the it patent. n. 34036 /B/86.- This patent teaches how to produce furniture by joining two reciprocally vertical shells, having a flat horizontal section in the shape of an enlarged U.

This type of construction is particularly advantageous in applying the present invention because it is sufficient to simply apply said containers 4 and said reservoir 9 inside the volume enclosed by the rear wall and the lateral walls of the shell and then assemble said subassembly with the second subassembly formed. base 5, washing unit 2 and front wall to complete the assembly operations of the machine while keeping the assembly sequences and construction techniques substantially unchanged. to a top loading washing machine, as was also provided at the beginning of this description.

Claims (6)

CLAIMS 1) Preferably domestic laundry washing machine, comprising a complete cabinet (1) and a washing unit (2) suspended and inside said cabinet, characterized in that a volume, preferably vertically developed, is obtained between said washing unit and said cabinet. to which a tank (5) is installed to recover the liquid of one or more rinses and / or one or more containers (4) of liquid substances to be used during the washing cycle. 2) Washing machine like riv. 2, characterized in that said containers 4 and said tank 9 are arranged and aligned along the upper surface of the cabinet. 3) Washing machine like riv. 1, characterized by the fact that said containers 4 are arranged and aligned along the upper surface of the cabinet and that said tank 9 is arranged in a position below said containers. 4) Washing machine as one of the riv. 2 or 3, characterized by the fact that they are of the front loading type and by the fact that said containers are arranged along the rear-upper corner of the cabinet. 5) Washing machine as one of the riv. 2 or 3, characterized in that they are of the top-loading type and in that said containers (4) are arranged along one of the side-upper edges of the cabinet. 6) Washing machine as in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said cabinet (1) is constituted by at least a first and a second mutually adaptable shell and by a base (5) on which said shells are locked, and that a cross member (10) can be removably fixed in a per se known manner on the upper part of each of said shells for their mutual connection, said washing unit (2) also being supported at the bottom by means of shock absorbers, springs or the like applied on said base.