Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L15/00—Washing or rinsing machines for crockery or tableware
  • A47L15/42—Details
  • A47L15/44—Devices for adding cleaning agents; Devices for dispensing cleaning agents, rinsing aids or deodorants
  • A47L15/4436—Devices for adding cleaning agents; Devices for dispensing cleaning agents, rinsing aids or deodorants in the form of a detergent solution made by gradually dissolving a powder detergent cake or a solid detergent block

Definitions

• Use solutions for automatic dishwashers, washing machines and solutions for automatic or manual cleaning may be prepared by dissolution of powders and pastes or dilution of liquid concentrates.
• the powder state gives the biggest freedom of formulation and opportuni ty to prepare the most suitable and most concentrated products with contents of active components that together make
• Powder is dusty and may cause respiratory irritations. Strongly alcaiine or acid dust particles may cause lung and skin damages.
• the drum lid is replaced by a collar provided with a perforated support plate and an upon the support plate resting screen.
• the support plate is provided with a central opening allowing passage of a solid stream of cleaning solution.
• the arrangement requires a pump to recirculate the cleaning solution continuously.
• the Swedish lay open patent application 422 650 concerns a further development of the system according to the earlier mentioned
• a satisfactory system for handl i ng of powder in exchangeable small containers must fulfill the following requirements:
• An use solution of the actual kind has a concentration of active material within the range .01 to 1 %, more often .05 to .5 % an most often .1 to .3 %.
• the completing solutions should be at least one 10 power higher i.e. at least 1 to 10 % according to the area of use.
• the inventor has studied the problem carefully and thereby
• the container is designed as a double screen with relatively coarse openings (1 to 20 mm, preferably 1 to 10 mm) at the side facing the nozzle and very fine openings (.01 to .8 mm, preferably .02 to .5 mm) at the side facing the interior of the powder container.
• coarse screen will be used and include cases where the design is more like a lattice.
• This design differs from the combination of a perforated support plate and a screen that is used according to the American patent publication 3 850 344 in that the water flow is not a solid stream but a spray, further the water penetrates the coarse screen as well as the finer screen. Both differences make the dissolution cou considerably better and contribute each in its way to eliminating the necessity for recirculation.
• An arrangement according to the invention thus in its primitive form consists of an exchangeable container with an outlet opening area which is less than one half of the cross sectional area of the container.
• the container is filled with a free flowing, water soluble granule mass or powder, closed with a screen and placed with its outlet facing downwards over a nozzle giving a non- uniform water distribution at the surface of the screen and connected to a pressure water tube via a valve that is controlled by a manual or automatic signal.
• the nozzle and the outlet part of the powder container are surrounded by a cylindrical or funnel- shaped container for recovering the concentrated solution formed when water through the nozzle is injected into the container and dissolving the water solvable granule mass.
• the solution container is provided with an outlet connected to a container for use solution.
• the coupling should be made in such way that the water supply becomes intermittent with for instance 5 seconds water supply, 5 seconds run off, new water supply and run off etc. Suitable time intervals depend upon the water pressure, the type of use and the composition and may vary from 2 to 20 seconds water injection and 2 to 30 secoonds run off. Interval controlled water supply gives a smoother dosing as the run off period gives the concentrate time to flow into the container for use solution, mix with it and give a correct result from the measuring cell. Besides the interval coupling assists to make the signal "change powder container" not coming before the container is emptied.
• the concentrate from the dissolution apparatus is as highly concentrated as possible.
• Interval control contributes to this end.
• Other possibilities of control are balancing the injected water quantity in relation to dissolution and run off rate concerning the water soluble granule mass.
• the jet velocity after the nozzle must be high enough to make the jets, especially at the end of the use period, reach far enough into the container to flush the last remains forward to the screen and dissolving them.
• the nozzle is normally connected to a water tube containing heated water (20 to 60 °C) and with pressure within the range 2 to 5 kilos/cm 2 . Suitable nozzles have capacities within the range 3 to 15 liter per minute under these circumstances.
• the spray pattern of the nozzle may be shaped in several different ways as long as the impact pattern at the screen clearly differs from a uniform pattern. Bood results are thus obtained with askew or excentrically circular, oval, cross-formed, triangular etc.
• the patterns formed when the jets hit the screen shall be non-uniform i.e. not uniform and not such to enable remaining powder to occupy a dome formed or ring formed konfiguration.
• the non-uniformity concerns the water distribution along the surface.
• the distribution shall be considered as non-uniform if the water quantity hitting the screen per unit area for instance mm 2 or cm 2 is at least 20 34, preferably at least 50 34, and
• the exchangeable container is surrounded by a housing connected to the container for recovering of solution and provided with a combination of door and lid that at opening lets free one side of house together with the upward opening of the house.
• the arrangement is provided with a safety system stopping water injection, when a powder container is not put in and/or when the door/lid-combination is in open position.
• Fig. 1 shows a container with a screen stopper with a fine mesh screen and a lattice combined to a screen stopper suitable for use in the apparatus according to the invention.
• Fig. 2. shows in its upper part a drawing of the upper surface of the screen stopper and thereunder a photocopy of part of a fine mesh screen.
• Fig. 3. shows a flat jet nozzle suitable for use in the apparatus according to the invention.
• Fig.4. shows the spray pattern of the nozzle in fig. 3.
• Fig 5 shows in its upper part a vertical cross section of a
• (1) is the container, (2) the fine mesh screen, (3) the lattice designed as a screen stopper that fixes the fine mesh screen by squeze fit against the container neck, (4) designates the nozzle giving non-uniform spray pattern, (5) is the water supply tube of the nozzle, (6) stands for the tube connecting the solution container (7) to the container for use solution, (8) designates the surrounding housing.
• the powder container (1) may be shaped in several different ways and be cylindrical, oval, rectangular etc. Cylinder form is
• the inner walls should be straight and as smooth as possible.
• the container should be completed with a conical part connecting the straight sided part of the container with the outlet and with walls sloping at least 20°, preferably at least 30° against the horizontal plane to promote the sliding of wet or half dissolved powder that is a requirement for complete emptying of the container.
• a preferred container is made of polyolefin plastic by so called blow forming and consists of a bottom which may be provided with a handle to facilitate the handling, a cylindrical part, a completing conical part and an outlet part carrying the earlier mentioned screen combination (2,3).
• the ratio between the height of the cylindrical part and the diameter of the container should lie between 2:1 to 1:2. Ratios of between 1:1 to 1:1.5 are
• the ratio between the outlet diameter and the diameter of the container may vary from 1:4 to 1:1.5. Especially suitable is a ratio around 1:2, which means a ratio between the areas of around 1:4. From an ergonomical point of wiew it is suitable that container plus product is weighing between 2 and 8 kilo. Depending upon the volume weight of the product that may vary from 600 to 1500 grammes pro liter this gives a volume between 2 and 15 liters, Especially suitable volumes are between 2 and 5 liters.
• the combination of coarse mesh and fine mesh screens and their fixation in the container outlet can be designed in several different ways as for instance as two separate wire gauzes with separate support construction or as shown in the drawing where the coarse screen is made of olefin plastic by press forming and at the same time combinated with the support construction to a screen stopper with squeze fit to the container neck.
• the design permits that the coarse screen at the same time serves as fixture for the woven fine mesh screen. This is a preferred design.
• the choice of material is unimportant as long as the screen combination is able to withstand the chemicals used.
• Vaults with a circular shape of the kind one gets with a nozzle with rotational symmetry are far more stabile than the non-circular vaults one gets with a nozzle giving a non- uniform spray pattern. This will be even more the case when the dissolution has proceeded to the point, where the upper surface of the powder is broken through and one has got a ring of undissol ved material along the walls of the container. Support for this theory can be obtained from comparative essays, where it has been shown that remains left in the container after the use of a nozzle with rotational symmetry are distributed as a generally uniform
• a stopper combination for the container consisting of a coarse screen or lattice and a fine mesh screen.
• a fine mesh screen will break up the spray directed against it, too, but the breaking up will not be complete and the balancing between letting through and demand on breaking up the spray droplets will be very problematic. To this is added the purely practical problem of getting a satisfactory fixation and strength in a fine mesh screen without reducing the let through area to much. Fine mesh screen not subjected to the tension caused by the weight of the powder may vibrate at a larger amplitude and this is likely not to be an unimportant factor in this connection.
• the process used according to the invention is the following after start with a new container.
• the jets from the nozzle giving a non- uniform water distribution at the screen hit its lower face and penetrate the screen some millimeter at which the water comes into contact with granules which will be dissolved and leave place for new granules falling down from higher levels. Dissolution and falling down of powder continues in this way until a powder free cone like k ⁇ nf iguration is farmed with its apex against the screen and with an upturned bottom surface that is dependent on, beside the dimensions of the container, the slide angle of the granules. When this is occuring an area free from granules or with a very thin layer of granules will form at the screen. In this area the jets penetrate and give rise to drops with high velocities that reaches high in the container and eventually rebound against the container bottom before falling down on remaining powder as a heavy rain.

Landscapes

• Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20377633

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (5)

Citations (4)

• 1989
  • 1989-11-29 SE SE8904027A patent/SE467190B/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1990
  • 1990-11-28 WO PCT/SE1990/000786 patent/WO1991007907A1/en unknown

Patent Citations (4)

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