WO2015075602A1

WO2015075602A1 - Washing machine, disinfecting and washing method of same, and washing machine controller

Info

Publication number: WO2015075602A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/065959
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lili Cai; Dixin Shi; Min Wu; Xiaotong Zhu
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2013-11-25
Filing date: 2014-11-11
Publication date: 2015-05-28
Also published as: CN104652087A

Abstract

A washing machine, a disinfecting and washing method of same, and a washing machine controller. The disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine includes: performing a disinfecting treatment process on laundry: receiving a water inflow from a drawer where disinfectant is added, forming a disinfectant solution in a barrel device, performing a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and discharging the disinfectant solution; and washing the disinfected laundry. Through disinfecting and subsequent washing, a residual disinfecting solution in laundry may be reduced, and a detergent and disinfectant are prevented from being mixed to generate coagulates attached on a drawer.

Description

WASHING MACHINE, DISINFECTING AND WASHING METHOD OF SAME, AND WASHING MACHINE CONTROLLER

The present invention relates to the technical field of washing machines, and more particularly to a washing machine, a disinfecting and washing method of same, and a washing machine controller.

An existing washing machine usually does not have a disinfecting function. With the ongoing improvement of living standards of people, people also have higher requirements for washing by a washing machine. In addition to certain expectation for cleaning performance, people also hope that a washing machine can provide an effective disinfecting function for laundry, especially, underwear and infant and kids clothing, for which sterilizing and disinfecting are often desired.

Currently, disinfecting functions provided by commercially available washing machines are mainly categorized into two types: One type is to achieve a disinfecting function by providing a high temperature environment. The other type is to add a special antibacterial material for disinfecting such as silver ions and ozone on parts and members in a washing machine. The high temperature disinfecting function needs to heat laundry to a relatively high temperature; in an aspect, the high temperature disinfecting is power consuming and does not meet the trend of green home appliances and national requirements of power conservation and emission reduction; in another aspect, a relatively high temperature can easily cause discoloring and deformation to laundry. Meanwhile, disinfecting efficiency of silver ions and ozone is still disputable, and silver ions and ozone are toxic at high concentrations and therefore may cause harm to the health of a user.

The prior art further has some methods of performing disinfecting and washing functions on laundry by using a specific detergent; however, residual disinfectant occurs easily in laundry and the washing machine, which may cause influence to different extent to the skin of a clothing wearer.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is how to reduce residual disinfectant in laundry. To solve the problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine comprising a barrel for receiving laundry to be washed and a detergent dispenser dispensing a washing agent into the barrel, where the method includes: performing a disinfecting treatment stage on laundry: receiving a water inflow from the detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, forming a disinfectant solution in the barrel, performing a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and discharging the disinfectant solution; and performing a washing stage by washing the disinfected laundry.

Optionally, the step of receiving a water inflow from a detergent dispenser includes: controlling a rotary motor to rotate a drum in the barrel and containing the laundry at a preset rotation speed, so that the disinfectant solution fully soaks and contacts the laundry.

Optionally, the preset rotation speed is smaller than a rotation speed of the drum at a washing stage. Optionally, the rotation speed of the drum is 25 rpm to 65 rpm.

Optionally, the disinfecting treatment operation is performed on the laundry for a corresponding period of time according to different laundry properties and loads.

Optionally, the disinfecting treatment process further includes rinsing the laundry after discharging the disinfecting solution from the laundry. Optionally, the disinfecting treatment process further includes performing a dewatering treatment on the rinsed laundry.

Optionally, when it is detected that a user selects a disinfecting function, the disinfecting treatment process is performed on the laundry.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a washing machine controller. This washing machine controller includes: a disinfection control unit, used for controlling a disinfecting treatment stage of laundry, and including a disinfection control subunit, where the disinfection control subunit is used for controlling a water inlet to receive a water inflow from a detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, forming a disinfectant solution in a barrel, performing a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and controlling a water outlet to discharge the disinfectant solution; and a washing control unit, used for controlling a washing stage of the laundry after the disinfection control unit has performed the disinfecting treatment stage.

Optionally, the disinfection control subunit is used for controlling a rotary motor to rotate a drum at a preset rotation speed, so that the disinfectant solution fully soaks and contacts the laundry, where the preset rotation speed is smaller than a rotation speed of the drum at a washing stage. Optionally, the disinfection control unit further includes: a timing control subunit, used for setting time according to different laundry properties and loads, to control the disinfection control subunit to perform the disinfecting treatment operation for a corresponding period of time.

Optionally, the disinfection control unit further includes: a rinsing control subunit, used for controlling a rinsing process of the laundry that has been treated by the disinfection control subunit.

Optionally, the disinfection control unit further includes: a dewatering control subunit, used for controlling a dewatering process of the laundry that has been treated by the rinsing control subunit. Optionally, the disinfection control unit is used for performing an operation of controlling the disinfecting treatment process of the laundry after it is detected that a user selects a disinfecting function.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a washing machine, where the washing machine includes: a barrel that includes an outer drum suitable for containing water and a drum disposed in the barrel in a rotatable manner and used for containing laundry; a detergent dispenser suitable for containing disinfectant; a water inlet that receives water via the detergent dispenser; and the foregoing washing machine controller.

Optionally, the detergent dispenser includes: a prewashing cavity and a main washing cavity, where the prewashing cavity is used for containing disinfectant. Compared with the prior art, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention have the following advantages:

Through disinfecting and subsequent washing on laundry to wash, a detergent and disinfectant are prevented from being mixed to generate coagulates attached on a detergent dispenser, and a condition in which a residual disinfecting solution is found in laundry as a disinfecting process is performed after a washing process is also avoided. In conclusion, the solution may reduce a residual disinfecting solution in laundry, so as to avoid influence of the disinfecting solution on the skin of a clothing wearer.

In a disinfecting treatment process, a drum is enabled to rotate relatively slow, so as to facilitate exchange of water soaked in fabric and water in a drum, so that a disinfectant solution fully soaks and contacts laundry.

According to different laundry properties and loads, a disinfecting treatment operation is performed on laundry for a corresponding period of time, so as to implement more thorough disinfecting, and save as long time as possible to reduce power consumption. Through further treatments such as rinsing or dewatering on disinfected laundry, a residual disinfecting solution in laundry may be reduced more thoroughly, thereby alleviating acrid smell.

A disinfecting treatment process may be performed on laundry when it is detected that a user selects a disinfecting function, so that the user can flexibly select whether to perform a disinfecting treatment on the laundry according to needs before various washing procedures, so as to avoid excessive disinfecting and reduce power consumption.

A detergent dispenser is divided into multiple isolated chambers and a disinfectant and detergent are placed in different chambers, so as to fully isolate the disinfectant from the detergent, so as to prevent the disinfectant and the detergent from being mixed to generate coagulates to cause damages to a washing machine.

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, specific embodiments of the present invention are described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing. The disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below with reference to the drawing for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of another disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine in an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a washing machine controller in an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the flow chart of a disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine shown in FIG. 1 , detailed description is provided below through specific steps:

S101. Perform a disinfecting treatment stage on laundry: receive a water inflow from a detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, form a disinfectant solution in a barrel, perform a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and discharge the disinfectant solution.

It may be understood that the disinfectant herein may be solid, for example, powder, or may also be liquid.

The detergent dispenser may have different structures according to needs. For example, it may have only one chamber to contain disinfectant, or may also have multiple chambers to contain different disinfectant or detergents. For example, the detergent dispenser may include a prewashing cavity and a main washing cavity, and disinfectant is placed in both the prewashing cavity and the main washing cavity; or disinfectant may also be only placed in the prewashing cavity, and a detergent may be placed in the main washing cavity, so as to fully isolate the disinfectant from the detergent and prevent the disinfectant and the detergent from being mixed to possibly generate coagulates.

In a specific implementation, when a disinfecting treatment stage is performed on the laundry, a rotary motor may be controlled to rotate the drum containing the laundry at a preset rotation speed, and in a disinfecting treatment stage, the drum may be enabled to rotate relatively slow, so as to facilitate exchange of water soaked in fabric and water in a drum, so that the disinfectant solution fully soaks and contacts the laundry. It may be set that the preset rotation speed is smaller than a rotation speed of the drum at a washing stage. For example, the rotation speed of the drum may be set to be 25 rpm to 65 rpm.

To implement thorough disinfecting and save as long time as possible to reduce power consumption, the disinfecting treatment stage may be performed on the laundry for a corresponding period of time according to different laundry properties and loads.

S102. Wash the disinfected laundry.

In the technical solution, through disinfecting and subsequent washing on laundry to wash, a detergent and disinfectant may be prevented from being mixed to generate coagulates attached on a detergent dispenser, and a condition in which a residual disinfecting solution is found in the laundry as a disinfecting process is performed after a washing process is also avoided. In conclusion, the solution may reduce a residual disinfecting solution in laundry, so as to avoid influence of the disinfecting solution on the skin of a clothing wearer. Reference is now made to the flow chart of another disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine in an embodiment shown in FIG. 2. A difference from the foregoing solution is that when a disinfecting treatment stage is performed on laundry, a further treatment may be performed on disinfected laundry, so as to reduce a residual disinfecting solution in the laundry more thoroughly. Detailed description is provided below through specific steps:

5201. Receive a water inflow from a detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, form a disinfectant solution in a barrel, perform a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and discharge the disinfectant solution.

5202. Rinse the laundry on which the disinfecting treatment operation has been performed.

After a disinfecting solution discharge in a drum is discharged, a certain amount of clean water is fed to perform rinsing, so as to remove the disinfecting solution from laundry fiber as much as possible and alleviate acrid smell.

After a rinsing process is finished, rinsing water is discharged. 5203. Perform a dewatering treatment on the rinsed laundry.

The dewatering treatment may also reduce the residual disinfecting solution in laundry such as clothing and alleviate acrid smell.

It may be understood that, in a specific implementation, the dewatering treatment may also be directly performed on the laundry after the disinfectant solution is discharged and subsequent washing processes are performed.

5204. Wash the laundry.

Through treatments such as rinsing and dewatering on the disinfected laundry, the residual disinfecting solution in the laundry may be reduced, and the smell of the disinfecting solution in the laundry may also be alleviated.

It may be understood that the disinfecting process does not need to be performed in every washing process of the washing machine, and a user may select whether disinfecting is needed according to laundry. When it is detected that the user selects a disinfecting function, a disinfecting treatment process is then performed on the laundry. Therefore, before various washing procedures, the user may select whether to perform a disinfecting treatment on the laundry, so as to avoid excessive disinfecting and reduce power consumption of the washing machine.

Referring to the schematic structural diagram of a washing machine controller shown in FIG. 3, a washing machine controller 30 may include: a disinfection control unit 31 and a washing control unit 32.

The disinfection control unit 31 is used for controlling a disinfecting treatment stage of laundry and includes a disinfection control subunit 311 , where the disinfection control subunit 311 is used for controlling a water inlet to receive a water inflow from a detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, forming a disinfectant solution in a barrel, performing a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and controlling a water outlet to discharge the disinfectant solution.

The washing control unit 32 is used for controlling a washing process of the laundry after the disinfection control unit 31 performs the disinfecting treatment process. In a specific implementation, the disinfection control subunit 31 1 may further be used for controlling a rotary motor to rotate a drum at a preset rotation speed, so that the disinfectant solution fully soaks and contacts the laundry, where the preset rotation speed is smaller than a rotation speed of the drum at a washing stage. The rotation speed of the drum may be set to be 25 rpm to 65 rpm.

To implement thorough disinfecting and save as long time as possible to reduce power consumption, in a specific implementation, the disinfection control unit 31 may further include: a timing control subunit 312, used for setting time according to different laundry properties and loads, to control the disinfection control subunit 311 to perform the disinfecting treatment operation for a corresponding period of time.

The washing machine controller controls a washing machine to perform disinfecting and subsequent washing on the laundry, a detergent and disinfectant may be prevented from being mixed to generate coagulates attached on a detergent dispenser, and a condition in which a residual disinfecting solution is found in the laundry as a disinfecting process is performed after a washing process is also avoided. In conclusion, the solution may reduce a residual disinfecting solution in laundry, so as to avoid influence of the disinfecting solution on the skin of a clothing wearer.

In a specific implementation, according to needs, the technical solution may further be extended. For example, to reduce a residual disinfecting solution in the laundry such as clothing more thoroughly, the disinfection control unit 31 may further include: a rinsing control subunit 313, used for controlling a rinsing process of the laundry that has been treated by the disinfection control subunit 311. After the disinfecting solution in the drum is discharged, a certain amount of clean water is fed to perform rinsing, so as to remove the disinfecting solution in laundry fiber as much as possible and alleviate acrid smell. To further reduce the residual disinfecting solution in the laundry, the disinfection control unit 31 may further include: a dewatering control subunit 314, used for controlling a dewatering process of the laundry that has been treated by the rinsing control subunit 313.

It may be understood that, the dewatering control subunit 314 may also directly perform a dewatering treatment on the laundry after only disinfecting. The disinfection control unit may perform an operation of controlling the disinfecting treatment stage of the laundry only after it is detected that a user selects a disinfecting function, so that the user may select whether disinfecting is needed according to laundry.

An embodiment further provides a washing machine including the foregoing washing machine controller. The washing machine further includes: a barrel that includes an outer drum suitable for containing water and a drum disposed in the barrel in a rotatable manner and used for containing laundry; and a detergent dispenser suitable for containing disinfectant.

The detergent dispenser may include: a prewashing cavity and a main washing cavity. The prewashing cavity is used for containing disinfectant and the main washing cavity may contain a detergent, so as to prevent the residual detergent and disinfectant from being mixed to generate coagulates when one chamber is used for disinfectant and a detergent.

It may be understood that, for convenience, in the process of description, sometimes one drawing is used to describe cases of several embodiments. Dotted lines and solid lines are used in the accompanying drawings for simple differentiation; however, the foregoing differentiation is not intended.

A person skilled in the art may understand that all or a part of steps in the methods in the embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk or the like.

Although the present invention is disclosed as above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various modifications and changes may be made by any person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and therefore the protection scope of the present invention shall be as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A disinfecting and washing method of a washing machine comprising a barrel for receiving laundry to be washed and a detergent dispenser for dispensing a washing agent into the barrel, characterized by comprising: performing a disinfecting treatment stage on laundry: receiving a water inflow from the detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, forming a disinfectant solution in the barrel, performing a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and discharging the disinfectant solution; and performing a washing stage by washing the disinfected laundry.

2. The method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the step of receiving a water inflow from the detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added comprises: controlling a rotary motor to rotate a drum in the barrel and containing the laundry at a preset rotation speed, so that the disinfectant solution fully soaks the laundry.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the preset rotation speed is smaller than a rotation speed of the drum at the washing stage.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the rotation speed of the drum is 25 rpm to 65 rpm.

5. The method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the disinfecting treatment operation is performed on the laundry for a corresponding period of time according to different laundry properties and loads.

6. The method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the disinfecting treatment stage further comprises: rinsing the laundry after discharging the disinfecting solution from the laundry.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the disinfecting treatment stage further comprises: performing a dewatering treatment on the rinsed laundry.

8. The method according to claim 1 , characterized in that when it is detected that a user selects a disinfecting function, the disinfecting treatment process is performed on the laundry.

9. A washing machine controller, characterized by comprising: a disinfection control unit for controlling a disinfecting treatment stage of laundry, and comprising a disinfection control subunit, wherein the disinfection control subunit is used for controlling a water inlet to receive a water inflow from a detergent dispenser where disinfectant is added, forming a disinfectant solution in a barrel, performing a disinfecting treatment operation on the laundry, and controlling a water outlet to discharge the disinfectant solution; and a washing control unit, used for controlling a washing stage of the laundry after the disinfection control unit has performed the disinfecting treatment stage.

10. The controller according to claim 9, characterized in that the disinfection control subunit is used for controlling a rotary motor to rotate a drum containing laundry to be treated at a preset rotation speed, so that the disinfectant solution fully soaks the laundry, wherein the preset rotation speed is smaller than a rotation speed of the drum at a washing stage.

11. The controller according to claim 9, characterized in that the disinfection control unit further comprises: a timing control subunit, used for setting time according to different laundry properties and loads, to control the disinfection control subunit to perform the disinfecting treatment operation for a corresponding period of time.

12. The controller according to claim 9, characterized in that the disinfection control unit further comprises a rinsing control subunit, used for controlling a rinsing process of the laundry that has been treated by the disinfection control subunit.

13. The controller according to claim 12, characterized in that the disinfection control unit further comprises a dewatering control subunit, used for controlling a dewatering process of the laundry that has been treated by the rinsing control subunit.

14. The controller according to claim 9, characterized in that, the disinfection control unit is used for performing an operation of controlling the disinfecting treatment process of the laundry after it is detected that a user selects a disinfecting function.

15. A washing machine, characterized by comprising: a barrel suitable for containing water and a drum disposed in the barrel in a rotatable manner and used for containing laundry; a detergent dispenser suitable for containing disinfectant; a water inlet that receives water via the detergent dispenser; and the washing machine controller according to any one of claims 9 to 14.

16. The washing machine according to claim 15, characterized in that, the detergent dispenser comprises a prewashing cavity and a main washing cavity, wherein the prewashing cavity is used for containing disinfectant.