WO2024088692A1

WO2024088692A1 - Dispensing system for a dishwasher

Info

Publication number: WO2024088692A1
Application number: PCT/EP2023/077051
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert RUIZ HERNANDEZ; Sergio LINZ; Arnd Kessler; Lukas DE GRAEF; Bert BRAECKMAN
Original assignee: Henkel Ag & Co. Kgaa
Priority date: 2022-10-27
Filing date: 2023-09-29
Publication date: 2024-05-02
Also published as: DE102022128561A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a dispensing system (1) for a dishwasher. The dispensing system (1) has a flat housing (10) with a front wall (11) and a rear wall (12) and is designed in such a way that it can be placed, like a plate, in a plate holder in the interior of the dishwasher. The front wall (11) or rear wall (12) of the housing (10) has at least one first channel-like recess (17) which is located on the base (13) of the housing (10). According to the invention, a depth (T) of the first recess (17) decreases from the base (13) of the housing (11) in the direction of an upper end (21) of the first recess (17).

Description

Dosing system for a dishwasher

Description

The invention relates to a dosing system for a dishwasher, wherein the dosing system has a flat housing with a front wall and a rear wall and is designed to be able to be placed like a dish plate in a plate holder of a dish drawer of the dishwasher.

Such a dosing system is known from EP 2 296 520 B1. In one embodiment, the dosing system can be placed upright in the plate holder of the dish drawer, which can be pulled out of the interior of the dishwasher to put the dishes in or take them out. The dosing system can be used to dose preparations into the interior during a wash cycle.

The plate holder is formed by several upwardly extending support rods arranged in two parallel rows. The base of the plate holder or the dish drawer is formed by floor struts arranged in the grid, from which the support rods extend vertically upwards at a small angle of inclination. A plate compartment into which the dish plate or the dosing system can be placed is delimited by two adjacent support rods in each row. The dosing system is held in an upright position by resting on the support rods and the floor struts. To ensure that the dosing system does not slip sideways within a plate compartment - for example when the dish drawer is pulled out of the interior of the dishwasher - EP 2 296 520 B1 proposes fixing means. These fixing means can be small arched depressions on the base of the dosing system into which the floor struts engage or snap into place. EP 2 296 520 B1 also discloses that the fixing means can be designed as channel-like recesses on the front wall and/or rear wall of the dosing system, which recesses are attached to the bottom of the housing.

The distance between two adjacent support bars in a row of plate holders (hereinafter also referred to as bar spacing) can vary from dishwasher manufacturer to dishwasher manufacturer. The dispensing system, which is placed in the plate compartment, is then held in position more or less upright by the upright support bars. The dispensing system is well secured and upright in the plate compartment if the thickness of the housing corresponds to the distance between the support bars (bar spacing). However, if the housing is narrow, the dispensing system can also be placed in a plate compartment with a small bar spacing, but in a plate compartment with support bars that are far apart, it would stand at a comparatively angle in the plate compartment and block adjacent plate compartments, in which no dishes could then be placed. It should also be noted that the housing of the dispensing system must also have a certain minimum thickness in order to provide enough space for the components required for dispensing. The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a dosing system whose housing offers sufficient space for the components necessary for dispensing and which can be arranged in a space-saving manner inside the dishwasher in the case of differently designed dish drawers.

According to the invention, a depth of the recess decreases starting from the bottom of the housing in the direction of an upper end of the recess. In one embodiment, a second channel-like recess is provided on the front wall or rear wall of the housing, which is spaced from the first recess and runs parallel to the first recess.

The first recess serves to accommodate one of the upwardly extending support rods of a first row of the plate holder. The second parallel recess serves to accommodate a support rod of a second row. The recesses, the depth of which reduces the effective thickness of the housing in the area of the support rods, make it possible to place the dosing system in a plate compartment of a plate holder where the rod spacing is smaller than the thickness of the housing in an area outside the first or second recess. Since the depth of the first recess decreases starting from the bottom of the housing, the effective thickness of the housing increases in the area of the recesses. Close to the bottom, the effective thickness of the housing is small, so that the dosing system can be placed in a plate holder with a small rod spacing, as long as the support rods are not too long. In a plate holder with a larger rod spacing and comparatively long support rods, the housing is supported on the support rods located in the recesses in an upper area of the recesses, where the depth of the recess is small and thus the effective thickness of the housing is greater. This means that the dosing system stands relatively upright in the plate holder both when the bar spacing is small and the holding bars are short, and when the bar spacing is large and the holding bars are long. The invention makes use of the knowledge that in conventional crockery drawers the bar spacing and the length or height of the holding bars of the plate holder are in a certain relationship: a small bar spacing is usually associated with a low height of the holding bars, while a larger bar spacing is associated with greater heights of the holding bars. Because the depth of the recess decreases with increasing distance from the floor, the dosing system can be used for different plate holders without the dosing system being too tilted in the plate holder and blocking otherwise free plate compartments.

Along a longitudinal extension of the first recess, the depth of the first recess can be constant in a third close to the ground or lower third and decrease continuously in an upper third. The transition from the constant depth to the continuously decreasing depth can occur in a middle third, whereby the middle third can be more or less characterized by the constant depth. For example, the lower half of the first recess can also have a constant depth. The above examples make it clear that the depth of the first recess does not necessarily have to decrease steadily over the entire length of the recess as the distance from the ground increases. There may well be areas where the depth does not decrease, but is constant, as described above. The course of a groove base could, for example, be stepped. It could also be the case that the groove base of the first recess has locally pronounced raised areas, the height of which increases as the distance from the ground increases. However, the groove base could be retracted again between the individual raised areas.

The course of the groove base of the first recess can have a turning point. In one embodiment, starting from the base of the housing, the groove base initially runs in a straight line (constant depth) with increasing distance from the base. A curved part of the groove base follows the straight part without discontinuity. The groove base can then run out into the plane of the front wall or rear wall, preferably also without discontinuity in the slope.

The above and following statements regarding the first recess can be transferred to the second recess. The first recess and the second recess are preferably identical in terms of length and course of the groove base. However, the first recess and the second recess can also differ from one another.

The distance between the first recess and the second recess can be between 6 and 12 cm. If the distance between the rows of holding rods on a plate holder corresponds to the distance between the recesses, the dosing system can easily be placed in a plate compartment on the plate holder.

The width of the first recess can be 2 to 4 cm. If the width of the recess is very small, there is a risk that if there is a certain deviation between the distance between the rows of support rods (row spacing) and the distance between the recesses, the dosing system can no longer be placed in the plate compartment. If the width of the first recess is too large, too much volume is lost within the housing, which is needed for the components inside.

The housing can have a height of 200 to 280 mm. The width of the housing can be 200 to 280 mm. In one embodiment, the front wall or the rear wall is essentially square, in which case the ratio of the height of the housing to the width of the housing is approximately 1. The height/width ratio can be in a range between 0.8 and 1.2, preferably between 0.9 and 1.1. Even if the front wall or the rear wall is not rectangular, it is expedient if the width/height ratio is between 0.8 and 1.2 or 0.9 and 1.1. For example, a housing with an approximately circular front wall/rear wall would also have a width/depth ratio of 0.8 to 1.2 or 0.9 to 1.1. Preferably However, the front and back walls are rectangular in their basic shape. The above dimensions (height and width) correspond to the dimensions of larger dinner plates that can be accommodated in the plate holder in the crockery drawer.

A maximum thickness of the housing can be between 20 and 28 mm. The thickness of the housing can decrease from the bottom towards an upper housing edge of the housing. In one embodiment, the thickness of the housing is 20 to 28 mm at the bottom and 10 to 15 mm at the upper housing edge, wherein the thickness can decrease from the bottom to the upper housing edge without forming a local maximum.

The maximum depth of the first recess can be between 5 and 20 mm. Preferably, the maximum depth is in a range of 8 to 12 mm. A length of the first recess (distance between the bottom and the upper end of the recess) can be 80 to 140 mm, preferably 90 to 120 mm.

The dosing system can have at least one dosing valve and a dosing opening associated with the dosing valve, wherein the dosing valve and the opening are arranged near the bottom. If the dosing valve has at least two dosing valves, the first recess is preferably arranged between these two dosing valves.

The dosing system can have a container with at least one connector and a connector receptacle to which the connector is connected when the container is inserted, wherein the connector can be guided into the connector receptacle by a linear movement along a direction that runs essentially perpendicular to the front wall or rear wall. In one embodiment, to separate the connector and connector receptacle, for example if the container is to be replaced with a fully filled container, the connector can be pulled out of the connector receptacle by an opposite linear movement. It has been found that the connection between the connector and connector receptacle described above makes it relatively easy to replace the container for refilling purposes.

The container preferably has a plurality of chambers, each of which is assigned a connection piece. A connection receptacle and a metering valve are then preferably assigned to each connection piece.

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawing. They show:

Figure 1 shows a perspective and sectional view of a dosing system according to the invention (Figures 1 A and 1 B); Figure 2 schematically shows the influence of the invention on the angle of inclination of the dosing system in a plate holder;

Figure 3 shows further embodiments of the dosing system according to the invention;

Figure 4 shows schematically a longitudinal section through a housing of the dosing system and a container housed in the housing; and

Figure 5 the container of Figure 5 from above.

Figures 1A and 1B show a dosing system 1 in different views. Figure 1A is a perspective view of the dosing system 1, while Figure 1B shows a longitudinal section through a housing 10 of the dosing system 1.

The housing 10 has a front wall 11 and a rear wall 12. The rear wall 12 and the front wall 11 extend from a base 13 to an upper housing edge 14. In the vicinity of the upper housing edge 14, a film hinge 15 is provided between the front wall 11 and the rear wall 12 so that the housing 10 can be opened to gain access to an interior 16 of the housing 10.

A first recess 17 and a second recess 18 are provided on the rear wall 12. In the following, only the first recess 17 will be discussed in more detail. Since the second recess 18 is identical to the first recess 17 in terms of its design, the statements regarding the first recess 17 also apply analogously to the second recess 18.

The first recess 17 starts at the base 13 and extends in the direction of the upper housing edge 14. The recess 17 is designed as an elongated, channel-like or groove-like recess, wherein a length in the longitudinal direction of the recess (direction from the base 13 to the upper housing edge 14) is significantly greater than a width of the recess transverse to the longitudinal direction. The first recess 17 has a groove base 19, the distance of which from the surface in which the rear wall 12 lies defines a depth T of the first recess 17. Starting from a lower, open end 20 to an upper, closed open end 21, the depth T is reduced. Accordingly, the depth T at the lower end 20 is greater than the depth T in the region of the upper end 21. Starting from the lower end 20, the groove base 19 initially runs in a straight line and then merges into a curved section. The first recess 17 and the second recess 18 run parallel to each other.

Figure 2 is intended to illustrate the influence that the depth T of the first recess 17 has on the position of the dosing system 1 when it is placed in a plate holder 50 of a dish drawer. Figure 2 shows parts of the plate holder 50, namely holding rods 51, which extend from a horizontally running floor strut 52 extends essentially upright with a small angle of inclination upwards. Usually, in a plate holder 50, the support rods 51 are arranged in two parallel rows that are spaced apart from each other (row spacing). In the illustration in Figure 2, only one of the two rows is visible; the row of the plate holder 50 that is not shown or is hidden lies in a plane parallel to the plane of the drawing.

Figure 2A (upper part of Figure 2) shows a dosing system 101 not according to the invention which, like the dosing system 1 according to the invention, also has two channel-like recesses on a rear wall 112, of which only a first recess 117 can be seen. In contrast to the invention, a groove base 119 of the recess 117 is straight over the entire length, so that the depth T of the recess 117 is constant over the entire length and does not reduce towards an upper end 121. The recess 117 serves to accommodate a holding rod 51 when the dosing system 101 has been placed in the plate holder 50.

If the distance between two adjacent support rods 51 (rod spacing) corresponds approximately to the effective thickness Deff of the housing 110 (see Figure 2A left), the dosing system 101 stands upright in the plate compartment defined by these two adjacent support rods 51. The term “upright” is to be understood here to mean that the dosing system 101 and the support rods 51 (51 a, 51 b) run parallel and have the same angle of inclination to the vertical. The effective thickness Deff corresponds to the difference between the thickness D of the housing and the depth T of the recess 1 17. However, if the dosing system 101 is placed in a plate holder with a larger rod spacing (see Figure 2A right), the dosing system 101 stands significantly inclined in the plate compartment in question. An upper part of the housing 110 protrudes into the adjacent plate compartment. This adjacent plate compartment is then blocked and can no longer accommodate a dinner plate or similar piece of crockery.

In the lower part of Figure 2 (Figure 2B), the dosing system 1 according to the invention is shown with different spacings of the holding rods 51. With a small bar spacing and a rather short length of the holding rods 51, the holding rod 51b located in the recess 17 rests in an area of the recess 17 in which the depth T is still large, which leads to a small effective thickness Deff. Accordingly, even with a small bar spacing, paired with shorter holding rods 51, the dosing system 1 can be placed in the relevant plate holder (see Figure 2B left). If the dosing system 1 is placed in another plate holder 50 with a medium bar spacing and medium length of the holding rods 51 (see Figure 2B middle), the holding rod 51 rests in an area of the recess 17 in which the depth T is already significantly reduced, which leads to a larger effective thickness Deff. With a large bar spacing and a large length of the holding bars 51 (Figure 2B right), the housing is supported on the holding bar 51 b in the upper area of the recess 17, in which the depth T only assumes a very small value. In all three cases, however, the dosing system 1 stands upright in the respective plate compartment and does not block the adjacent plate compartment. Figure 3 schematically shows further designs for the housing 10 of the dosing system 1 according to the invention. The embodiment of Figure 3A corresponds to the dosing system of Figure 2B, in which the groove base 17 initially runs in a straight line and then changes into a curved section with a turning point 23. The curved section then runs gently into the plane of the rear wall 12. Figure 3B shows an embodiment in which the groove base has several steps 24. Figure 3C shows that the groove base 17 can also have several exposed contact elevations 25, between which the groove base can then be set back again. However, as the distance from the base 13 increases, the contact elevations 25 lead to an ever smaller depth T of the recess 17.

Figure 4 shows a schematic longitudinal section of the dosing system 1. A container 26 is arranged in the housing 10 and is shown alone - also only schematically - in Figure 5. The container 26 has three chambers 27, 28, 29, each of which can hold a preparation. The volumes of the individual chambers 27, 28, 29 are approximately the same in the embodiment shown, but they can also differ significantly from one another.

While Figure 1 shows the dosing system 1 in an operational position (base 13 is directed downwards), Figure 4 shows the dosing system lying on the rear wall 12. In this lying position, the front wall 11 can be opened by a pivoting movement about a pivot axis of the film hinge 14 in order to remove the container 26 from the housing 10.

Each chamber 27, 28, 29 is assigned a connector 30. Accordingly, the container 26 has three connectors 30, each of which is constructed identically. One of these connectors 30 is also shown in Figure 4. The connector 30 has a base body with a weld-in part 31 and a plug-in part 32. The weld-in part 31 is arranged between two thermoformed housing halves 33, 34, which are welded together at a peripheral edge 35 and at intermediate webs 36 between the chambers 27, 28, 29.

As can be seen from Figure 4, the plug-in part 32 of the connecting piece 30 is inserted into a connection receptacle 37. The plug-in part 32 can be pulled out of the connection receptacle 37 by a linear pulling movement (upwards in the illustration in Figure 4). A corresponding pulling force can be directed into the base body of the connecting piece 30 by a finger ring 38. For this purpose, the finger ring 38 can be rotated from the starting position shown into an active position. In the active position, which is shown in Figure 4 by the dashed line 38', the finger ring can be grasped behind by a human finger and then serves as a pulling means for releasing the connection between the connecting piece 30 and the connection receptacle 37. In order to establish a connection between the connecting piece 30 and the connection receptacle 37 when a new container is to be inserted into the housing 10, a pressure plate 39 is provided. It serves to accommodate a finger with which the plug-in part 32 can be pressed into the connection receptacle 37. In the illustration in Figure 4, the required compressive force acts from above and is directed perpendicular to the rear wall 12. A dosing compartment 40 is integrated into the rear wall 12, in which an associated dosing chamber 41 and a dosing valve 42 are accommodated for each connection receptacle 37 (dosing chamber 41 and dosing valve 42 are only indicated by rectangles). When the dosing valve 42 is in the appropriate position, a dosing opening 43 is opened through which the relevant preparation can be dosed out of the dosing system 1. It should be noted that when the dosing system 1 is in use, the dosing opening 43 is directed downwards, whereby the preparation can pass from the dosing system 1 into the interior of the dishwasher due to gravity. The connection piece 30 and the connection receptacle 37 are designed in such a way that a membrane of the connection piece 30 is pierced when these two parts are plugged into one another. In addition, ventilation of the chamber is activated when they are plugged into one another.

List of reference symbols

I Dosing system

10 Housing

I I Front wall

12 Rear wall

13 Floor

14 upper housing edge

15 Film hinge

16 Interior

17 first recess

18 second recess

19 Groove bottom

20 lower end

21 upper end

23 Turning point

24 Level

25 Investment increase

26 containers

27 Chamber

28 Chamber

29 Chamber

30 connector

31 Welded part

32 Plug-in part

33 Housing half

34 Housing half

35 Rand

36 Intermediate bridge

37 Connection holder

38 finger ring

39 Pressure plate

40 Dosing compartment

41 Dosing chamber

42 Dosing valve

43 Dosing opening

50 plate holder

51 Holding rod

52 Floor brace Dosing system (not according to the invention) Rear wall First recess Groove bottom Upper end

Claims

Patent claims

1. Dosing system (1) for a dishwasher, wherein the dosing system (1) has a flat housing (10) with a front wall (11) and a rear wall (12) and is designed to be able to be placed in a plate holder in the interior of the dishwasher like a crockery plate, wherein at least one first channel-like recess (17) is provided on the front wall (11) or rear wall (12) of the housing (10), which recess begins at a base (13) of the housing (10), characterized in that a depth (T) of the first recess (17) decreases starting from the base (13) of the housing (11) in the direction of an upper end (21) of the first recess (17).

2. Dosing system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that a second channel-like recess (18) is provided on the front wall (11) or on the rear wall (12) of the housing (10), which is spaced from the first recess (17) and runs parallel to the first recess (17).

3. Dosing system (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that along a longitudinal extension of the first recess (17), the depth (T) of the first recess (17) is constant in a bottom-near or lower third and decreases continuously in an upper third.

4. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the course of a groove bottom (19) of the first recess (17) has an inflection point (23).

5. Dosing system (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that a distance between the first recess and the second recess is 6 to 12 cm.

6. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a width of the first recess (17) is 2 to 4 cm.

7. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the housing (10) has a height of 200 to 280 mm.

8. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the housing (10) has a width of 200 to 280 mm.

9. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a maximum thickness of the housing is between 20 and 28 mm.

10. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that a thickness of the housing (10) decreases from the bottom (13) towards an upper housing edge (14) of the housing (10). Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a maximum depth of the first recess (17) is between 5 and 15 mm. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the dosing system (10) has at least one dosing valve (41) and a dosing opening (43) assigned to the dosing valve (41), wherein the dosing valve (41) and the dosing opening (43) are arranged near the base (13). Dosing system (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that the dosing system (1) has at least two dosing valves (43), between which the first recess (17) is arranged. Dosing system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the dosing system (1) has a container (26) with at least one connection piece (30) and a connection receptacle (37) in which the connection piece (30) is inserted when the container (26) is inserted, wherein the connection between the connection receptacle (37) and the connection piece (30) can be established by a linear movement of the connection piece (30) along a direction that runs essentially perpendicular to the front wall (11) or rear wall (12). Dosing system (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that the connection between the connection receptacle (37) and the connection piece (30) can be severed by a linear movement of the connection piece (30) along a direction that runs essentially perpendicular to the front wall (11) or rear wall (12).