EP0038247B1 - Laundry washing machine with additives dispensers - Google Patents

Abstract

A washing machine comprises a washing-agent box 6 disposed at least on one side of the machine between the drum 2 and the upper part of the tank 3, said box 6 having a flattened shape practically matching the shape of the drum. The box is open at its lower end to allow the water+agent mixture to pass therethrough while retaining the undiluted agent comprises further openings 20 or an opening (48), Fig. 3 (not shown), for introducing water brought by a ring of water formed by rotation of said drum in the partially filled tank. In one embodiment, Fig. 1, a fixed box 6 for powder has a rib 13 which participates with a trough 14 to retain dry powder. Water enters the box through louvre apertures 20 and apertures 21 and the mixture leaves through an opening 12. In a modification, Fig. 2 (not shown), the powder box is removable. In another embodiment, Fig. 3 (not shown), a removable box for liquid agent empties, under the action of the ring of water, through a siphon system (44). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a washing machine comprising boxes of products whose contents will be able to empty automatically into the tank of the machine at the desired time, these boxes being particularly simple, efficient, and requiring no special solenoid valve.

Washing machines practically all have boxes of products which are filled, before the machine operates, with the appropriate products; these products are for example: detergent intended for actual washing (as opposed to the prewash product), bleach or fabric softeners.

In many machines known up to now, the evacuation of the products from these boxes is done, at the desired time, by opening solenoid valves controlled by the programmer of the machine, an electro-valve being for example associated with each product box. These techniques for pouring products into the tank of the washing machine have several drawbacks. They are not very economical insofar as it is necessary to provide one solenoid valve per product container; they can present failures insofar as one solenoid valve can fail.

Other simpler and more economical solutions have already been described, for example in the German patent application DE-A-2 116 980 from the company Licentia. In this patent application, a process has been described which consists in rotating the drum of the machine in the tank partially to empty the product in a product box at the desired time at the top of the tank. filled with water, at a sufficient speed so that a ring of water is created around this drum. This ring of water somehow creates projections which fill the product container and make it empty in the tank.

This solution is very interesting insofar as it completely eliminates conventional solenoid valves.

A variant of a machine using this process has been described by the applicant in French patent application No. 79/10530 filed on April 25, 1979 and published under FR-A-2 455 113. In the machine described in this patent application , the principle of the ring created by a sufficiently rapid rotation of the drum, is used to empty product boxes hung under the upper cover of the machine. This solution has the advantage over the previous one, in particular, of decluttering the tank and therefore making it possible to produce less bulky machines.

However, this solution has a common drawback with that of the aforementioned German patent application. Indeed, as long as it is a question of pouring liquid products into the tank, the evacuation of these products is done properly. By cons, when it comes to pouring into the tank of powdery products such as washing powder for example, there are drainage problems.

In fact, the powder boxes must have a sufficient volume to contain the doses of detergent necessary for washing. When the water arrives in the powder box, the detergent before it begins to be evacuated, becomes humid and risks creating blocks of wet powder which may take a long time to disintegrate, and which sometimes does not even will not completely disintegrate before washing begins. Thus the detergent which can no longer be discharged during the actual washing, since the drum will rotate at a lower speed insufficient to create the water ring, will not have been completely released in the tank, and the washing will be done with an insufficient quantity of powder.

The present invention relates to a washing machine comprising at least one box for pulverulent products (powder), arranged and arranged in the machine so as, on the one hand, to present a minimal space requirement and to allow the production of small and easily built-in machines, and on the other hand to allow total and rapid evacuation of all the powder contained in the box.

• - a une forme aplatie et allongée le long de la paroi cylindrique du tambour de manière que le volume de stockage momentané du produit pulvérulent ait une faible épaisseur, dans la direction des rayons du tambour, par rapport aux autres dimensions de ce volume de stockage, assurant ainsi au produit pulvérulent un stockage en nappe;
• - et comporte, à son extrémité inférieure, une ouverture permanente terminée par un ressaut ne laissant pas tomber la poudre sèche, mais laissant s'échapper le mélange eau + poudre sous l'action de l'anneau d'eau, le boîte étant ainsi vidée du produit pulvérulent par un lavage par circulation d'eau le long de la nappe de poudre.

According to the invention, a washing machine comprising a drum rotating in a tank around a horizontal axis, and at least one box housed between the drum and the upper part of the tank for the temporary storage of powdery treatment products. , and overflowing in an opening zone of the machine so as to be able to receive the pulverulent product to be stored, the evacuation of these products in the tank being made, on command, by formation of a ring of water around the drum rotating in the tank containing water and introducing this water into the product box, the bottom of which follows the shape of the drum, is characterized in that this product box:

• - has a flattened and elongated shape along the cylindrical wall of the drum so that the momentary storage volume of the pulverulent product has a small thickness, in the direction of the radii of the drum, compared to the other dimensions of this storage volume, thus ensuring that the pulverulent product is stored in a sheet;
• - And has, at its lower end, a permanent opening terminated by a projection not letting the dry powder fall, but letting the water + powder mixture escape under the action of the water ring, the box thus being emptied of the pulverulent product by washing with water circulation along the sheet of powder.

In one embodiment, the powder box is removable and is fixed in the tank, for example by a slide system. This removability makes it possible to replace it at will, by a liquid product box of the same general shape but differing, of course, in the fact that it is waterproof to retain the liquid product outside the periods of formation of the water ring.

• - la figure 1, une premier mode de réalisation d'une machine à laver comportant une boîte à produit pulvérulent conforme à l'invention;
• - la figure 2, une variante d'exécution dans laquelle la boîte à produit pulvérulent de la figure 1 est amovible;
• - la figure 3, la variante de la figure 2 dans laquelle la boîte amovible est remplacée par une boîte à produit liquide;
• - la figure 4, une vue en coupe de la boîte de la figure 3.

Other objects, characteristics and results of the invention will emerge from the following description given by way of nonlimiting example, and illustrated by the appended figures which very schematically represent:

• - Figure 1, a first embodiment of a washing machine comprising a powdered product box according to the invention;
• - Figure 2, an alternative embodiment in which the powdered product box of Figure 1 is removable;
• - Figure 3, the variant of Figure 2 in which the removable box is replaced by a liquid product box;
• - Figure 4, a sectional view of the box of Figure 3.

There is very diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1, the covering 1 of a washing machine comprising a drum 2 with a horizontal axis rotating in a sealed tank 3 and intended to receive the washing or rinsing water. We see in this figure that the upper part of the tank 3 opens through an opening 4, this opening being for example connected to the rest of the covering of the machine 1 by sealing bellows 5. There is no shown here, so as not to make the figure heavier, the upper part of the machine casing, no more than the cover allowing it to be closed. As for the drum 3, a door, also not shown, allows the introduction of the linen.

There is shown here in more detail what constitutes the characteristic part of a machine according to the invention, namely its powder box 6.

It is clearly seen in this figure 1 that the powder box 6 according to the invention is located towards the upper part of the machine between a part of the tank 3 slightly protruding 7 relative to the rest of the tank, and the cylindrical wall of the drum 2. This part of the tank 3 in protrusion 7 is connected to the opening 4 of the tank 3.

The powder box 6 essentially comprises a bottom 8 approximating the cylindrical wall of the drum 2, this bottom 8 forming a box with three side walls. The two side walls such as 9 which form the sides of the powder box can, in an exemplary embodiment, be the means by which this powder box is attached to the upper face of the protuberance 7 of the tank. As for the third side wall, it is the vertical wall 10 which projects, as illustrated in the figure, into the opening 4 of the tank. The space 11 left between the opening of the tank and the vertical wall 10 of the box, will allow, when the door of the machine is open, the introduction of the powder into the box 6. As for the lower part 12 of the bottom of box 6, it is not closed; it opens directly into the tank 3. This will allow the evacuation of the water + powder mixture in the tank as will be seen below.

However, to prevent the powder when it is introduced from the upper space 11 from falling directly into the tank, instead of being retained until the actual washing cycle has started, provision has been made at the bottom of the box a jump to retain the dry powder and prevent it from falling into the tank. The projection is produced, in the example illustrated here, by a rib 13 slightly raising the bottom of the powder box towards the upper wall of the tank. The cooperation of this rib 13 and a trough 14, located at a certain distance from the bottom 8 of the box, achieves a constriction improving the retention of the dry powder.

The bucket 14 can for example be fixed directly on the upper part of the tank (protuberance 7), or be fixed on the side walls 9 of the powder box 6. This bucket 14 can also be produced by a counter-stamped suitable in the tank.

Whatever its method of attachment, this bucket is arranged so that, cooperating with the rib 13 of the bottom of the box, it prevents the flow of dry powder, while it leaves between itself and the bottom of the box has sufficient space for the water + powder mixture to drain properly when supplying water to the powder box 6.

As for the bottom 8 of this powder box 6, it is provided with several openings such as the gills 20. These gills 20 are dimensioned so as not to let the dry powder pass, but to let the water pass through which the water ring as will be described later. These gills can for example be produced by cutting, on three sides only, small rectangles in the bottom 8 of the powder box, and by folding these small rectangles towards the inside of this box. Thus the openings 20 are formed for the passage of water; the dry powder is at the same time retained by these folded parts of the bottom 8. These gills can also have an arrangement such that they retain the powder according to the shape of the slope.

It is also possible, as illustrated here, to provide such openings on the vertical wall 10 of the box 6. These openings 21 will further facilitate the entry of water into the powder box.

In the embodiment described here, it can be seen that the central part of the vertical wall 10 and the part close to the bottom 8 of the powder canister form a protrusion 22 in this canister, which results in a hollow on the side of the drum. This hollow 22 will allow, in certain types of machines, where the door of the drum when it opens slides along the drum, to pass the hand between the powder box and the drum to catch the door and close it. This arrangement is not necessarily necessary in all types of machines. It is only necessary when it is necessary to be able to fetch the drum door under the powder box.

The operation of the machine according to the invention is as follows.

Once the laundry has been placed in the drum, its door closed, the washing powder introduced into the powder box 6, and the machine door (not shown here) closed, the washing cycle will start.

When it will be necessary to introduce the powder P into the washing tank, the programmer controls the introduction of a certain amount of water into the tank 3, and the rotation of the drum in the direction indicated by the arrow F, at a speed sufficient for it to create a water ring E around the drum 2. This water ring E will create water splashes which, thanks to the constitution of the powder box 6 which has just been described, will quickly come to completely wash the inside of the powder box 6. The water + powder mixture (E + P) thus formed quickly falls through the lower opening 12 in the tank 3.

It is clear that the relatively flattened shape of this powder box 6 means that very little humidified powder packages are created which would take a long time to dissolve and to dissolve. fall into the tank. Thanks to the cooperation of the numerous openings such as 20 and 21 made in the powder box 6, and the relatively flat shape of this powder box, all the powder is very quickly entrained by the opening 12 in the tank 3.

Thus the powder box which has just been described has not only the advantage of being very space-saving by practically matching the shape of the drum, but also makes it possible to easily and quickly evacuate all the powder contained in the box 6.

In the example described here there is shown a machine comprising a single powder box 6 placed on one side of the machine. It is clear that it is possible to have a second symmetrical to it on the opposite side 30 of the tank. This second box, to be emptied, would require a rapid rotation of the drum in the opposite direction to that of arrow F. It is thus possible to provide a machine comprising for example a box of prewash powder and a box of washing powder.

It is also possible to have on the side 30 opposite the powder box 6, a product box of a more conventional model, intended for example to receive a liquid product.

FIG. 2 schematically represents a variant of the powder box described on the occasion of FIG. 1, the essential characteristic of this variant being that this powder box is removable.

In general, the elements both of the machine and of the powder canister which are identical, or practically identical, to those of FIG. 1 are indicated by the same references.

The powder box 6 which, in FIG. 1, was fixed to the very construction of the machine, to the tank 3 under the protruding part 7 is, here, replaced by a box 31 removably mounted by a system of slides.

For this, for example, a part 33 comprising slides 34 is fixed under the upper face 32 of the protruding part 7 of the tank 3. As for the powder box 31, its general constitution is the same as that described in FIG. 1, except that it has, at the top of its lateral faces 9 folded parts 35 which will be housed in the slides 34 when the box 31 is placed in its housing 7. The correct positioning of the box in its housing will be provided when the rear wall 36 will come to bear on the corresponding wall 37 of the housing 7 of the tank. This correct positioning is of some importance insofar as it influences the distance between the rib 13 of the bottom of the box and the bucket 14 integral with the tank, which distance influences the good retention of the dry powder by the effect of "slope".

In the embodiment illustrated here, the part 33 which includes the slides 34 also includes the bucket 14, the positioning of which is thus facilitated.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates how the removable powder box of FIG. 2 can be very easily replaced by a product box 40 of the same general shape, that is to say elongated, fairly flat and with slides 35, but intended to receive a liquid product, and therefore waterproof.

This box 40 of course does not have the openings that the box 31 had, any more than the lower water inlet openings of the water ring 20 and 21, than the opening 12 for starting the mixture is + powder . On the contrary, it is watertight to properly retain the liquid product outside the presence of the drain water ring. For good sealing it is closed at its upper part by an additional wall 41 which continues to the rear wall 36 of the box and is connected thereto in a sealed manner. The lower part of this wall 41 has a recess 42 so as to allow the proper positioning of the box despite the presence of the trough 14 secured to the part 33 supporting the slides 34.

In the version illustrated in FIG. 3 and the sectional view of FIG. 4, the liquid product container is emptied, under the action of the water ring, by a siphon system 44.

For this, the user, before starting the machine, fills the liquid box 40 to the height corresponding to the axis 43 (Figure 4). The siphon 44 is housed inside the box 40 and has an inner pipe 45, the lower part of which opens in the tank for the evacuation of the water + liquid mixture and the upper part of which is also open for siphon effect, and an external pipe 46 around the pipe 45. The upper part 47 of the external pipe 46 situated above the maximum filling level 43 is closed and its lower part is open around the pipe 45.

In this variant where the product box is watertight, the water in the ring of water used for discharging the product enters only through the upper opening 48 of the box, that is to say the opening serving when the liquid is introduced into the box. The entry of drainage water is therefore slower and less distributed than it is in the powder boxes of Figures 1 and 2; this does not present any disadvantage insofar as the liquid is not likely to be packaged as the risk is a powder.

When the water ring fills the box 40, the level rises above the axis 43, the liquid rises in the pipe 46 above the level 43 and the siphon starts. The product box is then completely emptied by the siphon effect.

Here again, as in the case of FIG. 1, it is clear that a product can can be placed on the other side of the tank and emptied by a ring of water in the opposite direction caused by the rotation of the drum in opposite direction of arrow F.

Claims (10)

1. Laundry washing machine comprising a drum (2) rotating within a vessel (3) about a horizontal axis and at least one box (6) lodged between the drum (2) and the upper portion of the vessel (3) for momentarily storing powdery treatment products (P), and reaching into an opening zone (4) of the machine in a manner to be capable of receiving the powdery product to be stored, the evacuation of these products into the vessel (3) being performed, upon control, by forming a water ring (E) about the drum rotating within the vessel containing water and by the introduction of this water into the product box (6) the bottom of which (8) closely follows the shape of the drum, the machine being characterized in that this product box (6):

- has a flattened shape elongated along the cylindrical wall of the drum (2) in such a manner that the momentary storage volume of the powdery product (P) has a reduced thickness in the radial direction of the drum (2) compared to the other dimensions of this storage volume, thus ensuring that the powdery product is stored in the shape of a layer;

- and comprises at its lower end a permanent opening (12) ending in a raised member not permitting the dropping of the dry powder (P) but permitting the passage of the water and powder mixture (E + P) under the action of the water ring (E), the box being thus emptied of the powdery product (P) by being washed out by the water flow along the layer of powder.

2. Washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the product box (6) comprises a plurality of openings not permitting the passage of the dry powder (P) but permitting the water (E) of the water ring to penetrate inside.

3. Washing machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the bottom (8) of the box (6) in the neighborhood of the cylindrical surface of the drum (2) comprises a plurality of openings (20) permitting the passage of water inside the box (6) but not permitting the powder (P) to pass outside.

4. Laundry washing machine according to claims 1, or 3, characterized in that that portion of the powder box (6) reaching into the opening zone (4) of the machine terminates in a vertical wall (10) comprising openings (21) permitting the passage of the water (E) inside the powder box (6) but not permitting the powder (P) to pass outside.

5. Machine according to claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the bottom (4) forming the lower surface of the powder box (6) terminates at the lower end of said box in a rib (13) forming said raised member for retaining the dry powder (P).

6. Washing machine according to claim 5, characterized in that the opening (12) of the lower end of the powder box (6) is elongated in a direction parallel to the axis of the drum (2) and is defined at its upper portion by a basin (14) forming with the rib (13) a constriction of the bottom of the box.

7. Washing machine according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, the drum (2) having a door to be operated from inside of the opening (4) of the machine, that portion of the powder box (6) reaching into this opening zone (4) comprises a hollow (22) leaving in the opening (4) of the machine a passage for manipulation of the door of the drum (2).

8. Washing machine according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the powder box is a removable box (31).

9. Washing machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the portion (7) of the vessel (3) under which the powder box is lodged comprises sliding guides (34) wherein said powder box (31) slides which is, to this end, provided with members (35) susceptible to slide within the sliding guides (34).

10. Washing machine according to claim 9, characterized in that the removable powder box (31) is replaceable by a liquid product box (40) having the same general shape as the removable powder box (31) and the raised member of which is formed of a siphon system (44 to 47) permitting the liquid product box to be emptied by the water ring.

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