EP0083532B1 - Laundry or dish washer with detergent dispenser - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus such as a washing machine for laundry or dishes, an apparatus for dispensing product and solution, etc., provided with boxes for products.

In a washing machine, for example, detergents in powder or liquid form are usually used and the known boxes or tubs which contain them are designed in different ways. In the case of a powdered product, the known storage container or box frequently comprises either a side wall open from top to bottom or one or more holes formed at its bottom, intended for the evacuation of the product. In such a box or tray, the powdered product deposited in a place remote from this open wall or these holes, in the absence of water, remains in a heap and does not go away or spill into the tank. the machine. When water is introduced into this box or tank, the pulverulent product is entrained by the water through this open wall or these holes, in the tank of the machine.

On the other hand, for a liquid product, the storage box or tank has closed walls, and the product is usually discharged by a siphon which starts after adding water to this box or tank. Such a box for liquid product is described in US-A-3798932 where the liquid product is, during its distribution, mixed with water tangentially injected into the box to form a Vortex or vortex, and evacuated through a siphon connected to an outlet hole located in the center of the bottom of this box.

In known devices, most of these boxes or storage bins designed for a pulverulent product are not capable of receiving a liquid product or conversely when these boxes are intended for a liquid product, they do not function correctly for a pulverulent product. . A change in the physical state of the detergents used requires a change in the type of box or the use of an adaptation device.

These expensive solutions add to the cost price of the device manufactured.

Certain known devices include boxes for products which can receive either a liquid product or a pulverulent product. However, their structure or shape does not usually allow either rapid or total evacuation of the product or of the conveying liquid which drives out the product and / or economical manufacture, or an operation with an absence of moving mechanical parts.

In a product box working with its moving mechanical parts, there is a risk of blockage or movement of the latter, which consequently results in a poor operating result for this box.

The aim of the present invention is to avoid these drawbacks, which makes it possible to produce an economical device in which a universal product container can function indifferently with a pulverulent, liquid or pasty product.

According to the invention, an apparatus provided with boxes of products whose distribution during operation of the apparatus and in a static state of these boxes, is done by means of a circular vortex of liquid created in these boxes, is characterized in that each of the boxes, in the operating position, has a side wall constituted by a wall known as a circular wall having a lower part with a threshold retaining a product chosen from pulverulent, pasty and liquid products to be dispensed, and an upper part provided, at least from this threshold, a part open towards the outside serving both as an inlet for filling this product, as an inlet for tangential injection to this side wall, for dispensing liquid for this product, and opening the discharge by overflow, of the “product and liquid” mixture, by overflowing of this threshold under the action of the circular vortex of this liquid.

• la figure 1 représente une vue partielle et schématique d'une machine à laver le linge à chargement par le dessus, réalisée selon l'invention, montrant la porte de la machine, dans une position de fermeture, et
• la figure 2 représente une vue partielle et schématique de la machine de la figure 1, en coupe suivant un plan II-II.

In order to better understand the invention, an exemplary embodiment is illustrated below, illustrated by the attached drawings,

• FIG. 1 represents a partial and schematic view of a top-loading washing machine, produced according to the invention, showing the door of the machine, in a closed position, and
• 2 shows a partial and schematic view of the machine of Figure 1, in section along a plane II-II.

A washing machine 1, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, comprises a body 2, a tank 3 and a washing drum 4. The machine 1 with top loading is formed by a door 5 pivoting about a horizontal axis 6.

According to an important characteristic of the invention, the door 5 is provided in its inner surface 7 with at least one universal static product container 9 operating with a circular vortex of drive water and with overflow. In the example illustrated, the door 5 comprises a removable assembly 8 of two static twin universal boxes 9 and 10, for powdery, liquid or pasty detergents projecting into the opening 11 of the tank 3 during placing of this together 8 in its operating position, by closing the door 5. These boxes 9 and 10 completely separated by their wall are not communicating. According to this operating position of the assembly 8, the universal boxes 9 and 10 respectively comprise circular or cylindrical side walls 12, 13, end walls 14,15, 16,17 and inlets 18, 19 extended laterally by funnel-shaped spouts 20, 21. The inlets 18, 19 are formed in the circular or cylindrical side walls 12, 13 over only part of their width or height, and closer to the end walls 14, 16 which represent the upper walls of the boxes 9 and 10 when the assembly 8 is in its operating position. As a result, in this operating position boxes 9 and 10 (Figure 1), the end walls 15, 17 which represent the lower walls, are at a level lower than that of the thresholds 22, 23 of the entrances 18, 19. This difference in height or the height thresholds 22, 23 defines the maximum dose of product, in particular liquid, which can be retained by boxes 9 and 10. If its quantity is too large, the liquid product is evacuated by overflowing of these thresholds 22, 23 according to an overflow spill .

When the assembly 8 is put in its recharging position by lifting the door 5 in its vertical position not shown, the inlets 18 and 19 of the boxes 9 and 10 are oriented upwards, and the spouts in the form of funnels 20, 21 facilitate the filling of these boxes with powdery, liquid or pasty detergents. When this assembly 8 is returned to its operating position (FIG. 1), the doses of detergents found in the boxes 9 and 10 are retained by the thresholds 22, 23 of the inputs 18, 19.

The universal boxes 9 and 10 respectively comprise in their end walls 15, 17 which represent their lower walls in their operating position (FIG. 1), holes 30 and 31 for discharging water. Since the liquid products used have a higher degree of viscosity than that of water used in washing machines, the diameters of holes 30 and 31 are determined so that these holes allow water to pass through but prevent passage liquid products. The dimension of these holes 30, 31 is also determined so that a pulverulent product deposited in these boxes cannot escape through these holes.

The washing machine 1 further comprises on the one hand a water injection system 24 of the known type, the nozzles 25, 26, 27 of which are schematically represented in FIG. 2, and on the other hand certain tanks of known type 28, 29 for products such as fabric softener, bleach etc ...

The water injection system 24 controlled by a known type of programmer not shown, is mounted in the washing machine 1, opposite the universal boxes 9 and 10 and product bins 28, 29 (Figures 1 and 2). This system 24 makes it possible to send a jet of water 32 through the nozzle 25 through the inlet 19 into the universal box 10, almost tangentially to the circular or cylindrical wall 13 thereof, via the nozzle 26, a jet of water 33 through the inlet 18 into the universal box 9, almost tangentially to the circular or cylindrical wall 12 thereof, by the two nozzles 25, 26 of the water resulting from the collision of the water jets 32 and 33, and collected by a gutter 34, in the tank 29, and by the nozzle 27, a jet of water 35, through a hole 36 in the wall 37, in the tank 28.

The universal boxes 9 and 10 and the tanks, 28, 29 being filled with their respective doses of products and put in the operating position by closing the door 5, at a determined time in the washing cycle where the product in the universal box 9 for example must be distributed in the tank 3 of the machine 1, the nozzle 26 sends a water jet 33 into the box 9. This water jet, which is almost tangential to the circular or cylindrical side wall 12, generates a circular movement of water and consequently creates a circular vortex which lifts and carries along the passage the pulverulent, liquid or pasty product found in the box 9. The mixture of water and products, guided by the spout 20, pours out in the tank 3 as soon as its level exceeds the threshold 22 of the inlet 18. In the universal box 9, this mixture being highly concentrated in products at the start of the water injection, gradually dilutes by the arrival of the water and by evacuating the mixture by overflow, and comes, at the end of the operation, only water. The programmer stops the water jet 33, and the residual water remaining in the universal box 9 is evacuated through the hole 30 and falls into the tank 3.

The operation of the universal box 10 with the jet of water 32 sent by the nozzle 25 is similar to that of the universal box 9, described above.

The power of the almost tangential water jets 32, 33 and that of the circular vortices of water generated, make it possible to easily create aqueous mixtures with a large number of products used which can occur in various states, liquid or pasty powders, and to evacuate them effectively by overflow as soon as their levels exceed the thresholds 22, 23 of the inlets 18, 19 of these boxes.

The walls 12 and 13 are circular walls. These are walls whose cross section forms a closed regular circle or polygon. In other words, the non-circular walls are walls formed by an assembly of elements of heterogeneous shapes and lengths. These walls comprise, for example, curved zones mixed by rectilinear or flat zones or bosses or hollows. In a box provided with non-circular walls a jet of water tangentially admitted to these walls cannot create one or more circular vortices which lift and evacuate by overflow the products but uncontrolled eddies and vortices which sometimes move in opposite directions, neutralize and do not sweep certain areas of the product box, so as to allow these products to remain there without evacuating them. The efficiency of the evacuation is therefore greatly reduced.

According to the invention, the washing machine 1 can comprise a number of universal boxes for products, less than or more than two.

Thanks to their simple, economical structure and efficient operation, the use of universal boxes 9 or 10 for dispensing a pulverulent, liquid or pasty product into a device does not strike the cost price of the latter and does not in any way compromise are functioning. For a device provided with these universal boxes 9 or 10, the choice of the products to be put therein, by the user becomes relatively more free because this choice is made independently of the physical, pulverulent, liquid or pasty state of these products, this which is yet another great advantage over a device equipped with boxes or separate storage bins of known design, for powdered products and for liquid products.

Claims (5)

1. An apparatus comprising receptacles for products which during operation of the apparatus and in a stationary state of the receptacles are discharged by means of a circular liquid vortex produced in said receptacles, characterised in that each of said receptacles (9, 10) in the operative position includes a sidewall which is formed by a so-called circular wall having a deep portion with a barrier (22, 23) for retaining a product to be discharged and selected from among powdery, paste-like or liquid products, and by an upper portion which has an outwardly opening region (18, 19) starting at least at the barrier (22, 23), said region being used both as charging opening for the product and inlet for a tangential injection of the liquid discharging the product toward the circular wall and as overflow-discharge opening for the «product and liquid» mixture which overflows said barrier (22, 23) under the action of the circular vortex of said liquid.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that within a product receptacle in the operative position the barrier (22, 23), which is defined in the lateral circular wall (12, 13) of said receptacle at a higher level than that of a lower endwall (15, 17) of the receptacle, defines and retains a maximum quantity of a product selected from among the powdery, paste-like and liquid products.

3. An apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 1 and 2, characterised in that in the operative position the receptacle for liquid, paste-like or powdery products is provided in the lower endwall (15, 17) thereof with a hole (30, 31) having such a diamter as to permit a passage of the discharged liquid, such as water, and to inhibit the passage of said products.

4. An apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that within the product receptacle in the operative position the open portion of the upper part of the sidewall of said receptacle, which is uses as inlet and as outlet opening (18, 19), is laterally extended by a funnel- shaped nose (20, 21).

5. An apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that it comprises at least one receptacle for liquid, paste-like or powdery products (9, 10), said receptacle being detachably mounted on the inner wall of the door (5) of the apparatus and the open portion of the receptacle sidewall which is used as inlet and discharge opening (18, 19) being directed upwardly when the door (5) is in the open position.

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