FR2800982A1 - HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE GUIDING A WORKFLOW, IN PARTICULAR A DISHWASHER AND / OR A WASHING MACHINE - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a household appliance circulating a working fluid.In this household appliance, the metered addition of the cleaning product is carried out from the constructive point of view in a particularly simple manner and, concerning the targeted addition, of This object is achieved in that a release of the cleaning product, for consumption thereof, is controlled by temperature. A compartment (24), formed as a drawer (25) for the cleaning product cleaning, is attached to a crockery basket (22). After exceeding the switching temperature of the stop hooks (28, 30), the cleaning product is added. The invention applies in particular to household appliances.

Description

The invention relates to a household appliance guiding a working fluid,

  including a dishwasher and / or washing machine, with a consumption of

  cleaning product to perform a scheduled task.

  In such a dishwasher are required, for example for washing, as a cleaning product, a dishwashing product used during the cleaning step proper and a rinsing product used during the rinsing step. In a similar way, a washing product is used in a washing machine as well as, if necessary, prewashing substances and

fabric softeners.

  For the supply of the cleaning product, it is known in the case of the dishwasher to introduce the washing product into a compartment arranged in the door of the appliance and which can be closed which, during the subsequent running of the program, is open automatically to drain the product to wash the dishes. In this way, the object of bringing the product to wash the dishes only during the actual washing operation is achieved in an almost satisfactory manner. However, this solution has the disadvantage that considerable expenditure is necessary to allow automatic opening of the compartment caused by the command of the program. Often, to such solutions is added as an additional disadvantage the unwanted noise of the abutment of the compartment cover which opens, under the effect of a spring, at a considerable speed. This annoying noise can be eliminated only by using additional braking means, such as for example a silicone brake. On the other hand, the rinsing product is filled in a storage tank and is brought fully automatically in an amount adapted to the hardness of the water in portions during a corresponding rinsing step. An alternative solution concerning the addition of dishwashing detergent provides, by considerably reducing the expense, for accommodation

  for the dishwashing detergent that is attached to a basket of dishes.

  However, since this accommodation cannot be closed, at least

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  a part of the washing product introduced is already removed during the pre-washing operation and is therefore no longer available for the washing operation proper, and this constitutes the major drawback of this simplified solution. Starting from this prior art, the object of the invention is to indicate a household appliance guiding a working fluid of the type indicated at the start when the dosage of the cleaning product is solved from the constructive point of view in a particularly simple and , with regard to the targeted addition, of a

particularly accurately.

  This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in a household appliance of the type indicated at the beginning in that a release of the cleaning product, with a view to its consumption, is controlled by temperature. In this way, the addition of the cleaning product takes place at a time when the prevailing temperature makes it possible to achieve a particularly good cleaning effect. As a result of the simple temperature control, the constructive expenditure required to order the metered addition is particularly reduced by the fact that it is possible to use elements of

  simple switching, reacting to temperature.

  According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the release can be controlled as a function of the temperature in a usable space, in particular in a washing container and / or in a detergent tank. Alternatively or additionally, the release can be controlled as a function of the temperature of the working fluid so that, for example, by combining the two possibilities, both the temperature in the interior space and the temperature of the working fluid must have exceeded a preset value to cause the metered addition. As a result, therefore, the cleaning effect of the cleaning product is immediately fully active. A preferred embodiment of the invention provides that the introduction of the

  detergent in a compartment is temperature controlled.

  In this way, the cleaning product comes from a tank directly

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  in the workspace charged by the working fluid. In this case, the compartment can also be directly the washing or detergent container. An appropriate embodiment is configured in that the compartment has a supply duct for the cleaning product, where the supply duct is closed by a control element adjustable as a function of the temperature. A particularly simple control element is produced as a bimetallic element which removes heat from the usable space and / or the working fluid and heats up at the same time as a result of heating of the usable space and / or the fluid. working and which, upon io exceeding a preset temperature conditioned by the construction, is exposed to reversible deformation. This deformation then ultimately leads to the desired release of the cleaning product. In place of a bimetallic element, also other elements which deform mechanically under the effect of the temperature produced in the household appliance can be used. Thus, for example, the use of thermo-restrictive elements is possible. In this case, there may be associated with the supply duct an intermediate volume in which the quantity of detergent required for a program sequence is temporarily stored. In a particularly advantageous manner, this intermediate volume is filled when, for example in the dishwasher, the door is made to pivot in the horizontal position, which is undoubtedly the case during loading and

unloading the device.

  A preferred embodiment constituting an alternative to the temperature-controlled supply of the detergent provides that the household appliance has a compartment for receiving the detergent which can be removed or rinsed by the working fluid and which can be opened in a temperature controlled manner. This embodiment represents for example the classic case of the detergent compartment placed in the door of the appliance. In this case, here too it is particularly appropriate that the compartment has a cover which

  includes a bimetallic element or which consists entirely of a bimetallic strip.

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  Thus, the compartment opens in accordance with the temperature acting on the cover, when the switching temperature of the bimetallic strip, which can be, for example, about 40 C., is exceeded. It is thus ensured that the closing, during the prewash with cold water, is still closed securely. As an alternative to a cover having a bimetallic strip, an embodiment can also be provided in the sense that the compartment, after the release of a stop element, opens automatically. In this variant configuration, according to a preferred embodiment, the cover as such is subjected to the action of a spring, that is to say when closing a spring is tensioned and is held by a hook as a stop element or the like, which again consists at least partially of a bimetallic strip, in the closed position, as long as the temperature of

  switching of the stop element is not achieved.

  A third variant which, apart from the temperature-controlled introduction of the detergent into the compartment and the temperature-controlled opening of the compartment, constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, consists in taking constructive measures which allow the removal and / or rinsing by the working fluid, of the compartment provided for the reception of the detergent, in a temperature-controlled manner. A suitable possibility for the implementation of these characteristics consists from the constructive point of view of providing towards the compartment a supply duct for the working fluid which has a closing means which can be opened in a temperature-controlled manner . Such a supply conduit can be, for example, a conduit drifting at the pressure side of a discharge pump

  working fluid which leads through the chamber into the working container.

  As in the preceding embodiments, provision can also be made here for the use of a bimetallic strip. According to an appropriate embodiment, the closing element itself can be a bimetallic element. Alternatively and also in addition, the closing element can be opened by means

of a bimetal element.

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  The invention will be better understood, and other objects, characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly during the course of the invention.

  explanatory description which will follow made with reference to the drawings

  attached diagrams given solely by way of example illustrating embodiments of the invention, and in which:

  - Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the door of a washing machine

  dishes; - Figure 2 is a partial top view of a basket of dishes of a dishwasher with a compartment attached thereto for the detergent; and - Figure 3 is a partial view of a longitudinal section of a

  section of a detergent supply duct arranged on the pressure side of a washing machine

laundry.

  Figure I shows a longitudinal section of a door 2 of a washing machine

  dishes 4 simply suggested. Door 2 is retained by a hinge 6

  pivotally to a housing 8.

  The door 2 here comprises a metering device for a cleaning product R which is capable of emitting a quantity of cleaning product R required for the progress of the program as a function of the temperature. To this end, the metering device essentially comprises a reservoir 12 provided with an overflow 10 for the cleaning product R, a supply conduit 14 starting at the overflow 10 and opening into an intermediate container 16 and an element closure 18 which seals the container

  intermediate 16 with respect to the environment.

  During operation of the dishwasher 4, by the pivoting of the door 2 in the horizontal position, which generally takes place at each loading and / or unloading operation, the cleaning product R is rinsed from the storage 12 by the overflow 10 in the supply duct. When the door 2 is placed in a vertical position, for example when the door 2 is closed before the next washing operation, the cleaning product R flows into the intermediate container 16 and is awaiting use for washing. next. The volume of

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  intermediate tank 16 is dimensioned so that it can receive the cleaning product R "having overflowed" being in the

supply duct 14.

  The closing element 18 ensures that the cleaning product R located in the intermediate tank 16 cannot initially enter the interior space of the dishwasher 4. The closing element is produced here as bimetal element which has a nipple

  seal 20 on the side facing the intermediate tank 16.

  The bimetallic element is constructed from the constructive point of view so that during a washing with cold water, which is generally the case during a stage of the partial prewash program, that a closing

  watertight from the intermediate tank 16.

  Only when the hot water arrives above a temperature of about 40 C, there is a "switching" of the bimetallic element so as to obtain the position represented by broken lines in the figure 1 of the closure element 18. The cleaning product R can now be removed without obstacle and furthermore with the contribution of the spraying effect into the interior space of the intermediate container 16. It is therefore available at a time o , due to the prevailing temperature

  working fluid, a particularly good cleaning effect is obtained.

  The metered addition therefore does not require control by a control device controlling the progress of the program. The metered addition takes place only when the "switching temperature" of the bimetallic element is exceeded. Since the temperature exceeds this switching temperature for the first time in the partial washing program step proper, incorrect dosages at an earlier time are

safely avoided.

  2 shows a partial top view of a basket of dishes 22 of a dishwasher, with a compartment 24 fixed thereto for the cleaning product R. This compartment 24 is produced as a drawer 25 which is housed insertably in a rod 26. The rod 26 is fixed to the

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  dish basket 22 so that the compartment for the product of

  cleaning generally arranged in the door can be omitted.

  The drawer 25 is retained in the inserted state by two stop hooks 28, 30.

  These stop hooks 28, 30 are also produced in this embodiment as bimetallic elements which, above their switching temperature, reach the position represented by dashed lines and thus free the drawer 25 for its exit. The exit takes place automatically because when the drawer 25 is inserted, a spring, not shown, is tensioned which later relaxes after the switching of the stop hooks 28, 30 by producing the exit movement of the drawer 25. From in this way, also in this alternative embodiment, the cleaning product R is added only after the

  exceeding the switching temperature of the stop hooks 28, 30.

  A third alternative embodiment is shown in Figure 3 which is a partial view of a longitudinal section of a section 32 of a detergent supply duct 34 disposed on the pressure side of a washing machine which is not shown in more detail here. We see on part a) of the drawing the situation as it occurs during a passage of cold water through the detergent supply pipe 34. The working fluid conveyed here by a non-delivery pump shown flows alone through a branch 36 on the left in the drawing, after branching 38, since a branch 40 extending in the drawing on the right is closed by a valve 42 disposed inside. In doing so, the closing of the straight branch 40 occurs only when the closing valve 42 cooperates with a stop yoke 44 on which the closing valve 42 is applied during a passage of cold water. The stirrup stopper 44 is produced in this case as a bimetallic element which, in the cold state as shown, projects into the interior

of the right branch 40.

  It is represented in part b) of the drawing the situation for a passage of hot water. The stirrup stop 44 has deformed and is now applied in a depression of the straight branch 40 and no longer blocks the closing valve 42 which, due to its elastic construction, is bent and

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  thus allows a flow of the working fluid. The working fluid can be introduced in this way into a detergent rinse tank not shown, and the detergent therein can be discharged into a detergent tank which is also not shown here. In order to be able to control the switching function of the stirrup 44 particularly well, there is provision for thermal coupling of the recess and therefore also for thermal coupling of the stirrup 44. When stopping the discharge pump, the first curved closing valve 42 returns to its starting position. Then also the stirrup, in

  10 cooling, restores, and thus the straight branch 40 is again closed.

  Thus, also in this alternative embodiment, there is provided a metered addition controlled by the temperature of the detergent in the sense that a metered addition is reached automatically when the switching temperature of the bimetallic element is exceeded without ordered

additional or similar.

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Claims (14)

  1. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid, in particular dishwasher and / or washing machine, with consumption of a cleaning product (R) to fulfill a specific task, characterized in that a release cleaning product (R) for the consumption thereof, is temperature controlled.   2. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 1, characterized in that the release is controlled as a function of the temperature in a usable space, in particular in a   washing container and / or detergent tub.   3. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 1, characterized in that the release is controlled by   depending on the temperature of the working fluid.   4. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to one   claims 1 to 3, characterized in that an introduction of the product   cleaning (R) in a chamber (16) is temperature controlled.   5. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 4, characterized in that the chamber has a supply duct (14) for the cleaning product, the supply duct being closed   by a temperature-adjustable control element.   6. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 5, characterized in that the control element (18) is a bimetallic element which withdraws heat from the usable space and / or from the fluid of work.   7. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to one   claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a compartment (24) for the   receiving the cleaning product (R) which can be removed and / or rinsed by the working fluid, can be opened in a manner controlled by the temperature.   8. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 6, characterized in that the compartment has a cover 2800982   which includes a bimetallic strip or which is entirely made up of a bimetallic strip. 9. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 7, characterized in that the compartment (24) after a release of a stop element (28, 30) opens automatically. 10. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 9, characterized in that the stop element (28, 30) is produced as a bimetallic element.   11. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to one   io of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a compartment is provided   intended to receive the cleaning product which, in a manner controlled by   temperature, can be removed and / or flushed with the working fluid.   12. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 11, characterized in that there is provided towards the compartment a supply duct (14) for the working fluid, which has a closing means ( 42) which can be opened in a temperature controlled manner. 13. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to claim 12, characterized in that the closing element itself is a bimetallic element.   14. Household appliance (4) circulating a working fluid according to one   claims 12 or 13, characterized in that the closure element   (42) can be opened by means of a bimetallic element (44).