Household washing machine with lines for conducting water and air

A household washing machine includes a common plastic line-routing body in which all water-conducting and air-conducting lines that are routed on a rear wall of the washing machine are integrated. Supply line openings of the line-routing body are sealingly connected through elastic sealing sleeves to inlet locations and outlet locations, such as solenoid valves and a detergent dispenser, and mechanically retained.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a household washing machine with lines for the 
distributed supply of clean water, for discharging used detergent solution 
and for conducting pressure-compensating air. 
Such washing machines are known from German Published, Non-Prosecuted 
Patent Application DE 37 34 117 A1, they are in common use and for the 
lines they invariably use more or less flexible tubes or hose sections for 
respectively connecting stubs of water-handling or air-handling devices 
disposed at different locations in the washing machine. For example, use 
is invariably made of flexible hose lines between the stubs of 
electrically connected solenoid valves and the inlet stubs of a detergent 
dispenser. Use is also made of a likewise flexible hose line from the 
pressure-compensating stub of an overflow bend on the detergent-solution 
discharge line to a corresponding stub, for example on the detergent 
dispenser, for the purpose of compensating for pressure differences. 
Furthermore, individual riser pipes made of flexible hoses are routed 
between a detergent-solution pump and an overflow bend, usually produced 
from plastic, and, if one is present, a down pipe in the form of a 
flexible hose line is routed from the discharge stub of a 
detergent-dispenser tray to the housing of the detergent-solution pump. 
In addition to the comparatively expensive production of special line parts 
in each case for supplying clean water, pressure compensation and 
discharging detergent solution, the storage and any logistics required for 
those parts are also time-consuming and cost-intensive. It is also 
time-consuming and cost-intensive to fit all of those individual parts 
during the production process of a washing machine. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a household washing 
machine with lines for conducting water and air, which overcomes the 
hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of 
this general type and which provides the most cost-effective system 
possible for conducting water within the washing machine. It should be 
ensured in this case that the number of individual parts required for the 
system is as small as possible and that these parts can be produced as 
easily as possible. 
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in 
accordance with the invention, a household washing machine, comprising 
lines for a distributed supply of clean water, for discharging used 
detergent solution and for conducting pressure-compensating air; inlet and 
outlet locations for the lines; a common plastic line-routing body for 
routing the lines from the inlet locations to the outlet locations, the 
line-routing body having supply line openings; and elastic sealing sleeves 
mechanically retaining and sealingly connecting the supply line openings 
to the inlet and outlet locations. 
The inventive configuration of a household washing machine of the type 
mentioned in the introduction makes it possible for the number of 
components to be reduced considerably. Furthermore, various retaining 
elements are dispensed with due to the rigid construction of the plastic 
line-routing body, which is fitted between all of the line openings 
through sealing sleeves, with water-handling assemblies disposed fixedly 
within the housing of the washing machine. 
This simultaneously renders fitting easier because all of the line parts 
are combined within the one plastic line-routing body, and there is thus 
no need to fit individual hose parts with two hose clips in each case. 
Moreover, as far as sealing is concerned, there is an improvement in 
quality because it is no longer necessary to ensure an optimum fit of 
clips on the hose connections. In contrast, due to the fixed dimensions 
between the assemblies which are to be connected, the fitting of the 
compact line-routing body has to have an automatic sealing action. 
Finally, the plastic line-routing body makes it possible to use a single 
assembly formed of recyclable polypropylene as a replacement for a large 
number of individual components formed of different materials. 
In accordance with another feature of the invention, on the inlet side, the 
lines for supplying clean water are connected directly to the outlets of 
solenoid valves. In accordance with a further feature of the invention, 
the lines for supplying clean water are connected directly, on the outlet 
side, to the inlets of a detergent-dispenser tray. This makes it possible 
to avoid at least two or three individual hose lines, together with their 
hose clips which are required for sealing, between the solenoid valves and 
the detergent dispenser. 
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the line-routing body 
also contains a line for conducting overflow water. Overflow water may be 
channeled, for example, through the detergent dispenser and, from there, 
through a directed outlet line to a collecting tray, in which level-sensor 
switching devices are disposed in order to prevent overflow. 
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, there is 
provided a direct connection of the inlet side of the line for conducting 
overflow water to an overflow stub of the detergent dispenser. 
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, a 
pressure-compensating line for conducting pressure-compensating air is 
integrate in the line-routing body, on the inlet side it is connected 
directly to an air-extraction stub of the detergent dispenser and on the 
outlet side it is connected to an overflow bend. 
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the line-routing 
body contains a riser pipe and a down pipe for discharging the used-up 
detergent solution, and an overflow bend which connects these two pipes. 
In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the overflow bend 
is connected to a backflow tank which is located in the path of the riser 
pipe and is intended for retaining a quantity of detergent solution which 
is required for backwashing. 
In the case of the integral configuration of the line-routing body, the 
integration of the detergent-solution-discharging device in the 
line-routing body provides the greatest advantage in comparison with the 
production, the logistics and the fitting of individual line parts and 
hoses with their connecting elements. 
In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, in 
production terms, the line-routing body is configured in a simple manner 
by being formed from a plastic blow molding. 
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, in order to 
provide for the fitting of such a line-routing body, at least one strap is 
integrally formed on the line-routing body for the purpose of temporarily 
retaining the line-routing body before the line connections are fitted. 
For the purpose of temporarily retaining the line-routing body, such 
straps can be hung over edges or fitted in slits provided for this purpose 
in housing parts for washing machines. 
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are 
set forth in the appended claims. 
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a 
household washing machine with lines for conducting water and air, it is 
nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since 
various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without 
departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range 
of equivalents of the claims. 
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, 
together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best 
understood from the following description of specific embodiments when 
read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, 
particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a washing-machine housing 1 
in which a solenoid-valve block 3 with two outlets as well as a detergent 
dispenser 4 are provided, for example on a rear wall 2. A non-illustrated 
rear underside of the detergent dispenser 4 has two inlet stubs for 
supplying clean water and an overflow stub for discharging water from a 
non-illustrated tub through a likewise non-illustrated detergent-supply 
line and the detergent dispenser 4. The detergent dispenser 4 also has an 
air-admission stub, which is connected to the atmosphere. This 
air-admission stub invariably serves for conducting air from the 
atmosphere into an overflow bend of a detergent-solution-discharging 
system. This ensures that, when delivery of a detergent-solution pump is 
interrupted, a water column in a riser pipe of the 
detergent-solution-discharging system is discontinued and does not siphon 
off the contents of the tub. 
A line-routing body 5 is provided between the water-handling assemblies for 
all of these conducting tasks. A water-conducting line 7 (single 
component) which is connected to a riser pipe 6 of the body 5 can channel 
detergent solution that is to be pumped away from a non-illustrated 
detergent-solution pump. It would be technically possible to integrate the 
line 7 in the line-routing body 5. However, for reasons of handling during 
a fitting operation, such an integration is not recommended because the 
detergent-solution pump should be disposed at a point remote from the rear 
wall, that is to say as close as possible to a front wall of the washing 
machine. This would mean that the line-routing body 5 would extend too far 
and, for this reason, would pose handling difficulties in terms of 
logistics and fitting. A hose line 9 is connected to an outlet stub of a 
down pipe 8 of the line-routing body 5. The hose line 9 is routed out of 
the machine housing 1 at a location which is not illustrated specifically 
herein and therefore it is illustrated by dashed lines over part of its 
length. A backflow tank 10 is connected in a flow path of an overflow bend 
shown in FIG. 2 and is of extremely flat configuration. The backflow tank 
10 is routed around a corner in front of a rear housing edge 11, on one 
hand to provide as much room as possible for its contents, while on the 
other hand to occupy as little as possible of a vibrating area which is 
required by a vibrating tub unit. 
In order to temporarily fix the line-routing body 5 before the line 
connections are produced, the line-routing body 5 is provided with straps 
12 and 13 which can be inserted through slits in the rear wall of the 
housing for retaining the line-routing body 5 in such a way that it can 
move in the longitudinal direction of the lines. 
The line-routing body 5, which is illustrated specifically in FIG. 2, 
contains the already-mentioned riser pipe 6 and down pipe 8 as well as the 
backflow container 10 disposed in the path of the overflow bend 14. A 
detergent solution from the connecting tube 7, which solution is to be 
pumped away, fills the backflow container 10 through a stub 15 and the 
riser pipe 6, before it passes through the overflow bend 14 and the down 
pipe 8 to the discharge hose 9. As soon as a pump pressure in the riser 
pipe 6 decreases, atmospheric air flows out of the stub 16 into the 
overflow bend 14 and allows detergent-solution columns to be discontinued. 
This avoids a situation in which, after the overflow bend 14 has been 
reached, it is also possible for the tub to be emptied automatically by 
suction action when the pump is switched off. 
The line routing body 5 further contains clean-water-supply lines 17 and 18 
which are connected through inlet-side stubs 19 and 20 and elastic sealing 
sleeves 21 and 22 to non-illustrated outlet stubs of the solenoid valves 3 
shown in FIG. 1. In the same way, outlet stubs 23 and 24 of the lines 17 
and 18 are connected through sealing sleeves 25 and 26 to non-illustrated 
inlet stubs of the detergent dispenser 4. A line 27 for conducting 
overflow water is disposed in the line-routing body 5 between the supply 
lines 17 and 18. A likewise non-illustrated overflow stub in the detergent 
dispenser 4 is connected through a sealing sleeve 29 to an inlet stub 28 
of the line 27. An outlet-side stub 30 of the line 27 can open into a 
water-conducting device either freely or through a sealing sleeve 31. The 
water-conducting device conducts the discharged overflow water into a base 
tray 32 shown in FIG. 1, where non-illustrated safety switching devices 
may signal the presence of overflow water. The block 3 and the detergent 
dispenser 4 may be considered inlet and outlet locations for the lines 6, 
8, 10, 17, 18, 27. 
As has already been described in relation to FIG. 1, the straps 12 and 13 
are inserted into appropriate slits for the purpose of temporarily fitting 
the line-routing body on the rear wall of the washing machine. Thereafter, 
the line stubs 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 28 and 30 are connected through their 
associated sealing sleeves to the assemblies 3 and 4 that are disposed 
fixedly in the washing machine. Straps 33 and 34 which are used to keep 
the line-routing body at a distance from the rear wall are bent in the 
direction of the rear wall and project beyond the outer contour of the 
line-routing body. 
The invention is not restricted to the illustrated exemplary embodiment. In 
particular, the layout for routing lines can be adapted to the given 
conditions in a washing machine, which also applies to the position and 
placement of the connection stubs. In addition, it is possible to provide 
further lines in the line-routing body, for example a clean leakage water 
line according to German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 
37 34 117 A1. If the device for supplying clean water and detergent from 
the detergent dispenser 4 is not to be connected in the top part of the 
tub, but rather is to open through a longer line into a region located at 
the bottom of the tub, then it is likewise recommended to integrate the 
water/detergent line in the line-routing body 5.