Dispenser device for liquid and/or powder agents, particularly for washing machines

Abstract: A dispenser device for liquid and/or powder agents for a washing machine is described, in particular a dispenser device (1) for a domestic dish-washing machine, of the type comprising a first (4) and a second (3,5) delivery device of washing agents which have to be introduced in a washing chamber at distinct moments and/or washing phases, the delivery of said washing agents being controlled from a command system comprising a single actuating device (19,20) and a kinematic element for the actuation at different times of the first (4) and of the second (3,5) delivery device. The main characteristic of the described dispenser device (1) is that the kinematic element (17,18) comprises a cam (27) which, after a first actuation of the actuating device (19,20), determines a movement of the kinematic element (17,18) being able to activate the functioning of the first delivery device (4) without causing the functioning of the second delivery device (3,5), while after a second actuation of the actuating device (19,20), said cam (27) determines a movement of the kinematic element (17,18) being able to activate the functioning of the second delivery device (3,5).

Description: The present invention refers to dispenser device for liquids and/or powder agents for a washing machine, in particular a dispenser device for a domestic dish-washing machine, of the type comprising a first and a second delivery device for washing agents which have to be introduced in a washing chamber during distinct moments and/or washing phases. In washing machines, and in particular in dish-washing machine for domestic use, the use of dispenser devices having two distinct compartments is very common, being able to deliver different washing agents, such as liquid and/or powder detergents and additives; such devices are provided for carrying out the delivery of the detergents, normally in powder form, and of the additives, generally a brightening liquid, at different predetermined times, under the control of the programmer, or timer, of the dish-washing machine. In the case of dish-washing machines, the dispenser device is normally composed by at least one container, housed in the front loading door of the machine, comprising a single-dose cell equipped with a small oscillating lid, which is made to open at the appropriate moment of the washing phase. Certain devices, in addition to the cited single-dose cell, which contains the powder detergent, also present a dosage tub for a liquid additive (connected to a tank reservoir); such dispensers of liquid agents exploit in general the opening and closure movement of the front loading door, which is horizontal when open and vertical when closed, for loading the liquid additive from the tank reservoir to the dosage tub; also in this case the timer of the machine provides to command the discharge, at the opportune moment, of the liquid additive from the dosage tub to the washing chamber of the dish-washing machine. Having regards to the present state of the art, dispenser devices have been realised, being equipped with a plurality of actuators, each of which being able to command a delivery operation; such solutions therefore provide separate actuation devices for the delivery in the washing chamber of the detergent and of the brightening liquid, with high costs and with double the possibilities of breakdowns. More recently devices being equipped with a single actuator have been proposed, for functioning during all the delivery cycles, both of the detergent and of the additive; such dispenser devices are provided with leverisms being complex or composed by a great number of single components. This increases the cause of defects and said components result in being furthermore critical having regard to the working tolerances; these latter are in fact somewhat wide inasmuch as the components are realised by using plastic materials, so that each device produced requires, during the testing phase, a specific adjustment and setting-up. The cited solutions are therefore complex, expensive and have a high level defects. In addition to the above, it has to be considered that many of the cited dispenser devices are equipped with means which provide for resetting the delivery cycle when the door is opened; said dispensers are therefore negatively effected by common operations carried out by the user (such as, for example, the addition of dishes in the machine after the beginning of the washing cycle, when the delivery of the powder detergent has already taken place): in this kind of situation, all the successive delivery phases in the same washing cycle result in being out of phase in respect to those provided for, with consequences which can be easily imagined. A dispenser device being equipped with means which provide for resetting the detergent delivery cycle following the door opening is known for instance by FR-A-2.593.379. The aim of the present invention is that of solving the cited drawbacks, and in particular to indicate a dispenser device having an actuating system which, together with its functionality, is of simple structure, low-cost and reliable in all the operating conditions. A further aim of the present invention is then that of indicating a dispenser device the operation of which is not influenced by eventual openings of the loading door of the washing machine, during its operating cycle. Said aims are reached, according to the present invention, by a dispenser device for liquid and/or powder agents for a washing machine having the characterising features of the annexed claim 1. Further aims and advantages of the present invention will result in being clear from the detailed description that follows and from the annexed drawings, supplied purely as an explanatory and non-limiting example, wherein: figure 1 represents a schematic axonometric view of the dispenser device according to the present invention; figures 1a and 1b represent an enlarged view of a first and a second particular of the device of figure 1; figure 2 represents a view in elevation of the dispenser device in a first operating condition; figure 2a represents a view in elevation of the device of fig. 2, being rotated of 90° in respect of the axis X-X; figure 2b represents an enlarged view of a particular of the device of figure 2; figures 3, 3a and 3b represent, with views being similar to those of figures 2, 2a and 2b, the dispenser device in a second operating condition; figures 4, 4a and 4b represent, with views being similar to those of figures 2, 2a and 2b, the dispenser device in a third operating condition; the Figures 5, 5a and 5b represent, with views being similar to those of figures 2, 2a and 2b, the dispenser device in a fourth operating condition. With reference to the cited figures, with 1 the dispenser device subject of the present invention is indicated as a whole, which presents a box-like body 2, which can be housed in the door lining of a dish-washing machine. In such a body 2 a tank reservoir 3 for a liquid additive (for example a brightening liquid) and a cell 4 for containing a determined quantity of powder detergent are defined. With reference number 5 a dosage tub of the liquid additive to be delivered is indicated, which is inside of tank 3, being substantially in correspondence with a charging opening, normally closed by a removable plug 6; such a dosage tub 5 of the liquid additive has a conduit 7, which is tilted for facilitating the conveyance of the additive in the direction of a discharge hole 8, which faces on the washing chamber of the dish-washing machine. As it can be seen in figure 1a, such a conduit 7 is subdivided into two sectors having different inclinations, indicated with A and B, being separated by an interception valve 9; such a valve 9 operates in closure of conduit 7 by means of a pin 11A, which blocks a passage hole 11B. Cell 4, which presents a wall having a tilted profile in order to facilitate the release via gravity of the powder detergent, is closed by a small lid 12; with 13 a spring is indicated, reacting between the box-like body 2 and the small lid 12, and being able to bring such a small lid 12 in the opening position when a small releasing lever 14 frees a tilted hooking tooth 15, directly obtained in the small lid 12 (see figure 1b). With reference number 16 a small shaft is indicated, which passes through body 2 of the device 1; the first end of such small shaft 16 is an integral part of the small releasing lever 14, while the opposite end is integral to a first lever 17, being placed in the rear part of body 2. In the rear part of body 2 a second lever is also arranged, indicated as a whole with 18, being able to interact with first lever 17. The small shaft 16 constitutes the fulcrum of lever 17: the first arm of such a lever 17 is arranged under the piston 19 of an electric actuator 20, being provided with terminals 21 for the electric supply; piston 19 is able to operate in thrust on the first arm of lever 17, in opposition to the force F1 generated by a spring 22, being fixed between body 2 and lever 17; on the other arm of lever 17, in proximity of its end, a pin 23 is present, comprising an element, for example of metallic material, being inserted partially in the lever 17 (such a pin 23 can also be obtained directly, as a protrusion of the lever 17 itself). Second lever 18 is realised by a single piece in thermoplastic material, being substantially L-shaped, which has between its vertical part and its horizontal part an elastic hinge 24. The force F2 generated by a spring 25 acts on lever 18, being fixed between body 2 and lever 18; lever 18 is hinged in a point 10, in its horizontal part; on such a horizontal part of lever 18 the cited pin 11A being part of valve 9, is hooked in a point 18C (see figure 1a); said pin 11A can slide through an elastic membrane 26 and is maintained in the closure position of passage 11B by means of spring 25. On an end of the lever 18 a flat cam profile 27 is obtained, duly shaped, within which the portion of the pin 23 that exits from lever 17 results in being freely inserted. The functioning of the dispenser device according to invention is the following. Before washing the dishes, the user provides to load in the opening 4 of the device 1 with the powder detergent: during the normal manual closing operation of the lid 12, upon the filling with a dose of the powder detergent, the particular inclined form of the hooking tooth 15 causes a partial rotation of the release lever 14; in such manner a partial rotation of the shaft 16 is produced and therefore of the lever 17; the mentioned movement of the lever 17 results in being calibrated in such a way that, if the pin 23 results in being erroneously positioned for the beginning of the washing cycle (as could be the case for example in figure 4), such pin 23 is automatically moved to the correct initial delivery position (that being seen in figure 2) vice versa, in the case in which the pin 23 is already positioned correctly (figure 2), the operation of closing the lid 12 does not cause any repositioning. The user, thus, after having filled the cell 4 with the powder detergent and closed the lid 12, can close the door of the washing machine. During the closure of the door of the washing machine, or during the displacement of the door from a position being substantially horizontal to vertical, a determined quantity of brightening liquid contained in the tank 3 is withheld in the dosage tub 5. Note the illustrated condition in the figures 2, 2a and 2b. The user, after having closed the door of the washing machine starts the washing program: in a determined successive moment, the programmer of the machine energises for the first time the electroactuator 20. During the first actioning of the actuator 20, the piston 19 moves downwards, deplacing the lever 17; the movement of the lever 17 rotates the passing shaft 16: in this way, the consequent movement of the release lever 14 frees the tooth 15 and the lid 12, under the action of the spring 13, opens, allowing the detergent to freely fall by way of gravity inside the washing chamber of the washing machine. In this first phase the pin 23 runs along in a counter clockwise sense the right side of the cam profile 27, from the bottom upwards, without meeting obstacles: the particular flat cam profile 27 therefore allows the lever 18 to remain motionless, because the lever 17 and the pin 23 can move freely, without interesting the lever 18. Note the illustrated condition in the figures 3, 3a and 3b. Upon completing the energising of the actuator 20, the piston 19 withdraws until reaching its original position: under the action of the spring 22, which operates in traction, also the lever 17 returns to its original position and the pin 23 moves in the cam profile 27, running along the left side from the top downwards, until assuming the position visible in figure 4b. The profile 27 is shaped in a such a way that the pin 23, before arriving to the top dead center during the first actuation of the actuator 20, it presses on the same profile making the lever 18 bend in correspondence with the elastic hinge 24; descending along the left branch, the pin 23 presses against the profile 27, making the lever 18 bend towards the right, until it reaches the bottom dead center of the lever 17. The powder detergent is thus introduced in the washing chamber as in the illustrated condition of Figures 4, 4a and 4b. In a successive moment of the washing cycle, for example before the rinsing phase, the programmer of the dish-washing machine commands a new supply to the electroactuator 20: the piston 19 moves once again downwards, deplacing the lever 17. The elastic reaction of the hinge 24 tends to push the vertical part of the lever 18 towards the left, whereupon the pin 23, climbing in following the movement of the lever 17, reaches the short left-hand branch of the cam profile 27: with such movement the pin 23 is pushed to be engaged in a seat at acute angle (see Figure 5b). Engaged in such seat the pin 23 transmits the push of the lever 17 to the lever 18, in a longitudinal sense if compared to the bending point, or the hinge 24. In such a way the horizontal portion of the lever 18 is also made to move, which, rotating around its fulcrum 10, causes the pin 11A to raise: the opening 11B is opened and the brightening liquid can flow down by way of gravity from the tub 5 to the washing tub of the washing machine, through the discharge opening 8; the elastic membrane 26 ensures the sealing, thus avoiding liquid losses from the tank 3 towards the exterior of the body 2. After a determined time the programmer of the machine interrupts the supply to the electroactuator 20, producing the re-entry of the piston 19: the elastic reaction of the hinge 24 continues to push the vertical part of the lever 18 towards the left whereupon, while the lever 17 returns to the original position under the action of the spring 22, the pin 23 runs downwards along the right short side of the flat cam profile 27 and the lever 18 returns to its lower position under the action of the spring 25. Thus, after conveyance of the brightener in the washing chamber, it returns to the starting condition, as illustrated in the figures 2, 2a and 2b, without any external intervention. From what has been described, it therefore results that the particular flat cam profile 27, obtained directly on the lever 18, allows to obtain a movement of the first lever 17 without interesting in a rotation movement the second lever 18, and to cause the latter to move only upon the second actuation of the single electroactuator 20. From the given description the characteristics of the dispenser device of liquid and/or powder substances for a washing machine subject of the present invention are clear, so as clear are its advantages. In particular: the device according to invention has a single actuator (20) and two single levers (17 and 18), of simple and economic realisation; the presence of the flat cam 27 interacting with the pin 23 allows to obtain the two distinct delivery cycles without complicated leverisms and without any necessity of registration; the device according to invention is not influenced by eventual openings of the door of the washing machine, even after the beginning of the washing cycle, and it zeros automatically only at the end of the cycle, without the necessity of interventions by the user of the machine. From the above it results that the dispenser device according to the invention has a noticeable embodiment simplicity, high functionality and reliability in all conditions of use and an industrial cost being very contained.

Claims: Dispenser device for liquid and/or powder washing agents for a washing machine, in particular a dispenser device (1) for a domestic dishwasher, of the type comprising a first (4) and a second (3,5) delivery device of washing agents which have to be introduced in a washing chamber in distinct moments and/or washing phases, and a command system, said delivery devices being controlled through said command system comprising: a single actuating device (19,20) and a kinematic assembly (17,18,23,27) for the actuation in different times of the first (4) and the second (3,5) delivery device, said kinematic assembly comprising at least two mutually interacting movable control organs (17,18), at least a first actuation of the actuating device (19,20), which determines a movement of the kinematic assembly (17,18,23,27) being able to activate the functioning of the first delivery device (4) without causing the functioning of the second delivery device (3,5), and a second actuation of the actuating device (19,20), which determines a movement of the kinematic assembly (17,18,23,27) being able to activate the functioning of the second delivery device (3,5), whereby said interacting movable control organs (17,18) interact by means of a cam arrangement (23,27), characterised in that said cam arrangement comprises a closed run (27), being associated to one of said control organs (18), for directing a movable element (23), being associated to the other one of said control organs (17), said closed run (27) being covered by said movable element (23), from a start position to a final position said final position corresponding to the starting position in said closed run, following a sequence of actuations of said actuating device (19,20). Dispenser device, according to claim 1, characterised in that said movable element (23) is provided for covering said closed run (27) in an unidirectional way. Dispenser device, according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said movable element (23) is provided for covering said closed run (27) in a counter-clock sense. Dispenser device, according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that successive portions of said closed run (27) are covered by said movable element (23) following successive actuations of said actuating device (19,20). Dispenser device, according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that said movable element (23) is arranged substantially at one end of a first one of said control organs (17), whereas said cam profile is arranged substantially at one end of a second one of said control organs (18). Dispenser device, according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that at least one of said control organ (17,18), in particular said second control organ (18), comprises a hinge element (24). Dispenser device, according to claim 6, characterised in that said hinge element (24) is elastically bendable Dispenser device, according to claim 5, characterised in that said movable element is a pin (23) which protrudes at least partially from said first control organ (17) and is inserted within said closed run (27). Dispenser device, according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that at least one of said control organs (17,18) is movable against the force (F1,F2) of an elastic element, in particular a spring (22, 25). Dispenser device, according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that said first delivery device comprises a cell (4) for containing a powder washing agent, and closed by a small movable lid (12), said small lid (12) having a closure element (15) cooperating with hooking means (14) controlled by one of said control organs (17,18), in particular said first control organ (17). Dispenser device, according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that said second delivery device comprises: a tank (3) for containing a liquid washing agent, and/or a tub (5) for the dosage of a determined quantity of said liquid agent to be introduced in said washing chamber; an opening for the charging of said liquid agent in said tank (3) and/or said tub (5); a conduit (7,8) through which said liquid agent can flow in said washing chamber; means (9) for intercepting the flow of said liquid agent from said tank (3) and/or tub (5) to said washing chamber, in particular a valve (9) arranged on said conduit (7,8) and presenting an opening passage (11B) and a shutter (11A) of said opening passage (11B). Dispenser device, according to claim 11, characterised in that said shutter (11A), is controlled by one of said control organs (17,18), in particular said second control organ (18). Dispenser device, according to claim 10, characterised in that said hooking means (14) are connected to said control organ (17) by means of a shaft (16) passing through the body (2) of the dispenser device (1), said shaft (16) being in particular integral with said control organ (17). Dispenser device, according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that said closure element (15) and said hooking means (14) are shaped for assuring, as a consequence of a manual closure operation of said lid (12) which precedes the start of a delivery cycle, the positioning of said movable element (23) in its start position within said closed run (27). Dispenser device according to claim 1, characterised in that said actuating device (19,20), upon said first actuation, provides for moving a first one of said control organs (17), whereby, due to such movement of said first control organ (17), said movable element (23) covers a first portion of said closed run (27), in particular from the bottom upwards, without meeting obstacles, in a such a way that the other one of said control organs (18) remains substantially motionless. Dispenser according to the previous claim, characterised in that , upon the termination of said first actuation, said first control organ (17) returns to its original position, and that, due to such movement of said first control organ (17), said movable element (23) covers a second portion of said closed run (27), in particular from the top downwards. Dispenser, according to the previous claim, characterised in that said actuating device (19,20), upon said second actuation, provides for moving said first control organ (17) so that said movable element (23) covers a third portion of said closed run (27), in particular from the bottom upwards, until said movable element (23) results in being engaged in an intermediate seat defined along said closed run (27), and that upon the engagement of said movable element (23) in said seat the movement of said first control organ (17) is transmitted to said second control organ (18). Dispenser according to the previous claim, characterised in that , upon the termination of said second actuation, said first control organ (17) returns to its original position, so that said movable element (23) covers a fourth portion of said closed run (27), in particular from the top downwards, for returning in the same position it had in said closed run (27) before said first actuation of said actuating device (19,20). A washing machine, in particular a dishwasher, comprising a washing chamber and a dispenser device for liquid and/or powder washing agents, said dispenser device having the features defined in one of the previous claims.

Inventors: CERRUTI DANIELE, CERRUTI, DANIELE
Applicants: ELTEK SPA, ELTEK S.P.A.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A47L15
IPC codes: A47L15