Clothes washing machine with water recovery reservoir and improved washing cycle

Abstract: Clothes washing machine comprising a washing tub (1), a drum rotatably arranged within said tub and adapted to hold the washload, a liquor recovery reservoir (2) that may also be separated from the structure of the machine, a liquor transfer conduit (3) connecting, through a possibly provided first pump (4) situated in said conduit, the lower portion of said washing tub with the inner volume of said reservoir, a second conduit (6) connecting, through an appropriately provided pump (7), the inner volume of said reservoir with the inner volume of said washing tub. The machine is adapted to perform, during a rinsing phase, a process integrated in said rinsing phase and consisting in transferring the rinsing liquor from the tub to said reservoir, spinning said washload holding drum at a high revolution speed, emptying the tub by draining the liquor extracted from the washload during said high-speed spinning of the drum or subsequently thereto, transferring the liquor contained in said reservoir back into the tub.

Description: The present invention refers to a clothes washing machine, in particular of the household type, provided with an improved operating method for the use of a reservoir arranged to recover the liquor being discharged from the washing tub of said machine. For greater convenience in exemplifying the above invention, the following description will refer to a front-loading type washing machine provided with a recovery reservoir arranged vertically against the rear panel thereof. It shall however be appreciated that the present invention may advantageously apply also to other types of clothes washing machines, such as washing machines of the top-loading type and/or with the recovery reservoir arranged in any other possible position within or in relation to the machine, for instance with such a recovery reservoir arranged underneath the washing tub so as to be able to do away with a pump fro transferring the liquor from the tub into the recovery reservoir, since the liquor itself will in such a case be able to flow from a vessel into the other one by gravity. Alternatively, such a recovery reservoir may be arranged in any appropriate position above the washing tub, so as to be able, for the same reason, to do away with a pump that would otherwise be required to transfer the liquor from the reservoir into the tub. Washing machines are already known in the art, which are provided with one or several reservoirs arranged to contain liquid substances to be used in the different phases of the washing programme, and provided also with a further reservoir arranged to recover the liquor used during the rinsing phases, in particular during the last rinsing phases, in view of using it again in the washing phase of a subsequent washing programme. The advantages of such a type of washing machines, which are extensively described in various prior patents, such as for instance the European patent application EP-A-0 449 060 and the Italian patent application no. PN94A000021, both filed by this same applicant, as well as the US patent specification no. 2,931,199, are mainly due to the considerable saving effects that can be obtained in the usage of fresh mains water, since this is practically used more than once as process liquor in subsequent washing programmes, without any need arising for the provision of a further apparatus to act as a recovery reservoir and without any need arising for having such an apparatus installed immediately near the clothes washing machine to which it is associated. The continuous reduction in the usage of water in washing programmes has caused the water level in the drum of the clothes washing machines to gradually be lowered down to very low values, thereby affecting the homogeneity of the water exchange process in the clothes and, as a result, the effectiveness of the rinsing process. In designing said clothes washing machines, it has furthermore been repeatedly observed that the provision of a recovery reservoir would on the other hand enable a number of further useful functions to be implemented at a practically insignificant additional cost, such functions being on the contrary capable of considerably adding to the actual value of the machine as far as its water saving merits are concerned, however without putting any significant penalty on it as far as operation or process time requirements are concerned. In other words, it has been observed that, according to the known prior-art solutions, said recovery reservoir is being used to collect and hold the liquor being discharged from one or more rinsing phases. Then, in a subsequent washing programme, such a liquor collected and held in the recovery reservoir is again delivered into the washing tub of the machine in view of it being again used, jointly with any possible additions of fresh water from the mains, as the liquor to be used in the washing phase to be performed. From the short description given above, it clearly emerges that, after being in this way emptied, such a reservoir is kept fully unused from the moment in which the washing phase is started through to the moment it is filled again with rinsing liquor, preferably with liquor discharged from the last rinse. Therefore, such a reservoir practically stands fully unused and empty throughout a quite large portion of the entire washing process. The availability of such a recovery reservoir standing unused and empty most of the time, along with the uneven manner in which the clothes got actually soaked by the (relatively small) amount of water in the rinse bath, enabled an additional use to be devised for such a reservoir during the afore cited non-use period through an appropriate sequence of transfers of the rinsing bath from the tub to the reservoir, and vice-versa, while using spin-extraction to recover and eliminate the liquor retained by the clothes. Such bath transfers are triggered and carried out during the rinsing phases, in the sense that, during a general rinsing phase, the liquor is temporarily transferred into the reservoir so as to enable the tub to be emptied; a high-speed spin-extraction and discharge phase is then carried out simultaneously in view of removing and letting off the remaining liquor retained by the clothes, said remaining liquor having a concentration of detergent which is greater than the concentration of the corresponding free-floating liquor just transferred into the reservoir. Finally, the liquor is again transferred from the reservoir into the tub. The advantage of such an operational method derives from the fact that it is actually possible to eliminate a quantitatively modest fraction of washing liquor, which however contains a significant portion of the detergent used in the process. By in such a manner eliminating such a portion of liquor retained by the clothes, the average dilution of the so clarified rinsing liquor is enhanced, thereby achieving the ultimate result that either the same rinsing effect can actually be obtained with a reduced amount of fresh water or a better rinsing effect can be obtained with the same amount of water, as anyone skilled in the art will be able to readily appreciate and as it has been extensively demonstrated experimentally. It would therefore be desirable, and it is actually a main purpose of the present invention, to provide a clothes washing machine that is capable of performing the afore cited additional functions through the implementation of some simple, low-cost improvements and the utilization of readily available techniques. The invention will be more readily understood from the description which is given below by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematical view of the water-carrying circuit of a clothes washing machine according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a synthesizing view of the sequence of a rinsing phase as carried out in a typical prior-art clothes washing machine; Figure 3 is a synthesizing view of the sequence of a rinsing phase as carried out in a clothes washing machine according to the present invention. The general term "liquor", or even "water", will be used in the following description to indistinctly mean washing liquor and rinsing water. However, such a simplification will not affect the full and clear understandability of the same description, considering the context in which such terms are used, as anyone skilled in the art will readily appreciate. Referring to Figure 1, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a solution according to the present invention will in the first place be explained along with the operating principle thereof. The herein described clothes washing machine comprises a washing tub 1, a liquor collecting and recovery reservoir 2 arranged inside said machine, a drum 5 rotatably arranged within said washing tub and adapted to hold the clothes forming the washload, two conduits 3 and 6 provided to transfer the liquor from the tub into the reservoir and vice-versa, respectively, and corresponding transfer pumps 4, 7 associated thereto. The washing machine is of course further provided with all other means which are required to ensure a correct operation thereof, but which are not specifically described here, since they do not fall within the scope of the present invention. With reference to Figure 2, it can be observed that a typical rinsing phase comprises a number of elementary sub-phases, namely a sub-phase A in which water is let into the tub, a sub-phase B in which the drum is driven to rotate at low speed, this sub-phase being possibly accompanied by water additions as required to restore the level in the tub, a sub-phase C in which the liquor is let off the tub, and a spin-extraction sub-phase D which is at least partly carried out jointly with the final portion of said water-discharge sub-phase C. Referring now to Figure 3, it can be noticed that such a general rinsing cycle is modified to the extent that an additional sequence of successive sub-phases is included therein, said additional sub-phases consisiting of: a first sub-phase L in which liquor is transferred from the tub into the reservoir, a second sub-phase M during which a spin-extraction is performed accompanied by the operation of the discharge pump, a third sub-phase N in which liquor is transferred in the opposite direction, ie. from the reservoir into the tub, a fourth sub-phase P in which the drum is driven to rotate at low speed. Said additional sequence of sub-phases L, M, N, P is included in the process to precisely take place between the low-speed rotation sub-phase B and the water oulet sub-phase C and, at any rate, it leaves the afore cited main rinsing sub-phases A, B, C and D fully unchanged. It is a largely known fact that, during a rinsing phase, especially if it is carried out in the presence of too small an amount of water, the soaking of the clothes by the water occurs in a quite uneven manner, depending on the various layers of the washload, and it in particular tends to favour the outer layers of the washload, since the penetration of the water gets increasingly more difficult as it gradually moves toward the inner layers, which therefore are generally rinsed in a poorer manner. It ensues that, in a quite general manner, the average detergent concentration in the free rinsing bath, or liquor, is smaller than the detergent concentration in the liquor retained by the clothes. For this reason, if at least a large portion of such a liquor retained by the clothes is eliminated, ie. let off the machine, the rinsing action of the same rinsing bath is enhanced, since said rinsing bath is not polluted by that portion of liquor with the highest detergent concentration that is actually retained by the clothes. This can be obtained with the afore cited method, ie. with the inclusion of operational steps provided to empty the tub, to spin the washload in view of extracting and removing that portion of liquor with the highest detergent concentration that is retained by the clothes, and to finally restore the rinsing bath in the same tub. Such an inclusion of said additional sequence of subphases L, M, N, P has the effect of eliminating a quantitatively modest fraction of washing liquor, which, as it has already been stressed above, contains however a significant portion of the detergent used in the process. In other words, by eliminating said portion of liquor retained by the clothes, the average dilution of the rinsing bath is clearly enhanced. And it is exactly in order to store said rinsing bath in view of re-using it for a second rinsing sub-phase that use is made of such a reservoir, which is already available and stands generally unused until the end of the last rinse. Two distinct rinsing phases are practically carried out with each rinsing water fill, thereby achieving readily appreciable advantages, although the water of the second rinsing bath will not be so perfectly clean as the water just taken in from the mains. However, it has been extensively demonstrated experimentally that there is a very distinct advantage to be obtained, in terms of either water saving effect or, alternatively, improved overall washing effect, with a washing machine operating according to the afore described method. The present invention can advantageously be applied in any different manner as it appears to be most appropriate according to the actual characteristics of the machine, the purposes that are actually pursued, and the penalties that can reasonably be accepted in view of obtaining the desired results, in particular as far as the operation time requirements of the machine are concerned. A first improvement can for instance be achieved by implementing the afore described method not only in connection with a general rinsing cycle, but also in connection with all of the rinsing cycles provided or included in a programme, thereby obtaining the remarkable result of practically doubling the number of the rinsing phases that are carried out actually. Another improvement, which is aimed at minimizing any additional increase in time requirements, consists in using the afore described method in connection with the last rinse only, considering the fact that, in the last rinse, the rinsing liquor, being at the end of the rinsing process, is already cleaner, so that the second rinsing sub-phase uses a liquor which is almost as clean as regular fresh water from the mains. A further improvement is offered by the very nature of the invention itself. Considering that the latter provides for a particular process to be included within a rinsing cycle, there is nothing to prevent a plurality of such particular processes from being used, as arranged in any appropriate sequence, within a same rinsing phase, in view of achieving any particularly desired result. It will of course be appreciated that such processes can in fact be variously arranged and combined within the individual rinsing phases so as to obtain special benefits or advantages, whereas these results are fully verifiable experimentally by anyone skilled in the art. Various situations are of course possible as far as the utilization of the liquor stored in said reservoir is concerned. The most common one among such situations arises from the fact that, owing to a number of reasons, the amount of water stored in the reservoir is not sufficient to cope with the requirements connected with the washload handling phase for which it had been previously recovered, owing to too great an amount of water having been removed during spin-extraction and, therefore, too modest an amount of recovered liquor being returned into the tub. In order to remove such a drawback, some known and easily implementable expedients can advantageously be provided so that, after the liquor is again transferred from the reservoir into the tub, a pre-defined level thereof is restored in the same tub through a commonly known water-level restoring sequence based on additions of fresh water from the mains. As an alternative thereto, it is possible for fresh water from the mains to be initially let into the tub up to a pre-defined level, before completely emptying the reservoir by transferring into the tub the liquor contained therein. Finally, a particular sequence has been found which is instrumental in ensuring an optimum rinsing effect combined with a significant reduction in water usage, corresponding more or less to the amount of water requested for a rinsing bath, under just a fully acceptable increase in time requirements. According to such a particular sequence, the whole rinsing cycle comprises a plurality of individual rinsing phases; within each one of such individual rinsing phases a process of "second rinse using the same liquor" L, M, N, P is carried out, which is similar to the afore described one in connection with the present invention. Furthermore, at the end of the penultimate rinsing phase the liquor is discharged into the reservoir, instead of being definitively let off to sewage; immediately thereupon, the drum is driven to rotate at high speed under removal of the liquor retained by the clothes, which is therefore let off to sewage. In the last rinsing phase, fresh water is taken in from the mains and filled into the tub up to a pre-determined level. Then the filling of the tub is completed by taking in the liquor in the reservoir until the latter is fully emptied. Finally, the usual low-speed rotation period of the drum is performed, at the end of which the liquor is transferred into the reservoir, instead of being eliminated outside the machine, so that it may then be taken in from said reservoir for re-use as washing liquor in the washing phase of a subsequent washing programme. This last portion of the process, however, is already known as prior-art, so that it shall not be claimed as a part of this invention. It will be appreciated that it is within the ability of anyone skilled in the art to possibly find further technical and optimizing solutions in the use of the afore cited reservoir, and the component parts associated thereto, by having resort to readily available techniques and usual skills. As a consequence, although the present invention has been described using a generally known terminology, it should by no means be regarded as being limited by the examples given in the above description, since anyone skilled in the art is able to bring any appropriate modification and variation thereto. The appended claims shall therefore be understood as extending to cover all such modifications that are within the abilities of those skilled in the art and fall within the actual scope of the present invention.

Claims: Clothes washing machine, in particular for residential uses, comprising a washing tub (1), a drum (5) rotatably arranged within said tub and adapted to hold the washload, a liquor recovery reservoir (2) that may also be separate from the structure of the machine, a liquor transfer conduit (3) connecting, through a possibly provided first pump (4) situated in said conduit, the lower portion of said washing tub with the inner volume of said reservoir, a second conduit (6) connecting, through an appropriately provided pump (7), the inner volume of said reservoir with the inner volume of said washing tub (1), said machine being adapted to perform, during a regular washing programme, at least a washing phase followed by a plurality of rinsing phases, and being also adapted to perform, at pre-settable instants, spin-extraction phases at a high revolution speed of the drum, characterized in that it is adapted to automatically perform, during any of the afore mentioned rinsing phases, a "second rinse" process integrated in said general rinsing phase and consisting, in sequence, of: a sub-phase (L) in which the whole amount of removable rinsing liquor is transferred from the tub (1) to said reservoir (2), a spin-extraction sub-phase (M) in which said drum (5) holding the washload is driven to rotate at high revolution speed, a draining sub-phase (N) which takes place either during or immediately after said spin-extraction sub-phase, and in which the liquor extracted from the washload during said high-speed spinning of the drum (5) is discharged from said tub (1) , a transfer sub-phase (P) in which the liquor stored in said reservoir (2) is returned to the tub (1). Clothes washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the rinsing phases essentially consist of a sub-phase (A) during which water is filled into the tub (1) , a sub-phase (B) during which the drum (5) is driven to rotate at a low revolution speed, a sub-phase (C) during which the liquor is discharged from the tub (1), and a spin-extraction sub-phase (D), said "second rinse" process being included immediately at the end of said sub-phase (B) in which the drum (5) is driven to rotate at low speed. Clothes washing machine according to claim 2, characterized in that each rinsing phase includes a "second rinse" process (L, M, N, P) as defined in the preceding claim 1. Clothes washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that only the last one of said rinsing phases includes a "second rinse" process (L, M, N, P) according to claim 1. Clothes washing machine according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is adapted to perform said "second rinse" process (L, M, N, P) according to claim 1 more than once in close sequence within a single and same rinsing phase. Clothes washing machine according to any of the preceding claims , characterized in that , before returning the liquor from the reservoir (2) into the tub (1), said machine is adapted to automatically fill fresh water from the mains into the tub (1) up to a pre-determined level. Clothes washing machine according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 5, characterized in that , after returning the liquor from the reservoir (2) into the tub (1), said machine is adapted to restore a pre-determined level in the tub (1) by automatically filling in fresh water from the mains. Clothes washing machine according to claim 6, characterized in that at the end of the penultimate rinsing phase the rinsing liquor is discharged into the reservoir (2) and, immediately thereafter, the drum (5) is driven to rotate at high spin-extraction speed, whereas the liquor extracted in such a manner from the washload is at the same time discharged outside the machine, the liquor required for the last rinsing phase being taken in as fresh water from the mains up to a given level in the tub, and then from the reservoir (2) until the latter is fully empty.

Inventors: BABUIN PIERO, CIMETTA SILVANO, BABUIN, PIERO, CIMETTA, SILVANO
Applicants: ELECTROLUX ZANUSSI ELETTRODOME, ELECTROLUX ZANUSSI S.P.A.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: D06F39
IPC codes: D06F35, D06F39