Patent ID: 7086110

Claim:
A system for providing laundry additive material to water during a cycle of a multiple cycle fabric laundering operation carried out in a drum-containing automatic washing machine, which system comprises: a unit dose package containing a laundry additive material; a housing structure into which said additive-containing unit dose package can be inserted, said housing structure being positioned within the drum of said automatic washing machine, said housing structure including a plurality of chambers; and a piercing element in said housing for opening said unit dose package; wherein the chambers are interconnected and arranged such that during a first spin cycle, the additive flows from said unit dose package to a first chamber and, if the additive is not released from the housing after the first spin cycle, during a second spin cycle the additive flows from the first chamber to a subsequent chamber wherein the system additionally comprises a selectively openable aperture for providing gravitational flow of said additive from said housing structure into said washing machine drum when said aperture is open, and when said aperture is closed said additive moves to a subsequent chamber during said second spin cycle.