Title of Invention

DRUM TYPE WASHING MACHINE WITH A MULTIPART FLUID PIPELINE

Abstract

The fluid line between a drain hole (8) at the bottom of the tube (2) and an opening (12) located at a higher level, in the tub (2) comprises a line segment (13) which serves solely to keep the washwater in the tub (2) in circulation between the upper opening and the drain hole. The line also has a solid pipe segment with a transparent region (25) at the wall of which a sensor (14) is mounted that corresponds to the turbidity of the washwater. The sensor (14) has an optical transmitter (19) and an optical receiver (20)- The sensor elements are built into a forked housing (17) so as to securely mount and protect the sensor from the severe shaking during spin cycles. The forked housing (17) embraces the pipe segment and the housing is adapted to the outer shape of the pipe segment at the faces which are in contact with the transparent region (25)

Full Text

-1A- type multipart The invention is based on a drum/washing machine with a fluid pipeline guided between a drain hole arranged at the bottom in the washing liquide container and an opening arranged further above in the washing liquide container; the fluid pipeline contains a pipe section which exclusively serves the purpose of keeping the washing liquide in the washing liquide container in circulation between the opening and drain hole, and which has a solid pipe section with a transparent region, on whose wall a sensor is built in, which contains an optical transmitter and an optical receiver and which responds to the turbidity of the alkali. This kind of a drum washing machine is known from DE 36 03 323 A 1. In that, the sensor is built-in so far below in the alkali drainage system that the water remaining behind in the alkali drainage system leads to calcification of the transparent region and to reduction of the transparency, which would again make the measuring values taken up by the sensor inaccurate. Besides, the known turbidity sensor is subjected to strong vibration during spinning, because the known pipe section is on the one side fixed against the oscillating alkali container and, on the other side, fixed to the stationary alkali pump. The oscillations of the alkali container therefore gets transmitted on to the sensor. Besides, the fixing points of the pipe section are thereby subjected to very heavy stresses. It is the task of the invention to design the arrangement of the optical sensor for the turbidity of the alkali-in the already described drum washing machine in such a way that, neither the sensor nor the fastenings of the pipe sections get stressed very strongly due to vibrations during spinning and that the transparent region of the pipe section does not become turbid on account of lime deposits. This task is fulfilled according to the invention, in that the pipe section, on the one side is connected on to the upper portion of a drain pipe attached to the drain hole, and on the other side, is connected to the opening which lies higher on the washing liquidecontainer; and the sensor is built into a fork-shaped housing surrounding the pipe section, which is adapted to the external shape of the pipe section on the contact faces to the transparent region. In this way, the sensor reaches into a range below the washing liquide container in which it is no longer subjected to the continuously remaining washing liquide rest, although for the purpose of the turbidity measurement of the alkali during the washing and/or rinsing, it is always completely covered with the respective 2 alkali. Besides, vibrations during spinning are harmless for (he sensor and the fastenings of the -pipe section, because the pipe section is coupled at both ends with connectors which oscillate in the same direction as the alkali-container. For safe fastening of the sensor, the pipe section has a socket-like thick edge with a mounting face on its outer wall, which is turned away from the inner wall of the pipe and serves the purpose of fastening of the sensor. In a particularly advantageous manner, the one fork extension of the housing contains an infrared-LED as optical transmitter and the other fork extension contains a photo transistor as optical receiver, both of which are electrically connected within the housing with a connecting strip. In this way, the transmitter and the receiver have a once and for all fixed and unchangeable position with respect to one another. According to a further version of the invention, the fork extensions are connected to one another by means; of a bridge which serves the purpose of positioning the LED and the photo-transistor with respect to one another and for mounting the housing on the socket-like thick edge. The pipe section of the washing machine as per the invention is designed particularly in such a way that, the pipe section is connected to the upper portion of the drain pipe attached to the drain hole in a leak-proof manner and has a connection with the opening in the washing liquide container by means of a flexible bent pipe. The bent pipe is preferably designed flexible, so that the pipe section can easily be mounted during production of the washing machine. In addition to that, the bent pipe can also be made of a rubber-like substance and can have a bellow, or instead of one bellow the bent portion could be made up of several bellows. In another advantageous development of the invention the pipe section forms a pipe-bend and is connected to the opening of the washing liquide container. The sensor thereby gets to a highest possible position, which is still acted upon by alkali during operation of the washing machine. In a specially advantageous development of the invention, the pipe section can either be a one-piece component of the pipe line section or be connected in a leak-proof manner at its end away from the opening, to the upper portion of the drain pipe connected to the drain hole by means of a tube. In the first mentioned case, the entire pipe line section could be made of a solid pipe component or this pipe component could reveal a mulli-membered corrugation 3 outside the pipe section. Jn the second mentioned case, the pipe can either be provided with a smooth wall or be designed as a corrugated pipe. In all cases, for unhindered flow of the alkali to be measured, it would be especially advantageous if the pipe section is continuously curved. On the basis of the design example shown in the drawing, the invention is explained in details below.' The following are shown: Fig. 1 A schematic representation of a drum washing machine with an arrangement of a sensor on a pipe line section as per the invention; Tig.2 A schematic representation of the fork-shaped sensor -housing in a cross-section representation of the pipe section; Fig.3 A longitudinal section through a design form of the pipe line section with a bellowed pipe bend made of rubber; Fig.4 A section according to fig.3 through a single-part designed pipe line section with fixed pipe; and Fig.5 A section according to fig.3 through a two-part pipe line section with corrugated pipe. The washing machine shown in fig. 1 has a housing 1, in which an alkali container 2 is mounted in an oscillable manner, which is not shown here. The washing drum 3 is supported washing liquide horizontally in a rotatable manner in the container 2. In the upper portion of the washing liquide container 2, water and if required detergent can be fed to it through a pipe line 4 from an inlet line 5 via a magnetic valve 6 and a detergent box 7. In the lower section of the washing liquide container 2 a drain pipeline 9 is connected leak-proof to a drain hole 8, which again is connected through bellows 10 and a further pipeline 11 on to an washing liquide pump which is mounted fixed in the housing 1 and not shown here. Between the drain pipe 9 and another opening 12 lying somewhat higher than the drain hole 8, a pipeline section 13 is connected, through which during operation of the washing machine alkali constantly flows to the drain pipe 9 and via the drain hole 8 again back into the washing liquide container 2. This flow is on account of low pressure differences of the washing liquide above the drain hole 8 and the opening 12. 4 A sensor 14 is attached on to the pipeline section 13, whose output signals arc passed on to a processing and control unit via a line 15. There the sensor signals are further processed by a method which is not shown here in details. The sensor 14 shown in fig.2 is accommodated in a housing, in whose fork extensions 17 and 18, on the one side, an infrared-LED 19 is embedded as optical transmitter and, on the other side, a photo transistor 20 is embedded as optical receiver. Their inlet lines are similarly embedded in the housing and lead on to terminals 21 and 22 of a connecting strip 23. The pipe section 24 shown cut, contains at least at the position of the transmitter and the receiver (19 and 20) transparent regions 25, which can be penetrated by the transmission beam of the infrared-LED 19. At the lower portion of its outer wall the pipe section 24 has a socket-like thick edge 27 with a mounting face 28. It is turned away from the inner area of the pipe 24 and towards the bridge 29 of the sensor housing. It serves the purpose of fastening the sensor 14, for which a screw hole 30 is provided in the bridge 29. The pipeline section 13 in fig.3 consists of a flexible pipe bend 31, which is fixed into the opening 12 of the washing liquide container 2 on one side. For the safety of this joint, a supporting sleeve 32 is additionally provided. For compensating the tolerances, the pipe bend 3 I contains a bellow 33 and is equipped at the other end with a fastening lip 34 which is pushed over the one end of the pipe section 24 and fixed with a hose clamp 35. The other end of the pipe section 24 is inserted in a rubber lip 36 of the drain pipe 9 and is similarly fixed by means of a hose clamp 35. The upper portion 9 of the drain pipe is somewhat longer than without the coupling of a pipe line section 13 and therefore a supporting ring 37, which carries a sealing lip 38 at the lower end, which seals the drain pipe along with a ball 39. The sensor 14 is fastened on to the socket-like thick edge 27 of the pipe section 24 by means of a bolt. The side walls 40 against the pipe section 24 also contribute towards the positioning during assembly. In a similar manner, the sensor 14 as shown in fig.4 is mounted on to the pipe section designed as pipeline bend 41. The pipe bend has a sharp kink and is buttoned on to the opening 12 of the alkali-container 2 by means of a rubber sealing 43. It is a single-piece component of the pipeline section 13, which along with its straight-designed part 42 is inserted into a rubber lip 36 of the drain pipe 9. As the pipe line section 13 in fig. 4 is as such a rigid structure, fixing of the rubber lip 36 with a hose clip is unnecessary here. 5 Also in the example for pipeline section 13 shown in fig. 5, the sensor 14 is fastened in a similar manner on to the pipe section 15 as in the aforementioned example. Here however, the pipe section is designed as a continuous curved pipe bend SO which has a lower flow resistance than the pipe kink of the bend 41 in flg,4. The pipeline section 13 is however designed in two parts. Contrary to what is shown, in this version it i.s however also possible to have a single-part design as in fig.4. For that, the pipeline section 13 should be designed as a blow-moulded part. The second part of the pipeline section 13 is a corrugated pipe 51 whose corrugation 52 can merely serve the purpose of compensating tolerances. It has however been seen that the tolerance compensation already takes place by means of the rubber parts of the single button washer 43 and the rubber lip 36 to a sufficient extent, in case of two-part design of the pipe line section 13, a hose clip 35 would additionally be required on the rubber lip 36. The components of the pipeline section shown in the design examples of figures 3 to 5 can be combined with one another in any random manner, according to the requirements of the respective situation. Similarly, the design of the housing 17, 18 and 29 of the sensor 14 in fig.2 can be changed in any way, if the arrangement of the transmitter 19 and the receiver 20 is retained. We Claim 6 1. Drum type washing machine comprising a multi-part fluid pipe line guided between a drain hole (8) provided at the bottom of an washing liquid container (2) and an opening (12) formed at a higher level than said drain hole (8); a pipeline section (13) exclusively serving the purpose of maintaining the washing liquid in the washing liquid container (2) in circulation between the opening (12) and the drain hole (8) said pipeline section (13) comprising a solid pipe section (24) with a transparent region (25); a sensor (14) incorporated at the wall of said solid pipe section (24) respond to the turbidity of alkali, said sensor (14) comprising optical transmitter (19) and an optical receiver (20), Characterized in that the pipeline section (13) is connected on one side to an upper portion (9) of a drain pipe ( 9 to 11) connected to the drain hole (8), and on the other side to the opening (12) disposed at said higher level on the washing liquid container (2) and in that the sensor (14) is provided into a housing (17, 18, 29) having a plurality of fork-shaped protrusions surrounding the pipe section (24) being adapted to the exterior shape of the pipe section (24) at the contact faces of the transparent region (25). 2, Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pipe section (24) has a socket shaped thick edge (27) with amounting face (28) on its outer wall; the thick edge (27) being remote from an inner space of the pipe (24) and serves for fastening the sensor (14). 7 3. Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first fork protrusion (17) of the housing ( 17, 18, 29) having an infrared- LED (19) as optical transmitter, the second fork protrusion (18) having 8. photo transistor (20) as optical receiver, a connecting strip (23) electrically connecting said optical transmitter (19) and said optical receiver (20) within the housing (17,18, 29). 4. Drum washing machine claimed in claim 3, wherein the fork protrusions (17,18) are connected to one another by a bridge (29), the bridge positioning the LED (19) and the photo transistor (20) in registration with one another and mounting the housing (17, 18, 29) on the socket-shaped thick edge (27). 5. Drum washing machine as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the pipe section (24) flowably connected in liquid-tight manner with upper portion (9) of the drain pipe line ( 9 to 11) connected to the drain hole (8), and comprising section (24) with said opening (12) in the washing liquid container (2). 6. Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the flexible pipe bend (31) comprises a rubber-like material and has a bellow (33). 7. Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the below (33) is one of a plurality of bellows. 3. 8 8. Drum washing machine as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the pipe section (24) forms a duct elbow (41, 50) and is connected to the opening (12) of the washing liquid container (2) above said drain-hole (8). 9. Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein the pipe section (41) is an integral component of the pipeline section (13). 10.Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein the pipeline section (13) has a multiple corrugation (52) outside the pipe section (50). 11. Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 8, the pipe section (41, 50) is flowably connected in a liquid tight manner at a distal end from the opening (12) to the upper portion (9) of the drain pipe (9 to 11), the drain pipe being connected to the drain hole (8) by a tube (42, 51). 12. Drum washing machine as claimed in claim 11, wherein the pipe (51) is a corrugated pipe. 13. Drum washing machine as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the pipe section (50) is continuously curved. 13. Dated this 17th day of December, 1997 The fluid line between a drain hole (8) at the bottom of the tube (2) and an opening (12) located at a higher level, in the tub (2) comprises a line segment (13) which serves solely to keep the washwater in the tub (2) in circulation between the upper opening and the drain hole. The line also has a solid pipe segment with a transparent region (25) at the wall of which a sensor (14) is mounted that corresponds to the turbidity of the washwater. The sensor (14) has an optical transmitter (19) and an optical receiver (20)- The sensor elements are built into a forked housing (17) so as to securely mount and protect the sensor from the severe shaking during spin cycles. The forked housing (17) embraces the pipe segment and the housing is adapted to the outer shape of the pipe segment at the faces which are in contact with the transparent region (25)

Documents:

02392-cal-1997-abstract.pdf

02392-cal-1997-claims.pdf

02392-cal-1997-correspondence.pdf

02392-cal-1997-description(complete).pdf

02392-cal-1997-drawings.pdf

02392-cal-1997-form-1.pdf

02392-cal-1997-form-2.pdf

02392-cal-1997-form-3.pdf

02392-cal-1997-form-5.pdf

02392-cal-1997-p.a.pdf

02392-cal-1997-priority document others.pdf

02392-cal-1997-priority document.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-abstract.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-claims.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-correspondence.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-description (complete).pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-drawings.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-examination report.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-form 1.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-form 2.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-form 3.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-form 5.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-letter patent.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-pa.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-priority document.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

2392-cal-1997-granted-specification.pdf