PUMP DEVICE FOR A WATER-CONDUCTING DOMESTIC APPLIANCE, METHOD FOR OPERATING SUCH A PUMP DEVICE, AND WATER-CONDUCTING DOMESTIC APPLIANCE

Abstract

A pump device for a water-conducting domestic appliance, such as a washing machine or a dishwasher, has a pump chamber with at least two inlets, and has multiple actuators on or in the pump chamber for a liquid-pumping operation in at least one direction. At least one sensor is provided on or in the pump chamber for determining constituents and properties of the liquid in the pump chamber. A storage chamber is connected to an inlet of the pump chamber and contains additives or analytes for the liquid.

Claims

1. Pump device for a water-conducting domestic appliance, such as a washing machine or a dishwasher, said pump device having: a pump chamber with two inlets, at least one actuator on or in said pump chamber for a liquid-pumping operation in at least one direction, at least one sensor on or in said pump chamber for determining constituents and/or properties of said liquid in said pump chamber, a storage chamber which is connected to an inlet of said pump chamber and which contains additives and/or analytes for said liquid.

2. Pump device according to claim 1, wherein said pump chamber is of rigid design, and said actuator has a piston being able to move therein, as a piston pump, or said actuator has a rotor which rotates therein, as a rotor pump.

3. Pump device according to claim 1, wherein said pump chamber is of elastic design, wherein arranged on an outside of said pump chamber is said at least one actuator for a pumping process by way of variation of a shape of said pump chamber.

4. Pump device according to claim 3, wherein said at least one actuator is adapted for said pumping process by way of pressing onto said pump chamber in a surface region which corresponds to said actuator with corresponding narrowing or reduction of a cross section of said pump chamber.

5. Pump device according to claim 3, wherein multiple similar of said actuators are arranged on said outside of said pump chamber.

6. Pump device according to claim 5, wherein said actuators are identical.

7. Pump device according to claim 5, wherein three said actuators to ten said actuators are arranged on said outside of said pump chamber.

8. Pump device according to claim 5, wherein said actuators are arranged next to one another in a direction from one inlet to another inlet of said pump chamber.

9. Pump device according to claim 3, wherein said actuators are of strip-shaped form and are arranged parallel to one another.

10. Pump device according to claim 9, wherein said actuators extend in a direction perpendicular to a direction from one inlet to another inlet of said pump chamber.

11. Pump device according to claim 3, wherein said actuators on said outer side of said elastic pump chamber are electroactive polymers.

12. Pump device according to claim 3, wherein said pump chamber is a silicone tube.

13. Pump device according to claim 3, wherein one said actuator is designed to close an inlet of one of the following chambers: said pump chamber and/or said storage chamber.

14. Pump device according to claim 1, wherein said device has ohmic heating means.

15. Pump device according to claim 14, wherein said heating means are arranged on an outer side of said pump chamber.

16. Pump device according to claim 1, wherein arranged on or in said pump chamber is at least one UV emitter and/or at least one UV detector.

17. Method for operating said pump device according to claim 1 in a water-conducting domestic appliance, with the steps of: pumping said liquid or water from said water-conducting domestic appliance into said pump chamber, subjecting said liquid or said water to treatment in said pump chamber, finally pumping said liquid or said water back again into said water-conducting domestic appliance.

18. Method according to claim 17, wherein, as treatment in said pump chamber, said liquid in said pump chamber is mixed with an additive and/or with an analyte from said storage chamber by way of said at least one actuator, wherein said liquid is subsequently pumped back again said water-conducting domestic appliance.

19. Method according to claim 18, wherein said liquid is pumped back again into said water-conducting domestic appliance in order that said additive and/or said analyte from said storage chamber acts according to its/their intended use during operation of said water-conducting domestic appliance.

20. Method according to claim 17, wherein water or liquid is pumped from said water-conducting domestic appliance into said pump device and is examined there by means of said sensor.

21. Method according to claim 20, wherein, for the purpose of examination, heating means according to claim 14 are additionally used and/or an additive or an analyte is brought from said storage chamber into said pump chamber in order to assist with said examination.

22. Water-conducting domestic appliance having a pump device according to claim 1, wherein said water-conducting domestic appliance is a washing machine or a dishwasher and has a treatment space which is connected in a water-conducting manner to said pump device.

23. Water-conducting domestic appliance according to claim 22, wherein said pump device is arranged above a base or sump of said treatment space.

24. Water-conducting domestic appliance according to claim 22, wherein said appliance has at least two said pump devices.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are schematically illustrated in the drawings and will be discussed in more detail below. In the drawings:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a highly schematic illustration of a water-conducting domestic appliance according to the invention as a washing machine with a pump device according to the invention,

[0032] FIG. 2 shows an enlargement of a plan view of the pump device according to the invention in a first configuration,

[0033] FIG. 3 shows the pump device from FIG. 2 in side view,

[0034] FIG. 4 shows the pump device from FIG. 3 with actuators, actuated in the central region, on the upper side and the lower side,

[0035] FIG. 5 shows a modification of an arrangement of a pump device according to the invention in a second configuration at a drum of the washing machine similar to FIG. 1, and

[0036] FIG. 6 shows a further modification of an arrangement of a pump device according to the invention in a third configuration with circulation at a drum of the washing machine similar to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0037] In FIG. 1, a washing machine 11, which has a drum 12 as a treatment space, is illustrated highly schematically as a water-conducting domestic appliance according to the invention. As has been discussed in the introduction, it would also be possible for a dishwasher, or some other water-conducting domestic appliance having at least one treatment chamber corresponding to the drum 12, to be provided instead of the washing machine 11.

[0038] In the arrangement in FIG. 1, a pump device 14 according to the invention according to a first configuration of the invention is provided. The pump device 14 has an elongated pump chamber 16 which is connected at one end on the left to the drum 12 in a water-conducting manner via a first inlet 17. A second inlet 18 is provided on the right or at the other end of the pump chamber 16, via which inlet the latter is connected to a storage chamber 20. The size of the storage chamber 20 in comparison with the pump chamber 16 is not illustrated to scale here, and the storage chamber 20 may be significantly larger.

[0039] Various function units are provided at the pump device 14 or at the pump chamber 16. A UV LED 24 which radiates into the pump chamber 16 is provided on the upper side. For this purpose, the pump chamber 16 is to be designed in a correspondingly light-transmissive manner at least in the region of the UV LED 24, either by way of the material selection for the pump chamber 16 itself or else by using a light-transmissive window or the like. One use of the UV LED 24 can be for performing a disinfection in the pump chamber 16, as has been discussed before. Advantageously, it is possible to provide said LED for a marking function with a marker from the storage chamber 20 for various contaminants and/or microorganisms in the liquid, for which a detector 26 is then arranged at the pump chamber 16. Said detector too is arranged at a light-transmissive region of the pump chamber 16, advantageously such that it is able to detect as well as possible when the UV LED 24 makes visible specific substances or microorganisms in the liquid in the pump chamber 16. However, this is known from the prior art and does not need to be discussed in more detail here.

[0040] Furthermore, a sensor 28 is provided in the pump chamber 16. In principle, said sensor 28 can be of any nature or have any function. In particular, it can detect specific constituents in the liquid in the pump chamber 16 and can therefore also be a relatively complex sensor, for example a biosensor.

[0041] A heating element 30 is illustrated on the upper side of the pump chamber 16 as an exemplary fitting location. Said heating element 30 may in principle be provided at any desired location, in particular also over a relatively large area, and multiple heating elements 30 may be provided. As has been discussed in the introduction, the heating element 30 serves for heating liquid in the pump chamber 16 in order in particular to allow or speed up specific reactions or processes.

[0042] Said function units of UV LED 24, detector 26, sensor 28 and heating element 30 are all connected to a controller 32. Said controller 32 is also connected to the pump chamber 16 itself such that it can correspondingly activate actuators, fitted to said chamber, for the purpose of pumping. Furthermore, the controller 32 activates the aforementioned function units or evaluates these.

[0043] It can be seen from the enlarged plan view of the pump chamber 16, as the central function part of the pump device 14, that, in this configuration of the invention, a peristaltic pump, described in the introduction, is present. For this purpose, the pump chamber 16 consists of an elastic material, for example designed as a flat silicone tube or as a flat and flexible rectangular housing. The inlets 17 and 18 run off at opposite ends and are advantageously formed integrally with the pump chamber 16. Connection to the drum 12 or to the storage chamber 20 can be realized via plug-in nipples, clamping nipples or the like.

[0044] In said peristaltic pump, arranged at the pump chamber 16 are multiple strip-shaped actuators 22a on the upper side and actuators 22b on an opposite lower side, as the comparison with FIGS. 3 and 4 also shows, wherein the upper side and the lower side are in each case flat sides. The actuators 22 may be adhesively bonded, cast in or connected in some other manner to the pump chamber 16, in particular fixedly connected thereto. It can be seen firstly that the surface or the longitudinal extent of the pump chamber 16 between the inlets 17 and 18 is covered relatively well by the in each case seven actuators 22a or 22b, respectively, with the result that a good pump effect can be assumed here. At the same time, there is still sufficient space between individual actuators 22 to arrange or to fasten the UV LED 24 on the outside such that they have a sufficiently large irradiation surface into the pump chamber 16. According to the side view of FIGS. 3 and 4, the detector 26 is arranged opposite the UV LED 24, with the result that said detector likewise has sufficient space for its arrangement between two actuators 22b.

[0045] The heating means 30, and likewise the sensor 28, are not illustrated here. However, on the basis of the statements made above, the arrangement thereof is easily conceivable for a person skilled in the art. As one option, electrical contacting to the sensor 28 towards the outside may lead through the wall of the pump chamber 16, wherein such a passage must then be well sealed. Alternatively, it is possible for an electrical connector, as a thin cable, to be led out to the inlet 17 or 18 and, there, to then run to the outside at a point which can be sealed more easily since said point may in particular consist of rigid material and does not have to be moved to as great an extent as the wall of the pump chamber 16 itself.

[0046] The comparison of FIGS. 3 and 4 shows how, by activating or actuating two central actuators 22a above and actuators 22b below, significant cross-sectional narrowing can be achieved, possibly even to the extent that the chamber walls make contact. This is not essential, however. By way of sequential activation and deactivation of actuators, situated next to one another, in the direction of the desired pumping direction, as known for peristaltic pumps, it is possible in the pump chamber 16 for liquid to be pumped. The different possibilities have already been mentioned before. On the one hand, it is possible for water or liquid to be pumped from the drum 12 into the pump chamber 16. On the other hand, the water can be pumped out again.

[0047] Those actuators 22a and 22b which are in each case on the extreme left and on the extreme right serve as a type of closure device for inlets 17 and 18 or as a type of valve. For said actuators, it should be provided, possibly by way of projections in the manner of ribs or the like provided on the inner side of the wall of the pump chamber 16, that the cross-sectional narrowing is indeed realized to the extent that the pump chamber walls make contact. A type of valve function with a closure effect for the inlets 17 and 18 can then be achieved, so that it is possible to forego separate valves or other closure devices. This especially allows in each case precise dosing of the pumped liquid or adding of additives or analytes, mentioned in the introduction, from the storage chamber 20.

[0048] In principle, it is also possible for the other types of pumps discussed before, for example piston pumps or rotary pumps, to be used in a washing machine 11 corresponding to FIG. 1 with the respective water conduit. This applies also to the subsequent arrangements in FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0049] FIG. 5 illustrates a further pump device 114 in a second configuration corresponding to the invention, having a pump chamber 116 which can largely correspond to the pump chamber in FIGS. 1 to 4 and is therefore not discussed in further detail again. It is also a peristaltic pump. However, here the pump chamber 116 is designed such that it extends more or less vertically or its pumping direction is vertical. A water-conducting connection from the drum 112 as inlet 117 runs to a lower end of the pump chamber 116. At the upper end of the pump chamber 116, an inlet 118 to a storage chamber 120, which is arranged higher than or above said pump chamber, is provided. It can thus be achieved that, after opening a closure device described before, which more or less operates as a valve for the storage chamber 20 or the inlet 118, additives or analytes pass from the storage chamber 120 into the pump chamber 116 substantially automatically, that is to say under the action of gravity. In a similar manner, as a result of the arrangement of the pump chamber 116 above the inlet 117 as a connection to the drum 112, it can be achieved that liquid, assisted by the action of gravity, flows from the pump chamber 116 back into the drum 112.

[0050] Yet another, third configuration of an arrangement or pump device 214 according to the invention provides in FIG. 6 that a pump chamber 216 has a substantially arbitrary pumping direction, here horizontal from a first inlet 217 leading to a drum 212 through the pump chamber 216 towards a second inlet 218. However, said inlet 218 then leads directly back to the drum 212 again, and so here the pump device 214 operates in circulation, so to speak, or can circulate liquid. This can simplify an examination or treatment of the liquid in the pump chamber 216, in particular the reliable and complete return thereof into the drum 212 associated with reliable emptying of the pump chamber 216. Therefore, such an arrangement may especially be an advantage if additives are to be fed into the drum 212 by means of the pump device 214, for example for the purpose of assisting with a washing process. Here, the pump chamber 216 has two storage chambers 220a and 220b which are arranged or attached on the upper side. Said storage chambers are provided with separate actuators or closure devices or the like, with the result that additives can be fed from the storage chambers into the pump chamber 216 individually, said additives then being able to be fed into the drum 212 by way of liquid which is pumped along therewith. Furthermore, it may also be provided that additives for a washing process in the drum 212 are provided in the one storage chamber 220a. In the other storage chamber 220b, analytes may be provided for an analysis of the water from the drum 212. Consequently, such a pump device 214 allows water or liquid in the drum 212 to be both analysed and mixed with additives, depending on requirement.