Washing machine and method for treating laundry using foam

Abstract

A washing machine has a lye container, a lye drainage system disposed at a base of the lye container, a drive motor for a drum, and a heating unit. The washing machine has a device for supplying air into the lye, the device can be switched independently of the drum, and the device is an air compressor pump having an outlet to the lye container.

Claims

1. A washing machine, comprising: a lye container; a drum in the lye container; a foam generator adapted to generate a quantity of foam from a washing liquid in the lye container, wherein the foam washes items in the drum and wherein the washing liquid only touches a lowest end of the drum.

2. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the foam generator comprises an air pump.

3. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the foam generator has an outlet in a lower region between the drum and the lye container.

4. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the washing machine includes at least one agitator adapted to assist with formation of foam.

5. The washing machine of claim 4, wherein the agitator has openings dimensioned to be larger than the diameter of bubbles in the foam.

6. The washing machine of claim 1, further comprising a sensor to determine a quantity of liquid and/or foam, and a controller set or programmed to control an amount of foam provided to the drum based on the sensor.

7. The washing machine of claim 6, wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensor and wherein the controller is set to control the foam generator based upon a sudden pressure increase.

8. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the drum is rotatable and the lye container is adapted to hold a quantity of liquid, the drum including a plurality of openings, and wherein the foam generator comprises an air compressor adapted to be in communication with the liquid in the lye container, whereby the foam from the lye container is guided to the drum via the openings.

9. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the foam generator is adapted to generate the quantity of foam from the washing liquid in the lye container to fill the drum to a height of at least of the interior diameter of the drum with the foam, the foam rising to a height that is above a height of the washing liquid such that a laundry item falls directly into the foam due to rotation of the drum.

10. A method for treating laundry in a washing machine including a lye container and a drum in the lye container, the method comprising: providing a washing liquid to a height that touches but does not exceed a lowest end of the drum; generating foam from the washing liquid in the lye container; and washing items in the drum container with the generated foam.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the washing machine includes at least one agitator, and wherein the method includes assisting the formation of foam with the at least one agitator.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining a quantity of liquid and/or foam, and controlling an amount of foam provided to the drum based on the determining.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein a height of the foam is controlled to be in a range of to an interior height of the drum.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining one of a quantity of the washing liquid and the quantity of the foam, and controlling generation of the foam based upon the quantity of washing liquid and/or the quantity of the foam.

15. The method of claim 14, generation of the foam is based upon a sudden pressure increase.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the drum is rotatable in the lye container and the drum including a plurality of openings, and wherein the method further comprises providing a source of compressed air to generate the foam in the lye container, and guiding the foam from the lye container to the drum via the openings.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising discharging the foam to an outlet in a lower region between the drum and the lye container.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising generating additional foam with an agitator on an inner surface of the drum.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the foam is generated by an air pump.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

(1) FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the parts of a washing machine which are relevant to the illustration, in which an inventive method can be implemented. Other embodiments are conceivable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(2) The washing machine in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has a lye container 1, in which a drum 2 is rotatably mounted and can be operated by a drive motor 14. The axis of rotation 3 of the drum 2 is directed upwards and forwards at a small angle (e.g.) 13 from the horizontal so that the interior of the drum 2 can be accessed and viewed more easily. An increase in the through flow force of the laundry 7 with foam is also achieved by this arrangement concurrently with specially molded agitators 4 and ladling devices 5 for the solution 6 on the interior surface of the drum casing.

(3) The washing machine also has a lye supply system, which includes a water connection fitting for the mains water system 8, an electrically controllable valve 9 and a supply line 10 to the lye container 1, which can if necessary also be guided by way of a detergent rinsing device (rinsing shell) 11, from which the supply water is able to transport detergent portions into the lye container 1. A heating device 13 is also disposed in the lye container 1. The valve 9, and also the heating device 13 are controlled by a control device (program controller) 12 as a function of a program workflow, which is associated with a time program and/or with the achievement of certain measured values of parameters such as lye level, foam level, lye temperature, speed of the drum 2 and/or within the washing machine. A sensor 15 for measuring the hydrostatic pressure p in the lye container 1 is provided.

(4) A lye drainage system 20, which, in accordance with conventional practice, includes a drainage valve and a lye pump in addition to corresponding lines, is only shown schematically for the sake of clarity.

(5) A combination with an air compressor pump 17 is shown in the embodiment in FIG. 1 as a device 16 for supplying air into the solution, the outlet 18 of which protrudes in a lower region 19 between the drum 2 and the lye container 1.

(6) The laundry agitators 4 are, as additional structural configurations of the drum 2, optimised to assist with a formation of foam, as described initially above.

(7) In this washing machine, laundry items made of high-quality textiles can be gently cleaned using foam, with the method features and parameters being used, which are explained further above, whereupon reference is made hereto instead of a repetition.

(8) The foam formation is controlled by way of a control path comprising the sensor 15 and the control facility 12, so that, be it as a result of alternating switching off and on of the compressor pump 17 or a variation in its output, the quantity of foam available for treating textiles is controlled and in particular also limited.