The present invention relates to a washing machine, which includes a laundry treatment compartment, a treatment agent distributing apparatus for distributing a treatment agent to the laundry treatment compartment, and a treatment agent transfer channel in fluid connection with the treatment agent distributing apparatus and the laundry treatment compartment.

The patent application No. CN102741472A discloses a laundry treatment agent automatic dosing system for a washing machine. The automatic dosing system includes one manual dosing compartment and two storage compartments. The two storage compartments are each provided with a sinking pump. A treatment agent in the storage compartment is pumped out by using the sinking pump and then enters an output pipe. To flush a treatment agent in the manual dosing compartment or the output pipe into a laundry treatment drum, a water supply line separately supplies water to the manual dosing compartment or the output pipe. A disadvantage of the automatic dosing system is: Usually, water from a water supply line can be input into only either the manual dosing compartment or the output pipe according to a program setting. Therefore, a setting of the water supply line is bound to be relatively complex. For example, one water passage is configured for each of the manual dosing compartment and the output pipe, and one water valve is configured for each water passage. Alternatively, the water supply line is provided with a water passage switching mechanism. Disposed in such a manner, the automatic dosing system has not only a complex structure but also relatively high costs. In addition, because the top of the output pipe is covered by a cover, it is inconvenient for cleaning, and a health hazard is easily caused after long-term use. An objective of the present invention is to overcome or reduce the foregoing disadvantage in the prior art, thereby simplifying a laundry treatment agent automatic dosing system, and facilitating cleaning of the laundry treatment agent automatic dosing system.

For the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a washing machine, including: a laundry treatment compartment, a treatment agent distributing apparatus for distributing a treatment agent to the laundry treatment compartment, and a treatment agent transfer channel in fluid connection with the treatment agent distributing apparatus and the laundry treatment compartment. The treatment agent distributing apparatus includes: at least one storage compartment for storing a treatment agent, and a manual adding compartment into which a treatment agent is manually added. An outlet is provided at the bottom of the manual adding compartment and is in communication with the treatment agent transfer channel, a distributing apparatus controlled by a control apparatus is disposed in the at least one storage compartment, an outlet of the distributing apparatus is in fluid connection with the manual adding compartment, and a water supply channel is in fluid connection with the manual adding compartment.

Because an automatically dosed treatment agent and a manually added treatment agent are both added to the manual adding compartment before entering the treatment compartment, the water supply channel needs only one outlet in communication with the manual adding compartment. Therefore, a structure is simple, and costs are saved. In addition, the manual adding compartment is usually open, and therefore is convenient for cleaning.

Preferably, triggering and a quantity of distributed agents of the distributing apparatus are controlled by the control apparatus.

Preferably, the treatment agent distributing apparatus includes two storage compartments, which respectively store a detergent and a softener, and each storage compartment is provided with the distributing apparatus. The two distributing apparatuses can sequentially output the detergent and the softener to the manual adding compartment according to control of the control apparatus.

To control water supply, the water supply channel is provided with a water valve controlled by the control apparatus. After either of the two distributing apparatuses outputs the detergent or the softener to the manual adding compartment, the control apparatus opens the water valve, so that water flows to the manual adding compartment through the water supply channel and is mixed with the detergent or the softener in the manual adding compartment, and the mixture is flushed into the laundry treatment compartment through the treatment agent transfer channel. Preferably, the control apparatus is provided with multiple treatment programs, and the distributing apparatus is controlled according to a treatment program selected by a user.

Preferably, the manual adding compartment is disposed adjacent to the storage compartment. Therefore, it is convenient to output the treatment agent to the manual adding compartment by the distributing apparatus.

Further, the treatment agent distributing apparatus includes a first storage compartment and a second storage compartment, which are respectively are located on two sides of the manual adding compartment or are disposed by at least partially surrounding the manual adding compartment.

The present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a treatment agent distributing apparatus; and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of connections of partial means of a washing machine. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a washing machine 1 has a laundry treatment compartment 2, and a treatment agent distributing apparatus 4 for distributing a treatment agent to the laundry treatment compartment 2 is in fluid connection with the laundry treatment compartment 2 through a treatment agent transfer channel 6. A water supply channel 8 is in fluid connection with the treatment agent distributing apparatus 4, to supply water to the treatment agent distributing apparatus 4, so that a treatment agent added to the treatment agent distributing apparatus 4 is flushed into the treatment compartment 2 through the transfer channel 6.

The treatment agent distributing apparatus 4 has a first storage compartment 41 for storing a detergent, a second storage compartment 42 for storing a softener, and a manual adding compartment 43 into which a treatment agent is manually added. The first storage compartment 41 and the second storage compartment 42 are disposed adjacent to the manual adding compartment 43, and surround two sides and a rear side of the manual adding compartment 43. A front side refers to a side close to a direction in which a user approaches. The top of the first storage compartment 41 and the top of the second storage compartment 42 are covered by a cover 40 and are respectively provided with a first treatment agent adding opening 44 and a second treatment agent adding opening 45 through which treatment agents available for use of multiple times are added. The manual adding compartment 43 is open at the top. An outlet 46 is provided at the bottom of the manual adding compartment 43 and is in communication with the treatment agent transfer channel 6. A first distributing apparatus 47 is disposed in the first storage compartment 41 , and a second distributing apparatus 48 is disposed in the second storage compartment 42. The first distributing apparatus 47 and the second distributing apparatus 48 may be fluid extracting apparatuses such as pumps. An outlet 470 of the first distributing apparatus and an outlet 480 of the second distributing apparatus 48 are both in fluid connection with the manual adding compartment 43. Therefore, a detergent extracted from the first distributing apparatus 47 and a softener extracted from the second distributing apparatus 48 both flow into the manual adding compartment 43. To supply the treatment agent in the manual adding compartment 43 into the treatment compartment 2, the water supply channel 8 is in fluid connection with the manual adding compartment 43. To control water supply, the water supply channel 8 is provided with a water valve 81.

The first distributing apparatus 47, the second distributing apparatus 48, and the water valve 81 are all controlled by a control apparatus 10.

The control apparatus 10 is provided with multiple treatment programs. For different programs, settings of whether to automatically pour a treatment agent from the first storage compartment 41 and the second storage compartment 42, and settings of a quantity of treatment agents are different. In addition, whether to automatically pour the treatment agent is further controlled by the user. The user may set in advance whether to automatically pour the treatment agent. A quantity of treatment agents that are automatically poured is also different due to a material and a quantity of laundry. The control apparatus 10 controls triggering and quantities of distributed agents of the first distributing apparatus 47 and the second distributing apparatus 48. If a treatment program selected by the user is by default not automatically pouring the treatment agent, or the user sets a treatment program to not automatically pouring the treatment agent, the user manually adds a detergent to the manual adding compartment 43 before washing is started. After the program starts running, the control apparatus 10 opens the water valve 81. The water supply channel 8 supplies water to the manual adding compartment 43. The detergent in the manual adding compartment 43 is flushed into the treatment compartment by the water, and the program enters a main washing stage. After the main washing stage ends, the program pauses, and prompts the user to put a softener in. After the user puts the softener into the manual adding compartment 43, the program enters a rinsing stage and an eventual water extracting stage, and finally, the program ends. If a treatment program selected by the user is by default automatically pouring the treatment agent, or the user sets a treatment program to automatically pouring the treatment agent, after the program starts, the control apparatus 10 triggers the first distributing apparatus 47 to supply a detergent to the manual adding compartment 43, and then the control apparatus 10 opens the water valve 81. The water supply channel 8 supplies water to the manual adding compartment 43. The detergent in the manual adding compartment 43 is flushed into the treatment compartment 2 by the water, and the program enters a main washing stage. After the main washing stage ends, the control apparatus 10 triggers the second distributing apparatus 48 to supply a detergent to the manual adding compartment 43, and then the control apparatus 10 opens the water valve 81. The water supply channel 8 supplies water to the manual adding compartment 43. A softener in the manual adding compartment 43 is flushed into the treatment compartment 2 by the water, and the program enters a rinsing stage.

Various specific embodiments described in the foregoing and shown in accompanying drawings are only used for illustrating the present invention, and are not considered as the entirety of the present invention. Within the scope of the basic technical thought of the present invention, any types of modifications for the present invention made by persons ordinarily skilled in the art fall within the scope of the present invention.