MERTER ERTUGRUL (TR)
GUELER HAKAN (TR)
OEZALTUG EBRU (TR)
AYLA VEDAT (TR)
ATAMAN YESIM FIRAT (TR)
GUELBAY UEMIT (TR)
HASANREISOGLU A LEVENT (TR)
MERTER ERTUGRUL (TR)
GUELER HAKAN (TR)
OEZALTUG EBRU (TR)
AYLA VEDAT (TR)
ATAMAN YESIM FIRAT (TR)
GUELBAY UEMIT (TR)
| WO1988006199A1 | 1988-08-25 |
| EP0599110A1 | 1994-06-01 | |||
| DE4032900A1 | 1992-04-23 | |||
| DE3403628A1 | 1985-08-14 |
| 1. | A household appliance (13), especially a washing machine, including a container (2) for storing the washing agent characterised in that ; it comprises a dragging device (1) for carrying the loaded washing agent to the container (2) comprising a loading unit (24) for loading and dragging the washing agent and a driving unit (25) for driving the loading unit (24). |
| 2. | A household appliance (13) as in claim 1, characterised in that, the loading unit (24) comprises a drawer (3) for helping to add the washing agent, a carrier (4) for carrying the washing agent that is added, to the container (2) and a holder (5) for holding the drawer (3) and the carrier (4). |
| 3. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 5, characterised in that, the driving unit (25) comprises one or more transfer gears (8) mounted to the drawer (3) for converting the applied force to the drawer (3) by the user to a mechanical force for moving the carrier (4) to the container (2), a holder rack (7) on the holder (5) for holding the transfer gear (8), a carrier rack (6) for transferring the mechanical force supplied by the transfer gear (8) to the carrier (4). |
| 4. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 2, characterised in that, the carrier (4) comprises one or more pulleys (11) for easy movement of the carrier (4). |
| 5. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 and 3, characterised in that, the holder (5) comprises one or more guide (17) on both sides of the holder (5) for holding the drawer (3), one or more wheel (12) for easy movement of the carrier (4), and one or more exhaust hole (33) for air and/or moisture leakage gathered in the dragging device (1). |
| 6. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 4, characterised in that, the drawer (3) comprises a cover (14), one or more projection (15) on both sides of the drawer (3) for mounting the transfer gear (8), and two sliding plates (16) for keeping and sliding the drawer (2) over the guides (17). |
| 7. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 6, characterised in that, the transfer gear (8) comprises a dragging gear (9) that contacts to the holder rack (7) and a carrier gear (10) that contacts to the carrier rack (6) and has a bigger diameter than the dragging gear (9) supported to carrier gear (10) with different diameter and tooth numbers, so when the carrier gear (10) turns once, the dragging gear (9) turns more than once and due to the diameter differences and the different number of teeth, different number of turns occurs and the carrier (3) connected to the carrier gear (10) moves more than the drawer (3), and the carrier (3) transfers the washing agent (4) from cover (14) to the container (2). |
| 8. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 7, characterised in that, the carrier (4) that is used as a movable box that has only sidewalls for carrying the washing agent from the drawer (3) to the container (2) and comprises one or more separators (18) between the sidewalls of the carrier (4) for pushing the washing agent to prevent gathering while moving. |
| 9. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 8, characterised in that, the carrier (4) has a closed bottom surface and comprises one or more compartments (19) for carrying different types of washing agents. |
| 10. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 9, characterised in that, the carrier (4) for carrying the powdered washing agent comprises a door (20) connected to the carrier (4) from the cover (14) side with a spring (21) that tries to push the door (20) to the bottom surface of the drawer (3) for opening the door (20) when the carrier (4) leaves the drawer (3) and passes over the open part of the top surface of the holder (5) in order to pour the washing agent to the container (2), and for closing the door (20) when the user opens the drawer (3), the carrier (4) begins to move toward the cover (14) of the drawer (3) and the door (20) is closed by the bottom surface of the drawer (3). |
| 11. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1 to 9, characterised in that, the compartment (19) in which all surfaces are closed except the top surface for pouring the liquid washing agent and comprises a valve (22) that is placed at a lower point of the carrier (4) and a hole (23) that is connected to the container (2) and can fit into the valve (22) for opening the valve (22) in order to pour the liquid washing agent, on the holder (5). |
| 12. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 1, characterised in that, the driving unit (25) comprises a motor (26), a driving pulley (30) connected to the motor (26) and a driving belt (29) mounted to the driving pulley (30) and the motor (26). |
| 13. | A household appliance (13) as in claim 12, characterised in that, the loading unit (24) comprises a corkscrew (27) that is turned by a driving unit (25) for transferring the washing agent to the dragging device (1) and a corkscrew housing (28) for housing the corkscrew (27) and directing the washing agent to the container (2). |
| 14. | A household appliance (13) as in claims 12 and 13, characterised in that, the corkscrew (27) comprises a shaft (31) for turning the corkscrew (27), and one or more windings (32) on the shaft for carrying the washing agent. |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Instead of filling up the washing agent to the washing machine each time, it is preferred to store it in the washing machine. So, the user fills up the washing agents once and uses it for several washing cycles. However the users can have problems with storing and pouring the washing agents to the container especially in built-in washing machines because the container needs and occupies a large volume in the washing machine for storage and such space exists usually at the corners and back parts of the washing machine. Since it is not possible to load the washing agent from the top in builtin washing machines, the loading point is placed at the front panel. So the user must carry the washing agents to the suitable parts of the washing machine while loading.
Although some different metering devices defined such as in DE 3403628, in EP 0599110, in FR 2386966 with some transferring mechanisms for dosing the washing agents added, none of them used for dragging the washing agent added.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION The object of the invention is to develop a household appliance including a dragging device for transferring the loaded washing agent to the point where it will be stored for dosing.
DRAWINGS OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the household appliance, which is realised in order to attain the said object of the invention, is illustrated in the attached drawings, wherein ; Figure 1, is the three dimensional view of a washing machine with a dragging device Figure 2, is the three dimensional view of the dragging device Figure 3a, is the three dimensional view of the dragging device when the cover is fully pulled to the outside of the washing machine, Figure 3b, is the three dimensional view of the dragging device when the cover is pushed to the inside of the washing machine, Figure 3c, is the three dimensional view of the dragging device when the cover is fully pushed to the inside of the washing machine for pouring the washing agent to the container Figure 4, is the exploded three-dimensional view of the dragging device, Figure 5, is the exploded three-dimensional view of the drawer and transfer gears that are disassembled, Figure 6, is the three dimensional view of the carrier, Figure 7, is the three dimensional view of the wheel, Figure 8, is the three dimensional view of the transfer gear, Figure 9, is the three dimensional view of the pulley, Figure 10, is the perspective view of the transfer gear between the carrier rack and holder rack, Figure 1 la, is the three dimensional view of a dragging device in which the carrier with compartment and door is at the middle of the holder, Figure 1 lb, is the three dimensional view of a dragging device in which the carrier with compartment and door is at the back of the holder,
Figure 12, is the three dimensional view of a carrier in which carrier has one compartment for liquid washing agent, and another compartment for powdered washing agent Figure 13, is the three dimensional view of a door Figure 14a, is the three dimensional view of a dragging device that works with a motor and drag with a corkscrew, Figure 14b, exploded view of the dragging device with a motor and a corkscrew, Figure 14c, sectional view of the dragging device with a motor and a corkscrew, The components shown in the drawings have the following numbers ; 1-Dragging device 2-Container 3-Drawer 4-Carrier 5-Holder 6-Carrier rack 7-Holder rack 8-Transfer gear 9-Dragging gear 10-Carrier gear 11-Pulley 12-Wheel 13-Household appliance 14-Cover 15-Projection 16-Sliding plate 17-Guide 18-Separator 19-Compartment
20-Door 21-Spring 22-Valve 23-Hole 24-Loading unit 25-Driving unit 26-Motor 27-Corkscrew 28-Corkscrew housing 29-Driving belt 30-Driving pulley 31-Shaft 32-Winding 33-Exhaust hole DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A household appliance (13), especially a washing machine, including a container (2) for storing the washing agent and/or preferably a detergent dosing device connected to the container (2) for dosing the washing agent to the washing tub automatically and a dragging device (1) for dragging the washing agent to the container (2). The dragging device (1) includes a loading unit (24) for loading and dragging the washing agent to the dosing device and a driving unit (25) for driving the loading unit (24).
In the preferred embodiment, the loading unit (24) has one or more drawers (3) for helping to add the washing agent to the dragging device (1), one or more carriers (4) for carrying the washing agent added to the drawer (3) and one or more holders (5) for holding the drawer (3) and the carrier (4).
The holder (5) has one or more guides (17) on both sides of the holder (5) for holding the drawer (3), one or more wheels (12) for easy movement of the carrier (4), one or more exhaust holes (33) for air and/or moisture leakage gathered in the dragging device (1).
The carrier (4) has one or more pulleys (11) for easy movement of the carrier (4).
The drawer (3) has a cover (14), one or more projections (15) on both sides of the drawer (3), and two sliding plates (16) for keeping and sliding the drawer (2) over the guides (17).
The driving unit (25) has one or more transfer gears (8) mounted on each of the projections (15) for converting the applied force to the drawer (3) by the user to a mechanical force for moving the carrier (4) to the container (2), a holder rack (7) on the holder (5) for holding the transfer gear (8), a carrier rack (6) for transferring the mechanical force supplied by the transfer gear (8) to the carrier (4).
Each transfer gear (8) includes a dragging gear (9) and a carrier gear (10) that has a bigger diameter than the dragging gear (9) supported to each other. The carrier gear (10) contacts to the carrier rack (6). However, the dragging gear (9) contacts to the holder rack (7). Due to the diameter differences and teeth numbers between the carrier gear (10) and the dragging gear (9), when the carrier gear (10) turns once, the dragging gear (9) turns more than once. When the user pushes the drawer (3), the carrier (4) inside the drawer (3) begins to move. So the transfer gear (8) begins to turn with the carrier (4). However, due to the diameter differences and the different number of teeth, different number of turns occurs and the carrier (3) that contacts to the carrier gear (10) moves more than the drawer (3). This causes the carrier (3) to move from the cover (14) to the container (2) at the end of the holder (5) and to transfer the washing agent added to the carrier (4) of the container (2). Depending on the distance that the carrier (4) has to go for
reaching to the container (2), the number of the teeth and the diameters are designed for the dragging gear (9) and the carrier gear (10).
In the preferred embodiment, the carrier (4) is used as a movable box that has only sidewalls for carrying the washing agent from the drawer (3) to the container (2).
While moving, in order to prevent the washing agent accumulation, the carrier (4) has one more separators (18) between the sidewalls of the carrier (4) for pushing the washing agent. Since the drawer (3) has a closed surface at its bottom that touches the carrier (4), and the holder (5) has an open top surface that touches the carrier (4) just behind the drawer (3), the washing agent added to the drawer (3) is carried by the carrier (4) without pouring from the closed bottom surface of the drawer (3) until the carrier (4) reaches to the opened top surface of the holder (5).
The top surface of the holder (5) is directly opened to the inlet of the container (2).
In another embodiment of the invention, the carrier (4) has a closed bottom surface, and there are one or more compartments (19). Each compartment (19) is used for carrying different types of washing agents. For carrying the powder washing agent, there is a door (20) connected to the carrier (4) from the cover (14) side with a spring (21) that try to push the door (20) to the bottom surface of the drawer (3). When the carrier (4) leaves the drawer (3) and passes over the opened part of the top surface of the holder (5), the door (20) is opened by the spring (21) and the powder washing agent is poured to the container (2). When the user opens the drawer (3), the carrier (4) begins to move toward the cover (14) of the drawer (3). While moving towards the cover (14), the door is closed by the bottom surface of the drawer (3).
In the other compartment (19), all sides of the compartment (19) are closed except the top surface. The user pours the liquid washing agent to the drawer (3) and also to the carrier (4). This compartment (19) has a valve (22) at the backside of the carrier (4) for pouring the washing agent to the container (2). There is a hole
(23) that can fit into the valve (22) for opening the valve (22) in order to pour the liquid washing agent, on the holder (5). The hole (23) is connected to the container (2). The valve (22) can only be opened when it touches the hole (23).
The valve (22) is placed at a lower point of the carrier (4) such that all the liquid washing agent can easily flow down to the container (2). When the user adds the liquid washing agent to the drawer (3) and pushes the cover (14) through the household appliance (13), carrier (4) moves to the holder (5). The valve (22) is opened by the hole (23) and the liquid washing agent flows through the container (2).
In another embodiment of the invention, the dragging device (1) drags the powder or paste washing agents by a loading unit (24) that comprises a corkscrew housing (28) and a corkscrew (27) placed in it. In this embodiment, instead of the carrier (4) the corkscrew (27) is used for dragging the washing agent to the top of the container (2), and a corkscrew housing (28) is used instead of the holder (5). The corkscrew (27) has a shaft (31) and one or more windings (32) on the shaft. A driving unit (25) turns the shaft (31). The driving unit (25) includes a motor (26), a driving pulley (30) connected to the motor (26) and a driving belt (29) mounted to the driving pulley (30) and the corkscrew (27) for transmitting the force produced by the motor to the driving pulley (30). When the motor (26) runs, the driving belt (29) and the shaft (31) turns. While the shaft (31) turns, the windings (32) turn as well. So the washing agent poured by the user is moved under the direction of the windings (32) of the corkscrew (27) and transferred to the container (2). The backside of the corkscrew (27) is directed to the opened surface of the container (2), (Fig 14a, 14b, 14c).