DOSING DEVICE

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a dosing device for the dosed introduction of a pourable cleaning agent into a treatment chamber of a program-controlled cleaning device, in particular a dishwasher, comprising a housing, a storage container serving to accommodate the cleaning agent and a support unit arranged within the housing so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis and which exchangeably receives the storage container, wherein the housing provides a bearing dome for rotatably receiving the support unit, which engages in a bearing sleeve of the support unit designed correspondingly thereto.

[0002] A dosing device of the generic type is known from EP 3 305 159 B1.

[0003] Cleaning appliances, especially dishwashers, typically have a wash tub that provides a treatment chamber, also called a rinsing chamber. This treatment chamber is accessible to the user via a loading opening that can be sealed fluid-tight by means of a pivoting wash tub door. When used as intended, the wash tub holds the items to be cleaned, which in the case of a dishwasher can be, for example, dishes, cutlery, and / or the like.

[0004] To achieve optimized cleaning results, process chemicals are used that are added to the wash chamber during a cleaning process, typically as an additive to the wash liquid used. Such process chemicals include, for example, cleaning agents that are programmed into the wash chamber of the cleaning device at a specific point in the program.

[0005] The generic dosing device according to EP 3 305 159 B1 has a storage container for storing, i.e., pourable cleaning agent. Furthermore, the dosing device has a support unit that can be rotated about a rotation axis. This supports the replaceable storage container.

[0006] The storage container, in turn, has a storage chamber and a dosing channel leading into a dosing opening. During dosing, the support unit, and thus also the storage container it holds, rotates, resulting in the discharge of cleaning agent contained in the storage chamber of the storage container through the dosing channel fluidically connected to the storage chamber. Using the support unit, the storage container can thus be transferred from its home position to a dosing position and vice versa, with cleaning agent discharge occurring in the dosing position of the storage container.

[0007] The support unit, which holds the storage container, is itself arranged within a housing of the dosing device. The housing provides a bearing dome for rotatably holding the support unit. This bearing dome defines the axis of rotation around which the support unit can rotate during intended use. To ensure a rotatable yet secure arrangement of the support unit within the housing, the support unit has a bearing sleeve that corresponds to the bearing dome. During intended use, the bearing dome engages the bearing sleeve of the support unit, resulting in the support unit being rotatable about a rotation axis.

[0008] DE 10 2013 110 403 A1 and DE 10 2016 100 384 A1 disclose dosing devices similar to EP 3 305 159 B1. The dosing device of DE 10 2013 110 403 A1 also has a display, for example, with LEDs, by means of which the fill level of the storage container can be indicated to the user. The dosing device of DE 10 2016 100 384 A1 has an optical sensor device by means of which the fill level of the storage container can be measured.

[0009] This generic dosing device has proven itself in everyday practical use. Nevertheless, there is a desire to improve it, particularly with a view to further simplifying its operation for the user.

[0010] It is therefore the Task The invention proposes a dosing device of the generic type which structurally enables a simplification of operation for the user.

[0011] To SolutionTo achieve this objective, the invention proposes a dosing device having the features of claim 1.

[0012] The lighting device provided by the invention makes it possible to illuminate the dosing device housing and / or the storage container it accommodates during intended use. This allows for simplified handling by the user.

[0013] During a proper loading process, the door of a dishwasher is typically in the open position. Even with the wash cabinet illuminated, the inside of the door can be dark, especially when the room lights are off, making it difficult for the user to check the detergent level in the dosing device. The inventive design provides a remedy for this problem by illuminating the housing of the dosing device and / or the storage container. This allows the user to immediately see and read the level of the detergent, preferably powdered or granular, within the storage container.

[0014] Furthermore, the lighting device according to the invention allows operating states of the dishwasher to be visually displayed to a user. For example, the fill level of the storage container can be directly displayed. In this case, the lighting device not only allows a user to perceive the fill level thanks to the illumination provided by the lighting device, but can also provide a direct fill level indication, for example by pulsing the light emitted by the lighting device. For example, the frequency of the light pulses can vary depending on the fill level. A fully filled storage container can, for example, be illuminated continuously, while a fully empty storage container can flash rapidly. Alternatively, color changes can also be provided, for example from white to orange to red, which also visualizes the fill level of the storage container.

[0015] Furthermore, any errors that may occur in the dosing device itself can be visualized, for example, by rapidly flashing red. It is also conceivable that the dosing device requires maintenance or cleaning based on flashing and / or color changes.

[0016] The lighting device provided by the invention therefore essentially offers two advantages. Firstly, it can illuminate the dosing device, which is particularly advantageous in darkened rooms, as it allows a user to visually inspect the dosing device, for example, to check the fill level in the storage container. Secondly, the lighting device can provide a direct status indication of both the dosing device itself and the storage container, for example, through color changes and / or pulsating light frequencies.

[0017] According to a further feature of the invention, it is provided that the lighting device has a lighting means, preferably an LED, which is arranged on the opening side of a cavity provided by the bearing dome.

[0018] The bearing dome provided by the housing and rotatably accommodating the support unit is hollow and accordingly provides a cavity. The cavity is open on at least one side, with the illuminant of the lighting device positioned on the opening side of the cavity, so that light emitted by the illuminant is introduced into the cavity. Alternatively, the illuminant is arranged, at least partially, within the cavity.

[0019] An LED is particularly suitable as a light source, as it requires only a small installation space due to its size.

[0020] According to a further feature of the invention, the illuminant is provided by a printed circuit board, wherein the housing provides a housing base and the printed circuit board is arranged in a groove formed on the outside of the housing base.

[0021] The dosing device's housing consists of a base body and a pivoting housing cover. The base body, in turn, provides a housing base. This is equipped with a groove on the outside into which the circuit board providing the light source is inserted. This ensures a flush fit with the housing base. Otherwise, no further modification of the housing is required.

[0022] According to a further feature of the invention, it is provided that the lighting device has a light guide which interacts with the lighting means and which extends at least partially through the cavity provided by the bearing dome.

[0023] A light guide is arranged in the cavity of the bearing dome. This interacts with the light source located on the opening side of the cavity in such a way that the light emitted by the light source during normal operation is guided through the light guide or is directed by it. This creates a light guide through the cavity of the bearing dome.

[0024] According to a further feature of the invention, the light guide has an optical element on the light exit side or interacts with such an element. This optical element ensures light distribution of the light guided through the light guide. This allows for targeted redirection of the light, specifically to illuminate specific areas in the housing and / or the storage container.

[0025] According to a further feature of the invention, the bearing dome is at least partially translucent. This design ensures that, when the optical element is arranged within the bearing dome, light emerging from the light guide is not retained by the bearing dome itself, but can be guided through it.

[0026] Alternatively, the light guide and / or the optical element can extend through the cavity provided by the bearing dome. In this case, a translucent design of the bearing dome is unnecessary, since the light guide and / or the interacting optical element extend beyond it.

[0027] According to a further feature of the invention, it is provided that the bearing sleeve is at least partially translucent.

[0028] When used as intended, the support unit and its bearing sleeve are attached to the housing's bearing dome. To allow light from the light guide to penetrate the support unit, the reservoir, and / or the dosing device's housing, the bearing sleeve is at least partially translucent. For this purpose, the bearing sleeve can be equipped with a suitable window. Alternatively, the bearing sleeve has a translucent cover cap at its end opposite the bearing dome.

[0029] According to a further feature of the invention, the storage container is at least partially translucent. This ensures that the light emitted by the light guide can reach the volume provided by the storage container. Furthermore, the user can view the storage container.

[0030] According to a further feature of the invention, the storage container comprises a container shell sealed on top with a sealing film. The container shell has a sleeve receptacle configured to correspond to the bearing sleeve of the support unit, into which the bearing sleeve engages. The sealing film has a through-opening in the region of the sleeve receptacle. According to this embodiment, it is possible to guide the light guide and / or the optical element through the through-opening. This allows illumination of the area above the storage container.

[0031] According to a further feature of the invention, it is provided that the housing has a housing base body and a housing cover pivotably arranged thereon, wherein the optical element is arranged in the gap between the housing cover and the sealing film when the housing cover is closed.

[0032] According to the features explained above, the invention proposes two alternatives. Firstly, it is possible to illuminate the storage container by directing light emitted by the lighting device into the gap between the sealing film on the storage container side and the cleaning agent, preferably in powder or granular form, stored therein. Alternatively, the optical fiber is guided through a through-opening in the sealing film, which allows for illumination of the gap between the housing lid and the sealing film of the storage container.

[0033] According to an optional third alternative, the housing cover comprises an optical element that interacts with the light guide. According to this further alternative, light is introduced into the preferably translucent housing cover, resulting in its illumination.

[0034] The inventive design proposes a lighting concept that allows for the illumination of the dosing device. The storage container, the gap between the storage container and the housing cover, and / or the housing cover itself can be illuminated. The illumination can be provided by means of pulsating light and / or color, which, on the one hand, leads to a visual enhancement, but, on the other hand, also offers the possibility of visually indicating the operating status of the dosing device and / or the dishwasher to the user.

[0035] Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the figures. Fig. 1 shows the washing compartment door of a dishwasher with a dosing device of the type according to the invention in an exploded view; Fig. 2 shows a schematic side view of a section of the dosing device according to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 in a further schematic side view, a section of the dosing device according to Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4 shows a rear view of the housing of the dosing device according to the invention; Fig. 5 shows a schematic representation of the dosing device according to the invention according to a second embodiment; Fig. 6 shows a schematic sectional representation of a detail of the dosing device according to Fig. 5 ; Fig. 7 shows a schematic sectional view of the dosing device according to the invention according to a third embodiment, and Fig. 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a housing cover of the dosing device according to the invention.

[0036] Fig. 1 shows in a schematic perspective view the inside 1 of an appliance door 2 of a dishwasher not shown in more detail below.

[0037] The device door 2 accommodates a dosing device 3 of the type according to the invention. This device has a housing 4 which has a housing base body 5 and a housing cover 6 pivotably arranged thereon.

[0038] The housing 4 serves to rotatably accommodate a support unit 7. The housing base body 5 provides a bearing dome 11 for rotatably receiving the support unit 7.

[0039] The support unit 7, in turn, provides a bearing sleeve 12, which is designed to correspond to the bearing dome 11. In the final assembled state, the support unit 7 with its bearing sleeve 12 is attached to the bearing dome 11. During normal operation, the support unit 7 rotates around a rotational axis defined by the bearing dome.

[0040] The support unit 7 in turn serves to replaceably hold a storage container 8. This storage container 8, also called a cartridge, has a container shell 9 which is closed on the top by means of a sealing film 10.

[0041] When used as intended, the storage container 8 is held by the support unit 7 and the support unit 7 together with the storage container 8 is held by the housing 4, whereby the housing cover 6 is removed from its Fig. 1 shown open position into a closed position in which the housing base body 5 is closed fluid-tight.

[0042] According to the invention, the dosing device 3 has a lighting device 32. The structure and functioning of this lighting device 32 will become apparent from the further Figures 2 to 4 based on a first alternative implementation.

[0043] As the sectional views according to the Figures 2 and 3As can be seen, the bearing dome 11 is hollow and has a cavity 24. Within this cavity 24, a light guide 22 is arranged, which terminates at its end with an optical element 23. The light guide 22 interacts with its end section opposite the optical element 23 with a light source in the form of an LED 17. The LED 17 is part of a printed circuit board 16, which - as particularly shown in the illustration according to Fig. 4 can be seen - is inserted into a groove 20 which is formed on the outer side 18 of the housing base 19. The printed circuit board 16 and the housing base 19 are flush, as can be seen in particular from the illustration according to Fig. 3 results.

[0044] When the lighting device 32 is in its intended operating state, the light emitted by the LED 17 is guided through the light guide 22 to the optical element 23. Here, in accordance with the design of the optical element 23, the light is deflected by 90°, so that it is directed with respect to the plane of the drawing according to Fig. 3 to the left and right.

[0045] As the representation according to Fig. 3 furthermore, also in conjunction with Fig. 1 , the bearing sleeve 12 has a cap 13 on the top. This cap is made of a translucent material so that the light emitted by the optical element 23 can pass through the cap 13 of the bearing sleeve 12.

[0046] The container shell 9 of the storage container 8 is also made of a translucent material, allowing the light emitted by the optical element 23 to penetrate the gap between the sealing film 10 of the storage container 8 and the upper edge of the cleaning agent 15 stored in the storage container 8, which is preferably in powder or granular form. This illuminates the storage container 8, allowing a user to determine the fill level from the outside. For this purpose, the sealing film is at least partially transparent.

[0047] For the secure positioning of the storage container 8 within the support unit 7, the pivotable housing cover 6 has a hold-down device 14 on the inside, which acts on the storage container 8 when the housing cover 6 is in the closed position and thus ensures a secure fit of the sleeve receptacle 21 provided by the storage container 8 on the bearing sleeve 12 of the support unit 7.

[0048] A second embodiment is shown in the Figures 5 and 6 According to this embodiment, the bearing sleeve 12 has a through-opening 25 through which the light guide 22 together with the optical element 23 is guided. Furthermore, as the illustration according to Fig. 6As can be seen, the sealing film 10 of the storage container 8 is equipped with a passage opening 27. The light guide 22, including the optical element 23 arranged thereon, is also guided through this opening 27. This configuration ensures that light emitted by the optical element 23 falls into the gap 26 above the storage container 8, i.e., into the gap 26 between the storage container 8 and the housing cover 6.

[0049] Another alternative of the invention is in Fig. 7 This is similar to the embodiment shown in the Figures 5 and 6 , wherein according to this embodiment, the retainer 14 of the housing cover 6 is equipped with an optical element 28, which interacts with the light guide 22 when the housing cover 6 is in the closed position. This configuration makes it possible to redirect light fed into the light guide 22 into the housing cover 6, so that the latter itself is illuminated.

[0050] The possible design of a housing cover 6 is shown in Fig. 8 shown in perspective. As can be seen from this illustration, the housing cover 6 has a ring part 29 that surrounds a window 30 formed from a translucent plastic material. According to the embodiment according to Fig. 7 This translucent window 30 is illuminated. Special visual effects can be achieved by equipping the window 30 with optical structures 31, e.g., recesses. Reference symbol

[0051] 1Inside 2Device door 3Dosing device 4Housing 5Housing base 6Housing cover 7Support unit 8Storage container 9Container tray 10Sealing film 11Bearing dome 12Bearing sleeve 13Cap 14Holder 15Cleaning agent 16Circuit board 17LED 18Outside 19Housing base 20Groove 21Sleeve receptacle 22Light guide 23Optical element 24Cavity 25Through opening 26Gap space 27Through opening 28Optical element 29Ring part 30Window 31Optical structure 32Lighting device.

Claims

1. Metering device for the metered introduction of a pourable cleaning agent into a processing chamber of a program-controlled cleaning device, in particular a dishwasher, the metering device comprising a housing (4), a storage container (8) which is used to accommodate the cleaning agent (15), and a support unit (7) which is arranged so as to be rotatable within the housing (4) about an axis of rotation and which interchangeably receives the storage container (8), the housing (4) providing a bearing dome (11) for rotatably receiving the support unit (7), which bearing dome engages in a bearing sleeve (12) of the support unit (7) designed correspondingly for this purpose, the metering device also comprising an illumination device (32), characterised in that the illumination device (32) has a lighting means which is arranged on the opening side of a cavity (24) provided by the bearing dome (11) and / or which is arranged at least partially within the cavity (24) provided by the bearing dome (11).

2. Metering device according to claim 1, characterised in that the lighting means is an LED (17).

3. Metering device according to either of the preceding claims, characterised in that the lighting means is provided by a printed circuit board (16), the housing (4) providing a housing base (19) and the printed circuit board (16) being arranged in a groove (20) formed on the outside of the housing base (19).

4. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the illumination device (32) has an optical waveguide (22) which interacts with the lighting means and which extends at least partially through the cavity (24) provided by the bearing dome (11).

5. Metering device according to claim 4, characterised in that the optical waveguide (22), on the light output side, has an optical element (23) or interacts with such an optical element.

6. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bearing dome (11) is at least partially translucent.

7. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bearing sleeve (12) is at least partially translucent.

8. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the storage container (8) is at least partially translucent.

9. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the optical waveguide (22) and / or the optical element (23) pass through the cavity (24) provided by the bearing dome (11).

10. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the storage container (8) has a container shell (9) which is closed by a sealing film (10) and which has a sleeve receptacle (21) designed to correspond to the bearing sleeve (12) of the support unit (7), into which receptacle the bearing sleeve (12) engages, the sealing film having a through opening (27) in the region of the sleeve receptacle (21).

11. Metering device according to claim 10, characterised in that the optical waveguide (22) and / or the optical element (23) pass through the through opening (27).

12. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the housing (4) has a housing main body (5) and a housing lid (6) arranged pivotably thereon, the optical element (23) being arranged in the gap (26) between the housing lid (6) and the sealing film (10) when the housing lid (6) is closed.

13. Metering device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the housing lid (6) has an optical element (31) that interacts with the optical waveguide (22).