Household appliance and method for lighting a fragrance unit

Abstract

The invention relates to a household appliance with a fragrance function, wherein the household appliance has at least one receptacle for receiving a fragrance unit (205) for storing fragrance for scenting the interior of the household appliance. The household appliance also comprises a light source (320) for emitting light (600) and a light guide (315) for guiding the light (600), wherein the light guide (315) has a light coupling surface for coupling the light (600) into the light guide (315) and at least one light output surface (410) for coupling the light (600) out to illuminate the fragrance unit (205) received by the receptacle.

Description

[0001] Laundry treatment appliance and method for illuminating a fragrance unit.

[0002] The invention relates to a household appliance, a method for illuminating a fragrance unit and a device.

[0003] In household appliances, such as tumble dryers, the textiles in the drum can be scented with different fragrance intensities using fragrance cartridges. The invention generally relates to both household appliances and commercial laundry treatment appliances. These are preferably tumble dryers, washer-dryers, or drying cabinets, i.e., appliances with a treatment chamber into which the laundry to be treated can be placed. Generic laundry treatment appliances are known from DE 10 2009 045580 A1, WO 2010 / 094386 A1, and DE 20 2015 100007 U1.

[0004] The invention aims to provide an improved laundry treatment appliance and an improved method for illuminating a fragrance unit. According to the invention, this object is achieved by a laundry treatment appliance and a method for illuminating a fragrance unit having the features of the main claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are set out in the following subclaims.

[0005] The advantages achieved with the invention lie in the possibility of arranging a light source used to illuminate a fragrance unit in a laundry treatment appliance in a protected and easily electrically contactable manner. By using a light guide, the light source can be placed away from regularly maintained elements of the laundry treatment appliance, such as filter inserts.

[0006] A laundry treatment appliance with a fragrance function is presented, wherein the household appliance has at least one receptacle for receiving a fragrance unit for storing fragrance for scenting an interior of the laundry treatment appliance. Furthermore, the laundry treatment appliance comprises a light source for emitting light and a light guide for guiding the light. The light guide has a light input surface for coupling the light into the light guide and at least one light output surface for coupling the light out to illuminate the fragrance unit received in the receptacle.

[0007] The laundry treatment appliance can preferably be, for example, a device for processing textiles, for example a tumble dryer or one of the devices mentioned above. In this case, the laundry treatment appliance can have one or more fragrance units in the ready-to-use state, which can be, for example, cartridges or bottles for receiving and storing a fragrance, for example in liquid form. Such fragrance units can be placed interchangeably in the laundry treatment appliance. In order to easily identify the fill level and additionally or alternatively an adjustable fragrance intensity of such a fragrance cartridge, for example when a door of the laundry treatment appliance is opened, the laundry treatment appliance presented here is designed to illuminate the fragrance unit.

[0008] The light source, which may be an LED, for example, can be permanently installed in the housing of the tumble dryer and connected to a power supply for the household appliance. The light emitted by the light source can be coupled into the light guide via the light coupling surface and guided through the light guide to its light output surface. The light guide can be arranged in the laundry treatment appliance in such a way that the light output surface is located directly on or very close to the holder for the fragrance unit. This means that light coupled out from the light output surface can advantageously illuminate a fragrance unit inserted in the holder without the need for a direct power supply, for example in the form of a plug-in contact, directly on the fragrance unit or its holder. Instead, a light line is created from the light source to the bottle.The fragrance bottle can be illuminated to make the fill level easier to see and also to show how the fragrance intensity is set. A known light guide, possibly optimized for use in a household appliance, can be used as the light guide. The light guide can achieve very good fill level detection of a fragrance cartridge and easy recognition of a set fragrance intensity through good illumination of the receiving space(s) and the fragrance unit(s) when at least one fragrance unit is arranged or inserted in the holder. When the fragrance unit or fragrance cartridge is not inserted, the receiving space for the cartridge is illuminated accordingly, so that the user can clearly see the insertion status.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the at least one light-output surface can be formed with a prism-shaped structure. For example, a surface of the light-output surface can be formed with a plurality of prisms or with an eroded structure. This can advantageously achieve a slight scattering of the outcoupled light and thus a homogenization of the light.

[0010] The length of the light guide can be suitably selected, for example, at least 15 cm. This allows the light source to be placed at a suitable location in the laundry treatment appliance, spaced from the at least one receptacle.

[0011] According to a further embodiment, the light guide can have a further light-outcoupling surface. The further light-outcoupling surface can be arranged at a distance from the light-outcoupling surface along a longitudinal extension of the light guide, and the further light-outcoupling surface can be designed to couple the light out to illuminate a further fragrance unit arranged in a further receptacle of the laundry treatment appliance. For example, the laundry treatment appliance can comprise two receptacles for accommodating two fragrance units in order to advantageously evenly scent the interior. Accordingly, the number of light-outcoupling surfaces of the light guide can advantageously be adapted to the number of receptacles. The light guide can be rigid or flexible, for example, cable-shaped.The light guide can be shaped to first guide the light emitted by the light source to a light extraction surface, where a first portion of the light can be extracted. The remaining portion of the light that is not extracted can then be directed to the additional light extraction surface to illuminate the additional fragrance unit. For example, the lengths of the extraction surfaces can be dimensioned and shaped so that they emit the same amount of light toward the fragrance bottles, so that they advantageously appear equally bright.

[0012] In addition, the light guide can be formed with a larger diameter at the light extraction surface than at the other light extraction surface. For example, the light guide can be formed with a narrowed cross-section between the light extraction surface and the other light extraction surface. This measure can advantageously increase the effectiveness of the extraction prisms.

[0013] According to a further embodiment, the laundry treatment appliance can comprise a collimator, which can be arranged between the light source and the light coupling surface. The light source can, for example, be at least partially surrounded by another light guide or a first light guide, which can be formed with the collimator. This first light guide can be designed to capture the light from the light source as effectively as possible and to parallelize it using the collimator. This offers the advantage that the transport of the light from the light source to the light guide with the at least one light coupling surface can function with as little loss as possible.

[0014] In addition, the collimator can have a collimating surface for coupling out the light, whereby the collimating surface of the collimator and the light coupling surface of the light guide can be arranged parallel to one another. For example, an air gap of, for example, 0.5 mm can be arranged between the collimating surface and the light coupling surface. This offers the advantage that the light guide and the collimator can be manufactured, installed, and replaced independently of one another with minimal labor. Furthermore, the light guide can be removed from the laundry treatment appliance independently of the light source, for example, to clean a component of the laundry treatment appliance that includes the light guide.

[0015] According to the invention, the laundry treatment appliance comprises at least one filter unit for filtering air that can be introduced into the interior and additionally or alternatively discharged, wherein the filter unit is formed with a receptacle for accommodating the fragrance unit. The light source is arranged outside the filter unit, and the light guide is arranged at least partially within the filter unit. If, for example, the laundry treatment appliance is designed to dry textiles in the interior, then moisture-enriched air can be discharged from the interior, and additionally or alternatively, dry air can be introduced into the interior, for example, using a fan.In particular, when discharging air from the interior, a filter designed, for example, as a sieve offers the advantage of capturing tiny particles released by the textiles, such as lint, before they can get into other parts of the laundry treatment appliance. The corresponding filter unit can, for example, be designed with a cavity to accommodate the fragrance unit. Accordingly, the light guide or at least a section of the light guide with the light output surface can be arranged in or on the filter unit in order to optimally illuminate the fragrance unit arranged in the receptacle. In contrast, the light source can be arranged outside the filter unit, for example on a wall of the interior.When removing the filter unit for cleaning purposes, the light guide can be removed with it, for example, while the light source connected to the power supply can advantageously remain untouched, thus increasing the safety of the person removing the filter unit. Since no light source is located in the filter element, electrical contacts such as plug contacts are advantageously not required.

[0016] According to a further embodiment, the laundry treatment appliance can have a contact element for establishing a power supply to the light source, wherein the contact element can be designed to interrupt the power supply when the filter unit is removed from the household appliance. For example, the contact element can comprise a reed relay that can interrupt the power supply to the light source if, for example, a filter unit containing the light guide and the fragrance unit is removed from the laundry treatment appliance. For this purpose, a magnet can be installed in the filter unit, for example, which can switch off the reed relay as soon as the filter unit has been removed. The reed relay can only conduct current if the magnetic field of the magnet installed in the filter unit can act on the relay.By interrupting the power supply when removing the filter unit, it is advantageously possible to prevent a person removing the filter unit from looking directly into the light exit surface of the light guide and being blinded accordingly.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the laundry treatment appliance can comprise a drum for holding textiles, wherein air can be supplied into the drum through an air duct by means of a fan and additionally or alternatively discharged. The at least one receptacle for accommodating a fragrance unit can be arranged in or on the air duct, so that air guided through the air duct can be scented.

[0018] The laundry treatment appliance can include a heat pump for controlling the temperature of the interior. For example, air passed through an air duct can be tempered and, if necessary, dehumidified using the heat pump. For this purpose, the heat pump can have at least one heat exchanger for transferring thermal energy.

[0019] By designing the laundry treatment appliance with the aforementioned components, the appliance is particularly advantageously configured for use in drying textiles. Furthermore, a method for illuminating a fragrance unit received in the receptacle is presented in a variant of the previously presented household appliance. The method comprises a step of generating light using the light source, a step of coupling the light into the light guide by means of the light coupling surface, and a step of coupling the light out of the light guide by means of the at least one light coupling surface in order to illuminate the fragrance unit received in the receptacle. The approach presented here further provides a device configured to carry out, control, or implement the steps of a variant of a method presented here in corresponding devices.This embodiment of the invention in the form of a device also allows the problem underlying the invention to be solved quickly and efficiently.

[0020] The device therefore comprises the components required for activating the light and for directing the light to the intended locations to illuminate the corresponding fragrance units in active connection.

[0021] An embodiment of the invention is shown purely schematically in the drawings and is described in more detail below. It shows Figure 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a household appliance according to an embodiment; Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a filter unit according to an embodiment; Figure 3 shows a schematic view of a filter unit according to an embodiment; Figure 4 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a device for illuminating a fragrance unit held in a holder in a household appliance; Figure 5A shows a schematic exploded view of an interface between the light source and the light guide according to an embodiment; Figure 5B shows a schematic sectional view of an interface between the light source and the light guide according to an embodiment; Figure 6 shows a schematic view of a beam path of light in a light guide according to an embodiment;and Figure 7 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for illuminating a fragrance unit held by the receptacle in a household appliance. ;

[0022] Figure 1shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a household appliance 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. For example only, the household appliance 100 is designed as a washer-dryer and comprises a drum 105 for holding textiles. In this exemplary embodiment, the drum 105 is arranged in an interior space 107 of the household appliance 100. By means of a fan 110, air can be supplied to and discharged from the drum 105 through an air duct 115 in order to dry textiles arranged therein. Accordingly, the air duct 115 can also be referred to as an air duct. A filter unit 120 arranged on or in an air duct 115, for example, a filter unit 120 arranged at an inlet or outlet of the air duct 115, is designed to filter air guided through the air duct 115. This allows for the filtering out of contaminants that could otherwise, for example, be deposited in the air duct 115.In one embodiment, the filter unit 120 is designed as a removable element to facilitate the removal of textile deposits in or on the filter unit 120. Optionally, the household appliance 100 shown here includes a heat pump 130 with a first heat exchanger 125, a so-called evaporator, and a second heat exchanger 135, also referred to as a condenser.

[0023] According to the embodiment shown, the air from the interior space 107 is sucked into the air duct 115 via the filter element 120, passed through the heat pump 130 and then returned to the interior space 107.

[0024] In one embodiment, the household appliance 100 is equipped with a fragrance system which is designed to use one or more fragrance units as described in the following Figures 2, 3 and 6described, to scent textiles arranged in the interior 107. By way of example, the scenting system is designed to provide laundry arranged in the drum 105 with various scents during a drying process. This system can be enhanced by means of a lighting system that makes the fill level and scenting strength of the scent units used visible. The challenge here is that a corresponding lighting device should be designed in two parts. The first part, which contains the light source, for example an LED, is permanently installed in the housing of the household appliance 100, for example a dryer housing, and optionally also includes a collimator optic. The second part is installed on the receptacle(s) for the at least one scent unit, for example on the filter unit 120, for example in a removable filter sieve below a dryer filling opening.From there, light emitted by the light source can be used via a light guide guided to the at least one receptacle to illuminate the at least one fragrance unit, for example to illuminate several bottles.

[0025] According to various exemplary embodiments, the household appliance 100 comprises one or more receptacles into which one or more fragrance units can be inserted. To facilitate simple replacement or refilling, the at least one receptacle, according to one exemplary embodiment, is arranged in an easily accessible position within the household appliance 100. The exemplary combination of filter element 120 and receptacle is advantageous because the filter element 120 is also arranged in an easily removable manner and is continuously flowed through by air during operation of the household appliance 100.

[0026] Figure 2shows a schematic representation of a filter unit 120 according to an exemplary embodiment. The filter unit 120 shown here, which can also be referred to as a filter element, corresponds to or is similar to the filter unit described in the previous figure and can be used in a household appliance as described in the previous figure. The filter unit 120 is designed to capture residues released from textiles arranged in an interior of the household appliance, such as lint, coarse dirt particles or similar small parts that can be released from the textiles, for example, during a washing or drying process. To facilitate cleaning of the filter unit 120, the filter unit 120 is designed in one exemplary embodiment as an element that can be removed from the household appliance.In one exemplary embodiment, the filter unit 120 additionally comprises a receptacle 200 for receiving a fragrance unit 205, which can also be referred to as a fragrance cartridge or a fragrance bottle. The fragrance unit 205 is designed to store a fragrance for scenting the interior of the household appliance. Once the fragrance unit 205 is received by the filter unit 120, the fragrance can be distributed within the household appliance by means of an air stream flowing through the filter element 120. For example only, the receptacle 200 in the filter unit 120 shown here is formed as an approximately round opening into which the fragrance unit 205 can be manually inserted. In one exemplary embodiment, the fragrance unit 205 can be secured within the receptacle 200, for example, by means of a bayonet lock or a twist lock.

[0027] Figure 3shows a schematic representation of a filter unit 120 according to an exemplary embodiment. The filter unit 120 shown here corresponds to or is similar to the filter unit described in the preceding figures, with the difference that in this exemplary embodiment, in addition to the receptacle 200 for receiving the fragrance unit 205, the filter unit 120 comprises a further receptacle 300 for receiving a further fragrance unit 305. Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, a light guide 315 is arranged along a filter region 310 of the filter unit 120, which is shaped, for example, in a sieve shape.

[0028] The light guide 315 is designed to guide light from a light source 320 to the receptacle and, for example, to the further receptacle, whereby the fragrance units 205, 305 accommodated in the receptacles 200, 300 can be illuminated. In one exemplary embodiment, the light source 320 is arranged outside the filter unit 120, with the light guide 315 being arranged, for example, inside the filter unit 120. In other words, both fragrance bottles are arranged at different distances from the light source 320 positioned on one side of the device in the removable filter unit 120, so that a special design of the light guide branches is required to evenly illuminate both fragrance bottles.

[0029] In one embodiment, a power supply to the light source 320 can be established using a contact element 330. The contact element 330 is designed as a reed relay merely by way of example, with the filter unit 120 in one embodiment comprising a magnet 333. The reed relay only conducts current when the magnetic field of the magnet 333 installed in the filter unit 120 acts on the relay. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the power supply to the light source 320 can be interrupted when the filter unit 120 is removed from the household appliance.

[0030] In other words, from a technical perspective, it is optimal if the light source 320 is permanently installed in the household appliance and if light is guided from this single light source 320 to both fragrance bottles. However, since the fragrance bottles are accommodated in a filter unit 120 that can be removed for cleaning purposes, the light guide system is designed in two parts according to one exemplary embodiment. A first part is permanently installed in the housing of the household appliance and accommodates the light source 320, for example an LED. For this purpose, the first part can comprise a first light guide that is coupled to the light source 320 or into which the light source 320 is integrated. A second part captures the light from the first light guide and evenly couples it out again at two positions above the bottles.Optionally, a contact element, for example in the form of a reed relay, is arranged in the first part, for example in a first light guide housing. This contact element interrupts the power supply to the light source 320 when the filter unit 120 has been removed. This prevents a person removing the filter unit 120 from looking directly into the light exit surface of the first light guide and being blinded. For this purpose, a magnet 333 is installed in the filter unit 120, which switches off the reed relay when the filter unit 120 has been removed.

[0031] Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a device 400 for illuminating a fragrance unit held by a receptacle in a household appliance, as described in the preceding Figure 1The device 400, which can also be referred to as a light guide system or illumination system, comprises a light source 320, which is designed as an LED only by way of example, wherein the light source 320 in the illustration shown here is concealed by an optional collimator 405, which can also be referred to as a first light guide or light guide housing. The collimator 405 is designed, by way of example, to collimate light emitted by the light source 320 and to guide it to a light coupling surface 407 for coupling the light into the light guide 315. Alternatively, the light from the light source 320 can be coupled directly into the light guide 315. The light guide 315 arranged on the collimator 405 in this exemplary embodiment is rigid or flexible according to different exemplary embodiments and, in one exemplary embodiment, has a total length of more than 15 cm or more than 20 cm.

[0032] In one embodiment, the light guide 315 comprises both a light coupling surface 410 for coupling out the light for illuminating a fragrance unit received by a receptacle, as described in the previous figures, and a further light coupling surface 415 for coupling out the light for illuminating a further fragrance unit received by a further receptacle, as described in the previous Figure 3 was described.

[0033] To couple the light out from the interior of the light guide 315, in one embodiment, both light-coupling surfaces 410, 415 are formed with a prism-shaped structure. This prism-shaped surface can preferably be provided with an eroded structure, so that the light-coupling surfaces 410, 415 additionally cause a slight scattering of the outcoupled light and thus contribute to the homogenization of the light.

[0034] In this exemplary embodiment, the further light-outcoupling surface 415 is arranged at a distance from the light-outcoupling surface 410 along the longitudinal extension of the light guide 315. In one exemplary embodiment, a first section L1 of the light guide 315, which is arranged between the light-incoupling surface 407 and the light-outcoupling surface 410, has a length of between 4 cm and 10 cm, for example, a length of 73 mm only. A second section L2 forms the light-outcoupling surface 410 and has a length of between 1 cm and 2 cm, for example, a length of 17.4 mm only. A third section L3 between the light-outcoupling surface 410 and the further light-outcoupling surface 415 has an exemplary length of between 10 cm and 20 cm, for example, a length of 156 mm only.A fourth section L4 forms the additional light-coupling surface 415 and has, for example, a length between 2 cm and 3 cm, for example, a length of 25.8 mm. The lengths of the light-coupling surfaces are dimensioned such that they emit the same amount of light toward the fragrance bottles, so that they appear equally bright. According to one embodiment, the length of the additional light-coupling surface 415 is greater, for example, by at least one-fifth or one-quarter, than the light-coupling surface 410.

[0035] Optionally, the light guide 315 has a bend between the light coupling surfaces 410, 415 with a radius of, for example, at least 20 cm, for example 237 mm.

[0036] According to one embodiment, the light guide 315 has a rectangular cross-section. For example, the cross-section between the light coupling surface 407 and the light coupling surface 410 has a constant first surface, tapers over the course of the light coupling surface 410, has a constant second surface between the light coupling surfaces 410, 415, which is smaller than the first surface, and tapers over the course of the further light coupling surface 415. According to the embodiment shown, the further light coupling surface 415 is arranged at a free end of the light guide 315. According to an alternative embodiment, the light guide 315 continues after the further light coupling surface 415 and has at least one further light coupling surface.

[0037] The Figures 5A and 5Bshow a schematic representation of an interface 500 between the light source 320 and the light guide 315 according to an embodiment. The interface 500 is in the Figure 5A as exploded view and in the Figure 5B shown as a sectional view. The light source 320 shown here as well as the light guide 315 shown correspond to or are similar to those shown in the previous Figures 2 to 4 described light source and light guide.

[0038] In this exemplary embodiment, the light source 320 is designed as an LED and fixed to an exemplary circuit board 502. In one exemplary embodiment, a collimator 405 is arranged between the light source 320 and the light guide 315. The collimator 405 is shaped merely by way of example to partially enclose the circuit board 502 light source 320 as a housing and to collimate light emitted by the light source 320 by means of collimation optics 505. The light can be coupled out of the collimator via a collimation surface 510, which can also be referred to as the output surface of the collimator. In one exemplary embodiment, the collimation surface 510 is arranged parallel to the light coupling surface 407 of the light guide, wherein a distance between the collimation surface 510 and the light coupling surface 407 is 0.5 mm in one exemplary embodiment.

[0039] The collimator 405 functions to capture and parallelize the light from the light source 320 as effectively as possible. This is necessary to minimize losses through the air gap between the collimator 405 and the light guide 315 and to ensure that the light is transported in the light guide 315 with as little loss as possible.

[0040] Figure 6shows a schematic representation of a beam path of light 600 in a light guide 315 according to an exemplary embodiment. The lower part of the figure shows the device 400 for illuminating fragrance units 205, 305, which in this exemplary embodiment comprises the light guide 315, the light source 320, and the collimator 405 arranged merely by way of example between the light guide 315 and the light source 320. In this exemplary embodiment, the light guide 315 comprises two light output surfaces 410, 415 for outputting the light 600, which are shown enlarged in the upper part of the figure shown here.

[0041] The light output surfaces 410, 415, which can also be referred to as output optics, are formed, merely by way of example, with a prism-shaped structure to direct the light 600 from the light guide 315 toward the fragrance bottles. These prisms used here, for example, output a portion of the light 600 guided through the light guide 315 for the fragrance unit 205 arranged on the right in the figure shown here. The remainder of the light 600 can be forwarded to the left output optics and output there via prisms.

[0042] In one embodiment, a narrowing of the cross-section of the light guide 315 is connected to the prisms at both positions. Thus, in this embodiment, the light guide 315 has a larger cross-section at the light output surface 410 than at the further light output surface 415. For example only, a first cross-section D1 of the light guide 315 on a side of the light output surface 410 facing the light source 320 is 7.2 mm in this embodiment, while a second cross-section D2 of the light guide 315 on a side of the light output surface 410 facing away from the light source 320 is 4.5 mm in this embodiment.Similarly, a third cross-section D3 of the light guide 315 on a side of the further light-outcoupling surface 415 facing the light source 320 is 4.1 mm in this exemplary embodiment, and a fourth cross-section D4 of the light guide 315 on a side of the further light-outcoupling surface 415 facing away from the light source 320 is 1.2 mm in this exemplary embodiment. The prisms formed on both light-outcoupling surfaces 410, 415 have an exemplary height D5 of 0.6 mm and an exemplary outcoupling angle W1 for outcoupling the light 600 of 127 degrees. These exemplary measures increase the effectiveness of the outcoupling prisms. The cross-sections D1, D2, D3, D4 extend perpendicular to the main extension of the rod-shaped light guide 315.

[0043] In the lighting simulation of the beam path of the fiber optic system shown here, it can be seen that approximately the same number of light rays illuminate the right and left fragrance bottles, which means that the same amount of light 600 arrives there.

[0044] Figure 7 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method 700 for illuminating a fragrance unit recorded by the recording in a household appliance, as described in the previous Figure 1 The method 700 comprises a step 705 of generating light using the light source, a step 710 of coupling the light into the light guide by means of the light coupling surface, and a step 715 of coupling the light out of the light guide by means of the at least one light coupling surface in order to illuminate the fragrance unit received by the receptacle.

Claims

1. Laundry treatment appliance (100) comprising a fragrance function, the laundry treatment appliance (100) comprising the following features: at least one receptacle (200) for receiving a fragrance unit (205) for storing fragrance for scenting an interior of the laundry treatment appliance (100); a light source (320) for emitting light (600); and an optical waveguide (315) for guiding the light (600), the optical waveguide (315) having a light coupling surface (407) for coupling the light (600) into the optical waveguide (315) and at least one light decoupling surface (410) for decoupling the light (600) to illuminate the fragrance unit (205) received by the receptacle (200), characterized by at least one filter unit (120) for filtering air that can be introduced into and / or removed from the interior (107), the filter unit (120) being formed together with the receptacle (200) for receiving the fragrance unit (205), the light source (320) being arranged outside the filter unit (120) and the optical waveguide (315) being arranged at least partially inside the filter unit (120).

2. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light decoupling surface (410) is formed with a prism-shaped structure.

3. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to either of the preceding claims, wherein the light guide (315) has a further light decoupling surface (415), the further light decoupling surface (415) being arranged at a distance from the light decoupling surface (410) along a longitudinal extension of the optical waveguide (315), the laundry treatment appliance (100) having a further receptacle (300) for receiving a fragrance unit and the further light decoupling surface (415) being designed to decouple the light (600) for illuminating a further fragrance unit (305) arranged in the further receptacle (300) of the laundry treatment appliance (100).

4. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to claim 3, wherein the optical waveguide (315) is formed with a larger diameter at the light decoupling surface (410) than at the further light decoupling surface (415).

5. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a collimator (405) arranged between the light source (320) and light coupling surface (407).

6. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to claim 5, wherein the collimator (405) has a collimation surface (510) for coupling out the light (600), the collimation surface (510) of the collimator (405) and the light coupling surface (407) of the optical waveguide (315) being arranged in parallel with one another.

7. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to claim 1, comprising a contact element (330) for establishing a power supply to the light source (320), wherein the contact element (330) is designed to interrupt the power supply when the filter unit (120) is removed from the laundry treatment appliance (100).

8. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a length of the optical waveguide (315) is at least 15 cm.

9. Laundry treatment appliance (100) according to any of the preceding claims, having a drum (105) arranged within the interior for receiving textiles, wherein air can be introduced into and / or discharged from the drum (105) through an air duct (115) by means of a fan (110), and / or having a heat pump (130) for controlling the temperature of the interior.

10. Method (700) for illuminating a fragrance unit (205) received by the receptacle (200) in a laundry treatment appliance (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method (700) comprises the following steps (705, 710, 715): generating (705) light (600) using the light source (320); coupling (710) the light (600) into the optical waveguide (315) by means of the light coupling surface (407); and decoupling (715) the light (600) out of the light guide (315) by means of the at least one light decoupling surface (410) in order to illuminate the fragrance unit (205) received by the receptacle (200).

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