Dishwasher Dosing Channel Flushing With Pivoting Sealing Flap
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dosing devices in dishwashers face issues with cleaning agent residues leaking into structural gaps, leading to clumping and device failure, and the flushing mechanism is not guaranteed to be effective due to potential blockages and alignment issues with spray nozzles.
Innovation Solution
A dosing device with a separate flushing device and a pivotable sealing flap that separates the discharge channel into dry and wet areas, ensuring reliable rinsing of cleaning agent residues and preventing moisture entry into the storage container, while using a flushing nozzle and distribution contour for optimized flushing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spray nozzle is used to flush the discharge channel, then cleaning agent residues can be rinsed out, but the spray nozzle may become blocked or misaligned, making the flushing unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The discharge channel is divided into a dry area and a wet area by a sealing flap. The flushing device only needs to flush the wet area, which is a segmented approach that reduces the complexity and improves the reliability of the flushing mechanism compared to flushing the entire discharge channel.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing flap is extracted as a separate component that can be pivoted to open or close the discharge channel. This allows the flushing device to operate independently on the wet area without being affected by blockages or misalignment issues in the dry area, improving flushing reliability.
2Productivity
If the discharge channel is left open to allow cleaning agent flow, then dosing is efficient, but moisture can enter the storage container causing cleaning agent clumping and device failure
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing flap is designed to be dynamic, pivoting between a closed position (when no dosing is required) to prevent moisture entry, and an open position (during dosing) to allow efficient cleaning agent flow. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between dosing efficiency and device reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing flap creates a local sealed environment in the dry area of the discharge channel, while the wet area remains open for dosing. This local quality differentiation allows the system to maintain both dosing efficiency and device reliability by isolating the storage container from moisture while allowing efficient dosing through the open wet area.
3Reliability
If manual cleaning of the discharge channel is required to remove residues, then complete rinsing can be achieved, but user intervention increases maintenance time and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The flushing device is designed to automatically rinse the wet area of the discharge channel after dosing, enabling self-service cleaning without requiring user intervention. The sealing flap facilitates this by confining the flushing action to the wet area, making the automated flushing effective and eliminating the need for manual cleaning.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures safe and residue-free rinsing of the discharge channel, prevents uncontrolled release of cleaning agents, and minimizes manual cleaning, maintaining the integrity and efficiency of the dosing process.
Implementation Method 1
a sealing flap (33) arranged within the discharge channel (36), which can be pivoted from a closed position to an open position and vice versa
Implementation Method 2
a flushing device (48) with at least one flushing nozzle (49), which, during operation, serves to flush the discharge channel (36) at least partially with rinsing liquid
Implementation Method 3
a distribution contour (51), which, during operation, interacts with the flushing nozzle (49) in such a way that the rinsing liquid jet emitted by the flushing nozzle (49) is fanned out
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1a
Figure 2a~2b
AI summary
The invention relates to a dosing device for the metered introduction of a pourable cleaning agent into a treatment chamber of a program-controlled cleaning device, in particular a dishwasher, comprising a storage container (18) for housing the cleaning agent and a support unit (19) rotatably arranged about a pivot axis (20), which interchangeably receives the storage container (18), wherein the storage container (18) has a storage chamber (21) and a dosing channel (23) opening into a dosing opening (24), as well as a discharge channel which, in the case of dosing, is in fluid-technical contact with the dosing channel (23) and which opens into the treatment chamber via a discharge opening, and a rinsing device for at least partially rinsing the discharge channel with rinsing fluid.