Dosing device and system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dosing devices for automatic washing machines face challenges in accurately dispensing tablets of active ingredients, particularly due to issues like moisture-induced swelling or stickiness of powders and spatial constraints, leading to jamming and inefficient dispensing mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A dosing device with a container and metering mechanism that includes an agitation means to prevent tablets from becoming wedged, featuring a moveable metering mechanism and agitation means that projects from the container to agitate tablets near the exit port, ensuring smooth dispensing into the washing machine.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If tablets are stored in a container inside the washing machine, then multiple doses can be delivered automatically, but tablets become wedged against each other due to moisture and humidity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a vibration mechanism that vibrates the container or tablet storage area to prevent tablets from becoming wedged together. The vibration disturbs the static friction between tablets and between tablets and the container walls, ensuring reliable tablet movement and dispensing even in humid environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes physical parameters such as container orientation, tablet surface texture, or material properties to reduce moisture adhesion. By modifying these parameters, the system prevents tablets from sticking together while maintaining automatic dosing functionality.
2Manufacturing precision
If a rotating disc with guides is used to control tablet delivery, then tablets can be metered accurately, but the device becomes bulky and awkward to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the guiding function from a complex rotating disc with multiple guides and simplifies it to a single outlet aperture or a minimal guiding structure. This reduction removes unnecessary complexity while retaining the essential tablet metering capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using guides to push tablets through a complex path, the patent inverts the approach by allowing tablets to exit naturally through a simple aperture, using gravity and vibration to control movement rather than mechanical guidance.
3Reliability
If tablets are fed through a feed chute and conveyor device, then jams are reduced, but the dosing device takes up a lot of space inside the dishwasher
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the feed chute and conveyor device entirely, replacing them with a direct gravity-fed system where tablets move from the container through a simple outlet. This extraction of unnecessary components dramatically reduces device volume while maintaining reliable tablet feeding through optimized outlet geometry and vibration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the storage container and dispensing mechanism into a single integrated unit, eliminating the need for separate feed chutes and conveyors. The container itself is designed with features that enable direct tablet delivery, merging multiple functions into one compact structure.
4Ease of operation
If spherical or cylindrical tablets are used, then they can be dispensed easily, but they are more difficult to manufacture and have flat faces that wedge together
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes tablet surface parameters by adding texture, grooves, or non-stick coatings to flat-faced tablets. This modification prevents wedging while maintaining the ease of manufacturing flat tablets, and the vibration mechanism further ensures reliable dispensing without requiring complex spherical shapes.
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 effectively prevents tablet jamming and ensures reliable, efficient dispensing of active ingredients by agitating tablets near the exit port, maintaining the integrity of the dosing mechanism and preventing moisture ingress, thus enhancing the operational reliability and space efficiency of the dosing system.
Implementation Method 1
an agitation means projecting from the metering mechanism to agitate at least one tablet in the vicinity of the exit port
Data Source
AI summary
A dosing device or system for dispensing tablets, which can include at least one active ingredient for an automatic washing process, into an automatic washing machine, wherein the dosing device or system is for dispensing one or more, but not all, of the tablets at once into the automatic washing machine, and wherein the dosing device or system can be for dispensing only one tablet at once.