Unit Dose Dispenser Sensing to Prevent Reuse in Household Appliances
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Solution Overview
Problem
Household appliances face reduced cleaning effectiveness and potential damage when using partially used or refilled unit dose containers, as they may not provide the intended treating chemistry, leading to inconsistent performance and potential harm to the appliance or treated items.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a physical alteration mechanism, such as a cutter or piercer, within the treating chemistry dispenser to alter the unit dose container during the first cycle of operation, and a sensor to detect this alteration, ensuring only new, full containers are used for subsequent cycles, thereby preventing reuse and maintaining optimal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If a unit dose container is reused or refilled, then the appliance can operate for additional cycles, but the cleaning effectiveness is reduced and damage to the appliance or items may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a preliminary physical alteration (cutting or piercing) of the unit dose container during the first cycle operation. This preliminary action modifies the container so that it can be detected in subsequent cycles, preventing reuse and ensuring that only new, full containers are used for reliable cleaning performance.
2Reliability
If a sensor is added to detect physically altered containers, then reuse is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical verification systems with a simpler sensor-based detection system. The sensor detects the physical alteration (cut or pierce) of the container, providing reliable verification of container status through a relatively simple sensing mechanism rather than complex mechanical interlocks or verification procedures.
3Reliability
If a physical alteration mechanism is added to the dispenser, then container reuse is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting or piercing function is extracted as a separate, dedicated mechanism within the dispenser system. This specialized component performs the physical alteration of the container in a controlled manner, isolating this function from the main dispensing mechanism and simplifying the overall system architecture by giving each function its own dedicated element.
Data Source
AI summary
A household appliance having a treating chamber in which is received an article for treatment, a treating chemistry dispenser configured to receive a unit dose container for the treating chemistry, and a controller for executing at least one cycle of operation and a method of operating the household appliance to physically alter a unit dose container in conjunction with a at least one cycle of operation and sensing same.