Selective dispensing of laundry additives during automatic machine laundering of fabric
First Claim
1. A system for providing laundry additive material to the water during a cycle of a multiple cycle fabric laundering operation carried out in a drum-containing automatic washing machine, which system comprises:
- a unit dose package containing a laundry additive material;
a housing structure into which said additive-containing unit dose package can be inserted, said housing structure being positioned within the drum of said automatic washing machine, said housing structure including a plurality of chambers; and
a piercing element in said housing for opening said unit dose package;
wherein the chambers are interconnected and arranged such that during a first spin cycle, the additive flows from said unit dose package to a first chamber and, if the additive is not released from the housing after the first spin cycle, during a second spin cycle the additive flows from the first chamber to a subsequent chamber.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are systems, methods, devices and kits for the timed dispensing of laundry additive materials into the drum during a cycle of a multiple cycle fabric laundering operation. To bring about such dispensing of additives, a housing structure device having multiple chambers is placed within the drum of an automatic washing machine, a unit dose insert package, containing laundry additives in at least one compartment of the insert, is placed within the housing structure, and the machine is run through the several stages of its laundering cycle. A piercing element is provided to open the compartment of the insert in the laundering cycle to dispense contents of this compartment into the washing machine drum as rinse additive materials. The contents move from the insert to the first chamber of the housing structure device by centrifugal force arising during the first spin cycle of the laundering operation. The centrifugal force also holds the contents within the first chamber until cessation of the spin cycle. The contents move from the second chamber to the third chamber to be dispensed from the housing structure into the washing machine drum upon cessation of the spin cycle and during the second spin cycle.
63 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for providing laundry additive material to the water during a cycle of a multiple cycle fabric laundering operation carried out in a drum-containing automatic washing machine, which system comprises:
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a unit dose package containing a laundry additive material;
a housing structure into which said additive-containing unit dose package can be inserted, said housing structure being positioned within the drum of said automatic washing machine, said housing structure including a plurality of chambers; and
a piercing element in said housing for opening said unit dose package;
wherein the chambers are interconnected and arranged such that during a first spin cycle, the additive flows from said unit dose package to a first chamber and, if the additive is not released from the housing after the first spin cycle, during a second spin cycle the additive flows from the first chamber to a subsequent chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for introducing laundry additive material into the water during a cycle which occurs in a multiple cycle fabric laundering operation carried out in a drum-containing automatic washing machine, which method comprises:
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providing a unit dose package containing a laundry additive material;
providing a housing structure into which said additive-containing unit dose package can be inserted, said housing structure being positioned within the drum of said automatic washing machine, said housing structure comprising a plurality of chambers and a piercing element in said housing for opening said unit dose package, wherein the chambers are interconnected and arranged such that during a first spin cycle, the additive flows from said unit dose package to a first chamber and if said additive is not released from said housing after said first spin cycle, during a second spin cycle, said additive flows to a subsequent chamber. running said automatic washing machine through one or more spin cycles to thereby apply centrifugal force to said additive-containing unit dose package within said housing structure, said centrifugal force serving to move the contents thereof into said first chamber of said housing structure and hold said contents within said first chamber during said first spin cycle, and thereafter said additive flows from said first chamber to a subsequent chamber during a second spin cycle. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification