Automatic treating agent dispenser for washing appliance

• US 4,009,598 A
• Filed: 11/26/1975
• Issued: 03/01/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Smith, Roy R., Bernard, James A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coe, Philip R.
• Application Number:
  US05/635,645
• Time in Patent Office: 461 Days
• Field of Search: 68/12 R, 68/17 R, 68/207, 134/100, 134/101, 134/113, 134/104, 222/450, 222/425
• US Class Current: 68/12.18
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 39/02 Devices for adding soap or other washing agents

Abstract

A domestic clothes washer incorporating a system for dispensing predetermined amounts of liquid treating agents wherein an add-on storage tank reservoir is mounted on the washer control console. User operated valves provide gravity flow of the agents from the reservoir into dispensing vessels on the console. The vessels include calibrated viewing windows allowing the user to manually fill the vessels with wash agents to selected levels prior to each washing load for subsequent automatic emptying and passage into the washer during predetermined operations. Means are also provided to flush at least one of the emptied dispensing vessels to the washer drain by diverting a portion of the washer rinse water therethrough.

Claims

1. In a laundry machine having an outer rectangular shaped casing, said casing having an upper wall defining upper edges with said casing, a receptacle for receiving laundry and water supply means for providing water to said receptacle, a hollow control housing above said receptacle on said upper wall, including a front wall and a top wall, extending along an upper edge of said outer casing, a dispensing compartment in said control housing, a settable timer control for initiating and controlling a cycle of operations of the machine including sequential periods of wash and rinse, a liquid agent storage reservoir removably mounted on said top wall above said dispensing compartment, said reservoir providing a storage tank holding a treating agent, means for manually releasing the treating agent from said storage tank into said dispensing compartment in said control housing, means for dispensing the treating agent from said dispensing compartment into the laundry receptacle during a period of wash or rinse;

liquid conduit means, including manually operable valve control means therefor, communicating between said storage tank and said dispensing compartment;

said front wall having an elongated transluscent viewing window associated with said dispensing compartment providing a view of the level of liquid agent therein, said manually operable valve control means being operable for controlling the gravity flow of a liquid agent from said storage tank into said dispensing compartment, indicia means for said viewing window allowing the operator to preselect the quantity of liquid agent to be dispensed by comparing the level of said liquid agent in said viewing window with the desired indicia means while said valve control means is being manually operated and said liquid agent is flowing from said storage tank to said dispensing compartment, and liquid conduit means, including timer operable valve control means therefor, communicating between said dispensing compartment and the laundry receptacle for automatically delivering the preselected quantity of liquid agent to said receptacle.

2. In a laundry machine having an outer casing, said casing having an upper wall defining upper edges with said casing, a receptacle for receiving laundry and water supply means for providing wash and rinse water to said receptacle, a hollow control housing above said receptacle including a front wall and a top wall extending along an upper edge of said outer casing, a plurality of dispensing compartments in said control housing, a settable timer control for initiating and controlling a cycle of operations of the machine including sequential periods of wash and rinse, a liquid agent storage reservoir removably mounted on said top wall, above said dispensing compartments, said reservoir separated into a plurality of storage tanks each holding a treating agent, means for manually releasing a treating agent from a storage tank into an associated dispensing compartment in said control housing means for sequentially dispensing the treating agents from said dispensing compartments into the laundry receptacle during said periods of wash and rinse;

liquid conduit means, each including manually operable valve control means therefor, communicating between each said storage tank and its associated dispensing compartment;

said front wall having an elongated transluscent viewing window associated with each said dispensing compartment providing a view of the level of liquid agent therein, each said manually operable valve control means being operable for controlling the gravity flow of a liquid agent from its respective storage tank into its associated dispensing compartment, indicia means for each of said viewing windows allowing the operator to preselect the quantity of liquid agent to be dispensed by comparing the level of said liquid agent in said viewing window with the desired indicia means while said valve control means is being manually operated and said liquid agent is flowing from one of the storage tanks to its associated dispensing compartment, and liquid conduit means, including timer operable valve control means therefor, communicating between each said dispensing compartment and the laundry receptacle for automatically delivering the preselected quantity of liquid agent to said receptacle.

3. In a laundry machine having an outer casing, said casing having an upper wall defining upper edges with said casing, a receptacle for receiving laundry and water supply means for providing wash and rinse water to said receptacle, a hollow control housing above said receptacle including a front wall and a top wall extending along an upper edge of said outer casing, a plurality of dispensing compartments in said control housing, a settable timer control for initiating and controlling a cycle of operations of the machine including sequential periods of wash and rinse, a liquid agent storage reservoir removably mounted on said top wall above said dispensing compartments, said reservoir separated into a plurality of storage tanks each holding a treating agent, means for manually releasing a treating agent from a storage tank into an associated dispensing compartment in said control housing, means for sequentially dispensing the treating agents, from said dispensing compartments into the laundry receptacle during said periods of wash and rinse;

liquid conduit means, each including manually operable valve control means therefor, communicating between each said storage tank and its associated dispensing compartment;

said front wall having an elongated transluscent viewing window associated with each said dispensing compartment providing a view of the level of liquid agent therein, each said manually operable valve control means being operable for controlling the gravity flow of a liquid agent from its respective storage tank into its associated dispensing compartment, indicia means for each of said viewing windows allowing the operator to preselect the quantity of liquid agent to be dispensed by comparing the level of said liquid agent in said viewing window with the desired indicia means while said valve control means is being manually operated and said liquid agent is flowing from one of the storage tanks to its associated dispensing compartment, liquid conduit means, including timer operable valve control means therefor, communicating between each said dispensing compartment and the laundry receptacle for automatically delivering the preselected quantity of liquid agent to said receptacle, and at least one of said timer operable valve control means comprising upper and lower valves, said upper and lower valves operable by said timer control in unison during one of the wash and rinse periods, flush water conduit means communicating between said water supply means and said upper valve, said timer control operative to open said lower valve to dispense its associated treating agent into the laundry receptacle while opening said upper valve to allow said flush water conduit means to direct a portion of the water provided by said water supply means during said one of said periods into its associated dispensing compartment to flush the treating agent therefrom.

4. In a laundry machine having an outer casing, said casing having an upper wall defining upper edges with said casing, a receptacle for receiving laundry and water supply means for providing wash and rinse water to said receptacle, a hollow control housing above said receptacle including a front wall and a top wall extending along an upper edge of said outer casing, a dispensing compartment in said control housing, a settable timer control for initiating and controlling a cycle of operations of the machine including sequential periods of wash and rinse, a liquid agent storage reservoir removably mounted on said top wall above said dispensing compartment, said reservoir providing a storage tank holding a treating agent, means for manually releasing the treating agent from said storage tank into said dispensing compartment in said control housing, means for dispensing the treating agent from said dispensing compartment into the laundry receptacle during a period of wash or rinse;

liquid conduit means communicating between said storage tank and said dispensing compartment;

said conduit means including manually operable valve means therefore, said front wall having an elongated transluscent viewing window associated with said dispensing compartment providing a view of the level of liquid agent therein, said manually operable valve control means being operable for controlling the gravity flow of a liquid agent from said storage tank into said dispensing compartment, indicia means for said viewing window allowing the operator to preselect the quantity of liquid agent to be dispensed by comparing the level of said liquid agent in said viewing window with the desired indicia means while said valve control means is being manually operated and said liquid agent is flowing from said storage tank to said dispensing compartment, liquid conduit means, including timer operable valve means therefor, communicating between said dispensing compartment and the laundry receptacle for automatically delivering the preselected quantity of liquid agent to said receptacle, and said timer operable valve control means comprising a pair of valves, said pair of valves operable by said timer control in unison during one of the wash or rinse periods, flush water conduit means communicating between said water supply means and one of said pair of valves, said timer control operative to open the other of said pair of valves to dispense its treating agent into the laundry receptacle while opening said one valve to allow said flush water conduit means to direct a portion of the water provided by said water supply means during said one of said periods into said dispensing compartment to flush the treating agent therefrom.