Washing machine with a titration indicator based on measurements of solution conductivity

• US 8,082,764 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2009
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ecolab, Inc.
• Inventors: Howes, Ronald B. Jr., May, Robert E., Howland, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Gakh, Yelena G
• Application Number:
  US12/506,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20090283112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 889 Days
• Field of Search: 68/120.2, 68/121.8, 68/122.7, 682/07, 222/56
• US Class Current: 68/12.27
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/0055 Metering or indication of used products, e.g. type or quantity of detergent, rinse aid or salt; for measuring or controlling the product concentration
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/4293 Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels; Indication of the selected programme, programme progress or other parameters of the programme, e.g. by using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2401/10 Water cloudiness or dirtiness, e.g. turbidity, foaming or level of bacteria
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2401/30 Variation of electrical, magnetical or optical quantities
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2501/26 Indication or alarm to the controlling device or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 31/164 by electrical or electrochemical means

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for indicating satisfactory times for titrating a chemical solution, e.g., cleaning product, used by a utility device to clean and/or sanitize various types of articles. The utility device is described in an exemplary embodiment as being a warewashing machine that applies the chemical solution to articles provided to the machine on racks. The chemical solution is formed in a solution tank from a combination of at least one chemical product and at least one rinse agent. Whereas the chemical product is described as a detergent, the rinse agent is described as water. Over a time period including multiple wash cycles, the chemical product and the rinse agent are added to the solution tank, thereby changing conductivity of the chemical solution. The present invention senses various types of information associated with the formation of the chemical solution and applies one or more test conditions to the sensed information to determine satisfactory time periods for measuring concentration of the chemical product relative to the chemical solution. Indications of the occurrence of these satisfactory times are presented on a display module in a manner visible to field persons responsible for titrating the chemical solution.

Claims

1. A method for indicating a time period for titrating a chemical solution contained in a solution tank of a utility device to determine whether the chemical solution contains a desired concentration of a chemical product, the method comprising:

measuring a current concentration of the chemical product in the chemical solution;

determining whether the current concentration satisfies one of one or more test conditions indicative of the time period for titrating the chemical solution; and

if each of the one or more test conditions is satisfied, displaying a titration indicator indicative of the time period for titrating the chemical solution on a display device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a titration indicator comprises:

generating an icon representing the titration indicator; and

displaying the icon on a graphical user interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a titration indicator comprises supplying a current through a light emitting diode (LED).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a titration indicator comprises activating a plurality of operator perceptible indicia.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein activating a plurality of operator perceptible indicia comprises activating an audio event and a visual event.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining a setpoint value associated with the desired concentration of the chemical product in the chemical solution.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein defining a setpoint value comprises:

presenting a list of possible setpoint values on a graphical user interface; and

receiving, via the graphical user interface, a selection of the setpoint value from among the list of possible setpoint values.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether the current concentration satisfies one of the one or more test conditions indicative of the time period for titrating the chemical solution comprises:

comparing the current concentration of the chemical product to a threshold percentage of the setpoint value.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining, based on control signals associated with a chemical product dispenser, whether or not the chemical product is being dispensed into the solution tank; and

displaying a titration indicator indicative of the time period for titrating the chemical solution on a display device if the current concentration of the chemical product is less than a threshold percentage of the setpoint value and the chemical product is not being dispensed into the solution tank.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the utility device is connected to a product reservoir for storing the chemical product and dispensing the chemical product to the solution tank, and wherein detecting whether the chemical product is being dispensed comprises receiving information from the product reservoir indicating whether the chemical product is being dispensed into the solution tank.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining, based on control signals associated with a chemical product dispenser, whether or not the chemical product is being dispensed into the solution tank;

determining, based on control signals associated with a rinse module, whether or not a rinse agent is being applied to the one or more articles; and

displaying a titration indicator indicative of the time period for titrating the chemical solution on a display device if the current concentration of the chemical product is less than a threshold percentage of the setpoint value, the rinse agent is not being applied to the one or more articles and the chemical product is not being dispensed into the solution tank.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

detecting whether the utility device is performing a wash cycle;

determining, based on control signals associated with a chemical product dispenser, whether or not the chemical product is being dispensed into the solution tank;

determining, based on control signals associated with a rinse module, whether or not a rinse agent is being applied to the one or more articles; and

displaying a titration indicator indicative of the time period for titrating the chemical solution on a display device if the current concentration of the chemical product is less than a threshold percentage of the setpoint value, the rinse agent is not being applied to the one or more articles, the chemical product is not being dispensed into the solution tank and the utility device is performing a wash cycle.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring the current concentration of the chemical product in the solution comprises measuring the current concentration of the chemical product using one or more conductivity cells located within the solution tank.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the utility device is a warewashing machine.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical product includes a detergent and the rinse agent includes water.