Dispensing treating chemistry in a laundry treating appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11560666-B2
Application number	US-202017096236-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2020
Priority date	Oct 6, 2011
Publication date	Jan 24, 2023
Grant date	Jan 24, 2023

Abstract

An appliance and method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment and a dispensing system having a dispensing pump for dispensing a treating chemistry for use in treating the laundry, the method comprising determining a soil level of laundry in the treating chamber and determining a dispensing parameter based on the determined soil level.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating appliance, comprising:
a treating chamber configured for receiving a laundry load;
a dispensing system adapted to dispense a treating chemistry to the treating chamber;
at least one system configured to operate during a treatment cycle of the laundry load;
at least one sensor configured to provide an output related to a characteristic of the at least one system or a laundry load characteristic; and
a controller configured to receive the output and determine a dispensing parameter based on the output wherein the dispensing parameter is defined by one or more of a delivery rate of the treating chemistry, a dilution rate of the treating chemistry, a flow rate of a water supply, a flow rate of a dispensing pump, or a length of a dispensing interval and the controller configured to operate the dispensing system in accordance with the dispensing parameter.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor is a laundry amount sensor operably coupled to the controller, the laundry amount sensor outputting an amount signal indicative of an amount of laundry in the treating chamber.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 , further comprising a drum rotatably mounted within a tub with at least one of the tub or the drum defining the treating chamber.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 3 wherein the laundry amount sensor comprises a motor configured to selectively rotate the drum and wherein the motor is operably coupled with the controller and the motor is configured to output a torque signal indicative of the amount of laundry in the drum to the controller.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 wherein the at least one sensor is a laundry type sensor outputting a laundry type signal indicative of a type of laundry in the treating chamber and wherein the dispensing parameter is determined by the amount of laundry and the type of laundry.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispensing system includes a dispensing pump operably coupled to the controller and adapted for dispensing the treating chemistry.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 6 wherein the controller is configured to control a flow rate of the treating chemistry based on the output and a dilution of the treating chemistry.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 7 wherein the at least one system is a liquid supply system operable to fluidly couple the treating chamber with a water supply.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 wherein the dispensing system further comprises a mixing chamber fluidly coupled with the liquid supply system and an output of the dispensing pump, the mixing chamber adapted for mixing the treating chemistry with water.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 wherein the dispensing system is fluidly coupled with the liquid supply system and wherein the treating chemistry is dispensed via the dispensing pump into the liquid supply system.

11. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 wherein the controller is configured to control the liquid supply system to supply water to the treating chamber and further configured to control the dispensing system to dispense the treating chemistry at the flow rate for a duration of the supply of water.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor is a treating chamber temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a weight sensor, a chemical sensor, a position sensor, or a motor torque sensor.

13. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispensing system is configured to dispense multiple treating chemistries and the controller is configured to determine dispensing parameters for each treating chemistry to be dispensed during a cycle of operation.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface operably coupled to the controller, the user interface configured to output a laundry amount indication to the controller.

15. The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 wherein the user interface further comprises a cycle selector and outputting the laundry amount indication comprises outputting a user selected cycle.

16. The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 wherein the user interface further comprises a parameter selector and outputting the laundry amount indication comprises outputting a user selected parameter selection.

17. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a mixing chamber fluidly located between the dispensing system and the treating chamber and wherein dispensing the treating chemistry comprises supplying the treating chemistry into the mixing chamber.

18. The laundry treating appliance of claim 17 wherein the at least one system is a water supply system configured to supply water to at least one of the treating chamber, the dispensing system, or the mixing chamber.

19. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 wherein the at least one sensor comprises a flow meter operably coupled to the water supply system and configured to output a signal to the controller indicative of the flow rate of a flow of water within the water supply system.

20. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the dispensing system is one of a single use dispenser, a bulk dispenser, or a combination dispenser that is configured to provide bulk dispensing and single dose dispensing.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Hendrickson Michael S
• Kaeding Janice M

Classifications

• D06F34/18

  Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight · CPC title

• D06F2105/42

  Detergent or additive supply · CPC title

• D06F33/57

  of metering of detergents or additives · CPC title

• D06F39/02 Primary

  Devices for adding soap or other washing agents · CPC title

• D06F33/37

  of metering of detergents or additives · CPC title