Laundry treating appliance having a bulk dispensing assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12146255-B2
Application number	US-202117491848-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2021
Priority date	Oct 6, 2017
Publication date	Nov 19, 2024
Grant date	Nov 19, 2024

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance includes a cabinet defining an interior. A drum is located within the interior and defines a treating chamber. The laundry treating appliance includes a recirculation circuit including a recirculation pump having an inlet and an outlet. The laundry treating appliance further includes a bulk treating chemistry dispenser. A method for rinsing or cleaning the bulk treating chemistry dispenser can be included.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of rinsing or cleaning a bulk treating chemistry dispenser for a laundry treating appliance, the method comprising:
monitoring an operation of the laundry treating appliance;
determining by a controller that a rinse cycle or a cleaning cycle for the bulk treating chemistry dispenser is due; and
prompting a user to add rinsing liquid to at least one treating chemistry reservoir contained within the bulk treating chemistry dispenser.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring a number of cycles of operation of the laundry treating appliance.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring an amount of time since a treating chemistry has last been added to the at least one treating chemistry reservoir.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring a state of the at least one treating chemistry reservoir.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the state of the at least one treating chemistry reservoir comprises a level of treating chemistry therein or emptiness thereof.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the state of the at least one treating chemistry reservoir includes information indicating that the treating chemistry contained within the at least one treating chemistry reservoir is going to be changed.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the monitoring comprises receiving information from a user interface of the laundry treating appliance.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the rinse cycle or cleaning cycle is due includes a user initiating a rinse cycle or cleaning cycle via a user interface of the laundry treating appliance.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the bulk treating chemistry dispenser comprises multiple treating chemistry reservoirs.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the determining by the controller comprises determining that the rinse cycle or the cleaning cycle is due for only one of the multiple treating chemistry reservoirs and the prompting comprises prompting the user to add rinsing liquid to the one of the multiple treating chemistry reservoirs.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising initiating the rinse cycle or the cleaning cycle based on a user input and/or a determination by the laundry treating appliance rinsing liquid has been added to the at least one treating chemistry reservoir.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising monitoring a state of the treating chemistry reservoir.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the controller determines the at least one treating chemistry reservoir has been filled with the appropriate amount of rinsing fluid based on the rinsing and initiating the rinse cycle or the cleaning cycle based thereon.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the laundry treating appliance further comprises a recirculation circuit including a recirculation pump and at least one metering pump fluidly coupled to the at least one treating chemistry reservoir.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the recirculation pump and the at least one metering pump are operated sequentially during the rinse cycle or the cleaning cycle.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising draining the rinsing liquid.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the bulk treating chemistry dispenser further comprises a dispensing hose fluidly coupled at an angle to the recirculation circuit downstream of a pump outlet of the recirculation pump.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising a dosing coupler configured to fluidly couple the dispensing hose with a recirculation hose of the recirculation circuit at the angle.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the rinse cycle or the cleaning cycle is configured to rinse at least one of: the at least one treating chemistry reservoir, the dispensing hose, the metering pump, or the dosing coupler.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the rinse cycle or the cleaning cycle is configured to rinse at least one of the at least one treating chemistry reservoir, a liquid passage, a metering pump, or a dosing coupler.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Bueno Rommy Mariana
• Luhahi Ndjeka K
• Griswold Eric G
• Salazar Joel Aldebaran
• Kehl Dennis
• Guzman Alejandro
• Key Steven
• Van Zoest Ryan James

Classifications

• D06F39/12

  Casings; Tubs · CPC title

• D06F39/087

  Water level measuring or regulating devices · CPC title

• D06F39/085

  Arrangements or adaptations of pumps · CPC title

• D06F35/008

  for disinfecting the tub or the drum · CPC title

• D06F34/28

  Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress · CPC title