Method and control unit for activating detergent for a cleaning appliance with a rotatable drum without ribs, and cleaning appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12435457-B2
Application number	US-202117915417-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2021
Priority date	Mar 30, 2020
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

A detergent activation method for a cleaning appliance having a rotatable non-ribbed drum for holding the textiles) and includes a step of supplying a feed signal to a feed unit of the cleaning appliance. The feed signal causes the cleaning liquid to be fed into a suds container until a predetermined target fill level in the drum is reached. In the supplying step, a motion signal may be supplied to a drive of the cleaning appliance when the target fill level is reached, wherein the motion signal causes a rocking rhythm of the drum. The rocking rhythm defines successive rotational motions of the drum at increasing rotational speeds without a complete revolution of the drum. In the supplying step, a stop signal may be supplied to the drive when a final rotational speed of the rocking rhythm has been reached, to cause the rotational motions of the drum to stop.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for detergent activation for a cleaning appliance having a rotatable non-ribbed drum for holding the textiles, the method comprising the following steps:
supplying a feed signal to an interface of a feed unit of the cleaning appliance, wherein the feed signal causes the cleaning liquid to be fed into a suds container of the cleaning appliance until a predetermined target fill level in the drum is reached;
supplying a motion signal to an interface of a drive of the cleaning appliance when the target fill level is reached, wherein the motion signal causes a rocking rhythm of the drum, wherein the rocking rhythm defines successive rotational motions of the drum at increasing rotational speeds without a complete revolution of the drum including a first rotational motion of the drum in a first direction until the drum has reached a first target rotational speed, and a second rotational motion of the drum in a second direction, opposite the first direction, until the drum has reached a second target rotational speed greater than the first target rotational speed; and
supplying a stop signal to the interface of the drive when a final rotational speed of the rocking rhythm is reached, wherein the stop signal causes the rotational motions of the drum to stop.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the motion signal, in the step of supplying the motion signal, causes the rocking rhythm with a frequency between 0.1 Hz and 0.3 Hz.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the step of supplying the motion signal, the motion signal causes successive rotational motions with a rotational speed increase of between 4 rpm and 6 rpm.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the step of supplying the stop signal, the final rotational speed is between 50 rpm and 70 rpm.

5. The method according to claim 1 , comprising a step of reading in an amount signal via an interface of an amount determination device before the cleaning liquid is fed in, wherein the amount signal represents a load amount of the textiles.

6. The method according to claim 5 , comprising a step of determining the target fill level using the amount signal.

7. The method according to claim 5 , comprising a step of adjusting a frequency of the rocking rhythm using the amount signal.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein, in the adjusting step, a first frequency of the rocking rhythm is adjusted if the amount signal represents a first load amount of the textiles, and a second frequency of the rocking rhythm is adjusted if the amount signal represents a second load amount of the textiles, wherein the second frequency is lower than the first frequency if the second load amount is smaller than the first load amount.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of supplying the feed signal is executed again after the step of supplying the stop signal until the predetermined target fill level is reached again.

10. A control unit configured to execute the steps of the method according to claim 1 in corresponding units.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code for executing the method according to claim 1 .

12. A cleaning appliance for cleaning textiles, comprising:
a suds container for collecting a cleaning liquid;
a rotatable non-ribbed drum disposed in the suds container for holding the textiles;
a feed unit for feeding the cleaning liquid into the drum;
a drive for causing the drum to execute a rotational motion; and
a control unit configured to,
supply a feed signal to an interface of the feed unit, wherein the feed signal causes the cleaning liquid to be fed into the suds container until a predetermined target fill level in the drum is reached;
supply a motion signal to an interface of the drive when the target fill level is reached, wherein the motion signal causes a rocking rhythm of the drum, wherein the rocking rhythm defines successive rotational motions of the drum at increasing rotational speeds without a complete revolution of the drum including a first rotational motion of the drum in a first direction until the drum has reached a first target rotational speed, and a second rotational motion of the drum in a second direction, opposite the first direction, until the drum has reached a second target rotational speed greater than the first target rotational speed, and
supply a stop signal to the interface of the drive when a final rotational speed of the rocking rhythm is reached, wherein the stop signal causes the rotational motions of the drum to stop.

13. The cleaning appliance according to claim 12 , wherein an inside of a drum casing of the drum is smooth apart from an enlargement having a plurality of entraining elements.

14. The cleaning appliance according to claim 13 , wherein the enlargement is directed inwards and projects into a holding space of the drum.

15. The cleaning appliance according claim 13 , wherein at least one of the entraining elements has at least one through-opening which is arranged on a side flank of the entraining element or on an upper edge of the entraining element.

Assignees

• Miele & Cie

Inventors

• Fechtel Benedikt
• Bicker Rainer
• Kortenjann Magnus
• Drücker Markus
• Lasner Steffen
• Sieding Dirk
• Zielke Marcel

Classifications

• D06F37/04 Primary

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F34/18

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

• D06F2103/04

  Quantity, e.g. weight or variation of weight · CPC title

• D06F2103/18

  Washing liquid level · CPC title

• D06F2105/62

  Stopping or disabling machine operation · CPC title