[0001] The present invention relates to a washer or washer-dryer comprising a baffle which
filters the rinsing water.
[0002] Effective use of water resources, which are destroyed due to climate change, global
warming and unconscious water consumption, gradually gains more importance. In washing
machines and washer-dryers which combine washing and drying functions, it is a requirement
in terms of energy efficiency that the cleaning of contaminated textile products is
performed with the least amount of water and in the shortest time possible.
[0003] In the rinsing step, water is sent to the textile products cleaned with detergent
in the washing step to remove the detergent. It is known that the detergent remaining
on the textile at the end of the rinsing step is harmful for human health. Therefore,
a high amount of water is consumed in the rinsing step and multiple rinsing cycles
are carried out in order to reduce detergent residues and remove the detergent remaining
on the textile surface at the levels set forth by the standards. Moreover, spin-drying
is performed for rinsing purposes at high speeds to remove the detergent water on
the textile, which causes an increase in energy consumption.
[0004] In the state of the art Korean Patent Document No.
KR101059910B1, a filter unit is disclosed, which is positioned in the body at the lower section
of the tube and which comprises a filter produced from a material such as nonwoven
fabric, etc. in order to cleanse the dirt and detergent residues in the laundry washing
cycle.
[0005] In the state of the art Patent Application No.
KR20030012679A1, a washing machine is disclosed, comprising a filter unit which filters foreign particles
such as fibers, etc. in order to decrease water consumption in the washing cycle.
[0006] The aim of the present invention is the realization of a washer or washer-dryer wherein
the rinsing water which gets dirty with residues such as detergent, fibers, textile
dyes, etc. remaining on the laundry after the first rinsing step is cleaned to be
reused.
[0007] The washer or washer-dryer of the present invention comprises a baffle which filters
the detergent, dye and textile fibers in the rinsing water during the rinsing step.
[0008] The washer or washer-dryer of the present invention comprises a baffle having at
least one nonwoven fabric filter coated with cationic material and/or a cationic polymer
filter. The clean water delivered onto the laundry in the first rinsing step is passed
through the baffle comprising the filter before the second rinsing step to be cleaned
and thus the filtered water can be reused in the rinsing steps.
[0009] The selected cationic polymer material and/or polymer mixtures are in liquid form
according to their molecular weight and the proportion of monomers in the copolymer,
and are in a form suitable to be applied/coated to the nonwoven fabric filter or in
a hard and rigid form, and can be also used in solid form which is filled into the
cylindrical filter body. The filter is detachably placed in a housing in the baffle.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the filter can be directly attached into
the baffle receptacle.
[0010] The nonwoven filter coated with cationic polymer material or the cationic polymer
ball filter filters the detergent residues, textile dyes, dirt and fibers remaining
in the water after the rinsing step so as to enable the water to be cleaned and reused
in the rinsing steps.
[0011] The nonwoven filter in an embodiment of the present invention is produced from biodegradable
and recycled materials.
[0012] By means of the present invention, a washer or washer-dryer is realized, which performs
the washing process with less water and lower number of rinsing steps. Moreover, the
amount of dirt in the waste water generated at the end of the washing cycle is reduced.
[0013] The model embodiments relating to a washer or washer-dryer comprising the baffle
realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention are illustrated in the
attached figures, where:
Figure 1 - is the front view of the washer or washer-dryer of the present invention.
Figure 2 - is the perspective view of the washer or washer-dryer of the present invention in
an embodiment wherein the front and top panels thereof are removed.
Figure 3 - is the exploded view of the baffle in the embodiment of the washer or washer-dryer
of the present invention comprising the polymer filter.
Figure 4 - is the detailed view of the polymer filter of the washer or washer-dryer of the present
invention.
Figure 5 - is the exploded view of the baffle comprising the nonwoven fabric filter in an
embodiment of the washer or washer-dryer of the present invention.
Figure 6 - is the front view of the tub of the washer or washer-dryer of the present invention.
Figure 7 - is the view of the cross-section A-A in Figure 6 in the embodiment wherein the tub
comprises the polymer filter baffle.
Figure 8 - is the view of the cross-section A-A in Figure 6 in the embodiment wherein the tub
comprises the baffle having the nonwoven fabric filter.
Figure 9 - is the detailed view of the Area A in Figure 8 showing the movements of the shutter
when the water reaches the baffle.
[0014] The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:
- 1. Washer or washer-dryer
- 2. Body
- 3. Tub
- 4. Drum
- 5. Baffle
- 6. Filter
- 7. Nozzle
- 8. Lid
- 9. Housing
- 10. Filter body
- 11. Pin
- 12. Upper plate
- 13. First opening
- 14. Second opening
- 15. Discharge opening
- 16. Spring
- 17. First ring
- 18. Second ring
- 19. Sealing member
- 20. Screw thread
- 21. Shutter
- 22. Channel
- 23. Pipe
- 24. Sensor
- 25. Control unit
[0015] The washer or washer-dryer (1) comprises a body (2); a drum (4) which is disposed
in the body (2) and wherein the laundry is loaded; a tub (3) wherein the drum (4)
is disposed; and a baffle (5) which is provided in the drum (4), which has at least
one nozzle (7) providing the delivery of water into the drum (4) and which tumbles
the laundry.
[0016] The washer or washer-dryer (1) of the present invention comprises the baffle (5)
having at least one filter (6) with cationic polymer material filtering residues in
the water such as detergent, dye, etc., at least one housing (9) suitable for the
placement of the filter (6), and a lid (8) which covers the housing (9). Waste materials
such as detergent, textile dye, etc. mixing with the water during the rinsing step
are anionic due to their chemical characteristics. By means of the filter (6) having
cationic polymer material which is placed into the baffle (5) with the use of the
housing (9), the anionic loads in the water are retained by the filter (6) and thus
the rinsing water is cleaned and used more than once in the washing cycle. Moreover,
by means of the lid (8), the filter (6) can be reached without detaching the baffle
(5) from the drum (4), and the filter (6) can be changed.
[0017] In an embodiment of the present invention, the cationic polymer material of the filter
(6) is at least one polymer selected from among acrylate-based copolymer, acrylic
acid homopolymer, polyacrylamide, acrylic acid-acrylamide copolymer and n-vinyl pyrrolidone
- acrylic acid copolymer mixture.
[0018] In an embodiment of the present invention, the washer or washer-dryer (1) comprises
the filter (6) comprising a filter body (10) having an upper plate (12), a first opening
(13) provided on the upper plate (12), a second opening (14) on the filter body (10)
aligning with the first opening (13), a pin (11) disposed between the first opening
(13) and the second opening (14), and a spring (16) surrounding the pin (11) to enable
the pin (11) to be moved in the filter body (10); and the baffle (5) having the lid
(8) which covers the second opening (14), which detachably connects the filter (6)
to the housing (9) and which comprises a discharge opening (15) thereon. In said embodiment
of the present invention, the filter body (10) is placed into the housing (9). The
filter body (10) contains cationic polymer material therein. The filter body (10)
is preferably cylindrical and has the upper plate (12). The second opening (14) aligning
with the upper plate (12) is provided on the filter body (10). The upper surface of
the pin (11) is placed between the first opening (13) and the second opening (14)
so as to be flush with the first opening (13). The pin (11) and the spring (16) move
with the pressure of the water reaching the upper plate (12) during the rinsing step
and the filtered water is delivered into the drum (4) through the discharge hole (15)
provided on the lid (8).
[0019] In an embodiment of the present invention, the filter (6) comprises the pin (11)
having the a first ring (17) placed into the first opening (13) and a second ring
(18) placed into the discharge hole (15). Thus, the pin (11) is tightly mounted into
the filter body (10) and does not move in case there is no water pressure in the rinsing
step.
[0020] In an embodiment of the present invention, the filter (6) comprises two sealing members
(19) one placed between the upper plate (12) and the first ring (17) and the other
placed between the discharge hole (15) and the second ring (18). By means of the sealing
member (19), the water is prevented from leaking into the filter body (10) except
the rinsing step, and thus the economic life of the filter (6) is extended.
[0021] In an embodiment of the present invention, the baffle (5) comprises screw threads
(20) on the lid (8) and the filter body (10) which detachably connect the lid (8)
and the filter body (10) to each other. By means of the screw threads (20) provided
on the lid (8) and the filter body (10), the filter (6) can be detachably attached
to the baffle (5) by being rotated and the filter (6) can be replaced when the economic
life thereof expires.
[0022] In an embodiment of the present invention, the baffle (5) comprises the filter body
(10) which is a nonwoven fabric coated with cationic polymer material, and a shutter
(21) which is placed between the filter (6) and the baffle (5) and which allows the
passage of the rinsing water to the filter body (10). In this embodiment, the filter
(6) can filter textile fiber wastes in addition to textile dye and detergent wastes
thanks to the nonwoven fabric structure thereof.
[0023] In the embodiment of the present invention wherein the filter body (10) is nonwoven
fabric coated with cationic polymer material, the washer or washer-dryer (1) comprises
a pipe (23) placed at one side of the baffle (5), and the lid (8) having a channel
(22) which enables the lid (8) to be opened/closed by pivoting around the pipe so
as to provide access to the filter (6). The filter body (10) which is nonwoven fabric
coated with cationic polymer material has a wide surface and placed into a housing
(9) which is wide like a receptacle in the baffle (5). By means of the structure allowing
the lid (8) to be opened from the baffle (5) by pivoting, the entire housing (9) can
be accessed, and the filter (6) can be easily detached from the baffle (5), when required,
and a new filter (6) can be attached into the baffle (5).
[0024] In an embodiment of the present invention, the washer or washer-dryer (1) comprises
a control unit (25) which enables the rinsing water containing detergent, dust, textile
fiber and textile dye residues to be passed through the baffle (5) to be filtered
during the second and subsequent rinsing steps. Thus, the clean water used in the
washing cycle is not passed through the baffle (5) and the economic life of the filter
(6) is not unnecessarily decreased.
[0025] In an embodiment of the present invention, the washer or washer-dryer (1) comprises
a sensor (24) which measures the amount of residues in the rinsing water and the control
unit (25) which warns the user when the economic life of the filter (6) expires according
to the data received from the sensor (24).
[0026] By means of the present invention, a washer or washer-dryer (1) is realized, comprising
the baffle (5) having the filter (6) which filters the residues in the water such
as detergent, dye, fiber, etc.
1. A washer or washer-dryer (1) comprising a body (2); a drum (4) which is disposed in the body (2) and wherein the laundry
is loaded; a tub (3) wherein the drum (4) is disposed; and a baffle (5) which is provided
in the drum (4), which has at least one nozzle (7) providing the delivery of water
into the drum (4) and which tumbles the laundry, characterized by the baffle (5) having at least one filter (6) with cationic polymer material filtering
residues in the water such as detergent, dye, etc., at least one housing (9) suitable
for the placement of the filter (6), and a lid (8) which covers the housing (9).
2. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the filter (6) comprising at least one cationic polymer material selected from among
acrylate-based copolymer, acrylic acid homopolymer, polyacrylamide, acrylic acid-acrylamide
copolymer and n-vinyl pyrrolidone - acrylic acid copolymer mixture.
3. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized by the filter (6) comprising a filter body (10) having an upper plate (12), a first
opening (13) provided on the upper plate (12), a second opening (14) on the filter
body (10) aligning with the first opening (13), a pin (11) disposed between the first
opening (13) and the second opening (14), and a spring (16) surrounding the pin (11)
to enable the pin (11) to be moved in the filter body (10); and the baffle (5) having
the lid (8) which covers the second opening (14), which detachably connects the filter
(6) to the housing (9) and which comprises a discharge opening (15) thereon.
4. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 3, characterized by the filter (6) comprising the pin (11) having the a first ring (17) placed into the
first opening (13) and a second ring (18) placed into the discharge hole (15).
5. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 3 or 4, characterized by the filter (6) comprising two sealing members (19) one placed between the upper plate
(12) and the first ring (17) and the other placed between the discharge hole (15)
and the second ring (18).
6. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in any one of the Claims 3 to 5, characterized by the baffle (5) comprising screw threads (20) on the lid (8) and the filter body (10) which detachably
connect the lid (8) and the filter body (10) to each other.
7. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized by the baffle (5) comprising the filter body (10) which is a nonwoven fabric coated
with cationic polymer material, and a shutter (21) which is placed between the filter
(6) and the baffle (5) and which allows the passage of the rinsing water to the filter
body (10).
8. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 7, characterized by a pipe (23) placed at one side of the baffle (5), and the lid (8) having a channel
(22) which enables the lid (8) to be opened/closed by pivoting around the pipe so
as to provide access to the filter (6).
9. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by a control unit (25) which enables the rinsing water containing detergent, dust, textile
fiber and textile dye residues to be passed through the baffle (5) to be filtered
during the second and subsequent rinsing steps.
10. A washer or washer-dryer (1) as in Claim 9, characterized by a sensor (24) which measures the amount of residues in the rinsing water and the
control unit (25) which warns the user when the economic life of the filter (6) expires
according to the data received from the sensor (24).