IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,195,908
Granted Patent B2
US 12,195,908 · App. 18/101,329 · Granted Jan 14, 2025

Method for operating a laundry washing machine using a unit dose package and laundry washing machine implementing the method

Inventors: Marco Mariuzzo (Porcia, IT); Michela Gasparollo (Porcia, IT)
Assignee: Electrolux Appliances Aktiebolag
D06F39/02D06F39/028
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,195,908
App. No.
18/101,329
Granted
Jan 14, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A laundry washing machine equipped with a treating agents dispenser comprising a drawer having a compartment suitable to receive a unit dose package comprising a pre-measured amount of treating agent incorporated into a water-soluble pouch. The laundry washing machine has a control unit configured to convey a first amount of water to the compartment to wet the unit dose package, pause, then convey a second amount of water to the compartment for breaking the water-soluble pouch of the unit dose package.

Claims (36)

1. A method for operating a washing machine having a treating agents dispenser comprising at least one compartment including a first compartment configured to receive a unit dose package comprising a pre-measured amount of treating agent incorporated into a water-soluble pouch, at least one water conveying line configured to convey water to the at least one compartment, and a passage fluidly connecting the treating agents dispenser to a washing tub, the method comprising:

during a first period of time, wetting a unit dose package in the first compartment by conveying a first amount of water to the first compartment through the at least one of the water conveying line to contact the unit dose package with a first velocity;

during a second period of time, occurring, at least in part, after the first period of time, breaking the unit dose package in the first compartment by conveying a second amount of water to the first compartment through the at least one water conveying line to contact the unit dose package with a second velocity, the second velocity being greater than the first velocity, so that the treating agent is released; and

during a third period of time, occurring, at least in part, after the first period of time, flushing the released treating agent from the first compartment and through the passage, by conveying a third amount of water through the at least one water conveying line to the first compartment.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the third period of time overlaps the second period of time.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the third period of time is after the second period of time.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein conveying the third amount of water to the first compartment comprises conveying at least a portion of the third amount of water through an unpressurized water conveying line.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein conveying the third amount of water to the first compartment comprises conveying at least a portion of the third amount of water through a pressurized water conveying line.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein conveying the second amount of water to the first compartment comprises conveying the second amount of water through at least one pressurized water conveying line to cause the second amount of water to form a water jet in the first compartment, the water jet being directed towards the unit dose package.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the water jet comprises a laminar-flow water jet.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the water jet comprises a coherent stream of water having a uniform shape from an outlet of the pressurized water conveying line to the unit dose package.

9. The method according to claim 6 , wherein conveying the first amount of water to the first compartment comprises conveying the first amount of water through at least one unpressurized water conveying line.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one unpressurized water conveying line is in fluid communication with one or more additional outlets located above one or more additional compartments that are separate from the first compartment.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first amount of water comprises cold water received from a cold water plumbing line; the second amount of water comprises cold water received from a cold water plumbing line; and at least some of the third amount of water comprises hot water received from a hot water plumbing line.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the third amount of water comprises a first amount of cold water received from a cold water plumbing line, and a second amount of water received from a hot water plumbing line.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: conveying the first amount of water to the first compartment comprises directing the first amount of water to one or more first outlets located above a peripheral portion of the first compartment; and conveying the second amount of water to the first compartment comprises directing the second amount of water to one or more second outlets located above a central portion of the first compartment; and the peripheral portion surrounds the central portion.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first compartment comprises an outlet at a lateral side of the compartment; conveying the first amount of water to the first compartment comprises directing the first amount of water to one or more first outlets located above a first portion of the first compartment; and conveying the second amount of water to the first compartment comprises directing the second amount of water to one or more second outlets located above a second portion of the first compartment; and the first portion of the first compartment is located in a lateral direction between the outlet and the second portion of the first compartment.

15. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising not conveying any water to the first compartment for a period of time between the first period of time and the second period of time.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the washing machine comprises a laundry washing machine having a rotatable drum configured to receive laundry located within the washing tub.

17. A method for operating a washing machine having a treating agents dispenser comprising one or more compartments including a first compartment configured to receive a unit dose package comprising a pre-measured amount of treating agent incorporated into a water-soluble pouch, one or more unpressurized water conveying lines configured to convey water by gravity to the one or more compartments, one or more pressurized water conveying lines configured to convey pressurized water to the one or more compartments, and a passage fluidly connecting the treating agents dispenser to a washing tub, the method comprising:

during a first period of time, wetting the unit dose package by conveying a first amount of water to the first compartment through at least one of the unpressurized water conveying lines and the pressurized water conveying lines;

during a second period of time, after the first period of time, breaking the water-soluble pouch of the unit dose package inside the first compartment so that the pre-measured amount of treating agent is released, by conveying a second amount of water through at least one of the pressurized water conveying lines to the first compartment; and

during a third period of time, after the first period of time, flushing the released pre-measured amount of treating agent from the first compartment and through the passage, by conveying a third amount of water through at least one of the unpressurized water conveying lines to the first compartment.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein:

at least one of the one or more pressurized water conveying lines terminates at one or more respective pressurized outlets located above a central portion of the first compartment;

at least one of the one or more unpressurized water conveying lines terminates at one or more respective unpressurized outlets located above a peripheral portion of the first compartment; and

the peripheral portion surrounds the central portion.

19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein:

the first compartment comprises an outlet at a lateral side of the compartment;

at least one of the one or more pressurized water conveying lines terminates at one or more respective pressurized outlets located above a first portion of the first compartment;

at least one of the one or more unpressurized water conveying lines terminates at one or more respective unpressurized outlets located above a second portion of the first compartment; and

the first portion of the first compartment is located in a lateral direction between the outlet and the second portion of the first compartment.

20. A method for operating a washing machine having a treating agents dispenser comprising one or more compartments including a first compartment configured to receive a unit dose package comprising a pre-measured amount of treating agent incorporated into a water-soluble pouch, one or more unpressurized water conveying lines configured to convey water by gravity to the one or more compartments, one or more pressurized water conveying lines configured to convey pressurized water to the one or more compartments, and a passage fluidly connecting the treating agents dispenser to a washing tub, the method comprising:

during a first period of time, wetting the unit dose package by conveying a first amount of water to the first compartment through at least one of the unpressurized water conveying lines and the pressurized water conveying lines, wherein the at least one of the unpressurized water conveying lines is in fluid communication with one or more additional outlets located above one or more additional compartments that are separate from the first compartment;

during a second period of time, after the first period of time, breaking the water-soluble pouch of the unit dose package inside the first compartment so that the pre-measured amount of treating agent is released, by conveying a second amount of water through at least one of the pressurized water conveying lines to the first compartment; and

during a third period of time, after the first period of time, flushing the released pre-measured amount of treating agent from the first compartment and through the passage, by conveying a third amount of water through at least one of the unpressurized water conveying lines to the first compartment, wherein conveying the third amount of water to the first compartment further comprises conveying at least a portion of the third amount of water through a pressurized water conveying line.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 19, 2023
From: MARIUZZO, MARCO; GASPAROLLO, MICHELA
To: ELECTROLUX APPLIANCES AKTIEBOLAG
Reel/Frame 063380/0105 →
Priority Claims (1)
EP 16188493 · Sep 13, 2016 · regional
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17171193 · Feb 9, 2021
Continuation 16332116
Related Publication 20230160130A1 · May 25, 2023
References Cited (133)
US 2821848A · Becker · 1958 [cited by applicant]
US 2933912A · Billings · 1960 [cited by applicant]
US 3385085A · Engel · 1968 [cited by applicant]
US 3589150A · Poletiek et al. · 1971 [cited by applicant]
US 4759202A · Caron · 1988 [cited by applicant]
US 4882917A · Mizusawa et al. · 1989 [cited by applicant]
US 5548978A · Bongini et al. · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 5884506A · Blauert et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 7036177B2 · Aouad et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 7181934B2 · Hsu et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 8931311B2 · Leibman et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9271627B2 · Alexander et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9574297B2 · Berndsen et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9637857B2 · Del Pos et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9663893B2 · Malheiros · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9850618B2 · Burger et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9903063B2 · Carpenter et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 9970148B2 · Alexander et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 9976246B2 · Malheiros · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10480113B2 · Favaro et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10519590B2 · Malheiros · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10731284B2 · Alexander et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10815607B2 · Costa et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20040088796A1 · Neergaard et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040200245A1 · Cheo et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20050102767A1 · Aouad et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050166645A1 · Favret et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050229652A1 · Kim et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050241072A1 · Kim et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050274156A1 · Yang · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20070130700A1 · Cho et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20070163307A1 · Kramme et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20070240456A1 · Byun et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20080295546A1 · Cho et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20090119849A1 · Hill et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090293203A1 · Hettinger et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20100325815A1 · Im et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20110247147A1 · Amos et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110277515A1 · Doh · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120060301A1 · Kim et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120060568A1 · Buso et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120067089A1 · Buso et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120272691A1 · Leibman et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20140060121A1 · Burger et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140060581A1 · Alexander et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140060594A1 · Alexander et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140157835A1 · Del Pos et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140165663A1 · Celotto et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150013075A1 · Herrera et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150059413A1 · Yoo et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150267340A1 · Malheiros · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150345069A1 · Leibman et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160047077A1 · Leibman et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160237612A1 · Ghosh et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170073877A1 · Hettinger et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170297770A1 · Snider et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180073185A1 · Burger et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180135226A1 · Alexander et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180155864A1 · Alexander et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190017208A1 · Marangoni et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190136440A1 · Clarke et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200370229A1 · Bensel et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210025103A1 · Li et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
BR 202014023113Y1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 1316109C · 2007 [cited by applicant]
DE 7834912U1 · 1979 [cited by applicant]
DE 19535203C1 · 1996 [cited by applicant]
DE 19537671A1 · 1997 [cited by applicant]
EP 0959171A1 · 1999 [cited by applicant]
EP 1126070A1 · 2001 [cited by applicant]
EP 2025798A2 · 2009 [cited by applicant]
EP 2239363A1 · 2010 [cited by applicant]
EP 2241669A1 · 2010 [cited by applicant]
EP 2497855A1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
EP 3037582A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
EP 3184688A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
EP 3257998A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
EP 3293302A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
EP 2540902B1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
EP 3660198A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
FR 1209601A · 1960 [cited by applicant]
GB 586424 · 1947 [cited by applicant]
GB 589374 · 1947 [cited by applicant]
JP 2016073330A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
KR 101215448B1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO 2005059229A1 · 2005 [cited by applicant]
WO 2005061685A1 · 2005 [cited by applicant]
WO 2007051988A1 · 2007 [cited by applicant]
WO 2015197109A1 · 2015 [cited by applicant]
WO 2016101994A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO 2016102005A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/322,046, mailed Aug. 31, 2023, 7 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/752,364, mailed Aug. 15, 2023, 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/822,728, mailed Apr. 7, 2023, 15 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/054,667, mailed May 1, 2023, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/128,947, mailed Mar. 22, 2023, 13 pages. [cited by applicant]
Brazilian Written Opinion for Brazilian Application No. 112019003786-1, dated Jun. 23, 2021, 4 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,757, mailed Aug. 6, 2020, 15 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,921, mailed Mar. 19, 2020, 28 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,935, mailed Mar. 18, 2021, 21 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/822,637, mailed May 9, 2022, 27 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/822,728, mailed Jul. 12, 2022, 24 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Preliminary Report on Patentability for International Application No. PCT/EP2014/079176, dated Jun. 27, 2017, 7 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/EP2020/068875, dated Sep. 22, 2020, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/EP2020/071064, dated Nov. 9, 2020, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/EP2017/072466, dated Nov. 10, 2017, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/EP2019/072846, dated Oct. 22, 2019, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/EP2014/079129, dated Mar. 23, 2015, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/EP2014/079176, dated Mar. 9, 2015, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/IB2019/000746, dated Jun. 25, 2020, 18 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,757, dated Apr. 1, 2020, 17 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,757, dated Oct. 16, 2020, 20 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,912, dated Aug. 19, 2020, 19 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,921, dated Apr. 30, 2021, 16 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,921, dated Dec. 22, 2020, 32 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,935, dated Jan. 25, 2021, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/522,156, dated Feb. 10, 2021, 46 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 16/822,728, dated Oct. 24, 2022, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/128,947, dated Mar. 2, 2022, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/541,941, dated Mar. 14, 2022, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 15/537,701, mailed May 19, 2020, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,757, mailed Mar. 17, 2021, 30 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,912, mailed Dec. 9, 2020, 17 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,912, mailed Feb. 22, 2021, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/131,935, mailed Jun. 24, 2021, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/332,116, mailed Jan. 25, 2021, 8 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/332,116, mailed Mar. 19, 2021, 23 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/522,156, mailed Jun. 29, 2021, 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 16/822,637, mailed Aug. 22, 2022, 7 pages. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 17/171,193, mailed Oct. 25, 2022, 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Entire patent prosecution history of U.S. Appl. No. 16/332,116, filed Mar. 11, 2019, entitled, “Method for Operating a Laundry Washing Machine Using a Unit Dose Package and Laundry Washing Machine Implementing the Metho… [cited by applicant]
Entire patent prosecution history of U.S. Appl. No. 17/171,193, filed Feb. 9, 2021, entitled, “Method for Operating a Laundry Washing Machine Using a Unit Dose Package and Laundry Washing Machine Implementing the Method… [cited by applicant]
Entire patent prosecution history of U.S. Appl. No. 17/541,941, filed Dec. 3, 2021, entitled, “Method for Operating a Laundry Washing Machine Using a Unit Dose Package and Laundry Washing Machine Implementing the Method… [cited by applicant]