METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING LIQUID FABRIC TREATMENT COMPOSITIONS IN WASHING MACHINES
A method and apparatus for delivering and transferring a liquid fabric treating composition to saturated clothing within a clothes washing machine during the course of a laundering operation comprises operating the washing machine in the conventional fashion to perform a washing cycle and a rinse cycle. A liquid fabric treating composition is introduced into the washing machine with the saturated clothing after completion of the rinse cycle but in advance of the spin cycle. The liquid fabric treating composition and the saturated clothing are tumbled together so that an effective amount of the liquid fabric treating composition may be transferred to the clothing as a result of contact of the liquid fabric treating composition with water that is contained in the clothing after completion of the rinse cycle. The spin cycle in then initiated, after which time the clothing may be removed from the washing machine for drying.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/882,685 filed Dec. 29, 2006 for all commonly disclosed subject matter. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/882,685 is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety to form a part of the present disclosure.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a method and apparatus for delivering a liquid fabric treatment composition to clothing within a clothes washing machine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThere are generally two types of clothes washing machines commercially available, namely, top loading machines and front loading machines. Although operation of such machines varies to some extent from manufacturer to manufacturer, typically water is introduced into the machine with the clothing and detergent is added either manually or automatically in advance of a washing cycle. After completion of the washing cycle, the wash water is drained and clean rinse water is added. The clothes are rinsed in a rinse cycle and then the rinse water is drained from the washer leaving the clothing saturated with water. A spin cycle is initiated to remove as much water as possible from the clothing, after which the damp clothing may be removed from the washing machine for drying.
Fabric treating compositions have been developed which are capable of imparting one or more of a variety of properties to articles of clothing, such as softness, fragrance, brightening, bodying, reduced static, anti-soiling, anti-creasing and others. Liquid fabric treating compositions, such as liquid fabric softeners sold under the “Downy” brand owned by Proctor & Gamble of Cincinnati, Ohio, are conventionally introduced into both front loading and top loading clothes washing machines during the rinse cycle. Front loading washing machines use much less water than top loading machines in the rinse cycle, but with both types of machines a significant quantity of water is nevertheless introduced into the washing machine. Consequently, liquid fabric treating compositions added during the rinse cycle must be delivered in relatively high concentrations in order to transfer onto or into the fabric of the clothing. In addition to the expense of concentrated fabric treating compositions, it has been found that a significant percentage of such compositions fail to effectively transfer to the clothing and are washed away with the rinse water at the end of the rinse cycle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention is directed to a method and apparatus for delivering and transferring a fabric treating composition to wet clothing within a clothes washing machine. In the presently preferred embodiment, the washing machine is operated in the normal fashion through the rinse cycle, i.e. rinse water is introduced into the washing machine following the wash cycle and then drained leaving the clothing saturated with water. Unlike conventional washing machines, a liquid fabric treating composition is introduced into the washing machine with the saturated clothing after completion of the rinse cycle but in advance of the spin cycle. The liquid fabric treating composition and the saturated clothing are tumbled together for a period of time so that an effective amount of the liquid fabric treating composition may be transferred to the clothing as a result of contact of the liquid fabric treating composition with water contained in the clothing. The spin cycle in then initiated, after which time the clothing may be removed from the washing machine for drying.
The structure, operation and advantages of the presently preferred embodiment of this invention will become further apparent upon consideration of the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring initially to
Once the washing cycle is completed, the wash water is drained from the washer as depicted by box 18. It is contemplated that draining of the wash water may be accomplished in any suitable fashion, such as by spinning the drum of the washer or the like. A rinse cycle is then performed as schematically represented by boxes 20, 22 and 24 in
It is recognized that even if the rinse cycle of a conventional washing machine ends with spinning of the drum to drain the rinse water, the clothing in the drum is nevertheless saturated with water. The method an apparatus of this invention includes two activities conducted between the end of the rinse cycle and before the initiation of the spin cycle. After the rinse water is drained but before initiating the spin cycle, liquid fabric treating composition is directed into contact with the saturated clothing within the washing machine. See box 26. As discussed below, this may be accomplished by spraying the composition from a nozzle located within the interior of the drum or other means. The saturated clothing and liquid fabric treating composition are tumbled for a period of time sufficient to transfer an effective amount of the liquid fabric treating composition to the clothing as a result of contact of such composition with water contained within the clothing. See box 28. The spin cycle 30 may then be initiated, and the clothing removed from the washing machine when the spin cycle is completed. See box 32.
Without wishing to be limited by any particular theory of operation of the method of this invention, it is believed that the active ingredient(s) within the liquid fabric treating composition is transferred to the clothes within the washing machine as a result of contact of the composition with the water held within the saturated clothing in the washer. No precise volumetric measurement can be given for the amount of water contained within articles of clothing following a rinse cycle due to variations in the quantity of water employed in the rinse cycle of different washing machines, whether and to what extent the rinse cycle ends with spinning of the drum of the washing machine to remove water, the degree of water retention of clothing articles made from different materials (cotton, synthetics etc) and other factors, but such articles of clothing nevertheless contain some amount of water at the end of the rinse cycle and for purposes of the present discussion are characterized as “saturated.” After contacting the saturated clothing, the liquid fabric treating composition migrates or transfers throughout the water held in the clothing, and transfers from one article of clothing to another while being tumbled together within the washing machine. It is believed that the fabric treating composition need not make contact with the water contained in each individual article of clothing, but that it need only contact at least some of the articles to transfer the composition thereon. Once some articles of clothing receive the fabric treating composition, they transfer it to other articles by contact with the water in such other articles. By the completion of the tumbling cycle depicted by box 28 in
A wide variety of active ingredients may be employed in the liquid fabric treating composition depending upon the particular property or properties to be imparted to the clothing. Such active ingredients may include, without limitation, anti-creasing agents, anti-soil agents, bacteriostatic agents, brightening agents, bodying agents, softening agents, dyes, fiber emollients, finishing agents, fragrances, insect repellants, germicides, lubricants, mildew-proofing agents, moth-proofing agents, shrinkage controllers and sizing agents. Additives and auxiliaries may also be included in the composition, such as preservatives, anti-static agents, fragrances and others.
The liquid fabric treating composition may comprise a carrier and one or more active ingredients each capable of imparting a particular property or characteristic to an article of clothing. Such active ingredients may include, without limitation, anti-creasing agents, anti-soil agents, anti-static agents, bacteriostatic agents, brightening agents, bodying agents, softening agents, dyes, fiber emollients, finishing agents, fragrances, insect repellants, germicides, lubricants, mildew-proofing agents, moth-proofing agents, shrinkage controllers and sizing agents.
The carrier may be water. The active ingredients noted above may include different classes of compounds, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, but each compound selected for the liquid fabric treating composition of this invention may be added to the carrier to form a solution, dispersion or emulsion at ambient temperatures, without the addition of heat.
One particular type of active ingredient may comprise a single material or a mixture of materials which are known to provide benefits to the skin. Clothing which receives a skin-treating active ingredient from the liquid fabric treating composition in accordance with the method of this invention subsequently transfers it to the skin when the clothing is worn by an individual.
The skin-treating active ingredient can comprise essentially any known component for treating human skin, such as insect repellants, UV absorbers, skin moisturizers, tanning agents, wrinkle removers, deodorants, cellulite reducers, vitamins, anti-oxidants, minerals, lipid layer enhancers, hair growth suppressants, emollients, botanical actives and the like. The skin treating active ingredient can be derived from a broad range of classes of materials such as emollients, lubricants, super-fatting agents, natural extracts which provide benefits to the skin depending upon the nature of the natural extracts, the lees from wine-making, DNA derivatives, hydrolyzed proteins both of animal and vegetable origin, derivatives of the hydrolyzed proteins, plant extracts, the skin-active portions of plant extracts and the like.
One particular skin-treating active ingredient suitable for use in the liquid fabric treating composition is commercially available under the trademark PLANTATEX™ HCC owned by Cognis Deutchland GmbH & Co. This ingredient is a wax dispersion with glyceryl esters, an emulsifier and water. It contains skin treating components such as glycerol oleate, which is a lipid layer enhancer.
The liquid fabric treating composition may further include one or more additives and auxiliaries to provide known benefits to the treated articles of clothing such as anti-static properties, a pleasing aroma, improved shelf life and the like. For example, preservatives such as formaldehyde, parabens, pentanediol, sorbic acid and other classes of compounds may be added, as is well known in the art. A number of different fragrances can be employed in the composition to create the desired smell of the clothing, including, without limitation, rose oil, lavender, lilac, jasmine, vanilla, wisteria, lemon, apple blossom or compound bouquets such as citrus, spice, aldehydic, woods, oriental, baby powder and others.
Referring now to
A reservoir 58 is mounted within the hollow interior 38 of the housing 36, and it is coupled to a cold water line 60 having a valve 62 and a hot water line 64 having a valve 66. One end of an outlet line 68 may be connected to the base of the reservoir 58, and its opposite end mounts to a dispenser such as a nozzle 70 coupled to the rotating drum 46. As shown in
The operation of the washing machine 34 is governed by a controller 80, as diagrammatically illustrated in
While boxes 26 and 28 depicted in
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof.
For example, application of the liquid fabric treating composition onto the clothing 82 within the drum 46 is described above as being accomplished by the flow of water through a compartment 78 in reservoir 58, through outlet line 68 and out of the nozzle 70. However, it is contemplated that the liquid fabric treating composition may be directed into contact with the clothing 82 within the drum 46 by other means such as a manually operated spray device, or alternative automatic means.
Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method of transferring a liquid fabric treating composition to clothing in a washing machine during the course of a laundering operation, comprising:
- (a) introducing clothing into the washing machine;
- (b) performing a washing cycle;
- (c) performing a rinse cycle following the washing cycle, the clothing containing at least some water at the conclusion of the rinse cycle;
- (d) contacting the clothing with a liquid fabric treating composition following the completion of the rinse cycle;
- (e) tumbling the clothing so that an effective amount of the liquid fabric treating composition is transferred to the clothing as a result of contact of the liquid fabric treating composition with water contained within the clothing; and
- (f) thereafter performing a spin cycle.
2. The method of claim 1 in which steps (d) and (e) are performed substantially simultaneously.
3. The method of claim 1 in which step (d) is performed and thereafter step (e) is performed.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the clothing is tumbled prior to contacting the clothing with a liquid fabric treating composition.
5. The method of claim 1 in which step (d) comprises emitting liquid fabric treating composition supplied from a reservoir from a dispenser and onto clothing located within the washing machine.
6. The method of claim 1 in which step (e) comprises rotating a drum within which the clothing is located at a speed that allows the clothing to tumble substantially without loss of the water that is present in the clothing after completion of the rinse cycle.
7. A washing machine, comprising:
- a housing;
- a tub located within said housing;
- a drum located within said tub, said drum being adapted to receive clothing to be laundered;
- a drive mechanism coupled to said drum, said drive mechanism being effective to rotate said drum within said tub;
- a reservoir containing a detergent and a liquid fabric treating composition, said reservoir being coupled to a dispenser that communicates with said drum;
- a controller coupled to said drive mechanism and to said reservoir, said controller being effective to operate said drive mechanism and said reservoir to perform a washing cycle followed by a rinse cycle, said controller operating said reservoir after completion of said rinse cycle so that liquid fabric treating composition is emitted from said dispenser and into contact with clothing located within said drum, said controller causing said drum to tumble the clothing with said liquid fabric treating composition so that an effective amount of the liquid fabric treating composition is transferred to the clothing as a result of contact of the liquid fabric treating composition with water that is present in the clothing after the completion of the rinse cycle, said controller being effective to thereafter initiate a spin cycle.
8. The washing machine of claim 7 in which said controller simultaneously causes the liquid fabric treating composition to be emitted from said dispenser and into contact with the clothing and causes the clothing to tumble within said drum.
9. The washing machine of claim 7 in which said controller initially causes the liquid fabric treating composition to be emitted from said dispenser and into contact with the clothing, and then causes the clothing to tumble within said drum.
10. The washing machine of claim 7 in which said controller initially causes the clothing to tumble within said drum and then causes the liquid fabric treating composition to be emitted from said dispenser.
11. The washing machine of claim 7 in which said controller causes said drum to rotate at a speed so that the clothing is tumbled substantially without loss of the water that is present within the clothing after completion of the rinse cycle.
12. The washing machine of claim 7 in which said dispenser is a spray nozzle.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 18, 2007
Publication Date: Jul 3, 2008
Inventors: J. Michael Ogden (Cincinnati, OH), Arthur V. Shannon (Hopewell, NJ)
Application Number: 11/958,781
International Classification: D06F 39/08 (20060101); D06F 37/30 (20060101); D06F 33/00 (20060101);