Chemical dosing system
AssigneeSelden Research Ltd.
InventorsPeter Woodhead, Terry Holland, Ian Morris
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a chemical dosing system for an appliance, such as a laundry washing machine or a dishwashing machine, having a water inlet, the system comprising a meter determining the volume of water supplied to the appliance, a pump for dispensing a quantity of a chemical to the appliance and a control unit arranged to receive a signal from the meter and to cause to be dispensed to the appliance a volume of chemical that is proportional to the quantity of water supplied to the appliance. The disclosed system may enable a correct quantity of chemical to be automatically dispensed to many types of appliance, without the need to know anything about the appliance, or to derive an electrical signal from the appliance.
Claims14
An external chemical dosing system arranged to be located external to an appliance having a plurality of water inlets, the chemical dosing system comprising:
- a plurality of flow sensors each arranged to be located external to the appliance each flow sensor arranged to be associated with a respective water inlet of the plurality of water inlets of the appliance, and each flow sensor being arranged to determine when water is being supplied through a respective water inlet;
- at least one meter arranged to be located external to the appliance and arranged to determine a volume of water supplied to the appliance through one or more water inlets of the plurality of water inlets, or a rate at which water is being supplied to the appliance through one or more water inlets of the plurality of water inlets;
- a pump or valve arranged to be located external to the appliance for dispensing a volume of chemical to the appliance;
- and
- a control unit arranged to be located external to the appliance, the control unit being arranged to:
- receive signals from each flow sensor of the plurality of flow sensors and from the at least one meter and to determine from said signals a stage in a cycle the appliance is at, by determining through which water inlets of the plurality of water inlets water is being drawn into the appliance,
- control the pump or valve in dependence on the stage of the cycle the appliance is at, to cause the pump or valve to dispense a chemical to the appliance appropriate for the stage of the cycle the appliance is at;
- and
- control the quantity of chemical dispensed to the appliance in dependence on the signal, or signals, received from the at least one meter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.