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 for 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 electrical signal from the appliance.
Claims19
An external chemical dosing apparatus arranged to be located external to an appliance having a water inlet, the apparatus comprising:
- a meter arranged to be located external to the appliance and arranged to determine a volume of water supplied, or a rate at which water is being supplied, to the appliance via the water inlet;
- 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 a signal from the meter and to determine from said signal a stage in a cycle the appliance is at and to control the pump or valve in dependence thereon, 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 to control the quantity of chemical dispensed, in dependence on the volume of water supplied via the water inlet to the appliance at that stage of the cycle,
- wherein the control unit is arranged to determine the stage of a cycle an appliance is at by determining the volume of water drawn through the meter for that particular stage of the cycle, during one continuous intake of water, or within a predetermined period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.