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US 9,307,887 B2Granted
Dishwasher appliance with ozone level monitoring
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorRamasamy Thiyagarajan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present subject matter provides a dishwasher appliance that measures the amount of ozone in a wash chamber of the appliance. The appliance is also configured for adjusting the amount of ozone in the wash chamber based upon such measurements. The appliance may adjust the amount of ozone by, e.g., adjusting the flow rate of wash fluid to the wash chamber, adjusting the flow rate of air in the wash chamber, and/or adjusting the temperature of wash chamber. Related methods are also provided.
Claims20
A dishwasher appliance comprising:
- a cabinet having a wash chamber;
- a rack assembly slidably received into the wash chamber and configured for receipt of articles for cleaning;
- a spray arm assembly for applying a fluid to the articles in said rack assembly;
- a pump in fluid communication with the spray arm assembly, said pump configured for selective delivery of the fluid to said spray arm assembly;
- an ozone generator in fluid communication with said spray arm assembly, said ozone generator configured for selective generation of ozone;
- an ozone sensor configured for measuring an amount of ozone in the wash chamber of said cabinet;
- and
- a processing device in communication with said pump, said ozone generator, and said ozone sensor, wherein the processing device is configured for:
- activating said pump in order to initiate a flow of fluid to said spray arm assembly;
- operating said ozone generator in order to introduce ozone into the flow of fluid to said spray arm assembly while said pump is activated;
- conducting a measurement of the amount of ozone in the wash chamber of said cabinet with said ozone sensor;
- comparing the measurement of the amount of ozone within the wash chamber of said cabinet to a predetermined value;
- and
- changing the amount of ozone within the wash chamber of said cabinet by adjusting said pump in order to modify the flow rate of the flow of fluid to said spray arm assembly at least in part in response to determining that the measurement of the amount of ozone within the wash chamber of said cabinet is approaching the predetermined value.
11 more elements
A dishwasher appliance comprising:
- a cabinet having a wash chamber;
- a rack assembly slidably received into the wash chamber and configured for receipt of articles for cleaning;
- a spray arm assembly for applying a fluid to the articles in the rack assembly;
- a pump in fluid communication with the spray arm assembly, the pump configured for selective delivery of the fluid to the spray arm assembly;
- an ozone generator in fluid communication with the spray arm assembly, the ozone generator configured for selective generation of ozone;
- an ozone sensor configured for measuring an amount of ozone in the wash chamber of the cabinet;
- and
- a processing device in communication with the pump, the ozone generator, and the ozone sensor, wherein the processing device is configured for:
- operating the pump during a rinse cycle in order to urge the fluid to the spray arm assembly;
- activating the ozone generator during the rinse cycle in order to inject ozone into the fluid;
- measuring the amount of ozone within the wash chamber of the cabinet during the rinse cycle with the ozone sensor;
- comparing the measured amount of ozone in the wash chamber of the cabinet to a predetermined value;
- and
- changing the amount of ozone within the wash chamber of the cabinet by adjusting a speed of the pump of the dishwasher appliance during the rinse cycle if the measured amount of ozone in the wash chamber of the dishwasher appliance is approaching an upper limit or a lower limit such that a flow rate of the fluid to the spray arm assembly changes.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.