The invention relates to a laundry treatment cabinet, comprising
EP 2267213 A1 discloses a laundry treatment cabinet with a device for treating the process air, wherein the device comprises a treatment space and a flow generator for conveying the air through the treatment space, in which the air is treated photocatalytically. This treatment is carried out continuously, i.e., uninterrupted during operation of the process air blower, by means of an excitation light.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a laundry treatment cabinet which provides an improved and need-based treatment of the laundry in a simple manner.
According to the invention, at least this object is solved by a storage cabinet having the features of claim 1. Advantageous features and further embodiments of the invention can be found in the respective dependent claims.
The advantages that can be achieved with the invention are that the process air is conditioned in a simple manner as needed. In particular, due to the treatment cabinet proposed here, odour emissions can be reduced in a targeted manner or at predetermined times depending on the requirements predetermined by the user. For this purpose, the device for air treatment comprises its own flow generator for conveying the air through the reactor chamber, in addition to the assembly or the flow generator in the assembly for providing the process air. The interior space represents the treatment space for the laundry and is not movable relative to the housing or assembly. The laundry is suspended in the interior space, preferably by means of clothes hangers, wherein means can be present to move the clothes hangers in order to improve the flow of the process air through the clothing. Furthermore, a steam generator can be provided in the cabinet in order to introduce steam into the interior space, which can in turn act on the laundry. The movement of the clothes hangers and the activity of the steam generator are preferably controlled by the control apparatus.
In an expedient embodiment, the assembly is arranged in the base region of the cabinet, below the interior space, wherein the device for air treatment is arranged in the upper region of the cabinet, above the interior space. This means that the process air is admitted into the interior space from below and extracted, wherein a circulation of the process air is provided within the interior space, which flows through the entire interior space or reaches at least almost the entire interior space. The process air thus reaches and correspondingly dries or conditions the laundry located in the interior space, for example with steam or a treatment agent.
In an expedient embodiment, the air to be treated is extracted through an inlet in the upper region of the interior space and admitted into the reactor chamber. After the treatment, the air is admitted into the interior space again from the reactor chamber through the air outlet in the upper region of the interior space. The air outlet is located at a distance from the air inlet, preferably 10 cm to 50 cm. The air inlet is preferably arranged in the rear region and the air outlet is preferably arranged in the front region or in the central region on the upper side of the interior space. It is thus ensured that a circulation of the air to be treated through the interior space takes place and the process air is achieved at least in a partial region. Overall, all position and direction information relates to the operational installation position of the laundry treatment cabinet.
In an overall expedient embodiment, the control apparatus is further configured to activate and deactivate the device for air treatment, irrespective of the control of the assembly. For this purpose, the control apparatus can be designed and programmed to activate and deactivate the device for treating the interior air on the basis of a predetermined time sequence. This means that the activation times for the conditioning module are specified on the basis of a predetermined schedule so that the module is active only at certain times. This saves energy because the device is always inactive when no conditioning or disinfection of the process air is necessary. The control apparatus is preferably configured to activate and deactivate the flow generator of the device.
In an overall expedient embodiment, the storage cabinet comprises an operating device which is configured to provide a user input for the progression of the activity of the device and to transmit said user input to the control apparatus. Thus, for example, a schedule of when the device is to be activated for air treatment can be specified by the user. Furthermore, the intensity of the air treatment can be set. Furthermore, the intensity and/or the duration of the air treatment can be assigned to a particular laundry type. Then, the user only needs to enter the laundry type to be treated by means of the operating device, wherein the intensity and/or duration of the air treatment is set according to the assignment to the initialized laundry type.
In an overall advantageous embodiment, the device for air treatment comprises the following:
To set the intensity of the catalyst effect and overall air purification, the control apparatus is expediently programmed and configured such that the pulse/pause ratio between the switch-on time and the switch-off time determines the intensity of the air purification. This embodiment is particularly easy to implement because time progressions that include only switching on and off of actuators can be programmed and complex hardware changes are avoided.
In another embodiment, the control apparatus can be programmed and configured such that the radiation means can be activated continuously with different powers and the control apparatus is configured to switch the corresponding power to the radiation means. This requires a possibility of, for example, a configurable amplifier or circuit breaker, which correspondingly receives a corresponding power value from the control apparatus.
In an advantageous development of the laundry treatment cabinet, the device comprises a sensor for detecting the air quality, preferably a VOC sensor (volatile organic compounds), with which odours can be detected. The sensor is connected to the control apparatus so that it can set the duration of the treatment and/or the intensity of the treatment, so that a good result is always achieved in the shortest time. In this case, the sensor is attached in a protected manner behind the inlet, optionally behind the inlet filter within the reactor chamber.
In an overall expedient embodiment, the radiation agent comprises at least one UV LED, wherein the at least one activatable catalyst mat comprises titanium dioxide as a catalyst material or consists of titanium dioxide. The catalyst mat preferably comprises a carrier layer, for example a woven fabric, gauze, non-woven fabric or an open-pore foam, which is coated on one or both sides with the catalyst material. This ensures durability and catalytic effect throughout the service life of the laundry treatment cabinet.
In an overall advantageous embodiment, multiple catalyst mats are attached at a distance from one another in the reactor chamber. A large reactive area for the catalyst material is thereby provided with compact dimensions of the reactor space.
In an advantageous embodiment or development, the catalyst mats are attached in the reactor chamber longitudinally in the direction of flow, so that the air to be treated can flow through the intermediate spaces between the spaced-apart catalyst mats and through the intermediate space between the catalyst mat and the adjacent chamber wall of the reactor chamber in each case.
In an advantageous embodiment, the mat or mats are designed to be pleated, whereby the active or activatable surface of each mat is increased.
In an overall advantageous embodiment, the reactor chamber is arc-shaped, semicircular or dome-shaped, wherein the apex is located at the top. The catalyst mats are shaped in an arc-shaped, semicircular or dome-shaped manner according to the shape of the reactor chamber. As a result, a single radiation source can be arranged at the centre point or focal point, which radiation source fans out the activating light and thereby scatters it broadly and reaches the entire surface of said stretched mat with almost uniformly distributed intensity.
In an overall expedient embodiment, the radiation means is designed such that it can be activated with different powers, wherein the control apparatus is configured to switch the corresponding power to the radiation means.
In a further, overall expedient embodiment, the control apparatus is configured to activate the blower and the radiation means for period 10% to 80%, based on the entire treatment time for the laundry. This protects the air treatment device and ensures a long service life because no process air is conveyed through the reactor chamber when the air treatment device is inactive.
In an overall advantageous further development, the control apparatus is configured to activate the blower and the radiation means depending on the laundry type to be treated or the type of care, preferably with respect to the duration and/or intensity.
An embodiment of the invention is shown purely schematically in the drawings and is described in more detail below. In the drawings:
The device 40 for air treatment is arranged in the upper region of the housing 2 above the interior space 3. It comprises
The air is thereby disinfected, odours removed and germs or other unwanted spores are killed. A filter 43 on the inlet side 42 serves to prevent dust and lint from entering the reactor chamber 50. The filter 43 can optionally be used and comprises a non-woven material, activated charcoal or woven material, preferably a combination of the components mentioned.
In the embodiment shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2021/5276 | Apr 2021 | BE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2022/059006 | 4/5/2022 | WO |