Laundry washing machine for use with unit dose detergent packages

Abstract

A method and apparatus for breaking a unit dose package in a chamber within a post located in a basket of a laundry washing machine. The method includes filling the basket and the chamber, increasing a rotation speed of the basket and/or the post to raise the water level in the basket and lower the water level in the chamber to cause a unit dose package within the chamber to move downwards; reducing the rotation speed to lower the water level in the basket and raise the water level in chamber to cause the unit dose package within the chamber to move upwards; and repeating the steps of increasing and reducing the rotational speed to cause the unit dose package to break open and at least partially dissolve. A laundry washing machine configured to perform this process is also provided.

1 . A laundry washing machine comprising:
 a tub comprising a housing;   a basket mounted within the housing and configured to rotate about a rotation axis;   a post located in the basket and configured to rotate about the rotation axis, the post comprising:
 a chamber located inside the post and configured to allow one or more unit dose packages to move vertically between at least a first location and a second location in the chamber; and 
 one or more chamber passages extending from the chamber to an internal volume of the basket; 
   a water supply system having an outlet configured to direct a flow of water into the basket;   a controller operatively connected to a valve system and a motor system and configured to:
 (a) operate the valve system to supply water from the water supply system to allow a first amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the internal volume of the basket to the chamber and cause the water in the chamber to reach a first chamber water level, 
 (b) operate the motor system to rotate one or both of the basket and the post about the rotation axis to allow a second amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the chamber to the internal volume of the basket and cause the water in the chamber to reach a second chamber water level, and cause the one or more unit dose packages within the chamber to move towards the first location, 
 (c) operate the motor system to adjust the rotation speed of one or both of the basket and the post about the rotation axis to allow a third amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the internal volume of the basket to the chamber and cause the water in the chamber to reach a third chamber water level, and cause the unit dose package within the chamber to move towards the second location, and 
 (d) repeat steps (b) and (c) for a predetermined duration selected to cause the unit dose package to break open. 
   
     
     
         2 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the chamber comprises one or more internally-extending protrusions located between the first location and the second location. 
     
     
         3 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the post is rotationally fixed to the basket. 
     
     
         4 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the post is movable relative to the basket. 
     
     
         5 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the post is selectively rotationally fixed to the basket. 
     
     
         6 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the post comprises a center post of an impeller comprising one or more impeller vanes extending into an internal volume of the basket. 
     
     
         7 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the second chamber water level is less than the first chamber water level. 
     
     
         8 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the third chamber water level is greater than the second chamber water level. 
     
     
         9 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the third chamber water level is greater than the first chamber water level. 
     
     
         10 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 9 , wherein the third basket water level is less than the first water basket level. 
     
     
         11 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the motor system comprises a first motor operatively connected to the basket, and a second motor operatively connected to the post. 
     
     
         12 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 1 , wherein the motor system comprises a single motor operatively connected to the basket and the post, and a clutch configured to selectively connect the motor to rotate the basket alone in a first configuration, and to connect the motor to rotate the basket and impeller together in a second configuration. 
     
     
         13 . A laundry washing machine comprising:
 a tub;   a housing disposed within the tub;   a basket mounted within the housing and configured to rotate about a rotation axis;   a post located in the basket and configured to rotate about the rotation axis, the post comprising:
 a chamber configured to allow one or more unit dose packages to move longitudinally between a first location and a second location and comprising one or more internally-extending protrusions located between the first location and the second location; and 
 one or more chamber passages extending from the chamber to an internal volume of the basket; 
   a controller operatively connected to a valve system and a motor system and configured to:
 (a) operate the valve system to supply water from a water supply system to the basket to allow a first amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the internal volume of the basket to the chamber and cause the water in the chamber to reach a first level, 
 (b) operate the motor system to rotate one or both of the basket and the post about the rotation axis to allow a second amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the chamber to the internal volume of the basket and cause the water in the chamber to reach a second level, and cause the one or more unit dose packages within the chamber to move towards the first location, 
 (c) operate the motor system to adjust the rotation speed of one or both of the basket and the post about the rotation axis to allow a third amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the internal volume of the basket to the chamber and cause the water in the chamber to reach a third level, and cause the unit dose package within the chamber to move towards the second location, and 
 (d) repeat steps (b) and (c) for a predetermined duration selected to cause the unit dose package to break open. 
   
     
     
         14 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 13 , wherein the second level is less than the first level. 
     
     
         15 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 13 , wherein the third level is greater than the second level. 
     
     
         16 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 13 , wherein the post is rotationally fixed to the basket. 
     
     
         17 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 13 , wherein the post is movable relative to the basket. 
     
     
         18 . A laundry washing machine comprising:
 a basket mounted within a housing and configured to rotate about a rotation axis;   a post located in the basket and configured to rotate about the rotation axis, the post comprising:
 a chamber configured to allow one or more unit dose packages to move between a first location and a second location, wherein the first location is below the second location; and 
 one or more chamber passages extending from the chamber to an internal volume of the basket; 
   a controller operatively connected to a valve system and a motor system and configured to:
 (a) operate the valve system to supply water from a water supply system to the basket to allow a first amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the internal volume of the basket to the chamber, 
 (b) operate the motor system to rotate one or both of the basket and the post about the rotation axis to allow a second amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the chamber to the internal volume of the basket to cause the one or more unit dose packages within the chamber to move towards the first location, 
 (c) operate the motor system to adjust the rotation speed of one or both of the basket and the post about the rotation axis to allow a third amount of water to pass through the one or more chamber passages from the internal volume of the basket to the chamber and cause the unit dose package within the chamber to move towards the second location, and 
 (d) repeat steps (b) and (c) to cause the unit dose package to break open. 
   
     
     
         19 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 18 , wherein the chamber comprises one or more internal structures located between the first location and the second location. 
     
     
         20 . The laundry washing machine of  claim 19 , wherein the internal structures comprise protrusions extending into the chamber.