FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to the pretreatment of water for use in home appliances. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a water pretreatment system for supplying water to a home appliance and to a changeable water filter in combination with a controlled mixing valve for the pretreatment of water in a home appliance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Depending on the particular geographical location, as well as whether water is from a municipal water supply or from a private well, the water quality can vary greatly for things like the hardness, softness, mineral content such as iron, chlorine content, microorganisms, and other impurities. The water quality can have an adverse effect on the performance of a home appliance. For example, water from a water dispenser or ice from an ice maker in a refrigerator appliance can have a bad taste and/or odor or can have an unpleasant color if the water is not properly pretreated. Similarly, untreated water supplied to a dishwasher appliance can adversely affect the overall performance of the dishwasher appliance and can result in mineral build up and staining.

Water filters with interchangeable filter cartridges are known for use with home appliances such as refrigerators, ice makers, dishwashers, coffee makers, steam cookers, and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, the conventional water filters are not equipped to deal with the wide range in water quality that is encountered by consumers when connecting home appliances to the household water supply.

Also, for home appliances that use hot water, such as dishwashers, washing machines, and steam ovens, the hot water drastically reduces the lifetime of the water filter to the extent that it has not been practical to filter the hot water from the household water supply.

An apparatus consistent with the present disclosure is directed to providing a system for the pretreatment of water for use in home appliances such as, but not limited to, dishwashers, washing machines, and steam ovens that use hot water.

An apparatus consistent with the present disclosure is directed to providing a changeable water filter in combination with a mixing valve for the pretreatment of water in a home appliance.

An apparatus consistent with the present disclosure is directed to providing a changeable water filter in combination with a mixing valve for the pretreatment of supplied water for a dishwasher appliance to increase the performance of washing programs, such as cleaning, drying, and hygiene.

An apparatus consistent with the present disclosure is directed to providing a changeable water filter in combination with a controlled mixing valve that is designed into the water supply of the dishwasher appliance. Based on the status of a system program, the water supplied to the dishwashing compartment of the dishwasher appliance can be unfiltered, mixed as in partially filtered, or fully filtered. In this way, an apparatus consistent with the present disclosure is able to achieve improvements in cleaning, drying (e.g., reduce or eliminate spots on the items that have been washed in the dishwasher appliance), and hygiene.

According to one aspect, the present disclosure provides a water pretreatment system connected to a water supply pipe for supplying water that has been preheated to a home appliance, comprising: a mixing valve having an inlet connected to the water supply pipe, and a pair of outlets; a water filter having an inlet communicated with one of the pair of outlets of the mixing valve, and having an outlet communicated with the home appliance; a bypass line having an inlet end connected to the other of the pair of outlets of the mixing valve, and having an outlet end connected to the home appliance, the mixing valve being configured to at least one of direct water to the water filter or direct water to the bypass line; and a controller configured to control the mixing valve such that preheated water supplied to the home appliance is one of unfiltered, mixed, or fully filtered by the water filter.

According to another aspect, the home appliance comprises at least one of a dishwasher, a washing machine, or a steam oven.

According to another aspect, the controller comprises a microcontroller.

According to another aspect, the water filter comprises a changeable water filter which has replaceable filter cartridges.

According to another aspect, the preheated water is preheated to approximately 110° F. to 140° F.

According to another aspect, the home appliance comprises one of a dishwasher or a washing machine, and wherein during a first filling of a wash container of the dishwasher or washing machine, the wash container is filled with unfiltered heated water by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to the bypass line so as to bypass the water filter, during a second filling the wash container is filled with both unfiltered water and filtered water for a mixture of both by controlling the mixing valve with the controller to first direct the heated water to the bypass line for a preset time and then after the preset time has elapsed, the controller controls the mixing valve to direct the heated water through the water filter for a remainder of the second filling, and during a last filling the wash container is filled with fully filtered heated water by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to only the water filter.

According to another aspect, the home appliance comprises a dishwasher including a pre-wash cycle, a washing cycle, and a rinse cycle, and wherein during a first filling of a wash container of the dishwasher, the wash container is filled with unfiltered heated water in the pre-wash cycle by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to the bypass line so as to bypass the water filter, during a second filling the wash container is filled with both unfiltered water and filtered water for a mixture of both in the washing cycle by controlling the mixing valve with the controller to first direct the hot water to the bypass line for a preset time and to the wash container and then after the preset time has elapsed, the controller controls the mixing valve to direct the heated water through the water filter for a remainder of the second filling, and during a last filling the wash container is filled with fully filtered heated water in the rinse cycle by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to only the water filter.

According to another aspect, the preheated water is directed by the mixing valve to the water filter only during certain cycles of the home appliance, and the preheated water is directed by the mixing valve to the bypass line so as to bypass the filter at other times.

According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of pretreating water that has been preheated and is supplied to a home appliance, the method comprising: filling the home appliance during a first filling with unfiltered heated water by controlling a mixing valve to direct the heated water to a bypass line so as to bypass a water filter; filling the home appliance during a second filling with both unfiltered water and filtered water for a mixture of both by controlling the mixing valve to first direct the heated water to the bypass line for a preset time and then after the preset time has elapsed, controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water through the water filter for a remainder of the second filling; and filling the home appliance during a last filling with fully filtered heated water by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to only the water filter.

According to another aspect, the home appliance comprises at least one of a dishwasher or a washing machine.

According to another aspect, the preheated water is preheated to approximately 110° F. to 140° F.

According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of pretreating water that has been preheated and is supplied to a home appliance, the method comprising: supplying the home appliance with unfiltered heated water by controlling a mixing valve to direct the heated water to a bypass line so as to bypass a water filter; supplying the home appliance with both unfiltered water and filtered water for a mixture of both by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to the bypass line and by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water through the water filter; and supplying the home appliance with fully filtered heated water by controlling the mixing valve to direct the heated water to only the water filter.

