EP2557220A2

EP2557220A2 - Drainage device and household appliance having the same

Info

Publication number: EP2557220A2
Application number: EP12177742A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yanhong Chen; Maoyin Li; Yanglei Zhu
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2011-08-06
Filing date: 2012-07-25
Publication date: 2013-02-13
Also published as: CN202193993U; EP2557220A3

Abstract

A drainage device (12) of a household appliance (10) includes a drainage channel (16) connected to a water holding device (14), and a drainage pump (18) installed in the drainage channel. The drainage pump includes a main body (20), a sewage outfall (24)disposed on the main body (20) and a pump cover (26) installed on the sewage outfall (24). The main body includes a cavity (22) connected to the drainage channel, and a drainage notch (32) connected to a bottom of the cavity (22) is disposed on the main body (20). An auxiliary drainage pipe (35) is disposed on the pump cover (26) and is in communication with the drainage notch (32). A household appliance (10) includes the above drainage device (12). Sewage can pass through the drainage notch (32) and enter the auxiliary drainage pipe (35), so as to discharge the sewage out of a pump body. Since the drainage notch (32) is disposed on the bottom of the cavity (22), thorough drainage is achieved.

Description

The present invention relates to a drainage device of a household appliance, including a drainage channel connected to a water holding device and a drainage pump installed in the drainage channel, where the drainage pump includes a main body, a sewage outfall disposed on the main body, and a pump cover installed on the sewage outfall; and the present invention further relates to a household appliance having the drainage device.
FIG. 1 shows an existing washing machine 1 having a drainage device 2. The drainage device 2 includes a drainage channel 4 connected to a water holding barrel 3 and for conducting the washing water out of the washing machine 1. A drainage pump 5 is installed in the drainage channel 4. An auxiliary drainage pipe 6 is installed on the drainage channel 4 between the drainage pump 5 and the water holding barrel 3. The end of the auxiliary drainage pipe 6 is disposed with an end cover 7. When a user needs to clean the drainage pump 5, the end cover 7 is opened in advance and the sewage in the drainage device 2 is discharged through the auxiliary drainage pipe 6.
The defects existing in the prior art are as follows. First, the position of the auxiliary drainage channel is relatively high, resulting in that the sewage cannot be thoroughly discharged, and therefore, when the user unscrews the pump cover, some sewage still flows out of a bump body to pollute the floor. Second, the auxiliary drainage channel in the prior art needs to extend from a front panel of the washing machine, so a specific space needs to be reserved on the front panel so as to set specific parts. In addition, since the auxiliary drainage pipe 6 is connected to the drainage channel 4 and the auxiliary drainage pipe 6 has some sewage, the sewage may pour out of the auxiliary drainage pipe 6 when the end cover 7 is opened, which may soil the hands of the user. Moreover, the opened end cover 7 is stained with some sewage, which easily pollutes the floor, and the end cover may be lost or forgotten to be re-installed on the auxiliary drainage pipe again when the user cleans the drainage pump.
The objective of the present invention is to provided an improved drainage device to overcome the defects in the prior art.
For the above objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solution. A drainage device of a household appliance is provided, which includes a drainage channel connected to a water holding device, and a drainage pump installed in the drainage channel, where the drainage pump includes a main body, a sewage outfall disposed on the main body, and a pump cover installed on the sewage outfall. The main body includes a cavity connected to the drainage channel, a drainage notch connected to a bottom of the cavity is disposed on the main body, and an auxiliary drainage pipe is disposed on the pump cover. The pump cover has at least two rotation positions relative to the sewage outfall. On a first rotation position, an end surface of the pump cover opposite to the sewage outfall seals the drainage notch, and on a second rotation position, the auxiliary drainage pipe is in communication with the drainage notch.
As an improvement to the above technical solution, the drainage notch is disposed on an end wall of the sewage outfall opposite to the pump cover and the notch is located at an edge right below the sewage outfall relative to a gravity direction.
As an improvement to the above technical solution, a flexible sealing gasket is located between the sewage outfall and the pump cover, and a through hole in communication with the drainage notch is disposed on the sealing gasket.
Preferably, the sealing gasket has a positioning device for positioning and limiting rotation thereof and is in cooperation with a positioning connection device on the sewage outfall.
Preferably, the pump cover has a knob.
Preferably, on the first and the second rotation positions of the pump cover relative to the sewage outfall, the pump cover seals the sewage outfall, and on a third rotation position, the pump cover is detachable from the sewage outfall.
The present invention further provides a household device including the above drainage device.
The beneficial effects produced after adopting the above technical solution are as follows. Compared with the prior art, since the position of the auxiliary drainage pipe is much lower and is close to a minimum discharge level, the residual sewage in the pump can be discharged more thoroughly, and no sewage would flow out when a user opens the pump cover after using the auxiliary drainage pipe for pre-drainage. In addition, since the auxiliary drainage pipe is disposed on the pump cover, it is not required to specifically reserve a space for the auxiliary drainage pipe on a front panel of a washing machine, enabling the assembly structure simpler. Meanwhile, the connection and disconnection between the auxiliary drainage pipe and the drainage notch can be achieved by rotating the pump cover, and pre-drainage and opening the drainage pump can be implemented merely by operating one part. Therefore, the operation is simple, convenient and clean, and it is not easy for a user to forget to seal the auxiliary drainage pipe.
The invention is now explained in further detail with reference to the Figures of the drawing attached. In particular,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an existing washing machine;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an improved washing machine;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a drainage pump of a washing machine;
FIG. 4 is a view of the drainage pump after being installed in the washing machine of FIG. 3; and
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the drainage pump in the washing machine of FIG. 4 along an A-A direction.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a washing machine 10 has a drainage device 12. The drainage device 12 includes a drainage channel 16 connected to a water holding barrel 14 and for conducting the washing water out of the washing machine 10. A drainage pump 18 is installed in the drainage channel 16. The drainage pump 18 has a main body 20. A cavity 22 connected to the drainage channel 16 is formed in the main body 20. The cavity 22 has a sewage outfall 24. A pump cover 26 is installed on the sewage outfall 24 so as to seal or open the sewage outfall 24. A sealing gasket 28 made of a flexible material is installed between the pump cover 26 and the sewage outfall 24. The sealing gasket 28 has a positioning bump 29 which is in cooperation with a positioning notch 31 disposed on the sewage outfall 24, so as to implement the positioning and avoid that the sealing gasket rotates together with the pump cover 26.
The sewage outfall 24 has an end wall 30 opposite to the pump cover 26. A drainage notch 32 is disposed on the end wall 30 and is in communication with the cavity 22, and the notch 32 is located at an edge right blow the sewage outfall 24 relative to a gravity direction. A through hole 33 in communication with the drainage notch is disposed on the sealing gasket 28. In addition, the pump cover 26 has a knob 34 for a user to operate and is further disposed with an auxiliary drainage pipe 35. The pump cover 26 can rotate with respect to the sewage outfall 24. Generally in a fastening position of the pump cover 26, an end surface 36 of the pump cover 26 opposite to the sewage outfall 24 seals the through hole 33 of the sealing gasket 28, so as to seal the drainage notch 32, and further seal the sewage outfall 24 at the same time. When the pump cover 26 rotates, with respect to the sewage outfall 24, to a pre-drainage position as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the auxiliary drainage pipe 35 is in communication with the drainage notch 32 and the through hole 33 of the sealing gasket 28, and then the sewage in the cavity 22 can be discharged through the auxiliary drainage pipe 35. At this time, the pump cover 26 still seals the sewage outfall 24 and the sewage cannot flow out of other places except the auxiliary drainage pipe 35. When no sewage flows out of the auxiliary drainage pipe 35, a user can continue to rotate the pump cover 26 to a certain angle so that the pump cover 26 is separated from the sewage outfall 24, and then the user can further clean or maintain the drainage pump 18.

Claims

A drainage device of a household appliance, comprising: a drainage channel (16) connected to a water holding device (14), and a drainage pump (18) installed in the drainage channel (16), wherein the drainage pump (18) comprises a main body (20), a sewage outfall (24) disposed on the main body (20), and a pump cover (26) installed on the sewage outfall (24) , and the main body (20) comprises a cavity (22) connected to the drainage channel (16), characterized in that: a drainage notch (32) connected to a bottom of the cavity (22) is disposed on the main body (20), an auxiliary drainage pipe (35) is disposed on the pump cover (26), the pump cover (26) has at least two rotation positions relative to the sewage outfall (24), on a first rotation position, an end surface (36) of the pump cover (26) opposite to the sewage outfall (24) seals the drainage notch (32), and on a second rotation position, the auxiliary drainage pipe (35) is in communication with the drainage notch (32).
The drainage device according to claim 1, characterized in that: the drainage notch (32) is disposed on an end wall (30) of the sewage outfall (24) opposite to the pump cover (26), and the notch (32) is located at an edge right below the sewage outfall (24) relative to a gravity direction.
The drainage device according to claim 2, characterized in that: a flexible sealing gasket (28) is located between the sewage outfall (24) and the pump cover (26), and a through hole (33) in communication with the drainage notch (32) is disposed on the sealing gasket (28).
The drainage device according to claim 3, characterized in that: the sealing gasket (28) has a positioning device (29) for positioning and limiting rotation thereof, and is in cooperation with a positioning connection device (31) on the sewage outfall (24).
The drainage device according to claim 1, characterized in that: the pump cover (26) has a knob (34).
The drainage device according to claim 1, characterized in that: on the first rotation position and the second rotation position of the pump cover (26) relative to the sewage outfall (24), the pump cover (26) seals the sewage outfall (24), and on a third rotation position, the pump cover (26) is detachable from the sewage outfall (24).
A household appliance, characterized by comprising the drainage device (12) according to any one of the above claims.