JP2000037592A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing machine that can improve washing capacity or reduce use quantity of detergent by removing valcium ion, magnesium ion included in the washing water that make bad influences on effect of the detergent. SOLUTION: Such ion removing means as a chamber 29e in which sodium type strong acid cation exchange resin fills of, and a cylindrical container 60 having a chamber 60a that has a salt inlet and keeps the salt in its interior, are arranged in halfway of water pipeline supplying water into the washing tank. The cylindrical container 60 has a water feed inlet 29a and a water release outlet 29b, and a chamber exists between the two. This structure ensures that the water easily passes through the ion exchange resin.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a means for removing a hardness component from water used for washing and a washing machine equipped with the means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Washing water used for washing in a washing machine is:
Water is supplied directly from a water source represented by tap water to a washing machine with a hose or the like, and is supplied to a washing tub in the washing machine by a user's operation to be used for washing clothes.

However, for example, tap water contains anions such as hypochlorite ions for the purpose of sterilizing various bacteria, and cations such as calcium ions, magnesium ions and iron ions contained in the water source. These ions have various adverse effects on laundry, such as a decrease in detergency and coloring of clothes.

[0004] The great influence on the detergency of detergents is
It is a divalent cation such as calcium ion and magnesium ion as hardness components. Since these react with the surfactant in the detergent to form a water-insoluble metal soap, the amount of the surfactant contributing to cleaning is reduced, and the cleaning power is reduced. Further, the produced metallic soap is insoluble in water, and if the rinse is insufficient, it remains on the clothes and appears as white spots, causing yellowing and off-flavor. Further, when the adhesive is deposited on the outer wall of the washing tub, mold and the like may propagate there.

[0005] These adverse effects are particularly remarkable in the case of soap, and it has been difficult to use soap in areas having high hardness. On the other hand, synthetic detergents used in most homes contain zeolite as one of the builders in order to reduce the influence of hardness. Zeolite is water-insoluble white fine particles containing silica and alumina as main components, and has an effect of adsorbing polyvalent cations such as calcium and magnesium in water and softening water.

When calcium and magnesium ions are contained in water, when a zeolite-containing detergent is added to the water, these ions are removed, but at the same time, these ions also react with the surfactant of the detergent. Generation cannot be completely prevented. For this reason, the effect of mixing zeolite is diminished. Originally, it is preferable to dissolve the detergent in water after removing these ions from the washing water and use it for washing. Furthermore, if a large amount of water-insoluble zeolite is mixed in the detergent as a builder, there is a problem that zeolite particles adhere to the clothes after washing and deteriorate the finish.

As a method for removing the adverse effects of these ions, there is a washing machine described in JP-A-4-20395 or a washing method and a washing apparatus described in JP-A-5-115681. In these methods, after removing ions from the supplied washing water, washing is performed by supplying water to a washing tub in which a detergent is charged.

The washing machine described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-20395 has a washing tub for washing clothes, and a water supply means for supplying water into the washing tub. Is provided with ion removing means. It is also disclosed that an ion exchange resin or activated carbon is used as the ion removing means.

Further, this publication discloses that attention is paid to the limit of the adsorption capacity of activated carbon for removing anions, a water supply path is provided in parallel with ion removing means, and the life is extended by selectively using the water supply path. I have.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-115681, water on the anode side from which metal ions have been removed by applying a voltage between a pair of electrodes opposed to each other via a diaphragm to remove the metal ions is used as washing water. There is disclosed a washing method in which a cleaning agent is added to an object, and then the object is brought into contact with an object to be washed.

[0011]

However, in the prior art described in each of the above publications, the flow rate required for supplying the washing water,
No consideration is given to the amount, particle size, or ion removal efficiency of the ion exchange resin. That is, JP-A-4-203
In the washing machine described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 95, a large amount of ion exchange resin is required to secure a sufficient flow rate, and it is difficult to house the ion removing means inside the washing machine or to configure it compactly. On the other hand, if the amount of the ion exchange resin is reduced to make the ion exchange means compact, it is difficult to obtain a flow rate of 10 to 15 L per minute which is normally required.
Further, in order to store the ion exchange means inside the washing machine, if the ion exchange means is to be arranged below the washing machine, it is necessary to provide a long water supply passage before and after the ion exchange means, and pressure loss in this water supply passage is reduced. And it becomes more difficult to secure the flow rate. In addition, the ion-exchange resin loses its removal effect after adsorbing a certain amount of ions.Therefore, it is necessary to treat a certain amount of washing water and then regenerate it. No consideration is given to reusing a limited amount of ion exchange resin as possible.

A washing method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 5-115681 is a method in which washing water is applied between a pair of electrodes to remove metal ions contained in the washing water, and a detergent is added to the washing to wash. However, since the processing speed is generally slow,
It requires about 5 to 30 minutes as the energizing time in the state of still water. Therefore, it is difficult to compactly configure the removing means for securing the flow rate of 10 to 15 L per minute inside the washing machine. In addition, circuit cost increases due to the energization treatment, and consideration must be given to electric shock in household washing machines that handle water, hydrogen gas generated by electrolysis of water, and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine which is compactly provided with ion removing means capable of removing cations contained in washing water at a flow rate of 10 L or more per minute.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an outer frame, an outer tank supported by the outer frame in a vibration-proof manner, and a rotary blade included in the outer tank and arranged at the center of the bottom. A washing tub for washing and dewatering, a top cover provided on an upper surface of the outer frame so as to have an opening for allowing the laundry to be taken in and out of the washing tub, and the outer tub and the washing tub A water supply means for supplying water to the washing tub, a drainage means for draining water in the outer tub and the washing tub, and a control means for controlling each step of washing, rinsing, and dehydration. A container containing a material with ion exchange capacity in the middle of
An upper space and a lower space separated by a filter on the upper and lower sides of the material of the container, a regenerating agent chamber for storing a regenerating agent above the upper space, and the regenerating agent chamber being controlled by the control means. A replenishing means for injecting water, a regenerating solution chamber separated from the regenerating agent chamber and a filter below the regenerating agent chamber, and a regenerating solution formed by dissolving a regenerating agent with water injected into the regenerating agent chamber, A flow path for allowing the regenerating solution to flow from the regenerating solution chamber to the upper space; a check valve for preventing a back flow from the upper space to the regenerating solution chamber in the flow path; Means for supplying water without passing through, a flow path communicating from the inside of the container to the outer tank on the bottom surface of the container, a water supply inlet from the water supply means connected to a lower space of the container, From the container to the washing tub in the upper space of the container And a water supply outlet, the cross-sectional area of the flow path communicating with the outer vessel from the vessel, and less than the cross-sectional area of the flow path for flow down the salt water. Thus, when the water supply is stopped, the water in the container leaks from the flow path communicating between the inside of the container and the outside tank to the outside tank side, and the water level in the upper space falls. As a result, the check valve opens, the regenerating solution flows down into the upper space, spreads in the upper space, the material having ion exchange capacity and the water supply remaining in the lower space, and the material having ion exchange capacity can be evenly regenerated. it can.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of a fully automatic washing machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The exterior is composed of an outer frame 1 made of a steel plate and a top cover 17 attached to an upper portion thereof. An outer tank 4 serving as a water receiving tank is provided with a suspension rod 2 and a vibration isolator 3 including a coil spring and a sliding ring from the upper four corners of the outer frame 1.
The washing water in the washing process and the rinsing water in the rinsing process (hereinafter referred to as washing water) are held in a suspended state. In the outer tub 4, a washing and dewatering tub 5 made of stainless steel (hereinafter, referred to as a washing tub) is rotatably provided. A number of dehydration holes 5a are provided on the side surface of the washing tub 5, a rotatable blade 6 is rotatably provided at a central bottom portion, and a balancer 5b is provided at an upper edge portion.
A support plate 10 is attached to the bottom surface of the outer tub 4, and a driving device is fixed to the support plate 10.

The driving device is a transmission device 9 which combines an electric motor 7, a gear reduction mechanism, a clutch mechanism and a brake mechanism.
The rotation of the electric motor 7 is controlled by a pulley 8a and a belt 8
It is transmitted to the transmission 9 at b. The output shaft of the transmission 9 penetrates the bottom wall of the outer tub 4 in a watertight manner, protrudes into the outer tub 4, and is connected to the rotary wing 6 and the washing tub 5. The driving device stops the washing tub 5 during the washing step and the rinsing step, and rotates the rotary wing 6 in the clockwise (forward) and counterclockwise (reverse) directions. During the dehydration step, the washing tub 5 is rotated in one direction.

A water level sensor tube 12 for transmitting the water pressure in the outer tank to a water level sensor 11 is provided below the outer tank 4 side surface. A drain valve 1 for draining washing water is provided on the bottom of the outer tub 4.
The washing water is drained out of the washing machine by a drain hose 16 connected to a drain valve.

A top cover 17 is provided above the outer frame 1. The top cover 17 includes an inlet 17a for charging laundry, an ion removing unit, a water tap 26, a rear storage box 17b for storing a water supply solenoid valve, and a front operation box 17c for storing electric components such as a microcomputer. Be composed. Input 17
a is provided with a lid 18.

An operation panel 19a shown in FIG. 3 is mounted on the upper surface of the front operation box 17c, and a control unit 19b containing a microcomputer or the like is provided below the operation panel 19a. In the front operation box 17c, there is provided a water level sensor 11 for detecting whether or not water has accumulated to a specified water level by detecting the water pressure in the outer tub 4. On the operation panel 19a, a power switch 20, various displays 21, various operation buttons 22, a buzzer 23, and the like are arranged. A user operates the washing machine with the operation buttons 22, and the operation state is displayed on the display 21. , Can be confirmed by the buzzer 23. Further, there are a water softening display 24 composed of a light emitting diode for displaying an ion removal process (softening) and a salt input display 25 composed of a light emitting diode for instructing the addition or supplementation of salt necessary for regeneration of the ion removing means. The salt input display 25 indicates the number of times of reproduction by the control unit 1.
The count is stored in step 9b, and when a predetermined number of times is reached, the light emitting diode is turned on to display. Thus, it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to input the salt for regeneration of the ion removing unit, and to maintain stable performance of the ion removing unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 1) of the rear portion of the rear storage box 17b related to the supply of the washing water, which is a main component of the present embodiment, when the upper lid is removed. The front side is omitted.) A water tap 26 connected to a hose from a water tap or the like is connected to the rear storage box 17b, followed by a water supply solenoid valve 27, a salt water injection solenoid valve 63, an ion removing means 28 composed of a cylindrical container 60, a bath water. A bath water suction pump 45 that absorbs water, an inclined flow path 46 that allows washing water to flow down in the washing tub 5, and the like are housed. On the upstream side of the inclined flow passage 46, a room A47 and a room B48 opening to the flow passage 46
Is provided. The outlet of the water supply electromagnetic valve 27 is connected to the water inlet 29a of the ion exchange means 28, and the outlet of the salt water injection electromagnetic valve 63 is connected to the salt water inlet 60h of the ion exchange means 28. The discharge port 29b of the ion exchange means 28 is connected to the room A47.

FIG. 5 shows the details of the ion removing means 28 which is a main component of the present embodiment. (A) shows the ion removing means 28
And (b) is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. The ion removing means 28 includes a cylindrical container 60 and a lid 61. The cylindrical container 60 is divided into five rooms (rooms or spaces).
Salt charging room (regenerating agent room) for regenerating salt from above
60a, salt input room 60a and salt particle outflow prevention filter 60
g, a salt water chamber (regeneration solution chamber) 60k through which the salt water as the regeneration solution flows, an upper room (water supply outlet side room) 60b provided with a discharge port (water supply outlet) 29b, and a water inlet (water supply inlet) 29a. Room 29e, the upper and lower surfaces of which are separated by a mesh filter 29d, and a lower room (water supply inlet side room) 60 provided with a water inlet 29a.
c.

A resin room 29e between the water inlet 29a and the outlet 29b (between the upper room 60b and the lower room 60c) is filled with a sodium-type strongly acidic cation exchange resin 31 (hereinafter referred to as ion exchange resin). ing. The ion-exchange resin 31 may be in the form of a fiber in addition to the bead-like one generally used.

The mesh filter 29d is provided in the resin chamber 29.
This prevents the entry of foreign matter into the inside e and prevents the ion exchange resin 31 from flowing out of the resin room 29e.

The provision of the upper chamber 60b and the lower chamber 60c at the upper and lower portions of the ion exchange resin 31 prevents water from passing through only a part of the ion exchange resin 31 layer.
This is for uniformly flowing water throughout the ion exchange resin layer and for efficiently adsorbing metal ions.

The water enters the lower room 60c through the water inlet 29a, fills the lower room 60c, uniformly rises in the ion exchange resin 31 layer, and goes out to the upper room 60b to exit into the upper room 60c.
b and flows out of the discharge port 29b. Further, the upper chamber 60b is necessary for temporarily storing the salt water so that the salt solution for regeneration flows uniformly throughout the entire 31 layers of the ion exchange resin.

In this embodiment, one cylindrical container is partitioned into five rooms. However, each room may be combined as one container, or two or more rooms may be used as one container and a plurality of containers may be used. They may be configured in combination. If all the rooms are configured as one cylindrical container, the compactness and assembly workability are improved.

The salt 62 has been previously charged by the user into the salt charging chamber 60a. The amount of salt put in is
Approximately 150 g. This is equivalent to seven times of 20 g of salt required per one time of the regeneration treatment of the ion exchange resin 31, which will be described later. If the user performs washing once a day, the user puts the salt 62 once a week. There is a need. Salt input room 60a
The volume of 150 g of dried salt and 70 mL of water for regeneration
180-200 mL to accommodate the volume. Between the salt input room 60a and the salt water room 60k, a salt input room 60k
A salt particle outflow prevention filter 60g having an area of 50% or more and 100% or less of the horizontal cross-sectional area is disposed to prevent salt particles from flowing out into the salt water chamber 60k. Salt wet with water is resistant to the passage of salt water, but the area through which salt water passes can be increased by setting the area of the salt particle outflow filter 60g as described above, and the salt water passes through the entire surface of the filter and the salt water room 60k Therefore, the flow rate of the salt water can be secured only by gravity. The supply speed of the salt water depends on the amount of salt in the salt input chamber 60a and the area of the salt particle outflow prevention filter 60g,
The area of the filter 60g for preventing salt outflow is 60k
It is desirable to make the horizontal sectional area as close as possible and adjust the supply speed of the salt water by the diameter of the hole 60e described below. This is because a constant salt water supply rate can be obtained regardless of the amount of salt.

A salt injection pipe 60i from a salt injection port 60h is opened in the salt injection chamber 60a. The salt water chamber 60k and the upper chamber 60b are separated by a partition wall 60d, and the partition wall 60d is provided with a hole 60e serving as a passage through which the salt water passes. Under the hole 60e, a check valve 6 is provided on the upper chamber 60b side.
0f is provided, and when water is supplied to the washing tub 5, the check valve 6
0f closes the hole 60e.
Prevents water from flowing into 0k. A salt water discharge port 29c is provided on the bottom of the lower chamber 60c so as to penetrate the bottom of the rear storage box 17b, and a salt water discharge pipe 64 connected to the salt water discharge port 29c is connected to the outer tank 4 as shown in FIG. It is connected to the side and discharges salt water into the outer tank.
That is, a flow path for draining water or salt water supplied to the upper room 60b, the lower room 60c, and the resin room 29e into the outer tank is formed. A concave groove 61a is provided on the inner circumference of the lid 61, and an air hole 61b is opened on the upper surface. A convex portion 61j is provided on the outer circumference of the upper portion of the cylindrical container 60, and the lid 61 is fixed to the convex portion 60j of the cylindrical container 60 so that the concave groove 61a fits therein. The lid 61 projects from the upper surface of the rear storage box 17b, so that the lid 61 can be easily opened and closed. Further, the lid 61 is made of a transparent member such as an acrylic resin so that the remaining amount of salt consumed in a process of regenerating the ion exchange resin for each washing described later can be easily checked.

The hose from the tap is connected to the tap 26. Tap water is guided to the water inlet 29a of the cylindrical container 60 by opening and closing the water supply solenoid valve 27, and fills the lower chamber 60c and then passes through the room 29e filled with the ion exchange resin 31 while rising. Tap water is softened here, that is, calcium and magnesium ions are removed and the upper room 60b
And flows out of the discharge port 29b. And room A47
Then, the water flows down to the inclined flow passage 46 and is supplied to the outer tub 4 (the washing tub 5). Water from the bath is pumped out by a hose connected to the bath water inlet 45a. The bath water is first filled with a tap 26
Tap water from the water supply, open the electromagnetic valve 27 and remove the ion
8. A part of the water is pumped from the priming port 45b to the bath water suction pump 45 through the room A47. Thereafter, by rotating the pump motor, the bath water is self-primed from the bath water supply port 45a, and the inclined flow path 46 is discharged from the discharge port 45c through the room B48.
And water is supplied to the washing tub 5 from here.

The installation of the ion removing means 28 constituted by the cylindrical container 60 in the rear storage box 17b in which the water tap 26 is installed can shorten the length of the water supply pipe, reduce the flow path loss, and reduce the flow rate, This is because the water supply time can be reduced. In the water supply, tap water passes through the room 29e filled with the ion exchange resin 31, so that the pressure loss of the resin filling is large.
In order to cover even a small amount of this loss, the pipe length from the water tap to the cylindrical container 60 is desirably 100 mm or less. The washing water supply flow rate of the conventional washing machine is 10 to 15 liters / minute, depending on the tap water pressure, and the above consideration is necessary to obtain a flow rate close to this in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a washing machine control section mainly composed of the microcomputer 50. The microcomputer 50 is also connected to the operation button input circuit 51 and the water level sensor 11, and receives a user's button operation and an information signal of the washing water level in the washing tub. The output from the microcomputer 50 is connected to a drive circuit 52 and supplies commercial power to the electric motor 7, the water supply solenoid valve 27, the drain valve 13 and the like, and controls the opening and closing or rotation of these. Further, in order to inform the user of the operation of the washing machine, it is also connected to notification means such as a buzzer 23 and a display 21. The power supply circuit 53 rectifies and smoothes a commercial power supply to create a DC power supply required for the microcomputer 50. Reference numeral 54 denotes a light emitting diode which lights up to indicate the soft water treatment. The light emitting diode 54 is mounted on the front operation box 17c and lights up when water is passed through the ion exchange resin to notify the user with the water softening display 24 that the water softening process is being performed. Reference numeral 55 denotes a light-emitting diode that lights up to indicate salt injection. The light emitting diode 55 is mounted on the front operation box 17c, and is turned on when it is necessary to input salt to the ion removing means, and notifies the user of the salt input with the salt input display 25.

Next, the operation of the ion removing means 28 according to the present invention will be described. When the user puts the laundry in the washing tub 5, presses the power switch 19, and operates the start button, the microcomputer 50 measures the amount of the laundry with the cloth amount sensor, and determines the amount of water and the amount of detergent according to the measurement result. Display 21
And inform the user. The user puts an appropriate amount of detergent into the washing tub 5 with reference to the display. Thereafter, the microcomputer 50 opens the water supply electromagnetic valve 27. Tap water passes through the water supply solenoid valve 27 from the tap faucet 26 and enters the water inlet 29a.
Flows into the lower chamber 60c of the cylindrical container 60 from the bottom. The inflowing tap water fills the lower room 60c, and then rises in the room 29e by the pressure, and the mesh filter 29 is added to the room 29e.
It passes through the space between the sodium-type strongly acidic cation exchange resins 31 which are filled and sandwiched by d, and flows out to the upper chamber 60b. Then, it fills the upper room 60b, flows out from the discharge port 29b, passes through the room A47 and the slope 46, and accumulates in the outer tub 4 (the washing tub 5). A part of the tap water flowing into the lower chamber 60c passes through the salt water discharge pipe 64 connected to the salt water discharge port 29c without passing through the ion exchange resin 31, and the outer tank 4
Flows into. For this reason, the hardness of the water accumulated in the outer tank 4 is increased as compared with the case where the whole has passed through the ion exchange resin 31. However, since all the supplied tap water enters the outer tank 4, the tap water is not wasted. Salt water outlet 29c
Is 2 mm, the flow rate through the brine discharge pipe 64 at a feed water flow rate of 15 / min is about 0.5 L / min. This amount is about 3% of the supplied water amount, and when the supplied tap water has a hardness of 100 ppm, the increase in the hardness is about 1 to 3 ppm, and the influence is small. The effect can be reduced by further reducing the inner diameter of the salt water discharge port 29c, but (1) it becomes difficult to discharge the salt water for regeneration due to the capillary phenomenon, and (2) the possibility that the salt water discharge port 29c is clogged by foreign matter increases. For example, the above-mentioned about 2 mm is optimal. If there is no problem in cost and space, it is of course better to provide a valve in the middle of the salt water discharge pipe 64 and close this valve during water supply.

While passing through the ion exchange resin 31, tap water removes calcium ions and magnesium ions contained therein by an ion exchange action. During the washing water supply, the light emitting diode 54 is turned on, and the display or notification of ion removal is performed using the water softening display 24 or the buzzer 23. During the water supply, the upper room 60b of the ion exchange means 28
Is filled with tap water, and due to this pressure, the ball of the check valve 60f rises and closes the hole 60e. For this reason, tap water does not enter the salt water room 60k during water supply. The ball of the check valve 60f is desirably formed of a material having a specific gravity of 1 or less (for example, polypropylene). This means that the tap water pressure may vary from 0.3 kg / cm2 to 8 kf / cm2 depending on the location.
This is because it varies within the range. When the tap water pressure is low, the pressure in the upper chamber 60b is also low, and the ball having a large specific gravity does not rise, and there is a high possibility that the hole 60e will not be closed. If the specific gravity of the ball is 1 or less, since the ball is always floating on the water, the hole 60e can be reliably closed even if the pressure in the upper chamber 60b is low. Except during water supply, the upper chamber 60b is at atmospheric pressure, so the ball of the check valve 60f falls by its own weight,
The hole 60e is in an open state.

A specified amount of washing water is supplied from the water level sensor 11 to the outer tub 4.
Microcomputer 50 that knew that water was supplied inside
Closes the water supply electromagnetic valve 27 to stop water supply. Then, the rotor 6 is rotated forward and backward to start washing. Washing tub 5
Since the washing water supplied inside does not contain cations such as calcium and magnesium, it reacts with the surfactant in the detergent added to form insoluble metal soap and the amount of surfactant that contributes to washing And does not reduce the cleaning power. After the water supply is completed, the water remaining in the ion exchange means 28 is supplied to the salt water discharge pipe 6 connected to the salt water discharge port 29c.
4 to the outer tank 4 slowly.

Sodium type strongly acidic cation exchange resin 31
Is a synthetic resin in which an ion exchange group such as a sulfonic acid group is bonded to a crosslinked three-dimensional polymer substrate by a chemical bond as is well known. When tap water containing divalent cations such as calcium and magnesium flows between cation exchange resins, the sulfonic acid groups, which are the ion exchange groups of the cation exchange resin, and the cations in the tap water are ion-exchanged. Cations in tap water are removed. Chemical formulas 1 and 2 show the ion exchange reaction formulas of the sodium-type strongly acidic ion exchange resin.

[0037]

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[0038]

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Here, R is a polymer substrate of an ion exchange resin. The sodium-type ion-exchange resin uses an anion of -SO ₃ as a fixed ion and a cation of Na as a counter ion, and utilizes the selectivity of ions to remove polyvalent cations such as calcium and magnesium contained in water. Remove. In the case of a strongly acidic cation exchange resin at a low concentration and at room temperature, the ion selectivity is higher for ions having higher valence, and is higher for ions having higher valence at the same valence. For ions contained in natural water, the order is as follows.

[0040]

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Calcium and magnesium ions in water passing through the ion exchange resin are adsorbed and removed by the resin by the reaction from the left side to the right side of Chemical Formulas 1 and 2. Conversely, calcium,
When high-concentration salt water is passed through the resin to which magnesium ions are adsorbed, calcium and magnesium ions are desorbed by the reaction from the right side to the left side in Chemical Formulas 1 and 2, and the resin returns to its original state and is regenerated.

A commercially available compact water softener used in a laboratory or the like has an ion exchange resin amount of 1 to 2 L and a processing flow rate of 10 hours / hour.
A capacity of about L (0.16 L per minute) is generally used.
As described above, in a home washing machine, water is supplied directly from a faucet to a washing tub at a flow rate of 10 L or more per minute in order to shorten the water supply time. For this reason, the water supply time becomes too long with the processing flow rate of the above-mentioned commercially available small water softener, so that it is inevitable to use the batch-processed water using a time other than the washing once stored in a water storage tank. In addition, the volume of ionic resin of 1 to 2 L is too large to be mounted (built-in) in a home washing machine. That is, it is necessary to solve the above-mentioned problems of the processing flow rate of the ion exchange resin and the amount of the resin in the home washing machine.

FIG. 7 shows the hardness distribution of purified water throughout Japan (based on statistics of water supply in 1994 issued by the Japan Water Works Association) and the relationship between the cleaning rate and the hardness when a compact synthetic zeolite-containing synthetic detergent is used. Shown as parameters.
The hardness distribution takes into account the amount of purified water per day at each water purification plant. For example, about 20% of the total purified water amount is 40 to 50%.
It can be seen that it is between ppm. Assuming that the amount of water purification at each water purification plant is proportional to the number of households, about 20% of all households
This means that 50 ppm tap water is used. The national average hardness is 52.9 ppm, and 98% of the total hardness is 1
It is not more than 00 ppm. As for the cleaning rate, it is possible to increase the cleaning rate by about 50% by halving the average hardness of 52.9 ppm at a detergent concentration of 0.067 wt% (% by weight), which is the detergent amount specified by the detergent maker. At a hardness of 100 ppm, by halving this, a cleaning rate equivalent to doubling the detergent amount (concentration: 0.133 wt%) can be obtained. That is, the cleaning rate when the detergent amount (concentration) is twice the standard can be obtained with the standard detergent amount by decreasing the hardness. By removing calcium ions and magnesium ions, which are hardness components, the washing power of the washing machine can be greatly improved. If it is sufficient to use the same cleaning rate as when tap water is used as it is, the amount of detergent used can be reduced by water softening. Furthermore, hardness is 40pp
m or more, there is no need to use more detergent than necessary, and the impact on the environment is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the hardness is 40 ppm or less, the cleaning rate is almost constant, and when the hardness is more than 40 ppm, the cleaning rate decreases. When the hardness is 40 ppm or less, the zeolite contained in the synthetic detergent adsorbs almost all of the hardness components and the surfactant acts sufficiently, so that the cleaning rate becomes almost constant. The agent reacts with the hardness component to produce a metallic soap, and the amount of the surfactant decreases by that amount, so that the cleaning rate decreases. Therefore, when a synthetic detergent containing zeolite is used for washing, it is desirable to remove calcium ions and magnesium ions of the hardness components from the washing water to about 40 ppm.
On the other hand, in the case of soap, unlike FIG. 7, the cleaning rate decreases as the hardness increases, so it is preferable to remove the hardness component as much as possible.

The ion exchange performance of the ion exchange resin is determined by the ion exchange capacity, the ion exchange rate and the like. When the ion exchange resin is used in the washing machine, as described above, the processing flow rate is required to be 10 to 15 L / min, and the resin amount is required to be as small as possible so that the washing machine can be mounted. For this purpose, the ion exchange rate may be increased as much as possible to secure the processing flow rate, and the ion exchange capacity may be increased to reduce the resin amount. The ion exchange capacity and the ion exchange rate vary depending on the degree of crosslinking of the ion exchange resin, the resin structure (gel type, porosity), the resin diameter, and the like. However, the higher the degree of cross-linking, the higher the ion exchange capacity, but the lower the ion exchange rate, and if the porous structure is used, the higher the ion exchange rate than the gel type, but the lower the ion exchange capacity. Thus, it is difficult to simultaneously improve both performances by the degree of crosslinking and the structure of the ion exchange resin.

FIG. 8 shows the change of the leaked ion concentration with respect to the amount of water passing through the amount of ion-exchange resin and the amount of resin, for a sodium-type strongly acidic ion-exchange resin having a degree of crosslinking of 8%, which is most commonly used for water softening. This is the result of an experiment using the diameter as a parameter. Raw water total hardness is 100 ppm, flow rate is 15
L / min. The hardness component leaks in any case of the tested resin amount and resin diameter, and the concentration differs depending on the resin amount and resin diameter. The leakage ion concentration in the initial stage of water passage is smaller as the amount of resin is larger for the same resin diameter, and is smaller for smaller resin diameters when the amount of resin is the same. FIG. 9 shows the result of rearranging the leaked ion concentration in the initial stage of water passage in FIG. 8 with respect to the total surface area (calculated value) of the ion exchange resin. From the figure, it can be seen that the leaked ion concentration is almost inversely proportional to the total surface area of the ion exchange resin, and that the ion exchange rate is proportional to the total surface area of the ion exchange resin. Since the total surface area of the ion exchange resin is proportional to the amount of the ion exchange resin and inversely proportional to the diameter of the ion exchange resin, the amount of the resin can be reduced by reducing the diameter of the resin. The change in the leaked ion concentration is almost constant in the initial stage of water flow, but increases rapidly at a certain point as the flow rate increases, and eventually loses ion exchange capacity and becomes the same as the raw water. The ion exchange capacity is an area surrounded by a leak ion concentration line and a raw water ion concentration line (for example, a resin amount of 100 mL and a resin diameter of 0.1 to 0.1 mm).
In the case of 2 mm, it is represented by the area surrounded by ABCA in the figure), but it is proportional to only the amount of resin regardless of the resin diameter.

The ion exchange capacity of the ion exchange resin in FIG. 8 is 2.0 meq / mL-R (2.0 equivalents per mL of ion exchange resin), and CaCO ₃ / mL of resin.
100 mg of the hardness component can be removed in conversion. Suppose now that tap water having a total hardness of 100 ppm is flowed at a flow rate of 15 L / min to soften a water volume of 88 L for one high water level of a fully automatic washing machine with a rated capacity of 9 kg. Assuming that water softening may be performed up to 40 ppm which does not affect the detergency of the synthetic detergent containing zeolite, the hardness component to be removed is 5.28 g (CaC
O ₃ ), and considering the ion exchange capacity alone, the minimum required resin amount may be as small as 52.8 mL. But,
Considering the ion exchange rate, it is not possible to soften water up to 40 ppm with this amount of resin. Actually, as shown in FIG.
100 mL when the resin diameter is 0.1 to 0.2 mm, 150 mL when the resin diameter is 0.3 to 0.5 mm, and 0.3 to 1.
If there is no 260 mL resin amount in 1 mm, it cannot be reduced to 40 ppm or less.

As described above, in a washing machine having a rated capacity of 5 kg to 10 kg, by setting the resin diameter to 0.1 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, even if the resin amount is as small as 80 mL or more and 150 mL or less, the water supply flow rate is 10 L or more per minute. Thus, it is possible to realize an ion removing means capable of removing (softening) ions of the washing water at least once at a high water level, and it is possible to compactly install the washing water in a home washing machine. Although it is possible to further reduce the resin amount by further reducing the resin diameter, the pressure loss due to water flow increases, and it becomes difficult to secure a supply water flow rate of 10 L / min or more.

Here, a method for measuring the amount of ion exchange resin will be described. Ion exchange trees generally use volumes to represent quantities. The volume measuring method includes a method using a dedicated volume measuring device and a method using a measuring cylinder. Since the former procedure is complicated, the resin amount was measured by the latter measuring cylinder method in this example. The graduated cylinder method is a method in which an ion-exchange resin is placed in a graduated cylinder filled with water in advance, and the measurement is performed by tapping the bottom portion lightly and reading the volume whose volume has stopped decreasing any more. In addition, when filling the apparatus with resin in the production process, it is inefficient to measure the volume with a measuring cylinder each time, so it is necessary to measure the relationship between the resin volume measured above and the mass of the drained resin. Therefore, the amount of resin can be handled by mass, which is efficient.

FIG. 10 shows that ion-exchange resin having a resin diameter of 0.1 to 0.2 mm and a resin amount of 100 mL was applied to tap water (total hardness 100 ppm) at a flow rate of 15 L / min.
Is the relationship between the leaked ion concentration and the flow rate when flowing water.
In the figure, the marks ● and ○ indicate the first time of water passage, ie, when the ion exchange resin is new, and the symbols Δ and □ indicate the case of water passage after the second time after regeneration. Black and black symbols indicate the instantaneous leakage ion concentration at the discharge port of the ion removing means, and white and black symbols indicate the hardness of the washing water accumulated in the outer tub. The instantaneous leaked ion concentration at the discharge port at the time of the first water passage is constant at about 12 ppm up to a water flow rate of 50 L. From this, the leaked ion concentration starts increasing, but the leaked ion concentration is maintained at 40 ppm or less until the water flow rate reaches 100 L. When the flow rate is 150 L, the ion exchange capacity is lost, and the leaked ion concentration becomes the same as the raw water hardness. Therefore, the above-mentioned regeneration treatment with salt water is required. This reproduction process will be described later. The hardness of the washing water accumulated in the outer tub changes as indicated by a circle in the figure, and when a fully automatic washing machine having a rated capacity of 9 kg is supplied to a high water level (water volume is 88 L), the washing water has a hardness of about 16 ppm. No drop occurs.

When the washing process is completed, the microcomputer 50 opens the drain valve 13 and drains the washing water in the outer tub 4. After draining, the process shifts to the dehydration process. In the dehydrating step, the microcomputer 50 is connected to the solenoid 9 of the transmission 9.
is controlled so that the washing tub 5 is rotated at high speed by the electric motor 7.
During this time, the drain valve 13 is open.

After the completion of the dehydrating step, the drain valve 13 is closed, and then the operation proceeds to the rinsing step. The rinsing step is usually performed once or twice, depending on the method. In the so-called rinsing, in which water is temporarily stored in the outer tub 4 and then the rotating blades 6 are rotated to dilute the detergent remaining in the clothes, that is, the so-called rinsing requires approximately the same amount of water as the previous washing water supply. Therefore, the amount of water passing through the ion removing means 28 is 88 L in the previous washing water supply and 8 L in this rinsing.
8L × 2 times, a total of 264L. As shown in FIG. 10, since the ion exchange capacity is lost at a water flow rate of 150 L,
During the first rinse water supply, the hardness becomes the same as the raw water. However, since the rinsing step has no effect on the hardness, water having high hardness may be supplied. Since the water supply during the rinsing step is exactly the same as during the washing step except for the final rinsing step, here, the final rinsing step in which water is accumulated in the outer tub 4 and the regeneration of the ion exchange resin 31 during the final rinsing step The processing will be described. First, open the water supply solenoid valve 27,
Tap water is supplied to the outer tub 4 through the ion removing means 28 in the same manner as in the above-mentioned washing water supply. When the tap water fills the upper chamber 60b of the ion removing means and the check valve 60f closes the hole 60e (this is determined by elapse of a predetermined time after opening the water supply electromagnetic valve 27), The microcomputer 50 opens the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63.
Tap water passes through the salt injection solenoid valve 63, and the salt injection port 60h,
From the salt injection pipe 60i, it flows into the salt input room 60a. The opening of the salt injection pipe 60i preferably has a shape in which tap water is injected into the salt 62 in a shower shape. This water injection amount is set based on the amount of salt required to make the washing water for at least one tank have a hardness of 40 ppm or less. In a washing machine with a washing capacity of 9 kg (high water level 88 L), by setting the water injection amount to 60 to 70 mL, the washing water for one high water level washing is hardness 40 ppm.
You can: The water injection amount is the salt injection solenoid valve 63
Size (reducing the rated flow rate) and the salt injection pipe 60i
The flow path is reduced by reducing the inner diameter of the filter, or by inserting a throttle (not shown) in the middle of the salt injection path, thereby reducing the flow rate and controlling and adjusting the opening time of the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63. After the elapse of a predetermined amount of time, for example, 60 mL (to the broken line B in FIG. 5), the microcomputer 50
The water injection is stopped by controlling the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63. At this time, the water supply electromagnetic valve 27 is still open, and water supply is continuing. The tap water injected into the salt charging chamber 60a flows into the salt water chamber 60k through the salt particle outflow prevention filter 60g while dissolving the salt 62 because the air hole 61b is provided on the upper surface of the lid 61. Since the stop valve 60f closes the hole 60e, the inflow stops when the salt water chamber 60k becomes full.

When the water level sensor 11 detects that a predetermined amount of water has been supplied to the outer tub 4, the microcomputer 50
Closes the water supply solenoid valve 27 to stop the water supply,
Rotate forward and backward to stir the laundry and start rinsing. When the water supply is stopped, the tap water in the cylindrical container 60 is discharged from the salt water discharge port 29c by the head due to the difference between the level of the tap water (broken line A in FIG. 5) and the level of the rinse water accumulated in the outer tank 4. It gradually flows out through the brine discharge pipe 64. At the same time, air enters the upper chamber 60b from the outlet 29b.
Since b becomes the atmospheric pressure, the ball of the check valve 60f falls by its own weight, and the hole 60e is opened. Then, the salt water in the salt water room 60e gradually flows down into the upper room 60b from the hole 60e, and the salt water in which the salt 62 is dissolved is supplied from the salt water input room 60a to the salt water room 60k. This continues until there is no more tap water injected into the salt input room 60a. At this time, about 20 to 22 g of salt is dissolved in the salt water flowing into the salt water chamber 60k, and the concentration becomes about 26 wt%. This concentration is approximately the salt saturation concentration (salt solubility is 35.7 per 100 mL of water).
g, at 0 ° C). Thereafter, the salt water flows down the ion exchange resin 31 layer, passes through the lower chamber 60c, and exits the salt water outlet 29.
c, is discharged through the salt water discharge pipe 64 into the outer tank 4 containing the water for rinsing, and diluted with the rinsing water. When the salt water flows through the ion exchange resin 31, a reaction from the right side to the left side of the chemical formulas 1 and 2 occurs, and calcium ions, magnesium ions, which are ion-exchanged by passage of tap water at the time of water supply, and sodium ions in the salt water are formed. Will be replaced. As a result, the ion-exchange resin 31 is regenerated, the ion-exchange ability is restored, and the ion-exchange resin 31 can be used for water supply in the next washing step. The replaced calcium ions and magnesium ions are rinsed through the brine discharge pipe 64 together with the brine and discharged into the water. Therefore, the hardness of the rinsing water increases, but there is no influence of the hardness on the rinsing.

At every regeneration, about 20 g of the salt 62 in the salt charging chamber 60a is consumed and gradually reduced. The user confirms the amount of salt remaining in the salt-injection space or 60a through the transparent lid 61, and opens the lid 61 as soon as it is exhausted, and replenishes it. Further, means for counting the number of times of reproduction by the microcomputer 50 and notifying the user of the addition or replenishment of salt with the salt input display 25 when the predetermined number of times has been reached may be provided. This can reduce the risk that the user forgets to put the salt. If the user forgets to add the salt, the ion exchange resin cannot be regenerated, so that the washing water cannot be softened, and the washing power is equivalent to that of a general washing machine without an ion removing unit. Just do not be impossible to wash.

The salt water is stirred for the rinsing step (3 to 4 hours).
All flow down into the outer tub 4 within minutes. At this time, salt water room 6
It is better to reduce the amount of salt water discharged from the salt water discharge pipe 64 than the amount of salt water supplied from 0k. This is to allow the salt water to collect in the upper room 60b. By doing so, the salt water passes uniformly without passing through only a part of the ion exchange resin 31 layer, and efficient regeneration can be performed. For this reason, (1) a salt particle outflow prevention filter 60 which is an obstacle to the passage of salt water
g so as to allow a sufficient amount of salt water to pass therethrough. In an embodiment, the brine passes within about one minute.

(2) Adjust the diameter of the hole 60e to the salt water discharge port 20c.
Or larger than the inside diameter of the salt water discharge pipe 64. In the embodiment, the diameter of the hole 60e is 3 mm, and the inner diameter of the salt water discharge port 20c is 2 mm.

The flow time of the salt water varies depending on the water level at the time of rinsing. The lower the water level, the longer the distance between the salt water surface in the cylindrical container 60 and the rinse water surface, and the shorter the salt water flow time. When the inner diameter of the salt water discharge port 20c is 2 mm, if the distance between the outlet 64a of the salt water discharge pipe 64 and the surface of the rinse water is 150 mm or more, the salt water for regeneration is mostly cylindrical within 3 to 4 minutes which is the rinse time. It flows down from the inside of the container 60 to the outer tank 4. Even if the distance between the outlet 64a and the rinsing water surface cannot be made 150 mm or more due to the structure of the washing machine, the salt water is always drained because the water surface is lowered to 150 mm or more when the rinsing water is drained. By the way, the outlet 64a of the salt water discharge pipe 64 is preferably connected to the outer tank 4 below the lowest water level. By doing so, the high-concentration salt water for regeneration is always discharged and diluted into the rinsing water at all settable water levels, and is discharged to the outside of the washing machine together with the rinsing water. Therefore, the high-concentration salt water containing magnesium ions and calcium ions after regeneration does not remain in the outer tub 4, and there is no fear that this will increase the hardness of the washing water at the next washing. In addition, the high-concentration salt water does not directly touch the metal parts such as the stainless steel washing tub 5, and rust does not occur on the metal parts. Note that a slight amount of salt water actually remains between the ion exchange resins, the bottom surface of the lower chamber 60c, the salt water discharge pipe 64, and the check valve 60f due to surface tension, but has little effect on the next washing. In winter, the water inside may be frozen depending on the environment in which the washing machine is installed. However, in this embodiment, since salt water remains between the ion exchange resins, freezing of the ion resin can be prevented, and there is an effect that destruction of the ion exchange resin particles due to volume expansion does not occur. If left for a long time until the next washing, water evaporates and salt crystals are formed, and the salt water discharge port 29c and the salt water discharge pipe 64 are blocked, and the check valve 60
f may adhere to the sealing surface. However, the salt crystal is easily melted with tap water at the time of supplying water for the next washing, and the clogging of the salt water discharge port 29c and the salt water discharge pipe 64 does not occur. In addition, due to salt crystals attached to the sealing surface of the check valve 60f, water flows backward from the upper chamber 60b through the hole 60e to the salt water chamber 60k in the initial stage of water supply, but the salt crystals dissolve in a short time with this water. Therefore, the amount of water flowing backward is small.
In this way, the small amount of salt remaining in the container during regeneration is automatically dissolved and cleaned at the next washing water supply,
There is no problem caused by salt. Of course, after the salt water flows down, a step of opening the water supply solenoid valve 27 for a short time and passing 1-2 L of tap water to wash out the salt water remaining between the ion exchange resins may be added. When the final rinsing step and the ion-exchange resin regeneration step are completed, the rinsing water is drained, a dehydration step is performed, and the entire washing step is completed.

In this embodiment, the water flows upward from the lower room 60c toward the upper room 60b during water supply, and the water in which the salt is dissolved flows downward from the upper room 60b toward the lower room 60c during regeneration. (The flow direction of water is reverse at the time of water supply and at the time of regeneration). Flowing the water for regeneration down
The salt water for regeneration can be flowed only by the head difference between the salt water surface in the cylindrical container 60 and the rinse water surface stored in the outer tub 4,
This is because the structure of the ion removing means 28 can be simplified.
Further, since the salt water can be stored in the upper chamber 60b as described above, the salt water for regeneration flows uniformly in the ion exchange resin, and the regeneration can be efficiently performed. The flow of the water supply upward is such that when the water flows from the upper room 60b to the lower room 60c, the water pressure (0.3 to 8 kgf / cm ² ) acts on the upper room 60b, and the check valve 60f
Is required to have a structure that can withstand this pressure, leading to a complicated structure and a reduction in reliability. Also, if there is a discharge port in the lower room 60c, the lower room 6
This is because the water in 0c is discharged, and the salt water for regeneration cannot flow down only by the head difference. Furthermore, reversing the flow of water between the time of water supply and the time of regeneration also depends on the advantage in terms of regeneration efficiency.

The ion-exchange resin 31 regenerated as described above
Next, the instantaneous leaked ion concentration at the ion exchange means discharge port 29b when tap water (total hardness of 100 ppm) is passed in the next water supply is shown by the mark in FIG. Immediately after the start of water passage, the leaked ion concentration is the same as that at the first time (when a new product is used, marked by ●), but increases earlier than the first time, exceeds 40 ppm at a little less than 60 L, and exceeds 90 ppm.
At L, the ion exchange capacity is lost. During washing water supply,
Although the hardness exceeds 40 ppm, the hardness of the washing water accumulated in the outer tub 4 is higher than the high water level (water amount 8
8L) is about 38 ppm. Therefore, by performing the above-mentioned regenerating treatment, it is possible to obtain washing water having a hardness of 40 ppm or less, which does not decrease the washing performance when a synthetic detergent containing zeolite is used, for one high water level tank. In the subsequent rinsing step, the hardness of the supplied water becomes the same as that of the raw water because the ion exchange capacity is lost, but there is no influence on the rinsing performance. That is, since the ion exchange resin amount is set so that the ion exchange capacity is saturated in the washing water supply, it is not possible to adsorb more ions than necessary, so that the ion removing means can be downsized and the amount of salt for regeneration can be reduced. Connect.

The fact that the leaked ion concentration after the second time is higher than that at the first time indicates that not all of the ion-exchange groups have been regenerated in the above-mentioned regeneration treatment. The initial ion exchange capacity obtained from FIG. 10 is about 10 g (CaCO ₃ conversion). In order to exchange all of these with sodium ions in the salt water, about 12 g of salt is required if Chemical Formulas 1 and 2 are used. The amount of salt supplied in the above regeneration process is about 20-22 g
Is a sufficient amount. If the amount of water injected into the salt is less than 60 mL, the hardness at the time of 88 L water supply will exceed 40 ppm. Therefore, the amount of water injected into the salt must be at least 60 mL. For the second and subsequent times after the regeneration treatment, the ion exchange capacity is about 5.5 g (in terms of CaCO ₃ ), and the regeneration rate is 55
%. In order to increase the regeneration rate, the amount of injected water and the amount of salt water may be increased. However, as mentioned above, the reproduction rate is 55%.
In this case, just one tank (88 L) can be processed, and if the regeneration rate is further increased, salt will be wasted. Therefore, the amount of water injected into the salt is 60 mL, and 7
0 mL is sufficient.

According to the present regeneration method, ion-exchanged calcium ions and magnesium enter the rinse water together with a small amount but high concentration of salt water. For this reason, the hardness of the rinsing water is higher than that supplied. However, there is no problem because the hardness component does not affect the rinsing performance. About 6.5 g of the salt dissolved in 60 mL of water in 20 g is used for regenerating the ion exchange resin, and 13.5 g is discharged into the rinse water. However, since it is diluted with a large amount of rinsing water, there is no possibility that rust is generated on stainless steel or the like constituting the washing tub 5. Incidentally, the amount of water used in a 9 kg capacity fully automatic washing machine is about 25 to 88 L. If diluted with this water, the concentration becomes 0.054 to 0.015 wt%, which is lower than 0.9 wt% of physiological saline.

In the above description, the amount of ion-exchange resin, the amount of regenerated salt, and the like have been described using a fully automatic washing machine having a washing capacity of 9 kg. Even if the above-mentioned ion exchange means is applied as it is to a washing machine having a smaller capacity, it is needless to say that the intended softening can be achieved. However, since the amount of water for one washing varies depending on the capacity of the washing machine, it is less wasteful to match the processing capacity of the ion removing means. For example, in a washing machine having a capacity of 5 kg (high water level 56 L), the particle size is 0.1 to 0.2 m.
m ion-exchange resin, resin volume 80 mL, regenerated salt amount about 1
5 g, the amount of water injected into the salt 40 mL, the amount of salt that the user puts into the salt input room 60a at one time is about 110 g, and the volume of the salt input room is 120 to 130 mL.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the resin diameter and the resin amount of the ion exchange resin were optimized,
With L / min, a small and inexpensive ion removing means having a predetermined amount of ion removing performance only at the time of washing and supplying water can be realized, and can be mounted on a washing machine. In addition, during rinsing water supply, since there is no ion removing ability and no extra ions are adsorbed, the amount of salt for regeneration can be reduced. The regeneration treatment of the ion-exchange resin was automatically performed during the final rinsing step using a salt water in which salt in any household was dissolved. For this reason, the user only has to perform a simple operation of putting the salt for seven regenerations once a week (once every seven washings) into the salt dosing room, so that no extra labor is required. Further, since the salt is very inexpensive, there is almost no regeneration cost.

In the above description, the tap water was injected into the salt 62 during the water supply in the final rinsing step, but the same effect can be obtained by performing the following. The water supply electromagnetic valve 27 is opened, and water in the final rinsing step is supplied into the outer tank 4. Water level sensor 1
When the microcomputer 50 detects that a predetermined amount of water has been supplied to the outer tub 4 in step 1, the microcomputer 50 closes the water supply solenoid valve 27 to stop water supply, rotates the rotor 6 forward and reverse to stir and rinse the laundry. Start. When the water supply stops, the cylindrical container 6
The tap water in 0 flows out through the discharge port 29b and the brine discharge pipe 64, and the water level in the upper room 60b decreases. At the same time, the ball of the check valve 60f falls under its own weight, and the hole 6
0e opens. When the water level in the upper chamber 60b falls below the outlet 29b, all the tap water flows out from the salt water discharge pipe 64. The water level in the upper chamber 60b is equal to the discharge port 29b.
When the pressure drops further (broken line A in FIG. 5), the microcomputer 50 opens the salt water injection valve 63 and supplies a specified amount of water to the salt inlet chamber 60a. The lowering speed of the water level in the upper room 60b differs depending on the water level of the rinsing water, and the lower the water level, the higher the speed. Therefore, the time from closing the water supply electromagnetic valve 27 to opening the salt water injection valve 63 needs to be changed according to the water level of the rinse water. The water supplied to the salt charging chamber 60a dissolves the salt 62 while dissolving the salt 62.
, Flows into the salt water room 60k, and gradually flows down from the hole 60e into the upper room 60b. At this time, the upper room 60b
Since the inside water level is lower than the discharge port 29b, the salt water flowing down to the upper chamber 60b does not flow out from the discharge port 29b to be wasted, and all the supplied salt water passes through the ion exchange resin 31. Therefore, there is an advantage that the ion exchange resin 31 can be efficiently regenerated.

In this embodiment, the material having the ion exchange ability can be regenerated and used while the container and the ion exchange resin in the container are attached to the washing machine. It is only necessary to have the minimum ion exchange resin necessary to treat the water used in the washing process,
The ion removing means can be made compact.

In the present embodiment, the case where the salt 62 for regeneration is thrown in every washing will be described. When the user puts the laundry in the washing tub 5, presses the power switch 19, and operates the start button, the microcomputer 50 measures the amount of the laundry with the cloth amount sensor, and determines the amount of water and the amount of detergent according to the measurement result. The information is displayed on the display 21 to inform the user.
The user puts an appropriate amount of detergent into the washing tub 5 with reference to the display. Further, the lid 61 is opened and the salt required for one regeneration is charged into the salt charging chamber 60a. The subsequent operation is exactly the same as in the above-described embodiment. By doing so, it is necessary to perform the salt injection every time, so that a little trouble is required.
As long as 0a is sufficient to accommodate the salt for one regeneration and the water injection amount from the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63, the volume of the salt input room 60a can be reduced. For example, in the case of a washing machine having a washing capacity of 9 kg (high water level of 88 L), the salt input chamber 60a has a capacity of 180 mL or more as described above when the salt is input once a week.
Although 200 mL was necessary, a volume of 80 mL to 100 mL may be used when the salt (20 g) for one regeneration is added for each washing. Therefore, the size of the ion removing means 28 can be reduced. In addition, although it was described that the user needs trouble to input salt every time, the input of salt is performed almost simultaneously with the essential operation of inputting the detergent, which is advantageous in preventing forgetting to input the salt. .

In this embodiment, the case where the concentration of the regenerating salt water is almost the saturation concentration (26 wt%) has been described. Here, a method of reducing the amount of regenerating salt by diluting the regenerating salt water to lower the concentration will be described. . FIG.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the ion removing means 28. A water storage room 60p is provided in parallel with the salt input room 60a, and the water storage room 60p is provided.
And the salt water chamber 60k are connected by a communication hole 60q. An air hole 60r is provided on the upper surface of the water storage room 60p, and the bottom surface of the salt water room 60k is an inclined surface such that the hole 60e is the lowest. A salt injection pipe 60i from the salt injection port 60h branches bifurcated on the way, one of which has an opening A60m in the salt input chamber 60a, and the other has a water storage chamber 60p.
Has an opening B60n.

The operation of the ion removing means 28 will be described. The description of the same operation parts as in FIG. 5 is omitted. When the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63 is opened, the tap water flows through the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63 from the salt injection port 60h into the salt injection pipe 60i. Since the salt injection pipe 60i is bifurcated on the way, a part of the tap water flows into the salt charging chamber 60a from the opening A60m, and the rest flows from the opening B60n into the water storage chamber 60p. When a predetermined amount of time has elapsed, the electromagnetic valve 63 is closed to stop water injection. A part of the tap water injected into the salt charging room 60a flows through the salt particle outflow prevention filter 60g while dissolving the salt 62, and flows down to the salt water room 60k. At the same time, a part of the tap water injected into the water storage chamber 60p flows into the salt water chamber 60k through the communication hole 60q, mixes with the salt water, and the salt water is diluted. When the supply of water to the outer tub 4 is stopped and the ball of the check valve 60f falls under its own weight and the hole 60e is opened, the salt water in the salt water room 60k flows into the upper room 60b from the hole 60e. Then, the salt water uniformly flows down the ion exchange resin 31 layer to regenerate the ion exchange resin, and then the lower room 60k, the salt water outlet 2
9c, is discharged into the rinse water in the outer layer 4 through the salt water discharge pipe 64. The salt water room 60k has a salt input room 60a.
And the tap water from the water storage chamber 60p is replenished by the amount that has flowed out of the hole 60e. Therefore, the salt water in the salt water room 60k is salt water diluted with tap water. The concentration of the diluted salt water is determined by the ratio of the amount of salt water from the salt input room 60a and the amount of tap water from the water storage room 60p. That is, the area of the communication hole 60q and the salt particle outflow prevention filter 60g
The salt water concentration in the salt water chamber 60k can be determined by appropriately selecting the area of the salt water. When the sodium-type strongly acidic cation exchange resin used in the present invention is regenerated with salt water, it is known that the concentration of the salt water is about 10% by weight to achieve the highest regeneration efficiency. As described in the embodiment of FIG.
The concentration of salt water flowing into the salt water chamber 60k from a is 26 wt%, which is almost equal to the saturated concentration of salt. If this salt water is used as it is, the concentration becomes higher than the concentration having good regeneration efficiency, and the regeneration efficiency is lowered. In other words, extra salt is needed. Then, by introducing tap water from the water storage chamber 60p and diluting the salt water as in the present embodiment, the salt water concentration can be lowered, and the consumption of salt can be reduced. For example, assuming that the amount of water injected into the salt input chamber 60a is 40 mL and the amount of water injected into the water storage chamber 60p is 50 mL, the salt water concentration in the salt water chamber 60k is about 15 wt%. By setting the amount of water injected into the water storage chamber 60p to 90 mL, salt water having a concentration of about 10% by weight can be produced. This 15wt%
When the ion exchange resin 31 is regenerated using the salt water of
The regeneration efficiency is almost equal to that of the embodiment of FIG. For this reason, in the embodiment of FIG.
The amount of consumed salt is about 15 g in the above case, and the amount of consumed salt can be reduced. Thus, the salt input room 60a
By controlling the amount of water injected into the water storage chamber 60p and diluting the salt water, the salt water concentration can be adjusted. Accordingly, since the concentration of the salt water for regenerating the ion exchange resin 31 can be set to 10 wt%, which is the highest in regeneration efficiency, it is possible to reduce the consumption of salt. This makes it possible to extend the interval at which the user throws the salt into the salt throwing room 60a, thereby improving usability. In addition, since the size of the salt charging chamber 60a can be reduced, the size of the ion exchange unit can be reduced.

In the above description, the regeneration step of the ion exchange resin was performed during the final rinsing step.
The case where the regeneration step is performed at the beginning of the washing will be described. FIG. 12 shows an operation panel 19c attached to the upper surface of the front operation box 17c. The operation panel 19c includes a power switch 20, various displays 21, and various operation buttons 2.
2, a buzzer 23 and the like are installed, the user operates the washing machine with the operation button 22, and the state is displayed on the display 21,
It can be confirmed by the buzzer 23. Further, a water softening display 24 composed of a light emitting diode for displaying ion removal processing (water softening), a reproducing display 70 composed of a light emitting diode for displaying regeneration processing of the ion removal means, and a regenerating salt of the ion removal means are supplied. And an operation button 71 for selecting soft water washing. The operation of this embodiment will be described. The user puts the laundry in the washing tub 5 and presses the power switch 19,
When the soft water washing selection button 71 is selected and the start button is operated, the microcomputer 50 measures the amount of the laundry with the cloth amount sensor, and displays the amount of water and the amount of detergent according to the measurement result on the display 21 and displays the salt amount. The input indicator 25 is turned on to notify the user. The user puts an appropriate amount of detergent into the washing tub 5 with reference to the display, and also puts one regenerated salt into the salt feeding room 60a. Since soft water washing has been selected, the following ion-exchange resin regeneration step is performed first. The microcomputer 50 opens the water supply solenoid valve 27 for a short time and fills the lower room 60c, the resin room 29e, the upper room 60b, and the salt water discharge pipe 64 with water (the water supply amount is 1).
L to 2 L). This is to ensure that the salt water for regeneration flows down the head. Then, the drain valve 13 is opened, then the salt injection electromagnetic valve 63 is opened, and a specified amount of water is supplied from the salt injection pipe 60i to the salt injection chamber 60a (in the case of the ion exchange means 28 in FIG. 11, the salt injection chamber 60a and the water storage chamber 60a). 60p). At this time, the during-reproduction display 70 is turned on to notify the user that the ion-exchange resin is being reproduced. The water supplied to the salt input room 60a passes through the salt particle outflow prevention filter 60g while dissolving the salt 62, flows into the salt water room 60k, and gradually flows down from the hole 60e into the upper room 60b.
The salt water flows down the ion exchange resin 31 layer, and the lower room 60
c, the water is discharged from the salt water discharge port 29 c through the salt water discharge pipe 64 into the outer tank 4. Brine is ion exchange resin 31
By flowing inside, the ion exchange resin 31 is regenerated.
The salt water containing calcium ions and magnesium ions that have entered the outer tub 4 is discharged from the washing machine through the drain valve 13 and the drain hose 16. When all the salt water has been discharged from the outer tank 4, the microcomputer 50 closes the drain valve 13, turns off the display 70 during regeneration, and ends the regeneration process. Then, the drain valve 13 is closed and the water supply electromagnetic valve 27 is opened to start water supply for washing. At this time, the display 24 during softening is turned on. Tap water passes through the water supply solenoid valve 27 from the water tap 26 and flows into the lower chamber 60c of the cylindrical container 60 from the water inlet 29a. Then, it passes through the space between the ion exchange resins 31 and flows out to the upper chamber 60b.
Supplied within. The fact that tap water is softened by passing through the ion exchange resin 31 is the same as described above. In the present embodiment, when the soft water washing selection button 71 is not selected, the regenerating step is not performed without the addition of salt, and the water supply electromagnetic valve 27 is opened to start the selective water supply. In this case, since the ion exchange resin 31 has almost no ion exchange capacity, water softening is not performed.
There is no ordinary washing machine.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the user can select soft water washing when high washing is required, and the washing course can be arbitrarily selected depending on the degree of soiling of the laundry, thereby improving the usability of the washing machine. . Further, since the salt is surely supplied before the regeneration, there is no possibility that the regeneration failure due to the shortage of the salt occurs, and the washing water can be softened. Note that, as in the above-described embodiment, the salt for regeneration may be charged a plurality of washings at once. Also in this case, when the soft water washing is not required, there is an advantage that the salt is not unnecessarily consumed because the regeneration step is not performed.

Even if there is no soft water washing selection button, the user can select soft water washing which can obtain high washing power. That is a method in which the user selects whether or not the salt for regeneration is to be charged into the salt charging chamber 60a. When the salt is introduced, the ion-exchange resin is regenerated in the ion-exchange resin regeneration step before the washing step in the same manner as described above, so that soft water washing is selected. When the salt is not charged, the ion exchange resin cannot be regenerated, so that it is the same as a normal washing machine without an ion removing means. According to this method, the soft water washing selection button is not required on the operation panel of the washing machine, and the cost of the washing machine can be reduced.

FIG. 13 shows another ion removing means 2 of the present invention.
FIG. In FIG. 13, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5 denote the same parts, and pipes to the water inlet 29a, the outlet 29b, the salt water inlet 60h, and the salt water outlet 29c of the ion removing means 28 are omitted.

In this embodiment, the upper and lower surfaces are mesh filters 2
An air vent pipe 65 is provided which vertically penetrates the resin chamber 29e separated by 9d1 and 29d2 to ensure discharge of the salt water for regenerating the ion exchange resin 31. Air vent pipe 6
The upper end of 5 is open to the upper room 60b, and the vertical position is the same as the upper surface of the mesh filter 29d1. The lower end of the air vent pipe 65 is open to the lower chamber 60c, and its position is the same as the lower surface of the mesh filter 29d2.

The operation of the ion removing means 28 of this embodiment will be described. The description of the same operation parts as in the previous embodiment is omitted. When the washing process starts and the water supply solenoid valve 27 is opened,
Tap water is supplied from the water inlet 29a to the lower chamber 60 of the cylindrical container 60.
c to fill the lower chamber 60c,
The ion-exchange resin 31 layer filled in 9e rises and flows out to the upper chamber 60b. While passing through the ion exchange resin 31, calcium ions and magnesium ions contained in tap water are removed. Then, after filling the upper chamber 60b, it flows out from the discharge port 29b, and accumulates in the outer tank 4 through the room A47 and the inclined flow path 46. Part of the tap water flowing into the lower room 60c flows out of the upper room 60b through the air vent pipe 65 without passing through the ion exchange resin 31. If the inside diameter of the air vent pipe 65 is 0.7 mm, the water supply flow rate is 15 L
The flow rate through the air bleed tube 65 per minute is about 0.06 L / min. As in the embodiment of FIG. 5, a part (0.5 L / min) of tap water flowing into the lower chamber 29c is
It flows into the outer tank 4 through the salt water discharge pipe 64 connected to 9c. Therefore, the amount of water supplied to the outer tank 4 without passing through the ion exchange resin 31 at the time of supplying water is larger than in the case of the previous embodiment. However, the amount is about 4% of the water supply (3% in the previous embodiment), and the effect is small.

When the ion-cured resin 31 is regenerated during the final rinsing step, the salt water accumulated in the upper chamber 60b slowly passes through the ion-exchange resin 31 and is connected to the salt water outlet 29c through the lower chamber 60c. Saltwater discharge pipe 6
4 and is discharged into an outer tank 4 containing rinsing water. At this time, when the water surface A of the salt water passes through the mesh filter 29d1 and goes down to the upper part of the ion exchange resin 31, a force for holding the salt water in the ion exchange resin 31 layer is generated due to surface tension, and the flowing speed of the salt water is reduced. descend. This force increases as the resin diameter decreases. If the flowing speed of the salt water is too slow, there is a possibility that the rinsing step is completed before the salt water in the lower chamber 60c is discharged. In particular, when the flow of the salt water continues until after the drainage, the salt water containing a large amount of calcium ions and magnesium ions remains in the outer tank 4. These remaining ions dissolve in the water supplied at the next washing, and increase the hardness of the washing water. Therefore,
Even if the water from which the hardness component has been removed by the angle ion removing means 28 is supplied, the effect is offset. This phenomenon becomes remarkable when the ion exchange resin diameter becomes 0.3 mm or less.

When the surface of the salt water falls to the upper part of the ion exchange resin 31, the salt water passes through the air vent pipe 65. Subsequently, the air passes into the lower room 29c, and the surface of the salt water moves to the lower room. In order to do this, it is necessary to set the inner diameter of the air vent tube 65 so that the surface tension generated in the air vent tube 65 is smaller than the surface tension of the ion exchange resin layer. In the embodiment, the diameter of the ion exchange resin is 0.1 to 0.2 mm, and the inner diameter of the air vent pipe 65 is 0.7 mm.
mm. Since the air is supplied to the lower chamber 29c through the air vent pipe 65, the discharge speed of the salt water hardly decreases, and the discharge of the salt water in the lower chamber 29c can be surely completed during the final rinsing step.

After the discharge of the salt water from the lower chamber 29c is completed (after the final rinsing step is completed), the water supply solenoid valve 27 is opened for a short time,
1 to 2 L of tap water flows into the ion removing means 28, and the salt water remaining in the ion exchange resin 31 layer is discharged from the discharge port 29 b into the outer tank 4 through the room A 47 and the inclined flow path 46. Since the amount of salt water remaining in the ion exchange resin layer is as small as several mL or less, this step may be omitted.

According to this embodiment, since the air vent pipe 65 is provided, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the discharge speed of the salt water for regeneration due to the 31 layers of the ion-exchange resin, and during the final rinsing step (3 to 4 minutes). The salt water in the cylindrical container can be reliably discharged to the outer tank 4.

FIG. 14 shows another ion removing means 2 of the present invention.
FIG. (A) is a longitudinal sectional view of the ion removing means 28, and (b) is (a) a transverse sectional view along XX line. The bottom surface of the lower room 60c1 is formed as an inclined surface where the water inlet 29a is lower. That is, the distance from the bottom surface of the lower room 60c1 to the mesh filter 29d2 is wider near the water inlet 29a and narrower as the distance increases. The salt water outlet 29c is provided at the lowest position of the bottom of the lower room 60c1.

If the distance from the bottom of the lower room 60c to the mesh filter 29d is uniform as in the previous embodiment of FIG.
, And flow mainly on the back side of the ion exchange resin 31 layer (the side opposite to the water inlet 29a, indicated by B in the figure). For this reason, the flow in the ion exchange resin 31 layer is not uniform, and the leaked ion concentration increases. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to secure the height of the lower chamber 60c to be 10 mm or more, which hinders downsizing of the ion removing means 28. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the distance between the bottom surface of the lower room 60c1 and the mesh filter 29d2 is changed to the water inlet 29a.
The tap water is rectified on the inclined surface by being made narrower as it gets farther from, so that the tap water uniformly passes through the ion exchange resin 31 layer. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the distance between the bottom surface of the lower room 60c1 and the mesh filter 29d2 to about 5 mm at the widest point. When this interval becomes narrow, the lower room 60c is moved from the water inlet 29a.
Although the flow to 1 becomes a jet flow, this can be prevented by widening the opening of the water inlet 29a in the circumferential direction as shown in FIG. 11B.

In this embodiment, since the volume of the lower chamber 60c1 is reduced, if the flow time of the salt water during regeneration of the ion exchange resin 31 is the same as that of the embodiment of FIG. 5, the flow speed of the salt water can be reduced. The regeneration efficiency of the ion exchange resin 31 can be increased.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the lower room 60c
1, a tap water is rectified so that a uniform flow of tap water is passed through the ion exchange resin, so that the volume of the lower chamber 60c1 can be reduced without increasing the leaked ion concentration, and the ion exchange means can be used. The size can be reduced.

[0083]

According to the present invention, a material having ion-exchange capability can be made compact and can be recycled and used while being attached to a washing machine, so that it is easy to use and practical. A washing machine having high ion removing means can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a fully automatic washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fully automatic washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation panel diagram of the fully automatic washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the inside of the rear storage box according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view and a longitudinal sectional view of an ion removing unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an electrical connection block diagram of the fully automatic washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between hardness and a cleaning rate.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a flow rate and leakage hardness.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relationship between the ion exchange resin surface area and the leakage hardness.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of water flow and the leakage hardness after the initial and regeneration.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ion removing unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is another operation panel diagram according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view and a transverse sectional view of another ion removing means according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view of another ion removing means according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... Outer tub, 5 ... Washing and dewatering tub, 17b ... Rear storage box,
26 tap water supply port, 27 water supply solenoid valve, 28 ion removal means, 29a inlet port, 29b outlet port, 29c salt water outlet port, 29d, 29d1, 29d2 mesh filter, 29e resin room, 31 Ion exchange resin, 50 ...
Microcomputer, 60: cylindrical container, 60a: salt charging room, 60b: upper room, 60c, 60c1: lower room, 60d: partition wall, 60e: hole, 60f: check valve, 60
g: salt particle outflow prevention filter, 60h: salt water inlet, 60i
... Salt injection pipe, 60k ... Salt water room, 60p ... Reservoir, 60
q: communication hole, 60r: air hole, 61: lid, 61b: air hole, 62: salt, 63: salt water injection solenoid valve, 64: salt water discharge pipe, 65: air vent pipe, 71: soft water washing selection button.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yosuke Nagano 502, Kunitachi-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Inside Machinery Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Tamotsu Kamori 1-1-1 Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi, Ltd.Electrical Equipment Division (72) Inventor Hiroshi Osugi 1-1-1, Higashitagacho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inside, Hitachi, Ltd.Electrical Equipment Division (72) Inventor Takami Koyama Higashitagamachi, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture 1-1-1, Hitachi, Ltd.Electrical Equipment Division (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Suzuki 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd.Electrical Equipment Division (72) Inventor Akira Miyao 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Hitachi, Ltd.Electrical Equipment Division

Claims (1)

[Claims] An outer frame, an outer tank supported on the outer frame by vibration isolation,
A washing tub included in the outer tub and having a rotating wing at the center of the bottom for washing and dewatering, and an opening for allowing the laundry to be taken in and out of the washing tub is provided on the upper surface of the outer frame. Provided top cover, water supply means for supplying water to the outer tub and the washing tub, drainage means for draining water in the outer tub and the washing tub, and control means for controlling each step of washing, rinsing and dehydration. In the washing machine provided, a container containing a material having ion exchange ability in the middle of the water supply path of the water supply means, an upper space and a lower space partitioned by a filter on the upper and lower sides of the material of the container, respectively. A regenerating agent chamber for charging a regenerating agent above the upper space, water injection means for injecting water into the regenerating agent chamber under the control of the control means, and a regenerating agent chamber and a filter below the regenerating agent chamber. , Water injected into the regenerating agent chamber A regenerating solution chamber for allowing the regenerating solution produced by dissolving the regenerating agent to flow down, a channel for allowing the regenerating solution to flow from the regenerating solution chamber to the upper space, and a channel for allowing the channel to flow from the upper space to the regenerating solution chamber. A check valve for preventing backflow, means for supplying water to the regenerating solution chamber without passing through the regenerating agent chamber, a flow path communicating from the inside of the container to the outer tank on the bottom surface of the container, A water supply inlet from the water supply means connected to the lower space of the container; and a water supply outlet from the container to the washing tub side in the upper space of the container, and a flow path communicating from the inside of the container to the inside of the outer tub. The cross section of
A washing machine characterized in that the sectional area is smaller than a cross-sectional area of a flow path through which the salt water flows.