JP2000176194A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an improved washing machine in which an inconvenience in a rinsing operation is eliminated. SOLUTION: After the lapse of a rinsing time, when a rinsing operation is in a final step, and the contents of operation are to be completed with the rinsing operation (Yes in step S10), water is drained for 3 seconds (step S11) in order to remove foams on a water surface. The water is drained through an outer tank from the small holes of an inner tank. The foams floating on the center of the water surfacer are collected to the wall surface of the inner tank so that the foams disappear. After the drainage of water for 3 seconds, a buzzer sounds to inform a user of the completion of a washing operation (step S12). Thus, the user does not entertain a distrustful feeling that the washed items may not be sufficiently rinsed. When the user takes out the washed items, the foams do not stick thereto.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine for performing a washing process including rinsing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method for rinsing laundry, pool rinsing and water rinsing are known. In the storage rinse,
Water is stored in the washing tub up to a predetermined water level, a pulsator arranged in the washing tub is rotated, and the water in the washing tub and the laundry are stirred. In the water rinsing, the pulsator arranged in the washing tub is rotated while the water is drained out of the machine by overflow while being poured, and the water in the washing tub and the laundry are stirred. These rinses allow the detergent remaining on the laundry to dissolve into the water and remove the detergent from the laundry.

[0003]

By the way, laundry may be entangled during rinsing, and at the end of rinsing, the pulsator may be turned over at short intervals to loosen the laundry. In particular, in the case of water rinsing, the rinsing operation is performed while pouring water, so that the water level after rinsing is the overflow position. When the water level is high, the position of the laundry is also high. Therefore, in the loosening process performed by inverting the pulsator at short intervals, the stirring power is not sufficiently transmitted to the laundry, and the tangled laundry cannot be loosened efficiently. In particular, when the amount of laundry is small, the laundry floats near the water surface, and it has been difficult to properly loosen the laundry by a loosening process.

[0004] On the other hand, instead of a washing course prepared in advance, the driving operation can be terminated at the end of rinsing.
Some can be set by the user. When the operation operation is terminated at the end of the rinsing operation, the drainage is not performed after the rinsing because the water used for the rinsing is reused in the next washing or the like. By the way, in the water in the washing tub after rinsing, bubbles often float on the water surface. If bubbles are floating on the surface of the water, a user who looks into the washing tub in an attempt to remove the laundry will give a distrust that the user is not sufficiently advanced. In addition, when taking out the laundry, bubbles on the water surface may adhere to the laundry. Therefore, it is desirable that the bubbles have disappeared from the water surface at the end of the rinsing operation.

[0005] As described above, the conventional rinsing operation has a problem depending on the operation state. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved washing machine which has solved the above-mentioned problems in the rinsing operation.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outer tub capable of containing washing water, and an outer tub provided in the outer tub and having a peripheral portion. An inner tub having a number of small holes formed on a surface thereof, and a washing machine for rinsing laundry stored in the inner tub,
A washing machine characterized by including a rinsing completion means for draining water in an outer tub for a predetermined time after the rinsing operation is completed, when the operation content is set to end by rinsing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, water is drained from the small hole of the inner tank through the outer tank, and bubbles floating at the center of the water surface are brought to the wall surface of the inner tank. In addition, the appearance of bubbles can be almost completely eliminated. Therefore, the user is not distrusted that the laundry is not sufficiently soaked. Also, when the laundry is taken out of the washing tub, no bubbles adhere to the laundry.

A washing machine according to a second aspect of the present invention is the washing machine according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying that the rinsing has been completed, and the notifying unit notifies after the drainage by the rinsing completion unit has been completed. It is characterized by the following. According to the configuration of the second aspect of the present invention, the end of the rinsing is notified to the user after the end of the drainage. Therefore, when the user looks into the washing tub to take out the laundry, bubbles are formed on the water surface. Is not floating. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from having a mistrust that the laundry is not sufficiently soaked.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a washing tub capable of storing laundry and washing water, and a pulsator rotatably disposed in the washing tub. A washing machine for rinsing laundry by generating a water flow in the means for setting a water rinse, and in response to the water rinse being set,
Water rinsing control means for driving the pulsator to generate a water rinsing water flow, determining means for determining that the water rinsing time has expired, and water level detecting means for detecting whether the water level in the washing tub is at a predetermined water level. When the means determines that the water injection rinsing time has expired, the drainage control means performs drainage so that the water level detection means detects the predetermined water level, and after the water level detection means detects the predetermined water level, the loosening water flow at the predetermined water level is detected. A loosening control means for driving the pulsator to generate it.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the loosening process can be performed at an appropriate water level, the entangled laundry can be loosened efficiently. In addition, bubbles on the water surface can be eliminated by draining. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, when the water injection means for injecting water into the washing tub when the water injection rinse is set and the determination means determines that the water injection rinse time has expired. And a water injection stopping means for stopping water injection by the water injection means.

According to the configuration of the invention described in claim 4, the water injection is stopped immediately after the end of the water rinse, so that the amount of water can be suppressed and the waste of cost can be eliminated. The washing machine according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 3 or 4,
The washing tub has an outer tub that can store washing water,
In the case where the operation content is set so as to be provided in the outer tub and having an inner tub capable of accommodating laundry, in which a number of fine small holes are formed on a peripheral surface thereof and accommodating laundry, In addition, after the operation of the loosening water flow by the loosening control means is completed, the apparatus further includes a water injection rinsing completion means for draining water in the washing tub for a predetermined time.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, even when the operation is terminated by rinsing with water, the bubbles on the water surface can be surely erased, so that there is a distrust that the laundry is not sufficiently rinsed. The foam does not adhere to the laundry when the laundry is taken out from the washing tub without giving a feeling to the user.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a simplified configuration of a fully automatic washing machine according to one embodiment of the present invention. The fully automatic washing machine 1 includes a box-shaped housing 2 having an opening on an upper surface, and a lid 3 that can be opened and closed is attached to the opening. An operation panel 6 is arranged on the upper surface of the housing 2. The fully automatic washing machine 1 further includes an outer tub 4 suspended from the housing 2 by a suspension bar (not shown) with a spring, and an inner tub 5 provided in the outer tub 4. . Inner tank 5
Can store laundry through the upper opening of the housing 2. The inner tub 5 is formed with a large number of small holes 5 a, and the washing water stored in the inner tub 5 is stored in the outer tub 4.

Above the outer tub 4 is provided a detergent accommodating section 7 for storing a detergent used for washing. The other end of the water supply passage 8 whose one end protrudes from the upper surface of the housing 2 is connected to the detergent accommodating portion 7. For example, a water supply hose 9 extending from a water tap (not shown) is connected to a portion of the water supply passage 8 protruding from the upper surface of the housing 2. In addition, water supply channel 8
In the middle of the water supply valve 10 composed of, for example, a solenoid valve
Is arranged. With this configuration, when the water supply valve 10 is opened, the tap water supplied to the detergent container 7 from the water tap (not shown) through the water supply hose 9 and the water supply channel 8 is mixed with the detergent contained in the detergent container 7. It flows into the inner tank 5 and is stored in the outer tank 4.

A drain port 11 is formed at the bottom of the outer tub 4 to discharge the washing water stored in the outer tub 4 to the outside of the housing 2. A drain pipe 12 extending outside the housing 2 is connected to the drain port 11. A drain valve 13 composed of, for example, an electromagnetic valve is disposed in the middle of the drain pipe 12. When the drain valve 13 is opened, the washing water stored in the outer tub 4 passes through the drain pipe 12. It is discharged out of the housing 2.

An air trap 14 is provided at one corner of the bottom of the outer tank 4. The air trap 14 is connected to a water level sensor 15 provided above the housing 2 via an air hose 16. As the water level in the outer tub 4 rises, washing water also enters the air hose 16 and the air in the air hose 16 is compressed. Water level sensor 1
5 detects the water level in the outer tub 4 by measuring the air pressure in the air hose 16.

As described above, the inner tub 5 serves as both a washing tub and a dewatering tub, and a number of fine dewatering holes (small holes) 5a are formed around the inner tub 5. A pulsator 17 for stirring the washing water to generate a water flow is provided at the bottom of the inner tub 5. The inner tub 5 and the pulsator 17 are supported by an output shaft 19 of a bearing 18 provided below the outer tub 4 so as to be rotatable forward and backward.

A motor 20 for generating a driving force for rotating the inner tank 5 and the pulsator 17 and a transmission mechanism 21 for transmitting the rotating force of the motor 20 to the bearing 18 are provided at the bottom of the housing 2. ing. Transmission mechanism 21
The small pulley 2 fixed to the output shaft 22 of the motor 20
3, a large pulley 25 fixed to the lower end of the input shaft 24 of the bearing 18, and a belt 26 spanned over the small pulley 23 and the large pulley 25. The rotational force of the motor 20 is transmitted to the large pulley 25 via the small pulley 23 and the belt 26, and further transmitted to the bearing 18 via the input shaft 24.
Is transmitted to

The bearing 18 has a built-in clutch (not shown) so that the inner tank 5 and the pulsator 17 can be driven individually. The output shaft 19 of the bearing 18 is a double shaft. Have been. For example, at the time of washing and rinsing, the driving force of the motor 20 is transmitted to the pulsator 17 via the bearing 18, and the pulsator 17 is rotated forward and backward. At the time of dehydration, the driving force of the motor 20 is transmitted to both the inner tub 5 and the pulsator 17, the inner tub 5 and the pulsator 17 are rotated in one direction at high speed, and the laundry in the inner tub 5 is dehydrated by centrifugal force. You.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the operation panel 6. The operation panel 6 has a rinsing setting switch 3 for setting the type of rinsing, the number of rinsing operations, and omitting rinsing.
1. A water rinse indicator lamp 32 that lights up when the rinse is set to water rinse, and a plurality of course selection switches 33 for selecting a course desired by the user from a prepared laundry course. I have. The course selection switch 33 includes a self-flow operation setting switch 34 for restarting the same operation as that performed during the immediately preceding operation. With the self-flow operation setting switch 34 and the rinsing setting switch 31, it is possible to set the washing operation to be stopped after the rinsing operation is completed.

In addition, various operation switches are arranged. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the fully automatic washing machine 1 according to this embodiment. The washing operation including each step such as washing and rinsing is executed under the control of the CPU 41. The CPU 41 is connected to a ROM 42 in which a control program is stored, and a memory such as a RAM 43 used as a work area when the CPU 41 executes a control process.

The CPU 41 receives a signal output from the water level sensor 15, a signal from the timer 44, and a signal from the operation panel 6. That is, signals from the rinse setting switch 31, the self-flow operation setting switch 34, and the like are input. The CPU 41 opens and closes the water supply valve 10 and the drain valve 13 based on the above-described input signals and a control program stored in the ROM 42,
It controls the drive / stop of 0, the switching of the rotation direction, the notification of the buzzer 45, and the blinking of the water rinse indicator lamp 32.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the rinsing step. The rinsing performed in this embodiment is described as a pool rinse or a water rinse. The control routine shown in FIG. 4 is started according to the set operation contents, for example, in response to the end of the washing.

The water supply valve 10 is opened to supply water into the outer tub 4 (step S1). When the water level sensor 15 detects that the water level of the washing water is at the predetermined water level and a predetermined signal is output from the water level sensor 15 to the CPU 41 (step S2).
YES), when the reservoir is rinsed, the water supply valve 10 is closed and the water supply is stopped (steps S3 and S4). When the water supply is rinsed, the pulsator 17 is rotated while the water supply is continued, and the rinse time expires. The operation is continued with the rinse water flow (steps S5 and S6).

After the lapse of the rinsing time, a comparison is made with the number of times of rinsing stored in the RAM 43 to determine whether or not this rinsing is the final rinsing (step S7). When it is determined that the rinsing is not the final rinsing (step S7)
NO), the drain valve 13 is opened, the washing water in the outer tub 4 is drained out of the housing 2 (step S8), the inner tub 5 is rotated at a high speed to perform intermediate dehydration (step S9), and rinse is performed again. Is performed.

When it is determined that the final rinsing is performed (YES in step S7), it is determined whether or not the operation content is set so as to end the rinsing operation (step S10). When the washing operation is not completed in the rinsing operation (NO in step S10), other control such as dehydration is performed. The other controls are not related to the features of the present embodiment, and the description is omitted.

When the washing operation is completed in the rinsing operation (YES in step S10), bubbles may float on the water surface. Therefore, in order to eliminate bubbles on the water surface, a drain valve 13 is provided.
Is opened for 3 seconds and drained (step S11). The water is drained from the small hole 5a of the inner tank 5 through the outer tank 4, and the bubbles floating at the center of the water surface are brought to the wall surface of the inner tank 5, so that the apparent bubbles can be almost eliminated.

Then, after draining for 3 seconds, the buzzer 45 is sounded and the user is notified of the completion of the washing operation (step S12), and this control routine ends. When the user who hears the notification sound of the buzzer 45 looks into the inner tub 5 to take out the laundry, no bubbles are floating on the water surface. Therefore, the user is not distrusted that he / she is not sufficiently advanced. In addition, when the user
No bubbles adhere to the laundry when the laundry is taken out of the laundry.

In this embodiment, the drainage is performed for three seconds. However, the drainage time is set so that bubbles can be removed from the water surface, and the drainage is not limited to three seconds.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a rinsing step according to another embodiment. In this embodiment, a loosening process for loosening the entangled laundry is performed after water rinsing.

The control routine shown in FIG. 5 is started according to the set operation contents, for example, in response to detecting the end of washing. The water supply valve 10 is opened to supply water into the outer tub 4 (step S21). When the water level sensor 15 detects that the water level of the washing water is the predetermined water level for rinsing (YES in step S22), a predetermined signal is output from the water level sensor 15 to the CPU 41, and the pulsator 17 is driven to rinse the water. Operated by water flow (Step S
23). The rinsing is performed until the water rinsing time expires while continuing the water injection (step S24). The amount of washing water whose amount has been increased by water injection is discharged out of the housing 2 by overflow. After the end of the water rinsing, the water injection is stopped (steps S25 and S26), except when the user stops halfway.

Next, a loosening process is performed. If the washing water level is high enough to overflow, the position of the laundry will also be high. Therefore, in the loosening process performed by inverting the pulsator 17 at short intervals, the stirring force is not sufficiently transmitted to the laundry, and the tangled laundry cannot be loosened efficiently.
Therefore, when it is determined that the water injection rinsing time has expired, the washing water is drained so that the water level becomes the predetermined rinsing water level (step S27). After draining, at the specified rinse water level,
The pulsator 17 is inverted and rotated at short intervals to generate a loosening water flow, and a loosening process is performed (step S2).
8, S29).

Since the loosening process is performed at an appropriate water level,
The entangled laundry is efficiently unraveled. Then, after the drain valve 13 is opened and the washing water in the outer tub 4 is drained out of the housing 2 (step S30), the inner tub 5 is rotated at a high speed to perform dehydration (step S31). finish.

If the washing operation is set to end after the end of the rinsing, after the end of the loosening process,
As in steps S11 and S12 in FIG. 4, the drainage may be performed for a predetermined time, and the notification by the buzzer 45 may be performed. In this case, bubbles on the water surface can be surely eliminated by the drainage after the loosening treatment. In the above description, a one-tub type fully automatic washing machine is taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to a two-tub type washing machine.

In addition, various changes can be made within the scope described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified sectional view showing a configuration of a fully automatic washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation panel.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a rinsing step according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a rinsing step of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fully automatic washing machine 5 Inner tub 6 Operation panel 10 Water supply valve 13 Drain valve 15 Water level sensor 17 Pulsator 20 Motor 31 Rinse setting switch 34 Self-flow operation setting switch 41 CPU 44 Timer 45 Buzzer

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3B155 AA03 AA18 BA09 BB12 CA05 CB06 FA29 FC02 JB22 JB26 JC04 JC12 JC13 JC14 KA19 KB05 LA14 LB01 LB02 LB05 LB31 LC02 LC14 LC29 LC30 LC33 MA01 MA06 MA08 MA10

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An outer tub capable of accommodating washing water, and an inner tub provided in the outer tub and having a number of fine small holes formed on a peripheral surface thereof, are housed in the inner tub. A washing machine for rinsing the laundry, comprising: a rinsing completion means for draining water in the outer tub for a predetermined time after the rinsing operation, when the operation content is set to end by rinsing. Features washing machine. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a notifying unit for notifying that the rinsing has been completed, wherein the notifying unit notifies after the drainage by the rinsing completion unit has been completed. . 3. A washing tub capable of storing laundry and washing water, and a pulsator rotatably disposed in the washing tub, wherein a water flow is generated in the washing tub by rotating the pulsator. A washing machine for rinsing laundry, a means for setting a water rinsing, and a water rinsing control means for driving a pulsator to generate a water rinsing flow in response to the setting of the water rinsing. Determining means for determining that the water rinsing time has expired; water level detecting means for detecting whether the water level of the washing tub is at a predetermined water level; and determining means that the water rinsing time has expired,
Drainage control means for performing drainage so that the water level detection means detects a predetermined water level, and loosening control means for driving the pulsator to generate a loosening water flow at the predetermined water level after the water level detection means detects the predetermined water level. A washing machine comprising: a washing machine; 4. A washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the water injection means for injecting water into the washing tub when the water injection rinse is set, and when the determination means determines that the water injection rinse time has expired,
A washing machine comprising water injection stopping means for stopping water injection by water injection means. 5. The washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the washing tub comprises: an outer tub capable of storing washing water;
When the operation content is set to end with water rinsing, including an inner tub that is provided in the outer tub and has a number of fine small holes formed on the peripheral surface thereof and that can store laundry. The washing machine further comprises a water injection rinsing completion means for draining water in the washing tub for a predetermined time after the operation of the loosening water flow by the loosening control means is completed.