JP2000288287A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make efficiently dischargeable dehydrated water by making the dehydrat ed water rise along grooves when a dehydration is performed by rotating an internal tub at a high speed, improve the dehydration performance, and at the same time, reduce the vibration by forming the peripheral wall of the internal tub and the groove into a tapered shape which becomes wider toward the upper end, and making the tapering of the groove larger than the tapering of the peripheral wall. SOLUTION: An external tub 21 is hung from a box body 1 by a plurality of vibration isolation mechanisms comprising a supporting rod 2A and a spring 2B, and in the external tub 21, an internal tub (washing-dehydrating tub) 3 is rotatably housed. For the internal tub 3, a plurality of grooves 3C are formed in the vertical direction on the peripheral wall 3D on the internal surface side. In this case, the peripheral wall 3D and the groove 3C are formed into a tapered shape which becomes wider toward the upper end, and at this time, the peripheral wall 3D is formed into a tapered shape of 1/60-1/40, and in the meantime, the groove 3C is formed into a tapered shape of 1/60-1/40, and the tapering of the groove 3C is made larger than that of the peripheral wall 3D, and a dehydrating hole 3A for dehydration is provided on the upper end section of the internal tub 3 at a plurality of locations.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a washing and dewatering tub (hereinafter referred to as an inner tub) in which at least a peripheral wall excluding an upper end thereof is non-porous, or an inner tub having a non-porous wall and the inner tub and the inner tub. A washing machine having a spin-drying inner tub having a spin-drying gap provided between the balancer and the balancer provided at the upper end, and automatically performing a spin-drying step after a washing (rinsing) step and a draining step. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A number of fully automatic washing machines have been devised in order to prevent vibration due to unbalance generated during spin-drying, washing out of the washing, blocking of spin-drying holes by the washing, and reduction in spin-drying efficiency. .

As one example, a dehydration tub has a large number of dehydration holes. As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-49116 (hereinafter referred to as Reference 1), the rotating blade is intermittently rotated at one rotation or less. In some cases, the rotating operation is performed during the drainage of the dewatering process to eliminate the imbalance of the laundry.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-9878 (hereinafter referred to as Reference 2) discloses a non-porous dewatering tank that dewaters from a dewatering gap between the dewatering tank and a balancer provided at the upper end of the dewatering tank. It has been disclosed.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-120958 (hereinafter referred to as Reference 3) discloses a method in which dehydration is performed through a dehydration hole provided at an upper end of a dehydration tank.

[0006] In particular, in order to prevent the laundry from jumping out, closing the dewatering hole by the laundry, and reducing the dehydration efficiency, etc.
The taper angle of the dewatering tub disclosed in the aforementioned reference 2 is 30
° is set below. However, in the embodiment, the taper angle is set to 2 ° to 3 ° in order to increase the dewatering efficiency. Therefore, the inclination angle of the ridge of the inner wall of the dehydration tank is set to be taper angle <inclination angle ≦ 30 °. .

[0007] Further, in Document 3, when the taper angle is 2 ° or more, a plurality of dewatering holes are formed in the upper portion or the upper end portion of the groove of the washing and dewatering tub. When the taper angle is less than 2 °, at least one and one dehydration hole are formed between the bottom and the upper end of the washing and dewatering tub of each groove and at the top of each groove.

[0008] The taper of a dewatering tank provided with a large number of dewatering holes is generally set to 1/100 or less.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned Document 1, since the rotor is rotated even though it is not more than one rotation,
Depending on the condition of the laundry, the deviation in the inner tub may be increased. In addition, as the water level decreases, the laundry is located on the rotary wings, increasing the load on the drive unit, and affecting the subsequent dewatering process.

[0010] In addition, in Literature 2, there is a disadvantage that the bath ratio of the inner tank is reduced because the ridge of the inner wall is inclined.

Further, in Reference 3, when the taper angle is 2 ° or more based on the dewatering rate, a plurality of dewatering holes are provided at the upper end of the groove or the upper end of the peripheral wall of the inner tank. However, the frequency of the laundry being lifted upward is higher than the experimental results described later, so that the dewatering hole is closed, and as a result, there is a disadvantage that the dewatering time is long and the dewatering efficiency is deteriorated.

The peripheral wall except at least the upper end is made non-porous, or a non-porous dewatering tank has a dewatering gap provided between the dewatering tank and a balancer provided at the upper end of the dewatering tank. Assuming that the inner wall of the dewatering rotatable inner tub has a taper of 1/100 or less, the normal rotation speed (about 8
(00 rotations), there is a problem that the dehydration rate becomes worse. Therefore, in order to increase the dehydration rate, it is necessary to increase the rotation of the dehydration tank from a normal rotation speed. However, when the number of rotations is increased, imbalance due to uneven water discharge at the upper end occurs, causing a resonance phenomenon and causing a large vibration, so that the taper cannot be reduced.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a washing (rinsing) process of supplying water to a washing and dewatering tub (inner tub) for washing (rinsing), followed by washing. In a washing machine having a dewatering process of draining water and rotating the inner tub at a high speed, a dewatering rotatable inner tub in which a peripheral wall excluding at least the upper end is made non-porous and a peripheral wall is tapered to expand toward the upper end, Alternatively, the inner tank having a non-porous wall has a dewatering gap provided between the inner tank and a balancer provided at the upper end of the inner tank, and has a tapered shape that expands the peripheral wall toward the upper end. A plurality of grooves having a taper that extends toward the upper end of the inner tank in the up-down direction of the inner tank, and the taper of the plurality of grooves is larger than the taper of the peripheral wall.

As described above, the peripheral wall and the groove of the inner tub are tapered so as to expand toward the upper end, and the taper is made larger than the peripheral wall, so that when the inner tub is rotated at a high speed to perform dehydration, The laundry is less likely to be pressed against the inner wall and rises, and the water centrifuged from the laundry rises along the groove without being hindered by the laundry and is efficiently discharged out of the inner tub. Moreover, the laundry located on the upper part of the inner wall has a larger centrifugal force (the centrifugal force F is the product of the mass m of the laundry, the radius of gyration r of the inner tub, and the angular velocity ω ² , that is, F = mr
ω ² ) can be obtained, dehydration can be performed more efficiently, and low vibration can be suppressed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited by the embodiment. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the entire structure of a washing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a washing and dewatering tub, FIG. It is a control circuit block diagram of a washing machine.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing of a washing machine, and reference numeral 2 denotes an outer tub, which is suspended from the housing 1 by a plurality of support rods 2A and springs 2B as a plurality of vibration isolating mechanisms and elastically supported.
Reference numeral 3 denotes an inner tub (washing and dewatering tub) which is used for washing and dehydrating, and is rotatably mounted in the outer tub 2.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inner tank 3 is provided with a plurality of grooves 3C in a vertical direction on a peripheral wall 3D. The taper of the peripheral wall 3D is formed to be 1/60 to 1/40, and the taper of the groove 3C is also 1/60 to 1/4.
0 is formed.

The taper of the groove 3C is
It is larger than the taper of D. For example, if the taper of the peripheral wall 3D is 1/60, the taper of the groove 3C is 1/50. Reference numeral 4 denotes a rotating blade rotatably provided at the central inner bottom of the inner tank 3, and reference numeral 5 denotes a balancer provided at an upper opening of the inner tank 3.

At the upper end of the inner tub 3, that is, above the normal high water level during washing, dehydration holes 3A for dehydration are formed at a plurality of locations on the peripheral wall.

A drive motor 6 and a bearing are provided on the outer bottom surface of the outer tub 2 for intermittently reversing the rotary wings 4 at a low speed (about 180 rpm) and simultaneously rotating the rotary wings 4 and the inner tub 3 at a high speed. A device 7 is provided.

A drain port of the inner tank 3 is provided on the bottom of the outer tank 2 and connected to a drain valve 10 via a drain passage. In addition, the inner tank 3 is rotated at a constant speed (about 800 rpm) for dehydration.
The water dehydrated in step (m) is drained from a drain port 11 provided at the bottom of the outer tub 2.

The drain valve 10 is connected to a solenoid 35, as shown in FIG.
0 is opened and the water in the inner tank 3 is drained. At the same time, the clutch device (not shown) in the bearing device 7 is operated to transmit the rotation of the drive motor 6 to the rotating blades 4 and the inner tank 3 and release the brake device (not shown) of the inner tank 3. I do.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a top plate on which a water supply valve 34 for supplying water into the inner tank 3 and a control circuit are mounted. A microcomputer 31 (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer), various output means, and various input (setting) means are connected to the control circuit.

The motor drive circuits 32 and 33 control the drive motor 6 by an output signal from the microcomputer 31. A water level switch 40 for detecting a water level in the inner tank 3 is provided on the upper surface plate 20, and an electric signal thereof is input to the microcomputer 31.

In addition, the operation of the washing machine is controlled by a plurality of LEDs 37.
The display is indicated by (light emitting diode), and the washing machine is controlled by the input of the key 38 or the like. Further, at the time of termination or occurrence of an abnormality, the user can know the content by a buzzer.

When an abnormal vibration occurs during the dehydration operation by the safety switch 39, the vibration is input to the microcomputer 31 by an electric signal, and the control corresponding thereto is performed.

Here, in the draining step after the washing or rinsing step, if the washing water is drained to a certain water level in order to suppress the vibration during dehydration and increase the dehydrating efficiency, the inner tub is continued while the draining step is continued. 3 is controlled to rotate.

In the rotation of the inner tank 3, it is more effective to rotate the inner tank 3 at a steady speed (high speed) for a predetermined time at first and then rotate it at a low speed until drainage is completed.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a washing machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention. However, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The washing machine of FIG. 1 is basically different from the washing machine in that the inner tub 3 has a non-porous wall, and the inner tub 3 and the balancer 5 provided on the upper part of the inner tub 3 are used for dehydration. This is where the gap 3B is provided.

The inner tank 3 has a gap 3B provided on the peripheral wall at the upper end thereof, similarly to the sectional shape shown in FIG.
A vertically elongated pumping groove 3 at the corresponding position of
C is formed. The groove 3C for pumping is formed such that the taper of the peripheral wall 3D is 1/60 to 1/40, and the taper of the groove 3C is also 1/60 to 1/40. The taper of the groove 3C is larger than the taper of the peripheral wall 3D. For example, peripheral wall 3D
Is 1/60, the taper of the groove 3C is 1/50.
It is to be.

In the washing machines of the first and second embodiments, assuming that the number of the grooves 3C is N, the width is L, and the radius of the inner tub is R, the total width NL of the grooves 3C is It is formed such that NA ≧ 2πR / 9 (the ratio of both is 1: 9 or more) with respect to the inner circumference 2πR of the tank 3.

Next, the operation of the washing machine of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the process chart of FIG. First, the washing process starts with water supply, and when a preset water level is detected by the water level switch 40, the water supply is stopped, and the rotating blades 4 are intermittently alternately left and right in a pause of about 1 second and a rotation of about 2 seconds. Invert. Then, the washing by the intermittent reversal is repeated during the set time. The next first rinsing step starts from a drainage step, and an intermediate dewatering step is performed. Then, water is supplied thereafter, and the rotating blades 4 are intermittently inverted in the same inversion cycle as the washing process, so that a flush rinse or a water injection rinse while continuing to supply water is executed for a set time.

The next second rinsing step is performed. However, since this second rinsing step is exactly the same as the first rinsing step, description thereof will be omitted. After the second rinsing step, the dehydration step is performed, and the fully automatic operation ends.

Here, the first drainage of the first rinsing step, the second rinsing step and the three dehydrating steps in the dehydrating step is performed when the inner tank 3 is drained to a water level one step lower than the washing step or the rinsing step. Starts to rotate. At that time, the water is gradually reduced while the drain valve 10 is kept open. The water flow (water wave) generated by the rotation of the inner tub 3 and the rotary wings 4 breaks the kinks generated during the washing and is evenly dispersed in the tub.

Further, since the inner tank 3 at this time has a non-perforated peripheral wall except the upper end or the entire peripheral wall, the inner tank 3 rotates while water is contained in the inner tank 3 even if it is drained. Due to the weight, the inner tank 3 rotates slowly while suppressing vibration.

At the time of startup, the rotation speed of the inner tank 3
Because the weight of the water imposes a heavy load on the drive motor 6, the drive motor 6 is rotated at a steady state for a short period of time so that the drive motor 6 is driven to a certain extent (at a certain (Up to the number of rotations), it switches to the control operation by the waveform control. As a result, the inner tank 3 rotates slower than the steady rotation (250 to 28 in the intermittent waveform control).
0 rpm). If a high-speed operation is performed at this time, the laundry is dehydrated even in the drained state, so that the laundry in the tub does not fit evenly in the tub due to the effect of the centrifugal force, and the unbalanced state is easily created. For this reason, it is desirable that the time during which the motor is operated at the steady rotation at the time of startup is as short as possible.

At this time, as a waveform control for rotating at a low speed, a part of the sine wave waveform is erased at a certain interval (in a non-energized state), so that the frequency applied to the drive motor 6 is changed in a pseudo manner. It was made to operate at a lower frequency than the equivalent state. This can be controlled independently of different power supply frequencies (FIG. 7).

The above control is maintained until the water in the inner tank 3 is drained, and after the water level switch 40 detects that the water in the inner tank 3 has completely disappeared, the waveform of the drive motor 6 The control is stopped, and the number of rotations of the drive motor 6 is increased to a normal rotation (about 800 rpm) in a normal state. Then, the dehydration step is performed while maintaining the steady rotation state until the set time.

The centrifugal force F of the inner tank 3 during dehydration is F = R
ω ² (R: radius of inner tank, ω: angular velocity 2πN / 60, N:
Rotation speed), the centrifugal force F of the inner tank 3 is F
= 1500 Newton or more.

The peripheral wall 3D and the groove 3C of the inner tub 3 are formed to have a taper of 1/60 to 1/40, and the taper of the groove 3C is larger than the taper of the inner tub 3, so that it is included in clothing. The washed water is dehydrated along the groove 3C, and the laundry is not pressed to the inner tub and lifted to the upper portion of the inner tub 3 along the flow of the dewatered washing water. The movement of water during dehydration is affected by the centrifugal force of the taper,
The washing water rises in the groove 3C of the inner tub 3, is discharged from the dewatering hole 3A or the gap 3B provided at a position corresponding to the groove 3C, and is discharged out of the machine from the bottom of the outer tub 2.

In the present invention, when the taper and dehydration rate of the inner tub 3 and the frequency of lifting of the laundry at the time of taper and dehydration are obtained by experiments, the characteristic diagram of the taper and dehydration rate in FIG.
The result as shown in the characteristic diagram of the taper and the frequency of lifting of the laundry was obtained.

As is clear from FIG. 8, it can be seen from the dehydration rate alone that the larger the taper, the higher the dehydration rate. However, conversely, as is apparent in FIG.
When the taper becomes large, the laundry is not pressed against the peripheral wall of the inner tub 3, but is frequently lifted to the upper part. Therefore, the laundry blocks the dewatering hole 3A and the dewatering gap 3B, and as a result, In this case, the dehydration rate is reduced, and the laundry is located at the upper part, which causes an extremely large vibration.

From the above experimental results, in the present invention, the taper of the peripheral wall 3D of the inner tank 3 is set to 1/60 to 1/40.

In the inner tank 3, for example, the taper of the peripheral wall 3D is 1/60, the taper of the groove 3C is 1/50, which is larger than the taper of the peripheral wall 3D, and the entire width of the groove 3C is NL.
When grooves are provided in a relationship of ≧ 2πR / 9, during dehydration,
From the experimental results, the dewatering efficiency of the laundry was such that the inner tub 3 was formed of a peripheral wall without a groove, and the same dehydration rate as when the taper of the peripheral wall was 1/50 was obtained.

That is, in the above results, as can be seen from FIG. 8, a dehydration rate of about 56% to 58% is obtained, and a result exceeding the average dehydration rate of 55% which is the average dehydration rate of a general washing machine is obtained.

As in the above embodiment, the taper of the peripheral wall provided in the inner tank and the groove provided between the peripheral walls is 1/60.
Up to 1/40, with a difference in taper between the peripheral wall and the groove, it is very good without causing the cloth to be washed to be lifted to the upper part of the inner tub during dehydration, and without closing the dewatering hole. Dehydration effect can be improved.

By setting the ratio between the width of the groove and the peripheral wall to be 1: 9 or more, the dewatering rate can be further improved.

[0048]

Since the present invention has the above configuration,
The peripheral wall and the groove of the inner tub are tapered so as to expand toward the upper end, and the taper is made larger than the peripheral wall. The water which is less likely to be pushed up and rises, and the water centrifugally separated from the laundry rises along the groove without being hindered by the laundry and is efficiently discharged out of the inner tub. The laundry located on the upper part of the peripheral wall has a larger centrifugal force (the centrifugal force F is the mass m of the laundry and the turning radius r of the inner tub).
And the angular velocity ω ² , that is, obtained by the formula of F = mrω ² ), so that dehydration can be performed more efficiently and vibration can be suppressed to low.

Further, since the peripheral wall and the groove of the inner tank are provided as a taper which expands toward the upper end, the mold can be easily removed at the time of manufacturing with the mold of the inner tank, and the inner tank can be manufactured. It can be performed very easily, and the production efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of a washing machine employing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the washing and dewatering tub.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a control circuit block diagram of the washing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the washing machine employing the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a basic flowchart of the washing machine.

FIG. 7 is a waveform chart of waveform control adopted in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram obtained by experimentally obtaining a relationship between a taper of a peripheral wall and a dewatering rate.

FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram obtained by experimentally obtaining a relationship between a taper of a peripheral wall and a frequency of lifting of laundry to an upper portion of an inner tub.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Outer tub 3 Inner tub (washing and dewatering tub) 3A Dewatering hole for dehydration 3B Dewatering gap 3C Groove 3D Peripheral wall 4 Rotor blade 5 Balancer 6 Drive motor 10 Drain valve 34 Water supply valve 35 Solenoid 37 Light emitting diode (LED) 39 Safety switch 40 Water level switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A washing (rinsing) process in which water is supplied to an inner tub that performs washing and dehydration for washing (rinsing), and a dehydrating process in which washing water is drained and the inner tub is rotated at a high speed thereafter. In the washing machine provided, the peripheral wall has a dewatering rotatable inner tub having a taper extending toward the upper end, and a plurality of grooves having a taper extending toward the upper end in the vertical direction of the peripheral wall are provided on the peripheral wall of the inner tub. A washing machine characterized in that the taper of the plurality of grooves is larger than the taper of the peripheral wall. 2. The inner tank has a non-perforated peripheral wall except at least the upper end, or is provided between the inner tank and a balancer provided at an upper end of the inner tank with an inner tank having a non-porous wall. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the washing machine has a dewatering gap.