JP2000325692A - Drum type washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] To reduce the air resistance to the rotation of a drum, and to solve various problems such as a decrease in the maximum rotation speed, an increase in power consumption, and an increase in noise. SOLUTION: A portion of a drum protruding in the rotation direction J, including a dehydration hole 26 formed by burring in a body portion, is formed in a streamlined manner in the rotation direction J, thereby proximate the protruding portion. The stagnation, peeling, and turbulence that occur in the air are reduced, the drag coefficient is reduced, and the air resistance can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drum type washing machine having an improved structure for reducing the air resistance at the time of rotating a drum at a high speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a drum type washing machine,
A drum rotatably supported and containing laundry is provided. By rotating the drum, washing and dehydration of the laundry are performed.

FIG. 9 shows a drum 1 of this conventional drum type washing machine, in which a drum main body 2 has a body 2a and a rear end plate 2b. In the body 2a of the drum body 2, a dewatering hole 3 is formed in almost the entire area by burring projecting outward (downward in the figure) as shown in FIG. 10 (only a part is shown). Also, the body 2 of the drum body 2
A plurality of baffles 4 are provided on the inner peripheral surface portion of a.

A drum support 5 having a plurality (three in the illustrated example) of arm portions 5a shown in FIG. 11 is provided on a rear end plate 2b of the drum main body 2. The drum support 5 has a central portion. The shaft 7 is connected to the rear end plate 2b of the drum main body 2 by a plurality of bolts 6, and the front end of each arm 5a is connected to the body 2a of the drum main body 2 together with the peripheral edge of the rear end plate 2b. .

[0005] With this configuration, at the time of washing, laundry is stored in the drum 1 and washing water is stored in a lower portion of the drum 1. In this state, the drum 1 is moved from the shaft 7 by a motor (not shown). For example, through drum support 5
It is rotated at a low speed of 0 to 60 rpm. Thus, the laundry is agitated with the washing water to perform the washing.
In addition, the baffle 4 sequentially lifts the fold and the laundry and the washing water to promote the agitation of the laundry and the washing water.

At the time of spin-drying, the drum 1 is rotated at a high speed of 800 to 2000 [rpm] from the shaft 7 via the drum support 5 by a motor (not shown) as described above. Thereby, the water contained in the laundry is discharged from the dehydration holes 3 by centrifugal force.

[0007]

The diameter of the drum 1 is generally 450 [mm].
When rotating at a speed of 00 [rpm], the peripheral speed is 1
9 [m / s], and when it is rotated at a speed of 2000 [rpm], the peripheral speed becomes very high at 47 [m / s]. For this reason, if there is a portion protruding in the rotation direction of the drum 1, the air flowing relatively near the drum 1 due to the rotation of the drum 1 causes stagnation, separation, and turbulence before and after the protruding portion. The air resistance against the rotation of the drum 1 increases.

A prominent portion protruding in the rotation direction of the drum 1 is a dewatering hole 3 formed by burring in a body 2a of the drum 1. This dehydration hole 3
Is usually formed in a circular shape having a diameter of 2 to 8 [mm] so that the laundry pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the drum 1 by centrifugal force during dehydration does not bite much and the required dehydration performance is obtained. The inside of the drum 1 is formed by a burring having a gentle conical surface so that the laundry during washing is not caught (see FIG. 10).
The outward projection height h1 is several [mm]. For this reason, in the dewatering hole 3, stagnation B, separation, and turbulence C occur in the flow A of air near the drum 1 during dehydration as shown in FIG. 12, and the air resistance against rotation of the drum 1 increases. I was

Another prominent portion protruding in the rotation direction of the drum 1 is a baffle 4 provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum 1. As described above, the baffle 4 lifts up the laundry and the washing water at the time of washing, and promotes the agitation of the laundry and the washing water. Therefore, the height h2 (see FIG. 9) is several tens of [ mm]. Therefore, even in the baffle 4, FIG.
Air flow D near the drum 1 during dehydration as shown in FIG.
In addition, stagnation E, peeling and turbulence F occurred, and the air resistance against the rotation of the drum 1 increased.

Another prominent portion of the drum 1 projecting in the rotation direction is a drum support 5 having a plurality of arms 5a. The drum support 5 is necessary to transmit the rotational power of the motor to the drum 1 with a margin in strength, and therefore, has a thickness t (see FIG. 9).
Requires several tens [mm]. Therefore, stagnation H, separation and turbulence I occur in the flow G of air near the drum 1 during dehydration as shown in FIG. I was

As the air resistance to the rotation of the drum 1 increases, the load on the motor for rotating the drum 1 increases, and the maximum rotation speed decreases, the power consumption increases, and the noise increases. Problems such as an increase in

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to reduce the air resistance to the rotation of the drum, reduce the maximum rotation speed, increase the power consumption, and further reduce the noise. An object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing machine capable of solving various problems such as increase in number.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a drum-type washing machine according to the present invention comprises a drum rotatably supported for storing laundry, and the drum is rotated to rotate the drum. In the washing and dewatering of the laundry, a portion of the drum protruding in the rotation direction is formed in a streamlined manner in the rotation direction (the invention of claim 1).

In general, the air resistance F applied to a three-dimensional object
^{Is, F = CD AρV 2/2} (CD: drag coefficient in accordance with the object shape, A: projected area of the plane perpendicular to the flow, [rho: air density, V: air flow rate) is represented by. Accordingly, in order to reduce the air resistance applied to the drum during dehydration, the drag coefficient CD and the projected area A of the protruding portion may be reduced assuming that the air flow velocity V is a given condition. In order to reduce the drag coefficient CD, it is preferable to make the shape of the protruding portion as smooth as possible.

[0015] The above-mentioned drum, in which the portion protruding in the rotational direction is formed in a streamlined manner in the rotational direction, has the shape of the protruding portion made as gentle as possible. It is possible to reduce stagnation, peeling, and turbulence occurring in the vicinity, that is, reduce the drag coefficient and reduce air resistance.

In this case, the drum, which is formed in a streamlined manner,
Examples of the portion protruding in the rotation direction include a dehydration hole formed by burring in the drum body, a baffle provided for washing the laundry and washing water provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum, and By using a drum support having a plurality of arms (the inventions of claims 2, 3, and 5), it is possible to more reliably reduce air resistance.

In the baffle, only one side in the rotating direction of the drum is made to be streamlined (invention of claim 4), so that the washing and washing water can be satisfactorily kept up while the air is removed. Resistance can be reduced. Further, with respect to the drum support, by robbing the drum side of the drum (the invention of claim 6), the effect of reducing the weight and reducing the air resistance can be obtained at the same time.

The drum support may have a disk shape without an arm (the invention of claim 7). In order to reduce the drag coefficient, in addition to making the shape of the protruding portion as smooth as possible, it is also possible to reduce the protruding portion. The above-mentioned drum support having a disk shape does not have an arm portion and does not have a protruding portion (side end surface of the arm portion) in the drum rotation direction. , The drag coefficient can be reduced, and the air resistance can be reduced.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG.
1 shows an overall configuration of a drum type washing machine, having a laundry entrance 12 at a substantially central portion of a front portion of an outer box 11 forming an outer shell, and a work opening 13 at a substantially central portion of a rear portion. ing. A door 14 is provided at the laundry entrance 12 so as to be openable and closable, and a back plate 15 is provided at the work opening 13 so as to be detachable.

Inside the outer case 11, a water tank 16 is disposed elastically supported by a support plate 17 and a plurality of sets, for example, four sets (only two sets are shown) of suspensions 18. The water tank 16 has a drum shape, and is disposed inside the outer box 11 in a horizontal axis shape with the axial direction being forward and backward. The water tub 16 has a connection port 19 substantially at the center of the front end plate, and this connection port is connected to the laundry entrance 12 of the outer box 11 by a bellows 20. On the other hand, a drain port (not shown) is formed at the bottom of the water tank 16, and the drain valve 2
1 and a drainage hose 22 is connected to the drainage valve 21.

A drum 23 is provided inside the water tank 16. The drum 23 is smaller in diameter than the water tub 16, functions as a washing tub, functions as a dewatering tub, and further functions as a drying tub.
Inside the water tank 16, like the water tank 16, a rotatable arrangement is provided in a horizontal axis shape whose axial direction is front and rear.

Here, the drum 23 is composed of a drum main body 24 and a drum support 25 in detail. The drum main body 24 further includes a body 24a, a front end plate 24b connected to the front end thereof, and a rear end plate 24c connected to the rear end thereof.
A dehydration hole 26 is formed in almost the entire area (only a part is shown).

The dewatering hole 26 is formed by the same burring as that of the related art, and therefore is a portion protruding in the rotation direction of the drum 23. As shown in FIG. The streamline is an elliptical streamline that is long in the rotation direction, particularly the rotation direction during dehydration indicated by arrow J. Therefore, in this case, the shape of the portion (cylindrical portion) 26 a of the dewatering hole 26 protruding outside the drum 23 also has an elliptical streamline that is long in the rotation direction of the drum 23.

The body 24a, which is the inner peripheral surface of the drum 23,
A plurality of baffles 27 are provided, for example, at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface portion (only one is shown). The baffle 27 is attached to the body 24a by, for example, a screw, and is long in the axial direction and protrudes in the center direction. Therefore, the baffle 27 protrudes in the rotation direction of the drum 23. As shown in the figure, the rotating direction of the drum 23, in this case, particularly, the rotating direction at the time of dehydration indicated by the arrow J, is a streamline having a gentle curved surface on both sides.

On the other hand, the drum support 25 has a plurality of arms 25a as shown in FIG.
A plurality of bolts 28 (see FIG. 4) are connected to the rear end plate 24c of the drum body 24 together with the shaft 29, and the front end of each arm 25a is connected to the body 24a together with the peripheral edge of the rear end plate 24c. . Therefore, this drum support 25
The arm portion also protrudes with respect to the rotation direction of the drum 23, but has a shape similar to the rotation direction of the drum 23 as shown in FIG. Both sides of 25a have a streamline shape with a gentle curved surface.

In the drum support 25, a large number of recesses 30 are formed on the rear end plate 24c side of the drum main body 24, that is, on the drum 23 side (the lower side in the figure). A reinforcing plate 31 is also connected to the water tank 16 at the rear end plate portion. A bearing housing 32 is mounted on the reinforcing plate 31.
2, the shaft 29 protruding rearward of the above-described drum 23 is inserted and rotatably supported by bearings 33 and 34, thereby supporting the drum 23 rotatably in the water tank 16.

Further, in this case, a stator 36 of an outer rotor type motor 35 is attached to the bearing housing 31, and a rotating rotor 37 located outside the stator 36 is attached to a tip end of the shaft 29. I have. Further, the washing machine of the present embodiment not only performs washing and dehydration of the laundry, but also performs drying. Although not shown, for example, a blowing device, a dehumidifying device, a heater, and the like for the drying are provided. It has a drying function part.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. At the time of washing, the laundry (not shown) introduced from the laundry entrance 12 is stored in the drum 23 and the
The washing water (also not shown) is stored in the lower part of the inside, and then the drum 23 is moved by the motor 35 from the shaft 29 via the drum support 25 to, for example, 50 to 60 [rpm].
At a low speed, for example, alternately in both forward and reverse directions. Thus, the laundry is agitated with the washing water to perform the washing. In this folding, the baffle 27 sequentially lifts the laundry and the washing water to promote the stirring of the laundry and the washing water.

At the time of spin-drying, the drum 23 is rotated in one direction by the motor 35 at a high speed of 800 to 2000 [rpm] from the shaft 29 via the drum support 25 by the motor 35 as described above. Thereby, the water contained in the laundry is discharged from the dewatering hole 26 by centrifugal force. The discharged water is discharged from the drain valve 21 through the drain hose 22 to the outside of the machine.

When the drum 23 is rotated at a high speed in this manner, a dewatering hole 26 formed by burring, a baffle 27, and a drum support 25 having a plurality of arms 25a, which are parts protruding in the rotation direction. 1 and 2 are formed in a streamlined manner in the rotation direction, so that the air flowing relatively near the drum 23 does not stagnate, separate, or disturb as in the conventional case. 2, and as shown by arrows K, L, and M in FIG.
Since a smooth air flow is generated along the surfaces of the projecting portion 26a of the dewatering hole 26, the baffle 27, and the arm portion 25a of the drum support 25, the drag coefficient can be reduced,
Air resistance can be reduced.

Since the air resistance to the rotation of the drum 23 can be reduced in this way, the load on the motor 35 for rotating the drum 23 can be reduced. Increase, and even
All problems such as noise increase can be solved.

The dewatering hole 26, baffle 27, and drum support 25 formed by the above-mentioned burring are more prominent than the related art as portions projecting in the rotation direction of the drum 23. As a result, the air resistance of the drum 23 can be reduced more reliably, and the above-mentioned conventional problems can be more reliably solved.

Further, while the conventional drum support 5 is stealing the side opposite to the drum 1 side (upper side in the figure) as shown in FIG.
Is stealing the drum 23 side (the lower side in the figure). As a result, the weight of the drum support 25 on the drum 23 side can be reduced, while the effect of reducing the air resistance can be obtained on the side opposite to the drum 23 side.
5 and the effect of reducing air resistance can be obtained at the same time.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the baffle 41. The baffle 41 has a streamlined shape on only one side 41a in the rotation direction of the drum 23 and the other baffle 4a.
Reference numeral 1b denotes a slope having a steep angle similar to that of the conventional baffle 4.

By doing so, the baffle 4
On one side 41a, there is no stagnation due to the flow N of air in the rotation direction of the drum 23 at the time of dehydration. Therefore, although the separation and turbulence O occur on the other side 41b, the air resistance can be reduced. it can. Moreover, in this case, with respect to the cleaning of the laundry and the washing water, the remaining one side 41b provides a more reliable cleaning action.

The rotation direction of the drum 23 during dehydration may be opposite to the arrow J. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotation direction of the drum 23 during dehydration (arrow P) ), The stagnation R occurs on one side 41 b of the baffle 41 in the air flow Q,
In the case of 1a, peeling and turbulence do not occur, and thus also in this case, the air resistance can be reduced.

FIG. 8 shows a different example of the drum support. The drum support 51 has a disk shape. In this example, a portion (side end face of the arm 25a) protruding in the rotation direction of the drum 23 is formed. Since it does not have this, the drag coefficient can be reduced even in this case, so that the air resistance can be reduced.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings.
3, as long as it protrudes with respect to the rotation direction, other than the above-described dewatering hole 26, baffle 27, and drum support 25, or the drum 23 may be supported obliquely, Further, the motor 35 may be of an inner rotor type in which the rotor is located inside the stator, or may not necessarily be provided with a drying function. obtain.

[0039]

As described above, according to the drum type washing machine of the present invention, the portion of the drum that protrudes in the rotational direction is formed in a streamlined manner in the rotational direction, so that the drum can be prevented from rotating. The air resistance can be reduced, and various problems such as a decrease in the maximum rotation speed, an increase in power consumption, and an increase in noise can be solved.

In addition to the dehydration holes formed by burring in the drum body, which are more prominent than conventional parts as the parts protruding in the rotation direction of the drum, the laundry and the By forming the baffle for raising the washing water and the drum support having a plurality of arms in a streamlined manner in the rotation direction of the drum, it is possible to more reliably reduce the air resistance of the drum. Can be solved more reliably.

Further, as for the baffle, only one side in the rotation direction of the drum is made to be streamlined, so that the air resistance can be reduced while the action of lifting the laundry and the washing water can be maintained favorably. In addition, with respect to the drum support, by robbing the drum side of the drum support, it is possible to simultaneously achieve the effect of reducing the weight and reducing the air resistance. Since the drum support has a disk shape, a portion protruding in the rotation direction of the drum can be eliminated, and the air resistance can be reduced, so that the above-mentioned conventional problems can be solved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a dewatering hole showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the baffle taken along line SS in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the drum support taken along line TT in FIG. 5;

FIG. 4 is an overall cutaway side view.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a drum support alone.

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a different example of the baffle.

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing different operations of different examples of the baffle.

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5, showing a different example of the drum support.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a drum unit showing a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of a dewatering hole.

FIG. 11 is a rear view of the drum.

FIG. 12 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

23 is a drum, 24a is a trunk, 25 is a drum support, 25
a is an arm portion, 26 is a dehydration hole, 27 is a baffle, 30 is a concave portion (thief), 35 is a motor, 41 is a baffle, 41
a indicates one side of the baffle, and 51 indicates a drum support.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A washing machine, comprising: a drum rotatably supported for storing laundry, wherein the drum is rotated to perform washing and dehydration of the laundry. A drum-type washing machine characterized in that a protruding portion is formed in a streamlined manner in a rotational direction. 2. The drum type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the drum protruding in the rotation direction is a dewatering hole formed by burring in the drum body. 3. The drum-type drum according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the drum protruding in the rotation direction is a baffle provided on an inner peripheral surface of the drum for washing and washing water. Washing machine. 4. The drum type washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the baffle has a streamlined shape on only one side in the rotation direction of the drum. 5. The drum type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the drum protruding in the rotation direction is a drum support having a plurality of arms. 6. The drum type washing machine according to claim 5, wherein the drum side of the drum support is stolen. 7. A washing machine comprising a drum rotatably supported and containing laundry, wherein the drum is rotated via a drum support to wash and dehydrate the laundry. Drum type washing machine characterized by having a disk shape.