JP2002028392A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing machine that prevents electric leakage even if water gathers in a washing pan due to imperfect drainage. SOLUTION: During drainage, a control section 20 judges whether the temperature of a hot thermistor 16 has dropped to 40 deg.C or lower (S4). When water gathers in a washing pan due to imperfect drainage and reaches the hot thermistor and cooling the hot thermistor, the temperature of the hot thermistor drops to 40 deg.C or lower. If the temperature is judged to be 40 deg.C or lower at S4, the control section judges that a flooding abnormality has occurred and closes a drainage valve 15 (S5). Subsequently the occurrence of the flooding abnormality is stored in an nonvolatile memory 31 (S6). In addition, washing operation is brought to a halt and input of an operating key is refused (S7). The flooding abnormality is notified to a user (S8).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fully automatic washing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, washing pans are provided at places where washing machines are installed, such as washrooms, and more and more households install washing machines in the washing pans.

If the drain port provided in the washing pan is clogged or the like, water may accumulate in the washing pan without being drained from the drain port when draining from the washing machine.

[0004]

In a recent washing machine, the washing and dewatering tub is enlarged without changing the height of the washing machine body, or the motor is arranged coaxially with the axis of the washing and dewatering tub. Or the like, the position of the electrical components such as the motor tends to be lowered. For this reason, when the washing machine is installed on the washing pan, the position of the electrical component may be lower than the upper surface position of the washing pan.

[0005] In such a case, if water accumulates in the washing pan as described above, electric components such as a motor may be immersed in the water and cause electric leakage.

The present invention relates to a washing machine and solves such a problem.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outer tank provided in a housing,
A washing and dewatering tub rotatably provided in the outer tub, a pulsator rotatably provided in the washing and dewatering tub, and a pulsator provided on an outer bottom portion of the outer tub; In a washing machine having a motor for driving a pulsator, a washing sensor is provided at a position below the motor in the housing and detects that water has accumulated up to that position, and washing is performed by an output from the sensing sensor. A control unit for detecting that the lower part of the machine is flooded and performing an abnormality process for avoiding an electric leakage.

For example, when the washing machine is installed in the washing pan, if the drain port of the washing pan is clogged or the like and it is difficult to drain the water, water may collect in the washing pan when the washing machine is drained. is there.

When water accumulates in the washing tub and reaches the position of the detection sensor, the detection sensor detects this. When the control unit detects that the lower part of the washing machine has been immersed in water based on the output from the detection sensor, the control unit performs an abnormal process for avoiding electric leakage before the motor is immersed in water.
Specifically, as described in claim 2, a drain valve for performing drain control is closed so that the water level does not rise any more. Further, as described in claim 3, for example, the operation is stopped, and thereafter, the power supply to the motor is not performed, so that even if water reaches the motor position, no electric leakage occurs. To do. Further, as described in claim 4, the abnormality is notified by operating the notification device to urge the user to eliminate the clogging of the drain port.

As a result, water is accumulated in the washing pan,
Even if the lower part of the washing machine is immersed in water, leakage can be reliably prevented and safety can be ensured.

Further, for example, the detection sensor is constituted by a hot thermistor, and the control unit detects a temperature decrease of the hot thermistor caused by cooling the water so that the abnormality is detected. Can be considered.

In this case, as described in claim 5,
It is preferable to detect the inundation abnormality by the hot thermistor during the period when the motor does not operate. In addition, as described in claim 6, it is preferable that the detection of the inundation abnormality by the hot thermistor is performed only in the drainage process of draining the water from the washing and dewatering tub.

When the motor is driven, a cooling fan attached to the motor rotates to cool the motor. As a result, wind flows through the lower part of the housing, and when the temperature is low, the temperature of the hot thermistor drops, especially when the temperature is low. May be erroneously detected.

In the above configuration, the inundation abnormality is detected during a period in which the motor is not driven, so that the inundation abnormality can be reliably detected without being affected by the operation of the motor. Also, since the motor is not driven, or even if it is driven, the inundation abnormality is performed only in the drainage stroke, which is the period during which the operation is extremely slow and the probability of occurrence of the inundation abnormality is the highest, so that the operation of the motor is It is not affected and the inundation abnormality can be reliably detected. In some cases, the drainage is performed while slowly rotating the washing and dewatering tub in order to eliminate the bias of the laundry during drainage. In this case, the motor is rotated at an extremely low speed such as several tens of rpm.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage section for storing the occurrence of the abnormality when the inundation abnormality occurs, and the control section controls the abnormality while the occurrence of the abnormality is stored in the storage section. It is preferable that the state of the process be continued and that the storage of the occurrence of the abnormality in the storage unit be erased by a special operation different from the normal operation of the operation key.

That is, unless the user corrects the clogging of the drain port which causes the electric leakage and performs a clear elimination operation, the state of the abnormal processing is continued, so that the operation is easily restarted and there is a danger of causing the electric leakage. There is no possibility that the operation will be performed again with the vehicle.

The washing machine according to claim 8 of the present invention is provided with a detection sensor for detecting that the lower part of the washing machine has been flooded,
When the lower part of the washing machine is detected as being submerged, a process for preventing electric leakage of an electric component such as a motor is performed.

According to this structure, even if the lower part of the washing machine is immersed in water, the electric leakage can be prevented and the safety can be ensured, similarly to the structure of the first aspect.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a washing machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the washing machine of the present embodiment. Inside the casing 1 of the washing machine, a cylindrical outer tub 2 having a bottom is provided with a front hanging rod 3 and a rear hanging rod 4 (one each of which is visible in the figure, but actually two each are present). Do)
Is suspended so as to be inclined forward. Corresponding to the projection of the outer tub 2 forward and forward, the upper part of the front surface of the housing 1 also projects. Inside the outer tub 2, a washing and dewatering tub 5 having a large number of dewatering holes on a peripheral wall is rotatably supported about a dewatering tub shaft 6. In addition, this washing and dewatering tub 5
A pulsator 7 for stirring the laundry is disposed at the bottom of the pallet. A drive mechanism 10 for driving the pulsator 7 and the washing and dewatering tub 5 is provided at the bottom of the outer tub 2.
The drive mechanism 10 includes a dewatering tub shaft 6, a wing shaft 9, which is a rotating shaft of the pulsator 7, and a dewatering tub shaft 6 provided inside the dewatering tub shaft 6.
And a motor 8 provided coaxially with the blade shaft 9 and a clutch for switching between transmitting the power of the motor 8 only to the blade shaft 9 or transmitting both the power to the blade shaft 9 and the dewatering tank shaft 6. And
By the drive mechanism 10, only the pulsator 7 is rotated in one direction or both directions mainly during the washing operation and the rinsing operation, and the washing and dewatering tub 5 and the pulsator 7 are integrally rotated in one direction (the forward rotation direction) during the dehydrating operation. ).
The washing and spin-drying tub 5 makes one rotation when the motor 8 makes one rotation. On the other hand, since a reduction mechanism (not shown) is provided in the middle of the blade shaft 9, the pulsator 7 rotates according to the reduction ratio by the reduction mechanism.

A water inlet 1 provided with a detergent container 11a for charging a detergent or the like housed therein is provided at an upper rear portion of the outer tank 2.
1 is provided. A water supply pipe 12 provided with a water supply valve 13 on the way is connected to the water supply port 11. When the water supply valve 13 is opened, water flows into the water supply port 11 from an external water tap through the water supply pipe 12. , Lower outer tank 2
Water is discharged from the water inlet 11 toward the inside. One end of a drain pipe 14 is connected to the front end of the bottom of the outer tub 2, that is, the lowest part, and the drain pipe 14 is opened and closed by a drain valve 15. Although not shown, the other end of the drain pipe 14 is connected to an external drain ditch via an upright drain hose. The opening and closing operation of the drain valve 15 is related to the above-described clutch switching operation. When the attached torque motor (omitted in FIG. 1) is not operating, the drain valve 15 is closed and the pulsator 7 is washed. The pulsator 7 and the washing / dewatering tub 5 are connected with the drain valve 15 closed when the torque motor is operated to pull the wire halfway. When the wire is further pulled, the drain valve 15 is opened while the pulsator 7 and the washing and dewatering tub 5 are connected.

As described above, in the washing machine of the present embodiment, the outer tub 2 and the washing and dewatering tub 5 are inclined forward so that the upper surface opening is directed forward rather than vertically upward.
That is, the center axis CL of the outer tub 2 is disposed so as to be inclined by a predetermined inclination angle α with respect to the vertical line VL. Therefore, the user standing in front of the washing machine can easily see the bottom of the washing and dewatering tub 5 and can easily take out the laundry. Here, if the inclination angle α is in the range of about 5 to 20 degrees, the laundry can be easily taken out sufficiently, and the protrusion of the housing 1 does not need to be too large. In this embodiment, the inclination angle α is set to about 10 degrees.

In recent years, washing pans are often provided in places where washing machines are installed, such as in a washroom. In such a case, the washing machines are installed in the washing pans.

The drain hose of the washing machine is connected to the drain port of the washing pan. When the drain port is clogged, water accumulates in the washing pan. For this reason, the lower part of the washing machine may be immersed in water. When the position of the electric components such as the motor 8 is lower than the upper surface position of the washing pan as in the washing machine of the present embodiment, the electric components such as the motor 8 may be immersed in the water and cause an electric leakage. There is.

In the washing machine of this embodiment, a hot thermistor 16 is provided as a detection sensor for detecting that the lower portion of the washing machine has been flooded. The hot thermistor 16 is provided at a position lower than the motor 8 in the front part of the footrest 17 constituting the lower part of the housing 1. The hot thermistor 16 has its own temperature maintained at a constant temperature, 50 ° C. in the present embodiment, by being energized. The hot thermistor 16 is cooled by an external cooling action, and has a characteristic that the resistance value changes when the temperature decreases. I have. That is, when the hot thermistor 16 is flooded to the position where the hot thermistor 16 is attached, the hot thermistor 16 is cooled by the water and the resistance value changes. Therefore, the water inflow can be detected by capturing the change in the resistance value. .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electric system of the main part of the washing machine of the present embodiment. CPU, RAM, RO at the center of control
A control unit 20 including M, a timer, and the like is provided. This control unit 20 is constituted by a microcomputer. An operation signal is input to the control unit 20 from an operation unit 21 including a plurality of operation keys, and a water level detection signal is input from a water level sensor 22 for detecting the level of water stored in the outer tub 2. Is done. The control unit 20 controls the rotation of the motor 8 via the inverter drive unit 23 and controls the operations of the torque motor 26 and the water supply valve 13 via the load drive unit 25. The torque motor 26 controls the operation of the clutch 27 and the drain valve 15 as described above. Further, the control unit 20 controls operations of a display unit 28 for displaying a driving course, driving progress, abnormalities, and the like, and a buzzer 29 for notifying the end of driving and abnormalities.

The motor 8 is provided with a rotation sensor 24 for outputting a pulse signal according to the rotation, and the pulse signal is input to the control unit 20. The rotation sensor 24 is provided for detecting the rotation speed of the motor 8, that is, the rotation speed of the washing and spin-drying tub 5.

The hot thermistor 16 is connected to the input side of the control unit 20 via the conversion circuit 30. The conversion circuit 30 is a circuit for inputting a change in the resistance value of the hot thermistor 18 to the control unit 20 as a change in the voltage value.

The control unit 20 is connected with a non-volatile memory 31 as an external memory. The non-volatile memory 31 is provided with a storage area for storing the inundation abnormality when the inundation abnormality in which the lower part of the washing machine is inundated is detected.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of a standard washing process in the fully automatic washing machine of the present embodiment. The operation of the washing machine will be schematically described with reference to FIG. When the start of the washing is instructed, the amount of the laundry put into the washing and dewatering tub 5, that is, the load amount is detected before water is supplied (step S1). Specifically, pulsator 7
Are rotated for a short time, and the load amount is determined according to the time during which the inertial rotation continues. Of course, the load amount detection is not limited to this method, and any method may be used.

When the substantial washing is started, water is supplied into the washing and dewatering tub 5 to the washing water level determined as described above, and the pulsator 7 is rotated in one direction or both directions at a predetermined speed. Is executed (step S
2). When the washing is completed, the water in the washing and dewatering tub 5 is drained, and the washing and dewatering tub 5 and the pulsator 7 are integrally rotated at a high speed to perform intermediate dehydration (step S).
3). By this intermediate dewatering, detergent water soaked into the laundry is scattered and removed.

Next, dehydration rinsing is performed as the first rinsing (step S4). In the dehydration rinsing, the washing and dewatering tub 5 is rotated, and water is poured onto the laundry from the water inlet 11 in a shower-like manner, so that the laundry absorbs clean water, and instead, the detergent water permeating the laundry. Trying to push out. Then, after sufficient water is contained in the laundry, intermediate dehydration is performed by the process of step S5 similar to step S3, and the water soaked into the laundry is scattered. Further, step S is used as the second rinsing.
4, the dehydration rinsing and the intermediate dehydration are performed by the processing of steps S6 and S7 similar to S5.
A predetermined amount of water is supplied to the inside, and the pool rinsing is performed by rotating the pulsator 7 as in step S2 (step S8). When the pool rinsing is completed, the water in the washing and dewatering tub 5 is drained, and the same as in the intermediate dewatering, the washing and dewatering tub 5 is drained.
The final dehydration is performed by rotating the and the pulsator 7 together at a high speed (step S9).

The above procedure is a standard procedure,
Depending on the type of laundry, the procedure is appropriately changed, for example, such as performing pool rinsing instead of dehydration rinsing, or performing water rinsing instead of pool rinsing.

The washing machine according to this embodiment is characterized in that when the lower part of the washing machine is flooded, the abnormality is detected by detecting this flooding abnormality and performing an abnormality process. Hereinafter, this control will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the power is turned on, the control unit 2
If the start key is depressed, the washing operation is started (step S1). If the washing operation is started, it is judged whether the non-volatile memory 31 stores the flooding abnormality. (Step S2). If no flooding abnormality has occurred during the previous washing operation, the flooding abnormality is not stored. Therefore, if it is determined in step S2 that the inundation abnormality is not stored, it is next determined whether or not the drainage process is being performed (step S3). If it is determined in step S3 that the drainage process is being performed, the control unit 20 determines whether the temperature of the hot thermistor 16 has dropped to 40 ° C. or lower (step S4).

Water accumulates in the washing pan due to poor drainage. When the water reaches the hot thermistor 16 and the hot thermistor 16 is cooled, the temperature of the hot thermistor 16 drops to 40 ° C. or less.

If it is determined in step S4 that the temperature of the hot thermistor 16 is 40 ° C. or less, the control unit 20 determines that an inundation abnormality has occurred and closes the drain valve 15 (step S5). Next, the occurrence of the flooding abnormality is stored in the nonvolatile memory 31 (step S6). Further, the washing operation is stopped and the input of operation keys other than the power switch is not accepted (step S7). Then, the user is notified of the inundation abnormality (step S8).
Specifically, the buzzer 29 sounds for 16 seconds and the display unit 28
Display error with.

During the draining step, the motor 8 is not driven. Alternatively, even if the motor 8 is driven, it is driven at an extremely low speed for rotating the washing and dewatering tub 5 at an extremely low speed. Therefore, the wind for cooling the motor 8 flows to the hot thermistor 16 side,
Cooled by this wind, the temperature of the hot thermistor 16 becomes 40 ° C.
There is no danger that the following will occur, and there will be no erroneous detection of the inundation abnormality.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the temperature of the hot thermistor is higher than 40 ° C., the control unit 20 continues to detect the inundation abnormality during the draining process. If it is determined in step S3 that the process is not the drainage process, the detection of the inundation abnormality is not performed.

Now, a waterlogging abnormality has occurred in the previous washing operation, and the abnormality has not been released.
If the power is turned off without erasing the inundation abnormality in the inside, the inundation abnormality remains stored in the nonvolatile memory 31. Next, when the power is turned on and the start key is pressed to enter the start state, the control unit 20 determines that the flooding abnormality has been stored in step S2, and does not perform the washing operation, but displays the display unit 28. An error is displayed to notify the user of the inundation abnormality (step S9). Of course, at this time,
Input of operation keys other than the power switch is not accepted.

The user removes the clogging of the drainage port, which is the cause of the waterlogging abnormality, and eliminates the waterlogging abnormality. That is, after the power is turned on, the user performs a predetermined special operation before pressing the start key. For example, a reservation key, which is one of the operation keys, is kept pressed for 6 seconds.

When it is determined in step S1 that the start operation has not been performed, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the storage erasure processing for the inundation abnormality has been performed (step S10).
When it is determined that the storage erasing process has been performed in step S10 by performing the above-described special operation by the user, the control unit 20 proceeds to the non-volatile memory 31.
The storage of the inundation abnormality in the inside is erased (step S11). In this way, the mode of the water-absorbing abnormality on the washing machine side is released, and a normal washing operation can be performed.

As described above, in the washing machine of the present embodiment, when it is detected that the lower part of the washing machine has been immersed in water, an electric leakage is prevented before the electric components such as the motor 8 are immersed in water. Abnormality processing (closing of a drain valve, notification of abnormality, stop of operation, prohibition of reception of operation keys). Thereby, even if the lower part of the washing machine is immersed in water, for example, when water is accumulated in the washing pan, it is possible to reliably prevent leakage and ensure safety.

In the washing machine according to the present embodiment, when a flooding abnormality occurs, it is stored in the non-volatile memory 31.
Even if the power is once turned off, the flooding abnormality is kept stored. Then, unless a process for eliminating the abnormality is performed by a predetermined special operation, the abnormality processing state is continued after the power is turned on, and the abnormality is notified. Therefore, without eliminating the clogging of the drain port that causes the leakage,
There is no possibility that the washing operation is performed again and the washing operation is performed again while there is a risk of electric leakage.

The above embodiment is merely an example, and it is apparent that changes and modifications can be made within the spirit of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electrical configuration diagram of a main part of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of a standard washing process in the washing machine of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart showing a flow of control for detecting a submergence abnormality in the washing machine of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing | casing 2 ... Outer tub 5 ... Washing and dehydration tub 7 ... Pulsator 8 ... Motor 15 ... Drain valve 16 ... Hot thermistor (detection sensor) 20 ... Control part 28 ... Display part (notification device) 29 ... Buzzer (notification device) 31) Non-volatile memory (storage unit)

Continued on front page F-term (reference) 3B155 AA10 BA13 BA28 CB06 HB10 JB25 JB26 KA19 KB08 KB27 LA14 LA17 LB24 LB30 LC02 LC09 LC28 LC30 MA01 MA06 MA08

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An outer tub provided in a housing, a washing and dewatering tub rotatably provided in the outer tub, a pulsator rotatably provided in the washing and dewatering tub, A washing machine provided at an outer bottom of the tub and having a motor for driving the washing and dewatering tub and the pulsator, wherein the washing machine is provided at a position below the motor in the housing, and water has accumulated up to that position. And a control unit that detects an inundation abnormality in which the lower part of the washing machine is flooded by an output from the detection sensor, and performs an abnormality process to avoid a short circuit. Washing machine. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality process is a process of closing a drain valve for performing drain control when the occurrence of the abnormality is during drain. 3. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality process is a process for not energizing the motor. 4. The abnormality process according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality process is a process of operating a notification device to perform the abnormality notification.
The washing machine according to the item. 5. The water sensor according to claim 1, wherein the detection sensor comprises a hot thermistor, and the controller detects a temperature decrease of the hot thermistor caused by water in the hot thermistor, thereby detecting the water inflow abnormality. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the infiltration abnormality is detected by the hot thermistor during a period when the motor does not operate. 6. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the detection sensor comprises a hot thermistor, and the controller detects a temperature decrease of the hot thermistor due to the water being flooded by the controller to detect the water infiltration abnormality. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the hot thermistor detects the inundation abnormality only in a drainage process of draining from the washing / dehydrating tub. 7. A storage unit for storing the occurrence of the abnormality when the abnormality occurs, wherein the control unit continues the abnormality processing state while the occurrence of the abnormality is stored in the storage unit. 7. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the storage of the occurrence of the abnormality in the storage unit is erased by a special operation different from a normal operation of the operation key. 8. Washing machine. 8. A detection sensor for detecting that the lower part of the washing machine is submerged is provided, and when detecting that the lower part of the washing machine is submerged, processing for preventing electric leakage of an electric component such as a motor is performed. A washing machine characterized by the following.