JP2002119795A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing machine capable of improving the cleaning power of detergent and reducing the consumption of the detergent. SOLUTION: In this washing machine comprising a washing tub having a rotary blade at a center of the bottom, a water feeding means for feeding water in the washing tub, and a means for discharging water in the washing tub, a container with ion exchange resin accommodated therein having an openable/closable lid is provided in the middle of a water feed pipe of the water feeding means, a filter having sieve mesh is diagonally disposed above the ion exchange resin accommodated in the container. The washing machine has a passage in which a regenerant and the detergent of different grain size are simultaneously or separately charged by opening the lid, and the regenerant passes through the filter having the sieve mesh while the detergent is discharged outside the container by the filter and introduced into the washing tub from a detergent port.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, tap water and remaining hot water from a bath are used for washing water used for washing in a washing machine.
However, for example, in tap water, anions such as hypochlorite ion for the purpose of sterilization of various bacteria, calcium ions and magnesium ions as hardness ion components contained in tap water, or dissolved from raw water or tap water supply piping system. Although cations such as copper, iron, and chromium are contained in a very small amount, these metal ions cause adhesion to laundry and decrease in the detergency of the detergent.

[0003] When the hardness ion component is present in the washing water, the detergency of the detergent is reduced because the detergent in the detergent reacts with the surfactant to form insoluble metal soap, and the amount of the detergent contributing to the washing decreases. As a result, the detergency decreases. These adverse effects are significant in the case of soap. The use of soap was difficult in many areas of Japan, as well as in areas of high hardness.

In addition, synthetic detergents such as Attack (made by Kao) contain zeolite in order to reduce the influence of hardness ion components. Although it has the effect of softening water, it is an insoluble white fine particle, and in areas where there is a limit to its formulation and where hardness is high, the blended zeolite is not sufficient and the formation of metal soap can be completely prevented. And the cleaning power could not be sufficiently exhibited.

[0005] As a method for removing the adverse effects of these hardness ion components, there is a washing machine described in JP-A-11-253694. This discloses a washing machine which is compactly provided with ion removing means capable of removing cations contained in washing water at a flow rate of 10 L / min or more. This washing machine is provided with a container containing a material having ion exchange ability in the middle of the water supply path of the water supply means, and the container and the material having ion exchange ability in the container are attached to the washing machine while maintaining the ion exchange capacity. You can play and use materials with. Since the material having the ion exchange ability is used while being regenerated, the amount of the material having the ion exchange ability can be reduced to form a compact ion removing means.

[0006]

However, in the prior art described in the above publication, the flow rate required for supplying the washing water,
Although the amount, particle size, and ion removal efficiency of the ion exchange resin are considered, the salt required for the regeneration of the ion exchange resin in the washing machine must be performed separately from the detergent input.
It is necessary to check whether salt is present in the container containing the ion exchange resin.

Further, the number of times of regeneration is counted and stored by the control section, and when the number of times reaches a predetermined number, the light emitting diode is lit to indicate the number, thereby preventing the user from forgetting to input the salt for regeneration of the ion exchange resin. However, the required salt concentration also varies depending on the concentration of the hardness ion component in the raw water. In addition, since a large amount of salt for regeneration is supplied in advance, a very concentrated salt solution is always present in the washing machine, causing rust inside the washing machine, There was a problem that caused corrosion of the drain pipe after being drained.

An object of the present invention is to simultaneously supply a detergent and a salt for regenerating an ion-exchange resin from the same input port, regenerate the ion-exchange resin, introduce ion-exchanged water into the washing machine after the regeneration, and wash with a detergent. An object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine for washing articles.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine having a washing tub having a rotary wing at the bottom center, a water supply means for supplying water to the washing tub, and a means for draining water from the washing tub. In the middle of the water supply of the water supply means, a container having an openable and closable lid containing the ion exchange resin is provided, and a filter having a sieve is disposed obliquely above the ion exchange resin stored in the container, and the lid is opened. A regenerant and a detergent having different sizes are supplied simultaneously or separately, and the regenerant passes through a filter having a sieve, and the detergent is provided with a passage for introducing the detergent into a washing tub through a detergent opening to the outside of the container by the filter. This is achieved by the features described above.

[0010] In the washing machine of the present invention, a regenerant is added simultaneously with a detergent for each washing operation to regenerate and use the ion exchange resin.

[0011]

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ion exchange means used in the fully automatic washing machine of the present invention.

The ion exchange means comprises a cylindrical container 25 and a lid 9 which can be opened and closed. In the cylindrical container 25, as shown in FIG. 1, the ion exchange resin 1 is provided in the middle of the water supply by the water supply means, and the sieve filter 8 is disposed obliquely. An upper portion and a lower portion of the filter 8 are in contact with the inner surface of the container 8, and a detergent flow path 17 connecting the detergent passage 16 provided in the container 25 and the room 18 from the lower portion is provided. Between the filter 8 and the ion exchange resin 1, a partition plate having holes and check means is provided.

As the ion exchange resin 1, for example, a strongly acidic Na type cation exchange resin such as Diaion SK1B manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is used. Needless to say, if it is a strongly acidic Na-type cation exchange resin, it is not necessary to limit it to Diaion SK1B. In addition, the size of the mesh of the filter 8 is larger than the size of the regenerant and smaller than the size of the detergent.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the lid 9 is opened and the detergent and the regenerant powder are charged into the container 25. The lid 9 is a container 25
It is fixed so that it meshes with the upper part of. It is preferable to use a transparent acrylic resin as the material of the lid 9 so that the inside can be checked, but it is not always necessary to be transparent.

Before washing the clothes, the detergent 21 contained in the capsule and the powdered regenerant 20 (eg, salt) are placed in the container 2.
When a predetermined amount is put into the filter 5, the detergent 21 does not pass through the filter 8, follows the filter 8 obliquely toward the detergent port 16, passes through the detergent channel 17, and reaches the room 18.
On the other hand, the regenerant 20 passes through the filter 8 and reaches the partition 29.

In the present invention, since the ion-exchange resin 1 is regenerated every time before washing, the amount of the ion-exchange resin 1 is an amount necessary to soften the washing water for one high-water washing step. If the hardness ion component is adjusted to a region with a high content, it is not necessary to adjust the region for each region, and there is no insufficient softening in any region. Further, the amount of salt required for one softening is about several g at most, and the washing machine and the drainpipe do not corrode.

Japan is said to be a country of soft water. Actually, it is widely distributed from low hardness areas (hardness of 20 or less) to high hardness areas (hardness of 100 or more). Is the most. Therefore, hardness 1
If the washing water of about 00 is softened, most areas can be covered.

Here, if the hardness is 100, the Ca ion concentration is 40 ppm, and the washing water used in one washing is 60 L at a high water level, so that 40 mg × 60 = 2400
An amount of an ion exchange resin (4.8 g for salt) that can be exchanged for mg = 2.4 g of Ca ions is required. Since the ion exchange capacity of SK1B is 2 meq / ml, 104 m
If it is 1, exchange is theoretically possible. Since the apparent density of SK1B is 0.825 g / ml, about 86 g of ion exchange resin is required. Since the hardness of most areas in Japan is around 50, it is a water softener with nearly twice the processing capacity. In the present embodiment, the container 25 has an inner diameter of 5
cm, and the length of the ion exchange resin 1 is about 5.3 cm. Further, it has a structure in which the ion exchange resin 1 is sandwiched by mesh filters 2 so as not to flow out.

(Embodiment 2) The ion exchange operation of the washing water in the washing machine of the present invention will be described. First, a predetermined amount of a detergent 21 and a powdery regenerant 20 (for example, salt) are charged into a container 25, and the lid 9 is closed. When the washing machine is started, the drain valve 13 is opened to drain water existing in the space in the ion exchange resin 1, the room 3, and the like. When the water in the ion exchange resin 1 and the room 3 is drained, the drain valve 13 is closed and the water supply valve 12 is opened to supply water to the room 6. The water dissolves the salt on the partition plate 29,
It enters room 4 through a perforated hole 30 having a diameter of about 5 mm at the center of 9. Once in the room 4, it temporarily accumulates on the mesh filter, but immediately penetrates into the ion-exchange resin 1 and exchanges hardness ions such as Na ions and Ca ions to regenerate the ion-exchange resin. You.

The water supply valve 12 is closed when the amount of water supply reaches about 150 ml. For regeneration, the regenerant is held in the ion exchange resin 1 for 5 minutes, the drain valve 13 is opened again, and hardness ions such as saline solution and Ca ions after the regeneration are discarded. Since the ion-exchange resin is regenerated every time washing is performed, about 5 g of salt as a regenerant is sufficient. When the regeneration of the ion exchange resin 1 is completed, the drain valve 13 is closed and the water supply valve 11 is opened. The washing water from the water supply valve 11 is ion-exchanged through the ion exchange resin 1 and then through the discharge pipe 19, together with the detergent 21 in the room 18,
It is supplied to a washing tub (not shown).

Further operation will be described with reference to the plan view shown in FIG. The detergent that has reached the room 18 through the detergent flow path 17 flows downward through the room 18 by the ion-exchanged washing water and enters the washing tub. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the water ion-exchanged by the ion-exchange resin does not flow into the room 6 due to the check valve 5 provided at the lower part of the partition plate 29.

The material of the filter 8 is ABS or P.
A resin such as P or a metal such as stainless steel may be used. The angle of the filter 8 with respect to the horizontal is 30.
If it is higher than a certain degree, the capsule-shaped detergent 21 is surely guided from the detergent inlet 16 through the detergent flow path 17 to the washing tub.
The larger the angle is, the better it is, the better, but the upper limit is around 80 degrees, and if it is larger, the regenerant 20 may accumulate on the sieve of the filter 8. Further, if the diameter of the container 25 is made smaller than 5 cm, the angle of the filter 8 can be further increased, and the separation of the detergent and the regenerant can be easily performed. It is preferable to use in the range of -80 degrees.

The shape of the sieve is a very thin parallel rod (FIG. 3 (a), (b) about 0.3 mm in diameter) with a gap of 2 mm.
mm or a mesh (Fig. 3 (c)
(D)) also has a gap of 2 mm or more, or a plate having a hole (FIGS. 3 (e) and (f)) having a diameter of 2 mm or more and the closest distance between holes and the outer periphery of the hole is 0.3 mm. If the holes are vertically vertical, the regenerant does not accumulate on the filter 8 and reaches the partition plate 29.

In the present embodiment, a regenerant is supplied simultaneously with the detergent every time the laundry is washed. By doing so, there is no forgetting to put the regenerant, and the trouble of adding the regenerant can be saved. However, it goes without saying that the detergent and the regenerant may be separately charged.

Further, the washing machine of the present invention does not require an alarm or display to the user for reproduction. In the above description, the case where the regenerant was added at the same time as the detergent was described.However, there is no problem if the regenerant is added separately, but if the detergent having a size smaller than the sieve is put into the ion exchange resin container, the ion exchange Care must be taken as this may cause deterioration of the resin.

[0026]

According to the washing machine of the present invention, the regenerant is supplied at the same time as the detergent every time the laundry is washed, so that the operator does not forget to put the regenerant and does not need to emit a signal by a light emitting diode or the like for urging the replenisher to be supplied. Also, there is no need to store a regenerant, and a compact ion exchange means can be configured. Further, when washing is completed, no salt or salt solution is present in the washing machine, so that the inside of the washing machine does not rust.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ion exchange means according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a storage section of the ion exchange means according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a sectional view of a filter according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ion exchange resin 8 Filter 16 Detergent passage 17 Detergent flow path 20 Regenerant 21 Detergent

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A washing machine comprising: a washing tub having a rotating wing at a bottom center; a water supply means for supplying water to the washing tub; and a means for draining water from the washing tub. A container having an openable and closable lid containing ion exchange resin is provided in the middle, and a filter having a sieve is provided diagonally above the ion exchange resin stored in the container, so that the lid is opened and the size is increased. When different types of regenerants and detergents are supplied simultaneously or separately, the regenerant passes through the filter having the sieve, and the detergent is introduced into the washing tub through a detergent opening communicating with the outside of the container. Washing machine. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein a partition plate having a hole and a check means is provided between the filter and the ion exchange resin. 3. A filter is provided so as to be in contact with an upper portion and a lower portion of the ion exchange resin, respectively, and a predetermined space is provided between the partition plate and the filter in contact with the upper portion of the ion exchange resin. The washing machine according to claim 2, wherein a predetermined space is provided between a filter in contact with a lower portion of the container and a bottom of the container, and a drain port is provided at the bottom of the container. 4. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the inclination of the filter is in a range of 30 to 80 degrees with respect to the horizontal.