JP2003311067A - Washing/drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove static electricity occurring when clothes are agitated in a drying process, and to eliminate an uncomfortable feeling to the human body by static electricity, and at the same time, to reduce wrinkles on clothes after the drying is completed for a washing/drying machine equipped with a washing process of washing, rinsing and dehydrating, and the drying process. <P>SOLUTION: An internal tub 4 having the rotation central shaft in the vertical direction is freely rotatably arranged in an external tub 2 which is elastically suspended in a box body 1. Hot air is blown into the internal tub 4 by a blower 12 for circulation, and at the same time, the air blown by the blower 12 for circulation is heated by a heater 13. The hot air by the blower 12 for circulation is circulated in a hot air circulating path 16 having a heat-exchanger 10, and cooling air is introduced from the outside into the box body 1 by a blower 25 for cooling. A spraying device 27 is provided in the vicinity of a hot air- feeding port 18 for the internal tub 4 on the hot air circulating path 16 after passing through the heater 13. Then, this washing/drying machine is constituted in such a manner that mist may be sprayed into the hot air-circulating path 16 in the drying process. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washer / dryer provided with washing, rinsing and dehydrating washing steps and a drying step.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a washing and drying machine of this type has been constructed as shown in FIG. The configuration will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 7, the casing 1 has a structure in which an outer tank 2 is suspended and vibration-isolated and supported by a suspension 3, and vibrations during operation are absorbed by the suspension 3. Inside the outer tub 2, an inner tub 4 having a central axis of rotation in the vertical direction and accommodating a laundry and an object to be dried is rotatably arranged, and an inner bottom portion of the inner tub 4 includes clothes (laundry and dry). A stirring blade 5 for stirring an object) is rotatably arranged. The stirring blade 5 is formed in a pot shape with an outer peripheral surface having an inclined surface shape.

A large number of small holes (not shown) are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the inner tank 4, and a fluid balancer 6 is provided above the small holes. A hollow, biaxial structure washing / dewatering shaft 7 is provided near the center of the bottom of the outer tub 2 and the inner tub 4, and a clutch 8 for switching the transmission of rotational force to the washing / dewatering shaft 7 during washing or dewatering. Is provided. The motor 9 is provided in the outer tank 2 and drives the inner tank 4 or the stirring blade 5 via the clutch 8.

The heat exchanger 10 dehumidifies the moist circulating hot air, and has a lower bellows-shaped hose 11 whose one end is expandable.
Is connected to the lower part of the outer tub 2 via the
It is connected to one end of 2. The other end of the circulation blower 12 is
It is connected to a hot air supply passage 14 having a heater 13 as a heating means, and is connected to the inner tank 4 through an upper bellows-shaped hose 15.
A warm air circulation path 16 that circulates is configured.

The outer tub 2 is provided with an outer tub cover 17 that hermetically covers the upper surface of the outer tub 2, and warm air is supplied to the outer tub cover 17 from a retractable upper bellows-shaped hose 15. The supply port 18 is open. Also, this outer tank cover 17
An inner lid 19 is provided to be openable and closable so that clothes can be taken in and out.

The case cover 20 covers the upper part of the case 1, has an outer lid 21 that can be opened and closed, is provided with operation display means 22, and is provided with a water supply valve 23 for supplying water to the inner tank 4. A drain valve 24 for draining water into the outer tub 2 is provided at the bottom of the outer tub 2. The cooling blower 25 is attached to the side surface of the housing 1 and introduces outside air into the housing 1 to
The outer tank 2, the heat exchanger 10 and the like inside are cooled.

The control device 26 is equipped with a microcomputer, and has a motor 9, a clutch 8, a circulation blower 12, a heater 13, a water supply valve 23, a drain valve 24, and a cooling blower 25.
The operation is controlled to sequentially control a series of steps of washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. In the washing process, when the outer lid 21 and the inner lid 19 are opened, clothes (laundry) are put into the inner tub 4 and the operation is started, the water supply valve 23 is opened to supply water to a predetermined water level, and then the motor 9 is driven. To do.
At this time, the power of the motor 9 is transmitted to the stirring blade 5 via the washing shaft by the clutch 8 of the transmission mechanism section, the stirring blade 5 is rotated to stir the clothes in water for washing, and then the drain valve 2
Open 4 to drain, rinse again with water in the rinse step and rinse as in the wash step.

In the dehydration process, after the washing is completed, the drain valve 24 is opened to drain the water in the inner tub 4, the clutch 8 of the transmission mechanism is switched to the dehydration side, and the power of the motor 9 is passed through the dehydration shaft. This is performed by transmitting the water to the inner tub 4 and rotating it to give a centrifugal force to the clothes to separate water from the clothes. When the dehydration process ends, the drying process continues.

When entering the drying process, the motor 9 is driven to transmit to the stirring blade 5, and the stirring blade 5 is slowly rotated to pull the clothes attached to the inner wall of the inner tub 4 by centrifugal force during dehydration. After the peeling, the stirring blade 5 is momentarily strongly rotated in the forward and reverse directions to stir the clothes so that the clothes are thrown upward in the inner tub 4.

At the same time, the warm air heated by the circulation blower 12 through the heater 13 is supplied from the warm air supply port 18 to the inner tank 4
Send it inside. The warm air removes moisture from the clothes in the inner tub 4, and when passing through the heat exchanger 10 via the outer tub 2 and the lower bellows-shaped hose 11, it is cooled and dehumidified by the blast of the cooling blower 25. After that, the flow returns to the circulation blower 12 again. At this time, the dehumidified water is drained out of the machine by periodically opening the drain valve 24. Thereby, the drying progresses.

[0013]

However, in such a conventional structure, the stirring blade 5 is generally made of synthetic resin, and when the stirring blade 5 is used to dry the clothes while stirring, When the stirring blade 5 and the clothes are rubbed against each other to generate static electricity and the clothes are taken out after drying,
The static electricity charged in the inner tank 4 and the clothes may be discharged to the human body and may be subjected to a strong shock, or the clothes may cling to the body when wearing this clothes, or a crackling noise may occur. Had a problem that occurs.

Further, the clothes are entangled with each other due to the static electricity, and the clothes are tightly wrinkled after drying, and it is difficult to separate the clothes when they are stored.

The present invention solves the above problems by removing static electricity generated when clothes are stirred by a stirring blade in the drying process, eliminating discomfort to the human body caused by static electricity, and ending drying. It is intended to reduce the wrinkles of subsequent clothing.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has an outer tub elastically suspended inside a housing and has a central axis of rotation in the vertical direction for accommodating laundry. The tank is rotatably arranged, the stirring blade is rotatably provided at the inner bottom of the inner tank, the inner tank or the stirring blade is driven by the driving means, and hot air is blown into the inner tank by the blowing means, and the air is blown. The air blown by the means is heated by the heating means, the warm air by the blower means is circulated in the warm air circulation path having the heat exchanger, and the cooling air is introduced from the outside by the cooling air introduction means to drive it. A control unit controls the operation of the heating unit, the air blowing unit, the heating unit, and the like, and a spraying device is provided in the vicinity of the warm air supply port to the inner tank through the heating unit of the warm air circulation path
The mist is sprayed into the warm air circulation path in the drying process.

As a result, the static electricity generated when the clothes are stirred by the stirring blade in the drying process can be removed,
It is possible to eliminate discomfort to the human body caused by static electricity and reduce wrinkles on clothes after drying.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is such that an outer tub elastically suspended inside a housing and a central axis of rotation in the vertical direction are rotatably provided in the outer tub. An inner tub for arranging and containing laundry, a stirring blade rotatably provided on the inner bottom of the inner tub, a driving means for driving the inner tub or the stirring blade, and blowing warm air into the inner tub Blowing means, a heating means for heating the air blown by the blowing means, a warm air circulation path for circulating hot air by the blowing means having a heat exchanger, and cooling air from the outside inside the housing. A cooling air introduction means to be introduced and a control means for controlling the operation of the driving means, the air blowing means, the heating means, etc., and the vicinity of the hot air supply port to the inner tank through the heating means of the warm air circulation path A spraying device was installed in the machine to spray mist into the warm air circulation path during the drying process. The mist sprayed in the drying process and the negative ions generated by the mist remove static electricity generated by rubbing between the stirring blade and the clothes when the clothes are stirred by the stirring blade. As a result, the discomfort to the human body caused by static electricity can be eliminated, and wrinkles on the clothes after drying can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned first aspect of the invention, the mist sprayed from the spray device reaches the inner tank after colliding with the inner wall surface of the warm air circulation path. However, the amount of negative ions generated can be increased, and the effect of removing static electricity can be improved.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, the spraying device sprays tap water through a water supply valve and connects the water supply valve and the spraying device. A decompression device that operates when the internal pressure of the water supply pipe reaches a predetermined pressure is provided in the middle of, and the spray state can be stabilized, and the internal pressure rises due to clogging of the spray device. It is possible to prevent the water supply pipe from bursting and the connecting portion from coming off.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned third aspect of the invention, the decompression device is formed integrally with the spraying device, so that the piping can be simplified and the number of connection points can be reduced. It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and
The reliability can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the third or fourth aspect, the operating force of the pressure reducing device is 0.
Since it is set to 1 to 0.3 MPa, the durability and reliability of the connection part of the water supply pipe and the water supply pipe can be obtained at low cost.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same components as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

(Embodiment 1) As shown in FIG. 1, in a spraying device 27, a hot air supply port 18 to an inner tank 4 via a heater (heating means) 13 of a hot air supply path (warm air circulation path) 14 is provided. It is arranged in the vicinity and is connected by a water supply valve 28 and a water supply pipe 29.
As shown in FIG. 2, this spraying device 27 includes a water inlet side 27a connected to a water supply pipe 29 and a mist (fine water particles).
And a spray port 27b for injecting mist, and is configured to spray mist into the warm air supply passage (warm air circulation passage) 14 in the drying process.

The mist sprayed from the spraying device 27 hits the inner wall surface of the warm air supply passage (warm air circulation passage) 14 and then reaches the inner tank 4. Water valve 28
Supplies water into the inner tank 4, and also supplies water to the heat exchanger 10 and the spraying device 27. The temperature detection unit 30 detects the temperature of the circulating air.

The decompression device 31 includes the water supply valve 28 and the spray device 2.
It is provided in the middle of the water supply pipe 29 that connects with the water supply pipe 7, and operates when the internal pressure of the water supply pipe 29 reaches a predetermined pressure.
As shown in FIG. 3, the water inlet side 31a and the water outlet side 31b are connected in the middle of the water supply pipe 39, and the other 31
The bypass pipe 32 is connected to the c side. Bypass pipe 32
On the connection side, the packing 31d is pressed against the water supply passage side by the spring 31e, and the water supply pipe 29 exceeds the set force of the spring 31e.
It is configured such that water starts to flow to the side of the bypass pipe 32 when the internal pressure of is increased.

The control device (control means) 33 includes a motor (driving means) 9, a circulation blower (blowing means) 12, and a heater 1 based on the setting contents set by the operation display section 22.
3, drain valve 24, cooling blower (cooling air introduction means) 2
5. The operation of the water supply valve 28 and the like is controlled to sequentially control a series of steps of washing, rinsing, dehydration and drying. Here, in the washing process, the clothes (laundry) and water in the inner tub 4 are rotated by the rotation of the inner tub 4 to wash the clothes,
The washing process of this system is followed by rinsing, dehydration and drying processes.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. First,
In the washing process, when clothes, detergent, etc. are put into the inner tank 4 to start the operation, the controller 33 drives the water supply valve 28 to supply water to a predetermined water level, and the motor 9 is driven to drive the inner tank 4
Alternatively, the stirring blade 5 is rotated and the clothes are washed by this operation. At this time, the drain valve 24 is closed.

After that, the drain valve 24 is opened to drain water, water is supplied again to rinse the clothes in the same manner as the washing process, and the inner tank 4 containing the clothes is rotated at a high speed in the dehydration process. Dehydrate water by separating water from clothes.

In the drying process, with the drain valve 24 opened after the dehydration process, the air is blown from the circulation blower 12 and the heat generated by the heater 13 is passed through the upper bellows-shaped hose 15 and the warm air supply port 18 to the inner tank 4. Dry hot air is blown in. At this time, the clothes are bounced up by the left-right rotation of the stirring blades 5 and then dropped, and the warm air sent to the inner tank 4 removes moisture from the clothes when passing through the gaps in the movement of these clothes. In the deprived and damp state, after going out from the inner tank 4 to the inner side of the outer tank 2, it passes through the drainage port 36, partly reaches the heat exchanger 10, and the other part goes through the drainage valve 24 as it is through the drainage hose 3
It is exhausted to the outside of the aircraft via 4.

When hot air containing moisture is passing through the inner wall of the outer tub 2 and the inside of the heat exchanger 10, the outside air flows in by the cooling blower 25, and the outer wall of the outer tub 2 and the heat exchanger 10 Will be cooled, the moisture of the moist air will condense on its inner wall, and the hot air will be dehumidified and cooled.

At this time, by supplying tap water to the inside of the heat exchanger 10 via the water supply valve 28, the temperature of the circulating air is further lowered and the dehumidifying effect is improved. The dehumidified and cooled air returns to the circulation blower 12, and the heater 1 again.
It is heated by 3 and sent to the inner tank 4.

In this way, the drying and dehumidification proceed to the end of the drying of the clothes, but as the drying progresses, the clothes rubbed by the stirring blades 5 are charged and accumulated with static electricity, so that the clothes are dried. As the final stage is approached, the water supply valve 28 is opened by the control device 33 at a predetermined interval, and the water supply pipe 2
By reducing the amount of static electricity accumulated in the clothes by spraying tap water as mist (fine water particles) into the warm air supply path (warm air circulation path) 14 via the spraying device 27 via 9 You can

Here, the spraying device 27 is arranged in the vicinity of the warm air supply port 18 to the inner tank 1 through the heater (heating means) 13 of the warm air supply passage (warm air circulation passage) 14, and the spraying device 27 is provided. By arranging such that a part of the mist sprayed from reaches the clothes in the inner tub 4 as it is, and the other reaches the inner tub 4 after colliding with the inner wall surface of the hot air supply passage (warm air circulation passage) 14. The generation of negative ions (generally called the Leonard effect) due to the water crushing effect can further enhance the static electricity removing effect.

Further, a pressure reducing device 31 is arranged in the middle of a water supply pipe 29 connecting the spraying device 27 and the water supply valve 28, and the spraying port of the spraying device 27 is clogged.
When the internal pressure of 9 rises, by making the water flow to the bypass pipe 32 side so that it does not exceed a certain pressure, it is possible to prevent the water supply pipe 29 from coming off and expanding water from being damaged due to rupture.

(Embodiment 2) As shown in FIG. 4, in the spraying device 35, a warm air supply port 18 to the inner tank 1 via a heater (heating means) 13 of a warm air supply path (warm air circulation path) 14 is provided. It is arranged in the vicinity and injects mist (fine water particles). As shown in FIG. 5, a pressure reducing device is integrally configured.

That is, as shown in FIG.
5, a spray port 35a for injecting mist and a bypass flow path 35b are provided, the packing 32c is pressed by a spring 35d, and the water supply pipe 2 is set to have a force equal to or greater than a setting force of the spring 35d.
When the internal pressure of 9 rises, the bypass flow path 35b is opened. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

The operation of the above structure will be described. When the spray port 35a of the spray device 35 is clogged and the internal pressure of the water supply pipe 29 rises due to adhesion of foreign matter or the like, water can be flown to the bypass flow passage 35b so as not to exceed a certain pressure.
It is possible to prevent water damage due to water leakage and rupture, simplification of piping, reduction of connection points, reduction of manufacturing cost, and improvement of reliability.

(Embodiment 3) The pressure reducing device 31 shown in FIG. 1 and the pressure reducing device integrated with the spraying device 35 shown in FIG. 4 have an operating force set to 0.1 to 0.3 MPa. The other structure is the same as that of the first or second embodiment.

The operation of the above structure will be described. The tap water pressure varies depending on various environments of the installation place, but the spraying device according to the present invention does not exhibit its action and effect in any environment unless fine water particles are sprayed from its spraying port. Although it is necessary to consider the setting of the flow rate characteristic of 28, the form of the injection port of the decompression device integrated with the spraying device 31 or the spraying device 35, etc. If the state of mist is not good and the water discharge capacity of the water supply valve 28 is significantly lower than the water discharge capacity of the spraying device, the internal pressure of the water supply pipe 29 becomes almost equal to the tap water pressure, and the pressure resistance performance of the water supply pipe 29 is reduced. Enormous cost is required for improvement and connection method of the connecting portion.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the present invention, the water supply pipe 2 shown in the first and second embodiments, the bypass passage side of which is open.
By setting the packing part area and the set load of the spring so that the internal pressure of 9 is 0.1 MPa to 0.3 MPa, a rubber pipe having a wall thickness of 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm is inserted into each connection point as the water supply pipe 29. Only by doing so, it is possible to prevent the water supply pipe 29 from coming off and bursting.

[0042]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention, the outer tub elastically suspended inside the housing and the central axis of rotation in the vertical direction are provided in the outer tub. An inner tub that is rotatably disposed to accommodate the laundry, a stirring blade that is rotatably provided on the inner bottom portion of the inner tub, a driving means that drives the inner tub or the stirring blade, and the inner tub Blowing means for blowing warm air,
A heating unit that heats the air blown by the blower unit, a warm air circulation path that has a heat exchanger to circulate the warm air by the blower unit, and a cooling wind introduction that introduces cooling air from the outside into the housing. Means and a control means for controlling the operation of the driving means, the blowing means, the heating means, etc., and a spraying device is provided in the warm air circulation path in the vicinity of the hot air supply port to the inner tank through the heating means. Since the mist is sprayed into the warm air circulation path in the drying process, the frictional force with the stirring blade is reduced in the drying process by spraying the mist into the warm air circulation path near the end of the drying process. In addition, the static electricity accumulated in the rubbed clothes obtains some water, which can be discharged, and the influence on the human body can be reduced at the end of drying.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the mist sprayed from the spraying device collides with the inner wall surface of the warm air circulation path and reaches the inner tank, the mist is warm air. The hydrophilicity of the clothes is improved by the effect of negative ions generated when the clothes collide with the inner wall of the circulation path, and the effect of removing static electricity can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the spraying device sprays tap water through the water supply valve, and the internal pressure of the water supply pipe is provided in the middle of the water supply pipe connecting the water supply valve and the spraying device. Is equipped with a decompression device that operates when it reaches a predetermined pressure, it is possible to stabilize the spray state and increase the internal pressure caused by clogging of the spray device, regardless of tap water pressure. The connection of the water supply pipe and the reliability of the water supply can be improved.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, since the decompression device is constructed integrally with the spraying device, the piping can be simplified, the connecting points can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. At the same time, reliability can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 5, since the operating force of the pressure reducing device is set to 0.1 to 0.3 MPa, the durability and reliability of the connecting portion of the water supply pipe and the water supply pipe are low. Can be obtained at a cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a washer / dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a spray device of the washer / dryer.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a decompression device of the washer / dryer.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a washer / dryer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a spray device of the washing and drying machine.

FIG. 6 is a relational diagram between tap water pressure and water supply pipe internal pressure during operation of a decompression device for a washer / dryer according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional washer / dryer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 case 2 outer tank 4 inner tank 5 stirring blades 9 Motor (drive means) 10 heat exchanger 12 Circulation fan (air blower) 13 Heater (heating means) 16 Warm air circulation path 18 Hot air supply port 25 Cooling blower (cooling air introduction means) 27 Spraying device 33 Control device (control means)

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takashi Komatsu             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junji Otani             1-3-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture             No. Excel Techno Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3B155 AA16 BA09 CA06 CB07 CB49                       CB52 CB55 FA22 MA01 MA02                       MA05

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An outer tub elastically suspended inside a casing, an inner tub having a central axis of rotation in a vertical direction and rotatably disposed in the outer tub to accommodate laundry, and the inner tub. A stirring blade rotatably provided on the inner bottom of the tank, a driving means for driving the inner tank or the stirring blade, and a blowing means for blowing warm air into the inner tank,
A heating unit that heats the air blown by the blower unit, a warm air circulation path that has a heat exchanger to circulate the warm air by the blower unit, and a cooling wind introduction that introduces cooling air from the outside into the housing. Means and a control means for controlling the operation of the driving means, the blowing means, the heating means, etc., and a spraying device is provided in the warm air circulation path in the vicinity of the hot air supply port to the inner tank through the heating means. , A washer / dryer configured to spray mist into the warm air circulation path in the drying process. 2. The washer / dryer according to claim 1, wherein the mist sprayed from the spray device reaches the inner tank after colliding with the inner wall surface of the warm air circulation path. 3. The spraying device sprays tap water through a water supply valve, and in the middle of a water supply pipe connecting the water supply valve and the spraying device,
The washing / drying machine according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a decompression device that operates when the internal pressure of the water supply pipe reaches a predetermined pressure. 4. The washer / dryer according to claim 3, wherein the decompression device is configured integrally with the spray device. 5. The operating force of the decompression device is 0.1 to 0.3 MP.
The washer / dryer according to claim 3 or 4, which is set to a.