JP2007267784A - Drum type washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drum type washing machine increased in storage volume of laundry in a drum by improving a transmission force of the laundry in the drum. <P>SOLUTION: This drum type washing machine is provided with a projecting baffle 32 for transmitting the rotating force of the drum 30 to the laundry in the internal circumferential wall of a drum 30 provided inside a water tub and rotatingly driven and is characterized in that the cross section of the bubble 32 is stepwise formed to enlarge the contact area with the laundry and improve the rotation transmitting force of the drum 30 to the laundry. This constitution can reduce the volume of the baffle 32 and enlarge the laundry storage volume inside the drum 30 without mitigating the rotation transmitting force. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum type washing machine having a baffle in a drum.

Some conventional drum-type washing machines include a baffle having a trapezoidal cross section on the inner peripheral wall of a drum provided inside the water tank. In this baffle, the laundry is hooked on the side of the trapezoidal shape by rotating the drum, the rotational force of the drum is transmitted to the laundry, the laundry is lifted upward, and the laundry is dropped. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-121096

In the drum washing machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, when transmitting the rotation of the drum to the laundry in contact with the baffle, the laundry is hooked on the trapezoidal side slope of the baffle and the laundry is moved in the drum rotation direction. Therefore, the shape of the baffle has been increased in order to reliably hook the laundry. For this reason, the volume of the baffle in the drum is increased, and there is a problem that a large amount of laundry cannot be accommodated with respect to the volume of the drum.

In addition, since the area where the baffle faces the washing water is widened, there is a problem that unnecessary washing water is swirled and extra power is generated.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to increase the capacity of the laundry in the drum.

In order to achieve the above object, a drum-type washing machine according to the present invention includes a water tub, a drum provided inside the water tub for rotational driving, and an inner peripheral wall of the drum. A projecting baffle for transmission is provided, and this baffle is mainly characterized in that the cross section is formed in a stepped shape.

According to the above configuration, since the cross-sectional shape of the baffle is stepped and the contact area of the laundry can be expanded, the volume of the baffle can be reduced without weakening the rotational transmission force of the drum to the laundry. Therefore, the laundry storage volume in the drum can be increased.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the drum type washing machine of the present invention is applied to a drum type washing and drying machine will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the shape of a baffle showing a specific configuration. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the drum type washing and drying machine. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal side view showing the overall configuration of the drum type washing and drying machine. And FIG. 4 is a figure which shows the drum of a drum type washing-drying machine from the front.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the drum-type washing and drying machine has a rectangular box shape as a whole, and a circular laundry input 4 is formed on the front surface 1a of the outer box 1 forming the outer shell. A door 5 that can be opened and closed is attached to the laundry input port 4.
A water tank 6 is disposed inside the outer box 1, and this water tank 6 has a drum shape having an opening on the front surface. The water tank 6 faces sideways via a pair of left and right suspensions 7 on the bottom surface of the outer box 1. The support form is a shape that rises and inclines toward the opening on the front surface.
An annular water tank cover 6 a is provided at the front of the water tank 6, and the water tank cover 6 a and the laundry inlet 4 are connected in a watertight manner by a bellows 8 as will be described later.
The rear end surface portion 6c (the right end surface portion in FIG. 3) constituting the closed bottom surface of the water tank 6 has sufficient mechanical strength, and the motor 15 is attached to the back surface thereof. In addition, an air supply port 16 to be described later is formed in the upper part. In addition, a drain port 17 is formed at the bottom of the side surface of the water tank 6, a drain valve 18 is attached downstream thereof, and a drain hose 19 is connected to the tip thereof. A flexible hose 20 is connected to the upper surface of the water tank 6.
0 is connected to a rear water supply device 22 via a detergent case 21 provided at the front upper portion of the outer box 1, and is connected to a water supply port 23 of the water supply device 22.
A small-diameter drum 30 having a predetermined gap is disposed inside the water tank 6. The closed bottom surface of the drum 30 has a sufficient thickness, for example, a metal drum support 30b.
It is provided to function as. The drum shaft 30c attached to the center of the drum support 30b is attached to the motor 15 from the center of the bottom of the water tank 6. Thereby, the drum 30 is rotatably supported by the water tank 6 with the same inclination as the water tank 6.

Further, the drum 30 is provided with a large number of holes 31 through which water and air can pass through almost the entire area of the peripheral wall portion and the drum support 30b (only a part is shown in FIG. 3), and the inner peripheral portion of the body portion. The baffle 32 mentioned later is attached to several places.
A drum cover 30 a is attached to the front portion of the drum 30. The drum cover 30a is attached to the peripheral edge of the opened front surface of the drum 30, has a ring shape having a laundry entrance 33 at the center, and is made of a heat-resistant material.
The aquarium cover 6a described above has a ring shape having an opening at the center, and is made of a metal such as an iron plate or a stainless plate, or a rigid material having heat resistance such as glass or synthetic resin.
The water tank cover 6a has an exhaust port 40 formed in an upper portion thereof, and an exhaust port 4 is formed outside the water tank cover 6a.
An exhaust duct 41 that covers 0 and communicates is provided.
The exhaust duct 41 is provided in an annular shape so as to surround the water tank cover 6a, and the lower portion of the exhaust duct 41 is provided below the water tank 6 through a flexible duct 42 having a bellows-like portion. It is connected to the drying unit duct 43.
The drying unit duct 43 extends from the front to the rear in the outer box 1, and a fan casing 44 is provided at the rear thereof. A discharge port 45 formed above the fan casing 44 is connected to an air supply duct 47 via a flexible duct 46 having a bellows-like portion. As shown in FIG. 5, the air supply duct 47 surrounds the motor 15 so as to surround the drum 30.
The tip end portion of the water tank 6 is connected to the air supply port 16 at the upper portion of the rear end surface portion 6c.

Here, the exhaust duct 41 and the flexible duct 42 connected to the exhaust port 40 of the water tank cover 6a.
The circulation air duct 48 communicated with the inside of the water tank 6 by the drying unit duct 43, the fan casing 44, the flexible duct 46, and the air supply duct 47 connected to the air supply port 16 of the water tank 6.
Is configured. A fan 49 a constituting a blower 49 is disposed in the fan casing 44 in the circulation air passage 48, and a fan motor 49 b is disposed outside the fan casing 44.
In the drying unit duct 43, an evaporator (evaporator) 5 of the heat pump mechanism 50 is provided.
1 and a condenser (condenser) 52 are disposed. As is well known, the heat pump mechanism 50 includes a compressor (compressor) 53, a condenser 52, and a capillary tube (not shown) (not shown).
The refrigeration cycle is configured by connecting the throttle 51 and the evaporator 51 in a cycle by pipes in order, and the refrigerant is circulated through them in sequence as the compressor 53 is driven. At this time, in the condenser 52, the refrigerant releases the heat and liquefies, and the condenser 52 functions as a heating means for the circulating air. Further, in the evaporator 51, the surroundings are cooled by removing the surrounding heat when the refrigerant evaporates, and the evaporator 51 functions as a cooling means for circulating air. In this case, the drying function means is constituted by the heat pump mechanism 50 such as the blower 49, the condenser 52, and the evaporator 51, and these are disposed in the outer box 1 below the water tank 6, and therefore, It is arranged at the lower part in the box 1. Further, the compressor 53 that is larger in the height direction than the drying unit duct 43 is disposed in front of the water tank 6 that is inclined upward toward the front surface 1 a of the outer box 1.

Here, a means for attaching the front face 1a of the outer box 1 and the bellows 8 will be described.
First, as described above, the openable / closable door 5 is attached to the front surface portion 1a of the outer box 1. The front portion 1a is composed of a front panel 2 as a front plate and an operation panel 3 on which a switch such as a power source is arranged, and each is formed of inexpensive polypropylene.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a circular inlet slot frame 60 is provided in the center of the front surface portion 1 a, which houses the door 5 and has a recessed center. The front panel 2 is provided with an open button 65 (see FIG. 2) for releasing the closed state of the door 5, and the door 5 is opened by pushing.
As shown in FIG. 3, the door 5 has a circular shape that matches the shape of the laundry input port 4, and is housed in the input port frame 60, so that the front surface of the door 5 is closed when the door 5 is closed. It is configured to be substantially flush with the front panel 2.
Then, the laundry input port 4 is opened and closed by rotating forward by a hinge 63 attached to the left end of the door 5. Further, a hook 64 for holding a closed state is provided at the right end of the door 5.
Further, a see-through window 66 is provided at the center of the door 5 as a see-through portion having the same size as the laundry insertion opening 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the transparent window 66 has a front glass 67 on the front surface of the door 5, for example.
And a rear surface glass 68 provided in parallel to the front glass 67 on the rear surface of the door 5.

On the other hand, the bellows 8 as a sealing member is an elastic material that reduces vibration from the water tank 6, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and is an ethylene / propylene synthetic rubber (abbreviated as EPDM) that has excellent chemical resistance.
), A rear mounting rear portion surrounds the front end portion of the water tank cover 6a, and the rear mounting portion is mounted by an annular bellow ring. The front part of the rear part of the attachment is formed in a bellows shape so as to absorb vibrations from the water tank 6.
On the other hand, the front of the bellows 8 is formed with a ring-like standing portion extending in the inner circumferential direction in the vicinity of the laundry insertion port 4, and the rear glass 68 that is the back surface of the door 5 comes into contact with the standing portion. The door 5 and the water tank 6 are configured to be watertight.

Here, the baffle 32 provided on the drum 30 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, three baffles 30 are formed on the inner peripheral wall of the drum 30 so as to protrude from each other, and are set apart from each other by 120 degrees.
As shown in FIG. 1, the baffle 32 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin (for example, polypropylene) and has a T-shaped cross section. A projecting portion 32a is provided at the center of the main body, and a thin plate is provided on both side surfaces thereof. By providing the grip portion 32b having a shape, a stepped shape is formed in both directions from the protruding portion 32a. Further, the projecting portion 32a and the grip portion 32b are configured to intersect at a substantially right angle.
The baffle 32 is configured such that the protruding portion 32a has a length of about 15% of the radius of the drum 30, and the height of the protruding portion 32a and the length of the upper surface of the grip portion 32b are substantially the same. .

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, as the known washing and drying function, as is well known, washing, rinsing, dehydration, and a drying process are executed.
When washing is performed, the door 5 is opened, and the laundry (not shown) is put into the drum 30 from the laundry outlet 33 through the laundry slot 4 of the slot frame 60 and stored therein. Then, the detergent is accommodated in the detergent case 21, and when, for example, a standard course is selected at the operation button of the operation panel 3, each of washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying is performed based on a control program of a control device (not shown). The process is performed automatically.
In the washing process, first, the drain valve 18 is closed, and water is supplied from the water supply device 22 through the detergent case 21 and the flexible hose 20 into the water tank 6 and stored. At this time, the detergent accommodated in the detergent case 21 is also supplied into the water tank 6 together with water.
Then, when the motor 15 is driven and the drum 30 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed, the laundry is agitated by the complicated water flow generated by the protruding portion 32a of the baffle 32 pushing the washing water. In addition, when the baffle 32 is moved upward by the protruding portion 32 a and the baffle 32 is positioned upward, it falls below the drum 30 due to gravity and is struck against the bottom surface of the drum 30, so that the inside of the drum 30 is moved. It moves intricately and is cleaned.
Furthermore, at this time, the laundry is also hooked on the side surface of the thin plate-like grip portion 32b of the baffle 32 and pushed in the rotating direction of the drum 30, so that the side surface of the projecting portion 32a and the grip portion 32b
By pushing against the side surfaces of the two stepped steps, more laundry comes into contact with each other, and the rotational force of the drum 30 can be transmitted to the laundry.
When the laundry is in contact with the upper surface of the grip portion 32b of the baffle 32 as shown in FIG. 4, the laundry is caught on the contact surface with the grip portion 32b by the frictional force of the grip portion 32b, and shown in FIG. So as to move at a rotational speed C substantially the same as the rotational speed B of the grip portion 32b.
There also occurs a situation in which the grip portion 32b rotates following the grip portion 32b.
And the area of the upper surface of this grip part 32b is formed in the length substantially the same as the protrusion part 32a of the baffle 32, and thereby the laundry contacts both sides of the protrusion part 32a and the upper surface of the grip part 32b. Thus, the rotational force of the drum 30 is transmitted by both the force pushed by the side surface of the protruding portion 32a and the frictional force F1 following the rotation on the upper surface of the grip portion 32b.
Further, in the laundry that has moved over the protruding portion 32a in the half-rotation direction, the laundry is brought into contact with the upper surface of the grip portion 32b after the ride over, thereby rotating in the direction of rotation by the frictional force F2 between the laundry and the grip portion 32b. Move to. Further, when the laundry moves relatively on the upper surface of the grip portion 32b, the laundry is washed by the sliding operation (sliding friction or rotational friction).
Then, at the moment when the rotation of the drum 30 is reversed by the drive of the motor, the laundry is separated from the baffle 32 by the impact during rotation, and the contact surface of the laundry with the drum 30 is switched. Next, another laundry is caught again on the baffle 32 and moved.
In this way, the laundry is caught or separated from the baffle 32 during the washing process, and obtains a high rotation speed that follows the rotation speed of the baffle 32 as needed.

When the washing process is completed, the drain valve 18 is opened and the water in the water tank 6 is discharged, followed by intermediate dehydration. The intermediate dehydration is performed by causing the motor 15 to rotate the drum 30 in one direction at a high speed to discharge water contained in the laundry from the holes 31 by centrifugal force. When the intermediate dehydration is completed, a rinsing process is performed. The rinsing process is performed in the same manner as the washing process except that no detergent is used when supplying water. When the rinsing process is completed, a final dehydration process is performed. The final dehydration process is similar to the intermediate dehydration process.
Is performed by rotating the drum 30 at a high speed in one direction.
In the laundry, the height and volume of the baffle 32 are smaller than those of the conventional one (in this embodiment, the height of the protruding portion 32a is about 15% in the radial direction of the drum 30), and centrifugal force. Thus, the laundry that sticks to the inner peripheral wall of the drum 30 does not have a poor weight balance such that a large amount of laundry stays only on the side surface of the baffle 32, and the laundry is distributed over the entire inner peripheral wall of the drum 30.

When this final dehydration process is completed, a drying process is performed next. In the drying process, the motor 15 rotates the drum 30 in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed, and drives the blower 49 and the compressor 53 of the heat pump mechanism 50. Among these, when the blower 49 is driven, the drying unit duct 4 is caused by the blowing action of the fan 49a as shown by the solid arrow A in FIG.
3 is sucked to the fan casing 44 side and discharged from the discharge port 45 to the air supply duct 47 side through the flexible duct 46.
The air discharged to the air supply duct 47 is supplied from the air supply port 16 into the water tank 6. Most of the air supplied into the water tank 6 is supplied into the drum 30 through the holes 31 of the drum 30.
The air in the drum 30 and the water tank 6 flows toward the opening of the water tank 6, hits the rear glass 68 and the bellows 8 of the door 5, and is discharged from the exhaust port 40 at the front of the water tank 6 to the exhaust duct 41 side. . The air discharged to the exhaust duct 41 side is circulated so as to return to the drying unit duct 43 through the lower flexible duct 42.
When the compressor 53 is driven, a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant flows from the compressor 53 to the condenser 52, where it dissipates heat and liquefies. At this time, the air passing through the condenser 52 of the drying unit duct 43 is heated by the condenser 52. The liquefied refrigerant passes through the capillary tube and is depressurized, and then flows into the evaporator 51 where it takes away the surrounding heat and vaporizes. At this time,
The air passing through the evaporator 51 of the drying unit duct 43 is cooled by the evaporator 51.

The refrigerant vaporized by the evaporator 51 returns to the compressor 53, is compressed again, and is discharged as a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant.
In this way, the warm air heated by the condenser 52 is supplied into the drum 30 to heat the laundry in the drum 30, deprive the laundry of moisture, and dry the laundry. The air deprived of moisture is cooled in the process of passing through the evaporator 51 of the drying unit duct 43, and the moisture contained in the air is condensed and dehumidified. The dehumidified air is heated and warmed in the process of passing through the condenser 52 again, and circulates so that the warm air is supplied into the drum 30. As the air in the water tub 6 is circulated through the circulation air passage 48 in this manner, the laundry in the drum 30 is dried.

Then, in the drying process, the laundry transmits the rotation of the drum 30 to the laundry by the rotation of the drum 30 and moves the laundry above the drum 30 in the direction of gravity. By dropping the laundry, hot air is easily hit.
In addition to this operation, during the drying process, the drum 30 is rotated forward and reverse alternately under the control of the motor, and hot air is applied while loosening the laundry. The loosening operation causes the laundry to grip with a frictional force. The unraveling force that causes the baffle 32 to loosen by being caught by the part 32b (for example, the force applied to the laundry by the impact at the time of reverse rotation of the drum 30) is transmitted. By moving from the place, the contact surface between the laundry and hot air is switched.
By repeating this unwinding operation, the hot air removes moisture from the laundry through the gap formed by the movement of the laundry and dries the laundry.
Thus, the washing and drying operation is completed.

According to the above-described embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
The baffle 32 is composed of a projecting portion 32a and thin plate-like grip portions 32b provided on both side surfaces thereof, so that the baffle 32 has a stepped shape in both directions from the projecting portion 32a. Since it can be spread and further has a step shape, the laundry can be caught on each side of the step shape, and the rotation transmission force of the drum 30 to the laundry can be efficiently transmitted. Further, since the cross section of the baffle 32 is formed in a T shape, the baffle 32 can be easily formed.

And since the grip part 32b was provided, the laundry has the side surface of the protruding part 32a, and the grip part 32.
b is in contact with both surfaces of the upper surface of b, and the rotational force of the drum 30 is transmitted by both the force pushed by the side surface of the projecting portion 32a and the frictional force F1 following the rotation on the upper surface of the grip portion 32b. Can do.
Also, the laundry that has moved over the protruding portion 32a can move in the rotational direction by the frictional force F2 between the laundry and the grip portion 32b by contacting the upper surface of the grip portion 32b after getting over the protruding portion 32a. Furthermore, when the laundry moves relatively on the upper surface of the grip portion 32b, the laundry can be washed by the sliding operation (sliding friction or rotational friction).
In addition, since it comprised so that the protrusion part 32a and the grip part 32b might cross | intersect at substantially right angle, it is easy to catch a laundry and can raise a transmission force.

In addition, the baffle 32 has a configuration in which the baffle 32 does not need to have a larger baffle volume than the conventional drum configuration because of the strong rotational transmission force to the laundry. The length can be about 15% of the length. Therefore, the laundry storage capacity in the drum 30 is increased, and a large amount of laundry can be washed.
Similarly, even if the length of the baffle 32 is not made longer than necessary, the rotational force can be transmitted to the laundry, so that excess washing water is not scooped up and no extra power consumption is generated. Moreover, since the volume of the baffle 32 is not increased more than necessary, the material cost of the baffle 32 is also reduced.

In addition, since the volume of the baffle 32 can be reduced in the dehydration process, the laundry that sticks to the inner peripheral wall of the drum 30 due to the centrifugal force of the drum 30 does not cause a poor weight balance such that a large amount of the laundry stays only on the side surface of the baffle 32. Further, the laundry is distributed over the entire inner peripheral wall of the drum 30, and a more stable weight balance can be realized.
In the drying process, the frictional force that the laundry is caught on the baffle 32 becomes strong,
Because of the frictional force, the loosening force of the pulsator is easily transmitted, the laundry is easy to move with respect to the rotation of the baffle 32, and the contact surface of the laundry is easy to change, so the hot air is easily ventilated and the drying efficiency is improved. improves.
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The figure which shows the shape of the baffle which shows the specific structure which shows one Example of this invention. External perspective view of a drum-type washing and drying machine to which the present invention is applied Longitudinal side view showing the overall structure of the drum-type washer / dryer The figure which shows the drum of a drum type washing dryer from the front

Explanation of symbols

In the figure, 1 is an outer box, 1a is a front part, 2 is a front panel, 3 is an operation panel, 4 is a laundry inlet,
5 is a door, 6 is a water tank, 6a is a water tank cover, 6b is an opening, 6c is a rear end surface part, 7 is a suspension, 8 is a bellows, 15 is a motor, 16 is an air inlet, 17 is a water outlet, 18 is a water drain Valve, 19 drain hose, 20 flexible hose, 21 detergent case, 22 water supply device, 23 water supply port,
30 is a drum, 30a is a drum cover, 30b is a drum support, 30c is a drum shaft,
31 is a hole, 32 is a baffle, 32a is a protrusion, 32b is a grip part, 33 is a laundry doorway, 40 is an exhaust port, 41 is an exhaust duct, 42 is a flexible duct, 43 is a duct for a drying unit, 44 Is a fan casing, 45 is a discharge port, 46 is a flexible duct, 47 is an air supply duct, 4
8 is a circulation air passage, 49 is a blower, 49a is a fan, 49b is a fan motor, 50 is a heat pump mechanism, 51 is an evaporator, 52 is a condenser, 53 is a compressor, 60 is an inlet frame, 61 is a collar, 62 is a recess, 63 is a hinge, 64 is a hook, 65 is an open button, 66 is a see-through window,
Reference numeral 67 denotes a front glass, and 68 denotes a rear glass.

Claims (2)

A tank,
A drum that is provided inside the aquarium and that is driven to rotate;
Provided on the inner peripheral wall of this drum is a protruding baffle that transmits the rotational force of the drum to the laundry,
A drum type washing machine characterized in that the baffle has a stepped cross section. 2. The drum type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the baffle has a T-shaped cross section.

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