JP2008167965A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing machine preventing from giving users puzzlement and confusion relative to noise caused by an angle change of a water tub as much as possible in the washing machine capable of changing an angle relative to the perpendicular direction of the water tub. <P>SOLUTION: This washing machine includes a housing 1, a water tub 2 incorporating a washing/spin-drying tub 5, suspension rods 3 provided in the housing 1 and tiltably supporting the water tub 2, a rotation motor 11 for rotating the washing/spin-drying tub 5, a tilting motor 21 actuating the suspension rods 3 and changing the angle relative to the perpendicular direction of the water tub 2, and a water tub state notification device 22, when changing the angle of the water tub 2, notifying the user that the water tub 2 is changing the angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly to a washing machine in which a water tub is provided so as to be inclined.

A conventional washing machine includes washing, rinsing, and dehydration processes (in some cases, a drying process). In each process, noise is generated due to rotation of a motor or rotation of a water flow.
In the daytime, those noises are not particularly noticeable, but when used at night, the noise is easy to hear because the surroundings are quiet.

For this reason, conventionally, various methods for reducing the noise generated by the washing machine have been proposed. For example, in a drum-type washing machine, there is a method of reducing the noise caused by the rotation of the drum by setting the eccentric load amount generated in the drum to a predetermined threshold value or less (for example, Patent Document 1). .
JP 2005-177090 A

In the conventional washing machine, the water tub is fixed in an upright state or a predetermined inclined state, and there is no one in which the angle of the water tub can be set according to the washing process.
On the other hand, the inventors of the present application have newly proposed that the water tank is changed to a predetermined angle in accordance with each process of the washing machine. In this type of washing machine, in addition to the conventional noise, a new noise accompanying the change in the angle of the aquarium is added, which may cause confusion and confusion for the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a washing machine capable of changing the angle of the aquarium with respect to the vertical direction, the user should not be confused or confused as much as possible by the noise caused by the angle change of the aquarium. A washing machine is provided.

The washing machine of the present invention includes a housing, a water tub equipped with a laundry dewatering tub, a pulsator disposed at the bottom of the laundry dewatering tub, and a water tub support that is provided in the housing and supports the water tub so as to be inclined. Means, a rotational drive source for rotating the washing / dehydrating tub and the pulsator, and an inclined drive source for acting on the water tank support means to change the angle of the water tank with respect to the vertical direction, when the angle of the water tank is changed. The water tank state notification device is provided to notify the user that the water tank is changing the angle.
In addition, in the low noise operation mode provided with the standard operation mode not considering noise reduction and the low noise operation mode considering noise reduction, the water tank moves between the upright state and the inclined state. Is less than in the standard operation mode.
Furthermore, in the thing equipped with the standard operation mode which does not consider noise reduction and the low noise operation mode which considers noise reduction, in the low noise operation mode, the inclination speed of the water tank is higher than that in the case of the standard operation mode. It is slow.

Since the washing machine of the present invention includes a water tank state notification device that notifies the user that the angle of the water tank is being changed, even if noise is generated due to the angle change of the water tank, the noise source can be grasped. , User confusion and confusion associated with the noise can be reduced.
In addition, with the standard operation mode that does not consider noise reduction and the low noise operation mode that considers noise reduction, in the low noise operation mode, the number of times the tank moves between the upright state and the inclined state Is less than in the standard operation mode, so that the number of times of noise generation accompanying the change of the angle of the water tank is reduced in the low noise operation mode.
In addition, in the low noise operation mode with the standard operation mode that does not consider noise reduction and the low noise operation mode that considers noise reduction, the tank inclination speed is slower than in the standard operation mode. In the low noise operation mode, the output of the drive source that moves the water tank can be reduced, and the generated noise is reduced accordingly.

  FIG. 1 is an internal side view showing a state where a water tub of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention is upright, and FIG. 2 is an internal side view showing a state where the water tub of the washing machine according to the embodiment of the present invention is inclined. is there. The washing machine can perform washing, rinsing, dewatering, and drying processes. The washing process and the rinsing process may be collectively referred to as a “washing process”. Hereinafter, a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

(Casing)
The casing 1 has a cylindrical shape with a rectangular cross section (same as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped), and a top cover 10 is installed on the top surface. The top cover 10 is formed with a top opening, which serves as an input port for taking in and out the laundry. A transparent outer lid 9 is installed at the inlet so as to be freely opened and closed.

(Aquarium)
A water tank 2 is accommodated in the housing 1. The water tank 2 has a cylindrical shape with the top surface opened and the bottom surface closed, and is fixed to the tilting table 20. On the upper end surface of the water tank 2, a water tank cover 7 whose inside is an opening is provided. In addition, an inner lid 8 that closes or opens an opening of the water tank cover 7 is tiltably installed in the water tank cover 7. In this example, an inner lid 8 is disposed below the outer lid 9.

The opening / closing operation of the outer lid 9 is transmitted to the inner lid 8. When the outer lid 9 is opened, the inner lid 8 is also opened, and when the outer lid 9 is closed, the inner lid 8 is also closed.
Furthermore, a lid locking mechanism (not shown) is provided for locking the outer lid 9 (or the inner lid 8) so that it cannot be opened. Such a lid locking mechanism may be mechanically performed using an electromagnetic pin that moves forward and backward, or when the outer lid 9 (or inner lid 8) is opened and closed by an electric lid opening / closing drive mechanism. The opening / closing drive mechanism may not be electrically driven.

(Water tank support means)
The water tank support means is provided in the housing 1 and supports the water tank 2 so as to be inclined. The water tank support means here is tiltable to the four suspension rods 3 fixed at one end to the upper four corners of the housing 1, the horizontal base 19 fixed to the lower end portion of the suspension rod 3, and the suspension rod 3. And a tilting base 20 attached to the head. A tilting fulcrum 20a for rotatably supporting the tilting table 20 is provided near the front surface of the horizontal table 19. In addition, in order to distinguish rotation of the tilting table 20 from rotation of the washing and dewatering tub 5, it is referred to as “tilting” for convenience.

(Tilt drive source)
The tilting operation of the water tank 2 for tilting the water tank 2 as shown in FIG. 2 can be performed by various methods. For example, using the pinion and the rack, the tilting table 20 can be rotated around the tilting fulcrum 20a. Moreover, the water tank 2 can also be inclined by moving the rear hanging rod 3 supporting the water tank 2 in the vertical direction. In any case, a tilting motor 21 (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and displayed in FIG. 3) is provided as a power source.

(Laundry dewatering tank)
The laundry dewatering tub 5 is used for washing, rinsing, dewatering and drying of the loaded laundry, and is rotatably disposed in the water tub 2. Further, since the water tank 2 is fixed to the tilting table 20 and tilts together with the tilting table 20, the washing / dehydrating tank 5 also tilts together with the water tank 2. The laundry dewatering tub 5 has a cylindrical shape with the top surface opened and the bottom surface closed, and a plurality of water passage holes for dewatering are formed on the side surface.
A balancer 6 is installed around the top opening of the laundry dewatering tub 5. A range surrounded by the inner periphery of the balancer 6 is provided for loading and unloading laundry as an opening. In addition, since the water tank cover 7 is installed in the water tank 2 in which the washing / dehydrating tank 5 is installed, the upper end surface of the balancer 6 is covered with the water tank cover 7.

(Pulsator)
At the bottom of the laundry dewatering tub 5, a pulsator 4 for stirring the thrown-in laundry and poured water (hereinafter referred to as "washing water") is rotatably arranged. The pulsator 4 is preferably provided with a blade for improving the stirring effect. In the following, for the sake of convenience, the rotation of the pulsator 4 is referred to as “turning” in order to distinguish it from the rotation of the washing and dewatering tub 5.

(Rotation drive source)
On the bottom surface of the water tank 2 and on the bottom surface of the tilting table 20, a rotation motor 11 is installed as a rotational drive source for rotationally driving the pulsator 4 and the washing and dewatering tank 5. In addition, rotation distribution means for distributing the rotation of the rotation motor 11 to the pulsator 4 or the washing / dehydrating tub 5, pulsator side rotation transmission means for transmitting rotation (turning) from the common rotation distribution means to the pulsator 4, and the common There is provided a tank-side rotation transmitting means for transmitting the rotation from the rotation distributing means to the washing and dewatering tank 5, but these means are not particularly shown. The rotation motor 11 and the rotation distribution unit perform predetermined rotation / stop and distribution in the washing process, the dehydration process, and the drying process, respectively, according to a command from a control unit described later.

(Water supply / drainage mechanism)
A water supply mechanism 13 for supplying water into the washing and dewatering tank 5 is installed on the top surface of the water tank 2. The water supply mechanism 13 has a water supply path 12 that is led out of the housing 1 and connected to an external water supply, and a water supply valve 14 that is installed in the middle of the water supply path 12 to open and close the flow of water. ing.
On the other hand, a drain port (not shown) is formed on the bottom surface of the water tank 2, and a drain hose 18 is connected to the drain port. The drain port or drain hose 18 is provided with a drain valve (not shown) for opening and closing the flow of water. When the water supply valve 14 and the drain valve are closed and the inner lid 8 is closed, the water tank 2 is in a sealed state.

(Drying means)
The drying means dries the laundry with warm air, and includes a blower fan 15 that supplies warm air into the washing and dewatering tub 5 during a drying process, and a heater 17 that heats the air. The blower fan 15 is installed on the lower surface of the horizontal base 19, and a heater 17 is installed at the casing discharge port of the blower fan 15. A blower duct 16 that communicates with the casing discharge port and rises along the outer wall of the water tank 2 and opens at the opening edge of the upper part of the water tank 2 is installed. Further, since the air duct 16 is flexible in the vicinity of the communication portion with the casing discharge port, the air duct 16 tilts with the tilt of the water tank 2. In addition, when this drying means is installed in the tilting table 20, the air duct 16 is not required to be flexible.
The warm air heated by the heater 17 is used to dry the laundry in the laundry dewatering tub 5 and then discharged to an exhaust duct (not shown). Then, after “water-cooled dehumidification” is performed to sprinkle water toward the discharged moisture-containing hot air, it is sent to the air duct 16 and circulated again.

(Control means)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit that controls the operation of the washing machine illustrated in FIG. 1. The control unit 110 of the washing machine includes a CPU 130, an input interface 120, an output interface 140, a memory 150, a clock control unit 160 (connected to a timer 170), and the like. Attached to the board. Various operation switches 31 to 35 such as an operation course setting switch and a power switch for inputting a predetermined signal to the CPU 130 via the input interface 120 and the inclination angle detector 36 of the water tank 2 are connected to the input interface 120.
On the other hand, connected to the output interface 140 are a blower fan 15 to which a predetermined control signal from the CPU 130 is output, a heater 17, a rotation motor 11, a tilting motor 21, a water supply / drainage valve, various lock mechanisms, and the like. Also connected to the output interface 140 is a water tank state notification device 22 that notifies the user that the angle of the water tank 2 is changing when the angle of the water tank 2 is changed, and a display device that displays the operating state of the washing machine. Yes.

Note that the safety SW indicates, for example, switches that confirm that a lid locking mechanism that locks the opening and closing of the outer lid 9 and a tilt locking mechanism that locks the tilt of the tilt plate 20 are operating.
Further, the memory 150 stores control conditions corresponding to the respective courses of the driving course. Then, the CPU 130 issues a control command for determining the tilt angle and tilting to the determined tilt angle in accordance with each stroke of the driving course.

(Operation section and operation status display section)
On the front upper surface of the housing 1, the operation switches 31 to 35, a display device (not shown) indicating the operating state of the washing machine, and the fact that the water tank 2 is changing the angle when the angle of the water tank 2 is changed are used. The operation part and the operation state display part 23 provided with the water tank state notification apparatus 22 which notifies a person are provided. In addition, the aquarium state notification device 22 can use a sounding device that notifies by voice in addition to a display device that notifies by a display such as a liquid crystal panel or LED.

(Control of washing machine)
4 and 5 illustrate an example of the control method of the control means 110, and FIG. 4 illustrates the operation in the standard operation mode and the low noise operation mode when there is a large amount of laundry (for example, exceeding 6 kg). FIG. 5 is a comparative explanatory view of the operation control methods in the standard operation mode and the low noise operation mode when the amount of laundry is small (for example, 6 kg or less).
The terms “large”, “small”, “high speed”, “medium speed”, “low speed”, etc. in FIGS. 4 and 5 indicate relative degrees for comparison. In some cases, it may differ from the state of implementation speed. In addition, the low noise operation mode may be referred to as a night mode.

A. Operation control when there is a lot of laundry A-1. Standard operation mode In the standard operation mode when there is a lot of laundry, the inclination of the water tank 2, the rotation of the pulsator 4, the rotation of the washing and dewatering tank 5, and the rotation of the blower fan 15 are controlled as shown by the solid line in FIG. Controlled by flow.
First, the laundry (clothing) is put into the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the water tank 2 which has been inclined and stopped. Subsequently, water is supplied into the water tank 2 after returning the water tank 2 to the upright state or while returning the water tank 2 to the upright state.
And in the state which made the water tank 2 the upright state, each process of washing, a rinse, and spin-drying | dehydration is performed. In the washing and rinsing process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a low speed. In the dehydration process, the laundry dewatering tank 5 is rotated at a high speed.
Subsequently, after the water tank 2 is tilted to the middle of the maximum tilt (for example, the tilted state of 15 to 20 degrees from the upright state), the drying process is executed. In the drying process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a low speed, and the blower fan 15 is rotated at a high speed. By doing so in a state where the water tank 2 (including the washing and dewatering tank 5) is inclined, the stirring of the laundry is promoted and the drying efficiency is improved.
And after a drying process is complete | finished, the water tank 2 is inclined to the maximum inclination angle.
Lastly, the laundry can be washed with particularly improved drying efficiency by removing the laundry from the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the inclined water tank 2.

A-2. Low-noise operation mode In the low-noise operation mode when there is a lot of laundry, the inclination of the water tank 2, the rotation of the pulsator 4, the rotation of the washing and dewatering tank 5, and the rotation of the blower fan 15 are indicated by solid lines and wavy lines in FIG. The control flow is controlled.
First, the laundry (clothing) is put into the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the water tank 2 which has been inclined and stopped. Subsequently, water is supplied into the water tank 2 after returning the water tank 2 to the upright state or while returning the water tank 2 to the upright state.
And in the state which made the water tank 2 the upright state, each process of washing, a rinse, and spin-drying | dehydration is performed. In the washing and rinsing process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a speed slower than the low speed. In the dehydration process, the laundry dewatering tank 5 is rotated at a medium speed.
Subsequently, a drying process is performed while maintaining the water tank 2 in an upright state. In the drying process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a slower rotational speed than the low speed, and the blower fan 15 is rotated at a low speed. The efficiency is better when the drying process is executed in a state where the water tank 2 (including the washing and dewatering tank 5) is inclined, but in the low noise operation mode, the number of operations of the tilt motor 21 is reduced rather than the drying efficiency. Therefore, it is important to reduce the number of noise occurrences.
And after a drying process is complete | finished, the water tank 2 is inclined to the maximum inclination angle.
Finally, as described above, the laundry is taken out from the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the inclined water tank 2, and in the low noise operation mode, the number of inclinations of the water tank 2 is reduced and the pulsator 4 and the washing and dewatering tank 5 are rotated. By reducing the rotational speeds of the rotation motor 11 and the blower fan 15 from the standard operation mode, noise generated during washing is reduced.

B. Operation control when there is little laundry B-1. Standard operation mode In the standard operation mode when there is little laundry, the inclination of the water tank 2, the rotation of the pulsator 4, the rotation of the washing and dewatering tank 5, and the rotation of the blower fan 15 are controlled as shown by the solid line in FIG. Controlled by flow.
First, the laundry (clothing) is put into the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the water tank 2 which has been inclined and stopped.
Subsequently, the water tank 2 is supplied with water after or while returning the inclination of the water tank 2 to the middle (for example, the state of 15 to 20 degrees from the upright state).
And a washing process is performed in the state where the inclination of water tank 2 was maintained. In this washing process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a low speed.
Then, after returning the water tank 2 to an upright state, the process of a rinse and spin-drying | dehydration is performed. In the rinsing process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a low speed. In the dehydration process, the laundry dewatering tank 5 is rotated at a high speed.
After completion of the dehydration process, the water tank 2 is inclined again to the middle of the maximum inclination, and the drying process is executed. In the drying process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a low speed, and the blower fan 15 is rotated at a high speed. By doing so in a state where the water tank 2 (including the washing and dewatering tank 5) is inclined, the stirring of the laundry is promoted and the drying efficiency is improved.
And after a drying process is complete | finished, the water tank 2 is inclined to the maximum inclination angle.
Finally, the washing and the drying efficiency can be improved by performing the above-described operations so that the laundry is taken out from the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the inclined water tank 2.

B-2. Low Noise Operation Mode In the low noise operation mode when there is little laundry, the inclination of the water tank 2, the rotation of the pulsator 4, the rotation of the laundry dewatering tank 5, and the rotation of the blower fan 15 are indicated by solid lines and wavy lines in FIG. The control flow is controlled.
First, the laundry (clothing) is put into the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the water tank 2 which has been inclined and stopped. Subsequently, the water tank 2 is supplied with water after or while returning the water tank 2 to the upright state.
And in the state which made the water tank 2 the upright state, each process of washing, a rinse, and spin-drying | dehydration is performed. At this time, in the washing and rinsing process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a rotation speed slower than the low speed. In the dehydration process, the laundry dewatering tank 5 is rotated at a medium speed.
Subsequently, a drying process is performed while maintaining the water tank 2 in an upright state. In the drying process, the pulsator 4 is rotated at a slower rotational speed than the low speed, and the blower fan 15 is rotated at a low speed. The efficiency is better when the drying process is executed with the water tank 2 (including the washing and dewatering tank 5) inclined, but in the low noise operation mode, the noise caused by the reduction in the number of operations of the tilt motor 21 rather than the drying efficiency. The emphasis is on reducing the number of occurrences.
And after a drying process is complete | finished, the water tank 2 is inclined to the maximum inclination angle.
Finally, as described above, the laundry is taken out from the washing and dewatering tank 5 in the inclined water tank 2, and in the low noise operation mode, the number of inclinations of the water tank 2 is reduced and the pulsator 4 and the washing and dewatering tank 5 are rotated. By reducing the rotational speeds of the rotation motor 11 and the blower fan 15 from the standard operation mode, noise generated during washing is reduced.

In the low noise operation mode, the rotation speed of the rotation motor 11 and the blower fan 15 is set lower than that in the standard operation mode. Therefore, the washing time in the low noise operation mode is shown in, for example, the operation time chart for each mode in FIG. As shown, in the wash, rinse, dewater and dry steps, it is preferable to increase from the standard operating mode.
Further, in the low noise operation mode, the inclination speed of the water tank 2 is made slower than that in the standard operation mode, that is, the rotation speed of the tilting motor 21 is set to a minimum speed at which the water tank 2 can tilt, for example. Noise can be reduced.
In any mode, when the angle of the water tank 2 is changed, the water tank state notification device 22 that informs the user that the angle of the water tank 2 is being changed acts, so that the user operates the tilt motor 21 accordingly. Can be recognized.

  Further, a DC motor is used as the rotation motor 11, the blower fan 15, and the tilting motor 21, and each motor is controlled by, for example, pulse width modulation (PWM) control of the DC power supplied to these motors. The output of can be adjusted.

The internal side view which shows the state in which the water tank of the washing machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention stood upright. The internal side view which shows the state in which the water tank of the washing machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention inclined. The block diagram explaining the structure of the control means of the washing machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Comparison explanatory drawing of the operation control method of standard operation mode and low noise operation mode in case there is much quantity of laundry. Comparison explanatory drawing of the operation control method of standard operation mode and low noise operation mode in case the quantity of the laundry is small. Mode operation time chart for standard operation mode and low noise operation mode.

Explanation of symbols

  1: Housing, 2: Water tank, 3: Hanging rod, 4: Pulse evening, 5: Washing dewatering tank, 6: Balancer, 7: Water tank cover, 8: Inner lid, 9: Outer lid, 10: Top cover, 11 : Motor for rotation, 12: water supply path, 13: water supply mechanism, 14: water supply valve, 15: blower fan, 16: blower duct, 17: heater, 18: drain hose, 19: horizontal base, 20: tilting base, 21 : Tilting motor, 22 water tank state notification device, 23 operation unit and operation state display unit, 50: laundry.

Claims (8)

A housing,
A water tank equipped with a washing and dewatering tank; and a water tank support means provided in the housing for supporting the water tank so as to be inclined.
A rotational drive source for rotating the washing and dewatering tank;
An inclination driving source that acts on the water tank support means and changes an angle with respect to the vertical direction of the water tank,
A washing machine comprising a water tank state notification device for notifying a user that an angle of the water tank is being changed when the angle of the water tank is changed.   The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the water tank state notification device is a display device that notifies by display.   The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the water tank state notification device is an utterance device that notifies by voice. With a standard operation mode that does not consider noise reduction and a low noise operation mode that considers noise reduction,
In the low noise operation mode, the number of movements between the upright state and the inclined state of the water tank is made smaller than in the standard operation mode. The washing machine described. In what has a dehydration step of dehydrating the laundry and a drying step of stirring and drying the laundry while sending air to the laundry dewatering tank,
5. The water tank is shifted from an upright state to an inclined state in the standard operation mode and maintained in an upright state in the low noise operation mode during the transition from the dehydration process to the drying process. The washing machine described. With a standard operation mode that does not consider noise reduction and a low noise operation mode that considers noise reduction,
The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein in the low noise operation mode, the inclination speed of the water tank is set slower than in the case of the standard operation mode. A rotation motor as the rotation drive source;
The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein in the low noise operation mode, a rotation speed of the rotation motor is set slower than that in the standard operation mode. A blower fan for sending air to the washing and dewatering tank;
The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein in the low noise operation mode, the rotation speed of the blower fan is set slower than in the standard operation mode.

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