JP2015128639A - Electric washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drum type electric washing machine capable of alleviating a feeling of protrusion of an opening/closing door of a clothing input port.SOLUTION: An electric washing machine includes: a housing 10; a rotary tub accommodated in the housing 10; a clothing input port 20 provided on a front surface of the housing 10 and putting and taking out clothing into/from the rotary tub; an opening/closing door 40 of the clothing input port 20; and a step alleviating member 60 provided around the clothing input port 20. As the step alleviating member 60 includes an inclined surface for continuing the front surface part of the opening/closing door 40 and the front surface part of the housing 10, the opening/closing door 40 fits well to the front surface of the housing 10, so that a feeling of protrusion is alleviated.

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum-type electric washing machine having a cylindrical rotating tub having a rotating shaft arranged in a substantially horizontal position in a housing, and in particular, a clothing input port for putting clothes into and out of the rotating tub on the front surface of the housing. The present invention relates to a drum type electric washing machine having a drying function.

  A conventional electric washing machine called a drum type has a cylindrical rotating tub with a rotating shaft arranged in a substantially horizontal position in a housing, and a clothes input port for putting clothes into and out of the rotating tub is provided on the front surface of the housing. Things are common. This conventional schematic structure is shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional drum washing machine.

  In FIG. 6, a conventional drum-type electric washing machine 300 includes a washing tub 311 in a box-shaped casing 310, and a clothes insertion port 320 for putting clothes into the washing tub 311 is provided on the front surface of the casing. The washing tub 311 includes an outer tub 312 supported by the housing 310 and a rotating tub 314 that is rotatably mounted in the outer tub 312 by a drive motor 313. The rotating shaft 315 of the drive motor 313 is attached to the back surface side of the outer tub 312 substantially horizontally. The rotating tub 314 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and is attached to the rotating shaft 315 so that its axis is in a horizontal posture. The front surfaces of the rotating tub 314 and the outer tub 312 are opened in a circular shape, and the opening / closing door 330 is attached to the opening 316 via a clothing insertion port 320 provided on the front surface of the housing. The opening 316 of the outer tub 312 and the clothing input port 320 are connected without water leakage by a bellows 317 of a flexible member attached to the periphery.

  The open / close lid 330 includes a transparent window 331 formed of heat-resistant glass or the like that protrudes inward so as to fit into the opening 316, and a door 332 that is formed in a circular or square shape that supports the window 331. Composed. The door body 332 has a shape with a thickness d in order to hold the transparent window 331, and can normally be opened leftward via a hinge mechanism 340 provided on the left side.

  The hinge mechanism 340 of these conventional drum type washing machines has two types of structures shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). (A) The structure of a figure is a structure which attached the cover body 332 with thickness d to the flat housing | casing front surface as it is. According to this structure, the rotation axis P of the hinge mechanism 340 can be easily provided in front of the housing 310, and thus a structure in which the opening / closing lid 330 is largely opened around the rotation axis P is easy. However, since the lid body 332 having a thickness d projects directly from the front surface of the housing 310, it is a big problem in terms of installation and design.

  Moreover, the conventional structure of FIG. 6B is a structure in which the periphery of the garment insertion port 320 is formed in a concave shape, and a lid 332 is embedded in the concave portion. According to this structure, although the installation and design can be greatly improved, the hinge mechanism 340 having the arcuate arc-shaped arm 341 has to be adopted in order to greatly open the opening / closing lid 330. The hinge mechanism The increase in size and strength of 340 are issues.

  On the other hand, as described above, the conventional open / close lid 330 has a left opening standard specification. However, in general homes, the specification of the left open opening / closing door 330 may not be able to handle due to restrictions on the installation location. is there. Several proposals in the manufacturing process have been made to deal with such cases.

  For example, in the structure shown in FIG. 6B, the hinge mechanism 340 can be arranged on the left or right side of a front frame reinforcing plate (not shown), and the other opening / closing lid 330 and the exterior body are made symmetrical so that parts can be shared. Techniques for achieving this have been proposed.

JP 2009-95530 A JP 2007-195859 A JP 2004-105268 A

  According to the structure shown in FIG. 6A, the open / close door 330 can be greatly opened with a simple structure, and if the arrangement of the hinge mechanism 340 is changed, the correspondence between left and right opening can be relatively easily performed. . However, according to this structure, since the open / close door 330 has to be provided so as to largely extend from the front surface of the housing 310, there remain significant problems in installation and design. In particular, since the door body 332 must firmly hold the heavy transparent window 331, its thickness d increases, and the door body 332 protrudes greatly from the front surface of the housing 310. Become.

  Further, according to the structure shown in FIG. 6B, the door 332 can be accommodated in the housing 310, and the hinge mechanism provided with the arc-shaped arc-shaped arm 341 is improved in terms of installation and design. Since 340 must be employed, the increase in size and strength of the hinge mechanism 340 is a problem. In addition, in such a structure, in order to cope with left and right opening, the arrangement space for the large hinge mechanism 340 must be provided on the left and right sides of the housing 310, leading to an increase in the size of the entire apparatus.

  Then, the objective of this invention is to propose the washing machine which can reduce a protrusion feeling.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the electric washing machine according to the present invention, a housing, a rotating tub in the housing, a clothing input port for putting clothes into and out of the rotating tub provided on the front surface of the housing, An opening / closing door for opening and closing the garment insertion port and a step reducing member provided around the garment insertion port are provided, and the step reducing member is formed with an inclined surface rising from the outside to the inside.

  According to the present invention, the opening / closing door protruding forward can be adapted to the front surface of the housing to reduce the protruding feeling, and the opening / closing door can be opened by placing one hand on the opening / closing door.

1 is a schematic structural diagram of an electric washing machine according to the present invention. 1 is an external view of an electric washing machine according to the present invention. It is an external view of the level | step difference reduction member of the electric washing machine which concerns on this invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the vicinity of the hinge axial part of the electric washing machine which concerns on this invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the operation state of the door of the electric washing machine which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing of the conventional electric washing machine.

  Hereinafter, an electric washing machine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In the description, the same parts and arrows are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, a schematic structure of an electric washing machine according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an electric washing machine according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, an electric washing machine generally indicated by reference numeral 1 is a drum type electric washing machine in which a cylindrical washing tub (not shown) is disposed in a horizontal position in a box-shaped housing 10. In this embodiment, the housing 10 includes a base housing 11 constituting the skeleton of the box-shaped housing 10, a front cover 12 covering the front surface of the housing 11, and a top plate 13 covering the upper surface of the housing 11. doing. The front cover 12 includes a front panel 14 formed by pressing a steel plate and an operation panel member 15 formed of a resin material provided on the upper portion of the front panel member 14, and these members include screws or the like (not shown). It is attached to the base housing 11 via

  A circular clothes opening 20 is formed in the front panel 14, and a circular opening / closing door 40 is attached so as to be openable / closable via a hinge mechanism 100 and an opening / closing lock mechanism 150 so as to cover the clothes insertion opening 20. . That is, the opening / closing door 40 is attached to the housing 10 so that it can be opened and closed by a hinge mechanism 100 provided at the left end, and opened and closed by the opening / closing lock mechanism 150 provided at the right end. The closed state is locked.

  Here, the hinge mechanism 100 includes a hinge shaft portion 110 provided on the housing 10 side, and a hinge holding portion 130 (FIG. 5) provided on the opening / closing door 40 side and holding the hinge shaft portion 110. Similarly, the opening / closing lock mechanism 150 includes a lever mechanism portion 160 provided on the opening / closing door 40 side and a lever fitting receiving portion 180 provided on the housing 10 side to lock the lever mechanism portion 160. ing.

  The opening / closing lid 40 includes a ring-shaped front frame 41 formed of a resin material, a ring-shaped rear frame 42 formed of a resin material attached so as to cover the back surface of the front frame 41, and the rear frame. The skeleton is constituted by the transparent window 43 formed of heat-resistant glass held between the front face 42 and the front frame 41. The transparent window 43 is formed so as to protrude greatly inward so as to be fitted into the clothing insertion opening 20.

  As shown in the lower left outlet of FIG. 1, in this embodiment, a ring-shaped recess 21 formed by being stepped down from the other surface of the front panel member 14 is formed around the clothing input port 20, and this recess 21 The hinge shaft portion 110 of the hinge mechanism 100 and the lever fitting receiving portion 180 of the open / close lock mechanism 150 are provided at opposite positions on the left and right. The hinge shaft portion 110 provided in the recess 21 includes a pair of protruding arms 112 that project and hold a pair of rotating shaft portions 111 forward, and the pair of rotating shaft portions 111 provided at the tips of the pair of protruding arms 112 includes The hinge holding part 130 (FIG. 5) provided at the end of the opening / closing door 40 is rotatably held. On the other hand, the lever fitting receiving portion 180 provided in the recess 21 includes a fitting hole portion 181, and the movable lever 161 constituting the lever mechanism portion 160 is inserted into and fitted into the fitting hole portion 181. Thus, the open / close door 40 can be brought into a locked state.

  One of the major features of the electric washing machine 1 according to this embodiment is that a ring-shaped step reducing member 60 in which a pair of notches 61 are formed at opposite positions on the left and right sides is provided around the clothes insertion opening 20. It is in the point.

  In other words, the hinge mechanism 100 employed in this embodiment has a pair of rotary shaft portions 111 that protrude forward from the front panel member 14 via the protruding arms 112, thereby opening and closing the doors that are attached to the pair of rotary shaft portions 111. 40 can be greatly opened. In addition, since the pair of rotating shaft portions 111 are simply structured to be held by the projecting arms 112, the strength can be obtained, and the hinge holding portion 130 that holds the rotating shaft portion 111 can also have a simple structure. However, in order to make the opening / closing door 40 large, for example, to open 180 degrees, it is necessary to project the pair of rotating shaft portions 111 forward greatly. That is, the open / close door 40 has to be largely projected forward from the front panel member 14. For this reason, the open / close door 40 that largely protrudes from the front panel member 14 has problems such as poor design or hitting an end of the open / close door 40 that protrudes. In particular, since this type of drum type electric washing machine is often built in a counter of a system kitchen, there is a problem that the projecting opening / closing door 40 does not fit in an orderly system kinchin.

  Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the present inventors provide a ring-shaped step reducing member 60 around the projecting opening / closing door 40, and the flat front panel member 14 projects from the front panel member 14. A structure is adopted in which the step generated by the opening / closing door 40 is gently continued by the step reducing member 60. Thereby, as shown in the lower right outlet of FIG. 1, the projecting opening / closing door 40 can be formed to be gently raised so that the above-mentioned problem can be reduced. Further, by surrounding the opening / closing door 40 with a ring-shaped level difference reducing member 60, the opening / closing door 40 can be viewed visually large. The user's feeling of use can be improved. In addition, the design can be improved by applying various colors to the ring-shaped step reducing member 60.

  However, if the periphery of the protruding opening / closing door 40 is surrounded by the ring-shaped step reducing member 60, there arises a problem that the opening / closing door 40 cannot be opened largely. Therefore, the inventors have secured the operating range of the door 40 by forming the notch 61 in the step reducing member 60 adjacent to the hinge shaft 110.

  In addition, in consideration of manual opening / closing of the opening / closing door 40, the inventors form a notch 61 in the step reducing member 60 adjacent to the opening / closing lock mechanism 150 to manually open the opening / closing door 40. The operating range for inserting the user's hand was secured.

  And it can be set as the form excellent in design property by forming the notch part 61 which secures the operation | movement range of the door 40 and the operation | movement range which inserts a user's hand, respectively symmetrically.

  In addition, another major feature of the electric washing machine 1 according to this embodiment is that a step reducing member 60 in which a pair of cutout portions 61 are formed symmetrically is used to open the door 40 to the left and to the right. It is in the point which can make it easy to correspond to opening.

  In this embodiment, the hinge shaft portion 110 and the lever fitting receiving portion 180 are attached to the position where the concave portion 21 is opposed, so that the press mold of the front panel member 14 is connected to the hinge shaft portion 110 and the lever fitting. The left and right positions of the hinge shaft portion 110 and the lever fitting receiving portion 180 can be changed by adopting an existing simple structure such that the corresponding portion of the receiving portion 180 can be replaced. Then, by installing the open / close door 40 so as to be horizontally reversed, the open / close door 40 can be opened to the left and to the right.

  Hereinafter, the electric washing machine according to this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to 5. Here, FIG. 2 is an external view of the electric washing machine, where (a) is a perspective view with the door closed, (b) is a perspective view with the door open, (c). It is a perspective view in the state where changed the door to right opening. 3A and 3B are external views of the step reducing member, where FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a front view, FIG. 3C is a right side view, FIG. 3D is a rear view, and FIG. FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view in the vicinity of the hinge shaft portion. FIGS. 5A and 5B are partial cross-sectional views showing the operating state of the open / close door, where FIG. 5A shows a closed state and FIG. 5B shows an open state.

  First, referring to FIG. 2, an external view of the electric washing machine 1 will be described. (A) According to this embodiment, as shown in the figure, since the periphery of the projecting opening / closing door 40 continues to the flat front panel member 14 by the step reducing member 60 which is continuous on the inclined surface, the projecting opening / closing door 40. Can adapt to the flat front panel member 14 as a gentle raised shape and make it difficult for the user to recognize the protruding shape.

  In addition, the left and right portions of the step reducing member 60 are formed with a notch 61 so that one hand is inserted through the right notch 61 and the handle 162 formed on the open / close door 40 is hooked and pulled forward. Thus, the lock state of the open / close lock mechanism 150 can be released and the open / close door 40 can be opened. Since the open / close door 40 has an operating range secured by the left-side notch 61, the open / close door 40 can be largely released as shown in FIG.

  Further, in this embodiment, in the press working of the front panel member 14, the hinge shaft portion 110 and the hinge holding portion 130 of the mold are replaced and molded, so that the door 40 is simply reversed and replaced. (C) It can change into the structure of the door 40 of right opening as shown in a figure.

  Next, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the open / close lock mechanism 150 employed in this embodiment is formed using a known technique. Here, since it is not deeply related to the features of the present invention, only the schematic structure will be described.

  The opening / closing lock mechanism 150 includes a lever mechanism portion 160 provided in the opening / closing door 40 and a lever fitting receiving portion 180 provided in the recess 21. The lever mechanism portion 160 includes a handle 162 provided at the front portion of the open / close door 40 corresponding to the notch 61, a movable lever 161 provided with a tip protruding from the inner surface of the open / close lid 40, and the operation of the handle 162 as a movable lever. 161 includes a conversion mechanism (not shown) that converts the movement into an inner / outer peripheral motion. The exposed distal end of the movable lever 161 is formed in a key shape, and when the handle 162 is pulled forward, the movement is converted by the conversion mechanism in the direction to open the distal end of the key-shaped movable lever 161. .

  On the other hand, the lever fitting receiving portion 180 includes a fitting hole 181. The entrance of the fitting hole 181 is formed in a mortar shape, and when the front end of the movable lever 161 in the locked state is inserted in the operation of closing the opening / closing door 40, the opening is opened at one end. When the distal end portion is further inserted, the movable lever 161 is returned to the original locked state by the action of a spring (not shown) provided in the open / close lock mechanism 150.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when opening the opening / closing door 40, it is possible to open the door by inserting a finger into the handle 162 through the notch 61 and pulling the handle 162 forward. When closing the door 40, without closing the handle 162, if the door 40 is closed as it is, the key-shaped tip of the movable lever 161 may be fitted into the fitting hole 181 to be locked. it can.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows an external view of the step reducing member 60. The step reducing member 60 according to this embodiment has a ring-like appearance formed of a resin material, and the front surface thereof is formed by a gently curved inclined surface rising from the outside to the inside. On the other hand, the shape on the back side has a shape in which the inner edge 63 protrudes rearward. In this configuration, the inner edge 63 is fitted into the recess 21 formed around the clothes insertion opening 20 so that the positioning can be performed. In addition, a plurality of screwing portions 62 are formed on the back side in a symmetrical manner, whereby the front panel member 14 is fixed by screwing.

  Next, the structure around the hinge shaft 110 will be described with reference to FIG. First, in FIG. 4, an electric washing machine 1 according to this embodiment includes a washing tub 2 inside a housing 10, and a clothes insertion port 20 for putting clothes into the washing tub 2 is provided on the front surface of the housing 10. Yes. The washing tub 2 includes an outer tub 3 that is supported by the housing 10 and an inner tub 4 that is rotatably mounted in the outer tub 3 by a drive motor (not shown). The rotating shaft of the drive motor is attached to the back side of the outer tub 3 substantially horizontally. The inner tub 4 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and is attached to the rotating shaft so that its axis is in a horizontal posture. The front surfaces of the inner tub 4 and the outer tub 3 are opened in a circular shape, and the transparent window 43 of the open / close door 40 is inserted into the opening 5 through the clothing insertion port 20 provided on the front surface of the housing 10. The opening 5 of the outer tub 4 and the clothing input port 20 are connected to each other without water leakage by a bellows 6 of a flexible member attached to the periphery.

  As described above, the ring-shaped recess 21 formed so as to be lower by one step than the front surface of the other front panel member 14 is formed around the clothing insertion opening 20 formed in the front panel member 14. The step reducing member 60 is attached to the front panel member 14 via the screwing portion 62 so that the inner edge 63 is in contact with the recess 21 and the outer side is in contact with the outer surface of the recess 21.

  On the other hand, the hinge shaft portion 110 is provided at a base member 113 attached to the recess 21 via a screw (not shown), a pair of projecting arms 112 provided on the base member 113, and tip portions of the pair of arm portions 112. The rotation shaft portion 111 is configured. The pair of rotating shaft portions 111 are attached to the protruding projection arms 112 so as to face outward. And the opening / closing door 40 is attached via the bearing part which is not shown in figure which rotatably supports the rotating shaft part 111 attached toward this outer side.

  Next, the structure of the door 40 and the opening operation of the door 40 by the hinge mechanism 100 will be further described with reference to FIG.

  First, in FIG. 5, as described above, the opening / closing door 40 includes a front frame 41 constituting the front portion of the opening / closing door 40, a rear frame 42 constituting the back surface portion of the opening / closing door 40, and the front frame 41 and the rear. And a transparent window 43 held between the frames 42. The front frame 41 and the rear frame 42 are provided with mounting ribs (not shown) on the inner side, the transparent window 43 is held by the front frame 41, and the rear frame 42 is screwed to secure the transparent window 43 to the front frame 41 and the rear frame. 42 is securely held between 42.

  Next, according to the hinge mechanism 100 according to this embodiment, the rotation shaft portion 111 can be positioned in front of the front panel member 14 (lower part of the drawing) via the protruding arm 112. The open / close door 40 including the hinge holding portion 130 to be held can be opened from the closed state shown in FIG. 5A to the opened state shown in FIG. Since the step reducing member 60 that normally interferes with the opening operation of the door 40 is opened by the notch 61 in the operation range of the door 40, the door 40 can be opened greatly. it can.

  Here, in this embodiment, by attaching the hinge shaft part 110 to the lower recessed part 21 formed around the clothing insertion opening 20, the end part 44 on the rotating shaft part 111 side of the opening / closing door 40 hits the recessed part 21 and is opened. I try not to be an obstacle. Thereby, the overhang amount of the entire opening / closing door 40 is reduced. In addition, by making the front surface of the step reducing member 60 from the front portion of the opening / closing door 40 an arc-shaped inclined surface that is gently continuous, it is possible to reduce the end portion 44 from hitting the concave portion 21 and the amount of overhang of the entire opening / closing door 40 Has been reduced.

  As described above, the electric washing machine according to this embodiment includes a rotating tub in which the rotation shaft is substantially horizontal in the casing, and a drum type in which a clothing input port for putting clothes into and out of the rotating tub is provided on the front surface of the casing. An opening and closing door provided with a hinge mechanism part on one side of the clothes insertion opening and a lock mechanism part on the other side and provided openably, and a step reducing member surrounding the opening and closing door. The hinge mechanism unit has a rotation axis positioned in front of the front surface of the housing, and the step reducing member includes an inclined surface that connects the front surface portion of the open / close door and the front surface portion of the housing, and the hinge. A concave notch is provided on both sides corresponding to the mechanism and the lock mechanism. Thereby, the opening / closing door protruding forward can be adjusted to the front surface of the housing to reduce the feeling of protrusion, and the opening / closing door can be greatly opened by placing one hand on the opening / closing door.

  In this case, it is possible to easily change the open / close door to the left opening and the right opening by making the step reducing member symmetrically formed. Moreover, the said door can be provided with a circular external appearance, and the level | step difference reduction member surrounding this door can be made into a ring shape.

  In addition, a recess recessed from the other housing surface is formed around the clothing input port, the opening / closing door has a size corresponding to the recess, and the hinge mechanism and the lock mechanism are disposed in the recess. By providing, the size which the whole opening / closing door protrudes can be reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electric washing machine, 2 ... Washing tub, 3 ... Outer tub, 4 ... Inner tub, 5 ... Opening part, 6 ... Bellows, 10 ... Housing, 11 ... Base housing, 12 ... Front cover, 13 ... Top plate, 14 ... front panel member, 15 ... operation panel member, 20 ... clothing input port, 21 ... recess, 40 ... open / close door, 41 ... front frame, 42 ... rear frame, 43 ... transparent window, 44 ... end, 60 ... step reduction Member 61 ... notch part 62 ... screwing part 63 ... inner edge part 100 ... hinge mechanism 110 ... hinge shaft part 111 ... rotating shaft part 112 ... projection arm 113 113 base member 130 ... hinge Holding part 150 ... Open / close lock mechanism 160 ... Lever mechanism part 161 ... Movable lever 162 ... Handle 180 ... Lever fitting receiving part 181 ... Fitting hole

Claims (1)

A housing, a rotating tub in the housing, a clothing input port for putting clothes into and out of the rotating tub provided on the front surface of the housing, and an opening / closing door for opening and closing the clothing input port,
A step reducing member provided around the clothing input port,
The electric washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the step reducing member is formed with an inclined surface rising from the outside to the inside.

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