JP2016000084A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely perform clutch switching after a disentangling operation.SOLUTION: A washing machine includes control means for rotating an agitator in a rotation mode different from that of a washing operation with the clutch being in a clutch mode for washing continuously after the washing operation, and also, for executing a disentangling operation for opening a drain valve. This control means closes the drain valve for a partial period during an execution period of the disentangling operation. As a result, by the time point of the termination of the disentangling operation, water remains in the rotary tub other than the water contained in laundry, so that even when the entire weight is heavy with the large amount of the laundry, the laundry does not attach by stretching over the agitator and a bottom surface of the rotary tub. Therefore, the agitator and the motor are not locked, and in the case where the clutch is switched to a clutch mode for dewatering, a rotation operation for a clutch of the motor is performed without hindrance.

Description

  The present embodiment relates to a washing machine.

  In a washing machine with a vertical axis in which the axial direction of the water tub and the rotating tub is directed vertically, the washing operation is continued in the washing process before the dehydration operation so that unbalanced rotation in the dehydration operation does not occur. There is something that has been made to perform the loosening operation. In this loosening operation, the agitator is rotated (forward / reverse rotation) during drainage after the washing operation. By this unwinding operation, the laundry is evenly arranged at the bottom of the rotating tub at the end of the unwinding operation (at the end of drainage), and unbalanced rotation does not occur in the subsequent dewatering operation.

JP2013-244031A

  On the other hand, in the washing operation, only the stirrer can be rotated by the clutch (washing clutch mode), and when shifting to the dehydrating operation, the stirrer and the rotating tub are connected by the clutch to be able to rotate integrally. (Dehydration clutch mode). In this case, if the rotational phase of the stirrer and the rotating tub is shifted, the clutch will not be completely switched. Therefore, the rotational phase of the stirrer is adjusted by rotating the motor (rotating operation for the clutch of the motor). Do.

However, when drainage is completed in the above-described loosening operation, when there is a lot of laundry, the heavy laundry is stuck to the stirring body and the bottom surface of the rotating tank at the bottom of the rotating tank. May become locked. In this case, there is a problem that when the clutch is switched, the load of the motor is large and the above-described clutch rotation operation cannot be performed or it takes time.
Therefore, a washing machine is provided that can reliably perform clutch switching after loosening operation.

  The washing machine according to the embodiment is provided with a water tub, a rotating tub provided in the water tub so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis, and a laundry is accommodated therein, and provided at an inner bottom portion of the rotating tub and rotated by a motor. An agitator, a drain valve for draining from the inside of the rotating tank, a clutch that can be switched to at least a dewatering clutch mode and a washing clutch mode, the clutch as the cleaning clutch mode, and water in the rotating tank. A washing operation for rotating the agitator is performed in the accumulated state, and after the washing operation, the clutch is continuously set to the washing clutch mode, and a loosening operation in which the rotation mode of the agitator is different from the washing operation is executed. Control means, and the control means opens the drain valve during a part of the execution period of the loosening operation and closes the drain valve during another period.

Longitudinal side view of the washing machine according to the first embodiment Longitudinal side view of clutch portion in dewatering clutch mode Longitudinal side view of the clutch portion in the clutch mode for washing Electrical configuration block diagram Flow chart showing control contents (main routine) of control means Time chart showing various operations The figure which shows the rotation mode of the stirrer in the washing operation The figure which shows the rotation mode of the stirrer in the loosening operation (A) is a figure which shows the mode inside a rotary tank before a loosening operation, (b) is a figure which shows the mode inside a rotary tank at the time of the end of a loosening operation Flow chart showing control contents related to time setting Flow chart showing control contents related to suspension Flow chart showing control details related to shutdown FIG. 6 equivalent diagram showing the second embodiment. FIG. 5 equivalent view showing the third embodiment

  Hereinafter, the washing machine according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12. FIG. 1 shows the overall schematic configuration of the vertical washing machine. The outer shell of the washing machine body 1 is composed of an outer box 2 having a rectangular box shape, a base plate 3 provided at the bottom of the outer box 2, and a top cover 4 mounted on the top of the outer box 2. ing. A tank 5 is accommodated inside the outer box 2. In this case, the tank 5 includes a water tank 6 having a bottomed cylindrical shape, and a rotating tank 7 serving as a washing tank and a dewatering tank disposed rotatably in the water tank 6.

  Among these, the water tank 6 is supported in a suspended manner in a vertical axis state in which the axial direction is the vertical direction by an elastic support mechanism 8 mainly including a suspension bar 8a and a spring 8b. A water tank cover 9 is attached to the upper part of the water tank 6, and an inner lid 10 is provided at an almost central portion of the water tank cover 9 so as to be openable and closable.

The rotary tank 7 has a small hole 7a for dehydration and ventilation on the peripheral side wall, and is rotatable around the vertical axis. The laundry is accommodated in the rotating tub 7 so that it can be taken in and out. A liquid-filled rotary balancer 11 is attached to the upper end opening of the rotary tank 7. A stirring body 12 is rotatably disposed at the bottom of the rotary tank 7. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a motor 13 and a clutch 14 are disposed on the outer side (lower side) of the bottom of the water tank 6.
The motor 13 is composed of an outer rotor type brushless motor, and the rotor 13a is directly connected to the lower end of the stirring shaft 12a. The upper end portion of the stirring shaft 12a is connected to the stirring body 12.

A cylindrical dewatering shaft 7 a is rotatably provided around the stirring shaft 12 a, and an upper end portion of the dewatering shaft 7 a is connected to the rotating tank 7.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the clutch 14 includes a cylindrical body 14a provided around the dehydrating shaft 7a so as to be movable up and down, and a mechanism (for moving the cylindrical body 14a up and down) And a clutch motor 15 (see FIG. 4). The cylindrical body 14a is movable to a lower position (see FIG. 2) that serves as a dewatering clutch and an upper position (see FIG. 3) that serves as a washing clutch.

  In the dewatering clutch mode shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical body 14a meshes with the dewatering shaft 7a by the serration mechanism 14b so as to move up and down, and the serration mechanism 14c can move up and down with respect to the boss portion 13b of the outer rotor 13a. Meshed. As a result, the rotation of the outer rotor 13a is transmitted to the agitation shaft 12a and also to the dehydration shaft 7a. That is, the rotation tank 7 and the stirring body 12 are connected to transmit the rotation of the motor 13 to both the rotation tank 7 and the stirring body 12. In this case, the meshing mechanism 14d for fixing / releasing the cylindrical body 14a with respect to the bearing housing 6a attached to the water tank 6 is separated, so that the rotary tank 7 and the stirring body 12 are integrated. It can be rotated.

  Further, in the washing clutch mode shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical body 14a meshes with the dewatering shaft 7a by the serration mechanism 14b so as to be vertically movable, and the serration mechanism 14c is separated. Further, the meshing mechanism 14d is meshed, and the cylindrical body 14a is fixed to the bearing housing 6a. As a result, the connection between the rotary tank 7 and the stirring body 12 is released, and the rotation of the motor 13 is transmitted only to the stirring body 12a. In this case, the cylindrical body 14a is fixed to the bearing housing 6a, so that the dehydrating shaft 7a (the rotating tub 7) is fixed to the bearing housing 6a and thus the water tank 6 through the cylindrical body 14a. This clutch mode for washing is set at the time of washing operation (detergent washing operation) and rinsing operation (rinse washing operation).

  When switching from the washing clutch mode shown in FIG. 3 to the dewatering clutch mode shown in FIG. 2, the cylinder body 14a is moved downward by the clutch motor 15 to engage the serration mechanism 14c. 12, that is, unless the rotation phases of the upper serration 14 c 1 and the lower serration 14 c 2 of the serration mechanism 14 c match, the dehydrating clutch mode is not achieved. As a countermeasure against this, the motor 13 is rotated at a low speed when the cylindrical body 14a is moved downward so that the above-described rotational phase is properly matched (rotating operation for the clutch of the motor 13).

On the other hand, in FIG. 1, a drain port 6 b is provided at the bottom of the water tank 6, and this drain port 6 b is connected to a drain pipe 17 via a drain valve 16.
Further, an air trap 18 for detecting a water level is provided at a portion communicating with the drain outlet 6 b at the bottom of the water tank 6, and one end of an air tube 19 is connected to the air trap 18. The other end of the air tube 19 is connected to a water level sensor 20 described later.

  The top cover 4 is provided above the inner lid 10. The top cover 4 has a laundry doorway 21 and has a rectangular frame shape. The laundry entrance 21 is opened and closed by a two-fold outer lid 22. An operation panel 23 is provided on the front portion (left side in FIG. 1) of the top cover 4. The operation panel 23 is provided with an operation input unit 23a (see FIG. 4) composed of various switches and a display unit 23b (see FIG. 4) for performing various displays. The control device 25 is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 4, the operation input unit 23a includes a time setting switch 23a1 as an operation time change input means and a pause switch 23a2 as a pause input means.
A component storage portion 26 is provided at the rear portion (right side in FIG. 1) of the top cover 4. The above-described water level sensor 20 is disposed in the component storage portion 26, and the rotating tub 7 is provided. A water supply device 27 for supplying water therein is disposed. The water supply device 27 includes a water supply valve 28 (see FIG. 4), a water supply case 29, a water supply pipe 30, and the like.

  FIG. 4 shows an outline of the electrical configuration centering on the control device 25. The control device 25 is composed mainly of a microcomputer, and has a function as a control means 25a (including the laundry weight detection means 25b) for controlling the overall operation of the washing machine with a software configuration. . The control means 25a mainly controls, for example, a washing operation, a loosening operation, an intermediate dehydrating operation, a rinsing operation, and a final dehydrating operation.

  In addition to the operation signal of the operation input unit 23 a of the operation panel 23 being input to the control device 25, the water level detection signal of the water level sensor 20 that detects the water level of water stored in the water tank 6, and the rotation of the motor 13. A rotation speed detection signal of the rotation sensor 37 that detects the speed and a current detection signal of the current sensor 38 that detects the current flowing through the motor 13 are input.

  The control device 25 controls the display unit 23b, the motor 13, the drain valve 16, the water supply valve 28, the clutch motor 15, the buzzer 36, and the like via the drive circuit 39 based on these input signals and a control program provided in advance. It is like that. The drive circuit 39 is a generic term for drive circuits corresponding to each device.

Next, the control contents of the control device 25 (control contents of the control means 25a and the like) will be described with reference to FIGS.
The control means 25a executes laundry weight detection, water supply, cloth quality detection, water supply, washing operation, loosening operation, drainage, intermediate dehydration operation, water supply, rinse operation (rinse rinse), drainage, and final dewatering operation. Specifically, the following control is performed.

  From the laundry weight detection (step S1) to the unwinding operation (step S6) is referred to as a washing process, and from the drainage immediately after the unwinding operation (step S7) to the rinsing operation (step S10), it is referred to as a rinsing process. In addition, the drainage immediately after the rinsing operation (step S11) and the final dewatering operation (step S12) are referred to as a final dewatering step.

  In step S1, the weight of the laundry is detected (laundry weight detection means 25b). In this laundry weight detection, the laundry 13 is stored in the rotating tub 7, the motor 13 is supplied with a certain amount of electric power to rotate the stirring body 12, and the laundry is stored in the rotating tub 7. The laundry weight (weight) is detected from a comparison with the number of rotations obtained by rotating the stirring body 12 by applying a constant electric power to the motor 13 in a state where the laundry is not accommodated. This detection data is used for setting the water level. The laundry weight may be detected based on the current flowing through the motor 13.

In step S2, water supply is executed. In this water supply, the water supply valve 28 is opened in a state where the drain valve 16 is closed, and a predetermined amount of water used for cloth detection is supplied into the rotary tub 7.
In step S3, cloth quality detection is executed (cloth quality detection means). This cloth quality detection is performed by applying a constant power to the motor 13 in a state where a certain amount of water is stored in the rotating tub 7 to rotate the stirring body 12, and depending on the rotational speed of the stirring body 12, The cloth quality is detected, for example, one of the three stages of “Wow Wow”, “Standard”, and “Flexible”. This detection data is used for setting the strength of water flow.

In step S4, water supply is executed. This water supply supplies water until the water level (washing water level) set in the rotary tub 7 is reached while the drain valve 16 is kept closed.
In step S5, a washing operation is executed. In this washing operation, the clutch 14 is in a washing clutch mode. In this washing operation, the motor 13 and the stirring body 12 are intermittently rotated forward and backward intermittently in a state where water is accumulated in the rotating tank 7 and the rotating tank 7 does not rotate. The rotation mode (forward / reverse rotation pattern) of the motor 13 is shown in FIG. In this case, the rotation mode repeats the forward rotation for 1 second, the stop for 1 second, the reverse rotation for 1 second, and the pause for 1 second. As a result, a washing water flow is formed in the rotary tank 7.

In this washing operation, detergent is supplied in advance into the rotary tub 7, and therefore the washing operation is a so-called detergent washing operation.
After this washing operation, the washing clutch mode is maintained, the process proceeds to step S6 and the loosening operation is executed. In this loosening operation, as shown in FIG. 8, the motor 13 and thus the stirring member 12 are intermittently rotated forward and backward, and the drain valve 16 is opened and closed. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the motor 13 repeats a normal rotation for 0.6 seconds, a stop for 0.6 seconds, a reverse rotation for 0.6 seconds, and a pause for 0.6 seconds at the same rotation speed as in the washing operation. Drive in short cycle rotation mode. As a result, a loosening water flow that is slightly weaker than the above-described washing water flow is formed in the rotary tank 7. In addition, the rotation mode at the time of the loosening operation may be lower than the rotation mode at the time of the washing operation with respect to the rotation mode at the time of the washing operation.

  And as for the drain valve 16, as shown in FIG.6 and FIG.9 (b), the water level in the rotary tank 7 is the predetermined water level H0 close | similar to the minimum water level Hz among the water levels which can exert buoyancy with respect to the laundry. In this case, when the water level becomes a predetermined level (for example, a predetermined water level H0 of 1/3 or more) with respect to the water supply level Hk (see FIG. 9A) during the washing operation (the time th1 in terms of time), the drain valve 16 is turned on. Close. As a result, the drain valve 16 opens in the period th1 from the start, which is a partial period of the execution period th of the loosening operation, and closes in the remaining period th2.

  In the above-described loosening operation, the laundry is loosened by a weaker water flow (thawing water flow) than the washing operation, and the water level is reduced, so that the laundry is displaced downwardly in the rotating tub 7 and is almost uniformly in the inner bottom portion thereof. Distributed.

At the end of this unraveling operation, water of a predetermined water level H0 remains in the rotating tub 7 as shown in FIG. The change in the water level is shown in FIG.
After this unraveling operation is completed, the process proceeds to step S7, the drain valve 16 is opened, and the clutch 14 is switched from the washing clutch mode to the dewatering clutch mode. In the initial stage of this switching, the above-described clutch rotation operation of the motor 13 is executed. At this time, since the water at the water level H0 that causes buoyancy to act on the laundry remains in the rotating tub 7, the load on the laundry with respect to the agitator 12 is reduced, and the laundry is also in contact with the agitator 12 and It does not stick to the rotating tank 7. For this reason, the load by the laundry with respect to the motor 13 is small, and the said motor 13 rotates without trouble. Thereby, the clutch 14 becomes an appropriate meshing position (rotation phase), and the clutch 14 is smoothly switched to the dewatering clutch mode.

  By opening the drain valve 16, the water in the rotary tub 7 is drained. In this case, since the laundry is distributed in a substantially uniform state on the inner bottom portion of the rotating tub 7 by the above-described loosening operation, the laundry sinks into the bottom surface of the rotating tub 7 as it is and remains in a substantially uniform state.

Next, the process proceeds to step S8 and the intermediate dehydration operation is started.
For this reason, when the intermediate dehydration operation is executed in step S8, the dehydration rotation control is performed so as to sequentially increase the rotation speed of the rotating tank 7 with the progress of time. In this case, the laundry in the rotating tub 7 remains in a substantially uniform state at the inner bottom of the rotating tub 7, so that the unbalanced rotation does not occur and the dehydration is successful. This intermediate dehydration operation is executed for a predetermined time, and the drain valve 16 is closed just before the end.

  After step S8, the process proceeds to step S9 to execute water supply. This water supply supplies water until the water level set in the rotary tank 7 (water level for rinsing) is reached while the drain valve 16 is kept closed. Then, it transfers to step S10 and performs a rinse operation for predetermined time. This rinsing operation is so-called rinsing. In this rinsing operation, the stirrer 12 is intermittently rotated forward and backward intermittently in a state where a certain amount of water is accommodated in the rotary tank 7. In this rinsing operation, the laundry is rinsed with tap water stored in the rotating tub 7. The above-described loosening operation is not performed after the rinsing operation.

Then, it transfers to step S11 and drains. This drainage is to drain the water in the rotary tank 7 by opening the drain valve 16. In the next step S12, the final dehydration operation is executed for a predetermined time. In this final dehydration operation, the laundry is dehydrated by rotating the rotating tub 7 and the stirring body 12.
Thereby, the washing operation ends.
Furthermore, the control means 25a also executes the next control at predetermined time intervals while executing the main routine.

  FIG. 10 shows the contents of control related to time setting. In step T1, the control unit 25a determines whether or not the time setting switch 23a1 provided in the operation input unit 23a has been operated. If there is an operation, the control unit 25a determines whether or not the operation is loosening in step T2. Judging. When it is determined that the loosening operation is being performed, the time is not changed (step T3). If “NO” in the step T2, the process shifts to a step T4 to change the time.

  FIG. 11 shows the contents of control related to the temporary stop. The control means 25a determines whether or not there has been an operation (temporary stop command) of the temporary stop switch 23a2 provided in the operation input unit 23a in Step U1, and if “YES”, is the loosening operation being performed in Step U2? Judge whether or not. If the unwinding operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step U3, where the unwinding operation is stopped and the drain valve 16 is uniquely stopped. In step U4, it is determined whether or not the temporary stop switch has been operated again (there is a return command). If it is determined that the return command has been issued, the unwinding operation is stopped, and the control proceeds to the next control (in this case, the draining operation) of the unraveling operation.

If “NO” in the step U2, the process shifts to a step U6 to stop the corresponding operation or the corresponding operation. Then, when it is determined in step U7 that the temporary stop switch has been operated again (there is a return command), the process proceeds to step U8 and the operation is resumed.
FIG. 12 shows the control when the loosening operation is stopped except for the operation of the temporary stop switch (when the abnormality stop function is activated to stop the operation when any abnormality is detected). In step V1, it is determined whether or not the operation has been stopped during the loosening operation. If “YES”, it is determined in step V2 whether or not the operation has been recovered by, for example, a return process by the user. If driving | running | working returns, the said unwinding driving | operation will be stopped and it will transfer to the next control of the said unraveling driving | operation.

  In the present embodiment described above, the control means 25a does not open the drain valve 16 in the entire period of the unwinding operation period th, but closes the drain valve 16 in the period th2, which is a partial period of the execution period th. So, at the end of this loosening operation, water will remain in the rotating tub 7 in addition to the moisture contained in the laundry, and as a result, even if there is a large amount of laundry and the overall weight is heavy, The laundry does not stick across the stirring body 12 and the bottom surface of the rotating tub 7. As a result, the stirring body 12 and thus the motor 13 are not locked, and when the clutch 14 is switched to the dewatering clutch mode, the clutch 13 can be rotated without any trouble. As a result, the clutch can be switched reliably after the loosening operation.

  If the drainage valve 16 is opened from the beginning to the end of the unwinding operation and the execution time of the unwinding operation is shortened, water remains at the end of the unwinding operation. In this case, the execution time of the unwinding operation is short and the original purpose The unraveling effect is not improved. In this respect, in the above-described embodiment, since the execution time of the unwinding operation is not shortened, the unraveling effect is not reduced.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the control means 25a closes the drain valve 16 at the predetermined water level H0 among the water levels at which buoyancy acts on the laundry in the rotating tub 7 during the loosening operation, the control means 25a is applied to the stirring body 12. The load on the laundry can be reduced, and the laundry can be uniformly distributed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of unbalance rotation in the subsequent dehydration operation (intermediate dehydration operation), and to achieve a successful dehydration.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the control means 25a switches the clutch 14 to the dewatering clutch mode at a predetermined water level H0 at which buoyancy acts on the laundry in the rotating tub 7, so at the time of clutch switching after the loosening operation, The load of the laundry applied to the motor 13 can be further reduced, and the clutch switching can be performed more reliably.

  In the present embodiment, the control means 25a opens the drain valve 16 (period th1) and closes the subsequent drain valve 16 (period th2) in the execution period th of the loosening operation. Unlike the case where the drain valve 16 is opened from the end to the end, the loosening operation is performed while maintaining a certain low water level in the later stage of the loosening operation, and the loosening effect is improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the control means 25a can execute the dehydration operation (intermediate dehydration operation) and the rinsing operation in that order, and does not execute the loosening operation after the rinsing operation.
When the rinsing operation is performed after the dehydration operation, the rinsing operation may be performed while the laundry is solidified by the dehydration operation, and in this case, when the low water leveling operation is performed after the rinsing operation, the solidification is performed. The laundry acts as a large load on the motor 13, and the unraveling effect cannot be expected.

In this respect, in the present embodiment, after the rinsing operation, the unraveling operation in which the unraveling effect cannot be expected is not executed, and therefore the useless unraveling operation can be eliminated.
Further, in the present embodiment, a time setting switch 23a1 is provided as an operation time change input means for inputting a change in the operation time, and the control means 25a changes the operation time from the time setting switch 23a1 during execution of the loosening operation. Even if there was an input, the input was not accepted.

For example, even if a time setting is made to lengthen the unwinding operation, since the unwinding operation is performed at a lower water level than the washing operation, a cleaning effect cannot be expected. Moreover, if the time is set to shorten the unwinding operation, the unwinding effect cannot be expected.
Accordingly, in the present embodiment configured as described above, since the input for changing the operation time for the loosening operation is not accepted, the change in the operation time in which the cleaning effect cannot be expected or the unraveling effect cannot be expected is eliminated. Can do.

In the present embodiment, a temporary stop switch 23a2 is provided as a temporary stop input means for temporarily stopping the operation, and the control means 25a temporarily stops the unwinding operation by the input of the temporary stop switch 23a2 during the unwinding operation. When the operation was stopped, the drain valve 16 was closed, and after returning to the temporary stop, the unwinding operation was stopped to shift to the next control of the unraveling operation.
When the laundry is added during the suspension in the loosening operation, if the laundry is added, the laundry is excessive and the laundry is excessive. There is a risk that the load will increase and hinder the operation.

  In that respect, according to the present embodiment configured as described above, when the loosening operation is temporarily stopped, the drain valve 16 is closed, and after the suspension is resumed, the loosening operation is stopped and the next control of the unraveling operation is performed. Therefore, it is possible to continue washing while preventing resumption of driving that hinders loosening operation by adding laundry.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the control means 25a, for example, when an abnormality is detected by an abnormal stop function or the like and the unraveling operation is stopped during the unraveling operation (when other than the temporary stop switch 23a2 is stopped). ), The unwinding operation is canceled after returning from the stop and the control is shifted to the next control of the unraveling operation. Prevent and continue washing.

  FIG. 13 shows a second embodiment. In this second embodiment, when the control means 25a starts the loosening operation, the water supply water level included in the water level at which the buoyancy acts on the laundry when the drain valve 16 is operated. It closes in the state of Hk (continues closing from the washing operation), and continues to close the drain valve 16 in the first period th1 ′ of the execution period th of the loosening operation, and in the subsequent period th2 ′ 16 was opened. The period th2 ′ is set to a period in which the predetermined water level H0 out of the water levels that can exert buoyancy on the laundry remains in the rotary tub 7 at the end of execution of the loosening operation. Then, the clutch 14 is switched to the dewatering clutch mode in the state of the predetermined water level H0.

  In the second embodiment, the control means 25a does not open the drain valve 16 in the entire period of the unwinding operation execution period th, but opens the drain valve 16 in a period th1 ′ which is a partial period of the execution period th. Since it is closed, at the end of this loosening operation, water will remain in the rotating tub 7 in addition to the water content of the laundry, and as a result, even if there is a large amount of laundry and the overall weight is heavy The laundry does not stick across the stirring body 12 and the bottom surface of the rotating tub 7. As a result, the stirring body 12 and thus the motor 13 are not locked, and when the clutch 14 is switched to the dewatering clutch mode, the clutch 13 can be rotated without any trouble. As a result, the clutch can be switched reliably after the loosening operation.

  FIG. 14 shows a third embodiment, which is different from the first embodiment in that step Sa is added after step S5. That is, the control means 25a executes the loosening operation when the laundry weight detection means 25b detects that the weight of the laundry is equal to or greater than the predetermined weight ("YES" in step Sa), and is less than the predetermined weight. Sometimes the loosening operation is not performed.

When the amount of laundry is large (the overall weight is heavy), the laundry is often solidified at the end of the washing operation. Conversely, when the amount of laundry is small, the laundry is rarely solidified. That is, the loosening operation is effective when the laundry weight is heavy, and is wasteful when the amount of laundry is light.
In the third embodiment in consideration of this point, the loosening operation is performed when the laundry weight detection means 25b detects that the laundry weight is equal to or greater than the predetermined weight, and when the laundry weight is less than the predetermined weight, the loosening operation is performed. Since it is not executed, the loosening operation is not executed wastefully.

In addition, about closing a drain valve, you may make it close based on the setting time by a timer other than closing based on a water level detection.
As mentioned above, although several embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiment was shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  In the drawing, 6 is a water tank, 7 is a rotating tank, 12 is a stirring body, 13 is a motor, 14 is a clutch, 16 is a drain valve, 25a is a control means, and 25b is a laundry weight detection means.

Claims (10)

A tank,
A rotating tub that is rotatably provided around the vertical axis inside the water tub and in which laundry is stored;
An agitator provided on the inner bottom of the rotating tank and rotated by a motor;
A drain valve for draining from the inside of the rotary tank;
A clutch that is switched at least between a dewatering clutch mode and a washing clutch mode;
The clutch is set to the washing clutch mode, and a washing operation is performed in which the stirring member is rotated in a state where water is accumulated in the rotary tank. After the washing operation, the clutch is continuously set to the washing clutch mode and the A control means for performing a loosening operation in which the rotation mode of the stirring body is different from the washing operation,
The control means is a washing machine that opens the drain valve during a part of the execution period of the loosening operation and closes the drain valve during another period.   The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the control means closes the drain valve when the water level in the rotating tub is a water level that causes buoyancy to act on the laundry in the rotating tub during the unwinding operation.   The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means switches the clutch to the dewatering clutch mode when the water level in the rotating tub is a water level that causes buoyancy to act on the laundry in the rotating tub.   The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control means opens the drain valve and then closes the drain valve during the unwinding operation.   The said control means is a washing machine as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3 which closes the said drain valve and opens the said drain valve after that in the execution period of the said loosening operation.   The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control means does not execute the loosening operation after the rinsing operation. It is provided with an input means for changing operation time for inputting change of operation time,
The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control means does not accept an input of an operation time change from the operation time change input means during execution of the loosening operation. . Provided with input means for pausing to pause operation,
The control means closes the drain valve when the unwinding operation is temporarily stopped by the input of the temporary stop input means during the unwinding operation, and stops the unwinding operation after the suspension is resumed. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control proceeds to the next control of the loosening operation.   7. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, when the unraveling operation is stopped while the unraveling operation is being performed, the unraveling operation is stopped after returning from the stop, and the control unit moves to a control next to the unraveling operation. A washing machine according to claim 1. A laundry weight detecting means for detecting the weight of the laundry;
The control means performs the loosening operation when the laundry weight detection means detects that the weight of the laundry is equal to or greater than a predetermined weight, and does not execute the loosening operation when the weight is less than the predetermined weight. Item 10. The washing machine according to any one of Items 1 to 9.

Images