JP2513524B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a washing machine.

(B) Conventional technology As a conventional example, by attaching a heater to the drainage pipe, it is possible to eliminate the freezing of the residual water in the drainage pipe and to operate the drainage valve satisfactorily. Bulletin (E
03B7 / 12).

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional example, since a heater is attached, the cost becomes high and there is a risk of fire accident.

The present invention relates to improvement of a washing machine and solves such a problem.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems A washing machine of the present invention includes a washing tub, a drainage pipe communicating from the washing tub to the outside of the machine, an automatic drainage valve for opening and closing the drainage pipe, and The temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature and the control means for controlling the operation of each process such as washing, rinsing and dehydration according to a program are provided. When the detected temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, the drain valve is opened for a predetermined time after a predetermined time has passed after the operation of the program is finished.

The temperature in the washing tub is preferably the "air temperature" detected when there is no water in the tub, but if the temperature is low, the temperature of the washing water is low in most cases. There is no problem even with the detected "water temperature".

(E) Action In other words, after the operation is completed, while leaving it for a certain period of time, residual water such as water droplets attached to the wall of the tank flows down near the drain valve. By opening for a while, the residual water is discharged at once and there is no fear of freezing.

Further, since the opening operation of the drain valve for a certain period of time is executed when the final step is the dehydration step, when the final step is an easy-to-wash step, it can be reused without draining the wash water.

Furthermore, since the opening operation of the drain valve for a certain period of time is executed when the temperature inside the washing tub is low, it is possible to omit a wasteful operation of opening the drain valve at a temperature at which there is no risk of freezing.

(F) Example An example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 is a machine frame, 2 is an operating portion provided on the upper rear of the machine frame 1, 3 is an outer tank elastically supported in the machine frame 1, and 4 is the outer tank 3. Is rotatably supported by
A washing and dehydrating tub having a large number of dehydrating holes 5 ... Surrounding it, 6 is a rotary blade provided rotatably at the bottom of the dehydrating tub 4, and 7 is a power transmission mechanism 8 for the dehydrating tub 4 and the rotary blade 6. Is a drive motor connected in parallel, and the rotating blades 6 are inverted at a low speed at the time of washing, and the dehydrating tank 4 and the rotating blades 6 at the time of dehydration.
Rotate in one direction at high speed. Reference numeral 9 is an air trap provided at one corner of the bottom of the outer tub 3, and is connected to a water level sensor 10 arranged in the operation portion 2 via a pressure hose 11. Reference numeral 12 is a drain port provided at the bottom of the outer tub 3, 13 is a drain pipe connected to the drain port 12, and 14 is a drainage electric valve for opening and closing the drain pipe 13. The valve body is opened by winding a wire connected to the body with a small motor, and the small motor is cut off to close the valve by the restoring force of a spring built in the valve body.
Reference numeral 15 is a water supply solenoid valve that opens and closes the water supply pipe 16, and 17 is a negative characteristic thermistor attached to the bottom of the air trap 9. If not, detect the temperature inside the tank.

Now, the washing machine of this embodiment is controlled by a microcomputer (for example, LC66506B manufactured by Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 18, and a control mechanism of the washing machine centering on the microcomputer 18 is a third. It will be described with reference to the drawings.

The microcomputer 18 includes a CPU 19 (central processing unit).
t), RAM20 (random access memory), ROM21 (read on
ly memory), a timer 22, a system bus 23, and an input / output port 24.

The CPU 19 is composed of a control unit 25 and a calculation unit 26,
The control unit 25 fetches and executes instructions, and the arithmetic unit 26 performs binary addition, logic operation on data given from an input device or a memory by a control signal from the control unit 25 at the instruction execution stage. Performs calculation processing such as calculation, increase / decrease, and comparison. The RAM 20 is for storing data relating to the device, and the ROM 21 reads in advance means for operating the device, setting conditions for determination, rules for processing various information, etc. It is something to put.

The input port includes an input key circuit 27 including various operation setting keys, the water level sensor 10, and a temperature detection circuit.
Signals from 28 etc. are input and based on these information,
A control signal is sent from the output port to an LED drive circuit 29 including various light emitting diode groups, a buzzer circuit 30 for process termination and abnormality notification, a load drive circuit 31, a power cutoff circuit 32, and the like. 33 is a power supply circuit for supplying a voltage to the microcomputer 18, and 34 is a reset signal generation circuit.

The load drive circuit 31 controls each operation of the drive motor 7, the water supply solenoid valve 15, and the drainage motor-operated valve 14 according to a control signal from the microcomputer 18.

The power cutoff circuit 32 is composed of a relay connected to the microcomputer 18 and a relay contact provided in the power circuit, and when the relay is energized by a signal from the microcomputer 18, the relay contact is formed. Is opened and the power circuit is cut off.

As shown in FIG. 4, the temperature detection circuit 28 compares the voltage determined by the resistance value of the thermistor 17 and the voltage divided by various resistors with the comparator 35.
When the temperature drops below a predetermined temperature, the resistance value of the thermistor 17 rises, the voltage at the- (minus) input of the comparator 35 drops, and the output of the comparator 35 goes high. The microcomputer 18 determines whether or not the temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature depending on whether or not this signal is input. In this embodiment, each resistance value is set so that the predetermined temperature is 5 ° C.

Thus, the washing machine of this embodiment sequentially executes a washing course consisting of a combination of washing, rinsing, and dehydrating steps under the control of the microcomputer 18.

 The operation based on such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, when the washing course is completed (S-10), the microcomputer 18 checks whether or not the final step of the washing course is the dehydration step (S-11). Based on the signal from the detection circuit 28, the temperature inside the outer tub 3 is determined (S-12). Since the water has not been dehydrated at this time, there is no water in the outer tub 3, and the data from the temperature detection circuit 28 is the temperature data. During this time,
When the start key of the laundry course is operated, the course is immediately started (S-13).

And the temperature at the time of 9 minutes from the end of the washing course is 5
If the temperature is below ℃, open the drain valve 14 for 1 minute (S
-14), wait while the power circuit is cut off (S-1
Five).

(G) Effect of the Invention According to the washing machine of the present invention, the drain valve is opened for a certain time after a lapse of a predetermined time after the end of the operation. Even if water drops, etc. that had adhered to the wall surface flow down near the drain valve and residual water accumulates, this residual water can be discharged at one time, and therefore there is a risk of freezing of the residual water without installing heaters or other anti-freezing parts. Can be resolved.

In addition, by opening the drain valve for a certain period of time when the final process is the dehydration process, if the final process is an easy-to-wash process, it can be reused without draining the wash water. You can

Furthermore, since the drain valve is opened for a certain period of time when the temperature inside the washing tub is low, it is possible to prevent the drain valve from being opened at a temperature at which there is no fear of freezing.
Therefore, the drain valve is not operated wastefully, and deterioration of the drain valve and power consumption can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the operation of the washing machine of the present invention,
2 is an internal mechanism diagram showing a cross section of a main part of the washing machine, FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of a control mechanism, and FIG. 4 is a temperature detection circuit diagram. 3 ... Outer tub (washing tub), 13 ... Drain pipe, 14 ... Drainage electric valve, 18 ... Micro computer (control means), 28 ... Temperature detection circuit (temperature detection means).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page (72) Inventor Hisanori Hirose 2-18 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Kenji Yamamoto 2-18-18 Keihan-hondori, Moriguchi, Osaka Yoko Electric Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-2-159296 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A washing tub, a drainage pipe communicating from the washing tub to the outside of the machine, an automatic drainage valve for opening and closing the drainage pipe, a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in the washing tub, and washing and rinsing. , A control means for controlling the operation of each step such as dehydration according to a program, wherein the control means operates the program when the final step of the program is the dehydration step and the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is below a predetermined temperature. After the end,
A washing machine characterized in that the drain valve is opened for a certain period of time after a lapse of a predetermined period of time.