JP2732728B2 - Drum type washer / dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises means for detecting the capacity of a laundry to be washed and vibration detecting means for a water tub, so that the operating condition at the time of the normal dehydration start and at the start of dehydration immediately before the drying step can be improved. The present invention relates to a drum type washing and drying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional drum type washer / dryer (see FIG. 8) which automatically performs washing, dehydration and drying with a single drum, a plurality of drums are provided above and below an outer box 1 of the washer / dryer. A water tub 2 supported by a supporting spring 4 and a damper 7 so as to be able to absorb vibrations during washing and dehydration, and supported by the water tub 2 by horizontal drum shafts 3a, 3a located in the water tub 2, and A drum 3 having a plurality of small holes formed on a peripheral side wall and a plurality of horizontal baffles 5 provided on an inner peripheral wall, a drive motor 14 for rotating the drum 3 at low speed and high speed by converting the number of poles, It is known that a drying unit (not shown) is provided and a weight 13 is attached to an upper portion of the water tank 2 in order to reduce vibration of the water tank 2 during rotation.

[0003] In the drum type washing and drying machine of this construction, the laundry is put into the drum 3 from the door 8 of the outer box 1 and the lid 10 of the drum 3, and a predetermined amount of washing liquid is put in the water tub 2. And then the drum 3 is rotated at a low speed. At this time, the laundry to be lifted upward by the centrifugal force due to the low-speed rotation of the drum 3 and the action of the baffle 5 is cleaned of dirt by the impact force received when the tumbling that repeatedly falls by its own weight is repeated.

[0004] When the washing process is completed, rinsing is repeated several times in accordance with the amount of the laundry, and then the dehydration process is started. In the dehydration step, the drum 3 is shifted from the low-speed rotation to the high-speed rotation, and blows the moisture contained in the laundry into the water tank 2 from a number of small holes provided on the peripheral wall of the drum,
The water collected in the lower part of the water tank 2 is discharged to the outside through the drain valve 12.

In the drying step after dehydration, the drying unit is operated while rotating the drum 3 at a low speed to tumbl the laundry, and hot air heated to the drying temperature is supplied into the water tank 2 and the drum 3. By exhausting a portion of the hot air that has become hot and humid due to drying, removing the moisture contained in the remaining hot air, heating it again to the drying temperature, and repeating the circulation of the hot air to dry it. Was being done.

[0006]

When a weight 13 is attached to the upper part of the water tub 2 to perform dehydration as in a conventional drum-type washing and drying machine, the imbalance due to uneven attachment of the laundry is eliminated. Although it can be improved to some extent, since the unbalance still remains, the vibration of the water tank 2 due to the unbalance is not only transmitted to the floor on which the drum type washer / dryer is placed via the outer box 1 but also Generates noise. In addition, if the weight of the weight 13 attached to the water tank 2 is increased, the weight of the entire vibrating body increases, and it is necessary to strengthen the outer box 1 and the floor.

Instead of attaching the weight 13 to the water tank 2, a dehydration starting method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-38114 has been proposed. In this dehydration start-up method, the washing speed is increased by increasing the rotation speed (60-80 rpm when the drum diameter is 400-500 mm) so that the laundry adheres to the inner peripheral wall of the drum in a relatively short period before shifting to the spinning. It is characterized in that the distribution state of the articles is positively changed, and when the amplitude of the drum is less than an allowable value for a set time, the operation is shifted to the spin-drying rotation.

However, when this dehydration start-up method is actually applied, when the capacity level of the laundry to be loaded into the drum is high, some laundry may not stick to the drum. If the capacity level is light and the dehydration becomes insufficient, the whole of the laundry to be laid on the inner surface of the drum at once before the laundry is evenly stuck on the inner surface of the drum. There was a problem of causing imbalance due to sticking (see FIG. 7).

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, it is not necessary to attach a weight to the water tank, it is possible to reduce the weight of the product, and in the dehydration step, the laundry to be supplied into the drum Reduce the vibration of the vibrating body consisting of the water tank and the drum,
In addition to keeping noise low,
An object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing and drying machine capable of achieving a finish without wrinkles and unevenness.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a water tank supported in a casing so as to absorb vibrations, and a rotatable support about a drum axis horizontal to the water tank. And a drum having a number of small holes formed in the peripheral side wall, and the drum is rotated at a low rotation speed for washing, rinsing, drying and a high rotation speed for dehydration, and a plurality of balance rotation speeds therebetween. A drive motor, a laundry drying unit, a capacity detecting means for detecting the capacity of the laundry, a vibration detecting means for detecting the vibration of the water tub, and a plurality of balance charts stored in advance, and the capacity is stored when dehydration is started. Selecting one balance chart from the plurality of balance charts in accordance with the size of the detection capacity detected by the detection means;
Rotate the drum according to this selection balance chart,
If the vibration frequency of the water tank at that time detected by the vibration detecting means is equal to or less than the allowable value, the drum is directly shifted to the high-speed rotation. Drive according to the balance chart,
Control means for instructing a drive motor to operate the drum after rinsing the drum again when the frequency of the water tank does not fall below the allowable value even if these operations are repeated a predetermined number of times. It is a washing and drying machine.

Further, at the time of the dehydration start immediately before the drying step, the drum type washer-dryer is elastically supported without shifting the drum to high-speed rotation as it is even if the frequency of the water tank is below the allowable value. The operation is performed at an intermediate rotation speed between the resonance rotation speed of the water tank and the high-speed rotation speed of the drum, and the drum is shifted to the high-speed rotation speed.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the drum at the start of dehydration is rotated at a rotation speed according to a specific balance chart corresponding to the capacity level detected by the capacity detection means.
Regardless of the size of the capacity level, the whole of the laundry can be uniformly attached to the inner peripheral surface of the drum. Also,
The transition to high-speed rotation of the drum is limited to the case where the vibration frequency detected by the vibration detection means is equal to or less than the allowable value. Therefore, the rotation of the drum during spin-drying is performed in a balanced state.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. Note that the present invention is not limited by this.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box having legs 1a. The outer box 1 contains a water tub 2 and a drum 3 which also serves as a washing tub and a dewatering tub. The water tank 2 has its upper part suspended from the inner surface of the outer case 1 by a plurality of support springs 4 and its lower part supported by the inner surface of the outer case 1 by a plurality of dampers 7 to absorb vibrations during washing and dehydration. It has a structure.

In the water tank 2, a drum 3 housed therein is provided with horizontal drum shafts 3a, 3a bearings 11, 11 respectively.
It is held rotatably by. 6 is a drum shaft 3a
Is a reinforcing angle for attaching to the drum 3. The drum 3 is provided with a number of small holes for supplying or discharging the washing liquid on the peripheral wall portion, and a number of small holes for ventilation (both not shown) for passing heated air on the side wall portion. I have. A plurality of baffles 5 for lifting the object to be washed upward are horizontally mounted on the peripheral wall surface of the drum 3 at intervals.

On the upper surfaces of the outer box 1 and the water tub 2, an inlet for taking in and out the articles to be washed is formed by a waterproof packing 9, and the upper end of the inlet is closed by a door 8 attached to the outer box 1. Have been. An opening provided on the peripheral wall of the drum 3 corresponding to the lower end of the charging port is closed by a lid 10. A drain hose 18 is connected to a bottom wall of the water tank 2 via a drain valve 12.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a drive motor mounted on the outside of the bottom wall of the water tank 2. The rotation of the drive motor 14 is transmitted from a motor pulley 16 fixed to a motor shaft to a drum pulley 17 of the drum 3 via a belt 15. And the drum 3 is rotated. A drying unit (not shown) including a heater, a fan, a heat exchanger, a connection duct, and the like is housed in an upper portion of the outer box 1.

As the drive motor 14, for example, D
C brushless motor is used, and the drive motor 14 is controlled by the control circuit 20 from a low speed to a high speed (for example, 0 to 5000).
(rpm). The rotation speed of the drum 3 can be changed from a low-speed rotation (about 50 rpm) for washing, rinsing, and drying to a high-speed rotation (for example, 850 rpm) for dehydration by the drive motor 14 controlled at a variable speed.

The water tub 2 or the drum 3 is provided with a capacity detecting means 21 for detecting the capacity of the laundry to be put into the drum 3. The capacity detecting means 21 includes, for example, a water level sensor and a flow rate sensor, and the capacity of the laundry is supplied to a predetermined water level after the loading of the laundry, and then, after rotating at a low speed for a predetermined time, again to the predetermined water level. And the capacity is detected based on the amount of water supplied at that time. When the maximum capacity is, for example, 6 kg, the capacity is divided into 1 to 2 k.
g is set to be small, 3 to 4 kg is medium, and 5 to 6 kg is high.

On the side surface of the water tank 2, a vibration detecting means 19 for detecting vibration of the water tank 2 is provided. As the vibration detecting means 19, a current in a control circuit of the drive motor 14 is detected in order to detect a vibration sensor using a piezoelectric element for detecting the amplitude of the water tank 2 or an unbalance amount of the laundry to be generated which causes vibration. It may be detected but used. The allowable value of the vibration of the water tank 2 varies depending on the level setting of the steady amplitude when the drum 3 rotates at a high speed. For example, if the steady amplitude is 10 mmp-p, the allowable value is 3 rpm at 130 rpm.
-P.

The rotation of the drum 3 at the start of dehydration corresponds to the capacity level detected by the capacity detection means 21. The rotation number of the drum 3 and the rotation time at the rotation number are set in advance in a balance chart (see FIG. 3). ), The vibration detection rotation speed (about 120 to 130 rpm) lower than both the resonance rotation speed and the high speed rotation of the water tank 2 from the low speed rotation (about 50 rpm).
rpm).

In this case, if the vibration of the water tank 2 detected by the vibration detecting means 19 is equal to or less than an allowable value, the drum 3 is directly shifted to a high-speed rotation (for example, 850 rpm) by the drive motor 14. If the value exceeds the value, the drum 3 is stopped once or decelerated to a low speed, and the operation is performed again according to the balance chart. Even if this operation is repeated a predetermined number of times (for example, three times), the vibration of the water tank 2 is reduced. If it does not fall below the allowable value,
Is controlled to be operated again after rinsing.

Next, the operation of the apparatus will be described. FIG.
Shows a time chart of the drum type washer / dryer, in which the rinsing step (normal dehydration step) is repeated twice. The rinsing step may be repeated three or more times depending on the capacity of the laundry and the degree of dirt. In each step, a is a portion where the laundry is repeatedly tumbled by the low-speed rotation of the drum 3 in the left-right direction;
b is a portion where the rotation of the drum 3 is controlled by the balance chart, c is a portion where the drum 3 is rotating at a high speed, and d is a portion where the drum 3 is rotating at an intermediate speed between a low speed and a high speed. Show the part.

The capacity of the laundry to be loaded into the drum 3 is
At the time of washing, the capacity detecting unit 21 detects which of three capacity levels, for example, small, medium and high, belongs to. When the capacity level based on the detection result is, for example, medium, the operation of the balance chart in the normal dehydration step is performed by changing the rotation number of the drum 3 from 50 rpm according to the drum rotation number and the rotation time of the medium capacity part shown in FIG. Rotate so as to increase sequentially to 130 rpm.

During this operation, if the vibration level of the water tank 2 detected by the vibration detecting means 19 is equal to or less than a predetermined allowable value, the water tank 2 is rotated at a high speed (for example, 800 to 100).
0 rpm). While the drum 3 is being rotated at this high speed for a predetermined time, the washing liquid contained in the laundry is collected from the laundry by the action of the centrifugal force to the bottom of the water tub 2 via the drum 3, The water is discharged outside the machine through the drain valve 12 and the drain hose 18.

However, if the vibration level of the water tank 2 detected by the vibration detecting means 19 is equal to or higher than the allowable value, the rotation of the drum 3 is stopped or reduced to a low speed, and then the same balance chart is obtained again. It is driven based on. If the vibration level of the water tank 2 does not become lower than the allowable value even after this process is repeated a predetermined number of times, the operation of the drum 3 is repeated again from the beginning of the rinsing step subjected to the tumbling action.

On the other hand, at the start of dehydration immediately before the drying step, even if the vibration level of the water tank 2 is lower than the allowable value when the drum 3 is rotated at a high speed, the drum 3 is not shifted to the high-speed rotation without elasticity. A relatively long time (for example, 10 seconds or more) at an intermediate speed between the resonance speed of the supported water tub 2 and the high-speed speed of the drum 3, so that the degree of dehydration of the laundry becomes about 45%. Then, after the rotation of the drum 3 is temporarily stopped, the drum 3 is shifted to high-speed rotation by the above process (see FIG. 6).

When the dehydration immediately before the drying step is performed by the above-described process, the laundry is removed from the inner periphery of the drum 3 in comparison with the case where the wet laundry is dehydrated at once using a centrifugal force as in a normal dehydration step. It is possible to prevent the dough from sticking strongly to the wall surface, to facilitate tumbling when moving to the drying process, to improve the drying efficiency, and to reduce the ratio of wrinkles remaining on the laundry after drying is completed. it can.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained. In the drum-type washing and drying machine according to the first aspect, the rotation of the drum at the time of normal dehydration start-up is performed based on the balance chart corresponding to the capacity level of the laundry to be detected detected by the capacity detection unit. The articles to be washed are evenly stuck on the inner peripheral surface of the drum, so that imbalance is less likely to occur. For this reason, it is not only possible to reduce the weight of the product by eliminating the necessity of the vibration-proof weight attached to the water tank, but also to reduce the vibration of the drum and the water tank and to reduce the generation of noise. .

In the drum-type washing and drying machine according to the second aspect, even if the frequency of the water tub is lower than the allowable value at the time of the dehydration start immediately before the drying step, the rotation at the intermediate rotation speed is performed without shifting to the high speed rotation. Since the process is inserted, tumbling is easily performed when the process shifts to the drying process, so that the drying efficiency is improved and wrinkles remaining on the laundry after the drying is completed can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified plan view showing an attached state of a vibration detecting means.

FIG. 3 is an example of a balance chart showing a relationship between a drum rotation speed and a rotation time corresponding to a capacity level of a laundry;

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing an example of an operation state of the drum type washing and drying machine.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing a part of an operation state during normal dehydration.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing a portion of an operation state during dehydration immediately before a drying step.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the number of rotations of the drum and a state in which the laundry is attached to the inner surface of the drum.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer box 2 Water tank 3 Drum 3a Drum shaft 4 Support spring 7 Damper 14 Drive motor 19 Vibration detection means 20 Control circuit 21 Capacity detection means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical display location D06F 58/02 D06F 58/02 Q

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A water tank supported in a housing so as to absorb vibration, a drum rotatably supported around a drum axis horizontal to the water tank, and having a number of small holes formed in a peripheral side wall. A driving motor rotating at a plurality of low-speed rotation speeds for washing, rinsing and drying and a high-speed rotation speed for dehydration, and a plurality of balance rotation speeds therebetween; a drying unit for the laundry; Capacity detection means for detecting the capacity of
Vibration detecting means for detecting vibration of the water tank, and a plurality of balance charts stored in advance, and one of the plurality of balance charts corresponding to the size of the detected capacity detected by the capacity detecting means at the start of dehydration. Is selected, and the drum is rotated along the selection balance chart. If the vibration frequency of the water tank detected by the vibration detecting means at the time is equal to or less than the allowable value, the drum is directly shifted to high-speed rotation. If it exceeds, stop or decelerate to low-speed rotation and operate according to the selection balance chart again.If the frequency of the water tank does not become lower than the allowable value even if these operations are repeated a predetermined number of times, the drum is rinsed again. And a control means for instructing a drive motor to operate so as to operate the drum type washer / dryer. 2. The control means according to claim 1, wherein at the time of dehydration start immediately before the drying step, even if the vibration frequency of the water tank is below the allowable value, the drum does not shift to the high-speed rotation as it is, and the resonance of the elastically supported water tank is performed. The drum type washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the drum type washing / drying machine is operated at an intermediate rotation speed between the rotation speed and the high-speed rotation speed of the drum, and thereafter instructs the drive motor to operate to shift the drum to the high-speed rotation speed.