JP3223309B2 - Dehydrator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dehydrator used for dehydrating clothes, and more particularly to a dehydrator capable of locking a lid of an opening for taking in and out of clothes in a closed state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A main body having an opening for taking clothes in and out of an internal dehydration tub, a lid which can be freely opened and closed with respect to the opening are provided, and the main body is provided with a receiving member. The lid is provided with a latch which can be freely engaged with and disengaged from the above-mentioned receiving member when the lid is closed with respect to the main body.
Further, the main body is provided with a switch that is operated by the latch when the latch is engaged with the catch (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-177461).

In such a device, when clothes are put in and the lid is closed and a latch is hooked on the receiver, the lid can be locked in a closed state, and the switch is operated to obtain a signal confirming the lock. Therefore, if the operation of the dehydrator is started by the signal, it is safe because dehydration is started only when the lid is prevented from being carelessly opened.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional dehydrator, since the main body has a switch as described above, clothes to be put in through the opening are caught by the switch, and the switch is easily operated by mistake. In this case, the garment that activated the switch is still protruding from the edge of the opening, and if you close the lid and operate the latch without knowing that, the closure of the lid is incomplete and the lock has not been made Nevertheless, there is a problem that the dehydration tub rotates at high speed and is dangerous because the lock confirmation signal is obtained from the switch.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems (technical problems) of the prior art, and provides a dehydrator in which an erroneous lock signal is not generated when the lock of the lid is uncertain. It is intended to be.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a dehydrator according to the present invention comprises a main body having an opening through which clothes are taken in and out of an internal dehydration tub, and an opening and closing of the opening. The lid has an engaging member, and the main body is freely engaged with and disengaged from the engaging member to lock the closed state of the lid when the lid is closed. In the dehydrator provided with the lock member described above, the lock confirmation is made inside the lid and at a place operated by the lock member when the lid is closed and the lock member is engaged with the engagement member. The movable part of the switch is arranged.

[0007]

When the lid is closed and the lock member is engaged with the engagement member, the lid can be locked in the closed state, and a switch is operated by the lock member to obtain a lock confirmation signal. In this case, if the closed state of the lid is incomplete, the lock member does not engage with the engagement member and locking is not achieved. Further, since the lock member does not reach the correct lock position, the switch is not operated and the lock confirmation signal is not issued.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. In FIG. 1, a dehydrator 1 has a well-known configuration, 2 is a main body, 3 is an opening for putting clothes in and out of an internal dehydration tank 7, 4 is a water receiving basket, 5 is a drain port, and 6 is a dewatering port. The drive motors 8 of the water tank 7 are lids that can be freely opened and closed with respect to the opening 3. Reference numeral 9 denotes the presence of a lock device provided in the main body 2, and reference numeral 10 denotes the presence of a lock confirmation switch provided in the lid 8.

FIG. 2 showing the lock device 9 and the lock confirmation switch 10 in detail will be described. Reference numeral 11 denotes a base frame of the lock device, and reference numeral 12 denotes a mounting hole, which is mounted on the main body 2 using a mounting tool (not shown). Next, a lock member 13 has an engagement claw 14 at one end, and the engagement claw 14 is turned into an arrow 14a through an access hole 2b formed in the upper plate 2a of the main body 2.
The other end is pivotally attached to the base frame 11 with a pin 15 so that it can freely enter and exit in the direction. Reference numeral 16 denotes a lever integrally formed with the lock member 13 provided to allow the lock member 13 to be operated by a drive mechanism described below, and includes a projection 17 for following the drive mechanism. Reference numeral 18 denotes a tension spring for causing the lever 16 to follow the drive mechanism. Next, reference numeral 19 denotes a drive mechanism for driving the lock member 13, which is constituted by a geared motor 20 attached to the base frame 11 and a drive cam 21 attached to its output shaft 20a as an example. Reference numeral 20b denotes a terminal of the geared motor, and reference numerals 21a and 21b denote a low step portion for locking and a high step portion for release in the cam 21, respectively. The drive mechanism 19 uses a well-known rotary solenoid whose output shaft is reciprocally rotatable.
13 bases may be attached. Alternatively, the lock member 13 may be connected to a handle separately provided on the outer surface of the main body 2, and the lock member may be manually operated via the handle. Next, 23 is a microswitch for switching the operation of the drive mechanism 19 to an operation for locking and an operation for releasing,
It has a well-known configuration including a normally-open terminal 23a, a normally-closed terminal 23b, a common terminal 23c, and a driven part 24 which can be moved in and out.

Next, the side of the lid 8 will be described. Reference numeral 26 denotes an engaging member for engaging the lock member. A hole 27 for engaging claw entry is formed in the casing 8a of the lid 8 at a position facing the hole 2b for entry and exit. Part. The engaging member may be separately provided for engaging and disengaging the engaging claw 14, and may be mounted in the casing 8a. The lock confirmation switch 10 has a contact spring plate 28 as a movable part,
It has a well-known configuration comprising a fixed spring plate 29 opposed thereto, and contacts 28a, 29a attached thereto and a holder 30 for holding both contact spring plates. A contact spring plate 29 functioning as a movable portion thereof is arranged at a position facing the hole 27 so as to be actuated as shown in FIG. 4 by the engagement claws 14 entering the inside of the lid 8. A known switch such as another micro switch having a movable portion may be used as the switch.

Next, FIG. 5 showing the circuit of the dehydrator will be described. 31 is a power plug, 32 is a time switch for controlling the operation of the dehydrator, 33 is a relay for giving a lock command and a release command to the drive mechanism 19 in accordance with ON / OFF of the time switch 32, and a coil 34 and responsive thereto. Changeover switch 35
And a well-known configuration comprising:

Next, a description will be given of an operation in the case where the clothes are dehydrated by the dehydrator 1 and an operation of each part in that case. When the time switch 32 is off and the lid 8 is open, the circuit is in the state shown in FIG. 5A and the lock device 9 is in the state shown in FIG. In this state, the wet clothes are put into the dehydration tub 7 through the opening 3 and the lid 8 is closed (see FIG. 3). Next, when the time switch 32 is set to a desired time and the switch is closed as shown in FIG. 5B, the switch 35 is switched as shown in FIG. Power is supplied to the normally closed terminal 23b of the switch 23. The cam 21 is moved by the operation of the geared motor 20 by the energization as shown in FIG.
Starts rotating in the direction of arrow 21c, and then the protrusions as shown in FIG.
17 comes into contact with the low step portion 21a for locking. As a result, the lock member 13 moves as shown in FIG. 4 to reach the lock position, that is, the engagement claws 14 enter the inside of the lid 8 through the holes 2b and 27, and engage with the engagement members 26. The movable part 29 of the switch 10
Is operated by the engaging claw 14 to obtain a lock confirmation signal from the switch 10. In the case of this example, as is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5C, the conduction of the switch 10 obtains the above confirmation signal, and the energization of the drive motor 6 is started. When the drive motor 6 is energized, the dewatering tank 7 rotates as is well known, and a dewatering operation is performed. The rotation of the cam 21 is further continued. When the cam 21 is rotated to the position indicated by a two-dot chain line indicated by reference numeral 21 'in FIG. 4, the driven portion 24 of the switch 23 is pushed by the high step portion 21b, and the switch 23 5D, the power supply to the motor 20 is stopped, and the rotation of the cam 21 is stopped.

Next, when the set time of the time switch 32 elapses and it is opened as shown in FIG. 5E, the power supply to the drive motor 6 is stopped and the rotation of the spin tub 7 is stopped. In addition, since the energization of the coil 34 of the relay 33 is also stopped, the changeover switch 35 is switched as shown in FIG. 5E, and energization is performed to the normally open terminal 23a of the changeover switch 23 as a release command for the lock device 9. . By the operation of the motor 20 by this energization, the cam 21 rotates from the position indicated by reference numeral 21 'in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 3, and the lock member 13 reaches the release position. That is, the engaging claw 14 is detached from the engaging member 26 and sinks into the hole 2b of the main body 2. The driven portion 24 of the switch 23 returns to the protruding state, the changeover switch 23 returns to the state as shown in FIG. 5A, and the operation of the motor 20 stops.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the clothes are to be dehydrated, the clothes are put into the dehydration tank 7 through the opening 3, the lid 8 is closed, and the lock member 13 is engaged with the engagement member 26. When combined, the lid 8 can be locked in the closed state, and a signal confirming that the lid 8 has been locked can be obtained from the switch 10.

In the present invention, the switch 10
Is provided inside the lid 8, so that it is not erroneously operated by the garment when the garment is put into the dewatering tub 7, and when the garment is put in, the garment protrudes to the edge of the opening 3 and the lid 8 Even if the lock member 13 is operated in the state where the closing state of the lock member is incomplete and the lock member 13 is operated in the state, since the lock member 13 does not reach an accurate locking position with respect to the lid,
There is a feature that the lock confirmation signal is not generated even before the operation of the lock 10 is started. As a result, there is safety that can prevent a risk that the spin-drying operation is performed by mistake while the lid is not completely locked.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vertical cross section of a dehydrator.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the lock device (the main body and the lid show a broken state).

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a state in which a lid is closed.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a locked state.

FIGS. 5A to 5E are circuit diagrams for explaining the operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Body 3 Opening 7 Dehydration tub 8 Lid 9 Lock device 10 Lock confirmation switch 13 Lock member 26 Engagement member

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main body having an opening for taking clothes in and out of a dehydration tub therein, and a lid which can be freely opened and closed with respect to the opening, wherein the lid has an engaging member, In the dehydrator in which the main body is provided with a locking member that is capable of being disengaged and engaged with the engaging member in order to lock the closed state of the lid when the lid is closed, And a movable part of a lock confirmation switch is arranged at a place operated by the lock member when the lid is closed and the lock member is engaged with the engagement member.