JP4275160B2 - Drum washing machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum-type washing machine having a drum that rotates about a horizontal axis or an inclined axis. In general, drum-type washing machines are often capable of continuously performing from washing to drying, but the drum-type washing machine referred to here may not be capable of drying.

Conventionally, a drum-type washing machine has a configuration in which a cylindrical bowl-shaped drum is rotatably arranged in an outer tub around a horizontal axis, and the drum is rotated while water is stored in the outer tub. By washing the laundry contained in the drum. In order to put laundry in and out of the drum of such a drum type washing machine, it is necessary to open a side-opening door provided on the front panel of the washing machine, and the user bends under normal installation conditions. It was necessary to take an unreasonable posture such as drooping and bending the waist. On the other hand, in recent years, a drum-type washing machine having a configuration in which the front portion of the drum is inclined obliquely upward so that the laundry can be taken in and out in a more comfortable posture is commercially available.
JP 2000-342880 A

  In a washing machine with the drum tilted as described above, if the drum is rotated relatively slowly during the washing operation, the rinsing operation, and the drying operation, the laundry is moved downwardly by gravity, that is, at the back of the drum. There is a tendency to come closer to. However, the drum-type washing machine having the conventional configuration does not give any particular consideration to the side of the laundry, and a large amount of the laundry that has been offset cannot be sufficiently stirred, which makes it easy to wash. Insufficient or uneven washing may occur.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing machine having a configuration in which a drum is arranged so as to be tilted forward and inclined, due to the deviation of the laundry. It is an object of the present invention to provide a drum-type washing machine that can avoid a decrease in performance that is easy to wash.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 includes an outer box having a garment input port on a front surface portion, an inner box provided inside the outer box, and the front surface portion being open relative to the garment input port. An outer tub, a bearing provided in the outer tub, a shaft body rotatably supported by the bearing, a peripheral surface having a substantially cylindrical shape, and one end of the shaft body fixed to a rear end surface thereof, and a front end surface thereof In a drum-type washing machine comprising a drum having an opening for putting clothes in,
The drum is disposed so as to rise forward so that the central axis of the drum is inclined by 5 to 30 ° with respect to a horizontal line, and a baffle for scraping the laundry is disposed from the inner peripheral surface of the drum to the center. Protruding on the axis side ,
The baffle is shaped so that its bottom surface follows the inner peripheral surface of the drum, and the baffle extends from the rear end to the front end so that the top surface is substantially horizontal when positioned at the bottom of the drum. The shape is inclined so that the front end side is lower with respect to the bottom surface.
It is characterized by that.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the drum type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the separation distance between the front edge of the top surface of the baffle and the front end surface of the drum is the rear edge of the top surface of the baffle. And a rear end surface of the drum.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the drum type washing machine according to the first or second aspect, an auxiliary baffle that stirs the laundry that is offset so as to protrude forward and stick to the rear end surface of the rear end surface of the drum. Provided,
The auxiliary baffle is provided at a position that does not coincide with the mounting position of the baffle in the circumferential direction of the drum.

According to the drum type washing machine of the first aspect, the drum is disposed so as to incline downward from the front end surface side toward the rear end surface side. When rotating around the shaft at a relatively low speed, the laundry accommodated in the drum gradually moves along the inclination and moves toward the rear end face. However, the baffle provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum has a top surface extending from the rear end to the front end so that the top surface is substantially horizontal when positioned at the bottom of the drum . The baffle protrudes continuously toward the rear side of the drum, and the baffle rotates the drum even if the laundry concentrates behind the drum. Accordingly, the laundry can be lifted upward, and the entire laundry can be appropriately stirred without leading it forward more than necessary. Thereby, it is easy to wash, deficiency or unevenness of drying is reduced, and high washing performance, rinsing performance, or drying performance can be ensured.

  In the drum type washing machine according to the first aspect, since the amount of protrusion of the baffle is small on the front end surface side of the drum, the baffle is used when the user puts in and out the laundry through the opening provided on the front end surface of the drum. This also has the effect that the laundry can be taken in and out easily.

  Furthermore, as described above, since the protrusion amount of the baffle is small on the drum front end side where the amount of the laundry is relatively small, the contact area between the laundry and the baffle is small in this portion, and the laundry There is also an accompanying effect that there is little fabric damage.

  Further, according to the drum type washing machine according to claim 2, the laundry is not easily caught in the gap between the rear edge portion of the top surface of the baffle and the rear end surface of the drum, and the laundry is reliably stirred. In addition, it is easy to take out the laundry when taking it out, and the damage to the laundry can be reduced.

  Furthermore, according to the drum type washing machine of the third aspect, even if the amount of laundry contained in the drum is large and the laundry cannot be sufficiently stirred only by the baffles provided on the peripheral surface, The baffle can be used to reliably agitate the laundry so as to eliminate uneven washing, excessive unevenness, and dry unevenness. In addition, since this auxiliary baffle is provided in the position which does not correspond with the attachment position of the said baffle in the circumferential direction of the drum, the stirring effect can be further enhanced.

  A drum type washing machine according to an embodiment of the first to third inventions will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side longitudinal sectional view showing an overall configuration of a drum type washing machine of the present embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “first embodiment”), and FIG. 2 is a front longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the drum type washing machine.

  The outer box 1 that forms the outer shape of the drum type washing machine has a front surface portion 1a that faces obliquely upward, and a substantially circular clothing input port 1b is formed on the front surface portion 1a, through which the inside can be seen through. A lateral opening type door 2 is provided. The upper portion of the front surface portion 1a of the outer box 1 continues to the upper surface portion 1c while curving backward, and an operation panel (not shown) and a detergent container 12a that can be pulled out forward are provided on the curved surface portion 1d.

  Inside the outer box 1, an outer tub 3 having a substantially cylindrical surface (but a part of which is bulged as will be described later) pulls a damper 4 that supports the left and right sides and an upper part. It is held by a spring that does not swing appropriately. The front portion of the outer tub 3 is opened in a circular shape relative to the clothing input port 1b of the outer box 1, and the opening 3a and the clothing input port 1b are connected by a seal member 5 made of an elastic material such as rubber. Has been.

  Inside the outer tub 3, a drum 6 having a substantially cylindrical surface for accommodating laundry is supported by a main shaft 7. That is, the drum 6 is composed of a cylindrical body portion 6a having a large number of water passage holes 6e, a front plate 6b having a circular opening portion 6c for charging clothes, and a rear surface plate 6d. The face plate 6b, the body portion 6a, and the rear face plate 6d are respectively screwed together after being joined by caulking at flanges that protrude from the front edge portion and the rear edge portion. One end of the main shaft 7 is firmly fixed to the rear portion of the rear plate 6 d of the drum 6 and is rotatably supported by a bearing 9 of a bearing fixing member 8 mounted on the rear surface portion of the outer tub 3.

  A rotor 10b of a motor 10 which is an outer rotor type DC brushless motor is attached to an end portion of the main shaft 7 protruding rearward of the rear surface portion 3c of the outer tub 3, while a stator 10a of the motor 10 is attached to the bearing fixing member 8. Is fixed. The rotor 10b including the permanent magnet is disposed so as to surround the outer peripheral side of the stator 10a including the winding, and thus the motor 10 has a thin structure in the extending direction of the main shaft 7. When a drive current is supplied to the stator 10a from a control circuit (not shown), the rotor 10b rotates and the drum 6 is rotationally driven via the main shaft 7 at the same rotational speed as the rotor 10b.

  As apparent from FIG. 1, the outer tub 3 in which the drum 6 is housed rises forward so that the central axis C of the drum 6 (which coincides with the central axis of the main shaft 7) is inclined with respect to the horizontal line H by a predetermined angle θ. It is arranged with an inclination. Here, the inclination angle θ is set to about 5 to 30 °, for example. Although the inclination of the front portion 1a of the outer box 1 is formed according to the inclination of the outer tub 3 and the drum 6, it does not necessarily have to be the same angle.

  A water supply unit 11 including a water supply valve, a bath water supply pump, and the like is disposed in the upper space in the outer box 1. The water supply unit 11 includes a water supply hose 11 a leading to an external water tap, A bath water supply hose (not shown) or the like leading to a bath tub is detachably connected. In front of the water supply unit 11, there is provided a detergent charging unit 12 in which the detergent container 12 a can be pulled out. Water supplied from the water supply unit 11 to the detergent charging unit 12 is connected to the bottom of the detergent charging unit 12. Through the water injection pipe 12b, the water is supplied from the water injection port 13 provided in front of the outer tank 3 into the outer tank 3. At that time, for example, at the time of water supply in the washing process, powder detergent or liquid detergent previously stored in the detergent container 12a flows out into the water 3 and is supplied into the outer tub 3, for example, at the time of water supply in the final rinse process. A softening finish or the like previously stored in the detergent container 12 a flows out into the water and is supplied into the outer tub 3.

  When water is supplied from the water supply unit 11 into the outer tub 3 and stored in the outer tub 3, the water flows into the drum 6 through the water passage hole 6e. Further, water discharged from the laundry in the drum 6 at the time of dehydration is scattered to the outer tub 3 side through the water passage hole 6e. A drain outlet 14 is provided behind the bottom of the outer tub 3, and the drain outlet 14 is connected to the inlet of the drain valve 15. When the drain valve 15 is opened, the water stored in the outer tub 3 is It is discharged out of the machine through the drain pipe 16.

  Three main baffles 20 are provided around the main shaft 7 while maintaining a rotation angle of 120 ° on the inner peripheral side of the drum portion 6 a of the drum 6, and the main baffle 20 is located at the bottom in the drum 6. The top surface of the drum 6 is formed so as to be substantially horizontal (that is, parallel to the horizontal line H) so that the top surface is high and the front surface side is low. That is, as is clear from FIG. 1, the bottom surface of the main baffle 20 extends back and forth along the inner peripheral surface of the drum 6. The top surface is continuously (linearly) inclined from the rear end portion to the front end portion so that the front end side is lower than the bottom surface. The front edge surface and the rear edge surface of the main baffle 20 are slanted. The distances Lf and Lb between the corners of the top surface and the front plate 6b and the rear plate 6d of the drum 6 are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, it is wider on the front side than the rear side (that is, Lf> Lb). Furthermore, an auxiliary baffle 21 protruding forward is provided inside the rear plate 6d of the drum 6 at an intermediate rotational position (that is, an angular position of about 60 °) between the adjacent main baffles 20. The operation of the main baffle 20 and the auxiliary baffle 21 will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the drum type washing machine, the side peripheral surface of the outer tub 3 is generally cylindrical, but the lower right portion is a circle centered on the central axis C (A in FIG. 2). It has a shape in which the bottom portion is formed in a flat shape by bulging outward from the circle shown). A heater 30, which is a sheathed heater for heating water, is disposed in the bulging portion 3 d of the outer tub 3.

  3A and 3B are detailed views showing the mounting structure of the heater, in which FIG. 3A is a top view and FIG. 3B is a side view. A heater holder 31 is fixed to the non-heat generating portion 30 a at the base of the substantially U-shaped heater 30, and the tip portion is held by a holder 32. The heater holder 31 is fixed to the rear surface portion 3c of the outer tub 3 via a water-tight seal member, and the heater 30 is disposed so as to be inclined substantially parallel to the bottom of the outer tub 3.

  At the time of washing operation or rinsing operation, the outer tub 3 stores at least water enough to immerse the entire heater 30, and a heating current is supplied to the heater 30 from the outside. As a result, the stored water can be warmed to promote the dissolution of the detergent, and the effect of removing dirt can be obtained.

  Conventionally, the minimum value of the separation distance from the floor 50 is determined for the position of the heater 30 in order to ensure safety. When the heater 30 is installed in the bulging portion 3d of the outer tub 3 as in this drum-type washing machine, the heater 30 comes to a position higher than the bottom of the outer tub 3, so that the outer tub 3 Unlike the case where the heater is provided in a portion that is further recessed by one step from the bottom, it is not necessary to raise the entire outer tub 3 in order to secure the separation distance between the heater 30 and the floor surface 50 as described above. Therefore, the overall height of the washing machine can be reduced, and the upper space of the washing machine can be cleaned and effectively used. Further, since the lower side of the bulging portion 3d of the outer tub 3 becomes flat, the outer tub 3 can be stably fixed on the outer tub fixing plate 17.

  Next, the operation of the main baffle 20 and the auxiliary baffle 21 during the washing operation and the rinsing operation in the drum type washing machine will be described.

  Before starting washing, the user opens the door 2 and puts the laundry into the drum 6. In the drum type washing machine, the opening 6c and the clothes slot 1b of the drum 6 are directed obliquely upward, so that the user can easily store the laundry in the drum 6 without taking an unreasonable posture. Can do. At this time, even if the user leans forward in the drum 6 and stores the laundry, when the laundry operation is started and the drum 6 is driven to rotate, the laundry in the drum 6 gradually moves along the inclination. It tends to move rearward and concentrate on the rear part in the drum 6. That is, during the washing operation and the rinsing operation (and also during the drying operation), the number of laundry is small on the front side of the drum 6 and a large amount of laundry is shifted to the rear side.

  In this drum type washing machine, since the main baffle 20 has a height from the inner surface of the body portion 6a on the rear side, more laundry can be scraped upward on the rear side. Yes. That is, even when a large amount of laundry has moved to the rear side of the drum 6 as described above, the laundry can be sufficiently stirred, and washing unevenness, excessive unevenness, and drying unevenness can be eliminated. Can do. Further, the laundry that is offset so as to stick to the rear plate 6d of the drum 6 is not easily stirred by the main baffle 20, but is reliably stirred by the auxiliary baffle 21 protruding forward from the rear plate 6d. Therefore, the entire laundry accommodated in the drum 6 is sufficiently agitated, so that it is possible to eliminate uneven washing, excessive unevenness, and drying unevenness.

  Further, since the main baffle 20 is low on the front side in the drum 6, the main baffle 20 does not get in the way when the laundry is put in and out of the clothes insertion port 1 b. Further, since the distance Lf on the front side of the drum 6 is larger than the distance Lb on the rear side, it is difficult for the laundry to enter the gap on the rear side. Therefore, the laundry sandwiched between the gaps when the laundry is taken out. The trouble of taking out can be reduced.

  Thus, the drum type washing machine of the first embodiment can provide the user with high performance and ease of use. In addition, as described above, the height of the washing machine can be reduced and the upper space can be used widely, and it can be installed without hiding the window even in a place with a window on the upper part.

  Next, an embodiment of a drum-type washing machine according to the fourth invention (hereinafter referred to as “second embodiment”) will be described with reference to FIGS. The same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted unless particularly described.

  In this drum type washing machine, the outer tub 3 does not have a bulging portion, and its peripheral surface has a substantially complete cylindrical shape. The difference from the first embodiment is the shape of the heater 40 and its installation position. That is, the heater 40 for heating water has an arc shape as shown in FIG. 5, and stands along the rear surface portion 3 c of the outer tub 3 with its root held at the bottom of the outer tub 3. It is installed. Also in this case, the uppermost part of the heater 40 is always set to be lower than the lowest water level L set in the outer tub 3 (that is, the drum 6) during the washing operation or the rinsing operation.

  Even in the configuration of the second embodiment, since the heater 40 is located at a position higher than the bottom of the outer tub 3, when the heater is provided in a portion that is further recessed from the bottom of the outer tub 3 as in the prior art. Unlike the above, it is not necessary to raise the entire outer tub 3 in order to secure a separation distance between the heater 40 and the floor surface 50. Therefore, the overall height of the washing machine can be reduced, and the upper space of the washing machine can be cleaned and effectively used. Further, in this configuration, it is not necessary to provide the bulging portion 3d in the outer tub 3 as in the first embodiment, and the amount of water stored in the outer tub 3 can be reduced when the basin is easily washed. Of course, a bulging portion may be provided to stably fix the outer tub 3 on the outer tub fixing plate 17.

  It should be noted that each of the above embodiments is an example of the present invention, and it is obvious that changes and modifications can be made as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

Side surface longitudinal cross-sectional view of the drum type washing machine by one Example (1st Example) of the 1st-3rd invention. The front longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part of the drum type washing machine of 1st Example. It is detail drawing which shows the attachment structure of the heater in the drum type washing machine of 1st Example, (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view. Side surface longitudinal cross-sectional view of the drum type washing machine by one Example (2nd Example) of 4th invention. The front longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part of the drum type washing machine of 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outer box 1a ... Front part 1b ... Clothes input 1c ... Upper surface part 1d ... Curved surface part 2 ... Door 3 ... Outer tub 3a ... Opening part 3c ... Rear surface part 3d ... Bumping part 4 ... Damper 5 ... Sealing member 6 ... Drum 6a ... Body 6b ... Front plate 6c ... Opening 6d ... Rear plate 6e ... Water hole 7 ... Main shaft 8 ... Bearing fixing member 9 ... Bearing 10 ... Motor 10a ... Stator 10b ... Rotor 11 ... Water supply part 11a ... Water supply water supply Hose 12 ... Detergent input part 12a ... Detergent container 12b ... Water injection pipe 13 ... Water injection port 14 ... Drainage port 15 ... Drainage valve 16 ... Drainage pipe 17 ... Outer tank fixing plate 20 ... Main baffle 21 ... Auxiliary baffles 30, 40 ... Heater 30a ... Non-heating part 31 ... Heater holder 32 ... Holder 50 ... Floor

Claims (3)

An outer box having a clothing input port on the front surface, an outer tub provided inside the outer box and having a front surface opened relative to the clothing input port, a bearing provided in the outer tub, and rotation by the bearing In a drum-type washing machine comprising: a shaft body that is freely supported; and a drum having a substantially cylindrical peripheral surface, one end of the shaft body being fixed to the rear end surface thereof, and a front end surface having an opening for putting in clothes. ,
The drum is disposed so as to rise forward so that the central axis of the drum is inclined by 5 to 30 ° with respect to a horizontal line, and a baffle for scraping the laundry is disposed from the inner peripheral surface of the drum to the center. Protruding on the axis side ,
The baffle is shaped so that its bottom surface follows the inner peripheral surface of the drum, and the baffle extends from the rear end to the front end so that the top surface is substantially horizontal when positioned at the bottom of the drum. A shape that is inclined so that the front end side is lower than the bottom surface,
A drum-type washing machine characterized by that.
  The separation distance between the front edge portion of the top surface of the baffle and the front end surface of the drum is larger than the separation distance between the rear edge portion of the top surface of the baffle and the rear end surface of the drum. 2. A drum-type washing machine according to 1. Provided on the rear end surface of the drum is an auxiliary baffle that stirs the laundry that is offset so as to protrude forward and stick to the rear end surface;
The drum type washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the auxiliary baffle is provided at a position that does not coincide with a mounting position of the baffle in a circumferential direction of the drum.

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