JP4457089B2 - Automatic powder detergent supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically supplying a granular detergent to a washing tank of a washing apparatus such as an automatic dishwashing apparatus.

  Conventionally, various techniques for automatically supplying a granular detergent used for cleaning have been developed in order to automate a cleaning operation in an automatic dishwasher or the like.

  A first conventional example of this automatic supply device for granular detergent is a cartridge container containing powdered detergent as disclosed in Patent Document 1, and a granular or solidified detergent in the container is sprayed with water. This is an automatic detergent supply device that consists of a water jet nozzle that is applied or melted at a point.

The second conventional example is such that a detergent supply adjusting unit for a horizontal detergent screw is provided at the lower part of a reservoir (also referred to as a hopper) for containing the granular detergent as disclosed in Patent Document 2. is there. In this apparatus, the granular detergent is supplied into the mixer by rotation of the screw from the reservoir into the mixer provided at the lower part thereof, and the supplied granular detergent is supplied to the aqueous solution or detergent by the water flow along the inner wall surface of the mixer. And a mixture of detergent and water, and this detergent aqueous solution or a mixture of detergent and water is supplied to the washing tank of the washing apparatus.
Japanese National Patent Publication No. 9-504098 JP 2002-320584 A

  However, in the first conventional apparatus, when the spray water collides with the granular or solidified detergent in the cartridge container, a part of the spray water penetrates deep into the granular detergent remaining in the cartridge container. Resulting in. The amount of penetration increases as the number of sprays increases, and some components of the granular detergent in the cartridge container decompose when wet with water, or the solidification becomes more difficult to dissolve and the detergent The concentration (detergent supply amount) cannot be kept constant, resulting in inconveniences such as inconvenience in cleaning or a reduction in cleaning power.

  In the second conventional apparatus, since the granular detergent in the reservoir is supplied into the mixer by a screw, the supply amount can be made constant, but the avalanche phenomenon is prevented by the horizontal screw, the supply amount In order to stabilize the screw, a certain screw length is required, a long shape is required in the lateral direction, and the lateral width of the apparatus is large. In other words, since it was configured to supply the granular detergent between the screws after having sufficiently spread the granular detergent around the screw using a long screw, the width of the entire device is increased by installing a long screw. There was an inconvenience. In addition, when the granular detergent absorbs moisture and hardens, the load torque applied to the screw increases, and rotation may be hindered or locked.

  Further, in this screw type supply device, the shape of the reservoir (hopper) is horizontally long, so that the downward flow of natural gravity in the reservoir of the granular detergent is not uniform, and a forced vibration device such as a vibrator Needed separately.

  In the mixer of the granular detergent and tap water (which may be hot water supply) of this apparatus, there is a concern that when the granular detergent adheres to the inner wall of the mixer, it sticks to the inner wall and accumulates. If the granular detergent accumulates on the inner wall, mixing with water may be hindered or the outflow of the detergent solution may be clogged.

  This screw-type feeder is vulnerable to the phenomenon of large chunks being bitten. Therefore, it is conceivable that the screw is reversely rotated to release the bite. However, when the screw is reversely rotated, the granular detergent flows backward, so that the reverse rotation cannot be performed.

  Further, the screw is difficult to be injection-molded, and mass production is difficult, so that the cost is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the actual situation, and can be designed compactly with a simple configuration, and can automatically supply the granular detergent without solidifying the granular detergent. The object is to provide a device.

An automatic powder detergent supply device of the present invention for solving the above problems includes a hopper for storing a certain amount of powder detergent, a detergent supply unit for supplying a predetermined amount of powder detergent from the hopper, and the detergent supply. A mixing chamber in which the granular detergent supplied from the unit is mixed with water to form a detergent aqueous solution or a mixture of the detergent and water, and the detergent aqueous solution or the mixture of the detergent and water is put into the washing tank from the mixing chamber. The detergent supply unit is formed into a circular dish with a bottom lid with an opening formed on the outer periphery, and is fixed so as to close the lower end opening of the hopper, below the lower end opening of the hopper. of on detergent supply unit, the impeller becomes is provided with a drive shaft along the direction of gravity particulate detergent falls by its own weight in the hopper, impeller, tooth tip of the tooth from the tooth grooves of the tooth root Tapered tooth groove that expands into the groove Adapted to form a tooth, granular detergent between tooth from the gap between the lower end opening of the hopper is supplied, the mixing chamber has, in its upper part, through the opening of the detergent supply unit impeller A driven gear that freely meshes with the wheel is provided, and the driven gear matches the pitch of the impeller, but forms sufficient play between the tooth grooves of the impeller to form rod-like teeth that engage the teeth. Therefore, the granular detergent filled between the gear teeth of the impeller from the hopper by its own weight is supplied to the opening of the detergent supply unit by the rotation of the impeller, and the mixing chamber is scraped into the mixing chamber by the driven gear at this opening. It was made to be issued.

  Further, in the automatic powder detergent supply device, the upper part of the hopper is formed in a square bowl shape, the lower part is formed in a funnel shape of an inverted truncated cone, and the side inclined angle of the lower part in the funnel shape is the repose of the powder detergent. An angle exceeding the angle (about 40 °) is provided, and an agitating blade that rotates with the impeller and agitates the inner surface of the funnel-shaped hopper is provided at the top of the impeller.

  Furthermore, in the above powder detergent automatic supply device, the upper part of the mixing chamber has a long cylindrical shape, the lower part has a funnel shape, and tap water is injected into the mixing chamber near the boundary between the cylindrical part and the funnel part. The nozzle of the part is provided in a tangential direction with respect to the cylinder.

  Further, in the automatic powder detergent supply device, the impeller is intermittently rotated forward and backward by the control of the drive motor by the control circuit.

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects are exhibited. In the present invention, the granular detergent filled between the tooth spaces of the impeller by its own weight from the hopper is supplied from the detergent supply unit to the mixing chamber by rotation of the impeller, and is driven by a driven gear meshing with the impeller in the mixing chamber. Can be scraped. Therefore, even if the granular detergent absorbs moisture and becomes a little hard, a predetermined amount of the granular detergent can be stably supplied. Further, since the hardened granular detergent is supplied while being crushed, it exerts remarkable effects such as an action of promoting water dissolution of the detergent. Moreover, since the gravity fall of the granular detergent from a hopper is only supplied adjusting with an impeller and a driven gear, it can be comprised easily. In addition, since the impeller has a drive shaft along the gravity direction of the granular detergent that falls by its own weight in the hopper, it can be designed more compactly than a device in which the screw is laid horizontally. it can.

In addition, the upper part of the hopper has a square bowl shape, the lower part has a funnel shape with an inverted truncated cone, and the side inclination angle of the lower part of the funnel shape is an angle exceeding the repose angle (about 40 °) of the granular detergent. At the top of the impeller, by providing a stirring blade that rotates with the impeller and stirs the inner surface of the funnel-shaped hopper, the granular detergent from the hopper can be dropped most efficiently by gravity . Slave I, etc. is not required vibrator for scraping off granular detergents, structure is simple, can be provided an inexpensive supply.

  Furthermore, the upper part of the mixing chamber has a long cylindrical shape, the lower part has a funnel shape, and the nozzle of the tap water introduction part that is injected into the mixing chamber is tangential to the cylinder in the vicinity of the boundary between the cylindrical part and the funnel part. By providing in, the swirl | vortex part of a mixing chamber can be formed in the funnel-shaped part of a mixing chamber, and the granular detergent falling from upper direction can be dissolved efficiently.

  Furthermore, by rotating the impeller intermittently repeating forward and reverse rotations by controlling the drive motor by the control circuit, wear of the impeller is averaged for both forward and reverse rotation. The durability of the impeller and the driven gear meshing with the impeller is improved about twice. In addition, since the forward rotation and the reverse rotation are alternately repeated, for example, even if the rotation is temporarily inhibited due to an overload, the overload state is released at the time of the reverse rotation, and a more stable operation is possible. It shows remarkable effects such as becoming.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a powder detergent automatic supply device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the hopper 2.

  1, 2, and 3, a powder detergent automatic supply device 1 according to the present invention includes a hopper 2 that stores a certain amount of powder detergent and a predetermined amount of powder detergent from the hopper 2 in the cleaning tank A. The detergent supply unit 3 to be supplied to the mixture and the granular detergent supplied from the detergent supply unit 3 are mixed with water to provide a mixing chamber 4 for producing a detergent solution. A device for supplying the mixture into the washing tank A. The detergent supply unit 3 is provided with a petal-like impeller 31 for sending the detergent at the bottom of the hopper 2 and further meshed with the impeller 31 to freely rotate. The driven gear 32 is provided in the upper part of the mixing chamber 4.

  The shape of the hopper 2 is formed in a substantially square bowl shape in the upper part, and the lower part is formed in a funnel shape having an inverted truncated cone, and an opening 20 is formed in the lower end part. The side inclination angle of the funnel-shaped part of the hopper 2 is formed as about 45 ° exceeding the repose angle of about 40 ° of the granular detergent. This hopper 2 is fitted to the upper part of the casing 10 of the powder detergent automatic supply device 1 which is a square tube having a substantially square shape in plan view, and is fixed to the partition plate 11 in the casing 10. An opening 11a that matches the lower end opening 20 of the hopper 2 is perforated in the partition plate 11, and the hopper 2 is fixed to the partition plate 11 so as to match the opening 11a.

  The detergent supply unit 3 is formed in a bottom lid circular dish shape, and is fixed so as to close the lower end opening 20 of the hopper 2. This fixing is performed by fixing to the partition plate 11 from the lower part of the casing 10 of the granular detergent automatic supply apparatus 1. The detergent supply unit 3 is provided with a petal-like impeller 31 for sending out the detergent.

  The impeller 31 has a petal-like tooth shape with a pointed tip portion that is close to substantially zero with respect to the tooth thickness of the tooth base that is sufficiently large. A tapered tooth groove that expands from the groove to the tooth groove of the tooth tip is formed. The impeller 31 is formed so that the diameter of the tooth root is smaller than the opening diameter of the lower end opening 20 of the hopper 2 and the diameter of the tooth tip is larger. Therefore, the granular detergent from the hopper 2 is supplied to the detergent supply unit 3 from the gap between the tooth base of the impeller 31 and the lower end opening 20 of the hopper 2. The impeller 31 is connected to and driven by a drive shaft 33 introduced from the lower end of the detergent supply unit 3. The drive shaft 33 is driven by a drive motor via a gear box 34 having a reduction gear. 35. By driving the drive motor 35, the impeller 31 can be rotated forward and backward.

  A pedestal 36 is provided above the impeller 31, and a stirring blade 37 is fixed to the upper surface of the pedestal 36. The agitating blade 37 is provided at an appropriate distance above the impeller 31 so as to be positioned at a tapered portion of the hopper 2 having a reverse truncated cone shape, and is synchronized with the rotation of the impeller 31. The funnel-shaped inner surface portion in the hopper 2 is agitated. The stirring blade 37 may be a bar or plate that simply stirs the granular detergent in the hopper 2, and forms an upward or downward flow in the granular detergent in the hopper 2. Or a propeller blade adapted to be stirred.

  The outer peripheral portion of the detergent supply unit 3 is cut out at a portion corresponding to a central angle of about 90 degrees to form an opening 30. A driven gear 32 is provided at a position adjacent to the impeller 31 so as to mesh with the impeller 31 exposed through the opening 30.

  The driven gear 32 matches the pitch of the impeller 31, but forms a rod-like tooth that forms a sufficient play between the tooth grooves of the impeller 31 to engage with the teeth. The driven gear 32 is engaged with the impeller 31 so that the granular detergent clogged between the tooth grooves of the impeller 31 can be scraped out by the teeth of the driven gear 32.

  The mixing chamber 4 has a cylindrical shape at the top and a funnel shape at the bottom, and a detergent supply port 40 is formed at the lower end. The mixing chamber 4 is fixed to the partition plate 11 from the lower part of the casing 10 so as to be located immediately below the driven gear 32. The detergent supply port 40 at the lower end of the mixing chamber 4 is fixed to the bottom lid 10a of the casing 10 and protrudes from the bottom lid 10a. The detergent supply port 40 is connected to the hose 5 and led to the cleaning tank A. In the vicinity of the boundary between the cylindrical portion of the mixing chamber 4 and the funnel, a nozzle 41 for injecting tap water into the mixing chamber 4 is provided along the tangential direction of the cylindrical surface in the mixing chamber 4. Thereby, the tap water sprayed from the nozzle 41 can form a vortex in the funnel-shaped part in the mixing chamber 4. The supply of tap water from the nozzle 41 is performed by controlling the opening and closing of the water supply valve 42 by a control circuit (not shown).

  According to the powder detergent automatic supply device 1 configured as described above, the impeller 31 is provided at the bottom of the hopper 2, and a predetermined amount of the powder detergent is supplied to the water and the mixing chamber 4 by the rotation of the impeller 31. At the same time, by providing the driven gear 32 that meshes with the impeller 31 and rotates freely, it acts to scrape out the granular detergent between the blades of the impeller 31, so even if the granular detergent absorbs moisture and becomes slightly hard A predetermined amount of granular detergent can be stably supplied. Further, since the hardened granular detergent is supplied while being crushed, it exerts remarkable effects such as an action of promoting water dissolution of the detergent.

  The hopper 2 has a substantially square bowl shape on the upper side, and a lower side having a funnel shape of about 45 ° beyond the angle of repose of the frustoconical granular detergent. Further, the funnel-shaped inner surface of the hopper 2 is above the impeller 31. Since the stirring blade 37 that stirs the funnel-shaped inner surface of the hopper 2 simultaneously with the rotation of the impeller 31 scrapes the granular detergent like an ant hell, The granular detergent has an action of scraping by the impeller 31 without stagnation. Therefore, a vibrator or the like for scraping off the granular detergent is unnecessary, and a simple and inexpensive supply device can be provided. In the conventional screw type, the shape of the hopper is horizontally long and does not become the shape of the hopper of this patent.

  Mixing and dissolving powder detergent and tap water, and supplying the washing tank A as a detergent solution, the shape of the mixing chamber 4 is a long cylindrical shape in the upper part, the lower part is a funnel shape, and the vicinity of the boundary between the cylindrical part and the funnel shape In addition, a nozzle 41 of a tap water introduction section for injecting into the mixing chamber 4 is provided in a tangential direction with respect to the cylinder, and a swirling flow is created in the mixing chamber 4 to promote the dissolution of the detergent. Further, by freely mounting a driven gear 32 that meshes with the impeller 31 and freely rotates above the mixing chamber 4, the powdered detergent stuck to the mixing chamber 4 due to high humidity such as steam is scraped off. There is an effect. That is, with this configuration, a remarkable effect is exhibited such that warm water can be supplied instead of tap water.

  Since the impeller 31 has a control circuit that repeats forward rotation and reverse rotation intermittently, the wear of the impeller 31 is averaged for both forward rotation and reverse rotation, and therefore the impeller 31 and the driven gear meshing with the impeller 31. The durability of 32 is improved about twice. Furthermore, since forward rotation and reverse rotation are alternately repeated, even if there is a lump of granular detergent, biting can be prevented. For example, even if overload is temporarily inhibited and rotation is temporarily inhibited, overload during reverse rotation It has the effect of releasing the state and exhibits remarkable effects such as enabling more stable operation. In the screw type, reverse rotation is not possible (since the detergent flows backward).

  In addition, as an example of the usage state of the granular detergent automatic supply device 1 configured as described above, the impeller 31 is continuously rotated 90 degrees in 5 seconds, and about 50 g of granular detergent is continuously obtained in one minute. About 2 liters of tap water can be supplied from the nozzle 41 per minute. However, this use state is an example, and the capability is changed in the scale of the granular detergent automatic supply device 1, the rotational speed of the impeller 31 and the driven gear 32, the amount of tap water supplied from the nozzle 41, and the like. By doing so, it can be adjusted appropriately.

  The present invention can be applied to an automatic supply device that supplies a granular detergent to a cleaning tank of a cleaning device such as an automatic dishwashing device.

It is a top view of the granular detergent automatic supply device of the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the granular detergent automatic supply apparatus of this invention. It is a perspective view of the hopper of the granular detergent automatic supply apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Hopper 3 Detergent Supply Unit 31 Impeller 32 Driven Gear 34 Gear Box 35 Drive Motor 37 Stirring Blade 4 Mixing Chamber 41 Nozzle 42 Water Supply Valve

Claims (4)

A hopper for storing a certain amount of granular detergent, a detergent supply section for supplying a predetermined amount of granular detergent from the hopper, and mixing the granular detergent supplied from the detergent supply section with water to produce an aqueous detergent solution or detergent A device for supplying a detergent aqueous solution or a mixture of detergent and water from the mixing chamber into a washing tank,
The detergent supply unit is formed in a circular dish shape with a bottom lid with an opening formed on the outer periphery, and is fixed so as to close the lower end opening of the hopper. An impeller having a drive shaft along the direction of gravity of the granular detergent falling by its own weight in the hopper ,
The impeller is formed so as to form a tapered tooth gap that expands from the tooth gap of the tooth root to the tooth gap of the tooth tip, and powder between the tooth gaps from the gap between the tooth root and the lower end opening of the hopper. Granular detergent is supplied,
The mixing chamber is provided at its top with a driven gear that freely meshes with the impeller through the opening of the detergent supply unit, and rotates freely.
The driven gear matches the pitch of the impeller, but forms a rod-like tooth that forms a sufficient play between the tooth grooves of the impeller and engages,
The granular detergent filled between the gear teeth of the impeller from the hopper by its own weight is supplied to the opening of the detergent supply unit by the rotation of the impeller, and is scraped into the mixing chamber by the driven gear at this opening. A powder detergent automatic supply device characterized by being made as described above.   The upper part of the hopper is shaped like a square bowl, the lower part is shaped like a funnel with an inverted frustoconical shape, and the angle of the side of the lower part of the funnel is larger than the angle of repose (about 40 °) of the granular detergent. 2. An automatic powder detergent supply device according to claim 1, wherein an agitating blade for rotating the impeller and stirring the inner surface of the funnel-like hopper is provided at an upper portion of the impeller.   The upper part of the mixing chamber has a long cylindrical shape, the lower part has a funnel shape, and the nozzle of the tap water introduction part that sprays into the mixing chamber is approximately tangent to the cylinder near the boundary between the cylindrical part and the funnel part. The granular detergent automatic supply device according to claim 1 or 2, provided in a direction.   4. The powder detergent automatic supply device according to claim 1, wherein the impeller repeats forward rotation and reverse rotation intermittently by control of the drive motor by the control circuit.

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