JP4883978B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention, washing of clothes to be laundered, to washing machines having improved deodorizing and disinfecting effect.

Conventionally, it has been known to deodorize and disinfect clothing by circulating hot air generated by a heating device in a circulation passage and supplying ozone generated by an ozone generator to clothing in a drying chamber. In the invention described in Patent Document 1, a futon dryer is proposed.
In the invention described in Patent Document 2, a washing machine using such deodorizing and sterilizing means is proposed.
JP-A-4-371199 JP 2002-320792 A

However, in the futon dryer described in Patent Document 1, when ozone is supplied when the futon is wet (moistened), the ozone solubility is low unless the ozone concentration is considerably high, so it is included in the futon. The moistened water hinders the penetration of ozone into the futon, and the deodorization and sterilization effects cannot be improved.
On the other hand, in the washing machine described in Patent Document 2, ozone is supplied to wet clothing, and therefore the same problem as that of the invention described in Patent Document 1 remains.

In some ozone generators, an ozone generating element (for example, a substrate and an electrode in the case of generating ozone using electric discharge) is disposed in the circulation air passage. In this case, the ozone generating element It takes time to replace the battery.
In addition, improvement of technology for safely controlling the ozone to be used is constantly demanded.
Further, the ozone is also cleaning effect by degrading the soil components clothing, such the present invention made on the basis of the background, the cleaning of garments with ozone, was improved deodorizing and disinfecting effect washing The main purpose is to provide a rinsing machine.

Further, the present invention is to provide an easy replacement possible washing machines of the ozone generation device and another object.
The present invention is further directed to another object to provide a can Ru washing machines that safely controlled ozone.

請 Motomeko 1 invention described accommodates the clothes, housed washing and treatment bath for performing clothes were, an ozone generator for generating ozone, after the garment has been accommodated in the processing tank, the processing tank And an ozone supply control means for supplying the ozone generated by the ozone generator into the treatment tank before the washing water is supplied.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the ozone supply control means, after the garment dehydration, and supplying the ozone generated by the ozone generator into the processing bath, in claim 1 according Washer is there.
The invention according to claim 3 is the washing machine according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising heating means for warming the inside of the treatment tank before the ozone supply by the ozone supply control means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided load amount detection means for detecting the amount of clothing in the processing tank, and when the load amount detected by the load amount detection means is a predetermined value or less, the ozone supply control means is The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein ozone is not supplied.

According to the invention of claim 1, since the clothes before the washing water is supplied into the treatment tank, that is, dry clothes that are not wet are exposed to ozone, ozone penetrates into the clothes, It is possible to improve the deodorizing and sterilizing effects of clothing and the cleaning effect by decomposing the soil components.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the case where drying is omitted and washing is completed after dehydration, the deodorization and sterilization effects of clothing can be improved. In particular, when bath water or the like is used for easy washing before dehydration, it is possible to prevent odor components and germ components contained in bath water from adhering to clothing.

According to invention of Claim 3 , since the dry clothing in a processing tank becomes high temperature by a heating means, the deodorizing and disinfection effect by ozone improves further. Particularly at high temperatures, the deodorizing effect is promoted.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the ozone supply control means does not supply ozone when the load amount detected by the load amount detection means is not more than a predetermined value. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the concentration of unreacted ozone from increasing and to control ozone safely.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side longitudinal sectional view showing an outline of a configuration of an electric washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The washing machine 1 according to this embodiment has an outer shell partitioned by a housing 2. A drum 3 serving as a processing tank is disposed in the center of the housing 2.
The drum 3 has a cylindrical shape, and is coaxially accommodated in the cylindrical outer tub 5. In this embodiment, the drum 3 and the outer tub 5 constitute a washing tub (treatment tub), and a so-called oblique drum arrangement structure is formed in which the front of the drum 3 faces obliquely upward. The front end surfaces of the drum 3 and the outer tub 5 are open, and a door 6 is provided on the front surface of the housing 2 to close it. A motor 7 is provided behind the rear end surface of the outer tub 5, and the drum 3 is rotated around the rotation shaft 8 by the motor 7.

  Specifically, washing and dehydration will be described. Water is stored in the outer tub 5 during washing. The outer tub 5 is configured to be airtight and liquidtight, but the drum 3 has a large number of small holes formed on its peripheral surface. Therefore, when water is stored in the outer tub 5, the stored water also enters the drum 3, and cleaning water also collects in the drum 3. On the inner peripheral surface of the drum 3, baffles 9 project from appropriate locations. The clothes to be washed are stored in the drum 3 from the front surface of the housing 2 with the door 6 opened. When the drum 3 is rotated by the motor 7 after the door 6 is closed, the clothes containing water in the drum 3 are lifted by the baffle 9, and so-called tapping is performed in which the clothes are naturally dropped.

A drainage port 10 is formed at the lowermost end of the outer tub 5, that is, below the rear end surface, and a drainage pipe 11 extending to the outside of the housing 2 is communicated with the drainage port 10. A drain valve 12 is interposed in the middle of the drain pipe 11. When the drain valve 12 is opened, the water in the outer tub 5 is discharged out of the housing 2.
And after the water in the outer tub 5 is discharged, the drum 3 is dehydrated and rotated (high-speed rotation) by the motor 7, and the moisture contained in the clothes is dehydrated.

  The washing machine 1 according to this embodiment can perform drying in addition to washing and dehydration. For this purpose, an outlet 16 of the drying air passage 15 is communicated with the lower part of the rear end surface of the outer tub 5. The outlet 16 is provided with a temperature sensor 13 as a dry degree detecting means for measuring the temperature of the outlet 16. The drying air passage 15 extends obliquely upward along the rear end surface of the outer tub 5, wraps forward along the upper portion of the outer tub 5, extends forward along the upper peripheral surface of the outer tub 5, and its tip is The inlet 17 communicates with the front peripheral surface of the outer tub 5. In the drying air passage 15, a region extending obliquely upward along the rear end surface of the outer tub 5 functions as a dehumidifying pipe 18 as a dehumidifying means. The hot and humid air in the drum 3 exits from the outlet 16 and moves upward in the dehumidifying pipe 18. At that time, in the dehumidifying pipe 18, water is dropped from a water pipe (not shown). The water and hot and humid air exchange heat, and the hot and humid air is cooled and dehumidified. Then, after the water from the water pipe and the water liquefied when dehumidified fall in the dehumidifying pipe 18, the water reaches the drain port 10 through the outlet 16, and the drain valve 12 is opened. Discharged.

  A filter 19 is inserted in the drying air passage 15 on the downstream side of the dehumidifying pipe 18 when viewed in the air flow direction, and a blower 20 as a blowing means is provided on the downstream side thereof. By rotating the blower 20, the air in the drum 3 exits from the outlet 16, moves in the drying air passage 15, and is supplied again into the drum 3 from the inlet 17. A heater 21 is inserted downstream of the blower 20 in the drying air passage 15. The air passing through the drying air passage 15 is dehumidified in the dehumidifying pipe 18, and then heated by a heater 21 as a heating means and supplied from the inlet 17 to the drum 3.

An ozone generator 40 is provided in the upper part of the outer tub 5 in the housing 2. The ozone generator 40 is an apparatus that generates ozone by applying corona discharge to the air taken in through the filter 41 from the air flow path 45 that is provided on the front side and has an opening on the outer surface of the housing 2. . The air that has passed through the ozone generator 40 contains ozone.
The air containing ozone generated by the ozone generator 40 is further supplied to the drying air passage 15 by the supply passage 44. The given position is the downstream side of the filter 19 in the drying air passage 15 and the upstream side of the blower 20 (the suction side of the blower 20). When the blower 20 rotates, the suction side becomes negative pressure, and air containing ozone is sucked into the blower 20 via the supply path 44. Then, ozone is mixed into the air circulated through the drying air passage 15, and the ozone is supplied from the inlet 17 to the drum 3. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a special device such as an air pump for releasing the generated ozone, and the ozone generator 40 can be configured with a simple mechanism. Note that a valve 50 is interposed in the supply path 44 in order to control whether or not air containing ozone passes therethrough. The air is circulated through the drying air passage 15 when the clothes in the drum 3 are dried. For this reason, ozone is supplied with respect to the clothing to be dried, and the odor component and various germ components adhering to the clothing are oxidized and deodorized and sterilized by the supplied ozone. As the clothes to be exposed to ozone are dried, ozone penetrates to the inside of the clothes, so that the effect of deodorization and sterilization is high. In addition, when the air heated by the heater 21 is supplied into the drum 3, the clothes also have a high temperature, and the effect of deodorizing and sterilizing the clothes by ozone is further enhanced. In particular, the deodorizing effect is further improved at high temperatures. The drum 3 is always rotating while the clothes are deodorized and sterilized by ozone. An air flow is generated in the outer tub 5 by the rotation of the drum 3. This air flow causes a flow of air in the drying air passage 15 through the inlet 17 of the drying air passage 15 communicating with the outer tub 5 in which the drum 3 is disposed, so that ozone is further supplied into the drum 3. Further, since the clothes are agitated by the rotation of the drum 3, ozone can be uniformly applied to the clothes, and as a result, deodorization and sterilization of the clothes are promoted. In addition, since this ozone generator 40 is arrange | positioned in the upper part of the outer tank 5 away from the drying air path 15, the exchange of the ozone generating element which performs corona discharge and generate | occur | produces ozone becomes easy.

Further, the outer tub 5 containing the drum 3 has a liquid-tight and air-tight structure, and ozone generated by the ozone generator 40 does not leak from the housing 2 to the outside. Therefore, the washing machine 1 can be a safe and inconvenient device in which ozone odor or the like does not drift outside.
Moreover, what is shown in FIG. 2 is mentioned as a modification of the ozone generator 40. FIG. In FIG. 2, the same members as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  This ozone generator 40 is bypassed with respect to the drying air path 15, the suction path 43 is connected to the upstream side, and the supply path 44 mentioned above is connected to the downstream side. The other end of the suction passage 43 opposite to the one end connected to the ozone generator 40 is the downstream side of the blower 20 (the discharge side of the blower 20) in the drying air passage 15 and the upstream side of the heater 21. It communicates with the position. The other end of the supply path 44 opposite to the one end connected to the ozone generator 40 communicates with a position on the downstream side of the heater 21 in the drying air path 15 and upstream of the inlet 17. .

  Therefore, a part of the air circulated through the drying air passage 15 passes through the ozone generator 40 from the suction passage 43 by the momentum discharged to the downstream side by the rotation of the blower 20, and corona discharge is applied to the ozone. Is generated. The air containing ozone generated by the ozone generator 40 is continuously pushed by the air flowing in from the upstream side, supplied to the drying air passage 15 from the supply passage 44, and heated by the heater 21. At the same time, it is supplied from the inlet 17 to the drum 3.

  In such an ozone generator 40, it is not necessary to take in air for generating ozone from the outside of the washing machine 1, and a special device for supplying the generated ozone to the drying air passage 15 is provided. Since it is not necessary, the mechanism can be simplified. Moreover, since this ozone generator 40 is arrange | positioned in the upper part of the outer tank 5 away from the drying air path 15, the exchange of the ozone generating element which performs corona discharge and generates ozone becomes easy.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit in the washing machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and only the components related to ozone supply control are shown.
The washing machine 1 is provided with a control unit 51 as ozone supply control means composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and the control unit 51 performs switching control of the ozone generator 40, the drain valve 12 and the valve 50. Is called. The control unit 51 performs ozone supply control according to the temperature of the outlet 16 measured by the temperature sensor 13.

4 and 5 are block diagrams showing an example of control performed by the control unit 51 shown in FIG. Deodorization and sterilization of clothing using ozone in the washing machine 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described according to the flow of FIGS. 4 and 5.
The washing machine 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 performs washing and dewatering in the order of washing process → dehydration → rinsing 1 process → dehydration → rinsing 2 process → dehydration → drying process. As described above, in the present invention, it is important to supply ozone to dry clothes in order to improve the deodorization and sterilization effect of the clothes. Therefore, it is desirable that the ozone supply to the garment is performed before or during the washing process in which the garment is dry. Moreover, when ozone is supplied before the washing step, the cleaning effect can be improved by decomposing dirt components adhering to the clothing into ozone. The ozone supply may be performed either before the washing step or in the drying step, or may be performed in both. The longer the ozone supply time, the better the deodorization and sterilization of clothing.

  In addition, washing process → dehydration → rinsing 1 process → dehydration, or subsequent 2 rinsing processes → dehydration may complete washing, that is, the drying process may be omitted. In this case, ozone is supplied to the clothes after dehydration. By doing so, it is possible to improve the deodorization and sterilization effect of the clothes. In particular, when bath water or the like is used in the washing step or rinsing step before dehydration, it is possible to prevent odor components and various germ components contained in the bath water from adhering to clothing.

Hereinafter, ozone supply before the washing step will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. And the ozone supply in a drying process shows the change according to the elapsed time of the operating state of the heater 21 and the blower 20 shown in FIG. 5, the temperature of the outlet 16, and the supply state of ozone shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to the graph.
In FIG. 4, the control unit 51 shown in FIG. 3 also serves as a load amount detection unit, locks the door 6 in a closed state, applies a certain amount of electric power to the drum 3, and starts the drum 3 to some extent. The rotation speed is increased to 140 rpm, for example, and the garment is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the drum 3 while the electric power remains constant. Then, the load amount applied to the drum 3, that is, the amount of clothing accommodated in the drum 3 is detected from the time required for the rotation speed to increase from 65 rpm to 140 rpm, which is measured by a timer (not shown) (step) S1). If the amount of clothing accommodated in the drum 3 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount (YES in step S1), the ozone generator 40 is operated after stopping the rotation of the drum 3 (step S2), and the rotation of the drum 3 is resumed. Then, the heater 21 is turned on to rotate the blower 20, and the valve 50 is opened (step S3). As a result, the air containing ozone generated by the ozone generator 40 is supplied to the drying air passage 15 through the supply passage 44 and supplied from the outlet 17 to the clothes in the drum 3. For this reason, washing | cleaning by deodorizing and disinfecting clothes and decomposing dirt components is performed. Further, since the door 6 is locked and is not opened carelessly, there is no fear that ozone supplied into the drum 3 leaks out. The controller 51 rotates the drum 3 while ozone is being supplied into the drum 3, and the ozone can be uniformly applied to the agitated clothing, so that deodorization and sterilization of the clothing are promoted. . Then, the controller 51 supplies ozone into the drum 3 for a certain time, for example, 10 minutes, and then stops the operation of the ozone generator 40 (step S4), closes the valve 50 (step S5), and turns off the heater 21. Then, the rotation of the blower 20 and the drum 3 is stopped. The drain valve 12 may be opened before the washing process, but since water is accumulated in the outer tub 5 in the washing process, the drain valve 12 is closed before the washing process is started (step S6). Thereafter, the process proceeds to the next washing step (step S7), and subsequently, the above-described dehydration → rinse 1 step → dehydration → rinse 2 step is performed.

  On the other hand, if the amount of clothes accommodated in the drum 3 is equal to or less than the predetermined amount (NO in step S1), the control unit 51 stops the operation of the washing machine 1 and gives the user more than a predetermined amount of clothes A warning is given to accommodate the drum 3 (step S8). The valve 50 also remains closed. If the ozone generator 40 is operated to open the valve 50 and supply ozone into the drum 3, ozone that cannot react to odor components and germ components attached to clothing remains in the drum. Then, when the supply of ozone into the drum 3 continues, the concentration of unreacted ozone increases. Therefore, if the amount of clothes accommodated in the drum 3 is less than or equal to the predetermined amount by the control unit 51, ozone is not generated, so there is no possibility that the concentration of ozone will be high, and ozone is safely controlled in the washing machine 1. Is done.

After the two rinsing steps, dehydration is performed, and the control unit 51 shown in FIG. 3 turns on the heater 21 to rotate the blower 20 and the drum 3 and starts a drying step for drying the clothes in the drum 3. .
When the drying process is started, as shown in FIG. 6A, the control unit 51 constantly monitors the temperature of the outlet 16 measured by the temperature sensor 13 over time. The temperature of the outlet 16 is the temperature of the air that is heated by the heater 21, enters the drum 3 through the inlet 17, absorbs moisture from the clothing, and passes through the outlet 16. The control unit 51 determines the degree of drying of the clothes based on the temperature of the outlet 16. The drain valve 12 is always open from the start to the end of the drying process. As described above, after the moisture of the clothing and the water from the water pipe fall in the dehumidifying pipe 18, the drain port 10 is connected via the outlet 16. , And is discharged out of the housing 2 through the opened drain valve 12.

In FIG. 6 (a), it is determined whether or not the drying of the garment is almost completed (for example, about 90% completion) in FIG. 5 based on whether or not the temperature of the outlet 16 has reached a predetermined temperature (high limiter). (Step S101).
Then, when the drying of the clothes is almost completed (YES in step S101), as shown in FIG. 6, a predetermined time set by a timer (not shown) (varies depending on the amount of clothes), for example, 10 minutes at the outlet 16 The heater 21 is appropriately turned on or off by the control unit 51 so that the temperature maintains the predetermined temperature. At the same time as starting the control of the temperature of the outlet 16, the control unit 51 locks the door 6 in a closed state (omitted if it has been locked before), and operates the ozone generator 40 (FIG. 5). Step S102), the valve 50 provided in the supply path 44 is opened (Step S103 in FIG. 5). As a result, the air containing ozone generated by the ozone generator 40 is supplied to the drying air passage 15 through the supply passage 44 and supplied from the outlet 17 to the clothes in the drum 3. For this reason, deodorization and sterilization of clothing are performed. As described above, since the clothes are exposed to ozone when the drying of the clothes is almost completed, the ozone efficiently penetrates into the clothes, and the effects of deodorizing and sterilizing the clothes can be improved. Further, since the door 6 is locked and is not opened carelessly, there is no fear that ozone supplied into the drum 3 leaks out.

In addition, in the case of NO in step S101 in FIG. 5, the clothing is continuously dried.
Then, after supplying ozone into the drum 3 until the set time, the operation of the ozone generator 40 is stopped (step S104 in FIG. 5), the valve 50 is closed (step S105 in FIG. 5), and the heater 21 is turned off. Then (see FIG. 6B), the supply of ozone is stopped (see FIG. 6D). As shown in FIG. 6 (c), the blower 20 and the drum 3 continue to rotate, so that unheated air is supplied into the drum 3 to cool the clothes to a predetermined temperature. Is performed, for example, for 5 to 10 minutes (step S106 in FIG. 5). During this cool-down operation, all ozone in the housing 2 including the drum 3 is extinguished by the oxidation reaction, and the ozone concentration is lowered to a level that does not affect the human body. Further, even after the cool-down operation is finished from the start of ozone supply into the drum 3, the door 6 is locked for about 20 minutes after the ozone supply is stopped, for example, and is not opened carelessly. Therefore, there is no risk of ozone leaking out, and ozone control is safe. Thereafter, the blower 20 and the drum 3 stop rotating, and the drying process ends. For this reason, when the user opens the door 6 after the drying process, ozone odor or the like does not drift outside, which is safe. Moreover, since clothes are also cooled, they can be taken out comfortably.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. Further, in this embodiment, a washing machine with a clothes drying function having an oblique drum arrangement structure has been described, but the present invention is also applicable to those in which drums are arranged horizontally or vertically, It can also be applied to clothes dryers.

It is a side longitudinal section showing the outline of the composition of the electric washing machine concerning one embodiment of this invention. In FIG. 1, an ozone generator according to a modification is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control part relevant to this invention of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a control operation of a control unit shown in FIG. 3 in ozone supply before a washing process. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a control operation of a control unit shown in FIG. 3 in ozone supply in a drying process. It is the graph which showed the state (vertical axis) of the member which changes according to elapsed time (horizontal axis) in a drying process, (a) is the temperature of outlet 16, (b) is the operating state of heater 20, (C) shows the rotation state of the blower 20 and (d) shows the supply state of ozone into the drum 3.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Washing machine 3 Drum 13 Temperature sensor 15 Drying air path 16 Outlet 17 Inlet 18 Dehumidification pipe 20 Blower 21 Heater 40 Ozone generator 51 Control part

Claims (4)

A treatment tank for containing clothing and washing the contained clothing;
An ozone generator for generating ozone;
Ozone supply control means for supplying ozone generated by the ozone generator into the treatment tank before the washing water is supplied to the treatment tank after the clothes are stored in the treatment tank;
A washing machine comprising: Wherein the ozone supply control means, after the garment dehydration, and supplying the ozone generated by the ozone generator into the processing bath, a washing machine according to claim 1. The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising heating means for warming the inside of the treatment tank before the ozone supply by the ozone supply control means. A load amount detecting means for detecting the amount of clothes in the treatment tank;
The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the ozone supply control means does not supply ozone when the load amount detected by the load amount detection means is not more than a predetermined value.

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