JPH01178295A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable additional detergent to be supplied into a tank neither too much nor too little in double washing by providing a running control means for judging a water supply amount to be added into the tank and a corresponding additional detergent amount to control an additional supply operation of a water supply valve and a detergent supply mechanism. CONSTITUTION:In the case of double washing, the present water level is detected by a water level detecting means 33. A microcomputer 31 compares the information of present water level input from said means 33 with a set water level to calculate a water supply amount to be added into a rotary tank 3 according to the difference between both, and further determine an additional detergent amount corresponding to the additional water supply amount from the calculated value. Then, current supply to a water supply valve 19 is started to start the additional water supply while current supply to a motor 16 of a detergent supply mechanism 6 is started to rotate a detergent sending member 12 and additionally supply detergent 14 in a hopper 9. This detergent is adapted to flow into the rotary tank 3 by additionally supplied water, and then when the water level in the rotary tank 3 elevated to a set level by the additional water supply is detected by the water level detecting means 33, current supply to the water supply valve 19 is shut off to stop the water supply.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a washing machine that can automatically supply additional detergent for so-called one-time washing.

(Conventional technology) When washing using a washing machine, in order to save water and detergent, the washing water (detergent water) that has been used once for washing the laundry with detergent is reused and the next laundry is washed with detergent. I often do what is called a one-time wash.

In this case, it is necessary to compensate for the loss of water when the laundry that has been washed with detergent first is taken out of the tank, or to raise the set water level when there is a lot of laundry to be washed with detergent next. Additional water must be supplied up to the set water level.

At this time, if only additional water is supplied, the concentration of the detergent becomes diluted and the cleaning effect decreases, so it is necessary to additionally supply detergent in accordance with the amount of additional water supplied.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In the conventional structure, when washing once, the user judges the amount of additional water to be added by eye, and then adds detergent using that as a guide. Additional supplies were provided by eye. For this reason, additional detergent is not supplied based on accurate judgment, and the amount of additional detergent is often insufficient or excessive, which not only results in a decrease in cleaning effectiveness and wasted detergent, but also The work was also troublesome.

The present invention aims to solve these conventional problems, and its purpose is to be able to accurately supply additional detergent into the tank when washing once, and to save the user's time and effort. To provide a washing machine which can improve usability by omitting this.

[Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a water supply valve for supplying water into a tank, a water level detection means for detecting the water level in the tank, and a detergent supply for supplying detergent into the tank. mechanism, and when the water in the tub is reused to start washing the next laundry with detergent after washing the laundry with detergent, the difference between the water level information manually input from the water level detection means and the set water level. and an operation control means for determining the amount of water to be added to the tank and the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the additional amount of water, and controlling the additional supply operation of the water supply valve and the detergent supply mechanism. be.

(Function) When the water in the tank is reused after washing the laundry with detergent to perform one washing and start washing the next laundry with detergent, the operation control means receives input from the water level detection means. The amount of water to be added to the tank and the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the additional water amount are determined based on the difference between the water level information and the set water level, and the water supply valve and detergent supply mechanism are added based on the determination results. Water and detergent are additionally supplied by controlling the supply operation.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 is an outer box of a washing machine with a dehydrating function, and a water receiving tank 2 is disposed inside the outer box.
A rotating tub 3 for both washing and dehydration is provided inside.

Reference numeral 4 indicates a container-shaped agitator disposed inside the rotating tank 3, 5 indicates a washing machine motor provided at the outer bottom of the water receiving tank 2, and 5a indicates a mechanical section. The forward and reverse rotations of the motor 5 are decelerated to be transmitted to the stirring body 4, and the unidirectional rotation of the washing machine motor 5 is transmitted to the rotating tub 3 during dewatering.

6 is a detergent supply mechanism, which is connected to the upper cover 1 of the outer box 1.
This detergent supply mechanism 6 and its related configuration will be described below.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a recess 7 is formed in the rear panel 1b, and the detergent supply mechanism 6 is disposed on this recess 7. In this detergent supply mechanism 6, 8 is an outer case made of transparent plastic, and 9 is this outer case 8.
A hopper 10, also made of transparent plastic, housed within the hopper 9 is a horizontally cylindrical detergent delivery portion formed at the lowest part of the hopper 9. A conductive shaft 11 is supported at the left end of the detergent dispensing section 10 in the drawing, and one end of a detergent dispensing member 12 made of, for example, a coil is attached to the conductive shaft 11. . In addition, 13
is driven by the rotation of the detergent delivery member 12 and the hopper 9
A detergent agitator 15 is a small lid that closes the outlet 10a of the detergent delivery section 10 when the outer case 8 is removed and opens the outlet 10a when the outer case 8 is installed. On the other hand, a synchronous motor 16 serving as a driving source for the detergent delivery member 12 is attached to the outside of the left end of the recess 7 of the rear panel 1b as shown in the figure. The motor 1 protrudes into the four parts 7.
A drive gear 17 attached to the rotating shaft 16a of No. 6 meshes with a drive gear 18 attached to the transmission shaft 11. Therefore, when commercial power is applied to the motor 16, both gears 17
and 18, the detergent delivery member 12 is rotationally driven, and the detergent 14 in the hopper 9 is delivered from the outlet 10a by the rotation, and the delivery amount, that is, the detergent supply amount can be controlled by controlling the energization time to the motor 16. It is.

Further, in the four parts 7, a water supply device 20 to which a water supply valve 19 is connected and a water inlet 21 for injecting water from the water supply device 20 into the rotation #fI3 are formed. The waterway leading to the water inlet 21 is used as a detergent injection path.

FIG. 2 shows the front panel 1c of the upper cover 1a of the outer box 1, and in the same figure, 22 is a washing time setting switch, which sets the execution time in the detergent washing process to the number of times it is turned on. Accordingly, from the initial setting time (execution time 110 minutes J), the microcomputer 31 (described later)
"5 minutes."

"0 minutes" (no detergent washing process executed), r15 minutes.

The settings are changed sequentially, such as "10 minutes", etc. Reference numeral 23 denotes a rinsing number setting switch, which allows the microcomputer 31 to set the number of rinsing cycles from the initial setting number ("2 times") to "1 time" depending on the number of times the switch is turned on.

“0 times” (no rinsing process performed), “2 times”, etc.
and change settings. 24 is the water level setting switch, which is
Depending on the number of ON operations, the microcomputer 31 sequentially changes settings from the initial setting water level ("middle water level") to "low water level", "high water level", "middle water level", etc. 25 is a detergent amount setting switch, and depending on the number of times it is turned on, it can be set to "low", "none" (no detergent supply), or "intermediate amount" for the "intermediate amount (standard amount)". Against “
"Large amount", "Intermediate amount", "Low amount" for "Intermediate amount"
, . . . are changed and set in sequence. 26 has a dehydration time of 5 minutes.

Dehydration time setting switch 27 sets the dehydration time to ``3 minutes,'' ``1 minute,'' or ``0 minutes,'' and 27 is a course changeover switch. ``Standard,''``Speed,'' and ``Handwashing''). In this case, the automatic setting courses of "Standard", "Speed", and "Hand wash" all include detergent washing steps.
Wash with detergent according to a preset time chart.

Rinsing and dehydration steps are performed automatically. 28 is a start switch for starting the operation.

29 is a display that displays the execution time of each process, which is 7
It is configured with two digits of segment-shaped display elements. 30 is a time unit display indicating that the display time on the display 29 is in units of 1 minute.

On the other hand, in FIG. 1, 31 is a microcomputer, which controls the operation from detergent washing to dehydration, and also determines the additional supply amount of water and detergent when washing is performed once, as will be described later. Water supply valve 19 and detergent supply mechanism 6
It functions as an operation control means to control the additional supply operation. Reference numeral 32 denotes an operation unit input circuit, which is configured to include the various switches 22 to 28 described above, and is configured to provide each switch-on signal to the microcomputer 31. 33 is a water level detection means that can continuously detect the water level in the rotating tank 3 (water receiving tank 2). Although not shown, for example, an air trap is arranged at the lower part of the water receiving tank 2, and the water level can be changed according to the water level. This is a well-known configuration in which the air pressure in the air trap is converted into an electrical signal by a sensor and input to the microcomputer 31. 34 is a drive circuit for driving the motor 16 of the detergent supply mechanism 6, 35 is a drive circuit for driving the water supply valve 19, 36 is a drive circuit for driving the washing machine motor 5, and 37 is a drain valve 38 (Fig. 4). Reference) Drive circuit for driving,
39 is a drive circuit for driving the display 29.

Now, the microcomputer 31 stores a control program shown in the flowchart in FIG.
Operation is controlled according to this control program. Therefore, when the water in the rotary tub 3 is reused after washing the laundry with detergent to perform one-time washing and the water in the rotary tub 3 is to be reused to start washing the next laundry with detergent, the microcomputer 31 controls the water level detection means 33 (hereinafter referred to as "current water level")
The amount of water to be added to the rotary tank 3 and the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the additional water amount are determined based on the difference between the information and the set water level, and the water supply valve 19 and detergent supply mechanism 6 are added based on the determination results. Water and detergent are additionally supplied by controlling the supply operation.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. Now, in order to perform one wash, it is assumed that the previous operation was completed with only detergent washing. In this case, after the previous detergent washing is completed,
After taking out the laundry from inside and putting the next laundry into the rotating tub 3, the driving course is set as follows. That is, when the user arbitrarily sets the washing time, number of rinses, and dehydration time individually, the washing time setting switch 22
゜Appropriately operate the rinse number setting switch 23 and dehydration time setting switch 26 to set the desired washing time, number of rinses, and dehydration time, respectively (hereinafter, the course set in this way will be referred to as a "manual setting course"). ). On the other hand, when selecting one of the three automatic setting courses ("Standard", "Speed", "Hand Washing") preset in the microcomputer 31, the course selection switch 27 is pressed. If you select the desired automatic setting course, the washing time will be set according to that course.
The number of rinses and dehydration time are automatically set. Furthermore, if it is necessary to change the set water level in the rotating tub 3 from the previous detergent washing (for example, when there is more or less laundry), the water level setting switch 24 can be suppressed as necessary. to change the set water level.

After setting the driving course and set water level in this manner, when the start switch 28 is turned on, the microcomputer 31 controls the driving according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, first, whether or not the operation (next operation) to be executed is after the detergent washing only operation or not.
That is, it is determined whether the operation performed immediately before (previous operation) was only detergent washing (step Pi). If rinsing and dehydration were also performed in the previous operation, the user will not be able to wash the water once, so the course selected by the user (hereinafter referred to as the "selected course") will be used.
) is immediately started (step P2). on the other hand,
If it is after the detergent washing only operation, it is determined whether the automatic setting course ("Standard", "Speed", "Hand washing") is selected (Step P3). If the automatic setting course is not selected, that is, if the manual setting course is selected, detergent washing will not necessarily be performed (sometimes only rinsing or spin-drying may be done), so start with detergent washing. It is determined whether or not (step PA). If detergent washing is not started, the selected course is started immediately (step P2) since it is not a one-time wash. On the other hand, when starting with washing with detergent,
Since this is a one-time wash, the current water level is detected by the water level detection means 33 (step Ps). Furthermore, even if it is determined that the automatic setting course is selected in step P3, the process starts with detergent washing (one-time washing).
Similarly, the current water level is detected by the water level detection means 33 (step P). And microcomputer 31
In step P6), the information on the current water level input manually from the water level detection means 33 and the set water level are compared, and the amount of water to be added to the rotating tank 3 is calculated based on the difference between the two. Based on the value, the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the amount of additional water supply is determined (step P7). To determine the amount of additional detergent at this time, the relationship between the amount of additional water supply and the amount of additional detergent is calculated in advance by formulating and memorizing it, and the calculated value of the amount of additional water supply is substituted into that relational expression to calculate the amount of additional detergent. Alternatively, data groups of additional detergent amounts for various different amounts of additional water supply may be stored, and data on the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the calculated value of the additional water supply amount may be read out. After determining the amount of additional detergent,
At the same time as starting power supply to the water supply valve 19 to start additional water supply, power supply to the motor 16 of the detergent supply mechanism 6 is started to rotate the detergent delivery member 12 to additionally supply the detergent 14 in the hopper 9 ( Step P,). This additional supply operation of the detergent 14 is executed for a time proportional to the determined value of the amount of additional detergent described above, and after the detergent 14 is additionally supplied up to the determined value, the power to the motor 16 is cut off and the detergent 14 is Stop additional supply operation. The detergent that is additionally supplied in this way is flushed into the rotating tank 3 by the additionally supplied water, and then the water level detection means 33 detects that the water level in the rotating tank 3 has risen to the set water level due to the additional water supply. At the time of detection, the supply of electricity to the water supply valve 19 is cut off to stop the water supply. Thereafter, the washing machine motor 5 is activated to start detergent washing.

According to the above embodiment, water and detergent are added when the water in the rotary tub 3 is reused after the laundry is washed with detergent and the next laundry is washed with detergent. When it is necessary to supply, the microcomputer 31
Based on the difference between the current water level information input from the water level detection means 33 and the set water level, the amount of water to be added to the rotary tank 3 and the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the additional water amount are determined, and based on the result of the judgment 5. Since the system controls the additional supply operation of the water supply valve 19 and the detergent supply mechanism 6 to supply additional water and detergent, the user does not have to judge the additional water supply amount based on the basis weight and then decide on the amount. Unlike the system in which detergent is additionally supplied based on the basis weight amount, the amount of detergent to be added is accurately determined by the microcomputer 31, and the additional detergent supply operation by the detergent supply mechanism 6 is automatically performed based on the accurate determination. This will ensure that the correct amount of detergent is added to match the additional water supply. Therefore, the additional supply of detergent can be carried out accurately without too much or too little detergent, which can eliminate the deterioration of the cleaning effect and the wastage of detergent, and also improve the ease of use since the user does not have to perform additional detergent work at all. .

Further, in the above embodiment, the microcomputer 31 is one
Determine whether or not washing is required (step P1,
P3, P4) Since the system is configured to automatically start the additional supply of water and detergent, there is no need for special operations for additional supply even when washing once, improving the usability of the -layer. At the same time, human operational errors can also be avoided.

The amount of additional detergent may also be set to "more,""standard," or "less" by operating the detergent amount setting switch 25.

In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications, such as being applicable to a two-tub type washing machine in addition to a dehydrating and dehydrating washing machine.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the present invention reuses the water in the tank after washing the laundry with detergent and washes the next laundry with detergent in order to wash the laundry once. When it is necessary to additionally supply water and detergent, the operation control means determines which water and detergent should be added to the tank based on the difference between the water level information input from the water level detection means (current water level) and the set water level. The system determines the amount of water supplied and the amount of additional detergent corresponding to the additional water supply, and controls the additional supply operation of the water supply valve and detergent supply mechanism based on the determination result to supply additional water and detergent. Unlike the conventional system where the user judges the amount of additional water to be supplied based on the basis weight and then uses that as a guideline to additionally supply detergent based on the basis weight, the operation control means can accurately determine the amount of detergent to be added. Based on this accurate judgment, the detergent supply mechanism automatically performs an additional detergent supply operation. For this reason,
It is possible to accurately supply additional detergent without too much or too little.
Deterioration in cleaning effectiveness and wastage of detergent can be eliminated, and the user does not need to perform additional detergent work at all, making it easier to use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the front panel, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the detergent supply mechanism, and Fig. 4 is the entire structure. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control program. In the figure, 3 is a rotating tank (tank), 6 is a detergent supply mechanism, 16 is a motor, 19 is a water supply valve, 25 is a detergent amount setting switch, 27
is a course selection switch, and 31 is a microcomputer (
operation control means), 33 is a water level detection means. Figure 1? ', Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A water supply valve that supplies water into the tank, a water level detection means that detects the water level in the tank, a detergent supply mechanism that supplies detergent into the tank, and a water supply valve that supplies water to the tank after washing the laundry with detergent. When reusing the laundry and starting washing the next laundry with detergent, the amount of water to be added to the tank and the amount of additional water are determined based on the difference between the water level information input from the water level detection means and the set water level. and an operation control means for determining the amount of additional detergent added to the washing machine and controlling the additional supply operation of the water supply valve and the detergent supply mechanism.