JPH0141413Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention consists of a tank body and a container-shaped agitation body disposed inside and below the tank body, and mainly consists of a tank body and a container-shaped agitation body disposed inside and below the tank body. This invention relates to a washing machine that obtains a cleaning action through frictional contact.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Among conventional washing machines, those with rotary vanes that generate a water flow using rotary vanes to achieve the cleaning action essentially use a water flow to move the laundry, so they require a large washing tank volume relative to the amount of laundry. need,
This means that the amount that can be washed at one time is small. Furthermore, when the amount of cloth is small, the water flow becomes extremely strong, resulting in excessive cleaning, while when the amount of cloth increases, the water flow rate decreases and the cleaning effect tends to decrease rapidly. Furthermore, since the laundry and the rotating blades come into contact only incidentally and only partially, it is not possible to expect a scrubbing effect over the entire laundry, which tends to cause so-called uneven washing and damage the laundry.

On the other hand, a new method has recently been developed in which the rotating blades have been removed, in which the entire washing tank is intermittently rotated while containing water and laundry, and the cleaning effect is obtained by the speed difference between the water and the laundry. Although this method has the advantage of not damaging the laundry, it has the disadvantage that the speed difference between the laundry and water is small and the movement is simple, resulting in low cleaning effectiveness. .

[Purpose of invention]

The purpose of this invention is to be able to expect a stronger and more even cleaning effect and prevention of fabric damage than conventional methods without using the conventional rotary blades or the rotation of the entire washing tank, as well as to wash a large amount at one time. To provide a washing machine which can maintain a suitable washing effect and has a wide range of washing amounts.

[Summary of the invention] The present invention is characterized in that a container-shaped agitator is disposed in the inner lower part of a tank body, laundry is stored together with water in the tank body, and the laundry is stirred by the container-shaped agitator. The water flow is made to flow by the water flow and the contact friction force, and the washing is carried out by a synergistic effect with the friction force received from the upper peripheral wall of the tub body,
A protrusion projecting upward is formed at the center of the bottom of the container-shaped stirring body, and a washing shaft that drives the container-shaped stirring body from below is fitted and secured to this projection, thereby further facilitating the vertical switching of laundry. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning effect.

[Example of idea]

A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a dehydrating and washing machine will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box, inside of which a water receiving tank 2 is disposed, which is elastically supported via a hanging rod mechanism 3 so as to be swingable. Reference numeral 4 denotes a washing tank, and in this embodiment, it is constituted by a combination of a tank body 5 that rotates during dewatering operation and is stopped during washing, and a shallow container-shaped agitator 6. To explain this in detail below, the tank body 5 is placed in the water receiving tank 2 and its outer bottom is connected to the hollow dehydration shaft 7, and the container-shaped stirring body 6 is composed of a peripheral wall 6a and a bottom wall 6b. It has the shape of a container with an open top, and is disposed below the tank body 5 along the inner circumferential wall surface thereof. With this configuration, the inner diameter of the upper peripheral wall of the tank body 5 is larger than the inner diameter of the upper part of the container-shaped stirring body 6. At this time, in particular, the container-shaped stirring body 6 is formed so that the height of its peripheral wall 6a is approximately half the height of the tank body 5, that is, the depth, and both the inside and outside surfaces are formed in a tapered shape whose diameter gradually increases from the bottom to the top. Moreover, its inner surface is formed into an uneven shape by a large number of grooves 8 extending in the vertical direction. Reference numeral 9 denotes a protrusion that protrudes upward from the center of the bottom of the container-shaped stirring body 6, and recesses 10, 11 are formed from the outer bottom side and the upper end side of the protrusion 9, respectively.
11 is provided with a hole 12 communicating therewith. The recess 10 fits into the washing shaft 13 and is connected to the washing shaft 1 by the screw 14.
3, the container-shaped stirring body 6 is fixed to the washing shaft 13.
is connected to. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the washing tank 4
The tank body 5 also serves as a dehydration tank, and for this purpose, dehydration holes 15 are formed in the peripheral wall of the tank body 5. 16
is a power control mechanism, which transmits the rotational force of the washing machine motor 17 to the washing shaft 13 at a reduced speed and alternately reverses during washing, and transmits it to the spin-driving shaft 7 and washing shaft 13 during spin-drying to rotate the tub body 5. A deceleration mechanism, a clutch mechanism, a brake mechanism, etc. are built in to rotate the container-shaped stirring body 6 integrally. Reference numeral 18 denotes a drain valve that allows water in the washing tank 4 to be discharged from the bottom of the water receiving tank 2 to the outside of the machine via a drain hose 19. 20 is a timer, which automatically controls each process from washing to final dehydration.

In the above configuration, in the washing operation, the tank body 5 is restrained by the brake mechanism so as not to rotate, and the container-shaped agitator 6 is rotated forward and backward, so that the peripheral wall of the tank body 5 is exposed upward from the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6. This part is made to function as a fixed peripheral wall part of the peripheral wall of the washing tank 4, and the peripheral wall 6a of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is made to function as a movable peripheral wall part.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. During washing, the amount of water commensurate with the amount of laundry is supplied into the water receiving tank 2 and thus the washing tub 4 in the same way as in a normal washing machine, and the laundry is thrown in. The washing operation is performed by driving only the container-shaped agitator 6 in forward and reverse rotation while the tank body 5 is restrained by a brake mechanism so as not to rotate. In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is within the range of 120 to 180 revolutions per minute, and approximately 2
The direction of rotation is reversed every ~3 rotations.

Now, in such a washing operation, since the laundry comes into contact with the peripheral wall 6a of the container-shaped agitator 6 and the peripheral wall of the tub 5, in the lower part, the laundry comes into contact with the agitator 6 due to frictional contact with the agitator 6 as shown in the figure. A rotational force is applied as shown by the arrow X, and the upper part receives a restraining force due to frictional contact with the tub body 5, and by simultaneously receiving these frictional forces in different directions, it gives a twisting or compressing effect to the laundry, and this also causes the laundry to become shaped like a container. This is repeated by reversing the rotational direction of the agitator 6, and the laundry is pushed toward the peripheral wall of the washing tub 4 by the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the container-shaped agitator 6, and the reaction is transmitted from the peripheral wall of the upper tub 5. By receiving it inward, it also produces an effect of being reversed up and down as shown by the arrow Y direction in the figure, giving a complex movement. In particular, in the case of this embodiment, since the container-shaped stirring body 6 is formed in a tapered shape whose diameter gradually increases from the bottom to the top, the movement of the laundry due to the centrifugal force is smooth, and The water also moves smoothly, making it easier to rise. Furthermore, since the protrusion 9 is formed at the center of the bottom of the container-shaped stirring body 6, the descending water flow is directed from the lower center of the container-shaped stirring body 6. Since the laundry is smoothly guided outward, the vertical reversal (swapping) of the laundry is facilitated. Therefore, while the laundry is subjected to a scrubbing action due to the large friction between the cloths due to the above-mentioned complicated movements and the large friction with the peripheral walls of the tub 5 and the container-shaped agitator 6, it also undergoes a kind of scrubbing action due to repeated twisting and compression. The massaging action is evenly applied to all of the laundry, and the excellent cleaning effect is shown in Figure 2 as an example of the results of a comparative experiment. In the figures, curve A shows the cleaning ratio characteristics in the case of the present invention, curve B shows the cleaning ratio characteristic in the case of the conventional rotating blade method, and curve C shows the cleaning ratio characteristics in the case of the washing tank rotation method considered prior to this invention. It turns out that it is highly effective.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the laundry is moved by frictional contact with the tub 5 and the peripheral wall 6a of the container-shaped agitator 6, so as the amount of laundry increases, the frictional force also increases, and the degree of movement of the laundry increases as the amount of laundry increases. There is little deterioration, and therefore the rate of deterioration of the cleaning effect is small. Moreover, when the amount of laundry is small, the frequency of contact with the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 is low, and the contact friction force is extremely small, so that the laundry is mainly washed by being washed by the water flow generated by the rotation of the agitator 6. However, in this case, unlike in the case of conventional rotary blades, the water flow does not become extremely strong, so washing can be done to an appropriate degree regardless of the amount of cloth, without causing excessive washing. These facts mean that the range of cloth amounts that can maintain an appropriate cleaning effect is wider than in the case of the prior art described above (see FIG. 2). Furthermore, since the inner diameter of the upper circumferential wall of the tub 5 is larger than the inner diameter of the upper part of the container-shaped agitator 6, the washing capacity of the tub 5 can be increased, and the rising laundry is 6 and the tank body 5 can also be prevented.

In particular, in this embodiment, since the inner surface of the container-shaped agitator 6 is formed into an uneven shape, firstly, the laundry is better caught in the circumferential direction, and a strong massaging action can be obtained. At the same time, the scrubbing action can be strengthened, and on the other hand, the upper part allows the laundry to be easily removed, and the concave part (groove 8) becomes a passageway for water to flow due to centrifugal force without being blocked by the laundry. This applies a force to push up the laundry, making it easier to separate the laundry upwards. Also, since the protrusion 9 smoothly guides the downward water flow from the center of the container-shaped agitator 6 to the outside, the laundry By being able to more frequently change the items up and down, a more powerful and more even cleaning effect can ultimately be obtained.

Furthermore, as a structural effect, by providing the protrusion 9 at the center of the bottom of the container-shaped stirring body 6, the depth D (Fig. 1) of the recess 10 formed outside the lower part of the protrusion 9 is increased. You can wash the shaft 13 and the recess 1
0 can be increased compared to the conventional one, which improves the mounting strength of the container-shaped agitator 6 and reduces the shaking of the container-shaped agitator 6 during operation. By being able to reduce the distance E (Fig. 1) between the outer bottom of the body 5 and the gap F (Fig. 1) between the outer circumference of the upper end of the tank body 5 and the container-shaped stirring body 6, the It is possible to increase the volume for washing laundry without increasing the external dimensions.

Next, a second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be described with the same reference numerals assigned to the same parts as in the first embodiment. 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a protruding portion that protrudes upward from the center of the bottom of the container-shaped stirring body 6, and its outer surface has a conical shape that gently slopes outward. This conical protrusion 21 effectively exhibits the function of smoothly guiding the vertically inverted water flow during washing, especially the descending water flow, so that it spreads outward from the central lower part of the container-shaped stirring body 6, The washing effect is greatly improved by further promoting the vertical reversal (swapping) of the laundry, and structurally, the mounting strength of the container-shaped agitator 6 is improved as described above, and the external dimensions of the machine body are increased. This embodiment has the same excellent effects as the first embodiment, such as increasing the volume for washing laundry.

On the other hand, the dewatering operation in each of the above embodiments is performed by, after draining water by opening the drain valve 18, operating a clutch mechanism (not shown) or the like to rotate the tank body 5 and the container-shaped stirring body 6 together in one direction. be.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but may be applied to a washing tank without a dehydrating function, so that the peripheral wall of the tank body 5 is made non-porous to store water within itself. The structure may be such that the pear water tank is removed. Furthermore, the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitating body is not limited to the tapered shape as described above, but may be bowl-shaped, as long as the diameter gradually increases from the bottom to the top. The surface may be only the inner surface of the above-mentioned inner and outer surfaces.

[Effect of idea]

As is clear from the above, the washing machine of the present invention is composed of a tub and a container-shaped agitator having a side wall and a bottom wall, which is located below the tub and is driven to rotate in forward and reverse directions. , the laundry is stored together with water in the washing tub, and when the amount of laundry is small, the laundry is fluidized mainly by the water flow generated by the container-shaped agitating body, and as the amount of laundry increases, the laundry is fluidized by the container-shaped agitation body. The fabric is made to flow by the frictional force of contact with the circumferential wall of the body, and the synergistic effect of the frictional force received from the upper circumferential wall of the tub allows for washing, so there is no damage to the fabric regardless of the amount of cloth, and the fabric is evenly washed. Can be washed. In addition, since the container-shaped stirring body 6 is formed into a tapered shape, the laundry can be lifted smoothly, and
Since the inner diameter of the upper circumferential wall of the tub 5 is larger than the inner diameter of the upper part, the washing capacity of the tub 5 can be increased, and the rising laundry is
It is also possible to prevent the washing machine from getting stuck between the washing machine and the tub body 5, further promoting the action of turning the laundry upside down and improving the washing effect evenly. Furthermore, by providing an upwardly protruding protrusion in the center of the bottom of the container-shaped stirring body, and fitting and fixing the washing shaft from the bottom to this protrusion, it is possible to generate an appropriate vertically inverted water flow and maintain an appropriate cleaning effect. In addition to being able to expect a better cleaning effect by widening the amount of cloth that can be applied, it is also possible to increase the length of the fitting between the protrusion and the washing shaft, which can improve the mounting strength of the container-shaped agitator. It has various excellent practical effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cleaning ratio characteristic diagram, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the second embodiment. In the figure, 2 is a water tank, 4 is a washing tank, 5 is a tank body, and 6
indicates a container-shaped stirring body, 8 indicates a groove, and 9 and 21 indicate protrusions.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. A container-shaped agitator having a tapered peripheral wall and bottom wall whose diameter gradually increases along the inner peripheral wall surface toward the upper part is disposed in the inner lower part of the tank body, and The inner diameter of the upper circumferential wall of the tub is larger than the inner diameter of the upper part of the container-shaped agitator, and the laundry is accommodated together with water in the tub, and the laundry is rotated forward and backward by the container-shaped agitator. The water flow is caused to flow by the generated water flow and the contact frictional force, and the washing is carried out by a synergistic effect with the frictional force received from the upper peripheral wall of the tub body,
A washing machine characterized in that a protrusion projecting upward is formed at the center of the bottom of the container-shaped agitator, and a washing shaft for driving the container-shaped agitator from below is fitted and fixed to the protrusion. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the protrusion of the container-shaped agitator has a conical shape.