JPH0149514B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an electric washing machine for general household use.

Conventional Structures and Problems The electric washing machines that have been used so far have been of the spiral type mainly in Japan, the stirring type mainly in North America, and the drum type mainly in Europe.

The basic configurations of these systems will be briefly explained below.

Whirlpool type and agitation type electric washing machines have a washing tub and rotary blades (pulsator) or stirring blades (agitator) rotatably installed at the bottom of the tub, and water, detergent, and The laundry was loaded and the pulsator was rotated or the agitator was oscillated to apply mechanical force to the laundry to remove dirt.

In addition, a drum-type electric washing machine has a cylindrical washing tub that is laid on its side and can be rotated concentrically with the cylindrical axis. Normally, three protrusions (batsuful) were provided, and water was injected into the drum to about 1/3 full, then detergent and laundry were thrown in and the drum was rotated.

In this case, the laundry is lifted up by a bathtub in the drum, and when it reaches the top, it falls naturally, and the dirt is removed by the impact with the water surface, resulting in what is known as ``pound washing''.

All of the above-mentioned washing machines basically have a mechanism in which a water system applies mechanical force to the laundry, and the synergistic effect with the chemical action of detergent removes dirt.

As a result, considerable mechanical force is applied to the laundry, resulting in fabric damage. However, the degree of damage to fabrics varies depending on the washing method, and generally, the damage to fabrics increases in the order of spiral washing method, stirring washing method, and drum washing method.

On the other hand, the cleaning effect is best in the order of spiral type, stirring type, and drum type, which cause the most damage to the fabric, and the greater the mechanical force, the better the cleaning, and in the case of the drum type, hot water may be used to supplement the cleaning effect. It was a lot.

Although hot water was often used in the stirring method, water has come to be used more and more due to improvements in the performance of detergents, that is, their ability to clean at low temperatures.

The reason why hot water is used in the drum type is not only to supplement the cleaning effect, but also due to the poor quality of water in Europe, that is, its high hardness.
In general, this is largely due to Europeans' hygienic concept of washing, and because the emphasis is placed on sterilizing bacteria and germs, high-temperature washing is used.

On the other hand, in Japan, the quality of the water is good and the custom of washing with regular water means that in contrast to the high-temperature washing in Europe, in most cases washing is done at a low temperature with the same water temperature, and the concept of washing is also sterilized. Rather, the focus was on the whiteness of the product after washing.

As mentioned above, conventional electric washing machines tend to damage fabrics, and knits and the like have been disposed of by hand washing or dry cleaning in most cases. Furthermore, since washing is done in an aqueous system, a detergent solution of a certain concentration is required, a certain amount of water is required for a unit amount of washing, and the amount of detergent used tends to be larger than the amount of dirt.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves these conventional problems and provides an electric washing machine that improves cleaning efficiency without damaging fabrics.

Structure of the Invention The electric washing machine of the present invention has a cylindrical body that removably houses a porous container for storing laundry items and has a communication hole at the bottom thereof, and has an upper peripheral edge of the cylindrical body. An outer cylindrical body having a water supply port is located in the cylindrical body, and a heating element is provided between the outer cylindrical body and the cylindrical body,
A heating element is located at the lower periphery of the cylinder, and a through hole is provided at the bottom of the tank that communicates with the cylinder and has a check valve connected to an air pump, thereby allowing detergent molecules to be absorbed by air bubbles. It is designed to penetrate well into the laundry to improve cleaning efficacy.

Explanation of Examples When the detergent molecule A is shown as a model, it consists of a hydrophilic group a and a lipophilic group b as shown in Fig. 1.When this molecule A is dissolved in water, it forms an interface as shown in Fig. 2. That is, the molecules A are aligned on the water surface, and the detergent molecules that cannot be present are present in the water individually or in the form of micelles.

When the detergent molecules A present at the interface are removed, the detergent molecules in the water move to the interface and act to replenish it.

As shown in Figure 3, when air is sent into the detergent liquid, it becomes air bubbles C in the liquid and rises, and when it reaches the interface, the detergent molecules A are held on the peripheral wall, that is, the air bubbles are surrounded by the detergent molecules A. c becomes a bubble d. The concentration of the detergent molecules A held in these bubbles d and c becomes high, and the detergent molecules A that were taken away from the interface with the bubbles c and d are replenished by the movement of detergent molecules in the liquid, so air is sent. By continuing, bubbles holding detergent molecules are generated one after another. Note that the lipophilic groups b of the laundry object A held in the air bubbles c are directed outward.

While the air bubbles d thus generated come into contact with the surface of the object to be washed or pass through the object, oil or dirt is bonded to the lipophilic group b and removed. Furthermore, if the air bubbles C are trapped while passing through the laundry, detergent molecules will penetrate into the laundry, making it easier to remove dirt.

Therefore, stains on laundry items can be easily removed without applying mechanical force as in the conventional method.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, a cylindrical body 4 is disposed at the bottom of the tub 1, in which a net-shaped container 3 for accommodating laundry items 2 is removably housed.
A communication hole 5 is provided in the lower peripheral wall of the cylinder 4.

At the top of this cylinder 4, an outer cylinder 7 whose upper end is substantially closed by the water supply port 6 and whose lower end is open.
are located at intervals.

An annular sheathed heater 9 is disposed in a space 8 formed by the upper part of the cylindrical body 4 and the outer cylindrical body 7.

At the bottom of the tank 1, there is a through hole 1 equipped with a check valve 10.
1 is provided, and this through hole 11 is communicated with an air pump 13 through a pipe 12.

Note that 14 is a heating element for heating or keeping the detergent liquid 15 warm, 16 is a drain port, 17 is a drain valve, 18 is a frame, and 19 is a leg.

First, air is sent from the air pump 13 through the pipe 12 and through the check valve 10 into the cylinder body 4 to form air bubbles d.While rising inside the cylinder body 4, the mesh container
come into contact with the surface of the laundry item 2 stored therein,
Or pass through the inside to remove dirt.
The air bubbles d that have come into contact with the surface of the laundry object 2 or have passed through the inside thereof enter the space 8, where they come into contact with the heating element 9, are broken, and are returned to liquid form and mixed into the detergent liquid 15. The liquid is diffused and mixed into the liquid in the cylinder 4 through the communication hole 5.

Next, when cleaning is completed, the drain valve 17 is opened to drain the detergent liquid 15 from the drain port 16.

When rinsing, water is supplied from the water supply port 6 and sprinkled on the laundry to be washed 9, or the drain valve 17 is closed to store water in the tank 1 and air is sent through. Let's do it.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, air bubbles holding detergent molecules come into contact with the surface of the object to be washed or pass through it to remove dirt, so cleaning can be performed without applying mechanical force. No more fabric damage.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, dirt is removed using air bubbles that hold detergent molecules at a high density, so good cleaning can be achieved with about 1/5 the amount of detergent compared to the conventional case in which detergent solution is used.

Furthermore, when defoaming, the foam is heated to about 200 to 300°C using a heating element, so that germs are almost completely sterilized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of a model of detergent molecules, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of detergent molecules in a detergent solution, and Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of a model of detergent molecules.
The figure is an explanatory diagram when air is sent into a detergent solution, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of an electric washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1...tank, 2...item to be washed, 3...mesh container,
4... Cylindrical body, 5... Communication hole, 6... Water supply port, 7...
... Outer cylinder body, 9 ... Sheathed heater, 10 ... Check valve, 11 ... Through hole, 13 ... Air pump.

[Claims]

1. A cleaning solvent tank connected via a control valve between the solvent gas exhaust port and the fresh air intake port of the laundry drum, with a cooling coil connected to the refrigerator inside facing the tank, and a cleaning solvent tank located above the tank. 1. A dry cleaning apparatus comprising: a solvent gas condensing section forming a circulation path for a cooling cleaning solvent, the circulation path being connected to a cleaning solvent supply pipe to the washing drum via a control valve.