JPH0155033B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine that washes laundry items with detergent foam.

Conventional Structures and Their Problems Traditionally, washing machines are classified by their cleaning methods, and the whirlpool type, agitation type, and drum type have become mainstream in various regions of the world. The basic configuration of these methods will be briefly explained.

First, the whirlpool type and agitation type have rotary blades (pulsator) or agitation blades (agitator) rotatably arranged at the inner bottom of the washing tub, and the water inside the washing tub,
Add detergent and laundry, rotate the pulsator,
Alternatively, stirring blades are oscillated to apply mechanical force to the laundry to remove dirt.

Next, the drum type has what is called a drum, which is usually provided with three protrusions (bumps) on the inside, and this drum has a rotation center axis in the horizontal direction. Approximately 1/3 of the volume of water is then poured into the drum, along with an appropriate amount of detergent, followed by laundry, and the drum is rotated. At this time,
The laundry is lifted by the drum inside the drum, and when it comes to the top, it falls naturally and the dirt is removed by the impact with the water surface, which is called "pound washing".
It is a type of

In any of the above-mentioned methods, basically, mechanical force is applied to the laundry using an aqueous system, and dirt is removed together with the chemical action of the detergent.

In addition, all of the above-mentioned methods apply considerable mechanical force to the laundry, resulting in fabric damage. Of course, there are differences in the degree of fabric damage depending on the washing method, and it can generally be said that the damage to fabrics is greater in the order of spiral, stirring, and drum washing methods. On the other hand, the cleaning efficiency is better in the order of the spiral type, stirring type, and drum type, which cause the most damage to the fabric, and it can be said that the higher the mechanical force, the better the cleaning.

In addition, to compensate for the poor cleaning efficiency of the drum type,
Hot water is used for washing. Hot water is often used in the stirring method, but recently water has been used more and more due to improvements in the performance of detergents, that is, improved cleaning performance with low-temperature water.

However, the reason why hot water is used in the above-mentioned drum type is not simply to supplement cleaning efficiency. In Europe, where this drum type is often used, the poor quality of the water, that is, its high hardness, is a factor, but in general, it is largely due to the user's hygienic concept of washing, and washing sterilizes bacteria and germs. Since emphasis is placed on this, high-temperature cleaning is used.

In Japan, on the other hand, the quality of the water is good, and the custom of washing with regular water helps, and most clothes are washed at low temperatures (at the same water temperature), as opposed to the high-temperature washing in Europe. Also, the concept of washing is more focused on whiteness after washing rather than sterilization. This is a fundamental difference in the way Europe and Japan approach laundry.

As mentioned above, each type of washing machine has its advantages and disadvantages, but in any case, existing washing machines tend to damage fabrics. Therefore, most of the nits and the like are currently disposed of by hand washing or dry cleaning.

Next, washing is done in an aqueous system, so a detergent solution of a certain concentration is required.Moreover, each method mentioned above requires a certain bath ratio (amount of water per unit amount of washing), and the amount of detergent is large relative to the amount of dirt. It tends to be too much.

Furthermore, sterilization is not considered to be an issue that can be ignored. Detergents do not have a bactericidal effect, and in Japan, they are only removed by flushing them out during rinsing, and with recent efforts to save water, it can be said that their effectiveness in removing bacteria is becoming less effective. . As described above, conventional washing machines have a number of problems.

In addition, various methods have been proposed to eliminate cloth damage, one of which is the jet jet method.

This is done by circulating the detergent liquid in the washing tub again into the washing tub using a pump, creating a water flow in the washing liquid in the tub, and the force of this water flow and the force of the washing liquid itself spouted from the pump. This applies mechanical force to the laundry and removes dirt.

Although this method causes less damage to the cloth than any of the above-mentioned methods, it has not been used at all until recently because it has poor cleaning efficiency and requires a large bath ratio, making it uneconomical.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, reduces the amount of detergent and water used, prevents fabric damage, and simplifies the storage structure for detergent liquid and stores laundry items. The purpose is to make the structure highly practical.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a washing tub in which a detergent solution is stored in the inner bottom, a blower device connected to the washing inner bottom, and a washing tub arranged in an upper part and a lower part in the washing washing tub. , and a porous body that can accommodate laundry items between the two, which enables efficient washing using detergent foam, and also requires a washing tub to store the detergent solution. This makes it possible to eliminate the need for a special structure, and also to make the storage structure for laundry articles more practical.

Here, the principle of washing using detergent foam will be explained.

In general, when detergent molecule A is expressed as a model, the first
As shown in the figure, it consists of a hydrophilic group a and a lipophilic group b. Therefore, when detergent is dissolved in water, detergent molecules A are aligned at the interface (water surface) as shown in FIG. 2, and detergent molecules that cannot be aligned exist individually or as micelles (groups) in the water. Immediately after the detergent molecules at the interface are removed, the detergent molecules in the water move to the interface and act to replenish it.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when air B is introduced into the detergent liquid, air bubbles C rise in the liquid and reach the interface. Upon reaching the interface, foam D is generated in which the detergent molecules A aligned at the interface are retained in the foam film. In other words, the foam D has the detergent molecules A lined up as much as possible, and has a high detergent concentration. In order to replenish the detergent molecules carried away as foam at this time, the detergent molecules in the liquid move, and if air B is sent one after another, the above-mentioned foam D will be created one after another. Naturally, this bubble directs the lipophilic groups b toward the inside and outside of the membrane.

By passing the foam D thus produced on or through the soiled clothing, the oil and dirt particles adhering to the oil are bound to the lipophilic group b and carried away. Furthermore, if the foam D breaks while passing through the clothes, a highly concentrated detergent solution will soak into the clothes, which can also make it easier to remove stains. In this way, clothes etc. can be washed.

Description of Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a washing tub for storing laundry, and a drain port 3 is provided at the bottom via a valve 2, and a blower device 4 consisting of a fan, a motor, etc. that generates pressurized air B is connected to a pressurized pipe 5. I have contacted you through.
Further, a foam discharge pipe 6 for discharging detergent foam is connected to the upper part of the washing tub 1.
is connected to a discharge hose 7 arranged outside the washing machine. Reference numerals 8 and 9 denote porous bodies that are detachably disposed in the upper and lower parts of the washing tub 1, respectively, and the laundry items 10 are accommodated between the porous bodies 8 and 9. 11 is an outer frame of the washing machine, and 12 is a leg.

13 is a detergent liquid stored in the inner bottom of the washing tub 1;
The interface is located below the porous body 9 in the lower part.

In the above configuration, the operation will be explained next. When the detergent liquid 13 is introduced, the laundry object 10 is placed between the porous bodies 8 and 9, and the blower device 4 is operated.
The pressurized air B is pressurized to the inner bottom of the washing tub 1 via the pressurized pipe 5. As a result, the detergent foam D described above is generated. Thereafter, detergent foam D is generated one after another, so that the detergent foam D comes into contact with or passes through the laundry object 10, and the laundry object is washed according to the above-described principle. The detergent foam D that has come into contact with or passed through the laundry 10 passes through the porous body 8 in the upper part of the washing tub 1 and is discharged to the outside from the foam discharge pipe 6. When washing is finished, residual water and the like can be discharged to the outside through the drain port 3.

Further, with the above configuration, it is also possible to perform rinsing. That is, after washing, pour clean water into the laundry object 10.
By storing the air in the washing tub 1 and feeding the pressurized air B from the bottom, rinsing can be performed by the force of this air. The advantage of this rinsing is that the detergent remaining on the laundry is diffused into the rinsing water, and as mentioned above, this detergent has the property of preferentially lining up at the interface (water surface). Bubbles are also generated by the compressed air B and are discharged one after another. Therefore, the detergent concentration of the rinse water is not very high, and the detergent is discharged as foam containing a high concentration of detergent, and the rinsing process proceeds. Therefore,
It can be said that rinsing is always performed using rinsing water that is close to clean water.

Further, according to the above structure, the detergent liquid 13 is stored at the bottom inside the washing tub 1, and there is no need to adopt any complicated structure for storing the detergent liquid, which is advantageous in terms of production. At the time of cleaning, the remaining detergent liquid 13 can be easily removed.

The porous body 8 prevents the laundry 10 from floating and flowing out together with the detergent foam due to the rise of the detergent foam.

Further, the porous body 9 prevents the laundry item 10 from being immersed in the detergent liquid 13, and prevents the laundry item 10 from being immersed in the detergent liquid 13.
to prevent it from being absorbed and depleted.

Next, another embodiment will be described. In Figure 5,
Reference numerals 2 to 13 indicate the same members as those shown in FIG. 4, but the washing tub indicated by reference numeral 1' is different from that shown in FIG.
That is, in the washing tub 1', the horizontal cross-sectional opening area of the bottom portion 14 below the porous body 9 in the lower portion is as follows.
It is smaller than the same cross-sectional area of the portion 15 above the porous body 9. The detergent liquid 13 is stored inside the bottom portion 14.

According to this configuration, when the detergent liquid 13 is turned into detergent foam D, air is sent in from the bottom of the vertically long container (bottom part 14), and the detergent liquid 13 is digested to the end. That is, since the minimum depth of the detergent liquid 13 for digestion is constant, the smaller the cross-sectional area, the less waste of the detergent liquid.

In both of the embodiments described above, the dirt is removed by the foam coming into contact with or passing through the laundry, so that no large mechanical force is applied to the laundry. Therefore, fabric damage hardly occurs.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, conventional washing machines require a constant bath ratio, which requires a larger amount of detergent than necessary for stains. This is because when washing with an aqueous system, a certain concentration of detergent is required, but according to the embodiment, a certain amount of detergent depending on the amount of dirt is sufficient. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the detergent solution is substantially more concentrated than the conventional detergent solution.

To explain with a specific example, in the past, for example,
If the bath ratio is 12, 24 parts of water is required to wash 2 kg of laundry, and in this case, the amount of detergent is approximately 32 g since the general detergent concentration is 0.133%.
detergent is required. On the other hand, in the example, 2
Approximately 3 grams of detergent solution is required to wash 1 kg of laundry, and if the detergent concentration is 0.133%, approximately 4 grams is sufficient.

However, the experimental results showed that the detergent concentration was 0.133%.
Then, the detergent concentration of the detergent foam that is initially generated (measured by liquefying the foam) is 0.5%, but it becomes thinner as time passes. Therefore, the detergent solution concentration should be adjusted to approx.
When the detergent concentration is set to 0.5%, the detergent concentration of detergent foam is always maintained at 0.5%. Therefore, even if calculated at 0.5%, the amount of detergent is about 8 g, which is about 1/4 of the conventional amount.

Further, as mentioned above, the amount of water used for washing (excluding rinsing) is 3. Therefore, even if rinsing is the same as before, 24-3 = 21, so 21 points of water can be saved. Temporarily try conventional rinsing Rinse 2
Calculated as 24 x 3 = 72 in the conventional case, whereas in the example, it is 24 x 2 + 3 = 51, which is about 30.
% of water can be saved.

In addition, with regard to sterilization, since the detergent foam that has once come into contact with or passed through the laundry is discharged, there is no risk of bacteria adhering to it as in the past, and the sterilization effect is also excellent.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above examples, according to the present invention, the amount of detergent and water used can be reduced, and an excellent cleaning effect with a sterilizing effect can be achieved, and there is less damage to the fabric. , the storage structure for the detergent solution can be made extremely simple and highly productive, and at the same time, problems such as floating of the laundry items and spillage due to washing, and immersion of the laundry items in the detergent solution can be avoided. can be reliably prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a model of detergent molecules, Figure 2 is a diagram to explain the arrangement of detergent molecules in a detergent solution, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the state of foam created by sending air into the detergent solution. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of another embodiment. 1, 1'... Washing tub, 4... Air blower, 8, 9... Porous body, 10... Laundry object, 13... Detergent liquid, 14, 1
5...(Washing tub) part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A washing tub in which detergent liquid is stored in the inner bottom, a blower device connected to the inner bottom, and an air blower disposed in the upper and lower parts of the washing tub, and the laundry to be washed between them. a porous body that can be accommodated in the washing machine, and the washing tub is provided with a discharge port above the porous body in the upper part. 2. The horizontal cross-sectional opening area of the washing tub bottom part below the porous body in the lower part of the washing tub is smaller than the same cross-sectional opening area of the washing tub above the porous body. washing machine.