JPH0155038B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention The present invention provides a dewatering and rinsing device that also performs a low-speed dewatering operation in which laundry is dehydrated and rinsed by injecting water into a dehydrating tank and rotating the dehydrating tank intermittently. Regarding.

Technical Background of the Invention In a conventional dehydrating and rinsing device, laundry that has been washed with detergent in a washing tub is placed in a dehydrating tank having a large number of dehydrating holes in the peripheral wall, and then the laundry is kept in the dehydrating tank for a certain period of time. This is a configuration in which dehydration and rinsing is performed by repeating water injection and rotating the dehydration tank for a predetermined period of time a predetermined number of times.

Problems with the Background Art In the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the water injected into the dehydration tank easily flows out from the dehydration hole, so there is a problem that the water permeates into the laundry in the dehydration tank insufficiently and the rinsing effect is poor. Furthermore, since the water poured into the dehydration tank is always drained out, it is impossible to add laundry treatment agents such as bleach, soft finishing agents, and antistatic agents to impregnate the laundry.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a dehydration and rinsing device that can effectively dehydrate and rinse laundry and impregnate the laundry with a laundry treatment agent. It is on offer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a substantially non-porous dehydration tank that uses rotational centrifugal force to pump up water inside and discharges it from the upper part, and a water sprinkling tube is erected at the center of the bottom of the dehydration tank. By providing a water injection device for injecting water into the dehydration tank, and providing a drive motor that alternately performs a normal dehydration operation in which the dehydration tank is continuously rotated and a low speed dehydration operation in which it is intermittently rotated,
After the laundry is soaked in water, the water is centrifugally discharged.

Embodiment of the Invention An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a two-tub washing machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the general structure of a two-tub washing machine will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4. Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box, inside of which a washing tub 2 and a dewatering tank 3 integrally formed of plastic are disposed. Further, at the inner bottom of the washing tub 2, stirring blades (none of which are shown) that are rotationally driven by a washing motor are arranged. Reference numeral 4 denotes a dehydration tank disposed within the dehydration receiving tank 3, which has a tapered cylindrical shape with a bottom that gradually increases in diameter as it goes upward, and a plurality of dehydration tanks arranged in a line on the upper part of the peripheral wall. It has a discharge hole 4a and has a substantially non-porous shape as a whole, and a locking annular part 4 is formed at the upper end by bending it into an arc shape.
b is formed. Further, a dehydration shaft 5 is connected to the center of the bottom of the dehydration tank 4 and protrudes downward.
The middle part of the dehydration shaft 5 is inserted into and supported by a bellows 6 attached to the bottom of the dehydration receiving tank 3, and the lower end of the dehydration shaft 5 is connected to a dehydration motor 7, which is a drive motor elastically supported on the bottom of the outer box 1. Connector 8 to rotating shaft 7a
connected by. Reference numeral 9 denotes a porous water spray cylinder made of, for example, sintered plastic powder, which has a vertically elongated cylindrical shape and is erected at the center of the bottom of the dehydration tank 4. 10 is an inner basket which is a frame member having water permeability over almost the entire surface, and this is formed by installing mesh plates 10b inside vertical and horizontal frame portions 10a,
It has a tapered, generally cylindrical shape that gradually increases in diameter as it goes upward. This inner basket 10 is inserted into the dehydration tank 4, and the vertical frame of the frame portion 10a comes into contact with the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the dehydration tank 4, so that a predetermined gap 11 is formed between the inner surface of the peripheral wall and the mesh plate 10b. is beginning to form. Reference numeral 12 denotes a cover attached to the top opening of the dehydration tank 3, and this has an entrance/exit 12a facing the top opening of the dehydration tank 4, and this entrance/exit 12a has a water injection device, which is a water injection device. A container 13 is rotatably mounted. A water inlet 13a is formed in the center of the water inlet 13.
When it is rotated so as to close the entrance/exit 12a, it faces the opening at the upper end of the water spray tube 9.
Reference numeral 14 denotes an operation box installed upright at the rear upper part of the outer box 1. A water supply solenoid valve 15 is disposed inside this operation box, and a water supply hose 16 is connected to the water inlet of this water supply solenoid valve 15. has been done. The water outlet of the water supply solenoid valve 15 can be swung left and right by an operating member 17 provided on the operation box 14, and when the water outlet is swung leftward, the water supply solenoid valve 15 The water from the water supply solenoid valve 15 is supplied into the washing tub 2, and when the water outlet is swung to the right, the water from the water supply solenoid valve 15 is supplied into the water injector 13. In addition, 18 is a drain hose connected to the drain port 3a of the dewatering tank 3, 19 is a holding plate that is removably fitted into the upper opening of the dehydrating tank 4, and 20 is a cover on the upper opening of the dehydrating tank 3. A dehydration lid is pivotally mounted above 12, and 21 is a dehydration timer attached to the operation box 14.

Now, the configuration of the electric circuit will be described according to FIG. Reference numerals 22 and 23 are power supply terminals connected to a single-phase AC power supply, and power supply lines 24 and 25 are connected to these terminals, respectively. The dehydration timer 2
1 has a timer motor 26 and timer switches 27 to 31 that are opened and closed according to the rotation of the timer motor 26. The timer switch 30 is a changeover switch having a movable contact piece c and fixed contact pieces a and b. 32 is a lid switch that opens and closes in conjunction with the opening and closing of the dehydration lid 20 (see FIG. 1); 33 is a selection switch consisting of a changeover switch having a movable contact piece c and fixed contact pieces a and b; and 34 is an alarm. It's a barrel buzzer. Therefore, the dewatering motor 7 as a load,
The water supply solenoid valve 15, timer motor 26 and buzzer 34 are connected to the lid switch 3 between the power lines 24 and 25.
2. The timer switches 27 to 31 and the selection switch 33 are connected as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the time chart of FIG. The laundry that has been washed with detergent using powdered soap in the washing tub 2 is thrown into the inner basket 10 of the dehydration tank 4 through the inlet/outlet 12a, and the inlet/outlet 12a is closed by the water injector 13.
Close the dehydration lid 20 (at this time, close the lid switch 32
will also be closed. ). Thereafter, the contact piece (c-b) of the selection switch 33 is selectively closed, and the operating member 17 is operated to the right to swing the water outlet of the water supply solenoid valve 15 to the right. The dehydration timer 21 is set, for example, to the first position (maximum time position) of the "dehydration rinsing" process. As a result, first, the contact pieces (b-c) of the lid switch 32 and the timer switch 30 are
At the same time, the dewatering motor 7 is energized and rotates, and the timer motor 26 is energized through the lid switch 32 and the timer switch 27, so that the dehydrating timer 21 starts timing. In this case, the contact pieces (c-b) and the contact pieces (ca-a) of the timer switch 30 are alternately closed for a certain period of time ta (for example, 1 minute) as shown in FIG. ing. When the dewatering motor 7 is energized, it rotates the dehydrating tank 4, and the centrifugal force of rotation of the dehydrating tank 4 shakes off the water containing powdered soap, which is the detergent impregnated into the laundry. The water reaches the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the dehydration tank 4 via the mesh plate 10b, and is then pumped up along the inner surface of the peripheral wall by the rotating centrifugal force of the dehydration tank 4 and discharged into the dehydration receiving tank 3 from the discharge hole 4a, which is the upper part. The dewatering motor 7 is energized for a certain period of time.
ta (for example, 1 minute), the rotational speed of the dewatering motor 7 increases to near the steady rotational speed during normal dewatering, and the normal dewatering operation is then performed.
After that, the timer switch 30 is connected to the contact piece (c-a).
At the same time, the timer switch 29 is closed. As a result, the water supply solenoid valve 15 is energized and opened via the contacts (b-c) of the lid switch 32, timer switch 29, and selection switch 33, and water is supplied into the water injector 13. is injected into the water spray tube 9 from the water inlet 13a. In addition, the dewatering motor 7
Next, turn on the lid switch 32 and timer switch 31.
The current is then applied between the contact pieces (a-c) of the timer switch 30. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the timer switch 31 operates for a short time tb (for example,
Since the dehydration tank 4 is designed to repeatedly close (10 seconds) and open for a short period of time (for example, 10 seconds)
will repeat the driving rotation for a short time tb and the inert rotation for a short time tc. Since the dehydration tank 4 receives rotational drive only for a short period of time tb, and is constantly receiving braking force from water being injected into the water spray tube 9, its rotational speed does not increase much, and the rotational centrifugal force of the dehydration tank 4 The pumping and discharging of water from the discharge hole 4a is not performed so much. Therefore, in a low-speed dehydration operation in which the dehydration tank 4 is intermittently driven to rotate by repeatedly closing the timer switch 31 for a short period of time tb and opening for a short period of time tc, as the operation progresses, As shown in Fig. 4 a and b, water is gradually stored in the dehydration tank 4, and when the dehydration tank 4 is rotated during that time, the water surface becomes parabolic as shown by the two-dot chain line, and water is removed. When the rotation of the water tank 4 is stopped, the water surface becomes approximately horizontal as shown by the solid line, and the laundry is agitated up and down due to this change. Then, some time before the low-speed dehydration operation ends, the dehydration tank 4 will be filled with water, as shown in FIG. 4c, and the laundry will be immersed in the water. Thereafter, the above-described normal dehydration operation and the subsequent low-speed dehydration operation are performed multiple times, for example, three times, and the "dehydration rinsing" process is completed. When the "dehydration rinsing" process is completed, the dehydration timer 21 shifts to the next normal "dehydration" process, and the timer switch 30 continuously closes the contact piece (c-b). hand,
The dewatering motor 7 is now continuously energized through the contacts (b-c) of the lid switch 32 and the timer switch 30, and the dehydrating tank 4 is driven to rotate at a constant rotational speed. The internal water is pumped up and released into the dehydration receiving tank 3 from the discharge hole 4a which is the upper part.Afterwards, when all the water in the dehydration tank 4 is released, the water is shaken off from the laundry in the dehydration tank 4. The water is then discharged from the discharge hole 4a in the same manner as described above, and normal dehydration operation is then performed. Of course, in this "dewatering" process, the timer switch 29 is opened, so the water supply solenoid valve 15 is not energized and water is not injected into the water spray tube 9. Such a "dehydration" process is carried out for a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes), but it takes some time (for example, 10 minutes) for this process to finish.
seconds), the timer switch 28 closes and the buzzer 34 is energized and begins to sound.
A forecast will be made indicating that the operation will end.
Note that if the contact piece (ca) of the selection switch 33 is closed in advance, the water supply solenoid valve 15 is not energized and water is not injected into the water spray tube 9 during the "dehydration and rinsing" process.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, the dehydration timer 21
In the "dehydration rinsing" process, the normal dehydration operation and the low-speed dehydration operation are performed multiple times, so in the low-speed dehydration operation, water and laundry are stirred while storing water in the dehydration tank 4. Therefore, water can be evenly and sufficiently penetrated into the laundry, improving the dehydration and rinsing effect. Even if the generated metal soap adheres to the laundry, it can be washed off, and furthermore, the water stored in the spin-drying tank 4 can be used in the final low-speed spin-dry operation in the ``spin-rinse'' step. It is extremely convenient because laundry treatment agents such as bleach, soft finishing agents, and antistatic agents can be added to the laundry and soaked into the laundry. The water inside the washing machine and the water impregnated in the laundry can be released all at once, and the detergent and metal soap can be discharged. In addition, in the low-speed dehydration operation of the "dehydration rinsing" process, water is constantly poured into the water sprinkling tube 9 and dehydration and rinsing is performed while water permeates the laundry, so unlike conventional methods, separate water injection time is not required. This allows dehydration and rinsing to be performed in a shorter amount of time. Furthermore, since the water sprinkling tube 9 is arranged upright in the dehydration tank 4, water can be supplied to the laundry substantially uniformly, and the laundry can be dehydrated and rinsed more evenly. Since the inner basket 10 is disposed inside the dehydration tank 4, the laundry is not pressed against the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the dehydration tank 4.
The flow of water passing through the laundry is not obstructed and the water passes through the laundry evenly.
This makes it possible to further improve the rinsing effect.

Incidentally, the time ta of the normal dehydration operation in the "dehydration rinsing" step in the above embodiment is not limited to 1 minute, but can be set as appropriate.

In addition, the present invention is not limited only to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope of the invention.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a normal dehydration operation by continuously rotating a dehydration tank, and a low-speed dehydration operation by intermittently rotating the dehydration tank while pouring water into a water spray cylinder installed upright in the dehydration tank. By doing this alternately, it is possible to thoroughly soak the laundry with water and then sufficiently stir the laundry while it is submerged in water, improving the dehydration and rinsing effect. This method has excellent effects such as being able to impregnate laundry with a laundry treatment agent.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a two-tub washing machine.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the dehydration tank and the inner basket, Figures 4a to c are schematic longitudinal sectional views of the dehydration tank for explaining the operation, and Figure 5. is an electric circuit diagram, and FIG. 6 is a time chart. In the drawing, 3 is a dehydration receiving tank, 4 is a dehydration tank, 7 is a dehydration motor (drive motor), 9 is a water spray cylinder, 10 is an inner basket (frame member), 13 is a water injector (water injection device), and 15 is for water supply A solenoid valve, 21 indicates a dehydration timer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A substantially non-porous dehydration tank that uses rotational centrifugal force to pump up water inside and discharge it from the upper part, a water sprinkling tube erected at the center of the bottom of this dehydration tank, and It is equipped with a water injection device that injects water into a water bottle, and a drive motor that alternately performs a normal dehydration operation in which the dehydration tank is continuously rotated and a low speed dehydration operation in which the dehydration tank is intermittently rotated. A dehydration rinsing device characterized in that the water injection device injects water into the water spray cylinder during speed dehydration operation. 2. The dewatering and rinsing device according to claim 1, wherein a frame member having water permeability is provided over substantially the entire surface of the dehydrating tank.