JPH0156799B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing device for washing laundry items with foam.

Configurations of conventional examples and their problems Regarding washing machines, the whirlpool type, stirring type, and drum type are the mainstream in various regions of the world, depending on their cleaning method. 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, the 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. Then, fill the drum to about 1/3 of its capacity with water, add an appropriate amount of detergent, then load the laundry and rotate the drum. 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.

Furthermore, since all of the above-mentioned methods apply a considerable mechanical force to the laundry, there are differences in the degree of damage to the fabric, and it can be said that generally, the spiral type, the stirring type, and the drum type cause the most damage to the fabric in that order. On the other hand, the washing efficiency is better in the order of the spiral type, the stirring type, and the drum type, which cause more damage to the fabric, and in other words, the one with higher mechanical power washes better.

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

However, hot water is used in the above-mentioned drum type not only to supplement cleaning efficiency. In Europe, where this drum type is often used,
Although this is partly due to poor water quality, i.e., high hardness, it is largely due to the sanitary concept of the user when it comes to laundry.Since laundry is focused on sterilizing bacteria and other germs, high-temperature washing It takes the form of

In Japan, on the other hand, the quality of 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 think about 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, since washing is done in an aqueous system, 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 laundry), and the amount of detergent is determined based on the amount of dirt. There tends to be too many.

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 so far to eliminate fabric 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. This method causes less fabric damage than any of the methods mentioned above, but
Recently, it has not been used at all because it has poor cleaning efficiency and is uneconomical due to the large bath ratio.

For this reason, the present inventor proposed a washing device using detergent foam. about this,
The details are explained below.

In general, when a detergent molecule A is represented as a model, as shown in FIG. 1, it consists of a hydrophilic group a and a lipophilic group b. Therefore, when detergent is dissolved in water, the detergent molecules A are aligned at the interface (water surface) as shown in Figure 2, and the 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, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, when air B is sent into the detergent liquid, air C is raised in the liquid and is directed toward 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. That is, the foam D has detergent molecules A lined up as much as possible, and the detergent concentration is high. 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. As a matter of course, the lipophilic group b is directed inside and outside the membrane of this foam.

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.

Here, a washing structure using the above detergent foam will be explained.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 designates a washing tank for storing laundry items 2, and reference numeral 3 designates a storage tank for cleaning liquid 5 for generating detergent foam, the upper part of which is connected to the washing tank 1 through a bubble pipe 4. A pressure feed pipe 6 for pumping air B is provided at the bottom of 3. 7 is a porous body provided to prevent the laundry 2 from flowing out from the upper part during washing, and 8 is a foam discharge pipe. Reference numeral 10 denotes a device for pumping air, which includes a fan and a motor (both not shown) for driving the fan.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, when air B is sent into the pressure feed pipe 6, the air is sent into the detergent liquid 5 stored in the storage tank 3, and the above-mentioned detergent foam D is generated here. This detergent foam D is caused by the pressure of air B that is sent one after another.
That is, due to the pressure of the bubbles created one after another, the bubbles are sent through the bubble pipe 4 into the washing tub 1 containing the laundry items 2, and then come into contact with or pass through the laundry items 2, and further, The foam passes through the porous body 7 and is discharged to the outside from the foam discharge pipe 8. Therefore, the laundry object 2 is washed by the action described above.

FIG. 5 shows another structural example, in which 1' is a washing tub for accommodating laundry items 2, and 5 is a detergent liquid, which is configured to be stored at the inner bottom of the washing tub 1' itself.
Further, at the bottom of the washing tub 1', a pressure pipe 6 for pumping air is provided.

7 and 9 are porous bodies, and the purpose of the porous body 7 is to prevent the laundry to be washed 2 from flowing out;
is for supporting the laundry item 2 and preventing the laundry item 2 from being immersed in the cleaning liquid 5. 8 is a foam discharge pipe, and 10 is a device for pumping air.

According to the above configuration, when the air B is forced through the pressure feeding pipe 6, the detergent foam D is generated as described above, and this comes into contact with or passes through the laundry object 2, and is washed as described above. The foam D that has come into contact with or passed through the laundry object 2 is discharged to the outside through the foam discharge pipe 8.

According to the configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the dirt is removed by the bubbles coming into contact with or passing through the laundry items, so that no large mechanical force is applied to the laundry items. Therefore, fabric damage hardly occurs.

It also requires less water and detergent,
In addition, since the foam once in contact with the laundry is discharged, bacteria do not adhere to it again, resulting in a sterilizing effect.

However, in both the configurations shown in Figures 4 and 5, the foam is discharged outside the machine, and the discharged foam still has the power to remove dirt, making the resource (detergent) more effective. This is not desirable from a usage point of view.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to reuse detergent foam that has come into contact with or passed through laundry items, thereby making effective use of detergent.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention particularly provides a closed circuit that returns detergent foam after contacting or passing through the laundry to a storage tank at the bottom of the washing tub, including a foam discharge pipe, an antifoaming device, and a detergent foam discharge pipe. By constructing a transfer pipe and forming a closed circuit independent of the washing tub, the foam passing through the foam discharge pipe or detergent transfer pipe can be defoamed by natural defoaming action, increasing the defoaming effect. It is.

Description of Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 4 and 5 indicate the same members, and their explanations will be omitted.

First, referring to FIG. 6, numeral 11 is a defoaming device for breaking discharged detergent foam and returning it to detergent liquid.The upper part of this defoaming device 11 is connected to the foam discharge pipe 8, and the lower part is One end is connected to the other end of a detergent liquid feed pipe 12, which is connected to a detergent liquid storage tank 3. The foam discharge pipe 8 and the detergent liquid device 12 constitute a closed circuit as referred to in the present invention.

Next, the operation will be explained. In the same way as explained in FIG. 4, the detergent foam that has come into contact with or passed through the laundry object moves through the foam discharge pipe 8, and after being naturally defoamed to some extent within this pipe, it is sent to the defoaming device 11 installed in the middle. As a result, the detergent foam is broken and becomes a detergent liquid. Then, this detergent liquid returns to the detergent liquid storage tank 3 again through the detergent liquid delivery pipe 12, and can be used again as detergent foam. In addition, the detergent liquid containing undefoamed foam is completely defoamed while passing through the detergent liquid feed pipe 12, thereby enhancing the defoaming effect.

The case shown in FIG. 7 is similar to that shown in FIG. 6, and the detergent foam broken by the defoaming device 11 becomes a detergent liquid, which passes through the detergent liquid feed pipe 12 to the storage tank formed at the bottom of the washing tub 1'. and then used again as detergent foam.

8 and 9 show the specific structure of the defoaming device 11, and in FIG. 8, two hot plates are installed in the case body 11a so that their surfaces are parallel to the flow of detergent foam. 11b, and when the detergent foam D comes into contact with the hot plate 11b, the foam is broken and returns to the detergent liquid 5. The above-mentioned bubble breakage occurs because the film of the detergent foam D comes into contact with the hot plate 11b, and the contact portion of the detergent liquid forming the film with the hot plate 11b evaporates.

Note that the hot plate 11b does not necessarily need to be arranged parallel to the flow of the detergent foam D;
1b and the detergent foam D may be brought into contact with each other.

FIG. 9 shows a centrifugal fan 11 inside the case body 11a.
The defoaming device 11 is configured by arranging c.
By rotating the centrifugal fan 11c, the detergent foam D sent from the top is transferred to the centrifugal fan 11c.
The bubbles are sucked in from the central portion 11d of the bubbles and dispersed in the circumferential direction along the blades 11e, and are broken by the force at this time.

Note that even if the above-described structure is not adopted as the defoaming device, it is possible, for example, to make the detergent liquid feed pipe 12 slightly longer and adopt a defoaming method of natural defoaming, which is also one of the features of the present invention. It can be said to be a defoaming device.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, since a closed circuit consisting of a foam discharge pipe, an antifoaming device, and a cleaning liquid delivery pipe is provided, defoaming is performed by natural defoaming action in each pipe, and the foam is eliminated. This improves the effectiveness of the cleaning solution, increases the effectiveness of its reuse as a cleaning solution, and makes effective use of the cleaning solution. Also,
By forming a closed circuit independently of the washing tub,
It is not necessary to provide the defoaming device integrally with the washing tub, and the defoaming device does not obstruct loading and unloading of laundry items, thereby improving operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a model diagram of detergent molecules, Figure 2
The figure shows a model when detergent molecules are dissolved in water, Figure 3 shows a model when air is passed through the cleaning liquid, and Figures 4 and 5 show washing using detergent foam. 6 and 7 are schematic sectional views of the washing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 shows a defoaming structure for detergent foam,
Figure A is a cutaway perspective view, Figure B is a cross-sectional view, Figure 9 shows another example of the defoaming structure, and Figure A is its cross-sectional view.
Figure B is a perspective view of the centrifugal fan. 1, 1'...washing tub, 5...detergent liquid, B...air, 11...defoaming device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A washing tub for storing the laundry items, a storage tank for detergent solution connected to the lower part of the washing tub, means for pumping air into the storage tank, and detergent liquid after it comes into contact with or passes through the laundry items. The closed circuit includes a closed circuit that returns foam to the storage tank, and a defoaming device provided in the middle of this closed circuit, and the closed circuit includes a foam discharge pipe connecting the washing tub and the defoaming device, and the defoaming device. A washing device consisting of a defoaming device and a detergent liquid delivery pipe connecting a storage tank, and in which a closed circuit is formed independently of the washing tank.