JPH02174898A - Washing processing agent discriminator and dehydrating washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable required processing agent to be automatically fed in a required period under a washing program by detecting the conductivity of the washing processing agent of detergent, finishing agent, and the like in a throwing-in standby chamber, and by discriminating the kind of the processing agent based on its data. CONSTITUTION:When required processing agent is previously fed in a storage section 14 by a user and a washing program is started, then by a micro-computer 46, based on the input of permittivity between electrodes 42, 42 for composing a comparator circuit 43, the kind of the processing agent in the storage section 14 is discriminated, and water is started to be fed into a tank. Ten seconds later, a solenoid 39 for the processing agent is worked in case that the kind of the processing agent is solution detergent or bleaching agent, and the detergent or the bleaching agent in the storage section 14 together with tap water is fed. When water is fed up to a set water level and a washing process and a first rinsing process are completed, then the kind of the processing agent is discriminated again, and water is started to be fed. Ten seconds later, in case that it is discriminated that the kind is finishing agent, after rinsing is set for the purpose of second rinsing, the processing agent solenoid 39 is worked, and the finishing agent in the storage section 14 together with the tap water is fed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a device for identifying the type of laundry treatment agent, and a dehydrating washing machine equipped with this device.

(b) Conventional technology As a conventional example, a device that automatically dispenses fabric softener into a washing tub at a predetermined time is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-50479 (D06F 39102) and Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-10680.
No. (D06F 39102).

That is, in the former case, a container in which the finishing agent is stored is attached to the balance ring in advance, and centrifugal force is used to dehydrate the finishing agent.
It can be moved between holding chambers divided into containers, and is added during the final rinse.In the latter case, a storage container for finishing agent is placed in advance in the operating section, and the container is loaded at a predetermined time by controlling a cam. This allows displacement to the input position.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention In the conventional example, only the finishing agent can be added;
Detergent could not be added automatically.

In view of these problems, the present invention aims to increase the commercial value of the laundry treatment agent identification device according to claim 1 and the dehydrating/washing machine according to claim 2.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The laundry treatment agent identification device of the present invention is capable of handling laundry treatment agents such as detergents and finishing agents in order to introduce them into the washing tub at a desired time during a washing program. an input waiting chamber for storing a treatment agent in advance; a detection means for detecting the conductivity of the treatment agent in the waiting chamber;
The apparatus further includes a control means for determining the type of processing agent in the waiting chamber based on data from the detection means.

Further, the dehydrating washing machine of the present invention is a washing machine equipped with a control means that sequentially controls the operations of washing, rinsing, and dehydrating processes according to a program, and in which laundry treatment agents such as detergent and finishing agents are stored in advance. a charging waiting chamber for charging, a loading means for charging the processing agent in the waiting chamber into the washing tub, and a detecting means for detecting the conductivity of the processing agent in the waiting chamber, and the control means is configured to control the processing agent from the detecting means. Based on the data, the type of processing agent in the waiting chamber is determined, and the charging means is driven at a predetermined time according to the type.

(e) Function: For example, a liquid detergent and a fabric softener have different electrical conductivities, so by detecting this electrical conductivity, the type of processing agent can be identified.

In addition, by identifying the treatment agent, whether it is a detergent or a finish, it can be used at the desired time during the washing program (for detergents, during the washing process; for finishes, during the final rinsing process). Can be inserted automatically.

(f) Examples Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In Figures 2 to 5, (1) is the machine frame, (2) is the operating section provided at the upper rear of the machine frame (1), and (3) is the control section installed inside the machine frame (1). The outer tank (4) is a dehydration/washing tank which is placed inside the outer tank (3) and has dehydration holes (5) around the periphery.
(6) is a large-diameter rotary blade arranged at the bottom of the washing tub (4), and (7) is a drive motor, which connects the washing machine (4) and the rotary blade (6) with a power transmission mechanism (8). When washing, the rotary R (6) is rotated, and when dehydrating, the PJc washing tub (
4) and rotation R (6) are both rotated at high speed. (9) is the drain port provided at the bottom of the outer tank (3), and (10) is the drain port (
(11) is a drain solenoid valve provided in the drain pipe (10), and (12) is a water supply solenoid valve provided in the water supply pipe (13).

Now, the operation part (2) is formed into a box shape made of synthetic resin, and is integrally provided with a recess with an opening on the upper surface at the rear corner of the upper surface. It constitutes a storage section (14) for storing . A lid (15) is pivotally supported at the rear of the storage section (10), from which the top surface of the storage section (14) can be opened and closed.The bottom surface (14a) G of the storage section (14>) This is provided with a siphon device e (16), and the water in the reservoir (14) is drawn out from the bottom surface (14g) by this siphon effect. is provided with an overflow part (18) to prevent the water level in the storage part (14) from rising and overflowing from the top surface.

(19) is a box-shaped water inlet body with an open bottom surface, and is arranged in parallel in front of the storage section (14). (20) is a gutter-shaped water supply channel provided below the storage part (14) and the water inlet body (19), and slopes downward from the rear to the front. Water from the body (19) is accommodated in this water supply channel (20), and the water from the front end (20
a) into the washing tub (4). (21)・
. . . is a rectifying pin that is integrally protruded from the front part of the water supply channel (20).

A joint portion (23) is provided on the negative side wall of the water supply channel (20) to connect the water supply pipe (13) via a groove-shaped portion (22).
) is integrally formed, while the water inlet body (19
) has a supply water introduction part (24) and the groove-shaped part (
22) and a cover portion (25) covering the upper surface thereof are integrally formed. The groove-shaped portion (22) of the water supply channel (20)
) is covered with a part of the cover (25) of the water inlet body (19), and the water inlet body (19) is attached to the screwed part (20) of the water supply channel (20).
26). The water supplied from the water supply pipe (13) is supplied from the joint part (23) to the groove part (
22) and a part of the cover (25) (27)
The water is introduced into the water inlet body (19>) through the introduction part (24).

(28) is an overflow channel formed from the center of the front wall of the water inlet body (19) to the face wall;
9) (lower end) is higher than the lower surface of the water inlet body (19), and the water outlet is an overflow port (30) that projects from the rear wall into the overflow part (18) of the storage part (14).

(31) is a water inlet cover that is pivotally supported to cover the lower surface of the water inlet body (19), and the operating piece (
32) extends to the side of the storage section (14), and a spring (33) is engaged with this operation piece (32) to always bias the water injection locker 31) into a closed state. The spring 33) is held by being wound around the pivot shaft (34) of the water inlet cover (31).

An operating arm (35) further extends from the operating piece (32) along the side wall of the storage section (14), while (36) is linked to opening and closing of the lid (15). The rotating arm rotates when the lid body (15) is opened, comes into contact with the operating arm (35), and pushes up the operating arm (35) from below. Therefore, the water inlet cover (31) rotates against the biasing force of the spring (33), and the lower surface of the water inlet body (19) opens.

(37) is attached to a fixed part (38) integrally formed with the water supply channel (20), and is located to the side of the operating arm (35).
This is a mounting plate that is attached so as to be tilted upward, and a solenoid (39) for injecting a washing treatment agent is fixed thereto. (40)
is an actuating piece bent in an S-shape, one end (40a
) is fully inserted and pivoted into a pivot hole provided at the lower part of the mounting plate (37), and between the mounting plate (37) and the mounting plate (37),
The spring member (41) always separates it by a dimension f in the pressing direction. Therefore, this spring member (41) allows the actuating piece (4
The other end side (40b) of 0) is rotated in the opposite direction,
It is in contact with the side surface of the operating arm (35).

The other end (40b) of the actuation piece (40) is also attracted by the excitation of the solenoid (39) and rotates against the bias of the spring member (41), so that the operation arm (35)
The state of contact with can be released.

As described above, when the operating arm (35) is pushed up by the opening operation of the lid (15), the spring member (4)
1), the other end side (40b) of the actuating piece (4o)
) moves below the operating arm (35), so even if the lid (15) is closed, the operating arm (35) cannot be prevented from returning, and the water inlet cover (31) moves below the water inlet body (19).
) is held with the bottom side open.

(42) (42) is a pair of electrodes provided at the bottom of the storage section (14), and as shown in FIG.
43>.

That is, a comparator (44) compares the voltage V between the electrodes (42) and the reference voltage divided by the customer type resistor.
Compare with (45). The voltage V is as described above! 5i (42
) (42>, the appearance of the comparators (44) and (45) changes depending on this conductivity. Input boat P1+
Pj, and the microcomputer can determine the conductivity between the electrodes (42) (42) as shown in the table below based on the output states of the comparators (44) (45). At the same time, since the conductivity differs depending on the washing treatment agent, it is possible to determine the type of treatment agent put into the storage section (14).

In this configuration, the user opens the lid (15) and pours a predetermined amount of laundry treatment agent (liquid detergent, bleach, or fabric softener) into the reservoir (14) in advance. By opening and closing the lid (15), the water inlet cover (31) is locked in the open position.

Normal water supply is carried out from the introduction part (24) to the water inlet body (
19), the supply water falls from the lower surface of the water inlet body (19) onto the water supply channel (20), and the front edge (20a)
) is supplied into the washing tub (4).

In addition, in order to introduce the processing agent in the storage section (14),
By energizing the processing agent input solenoid (39), the operating piece (40) is attracted and the engagement between the operating piece (40) and the operating arm (35) is released. Then, the water inlet cover (31) rotates back due to the force of the spring (33), and the lower surface of the water inlet body (19) closes.
J is done. In this state, when the water supply solenoid valve (12) is operated to supply water, the water introduced into the water inlet body (19) will flow through the overflow channel (28) because the lower surface is closed.
) rises through the overflow port (30) and the storage f! 1 part (14), the processing agent in the storage part (14) is dissolved, and is led out onto the water supply channel (20) by the siphon action of the siphon device 16),
0) (7) It is supplied into the fc tank (4) from the front end (20a). Moreover, water that cannot be treated by the siphon device (16) is led out onto the water supply channel (20) over the overflowing part (18) of the front wall of the storage part (14).

Therefore, such a fully automatic washing machine is controlled by a microcomputer, hereinafter referred to as this microcomputer (46) (
Hereinafter referred to as Maifun, for example, μP manufactured by NEC Corporation
The control mechanism of the washing machine (Model D 75006) will be explained based on FIG.

The microcomputer (46) has a CPU (47), a RAM (4
8), ROM (49), timer (50), system bus (51), and input/output ports (52) to (57).

The CPU (47) has a control section (58) and a calculation section (59).
The control unit (58) retrieves and executes instructions, and the arithmetic unit (59) extracts and executes instructions from input devices and memory in response to control signals from the control unit (58) during the instruction execution stage. The above-mentioned R performs arithmetic processing such as binary addition, logical operation, increase/decrease, and comparison on the given data.
AM<48) is for storing data regarding the washing machine, and the ROM (49) is used to set means for operating the washing machine in advance, conditions for judgment, and process various information. It is used to load rules etc.

The input boats (52), (53), and (54) include an input key circuit (60) consisting of the various operation keys, and a detection circuit (61) such as a water level detector and a top cover safety switch that is linked to the opening and closing of the top cover. , the signals from the comparison circuit (43) etc. are input, and based on this information, the output port (55)
) (56) (57), LE that can be composed of a group of LEDs
A control signal is sent to a D drive circuit (62), a buzzer circuit (63) for process end notification or abnormality notification, a load drive circuit (64) comprising a bidirectional thyristor, etc. The load drive circuit (64) controls the left and right rotation circuits (65) (66) of the rotary blade drive motor (7) and the water supply solenoid valve drive circuit (67) according to the control signal from the microcomputer (46).
, e (70) that controls the operation of the drainage solenoid valve drive circuit (68) and the treatment agent injection solenoid drive circuit (69).
) is a power supply circuit that supplies voltage to the microcomputer (46);
(71) is a reset signal generation circuit.

Such a fully automatic washing machine sequentially executes a program consisting of washing, rinsing, and spin-drying steps under the control of the microcomputer (46). In addition, when transitioning from washing to rinsing and when repeating rinsing, a short dehydration process is performed.
In addition, the rinsing process has two methods: pre-rinsing and water-filling rinsing, which the user can select as desired before starting the program. Incidentally, in the 7th rinsing process, water is supplied to a specified water level and then the water supply is stopped for rinsing, whereas in the rinsing process, the water supply is not stopped and is allowed to overflow while rinsing.

The operation based on such a configuration will be explained based on FIG. 1.

First, the user fills the storage section (14) with the desired processing agent in advance.
) and start the washing program.

Then, the microcomputer (46) operates the comparison circuit (43).
), determine the type (rank) of the treatment agent in the storage section (14) (S-1'), and start supplying water into the tank (S-2), 10 seconds later. , (S-1
), if the type of treatment agent determined in step 2 is liquid detergent or bleach (rank A), the treatment agent solenoid (39) is
Activate for seconds (S-3>, water supply and the storage part (1)
4) Add detergent or bleach.

When water is supplied to the set water level (S-4), the washing process starts sequentially.
S-5) to (S-9) are about to move on to the first rinsing process.
), and when the first rinsing process is completed, repeat (S
-1) Perform the same type of processing agent determination (S-10)
At the same time, water supply for the second (final) rinsing step is started (S-11).

After 10 seconds, if the type determined in (S-10) is a fabric softener (rank B), this second wash is carried out to prevent the applied finishing agent from wetting out from the washing tank 1 (4). After rinsing is set to rinsing and rinsing (S-12), the processing agent solenoid (39) is activated for 2 seconds (5-13>).
The finishing agent in the storage section (14) is added together with the water supply.

Further, even when the determined processing agent is rank C (water or nothing), the processing agent solenoid (39) is operated to introduce water into the storage section (14).
4) Wash the inside (in this case, do not change the rinsing condition).

Then, water is supplied to the set water level (S-14), and a second rinsing process and a final dehydration process are sequentially executed (S-14).
15) (S-16).

(G) Effects of the Invention The laundry treatment agent identification device of the present invention can accurately identify the type of treatment agent in the waiting chamber, and therefore can be easily applied to devices for dispensing detergents, finishing agents, and the like.

Furthermore, in the dewatering and washing machine 71 of the present invention, since the type of processing agent is determined and properly injected into the program, it is possible to realize improved functionality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of the washing machine of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram of the internal mechanism of the washing machine, Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the processing agent input device, and Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the washing machine of the present invention. Similarly, the front sectional view,
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view, FIG. 6 is a comparative circuit diagram, and FIG. 7 is a block circuit diagram of the control mechanism. (4)...Dehydration/washing tub, (14)...Storage section (standby room), (39)...Renoid for introducing treatment agent (injection means), (43)...Comparison circuit (detection means), (46
)...Microcomputer (control means).

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In order to introduce laundry processing agents such as detergents and finishing agents into the washing tub at a desired time during the washing program, there is a loading waiting chamber that stores the processing agents in advance, and a loading waiting chamber that stores the processing agents in advance. A laundry treatment agent identification device comprising: a detection means for detecting conductivity; and a control means for determining the type of treatment agent in the waiting chamber based on data from the detection means. (2) In a washing machine equipped with a control means that sequentially controls the operations of washing, rinsing, and spin-drying processes according to a program, there is a loading waiting chamber that stores laundry processing agents such as detergent and finishing agents in advance; The control means includes a charging means for charging the processing agent in the waiting chamber into the washing tub, and a detecting means for detecting the conductivity of the processing agent in the waiting chamber, and the control means controls the A dehydrating washing machine characterized in that the type of treatment agent in the standby chamber is determined and the loading means is driven at a predetermined time according to the type.