JPH03162894A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve washing efficiency by providing the generating means of detergent foam, the discharging pipe of the detergent foam and defoaming device and arranging plural heat panels in parallel to the flow of the detergent foam for the defoaming device. CONSTITUTION:Detergent liquid 16 is put into a stock part 3 of a washing tank and air is fed with pressure from the bottom part of the washing tank through a pressure feeding pipe 7. Therefore, detergent foam 17 is generated and washing is executed since this detergent foam 17 gets contact or passes through laundry 2. The detergent foam 17 getting contact or passing through this laundry 2 is passed through a porous body 11 in the upper part of the washing tank and discharged from a foam discharging pipe 9 to an external part. Since a defoaming device 15 is provided in the middle of the foam discharging pipe 9 and the discharged detergent foam 17 is defoamed and discharged as the detergent liquid, the capacity is extremely reduced and the detergent liquid is smoothly discharged. For this defoaming device 15, plural heat panels 20 are arranged in parallel to the flowing direction of the detergent foam. Therefore, when the detergent foam 17 gets contact with this heat panels 20, the detergent liquid constituting the detergent foam 17 is evaporated and the foam is broken.

Description

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

Conventional structures and their problems As for washing methods, the whirlpool type, stirring type, and drum type are the mainstream in various regions of the world. The basic structure of these methods will be briefly explained.

First of all, the spiral type and agitation type have rotating blades at the inner bottom of the washing tub.
Barceta). Alternatively, agitators are rotatably arranged, and water, detergent, and laundry are put into the washing tub, and the pulse generator is rotated or the agitator is oscillated to apply mechanical force to the laundry. It is something that removes dirt by giving.

Next, the drum type has what is called a drum with three protrusions (baffles) installed on the inside, and this drum has a rotation center axis in the horizontal direction. Add about 173ml of water and an appropriate amount of detergent, then add laundry and rotate this drum.At this time, the laundry is lifted by the baffle in the drum, and when it comes to the top, it falls naturally and drops to the water surface. It is a type of so-called ``beat washing'' that removes dirt with the impact of washing.

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

In addition, all of the above-mentioned methods apply considerable mechanical force to the laundry, resulting in fabric damage. However, there are differences in the degree of fabric damage depending on the washing method, and in general, it can 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, the stirring type, and the drum type, which cause the most damage to the fabric, so to speak. This means that the greater the mechanical force, the better the washing.

Additionally, in order 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 improve washing efficiency. In Europe, where this drum type is often used, water quality is poor, i.e.
Although this is partly due to the high hardness, it is largely due to the user's hygienic concept of washing, and since laundry focuses on sterilizing bacteria and germs, people often carry high-temperature washers. There is.

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 a low temperature (at the same water temperature) as opposed to the high-temperature washing in Europe. Also, the concept of washing is more focused on whiteness than on sterilization. This is a fundamental difference in the way Europeans and Japan think about laundry.

As mentioned above, each type of washing machine has its own advantages and disadvantages, but in any case, existing washing machines tend to damage fabrics. Therefore, at present, knitted items and the like are mostly hand-washed or dry-cleaned.

Next, since it is washed with water, a detergent solution of a certain concentration is required.
Moreover, each of the above-mentioned methods requires a certain bath ratio (the amount of water per unit amount of washing), and the amount of detergent tends to be too large relative to the amount of dirt.

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 washing them out when rinsing.
It can be said that the effectiveness of removing bacteria is becoming less effective as rinsing water is being conserved in line with efforts to conserve water for bacteria. As described above, conventional washing machines have a number of problems.

In addition, various methods have been proposed so far to eliminate cloth damage, and one of them is a method called a jet flow method. This is done by circulating the detergent liquid in the washing tub again into the washing tub using a pump, which causes a water flow to flow into 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 to wash the laundry. It provides mechanical power and removes dirt. Although this method causes less damage to the fabric than any of the above-mentioned methods, it has not been used at all recently because it has poor cleaning efficiency and also requires a large bath ratio, making it uneconomical.

Therefore, in order to eliminate the problems of the above-mentioned conventional washing methods, the inventor proposed that laundry be washed by bringing detergent foam into contact with the laundry. This method has the excellent features of reducing the amount of detergent and water used, exhibiting an excellent cleaning effect with a sterilizing effect, and causing less damage to the fabric. However, in order to make washing using detergent foam more effective, one technical issue is how to treat the detergent foam after washing.

Purpose of the Invention The purpose of the present invention is to promptly defoamer the detergent foam after washing in a washing method using detergent foam, thereby further improving the characteristics of the detergent foam method and increasing the washing efficiency. .

Structure of the Invention The washing machine of the present invention includes a washing tub for storing laundry, a detergent foam generating means for supplying detergent foam to the washing tub, and a foam discharge pipe for guiding the detergent foam after washing to the outside of the washing tub. , and a defoaming device installed in a part of this foam discharge pipe.The defoaming device has a heating plate arranged parallel to the flow of detergent foam, and quickly removes the detergent foam led to the foam discharge pipe after washing. By defoaming and weakening the resistance of detergent foam flowing through the foam discharge pipe, it promotes the supply of new detergent foam to the laundry and increases washing efficiency.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS First, a general explanation of washing will be explained based on FIGS. 1 to 3. Generally, 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, 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, for example, 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 arranged in parallel at the interface are retained as they are in the foam film. That is,
The foam D has detergent molecules A lined up as much as possible, and has a high detergent concentration. At this time, in order to replenish the detergent molecules A carried away as foam, the detergent molecules in the liquid move, and the air B is delayed one after another, and the above-mentioned foam D is created one after another. This bubble naturally directs the lipophilic groups b to the outside 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 aforementioned lipophilic base 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 can be washed.

The present invention performs washing based on the above-described principle, and will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9.

Reference numeral 1 designates a washing tank for storing laundry 2, and reference numeral 3 designates a storage section connected to the washing tank 1 for storing detergent liquid.A drain port 5 is provided at the bottom via a valve 4, and a drain port 5 is provided at the bottom through a valve 4. It is equipped with a pressure feed pipe 7 connected to a blower 6 that generates air flow. The reservoir 3, the blower 6, and the pressure feed pipe 7 constitute a detergent foam generating means 8 for generating detergent foam from the detergent liquid. On the other hand, a foam discharge pipe 9 is provided at the top of the washing tub 1 for guiding detergent foam to the outside of the washing tub 1, and this foam discharge pipe 9 is connected to a discharge hose 10 extending outside the washing machine.

Also, inside the washing tub 1, there are porous bodies 11 in the upper and lower parts, respectively.
12, and the laundry 2 is accommodated between the porous bodies 11 and 12. The upper part of the washing tub 1 and the porous bodies 11 and 12 can be opened or removed as appropriate. 13 is a washing machine frame, and 14 is a leg.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a defoaming device provided in a part of the foam discharge pipe 9, the details of which will be described later.

In the washing machine constructed as described above, detergent liquid 16 is put into the reservoir 3 of the washing tub, and air is forced from the bottom of the washing tub through the pressure feeding pipe 7 to generate detergent foam 17. Cleaning is possible by contacting or passing through 2. The detergent foam 17 that has come into contact with or passed through the laundry 2 passes through the porous body 11 at the top of the washing tub and is discharged to the outside from the foam discharge pipe 9. The porous body 11 in the upper part is provided to prevent the laundry 2 from being washed away by the washing foam 17.

Washing is performed in the above manner, but the detergent foam 17 has a high viscosity and flows smoothly through the foam discharge pipe 9. Therefore, the rising speed of the detergent foam 17, that is, the rate at which the detergent foam 17 comes into contact with or passes through the laundry 2, increases. Power may be weakened. This causes problems such as a reduction in cleaning efficiency.

However, a defoaming device 15 is provided in the middle of the foam discharge pipe 9. Therefore, the discharged detergent foam 17 is defoamed by the defoaming device 15 and discharged as detergent liquid. Therefore, the volume of the detergent foam is reduced all at once by liquefaction, and the detergent foam 17 is discharged very smoothly.

Here, an embodiment of the defoaming device 15 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. As shown in the figure, a plurality of hot plates 2o are arranged in parallel to the direction in which detergent foam flows. When the detergent foam 17 comes into contact with the hot plate 20, the detergent liquid forming the detergent foam 17 in that area evaporates, leading to foam breakage. This is how the foam is defoamed. Foam defoaming occurs because the heating plate is parallel to the flow of detergent foam, so the contact area is large and the resistance is reduced, resulting in effective defoaming and prompt discharge.

Further, if the surface of the hot plate 20 is subjected to a hydrophobic surface treatment such as Teflon coating, the effect will be further improved.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the washing machine of the present invention uses a washing method using detergent foam, and uses a plurality of heating plates and their arrangement to provide a smoother flow of detergent foam and improve washing efficiency. There is, and its value is extremely great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an enlarged view showing detergent molecules, Figure 2 is a half-view of the detergent,
Figures 5 and 6 are a perspective view of a defoaming section used in the washing machine of the present invention and a sectional view showing the defoaming state. 1...Washing tub, 2...Laundry, 3...
...Reservoir, 6...Blower, 7...
- Pressure feed pipe, 8... Detergent foam generating means, 9...
... Foam discharge pipe, 15... Defoaming device, 17...
... Detergent foam, 20 ... Hot plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A washing tub for storing laundry, a detergent foam generating means for supplying detergent foam to the washing tub, a foam discharge pipe for guiding the detergent foam after washing to the outside of the washing tub, and a part of the foam discharge pipe. The washing machine is equipped with a foam defoaming device in which multiple hot plates are arranged parallel to the flow of detergent foam.