JPH03162895A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve washing efficiency by providing the generating means of detergent foam, discharging pipe of the detergent foam and defoaming device and arranging a centrifugal fan in 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 laundry 2 is washing since this detergent foam 17 gets contact with or passes through the laundry 2. The detergent foam 17 getting contact with or passing through the 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 the foam discharging pipe 9 is equipped with a defoaming device 15 in the middle and the discharged detergent foam 17 is defoamed by the defoaming device 15 and discharged as the detergent liquid. The detergent liquid is discharged after extremely reducing the capacity. Since this defoaming device 15 arranges a centrifugal fan 21 in the flow of the detergent foam, the detergent foam 17 sent from the upper part is sucked from a central part 22, dispersed in a peripheral direction along an impeller 23 and broken by mechanical force at that time by rotating this centrifugal fan.

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 Problems The whirlpool, agitation, and drum washing methods are the mainstream in various regions of the world. The basic configuration of these methods will be briefly explained.

First, the swirl type and agitation type have rotating blades (
The pulsator (pulsator) or stirring blade agitator) is rotatably arranged, and water, detergent, and laundry are put into the washing tub, and the pulsator is rotated or the stirring blade is oscillated to add the laundry to the laundry. It applies mechanical power to remove dirt.

Next, the drum type has what is called a drum, which has three protrusions on the inside, and this drum has a central axis of rotation 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. Instead, the cleaning efficiency is best in the order of the spiral type, stirring type, and drum type C, which cause the most damage to the fabric, and it can be said that the one with greater mechanical force washes better.

In addition, the drum type uses hot water for washing to compensate for the poor cleaning efficiency. Tears are often used in stirring methods, but recently water has come to be used as detergents have improved in their ability to clean with low-temperature water.

However, in the case of the drum type, hot water is used not only to improve washing efficiency. In Europe, where this drum type is often used, the poor quality of the water, that is, its high hardness, is partly to blame, but in general, it is largely due to the hygienic concept of laundry by the people who have transferred to the laundry, and washing is not a problem due to bacteria and bacteria.
Because the emphasis is on sterilizing germs, 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 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.
With recent efforts to conserve water, rinsing water has been conserved, and it can be said that its 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 cloth damage, and one of them is a method called a jet flow method. This method uses a pump to circulate the detergent liquid in the washing tank again into the washing tank, creating a water flow in the washing liquid in the washing tank, and the force of this water flow and the force of the washing liquid itself jetted from the pump is used to wash the laundry. It provides mechanical power to remove dirt. Although this method causes less damage to the cloth than any of the above-mentioned methods, it has not been used at all recently because it has poor cleaning efficiency and 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 washing the laundry by bringing detergent foam into contact with or passing through 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.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to quickly defoam 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 that guides the detergent foam after washing to the outside of the washing tub. and an extinguishing device installed in a part of this discharge pipe.The defoaming device has a centrifugal fan installed in the flow of detergent foam, and quickly removes the detergent foam that is 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, 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, 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 that retains the detergent molecules A aligned at the interface 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. In order to replenish the detergent molecules A 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. 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 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 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.

1 is a washing tank for storing laundry 2; 3 is a detergent storage section connected to the washing tank 1; a drain port 5 is provided at the bottom via a valve 4; and a blower for generating pressurized air. 6
A pressure feed pipe 7 is provided. The reservoir 3, the blower 6, and the pressure feed pipe 7 constitute a detergent foam generation stage 8 that generates 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. Note that 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, l4 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 a washing machine with an upper structure, detergent liquid 16 is put into the reservoir 3 of the washing tub, and air is forced through the pressure feeding pipe 7 from the bottom of the washing tub to generate detergent foam 17. It is designed so that it can be cleaned by coming into contact with or passing through it. 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 II in the upper part is provided to prevent the laundry 2 from being washed away by the washing foam 17.

Washing is performed as described above, 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, is low. The ability to do so may be weakened. This causes a problem that the cleaning efficiency decreases.

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 decreases all at once due to liquefaction, and the detergent foam 17 is discharged very smoothly.

Here, a first embodiment of the defoaming device 15 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this case, a centrifugal fan 2l is placed in the flow of detergent foam as shown in the figure. By rotating this centrifugal fan 2l, the detergent foam 17 sent from the upper part is sucked in from the center part 22 of the centrifugal fan 21 and dispersed in the circumferential direction along the blades 23, and the mechanical force at this time is The bubbles are broken.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the washing machine of the present invention uses a washing method using detergent foam, and the centrifugal fan suctions and breaks the foam.
It provides a smoother flow of detergent foam and improves washing efficiency, and its value is extremely high.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view showing detergent molecules, Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing detergent dissolved in water, Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which air is introduced into the state shown in Fig. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a defoaming device used in the washing machine of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the centrifugal fan shown in FIG. It is. 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, ],7.
...Detergent foam, 2L...Centrifugal fan.

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 a centrifugal fan is placed in the flow of detergent foam.