JPH0323199B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a drum-type washing machine equipped with a drying function.

(b) Conventional technology As a conventional example, a drum-type washing machine that uses a rotating drum to perform washing and drying processes was developed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1986-
It is shown in Publication No. 91794 (D06F25/00).

This type of washing machine has separate timer operating knobs for setting the washing time and drying time, even though they are common, and drive a rotating drum during each time. In addition, the motor that drives the rotating drum has a drive current (load current) of about 2.7A, for example, because there are water-containing clothes in the rotating drum during washing, but during drying, there are only dehydrated clothes. Therefore, the drive current drops to about 1.5A. During drying, power is also supplied to the heater that creates drying air.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention In the conventional example, regardless of whether the clothes in the rotating drum have been dehydrated or not, and regardless of whether or not the water has been drained from the water tank that accommodates the rotating drum. It was possible to set a drying timer. Therefore, if you mistakenly set the drying timer when you should be washing clothes, a mysterious situation may occur in which heated drying air is applied to the clothes being washed, and if you make a mistake when rinsing, you may end up wasting electricity. was occurring.

The present invention solves these problems in drum type washing machines.

(d) Means for solving the problem In order to solve the problem, the drum type washing machine of the present invention has the following configuration.

washing operation time limit setting means; drying operation time limit setting means; a motor that drives the rotating drum while the washing operation and drying operation time limits are being set; and operating at least during the drying operation time limit setting to detect overload of the motor. a heater that is energized while setting a time limit for the drying operation; and a device that manually cuts off energization to the heater when the load detection means detects an overload.

(E) Effect: In other words, when the drying timer is set, a device that detects the load on the motor is linked, and if this load detecting device detects that a current of, for example, about 2.7A is flowing through the motor, it is applied to the heater. Cut off the power supply path.

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

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a two-drum type washing machine having a water receiving tank 2 disposed within the machine body, and a rotating drum 3 and a centrifugal dewatering tank 4 disposed within the water receiving tank 2. 5
A washing motor rotates the rotary drum 3 at a reduced speed using a pulley, gears, etc., and a dewatering motor 6 rotates the centrifugal dewatering tank 4 at high speed, and these motors are disposed outside and below the water receiving tank 2, respectively.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a duct for supplying drying air to the rotating drum 3. A blower motor 8 is disposed at the starting end of the duct 7, and a harmonica-shaped heater 9 made of a positive temperature coefficient thermistor is disposed in the middle.

10 is a knob of a washing timer 101 that sets the rotation time of the washing motor 5; 11 is a blower motor 8;
and a knob of the drying timer 111 that sets the operating time of the heater 9; 12 a knob of the dehydration timer 121 that sets the rotation time of the dehydration motor 6; 13 a knob that opens and closes the drain valve 14; and 15 a knob of the water receiving tank 2. This is a knob that opens and closes a solenoid valve (not shown) for supplying water to the tank.

Next, electric rotation will be explained based on FIG. 2. First, the dehydration motor 6 can be powered independently by connecting in series the normally open contact 122 of the dehydration timer 121 and the safety switch 16 that is linked to the opening and closing of the dehydration tank lid. It's like this. The washing motor 5 is connected to a relay 17 which will be described later.
washing timer 1 via the normally closed switching contact 171 of
01 contact 102, and is also connected to the overcurrent relay 18, which is a load detection device, via a normally open switching contact 172, and the switching contacts 171, 172
By switching, power is supplied via either the contact 102 or the overcurrent relay 18. Overcurrent relay 18
The contact 181 is always closed, but once it is opened, it remains open unless it is manually restored to the closed state. connected inside. A contact 112 of the drying timer 111 is connected in series with the overcurrent relay 18 or in a power supply path downstream of the contact 181. A parallel circuit of the relay 17, heater 9, and blower motor 8 is connected in series to this contact 112.

Although this embodiment has a blower motor 8 that sends drying air, a fan may be attached to the rotating shaft of the washing motor 5 instead. In that case, the duct 7 is connected to the water receiving tank 2. It will be derived from the outside and below.

To explain the operation of this embodiment, in the washing process, if the washing timer 101 is set for a time, the contact 102 closes during that time, and washing can be performed independently without regard to other processes. Also, in the dehydration process, dehydration timer 1
If the time 21 is set, the contact 122 closes during that time and dewatering can be performed independently without regard to other processes. If the lid is opened during this time, the safety switch 16 is opened and the motor 6 is stopped.

In the drying process, set the drying timer 111,
Contacts 112 are closed during this time. Then, the relay 17 closes the switching contact 172, and the washing motor 5
is supplied with power via the overcurrent relay 18. Then,
The rotating drum 3 rotates. On the other hand, the blower motor 8 and heater 9 are also powered and supply drying air to the rotating drum 3. Here, in a normal case where the water in the water tank 2 has been drained and the clothes have already been dehydrated, the driving current of the washing motor 5 is about 1.5A, and at this level of current, the overcurrent relay 18 doesn't work. However, if water remains in the tank and there is a large load when the drum rotates, or if there is an abnormality that indicates that the clothes have not been completely dehydrated, the drying timer 11
1 is set as the time, the driving current of the washing motor 5 is about 2.7A as in the washing process, and at this time, the overcurrent relay 18 is activated immediately and its contact 1 is
81 is opened to cut off power supply to the washing motor 5, relay 17, blower motor 8, and heater 9.

In this embodiment, an overcurrent relay 1 that operates according to the drive current of the washing motor 5 is used as a load detection device.
8 is adopted, but it may be replaced by a device that operates according to the rotational speed of the washing motor 5, or a device that operates clearly by comparing the current and voltage with those during normal operation.

Further, in addition to the above-described embodiments, an electronic timer control method may be used in which washing time and drying time can be set by a microcomputer.

That is, in FIG. 3, the relay 17 is energized from the microcomputer 20 at the same time as the time limit for the drying process is set.
Switching contact 171 switches to contact 172. Then, since power is supplied to the washing motor 5 via the overcurrent relay 18, when this relay 18 is activated due to overload, the contact 181a connected in series to the heater 9 is activated.
is opened, cutting off electricity to the heater 9. In addition, the relay 18 is a contact 181b of the detection circuit of the microcomputer 20.
Since the washing motor 5 is also opened, the output to the washing motor 5 is cut off in response to this opening signal.

Although this embodiment is a two-tub type washing machine, it goes without saying that it can also be applied to a fully automatic type washing machine that automatically performs everything from washing to drying.

(G) Effects of the Invention In the drum-type washing machine of the present invention, the load on the motor that drives the rotating drum is detected in conjunction with the time setting of the drying timer, and if the detection result indicates an overload, the heater is Therefore, even if you accidentally set the drying timer when washing or rinsing, the drying process will be automatically stopped. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate abnormalities that occur when drying clothes containing detergent and waste of power due to evaporation of large amounts of water.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal mechanism diagram of a drum-type washing machine according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are electrical circuit diagrams in different embodiments. 2...Water tank, 3...Rotating drum, 5...Washing motor, 8...Blower motor, 9...Heater,
101...Washing timer, 111...Drying timer, 18...Overcurrent relay (load detection means), 1
81...Contact.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A washing operation time limit setting means, a drying operation time limit setting means, a motor that drives the rotating drum during the time limit setting of the washing operation and the drying operation, and a motor that operates at least during the drying operation time limit setting. The method is characterized by comprising means for detecting an overload of the motor, a heater that is energized during the time setting of the drying operation, and a manual cutoff that cuts off the energization to the heater when the load detection means detects an overload. Drum type washing machine.