JPH04117997A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently wash the inside of an outer tank by providing plural horizontal ribs of a shape in which an inclination of the surface in dehydrating rotation direction of a drum is gentler than an inclination of the surface in the antidehydrating rotation direction, and executing a tank washing operation consisting of a feed water operation and a rotating operation in the antidehydrating rotation direction of the drum. CONSTITUTION:Many horizontal ribs A 15 protruded to the outside and formed along the outside peripheral surface of a drum 13 are used for reinforcing the drum 13. These horizontal ribs A 15... are formed so that the cross section is a triangle, the surface 15a in the A direction constitutes a gentle inclination surface, and on the other hand, the surface 15b in the anti-A direction is erected vertically against the peripheral surface of the drum 13. Feed water from a feed water valve 25 is poured to the outside peripheral surface of the drum 13 which is rotating from the upper part of an outer tank 5, therefore, when water comes into collision with the drum 13, it is scattered greatly. Also, at the time of washing this tank, the drum 13 rotates clockwise, but since the inclination degree of the surface 15b in the clockwise rotating direction in the ribs A 15... is steep, spring water in the outer tank 5 is caught enough by these horizontal ribs A 15..., and can be scattered far away.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (b) Industrial application fields The present invention relates to a washing machine.

(B) Conventional technology As a conventional example, there is a washing machine that rotatably supports a horizontal shaft-type synthetic resin drum in an outer tub, and washes and dehydrates laundry in the drum by rotating this drum. Jitsuko 61
．． -38546 (D06F25100).

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional example, when the drum was rotated at high speed for dewatering, the drum was sometimes deformed and damaged.

Therefore, in order to reinforce the drum, it is possible to provide a large number of reinforcing ribs on the outer circumferential surface of the drum. However, if protrusions are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the drum in this way, when the drum is rotated, there will be no damage to the inside of the tank. Vigorously stir the remaining detergent water and generate a large amount of foam, which may obstruct the rotation of the drum or
There is a problem that it adheres to the inner surface of the outer tank and contaminates the rinse water, or it solidifies and sticks to the inner surface of the outer tank.

The present invention relates to improvements in washing machines and is intended to solve these problems.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The washing machine of the present invention includes: a horizontal shaft type synthetic resin drum rotatably supported within an outer tub; water supply means into the outer tub;
a rotational drive means for the drum; and a means for driving the drum, which is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drum so as to protrude outward, and has a shape in which the slope of the surface of the drum in the dehydration rotation direction is gentler than the slope of the surface in the anti-dehydration rotation direction. It is equipped with a plurality of horizontal ribs and a control means for instructing execution of a tank cleaning operation consisting of a water supply operation by the water supply means and a high-speed rotation operation of the drum in the anti-dehydration rotation direction by the drive means.

In the tank cleaning operation, it is desirable that the water supply operation be performed before or at least simultaneously with the rotation of the drum.

Furthermore, during the tank cleaning operation, the rotation of the drum in the anti-dehydration rotation direction may be continuous or intermittent, and the form of intermittent operation is rotation with pauses in between, or rotation in the dehydration direction. It is conceivable to alternately repeat rotation in the anti-dehydration direction.

(E) Effect: Since the surface of the ribs has a gentle slope in the spinning direction, the degree to which the ribs stir detergent water (remaining in the outer tub or from the laundry) during spin-drying is reduced. be done.

In the tank cleaning operation, as the drum rotates, the water supplied into the tank is scattered all over the outer tank, and dirt on the inner surface of the outer tank is washed away.

Furthermore, since the drum in the tank cleaning operation is rotated in the direction of the steeply sloped surface of the rib, the degree of collision between the rib and the water increases, and water scattering is promoted.

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

1 is a frame made of sheet metal, 2 is a face plate arranged on the top of this frame 1, 3 is a clothes slot A formed in the center of this two-face plate 2, and 4 is a slot for opening and closing this slot A3. do"
The second part, 5, is an outer tank made of synthetic resin that is elastically suspended and supported within this frame 1, and 6 is a front plate 12 that shields the front surface of the outer tank 5, which directs drying air into the outer tank 5. A drying air passage 7, an air trap 8, etc. for introducing air into the air are integrally formed.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a drying heater disposed within the drying air passage 7; ] 0 indicates a blower fan disposed within the drying air passage 7; numeral 11 denotes a clothing input DB established on the upper surface of the outer tank 5; .2 is a bellows-shaped rubber gasket that connects the input port A3 and the input port Bll in a watertight manner; 13 is a horizontal shaft-type drum rotatably supported in the outer tank 5; Hole】4
have. 15. A number of horizontal ribs A are formed along the outer peripheral surface of the drum 13 to protrude outward, and are used to reinforce the drum 13. This horizontal rib A1
．． 5-. is formed to have a triangular cross-section, and in FIG. , standing at right angles. 16 is a horizontal rib B formed on the inner peripheral surface of the drum 13. m7 drum 13
is molded from synthetic resin, and the through holes ]4, horizontal ribs A15, horizontal ribs B], and 6 are integrally formed during molding.

17 is a clothing input hole formed on the circumferential surface of the drum 13 []
C, 18 is a lid body C that opens and closes this input t'] C], 7.

Reference numeral 19 indicates large and small pulleys 20 and 21 for the drum 13.
, an induction motor connected via a belt 22 and driven by an inverter circuit, which drives the drum 13 during washing.
is reversed at a low speed, and the drum 13 is rotated in one direction at a high speed during dewatering. Since the configuration of the inverter circuit is well known, the explanation will be omitted, but the configuration of the motor 16
The number of revolutions of the motor 6 is changed by variably controlling the frequency applied to the motor.

23 is a magnet attached to the back side of the large pulley 2o; 24
A reed switch is attached to a portion of the outer tank 5 facing the magnet 21, and is closed when the magnet 23 approaches and opens when the magnet 23 moves away from the reed switch. That is, the drum 1
3 (large pulley 20) rotates once, the reed switch 23 opens and closes once.

Reference numeral 25 denotes an automatic water supply solenoid valve, which is connected to the two sides of the outer tank 5 via a water supply hose 26.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the control mechanism of the washing machine, and 27 is a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as microcomputer) that plays a central role in control.

The outline of the microcomputer 27 is as shown in FIG.
28 (central processing u
nit), RAM29 andom access
memory), ROM 30 (read onl
y memory), timer 31, system bus 3
2 and an input/output port 33.3=1.

The Cl) U 28 is composed of a control section 35 and a calculation section 3G, the control section 35 takes out and executes an instruction, and the calculation section 36 extracts and executes an instruction from the control section 35 in the instruction execution stage. It performs arithmetic processing such as binary addition, logical operation, increase/decrease, and comparison on data given from an input device or memory in response to a control signal. The RAM 29 is for storing data regarding the washing machine, and the RAM 29 is for storing data regarding the washing machine.
OM2O is used to load in advance the means for operating the washing machine, the settings for conditions for judgment, and the rules for processing various information.

The microcomputer 27 includes an input key circuit 37, a water level sensor 38, a dehydration top cover safety switch 39, an abnormal bubbling detection circuit 40, the reed switch 24, and a drying heater 9.
, the inverter circuit 43 and the automatic water supply valve 2 based on input information from the water heater 41, load detection circuit 42, etc.
5. Automatic drain valve 44, buzzer circuit 45, dry air blowing fan] A control signal is output to the O1 display device 46, etc.

Since the water level sensor 38 has a conventionally well-known structure,
A detailed explanation thereof will be omitted, but in short, in response to pressure changes in the air trap 8 due to changes in the water level in the outer tank 5, a magnetic body is moved in and out of the coil to change the inductance of the coil, and , extract the inductance change of this coil as the oscillation frequency change of the oscillation circuit,
This is input to the microcomputer 27.

With such a configuration, the washing machine of this embodiment sequentially executes a washing course in which washing, rinsing, spin-drying, and drying steps are appropriately combined under the control of the microcomputer 27.

In the washing and rinsing steps, the drum 13
By reversing the laundry at a low speed (approximately 50 r, p, m), the laundry inside the drum 13 is moved and washed by colliding with the inner wall of the drum.

In addition, during the dewatering process, the laundry in the drum 13 is dehydrated by centrifugal force by rotating the drum 13 counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow A in Figure 2) at a high speed (approximately 800 r, p, m). do.

In this dehydration step, the drum J3 rotates to the left, but the horizontal ribs A, 15... are set so that the degree of inclination of 1.5 a in this left rotation direction is gentle. By rib A, ], 5 ・
This reduces stirring of the detergent water remaining in the outer tub 5 and the detergent water discharged from the laundry, and suppresses the foaming phenomenon.

[Drying]: The culm exchanges heat with the laundry by rotating the drum 13 at low speed and driving the blower fan 10 and heater 9 to introduce drying air into the drum 13. Have them do it.

Now, in a washing machine like this embodiment, the outer tub 5
Detergent stains tend to stick to the inside surfaces (particularly in certain parts) of the appliance, and if left unattended, the detergent will stick to the inside surface and become even more difficult to remove.Secondly, the stains may rot and give off a strange odor. be.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a tank cleaning program for cleaning the inner surface of the outer tank 5 and the outer peripheral surface of the drum 13 is executed. The operation of this tank cleaning program will be explained below based on FIG.

When the washing course is completed, the microcomputer 27 determines whether or not the final step of the washing course was a dewatering step (5-1). If not, two hours after the end of the washing cycle, the water supply valve 25 is driven to supply water (S-2), and the drum 13 is rotated clockwise at high speed (same as the spin speed). (S-3).

During this time, the water is of course being drained (S-4).

That is, by supplying water in the outer tank 5 and rotating the drum 13 at high speed, the supplied water is scattered by the rotation of the drum, and the water collides with the inner surface of the outer tank 5. Due to the collision of this water, detergent and dirt adhering to the inner surface of the outer tank 5 and the outer peripheral surface of the drum 13 are removed.

Note that the execution conditions for the tank cleaning program are limited to when the last of the washing course is a dehydration step. This is because water may remain in the outer tank 5, and if the tank is cleaned in this state, there is a risk that this recycled water will be drained. In addition, cases where the final step is a drying step are also excluded to prevent items from getting wet after drying. However, if the system is configured to notify the outside using a buzzer or the like before cleaning the tank, it is not necessary to determine the final process.

Moreover, the time of 2 hours is a value that can be changed as appropriate based on experiments.

At this time, water is supplied from the water supply valve 25 to the rotating drum 13 from the -4 part of the outer tank 5, as shown in FIG.
Since the water is poured against the outer peripheral surface of the drum 13, when the water collides with the drum 13, it scatters a lot.

Further, during this tank cleaning, the drum 13 rotates in the right direction, but since the degree of inclination of the surface 1.5 b in the right rotation direction of the horizontal rib A i 5 is steep, the horizontal rib A ], 5... allows the fresh water in the outer tank 5 to be well captured and dispersed far away.

When three minutes have elapsed after the tank cleaning operations (S-2) to (S-4), the power supply circuit is automatically cut off.

(G) Effects of the Invention With the configuration of the washing machine of the present invention, the inside of the outer tub can be efficiently cleaned.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of the washing machine of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front sectional view of the washing machine, and Fig. 3 is a side sectional view.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the drum, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the microcomputer, and FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of the control mechanism. 5...Outer tank, 13...Drum, 15...Horizontal rib A, 19
...Motor (driving means), 25.. Automatic water supply valve (water supply means), 26.. Microcomputer (control means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A horizontal shaft-type synthetic resin drum rotatably supported in an outer tank, a means for supplying water into the outer tank, a means for driving the rotation of the drum, and a drum made of synthetic resin that is rotatably supported within the outer tank, and a means for supplying water to the outer tank, a means for driving the rotation of the drum, and an outer peripheral surface of the drum. a plurality of horizontal ribs that are provided in a protruding manner and have a shape in which the slope of the surface in the dehydration rotation direction of the drum is gentler than the slope of the surface in the anti-dehydration rotation direction; and the water supply operation by the water supply means and the drive means. A washing machine characterized by comprising: a control means for instructing to execute a tub cleaning operation consisting of a rotational operation of the drum in an anti-dehydration rotational direction.