JPH0422116B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., for supplying detergent, particularly powdered detergent, to a detergent receiving section of a washing machine, etc.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, detergent supply devices for washing machines and the like used for supplying this type of powdered detergent have been used, for example, in the
There are those shown in Publication No. 18769 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 43827/1983. In these devices, powdered detergent stored in a suitable detergent storage section is discharged through a detergent dispensing member such as a screw or a valve and supplied into a washing tub serving as a detergent receiving section.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the case of the above-mentioned conventional product, the powdered detergent stored in the detergent storage part has a tendency to harden due to moisture and moisture, which is characteristic of equipment that handles water such as washing machines. However, it has not been designed to have an effective effect to eliminate this problem, resulting in frequent clogging of detergent and problems in that smooth and reliable supply cannot be carried out. Furthermore, it has sometimes happened that the detergent is supplied in the form of large lumps, which takes a long time to dissolve and cannot contribute to cleaning effectively.
In addition, in the method shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-18769, when a lump of powdered detergent occurs, the powder detergent can be scraped from the lump with a screw and fed in fine pieces. Although this problem does not occur as much, the powdered detergent still tends to solidify within the detergent reservoir, and therefore there is still a problem in that the supply of the powdered detergent is not smooth and reliable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an excellent detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., which can loosen powdered detergent in a detergent reservoir and supply it sufficiently smoothly and reliably. be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention relates to a device for supplying powdered detergent to a detergent receiving portion of a washing machine, etc., and a detergent storage portion that accommodates and stores the powdered detergent. and a spiral detergent dispensing member that discharges the powdered detergent from the detergent reservoir toward the detergent receiver when rotated, and a plurality of protrusions within the detergent reservoir. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a stirring member which agitates at least the powdered detergent near the detergent dispenser by sequentially engaging the protrusion with the rotating detergent dispenser and rotating the detergent dispenser.

(Function) According to the above means, at the same time that the detergent dispensing member dispenses powdered detergent from the detergent storage section toward the detergent receiving section,
The stirring member stirs the powdered detergent in the detergent reservoir at least at a portion near the detergent dispensing member, thereby loosening the powdered detergent in the detergent reservoir.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a detergent supply device for a washing machine will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

First, the main body 1 of the washing machine, whose entire structure is shown in FIG. In addition, an operation panel 5 is provided at the front edge in front of the lid 4, and a platform 6 is provided at the rear edge. The platform part 6 is provided with an operating knob 7 for setting the water level at the right end in the figure, and an operating knob 8 for setting the amount of detergent on the left side thereof. and the platform 6
In this case, a hot pass set opening 9 is formed from the left side of the operating knob 8 to the left end. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 1, an open hopper receiving portion 10 is formed. The lower part of the hopper receiving part 10 is attached to the hopper receiving part 10.
Hopper 11, which is a detergent storage part, has a V-shaped cross section and has oblique sides on both sides.
is accommodated through the hopper setting opening 9, and at the same time, the claw portion 12 formed on the left side of the hopper 11 in FIG. 1 is engaged with the left side edge of the hopper setting opening 9,
An elastic claw portion 14 having an operating protrusion 13 formed on the right side is elastically engaged with the right side edge of the hopper setting opening 9 to prevent the hopper 11 from falling off.

On the other hand, a lid 15 is pivotally mounted on the top opening of the hopper 11 so that it can be opened and closed by a shaft 16 at the rear end (see FIGS. 3 and 4). A stirring member 20 having a plurality of protrusions 17 protruding from the outside, a large number of protrusions 18 protruding outward from the periphery, and a plurality of holes 19 is attached to the shaft 21.
is rotatably supported across the front and back of the hopper 11, and furthermore, at the lower end of the hopper 11, there is a detergent delivery portion 22 extending from the inside of the hopper 11 to a cylindrical portion projecting exclusively outward to the right in FIG. The outlet 23 at the tip of the outlet 23 is connected to the detergent receiving portion 25 at the approximately central portion of the upper surface of the receiving plate 24 disposed inside the platform portion 6.
is coming. The upper surface of the receiving plate 24 also serves as a water supply channel, and as shown in FIG. 4, it is provided so as to gradually descend toward a supply port 26 at the tip facing a washing tub (not shown) inside the outer box 2. A water supply valve 27 is disposed on the uppermost rear end portion.

A coil 28, which is a spiral detergent dispensing member, is rotatably housed in the detergent dispensing portion 22 over its entire length as shown in FIG.
The stirring member 20 has one of its protrusions 18 engaged with the coil 28. On the other hand, the detergent delivery section 2
A transmission shaft 29 to which the base end of a coil 28 is engaged is inserted into the end opposite to the outlet 23 of the transmission shaft 29, and a connector 30 is inserted into the end of the transmission shaft 29 opposite to the coil 28. It is installed. and the connector 30
Correspondingly, a motor 31 is attached to the inner surface of the left side of the platform 6 in FIG. is engaged with.

Now, in the case of the device constructed as described above, when using it, first, the lid 15 of the hopper 11 is
Open it as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, put the powder detergent 34 into the hopper 11 in this state, and then open the lid 15.
The hopper 11 is closed and the powdered detergent 34 is left in the hopper 11. Then, when the necessary switches on the operation panel 5 are operated to wash the clothes, the motor 31 is energized before washing starts, and the energized motor 31 starts, so its rotational force is transmitted from the rotating shaft 32. It is transmitted to the transmission shaft 29 via the engagement structure between the pin 33 and the connector 30, and further transmitted from the transmission shaft 29 to the coil 28. In this way, the coil 28 is rotated, particularly in a so-called spiral direction, and the coil 28 rotated in this manner is used to rotate the powder detergent 34 in the hopper 11.
The detergent powder 34 is moved in contact with the powder detergent 34 while being finely pulverized and advanced toward the outlet 23 in the detergent delivery section 22, and then discharged from the outlet 23. On the other hand, at this time, as the coil 28 is rotationally driven as described above, the stirring member 20, which has one of the protrusions 18 engaged with the coil 28, sequentially engages the protrusion 18 with the coil 28. In this case, the powdered detergent 34 in the hopper 11 is stirred from the area near the coil 28 to almost the entire inside of the hopper 11, and by loosening it, it is introduced into the detergent delivery section 22. ensure that it is carried out smoothly. Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, the powder detergent 34 no longer becomes clogged as in the conventional case, and the powder detergent 34 can be supplied smoothly and reliably.

Further, in this case, the protrusion 18 of the stirring member 20
is originally for stirring the powdered detergent 34, and the stirring member 20 is rotated by sequentially engaging the protruding portion 18 with the rotating coil 28, so that the stirring member 20 rotates. No special parts or machines are required, and the structure can be simplified accordingly, which is effective in suppressing cost increases.

In addition, as mentioned above, the powdered detergent 34 discharged from the outlet 23 of the detergent delivery section 22 is particularly in the case of this embodiment.
As shown by arrow A in FIG. 4 as well as in FIG.
It is received by the upper detergent receiving part 25, and is flushed by water supplied through the water supply valve 27 in this detergent receiving part 25 as shown by the arrow B in FIG. The water flows as shown by and is supplied from the supply port 26 into the washing tub (not shown).
Also, at this time, the powdered detergent 34 is transferred to the detergent receiving part 2.
5. Begin to flush the powder before it falls onto the surface, and use powdered detergent 34.
This not only prevents the powdered detergent 34 from directly adhering to the laundry and prevents yellowing and staining of the laundry, but also The powder detergent 34
The detergent is flushed out from the detergent receiving part 25 without leaving any residue, so that it does not become stuck. Further, the rotation of the motor 31 and the powder detergent 3 caused by the coil 28
4, the length of time and the amount of delivery can be adjusted according to the type of powdered detergent 34 by operating an operating knob 8. In addition, in this case, the adjustment of the delivery amount by the operation knob 8 refers to a supplement to a predetermined basic delivery amount, and the basic delivery amount is determined according to the water level set by the operation of the operation knob 7. ing. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, if the operating protrusion 13 of the elastic claw part 14 is operated to remove the elastic claw part 14 from the edge of the hot pass setting opening 9, the rest is as shown in FIG. The transmission pin 33 is removed by pulling out the pawl portion 14 from the hot-pass setting opening 9, and then removing the pawl portion 12 from the edge of the hot-pass setting opening 9 and pulling it out.
The entire hopper 11 including the coil 28 can be removed with the disconnection of the connector 30 from the connector 30, so that the coil 28 and the hopper 11 can be cleaned easily and as desired by washing with water or the like.

Here, FIGS. 6 to 8 show different embodiments of the present invention, of which FIG. 6 shows a crank-shaped bent portion 35 formed on the shaft 21 of the stirring member 20. The bent portion 35 allows the shaft 21
By being able to bend and take out the stirring member 20 from the hopper 11, the stirring member 20 can be taken out from inside the hopper 11, so that the inside of the hopper 11 can be cleaned without being disturbed by the stirring member 20. Furthermore, the stirring member 20 itself can be easily cleaned.

Further, FIG. 7 shows a U-shaped bent portion 36 formed on the shaft 21 of the stirring member 20, and since the bent portion 36 allows the shaft 21 to be bent and taken out in the same manner as described above, The inside of the hopper 11 and the stirring member 20 itself can be cleaned easily as described above.

Further, in FIG. 8, a hole 37 is formed along the axial direction at one end of the shaft 21 of the stirring member 20, and the hole 37 is formed at one end of the shaft 21 of the stirring member 20.
7, a protruding rod 38 is attached to a spring 39 for biasing the spring 38.
In this case, the shaft 21 can be taken out from the hopper 11 by sinking the protruding rod 38 into the hole 37 against the elastic force of the spring 39. Therefore, in this case as well, the inside of the hopper 11 and the stirring member 20 itself can be cleaned easily in the same way as described above.

It should be noted that, as mentioned above, it is not necessary in the present invention that the entire hopper 11 can be removed, and therefore the entire hopper 11 may be provided in a fixed state, and in addition, the stirring member 20
The above-mentioned attachment/detachment and the supply of the powdered detergent 34 together with the aforementioned water supply, the time width control of the water supply at that time, and the adjustment of the delivery amount according to the type of the powdered detergent 34 are also selected and implemented as appropriate. You may also do this. Further, the detergent receiving portion is not limited to the detergent receiving portion 25 on the receiving plate 24, but may be inside the washing tub.
That is, the powdered detergent 34 may be directly supplied into the washing tub. Further, the detergent dispensing member is not limited to the above-mentioned coil 28, but may also be a conventional screw, and the drive device for rotationally driving these detergent dispensing members is not limited to the motor 31. It may also be a working water wheel or the like. In addition, the invention as a whole is not limited to washing machines, but can be similarly applied to all appliances that function using powdered detergent, such as food washing machines.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but may be practiced with appropriate changes, particularly in terms of the specific shape of the stirring member, etc., without departing from the gist. obtain.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in a detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., which supplies powdered detergent to a detergent receiving portion of a washing machine, etc., the powdered detergent is stored. The powder detergent is agitated at least in the vicinity of the detergent dispensing member by sequentially engaging and rotating the spiral detergent dispensing member which has a plurality of protrusions in the detergent storage section and rotates. Since the agitation member is provided, the powdered detergent, which tends to harden due to moisture and moisture that is characteristic of washing machines and other equipment that handles water, can be loosened in the detergent reservoir and supplied smoothly and reliably. It can be realized at low cost and has excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main part, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of the overall appearance of the washing machine, Figure 3 is a vertical side view of the main parts, Figure 4 is a vertical side view of the same part at a different cross-sectional position, and Figure 5 is a state in which the hopper is being removed. It is a cutaway front view of the main part of
6 to 8 are side views of a single stirring member showing different embodiments of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a hopper (detergent storage part), 18 is a protrusion, 20 is a stirring member, 25 is a detergent receiving part, 28 is a coil (detergent dispenser), 31 is a motor, and 34 is a powdered detergent.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A device for supplying powdered detergent to a detergent receiving section of a washing machine, etc., which includes a detergent storage section that accommodates and stores the powdered detergent, and a detergent storage section that rotates to extract the powdered detergent from the detergent storage section. a spiral detergent dispensing member dispensing the detergent toward the detergent receiving portion; the detergent dispensing member has a plurality of protrusions within the detergent storage portion; the protrusions are sequentially engaged with the rotating detergent dispensing member; A detergent supply device for a washing machine or the like, comprising an agitation member that is rotated to agitate at least the powdered detergent near the detergent dispensing member.