JPH0490793A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To forecast a time for reaching a set temperature and know about an abnormal situation if a water temperature is not heightened due to the fault or the like of a heating means by arranging a washing tank, the heating means, a temperature detecting means, a setting means for setting one among a plurality of set water temperatures selectively, a display lamp, and a control means for controlling a working state. CONSTITUTION:A washing water temperature is detected by a second temperature detecting circuit 90. When a user sets the washing water temperature at 50 deg.C with a setting key 106 and when a washing or rinsing process is started, a heater 40 is electrified and the heating of washing water is started. When the water temperature is set at 50 deg.C, a LED 105 according to it is lit. Then, the lighting and extinguishing of a water LED 102 are started in the period of ON-state for 0.7 second and OFF-state for 0.7 second and when the water temperature exceeds 24 deg.C, the lighting and extinguishing period of the water LED 102 is of ON-state for 0.5 second and OFF-state for 0.5 second. After that, every time the water temperature is heightened by 2 deg.C, and extinguishing period of the water LED 102 is shortened by 0.3 second or 0.1 second step by step, and at a time point when the water temperature reaches 30 deg.C, the water LED 102 is extinguished.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a washing machine that detects and displays the temperature of washing water.

(B) Conventional technology As a conventional example, a washing machine that detects the temperature of washing water and displays it on a 7-segment fluorescent display tube was developed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-37.
No. 989 (D06F33106).

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The conventional display using a fluorescent display tube has the problem of high cost. Therefore, instead of this fluorescent display tube,
It is conceivable to notify the washing water temperature by lighting up several light emitting diodes, but it is difficult to predict when the water temperature will reach the set temperature, which poses a problem in terms of convenience for the user.

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 washing tub, a heating means for heating the washing water in the washing tub, and a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the washing water. a setting means for selectively setting one of the plurality of set water temperatures, an indicator light provided corresponding to each of the plurality of set water temperatures, and receiving input from the temperature detection means, A control means for controlling the operating state of the heating means and the indicator light, wherein the control means turns on the indicator light corresponding to the water temperature set by the setting means, and the washing water temperature rises to the set water temperature. In the process, the indicator lamps according to the temperature are blinked in order from the bottom, and the blinking cycle is changed according to the temperature change until the blinking state moves to the next indicator lamp. be.

(E) Effect: For example, if the set water temperature is low, medium, or high, and you set it to high water temperature, the high water temperature indicator light will initially be lit, and the low water temperature indicator light will blink at a certain cycle. . As the water temperature approaches the middle water area, the flashing cycle of the low water temperature indicator light becomes faster. Furthermore, when the water temperature reaches the midwater section, the indicator light for the midwater section starts flashing, and as the water temperature approaches the high water temperature, the blinking cycle becomes faster, and when the water temperature reaches the high water temperature, the indicator light for the midwater section starts blinking. The flashing ends.

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

1 is a frame made of sheet metal, 2 is an outer tank made of synthetic resin and formed in the shape of a horizontal drum, 3 is a horizontal support surface formed on the lower surface of the outer tank 2, and 4 is fixed to the support surface 3. The iron mounting is a board.

5... are upper supports for elastically suspending and supporting the outer tank 2 from the upper four corners of the frame; 6...
The outer tank 2 is attached to a lower support disposed between the plate 4 and the bottom of the frame 1, and 7 is integrally formed by making the upper part of the outer tank 2 protrude upward into a rectangular tube shape. This is a cylindrical body with a cylindrical body, which allows a clothes input port B8 to be provided at the top of the outer tank 2.
is formed. Reference numeral 9 denotes a top plate made of synthetic resin fixed to the upper end of the frame 1, and the front edge has an operation part 9a for accommodating electronic components, etc., and the rear edge has an accommodating part 9b for accommodating a water supply device etc. It has a bulging shape, and a rectangular clothing input port AIO is provided in the center. 11... are various operation keys arranged on the upper surface of the operation section 9a. 12
is a bellows-shaped rubber gasket, which connects the clothes input port AIO and the clothes input port B8 in a watertight manner.

13 is a safety cover for opening and closing the clothes input port AIO 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes an upper lid that opens and closes the upper surface of the safety cover 13.

Now, only the rear wall 2a of the outer tub 2 is formed separately, and the rear wall 2a is fixed after a washing drum, which will be described later, is housed through the rear opening of the outer tub 2. Reference numeral 15 designates an introduction opening integrally formed in the center of the rear wall 2a to protrude inward, and reference numeral 16 designates a ventilation duct integrally formed on the outer surface of the rear wall 2a, extending from the upper center to the introduction opening 15. It is formed. 17 is a drum rear bearing fixed within this air duct 16. Further, the air duct 16
A heater casing 18 is formed in the upper part of the heater casing 18, and a sheathed heater A19 is installed therein. Reference numeral 20 denotes an iron plate surrounding the heater A 1.9, and is used to prevent the resin material from catching fire even if a lump or the like ignites.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a water overflow port provided at a height of 1/2 of the rear wall 2a; 22 represents a water overflow chamber integrally formed with the rear wall 2a for draining water from the water overflow port 21; 23.2
3 is a pair of electrodes arranged in the overflow chamber 22 to detect abnormal foaming; 24 is an air trap integrally formed in the lower part of the rear wall 2a; and 24 is an air trap arranged in the housing part 9b It is connected to a water level sensor 25 via a pressure hose 26. A circulation duct 27 is integrally formed at a position above the overflow level of the rear wall 2a, and communicates with the inside of the outer tank 2 through a circulation port 28. Reference numeral 29 is a blower fan disposed in the circulation duct 27, and 30 is a connecting pipe connecting the circulation duct 27 and the blower duct 16.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a drain port provided at the bottom of the outer tank 2, and 32 a drain hose for leading out the waste water from the drain port 31 to the outside of the machine.
2 is connected via an overflow hose 33. 3
Reference numeral 4 designates a drain electric valve that opens and closes the drain port portion 31. As is well known, the valve is opened by winding a wire with the rotational force of the drain motor 35, and the valve is opened by cutting off the rotational force of the motor. It returns to the closed state due to the bias of the spring.

36 is a dual water supply solenoid valve device installed inside the housing portion 9b, one water supply valve A36a is connected to a water supply hose A37.
The other water supply valve B56b is connected to a part of the upper front corner of the outer tank 2 via a water supply hose B39. That is, the water discharged from the water supply hose B39 falls along the inner surface of the front wall of the outer tank 2 and reaches the drain port 31.

40 is a sheathed heater B disposed at the inner bottom of the outer tank 2.
, 41 is a drum front bearing fixed to the center of the front wall of the outer tank 2.

Now, 42 is a horizontal shaft type washing/dehydrating/drying drum made of synthetic resin that is rotatably supported in the outer tank 2, and is attached to a rear open type body part 43 and a rear side of the body part 43. It consists of a fluid balancer 44 and a rear plate 45 fixed to the rear side of the balancer 44.

46, 47, 48 are 12 along the inner circumferential surface of the body 43.
A baffle with a triangular cross section that bulges out at every 0 degrees, 49.
. . . indicates a large number of through holes 50 bored around the body portion 45.
. . . are horizontal ribs A that are integrally provided along the inner circumferential surface of the body portion 43. The horizontal rib A50 is also formed on the upper surface of the baffle.

A suction port 51 that faces the introduction gap 015 is formed protrudingly in the center of the rear plate 45.
A support shaft 52 is fixed to the center of the. Further, an axial fan that also serves as a filter is integrally formed in the suction port 51. Reference numeral 53 denotes a support shaft fixed to the center of the front plate of the body section 43. That is, during drying, the drying air flows through the air blowing fan 29 - the connecting pipe 30 - the heater Al 9 - the air duct 16 - the suction port 5I - the inside of the drum 42 - the concave ring loop 2.
8-circulation duct 27-blow fan 29--.

Further, during this drying, the water supply valve E36b is driven to supply water along the inner surface of the outer tank 2, and the drying air is cooled and dehumidified by this water supply.

Now, 54 is a recess formed by reducing the diameter of a circular arc portion with a central angle of about 120 degrees in the body 43, and 58 is a rectangular clothes slot C opened at the bottom of this recess 54. , is provided near one end of the bottom surface 57 of the recess 54, and its size occupies the area of the concave end of the bottom of the recess 54. 59.60 is the recess 5
The slide groove formed on the front and rear edges of the bottom of 4, the rear 59
is constructed by attaching a separate slide cover 61.

Reference numeral 62 denotes a synthetic resin lid for opening and closing the input port C58, and is slid within the recess 54 by being supported within the slide grooves 59 and 60. , 63 is a locking/disengaging mechanism formed between one side edge of the lid 62 and the mouth edge of the input port C58, and 64, 6!5 is a recessed mechanism integrally formed in the center of the upper surface of the lid 62. This is a storage area where laundry treatment agents such as detergent, bleach, and fabric softener are stored in advance.

The drum 42 is connected to the drum rear bearing 17 and the drum front bearing 4 with its support shafts 52 and 53.
1 is rotatably supported. At this time, the support shaft 5
3 protrudes from the front wall 2b of the outer tank 2, and a drive pulley 67 is fixed thereto.

Now, 68 is the washing motor which is fixed to the plate 4 through the metal fitting A69, and 70 is the washing motor which is attached to the plate 4.
The washing motor 68 and the dewatering motor 70 are connected to each other through a pulley and a belt, respectively.

72 is a magnet attached to the drive pulley 67; 73 is a reed switch disposed in the outer tank 2 at a position closest to and facing the magnet 72;
As the magnet 72 rotates, the magnet 72 closes when it approaches,
If you separate it, it will open up. That is, when the reed switch 73 opens and closes once, the drum 42 rotates once.

Reference numeral 74 denotes a first negative characteristic thermistor disposed within the heater casing 18, and constitutes a part of a first temperature detection circuit to be described later. Reference numeral 75 denotes a second negative characteristic thermistor disposed near the bottom of the outer tank 2, and constitutes a part of a second temperature detection circuit to be described later.

Next, a specific circuit of the washing/dehydrating/drying machine of this embodiment will be explained based on FIGS. 7 and 8.

76 is a microcomputer (for example, LC6523 model manufactured by Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) which is the central part of the control, and its configuration is as well known as CPU 77
(central processing unit)
, RAM 78 (random access m
memory), ROM79 (read only me
80, a system bus 81, and input/output devices 82 and 83.

The CPU 77 is composed of a control section 84 and a calculation section 85. The control section 84 takes out and executes instructions, and the calculation section 85 executes operations according to control signals from the control section 84 during the instruction execution stage. Performs arithmetic processing such as binary addition, logical operations, increase/decrease, and comparison on data provided from input devices and memory. The RAM 78 is for storing data related to the equipment, and the ROM 79
In this method, the means for operating the device, the settings for conditions for judgment, the rules for processing various information, etc. are loaded in advance.

The microcomputer 76 includes the various operation keys 11.
... an input key circuit 86, the water level sensor 25, a safety switch 87 that opens and closes in conjunction with the opening and closing of the top lid 14, the reed switch 73, the reference pulse generation circuit 88, and the electrode for detecting abnormal bubbling. 23, 23, the signals from the first temperature detection circuit 89 and the second temperature detection circuit 90 are input, and the microcomputer 76 controls the forward and reverse rotation of the washing motor 68, the dewatering motor 70,
The water supply solenoid valve A36a, the water supply solenoid valve B56b, the drain valve motor 35, the ventilation fan 29, the drying heater A19, and the heater B4. A driving signal is sent to a buzzer sounding circuit 91 and an LED driving circuit 92 composed of a group of various light emitting diodes (LEDs). still,
The microcomputer 76 and each load are bidirectional cyrisks 93.
~1°1, and the microcomputer 76 turns each of the bidirectional switches 93 to 101 ON and OFF.
A signal is sent out.

The water level sensor 25 detects a change in the water level in the outer tank 2 as a pressure change in the air trap 24, moves a magnetic body within the coil according to this pressure, and as a result changes the water level as a change in the inductance of the coil. detected as,
Furthermore, this inductance change is detected as a change in oscillation frequency and is input to the microcomputer 76. Thereby, the microcomputer 76 continuously detects the water level in the outer tank 2 over a wide range based on the change in the oscillation frequency.

Further, the microcomputer 76 counts the open/close signal from the reed switch 73 every time it is input, and determines the number of rotations (r, p, m) of the drum per unit time.

The first temperature detection circuit 89 is for detecting the temperature TI inside the air duct 16 (since the air duct 16 communicates with the inside of the outer tank 2, the temperature inside the outer tank 2 ), as shown in Figure 9, the constant voltage V
A voltage VR2 determined by dividing REF by the resistance value RTH of the first thermistor 74 and the resistor R2
is input to the microcomputer 76, and the microcomputer 76 converts the input voltage value with a built-in A/D converter and compares it with a reference value stored in the ROM 79. Determine temperature TI. The resistance R1 is
This is a current limiting resistor.

The second temperature detection circuit 90 is for detecting the temperature T2 at the bottom of the outer tank 2, and has the following configuration:
It is the same as the first temperature detection circuit 89, and inputs the voltage VR2 determined by dividing the resistance value RTH of the second thermistor 75 and the resistor R2 to the microcomputer 76, and the microcomputer 76 The temperature T2 is determined by comparing the input voltage value with a reference value.

FIG. 10 shows a set water temperature display section arranged on the panel surface of the washing machine, in which four LEDs 102 to 105 are arranged along with water, 30 DEG C., 40 DEG C., and 50 DEG C. displays. These LEDs 102 to 105 are driven by the LED drive circuit 92. 106 is a setting key for selecting these set water temperatures.

Thus, the washing machine of this embodiment performs washing, intermediate dehydration, first rinsing, intermediate dehydration, and second dehydration under the control of the microcomputer 76.
The steps of rinsing, final dehydration, and drying are performed in sequence.

During the washing process, the washing motor 68
The washing drum 42 is operated at a low speed (approximately 50 r, p.

m), the laundry in the drum 42 is swept up by the baffle and falls from above to below, which is the so-called beating washing process, and at the same time, the horizontal ribs A50 and
・It is scrubbed by.

Further, during the dewatering process, the drum 42 is rotated in one direction at high speed (approximately 80 Or, p, m) by the dehydrating motor 7o, and the laundry in the drum 42 is dehydrated by centrifugal force.

Further, during the drying process, the drum 42 is repeatedly reversed at low speed by the washing motor 68, and drying air heated by the heater A19 is introduced into the drum 42 from the air duct 16 and the suction port 51. heat exchange with the laundry in the drum 42.

Now, in this embodiment, when executing the washing process, the heater B40 is
By driving the setting key 106, the user selects the setting key 106.
The washing water is heated to the set temperature.

Hereinafter, the display operation of the washing water temperature during heating of the washing water will be explained based on FIG. 11 and FIG. 12.

The washing water temperature is detected by the second temperature detection circuit 90. The following operation will be explained using an example in which the user sets the washing water temperature to 50° C. using the setting key 106.

When the washing or rinsing process is started, the heater B40
is energized, and heating of the washing water begins.

[Period A] Water≦Water temperature 30°C When the water temperature is set to 50°C, the corresponding LED 105 lights up. And the water LED 102 is 0°7 seconds 0N-0
, the water LED 102 starts blinking at a cycle of OFF for 7 seconds, and when the water temperature exceeds 24°C, the blinking cycle of the water LED 102 changes to 0N- for 0.5 seconds.
It will be OFF for 0.5 seconds.

From then on, each time the water temperature rises by 2 degrees Celsius, the blinking cycle of the water LED 102 shortens to 0.3 seconds, then 0.1 seconds, and the water temperature increases by 3 degrees Celsius.
When the temperature reaches 0℃, the water LED IO2 turns off and the 3
The 0°C LED 103 starts blinking.

[Period B] 30℃≦Water temperature is 40℃ Similarly, during this period, 30℃ LED] 03 was initially 0.7
Blinks every second, and every time the water temperature rises by 2℃, the blinking cycle becomes 0.
．． It gets shorter by 2 seconds. When the water temperature reaches 40℃,
LED 103 at 30°C turns off, and LED 10 at 40°C
4 starts blinking.

[Period C] 40° C.≦Water temperature 50° C. Similarly, as the water temperature rises, the blinking cycle of the 40° C. LED 104 becomes shorter. When the water temperature reaches 50''C, the 40C LED 104 is turned off and the actual washing process begins.

The same applies when the set water temperature is set to 30°C or 40°C.

(G) Effects of the Invention The configuration of the washing machine of the present invention provides the following special effects.

(1) You can predict how long it will take to reach the set temperature.

(2) In the unlikely event that the water temperature does not rise due to a malfunction of the heating means, the blinking cycle of the indicator light will not change no matter how long it takes, so the user can be aware of such an abnormal situation.

(3) When you want to wash at a temperature slightly lower or higher than the set temperature, by using the flashing cycle of the indicator light as a guide, you can stop heating at that point and wash at the desired temperature.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the washing machine of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side sectional view, Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, Fig. 4 is a rear view with the main parts cut away, and Fig. 5 is the same main parts. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the body, 7 is an electric circuit diagram, 8 is a configuration diagram of the microcomputer, 9 is a temperature detection circuit diagram, and 10 is a front view of the cross section.
11 is a flowchart showing the water temperature display operation, and FIG. 12 is a correspondence diagram showing the water temperature and the flashing cycle of the indicator light. 2... Outer tank (washing tub), 40... Heater B (heating means)
, 76... microcomputer (control means), 90...
・Second temperature detection circuit (temperature detection means), 1.02 to 10
5...LED (indicator light), 106...setting key (setting means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A washing tub, a heating means for heating the washing water in the washing tub, a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the washing water, and selecting and setting one of a plurality of set water temperatures. an indicator light provided corresponding to each of the plurality of set water temperatures, and a control unit that receives input from the temperature detection means and controls the operating state of the heating means and the indicator light. The control means lights up an indicator light corresponding to the water temperature set by the setting means, and in the process of increasing the washing water temperature to the set water temperature,
The washing machine is characterized in that the indicator lights according to the temperature are blinked in order from the bottom, and the blinking cycle is changed in accordance with the temperature change until the blinking state shifts to the next indicator light. Machine.