JPH07502182A - washing machine agitation means - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] washing machine agitation means [Background of the invention] (1) Field of technology The present invention relates to a washing machine agitation means and/or a washing machine including an agitation means.

(2) Background technology What is the most efficient way to wash clothes in an automatic washing machine with vertical agitation? , during the agitation process of the washing cycle, the periodic rotational movement pattern or toroidal movement of the garment It is known to provide movement patterns. The periodic rotational motion pattern agitates the clothing. move it downwards in close proximity to the central column of the stirring means and then radially from the vibrating stirring blades. Move outward and then in an upward direction, very close to the wall of the washer or spin tub. and then back and inward towards the upper end of the central column of the stirring means. Including. This movement is preferably substantially continuous, and the garment is then turned or rotated, and at the same time moved slightly back and forth by stirring means. be done. Conventional stirring means with fixed rigid radial vanes are particularly susceptible to heavy loads. When loaded items are being washed, the type of rotation pattern described above can be provided. do not have.

In order to achieve the rotational pattern movement, the stirring means is divided into two separate parts, the stirring means an upper portion adjacent to the central column of which provides downward movement of the garment; and an agitating means. and a lower portion providing outward radial movement away from the central column. has been designed. The upper part of these stirring means has spiral blades, and the one-way clutch handle The stage is agitated by rotating the upper part in one direction and simultaneously rotating the lower part in the other direction. arranged to provide an agitating motion. Such stirring means include whirlpoo Ruble's U.S. Patent No. 3, fully assigned to Corporation No. 987.652, Plant U.S. Pat. No. 3.987.508, and Bar No. 4,779,431 to K et al.

One-way clutch means or additional drive means must be provided and required by the washing machine. Two-piece agitation is recommended because it increases the number of moving parts and adds to manufacturing costs. It is an inconvenience that there is a need for means. The provision of additional moving parts makes the washing machine Increases production costs, increases the risk of mechanical defects and adds to the cost of maintaining the washing machine. calculated.

(Disclosure of invention) Therefore, it is possible to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and provide washing machine agitation means and/or laundry convenient to the public. It is an object of the present invention to provide a washing machine including an agitating means that provides at least It is true.

According to one feature, the present invention provides a washing machine located in a washing tub for containing washing liquid and laundry. Vertical shaft agitator with a central column mounted and concentrically fixed to the lower skirt section means, wherein the central column section is provided with two groups of radial stirring means. and the upper group includes a plurality of upper parts, and the six wings of the upper group have a plurality of upper parts. fixed to the central column at the upper end and below the six wings of the upper group; portion is free from said central column and bends during agitation of laundry in said washing tub. The inner parts of the six wings of the lower group are flexible as in the column and the skirt. fixed to said column or said skirt portion near the intersection of said lower skirt portions; The six wings of the two groups are located away from the center column and from the skirt section. a flexible movable outer part, said movable part being used during agitation of said agitation means in a washing process; It can be broadly said that it is characterized by being flexible and movable.

In further features, the invention provides a laundry tub and a laundry tub adapted to accommodate laundry. The spin tub of the laundry container, the agitation means for the spin tub, and the forward direction for washing. The stirring means rotates in opposite directions, and the stirring means rotates in a constant direction, and the stirring means rotates in the opposite direction. a pin tab and a drive means for rotating the pin tab, said stirring means being substantially as defined in the previous paragraph. A washing machine constructed, arranged and operable as described in .

Many variations in structure and widely different implementations of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. The examples and applications depart from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It will probably be proposed without a doubt. The disclosures and descriptions herein are illustrative only and are not intended to be limiting. There is no diagram.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

One preferred form of the invention is described with reference to the following corresponding drawings.

Figure 1 shows a spinner in a container for washing liquid and laundry, all forming part of a washing machine. FIG. For clarity, the upper and lower groups Only one of the stirrer blades of each pool is shown.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III--III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

[Best mode for carrying out the invention]

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 may be seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. It shows the stirring means l forming part of a washing machine constructed accordingly. the stirring hand The tier 1 is installed in a rotating perforated spin tub 2 within the washing tub 3. interconnection mechanism 4 is a stirring means l and a spin tab when there is little or no cleaning liquid in the washing tub 3. 2, and when there is sufficient cleaning liquid in the washing tub 3. The float 5 releases the stirring means 1 from the spin tub 2 and is therefore connected to the shaft 6. Operation of an electric motor (not shown) allows stirring of the stirring means in forward and reverse directions. .

The invention comprises an upper part 10 attached to the upper part of the central column 11 of the stirring means 1; , partially in the lower part of the central column 11 and in the flared part 16 of the skirt part 17 the provision of two groups of wings indicated by an upper part 15 partially connected to It is related to. Preferably an upper group of three upper IOs and an upper group of three upper IOs. a lower group of parts 15, which wings are preferably symmetrically spaced apart in plan view. They are open, that is, they are spaced at 120° intervals.

The central column 11 also has a series of grooves 20 which allow water or liquid to flow through the grooves 20. are inserted into the grooves of the skirt portion 17 and dispersed from the lower outer edge 21 of the skirt portion 17. will be placed.

As can be seen from FIG. attached, but the lower part 26 of each upper part lO is indicated by reference numeral 27. The flexible The lower part 26 is made of a resilient elastic material, such as polypropylene, and therefore When the means 1 is moved in one direction it bends away from the direction of movement of the stirring means and then It bends in the opposite direction when the stirring means is moved in reverse. The cross section of the lower part 26 is shown in FIGS. and FIG. 3, FIG. 2 showing the upper part 30 and FIG. 3 showing the upper part 30 and part IT and part III. The lower part 31 in each is shown.

The lower portion 31 has an edge 32 of substantially the same thickness as the upper portion 30, but The thickness of the central portion of portion 31 is thinner than the thickness of portion 30.

This reduces the stiffness of the lower part 31, which helps to allow bending. Ru.

It can be seen in the drawing that the upper part 10 is considerably longer in the axial direction compared to its radial width; The length of is at least three times the order of its width. Upper edge 3 of upper part 10 5 is preferably an arc of radius 300 mm, connected to a curvature 36 of radius 30 mm. It leads into a curved, parabolic or hyperbolic curve 37 and terminates in a rounded end 38 .

The inner edge 39 preferably extends away from the central column 1 from its upper part to its lower part. It is a straight line with a slight slope downward and outward.

Each of the upper parts 15 extends partially from the lower part 40 of the central column 11 and from the skirt. Portion 17 extends partially from flared portion 16 . In this case, the upper part 15 is It has an upper part 42 located on the ram 11, which upper part 42 is curved to form an upper part. 15 to the upper edge 43 and then to the rounded end 43 and then to the skirt Return to the lower part of the flared part 16 of the bottom part 17. The cross section of line IV-IV is shown in Figure 4. It is indicated by reference numeral 45 and can be seen to have rounded ends 43 and parallel sides. child In this case, the wing is also moved in a direction parallel to the plane of the wing, that is, in and out of the drawing shown in Figure 1. direction, and arranged so as to bend in a direction away from the direction of rotation of the stirring means 1 during stirring. made of a flexible elastic material such as polypropylene. The lower edge 46 is a scar spaced apart from the skirt portion 17 and generally upwardly away from the skirt portion 17. Curve outward.

The operation of the above configuration is as follows.

The washing tub 3 contains a washing liquid, for example water, to which washing additives are added and a spinner for washing. Clothing items located in the store 2. The height of the cleaning liquid is For example, if the relative size shown is If there is clothing with a heavy load of more than 7 kg on the tab 2, or as shown in the drawing, If a small spin tab is used, the garment is indicated by reference number 51 in the drawings. They tend to accumulate in areas. As a result, stains that sometimes vary by about 11% There is a significant difference in the removal effect. However, in the present invention, the upper wing lO and the lower wing lO The vanes 15 move the laundry in a rotary motion or pattern, and as a result such motion is agitated. When agitation occurs as indicated by arrows 53 and 54. This operation by the upper wing 10 which bends to direct the purified liquid downwards, and subsequently by the lower wing 15. be more flexible along the top edge than the bottom and with a skirt towards the outer edge by upward and outward movement due to tilting away from the top portion 17. This is due to the stirring/feeding action that occurs. Therefore, the rotation pattern does not match the desired result. Become.

Since the upper blade lO and the lower blade 15 are radial, the casting of the stirring means including the blades is relatively It is a relatively simple process. Furthermore, the stirring means and blades are one-piece casting; Since the manufacturing cost of the base member is lower than the cost of the multi-part stirring means, the cost is reduced. will be reduced. One-piece casting is also highly reliable and requires less maintenance. To provide an unnecessary stirring means. Therefore, the present invention has considerable advantages.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A lower skirt portion disposed within the washing tub for containing cleaning liquid and laundry. In a vertical shaft stirring means having a central column fixed concentrically to the The ram part is provided with two groups of stirring radial vanes, the upper group being a number of upper wings, each wing of said upper group being connected to said center column at an upper end of said wing; and the lower part of each wing of said upper group is free from said central column. It is flexible so as to bend during agitation of the laundry in the washing tub, and An inner portion of each wing is connected to the central column, or to the central column and the skirt portion. fixed to the skirt portion near the intersection, each wing of the lower group an elastically flexible movable outer portion spaced from the central column and away from the skirt portion; , the movable part is flexible and movable during agitation of the agitation means in the washing process. A stirring means characterized by: 2. The vertical axis of claim 1, wherein each said upper wing is axially long compared to its width. Stirring means. 3. The lower portion of each wing of the upper group is spaced apart from the central column. 3. The vertical shaft stirring means according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein 4. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each wing of said lower group is radially wide compared to the height of said wing. Vertical shaft stirring means according to any one of the above. 5. a lower edge of each wing of said lower group generally curves away from said skirt portion; Vertical shaft stirring means according to any one of the preceding claims, which is curved. 6. said central column for distributing said central column from a lower portion of said skirt portion; The central hollow part of the central column contains a vertical groove to allow cleaning liquid to be introduced. Vertical shaft stirring means according to any one of the preceding claims. 7. Each blade of said group comprises three blades arranged symmetrically around the stirring means axis. Vertical shaft stirring means according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: 8. the central column at the flared portion between the central column and the skirt portion; Vertical shaft stirring means according to any one of the preceding claims, terminating in a connection. 9. Any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer surface of the skirt portion slopes downwardly and outwardly. The vertical shaft stirring means described in . 10. each wing of said upper group has a central portion connected by an outer edge; said outer edge being thicker than said central portion of the lower portion of each wing of said upper group; Vertical shaft stirring means according to any one of the claims. 11. each member of the lower group is secured to the skirt portion and the column; Each wing of said lower group has an upper edge, said upper edge being more of a wing than said lower edge. Any one of claims 4 to 9, which is more flexible in a direction perpendicular to the plane. The vertical shaft stirring means described in . 12. Vertical substantially as described with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings Shaft stirring means. 13. A washing machine includes a washing tub and a spinner of said washing tub suitable for accommodating laundry. the stirring means of the spin tub, and the stirring hand in the forward and reverse directions for washing. rotating the stage and rotating the stirring means and the spin tab for rotation in a constant direction; and a driving means for rotating the stirring means, the stirring means according to any one of claims 1 to 11. This is the vertical shaft stirring means described in . 14. The washing machine substantially described with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings. Washing machine.