JPH0759983A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable washings to be smoothly taken in/out while a tank body is sufficiently kept high at the time of operations in the washing machine where the tank body is disposed in a tank body hoisting section within an outer box in such a way as to be hoisted so as to be supported by a plurality of hoisting bars. CONSTITUTION:A washing entrance 2 is formed at the upper section of an outer box 1 in such a way that its front section is made lower than its rear section, let a tank body 7 be moved up by a lifting means 18 composed of dampers 6, a compressor 16 and the like at the time of starting operations until its upper peripheral section becomes higher than the front section of the washing entrance 2, and let the tank body be lowered when the operation is over until the upper peripheral section becomes roughly equal to the front section of the entrance 2 in height. Besides, the machine is equipped with a detection means detecting the lifting position of the tank body 7, and the lifting means 18 is also so designed as to be controlled based on the result of detection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine in which a tub body is suspended from a tub body inside an outer box by a plurality of suspension bars.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a washing machine, a tub body is suspended from a tub body inside an outer box and suspended by a plurality of suspension bars. During operation, the laundry is loaded with the required amount of water and detergent inside the tank, and the weight of the laundry lowers the tank. Further, the tank body vibrates up and down during dehydration, and the tank body is hung high in consideration of the sinking amount thereof, and the height of the outer box is determined accordingly.

[0003]

However, in the conventional washing machine in which the tub body is suspended high as described above,
There was a problem that it was difficult to put in and take out laundry and handling was poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and therefore, the object thereof is to consider the height of the tub body during operation, and to improve the loading / unloading property of the laundry. To provide a washing machine.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the washing machine of the present invention, the tub body is suspended from the tub body suspension portion inside the outer box by a plurality of suspension bars. In the upper part of the outer box, a laundry entrance having a front portion formed lower than a rear portion is provided, and an elevating device for elevating and lowering the tub body is provided, and an upper edge portion of the tub body at the start of operation is It is characterized by comprising a control device for controlling the elevating device so as to be elevated to a position higher than the front part of the laundry entrance and exit and to be lowered to a position substantially the same height as the front part of the entrance when the operation is completed. To do.

In this case, as the elevating device, a damper for giving a damping force to the vibrating tank body and a damping force varying device for changing the damping force can be considered.

Further, the elevating device may be a tank-body-suspending-portion elevating device which elevates and lowers the tank-body-suspending part.

Further, it is preferable that a control device is provided with a detecting device for detecting the ascending / descending position of the tank body, and the control device controls the elevating device based on the detection result of the detecting device.

[0009]

According to the above means, the tub body is set at the height position in consideration of the descent due to the weight of laundry, water, and detergent during operation, and the downward vibration at the time of dehydration. It is lowered to a position where it is easy to put things in and out.

Further, in particular, in the case where the control device is provided with a detecting device for detecting the ascending / descending position of the tank body, and the control device controls the elevating device based on the detection result of the detecting device, the raising / lowering control of the tank body is performed. Can be more accurate.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, FIGS. 3 to 5 show an outer box 1 of the entire washing machine, and a laundry entrance / exit 2 at the top.
Is formed so that the front portion is lower than the rear portion, and in particular, in this case, the front surface portion is formed so as to be cut out downward. The laundry doorway 2 is provided with a tri-fold type lid 3 (see FIG. 1) that opens and closes it.

On the upper part of the outer case 1, tank body suspension parts 4 are provided at a plurality of places (for example, four places), and suspension rods 5 are respectively suspended from the tank body suspension parts 4. A damper 6 is provided at the lower end of the suspension rod 5, and the tank body 7 is suspended via the damper 6.

The tank body 7 is composed of an outer tank 8 for storing water and an inner tank 10 having a large number of dehydration holes 9 in its periphery.
A stirring member 11 is arranged at the bottom of the 0. Also, the outer tank 8
The drive mechanism 13 mainly including the motor 12 is provided at the outer lower part of the
The drive mechanism 13 stops the inner tub 10 to rotate the stirring body 11 at the time of washing and rotates the inner tub 10 together with the stirring body 11 at the time of dehydration.

The damper 6 is composed of a cylinder 14 and a piston 15, as shown in detail in FIG. 6, and the required damping force is obtained by utilizing the compressibility of the air in the chamber surrounded by these. The suspension bar 5 is attached to the piston 15 of the piston 15 so that the damping force is exerted on the tank body 7. Further, air is supplied to the cylinder 14 of the damper 6 from a compressor 16 arranged at the bottom of the outer box 1 through an air tube 17, whereby the air pressure in the cylinder 14 is changed and the damper is changed. By changing the damping force as shown in FIG. 1 and moving the cylinder 14 up and down with respect to the piston 15 to lift and lower the tank body 7.
I am trying to make it function as.

An operation panel 19 shown in FIG. 3 is provided on the right side of the laundry entrance / exit 2 on the upper surface of the outer box 1, and a control device 20 shown in FIG. 7 is provided behind the operation panel 19. There is. The control device 20 is composed of a microcomputer, and various operation signals are inputted from an operation section 21 composed of various operation switches existing in the operation panel 19, and a water level sensor 22 for detecting the water level in the outer tub 8 is used. The detection signals are input, and the control device 20 drives the water supply valve 23 for supplying water into the inner tub 10 (outer tub 8) based on those inputs and a control program stored in advance. In addition, the drive mechanism 1
A drive control signal is supplied to the drainage valve 24 for driving the motor 12 of No. 3 and draining water from the outer tank 8 and the drive circuit 25 for driving the compressor 16 of the elevating device 18.

Therefore, the control contents of the compressor 16 (elevating device 18) by the control device 20 will be described below. At the start of operation, the control device 20 operates the compressor 16 to increase the air pressure in the cylinder 14. Therefore,
The cylinder 14 is raised with respect to the piston 15, and the tank body 7
Raise. 6 and 2 show the state at this time, the tub body 7 is raised until the upper edge is positioned higher than the front part of the laundry entrance / exit 2, and the laundry and water stored in the inner tub 10 are The height is maintained in consideration of the descent due to the weight of the detergent and the downward vibration during dehydration.

At the end of the operation, the controller 20
Stops the operation of the compressor 16 and causes the cylinder 14 to
Reduce the internal air pressure. Therefore, the cylinder 14 is lowered with respect to the piston 15, and the tank body 7 is lowered. FIG. 8 and FIG. 1 show the state at this time, and the tub body 7 is lowered until the upper edge portion thereof is located at substantially the same height as the front portion of the laundry entrance / exit 2, so that the laundry can be put in and taken out easily. be able to.

In contrast to the above, FIG. 9 shows the second embodiment of the present invention, in which the tank body suspension part 4 for suspending the tank body 7 via the suspension rod 5 can be moved up and down in the outer box 1. It is shown that it is provided and inserted into the guide shaft 26 and screwed into a screw shaft 28 rotated by a motor 27, and the rotation of the screw shaft 28 causes the tub body suspension portion 4 to be screwed up and down vertically. To raise and lower the tank body 7
Since the motor 27 and the screw shaft 28 can be lifted and lowered in the same manner as in the first embodiment,
It functions as an elevating device 29 instead of, and the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which a distance measuring device 32 including, for example, an ultrasonic transmitter 30 and an ultrasonic receiver 31 is provided at the outer lower portion of the outer tank 8. As a result, by measuring the distance from the bottom flange 33 of the outer box 1 to the distance measuring device 32, the vertical position of the tank body 7 is detected. In this case, the distance 1 from the bottom flange 33 of the outer box 1 to the distance measuring device 32 is as follows: l = vt / 2 v: speed of sound t: ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitter 30 reach the ultrasonic wave receiver 31. It is calculated by the time required up to this time, and the ascending / descending position of the tank body 7 is detected thereby. The control device 20 controls the elevating device 18 (or the elevating device 29) based on the detection result, and thus the elevating control of the tank body 7 can be performed more accurately.

The damper 6 may be combined with a coil spring. Further, the distance measuring device 32 may also be one using laser light, and in the case of the second embodiment, the distance may be measured from the rotation angle of the motor 27.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0022]

The washing machine of the present invention is as described above, and has the following effects. The tub body is arranged by suspending it with a plurality of suspension rods in the tub body hanging portion inside the outer box, and the laundry box has a front part formed lower than the rear part in the upper part of the outer box, and An elevating device for raising and lowering the tub body is provided, and the tub body is raised until the upper edge is positioned higher than the front part of the laundry entrance / exit at the start of operation, and at the end of the operation, the height is substantially the same as the front part of the entrance / exit. By providing the control device for controlling the elevating device so as to lower it to the position, it is possible to improve the loadability of the laundry while ensuring the height of the tub body during operation.

Further, in the case where the control device is provided with a detecting device for detecting the ascending / descending position of the tank body, and the control device controls the elevating device based on the detection result of the detecting device, the elevating / lowering control of the tank body can be performed more accurately. Can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of a washing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention after operation is completed.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of the entire washing machine in operation.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the entire washing machine

[Figure 4] Front view of the entire washing machine

[Figure 5] Vertical side view of the entire washing machine

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the lifting device portion in operation.

FIG. 7 is a schematic electrical configuration diagram.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the lifting device portion after the operation is finished.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a lifting device portion showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 is an outer box, 2 is a laundry entrance / outlet, 4 is a tub body hanging portion, 5 is a suspension rod, 6 is a damper, 7 is a tub body, 16 is a compressor, 1
8 is a lifting device (damping force varying device), 20 is a control device, 2
Reference numeral 7 is a motor, 28 is a screw shaft, 29 is an elevating device (tank body suspension lowering elevating device), and 32 is a distance measuring device (detecting device).

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A laundry container in which a tub body is suspended from a tub body hanging inside an outer box by a plurality of suspension bars, and a laundry inlet / outlet having a front portion formed lower than a rear portion is provided on an upper portion of the outer box. And a lifting device for raising and lowering the tub body, and raising the tub body until the upper edge of the tub body is positioned higher than the front part of the laundry entrance / exit at the start of operation, and the front part of the entrance / exit at the end of operation. A washing machine comprising a control device for controlling the elevating device so that the elevating device is lowered to a position substantially the same as the above. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the elevating device comprises a damper for giving a damping force to the vibrating tub body and a damping force varying device for changing the damping force. 3. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the elevating device is constituted by a tub body hanging part elevating device for elevating the tub body hanging part. 4. The washing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a detection device for detecting an ascending / descending position of the tub body, and the control device controls the elevating device based on a detection result of the detection device.