JPS5830071Y2 - drum type washing machine - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a drum-type washing machine having a function of detecting abnormal vibrations caused by unbalanced distribution of laundry.

As is well known, a drum-type washing machine has a rotating drum in the form of a horizontal axis, which has a number of dehydration holes on the outer circumferential wall and baffles for scooping up laundry on the inner circumferential surface, inside a tab that is elastically supported in the outer box. Precautions when installing and washing (when washing with detergent or rinsing)
The washing effect is produced by repeatedly rotating a rotating drum at a low speed and scooping up and dropping the laundry inside with a baffle, and during dewatering, the rotating drum is rotated at a high speed to perform centrifugal dewatering.

In this drum-type washing machine, if the laundry in the rotating drum is mostly concentrated only between the two baffles on the inner peripheral surface during the transition from washing to spin-drying, the laundry will be unloaded. Due to the balance distribution, the tub causes abnormal vibrations during dehydration, and the rotating drum cannot reach the desired rotation speed, resulting in insufficient dehydration.

Conventionally, in order to prevent this, when abnormal vibration occurs during spin-drying, this is detected and the rotating drum is switched from high-speed rotation during spin-drying to low-speed rotation for washing, and the same action as when washing laundry is scooped up and dropped. Appropriate measures are taken, such as correcting the laundry so that it has a uniform distribution, or stopping the dewatering operation and manually correcting the unbalanced distribution.

This type of drum-type washing machine has a rotating drum with a horizontal shaft that scoops up laundry and lets it fall during washing, so there is usually vibration during washing, and the laundry is concentrated in one place during washing. Because the laundry is often dropped, unbalance occurs unavoidably during spin-drying, and the normal vibration during spin-drying is relatively large.Furthermore, the unbalance tendency may become extremely high, causing abnormal vibration at that time. It has the characteristic that the amplitude of is extremely large.

As a means of detecting such abnormal vibrations, a lever set that operates a switch element by a lever that is rotated by contact with a tab has the disadvantage that the amplitude of the tab is large during abnormal vibrations, resulting in early breakage. be.

In addition, if a mercury switch is used that uses the fluidity of mercury by enclosing a pair of electrodes in a case with mercury, the mercury may flow even during normal vibrations, and the operation is performed by distinguishing between abnormal vibrations and normal vibrations. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to

The present invention was made to eliminate the above drawbacks,
The purpose is to provide a drum-type washing machine having a vibration detection device that has high durability against vibrations, can reliably detect abnormal vibrations by distinguishing them from normal vibrations, and can realize this with a relatively simple structure. .

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a device that automatically corrects the unbalanced distribution of laundry when abnormal vibration occurs during spin-drying will be described with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 designates an outer box with legs 2 provided at a plurality of locations on the outer bottom, and reference numeral 3 designates a tab that is elastically supported within the outer box 1 by a plurality of elastic support members 4 such as coil springs. It consists of a cylindrical wall 5 with both ends open, a rear end plate 6 attached to the rear open end of the wall by welding so as to close it, and a front end plate 7 similarly provided by welding to the front open end of the wall so as to close it. It is configured.

A water supply port 10 is formed in the cylindrical wall 5 of the tub 3, and a water supply port 10 is formed in the upper part of the tub 3 to connect a water supply hose 9 through an electromagnetic water supply valve 8, and a drain hose 12 is connected to the cylindrical wall 5 of the tub 3 through an electromagnetic drain valve 11 located in the lower part. A drain port 13 is formed.

The front plate 1a of the outer box 1 has an opening 14 approximately in the middle, and another opening 15 opposite to this is formed in the front end plate 7. A concertina-like bellows 16 is connected.

This bellows 16 forms a laundry entrance/exit 17.

18 is connected to the front plate 1a via a hinge mechanism (not shown).
The door is connected to the bellows 16 and opens and closes the laundry entrance/exit 17 formed by the bellows 16, and has a truncated cone-shaped cloth splash prevention member 19 on its inner surface that is inserted into the laundry entrance/exit 17 in the closed position. It is installed.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a rotating drum disposed horizontally in the tub 3, which consists of a cylindrical member 23 closed at both ends by a front plate 21 and a rear plate 22, only a portion of which is shown in the cylindrical member 23. Although not shown, a large number of dewatering ports 24 are formed, as well as a plurality of baffles 25 for scooping up laundry that extend in the direction of the rotation axis and protrude inward.

Further, an opening 26 for loading and unloading laundry is formed in a portion of the front plate 21 facing the opening 15, into which the cylindrical extension 16a of the bellows 16 is introduced.

Next, to explain the drive device 27, 28 is the bearing cylinder portion 2.
9, which is attached to the central portion of the rear end plate 6 in the tab 3 by a plurality of poles 30, and is attached to the rear end plate from the portion 4 of the bearing cylinder portion 29 that protrudes to the left in FIG. It is introduced into the tab 3 through an opening 31 formed in the center of the tab 6 .

Reference numeral 32 denotes a drum rotating shaft with a large-diameter ring portion 32 a at its base end, and the end of the large-diameter shaft portion 32 a is connected to the center portion of the rear plate 22 of the rotating drum 20 via a connecting fitting 33 . .

The drum rotating shaft 32 is supported by passing through the bearing cylinder part 29 from the inside of the tab 3 through a seal member 34 and bearings 35 and 36 in order, and a connecting end of the brake drum 37 is provided at the part protruding from the bearing cylinder part 29. The plate portion 37a and the connecting boss portion 38a of the driven pulley 38 are inserted in order from the right side in FIG. This is done by nuts 41 and 42.

The brake drum 37 is connected to the bearing cylinder portion 2 of the housing 28.
It has a cylindrical shape that surrounds a part of 9, and a third
As shown in the figure, an end ring-shaped brake band 44 made of a spring steel plate with a brake shoe 43 bonded to its inner surface is fitted and pressed by its own elastic force.

45 is a brake member 46 together with the brake band 44.
The brake lever is connected to the housing 28 via a stepped bolt 48 so as to be rotatably connected to the housing 28 through a stepped bolt 48, with a portion near one end serving as a rotation fulcrum 47.

At the other end of the brake lever 45, there is a retaining protrusion 49 formed by bending one end of the brake band 44.
A locking piece portion 50 is formed that is removably locked with the locking piece 50.

Reference numeral 51 denotes an electromagnetic device that is connected to a solenoid 52 and a plunger 53 that is pulled in and attracted by its energization.The tip of the plunger 53 and one end of the brake lever 45 are connected by a wire 54.

Reference numeral 55 designates a tension coil spring stretched between one end of the brake lever 45 and a portion of the housing 28 in order to rotate the brake lever 45 back in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.

56 is a washing motor, and 57 is a dewatering motor, which are respectively attached to the rear portions of the left and right sides of the tab 3 by appropriate means as shown in FIG. and 57a, motor pulleys 58 and 59 are connected to each other by pins 60 and 60, and one bell) 61a is connected between one motor pulley 58 and the large pulley portion 38b formed on the driven pulley 38. The other belt 61b is stretched between the other motor pulley 59 and the small pulley portion 38C formed on the driven pulley 38.

Therefore, the rotational force is transferred to the rotating drum 2 via the large pulley portion 38b.
The washing motor 56 that transmits rotational force to the rotary drum 20 acts as a low-speed drive motor, and the dewatering motor 57 that transmits rotational force to the rotating drum 20 via the small pulley portion 38C acts as a high-speed drive motor.

In the above, the brake drum 37, the brake member 46, and the electromagnetic device 51 constitute a braking device 62.

Further, the housing 28 and the brake device 62 are finally surrounded by a cover 63.

64 is a vibration detection device, which will be described in detail below.

That is, 65 is a base attached to the upper surface of the tab 3 by spot welding or the like, on which a support plate 66 bent in different directions at the upper and lower ends is erected with the lower end thereof, and the upper end is erected. A hole 66a is formed in the horizontal portion of the hole 66a.

67 is a relatively thick disc-shaped weight with a through hole 67a formed in the center, and 68 is a rod-shaped guide member, which is connected to the hole 66a of the support plate 66 and the through hole 67a of the weight 67.
A holding hole 65a is inserted into the base 65 and its lower end is formed in the base 65.
The weight 67 is connected to the guide member 6 by press fitting.
It can be moved freely along 8.

During such assembly, a compression coil spring 69 as a spring member is surrounded by the guide member 68 and interposed between one of the side surfaces of the weight 67, that is, the upper surface in the figure and the lower surface of the upper end of the support plate 66. At the same time, a compression coil spring 70 as a similar spring member is interposed between the other surface, that is, the lower surface in the figure and the upper surface of the base 65.

Therefore, the planar compression coil springs 69 and 70 bias the weight 67 on its upper and lower surfaces with spring forces in directions that repel each other, thereby floating and holding the weight 67 in the neutral position.

The mass of the weight 67 and the compression coil spring 69.7
The stiffness constant of 0 is preset to a value that can resonate with the vibration frequency within the abnormal vibration range of the tab 3.

Reference numeral 71 denotes a microswitch as a switch element, which is attached to the bent upright portion 65b of the base 65 with screws.

This microswitch 71 has an actuator 72 that turns on internal contacts when it is pressed and displaced, and the tip of an actuator 73 made of a leaf spring that presses the actuator 72 is attached to the lower surface of the weight 67 when it is in the neutral position. They are opposed to each other with a predetermined dead zone interval L (see FIG. 5) interposed therebetween.

In the above, if the tab 3 vibrates, the weight 67 vibrates as if moving up and down along the guide member 68 due to the interaction with the spring force of the compression coil springs 69 and 70, and if the tab 3 vibrates abnormally, it resonates with this. When the amplitude exceeds the dead band interval, the actuator 73 is pressed and the microswitch 71 is turned on.If the tab 3 normally vibrates, it does not resonate, so it only vibrates with an amplitude less than the dead band interval. , the microswitch 71 is not operated.

Next, the control circuit will be explained with reference to FIG.

74 has one end connected to one bus bar 75 and the other end connected to the power switch 7
is an AC power supply connected to the other bus bar 77 via 6,
The power switch 76 is operated by an operator 76 as shown in FIG.
It is provided on the front plate 1a of the outer box 1 so that it can be turned on and off by the button a.

A main timer 78 is equipped with a main timer motor 79 and a cam switch 80 which is controlled to open and close by the main timer motor 79. This main timer is arranged in the outer box 1 as shown in FIG. It is now possible to do so.

82 is an auxiliary timer comprising an auxiliary timer motor 83 and cam switches 84 to 87 whose opening and closing are controlled by the auxiliary timer motor 83;
88 is a relay equipped with a normally open relay contact 89.

Next, to explain the connection, the main timer motor 79
is connected between the bus bars 75 and 77 via a cam switch 85, and an auxiliary timer motor 83 and a relay 88 are connected in parallel between the connection terminal 90 and one bus bar 77.

Further, the microswitch 71 of the vibration detection device 64 is connected between the connection terminal 90 and the other bus bar 75, and a series circuit consisting of a cam switch 84 and a relay contact 89 is connected in parallel thereto.

Furthermore, the solenoid 52 of the electromagnet device 51 and the cam switch 87 are connected in series between the bus bars 75 and 77.

In the cam switch 80, the movable contact piece C is connected to the bus bar 77, one fixed contact piece a is connected to the conducting wire 91, and the other fixed contact piece a is connected to the movable contact piece C of the cam switch 86.

In this cam switch 86, one fixed contact piece a is connected to the bus bar 75 via the dewatering motor 57, and the other fixed contact piece a is connected to the conducting wire 91.
The washing motor 56 is connected between the bus bar 75 and the bus bar 75.

92 and 93 are capacitors for operating the washing motor 56 and the dewatering motor 57, respectively.

In the above configuration, the cam switch 8 of the main timer 78
0 and the cam switches 84 to 87 of the auxiliary timer 82 are controlled to open and close so that they are on during the periods indicated by the diagonal lines in FIG.

In FIG. 7, other hatched bands indicate the energized state or switch-on state of the corresponding object.

Although not shown in FIG. 6, the main timer 78 automatically transitions each step from washing to final dehydration while also controlling the electromagnetic water supply valve 8 and the electromagnetic drain valve 11.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

First, the main timer 78 is operated by the operating knob 81 to start the washing process W.
When the cam switch 80 is set to the starting position, the contact pieces C-a are closed or closed as shown in FIG. It is in the open/closed state shown in column W in the figure.

When the power switch 76 is closed in this state, the AC power supply 74 applies the power supply voltage between the two busbars 75 and 77.

Then, the main timer motor 79 is energized via the cam switch 85 to start timing operation, and the washing motor 56 is connected to the contact piece Ca of the cam switch 80 from the bus bar 77.
Driving is started by a current passing between the two.

Then, the rotational force of the washing motor 56 is applied to the motor shaft 56a, motor pulley 58. It is transmitted to the rotating drum 20 via the belt 61a, the large pulley portion 38b of the driven pulley 38, and the drum rotating shaft 32, and the rotating drum 20 is rotated at a low speed, so that the laundry inside is stored in the tub 3. The cleaning water is scooped up by the baffle 25 from the cleaning water filling the lower part of the rotary drum 20 and dropped into the cleaning water from above again, and the stirring is repeated to perform washing.

After this washing has been carried out for a certain period of time, the process shifts to a draining process, and although the control circuit is not shown, the electromagnetic drain valve 11 is automatically opened to drain the water, and then the main timer 78 is started. The cam switch 80 is switched to close the contact piece c-1), and the dewatering process 8 is started.

In this way, the cam switch 80 of the main timer 78 is connected to the contact piece c.
-1) When switched to the closed state, the washing motor 56 is cut off, while the current passes from the bus bar 77 between the contact piece C-6 of the cam switch 80 and between the contact piece C-a of the cam switch 86. The water is supplied to the dewatering motor 57 to drive it.

Then, the rotational force of the dewatering motor 57 is
57 a, motor pulley 59. The water is transmitted to the rotating drum 20 via the belt 61b, the small pulley portion 38C of the driven pulley 38, and the drum rotating shaft 32, and is rotated at high speed to start dewatering.

Start of this dehydration (shown as dehydration start column S1 in Figure 7)
After that, the tab 3 does not generate any abnormal vibration, and therefore the vibration detection device 64
If the microswitch 71 remains off, the rotating drum 20 is accelerated and normal dehydration is performed.

This is indicated by an arrow 94 in FIG. 7, and as a time chart, the dewatering start column S1 and the drum high speed rotation column S6 are in a continuous state.

On the other hand, if the tab 3 vibrates abnormally due to the unbalanced distribution of the laundry in the rotary drum 20 during the initial stage of spin-drying indicated by the spin-drying start column S1 in FIG.
2, when the microswitch 71 in the vibration detection device 64 is closed, the auxiliary timer motor 83 and the relay 88 of the auxiliary timer 82 are energized at the same time, and the auxiliary timer 82 immediately starts timing operation and the auxiliary timer 82 is activated. The cam switches 85 to 87 of 82 are changed to the open/close state in the opposite direction to the state shown in FIG. As a result, relay 88 is transferred to a self-holding state by the current flowing through relay contacts 89 and cam switch 84.

Therefore, the auxiliary timer motor 83 (in the self-holding state) is continuously energized from now on via the relay contact 89 and the cam switch 84, and the timing operation continues from when the microswitch 71 was energized.

When the microswitch 71 of the vibration detection device 64 is closed in this way, the circuit state changes as shown in the drum stop column S3 in FIG. 7, as described above.This will be explained in detail as follows.
First, when the cam switch 85 is opened, the main timer motor 79 is cut off and the timing operation of the main timer 78 is interrupted, and at the same time, the movable contact piece C of the cam switch 86 is moved to the neutral position F, so that the dewatering operation is started. motor 57
By cutting off the power and closing the cam switch 87, the solenoid 52 of the electromagnet device 51 is energized.

Then, the plunger 53 is sucked and moved in the direction of arrow 95, and the brake lever 45 is rotated in the direction of arrow 96 about the stepped bolt 48, so that the locking piece 50 is integrally attached to the brake drum 37 on the drum rotation axis. engaged with an engaging protrusion 49 of the brake band 44 rotating together with the brake band 32;
A braking force is applied to the drum rotating shaft 32 integrally connected to the brake drum 37, and therefore to the rotating drum 20, causing it to stop quickly.

After the rotating drum 20 is stopped in this manner, the cam switch 87 is opened by the timing operation of the auxiliary timer 82, as shown in the drum low speed rotation column S4 in FIG. Lever 45
is rotated back in the counter-arrow 96 direction by the tension coil spring 55 to release the braking force on the brake drum 37, and at the same time, the cam switch 86 is switched between the contact pieces Cb and the washing motor 56 is energized. As a result, the rotary drum 20 is rotated at the same low speed as during constant washing as shown in the drum low speed rotation column S4 in FIG. The unbalanced distribution is automatically corrected so that it is distributed approximately evenly on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum 20.

When such automatic correction of the unbalanced distribution of laundry is carried out for a certain period of time, the cam switch 84 is temporarily opened by the timing operation of the auxiliary timer 82, as shown in the self-hold release column S5 in FIG. Since the self-holding of the relay 88 is released and the relay contact 89 is opened, at this point, the auxiliary timer motor 83 of the auxiliary timer 82 is cut off and the timing operation is stopped, and the circuit status is shown in the dehydration start column S1. The state is returned to the state at the start of dehydration as shown.

Therefore, the cam switch 86 of the auxiliary timer 82 is
Since the interval A has been switched to closed and the cam switch 80 of the main timer 78 has remained closed or 0 between contacts C and B,
The dewatering motor 57 is energized again, rotates the rotary drum 20 at high speed, and restarts the dewatering operation.

If the unbalanced distribution of the laundry has not been completely corrected at the start of this spin-drying, the tub 3 will vibrate abnormally again, and in this case as well, the vibration detection device 64 will perform a vibration detection operation, the rotating drum 20 will stop, and the rotating drum An automatic correction cycle for the unbalanced distribution of the laundry is executed, which consists of 20 low-speed rotations for a certain period of time and then switching to high-speed rotation, and while this cycle is repeated multiple times, the unbalanced distribution of the laundry is gradually corrected. Then, after the cycle in which the correction is completed, normal high-speed dewatering is performed by automatically moving from the dewatering start column S1 in FIG. 7 to the drum high-speed rotating shelf S6.

In the above embodiment, when the vibration detection device operates, the rotary drum is stopped and then switched to low speed rotation, but it is also possible to immediately switch to low speed rotation, and when the vibration detection device operates, the rotation of the laundry is stopped. It is also possible to just stop the dewatering operation without automatically correcting the unbalanced distribution, or just issue an alarm.

It goes without saying that the weight may be a permanent magnet and the microswitch may be a reed switch.

As described above, the present invention is a drum-type washing machine having an abnormal vibration detection function, in which the vibration detection device is equipped with a weight movably provided on a guide member, and the weight is always maintained at a neutral position. As it is composed of a spring member that applies spring force on both sides, and a switch element that responds to movement of the weight by more than a predetermined amount, the structure itself is highly resistant to vibrations and is suitable for operation. It is suitable for drum-type washing machines in which the normal vibration inside is relatively large, and it is extremely easy to make it resonate with abnormal vibrations by simply selecting either the mass of the weight or the spring constant of the spring member. Even if vibrations and abnormal vibrations have frequencies close to each other, only the abnormal vibrations can be detected without malfunction, and in this respect, it is suitable for trim-type washing machines that normally vibrate, but it is also relatively simple and inexpensive. In addition to being compact overall, the switch element does not require mounting direction, so there are almost no restrictions on the mounting location of the vibration detecting device, and the mounting can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 7 are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1 is a vertical sectional side view, Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional plan view of the drive unit, and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the drive unit. A partial longitudinal sectional rear view showing a cross section taken along the line III-III in the figure with the brake lever etc. further enlarged, FIGS. 4 and 5 are an enlarged perspective view and a vertical sectional side view of the vibration detection device, respectively, and FIG. A wiring diagram of the control circuit, and FIG. 7 is a time chart. In the figure, 1 is an outer box, 3 is a tab, 4 is an elastic support member, 20 is a rotating drum, 56 is a washing motor, 57 is a dewatering motor, 62 is a braking device, 64 is a vibration detection device, 67 is a weight,
68 is a guide member, 69 and 70 are compression coil springs (spring members), 71 is a micro switch (switch element), 7
8 is a main timer, and 83 is an auxiliary timer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A tub elastically supported in an outer box, a rotating drum provided horizontally in the tab, and a vibration detection device provided in the tab to detect abnormal vibrations during dehydration. , the vibration detection device includes a weight movably provided on a guide member, and a spring member that biases spring forces in mutually repulsive directions on both sides of the weight to hold the weight in a neutral position. and a switch element that responds to movement of the weight by a predetermined amount or more from the neutral position, and the mass of the weight and the spring constant of the spring member are set to values that can resonate with frequencies within the abnormal vibration range. A drum-type washing machine characterized by the following.