JPS59151995A - Water reservoir for washer - 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 The present invention relates to a water storage device for a washing machine in which a water storage tank is installed in parallel with the washing machine, and the washing water used once in the washing tank is stored in the water storage tank and used for the next washing.

Recently, in order to save the washing water used for washing, it has been thought that the used washing water can be stored in a water tank, and the washing water can be transferred from the water tank to the washing tank and used again during the next washing. There is.

An object of the present invention is to significantly improve the workability of laundry work by making the top surface of the water tank similar to the top surface of the washing machine and the road surface in the above-mentioned washing water saving system. In addition, by preventing the front and rear surfaces of the water tank from protruding outward from the front and rear surfaces of the washing machine,
To provide a water storage device for a washing machine that has excellent design, can reduce packaging cost, and requires a minimum installation area.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box of a washing machine that also serves as a dehydrator. Inside this, a water receiving tank 3 is suspended via an elastic suspension mechanism 2, and a rotary tank 4 serving as a washing and dehydrating tank can be rotated inside the water receiving tank 3. It is arranged. Reference numeral 5 denotes a mechanism section disposed at the outer bottom of the water receiving tank 3, which receives rotational force from a motor (not shown) with a pulley 6 to move the rotating tank 4 and stirring blades 7 disposed at the inner bottom of the rotating tank 4. It selectively transmits information to 8 is water tank 3
A drain valve is attached to a drain port 3a, and a drain hose 9 is connected to this drain valve. 10 is a cover made of plastic, for example, attached to the upper surface of the outer box 1, and the operation box 1 is attached to the rear part.
1 is formed in a bulging manner, and a lid 13 is rotatably supported on a laundry inlet/outlet 12 facing the rotating tub 4. Reference numeral 14 denotes a water supply case disposed inside the operation box 11, through which a water supply hose connected to a water faucet (not shown) is communicated via a water supply solenoid valve, and a water supply case is connected to the outside from the rear of the operation box 11. The led-out water supply pipe 15 is communicated. Now,
Reference numeral 16 denotes a water tank that is fixed to the left side plate of the outer box 1 by bolting or the like, and a cover 18 made of, for example, plastic is attached to the upper surface of the outer box 17 that forms the water tank 16. An operation box 19 is formed in a bulging manner at the rear of the cover 18, and the front and rear surfaces of the outer box 17 of the water tank 16 and the cover 1
The top surface of the washing machine 8 is connected to the front and rear surfaces of the outer box 1 of the dehydrating/washing machine and the top surface of the cover 10 in a road-like state.

Thus, the water storage tank 16 has a bottom wall 20 and a rear wall 2 inside the outer box 17.
1 to form a water storage container inside, and the left and right walls and front wall of the outer box 17 constitute the tank wall of this water storage container.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a pump device disposed at the rear lower part of the outer box 17, which has two inlets 22a, 22b and two outlet ports 22.
c, 22d are provided, and these inflow ports 2 are provided inside.
A valve body 23 that rotates to select one of the two outlet ports 2a, 22b and two outlet ports 22c, 22d, and an impeller 24 that is rotationally driven by a pump motor (not shown) are provided. The inlet 22a is connected to the water receiving tank 3 via a hose 25.
The inlet 22b communicates with the outlet 20a provided in the bottom wall 20 via the boss 26, and the outlet 22c communicates with the upper end of the rear wall 21 via the hose 27. The outlet 22d communicates with the provided outlet body 28.
is connected to the water supply pipe 15 via a hose 29. 3
0 is a knob for switching the valve body 23 provided in one operation box,
Lever 30a and valve body 2 rotated by this knob 30
3 are connected to each other by a rod 31, and when the knob 30 is rotated to the left and set to "water storage", the valve body 23 is also rotated accordingly, and the inlet 22a is opened. and the outflow port 22c are respectively opened to form the inflow port 22b.
and the outflow port 22d are respectively closed, and when the knob 30 is turned to the right and set to "water supply", the valve body 23 is also rotated accordingly, and the inflow port 22b and the outflow port 22d are respectively opened. Then, the inlet 2'2a and the outlet 220 are respectively closed (see FIG. 2).

Reference numeral 32 denotes a rectangular opening formed on the top surface of the cover 18 so as to communicate with the inside of the water tank 16, and a total of four engagement holes 33 are bored near both front and rear end edges of the rectangular opening 32. 34 is attached to the opening 32 from above and placed by fitting the four engagement pieces 34a provided at both front and rear ends into the engagement hole 33.
For example, in this embodiment, a large number of small holes 35 are formed in the bottom of the container to provide a lint filter function, thereby forming a lint filter section 36. And this container 34
The rear wall 3i is vertical and has a discharge port 2 at the top.
A rectangular opening 37 corresponding to the tip of 8 is bored, and a container 34 is provided at a position to receive washing water from a so-called discharge port body 28. Further, the front wall of the container 34 has an inclined shape that rises diagonally upward toward the front, and a plurality of uneven stripes are arranged in parallel in the left-right direction to form a washboard section 38. In addition, the left and right side walls of the container 34,
C is set to about 1/3 of the height of the rear wall. 39
Reference numeral 40 is a push button switch for controlling operation and stop of the pump device 22, which is provided in the operation box 19, and 40 is a timer for the washing machine, which is provided in the operation box 11.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as above will be explained. First, when the water storage tank 16 is empty, the laundry to be washed and detergent are put into the rotary tank 4, and the timer 40 is set.Washing water flows into the rotary tank 4 via a water supply solenoid valve (not shown) and the water supply case 14. When the water reaches a specified level in the rotary tank 4, the stirring blades 7 are rotated and the laundry items are washed with detergent.

After this detergent washing has been carried out for a predetermined period of time, the process moves to a drainage process consisting of dehydration before rinsing.
8 to the left and set it to the "water storage" side, and when the drain stroke begins, turn on the push button switch 39 to energize the pump motor (not shown), and at the same time turn off the drain valve 8. and block this. When the washing water in the rotating tub 4 is discharged into the water receiving tank 3 due to the high speed rotation of the rotating tub 4, this washing water flows from the drain port 3b to the inlet 22a via the hose 25, and the impeller Due to the pump action caused by the rotation of 24, the discharge port body 2 is
8 (see arrow A in Figure 2). The washing water flowing out from the discharge port body 28 passes through the opening 37 of the container 34 and falls onto the lint filter section 36, and when passing through the small hole 35, lint such as lint in the washing water is removed. The water enters the water storage tank 16 and is stored there. By the way, if an appropriate amount of laundry 41 (for example, heavily soiled laundry) to be washed with detergent next time is stored in the container 34 before energizing the pump device 22 for "water storage" as described above, The washing water flowing out from the discharge port body 28 splashes onto the laundry 41, making the laundry 41 wet. So, laundry 41
Since the washing water contains detergent, if left as is, the dirt will be easily separated by the action of the detergent. Furthermore, heavily soiled parts of the laundry 41 can be scrubbed using the washboard section 38. After all the washing water from the rotary tub 4 has been transferred to the water storage tank 16, the push button switch 39 is turned off to turn off the pump motor (not shown), and at the same time, the drain valve 8 is energized to open it. let In this way, in the draining process after detergent washing, when all the washing water containing the detergent is transferred from the rotating tank 4 to the water storage tank 16, the timer 40 automatically shifts to the next rinsing process. Since the operation of each process from the process to the final dehydration process is well known, the explanation will be omitted.

In this way, when the second and subsequent washes are carried out after the first wash, the laundry 4 stored in the container 34 is
1 into the rotary tank 4, turn the knob 30 to the right in the opposite direction to the above and set it to the water supply J side.At the same time, turn off the energizing circuit to the water supply solenoid valve (not shown), and then The timer 40 is set and the push button switch 39 is turned on at the same time.

Then, the pump motor is energized and the impeller 24 is rotated, and the washing water in the water tank 16 flowing from the outlet 20a to the inlet 221 of the pump motor 22 via the hose 26 is pumped by the rotation of the impeller 24. Outflow due to action D 2
2 d to the rotating tank 4 via the hose and water supply case 14.
(See arrow B in Figure 2). When water is added to the specified water level in the rotating tank 4, detergent washing is automatically started, and thereafter, a series of washing steps up to the final dehydration is automatically performed by the timer 40, but the inside of the rotating tank 4 is When the specified water level is reached, the push button switch 39 is turned off to stop the operation of the pump device 22. At this time, from the frontage part 32 to the container 3
4, it is convenient to be able to visually check the water storage status in the water storage tank 16 in advance, as well as to visually check the remaining ice status after use. In this way, when the washing water used for the second washing with detergent is to be used for the third washing, the above-mentioned operation can be repeated. In addition, the above explanation is for the case where the washing water used for detergent washing is stored in the water storage tank 16 and used as is for the next detergent washing, but the washing water used for the final rinsing is It is also possible to store the water in the water storage tank 16 by operation, transfer it to the rotating tank 4 at the time of the next washing with detergent, and use it by adding detergent.

According to this embodiment configured in this manner, the cover 18 forming the upper surface of the water tank 16 is connected to the cover 10 forming the upper surface of the dehydrating/washing machine in a road-like manner, so that there is no sense of incongruity in the design. In addition to being excellent in design, when placing containers such as laundry, wash 111M, detergent, bleach, etc. during laundry work, they will not slip or tilt even if they are placed so as to straddle the double-sided bar 10.18. The upper surface of the double force bar 10.18 can be used widely without any problems, and therefore the workability of the washing work can be greatly improved.

Although the other surfaces other than the top surface of the water tank 16 are not directly related to the washing operation, the front and rear surfaces of the outer box 17 of the water tank 16 are connected to the front and rear surfaces of the outer box 1 of the dehydrating/washing machine and the road surface. - is set so that it does not protrude outward beyond the front and rear surfaces of the outer box 1, so when packaging, the outer box 1 of the water storage tank 16 is used as the packaging box.
By simply increasing the width dimension by an amount corresponding to the width of the water storage tank 16, there is no need to increase the front and rear depth dimensions, and the packaging cost can be reduced and easily. Since it does not protrude outward from the front and rear surfaces of the outer box 1 of the dual-purpose washing machine, there is no increase in the front and back, and the necessary minimum amount is sufficient.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a further embodiment of the present invention, which will be described below. That is, in the embodiment described above, the container 34 having a lint filter function is attached to the opening 32, but the container 34 having a lint filter function is attached to the opening 32.
As shown in the figure, a laundry cylinder-shaped container 42 may be detachably attached. In this case, the container 42 is made of plastic, has a rectangular top opening slightly smaller than the opening 32, and has a predetermined depth. The provided flange portions 42a, 4
Four engaging pieces 42b that fit into the engaging holes 33 protrude downward from 2a, and a handle 43 in the shape of a mouth is rotatably attached to the center of the upper part. This configuration also provides the same effects as those of the embodiment described above.

As is clear from the embodiments described above, the present invention not only allows the washing water to be used for multiple washings and saves washing water, but also allows the upper surface of the water tank to be placed above the upper surface of the washing machine. By adjusting the road surface and condition, it has excellent design,
The workability of washing work can be greatly improved, and since the front and rear surfaces of the water tank do not protrude outward from the front and rear surfaces of the washing machine, packaging costs can be reduced and packaging can be carried out easily. , Washi!, which has excellent effects such as requiring minimal installation space. We can provide a mountain pass water device for Ia.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is a cutaway diagram showing the operation of the washing machine and water tank separated, and FIG. The figure is an exploded perspective view showing the container separated from the water storage tank and the water storage tank partially cut away; FIGS. 4 and 5 show other embodiments of the present invention; FIG. A longitudinal sectional view of the tank, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the container alone. In the drawing, 1 is the outer box of the dehydrating and washing machine, 10 is the cover, 1
1 is an operation box, 16 is a water tank, 17 is an outer box, 18 is a cover, 19 is an operation box, 22 is a pump device, and 34 and 42 are containers. Applicant Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a washing machine in which a water tank is installed and fixed to the side of the washing machine, and washing water is exchanged between the washing tank and the water tank by a pump device, the upper surface of the water tank is connected to the washing machine. 1. A water storage device for a washing machine, characterized in that the top surface of the water tank is in the same condition as a road surface, and the front and rear surfaces of the water tank are set so as not to protrude outward from the front and rear surfaces of the washing machine.