JPS60103930A - Washer utilizing air bubbles - 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 Field of Industrial Application The present invention is directed to cleaning machines that use foam, such as dishwashers and washing machines, which blow air into the cleaning liquid to generate foam. The washed foam is successively supplied to the cleaning tank, and the object to be cleaned placed in the cleaning tank is immersed in the foam, and the object to be cleaned and the foam are brought into contact. foam-breaking effect.

The dirt components on the object to be cleaned were removed by the mechanical force generated by the abrasion of the bubbles. Therefore, cleaning always requires contact between the object to be cleaned and the foam.

However, the foam that removed dirt (foam that dissolved dirt)
Since it contains a component with a low surface tension other than the surfactant, it will have a significant foam-breaking effect in the area that comes into contact with the object to be cleaned. This foam-breaking effect enhances the cleaning effect.Although this is desirable, since the foam does not rise above the broken surface, it can be seen on surfaces to be cleaned and in dishwashers. Objects to be cleaned in the upper part of the container are not immersed in the foam and are difficult to clean.

To explain in more detail, in foam cleaning, cleaning starts from the lowest contact surface of the object to be cleaned, which has dirt, and this surface becomes the foam-broken surface. Once this contact surface has been cleaned to some extent, the bubble-broken surface moves to the next contact surface.

This is repeated one after another until the top is cleaned. Therefore, it generally takes a long time to clean the objects located at the top, depending on the amount of dirt. This phenomenon was particularly noticeable in dishwashers used to wash dirty dishes, etc., which contain a large amount of dirt components and oils and fats/proteins that have a significant foam-breaking effect. In order to shorten this time, it is effective to increase the amount of air blown, but when the amount of air blown is increased, the amount of detergent used increases and the noise level also increases.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves these conventional problems and provides a washing machine for foam washing that significantly shortens the washing time without increasing the amount of detergent used.

Structure of the Invention The foam-using cleaning machine of the present invention includes a cleaning tank for storing objects to be cleaned, a foaming device for foaming a cleaning liquid and supplying the foam to the cleaning tank, and a discharge path for discharging the foam from the upper part of the cleaning tank. The detergent is used in such a manner that the amount of foam supplied after the cleaning tank is substantially filled with foam is smaller than the amount of foam supplied from the start of foam supply until the cleaning tank is substantially filled with foam. The amount is reduced and the cleaning time is shortened.

Description of examples An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cleaning tank for storing objects to be cleaned 2a and 2b, and at the bottom of the cleaning tank 1 there is provided a foaming device composed of a foaming board 3, a blower device 4, a check valve 5, and the like. This foaming device is operated to blow air into the cleaning liquid 6 to foam the cleaning liquid 6, gradually filling the cleaning liquid 2a stored in the lower stage from the bottom to the top, and supplying it to the cleaning tank 1 to perform foam cleaning. . 7
8 is a rack that supports the items to be cleaned; 8 is a water sprinkler device that sprinkles water on the items 2a and 2b to rinse them after foam cleaning; 9 is a discharge device installed above the cleaning tank to discharge the foam to the outside of the cleaning tank The discharge path 9 is equipped with a bubble detector 10 for detecting bubbles flowing through the discharge path 9.

As an embodiment of the bubble detector 10 is shown in FIG.
It is connected to the discharge path 9 via a and 12b.

13 is a defoaming device installed downstream of the foam detector 1Q;
The foam is defoamed and collected into the cleaning tank 1 as a cleaning liquid 6, or discharged outside the cleaning tank 1. 14 is a heater for heating the cleaning liquid, and 15 is a drain valve.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

After storing the objects 2a and 2b to be cleaned in the cleaning tank 1 and supplying the cleaning liquid 6, a switch (not shown) is turned on to turn on the heater 1.
4 is energized to heat the cleaning liquid 6. When the cleaning liquid 6 reaches a predetermined temperature and the blower device 4 operates, air A is supplied to the cleaning liquid 6, bubbles B are generated, and the bubbles B fill the cleaning tank 1 from below. The generated bubbles B come into contact with the objects to be cleaned 2a and 2b, and the objects to be cleaned 2a.

2b and the objects to be cleaned 2a, 2 cleaned by the foam.
b is rinsed with fresh water from the water sprinkler 8 to complete the cleaning.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the amount of air blown, the foam filling time, and the washing time until the dishes can be washed. The curve C shows the relationship between the amount of air blown and the foam filling time, the first curve shows the relationship between the amount of air blown and the cleaning time, and the curve E shows the cleaning time after the foam is filled, that is, D-C. Note that the washing conditions are as follows. Cleaning: 0.6% enzyme-containing anionic surfactant. Washing temperature 200℃
. Tableware for 20 people. Dirt: egg yolk, tallow, starch. Equipment used: Commercially available dishwasher (N'P 54 manufactured by Kishita Denki Co., Ltd.)
00) 1yo modified for foam cleaning. The foam filling time was defined as the time when the cleaning tank 9 was filled with foam and the foam entered the discharge path 9, and the cleaning time was defined as the time from turning on the switch until the end of rinsing.

As is clear from Fig. 3, there is a correlation between the air flow rate, that is, the foam supply amount, the cleaning time D, and the foam filling time C, and as the air flow rate increases, that is, the foam supply amount increases, both times It becomes shorter.

However, it can be seen that the time E from when the foam is filled until the end of cleaning does not change significantly depending on the amount of air blown, that is, the amount of foam supplied. This is because most of the dirt is removed by the cleaning power of the detergent and the mechanical force caused by rubbing the foam during the process of foam filling, and after the foam is filled, only a small amount of dirt that remains is removed, resulting in a foam-breaking effect. It is thought that this is because most of the bubbles are discharged only by passing through the object that has already been washed.

Therefore, when the cleaning tank 9 is filled with bubbles after cleaning starts, the air flow rate is increased to increase the foam supply amount, and after the cleaning tank 9 is filled with bubbles, the air blow rate is decreased to reduce the foam supply amount. I did it. As a result, the cleaning time can be changed from the start to the end without reducing the air flow rate. For example, when the air flow rate was continued at 2001/min after the start of cleaning, the time required to fill with bubbles was 10 minutes, and the cleaning time was 22 minutes. When this was blown at 200 l/mu for 10 minutes after the start of cleaning to fill it with bubbles, and then the amount of air blown was lowered to 60737, the cleaning time at this time was also 22 minutes.

In this way, even if the air flow rate is reduced after the cleaning tank 1 is filled with foam, the cleaning time does not change, so a large amount of foam is supplied with a large air flow rate until the cleaning tank 1 is filled with foam. However, after filling, it is possible to clean by reducing the amount of air blown and the amount of foam supplied.At 0, when a large amount of foam is being supplied, the foam is broken on the dirty surface of the object 8 to be cleaned. Therefore, the cleaning tank 1 is not filled with foam all at once, but is gradually filled with foam, and no foam is discharged from the discharge path 9 during this process.

When the cleaning tank 1 is filled with bubbles, the bubbles pass through the discharge path 9, the passage of the bubbles is detected by the bubble detector 10, and the bubbles are further defoamed by the defoamer 13 and discharged. Note that if the bubble detector 10 detects passage of bubbles, the bubble generator is controlled to reduce the amount of air blown. If the air flow rate is large even after the cleaning tank 1 is filled with foam, the bubbles will hardly be broken in the cleaning tank 1, and all the foamed foam will be discharged outside the cleaning tank.
The amount of detergent used becomes large. However, once the cleaning tank 1 is filled with foam, the supply of foam can be reduced, so if the air flow rate is reduced, the amount of foam discharged will also be reduced, which will naturally reduce the amount of detergent used. can do. Further, when the air flow rate is reduced, the noise is also reduced.

Note that if you wash with 50117ml from the beginning, cleaning tank 1
It takes 55 minutes to fill with bubbles, and the cleaning time also takes 80 minutes or more, so increasing the amount of air blown from the beginning of cleaning when the chamber is filled with bubbles can shorten the cleaning time.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the foam-using cleaning machine of the present invention reduces the amount of foam supplied after the cleaning tank is filled with foam, thereby significantly shortening the cleaning time without increasing the amount of detergent used. It is advantageous in terms of resource saving and pollution, and has great industrial value. It is particularly useful for dishwashers, which contain many dirt components and foam-breaking components.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of an embodiment of the foam-based cleaning machine of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a foam detector of the same foam-based cleaning machine.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of air blown, the foam filling time, and the cleaning time. 1...Cleaning tank, 3...Foam board, 4...
...Blower, 9...Discharge path. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 3: Air blower-jl (), on the roll

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) It is equipped with a cleaning tank that stores the object to be cleaned, a foaming device that foams the cleaning liquid and supplies the foam to the cleaning tank, and a discharge path that discharges the foam from the upper part of the cleaning tank, and the cleaning starts from the time when the supply of foam starts. A washing machine that uses foam, in which the amount of foam supplied after the tank is substantially filled with foam is smaller than the amount of foam supplied until the tank is substantially filled with foam. (2) A cleaning machine using foam according to claim 1, wherein a foam detector is provided in the discharge path, and the foam detector detects foam and changes the amount of foam supplied.