JPS6312870Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] This invention relates to a clutch mechanism for a washing machine with a spin-dry function that uses a clutch spring.

[Technical background of the invention]

Conventionally, this type of clutch mechanism has been constructed as shown in FIG. 1, for example. That is, a clutch spring (not shown) is wound between a drive shaft driven by a motor and a driven shaft protruding from the outer bottom of the rotary tank, and a sleeve is provided with teeth 1 on the outer periphery of the clutch spring. 2 are fitted in a connected state, and a clutch pawl 4 is rotatably provided at the tip of an operating member 3 which is positioned as shown in the figure during a washing operation and rotates counterclockwise from that position during a dehydration operation, A protrusion 4a of the clutch pawl 4 protruding from the side opposite to the sleeve 2
is stopped by the actuating member 3 to limit the amount of rotation of the clutch pawl 4 in the counterclockwise direction, and at the same time, the clutch pawl 4 is constantly biased in the counterclockwise direction by the torsion coil spring 5. In this case, in the illustrated state, the clutch pawl 4 is engaged with the teeth 1 of the sleeve 2, so that the clockwise rotation of the sleeve 2 and thus the clutch spring is prevented, and the clutch spring cannot be tightened. When the rotational transmission from the drive shaft to the driven shaft is cut off, and when the actuating member 3 rotates counterclockwise from this state, the clutch pawl 4 becomes relatively jumped by the teeth 1. As the clutch spring rotates clockwise, the engagement with the toothed portion 1 is released, and the clutch spring becomes ready to be tightened, thereby transmitting rotation from the drive shaft to the driven shaft.

[Problems with background technology]

However, in the above configuration, the torsion coil spring 5 is required, which requires a large number of parts and is time-consuming to assemble.Also, since the biasing force of the clutch pawl 4 is set to be weak, the wire diameter of the torsion coil spring 5 is Because the clutch pawl 4 is thin, when the clutch pawl 4 begins to jump, the clutch pawl 4 rotates excessively and the bent portion 5a of the torsion coil spring 5 strongly hits the actuating member 3.
Eventually, the problem was that it broke and caused malfunction.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to reduce the number of parts as much as possible to improve assembly efficiency, and also to prevent malfunctions and improve reliability of a dehydrating and washing machine. to provide a clutch mechanism.

[Summary of the idea]

In the present invention, the clutch pawl is formed of plastic so as to have an integral elastic piece, and the elastic piece always urges the clutch pawl in a predetermined direction, so that the clutch pawl is not disposed on either the clutch pawl side or the actuating member side. By providing a locking portion that limits the amount of rotation of the clutch pawl in the opposite direction, the elastic piece eliminates the need for a conventional torsion coil spring, and the locking portion prevents excessive rotation of the clutch pawl. It is characterized by its prevention.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. First, in FIG. 2 showing the entire drive unit of a washing machine for dewatering and washing, 1 is a water tank disposed inside an outer box (not shown), 2 is a rotating tank disposed inside the water receiving tank 1, and 2 is a rotating tank 2. A hollow driven shaft 3 is fixed downward at the center of the outer bottom of the shaft. The driven shaft 3 is rotatably supported by a pair of bearings 4, 4 provided at the bottom of the water tank 1. Reference numeral 5 designates a washing shaft that is rotatably supported through the driven shaft 3. A pulsator 6 is screwed to the upper end of this shaft that projects into the rotating tank 2, and a pulsator 6 is screwed to the lower end of the driven shaft 3 that projects downward. A drive shaft 7 is fitted therein. The drive shaft 7 has approximately the same outer diameter as the driven shaft 3, and is arranged with a slight gap above and below the drive shaft 7. A pulley 8 is fixed to the lower end of the drive shaft 7, and is connected to a motor (not shown) via a belt.
A brake drum 9 is fitted to the driven shaft 3 so as to rotate integrally therewith, and a brake band 10 having a rising piece 10a is wound around this. 11 is a clutch spring, which connects the driving shaft 7 and the driven shaft 3.
The shafts 7 and 3 are normally wound in a tightly wound state so that the shafts 7 and 3 are connected, and a claw portion 11a is bent at the lower end. A bottomed cylindrical sleeve 13 with a large number of teeth 12 protruding from the outer periphery is fitted into the clutch spring 11, and the claws 11a of the clutch spring 11 are engaged with the engagement holes 13a formed in the sleeve 13. With this, the sleeve 13 and clutch spring 11 are connected. Reference numeral 14 denotes an operating member, which is rotatably supported by a pivot shaft 14a provided at the outer bottom of the water tank 1 and oriented vertically, and includes a brake operating member 15 and a sleeve that come into contact with and separate from the rising piece 10a of the brake band 10. 13 and a clutch operation part 16 located near the tooth part 12, and is driven reciprocally by an electromagnet (not shown) according to the washing operation and the dewatering operation. That is, during the washing operation, the operating member 14 is such that the clutch operating portion 16 is positioned as shown by the solid line in FIG.
During dewatering operation, it is rotated from this state in the direction of arrow A and positioned as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure. Now, in FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 17 is a plastic clutch pawl, which has a pawl portion 17a on one end, and an elastic piece 17b and a stop protrusion 17c on the other end. , approximately at the center thereof is rotatably supported by a pin 18 at the tip of the clutch operating portion 16 of the actuating member 14 . Then, the elastic piece 17b
4, the entire clutch pawl 17 is always biased in the direction of arrow B by elastically contacting one side of the rising portion 14a, and the impact protrusion 17c is in contact with the other side of the rising portion 14a, thereby biasing the entire clutch pawl 17 in the same direction. limits the amount of rotation of
Therefore, under normal conditions, the impact protrusion 17c of the clutch pawl 17 abuts against the rising portion 14a, and the pawl portion 17a protrudes forward along the extending direction of the actuating member 14 (see solid line in FIG. 3). ). Reference numeral 19 denotes a locking portion that projects integrally with the clutch pawl 17. This locking portion is provided near the base end of the blocking protrusion 17c and apart from the actuating member 14, so that the clutch pawl 17 rotates in the opposite direction of arrow B. When the clutch pawl 17 comes into contact with the tip end of the actuating member 14, it limits the amount of rotation of the clutch pawl 17 in the direction opposite to arrow B (see FIG. 5).

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. During washing operation,
The actuating member 14 is positioned as shown in solid line in FIG. Therefore, the claw portion 17a of the clutch claw 17 engages with the tooth portion 12 of the sleeve 13, and the clutch spring 11 and the sleeve 1 due to the rotation of the motor are engaged with the claw portion 17a of the clutch claw 17.
3 is prevented from rotating in the direction of arrow C, and therefore the clutch spring 11 becomes unable to be tightened, and the rotation of the drive shaft 7 is transmitted only to the washing shaft 5, causing the pulsator 6 to rotate. At the same time, the brake operating portion 15 of the actuating member 14 is activated by the brake band 10.
Since the rotating tank 2 comes into contact with the rising piece 10a of the rotary tank 2, the rotation of the rotating tank 2 is restricted.

During the dewatering operation, the operating member 14 rotates in the direction of arrow A and is positioned as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
The engagement between the clutch pawl 17 and the teeth 12 of the sleeve 13 is released, allowing the sleeve 13 and thus the clutch spring 11 to rotate freely. For this reason,
The clutch spring 11 maintains a tightened state,
The rotation of the drive shaft 7 is transmitted to the driven shaft 3 and the rotating tank 2
rotates. By the way, when the operating member 14 rotates in the direction of arrow A when switching to dewatering operation, the claw portion 17a of the clutch claw 17 engages the tooth portion 12 of the sleeve 13.
Since the clutch pawl 17 contacts with a strong force, the clutch pawl 17 is relatively jumped by the tooth portion 12, and the clutch pawl 17 rotates in the opposite direction of arrow B. However, in this case, since the locking portion 19 of the clutch pawl 17 comes into contact with the front end side of the actuating member 14, the amount of rotation of the clutch pawl 17 is limited, and the clutch pawl 17 has excess force and may rotate excessively. can be prevented. As a result, the elastic piece 17 of the clutch pawl 17
Excessive bending force acts on b, eventually leading to breakage,
Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the clutch mechanism from malfunctioning, resulting in excellent reliability. In addition, in the case of this embodiment, since the elastic piece 17b, which corresponds to the conventional torsion coil spring 5, is integrally molded on the clutch pawl 17, the number of parts can be reduced, and the assembly work can be simplified, resulting in lower manufacturing costs. Of course, it can contribute to the

FIG. 6 shows a different embodiment of the present invention, and the difference from the previous embodiment is that a hook 20 is integrally molded in a bent state at the tip of the elastic piece 17b of the clutch pawl 17 as a locking part. It's there. Even with this configuration, when the clutch pawl 17 rotates in the opposite direction of arrow B, the hook portion 20 comes to be caught on one side of the rising portion 14a of the actuating member 14, which prevents the clutch pawl 17 from being overloaded. Rotation can be prevented.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and may be implemented with various changes within the scope of the gist, such as forming the locking portion to protrude toward the actuating member 14 side. I can do it.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, in the present invention, the clutch pawl is formed of plastic so as to have an integral elastic piece, and the elastic piece always urges the clutch pawl in a predetermined direction, so that either the clutch pawl side or the actuating member side The feature is that one side is provided with a locking part that limits the amount of rotation of the clutch pawl in the opposite direction.As a result, the conventional torsion coil spring can be eliminated, reducing the number of parts and assembly. Man-hours can be reduced and manufacturing costs can be kept low.
Furthermore, it is possible to provide a clutch mechanism for a washing machine with a dehydrating function that can prevent breakage of the elastic piece due to excessive rotation of the clutch pawl by the locking portion, and improve reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the main parts of a conventional clutch mechanism, FIGS. 2 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Figure 3 is a plan view of the main part, Figure 4 is a front view of the same,
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main parts showing the clutch pawl in a rotating state, and FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is a rotating tank, 3 is a driven shaft, 7 is a driving shaft,
12 is a tooth portion, 13 is a sleeve, 14 is an operating member,
17 is a clutch pawl, 17b is an elastic piece, 19 is a locking portion, and 20 is a hook portion (locking portion).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A clutch spring is wound between a drive shaft driven by a motor and a driven shaft connected to a rotary tank, and a sleeve with teeth is connected to this clutch spring, so that the clutch pawl is connected to the operating member. The clutch is rotatably provided to be engaged with and disengaged from the teeth by reciprocation of the actuating member, and when engaged, the actuating member prevents the clutch pawl from rotating in a predetermined direction, thereby tightening the clutch spring. In the clutch pawl, the clutch pawl is formed of plastic so as to have an integral elastic piece, and the elastic piece always urges the clutch pawl in the predetermined direction, so that the clutch pawl side or the activation 1. A clutch mechanism for a dehydrating and washing machine, characterized in that a locking portion is provided on either side of the member to limit the amount of rotation of a clutch pawl in a counter-predetermined direction.