JPS63214291A - Detergent feeder of washing machine - 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] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., which is installed in a device such as a washing machine and supplies detergent to a detergent receptacle thereof. .

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a detergent supply device for this type of washing machine, etc., there is the one shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-43827. This device is installed throughout the washing machine, and the detergent stored in the hopper is discharged by a valve operated by the user and supplied into the washing tank. .

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) -1- In the case of the conventional washing machine, the entire installation structure for the washing machine is fixed, and it is not easy to remove the hopper together with the valve. Therefore, when a user wants to put detergent into the hopper, for example, the user has to carry the detergent container up to the top of the hopper one by one, and then put the detergent from the detergent container into the hopper. In addition, there was a drawback of being forced to do so, and there was a need for a solution to this point.

The detergent supply device for washing machines, etc. of the present invention has been made to meet the dual needs, and therefore, its purpose is to provide a device that facilitates the work of storing detergent in a hopper,
At the same time, it also prevents the occurrence of new problems in the product itself.
The purpose is to provide a product that is also easy to handle.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The detergent supply device for a washing machine or the like of the present invention unitizes a hopper and a detergent dispensing member for discharging detergent from the hopper toward a detergent receiving portion, The device is characterized in that this unit is removably installed in the device, and a lid is provided on the detergent outlet portion of the unit, which is opened when the unit is installed and closed when it is removed in response to the installation and removal of the unit.

(Function) According to the second means, the hopper can be easily removed from the equipment as a unit with the detergent dispensing member, and the detergent storage work can be carried out as desired in the removed state.

When the hopper is removed as described above, there is a concern that detergent may spill out from the detergent outlet when the hopper is removed or carried in the removed state. On the other hand, when the hopper is removed, the lid provided at the detergent outlet portion is closed, thereby eliminating the fear of detergent spilling.

The lid can be automatically closed by removing the unit (hopper) and opened by installing the unit (hopper), so there is no need for the user to open and close the lid one after another.

(Example) An example in which the present invention is applied to a detergent supply device for a washing machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIG. 2, 1 is an outer box of the washing machine, 2 is an upper cover attached to the upper surface of the outer box, 3 is a lid provided on the upper cover 2 so as to be openable and closable, and 4 is a lid of a bi-fold type in this case. is an operation panel located in front of the lid 3 and provided on the front edge of the upper cover 2. On the other hand, reference numeral 5 designates a rear panel located behind the lid 3 and provided at the rear edge of the upper cover 2, and is provided with a power switch 6 and a hopper 7.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the hopper 7 includes an inner wall 9 made of, for example, transparent plastic and having a horizontally cylindrical detergent delivery portion 8 at the lowest part, and an outer wall 10 made of transparent plastic surrounding the outer periphery of the inner wall 9. The outer wall 10 has an upper part 10a and a lower part 10b which are separately manufactured and joined together, and the uppermost part is connected to the inner wall 9.
By fitting inside the upper outer circumferential rib 12 of the inner wall 9, the inner wall 9 is joined to the outer circumference of the inner wall 9 with a predetermined gap 13 therebetween. Note that 14 is a lid of the hopper 7.

Moreover, 15 is one side (first
The claw 16 is integrally formed with the lower part 10b of the outer wall 10 on the left side (in the figure), and is integrated with the push button 17 that is removably installed in the lower part 10b of the outer wall 10 on the other side (right side in the figure). On the other hand, reference numeral 18 denotes four parts formed on the rear panel 5 with the upper edge surrounded by ribs 19 as shown in FIG. A hole 20 is formed on the left side of the figure, and a hole 21 is formed on the other side (the right side of the figure).
A two-marked pawl 15 is engaged with the hole 20 of the two, and a pawl 16 is engaged with the hole 21, so that the flap 7 is removably attached to the rear panel 5.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a detergent dispensing member inserted in advance into the interior of the detergent dispensing portion 8 located within the four parts 18 when the above-mentioned hopper 7 is attached, and in particular, in the case of this embodiment, it is composed of a coil.
Its base end (the left end in FIG. 1) is attached to a transmission shaft 23 that is inserted into the base end of the detergent delivery section 8 and rotatably supported, thereby connecting the detergent delivery member 22 to the hopper 7. They are integrated and unitized.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a motor attached to the left end of the upper cover 2 in FIG.
6) is attached to the upper cover 2 by tightening it with screws 28 shown in FIG. A driven gear 30 attached to the protruding end from the detergent delivery section 8 is engaged with it.

Reference numeral 31 denotes four parts that cover almost the entire rear edge of the upper cover 2, including a drain port facing into a washing tub (not shown) disposed inside the outer box 1 near the tip of the water receiving part 26. 32 is formed. Also, in the recess 31, a detergent receiving part 34 is formed at a portion located below the detergent outlet 33 at the tip of the detergent delivery part 8 of the hopper 7, separated from other parts by partition walls 35 and 36. are doing. As shown in FIG. 5, this detergent receiving part 34 has a downwardly sloped shape, and has a supply port 37 facing the inside of the washing tub at its tip, and a rear end. A water supply device 38 is arranged in series with a water supply valve 39. Reference numeral 40 denotes an opening formed at the bottom of the recess 18 of the rear panel 5, located on the −L side of the detergent receiving portion 34, for passing the detergent through and also for cleaning.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a convex portion protruding from the bottom of the recess 18 of the rear panel 5, while 42 is a lid (the lid 1 of the hopper 7 described above) whose upper end is pivoted to the lower part 10b of the outer wall of the hopper 7 by a shaft portion 43.
This small lid 42 has a protrusion 4 near its lower end, as shown in FIG. 6.
4, and a spring 45 is interposed between this and the push button 17, thereby pushing the push button 17 outward.
At the same time, the small lid 42 is urged inward (towards the detergent outlet 33). Further, a diagonal tongue piece 46 is formed in the rear part near the lower end of the small lid 42, and this is connected to the convex part 41.
The small lid 42 is rotated outward (to the side opposite to the direction of the detergent outlet 33) against the biasing force of the spring 45, and the detergent outlet 33 is opened.

Here, FIG. 7 shows the hopper 7 (the hopper 7 and the detergent dispensing member 2).
2) is being removed; at this time, by pushing the push button 17 inward against the biasing force of the spring 45, the pawl 16 is removed from the hole 21, and the - The claw 15 is removed from the hole 20. When the hopper 7 (unit) is removed, the small lid 42 separates the tongue 46 from the convex portion 41, and thus the small lid 42 is released from the outward forced rotational force caused by the convex portion 41. The detergent outlet 33 is rotated inward by the biasing force of the spring 45, and is pressed against the detergent outlet 33, thereby closing the outlet 33. When the hopper 7 (unit) is reinstalled from this state, the small lid 42 engages the tongue 46 with the protrusion 41 and slides outward against the biasing force of the spring 45 as described above. It is rotated to open the detergent outlet 33.

Furthermore, reference numeral 47 denotes a stirring body which is rotatably disposed inside the hopper 7 with a shaft 48 passing between the front and back of the hopper 7, and which has one or more holes 49 and also has a plurality of protrusions 50 that protrude in the front and back direction. , furthermore, it has a large number of protrusions 51 that protrude outward from the periphery,
One of the protrusions 51 is engaged with the detergent dispensing member 22.

Now, in the case of the device configured as described above, when using it, for example, remove the hopper 7 (unit), open the lid 14, and then pour detergent (for example, powdered detergent 52) into the hopper 7. , close the lid 14. Then, remove the hopper 7 (unit) as shown in Fig. 1, and place the powdered detergent 52 in the installed hopper 7. Panel 4
When a necessary switch is operated, a control device (not shown), for example, a microcomputer installed in the lower part of the operation panel 4, starts operating, and the motor 25 and the water supply valve 39 are first energized. The motor 25 transmits its rotational force from the rotation shaft 25a to the drive gear 29, and from the drive gear 29 to the driven gear 30, and then to the transmission shaft 23 and the detergent dispenser member 22. The detergent dispensing member 22 is rotated, particularly in a so-called spiral direction. Therefore, the powdered detergent 52 in the hopper 7,
As the detergent dispensing member 22 rotates, the detergent is advanced through the detergent dispensing portion 8 toward the detergent outlet 33, and the detergent is dispensed from the detergent outlet 33 as shown by arrow A in FIGS. 34”-. On the other hand, the water supply valve 39 allows water to flow through the water supply device 38 to the detergent receiving portion 34 as shown by arrow B in FIG. The water is washed away, and both of them are supplied from the supply port 37 into the washing tub (not shown).

Incidentally, when the detergent dispenser member 22 is driven to rotate as described above, the agitation portion 47 which has one of the protrusions 51 engaged with the detergent dispenser member 22 sequentially moves the protrusion 51 to the detergent dispenser member 22.
The hopper 7 is rotated so as to be engaged with the hopper 7.
The powdered detergent 52 inside is stirred so that the powdered detergent 52 can be introduced into the detergent delivery section 8 more smoothly.

In this way, according to the present embodiment, the powdered detergent 52 can be supplied without leaving it in the hands of the user, and furthermore, in this configuration, the hopper 7 (unit) is connected to the rear panel 5 as described above. As a result, the powdered detergent 52 can be housed as desired with the hopper 7 removed, thereby eliminating the trouble associated with conventional fixed hoppers. In addition, you can eliminate unreasonableness.

Therefore, if the hopper 7 (unit) is removable as described above, there is a concern that the powdered detergent 52 may spill from the detergent outlet 33 when it is removed or when it is carried in a detached state. . On the other hand, when the hopper 7 is removed, the small lid 42 provided at the detergent outlet 33 is closed as described above, thereby eliminating the fear of the powdered detergent 52 spilling out.

Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment, the closing of the small lid 42 can be automatically performed by removing the hopper 7 (unit), and the opening can be performed automatically by installing the hopper 7 (unit), as described above. The user does not have to worry about opening and closing the door one by one, and the ease of handling can be improved.

In addition to the above, especially in the above embodiments,
By using a single spring 45 for urging the small lid 42 in the direction of the detergent outlet 33 and urging the push button 17 outward, a further effect is achieved in that costs can be kept low.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in "2" and shown in the drawings, and therefore, the detergent outlet 3 of the small lid 42
Instead of using a single spring 45 for biasing in the three directions and biasing the push button 17 outward, dedicated springs may be used for each.

Further, the detergent receiving portion is the detergent receiving portion 3 formed on the rear panel 5 described above.
4, but may be a washing tub, that is, the detergent may be supplied directly into the washing tub without using water supply. Further, the detergent dispensing member is not limited to the above-described coil, but may also be a conventional valve, screw, or the like. In addition, the drive source for rotationally driving the detergent dispensing member is not limited to the motor 25, and may be, for example, a water wheel operating in a water supply channel. As a whole, it is not limited to washing machines, but can be similarly applied to all devices that use detergent to function, such as dishwashers, and the agitator 47, etc. In addition, the detergent may be a liquid detergent other than the powder detergent 52.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the following description, the detergent supply device for washing machines, etc. of the present invention is suitable for devices that are installed in equipment such as washing machines and supplies detergent to the detergent receiver. A hopper for storing and storing the detergent, and a detergent dispensing member for discharging the detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiving portion are provided as a unit, and the unit is removable from the device. At the same time, the unit is installed at the detergent outlet part of the unit.

Since it is provided with a lid that is opened when it is attached and closed when it is removed in response to its removal, it is possible to easily store detergent in the hopper, and it also solves new problems. It is possible to prevent the detergent from spilling out, and the user does not have to worry about opening and closing the lid, which has the excellent effect of improving ease of handling.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main parts, and Fig. 2 is a washing machine in which the same parts exist.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the exterior of the washing machine, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the exterior with the hopper removed, Figure 4 is a longitudinal side view of the main part with the hopper removed, Figure 5 is a side view of the same part. Vertical side views at different cross-sectional positions, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the small lid alone, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the small lid alone.
The figure is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main part of the hopper in the middle of removal. In the drawing, 1 is the washing machine outer box, 5 is the rear panel, 7 is the hopper,
15.16 is a claw, 17 is a push button, 22 is a detergent dispenser, 2
5 is a motor, 29 is a drive gear, 30 is a driven gear, 33 is a detergent outlet, 34 is a detergent receiver, 41 is a convex portion, and 42 is a small lid (
45 is a spring, 46 is an inner piece, and 52 is a powder detergent (detergent).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hopper that is installed in a device such as a washing machine and supplies detergent to its detergent receiver, and that stores and stores the detergent; and a detergent that discharges the detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiver. and a dispensing member as a unit, and the unit is removably provided to the device, and a lid is provided at the detergent outlet portion of the unit, and is opened when the unit is installed and closed when the unit is removed, in response to the installation and removal of the unit. A detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., comprising: