JPS6329557B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises an outer tank and an inner tank which is disposed within the outer tank and has a non-porous wall and a bottom wall except for at least the upper end, and the water in the inner tank is drained from the inner tank. This relates to a dehydrating/washing machine that discharges water to the outside through the far-water pumping action of spinning. Specifically, it detects changes in the turbidity of the washing liquid and rinsing liquid using a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element arranged so as not to come into contact with these liquids. By detecting it with the element and controlling the end of the washing and rinsing processes, dirt, lint, etc. contained in the washing liquid, rinsing liquid, etc. are prevented from adhering to the light emitting element and light receiving element, and the process ends. The purpose is to perform accurate control.

Conventional general dehydrating and washing machines are equipped with an inner tank with many holes for dewatering on the peripheral wall, and an outer tank that houses this inner tank. It has liquid in it. Since detection elements such as light emitting elements and light receiving elements for detecting the degree of rinsing were installed at the inner bottom of the outer tank,
There was a problem in that lint, dirt, etc. contained in the washing liquid and rinsing liquid adhered to the detection element, making it impossible to accurately detect the degree of rinsing.

In addition, conventional washing machines do not require an external tank inside the main body.
A washing and dehydration tank was proposed that had the function of discharging the internal liquid by centrifugal pumping during dehydration. Then, a structure was adopted in which a downwardly protruding protrusion was provided on a part of the bottom of the washing and dehydrating tub, and the degree of rinsing of the liquid inside the tub was detected by a detection element placed outside the protrusion. However, when the internal liquid is discharged by centrifugal water pumping during dehydration, this discharged liquid comes into direct contact with the sensing element, which can cause the sensing element to become dirty or have lint attached to it, causing malfunctions. The problem was that it caused the problem.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and one embodiment thereof will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figure, 1 is the main body of the washing machine, 2 is an outer tub, and the center portion of the bottom protrudes inwardly, that is, upwardly.Thereby, an annular protrusion 2a that protrudes downward is formed on the periphery of the bottom of the outer tub 2. is formed. Reference numeral 3 denotes an inner tank rotatably disposed for dewatering inside the outer tank 2, and the peripheral wall and the bottom except for at least the upper end are non-porous walls. 3a is the inner side of the bottom center of the inner tank 3, that is,
The annular protrusion is formed to protrude downward from the bottom periphery by protruding upward, forming a concentric circle with the annular protrusion 2a, and entering inside the annular protrusion 2a.

Here, both the annular protrusions 2a, 3a have translucency, and can be formed by molding the inner and outer tanks 3, 2 with a translucent material, or by molding the annular protrusions 2a, 3a with a translucent material.
This is done by molding only parts a and 3a from a translucent material.

4 is a balancer attached to the upper opening end of the inner tank 3, and 5 is a gap provided between the upper end of the inner tank 3 and the balancer 4. ``What is to become is merely being formed. Instead of the gap 5, a hole may be formed in the inner tank 3. In addition, the inner tank 3 may have a tapered shape with the diameter increasing upward toward the top to promote centrifugal pumping action during dewatering, and the peripheral wall of the inner tank 3 may be designed to guide the dewatering liquid. A plurality of grooves may be formed in the vertical direction.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a support plate attached to the bottom of the outer tank 2. By suspending this support plate 6 by four suspensions 7, the outer tank 2 and the like are elastically suspended and supported.

8 is a drive motor attached to the support plate 6, and 9 is a control mechanism attached to the support plate 6, which transmits the rotation of the drive motor 8 to the pulsator 12 via the washing shaft 11 during washing and rinsing, and during spin-drying. It is equipped with a clutch mechanism that switches to transmit information to the inner tub 3 via the dewatering shaft 10, and a brake mechanism that brakes the rotation of the inner tub 3. 13 is a belt.

14 is a light emitting element, and 15 is a light receiving element, both of which form a pair and are attached at any position outside the annular protrusion 2a so that the annular protrusion 3a is interposed between them. 16 is a light emitting element 14 and a light receiving element 15
This is a mounting plate supported by supporting members 16a and 16b, and is detachably attached to the support plate 6. A drain hose 17 is connected to a drain port 2b provided at the bottom of the outer tank 2.

The light emitted from the light emitting element 14 passes through the transparent annular protrusions 2a and 3a, reaches the light receiving element 15, and is received by the light receiving element 15. At this time, the turbidity of the washing liquid or rinsing liquid existing in the annular protrusion 3a of the inner tub 3 gradually changes as the washing or rinsing process progresses, and the turbidity increases during washing and decreases during rinsing. Decrease. Therefore, the amount of light received by the light receiving element 15 gradually decreases during washing and gradually increases during rinsing as the turbidity changes. The output signal from the light receiving element 15 changes in response to this change in the amount of received light, and when the output signal reaches a predetermined value, a control circuit (not shown) operates to determine when the washing and rinsing process ends. control etc.

In the above configuration, water remains in the inner tank 3 during washing and rinsing. Therefore, the annular protrusion 3a at the bottom of the inner tank 3 is filled with water. Light emitting element 14
And since the light receiving element 15 is arranged from the outside of the outer tank 2 so as to sandwich the annular protrusion 3a of the inner tank 3,
The light emitted from the light emitting element 14 passes through the washing liquid and the rinsing liquid in the annular protrusion 3 a of the inner tub 3 and is received by the light receiving element 15 .

Incidentally, the washing liquid and the rinsing liquid contain dirt, lint, and the like. If the structure is such that such liquid comes into contact with the light-emitting element and sensing element during any process of washing, rinsing, draining, or dehydrating, dirt and lint may adhere to the light-emitting element or light-receiving element, causing the liquid to leak. A malfunction occurred when detecting turbidity.

However, as is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element are located outside the outer tank, so that the washing liquid, rinsing liquid, etc. containing dirt, lint, etc. do not come into contact with the above-mentioned receiver. Since dirt and lint do not adhere to the light receiving and emitting surfaces of the light emitting elements, detection operations can be performed stably over long periods of time.
Moreover, since no special insulating structure is required for the light receiving/emitting element section and the wiring section, the structure can be simplified and reliability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a washing machine for dehydrating and dehydrating according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Outer tank, 3... Inner tank, 2a, 3a... Annular protrusion, 14... Light emitting element, 15... Light receiving element.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An outer tank, and an inner tank which is rotatably arranged for dehydration and has a non-porous wall at least at the bottom and the peripheral wall except for the upper end, and the bottoms of the inner and outer tanks each have translucency. A concentric annular protrusion is formed to protrude downward, and an annular protrusion of the inner tank is disposed inside the annular protrusion of the outer tank, and the annular protrusion of the outer tank is arranged so as to interpose the annular protrusion of the inner tank. A light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are arranged in a pair on the outside of the protrusion, and a control circuit is provided for controlling the completion of washing and rinsing processes when an output signal corresponding to a change in the amount of light received by the light-receiving element reaches a predetermined value. Washing machine with dehydration function.