KR100780752B1 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A washing machine is provided to rotate a door of the washing machine smoothly by discharging dust generated at a hinge unit of the door via a dust discharge unit. A washing machine comprises a door(30), and a rotary unit. The door is installed at a front part of a housing(20). The rotary unit is installed at the housing. The rotary unit has a lower rotary unit(50). The lower rotary unit is installed at a lower part of the door and the housing corresponding to the lower part of the door. A dust discharge unit(70) is installed at the lower rotary unit and discharging dust. The dust is generated by friction with the housing.

Description

Washing machine {WASHING MACHINE}

1 is a perspective view of a washing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a lower pivot part of the washing machine of FIG. 1.

3 is a view showing the operation of the dust discharge unit of FIG.

4 is a view showing a lower pivot according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: washing machine 20: housing

30: door 40: side pivot part

50: lower pivot 51: hinge

55: hinge insert groove 60: rotating part

70: dust discharge part 80: friction reducing member

90 dust

The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine in which a door is naturally rotated by providing a dust discharge part in a hinge insertion groove to which a hinge of the door is coupled.

In general, a washing machine is a device that allows laundry to be repeatedly washed and rinsed, such as washing and rinsing. The washing machine performs a dehydration during a rinsing stroke or a dehydrating stroke according to the progress of the washing stroke, thereby rotating the rotating tub through a driving motor at a high speed. Dewatering and driving the drain pump to discharge the wash water through the drain hose.

Although it depends on the type of washing machine, in the case of a drum washing machine, an opening through which laundry enters and exits is provided in the front of the housing, and the opening is opened and closed by a door.

The door is provided at the front of the washing machine to selectively open and close the opening. When the washing machine is operated, the washing water inside may overflow, so the door is locked and does not open. Since the door is not opened, the progress of washing for the laundry during washing is observed through the transparent window provided in the door.

The transparent window is provided in the center of the door. In the case of washing the laundry during the washing process, since the inside is heated to a high temperature, the transparent window is made of relatively heavy tempered glass to prevent thermal deformation.

On the other hand, in order to meet the increasing demands of consumers, a door was developed not only to open and close the opening, but also an interior element is added to itself to open and close the front of the washing machine.

As described above, the hinge portion connected to the housing must support a larger weight so that the door is rotated and opened due to the large size of the transparent window as well as the door itself. Of friction increases.

However, the conventional washing machine has a problem that the user's dissatisfaction is expressed because the door is not rotated naturally as the dust generated by the friction of the hinge portion is not discharged and accumulated in the hinge portion.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine with improved emotional quality because dust generated in the hinge portion of the washing machine door is discharged through the dust discharge unit so that the door rotates naturally.

The object of the present invention is a washing machine including a door provided on a front surface of a housing, and a rotating part provided on the door and the housing corresponding to the door, wherein the rotating part is disposed at a lower end of the door and a lower end of the door. Comprising a lower rotating part provided in the housing corresponding to, the lower rotating part is achieved by a washing machine characterized in that the dust discharge portion is provided with the dust generated by the friction with the housing is provided.

The lower pivot part includes a hinge provided at a lower end of the door and a hinge insert groove provided in the housing so that the hinge is inserted and rotated, and the dust discharge part is parallel to the hinge axis of the hinge. It is possible to include a discharge hole provided at the bottom.

The dust discharge part may be further provided with a dust collecting groove provided to gradually increase the diameter of the discharge hole as it approaches the hinge.

Preferably, the contact portion between the hinge and the hinge insertion groove is provided with a friction reducing member capable of reducing friction between the hinge and the hinge insertion groove.

The rotating part may further include a side end rotating part provided in the housing corresponding to the side end of the door and the side end of the door.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, the washing machine 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 20 forming an exterior of the washing machine 10 and a door 30 provided on the front of the housing 20.

The housing 20 forms the exterior of the washing machine 10. The housing 20 is provided in a substantially rectangular box shape. The control panel 22 is provided at the upper front of the housing 20. The user controls the operation of the washing machine 10 by operating a button 23 installed on the control panel 22. A tub (not shown) is provided in the housing 20 to clean the wash water, and a drum 24 is provided in the tub (not shown) to substantially wash the laundry. The drum 24 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by receiving a rotational force from a drive motor (not shown). The door 30 is provided at the front of the housing 20.

The door 30 is provided at the front of the housing 20 to selectively open and close the opening 26. In the central portion of the door 30, the observation window 32 is provided so that the washing progress can be observed without opening the door 30 during the washing machine 10 operation. While the washing machine 10 is operating, laundry may be strongly hit the observation window 32 by the high speed rotation of the drum 24. In addition, during the washing process of the washing machine 10, a boiling process using high-temperature washing water may be added. Therefore, the observation window 32 is made of tempered glass in order to prevent breakage and thermal deformation of the observation window 32. On the other hand, when the user observes the washing machine 10 from the outside, in consideration of the fact that the housing front 28 is the most impressive, the door 30 is the front of the housing 30 in order to maintain a beautiful appearance without a seam, etc. ) Is expanded to open and close. In order to support the weight of the door 30 extended to the front of the housing 28 including the observation window 32, and to rotate the door 30, the pivoting portion corresponds to the door 30 and the housing 20. 60 is provided.

The rotating unit 60 is provided to correspond to the door 30 and the housing 20, and is rotated according to a user's selection to allow the door 30 to be opened and closed. The rotating part 60 is divided into the side rotating part 40 and the lower rotating part 50 so that the door 30 can be smoothly rotated while supporting the weight of the door 30.

The side end pivot 40 is a hinge structure provided to correspond to the side end of the door 30 and the housing 20. Since the configuration of the side pivot unit 40 is disclosed in detail in Korean Patent Application No. 2002-0074962, the detailed configuration of the side pivot unit 40 will be omitted.

The lower pivot 50 is a hinge structure provided to correspond to the lower end of the door 30 and the housing 20. The lower pivot 50 supports the weight of the door 30 together with the side pivot 40 and causes the door 30 to rotate. The lower pivot 50 supports a substantial portion of the weight of the door 30 because it is a hinge structure provided at the bottom of the door 30. Hereinafter, the lower pivot 50 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a lower pivot part of the washing machine of FIG. 1.

As shown in the drawing, the lower pivot portion 50 of the washing machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a hinge 51 and a hinge 51 provided at the lower end of the door 30 so that the hinge 51 is inserted and rotated. 20 includes a hinge insertion groove 55 and a dust discharge part 70 provided at a lower end of the hinge insertion groove 55 to be parallel to the hinge axis of the hinge 51.

The hinge 51 is a protrusion provided to extend from the door 30. Since the door 30 rotates about the hinge 51, the cross section of the hinge 51 is provided in a circular shape, and is inserted into the hinge insertion groove 55 formed in a circular shape so as to correspond to the door 30. Since a substantial portion of the weight of the door 30 is supported by the hinge 51, friction force is generated between the hinge 51 and the housing 20 in contact with the hinge 51. If the friction force is large, since the rotation of the door 30 around the hinge 51 is not smooth, the hinge 51 is provided with a friction reducing member 80.

The friction reducing member 80 is provided on the hinge 51 to reduce the friction of the contact portion between the hinge 51 and the housing 20 forming the hinge insertion groove 55. As the friction reducing member 80, an engineering plastic such as POM (Poly Oxy Methylene, polyoxymethylene) having excellent mechanical properties such as fatigue resistance, toughness, and abrasion resistance is used.

The hinge insertion groove 55 is provided in the housing 20 so that the hinge 51 is inserted and rotated. Corresponding to the shape of the hinge 51, the hinge insertion groove 55 is also a circular cross section as described above.

The dust discharge part 70 is provided in the lower rotating part 50 and discharge holes through which dust (90 of FIG. 3) generated by friction with the housing 20 is discharged. The dust discharge part 70 penetrates the housing 20 vertically from the hinge insertion groove 55. The dust discharge part 70 is provided in a circular shape at the center of the lower end of the hinge insertion groove 55 so as to be parallel to the hinge axis of the hinge 51. The larger the diameter of the dust discharge part 70, the smoother the discharge of the generated dust (90 in FIG. 3), but when the diameter of the dust discharge part 70 is equal to or larger than the diameter of the hinge insertion groove 55, the hinge 51 It does not support the weight of the door 30 that is transmitted through). Therefore, the diameter of the dust discharge portion 70 is provided smaller than the diameter of the hinge insertion groove (55).

With this configuration, the operation of the washing machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 showing the operation of the dust discharge unit of FIG. 2.

The hinge 51 of the lower pivot 50 is inserted into the hinge insertion groove 55. When the hinge 51 is inserted into the hinge insertion groove 55, the hinge 51 is rotated while supporting the weight of the door 30. The hinge 51 is provided with a friction reducing member 80 made of POM to reduce friction with the housing 20 inside the hinge insertion groove 55.

Although the friction reducing member 80 is provided, frictional force is generated between the wall of the housing 20 supporting the weight of the door 30. When the rotation of the hinge 51 is repeated in an environment in which friction force by the weight of the door 30 is applied, the contact portion with the housing 20 gradually wears out, and dust 90 is generated.

Dust 90 increases in proportion to the period of use and the number of rotation of the door (30). If the dust 90 is increased will adversely affect the rotation of the door (30). For example, when dust 90 is accumulated unevenly inside the hinge insertion groove 55, the hinge axis of the hinge 51 is distorted, so that the friction force between the inner wall surface of the hinge insertion groove 55 and the hinge 51 is large. It is increased so that the rotation of the door 30 is not smooth.

The dust discharge part 70 provided in the lower pivot 50 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a discharge hole provided in the lower end of the hinge insertion groove 55, and the generated dust 90 discharges dust by gravity. It is naturally discharged through the portion 70. Therefore, the dust 90 is not accumulated in the hinge insertion groove 55, so that the rotation of the lower pivot 50 is smooth, which means that the rotation of the door 30 is maintained in the same state as when the product was first produced. As a result, the user finally feels the satisfaction of the emotional quality.

Figure 4 is a view showing a lower pivot according to a second embodiment of the present invention, if only the parts different from the first embodiment of the present invention will be described, if necessary for the description of the same parts as the first embodiment The same reference numerals are used for quoting, and for changed parts, reference numerals with 'a' are used for quoting.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the second embodiment of the present invention, a dust collecting groove 75a is further provided in the dust discharge part 70a.

The dust collecting groove 75a is provided with the diameter of the discharge hole 71a gradually increasing as it approaches the hinge 51. Since the dust collecting groove 75a is provided in a funnel shape, the dust 90 is easily discharged to the discharge hole 71a along the inclined inner surface of the dust collecting groove 75a as compared with the first embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where one dust discharge unit is provided is described, but the number of dust discharge units is not limited thereto unless there is no shortage of supporting the weight of the door.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, such modifications or variations will have to be belong to the claims of the present invention.

As described above in detail, in the washing machine according to the present invention, since the dust generated in the hinge portion of the washing machine door is discharged through the dust discharge part, the door is naturally rotated, thereby improving the emotional quality.

Claims (5)

In the washing machine comprising a door provided on the front surface of the housing, and a rotating part provided in the housing corresponding to the door and the door, The rotating part includes a lower rotating part provided in the housing corresponding to a lower end of the door and the lower end of the door, and the lower rotating part is provided with a dust discharge part through which dust generated by friction with the housing is discharged. Washing machine. The method of claim 1, The lower end rotating part includes a hinge provided at a lower end of the door, and a hinge insertion groove provided in the housing so that the hinge is inserted and rotated. The dust discharge part, the washing machine comprising a discharge hole provided in the lower end of the hinge insertion groove to be parallel to the hinge axis of the hinge. The method of claim 2, The dust discharge portion, Washing machine characterized in that the dust collecting groove is further provided so that the diameter of the discharge hole is gradually increased as close to the hinge. The method of claim 2 or 3, Washing machine, characterized in that the friction reducing member for reducing the friction between the hinge and the hinge insertion groove is provided in the contact portion of the hinge and the hinge insertion groove. The method of claim 1, The rotating part, Washing machine further comprises a side end rotating portion provided in the housing corresponding to the side end of the door and the side end of the door.

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