KR100834945B1 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A washing machine is provided to prevent overheat of a drive motor and to prevent fungus and bad smell of remaining bubbles by injecting water between a water storage tank and a washing tub using a top cover assembly. A washing machine(100) comprises a cabinet(110), a water storage tank(120), a washing tub(130), a drive motor, a top cover assembly(200), a control unit, and a sensing unit(175). The top cover assembly injects water between the water storage tank and the washing tub, and has a top cover, a circulation pipe, and a circulation pump. The circulation pipe supplies water from the water storage tank to a path formed in the cover. The circulation pump is installed at the circulation pipe. The control unit controls the top cover assembly to inject water between the water storage tank and the washing tub. The sensing unit senses bubbles(B) between the water storage tank and the washing tub.

Description

Washing machine {WASHING MACHINE}

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an operation relationship of a sensing unit, a control unit, and a top cover assembly of FIG. 1;

3 is a rear view of the top cover of FIG. 1;

4 is a view showing a washing machine to which a modification of the top cover assembly is applied.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

100: washing machine 110: cabinet

111: top cover 112: lead

113: control panel 120: reservoir

130: washing tank 160: pulsator

170: drive unit 175: detection unit

180: drain pipe 185: on-off valve

188: circulation pipe 189: circulation pump

190: control unit 200: top cover assembly

210: top cover 210a: outlet

220: supply pipe 230: flow path control valve

F: Euro B: Bubble

The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly to a washing machine for removing bubbles between the reservoir and the washing tank.

In general, a washing machine is a device that removes various contaminants attached to laundry, bedding, and the like by using an emulsification action of a detergent and a friction action of water flow due to the rotation of the pulsator, and an impact action applied to the laundry by the pulsator.

Such a washing machine includes a cabinet forming an exterior, a tub accommodated inside the cabinet, a basket accommodated inside the reservoir and rotating when the washing or dehydration is performed, and a pulsator and a washing tank installed at the bottom of the reservoir. It includes a drive motor for rotating.

On the other hand, during the washing stroke, a lot of foam is generated by the action of the washing water and detergent. When the foam is accumulated between the washing tank and the water storage tank, the foam between the washing tank and the water storage tank acts as a friction force that prevents the rotation of the washing tank. As a result, a large load is applied to the drive motor for rotating the washing tub, and the temperature of the drive motor is increased.

As such, when the temperature of the drive motor keeps rising without maintaining the proper temperature, the efficiency of the drive motor is reduced. In addition, when the temperature of the drive motor continues to rise and the drive motor is overheated, a fire is generated and dangerous.

In addition, there was a problem in that mold and odor occurs due to the remaining bubbles between the reservoir and the washing tank without being removed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine for removing bubbles between the water tank and the washing tank.

Washing machine according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a cabinet; A storage tank accommodated inside the cabinet and filled with washing water; A washing tank rotatably installed in the reservoir; A driving motor for rotating the washing tank; A top cover assembly for spraying water between the water storage tank and the washing tank; And a control unit for instructing the top cover assembly to spray water between the water storage tank and the washing tank.

As a result, the foam between the water tank and the washing tank is removed, so that the drive motor is not loaded with an appropriate load or more necessary for washing. Therefore, the drive motor is maintained at an appropriate temperature to improve efficiency, and prevents fire due to overheating. In addition, the generation of mold and odor caused by remaining of bubbles between the reservoir and the washing tank is not prevented. In addition, in order to remove the foam between the water tank and the washing tank, to remove the foam between the water tank and the washing tank using an existing top cover assembly without adding a new configuration, the configuration of the washing machine is simplified and the cost is reduced.

The control unit preferably instructs the top cover assembly to spray water between the water storage tank and the washing tank during the dehydration stroke in which the foam contained in the laundry is most discharged between the water storage tank and the washing tank due to the high speed rotation.

Or, to remove the foam according to the degree of generation of bubbles, the sensing unit for detecting the bubble between the water tank and the washing tank; further comprising, the control unit receives a signal from the detection unit, the top cover assembly is the It is desirable to instruct water to be sprayed between the reservoir and the wash tub.

Here, the sensing unit is mounted to the drive motor is preferably a Hall sensor that can measure the load applied to the drive motor according to the amount of foam.

Preferably, the top cover assembly is supplied with water or water of a reservoir from the outside.

In order to supply water to the top cover assembly from the outside, the top cover assembly comprises a top cover formed with a flow path; A supply pipe for supplying external water to the flow path; And a flow path blocking means such as a solenoid valve installed in the supply pipe.

Alternatively, in order to supply water from the reservoir to the top cover assembly, the top cover assembly may include: a top cover in which a flow path is formed; A circulation pipe for supplying water of the reservoir to the flow path; And a circulation pump installed in the circulation pipe.

The flow path is formed with a plurality of outlets for discharging water between the reservoir and the washing tank, the outlet is preferably disposed at equal intervals so that water is evenly sprayed between the reservoir and the washing tank.

Hereinafter, a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an operation relationship between a sensing unit, a controller, and a top cover assembly of FIG. 1. Here, the solid arrow pointing downwards in FIG. 1 indicates water sprayed between the reservoir and the washing tank, and the solid arrow pointing left indicates water supplied to the top cover assembly.

1 and 2, the washing machine 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a cabinet 110 forming an appearance; Reservoir 120 is accommodated in the cabinet 110, the washing water is filled; Washing tank 130 rotatably installed in the reservoir 120; A pulsator 160 rotatably installed on the bottom surface of the washing tub 130 to stir the laundry; A driving motor 170 driving the washing tub 130 or the pulsator 160 simultaneously or respectively; A drain pipe 180 for draining the washing water in the reservoir 120; On-off valve 185 such as a solenoid for opening and closing the drain pipe 180; A sensing unit 175 for sensing an amount of foam B present between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130; Top cover assembly 200 for spraying water between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130 to remove the foam; And a controller 190 instructing the top cover assembly 200 to spray water between the reservoir 120 and the washing tub 130.

As a result, bubbles between the water storage tank 120 and the washing tank 130 are removed, so that the drive motor 170 is not loaded with an appropriate load or more necessary for washing. Therefore, the driving motor 170 is maintained at an appropriate temperature to improve the efficiency, and the fire due to overheating is prevented. In addition, the generation of mold and odor caused by the bubbles remaining without being removed between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130 is prevented.

In addition, in order to remove the foam between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130, the foam between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130 by using the existing top cover assembly 200 without adding a separate new configuration. To remove, the configuration of the washing machine 100 is simplified and the cost is reduced.

The lid 112 for opening and closing the washing tub 130 is installed at an upper portion of the top cover assembly 200. The control panel 113 for controlling the operation of the washing machine 100 is installed at the rear upper side of the top cover assembly 200.

The sensing unit 175 is preferably a Hall sensor that is mounted to the drive motor 170 and can measure the load applied to the drive motor 170 according to the amount of foam. Of course, instead of the Hall sensor, the sensing unit 175 may be configured by the configuration disclosed in Korea Patent Publication No. 1999-42967, 2001-86532 or the bubble amount detection method. In addition, the sensing unit 175 for measuring the degree of foam generation is The sensing unit 175 transmits the measured magnitude of the load of the driving motor 170 to the controller 190 as a signal.

The control unit 190 receives the signal of the degree of bubble generation from the detection unit 175 to remove the bubble in accordance with the degree of generation of the bubble, if the load on the drive motor is greater than the reference value, the top cover assembly 200 is the reservoir 120 And to spray water between the washing tank 130.

Of course, without receiving a signal from the sensing unit 175, during the dehydration stroke that the foam was the largest discharge between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130 due to the high-speed rotation, the top cover assembly 200 is the reservoir 120 ) And the washing tank 130 may be instructed to spray water.

3 is a rear view of the top cover of FIG. 1. Here, the dashed arrows indicate water flowing along the flow path. Referring to FIG. 3, the top cover assembly 200 includes a top cover 210 in which a flow path F is formed to receive water from the outside; Supply pipe 220 for supplying external water to the flow path (F); And a flow path control means 230 such as a solenoid valve installed on the supply pipe 220. Here, the water supplied refers to the tap water supplied to the reservoir 120 for washing or rinsing.

The flow path F is circular and has a plurality of outlets 210a for discharging water between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130. The outlet 210a is disposed at equal intervals so that water is evenly sprayed between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130.

Hereinafter, the operation of the sensing unit, the control unit and the top cover assembly to remove the foam between the reservoir and the washing tank will be described.

1 and 2, the controller 190 receives a signal from the detector 175. The load on the drive motor 170 is calculated using a signal. If the load is greater than the reference value, it is determined that there is a lot of foam between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130, the top cover assembly 200 instructs to spray water between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130.

Referring to FIG. 3, the flow path control unit 230 is opened and water is supplied to the top cover 210 through the supply pipe 220 from the outside. The supplied water circulates in the direction of the dotted arrow along the flow path F formed in the top cover 210. Water is discharged through the discharge port 210a (see FIG. 3) formed in the flow path F while being circulated. The discharged water is sprinkled between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130. Bubbles between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130 are removed by the sprayed water.

4 is a view showing a washing machine to which a modification of the top cover assembly is applied. Here, the solid arrow pointing downwards indicates water sprayed between the reservoir and the washing tank, and the solid arrow pointing upwards indicates water supplied to the top cover assembly.

Referring to FIG. 4, the top cover assembly 200 according to the modified example receives water stored in the reservoir rather than receiving water from the outside. To this end, the top cover assembly 200, the top cover 210 is formed with a flow path (F); A circulation pipe 188 for supplying water from the reservoir 120 to the flow path F; And a circulation pump 189 installed at the circulation pipe 188.

Hereinafter, the operation of the sensing unit, the control unit and the top cover assembly according to the modification in order to remove the bubbles between the reservoir and the washing tank will be described.

2 and 4, the controller 190 receives a signal from the detector 175. The load on the drive motor 170 is calculated using a signal. If the load is greater than the reference value, it is determined that there is a lot of foam between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130, the top cover assembly 200 instructs to spray water between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130.

In this case, the circulation pump 189 operates. Water is pumped from the reservoir 120 and is supplied to the top cover 210 through the circulation pipe 188.

The supplied water circulates in the dotted arrow direction (see FIG. 3) along the flow path F formed in the top cover 210. Water is discharged through the discharge port 210a (see FIG. 3) formed in the flow path F while being circulated. The discharged water is sprinkled between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130. Bubbles between the reservoir 120 and the washing tank 130 are removed by the sprayed water.

According to the washing machine according to the embodiment of the present invention described above, it includes a top cover assembly for spraying water between the reservoir and the washing tank. As a result, the foam between the water tank and the washing tank is removed, so that the drive motor is not loaded with an appropriate load or more necessary for washing. Therefore, the drive motor is maintained at an appropriate temperature to improve efficiency, and prevents fire due to overheating.

In addition, the generation of mold and odor caused by remaining of bubbles between the reservoir and the washing tank is not prevented.

In addition, in order to remove the foam between the water tank and the washing tank, to remove the foam between the water tank and the washing tank using an existing top cover assembly without adding a new configuration, the configuration of the washing machine is simplified and the cost is reduced.

Claims (8)

Cabinet; A storage tank accommodated inside the cabinet and filled with washing water; A washing tank rotatably installed in the reservoir; A driving motor for rotating the washing tank; A top cover assembly for sprinkling water between the water storage tank and the washing tank, the top cover having a flow path formed therein, a circulation pipe for supplying water from the storage tank to the flow path, and a circulation pump installed in the circulation pipe; And And a control unit for instructing the top cover assembly to spray water between the water storage tank and the washing tank. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the control unit instructs the top cover assembly to spray water between the water tank and the washing tank during the dehydration stroke. The washing machine of claim 1, further comprising: a sensing unit configured to detect foam between the water storage tank and the washing tank. The washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the detector is a hall sensor mounted to the driving motor. delete delete The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of discharge ports are formed in the flow path for discharging water between the water storage tank and the washing tank. The washing machine according to claim 7, wherein the outlets are formed at equal intervals.

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