KR101396927B1 - Door lock apparatus for washer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a door lock apparatus for holding or restraining a hook attached to a door of a washing machine, which comprises a hinge shaft (11) provided with a coil spring (C) on its outer surface and a sliding hole 12) formed in the locker housing (10); And is coupled to the hinge shaft 11 and is coupled to receive an elastic force to rotate clockwise by a coil spring C and is rotated counterclockwise by an operation of inserting the hook 1 to hold the hook 1 A locker (20); A locking piece 30 slidably and rotatably installed in the sliding hole 12 and engaged with the locker 20 for rotating the locker 20 to fix the locker 20 so that the locker 20 is rotated; The locker 20 is fixed by restricting the sliding of the fixing piece 30 or by releasing the engagement between the locker 20 and the fixing piece 30 by rotating the fixing piece 30 and by the elastic force of the coil spring C An operating member (40) for rotating the locker (20) in a clockwise direction and discharging the inserted hook (1) to the outside; And a controller 50 for selectively controlling the operation of the operation member 40. According to the above-described structure, the present invention can perform the holding operation when the washing machine is not operated, the door locking operation when the washing machine is operated, When the operation is completed, the door opening operation can be respectively performed.

Description

[0001] Door lock apparatus for washer [

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a door lock apparatus for a washing machine, and more particularly, to a door lock apparatus for a washing machine, which locks a door of an electronic product such as a washing machine or the like, .

A home appliance such as a washing machine is provided with a door lock device which locks the door so that the door can not be opened arbitrarily due to a risk of a safety accident if the user opens the door arbitrarily during operation.

The operation of the door lock device is largely divided into holding, locking, and open. In more detail, the door lock device can be operated in a state in which the door is not locked, The locker is actuated by an electronic signal so that the door is locked so that the door can not be opened arbitrarily in a state where the door is held. In this state, the user can not open the door , And in the open state, when the operation of the household appliances is completed, the door is unlocked and then the door is opened without being switched to the holding state.

As an example of a conventional door lock device classified by such an operation, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1052680 and No. 1255089, three operations are not performed in one door lock device, Only two operations, i.e., holding and locking, or locking and opening, are performed.

In order for the door lock device to be constructed by the two operations only, the holding and opening operations are opposite to each other. Therefore, in order to implement the door lock device in a door lock device, a configuration for holding or opening must be additionally provided, There is a problem that the internal structure of the door lock apparatus becomes very complicated and interference between the respective operations also occurs and the performance of the basic operation of the door lock apparatus may be deteriorated.

Disclosure of the Invention The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the related art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a door lock device for a washing machine, which can easily implement three operations (holding, locking, opening) The present invention has been made in view of the above problems.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a door lock apparatus, A locker housing having a hinge shaft provided with a coil spring on an outer circumferential surface thereof and a sliding hole spaced apart from the hinge shaft; A locker coupled to the hinge shaft and coupled to receive an elastic force to be rotated clockwise by the coil spring and rotated counterclockwise by an operation of inserting the hook to hold the hook; A locking piece slidably and rotatably installed in the sliding hole and engaged with the locker in a rotating operation of the locker to fix the locker so that the locked state is maintained; The locker is fixed by restricting the sliding of the fixed piece or the locking piece is rotated to release the engagement between the locker and the fixing piece and the locker is rotated clockwise by the elastic force of the coil spring, An operating member for discharging the gas to the reaction chamber; And a controller for selectively controlling the operation of the operating member.

At this time, the locker may be provided with a pushing projection which is in contact with the hook, a fixing protrusion for fixing the hook through the side surface of the hook, and a locking protrusion for selectively engaging with the fixing piece.

The fixing member includes a rotating plate, a hinge shaft protruding from the rotating plate and inserted into the sliding hole, a latching groove formed on a side surface of the rotating plate to engage with the locker, and a guide protrusion And an elastic spring installed on the guide protrusion and elastically supporting the rotating plate in one direction of the sliding hole.

The operation member includes first and second lift bars for fixing or releasing and rotating the fixing member by a lift operation, a sliding bar for selectively lifting and lowering the first and second lift bars by a control signal of the controller, And driving means for sliding and transferring the bar.

In this case, the controller senses the open or closed state of the door by a sensor or a switch, and when the state information of the detected door is in a closed state and the washing machine is in an operation ready state or an operating state, When the state information of the detected door is in a closed state and the washing machine is in an operation complete state, the first lift bar is lowered to release the restraint, and the second lift bar is continuously elevated, So that the engagement between the locker and the fixing member is released.

The driving unit may be implemented by any one of a solenoid, a motor, and a wax motor.

The door is opened so that the user can not open the door arbitrarily when the washing machine is operated in the household electronic product and the door is opened after the door is unlocked after the operation of the washing machine is completed. The state of completion of the operation can be visually recognized easily.

A locking operation state for restricting the hook of the door held by the control signal and an open operation state for releasing the hook to the outside such that the door is opened after releasing the restraint of the hook, Three operations can be structurally and simply implemented, and each of these operations can be accurately performed without interfering with each other.

1 is a view showing an example of a door lock apparatus for a washing machine according to the present invention,
2 (a) and 2 (b) are explanatory views showing the embodiment of the locker according to the present invention,
3 (a) and 3 (b) are a state of use showing the embodiment of the fastening piece according to the present invention,
4 is a view showing an embodiment of an operation member according to the present invention,
5 (a) and (b) are views showing a state of holding the door lock apparatus for a washing machine according to the present invention,
FIG. 6 is a use state showing a locking operation state of the door lock apparatus for a washing machine according to the present invention,
FIG. 7 is a state view showing an open operation state of the door lock apparatus for a washing machine according to the present invention.

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

1, a locker housing 10, a locker 20, a fixing piece 30, an operation member 40, and a locking member 40 are provided in the door lock device. And a controller 50.

The locker housing 10 is a housing in which a locker 20, a fixing piece 30 and an operation member 40 to be described later are installed. In the locker housing 10, And a sliding hole 12 having a horizontal length spaced apart from the hinge shaft 11 are formed.

The hinge shaft 11 is provided with a locker 20 and is rotated and the fixing hole 30 is provided in the sliding hole 12 to slide and rotate.

The locker 20 is installed on the hinge shaft 11 of the locker housing 10. One end of the coil spring C provided on the outer peripheral surface of the hinge shaft 11 is fixed to the locker housing 10, 20 so that the locker 20 is always urged to rotate in the clockwise direction.

2 (a) and 2 (b), the locker 20 of the present invention includes a pushing protrusion 21 protruded to be engaged with the locker 20 when the hook 1 is inserted, A fixing protrusion 22 for allowing the hook 1 to be fixed by the locker 20 while passing through the side surface of the hook 1 at the same time when the locking member 20 is rotated and the locking piece 20 30) are formed on the outer circumferential surface.

The contact protrusions 24 protrude from the outer circumferential surface of the locker 20 and the contact protrusions 24 are provided at positions where the locker 20 is rotated about the hinge shaft 11 to fix the hook 1 The switch 25 detects whether or not the contact protrusion 24 is contacted and provides a detection signal to the controller 50 to determine whether or not the door is locked .

Due to such a structure, the hook 1 installed on the door is inserted and the urging force of the coil spring C is canceled by pushing the pushing projection 21, whereby the locker 20 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, 22 are passed through the side surface of the hook 1 to fix the hook 1 and at the same time the locking projection 23 is engaged and fixed with the fixing piece 30 so that the counterclockwise rotated state is maintained, The hook 1 is pulled outwardly of the locker housing 10 so that the locking protrusion 23 and the fixing piece 30 are engaged with each other when the user applies a force to reopen the door in this state The door is released and the door is opened.

3 (a), 3 (b), and 3 (b) show a state in which the locker 20 is selectively engaged with the locking projection 23 of the locker 20 to fix the position where the locker 20 is rotated by the hook 1, A hinge shaft 32 inserted into the sliding hole 12 protruding from the rotary plate 31 and formed with the locker housing 10 and formed on the side surface of the rotary plate 31, A locking protrusion 34 protruding from the side surface of the rotary plate 31 and a guide protrusion 34 protruding from the side surface of the rotary plate 31 to fix the rotary plate 31 to the sliding hole 12 The fixing piece 30 is slid in the longitudinal direction along the sliding hole 12 or is rotated about the hinge axis 32 and is hereinafter referred to as " The operations will be described.

(1) Sliding operation

When the locker 20 is pushed by the hook 1 and rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the contact surfaces of the fixing pieces 30, which are in contact with the locking protrusions 23, come into slant contact with each other, and in this state, In order to continue to rotate along a constant rotation trajectory, the fixing piece 30, which is in contact with the engaging projection 23, needs to be moved out of the rotation orbit of the engaging projection 23.

Therefore, the fixing piece 30 of the present invention is configured such that the elastic force of the elastic spring 35 is canceled by the force of the locking protrusion 23 to be continuously rotated so that the fixing piece 30 is moved out of the rotational orbit of the locking protrusion 23 When the engaging protrusion 23 is moved to a position where it engages with the engaging groove 33 formed in the fixing piece 30, the force for canceling the elastic spring 35 is reduced, So that the locking projection 23 of the locker 20 is engaged with the locking groove 33 and fixed.

In this state, the hook 1 is restrained by the locker 20 so that the closed state of the door is maintained. However, when the user applies a force to open the door, the hook 1 is pulled, The machine 23 is rotated in the clockwise direction so that the fixing piece 30 slides again and the engagement of the latching protrusion 23 and the latching recess 33 is released and the door is opened.

That is, the sliding operation of the fixing piece 30 allows the hook 1 to be operated in a state of holding the hook 1 so that the washing machine is not operated and the washing machine door can be opened and closed as required.

(2) When rotating operation

The door is opened when the washing machine is completed in a state where the locking protrusion 23 of the locker 20 is hooked on the locking groove 33 of the fixing piece 30 and the door is opened. The engaging groove 33 is displaced on the rotation track of the engaging projection 23 by rotating the engaging groove 33 in a state where the engaging groove 23 is engaged with the engaging groove 33, The locking protrusion 23 whose restraint is released becomes freely rotatable, and at this time, the locker 20 is rapidly rotated clockwise by the elastic force of the coil spring C.

As a result, the locker 20 is rotated and the pushing projection 21 in contact with the hook 1 pushes the hook 1 to the outside of the locker housing 10, thereby opening the door of the washing machine.

Thus, the present invention is switched to a holding operation state for holding the door or an open operation state for opening the door by sliding or rotating the fixing piece 30.

On the other hand, the elastic spring 35 for elastically supporting the fixing piece 30 is provided with a screw 36. The elastic force of the elastic spring 35 can be adjusted by unscrewing and screwing the screw 36 By appropriately adjusting the elastic force of the elastic spring 35, the strength of the force for pulling the door for opening the door is adjusted by the user.

The operation member 40 for fixing or rotating the fixing member 30 has a structure for restraining or restraining or rotating the fixing member 30 by the lifting operation. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 4, First and second lift bars 41 and 42 for fixing or releasing and rotating the fixing member 30 by a lift and elevation operation and a control signal for the controller 50 to control the operation of the first and second lift bars 41 A sliding bar 43 for selectively raising and lowering the sliding bar 43, and a driving means 44 for slidingly carrying the sliding bar 43.

The first lift bar 41 is provided with a contact plate 45 protruding sideways so that the first lift bar 41 rises to restrain the fixing piece 30 and the contact plate 45 A switch 46 is provided at a position where it can be lifted up and brought into contact with the contact plate 45 to provide a lock operation state of the door to the controller 50 to be described later.

Further, the driving means 44 according to the present invention is implemented by any one of a solenoid, a motor, and a wax motor.

The operation member 40 is slidably moved along the protrusions and grooves formed in the sliding bar 43 while contacting the sliding bar 43 by sliding the sliding bar 43 according to a control signal provided by a controller 50 And the two lift bars 41 and 42 are selectively raised and lowered.

When the sliding bar 43 is moved toward the first and second lifting bars 41 and 42 (hereinafter referred to as 'forward movement'), the sliding bar 43 is brought into contact with the side surface of the sliding bar 43 The first and second lifting bars 41 and 42 are selectively raised and lowered according to the positions where the first and second lifting bars 41 and 42 are in contact with the grooves and the protrusions, The sliding bar 43 is moved along the upper or lower surface of the sliding bar 43 so that the first and second lifting and lowering bars 41 and 42 are not elevated and operated but only the sliding bar 43 is returned .

In this embodiment, in the present invention, the sliding movement of the fixing piece 30 is restricted by the first lifting bar 41 and the fixing piece 30 is rotated by the second lifting bar 42. However, The state in which the restraint of the fixing piece 30 by the first lifting bar 41 is released before the operation of the second lifting bar 42 so that the lifting bar 30 can be rotated by the lifting bar 42 .

When the locking piece 30 is rotated at a predetermined angle by the second lifting bar 42 as described above, the contact between the locker 20 and the fixing piece 30 is deteriorated, and the locker 20 is brought into contact with the elastic force of the coil spring C So that the opening operation of the door is performed.

Embodiments of such an actuating member 40 may be modified in various manners to enable a person skilled in the art to limit or rotate the sliding of the fixing piece 30 for easier implementation.

1, the controller 50, which selectively controls the operation of the operation member 40, is connected to the operation member 40 as shown in FIG. 1, and the door is held, locked , And open can be accurately performed without interfering with each other.

To this end, in the washing machine, a switch or a sensor for determining whether the door is opened through contact with the door is installed in the washing machine so that the state of the door of the washing machine can be checked. The invention obtains this information from the two switches 25, 46 sensing the operation of the locker 20 and the first lift bar 41, respectively.

And determines whether the operation state information of the washing machine, that is, the operation state, the operation preparation state, the operation completion state, or the operation is stopped for a long time, respectively.

After acquiring the operating state information of the washing machine, it is determined whether the state of the operating member 40 is in the normal position according to the current state of the door. If the operating member 40 is in the abnormal position, Prints an error message through.

On the other hand, when the position of the operation member 40 is at the normal position, the operation of the operation member 40 is controlled by generating the control signal according to the change of the operation state of the washing machine. Explain.

<Holding operation>

5 (a) and 5 (b), when the state information of the washing machine obtained is ready for operation or not in operation, the fixing piece 30 is allowed to freely rotate, Thereby, the locker 20, which fixes the hook 1 by the force of closing or opening the door, and the fixing piece 30 engaged with the locker 20 are freely rotated to open and close the door.

<Lock operation>

When the state of the door detected by sensing the opening or closing state of the door by the sensor or the switch is in a closed state and it is determined that the washing machine is in an operation ready state or an operating state, The sliding bar 43 of the operation member 40 is moved forward by the control signal of the control member 40 to raise the first lift bar 41 so that the lock bar 30 and the first lift bar 41 contact each other So that the fixing piece 30 is restrained without sliding so that the door is locked.

Therefore, even if the user tries to forcibly open the door to open the door, the locking piece 30 engaged with the locker 20 does not move, so that the locker 20 is not rotated. As a result, The door 1 is kept fixed, so that the door is not opened.

<Open operation>

When the state information of the door is in a closed state and the washing machine is in an operation complete state, the sliding bar 43 of the operation member 40 is moved forward through the controller 50 as shown in Figs. 7 (a) The first elevating bar 41 is lowered to be positioned in the groove of the sliding bar 43 and the second elevating bar 42 is elevated to be positioned on the projection of the sliding bar 43.

By this operation, the fixing piece 30 is rotated and the engagement between the locker 20 and the fixing piece 30 is automatically released.

In this case, when the operation of the washing machine is completed, the hook 1 is quickly discharged to the outside of the locker housing 10 by the rotational force of the locker 20, thereby opening the door. At this time, So that the door can be opened more easily by the elastic force of the door and the rotational force of the locker 20 when the hook 1 is released from the restraint.

After the fixing piece 30 is rotated, the sliding bar 43 is returned to its initial position and is ready to perform a subsequent operation. To this end, the driving unit 44 is moved to a forward sliding position The bar 43 is moved backward.

When the sliding bar 43 is moved backward, the first and second lifting bars 41 and 42 are moved backward while being in contact with the upper or lower surface, The height is changed to a proper height to be able to ride over the two lifting bars 41 and 42, and is transported.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the second elevating bar 42 also serves as a stopper function for limiting the direction of rotation so that the fixing piece 30 is not rotated in the counterclockwise direction. A separate stopper for restricting the rotation direction of the fixing piece 30 may be provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the washing machine is not operating, only the holding operation for freely opening and closing the door is performed. When the washing machine is operated, the door is locked so that the door is not opened arbitrarily by fixing the hook of the door. The door is automatically opened so that the washing machine can be safely used. Further, the washing completion state of the washing machine can be easily confirmed even when the door is opened.

1: Hook 10: Locker housing
11: Hinge shaft 12: Sliding hole
20: Locker 21: pushing projection
22: Fixing projection 23:
24: contact protrusion 25: switch
30: Fixing piece 31: Rotary plate
32: rotating shaft 33:
34: Guide projection 35: Elastic spring
36: screw 40: actuating member
41: first elevating bar 42: second elevating bar
43: sliding bar 44: driving means
45: contact plate 46: switch
50: controller C: coil spring

Claims (6)

A door lock apparatus for holding or restraining a hook (1) attached to a door of a washing machine,
A locker housing (10) having a hinge shaft (11) provided with a coil spring (C) on its outer surface and a sliding hole (12) spaced from the hinge shaft (11);
Is coupled to the hinge shaft 11 and is coupled to receive an elastic force to rotate clockwise by the coil spring C and is rotated counterclockwise by the operation of inserting the hook 1, A locker 20 for holding the locker 20;
A locking piece 30 which is slidably and rotatably installed in the sliding hole 12 and engages with the locker 20 in a rotating operation of the locker 20 to fix the locker 20 so that the locker 20 is rotated, and;
The locker 20 may be fixed by restricting the sliding of the fixing piece 30 or by releasing the engagement between the locker 20 and the fixing piece 30 by rotating the fixing piece 30, An operating member (40) for rotating the locker (20) in a clockwise direction by an elastic force of the locking member (C) and discharging the inserted hook (1) to the outside;
And a controller (50) for selectively controlling the operation of the operating member (40).
The method according to claim 1,
The locker (20) is provided with a pushing projection (21) to be in contact with the hook (1); A fixing protrusion (22) for fixing the hook (1) through the side surface of the hook (1); And a locking protrusion (23) for selectively engaging with the fixing piece (30).
The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The fixing piece (30) comprises a rotating plate (31); A hinge shaft 32 protruding from the rotation plate 31 and inserted into the sliding hole 12; An engaging groove 33 formed on a side surface of the rotary plate 31 to engage with the locker 20; A guide protrusion 34 protruding from a side surface of the rotary plate 31; And an elastic spring (35) installed on the guide protrusion (34) to elastically support the rotary plate (31) in one direction of the sliding hole (12).
The method according to claim 1,
The operation member 40 includes first and second lifting bars 41 and 42 for fixing or releasing and rotating the fixing member 30 by a lifting operation; A sliding bar 43 for selectively elevating and lowering the first and second lift bars 41 and 42 by a control signal of the controller 50; And a driving means (44) for slidingly and conveying the sliding bar (43).
The method of claim 4,
The controller 50 senses the open or closed state of the door by a sensor or a switch. When the sensed state information of the door is in a closed state and the washing machine is in an operation ready state or an operating state, So as to restrain the fixing piece 30,
When the state information of the detected door is in the closed state and the washing machine is in the completed state, the first lifting bar 41 is lowered to release the restraint, and the second lifting bar 42 is continuously lifted, (30) is rotated so that engagement between the locker (20) and the fixing piece (30) is released.
The method of claim 4,
Wherein the driving means (44) is any one selected from a solenoid, a motor, and a wax motor.

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