KR20180010271A - Washing machine having steam washing function and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A washing machine having a steam washing function and a control method thereof, wherein the washing machine comprises an outer cylinder (1), and a heater (3) is installed inside the outer cylinder (1); The apparatus further includes an atomizer (4) for spraying water to the heater (3), wherein the heater (3) vaporizes the water ejected to the surface to form a high temperature vapor. By providing a sprayer that founts toward the heater, the spray can be rapidly heated by the heater in a heated state to generate a large amount of steam. The steam generated in the outer tube can heat and wash the laundry in the inner tube , Steam washing, laundry drying, disinfection, deodorization, and ironing.

Description

Washing machine having steam washing function and control method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a washing machine of a laundry field, and more particularly, to a washing machine having a steam washing function and a control method of the washing machine.

In order to satisfy consumer demand, the additional function of the washing machine is constantly being developed. For example, steam washing, sterilization, deodorization and other functions. In conventional washing machine products, the way to implement the steam washing function is divided into two types as follows:

One is to immerse the heater inside the washing machine outer cylinder in the washing water inside the outer tube and to generate steam by heating the washing water. However, since the washing machine using this method has a relatively large amount of washing water in the outer tube, the heating rate is relatively slow. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve a satisfactory effect because the amount of steam generated is small.

Another is that a dedicated steam generator is additionally installed in the washing machine to evaporate water from the generator with high-temperature steam, and then steam is introduced into the outer tube to quickly wash laundry, sterilize and remove odors.

Chinese Patent Application No. CN200510083626 relates to a steam generator of a washing machine, comprising: a housing having a receiving space for storing water; And a heater installed inside the housing for heating the water stored in the housing. A separate steam generating device is additionally provided on the washing machine to generate steam using water to introduce steam into the washing machine outer tube and to achieve high temperature sterilization treatment of the laundry in the inner tube using steam.

A method of additionally providing a separate steam generator on the washing machine has a greater amount of steam to be produced and is excellent in laundry washing and disinfecting effects. However, since a separate steam generator is additionally installed, the production cost of the washing machine is increased; Further, a separate steam generator is additionally provided to occupy the space inside the washing machine, thereby increasing the overall size of the washing machine and reducing the capacity of the inner tube.

Thus, the present invention has been developed.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [8] Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine having a steam washing function to achieve the object of disinfecting and rapidly wetting laundry by steam generated in the outer tube will be. The other purpose is to quickly generate a large amount of steam using a heater inside the outer tube.

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the basic idea according to the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

1. A washing machine having a steam washing function, the washing machine comprising an outer tube, wherein a heater is installed inside the outer tube; The apparatus further includes an atomizer that founts toward the heater, wherein the heater heats the water ejected to the surface to vaporize to form a hot vapor.

In addition, the sprayer and the heater are provided so as to be joined or spaced apart in correspondence, and a plurality of spray holes are distributed on the corresponding side of the sprayer, which founts toward the heater.

Further, the heater is a heater capable of heating air or heating water and air, respectively. Preferably, the heater is a heater for heating wash water in a conventional washing machine.

In addition, the atomizer is composed of a duct having the same shape as that of the heater, and each spray hole is disposed so as to be spaced apart along the pipe axis direction.

In addition, both the heater and the atomizer are installed between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder of the washing machine. The heater is installed at the bottom of the outer cylinder, and the atomizer is installed at the top corresponding to the heater. Preferably, a concave groove recessed downward is provided at the bottom of the outer cylinder, and both the heater and the atomizer are provided in the recessed groove.

In addition, the atomizer communicates with the water supply structure of the washing machine through a connection pipe, and a control valve is provided on the connection pipe to control the spray flow rate.

Preferably, both ends of the conduit constituting the atomizer are communicated with each other through the connecting pipe, so that the atomizer can be supplied from both directions at the same time, thereby improving the spraying efficiency.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling the washing of any one of the above-described washing machines, which is characterized in that steam is vaporized by heating through a heater in the outer cylinder to generate vaporized vapor in the outer cylinder, Method.

In addition, the heater is first powered to heat the heat, and then sprayed from the sprayer toward the heater to prevent the heater, which is not in the heated state, from vaporizing the spray in a timely manner, thereby preventing the inside of the outer tube from becoming wet.

Before the washing machine performs the normal washing procedure, the laundry is sprayed toward the heated heater to generate high-temperature steam inside the outer tube, thereby heating and drying the laundry for a predetermined period of time, and then performing a normal washing program. The normal washing procedure includes one or a combination of the steps of water supply, washing, rinsing, dewatering, drying, and the like. Thus, the laundry is first quickly wetted by steam, first sterilized at high temperature, and then begins normal washing. As a result, the washing efficiency of the laundry is improved.

Further, in the process of generating high-temperature steam by dividing toward the heater, the inner cylinder simultaneously rotates at a constant rotation stopping ratio, thereby increasing the contact between the laundry and the steam.

Further, in the process of generating high-temperature steam by dividing toward the heater, the heater is stopped for a predetermined time t2 every time the heater is operated for a predetermined time t1, thereby preventing the heater from being thermally damaged due to overheating. It is preferable that t1 is 20s and t2 is 20s.

Further, in the process of spraying toward the heater to generate high-temperature steam, the water pipe and the water pipe of the outer pipe are in a cut-off state, so that the hot steam is filled in the sealed outer cylinder inner space.

Further, before water is fountainted toward the heater, water is first supplied to the inside of the outer cylinder, and the height of the water supply water level is lower than that of the heater. This prevents the bottom of the washing machine from being thermally damaged due to overheating of the heater.

By using this technical solution, the present invention has the following advantageous effects over the prior art:

1. A heater is provided with a sprayer for spraying water towards it, which quickly vaporizes the sprayed water to produce a large amount of steam. This achieves the purpose of generating steam in the outer cylinder. Accordingly, it is possible to realize a washing machine having functions such as steam washing, laundry drying, disinfection, deodorization and ironing, and excellent effects can be obtained;

2. Through the above installation, the heater has a dual function of heating the washing water in the outer tube and rapidly generating a large amount of steam, so that there is no need to separately install the steam generating device. This not only reduces the cost of the washing machine, but also reduces the electricity consumption of the washing machine;

3. The heater is installed at the bottom of the outer cylinder and the generated steam is filled in the entire area inside the sealed outer cylinder using the hot air rising principle so that the laundry can sufficiently contact with the steam; Further, when the steam is filled in the outer cylinder, the inner tube is rotated to turn over the laundry, thereby increasing the contact area between the laundry and the steam to improve the washing efficiency.

4. Further, the present invention can be widely applied because of its simple structure, simple method, and excellent effect.

1 is a view illustrating a structure of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a view showing a seal structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
3 is a view showing an AA sectional structure of FIG. 2;
4 is a view showing the structure of an atomizer according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a view showing an exploding structure of an atomizer and a heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

1 to 5, a washing machine having a steam washing function according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an outer tube 1 and an inner tube 2, a heater 3 disposed between the outer tube 1 and the inner tube 2, ). The heater (3) heats the wash water flowing into the outer cylinder (1) to increase the temperature of the wash water. The washing machine further includes an atomizer (4) for dividing the water into the heater (3). The heater (3) heats the water jetted onto the surface to form a high temperature steam, Heating and wetting.

A sprayer 4 for spraying water toward the heater 3 is provided so as to quickly vaporize the fountain water by the heater 3 to form a large amount of steam and to use the steam generated in the outer tube 1 A washing machine having functions such as steam washing, laundry drying, disinfection, odor removal and ironing can be realized by heating and wetting the laundry in the inner tube 2, and an excellent effect can be obtained. Further, the heater 3 is provided with a dual function for heating the washing water in the outer cylinder 1 and rapidly generating a large amount of steam, so that a separate steam generating device is not additionally provided. This not only reduces the cost of the washing machine, but also reduces the amount of electricity consumed by the washing machine.

Example 1

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, according to the present embodiment, the atomizer 4 and the heater 3 are installed so as to be joined or spaced correspondingly. A plurality of spray holes (7) are distributed to the corresponding side of the sprayer (4) toward the heater (3). Preferably, in order to increase the coverage area of the spray hole 7, the sprayer 4 and the heater 3 are spaced apart at regular intervals; Further, the distance between the adjacent spray holes 7 is formed to be smaller than the diameter of the area that can be covered by the spray flow, so that each part of the heater 3 can be all in contact with the spray. Thus, the steam generation efficiency is improved.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, according to the present embodiment, the heater 3 is constituted by a heating tube installed in a plurality of stages of "S" shape, The atomizer (4) consists of a conduit (40) exactly identical to the heating tube. A plurality of spray holes (7) are distributed on the pipeline (40) at regular intervals along the axial direction toward the heater (4). By installing the sprayer and the heater in the same configuration, the spray flow increases the coverage area in the heater and improves the steam generation efficiency, preventing the heater from completely covering the blind spot presence and fraction flow.

As shown in Fig. 4, according to the present embodiment, both ends of the duct 40 constituting the atomizer 4 are communicated with the connecting pipe 5 through the same triway joint 9. The connector 5 communicates with the water supply structure 6 of the washing machine so that the water flow is simultaneously introduced from both ends of the duct 40. Thereby, the length of the water flow flow path inside the sprayer 4 is reduced, the outflow pressure of each spray hole 7 is relatively balanced, the purpose of improving the fountain stability of the sprayer and accelerating the steam generation rate is achieved do.

According to the present embodiment, a control valve 14 for controlling the flow rate is provided on the connecting pipe 5 to achieve the purpose of indirectly adjusting the cover area of the atomizing flow by adjusting the water supply flow rate of the atomizer.

Example 2

1, the heater 3 and the atomizer 4 are both installed between the outer cylinder 1 and the inner cylinder 2, according to the present embodiment. The steam generated in the heater 3 flows into the inner space of the inner cylinder 2 through a dewatering hole or the like provided on the inner cylinder 2 and the laundry in the inner cylinder 2 is subjected to steam washing, sterilization, .

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, according to the present embodiment, the heater 3 is installed at the bottom of the outer cylinder 1. Fig. The sprayer (4) is installed on the upper part so as to correspond to the heater (3). A spray hole (7) is provided on the lower surface of the sprayer (4). Since the vapor density is relatively small, it moves upward in the outer cylinder 1. Since the heater 3 is installed at the bottom of the outer cylinder 1, the steam generated in the outer cylinder 1 is uniformly distributed in the inner space of the outer cylinder 1 to ensure sufficient contact between the laundry and the steam.

1, according to the present embodiment, the outer cylinder 1 communicates with the water supply structure 6 via the water supply pipe 12, and communicates with the outside through the water discharge pipe 13; A water supply pump 100 for controlling the opening and closing of the duct is provided on the water supply pipe 12. A drain pump 11 for controlling the opening and closing of the duct is provided on the water discharge pipe 13. A heater 3), the feed pump 10 and the drain pump 11 are both in a cut-off state, and the inner space of the outer cylinder 1 is sealed, so that the generated steam can be uniformly filled in the outer cylinder. To the outside.

Preferably, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a concave groove 8, which is depressed downward, is provided at the bottom of the outer cylinder 1, and both the heater 3 and the atomizer 4 are provided with concave grooves 8 ). Therefore, both the heater 3 and the atomizer 4 are installed at regular intervals with the inner cylinder 2, preventing them from coming into contact with and rubbing against each other; In addition, since the shaking generated in the inner cylinder 2 does not cause the heater 3 and the sprayer 4 to collide with each other in the concave groove 8 during the operation of the washing machine, the probability of failure of the sprayer and the heater is reduced.

Example 3

According to the present embodiment, the washing machine has a corresponding process for generating high-temperature steam, and the process specifically includes the following steps:

1) shutting off the water supply pipe and the water outlet pipe of the outer cylinder to form the outer cylinder inner space in a sealed state;

2) The washing machine feeds toward the sprayer, and the sprayer sprays toward the heater. The heater is activated to produce hot steam, and the steam is filled in the enclosed inner cylinder space;

3) At the same time as step 2), the inner tube rotates at a constant rotation stop rate.

With the above method, the steam can be quickly and uniformly filled in the inner space of the outer cylinder, and the steam is used to heat and wet the laundry to thereby perform steam washing, laundry drying, sterilization, deodorization and ironing A washing machine can be realized, and an excellent effect can be achieved.

According to the present embodiment, the steps 1) to 3) may be combined with the normal washing procedure of the conventional washing machine to improve the cleanliness of the laundry and diversify the selection of the user. The concrete method is as follows:

10) Put the laundry into the washing machine and operate it;

20) The washing machine first carries out the above-mentioned steps 1) to 3) to perform heating and wet processing for the laundry for a predetermined time;

30) Next, the user performs a normal washing procedure selected by the user and / or automatically determined by the washing machine. The procedure may include one or a combination of steps such as watering, washing, rinsing, dewatering, drying, and the like.

Therefore, in addition to the laundry normal washing function, the washing machine has steam washing, laundry drying, disinfection, deodorization and ironing effects, thereby improving user satisfaction. Further, the washing machine may be set to perform the step 20) under the selection or specific judgment condition, and in other cases, the normal washing procedure may be performed directly beyond the step 20).

Example 4

According to the present embodiment, in order to prevent heat damage due to overheating of the heater in the step 2) of the third embodiment, the heater must be stopped for a predetermined time t2 every time the heater is operated for a predetermined time t1; It is preferable that t1 is 20s and t2 is 20s. Therefore, since the temperature of the heater is not excessively raised, the heater is protected and heat damage is prevented.

According to the present embodiment, when the heater is an electric heating device, it is possible to realize the overheat protection procedure of the heater by alternately performing the feeding of the heater and the power failure.

According to this embodiment, during the operation time of the heater, the heater heats the sprayed water through the heat generated by itself, thereby forming a high-temperature steam; Meanwhile, during the operation stoppage time of the heater, the sprayed water is heated by using the heat remaining in the heater itself to form a high-temperature steam. In addition, spraying lowers the temperature of the heater itself. Through the above-described method, the temperature of the heater itself is prevented from being excessively increased to be prevented from being damaged by heat, and heating of the sprayed water can not be performed in a timely manner.

Example 5

According to the present embodiment, there are the following differences on the basis of the third embodiment and the fourth embodiment: water is supplied to the outer tube first before spraying the heater, but the water supply water level is lower than the heater.

According to the present embodiment, the process by which the washing machine generates hot steam includes the following steps:

21) Supply a certain amount of water to the inside of the outer tube, but the water supply level should be lower than the height of the heating tube;

22) shut off the water supply pipe and the water discharge pipe of the outer cylinder to seal the outer cylinder inner space;

23) Water is supplied from the washing machine to the atomizer, the atomizer is sprayed with the heater, and the heater is activated to generate the high-temperature steam, thereby filling the steam in the sealed inner space;

24) At the same time that step 23) is performed, the inner tube rotates at a constant rotation-stop rate.

A predetermined amount of water is introduced into the outer cylinder before the steam is generated by spraying with the heater to protect the bottom of the outer cylinder of the washing machine, thereby preventing the heat of the outer cylinder of the washing machine from being thermally damaged by overheating the washing machine due to malfunction.

According to this embodiment, in order to ensure that the height of the water intake level before the fraction is lower than the heater, a gap of a certain height can be formed between the heater and the bottom of the outer cylinder, and a heater is provided at the bottom of the outer cylinder and a drain , The water supply before spraying may be introduced into the drain pipe (the part between the drain and the drain valve) to lower the water supply height to be lower than the heater.

According to the present embodiment, in the process of the step 23), the heater stops for a predetermined time t2 every time the heater is operated for a predetermined time t1; It is preferable that t1 is 20s and t2 is 20s. Therefore, since the temperature of the heater is not overheated, it is possible to protect the heater and prevent heat damage.

Embodiments of the above embodiments may be additionally combined or substituted. Furthermore, the embodiments are only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the scope and spirit of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1: outer tube 2: inner tube
3: heater 4: atomizer
5: Connector 6: Water supply structure
7: Spray hole 8: Concave groove
9: Triway joint 10: Feed pump
11: Drain pump 12: Water pipe
13: Drain pipe 14: Control valve
40: channel

Claims (11)

The washing machine further comprises an outer cylinder (1) and a heater (3) provided inside the outer cylinder (1), further comprising an atomizer (4) for spraying water to the heater (3) Wherein the steam is vaporized to form a high-temperature steam. The method according to claim 1,
The sprayer 4 and the heater 3 are provided so as to be correspondingly joined or spaced apart and provided with a plurality of spray holes 7 on the corresponding side of the sprayer 3 for spraying water toward the heater 4; Wherein the atomizer (4) comprises a duct (40) of the same type as the heater (3), and each spray hole (7) is arranged to be spaced apart along the axial direction of the duct (40). 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the heater (3) is a heater (3) capable of heating air or heating water and air, respectively. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein the heater (3) is installed at the bottom of the outer cylinder (1), and the atomizer (4) is installed at the upper part corresponding to the heater (3). 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The sprayer (4) is connected to the water supply structure (6) of the washing machine via a connection pipe (5), and a control valve (14) is provided on the connection pipe (5) for controlling the spray flow rate. Wherein the steam is heated and wetted by heating the sprayed water to vaporize the heated water to generate vaporized vapor inside the outer cylinder to spray the water to the heater inside the outer cylinder, And a controller for controlling the washing machine. The method according to claim 6,
Before performing a normal washing procedure in a washing machine, it is first characterized that the laundry is heated and wetted for a predetermined period of time by spraying water to a heater in a heated state to generate a high-temperature steam inside the outer tube, . 8. The method according to claim 6 or 7,
Wherein the inner cylinder is rotated at a constant rotation-stop ratio in a process of spraying water toward the heater to generate high-temperature steam. 9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8,
Wherein, in the process of spraying water toward the heater to generate high-temperature steam, the heater is stopped for a predetermined time t2 every time a predetermined time t1 is operated. 10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9,
Wherein the water supply pipe and the water outlet pipe of the outer cylinder are shut off so that the high-temperature steam is filled in the sealed outer cylinder inner space in the process of spraying water toward the heater to generate high-temperature steam. 11. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 10,
Wherein water is first supplied into the outer cylinder before spraying water toward the heater, wherein the height of the water supply water level is lower than that of the heater.

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