RU2441950C2 - Washing machine with upper loading with control unit on the front side of cover - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: consumer electronics. ^ SUBSTANCE: invention refers to the washing machines. Washing machine with upper loading contains the tub wheel rotating around horizontal axis placed inside the tank with the hole in the top, cover for opening/closing access to said tub wheel, outer frame with upper cover hinged in its rear part, locking unit for locking/unlocking the cover with upper surface of frame and outer control unit capable of controlling said locking unit. Outer control unit includes the button element located on front upper part of frame. Said cover is outfitted with elastic device for its lifting into open position at releasing and automatic braking device. ^ EFFECT: increased convenience of upper cover opening. ^ 6 cl, 7 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved type of top-loading household washing machine or dryer.

State of the art

Top-loading household washing machines are known in which the control means for opening the upper door or lid is usually located on an upper or inclined portion of the upper part of the machine.

In everyday life, the user who is suitable for the machine usually carries laundry or other things, and in order to open the machine, he must be freed from these things before turning on the machine.

As a result, it is necessary to perform several operations that could be avoided if it were possible to actuate the door opening control without any use of hands.

From the patents JP 2002-315993 and JP 2002-315993 (Matsushita), as well as from JP 2002-011291 (Hitachi), it is known to install manually controlled security means for opening the top cover in the area of the upper front edge of the machine body. This solution prevents the machine from being turned on accidentally and the top shutter is accidentally opened, but this type of machine, although safe, nevertheless requires the use of at least one hand and therefore does not correspond to the problem solved by the present invention.

From patents JP 03-293000 (Matsushita), JP 2005-279179 and JP 2005-218662 (Hitachi), it is known to install in a top-loading washing machine the corresponding control panel in a position in which it is connected to the parts forming the top cover, which are configured to folding to provide access to the tank below.

This design provides access to the specified control panel and its operation only when the top cover, i.e. the folding parts are closed.

Obviously, this limitation increases the safety of the machine, which cannot be turned on when the top cover is open.

However, in this case, the work of the corresponding controls can be carried out using the movement of the hand from top to bottom.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a top-loading washing machine or clothes dryer with means for opening the top cover, which the user can operate without using hands and which, in particular, can be easily reached for other parts of the user's body, preferably for the hips.

Another objective of the invention is the location of the specified controls in the upper zone of the panel or front surface of the machine.

Brief Description of the Drawings

These tasks are solved in a top-loading washing machine or dryer, performed as described in a non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows in simplified form a perspective image of a known washing machine with top loading or dryer;

figure 2 shows in dynamics a perspective image of an improved version of the design of the machine in accordance with the invention;

figure 3 shows a first local view of the machine of figure 2;

figure 4 shows a second partial view of the machine of figure 2;

figure 5 shows in simplified form with a partial section of a perspective view of the rear mounted in the machine of figure 2 of the fourth part.

The implementation of the invention

Known household top-loading washing machine or dryer, shown in figure 1, contains a tank with a rotating drum (not shown), in which is placed the load for washing.

The specified machine contains a body in the form of a parallelepiped. The upper face of the machine is formed by the upper cover 1. The upper cover 1 is usually pivotally mounted on the rear part 3 of the casing and covers the lower upper surface 2 of the casing, which separates the loading part leading to the tank from this surface.

The specified housing has a vertical front side 4 in front on which a locking device (not shown) is installed, and this locking device is able to engage with corresponding engaging elements located below said cover.

The specified locking device and the engaging elements are used to lock the lid 1 on the indicated surface 2 of the housing with the lid closed down, and their mutual release is carried out by means of manually controlled elements that are located on the back of the upper side of the machine or on any part of the lid, or anyway on top of the machine.

Although said control means for releasing the lid is simple, the fact of installing it in any upper part of the machine, regardless of whether it is the lid itself or the part of the machine not occupied by the indicated lid, leads to the difficulty of controlling said means manually, which, of course, is not a significant problem in relation to the general use of the machine.

However, under certain frequently arising circumstances, this leads to a certain difficulty and inconvenience in the work, since often the user approaches the machine holding clothes for washing, or these clothes are laid in a basket, bag, etc., which are also held in hands.

To open the lid, the user must place the indicated container on the floor to release his hands, actuate the control device that releases the cover, manually open the specified cover and finally take the laundry container again and lift it off the floor to remove the clothes for styling her to the drum.

In order to eliminate these rather difficult and often tedious operations, in the top-loading washing machine according to the invention, the cover opening control means is not located as usual on the upper surface of the machine, but consists of a simple pressure-controlled element 5, which is made quite wide, as shown in drawings, and is located in the upper front zone of the machine, i.e. It is in an easily accessible position for the user.

In particular, the position of this pressure-controlled element 5 is selected so that the user can control it by simply pressing on it with any part of the body, most often by lateral pressing by the hip, that is, without getting rid of the load in the hands.

In accordance with FIG. 2, it is preferable to position said press-controlled element 5 on the front part 6 of the cover 1, which allows both to avoid complicating the design of the unit and to arrange this part at the desired height.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, by means of said pressure-controlled element, the engaging device 10 is released, which is normally mounted in a suitable upper region of the lid 1.

According to FIG. 4, releasing said locking device without using hands is pointless if the cover is then to be lifted manually. To solve this problem, the machine is usually provided with resilient means, preferably one or more torsion bars 7, normally mounted between the cover and the machine body in the area of the hinge connection of the cover.

This allows the lid to immediately automatically rise when exposed to the specified controlled by pressing element 5.

However, it may well happen that the indicated automatic lifting will occur too quickly, in particular at the end of the movement of the lid when its lifting speed is maximum. This can lead to a sudden stop of the cover at any thrust part located on the machine body.

To eliminate this drawback, the machine is equipped with a brake device that continuously regulates the movement of the specified cover relative to the machine body.

The specified brake device in accordance with figures 4 and 5 mainly consists of a damping piston 9 with two arms, to which the force to be loosened is applied, the first arm 9A connected to the cover 1, and the second arm 9B connected to the rear part 11 of the upper surface 2 of the housing . The damping piston acts reactively.

Claims (6)

1. A top-loading household washing machine, comprising a housing with a front side (4), a top cover (1) pivotally mounted in the rear part (3) of the housing, covering the upper surface (2) of the housing, a locking device (10) that allows coupling / uncoupling the cover with the upper surface (2) of the housing, and an external control means of the locking device, which provides the ability to optionally set the engaged / disengaged position of the cover and the housing, characterized in that the external control means comprises a control pressable element (5) located in the upper part of the front side of the case, while the top cover (1) is equipped with an elastic means capable of lifting the cover to the open position when it is released by the locking device, and the machine is equipped with a braking device capable of automatically adjusting the speed of lifting the cover driven by an elastic means after its release by means of a locking device. 2. The machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the elastic means comprises at least one torsion bar (7) installed in the upper part of the machine in the area of the hinged connection of the cover with the housing. 3. Machine according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the brake device includes a damping piston (9) installed between the specified cover and the back of the upper surface (2) of the housing. 4. A top-loading household washing machine, comprising a housing with a front side (4), a top cover (1) pivotally mounted in the rear part (3) of the housing, covering the upper surface (2) of the housing, a locking device (10) that allows coupling / uncoupling the cover with the upper surface (2) of the housing, and an external control means of the locking device, which provides the ability to optionally set the engaged / disengaged position of the cover and the housing, characterized in that the external control means comprises a control pressable element (5) located on the front part (6) of the top cover (1), while the top cover (1) is provided with an elastic means capable of lifting the cover to the open position when it is released by the locking device, and the machine is equipped with a brake device capable of automatically adjust the lifting speed of the cover, driven by an elastic means after it is released by means of a locking device. 5. The machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the elastic means comprises at least one torsion bar (7) installed in the upper part of the machine in the area of the hinged connection of the cover with the housing. 6. Machine according to any one of paragraphs.4 or 5, characterized in that the brake device includes a damping piston (9) installed between the specified cover and the back of the upper surface (2) of the housing.

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