WO2022044378A1 - Drum-type washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A drum-type washing machine provided with: a casing, the left and right panels of which are side panels; an outer tank (17), which is supported inside the casing and inside which a liquid can be retained; a square frame-shaped stay (10) disposed in the upper part of the casing; and suspending parts (8), one end of which is connected to the outer tank (17) and the other end of which is connected to the stay (10) in the upper part of an aforementioned side panel to hold the outer tank (17) in suspension. The thickness ratio, which is the "thickness of the stay (10)/thickness of a side panel" is greater than 1.0.

Description

Drum type washing machine

The present invention relates to a drum type washing machine.

As a background technology in this technical field, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-50684 (Patent Document 1). In this publication, "a housing, a support provided inside the housing and rotating around a support rotation axis, and a washing tub provided inside the support and in a direction different from the support rotation axis". A washing tub that rotates around the rotation axis and can store laundry inside, and a washing tub rolling rail that is provided between the housing and the washing tub and in which the washing tub rotating wheel of the washing tub rolls. When the support rotates around the support rotation axis, the washing tub rotation wheel rolls on the washing tub rolling rail, and the washing tub rotates about the support rotation axis and the washing tub rotation axis. " (See summary).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-50684

In order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the washing machine, we would like to make the housing of the washing machine thinner.
However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the housing of the washing machine is made thinner, the rigidity of the housing is reduced and the washing machine is likely to vibrate.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing machine that does not easily vibrate even if the housing is made thinner.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has a housing in which the left and right plates are side plates, an outer tank supported in the housing and capable of storing liquid inside, and a square frame provided above the housing. It is characterized by having a stay having a shape, one end of which is connected to the outer tank, and the other end of which is connected to the stay above the side plate to suspend the outer tank.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a drum-type washing machine that does not easily vibrate even if the housing is made thinner.
Issues, configurations and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

It is a perspective view of the drum type washer-dryer which is Example 1 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which looked at from the top surface by removing the top cover of the drum type washer-dryer which is Example 1 of this invention. It is a side view which shows the internal structure of the drum type washer-dryer which is Example 1 of this invention. It is a graph explaining the operation of the drum type washer-dryer which is Example 1 of this invention. It is a graph which shows the comparison result. It is a schematic diagram which looked at from the top surface by removing the top cover of the drum type washer-dryer which is Example 2 of this invention.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the problems of this embodiment will be described. In order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the drum type washing machine, it is required to make the housing thinner. When the housing is thinned, a high manufacturing cost reduction effect can be obtained by thinning the left and right side plates, which have a high area ratio of the housing. Since the suspension spring supporting the outer tank is connected to the mounting member above the side plate, when the outer tank vibrates in the dehydration process, the vibration is transmitted from the suspension spring to the side plate via the mounting member. When vibration is transmitted to the side plate, the housing also vibrates. When the side plates constituting the housing are thinned in order to obtain a high manufacturing cost reduction effect, the rigidity of the housing is reduced and the vibration of the housing is likely to increase. When the housing vibration increases, the discomfort when using the washing machine increases, and in the case of the built-in type where the washing machine fits in the kitchen counter, the side wall of the kitchen counter collides with the washing machine, causing abnormal noise. There is a risk of outbreaks and damage to the washing machine or kitchen counter.

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, the rigidity of the portion supporting the outer tank is sufficient by the mounting member. However, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 does not describe the deformation of the entire housing, and when the cost is reduced by thinning the side plate, the rigidity of the housing is lowered, so that the vibration of the housing is increased and the housing is uncomfortable. There is a risk of increase or the above-mentioned abnormal noise or damage.
Therefore, in the following, a drum-type washing machine that does not easily vibrate even if the housing is made thinner will be described.

Hereinafter, Example 1 for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the drum-type washer-dryer (drum-type washer) 100 in the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the drum-type washer-dryer 100 with the top cover 1e removed, and FIG. The side view which shows the internal structure of the drum type washer-dryer 100 is shown respectively. The configuration and operation of the drum type washer-dryer 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In each of the following embodiments, arrows indicate the front-back, left-right, up-down directions as seen from the drum-type washer-dryer 100 in the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 1 constituting the outer shell of the drum type washer-dryer 100 is mounted on the base 1a, and the left and right side plates 1b (only the right side plate is shown in FIG. 1) and the front surface. It includes a cover 1c, a back cover 1d (see FIG. 3), a top cover 1e, and a lower front cover 1f. The top cover 1e is provided with a water supply hose connection port 30 for supplying water from the tap to the drum-type washer-dryer 100. The housing 1 forms a box-shaped outer frame including the base 1a, and has sufficient strength as the outer frame.

The door 2 is for closing an insertion port (not shown) for putting in and taking out clothes provided in the substantially center of the front cover 1c, and is supported by a hinge provided on the front cover 1c so as to be openable and closable. The door 2 is unlocked and opened by pulling the door opening handle 2a, and locked and closed by pressing the door 2 against the front cover 1c. The front cover 1c has a circular opening for putting in and taking out clothes substantially concentrically with the opening of the outer tank 17 (see FIG. 2).

The operation / display panel 3 provided on the upper part of the housing 1 is provided with a power switch 4, an operation switch, etc., accepts various operations, and displays various information. The operation / display panel 3 is electrically connected to a control unit 7 (see FIG. 3) provided inside the base 1a. A drain hose 34 for draining water is attached to the base 1a.

A square frame-shaped stay 10 serving as a reinforcing member of the housing 1 is attached above the side plate 1b shown in FIG. 2, and the stays 10 are four of the front stay 11, the left and right side stays 12, and the rear stay 13. It is composed of parts. By forming the stay 10 with four parts, the stay can be cut out from the steel material according to the stay dimensions of the front stay 11, the side stay 12, and the rear stay 13, so that the generation of residual material can be suppressed. Further, the stay 10 forms a square frame shape by fastening the front stay 11 and the side stay 12, the rear stay 13 and the side stay 12, respectively (using screws, for example).

Fastening holes 14 for fastening the side plate 1b and the stay 10 are provided at the four corners of the side plate 1b and the stay 10. By fastening the fastening holes 14 with screws, for example, the side plates 1b and the stay 10 are rigidly joined, and the rigidity of the housing 1 can be increased.
Two sets of outer tank side suspension mounting portions 15 are provided on the upper portion of the outer tank 17, and two sets of housing side suspension mounting portions 16 are provided on the left and right side surface stays 12. The outer tank 17 is suspended and supported by connecting the outer tank side suspension mounting portion 15 and the housing side suspension mounting portion 16 with a suspension portion 8 (composed of a coil spring).

An outer tub 17 for storing water is provided inside the housing 1 of the drum-type washer-dryer 100 shown in FIG. The lower part of the outer tank 17 is vibration-proof supported by a pair of left and right suspensions 26 (composed of a coil spring and a damper) fixed to the housing 1.
The outer tank 17 contains a drum 21 for storing clothes. A motor 22 for rotating the drum 21 is provided behind the outer tank 17. In the motor 22, the shaft 22a, which is the axis of rotation, penetrates the outer tank 17 and is coupled to the drum 21. The control device 7 controls the rotation speed (r / min) of the motor 22. Further, the control device 7 controls the drum-type washer-dryer 100. The control device 7 detects and acquires the sensor value of the vibration sensor 28 provided in the drum type washer-dryer 100. When the vibration amplitude of the outer tank 17 exceeds the value preset in the vibration sensor 28 due to the imbalance of the clothes put in the drum 21 during the dehydration process, the dehydration process is temporarily stopped and the drum 21 is rotated forward and reverse. , Correct the imbalance of clothes and redo the dehydration process (retry).

By driving the motor 22, the drum 21 is rotationally driven in both forward rotation (clockwise when the drum type washer / dryer 100 is viewed from the front) and reverse rotation (counterclockwise when the drum type washer / dryer 100 is viewed from the front). Is possible. The rotation axis Az of the drum 21 shown in FIG. 3 is inclined from the front to the rear of the drum type washer-dryer 100 so as to be horizontal or the back side is downward (in FIG. 3, the back side is downward). It is tilted).

On the inner peripheral surface of the drum 21, a plurality of dehydration holes 21b for draining the washing water in the drum 21 to the outer tub 17 and the drum 21 are charged into the drum 21 at intervals in the circumferential direction. A plurality of baffles 23 (only one is shown in FIG. 3) for lifting clothes are provided. The baffle 23 extends in the front-rear direction of the drum 21 as the longitudinal direction.
A cylindrical fluid balancer 21c is provided at the front end of the drum 21. The outer tank 17 forms a bottomed substantially cylinder with the front open and the rear closed. The opening of the outer tank 17 and the input port of the housing 1 are connected by a bellows 19 that easily expands and contracts in the front-rear direction. The bellows 19 is an annular elastic member, and the drum 21 is water-sealed by closing the door 2. Further, the input port of the housing 1, the opening of the outer tank 17, and the opening of the drum 21 communicate with each other, and by opening the door 2, clothes can be taken in and out of the drum 21. The outer tank 17 can be divided into a side including an opening and a side to which the motor 22 is attached.

A water supply valve 31 is provided at the lower part of the water supply hose connection port 30, and one end of a water supply hose 32 for supplying water to the outer tank 17 is connected to the water supply valve 31. By opening the valve of the water supply valve 31, water flows from the water supply hose connection port 30 to the water supply hose 32 and is supplied into the outer tank 17 via the detergent container 33.
A drain valve 34a is provided in the drainage path of the drain hose 34 provided at the lower part of the outer tank 17. When the drain valve 34a is closed, the water supplied to the outer tub 17 is collected in the outer tub 17, and when the drain valve 34a is opened, the washing water in the outer tub 17 is discharged from the drain hose 34 to the outside of the drum type washer / dryer 100. Is drained to.

Next, the operation of washing and the like of the drum type washer-dryer 100 will be described.
In the drum-type washer-dryer 100 configured as described above, the drum-type washer-dryer 100 is activated by first pressing the power switch 4 by the user. Then, the user pulls the door opening handle 2a, opens the door 2, and puts clothes into the drum 21. Then, after closing the door 2, the user operates the operation switch 5 to start the operation. When the operation is started, the drum 21 rotates to calculate the clothing capacity before water injection. The clothing capacity is calculated based on the rotation speed and the current value of the motor 22. At this time, as the clothing capacity increases, a load is applied to the motor 22 and the current value increases. Therefore, the clothing capacity is determined based on the current value. Then, the amount of detergent to be added is displayed on the operation / display panel 3 based on the clothes capacity. At this time, the larger the calculated clothes capacity, the larger the amount of detergent to be added. The user confirms the display on the operation / display panel 3, puts a predetermined amount of detergent into the detergent container 33, and starts the washing process.

In the washing step, the water supply valve 31 is opened, and the water supplied from the water supply hose connection port 30 is supplied into the outer tank 17 together with the detergent via the water supply hose 32 and the detergent container 33. At this time, the larger the calculated clothes capacity, the larger the amount of water supplied in the washing process. At this time, the undissolved detergent and water are agitated in the circulation pump 27. As a result, the detergent is efficiently dissolved and a high-concentration detergent solution is produced. After executing this operation for a predetermined time, a washing operation of repeating forward rotation, stop, reverse rotation, and stop of the drum 21 is performed for a predetermined time. At this time, the washing power of the clothes is enhanced by repeating the operation of the clothes being lifted and dropped by the baffle 23.

After performing the washing process, perform the dehydration process. In the dehydration step, first, the drum 21 is rotated at a low rotation speed at which clothes do not stick to the drum 21. At a low rotation speed, clothes containing water in the washing process are lifted by the baffle 23 when the drum 21 rotates, and spread on the inner peripheral surface of the drum 21 when the clothes fall. When the clothes start to spread, the rotation speed of the drum 21 is gradually increased to attach the clothes to the drum 21. When clothing sticks to the drum 21, the rotation speed of the drum 21 is increased to pass through the resonance section of the outer tank 17 where the vibration of the outer tank 17 increases and the resonance section of the housing 1 where the vibration of the housing 1 increases. While allowing it to reach the target rotation speed, the water contained in the clothes is centrifugally dehydrated.

After performing the dehydration process, perform the rinsing process. In this rinsing step, the water supply valve 31 is opened, and the water supplied from the water supply hose connection port 30 is supplied into the outer tank 17 via the water supply hose 32 and the detergent container 33. Further, as in the washing process, the larger the calculated clothing capacity, the larger the amount of water supplied. In this rinsing step, the operations of forward rotation, stop, reverse rotation, and stop of the drum 21 are repeated as in the washing step. At this time, the stirring operation of dropping the clothes lifted by the baffle 23 is performed for a predetermined time.

After that, the above-mentioned dehydration step and rinse step are repeated a predetermined number of times to shift to the final dehydration step. The operation time in the target rotation speed section of the drum 21 in this final dehydration step is set longer than that in the dehydration step.
After performing the final dehydration step, a drying step is performed. The rotation speed of the drum 21 in the drying process is slower than that in the washing process, and warm air is blown into the drum 21 from the blower unit (not shown) to dry the clothes while reducing wrinkles. Let me.

Next, the action and effect of the stay 10 will be described.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a “]” -shaped stay 50 which is a comparative example of the stay 10. The “]” -shaped stay 50 is composed of a front stay 11 and two side stays 12. Similar to the stay 10 of FIG. 2, the stay 50 supports the outer tank 17 via the suspension portion 8.
Here, in order to compare the vibration of the housing 1 between the case where the stay 10 is used and the case where the stay 50 is used, a load is applied to the diagonally downward direction of the outer tank 17 (the vibration direction of the outer tank 17) for static analysis. The vibration displacement of the housing 1 was compared.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the comparison results. The horizontal axis of FIG. 5 is a “thickness ratio” indicating the ratio of the plate thickness of the side plate 1b to the stay 10 or the stay 50 (plate thickness of the stay / plate thickness of the side plate). The vertical axis shows the "housing vibration ratio" which is the ratio between the displacement of the housing 1 when the stay 10 is used and the displacement of the housing 1 when the stay 50 is used. When the housing vibration ratio is smaller than 1.0, the displacement of the housing 1 of the stay 10 of this embodiment is smaller than that of the stay 50 of the comparative example. When the thickness ratio is smaller than 1.0, the plate thickness of the side plate 1b is larger than the plate thickness of the stay, and when the thickness ratio is larger than 1.0, the plate thickness of the side plate 1b is larger than the plate thickness of the stay. Become thin.

In FIG. 5, since the housing vibration ratio is smaller than 1.0 regardless of the thickness ratio, the stay 10 of the present embodiment 1 can reduce the vibration of the housing 1 as compared with the stay 50 of the comparative example. can. When the stay 10 and the stay 50 have the same plate thickness and the front stay 11, the side stay 12, and the rear stay 13 have the same dimensions, the moment of inertia of area of the stay 10 is about 1.4 times that of the U-shaped stay. Therefore, the rigidity of the housing 1 can be increased by the stay 10 of the present embodiment, and the vibration of the housing 1 can be suppressed.

Here, the plate thickness of the stay, which is generally a reinforcing member, is made thicker than the plate thickness of the reinforcing member (thickness ratio is larger than 1.0), and the cost is reduced by thinning the reinforcing member. I am trying. Moreover, the thickness ratio of a general washing machine is 2.0. Therefore, as described above, since the housing vibration ratio is smaller than 1.0 regardless of the thickness ratio, by providing the stay 10 in the housing 1, the thickness ratio of a general washing machine can be increased. However, it is possible to suppress the vibration of the housing 1 while reducing the manufacturing cost by increasing the thickness ratio (thinning the plate thickness of the side plate 1b). The area ratio of the housing 1 is larger for the side plate 1b than for the rear stay 13. Therefore, the amount of reduction in manufacturing cost due to the thinning of the side plate 1b is larger than the amount of increase in manufacturing cost due to the thickening of the rear stay 13, so that the increase in manufacturing cost can be suppressed by thinning the side plate 1b.

By suppressing the increase in vibration of the housing 1 in this way, it is possible to suppress the increase in discomfort due to the sound of the user. Further, also in the built-in type drum type washer / dryer 100, it is possible to suppress the generation of abnormal noise due to the collision between the side wall of the kitchen counter and the drum type washer / dryer 100, and the occurrence of damage to the drum type washer / dryer 100 or the kitchen counter.
Further, since the moment of inertia of area of the stay 10 is increased, it becomes difficult to be deformed when a force is applied to the side plate 1b. This makes it possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the drum-type washer-dryer 100.

In the first embodiment, the area ratio of the side plate 1b is larger in the suspension portion 8, the outer tank side suspension portion mounting portion 15, and the housing side suspension portion mounting portion 16. Therefore, the manufacturing cost reduction amount due to the thinning of the side plate 1b is larger than the cost increase amount due to the addition of the suspension portion 8, the outer tank side suspension portion mounting portion 15 and the housing side suspension portion mounting portion 16, and therefore the side plate 1b is thinned. This can prevent an increase in manufacturing cost.
As described above, by providing the stay 10 in the housing 1, the vibration of the housing 1 can be reduced as compared with the stay 50 of the comparative example, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the vibration of the housing 1 can be suppressed by thinning the side plate 1b. Can be planned.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the drum-type washer-dryer 100 with the top cover 1e removed and viewed from above. In the following description, the difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment will be mainly described. A common reference numeral is used for the members common to those in the first embodiment.
In the second embodiment, instead of the outer tank side suspension mounting portion 15 of the first embodiment, the front outer tank side suspension mounting portion 115 is on the left and right in front of the outer tank 17, and the rear outer tank is on the left and right behind the outer tank 17. Side suspension mounting portions 116 are provided respectively. Further, instead of the housing-side suspension mounting portion 16, front housing-side suspension mounting portions 117 are provided on the left and right sides of the front stay 11, and rear housing-side suspension portion mounting portions 118 are provided on the left and right sides of the rear stay 13. The front housing side suspension mounting portion 117 is rigidly joined by fastening with a mounting hole 119 provided in the front stay 11 and a mounting hole 120 provided in front of the side stay 12 with screws or the like. The rear housing side suspension mounting portion 118 is rigidly joined by being fastened with a mounting hole 121 provided in the rear stay 13 and a mounting hole 122 provided behind the side stay 12 with screws or the like.

The front outer tank side suspension mounting portion 115 and the rear outer tank side suspension mounting portion 116 are connected to the front housing side suspension mounting portion 117 and the rear housing side suspension mounting portion 118, respectively, via the suspension portion 8. The four corners of the outer tank 17 are supported by the stay 10.
By suspending the outer tank 17 at the four corners, the suspension portion 8 suppresses the movement of the outer tank 17 in the front-rear and left-right directions, and the vibration of the outer tank 17 is reduced. Therefore, the suspension portion 8 of the outer tank 17 of the second embodiment can reduce the vibration of the outer tank 17 as compared with the suspension portion 8 of the outer tank 17 described in the first embodiment. By reducing the vibration of the outer tub 17, it is possible to suppress the collision between the outer tub 17 and the housing 1 when a large imbalance occurs in the outer tub 17. As a result, when the outer diameter and depth of the outer tub 17 are lengthened to increase the washing capacity, the collision between the outer tub 17 and the housing 1 can be suppressed, so that the main body size of the drum type washer-dryer 100 is increased. The washing capacity can be increased without doing so.

Further, by using the same member (for example, steel material) as the stay 10 for the material of the front housing side suspension portion mounting portion 117 and the rear housing side suspension portion mounting portion 118, the front housing side suspension portion mounting portion 117 and the rear housing side suspension are suspended. The portion mounting portion 118 acts as a reinforcing member of the housing 1, and the vibration of the housing 1 can be reduced.
As described above, by providing the stay 10 in the housing 1 and supporting the four corners of the outer tub 17 with the suspension portions 8, the vibration of the outer tub 17 can be reduced and the washing capacity can be increased as compared with the first embodiment. ..

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to the one including all the described configurations. Further, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is also possible to add / delete / replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

1 Housing 1b Side plate 8 Suspension part 10 Stay 11 Front stay 12 Side stay 13 Rear stay 17 Outer tank 100 Drum type washer / dryer (drum type washing machine)

Claims (6)

1. A housing with left and right plates as side plates,
   An outer tank that is supported inside the housing and can store liquid inside,
   A square frame-shaped stay provided above the housing and
   A drum-type washing machine characterized in that one end is connected to the outer tub and the other end is connected to the stay above the side plate to provide a suspension portion for suspending the outer tub.
2. The drum-type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the thickness ratio of "thickness of the stay / thickness of the side plate" is larger than 1.0.
3. The square frame-shaped stay includes a front stay located in front of the housing, side stays located above both side plates, and a rear stay located behind the housing, and the side surface thereof. The drum-type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the stay having a square frame shape has a square frame shape because the stay is fastened to the front stay and the rear stay.
4. The drum-type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the square frame-shaped stay and the side plate are fastened at the four corners of the square frame-shaped stay.
5. The drum-type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the suspension portion suspends two places on the left and right sides of the outer tub.
6. The drum-type washing machine according to any one of claims 1, wherein the suspension portion suspends four places in front, back, left and right of the outer tub.

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