JPH0157598B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a dehydrating and washing machine in which a pulsator is rotationally driven via a gear mechanism disposed at the inner bottom of a rotating tub.

[Technical Background of the Invention] In this type of dehydrating/washing machine, it has been considered to cover the gear mechanism with a gear case to prevent foreign matter from getting caught.

[Problems with the Background Art] However, with the above configuration, it is necessary to insert one's hand into the bottom of the rotating tank to assemble the gear mechanism or to attach the gear case. There was a problem in that it took a long time to do the work by looking into the inside, making it difficult to assemble. In addition, the gear case has a structure in which the bottom case and the top case are connected with screws.
When the two cases are connected, a gasket is interposed between the two cases to make it watertight, but since the screws are engaged intermittently, the tightening force of the gasket between the screws is insufficient. I won,
In particular, when the gear case becomes deformed due to aging or the like, there is a problem in that water often enters the gear case. In order to solve this problem, the number of screws for tightening the two cases may be increased, but doing so causes the disadvantage that the ease of assembly becomes even worse.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a dehydrating and washing machine that can improve assembly workability and reliably prevent water from entering the gear case.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention reduces the amount of work required to insert a hand into the inner bottom of the rotary tank and improves ease of assembly by preliminarily forming a gear mechanism into a unit by incorporating it into a gear case. , the packing can be tightened not only with screws for connecting both the bottom and upper cases, but also with screws for attaching the gear case to the bottom of the rotating tank.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box of a washing machine that also serves as a dehydrator. Inside this box, a water tank 3 is elastically suspended via a hanging rod 2 of an elastic support mechanism. A rotating tank 5 having a large number of dehydrating holes 4 and serving as both a washing tank and a dehydrating tank is provided. Reference numeral 6 denotes a lid frame attached to the open upper surface of the outer box 1, which has a laundry entrance/exit 7 formed approximately in the center thereof, and has an operation box 8 erected at the rear thereof.
A time switch 9 is attached to the operation box 8.
10 is a housing fixed to the outer bottom of the water receiving tank 3;
Reference numeral 11 denotes a hollow dewatering shaft rotatably inserted and supported within the housing 10, and a connecting cylinder 12 is fitted onto the upper end of the dehydrating shaft 11 so as to project from the housing 10. Reference numeral 13 denotes a washing shaft, which is rotatably inserted and supported within the dehydration shaft 11, and whose upper end protrudes upward through a sealing member 14 fitted into the upper end of the cylindrical body 12. An engagement pin 15 that engages with a drive gear described later is press-fitted in the radial direction. The dewatering shaft 11 and the washing shaft 13 are connected to a motor 18 via a clutch mechanism 16 and a belt transmission mechanism 17, and the rotational force of the motor 18 is selectively transmitted by the action of the clutch mechanism 16. ing. On the other hand, the rotary tank 5 has a recess 1 at the bottom for storing a pulsator.
9 is formed eccentrically by a predetermined amount, and a metal bottom plate 20 is fixed with a tuft pin screw 21 so as to close the open lower surface thereof. In addition, rotating tank 5
The bottom of the recess 19 is a separate bottom plate 20 as described above.
Instead, the bottom part may be formed integrally with the rotating tank, and a reinforcing plate may be attached to the outer bottom part.
A fitting hole 22 is formed in the bottom plate 20 at a location that coincides with the center of the rotary tank 5, and the fitting hole 22 is fitted into the cylindrical body 12 to form a flange portion 12a of the cylindrical body 12. It is fixed with bolts 23 so that the rotating tank 5 is directly connected to the dewatering shaft 11.

On the other hand, 24 is a hollow flat gear case disposed in the recess 19, which includes an upper case 25 and a bottom case 26 made of transparent plastic, for example.
are connected vertically by, for example, four connecting screws 28 made of tatsu pin screws via a packing 27, and each case 25, 26 on the upper side and the bottom side
A receiving tube portion 25a and a receiving recessed portion 26a are provided approximately in the center of the
is formed. Reference numeral 29 denotes an insertion hole formed in the gear case 24, through which the washing shaft 13 is inserted into a portion of the bottom case 26 that is eccentric from the receiving recess 26a by a predetermined amount.
The upper end portion is formed in a size large enough to be inserted together with the engaging pin 15, and a fitting cylinder portion 30 is concentrically protruded from the lower surface side of the insertion hole 29, and a packing 31 is provided.
The upper end portion of the cylinder body 12 is fitted through the cylindrical member 12.
Reference numeral 32 denotes a drive gear, the boss portion 32a of which protrudes slightly downward and is loosely fitted into the insertion hole 29. For example, 2 33 is formed on this boss portion 32a.
A pair of engagement grooves are opened downward and both edges thereof are cut out at the lower end to form a sloped portion 33a, so that the width dimension is gradually expanded at the lower portion. , drive gear 32
When the boss portions 32a are inserted into the washing shaft 13 from above, one pair of them engages with the engagement pin 15 of the washing shaft 13, so that the drive gear 32 is pivotally supported on the upper end of the washing shaft 13 so that rotation can be transmitted. It's getting old. 34 is a plastic internal gear as a driven gear, which has a pivot 35 approximately at the center of the end plate portion 34a.
are integrally attached, for example, by insert molding, and this pivot 35 is attached to each case 2 on the upper and bottom sides.
The gear mechanism 44 is rotatably supported by the receiving cylinder portions 25a and the receiving recesses 26a of No. 5 and 26, and meshed with the driving gear 32, and is rotatably housed in the gear case 24. . In this stored state, the stepped flat surface 34c on the lower surface of the outer peripheral edge of the end plate portion 34a that is connected to the upper end of the internal tooth 34b is located above the tooth 32b of the drive gear 32, and the drive gear 32 moves upward. It acts as a stopper to prevent it from slipping out of the washing shaft 13.

As described above, the driving gear 32 and the internal gear 3
The gear case 24 housing the gear 4 is the upper case 25.
It is fixed to the bottom plate 20, which is the bottom of the rotary tank 5, by screwing four mounting legs 37, which are mounting parts, extending integrally from the outer circumference of the rotary tank 5 with bolts 38, which correspond to fixing screws. The screwing part of the bolt 38, that is, the mounting leg 37 is as shown in FIG.
The mounting legs 37 and the connecting screws 28 are arranged so as to be located between the screwing points of the connecting screws 28, that is, the screwing portions 25b of the upper case 25 in the circumferential direction. I'm trying to locate it. A hanging piece 39 is attached to the outer periphery of the lower surface of the bottom case 26 so as to be in contact with the inner surface of the mounting leg 37.
is integrally protruded, and when the mounting leg 37 is fixed with the bolt 38, this hanging piece 39 is pressed against the bottom plate 20, and as a result, the bottom case 2
6 is in a state of being pinched between the bottom plate 20 and the upper case 25. 40 is a pulsator screwed to the upper end of the pivot 35; 41 is a seal member that seals between the upper case 25 and the pivot 35; and 42 is a seal member formed one or more on the end plate portion 34a of the internal gear 34. It is a through hole.

Next, the procedure for assembling the above structure will be explained with reference to FIG. First, the bottom plate 20 is fixed to the bottom of the rotating tank 5 with the pin screws 21, and this rotating tank 5
is fixed to the cylindrical body 12 projecting upward from the bottom of the water tank 3 with bolts 23. On the other hand, apart from this, the insertion hole 2 of the bottom case 26 of the gear case 24 is
The lower end of the boss portion 32a of the drive gear 32 is fitted into the lower end of the boss portion 32a of the drive gear 32 to hold it in a positioned state, and the internal gear 34 is placed so as to cover the drive gear 32, and the lower end of the pivot shaft 35 is inserted into the receiving part of the bottom case 26. Recess 26a
and engage both gears 32 and 34.
Then, the upper case 25 is placed on the bottom case 26 via the packing 27 so that the receiving cylinder portion 25a fits with the pivot 35, and both cases 25 and 26 are connected with the connecting screw 28 to assemble the gear unit A. . After this, for example, by attaching the discharge hose of an air compressor to the insertion hole 29 of the bottom case 26 and forcing air into the gear case 24, the water-tightness of the sealing member 41 and the packing 27 can be preliminarily maintained. Can be tested. After that, the gear unit A is inserted into the rotating tank 5 with the gasket 31 placed inside the fitting cylinder part 30 of the bottom case 26, and the insertion hole 29 of the bottom case 26 is inserted into the upper end of the shaft 13. When the washing shaft 13 is inserted into the boss portion 32a of the drive gear 32, the engagement pin 15 and the engagement groove 33 are engaged, and the drive gear 32 rotates to the upper end of the washing shaft 13. Transmittably pivoted. At this time, the engagement groove 3 of the drive gear 32
3 and the engagement pin 15 are in a misaligned state, the slope portion 33a of the engagement groove 33 will come into contact with the engagement pin 15 of the washing shaft 13, and the drive gear 32 will be pushed up, but the drive gear 32 will be pushed up. Teeth 32b of gear 32
Since the upper surface portion comes into contact with the stepped flat surface 34c of the end plate portion 34a of the internal gear 34 from below and is prevented from moving upward, the drive gear 32 or the washing shaft 13 is guided to the slope portion 33a. The engagement groove 33 will be completely engaged with the engagement pin 15. When this gear unit A is installed, the fitting portion between the drive gear 32 and the upper end of the washing shaft 13 can be directly seen through the transparent upper case 25 and the through hole 40 of the end plate portion 34a of the internal gear 34. It is convenient for work. After the upper case 25 is placed on the bottom plate 20 in this way, the mounting legs 37 are attached to the bottom plate 20 by bolts 38.
The pulsator 40 is further screwed onto the pivot 35 to complete the assembly.

In the above configuration, when the washing shaft 13 is rotated, the pulsator 40 is rotationally driven via the drive gear 32 and the internal gear 34, and washing is performed. In this state, the drive gear 32 is connected to the end plate portion 34a of the internal gear 34.
The stepped flat portion 34c prevents upward movement, and the engaging pin 15 prevents downward movement, thereby maintaining the meshing state with the internal gear 34 without the drive gear 32 coming off. do.
Furthermore, since the driving gear 32 and the internal gear 34 are watertightly covered by the gear case 24, foreign substances such as sand and lint may enter the meshing portions of the gears 32 and 34 through the washing water. It is possible to reliably prevent problems such as locking and abnormal wear.

In this way, in this embodiment, the relatively complicated gear unit A can be assembled separately from the deep-bottomed, large and difficult-to-handle rotating tank 5, and the assembled gear unit A can be attached to the rotating tank 5. The detailed assembly work of A can be carried out on a workbench, for example, apart from the large rotating shaft 5, resulting in excellent workability. Moreover, in order to attach the conventional gear mechanism covered by a gear case to the inner bottom of the rotating tank, it is necessary to insert your hand into the inner bottom of the rotating tank and assemble the bottom case, drive gear, internal gear, and lid case in sequence. However, in this embodiment, only the gear unit A assembled as described above needs to be attached to the rotary tank 5, and the work of inserting one's hand into the rotary tank can be done in a short time. Overall, the overall assembly workability can be greatly improved. In addition, in case the gear mechanism 44
Even if inspection or repair becomes necessary, the whole gear unit A can be inspected or replaced by removing it from the rotating tank 5, making maintenance work easy.

On the other hand, a mounting leg 37 is provided on the upper case 25 of the gear case 24, and is attached to the bottom plate 20 with a bolt 38.
When the hanging piece 39 of the bottom case 26 is fixed to the bottom plate 20, the hanging piece 39 of the bottom case 26 is pressed against the bottom plate 20, and as a result, the bottom case 25 is pressed between the bottom plate 20 and the top case 25. Further, the tightening force is applied evenly to the entire circumference of the gasket 27 between the two cases 25 and 26, which is tightened by the screw 28. Therefore, Patsukin 27 is for both cases 2
5 and 26, but also the bolt 38 for attaching the gear case 24 to the bottom plate 20,
It is possible to more reliably prevent the water-sealing properties of the packing 27 from deteriorating over a long period of time due to deformation of both cases 25 and 26 due to aging or the like. Moreover, since the connecting screws 28 and the mounting portions 37 are arranged alternately in the circumferential direction of the gear case 24, even if the number of connecting screws 28 is limited, it is not possible to
4 can be used to tighten the gasket 27 between the connecting screws 28, and the gasket 27 can be tightened between the connecting screws 28.
7 can be made more uniform in the circumferential direction, and a better water-sealing state can be maintained over a long period of time. Since the deterioration of the water sealing property can be prevented for a long period of time as described above, there is no risk of washing water, sand, mud, etc. entering the gear case 24, and therefore, there is no possibility that foreign matter such as sand, mud, etc. will get stuck inside the gear mechanism 44. In addition, even if the gears 32 and 34 are made of nylon or the like, which has good moldability but easily swells in water, the swelling can be prevented. It can be prevented and can withstand practical use.

In the above embodiment, the drive gear 32 is connected to the washing shaft 13.
However, like the internal gear 34, the driving gear 32 is integrated with the shaft by insert molding, and this shaft is pivotally supported by the gear case 24.
The lower end portion protruding from the gear case 24 may be connected to the upper end portion of the washing shaft 13 by engaging with a concave or convex portion or the like so that the rotation can be transmitted. Further, the driven gear may be constituted by an external gear 43 as shown in FIG.
7, the entire circumference of the bottom surface of the bottom case 26 may be configured to be pressed against the bottom plate 20. Further, the gear mechanism is not limited to the combination of a spur gear and an internal gear as in this embodiment, but it goes without saying that it may be a planetary gear mechanism, for example.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention has the gear mechanism assembled in the gear case and is made into a unit in advance, so the assembly of the gear unit, which requires relatively detailed work, can be greatly reduced. This can be done separately from the rotating tank, which is difficult to handle due to its shape, making assembly easy, and the work of inserting a hand into the rotating tank is only required to attach the gear unit, which improves assembly work efficiency. In addition, the water sealing gasket of the gear case receives tightening force not only from the connecting screws that connect the bottom and upper cases that make up the gear case, but also from the fixing screws that secure the gear case to the bottom of the rotating tank. This improves the water-sealing properties of the packing. Moreover, since the mounting parts and the connecting screws are provided alternately in the circumferential direction, the gasket can be tightened between the connecting screws by using the fixing screws that are originally required for fixing the gear case to the bottom of the rotating tank. This allows the seal to be tightened as uniformly as possible in the circumferential direction, thereby greatly improving sealing performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 1 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the main parts, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the whole, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the drive gear, Fig. 4 is an exploded longitudinal sectional view of the main parts, and Fig. 5 is a pulsator. FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a modification of the present invention. In the figure, 5 is a rotating tank, 13 is a washing shaft, 18 is a motor, 24 is a gear case, 25 is an upper case, 26
is the bottom case, 27 is the packing, 28 is the connecting screw, 32 is the driving gear, 34 is the internal gear, 37 is the mounting leg (mounting part), 38 is the bolt (fixing screw), 39
is a hanging piece, 40 is a pulsator, 43 is an external gear, 4
4 is a gear mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A pulsator installed at the inner bottom of a rotating tank is driven to rotate by a washing shaft via a gear mechanism, which consists of a bottom case and an upper case equipped with a mounting part, which are connected to each other by a connecting screw through a packing. A gear case is provided, and the gear mechanism is housed in the gear case to form a unit, and the mounting portion is fixed to the bottom of the rotary tank with a fixing screw, so that the bottom case is connected to the upper case and the bottom of the rotary tank. 1. A dehydrating and washing machine, characterized in that the mounting portion and the connecting screw are alternately provided in the circumferential direction of the gear case.