JPH0448480B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

(a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a washing machine that rotates rotary blades provided at the bottom of a washing tub at low speed for short periods of time from side to side in a predetermined order. (b) Conventional technology This type of washing machine these days has moved away from conventional washing machines that rotate the rotor blades at high speed for a long time to achieve a high cleaning rate, and instead wash at a low speed and intermittently from side to side for a short time. Nowadays, clothes are rotated to prevent damage to clothing as much as possible. An example of the latter is, for example, JP-A-Sho.
This is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 59-17390, and will be explained based on FIGS. 6 to 9. Reference numeral 1 denotes a washing tub which also serves as a dehydration tank, and has a large number of dehydration holes 2 on its peripheral wall, and a balance ring 3 is attached to its mouth edge. A rotary blade 4 is disposed at the center of the bottom of the washing tub 1. Washing tub 1
is provided in the outer tub 5, and a drive mechanism 7 having a drive motor 6, a clutch, a brake device, etc. for rotating the washing tub 1 and the rotary blades 4 is attached to the bottom of the outer tub 5. It is suspended from the upper part of the machine frame 8 by a plurality of hanging rods 9 in a vibration-proof manner. The rotary blade 4 has a circular base 10 with a large diameter, a substantially triangular prism-shaped protrusion 11 that gradually protrudes from the periphery of the base 10 toward the center, and each triangular part of the protrusion. It consists of a blade 12 that protrudes from the apex toward the periphery of the base 10.
Each blade 12 has a base 10 as is clear from FIG.
It is deflected with a gently curved edge in the same direction (toward the right in the figure) toward the periphery. The protrusion 11
The height H is set to be approximately 1/2 of the outer diameter d of the circular base 10 and lower than the height h of the water surface of the washing tub 1. In the embodiment, the inner diameter D of the washing tub 1 is 400 [mm], the outer diameter d of the circular base 10 is 320 [mm], and the height H of the protrusion 11 is 140 [mm]. At the top of the protrusion 11, a substantially triangular prism 13 having a smaller diameter is formed. As shown in FIG. 9, the slope θ2 of the side surface of this triangular prism 13 is gentler than the slope θ1 of the upper end of the side surface of the larger diameter triangular prism (the protrusion 11) below it. In the example, θ2=12° and θ1=8°. 1 in the diagram
4 is a boss that fits into the top of the blade shaft 15, and is inserted into a boss 16 provided on the back side of the top of the rotary blade. The rotor blade 4 is attached to the blade shaft 15 by tightening a mounting screw 17 to the top of the blade shaft 15. The rotary blade 4 is rotated alternately left and right, and its rotation speed is between 450 [rpm] and 720 [rpm] of the conventional rotor blade.
[rpm] is lower than 300 [rpm]. In the example, the speed is set at about 180 [rpm]. Then, after rotating to the right for 1 to 2 seconds, stopping for 0.5 seconds to 1 second, and rotating to the left for 1 to 2 seconds, a reversal cycle is repeated during the set time. . Furthermore, even if the water level in the washing tub 1 becomes lower in the center in the shape of a mortar as shown by the dashed line in FIG. It's summery. In such a washing machine, when water is supplied to the washing tub 1 and the cloth C is put therein, and the rotary blade 4 is rotated, the lower part of the rotary blade 4 attempts to rotate the cloth in the horizontal direction in the same way as the conventionally used rotary blade. A water flow is generated, and the triangular prism-shaped surface of the protrusion 11 and the blades 12 in the upper part of the rotary blade apply a force to raise and lower the cloth. As a result, the cloth temporarily sinks toward the rotor blade along the side wall of the washing tub, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 6, and then rotates in the horizontal direction while lifting up along the triangular prism-shaped protrusion 11. do. In particular, since the three blades 12 of the rotor blade are deflected in a gentle curve in the same direction (to the right) as shown in Figure 8, there is a difference in the water flow generated between the left and right rotations of the rotor blade 4. If you turn it clockwise, the water flow will be stronger and will lift the cloth upwards. This is because turning to the right applies more force to the water, which causes the water to hit the wall of the washing tub more strongly and the reaction creates a flow of water that floats up. This results in vertical movement of the cloth. Since the protrusion 11 is placed below the water surface, the cloth that has floated up can easily get over the protrusion 11, resulting in a large movement. At this time, since the protruding part 11 is not cylindrical but triangular prism-shaped, this protruding part also generates a water flow that tries to drive the cloth to the surroundings, thereby preventing the cloth from becoming entangled with the protruding part. Particularly in this case, since the apex substantially triangular prism 13 whose diameter is reduced by one step is formed at the top of the protrusion 11, the upper end of the protrusion 11 having a large diameter and the apex substantially triangular prism 13 having a small diameter can also be Turbulent flow is generated in the vicinity to make it more difficult for the cloth to get entangled in this area, and since the angle of inclination θ1 of the upper end of the side surface of the protruding portion 11 is less than the angle of inclination θ2 of the side surface of the top approximately triangular prism 13, the cloth is It becomes easier to climb over the rotor blade 4. In this way, in the conventional example, clothes are less likely to get tangled during washing, so there is less damage to the cloth due to tangles, and since the rotational speed of the rotary blade 4 is low, there is less damage to the cloth. In such a conventional example, the lower part of the rotor blade 4 rotates the clothing horizontally, and the upper part makes it float up and down,
As a whole, the clothes are moved up and down by a large amount, but since the rotation speed of the rotary blade 4 is very low, it is difficult to move the clothes up and down from the beginning of the set time. Therefore, to the user, the clothes appear to move poorly, giving the impression that they cannot be washed. (c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention aims to promote and activate the vertical movement of clothing from the beginning of the set time. (d) Means for Solving the Problems The washing machine of the present invention includes a rotary blade disposed at the bottom of the washing tub, a driving means for rotationally driving the rotary blade, and a rotary blade that rotates the rotary blade from side to side. a microcomputer that instructs the driving means to rotate at a low speed for short periods of time in a predetermined order alternately; The microcomputer's ROM (read only
During the washing process, the stored single cycles are read out sequentially, and at least once a plurality of single cycles with a long rotation time in either the left or right direction are read out, and then the rotation time in the other direction is read out. Mainly, a plurality of short single periods are read out, and the rotary blade is rotated in accordance with these read out single periods. (e) Effect: In other words, as a whole, a reverse water flow is formed every short period of time, and the right rotation or left rotation is strengthened every single period, thereby generating a pulsating flow, thereby invigorating the movement of the clothes. Especially, for example, after a single period with a long clockwise rotation time,
By performing a single cycle with a long counterclockwise rotation time at least once during the washing process, pulsating flow does not occur exclusively in the clockwise rotation. (f) Example The basic shape of the washing machine according to the present invention is shown in Figs. 6 to 9.
It is the same as the conventional example shown in the figure, and includes, for example, rotary blades and blades of the same shape, a drive motor, and a drive mechanism, and rotates the rotor blades in a cycle stored in a microcomputer during the washing and rinsing processes. Specifically, at a rotation speed of approximately 180 [rpm], it rotates intermittently from side to side for a maximum of 3 seconds with an appropriate rest period in between. In the fully automatic course, the process of water supply → washing → drain → intermediate dehydration → water supply → first rinse → drain → intermediate dehydration → water supply → second rinse → drain → final dehydration is executed as before, and within this process, washing, The rotor is intermittently reversed in each of the first and second rinsing strokes. washing process,
The time required for the first rinsing step, the second rinsing step, and the intermediate and final dehydration steps can be freely set in advance. Additionally, in each washing and rinsing process, three types of water flow can be selected: "Strong", "Standard", and "Soft", and in the rinsing process, water rinsing can be set at any time. Next, the three types of water flow described above will be described for washing and rinsing. In both cases, the rotor starts rotating clockwise and ends rotating counterclockwise. First, in the case of washing, each water flow is created by repeating the reversal cycle typically shown in FIG. In the same figure, T1<T2<T3<T<4T<5,
The pause time T0 is constant. The specific values of T0, T1 to T5 differ depending on each water flow, and T0 and T5 are set to appropriate values of about 3 seconds at maximum. Further, the sum of the rotation times calculated in a single cycle of clockwise rotation-pause-counterclockwise rotation-pause is kept constant or almost constant for each single cycle. In other words, T1+T5=T2+T4=T3+T3 in the figure
...or T1+T5≒T2+T4≒T3+T3... Incidentally, the times when the inventor conducted the experiment are as follows. In the case of “strong” water flow, T1 = 0.7 seconds,
T2=0.8 seconds, T3=1.0 seconds, T4=1.2 seconds, T5=1.3 seconds,
T0 = 0.2 seconds and T1 = 0.7 for “standard” water flow
seconds, T2=0.8 seconds, T3=0.9 seconds, T4=1.1 seconds, T5=
1.2 seconds, T0=0.5 seconds. In the case of "soft" water flow during washing, after a pause of 1.0 seconds (T0), 0.4 seconds on the right → 0.6 seconds on the left → right
0.4 seconds → left 0.6 seconds → right 0.5 → left 0.5 seconds → right 0.6 seconds → left 0.4
seconds → right 0.6 seconds → left 0.4 seconds → right 0.6 seconds → left 0.4 seconds → right 0.5
The cycle repeats: seconds → 0.5 seconds on the left → 0.4 seconds on the right → 0.6 seconds on the left. In this case as well, the sum of the left and right rotation times during a single cycle is kept constant. In the reversal cycle of the first embodiment, the first single period in which the clockwise rotation time is short and the counterclockwise rotation time is long is repeated twice, and after the same single period in which the left and right rotation times are the same, the clockwise rotation time is long. 2nd wheel with short counterclockwise rotation time.
The single cycle is repeated three times in a row, and then the same single cycle is repeated and the first single cycle is executed once. That is, the clockwise rotation time increases from T1 to T5, and the counterclockwise rotation time synchronizes with this and decreases from T5 to T1, and each single period is aligned in the increasing direction and decreasing direction. Also, the pause T0 is placed after the shortest T1 of the clockwise rotation, the longest T5 of the left rotation is located, and the pause is placed before the shortest T1 of the left rotation.
T5, which has the longest clockwise rotation, is located after T0, and has the largest difference in left and right rotational force. A second embodiment of the reversal cycle is shown in FIG. Here, a single cycle of 1.5 seconds of clockwise rotation, 0.5 seconds of rest, 0.5 seconds of counterclockwise rotation, and 0.5 seconds of rest is repeated four times in a row.
This time, a single cycle of 0.5 seconds of clockwise rotation, 0.5 seconds of rest, 1.5 seconds of counterclockwise rotation, and 0.5 seconds of rest continues. That is, in the figure, T1 = 1.5 seconds, T2 = 0.5 seconds, and T0 = 0.5 seconds. A third embodiment of the reversal cycle is shown in FIG. Here, in the middle of a conventional inversion cycle that continues with a clockwise rotation of 1.2 seconds, a pause of 1.0 seconds, a counterclockwise rotation of 1.2 seconds, and a pause of 1.0 seconds, a clockwise rotation of 1.9 seconds, a pause of 0.5 seconds, a counterclockwise rotation of 0.5 seconds,
Two consecutive single cycles of 0.5 second pause, 0.5 clockwise rotation
There are two consecutive single cycles of 0.5 seconds, 0.5 seconds of rest, 1.9 seconds of counterclockwise rotation, and 0.5 seconds of rest, and then the conventional reversal cycle continues again. That is, in the figure, T1=1.2
seconds, T2 = 1.9 seconds, T3 = 0.5 seconds, T0 = 0.5 seconds. These inversion cycles are stored in advance in the microcomputer as described above, and are executed as appropriate according to the stored contents. Generally, such a microcomputer 18 is as shown in FIG.
ROM (read only memory) 19, CPU (central
processing unit) 20 and RAM (random acces)
memory) 21, time base generation circuit 2
2. Reset circuit 23 and various setting input circuits 2
Input the signal from 4. The setting input circuit 24 inputs, for example, a signal that determines the time required for each process, a signal that selects one water stream from among three types of tributary streams, and a signal that indicates whether or not to perform water injection in the rinsing process. . The microcomputer 18 then operates a device 2 that displays the selected water flow, etc.
5. Output signals to and control the clockwise rotation circuit 26 of the motor 6 that drives the rotary blade 4, the counterclockwise rotation circuit 27, and various operating circuits 28 that operate the water supply valve, drain valve, etc., respectively. For details, the microcomputer 18 is
The clockwise rotation time T _Ro , counterclockwise rotation time T _Lo and pause time T0 of each single cycle are stored in the ROM 19 for each water flow of "strong", "standard", and "soft". For example, "standard"
When the water flow is selected, the time memory contents of the "standard" water flow are transferred from the ROM 19 to the RAM 21 every single cycle according to the program in the ROM 19.
Further, the counter of the RAM 21 counts and transfers single periods one after another, and the motor 6 (rotor blade 4) is intermittently reversed in accordance with this count. For example, the case of the first embodiment will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 5. First, after water supply is completed, counter A is set to 1, and the selected water flow is determined. Assuming this is “strong”, first
T _Ro → "strong" T1, T _Lo → "strong" T5, T0 are set in the single-cycle RAM 21, and the motor 6 is rotated clockwise for T1 time, paused for T0 time, and rotated counterclockwise for T5 time. Each rotation time is counted down by a separate counter. And after this RAM
It is determined whether the content of the counter 21 is 8, and if it is not 8, the content of the counter A is incremented, that is, 2 is newly set and the process is repeated. That is, as the next single cycle, RAM21
Set T _Ro → "strong" T2, T _Lo → "strong" T4, and T0, and drive the motor 6 in accordance with these settings. When the counter content is set to 3, T _Ro → “Strong”
T3, T _Lo → “Strong” T3, T0 single period
It is set in RAM21. When the counter content is 4, a single cycle is set: T _Ro → “strong” T4, T _Lo → “strong” T2, T0, and when the counter content is 5, a single cycle is set.
T _Ro → "Strong" T1, a single cycle called T0 is set, and when the counter content is 7, T _Ro → "Strong" T2,
A single period called T0 is set, and when the counter content is 6, T _Ro → “strong” T4, T _Lo → “strong” T3,
T _Lo → "Strong" T3, a single cycle called T0 is set, and when the counter content is 8, T _Ro → "Strong" T2,
T _Lo → “Strong” single cycles of T4 and T0 are set. While this counter is incrementing until it reaches 8, it is determined whether the initially set stroke time has elapsed or not, and when the counter reaches 8, the counter returns to 1 and the above operation is performed. Repeat. If the stroke time has elapsed after the increment, the process moves to the next stroke. Thus, one specific cycle during the above-mentioned operation is as shown in Figure 1.
T1 → pause left T0 → left T5 → T0 → right T2 → T0 → left T4
→T0→Right T3→T0→Left T3→T0→Right T4→T0→Left
T2→T0→Right T5→T0→Left T1→T0→Right T4→T0→
Left T2 → T0 → Right T3 → T0 → Left T3 → T0 → Right T2 → T0
→Left T4→T0, which is repeated during the travel time. As mentioned above, these times T1 to T5 are different for each of the "strong", "standard", and "soft" water currents, and if any one of the water currents is selected, the rotor blade is activated to create the selected water flow. 4 is intermittently reversed. In the second and third embodiments as well, the rotor blade 4 is intermittently reversed using the same control method as in the first embodiment. In this way, the reversal cycles of the first to third embodiments are a collection of a plurality of single cycles in which the rotation time in one direction is long and the rotation time in the other direction is short. Therefore,
The reversed water flow strengthens the right or left rotation and generates a pulsating flow, which activates the movement of clothing, especially the vertical movement,
The cleaning efficiency of clothes can be increased both visually and practically. Furthermore, since the rotation time of a single cycle varies in length, it is possible to promote the generation of the above-mentioned pulsating flow, invigorate the movement, and improve the cleaning efficiency. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the rotation time in one direction gradually increases while the rotation time in the other direction gradually decreases, so strong rotation in one direction occurs and a water flow similar to a swirl flow occurs. In addition to washing with less tangle and damage due to short-term, low-speed reversal, it is possible to wash with high cleaning effect. Furthermore, since the longest rotation time is located before and after the shortest rotation time, the difference in rotational force is at its maximum at that time, and the clothes can be moved vigorously in the same way as after washing in a whirlpool. In addition, since the sum of the left and right rotation times of each single cycle is made almost constant, it is less likely that pulsation occurs in only one direction of rotation, and even though the cleaning power is improved, uneven washing can be avoided. The occurrence of tangles is suppressed. Thus, in the case of washing, a water flow similar to a pulsating or whirlpool can be used to perform strong washing, and at the same time,
The biggest disadvantage of such a swirling water flow, which is cloth damage and cloth tangling, is suppressed by intermittent reversal. Therefore, even if the hardness, size, and softness of the cloth changes, it is possible to wash the cloth powerfully while suppressing cloth damage and tangles, and it is possible to wash various cloths with little variation. As a result, we have been able to significantly improve performance as shown in the table below. In particular, the fabric has very good results because it can suppress the floating of the cloth and thin synthetic fibers. The experimental conditions were in accordance with "Japanese Industrial Standard Electric Washing Machine JIS C 9606-1979" published by the Japanese Standards Association. Specifically, for each fabric, the experiment time was 10 minutes, and the amount of water was 42
, the cleaning ratio was calculated using a cloth weight of 3.3 kg (1.0 kg for underwear).

[Table] When rinsing, use the same water flow as washing.
The amount of water injected is large, and water is often injected all the time, such as during rinsing, so water tends to splatter. Therefore,
In this example, during rinsing, the left and right rotation times are the same; for example, the "strong" and "standard" water flows are
1.2 second rotation - 1.0 second pause reversal cycle, “soft”
The water flow uses a reversal cycle of 0.5 seconds of rotation and 1.2 seconds of rest. The rotational speed of the rotor during this reversal cycle is similarly low (approximately 180 [rpm]).
As a result, washing can be performed with good detergency, and rinsing can be performed without wasting water due to splashing or wetting the surrounding area. (G) Effects of the Invention In summary, according to the present invention, irregular or regular pulsating flow is generated during short-term intermittent reversal at low speed, and this is appropriately promoted, thereby making it possible to remove clothing. It can be moved very actively. Therefore, it is possible to provide an extremely high-performance and practical washing machine that can add washing that is less uneven and has strong detergency both in appearance and substance to the conventional washing that causes less tangles and damage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are time charts of reversing cycles of the first to third embodiments of the washing machine according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the same washing machine, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation. , FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the entire conventional example, FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the rotor, and FIG. 9 is a view taken along line A-O-B in FIG. 8. FIG. 1...Dehydrating and washing machine, 4...Rotary blade.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotary blade disposed at the bottom of the washing tub, a driving means for rotationally driving the rotary blade, and a drive means for rotating the rotary blade alternately left and right in a predetermined order at low speed every short period of time. and a microcomputer that commands a plurality of types of single periods in which the drive time of the drive means is long in one direction rotation and short in the opposite direction, and the sum of the forward and reverse rotation times is equal. It was stored in the ROM (read only memory) of the microcomputer, and during the washing process, the stored single cycles were sequentially read out, and at least once, a plurality of single cycles with mainly long rotation times in one direction, either left or right, were read out. A washing machine characterized in that a plurality of single periods whose rotation time in the other direction is mainly short are read later, and the rotary blade is rotated according to these read single periods.