JPS6160719B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a finishing agent supply device for a dehydrator having a so-called dehydrating and rinsing function.

In this type of dehydrator, in order to be able to perform a finishing treatment that attaches a soft finishing agent to the laundry after spin-drying and rinsing, first, water containing a finishing agent is continuously poured into the dehydrating basket during the finishing operation. It is necessary to be able to supply To address this request,
A dosing device for storing the finishing agent is provided, and the outlet diameter is narrowed to allow the finishing agent inside to flow out little by little, and the finishing agent flowing out from the injector is allowed to drip into the water channel that supplies water to the dewatering basket. It is considered. However, the outlet of the dosing device cannot be made too small in view of the problem of clogging, and therefore the finishing agent stored in the dosing device will flow out in a relatively short period of time, and the finishing agent-containing water will flow out. It is difficult to continuously supply this during finishing operation, and it has not yet been put to practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a finishing agent supply device for a dehydrator that can continuously supply water containing a finishing agent during finishing operation.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a two-tub type washing machine will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

First, in FIG. 1, 1 is an outer box of a washing machine, and inside this outer box 1, a washing tub 2 and a dewatering tank 3 are arranged side by side.
A stirring blade 5 driven by a washing motor 4 is disposed at the inner bottom of the washing tub 2. Further, a dewatering basket 7 driven by a dehydrating motor 6 is disposed in the dehydrating receiving tank 3, and a water sprinkling tube 8 is erected in the center of the dehydrating basket 7. Of the inner cover 10 and outer cover 11 for opening and closing the laundry entrance/exit 9 to the dehydration basket 7, a water injector 12 for injecting water into the water spray cylinder 8 is attached to the lower surface of the inner cover 10. The water spray tube 8 is made of sintered resin, for example, and is integrally molded so that there are countless water-permeable micropores in the wall, but it is also possible to use a metal pipe with a large number of small holes. good. On the other hand, 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes an operation box erected at the rear of the upper part of the outer box 1, and this operation box 13 includes a water supply solenoid valve 1 in addition to a washing timer 14, a dehydration timer 15, etc.
6 and lever 17, and by switching the switch 18, the water from the solenoid valve 16 is transferred to the washing tub 2 or to the water injection via the washing side waterway 19 or the dewatering side waterway 20. It is configured so that it can be selectively supplied to the container 12. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation box 13 is provided with a container 21 corresponding to a finishing agent input section, and the outlet section 21a of the container 21 has a relatively small diameter, so that the finishing agent stored in the container 21 can be removed. The solution is adapted to drip little by little from the outlet portion 21a. Further, in FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 22 denotes a retention section, which is located outside one side wall 20a of the dewatering side waterway 20 so that its bottom is located at approximately the same height as the bottom of the dewatering side waterway 20 (the main In the embodiment, they are located at exactly the same height) and are integrally formed so as to be located directly below the container 21, and the inside of this retention part 22 is a dewatering side waterway 20 and a water passage part formed in the side wall 20a. The two slits 23 and 24 communicate with each other. The bottom plate 13a of the operation box 13 is provided with an outlet portion 21a of the container 21.
A corresponding hole 25 is formed to allow the finishing agent solution to fall into the retention section 22.

The electrical circuit configuration on the dehydrator side will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. Reference numeral 26 is a lid switch that is closed when the outer lid 11 is closed, and 27 is a switch for a "dehydration rinsing" process or a "finishing" process, which will be described later. The dehydration selection switch 27 is used to select whether or not to proceed to the "dehydration" step after the completion of the dehydration process, and is operated by push buttons 28 and 29 provided on the operation box 13. Further, 30 is a buzzer for notifying the end of the above-mentioned "dehydration" process, and 31 is a water injection switch that is switched in conjunction with switching of the knob 18 by the lever 17. On the other hand, the dehydration timer 15 is operated by the timer motor 32.
It is also equipped with a plurality of cam switches 33 to 37 that are opened and closed by a group of cams using the timer motor 32 as a driving source.
6, 27, and 31 are connected as shown in FIG. Each of the cam switches 33 to 37 of the dewatering timer 15 opens and closes as shown in FIG. 5, and the hatched portions indicate their closing periods. That is, the dewatering timer 15 has two operating bands, which are represented by one rotation of the knob 38 as shown in FIG. and the operating range shown by the angle range of A.
The operation zone consists of the conventional "dehydration rinsing" step and the "dehydration" step immediately after it, and the B operation zone consists of the newly created "finishing" step and the "dehydration" step immediately after it. The cam switch 37 is then alternately closed for 3 seconds and opened for 6 seconds, for example, during the entire period of both operation bands A and B. Also, the cam switch 36 is set to "dehydration rinse" for 9 minutes.
During the process, the state in which joint pieces c and b are closed for 1 minute and the disconnected state in which joint piece c is not connected to either piece a or b for 1 minute are repeated alternately, and the time is set for 4 minutes. In the "finishing" process, the first half of the 3-minute joint c-a is closed, and the second half is 1-minute joint c-b. '' During the process, the closed state between the intermediate pieces c and b is maintained.

When the water injection changeover switch 31 is set to close contact pieces c and b, the water supply electromagnetic valve 16 can be manually controlled to be energized and disconnected when water is supplied to the washing tub 2. Further, 39 is an AC power source.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. To dehydrate and rinse the laundry that has been washed with detergent in the washing tub 2, the laundry is transferred to the space around the water spray tube 8 in the dehydration basket 7, and the inner lid 10 and outer lid 11 are closed (the lid switch is turned on). 26 closed), then the lever 17 is used to switch the pot 18 to the water supply side of the water injector 12 (the water injection changeover switch 31 contacts c and a are closed), and the dewatering selection switch 27 is set to the contact c and a closed. Then, operate the knob 38 of the dehydration timer 15 to set it to the starting point of the "dehydration rinse" process. As a result, each of the cam switches 33 to 37 is in the open/close state as shown in FIG. 5, so that the timer motor 32 is energized and starts a timed operation, and the water supply solenoid valve 16 and the dewatering motor 6 are energized. Then, the dewatering basket 7 is driven and its rotational speed is increased, and water from the water supply solenoid valve 16 is supplied to the water injector 1.
2 and injected into the water spray cylinder 8 from its outlet 12a. The water injected into the water spray tube 8 is vigorously jetted out toward the surrounding laundry 40 from the water-permeable micropores in the peripheral wall due to its water head and rotating centrifugal force, and then passes through the laundry 40 due to the centrifugal dewatering action. It is discharged into the dehydration tank 3 together with the detergent.
Therefore, water is poured into the water spray tube 8 using the cam switch 3.
3 is maintained in the closed state during the "dehydration rinsing" process and the water supply solenoid valve 16 is continuously energized, while the dehydration basket 7 is operated by the dehydration motor 6 alternately at one-minute intervals by the cam switch 36. Because the power is turned on and off, the drive rotation and inertia rotation are repeated every minute, and the rotation speed increases to approximately 1300r.pm during each drive rotation and approximately 200r.pm during each inertia rotation. (The rotation mode of this dehydration basket 7 is shown in FIG. 7). In this way, the rotation speed of the dehydration basket 7 repeatedly increases and decreases during the dehydration and rinsing operation, so that the laundry 40
The speed of the water passing through the inside of the laundry 40 becomes low, and the water permeates the laundry 40 evenly, and in the high-speed rotation range, the speed of the water passing through the laundry 40 increases, and the water that has penetrated is actively shaken off. By repeating such water permeation and shaking off, the dewatering and rinsing efficiency can be improved. Now, when the "dehydration and rinsing" process is finished and you move on to the "dehydration" process,
Since the cam switch 33 opens and the water supply solenoid valve 16 is de-energized, water injection into the water spray tube 8 is stopped, and the cam switch 36 continues to close the final contact piece c-b in the "dewatering and rinsing" process. Therefore, the dehydration motor 6 is continuously energized, and the dehydration basket 7 is thereby continuously driven and rotates at a higher speed than the maximum rotation during the "dehydration and rinsing" process (see Fig. 7), thereby removing the laundry from the laundry 40. Dehydration is performed to remove water by shaking it off. Then, at the end of the "dehydration" process, the cam switch 34 closes and the buzzer 30 sounds, and then all the cam switches 33 to 3
7 is turned off, and the dehydration operation ends.

The laundry 40 that has been dehydrated and rinsed as described above is finished with a fluorescent agent, a softening agent, etc. as follows. That is, the container 2 of the operation box 13
A finishing agent solution diluted with a small amount of water is injected into the dehydration timer 15, and the knob 38 of the dehydration timer 15 is operated to set the start point of the "finishing" process. As a result,
At the same time as the cam switches 33 and 35 are closed, the cam switch 36 closes the contact piece ca. At this time, the lid switch 26 is in the closed state, and the dehydration changeover switch 27 and the water injection changeover switch 31 are also in the state of closing the contact pieces c and a, as in the case of dehydration and rinsing, so the timer motor 32 is in the closed state. The water supply solenoid valve 16 and the dewatering motor 6 are energized to start a timed operation.

By the way, the finishing agent solution injected and stored in the container 21 starts dripping into the retention part 22 simultaneously with the injection. At the same time, the water supply solenoid valve 16
The water flows out of the dewatering water channel 20 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. , and the water is in the retention part 2
The finishing agent solution is mixed with the finishing agent solution dropped into the water passageway 2, and sequentially flows out from the slit 24 on the downstream side into the dewatering side waterway 20 and dissolves in the water flowing in the waterway 20.
Therefore, the water flowing in the dewatering water channel 20 finally becomes water containing a finishing agent and is injected into the water spray tube 8 from the water injector 12. On the other hand, since the dewatering motor 6 is turned on and off by the cam switch 37, which repeats opening and closing, the dewatering basket 7 is rotated intermittently by the dewatering motor 6 for 3 seconds and inertly rotated for 6 seconds. Due to this intermittent drive, the rotational speed of the dewatering basket 7 gradually increases, but the increase is gradual and the speed is not that high.As a result, the average speed of the dehydrating basket 7 during the "finishing" process The rotational speed is approximately 200r.pm, which is the average rotational speed in the "dehydration and rinsing" process (approximately 800r.pm).
m) (see Figure 7). The water containing the finishing agent injected into the water spray barrel 8 is ejected toward the laundry 40 due to its water head and rotational centrifugal force, passes through the laundry 40, and finally enters the dewatering tank 3. released within. At this time, as described above, since the dehydration basket 7 is rotating at a lower speed than during dehydration and rinsing, the water containing the finishing agent does not pass through the laundry 40 all at once.
The ideal condition for the adhesion of the finishing agent is achieved, in which the finishing agent impinges on the fabric of the laundry 40 while evenly penetrating the surface of the laundry 40, making it possible to effectively adhere the finishing agent to the laundry 40. become. When such an intermittent drive operation of the dehydration basket 7 is performed for 3 minutes, the cam switch 36 switches from closing the contact pieces ca to closing the contact pieces c and b, so that the dehydration motor 6 performs the "finishing" operation. Electricity is continuously applied for the remaining one minute of the process, and as a result, the rotational speed of the dehydration basket 7 increases significantly (see FIG. 7). The reason why the dewatering basket 7 is continuously driven in the latter half of the "finishing" process is that in the previous intermittent drive, the force of the water passing through the laundry 40 was weak and the amount of finishing agent adhering to the laundry near the top was small. Since the rotational speed tends to decrease compared to the lower one, the purpose is to compensate for this by increasing the rotational speed. Now, when the "finishing" process is completed and the transition to the "dewatering" process begins, the cam switch 33 opens and the water supply solenoid valve 16 is cut off, so water injection into the water spray tube 8 is stopped and the cam switch 36 is opened. "Finish"
In order to maintain the closure between contact pieces c and b in the latter half of the stroke, the dewatering motor 6 is continuously energized, and as a result, the dehydrating basket 7 continues to increase its rotational speed to a high-speed rotation state, and the laundry 40 is dehydrated. conduct. Of course, in this case, the laundry 40
The finishing agent that adheres to the surface does not come off due to dehydration, and only the moisture is mainly shaken off.

By the way, when performing each of the dehydration rinsing or finishing operations as described above, if the dehydration changeover switch 27 is set to close contact between c and b, each process of ``dehydration rinsing'' or ``finishing'' can be performed. Since the operation is stopped when the water is completely shaken off, this is convenient for fabrics that wrinkle or shrink when the water is completely shaken off.

The time it takes for the finishing agent solution stored in the container 21 to drip completely tends to vary due to differences in the viscosity of the finishing agent. Solution supply may stop. However, since the amount of water per unit time that enters the retention section 22 through the slit 23 is relatively small and its flow velocity is also quite slow compared to the main stream in the dewatering side waterway 20, the retention area containing a high concentration of finishing agent. Thereafter, the water in the section 22 sequentially flows out into the dewatering side waterway 20, but stays in the retention section 22 for a relatively long time, supplying finishing agent into the dewatering side waterway 20 until the end of the "finishing" process. Continue to do so.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since water containing a finishing agent can be supplied to the laundry 40 over substantially the entire period of the "finishing" process, reliable finishing can be performed. Moreover, even if the finishing agent solution in the container 21 is completely dripped out before the end of the "finishing" process, the retention part 2
2 allows the finishing agent to be continuously supplied into the dewatering side waterway 20, so even if the dripping time from the container 21 is short, there is no problem even if it flows down all at once. need not be that small, and clogging problems will not occur. Furthermore, since there is no problem even if the dropping time from the container 21 varies, it is possible to deal with various finishing agents having different viscosities. Furthermore, the water containing the finishing agent present in the retention section 22 is gradually diluted by the fresh water that enters from the slit 23, and almost completely flows out when the water supply solenoid valve 16 is turned off, so that the finishing agent is not finished. There is almost no residual agent left, making it possible to eliminate the need for cleaning. In addition, the amount of water flowing out from the retention section 22 depends on the amount of water that has entered the retention section 22, and therefore, if the amount of water flowing in the dewatering side waterway 20 decreases due to a decrease in water pressure, etc. Since the amount of water entering the section 22 also decreases, an amount of water corresponding to the amount of water flowing in the dewatering side channel 20 flows out from the retention section 22, and the finishing agent that has not been diluted is removed. There is no fear that the laundry 40 in the dewatering basket 7 will be supplied, and the problem of yellowing of the laundry 40 does not occur.

Of course, since the laundry after spin-drying and rinsing can be finished while being stored in the spin-drying basket 7,
After dehydration and rinsing, the laundry has to be transferred into the washing tub 2, washed to mix it well with the finishing agent, and then transferred to the dehydration basket 7 again for dehydration. It is not expensive and can save water.

Next, FIGS. 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as those in the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and only the different parts will be explained. That is, 41
is a stirring device, which is composed of a water wheel 42 which is a driving part located in the dewatering side waterway 20 and an impeller 43 which is a stirring part located in the retention part 22.
2a and 43a are both pivotally supported on the bottom plate 13a of the operation box 13. Transmission wheels 44 and 45 having radial strips are attached to the upper portions of both shafts 42a and 43a to transmit the rotation of the water wheel 42 to the impeller 43. When water flows in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 43, and the rotation of the impeller 43 causes the retention part 22
Stir the water inside. Therefore, when a highly concentrated finishing agent solution is dripped from the container 21 during the "finishing" step, the finishing agent solution is mixed with the water in the retention section 22 by the stirring action of the impeller 43. Therefore, even if the finishing agent has a high viscosity, it can be sufficiently diluted with water in the retention section 22, and because of this dilution, it dissolves well in the water flowing in the dewatering side channel 20, and the highly concentrated finishing agent Discoloration caused by adhering to laundry can be prevented.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment, which differs from the previous embodiment in that an intermediate reservoir 46 located directly below the container 21 is recessed in the bottom plate 13a of the operation box 13. . This intermediate storage section 46 is located within the storage section 22 and has an outlet section 46a.
The bottom portion including the bottom portion is submerged in water within the retention portion 22. With this configuration, water that has entered the retention section 22 also enters the intermediate storage section 46. On the other hand, the finishing agent solution stored in the container 21 is first dripped into the intermediate storage section 46 and dissolved in the water, and then is dissolved in the water at the outlet section 46a of the intermediate storage section 46.
It gradually dissolves into the water in the retention section 22.
In this way, even if the finishing agent solution in the container 21 is completely dripped, a considerably thick amount of finishing agent solution still exists in the intermediate storage section 46, and the finishing agent continues to be supplied into the retention section 22 thereafter. Therefore, together with the effect of extending the supply time of the finishing agent by the retention section 22, it becomes possible to continue supplying the finishing agent to the dewatering side waterway 20 for a longer period of time. Moreover, the intermediate storage section 4
Since the outlet portion 46a of No. 6 is submerged in water and is constantly subjected to cleaning action by the water, there is no problem of clogging.

Of course, the intermediate storage part 46 may be configured so that the finishing agent solution is dripped into the retention part 22 without being submerged in the water in the retention part 22. In such a case, the intermediate storage part 46
If the diameter of the opening 6a is made small so that the amount of liquid dripped is gradually reduced, a sufficient effect of extending the finishing agent supply time can be obtained.

In each of the embodiments described above, the dewatering side waterway 20 and the retention section 22 are connected by two slits 2.
3 and 24, but this may be done only through the slit 23 on the upstream side as shown in FIG. Since the water enters the retention portion 22 and flows out, the same effect can be obtained.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with various changes without departing from the gist thereof.

As explained above, the present invention can extend the supply time of the finishing agent by the retention section, so that water containing the finishing agent can be continuously supplied to the laundry during finishing operation, and the water containing the finishing agent can be continuously supplied to the laundry during finishing operation. You can finish the rinsed laundry as it is. Moreover,
Since the retention part is integrally formed in the middle of the water channel, the construction is simple as there is no need for a hose etc. to connect the waterway and the retention part, and the amount of finishing agent that flows out from the retention part is reduced. Since it depends on the amount of water flowing in the channel, even if the amount of water flowing in the channel is small, the finishing agent can be supplied to the laundry in a sufficiently diluted state, preventing yellowing of the laundry. It is possible to obtain excellent effects such as.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a two-tub washing machine, Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken along the line - in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the dewatering side waterway, Fig. 4 is an electric circuit diagram, Fig. 5 is a time chart, Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the knob of the dehydration timer, Fig. 7 is a rotation mode diagram of the dehydration basket, and Figs. 8 and 9 show other embodiments. FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 and a cross-sectional view, FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a modification of the retention section. In the figure, 2 is a washing tank, 3 is a dehydration tank, 6 is a dehydration motor, 7 is a dehydration basket, 8 is a water sprinkler, 12 is a water injector,
15 is a timer for dehydration, 16 is a solenoid valve for water supply, 1
8 is a pot, 20 is a dewatering side waterway, 21 is a container (input part), 22 is a retention part, 23 and 24 are slits (water passage part), 41 is a stirring device, 42 is a water wheel (drive part), 43 is a blade The wheel (stirring section) 46 is an intermediate storage section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a dehydrator that rinses laundry by centrifugal dehydration by rotating the dehydrating basket while pouring water into the laundry in the dehydrating basket, a water channel is installed in the water channel that guides water from a water source to the dehydrating basket. A retention part having a water passage part through which part of the flowing water enters and flows out is integrally formed so that the bottom part is located at approximately the same height as the bottom of the waterway and is separated from the waterway. A finishing agent supply device for a dehydrator, characterized in that the finishing agent is supplied from the input section to the retention section.