JPS6232960B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic washing machine that automatically executes washing, draining, and rinsing steps in sequence according to a predetermined program, and particularly relates to a drain valve control device.

Conventionally, for example, in the case of a two-tank automatic washing machine,
The operating rod of the drain valve was connected to the plunger of an AC electromagnetic solenoid, and the electromagnetic solenoid was energized during the drainage process to attract the plunger and open the drain valve. Occasionally loud noises (approximately 60
(~80 db), which caused noise problems when used early in the morning or late at night, and its use was to be regulated. In addition, in order to reduce such noise, it has been proposed to use an expensive AC/DC switching type electromagnetic solenoid, or to encapsulate the entire solenoid in oil or cover it with a rubber body. However, in either case, the noise could not be completely eliminated, and the cost was high compared to the effectiveness.

On the other hand, even in the case of a so-called fully automatic washing machine with one tank,
Because an electromagnetic solenoid is used to connect and release the clutch mechanism that opens and closes the drain valve and switches between washing and spin-drying, the loud noises mentioned above are generated during the drain and spin-drying processes. was to have similar problems with automatic washing machines.

However, in the present invention, a small motor is used in place of the electromagnetic solenoid, which is a source of noise, and the drain valve is opened and closed using this motor.

First, prior to explaining the structure of the present invention, the conventional structure of a fully automatic washing machine will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a water tank, 2 is a washing/dehydration tank, 3 is a hollow dehydration shaft that fixedly supports the dehydration tank 2, and 4 is a pulsator 5 fixed to the upper end and a pulley 6 fixed to the lower end, respectively. 7 is a washing/drying motor that fixes a pulley 8 to the shaft; 9 is a belt suspended between both pulleys 6 and 8; 10 is a clutch boss 11 fixed to the pulsator shaft 4; A clutch spring 12 that is fitted across, and a clutch gear 1 that is located on the outer periphery of the spring 12 and that locks the lower end of the spring 12.
3, and a rotatable clutch lever 1 that engages and disengages the clutch cam 14 from the clutch gear 13 by rotation.
5 is a clutch mechanism, 16 is a drain valve provided in the drain path of the water tank 1, 17 is an electromagnetic solenoid that connects the plunger 20 to the operating rod 18 of the drain valve 16 via a connecting fitting 19; The clutch lever 15 is linked to the clutch lever 15.

In the above configuration, during the draining process, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is energized to attract the plunger 20 in the direction of arrow A and open the drain valve 16. At this time, the core of the electromagnetic solenoid 17 and the plunger 2
A loud collision sound occurs between 0 and 0. Also, during the dewatering process, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is energized to attract the plunger 20 in the direction of arrow A, and at the same time opens the drain valve 16, the clutch lever 15 is rotated in the direction of arrow A, and the clutch cam 14 and clutch gear 13 are rotated.
The clutch spring 12 is tightened to both the dewatering shaft 3 and the clutch boss 11 to transmit the rotational force of the washing/dehydrating motor 7 to the dehydrating shaft 3. generate sound.

As described above, this type of fully automatic washing machine generates loud noises due to the energization of the electromagnetic solenoids during each of the draining and dehydrating steps.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and the embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 3 to 11 will be described in detail below. In each figure, parts common to those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

First, in FIGS. 3 to 5, reference numeral 21 denotes a base on which the drain valve 16 is fixed on the upper surface of its end, and 22 connects one end to the operating rod 18 of the drain valve 16 via a spring 23, and the other end. It is an interlocking plate with a long hole 24 formed in it, and an interlocking protrusion 25 is formed in the middle part by cutting upward, and a pin 26 protruding downward is fixed by caulking. Numeral 27 is a bolt that is screwed and fixed to the base 21 and pivotally supports the guide 28. By inserting the guide 28 into the elongated hole 24, the interlocking plate 22 is supported in a reciprocating manner, and the drain valve is opened by the reciprocating movement. 16 opens and closes. One end of the clutch lever 15, which is always urged in the direction of arrow B (as shown in the third figure) by a spring 29, is in contact with the linking protrusion 25 of the linking plate 22, and as the linking plate 22 moves back and forth, the clutch lever 15 to move the clutch cam 14 to the clutch gear 13.
The clutch mechanism 10 is connected by engaging and disengaging from the
Switch to release (see Figures 1 and 2).

A drainage control motor 30 is fixed to the base 21 via a mounting plate 31, and is a small synchronous motor with a built-in reduction gear groove. 33 is a cam fixed to the rotating shaft 32 of the drainage control motor 30;
It has three protrusions 34 extending radially at 120 degrees apart, and as the drainage control motor 30 rotates, each protrusion 34
alternatively abuts the pin 26. Thus, the interlocking plate 22, spring 23, pin 26 and cam 3
3 and the like are located between the operating rod 18 of the drain valve 16, the clutch lever 15 of the clutch mechanism 10, and the rotating shaft 32 of the drain control motor 30;
This constitutes a transmission mechanism that repeatedly opens and closes the drain valve 16 and connects and releases the clutch mechanism 10 every time the motor rotates by a predetermined angle. 35 is a normally open reed switch installed at the end of the mounting plate 31, and 36 is a magnet installed on the interlocking plate 22, which turns on the reed switch 35 when the interlocking plate 22 moves to the position where the drain valve 16 is opened. The reed switch 35 and the reed switch 35 constitute a valve opening/closing detector that detects the opening/closing state of the drain valve 16 by the movement of the interlocking plate 22.

Next, in FIG. 6, numeral 37 is an electronic control circuit that can automatically execute from the washing process to the final dehydration process.
8, an arithmetic processing unit (CPU) 39, a clock control circuit 40, a memory 41, an input buffer control circuit 42, and an out buffer control circuit 43.

D indicates an external input section of the electronic control circuit 37, and in this external input section D, 44 is a power switch that supplies power to the device body, 45 is a lid switch that detects opening/closing of the lid, and 46 is a switch for the washing and dehydrating tank. Safety switch that detects abnormal vibration, 47 is "high", "medium", "low"
48 is a key switch for selecting a program or course, and 35 is a reed switch.

E indicates an external output section of the electronic control device 37, and in this external output section E, 30 is a drainage control motor, 49 is a water supply valve that controls water supply into the tank, and 7 is a motor that rotates a pulsator during the washing and rinsing processes. 50 is a display means provided with a light emitting diode corresponding to each process, and 51 is a buzzer. Each part of the external output section E is controlled to be energized by a switching element such as a thyristor.

The CPU 39 inputs the status of each part in the external input section D to the input buffer control circuit 42.
At the same time, by reading the process data from the memory 41, processes such as washing (including water supply), drainage, rinsing, dehydration, etc. are determined, and each part of the external output unit E necessary to execute the process is is controlled by applying a signal to the switching element from the out-buffer control circuit 43,
The process transition is performed by the CPU 3 using an electronic timer 38.
It is carried out in conjunction with 9.

Therefore, the electronic control circuit 37 performs washing, drainage,
Each step of rinsing and dewatering is automatically executed sequentially according to a program, and the program settings for the CPU 39 are used to control each step of draining and dewatering as shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 to 11. configured.

The control will be explained below.

During the washing process and the rinsing process, the drain valve 16 is
The clutch mechanism 10 is in a closed state as shown in FIGS.
In the disconnected state in which the motor 4 is engaged, the washing and dehydrating tub 2 is stopped because the rotational force of the washing and dehydrating motor 7 is not transmitted, and only the pulsator 5 rotates (see Figs. 1 and 2). ).

When the washing step or the rinsing step is completed, the process moves to a draining step or a draining/dewatering step.

(Normal Operation) Now, when moving to the drainage/dewatering process, the drainage control motor 30 is energized and starts rotating according to the flowchart of FIG. Then, along with this, cam 3
3 is the interlocking plate 2 due to the contact between the protrusion 34 and the pin 26.
2 in the direction of arrow A, pull up the operating rod 18 to open the drain valve 16, and at the same time close the clutch lever 1.
5 and rotate clutch cam 14 and clutch gear 1.
3 and switches the clutch mechanism 10 to the connected state.

When the drainage control motor 30 rotates by a predetermined angle, for example α degrees, and the pin 26 moves to point C, the magnet 36 approaches the reed switch 35 as shown in FIG. 5 and turns on the switch 35.
Then, as the reed switch 35 is turned on, power to the drain control motor 30 is stopped, and the pin 26 engages with the protrusion 34 of the cam 33 to hold the drain valve 16 in an open state, and the water in the water tank 1 is drained. Drainage is performed by discharging water to the outside through a drainage path,
This drainage process is executed for a preset time.
At this time, the clutch mechanism 10 is in a connected state.

When the draining process is completed, after confirming that the reed switch 35 is ON, that is, the drain valve 16 is open, and the clutch mechanism 10 is connected, the washing and dewatering motor 7 is energized to rotate, and the dewatering process begins. enter. The rotational force of the washing/extracting motor 7 is transmitted to the washing/extracting tank 2 by the clutch mechanism 10, and the laundry is dehydrated by rotating the tub 2. After this operation continues for a predetermined time, the rotational force is transferred to the washing/extracting motor 7. energization is stopped. After the energization is stopped, if the brake is left unapplied for a predetermined period of time, the inertial rotation of the washing and dehydrating tub 2 causes the dewatering to continue and stop naturally.

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the drainage control motor 30 is energized again and starts rotating, causing the protrusion 34 of the cam 33 to
The interlocking plate 22 is further moved in the direction of arrow A due to the contact between the pin 26 and the pin 26 . Eventually, the drainage control motor 3
0 rotates by a predetermined angle, for example, β degrees, the pin 26 moves out of the tip of the protrusion 34 of the cam 33, and the interlocking plate 22 moves in the direction of arrow B due to the return force of the spring 29. Due to this movement of the interlocking plate 22, the drain valve 16 is closed, and the clutch mechanism 10 is also switched to a disconnected state as the clutch cam 14 engages with the clutch gear 13, and furthermore, the reed switch 35 is turned off as the magnet 36 moves away. Become. The process ends by stopping the power supply to the drainage control motor 30 as the reed switch 35 is turned off.

Checking the ON state of the reed switch 35 between the draining process and the dewatering process is to prevent the drain valve 16 from opening completely for some reason and entering the dewatering process without sufficient drainage. This is to prevent this. Here, if the reed switch 35 is not in the ON state, it is confirmed whether or not the reed switch 35 is turned on by energizing the drainage control motor 30 again. If it is not turned on, the buzzer 51 notifies the user of an abnormality. ,ON
Then, the system returns to the position shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, and performs the desired operation thereafter.

(When opening the lid) When opening the lid during the dehydration process, first turn on the lid switch 4 as shown in the flowchart in Figure 8.
5 is turned OFF, and along with this OFF, the power supply to the washing and dewatering motor 7 is stopped, the brake is applied, and the dewatering operation is stopped. And reed switch 35
After confirming the ON state, the drain control motor 30 is rotated, the drain valve 16 is temporarily closed, and the clutch mechanism 10 is placed in each state of disconnection.

When the lid is closed again, the lid switch 45 is turned ON, the drain control motor 30 is rotated after confirming that the reed switch 35 is OFF, the reed switch 35 is turned ON, the drain valve 16 is opened, and the clutch mechanism 10 is connected. The drainage control motor 30 is stopped at the time of switching to each state. However, in this state, the washing and dewatering motor 7 is energized, and the dewatering process is restarted under control as shown in the subsequent flowchart of FIG.

(When unbalance occurs) If abnormal vibrations occur due to unbalanced laundry during the dehydration process, turn on the safety switch 46.
is turned OFF, and along with this OFF, the power supply to the washing and dewatering motor 7 is stopped, the brake is applied, and the dewatering operation is stopped. Then, in the same way as when opening the lid, the drain valve 16 is closed, the clutch mechanism 10 is switched to the disengaged state, and the buzzer 51 is operated intermittently, and at the same time, the light emitting diode that indicates the dehydration process is rapidly turned on. By blinking, it is notified that the laundry is in an unbalanced state.

Based on this notification, if the lid is opened, the unbalance of the laundry is corrected, and the lid is closed again, the dewatering process is restarted under control as shown in the flowchart below.

(Pause) When the temporary stop switch in the key switch 48 is turned on during the dehydration process, the washing/dehydration motor 7 is stopped, the drain valve 16 is closed, and the clutch mechanism 10 is connected, as in the case when the lid is opened or when an imbalance occurs. It switches to each state of release, stops the dewatering operation, and stands by in this state.

Then, when the start switch in the key switch 48 is turned on, the dewatering process is restarted under control as shown in the flowchart below.

(When the power switch is turned off) When the power switch 44 is turned off, the washing and dewatering motor 7 is stopped, and the light emitting diode displaying the process is turned off. If the reed switch 35 is in the ON state, the drainage control motor 3
0 to close the drain valve 16, clutch mechanism 1
After switching 0 to each state of disconnection, the self-holding relay is turned OFF and the process ends, and if it is in the OFF state, the self-holding relay is turned OFF and the process ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, the drain valve 16 can be opened and closed, and the clutch mechanism 10 can be connected and released by the small drain control motor 30. It does not cause noise problems such as loud noises, and can be used early in the morning or late at night without hesitation.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described.

1. Place the reed switch 35 in a position where it is turned on by the magnet 36 when the drain valve 16 is closed. In this case, the drain valve 16 is opened by checking the ON state of the reed switch 35, energizing the drain control motor 30 for a pre-calculated time and then stopping, and closing the drain valve 16 by turning the drain valve 16 on after energizing the drain control motor 30. Switch 35 is ON
This is done by stopping at that point.

2. The drainage control motor 30 may be controlled by a combination of a reed switch that is turned on when the drain valve 16 is opened and a second reed switch that is turned on when the drain valve 16 is closed.

In the above embodiment, a fully automatic washing machine has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to control the drain valve of a two-tank automatic washing machine.

Further, the number of protrusions 34 on the cam 33 may be one or two, but if the number is small, the time from the start of rotation of the drain control motor 30 to the start of the opening operation of the drain valve 16 will be longer, so the embodiment It is most desirable to limit the number to about three.

According to the configuration of the present invention as described above, a small motor is used in place of the electromagnetic solenoid, which is a source of noise, and this can open and close the drain valve, thereby eliminating the generation of large collision sounds during the draining process, etc. By reducing noise, noise problems caused by early morning or late night use can be solved. Moreover, the electronic control circuit controls the drain control motor based on the output signal of the valve open/close detector, and when the motor is energized, the shape of the cam is used to switch the drain valve from closed to open and from open to closed. By keeping the drain valve open or closed when the motor is stopped, there is no need to reverse the cam etc. when switching the drain valve from open to closed, thus eliminating the complicated mechanism required to reverse the valve. This eliminates the need for the drain valve, which makes it possible to provide an excellent product in terms of structure and cost.In addition, the drain valve can be maintained in a predetermined open state so that water can be drained in good condition at all times, and the drainage performance does not deteriorate. It is something.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are a schematic plan view and a vertical sectional view showing the main parts of a conventional washing machine, FIGS. 3 and 4 are a plan view and a sectional view showing the main parts of the washing machine of the present invention, and FIG. The figure is an explanatory diagram of the same operation as above, Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the control circuit as above, and Figures 7 to 1
FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the same operation. 1: Water tank, 2: Washing and dehydration tank, 7: Washing and dehydration motor, 10: Clutch mechanism, 15: Clutch lever, 16: Drain valve, 18: Operating rod, 22: Interlocking plate, 26: Pin, 30: Drainage Control motor, 33:
cam, 37: electronic control circuit, 38: electronic timer, 39: arithmetic processing unit, 41: memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drain valve provided in the drain path of the aquarium, an interlocking body connected to the operating rod of the drain valve, a valve opening/closing detector that detects the open/closed state of the drain valve by the movement of the interlocking body, and a drain control motor. , is rotated by the motor in a constant direction at a low speed via a reduction gear mechanism, and the rotation in the constant direction engages with the interlocking body, moves the interlocking body in the opening direction of the drain valve, and engages with the interlocking body. A cam is equipped with a protrusion that releases the valve when it rotates a predetermined angle from the engagement starting point, and a drain control motor is controlled based on the output signal of the valve open/close detector, and the drain valve is opened from closed by energizing the motor. An automatic washing machine characterized by comprising: an electronic control circuit that switches from open to closed and stops a drain control motor when a drain valve is open or closed.