JPS61141398A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention comprises a washing tub having a peripheral wall composed of a fixed peripheral wall part and a movable peripheral wall part, and the washing effect is achieved mainly through frictional contact between these two walls and the laundry. About the washing machine you get.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Among conventional washing machines, those with rotating blades that generate a water flow using rotating blades to achieve the cleaning effect require a large washing tank volume relative to the amount of laundry because the washing machine essentially uses a water current to move the laundry. , this means that the amount of laundry to be washed in - times is small. Furthermore, when there are few stones, the water flow becomes extremely strong, resulting in excessive cleaning, while when the number of stones increases, the speed of the water flow decreases, and the cleaning effect tends to decrease rapidly. Furthermore, since contact between the laundry and the rotating blades occurs only incidentally and only partially, it is not possible to expect a scrubbing effect over the entire laundry.
On the contrary, it will partially damage the laundry.

On the other hand, there is a new method that has recently removed the rotating blades, in which the entire washing tank is intermittently rotated while containing water and laundry, and the cleaning effect is obtained by the speed difference between the water and the laundry. Although this method has the advantage of not damaging the laundry, it has the disadvantage that the speed difference between the laundry and water is small and the movement is simple, resulting in low cleaning effectiveness. .

[Purpose of the invention]

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method that can be expected to achieve better cleaning effects and prevent cloth damage than conventional methods without using the conventional rotary blades or the rotation of the entire washing tank, as well as to wash a large amount of clothes at one time, and to achieve appropriate cleaning effects. A washing machine that increases the range of the amount of cloth that can be maintained
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[Summary of the invention]

The present invention forms the peripheral wall of a washing tub by a fixed peripheral wall located above and a movable peripheral wall located below, stores laundry together with water in such a washing tank, and rotates the movable peripheral wall in forward and reverse directions. The laundry is rotated so that the laundry is caused to flow mainly due to the force of contact with the movable peripheral wall part, and the laundry is washed by a synergistic effect with the frictional force received from the fixed peripheral wall part in the upper part. The scrubbing effect due to the friction between the fixed peripheral wall and the movable peripheral wall of the laundry and the friction between the laundry and the laundry is subjected to force in different directions from the fixed peripheral wall and the movable peripheral wall. In addition, by providing a protrusion that protrudes over the entire circumference at the upper end of the movable peripheral wall, small items such as coins and hairpins that have been forgotten to take out from the laundry can be removed from the fixed peripheral wall. This prevents the movable peripheral wall from jumping out from the gap between the movable peripheral wall and the movable peripheral wall.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a dehydrating and washing machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box, inside of which a water receiving tank 2 is arranged, which is elastically supported via a hanging rod mechanism 3 so as to be swingable. Reference numeral 4 designates a washing tank, which essentially consists of a fixed surrounding wall and a movable surrounding wall located below the fixed surrounding wall. This is achieved by a combination of a fixed tank 5 that rotates at high speed and is stopped during washing, and an agitator 6 shaped like a shallow container. This will be explained in detail below. The fixed tank 5 is composed of a tank body 7 made of plastic and a cylindrical wall body 8 made of plastic that is fitted and fixed inside the upper half of the tank body 7. In this case, the inner diameter of the cylindrical wall 8 is set to be smaller than the tank body 7 by an amount equivalent to the protruding width of the reinforcing ribs 8a protruding from the outer peripheral surface, and the lower end wall surface is oriented outward so as to be in contact with the tank body 7. It is configured as a sloped surface 9 that protrudes and slopes downward toward the outside. The fixed tank 5 configured in this way is placed in the water receiving tank 2 and its outer bottom is connected to the hollow dehydration shaft 10, and the container-shaped stirring body 6 is arranged below along the inner peripheral wall of the fixed tank 5. and its outer bottom is connected to the washing shaft 11. At this time, the height of the peripheral wall of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is set to approximately half the height, that is, the depth, of the fixed tank 5 so that the container-shaped stirring body 6 is located below the cylindrical wall 8.

Further, the circumferential wall of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is formed into a tapered shape that expands upward, and its diameter is set to a size within a range that allows rotation within the fixed tank 5, and the upper end is inclined at the lower end of the cylindrical wall 8. It is sized so as to be located within the protruding range of the slanted surface 9 so as to face the slanted surface 9. Reference numeral 12 denotes an annular body attached to the container-shaped stirring body 6, which has an upper surface formed into an inclined surface substantially parallel to the inclined surface 9 of the cylindrical wall 8, and a cylindrical fitting portion 12a at the lower part of the outer circumferential side. ,1
2b are integrally formed, and notches 12G are intermittently formed in the outer fitting portion 12a, and an engaging claw serving as a convex portion facing the notch 12C is formed in the inner fitting portion 12b. 12
d protrudes intermittently. The annular body 12 is fixedly attached to the circumferential wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 by engaging the engagement claws 12d with the engagement holes 13, which are recesses formed intermittently in the circumferential wall of the container-shaped agitator 6. There is. The annular body 12 mounted on the container-shaped stirring body 6 in this manner is configured such that the inner periphery side flange 12e projects inwardly over the entire circumference at the upper end of the stirring body 6. In addition, 14
6 is a balancer integrally formed at the upper end of the cylindrical wall body 8;
Numerals a and 8b are protrusions provided on the inner circumferential surfaces of the container-shaped stirring body 6 and the cylindrical wall body 8, respectively. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the washing tank 4 also serves as a dehydration tank, and for this purpose, a large number of dehydration holes 15 and 16 are formed in the tank body 7 and the cylindrical wall 8 of the fixed tank 5. Reference numeral 17 denotes a power control mechanism, which transmits the rotational force of the washing machine motor 18 to the washing shaft 11 at a reduced speed and alternately reverses during washing, and transmits it to the spin-driving shaft 10 and the washing shaft 11 during spin-drying to rotate the rotational power of the washing machine motor 18 to the fixed tank 5. A deceleration mechanism, a clutch mechanism, a brake mechanism, etc. are built in to rotate the stirrer 6 integrally with the container-shaped stirring body 6. 19 is a timer, which automatically controls each process from washing to final dehydration. Reference numeral 20 denotes a drain valve that allows water in the washing tank 4 to be discharged from the bottom of the water receiving tank 2 to the outside of the machine via a drain hose 21.

In the above configuration, in the washing operation, the fixed tank 5 is restrained by the brake mechanism so as not to rotate, and the container-shaped agitator 6 is rotated forward and backward, so that the cylinder of the fixed tank 5 is exposed upward from the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6. The shaped wall body 8 is made to function as a fixed peripheral wall part of the peripheral wall of the washing tank 4, and the peripheral wall of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is made to function as a movable peripheral wall part.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. During washing, approximately the same amount of water as in the case of a conventional rotary blade type washing machine is supplied into the water receiving tank 2 and hence into the washing tank 4, and the laundry is thrown in. The washing operation is carried out by rotating only the container-shaped agitator 6 in forward and reverse directions while the fixed tank 5 is restrained by a brake mechanism so as not to rotate. In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is within the range of 120 to 180 revolutions per minute, and the direction of rotation is reversed approximately every 2 to 3 revolutions.

In such a washing operation, since the laundry comes into contact with the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 and the cylindrical wall 8 of the fixed tank 5, the laundry rotates in the lower part due to frictional contact with the container-shaped agitator 6. A force is applied, and the upper part receives a restraining force due to frictional contact with the cylindrical wall 8. Simultaneously receiving these different directions of FJ frictional force exerts a twisting or compressing effect on the laundry, and this also causes the laundry to become This is repeated by reversing the rotational direction of the agitator 6, and the centrifugal force that accompanies the rotation of the container-shaped agitator 6 moves the laundry into the container-shaped agitator 6.
By being pushed in the direction of the circumferential wall and receiving the reaction inward from the upper cylindrical wall 8, an action of vertically inverting is also produced, giving a complex movement. Therefore, while the laundry is scrubbed by the large friction between the cloths due to such complicated movements and by the large friction with the peripheral walls of the cylindrical wall 8 and the container-shaped agitator 6, it is also scrubbed by repeated twisting and compression. The cleaning effect is as shown in FIG. 4 as an example of the results of a comparative experiment. In FIG. 4, curve A is according to the present invention, curve B is C shows the cleaning ratio characteristics when using the conventional rotating blade system, and C shows the cleaning ratio characteristics when using the washing tank rotating system that was considered prior to the present invention, and it can be seen that the cleaning performance according to the present invention is superior.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the laundry is moved by frictional contact with the cylindrical wall 8 and the circumferential wall of the container-shaped agitator 6, so as the amount of cloth increases, the frictional force also increases, and the degree of movement of the laundry increases as the amount of cloth increases. There is little deterioration, and therefore the rate of deterioration of the cleaning effect is small. Moreover, when the amount of laundry is small, the frequency of contact of the container-shaped agitator 6 with the peripheral wall is low, and the contact Sat force is extremely small. Since the water flow is generated almost entirely over the entire area and the water is washed, the water flow does not become extremely strong unlike the conventional rotating blade method, so there is no over-washing and the washing is done properly regardless of the amount of cloth. The degree can be ensured. These facts mean that the range of cloth amounts that can maintain an appropriate cleaning effect is wider than in the case of the prior art described above (see FIG. 4).

By the way, when washing as described above, if there are small items such as coins, hairpins, or curtain hooks in the laundry, if they fall into the container-shaped stirring body 6, the centrifugal force caused by the rotation will cause the stirring body to It may rise along the inner peripheral surface of 6. However, since the annular body 12 is provided at the upper end of the container-shaped stirring body 6, the small objects that have risen will hit the flange 12e of the annular body 12 and be returned into the container-shaped stirring body 6. It does not jump out into the fixed tank 5 through the gap between the peripheral wall of the container-shaped stirring body 6 and the cylindrical wall 8. Therefore, small items may become entangled with the washing shaft 11 and lock it, or the entire item must be disassembled to remove it, or even may enter the water receiving tank 2 and clog the drain valve 20. There will be no inconvenience caused. However, ordinary laundry can move freely without being prevented from lifting or washing by the annular body 12.

On the other hand, the dewatering operation of this embodiment is performed by connecting the drain water by opening the drain valve 20, releasing the restraint of the fixed tank 5 by the brake mechanism, and rotating the fixed tank 5 and the container-shaped stirring body 6 together in one direction. It is done.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, concave portions and convex portions for attaching and fixing the annular body 12 may be formed by forming four portions on the annular body 12 and convex portions, contrary to the above-described embodiments. The container-shaped stirring body 6 may be provided with a portion projecting therefrom. Further, in the above embodiment, the protruding portion constituted by the annular body 12 may be formed integrally with the container-shaped stirring body 6. Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a washing machine without a dewatering function, and in this case, the peripheral wall of the fixed tank may be made non-porous to store water within itself, and the water receiving tank may be removed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, as described above, since the laundry mainly comes into contact with the fixed peripheral wall and the movable peripheral wall and is moved by the synergistic effect of the respective frictional forces, the movement required for washing can be carried out with a large amount of cloth. Therefore, if the volume of the washing tank is the same, the amount of laundry that can be washed in one cycle is much larger than that of conventional methods.Moreover, it is possible to expect better cleaning effects than conventional methods, and there is less damage to the fabric, allowing for proper washing. Since the range of the amount of cloth that can maintain the effect is wide, it is possible to avoid excessive or insufficient cleaning effect depending on the amount of cloth.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the upper end portion of the movable peripheral wall portion
11, the movable circumferential wall is provided with a protrusion that protrudes inward over the entire circumference of the movable circumferential wall, which prevents small objects from flying out from the gap between the fixed circumferential wall and the movable circumferential wall. It has excellent effects such as being able to prevent problems such as requiring a lot of effort and clogging the drain valve.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the main part, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, and FIG. 4 is a cleaning ratio characteristic curve diagram. In the figure, 2 is a water receiving tank, 4 is a washing tank, 5 is a fixed tank (fixed peripheral wall part, 6 is a container-shaped stirring body, movable peripheral wall part), 12 is an annular body (projecting part), 12a and 12b are fitting parts. 12d is an engaging claw (convex part), 126 is a collar part, 13 is an engaging hole (concave part), 18
is a washing machine motor. Applicant: Toshiba Corporation No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 Laundry volume (Figure 9) →

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The peripheral wall of the washing tank is composed of a fixed peripheral wall located above and a movable peripheral wall located below and driven to rotate in forward and reverse directions, and the laundry is placed in the washing tank together with water. The laundry is stored and washed by driving the movable peripheral wall to rotate in forward and reverse directions, the movable peripheral wall having a wall protruding inwardly over its entire circumference at an upper end portion of the movable peripheral wall. A washing machine characterized by being provided with a protruding part that does. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion is constituted by an annular body separate from the movable circumferential wall portion and attached to the upper end portion of the movable circumferential wall portion. 3. The annular body has a fitting part that fits into the movable peripheral wall, and the movable peripheral wall is engaged with the fitting part and a recess formed in one of the movable peripheral wall and a convex part formed in the other. Claim 2, characterized in that it is attached and fixed to the part.
Washing machines listed in section.