JP7465392B2 - Electrical equipment with a drum-type rotating tub - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electrical device having a drum-type rotating tub, and in particular to an electrical device in which the opening direction of the door covering the drum-type rotating tub can be changed.

In drum-type washing machines with front-opening doors, the door opening direction (right-opening/left-opening) may be selected depending on the surrounding conditions at the installation site. For this reason, drum-type washing machines are usually sold in a lineup of two types of products, one that opens to the right and one that opens to the left.

However, even if a product is purchased as a left-hand door, if the installation location is changed due to moving, etc., it may become necessary to open it from the right. For such cases, drum-type washing machines have been proposed that allow the door opening direction to be changed by replacing parts, etc. (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2018-7827 A JP 2004-105268 A

However, in the drum-type washing machines disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, changing the door opening direction requires replacing the entire door hinge, and there is a problem in that the work is cumbersome because there are many parts to replace. If the work of changing the door opening direction is cumbersome, it is difficult for the user to perform the change work by themselves. Even if the user can change the door opening direction by themselves, there is a problem in that the door may fall during the work, or the drum-type washing machine may become unsafe after the work is completed due to an operational error (for example, forgetting to tighten the screws after replacing a part fixed with a screw).

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide an electrical device with a drum-type rotating tub that allows the door opening direction to be changed with a simple operation.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electrical device having a drum-type rotating tub and capable of changing the direction in which a door covering the drum-type rotating tub opens, the electrical device comprising: a device body having an opening communicating with the drum-type rotating tub; a door having a door-side upper pin holding hole at the top on each of the left and right sides and a door-side lower pin holding hole at the bottom on each of the left and right sides; an upper hinge holding part provided on each of the left and right sides of the device body and having a body-side upper pin holding hole that overlaps with the door-side upper pin holding hole above the door-side upper pin holding hole; and a lower hinge holding part provided on each of the left and right sides of the device body and having a body-side lower pin holding hole that overlaps with the door-side lower pin holding hole below the door-side lower pin holding hole. The device is characterized by having a holding portion, an upper hinge pin that is inserted from above the main body upper pin holding hole into the main body upper pin holding hole and is removably inserted into the door upper pin holding hole to rotatably attach the upper end of the door to the device main body, a lower hinge pin that is removably inserted into both the main body lower pin holding hole and the door lower pin holding hole to rotatably attach the lower end of the door to the device main body, and an upper extension portion that is formed between the main body upper pin holding holes provided on both the left and right sides of the device main body, including a portion that extends left and right further forward than the main body upper pin holding hole, and that is located above the door when the door is in a closed state covering the drum-type rotating tub.

The electrical device of the present invention has the advantage that the operation of changing the door opening direction can be performed simply by inserting and removing the upper and lower hinge pins and removing and installing the door, making the operation simple.

1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a drum-type washing machine as viewed obliquely from the front and obliquely from above. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a door mounting structure of the drum type washing machine. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the drum type washing machine with the hinge cover removed. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a front left corner of a drum-type washing machine with a hinge cover removed, viewed obliquely from above. FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the drum type washing machine with the upper hinge pin removed. 5A is a perspective view showing an upper hinge pin, and FIG. 5B is an enlarged top view of the front left corner of the drum type washing machine with the upper hinge pin removed from the state shown in FIG. 4 . 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a front left corner of a drum-type washing machine with a hinge cover removed, viewed obliquely from above. FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the drum-type washing machine with the door removed. FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an example of the positional relationship between the upper hinge pin and the pin removal restriction protrusion, in which (a) shows the state in which the door is closed, (b) shows the state in which the door is open at an angle of 90°, and (c) shows the state in which the door is open at the maximum angle. 10A and 10B are plan views showing other examples of the positional relationship between the upper hinge pin and the pin removal regulating protrusion, in which (a) shows the door closed state, (b) shows the door open at an angle of 90°, and (c) shows the door open at the maximum angle. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a modification of the drum-type washing machine shown in FIG. 3 with the hinge cover removed. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a modification of the drum-type washing machine shown in FIG. 3 with the hinge cover removed. 1A and 1B are perspective views showing a first specific example of a structure for preventing a door from falling when an upper hinge pin is removed, in which FIG. 1A shows the door in a closed state, and FIG. 11A and 11B are perspective views showing a second example of a structure for preventing a door from falling when an upper hinge pin is removed, in which (a) shows the door in a closed state and (b) shows the door in an open state. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the door-side lower pin retaining hole provided in the door and the lower hinge pin provided in the lower protrusion, where (a) is an enlarged bottom view of one end of the door, (b) is an enlarged top view of one end of the door placed on the lower protrusion, and (c) and (d) are A-A cross-sectional views of (b).

[First embodiment]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a drum type washing machine 1 according to the first embodiment when viewed obliquely from the front and from obliquely above. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a door mounting structure of the drum type washing machine 1 according to the first embodiment. The drum type washing machine 1 is a general term for a drum type washer-dryer capable of washing and drying, and a drum type washing machine that only washes without drying. In addition, the present invention is applied to an electrical device having a drum type rotating tub, and such an electrical device includes a drum type dryer in addition to a drum type washing machine.

The drum-type washing machine (electrical equipment) 1 is roughly composed of a washing machine main body (equipment main body) 10 and a door 20. The washing machine main body 10 has a drum-type rotating tub inside and a laundry inlet 101 on its front. The door 20 is provided on the front of the washing machine main body 10 so as to cover the laundry inlet 101. In other words, the door 20 is provided as a front-opening door that opens and closes the front of the washing machine main body 10. The door 20 in the drum-type washing machine 1 can be freely changed in the door opening direction (right-opening or left-opening), but FIG. 2 shows the door 20 in a left-opening state. Note that the left and right sides in the following explanation refer to the left and right sides when the washing machine main body 10 is viewed from the front.

In the drum-type washing machine 1 according to the first embodiment, the door 20 is a rectangular door. The inner surface of the door 20 is provided with a protruding closure portion 21 for liquid-tightly closing the laundry inlet 101 when the door 20 is closed. In addition, on the front side of the washing machine body 10, an upper protrusion (upper hinge holding portion) 11 is provided above the door 20, and a lower protrusion (lower hinge holding portion) 12 is provided below the door 20. The door 20 is arranged so as to be sandwiched between the upper protrusion 11 and the lower protrusion 12 when the door 20 is closed, and when the door 20 is closed, the front surfaces of the door 20, the upper protrusion 11, and the lower protrusion 12 are on the same plane (the front surface of the drum-type washing machine 1 is flat due to the door 20, the upper protrusion 11, and the lower protrusion 12).

The door 20 is supported by two upper and lower hinges at either the left or right end so that it can rotate freely relative to the washing machine body 10. The hinge bearings for these hinges are located inside the upper protrusion 11 and the lower protrusion 12. Furthermore, when changing the door opening direction, the door 20 can be opened simply by replacing the hinge pins (upper hinge pin 31 and lower hinge pin 35). The installation structure of the door 20 and the procedure for changing the door opening direction are described in detail below with reference to Figures 3 to 9.

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the drum-type washing machine 1 with the hinge cover 30 removed. As shown in Figure 3, in the drum-type washing machine 1, the hinge cover 30 is provided on the front of the upper surface of the upper protrusion 11, and when changing the door opening direction of the door 20, the hinge cover 30 is first removed.

Figure 4 is an enlarged top view of the front left corner of the drum-type washing machine 1 with the hinge cover 30 removed, viewed diagonally from above. In Figure 4, the door 20 is in a closed state. As shown in Figure 4, by removing the hinge cover 30 from the drum-type washing machine 1, the upper hinge pin 31 is exposed to the outside on the top surface of the drum-type washing machine 1. When the door 20 opens to the left, the upper hinge pin 31 is attached only to the left side, and the upper pin holding hole 32 (see Figure 3) on the main body side for inserting the upper hinge pin 31 is exposed on the right side.

The upper hinge pin 31 is inserted so as to pass through both the main body-side upper pin holding hole 32 provided in the upper protrusion 11 and the door-side upper pin holding hole 33 (see FIG. 2) provided in the door 20. That is, the hinge on the upper end side of the door 20 uses the upper hinge pin 31 as the hinge axis and the main body-side upper pin holding hole 32 as the hinge bearing. The main body-side upper pin holding hole 32 and the door-side upper pin holding hole 33 are provided symmetrically on both the left and right sides of the drum washing machine 1.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the exposed upper hinge pin 31 is pulled out upward. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the drum type washing machine 1 from which the upper hinge pin 31 has been removed. In the drum type washing machine 1, it is preferable that the upper hinge pin 31 is configured to be removable only when the door 20 is open. This is because if the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed when the door 20 is closed, the upper hinge pin 31 can also be removed while the drum type washing machine 1 is in operation. If the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed only when the door 20 is open, it is possible to reliably prevent the upper hinge pin 31 from being removed while the drum type washing machine 1 is in operation. This is because the door 20 cannot be opened by the door lock while the drum type washing machine 1 is in operation. Furthermore, by making it impossible to remove the upper hinge pin 31 when the door 20 is closed, it is also possible to prevent the upper hinge pin 31 from falling out due to vibrations that occur during the operation of the drum type washing machine 1.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the upper hinge pin 31 has an upper D-cut portion (pin locking portion) 311 at its upper end and a lower D-cut portion 312 at its lower end. As shown in FIG. 6(b), the door 20 has a D-cut hole 331 formed at the bottom of the door-side upper pin holding hole 33 into which the upper hinge pin 31 is inserted, which fits into the lower D-cut portion 312 of the upper hinge pin 31. When the upper hinge pin 31 is inserted into the door-side upper pin holding hole 33, the lower D-cut portion 312 fits into the D-cut hole 331, so that the upper hinge pin 31 rotates integrally with the door 20. In other words, the door 20 and the upper hinge pin 31 are positioned relative to each other in the direction around the axis of the upper hinge pin 31.

On the other hand, on the washing machine main body 10 side, a pin removal restriction protrusion (retaining locking portion) 34 is provided near the main body side upper pin holding hole 32 in the upper protrusion 11. The pin removal restriction protrusions 34 are provided on both the left and right sides of the upper protrusion 11 and are arranged to protrude toward the main body side upper pin holding hole 32 side. Then, when the door 20 is closed, as shown in FIG. 4, a part of the upper D cut portion 311 of the upper hinge pin 31 overlaps with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 in a plan view (the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 is on the upper side). Therefore, when an attempt is made to remove the upper hinge pin 31 with the door 20 closed, the upper D cut portion 311 of the upper hinge pin 31 abuts against the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, and the upper hinge pin 31 cannot be removed. In contrast, when the door 20 is open, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper D-cut portion 311 of the upper hinge pin 31 does not overlap with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, making it possible to remove the upper hinge pin 31.

When the upper hinge pin 31 is removed, the door 20 can be removed from the washing machine body 10, as shown in Figure 8. Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of the drum washing machine 1 with the door 20 removed.

After removing the upper hinge pin 31, the door 20 can be removed from the washing machine body 10 by pulling the upper end of the door 20 outward or forward from the upper protrusion 11 and then lifting it up. As shown in FIG. 8, the lower hinge pin 35 is exposed on the upper surface of the lower protrusion 12 by removing the door 20. In addition, the upper surface of the lower protrusion 12 has body-side lower pin holding holes 36 on both the left and right sides for inserting the lower hinge pin 35, and when the door 20 opens to the left, the lower hinge pin 35 is attached only to the left side. In other words, the hinge on the lower end side of the door 20 uses the lower hinge pin 35 as the hinge axis and the body-side lower pin holding hole 36 as the hinge bearing. On the lower surface of the door 20, door-side lower pin holding holes 37 for inserting the lower hinge pin 35 are provided on both the left and right sides as shown in FIG. 9.

After removing the door 20, you can change the opening direction of the door 20 by swapping the mounting positions of the lower hinge pin 35 and the upper hinge pin 31, and then attaching the door 20 to the washing machine body 10 in the reverse order to that described above.

That is, when changing from a left-opening to a right-opening door as in the above example, the lower hinge pin 35 inserted into the left body-side lower pin holding hole 36 is moved to the right body-side lower pin holding hole 36, and the door 20 is attached by inserting the lower hinge pin 35 into the door-side lower pin holding hole 37. Then, the upper hinge pin 31 is inserted so that it passes through both the right body-side upper pin holding hole 32 and the door-side upper pin holding hole 33. Finally, the hinge cover 30 that was removed is reattached, completing the process of changing the opening direction of the door 20.

As described above, in the mounting structure for the door 20 according to the first embodiment, the work required to change the opening direction of the door 20 (excluding the process of removing/attaching the hinge cover 30) can be performed simply by inserting and removing the upper hinge pin 31 and the lower hinge pin 35, and removing/attaching the door 20. This work does not require replacing the entire door hinge, and the number of parts to be replaced is small, making the work simple and easy for the user to perform.

In addition, none of the parts that need to be removed for replacement (upper hinge pin 31, lower hinge pin 35, and door 20) are fixed with screws. Therefore, there is no risk of the drum-type washing machine 1 becoming unsafe after the work is completed due to a work error (forgetting to tighten the screws after replacing a screw-fixed part). Furthermore, even if the hinge cover 30 were fixed to the washing machine main body 10 with screws, the hinge cover 30 itself is not a component of the hinge, so the drum-type washing machine 1 would not become unsafe due to forgetting to tighten the fixing screws of the hinge cover 30.

In the above explanation, it has been described that the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed only when the door 20 is open. For this reason, the drum-type washing machine 1 described above has a pin removal restriction protrusion 34 provided near the upper pin holding hole 32 on the main body side, and the tip of the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 is positioned so as to protrude toward the upper pin holding hole 32 on the main body side.

Here, FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of the positional relationship between the upper hinge pin 31 inserted into the upper pin holding hole 32 on the main body side and the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, where (a) shows the state in which the door 20 is closed, (b) shows the state in which the door 20 is open at an angle of 90°, and (c) shows the state in which the door 20 is open at the maximum angle. Note that the example in FIG. 10 shows a case in which the tip edge 34a of the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 is straight.

As shown in FIG. 10(a), when the door 20 is closed, the upper hinge pin 31 overlaps with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, so the upper hinge pin 31 cannot be removed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10(b), when the door 20 is open, the upper hinge pin 31 does not overlap with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, so the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed. However, in this case, the open state of the door 20 in which the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed refers only to the state in which the door 20 is opened at an angle of approximately 90°. In reality, the maximum angle when the door 20 is open is 90° or more (e.g., 100°), and as shown in FIG. 10(c), when the door 20 is opened at the maximum angle, a part of the upper hinge pin 31 overlaps with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, so the upper hinge pin 31 cannot be removed. Therefore, the shape of the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 shown in FIG. 10 makes it difficult to change the opening direction of the door 20.

Figure 11 is a plan view showing another example of the positional relationship between the upper hinge pin 31 inserted into the upper pin holding hole 32 on the main body side and the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, where (a) shows the state in which the door 20 is closed, (b) shows the state in which the door 20 is open at an angle of 90 degrees, and (c) shows the state in which the door 20 is open at the maximum angle. In the example of Figure 11, a diagonal notch 34b is provided on the tip edge 34a of the pin removal restriction protrusion 34.

In the shape of the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 shown in FIG. 11, as shown in FIG. 11(a), when the door 20 is closed, the upper hinge pin 31 overlaps with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, so the upper hinge pin 31 cannot be removed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11(b) and (c), when the door 20 is open, the upper hinge pin 31 does not overlap with the pin removal restriction protrusion 34, and the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed, regardless of whether the angle of the door 20 is 90° or the maximum angle (e.g., 100°). In other words, in the shape of the pin removal restriction protrusion 34 shown in FIG. 11, the upper hinge pin 31 can be removed regardless of whether the angle of the door 20 is in any state from 90° to the maximum angle, improving the workability in changing the opening direction of the door 20.

In the drum type washing machine 1 according to the first embodiment, a sensor (such as a proximity sensor) may be provided to detect whether the upper hinge pin 31 is inserted into the upper pin holding hole 32 on either the left or right side of the main body. In this way, if the user forgets to insert the upper hinge pin 31, a warning (such as an alarm or a warning message) can be issued based on the detection of the above sensor. For safety reasons, it is preferable to perform the above-mentioned door opening direction change operation with the main power supply of the drum type washing machine 1 turned off. If the main power supply of the drum type washing machine 1 is turned off, the drum type washing machine 1 will not issue a warning even if the upper hinge pin 31 is removed for the change operation. Then, when the main power supply of the drum type washing machine 1 is turned on, a warning is issued if the upper hinge pin 31 has been forgotten to be inserted. In addition, if the user attempts to perform the change operation while the main power supply of the drum type washing machine 1 is on, a warning is issued when the upper hinge pin 31 is removed, so that the change operation while the main power supply is on can be suppressed.

In the above description, when changing the opening direction of the door 20, the hinge cover 30 is first removed. Also, in FIG. 3, the hinge cover 30 is a single member that entirely covers the front upper surface of the upper protrusion 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, the hinge cover may be two hinge covers 30' and 30" that respectively cover the left and right ends at the front upper surface of the upper protrusion 11.

In the configuration shown in Figures 12 and 13, for example, when an operation panel is provided on the front surface of the upper protrusion 11 (i.e., when the upper end hinge is located behind the operation panel), the door opening direction can be changed by removing only the hinge cover 30' or 30" without removing the operation panel. Also, the configuration shown in Figure 13 makes it easier to insert and remove the hinge pin 31.

Second Embodiment
A washing machine needs a door lock or a lid lock to prevent the door or lid from being opened during operation. Naturally, a door lock is also provided in the drum type washing machine 1. Usually, in a drum type washing machine having a front-opening door, the door lock is provided at the end (opening end) opposite the door hinge. In such a case, if the door opening direction is changed, the door lock position must be changed accordingly (the door lock must be switched from left to right). Drum type washing machines that allow the door lock position to be changed are well known, but changing the door lock position is a more complicated task for the user than changing the door opening direction.

The drum-type washing machine 1 according to the second embodiment can eliminate the need for the cumbersome task of changing the door lock position when the door opening direction of the door 20 is changed.

As a first specific example, it is possible to provide two door locks, one on each side of the door 20. In this example, whether the door opens to the left or the right, a reliable locking effect can be obtained because the door locks are located at the open end of the door 20.

As a second example, a single door lock can be provided in the center of the door 20 in the left-right direction (more specifically, above or below the laundry inlet 101). In this example, the single door lock can be used in the same way regardless of the door opening direction, which is more cost-effective than the first example.

Third Embodiment
As described in the first embodiment, the upper hinge pin 31 is preferably configured to be removable only when the door 20 is open so as to prevent the upper hinge pin 31 from being removed while the drum type washing machine 1 is in operation. In this case, the drum type washing machine 1 preferably has a structure that prevents the door 20 from falling due to its own weight when the upper hinge pin 31 is removed. In the third embodiment, a structure for preventing the door 20 from falling when the upper hinge pin 31 is removed will be described.

As a first specific example, as shown in FIG. 14, two support bars 40, each with a rotation axis coaxial with the hinge axis of the door 20, are placed on both the left and right sides below the door 20 and above the lower protrusion 12 as door fall prevention members. In this example, when removing the upper hinge pin 31, one of the support bars 40 is rotated in the same way as the door 20, and the support bar 40 is positioned directly below the open door 20. For example, when removing the upper hinge pin 31 in a left-opening door 20, the left support bar 40 is rotated in the same way as the door 20.

When the upper hinge pin 31 is removed and the upper end of the door 20 is no longer supported, the door 20 tilts so that the tip side drops due to its own weight. In the first specific example, the tilted door 20 is supported on the support bar 40, so that the door 20 can be prevented from falling due to its own weight.

As a second specific example, as shown in FIG. 15, the lower protruding portion 12 is composed of two lower protruding panels 121, and these lower protruding panels 121 are considered to have a double-door cover structure to act as door fall prevention members. Each of the left and right lower protruding panels 121 has a rotation axis that is coaxial with the hinge axis of the door 20. In this example, when removing the upper hinge pin 31, one of the lower protruding panels 121 is rotated in the same manner as the door 20, and the lower protruding panel 121 is positioned directly below the open door 20. For example, when removing the upper hinge pin 31 in a left-opening door 20, the left lower protruding panel 121 is rotated in the same manner as the door 20.

As a result, even if the upper hinge pin 31 is removed and the upper end of the door 20 is no longer supported, and the tip of the door 20 tilts downward due to its own weight, the tilted door 20 rests on and is supported by the lower protruding panel 121. This prevents the door 20 from falling due to its own weight.

In addition, in the second specific example, one of the downward protruding panels 121 (the left side in the example of Figure 15) can also be used as a cover for the drain filter 50.

Fourth Embodiment
In the fourth embodiment, another example of the structure for preventing the door 20 from falling when the upper hinge pin 31 is removed will be described. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing the relationship between the door-side lower pin holding hole 37 provided in the door 20 and the lower hinge pin 35 provided in the lower protrusion 12, in which (a) is an enlarged bottom view of one end of the door 20, (b) is an enlarged top view of one end of the door 20 placed on the lower protrusion 12, and (c) and (d) are A-A cross-sectional views of (b).

As shown in FIG. 16(a), the door-side lower pin retaining hole 37 provided in the door 20 is circular on the underside of the door 20 to match the lower hinge pin 35, but has an interior space with an elongated cross-section that expands in the thickness direction of the door 20. The circular shape on the underside of the door 20 is formed toward one end of the interior elongated hole.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16(b), when the lower hinge pin 35 is inserted into the door-side lower pin holding hole 37, the lower hinge pin 35 is positioned so that it is closer to one end of the elongated hole inside the door-side lower pin holding hole 37. Specifically, when the door 20 is open, the lower hinge pin 35 is closer to the outside (outside in the left-right direction) of the door-side lower pin holding hole 37, and a space is created between the inside of the lower hinge pin 35 and the door-side lower pin holding hole 37.

When the upper hinge pin 31 is removed while the door 20 is open, the door 20 loses support at the top and becomes prone to falling over. At this time, because the door 20 has a protruding closure portion 21 (see Figure 2) on the inside side, the door 20 tends to fall inward due to its own weight.

However, if the door 20 attempts to tip inward (inward in the left-right direction) due to its own weight, the lower hinge pin 35 in contact with the outer inner wall of the door-side lower pin holding hole 37 acts as a stopper, as shown in FIG. 16(c), making the door 20 less likely to tip (tilt). In this way, the door 20 is prevented from tilting due to its own weight, which ultimately prevents the door 20 from falling.

On the other hand, after removing the upper hinge pin 31, when removing the door 20, the door 20 can be tilted outward as shown in FIG. 16(d). In other words, since the lower hinge pin 35 is not in contact with the inner wall of the door-side lower pin holding hole 37, the lower hinge pin 35 does not act as a stopper when tilting the door 20 outward. This allows the user to easily tilt the door 20 outward and easily remove the tilted door 20 upward.

The door-side lower pin holding hole 37 may be an elongated hole on the underside of the door 20 as well as on the inside. In this case, the door 20 can be tilted outward as shown in FIG. 16(d) and removed in the same tilted direction, making it easier to insert and remove the door 20.

As described above, the drum-type washing machine according to the above embodiment is a drum-type washing machine in which the door opening direction can be changed, and includes a washing machine main body, a door having a door-side upper pin holding hole at the top on each of the left and right sides and a door-side lower pin holding hole at the bottom on each of the left and right sides, an upper hinge holding part provided on each of the left and right sides of the washing machine main body and having a body-side upper pin holding hole above and overlapping with the door-side upper pin holding hole, and a hinge holding part provided on each of the left and right sides of the washing machine main body and having a door-side lower pin holding hole at the bottom on each of the left and right sides. It is characterized by having a lower hinge holding section having a body-side lower pin holding hole that overlaps with the door-side lower pin holding hole on the lower side, an upper hinge pin that is inserted from above the body-side upper pin holding hole into the body-side upper pin holding hole and is removably inserted into the door-side upper pin holding hole to rotatably attach the upper end of the door to the washing machine body, and a lower hinge pin that is removably inserted into both the body-side lower pin holding hole and the door-side lower pin holding hole to rotatably attach the lower end of the door to the washing machine body.

With the above configuration, changing the door opening direction can be done simply by inserting and removing the upper and lower hinge pins and removing and installing the door. This procedure does not require replacing the entire door hinge, and the number of parts to be replaced is small, making it a simple procedure that even a user can perform.

In addition, none of the parts that need to be removed for replacement (upper hinge pin, lower hinge pin, and door) are secured with screws, which prevents the drum-type washing machine from becoming unsafe after the work is completed due to a work error (forgetting to tighten a screw).

In the drum-type washing machine, the upper hinge holding portion has a holding and locking portion, the upper hinge pin has a pin locking portion, and when the upper hinge pin is inserted into the door-side upper pin holding hole, the door and the upper hinge pin are positioned relative to each other in the direction around the axis of the upper hinge pin, and when the door is closed relative to the washing machine body, the pin locking portion overlaps the holding and locking portion in a plan view, making the upper hinge pin unable to be removed, whereas when the door is open relative to the washing machine body, the pin locking portion does not overlap the holding and locking portion in a plan view, making the upper hinge pin removable.

With the above configuration, the upper hinge pin can only be removed when the door is open, preventing the upper hinge pin from being removed while the drum washing machine is in operation, and preventing the upper hinge pin from falling out due to vibrations that occur while the drum washing machine is in operation.

In addition, in the drum-type washing machine, the door can be configured to have a door lock on each of the left and right sides.

The above configuration makes it possible to omit the cumbersome task of changing the door lock position when the door opening direction is changed. In addition, in this case, whether the door opens to the left or the right, a reliable locking effect can be obtained because the door lock is located at the open end of the door.

In addition, in the drum-type washing machine, the door can be configured to have one door lock in the center in the left-right direction.

The above configuration makes it possible to eliminate the need for the cumbersome task of changing the door lock position when the door opening direction is changed. In addition, in this case, one door lock can be used in the same way regardless of the door opening direction, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

The drum-type washing machine can also be configured so that door fall prevention members having a pivot axis coaxial with the hinge axis of the door are disposed on both the left and right sides below the door.

With the above configuration, when the upper hinge pin is removed and the upper end of the door is no longer supported, the door, which is tilted so that the tip side drops due to its own weight, can be supported by being placed on the door fall prevention member. This prevents the door from falling due to its own weight.

In addition, in the drum-type washing machine, the door-side lower pin holding hole and the lower hinge pin can be structured to prevent the door from falling inward and not to prevent the door from falling outward when the upper hinge pin is removed while the door is open.

According to the above configuration, when the upper hinge pin is removed while the door is open, the door is prone to tipping inward due to its own weight, but the lower pin holding hole on the door and the lower hinge pin prevent the door from tipping inward. On the other hand, when tilting the door to remove it from the washing machine body, the door can be tilted outward.

The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be a basis for a restrictive interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not to be interpreted solely by the above-described embodiments, but is defined based on the claims. Furthermore, all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims are included.

1. Drum-type washing machine (electrical appliance)
10 Washing machine body (machine body)
101 Laundry inlet 11 Upper protrusion (upper hinge holding portion)
12 Lower protrusion (lower hinge holding portion)
121 Lower protruding panel (door fall prevention member)
20 Door 21 Protruding closing portion 30, 30' Hinge cover 31 Upper hinge pin 311 Upper D-cut portion (pin locking portion)
312 Lower D-cut portion 32 Main body side upper pin holding hole 33 Door side upper pin holding hole 331 D-cut hole 34 Pin removal restriction protrusion (holding and locking portion)
35 Lower hinge pin 36 Body side lower pin holding hole 37 Door side lower pin holding hole 40 Support bar (door drop prevention member)
50 Drainage filter

Claims (5)

An electrical device having a drum-type rotating tub and capable of changing the opening direction of a door covering the drum-type rotating tub,
An apparatus body having an opening communicating with the drum-type rotating tank;
A door having upper pin retaining holes on the left and right sides at the upper portion thereof and lower pin retaining holes on the left and right sides at the lower portion thereof;
an upper hinge holding portion provided on each of the left and right sides of the device body and having a body-side upper pin holding hole above the door-side upper pin holding hole and overlapping the door-side upper pin holding hole;
a lower hinge holding portion provided on each of the left and right sides of the device body and having a body-side lower pin holding hole below the door-side lower pin holding hole and overlapping the door-side lower pin holding hole;
an upper hinge pin that is inserted into the main body upper pin holding hole from above and is removably inserted into the door upper pin holding hole to rotatably attach an upper end of the door to the device main body;
a lower hinge pin that is inserted removably through both the main body-side lower pin holding hole and the door-side lower pin holding hole and that rotatably attaches a lower end of the door to the device main body;
an upper extension portion formed between the main body upper pin retaining holes provided on both the left and right sides of the device body, including a portion extending to the left and right in front of the main body upper pin retaining holes, and positioned above the door when the door is in a closed state covering the drum-type rotating tub. 2. The electrical device according to claim 1 ,
An electrical device characterized in that a protruding closing portion is provided on an inner surface side of the door so as to protrude so as to close the opening when the door is in a closed state covering the drum-type rotating tub. 3. The electrical device according to claim 1,
The lower extension portion is formed between the lower pin holding holes on the left and right sides of the device body, including a portion extending left and right forward of the lower pin holding holes on the left and right sides of the device body, and is located below the door when the door is in a closed state covering the drum-type rotating tub,
An electrical device characterized in that, when the door is in a closed state covering the drum-type rotating tub, the door is positioned so as to be sandwiched between the upper extension portion and the lower extension portion. 4. The electrical device according to claim 3,
An electrical device, characterized in that a front surface of the door and a front surface of at least one of the upper extension portion and the lower extension portion are located in the same plane. 5. An electrical device according to claim 1,
An electrical device characterized in that an operation panel for operating the electrical device is provided on the upper extension.

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