JP7573149B2 - washing machine - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a washing machine.

Patent Document 1 discloses a washing machine equipped with an automatic dispensing device. The washing machine in Patent Document 1 includes an upper frame formed with an inlet for dispensing laundry, a washing tub contained in the upper frame, a lid for covering the inlet in an openable and closable manner, a tank housing formed in the upper frame behind the inlet, a liquid agent tank detachably housed in the tank housing, and an automatic dispensing device for dispensing the liquid agent stored in the liquid agent tank into the washing tub.

JP 2020-171394 A

This disclosure provides a washing machine that allows you to easily check the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid tank.

The washing machine according to the present disclosure comprises a washing machine main body, a washing/spinning tub arranged inside the washing machine main body, an upper frame provided at the top of the washing machine main body and formed with an input port for inputting laundry into the washing/spinning tub , a lid body for covering the input port in an openable/closable manner, a tank accommodation section formed in the upper frame at a rear position of the input port, a liquid agent tank that is detachably accommodated in the tank accommodation section and stores a liquid agent therein, and an automatic dosing device that sucks up the liquid agent in the liquid agent tank accommodated in the tank accommodation section and dispenses it into the washing/spinning tub , the lid body being arranged at an incline so as to become gradually lower toward the front side, and including a front lid body and a rear lid body that is fixed to the upper frame at a rear portion so as to be openable/closable and that is journalled to the front lid body at a front end portion , the rear lid body being arranged at a position approximately at the centre and a back cover top member formed of a transparent material and disposed on the upper surface of the back cover frame, the back cover top member being opaque except for the area that overlaps with the back cover opening when attached to the back cover frame, the transparent area being the area that overlaps with the back cover opening serving as a window portion, the liquid agent tank being provided on the front side of the liquid agent tank and including a tank window formed of a transparent material, the tank window being provided from near the inner bottom surface of the liquid agent tank to the upper portion of the liquid agent tank, the front end of the window portion being located lower than the rear end of the window portion and also lower than the upper end of the tank window, and the lower end of the tank window being located lower than the front end of the window portion .

The washing machine disclosed herein allows you to easily check the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid tank.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a washing machine according to a first embodiment; Side view of the washing machine A front view of the washing machine with the lid open. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a liquid agent tank of the washing machine. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the lid of the washing machine; FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the tank window and the window portion in the washing machine. A diagram showing the washing machine as seen through the tank window.

Below, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanation of already well-known matters or duplicate explanation of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming unnecessarily redundant and to make it easier for those skilled in the art to understand.

It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[1-1. Configuration]
[1-1-1. Configuration of washing machine]
1 and 3, an upper frame 11 is disposed on the upper part of the washing machine main body 1, and has a clothes inlet 12 disposed substantially in the center. The clothes inlet 12 is formed as a substantially circular opening penetrating vertically. The clothes inlet 12 is configured to communicate with the washing and spin-drying tub 2 disposed inside the washing machine main body 1.

The lid 13 is provided to cover the clothing insertion opening 12 so that it can be opened and closed freely. The front lid 20 and rear lid 30 form a single surface when the lid 13 is closed. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper frame 11 is formed so that the rear is high and the front is low, and the lid 13 is arranged at an angle so that it gradually becomes lower toward the front side.

The lid body 13 is configured as a two-piece lid, as described below. The lid body 13 is opened by lifting the front lid body 20 and pushing it backward, with the front lid body 20 and the rear lid body 30 folded. With the lid body 13 open, the user puts laundry or various agents into the washing and spin-drying tub 2 through the clothes inlet 12. By configuring the lid body to be foldable, the height of the lid body in the open state can be made low. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lid body in the open state from interfering with furniture placed above the washing machine or the unit stand of the clothes dryer, etc., in the installation location of the washing machine.

A tank storage section 14 is provided at the rear of the clothing insertion opening 12. The tank storage section 14 is formed as a generally box-shaped space that opens to the front, and detachably stores the liquid agent tank 3. With the lid 13 open, the user can pull out or remove the liquid agent tank 3 to refill the liquid agent.

As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid agent tank 3 is formed in a roughly box-like shape and stores the liquid agent inside. In this embodiment, the liquid agent tank 3 is detachably connected to an automatic dispenser (not shown) on the rear side. During the washing operation, the automatic dispenser sucks up the liquid agent stored in the liquid agent tank 3 and dispenses it into the washing and spin-drying tub 2.

A transparent tank window 4 is provided on the front side of the liquid tank 3. The tank window 4 is provided from near the inner bottom surface of the liquid tank 3 to the top of the liquid tank 3. A scale 5 arranged vertically is provided on the front side of the tank window 4. By looking through the tank window 4, the user can visually check the remaining amount of liquid stored inside the liquid tank 3.

[1-1-2. Structure of the lid]
As shown in Fig. 5, the front lid body 20 includes a front lid frame body 23 and a front lid top member 22 disposed on the upper surface of the front lid frame body 23. The front lid frame body 23 is provided with a gripping portion 21 formed so that the user can grip it. The front lid top member 22 is made of a transparent material such as acrylic resin or reinforced glass, and has a paint applied to its back side. As a result, the front lid body 20 is configured so that the front lid frame body 23 cannot be seen from above through the front lid top member 22.

The rear cover 30 includes a rear cover frame 34 and a rear cover top member 31 disposed on the upper surface of the rear cover frame 34. A pivot support 40 is provided at the front end of the rear cover frame 34 to rotatably connect the front cover 20 and the rear cover 30. A rear cover opening 35 formed as a rectangular opening is provided at the approximate center of the rear cover frame 34. The rear cover opening 35 is formed in approximately the same shape as a window portion 33 described later. The rear cover top member 31 is made of a transparent material such as acrylic resin or reinforced glass. The rear side of the rear cover top member 31 is painted except for the area that overlaps with the rear cover opening 35 when attached to the rear cover frame 34. In the rear cover top member 31, the area where the paint is applied is called the opaque portion 32, and the area where the paint is not applied is called the window portion 33.

[1-2. Operation]
The operation of the washing machine configured as above will now be described.

[1-2-1. Checking the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid tank]
In the washing machine of this embodiment, in order to make the inside of the lid body 13 configured as a double lid visible, a window portion 33 and a rear lid opening portion 35 made of a transparent material are provided in the rear lid body 30. As a result, the remaining amount of the liquid agent stored in the liquid agent tank 3 can be visually confirmed from the tank window 4 by looking through the window portion 33 and the rear lid opening portion 35 with the lid body 13 closed. In the washing machine of this embodiment, the lid body 13 is locked so that the lid body 13 cannot be opened during a washing operation. By configuring the tank window 4 to be visible with the lid body 13 closed, the remaining amount of the liquid agent can be confirmed even during a washing operation.

The size of the rear lid opening 35 is limited to ensure the strength of the rear lid body 30. Therefore, in this embodiment, the conditions necessary for viewing the tank window 4 are determined, and the size of the rear lid opening 35 is determined.

In Figure 6, viewpoint A indicates the line of sight when peering into the tank window 4 from a height of approximately 2 m above the ground surface, and viewpoint B indicates the line of sight when peering into the tank window 4 from a height of approximately 1 m above the ground surface.

The body height dimension shown in Figure 2 is generally configured to be approximately 1 m from the ground surface. Therefore, in this embodiment of the washing machine, the angle θ formed by the front end of the window portion 33, the bottom end of the tank window 4, and the rear end of the window portion 33 is configured to be 50° to 65°, so that the bottom end of the tank window 4 can be viewed from a viewpoint at a height of 1 m to 2 m. The body height is the height from the ground surface to the top of the rear side of the upper frame 11 as shown in Figure 2.

These configurations allow the user, regardless of their height, to check the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid tank 3 even when the lid 13 is closed.

[1-3. Effects, etc.]
As described above, in this embodiment, the washing machine includes the upper frame 11 having the clothes inlet 12 for inserting laundry formed therein, the lid 13 for opening and closing the clothes inlet 12, the tank housing section 14 formed in the upper frame 11 at the rear of the clothes inlet 12, and the liquid agent tank 3 detachably housed in the tank housing section 14. The lid 13 includes a front lid 20, a rear lid 30 fixed to the upper frame 11 so as to be openable and closable and pivotally supported by the front lid 20, and a window section 33 formed in the rear lid 30 and made of a transparent material. The liquid agent tank 3 includes a tank window 4 formed of a transparent material and provided on the front side of the liquid agent tank 3. The window section 33 is formed so that the angle formed by the front end of the window section 33, the lower end of the tank window 4, and the rear end of the window section 33 is 50° to 65°.

This allows the lower part of the tank window 4 to be seen from a viewpoint at a height of 1 m to 2 m above the ground in front of the washing machine.

Therefore, when a user of average height looks into the window portion 33, they can visually check the tank window 4 and see the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid tank 3, even when the lid 13 is closed.

Also, as in this embodiment, the rear lid body 30 may include a rear lid top member 31 made of a transparent material, and a rear lid frame body 34 attached to the underside of the rear lid top member 31 and having a rear lid opening 35 formed in approximately the center.

This allows the rear lid 30 to be provided with a lid window while ensuring the strength of the rear lid 30.

Therefore, even when the lid 13 is closed, the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid tank 3 can be confirmed by visually checking the tank window 4.

Other Embodiments
As described above, the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. are made. In addition, it is also possible to combine the components described in the first embodiment to create a new embodiment.

Therefore, other embodiments are given below as examples.

In the first embodiment, the tank window 4 provided on the front side of the liquid tank 3 has been described as an example of a tank window. The tank window is not limited to the configuration of the tank window 4 as long as it is provided on the front side of the liquid tank and is made of a transparent material. The tank window may be, for example, the front side of the liquid tank made of a transparent material.

This disclosure is applicable to washing machines that have a liquid agent tank inside the upper frame. Specifically, this disclosure is applicable to vertical washing machines.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Washing machine body 2 Washing and spin-drying tub 3 Liquid agent tank 4 Tank window 5 Scale 11 Upper frame 12 Clothes insertion opening 13 Lid 14 Tank storage section 20 Front lid 21 Handle section 22 Front lid top member 23 Front lid frame 30 Rear lid 31 Rear lid top member 32 Opaque section 33 Window section 34 Rear lid frame 35 Rear lid opening 40 Pivot support section

Claims (1)

The washing machine body,
A washing and spin-drying tub disposed inside the washing machine body;
an upper frame provided on an upper portion of the washing machine body and having an inlet through which laundry is introduced into the washing and spin-drying tub ;
A lid body that covers the insertion port in an openable and closable manner;
a tank housing portion formed in the upper frame at a rear position of the input port;
a liquid tank that is detachably accommodated in the tank accommodating portion and stores a liquid therein ;
an automatic dispenser that sucks the liquid agent from the liquid agent tank accommodated in the tank accommodation section and dispenses the liquid agent into the washing and spin-drying tub;
Equipped with
The lid body is
The seats are arranged at an angle that gradually becomes lower toward the front.
A front cover and
a rear cover body fixed to the upper frame body at a rear end so as to be freely opened and closed, and a front end portion of the rear cover body pivotally supported by the front cover body;
Including,
the rear lid body is composed of a rear lid frame body having a rear lid opening formed as a rectangular opening substantially at the center, and a rear lid top surface member disposed on an upper surface of the rear lid frame body and formed of a transparent material,
The rear cover top surface member is opaque except for a region overlapping with the rear cover opening when attached to the rear cover frame, and the transparent portion overlapping with the rear cover opening serves as a window portion. The liquid agent tank is
a tank window provided on a front side of the liquid agent tank and made of a transparent material;
the tank window is provided from the vicinity of an inner bottom surface of the liquid tank to an upper portion of the liquid tank,
A front end of the window portion is located lower than a rear end of the window portion and lower than an upper end of the tank window,
The washing machine is formed so that a lower end of the tank window is located lower than a front end of the window portion .

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