JPH0332397B2 - - Google Patents

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 portion and a movable peripheral wall portion, and the cleaning action is mainly achieved through frictional contact between these two peripheral walls and the laundry. Regarding the washing machine that I tried to 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 action essentially use a water flow to move the laundry, so they require a large washing tank volume relative to the amount of laundry. need,
This means that the amount that can be washed at one time is small. Furthermore, when the amount of cloth is small, the water flow becomes extremely strong, resulting in excessive cleaning, while when the amount of cloth increases, the speed of the water flow decreases, and the cleaning effect tends to decrease rapidly. Furthermore, since the laundry and the rotating blade come into contact only incidentally and only partially, it is not possible to expect a scrubbing effect over the entire laundry, and on the contrary, the laundry may be partially damaged.

On the other hand, a new method has recently been developed in which the rotating blades have been removed, in which the entire washing tank, water and laundry are kept in it, and is rotated intermittently to obtain a cleaning effect due to 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, the purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to expect better cleaning effects and prevention of fabric 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, while maintaining an appropriate cleaning effect. To provide a washing machine which can widen the range of amount of clothes that can be washed.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, the peripheral wall of the washing tank is formed by a fixed peripheral wall located above and a movable peripheral wall located below, and the laundry is accommodated together with water in such a washing tank, and the movable peripheral wall is rotated forward and backward. When the amount of cloth is small, the laundry is made to flow mainly by the water flow generated by the movable peripheral wall, and as the amount of cloth increases, it is made to flow by the contact friction force with the movable peripheral wall, and the upper part Washing is carried out by a synergistic effect with the frictional force received from the fixed peripheral wall in the movable peripheral wall, and the height of the movable peripheral wall is set to approximately 2/3 or less of the height of the entire peripheral wall of the washing tub. It is characterized in that the laundry reliably comes into contact with both the peripheral wall portions and the fixed peripheral wall portions, so that frictional force is effectively applied to the laundry.

[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 FIGS. 1 to 3.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an outer box, inside of which a water receiving tank 2 is disposed, 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 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 placed inside the water receiving tank 2, and its outer bottom is connected to the hollow dewatering shaft 7.
The container-shaped stirring body 6 has an uneven peripheral wall, is disposed below the fixed tank 5 along the inner peripheral wall surface, and has its outer bottom connected to the washing shaft 8. Further, in this embodiment, the washing tank 4 also serves as a dehydration tank, and for this purpose, dehydration holes 9 and 10 are formed in the peripheral wall of the fixed tank 5 and the peripheral wall of the container-shaped stirring body 6, respectively. 11 is a power control mechanism, which is a washing machine motor 1;
2 is transmitted to the washing shaft 8 at a reduced speed and alternately reversed during washing, and is transmitted to the dehydration shaft 7 and the washing shaft 8 during dehydration to rotate the fixed tank 5 together with the container-shaped agitator 6. It has a built-in deceleration mechanism, clutch mechanism, brake mechanism, etc. 13
The water in the washing tank 4 can be discharged from the bottom of the water receiving tank 2 to the outside of the machine via a drainage hose 14 using a drain valve. 15 is a timer, which automatically controls each process from washing to final dehydration.

In the above configuration, in the washing operation, the fixed tank 5 is restrained by the flake mechanism so as not to rotate, and the container-shaped agitator 6 is rotated forward and backward, so that the peripheral wall of the fixed tank 5 is exposed upward from the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6. This part 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 flexible peripheral wall part. Therefore, the height of the portion functioning as a movable peripheral wall, that is, the peripheral wall from the inner bottom to the upper end of the container-shaped stirring body 6 (indicated by h in FIG. 1), is the portion functioning as the peripheral wall of the washing tank 4. That is, in this embodiment, it is set to approximately 2/3 or less, for example, approximately 1/2 of the height dimension (indicated by H in the figure) from the inner bottom of the container-shaped stirring body 6 to the upper end of the fixed tank 5. There is.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. At the time of washing, water is supplied into the washing tank 4 according to the water receiving tank 2 until the fixed tank 5 is also almost filled with water, and the laundry is thrown in.
During the washing operation, the fixed tank 5 is restrained by the brake mechanism so that it does not rotate.
This is done by driving only the forward and reverse rotations. In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the container-shaped stirring body 6 is set to
The rotational speed is within the range of 120 to 180 rotations, and the direction of rotation is reversed approximately every 2 to 3 rotations.

In such a washing operation, since the laundry comes into contact with the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 and the peripheral wall of the fixed tank 5, rotational force is generated from the container-shaped agitator 6 in the lower part due to frictional contact therewith. given,
The upper part receives a restraining force due to frictional contact with the fixed tank 5, and by simultaneously receiving such frictional forces in different directions, a twisting or compressing effect is applied to the laundry, and this is repeatedly performed by reversing the rotational direction of the container-shaped agitator 6. At the same time, the laundry is pushed toward the circumferential wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 by the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the container-shaped agitator 6, and the laundry is moved up and down by receiving the reaction inward from the circumferential wall of the upper fixed tank 5. It also produces a reversal effect, giving it a complex function. Therefore, while the laundry is subjected to scrubbing action due to the large amount of friction between the cloths due to such complicated functions as well as the large friction with the surrounding walls of the fixed tank 5 and the container-shaped agitator 6, it is also subjected to the scrubbing action due to repeated twisting and compression. The laundry is now washed by a type of massaging action, and compared to the rotating blade method in which the laundry is washed by flowing water or the washing tank rotation method in which the entire washing tank is rotated intermittently, this washing machine has a sufficient scrubbing action and massage. It becomes possible to obtain a cleaning action, and the cleaning effect can be greatly improved. For example, the superior cleaning effect is shown in FIG. 2 as an example of the comparative experiment results. In FIG. C shows the cleaning ratio characteristics when using the washing tank rotation method considered prior to this invention,
It can be seen that the cleaning effect according to the present invention is high.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the laundry is moved by frictional contact with the peripheral walls of the stationary tub 5 and the container-shaped agitator 6, so as the amount of laundry increases, the frictional force also increases, and the degree of movement of the laundry decreases as the amount of laundry increases. Therefore, the rate of decrease in cleaning effectiveness is small. Moreover, when the amount of laundry is small, the frequency of contact between the container-shaped agitator 6 and the surrounding wall is low, and the contact friction force is extremely small. Since the water is washed by the water flow generated over the whole area, the water flow does not become extremely strong unlike the conventional rotating blade method, so there is no excessive washing, regardless of the amount of cloth.
An appropriate degree of cleaning can be ensured. These mean that the range of cloth weights that can maintain an adequate cleaning effect is wider than in the case of the prior art described above.

By the way, as mentioned above, when the amount of laundry is large, the laundry comes into contact with the peripheral walls of both the fixed tank 5 and the container-shaped agitator 6, and is washed mainly based on the frictional force between them. The inventor of the present invention predicted that the height of the movable peripheral wall portion, that is, the peripheral wall of the container-shaped stirring body 6, would affect the cleaning effect, and conducted many experiments. As a result, the present inventor found that when the height of the circumferential wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 is set to approximately 2/3 or more of the height of the entire circumferential wall of the washing tank 4, the cleaning ratio is significantly reduced. It was found that the unevenness of washing also increased rapidly at the same time (see Figure 3). this is,
If the height of the container-shaped agitator 6 is approximately 2/3 or more of the height of the entire peripheral wall of the washing tub 4, the laundry will straddle both the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 and the peripheral wall of the fixed tank 5. As a result, the laundry is less likely to receive frictional forces in opposite directions from both peripheral walls, reducing scrubbing and massaging effects, and also reduces the number of times the laundry is turned upside down. It is thought that this is because of this. Regarding this point, in this embodiment, the height of the peripheral wall of the container-shaped agitator 6 is set to approximately 1/2, which is 2/3 or less of the height of the entire peripheral wall of the washing tub 4, so that the laundry can be washed in both directions. It is possible to secure sufficient opportunity to contact the peripheral wall, which in turn provides sufficient scrubbing and massaging action, and it is also possible to frequently turn the product upside down, further improving the cleaning effect and eliminating uneven washing. It is possible to further reduce the

The dewatering operation in this embodiment is performed by, after draining water by opening the drain valve 13, operating a clutch mechanism (not shown) or the like to rotate the fixed tank 5 and the container-shaped stirring body 6 together in one direction. be.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, as shown in FIG. Washing shaft 17 protruding from the bottom
It goes without saying that the container-shaped stirring body 6 may be attached to the upper end, and the means for forming the fixed peripheral wall portion and the movable peripheral wall portion that form the peripheral wall of the washing tank can be formed by the above-mentioned structure of the fixed tank and the container-shaped stirring body. Of course, the combinations are not limited to the combinations based on the shapes of the objects.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, as described above, the peripheral wall of the washing tub is composed of the fixed peripheral wall located above and the movable peripheral wall located below, and when the amount of laundry is small, the movable peripheral wall is As the amount of laundry increases, the laundry comes into contact with the fixed peripheral wall part and the movable peripheral wall part, and is moved by the synergistic effect of the respective frictional forces. Compared to the rotary blade system or washing tank rotation system, it is possible to obtain sufficient scrubbing action and massaging action, greatly improving the cleaning effect, and even when there is a large amount of laundry, the movement is sufficient. The amount of laundry that can be washed at one time can be increased. Further, according to the present invention, since the height of the movable peripheral wall is set to approximately 2/3 or less of the height of the entire peripheral wall of the washing tub, the laundry can straddle both the movable peripheral wall and the fixed peripheral wall. It is possible to secure a sufficient opportunity for contact with the skin, thereby further improving the cleaning effect and further preventing uneven washing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 each show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a dehydrating/washing machine. Figure 1 is an overall longitudinal sectional side view, and Figure 2 is a comparison of cleaning ratios with other cleaning methods. FIG. 3 is a characteristic curve diagram of the cleaning ratio and uneven washing, and FIG. 4 is a partial vertical sectional view showing a different embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a two-tub washing machine. 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),
11 is a power control mechanism, and 12 is a washing machine motor.

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 accommodated together with water in the washing tank and the laundry is washed. When the amount of cloth is small, it is made to flow mainly by the water flow generated by the movable peripheral wall part, and as the amount of cloth increases, it is made to flow by the contact friction force with the movable peripheral wall part, and the fixed peripheral wall part in the upper part is made to flow. Washing is performed by a synergistic effect with frictional force received from the washing tank, and the height of the movable peripheral wall is set to approximately 2/3 or less of the height of the entire peripheral wall of the washing tub. Machine.