JPH0410839B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., which is installed in a device such as a washing machine and supplies detergent to a detergent receptacle thereof. .

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a detergent supply device for this type of washing machine, etc., there is one shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-43827. This device is generally installed in a washing machine, and the detergent stored in a hopper is discharged by a valve and supplied into a washing tub.

However, in the case of the above-mentioned valve, the valve is operated by the user's hand, and therefore, there is a problem in that it is cumbersome to handle.

Therefore, it has been considered to replace the above-mentioned valve with a screw and drive this screw with a motor so that the detergent in the hopper can be supplied without bothering the user.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of the above-mentioned motor, there is a problem in that the motor is exposed to water, which is typical of equipment that handles water such as washing machines, and this reduces the insulation of the motor. There was a risk of malfunction or electric shock.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent accidents such as electric shocks and accidents caused by water splashing on the motor in a device in which a detergent dispensing member is driven by a motor. The present invention relates to an excellent detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., which can prevent the above problems and also streamline the structure in connection with this.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A detergent supply device for a washing machine or the like of the present invention includes a hopper for storing and storing detergent, and a hopper for discharging the detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiving portion. The motor is equipped with a detergent dispensing member and a motor for driving the detergent dispensing member, and the motor is covered with a waterproof cover attached to the drive shaft, and the driving force of the motor is applied to the waterproof cover. It is characterized in that it is integrally provided with teeth that communicate with the detergent dispensing member.

(Function) According to the above means, the motor is waterproofed by the waterproof cover. Further, the tooth portion for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the detergent dispensing member does not need to be provided separately from the waterproof cover.

(Example) An example in which the present invention is applied to a detergent supply device for a washing machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, in Figure 2, 1 is the outer box of the washing machine,
Reference numeral 2 indicates an upper cover attached to the upper surface of the upper cover; 3 indicates a bi-fold type lid provided on the upper cover 2 so that it can be opened and closed; and 4 indicates an upper cover 2 located in front of the cover 3.
This is an operation panel installed on the front edge of the machine. On the other hand, reference numeral 5 designates a rear panel located behind the lid 3 and provided at the rear edge of the upper cover 2, and is provided with a power switch 6 and a hopper 7.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the hopper 7 includes an inner wall 9 made of, for example, transparent plastic and having a horizontally cylindrical detergent delivery portion 8 at its lowest part, and an outer wall 10 made of transparent plastic surrounding the outer periphery of the inner wall 9.
This constitutes the entire peripheral wall 11, and furthermore, the outer wall 10 has an upper part 10a and a lower part 10b that are separately manufactured and joined together, and the uppermost part thereof is fitted inside the upper outer peripheral rib 12 of the inner wall 9. According to
The inner wall 9 is connected with a predetermined gap 13 around the outer periphery thereof. Note that 14 is a lid of the hopper 7.

Further, 15 is a lower part 1 of the outer wall 10 on one side (left side in FIG. 1) of both sides of the lowermost part of the outer wall 10.
0b, and 16 is a claw formed integrally with a push button 17 removably installed on the lower part 10b of the outer wall 10 on the other side (right side in the figure), while 18 is a claw formed integrally with the As shown in FIG. 3, this is a recess formed in the rear panel 5 by surrounding the upper edge with a rib 19, in which a hole 20 is formed on one side (the left side in FIG. 1) of both sides, and a hole 20 is formed on the other side. (Right side in the same figure)
The hopper 7 is removably attached to the rear panel 5 by forming a hole 21 in the rear panel 5, with the pawl 15 engaged in the hole 20 and the pawl 16 in the hole 21.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a detergent dispensing member inserted in advance into the detergent dispensing portion 8 located in the recess 18 when the above-mentioned hopper 7 is attached, and in particular, in the case of this embodiment, it is composed of a coil, and its base end (the left end in FIG. 1) is attached to a power transmission shaft 23 inserted into the base end of the detergent dispensing section 8 and rotatably supported, whereby the detergent dispensing member 22 is integrated with the hopper 7. and unitize them.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a motor attached to the left end of the upper cover 2 in FIG.
7, and the waterproof cover 27 closes the motor 25.
is covered. Further, the waterproof cover 27 is integrally provided with driving teeth 28 in advance. Furthermore, 2
A waterproof wall 9 also covers the motor 25. Also, the motor 25 moves the waterproof wall 29 to the fourth
It is attached to the upper cover 2 by tightening the screws 30 shown in the figure to the upper cover 2.
On the other hand, reference numeral 31 denotes a waterproof cover attached to the protruding end of the transmission shaft 23 from the detergent delivery section 8, and is similar to the waterproof cover 27 described above. are integrally provided, and the teeth 32 are meshed with the driving teeth 28.

Reference numeral 33 denotes a concave portion that covers almost the entire rear edge of the upper cover 2, and is located near the tip of the waterproof wall 29 inside a washing tub (not shown), which is a washing section disposed inside the outer box 1. A drain port 34 facing the drain is formed.
Further, in the recess 33, a detergent receiving part 36 is formed at a portion located below the detergent outlet 35 at the tip of the detergent delivery part 8 of the hopper 7, separated from other parts by partition walls 37, 38. are doing. As shown in FIG. 5, this detergent receiving part 36 has a front-downward slope, and has a supply port 39 facing the inside of the washing tub at its tip, and a rear end. A water supply device 40 is arranged in series with a water supply valve 41. 4
Reference numeral 2 designates an opening formed at the bottom of the recess 18 of the rear panel 5, located above the detergent receiving portion 36, for passing the detergent through and also for cleaning.

Reference numeral 43 denotes a convex portion protruding from the bottom of the recess 18 of the rear panel 5, while 44 denotes a lid (the lid of the hopper 7 described above) whose upper end is pivoted to the lower part 10b of the outer wall of the hopper 7 by a shaft portion 45. 14), and as shown in FIG. 6, a projection 46 is formed near the upper end of the small lid 44, and a spring is inserted between this projection 46 and the push button 17. 47
is interposed therebetween, thereby urging the push button 17 outward and urging the small lid 44 inward (toward the detergent outlet 35). Further, a diagonal tongue piece 48 is formed at the rear part near the lower end of the small lid 44, and this is engaged with the convex portion 43 to push the small lid 44 outward against the biasing force of the spring 47. (to the side opposite to the detergent outlet 35 direction) to open the detergent outlet 35.

Here, FIG. 7 shows a state in which the hopper 7 (a unit of the hopper 7 and the detergent dispenser member 22) is being removed, and at this time, the push button 17 is pushed inward against the biasing force of the spring 47. By pushing in, the claw 16 is removed from the hole 21, and then the claw 1 is
5 is removed from the hole 20. With the removal of the hopper 7 (unit), the small lid 44 is removed.
releases the tongue piece 48 from the convex portion 43, and therefore the small lid 4
4 is released from the force of outward rotation by the convex portion 43, is rotated inward by the biasing force of the spring 47, and is pressed against the detergent outlet 35, thereby closing the outlet 35. When the hopper 7 (unit) is reattached from this state, the small lid 44 engages the tongue 48 with the protrusion 43 and slides outward against the biasing force of the spring 47 as described above. It is rotated to open the detergent outlet 35.

Furthermore, reference numeral 49 denotes an agitator which is rotatably disposed inside the hopper 7 with a shaft 50 passed between the front and back of the hopper 7, and which has a plurality of holes 51 and a plurality of protrusions 52 that protrude in the front-rear direction. It has a large number of protrusions 53 that protrude outward from the periphery, and one of the protrusions 53 is engaged with the detergent dispenser member 22.

Now, in the case of the device configured as described above, when using it, for example, remove the hopper 7 (unit), open the lid 14, pour detergent, for example, powdered detergent 54 into the hopper 7, and then close the lid. Close 14. Then, the hopper 7 (unit) is installed as shown in FIG. 1, so that the powdered detergent 54 is stored in the installed hopper 7. still,
At this time, the work of storing the powdered detergent 54 in the hopper 7 may be performed with the hopper 7 attached without needing to be removed. With the powdered detergent 54 stored and stored in the hopper 7 in this way,
Next, the user operates the necessary switches on the operation panel 4 to wash the clothes. Then, a control device (not shown) including, for example, a microcomputer installed in the lower part of the operation panel 4 starts operating.
First, the motor 25 and the water supply valve 41 are energized and operate together, and the motor 25 transfers its rotational force from the drive shaft 26 to the waterproof cover 27 and the drive teeth 2.
8, and further from the driving teeth 28 to the driven teeth 32 and the waterproof cover 31, and then to the transmission shaft 23 and the detergent dispenser 22, the detergent dispenser 22 is rotated, especially Rotate in the so-called spiral direction. Therefore, the powdered detergent 54 in the hopper 7 is advanced in the detergent delivery section 8 toward the detergent outlet 35 by the rotation of the detergent dispensing member 22, and from the detergent outlet 35 in FIGS. The detergent is dispensed as shown by arrow A, and the detergent receiver 3
Fall on 6. On the other hand, the water supply valve 41 is connected to the water supply device 40
Through this, water flows onto the detergent receiving part 36 as shown by arrow B in FIG. It is supplied into a washing tub (not shown).

When the detergent dispenser 22 is rotated as described above, the stirring member 49, which has one of the protrusions 53 engaged with the detergent dispenser 22, sequentially engages the protrusions 53 with the detergent dispenser 22. The powder detergent 54 in the hopper 7 is thereby agitated, and the powder detergent 54 can be introduced into the detergent delivery section 8 more smoothly.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the powder detergent 54
can be supplied by the driving force of the motor 25 without the user's intervention, and furthermore, since the motor 25 is basically covered by the waterproof cover 27, the upper If water seeps into the rear panel 5 and gets stuck in the driving teeth 28, the motor 2 of the
Entry into the interior of the motor 25 can be prevented by the waterproof cover 27, thereby maintaining good insulation of the motor 25 and eliminating the risk of failure or electric shock.

Furthermore, in this case, the driving tooth portion 28 is integrally provided with the waterproof cover 27, and the integrally molded product can be easily obtained by injection molding, etc., so the structure is compared to that required by molding them separately. As a result, the structure can be rationalized and the price can be reduced.

In addition to the above, especially in the case of the above embodiment, since the motor 25 is covered with the waterproof wall 29, a further waterproof effect can be obtained for the motor 25. In particular, in the embodiment described above, the hopper 7 can be removed from the rear panel 5 as a unit with the detergent dispensing member 22. Since water easily enters through the opening of the rear panel 5 that appears, the waterproof effect of the waterproof cover 27 and the waterproof wall 29 becomes even more effective.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings. Therefore, the hopper 7 and the detergent dispenser member 22 do not necessarily have to be removable, and the waterproof wall 29 is not necessarily removable. It doesn't have to be equipped.

The detergent receiving part is not limited to the detergent receiving part 36 formed on the rear panel 5 described above, but may also be a washing tub. In other words, the detergent can be directly fed into the washing tub and use the water supply. It may be supplied without any restrictions. Further, the detergent dispensing member is not limited to the above-described coil, but may be a conventional valve or screw, for example. In addition, the invention as a whole is not limited to washing machines, but can be similarly applied to all devices that use detergent to function, such as dishwashers, and can also be applied to other devices such as the agitator 49. Only those items that require it may be provided, and the detergent may be, for example, a liquid detergent other than the powder detergent 54.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the detergent supply device for a washing machine or the like of the present invention is installed in a device such as a washing machine and supplies detergent to the detergent receiving portion thereof.
A hopper for accommodating and storing the detergent, a detergent dispensing member provided to dispense the detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiving portion, and a motor for driving the detergent dispensing member. It is covered by a waterproof cover attached to the shaft, and this waterproof cover is integrally provided with teeth for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the detergent dispensing member, so that it is not only easy to handle, but also particularly It is possible to prevent water from entering the motor for this purpose, preventing breakdowns and electric shock accidents, etc., and also achieving rationalization of the structure related to this, resulting in a reduction in price. It has various excellent effects such as:

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main parts, Fig. 2 is an external perspective view of the upper part of the washing machine where the same parts exist, and Fig. 3 is the upper part of the washing machine. External perspective view with the hopper removed, No. 4
The figure is a vertical side view of the main part with the hopper removed, Figure 5 is a vertical side view of the same part at a different cross-sectional position, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the small lid alone, and Figure 7 is the main part with the hopper removed. It is a longitudinal sectional front view in an intermediate state. In the drawing, 1 is the outer box of the washing machine, 5 is the rear panel, 7 is the hopper, 22 is the detergent dispenser, 25 is the motor, and 2
7 is a waterproof cover, 28 is a tooth part, 36 is a detergent receiving part,
54 indicates powder detergent (detergent).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device installed in a device such as a washing machine to supply detergent to its detergent receiver, which includes a hopper that accommodates and stores the detergent, and a hopper that is installed to discharge detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiver. a detergent dispensing member and a motor for driving the detergent dispensing member, the motor is covered by a waterproof cover attached to the drive shaft, and the driving force of the motor is transmitted to the waterproof cover to the detergent dispensing member. A detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., characterized in that it is integrally provided with a tooth portion for dispensing with water.