JPH0553160B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a rotary drum with an automatic door opening/closing device, particularly a rotary drum having an opening in the peripheral wall of the drum, such as a rotary drum used in a drum-type washing machine or a drum-type dryer. The present invention relates to automation of opening and closing of a door of a rotating drum in which the opening is opened and closed by a drum door.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a rotating drum used in, for example, a drum-type washing/drying machine, has an opening formed in its peripheral wall as an opening for loading and unloading laundry, and in order to open and close this opening, a person slides on the peripheral wall of the drum. A movable drum door is provided.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic perspective view of a conventional drum-type washer/dryer, in which a rotary drum 2 is rotatably supported within a casing 1 for performing a washing/drying process. A drum door 3 that opens and closes an opening for loading and unloading laundry is provided on the peripheral wall 2a of the rotating drum 2. This drum door 3 has a latch for locking the rotating drum 2 in the closed state. Tool 4 is attached.

An opening 5 is provided in the upper surface of the casing 1, and an outer lid 6 for opening and closing the opening 5 is pivoted.

Therefore, the operator of such a drum-type washer/dryer first releases the outer cover 6, then releases the latch 4 of the rotating drum 2, and slides the drum door 3 to open the laundry loading/unloading port of the drum. They open the door and take in and take out laundry or drying items.

Note that other elements such as the outer tank are omitted in FIG. 11 to simplify the drawing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional apparatus using the rotating drum 2 provided with the drum door, the operator has to manually open and close the door, resulting in poor workability. There is.

In addition, the closing operation of the drum door is not performed reliably,
Alternatively, if you forget to close it, there is a problem that rotating the drum may cause the contents to fly out and damage the contents or other components of the device.

Furthermore, in the rotating drum used in a drum-type washer/dryer as shown in Figure 11,
The troublesome door opening/closing work of having to manually rotate the rotary drum 2 until the drum door 3 is in the upper position after releasing the outer cover 6, and releasing the latch 4 to release the drum door 3 is eliminated. Not only is this necessary, but the surface of the drum is at a high temperature at the end of the drying process, which poses a problem in that there is a risk of burns when manually opening and closing the door.

Purpose of the invention The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and
To provide a rotating drum equipped with an automatic door opening/closing device capable of automatically opening and closing the drum door.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a rotating drum with an automatic door opening/closing device according to the present invention includes a rotating drum that has a drum opening on the peripheral wall and rotates within a casing, and a rotating drum that has a drum opening on the peripheral wall. A drum door is slidably attached to the outer periphery of the rotating drum so as to be opened and closed, and the tail end is supported on the drum door so that the leading end engages the vicinity of the drum opening by raising and lowering the tail end. A door stopper that locks/unlocks the drum door with respect to the rotating drum by disengaging the drum; a drum position detecting means that detects that the rotating drum has reached a predetermined position along the rotational direction; door locking means for releasing the locked state between the rotating drum and the drum door and for making the drum door immovable relative to the casing; The present invention is characterized by comprising a control circuit that drives and controls the rotating drum so that the opening is aligned with the opening of the casing.

Further, the automatic door opening/closing method for a rotating drum according to the present invention is a method for opening/closing a drum door of a rotating drum rotated within a casing, in which the drum door closes an opening of the rotating drum. The drum door is locked to the rotating drum by the door stopper, the drum position detecting means detects a predetermined position in the rotational direction of the rotating drum, and the door locking means locks the drum door based on the output from the drum position detecting means. , the locking state between the rotating drum and the drum door by the door stopper is released, the drum door is made immovable with respect to the casing, and the control circuit controls the rotation of the rotating drum based on the detection result of the drum position detecting means. The opening of the casing is rotated to a position aligned with the opening of the casing.

[Operation] In the above configuration, the drum door is slidably attached to the rotating drum. This drum door functions as a door for a drum opening provided in the peripheral wall of the rotating drum. That is, when the tip of the door stopper is engaged with the near edge of the drum opening, the drum opening is closed by the door stopper, and when it is not engaged, the drum opening is closed. It will be in an open state.

The door stopper is configured as a seesaw-shaped stopper such that the leading end engages the proximal edge of the drum opening by raising and lowering the tail end. When the rotating drum reaches a predetermined position along the rotational direction, this is detected by the drum position detection means, and the locked state between the rotating drum and the drum door is released by the door locking means. At the same time, the door locking means immobilize the drum door relative to the casing. When the drum door is immovable relative to the casing, the control circuit controls the drive of the rotating drum to
Align the opening in the rotating drum with the opening in the casing.

Therefore, in the present invention, the drum door of the rotating drum is automatically opened and closed, and there is no need to use a brake means when opening the drum door, and unnecessary rotation of the rotating drum is effectively prevented. . This frees the operator from the work of opening/closing the door and adjusting the position of the drum opening, improving work efficiency. Damage to equipment caused by this is prevented.
In addition, even if the rotating drum surface is hot,
Safety is improved because the operator does not have to touch it.

[Example] Hereinafter, based on the drawings, the drum type washing machine of the present invention will be explained.
An example in which the present invention is applied to a dryer will be described.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, in which a rotating drum 2 is rotatably supported in a casing 1, and an opening provided in the peripheral wall of the rotating drum can be covered. A drum door 3 is provided.

This drum door 3 is attached to the rotating drum 2.
A seesaw-type door stopper 7 is provided for locking the door so that it cannot slide. This door stopper 7 is disposed in a stopper storage section 23 which is a recess formed in the drum door 3, and a fitting member 24 is attached to the bottom outer surface of this stopper storage section 23 (for details on the specific shape). (described later).

The rotary drum is driven to rotate by a motor 8, whose rotational speed and direction are controlled by a control circuit 9.

Further, 10 is a drum position detector that detects a predetermined position in the rotational direction of the rotating drum 2, for example,
A magnetic sensor is installed in an outer tank (not shown) and an iron piece is attached to a pulley portion of the rotating drum to detect a predetermined rotational direction position of the rotating drum.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a door locking means, which is disposed inside the casing 1 near the outer periphery of the drum. This door locking means 11 operates the seesaw-shaped door stopper 7 (pushing down the tail end).

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing how the drum door 3 is attached to the rotating drum.
The opening 2b can be opened and closed by sliding on the outer periphery of the rotating drum 2.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the drum door 3.
Sliding grooves 3a are provided on both sides of the drum door 3, and the sliding grooves 3a are engaged with ribs (not shown) formed on both ends of the peripheral wall of the rotating drum 2, and the drum door 3 is slidably mounted on the rotating drum.

A door stopper 7 is provided in the stopper storage section 23 on the upper surface of the drum door 3. A claw portion 7a is formed at the tip of the door stopper 7, and the claw portion 7a is connected to a hook formed on the peripheral wall of the rotating drum 2. By engaging the stop portion, the drum door 3 is fixed to the rotating drum 2 so as not to be displaced. A spring is attached to the door stopper 7.
In the normal state, the claw portion 7a is biased in the direction in which it is hooked onto the hook portion of the rotating drum 2. Further, a recess 7b is formed at the tail end of the door stopper 7, and by pressing down this recess 7b, the claw can be moved against the biasing force of the spring. 7a is separated from the locking portion of the rotating drum 2, and the drum door 3 can be released from the locking state with respect to the rotating drum 2.

Furthermore, a drum lock opening 3b, which is one of the characteristic components of this embodiment, is provided below the recess 7b of the door stopper of the stopper storage section 23. This drum lock opening 3a is moved further downward from the unlocked position of the door stopper 7 by the member of the door locking means, so that the tail end of the door stopper 7 is brought to a lower position of the drum door 3. This allows it to protrude toward the rotating drum 2 side.

FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the attachment state of the fitting member 24 provided on the bottom outer surface of the stopper storage portion 23 of the drum door 3. The fitting member 24 is formed of a plate spring. , one end is formed with a protrusion 24a that protrudes inward of the rotating drum 2, and the other end is formed with a stopper storage portion 2.
It is attached by being fixed to the bottom of 3. This fitting member 24 can be bent as shown by the broken line in the figure by being pushed down from above, and in a normal state is set at the position shown by the solid line due to its springiness.

FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram for explaining the small holes 2d provided in the peripheral wall of the rotating drum 2.
is formed. This small hole 2d is located on the rotating drum 2.
is formed at a position where it can fit into the protrusion 24a of the fitting member when the opening 2b is rotated to open to open the opening 2b.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the main components of the door locking means 11. In the figure, the lock pin 12 is supported by a lower bearing 13 and an upper bearing 14 so as to be slidable back and forth in the direction of the rotating drum 2. ing.

A motor 15 is a driving source for moving the lock pin 12 back and forth, and a pulley 16 is attached to its main shaft 15a. A wire 17 is stretched around the outer periphery of the pulley 16, and both ends of the wire 17 are fixed to predetermined positions above and below the lock pin 12. Therefore, the lock pin 12 can be moved back and forth by rotating the pulley 16 forward and backward.

Further, a lower limit switch 18, a middle limit switch 19, and an upper limit switch 20 are provided to detect the upper and lower limits of the forward and backward movement of the lock pin 12 and to detect the middle position.
By detecting the movement of a switch actuator 21 attached to the lock pin 12, the motor 15 is turned on/off and its rotation is switched. The position of the lock pin 12 indicated by the broken line in the figure is the upper limit position X, and the position of the lock pin 12 indicated by the solid line
Position 2 is the middle position Y. Door locking means 11
As the first operation, the lock pin 12 is pushed down from the upper limit position X to the lower limit position Z.

When the lock pin 12 moves toward the rotating drum and pushes down the recessed portion 7b at the tail end of the door stopper 7 with the tip of the lock pin 12, the claw portion 7a of the door stopper separates from the hook portion 2c of the rotating drum.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the lock pin 12 is further lowered from the middle position Y and moved to the lower limit position Z.

By this downward movement to the lower limit position Z, the lock pin 12 pushes down the recess 7b of the door stopper 7 and causes the recess 7b, which is the tail end of the door stopper, to protrude from the drum lock opening 3b (in this way, the tail of the door stopper 7 The end is at the upper limit position of the lock pin 12,
The upper, middle, and lower positions are similarly set according to the movement to the middle position and lower limit position).

Further, the concave portion 7b protruding at the lower limit position pushes down the fitting member 24, causing the protrusion 24a of the fitting member 24 to protrude inward of the rotating drum 2. When the first operation is completed, the drum opening is opened by rotating the rotating drum by a predetermined angle (in this embodiment, by rotating counterclockwise), the rotating drum located at the bottom of the drum door 3 2 opening 2b
The protrusion 24a of the fitting member can fit into the small hole 2d provided in the vicinity of the fitting member. Due to this fitting, the rotating drum 2 becomes unable to rotate.

Further, when the lock pin 12 retreats and moves toward the upper limit position, the door stopper 7 returns to its normal position due to the biasing force of the spring 22, and the fitting member 2
4 also returns to the normal state. The driving of this lock pin is controlled by a signal from a control circuit 9 (see FIG. 1). The main components of the door locking means 11 are attached to the casing 1 or, in the case of a drum-type washing machine, to the outer tub via packing or the like.

Next, the operation when the rotating drum according to the present invention is used in a drum-type washer/dryer will be explained based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 and the operation diagrams of FIGS. 9 and 10.

The flowchart in FIG. 7 shows the automatic opening operation of the drum door 3, and FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D show each step of the drum door opening operation. 1 is a partial schematic diagram of a drum-type washer/dryer shown in FIG.

First, the rotary drum drive motor 8 rotates the rotary drum 2 counterclockwise at low speed, and the rotation of the rotary drum is stopped when the rotary drum reaches the door opening/closing position according to the drum position detector 10 (S1). .
That is, the control circuit 9 drives the motor 8 until the rotating drum 2 reaches the door opening/closing position, and stops the motor 8 when the rotating drum 2 reaches the door opening/closing position. FIG. 9A shows a state in which the rotating drum 2 is stopped at this door opening/closing position.

Next, the control circuit 9 starts the first operation of the door locking means 11, and moves the lock pin 12 down toward the rotating drum 2 to the lower limit position Y (S2).

FIG. 9B shows a state in which the lock pin 12 has been lowered to a middle position Y, which is a position on the way down.
At this time, the recess 7b at the tail end of the door stopper 7 is pushed down by the tip of the lock pin 12,
The claw portion 7a is lifted upward. At this time, the drum door 3 is unlocked from the rotating drum 2 and becomes slidable.

Here, the lock pin 12 is further lowered continuously to the lower limit position Z (S2).

FIG. 9C shows a state in which the lock pin 12 has been lowered to the lower limit position Z. At this time, the tail end 7b of the door stopper pushes down the fitting member 24a, causing the protrusion 24a to protrude downward.

Next, the drive motor 8 rotates the rotary drum 2 counterclockwise by a predetermined angle at low speed based on a signal from the control circuit 9 to open the drum opening 2b. The drive of the drive motor 8 is stopped at the time of rotation by a predetermined angle (S3). The rotation of the rotary drum 2 by a predetermined angle is detected by the drum position detector 10 at a predetermined position in the rotational direction of the rotary drum (a door opening completion position where the drum opening 2b is removed from the position of the drum door 3 and is completely opened). ) is detected, and the control circuit 9 stops driving the motor 8 based on this detection signal.

FIG. 9D shows a state in which the rotation of the rotary drum 2 in the counterclockwise direction by a predetermined angle has been completed.
As is clear from the figure, the opening 2b provided in the peripheral wall of the rotating drum 2 moves to the left in the figure from the position where it is covered by the drum door 3, and is no longer covered by the drum door 3. Opening 2b
is open.

During this opening rotation operation of the rotary drum, the protrusion 24a of the fitting member protruding inward of the rotary drum 2 fits into the small hole 2d provided near the opening 2b of the rotary drum. As a result, the rotating drum 2 and the drum door 3 become immovable. With this series of operations, the automatic opening operation of the rotary drum 2 is completed.

Next, we will discuss the automatic closing operation of the drum door 3 in the eighth section.
This will be explained based on the flowchart shown in the figure and the closing operation diagram shown in FIG.

When the opening operation of the drum door 3 and the operation of making the rotary drum 2 non-movable are completed, and it is time to close the drum door 3, first, from the state shown in FIG. 9D, the second operation of the door locking means 11 is performed. This causes the lock pin 12 to be driven upward. The middle limit switch 19 then locks the lock pin 12 at the middle position Y.
is detected and the lock pin 12 is stopped at the middle position Y (S4).

Next, the control circuit 9 drives the drive motor 8 to rotate the rotary drum 2 clockwise at a low speed (S5). At this time, the drum door 3 is moved by the door stopper 7.
The claw portion 7a of the washing machine is in a lifted state and fixed to the main body of the washing machine by the lock pin 12. Therefore, only the rotating drum 2 is in a rotatable state. This clockwise low-speed rotational drive is continued until the opening of the rotating drum 2 reaches a closed position. Stopping at this closed position is performed by the control circuit 9 stopping the drive motor 8 based on the signal from the drum position detector 10 (S5).

FIG. 10A shows a state in which the rotary drum 2 is rotated clockwise at a low speed with the door stopper 7 in the unlocked state and the drum door 3 in the fixed state by the lock pin 12. ing. Therefore, the opening 2b of the rotating drum 2 is gradually covered by the drum door 3.

Furthermore, FIG. 10B shows a state in which the rotating drum 2 has been rotated to the door opening/closing position, which is the closed position, and in this state, the opening 2b of the rotating drum is completely covered by the drum 3. .

Next, a third operation of the door locking means 11 is performed in response to a signal from the control circuit 9, and the lock pin 12 is raised to the upper limit position X and then stopped (S6).

FIG. 10C shows a state in which the lock pin 12 has been moved upward to the upper limit position X, the door stopper 7 has returned to its normal position, and the claw portion 7a is engaged with the latching portion of the rotating drum. As a result, the drum door 3 is locked to the rotary drum 2, and the rotary drum 2 is driven to rotate so that the washing or drying process can be started.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to automatically open and close the drum door of the rotating drum in a drum-type washing/drying machine, and by automatically opening the drum door when the washing or drying process is completed, the operator can When the outer lid of the main unit is opened, laundry can be taken in and out immediately without opening the door of the rotating drum.

Further, when the drum door 3 is open, the rotary drum 2 can be put into a non-movable state by fitting the protrusion 24a of the fitting member into the small hole 2d of the rotary drum. It is possible to reliably prevent the rotating drum 2 from moving in the weight direction due to the laundry being shifted to one side during loading and unloading.

In addition, by closing the outer lid of the main unit after loading or unloading the laundry, the door of the rotating drum can be automatically closed, eliminating the need for the operator to open and close the door of the rotating drum. There is no need to perform any operations.

In this example, an example was shown in which the rotating drum according to the present invention was applied to a drum-type washing/drying machine.
The rotating drum according to the present invention is not limited to these, and may be any device using a rotating drum that has an opening in the peripheral wall and a mechanism that opens and closes this opening with a sliding door. For example, it can be applied to various devices.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically open and close the drum door for opening and closing the opening of the rotating drum, and to automatically fix the rotating drum while the drum door is open. The operator is freed from the troublesome operations of opening and closing the door and adjusting the position of the drum opening, thereby improving work efficiency.

In addition, since the door opens and closes automatically, there is no risk of contents spilling out while the rotating drum is rotating due to forgetting to close the door or insufficiently closing the door, or damage to the equipment due to spilled contents. It can be effectively prevented.

Furthermore, since there is no need to open and close the drum by touching it directly when the drum surface is hot, the operator's safety is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing how the drum door according to the invention is attached to a rotating drum, and Fig. 3 is a drum door according to the embodiment. FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram showing the attachment state of the fitting member provided on the inner surface of the drum door. FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram showing the small hole formed near the opening of the rotating drum. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams showing the main components of the door locking means and their operating ranges, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the opening operation of the drum door, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the closing operation of the drum door. Chart diagram, Figure 9 A, B, C and D
10A, B, and C are partial schematic diagrams showing each stage of the drum door closing operation. FIG. 11 is a conventional rotating drum configuration. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a drum-type washing machine for explaining. 2 is a rotating drum, 2d is a small hole, 3 is a drum door,
3b is the drum lock opening, 7 is the door stopper, 9
1 is a control circuit, 10 is a drum position detector, 11 is a door locking means, 12 is a lock pin, 23 is a stopper housing, and 24 is a fitting member. Note that in each figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same elements.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for opening and closing a drum door of a rotating drum that is rotated within a casing, wherein, in a state where the drum door closes an opening of the rotating drum, the drum door is closed to the rotating drum by a door stopper. the rotating drum is in a locked state, the drum position detecting means detects a predetermined position in the rotational direction of the rotating drum, and based on the output from the drum position detecting means,
The door locking means releases the locked state between the rotating drum and the drum door by the door stopper and makes the drum door immovable relative to the casing, and based on the detection result of the drum position detection means,
A method for automatically opening and closing a door of a rotating drum, wherein a control circuit rotates an opening of the rotating drum to a position aligned with an opening of a casing. 2. A rotating drum that has a drum opening on the peripheral wall and rotates within the casing, a drum door that is slidably attached to the outer circumference of the rotating drum to open and close the drum opening, and a drum door that is slidably attached to the outer circumference of the rotating drum to open and close the drum opening. a door stopper that is supported on the drum door so as to engage with the vicinity of the opening, and locks/unlocks the drum door with respect to the rotating drum by engaging/disengaging the tip; drum position detection means for detecting that the drum has arrived at a predetermined position along the casing; It is characterized by comprising: a locking means; and a control circuit that drives and controls the rotary drum so that the opening of the rotary drum is aligned with the opening of the casing when the drum door is in a non-movable state with respect to the casing. Rotating drum with automatic door opening/closing device.