JPS6328638B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a dehydrating and washing machine in which a pulsator is eccentrically disposed at the inner bottom of a rotating tub.

In this type of washing machine in which the pulsator is eccentric for the purpose of improving the washing effect, a gear is conventionally formed integrally with the pulsator, and the rotation of the washing shaft is transmitted to the pulsator via a gear mechanism. There is something. However, with the above configuration, if the gear becomes worn or damaged and needs to be replaced, the entire pulsator must be replaced, which is uneconomical. Additionally, gears are generally required to have wear resistance, so if the pulsator and gear are integrally molded, the entire pulsator must be made of an expensive wear-resistant material, which increases material costs. There was a problem.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to make it possible to easily replace only the gear even if it becomes necessary to replace the gear, and to reduce manufacturing costs by keeping material costs low. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a washing machine that can also be used for dehydration and dehydration.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. First, in FIG. 1 showing the outline of the overall configuration, 1 is an outer box, inside of which a water receiving tank 3 is elastically suspended via a hanging rod 2 of an elastic support mechanism. The rotary tank 5 is made of, for example, plastic and has a large number of dehydration holes 4 in its peripheral wall. Reference numeral 6 denotes a lid frame attached to the open upper surface of the outer box 1, which forms a laundry entrance/exit 7 approximately in the center, and has an operation box 8 erected at the rear thereof, and a time switch 9 installed in the operation box 8. is attached. Next, in FIG. 2 showing the support structure and drive mechanism of the rotary tank 5, reference numeral 10 denotes a housing, which is connected to the water receiving tank 3 with its upper end fitted into the hole 11 at the center of the bottom of the water receiving tank 3. A support plate 12 is attached to a flange portion 10a that is fixed to the bottom of the support plate 3 by screws or the like, and protrudes from the outer periphery of the support plate 10a. Although not shown, a driving motor is attached to this support plate 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes a hollow dehydration shaft, which is inserted into the housing 10 and supported via bearings 14, 14. A connecting cylindrical body 16 having a flange 15 formed approximately in the middle is fitted onto the upper end of this dehydration shaft 13, and the lower end of this cylindrical body 16 is located inside the upper end of the housing 10. death,
A water sealing member 17 of the housing 10 is in sliding contact with the outer periphery of the housing 10 . Reference numeral 18 denotes a washing shaft, which is inserted and supported concentrically within the dewatering shaft 13 via bearings 19, 19, and has a flange 18 formed near the upper end.
a is brought into contact with a bearing 19 at the upper end of the dehydration shaft 13. The upper end of the washing shaft 18 passes through a seal member 20 attached to the inside of the upper end of the cylinder 16 and projects upward. Reference numeral 21 denotes a pulley, which is integrally provided with a cylindrical shaft 22. The cylindrical shaft 22 is fitted onto the lower end of the washing shaft 18, and the pulley 21
is connected to the motor by a belt 23. 24
is a clutch spring, which is wound so as to straddle between the lower end of the dewatering shaft 13 and the cylindrical shaft 22. Reference numeral 25 denotes a sleeve loosely fitted to the clutch spring 24. A groove 25a is formed on the inner periphery of the sleeve in which the lower winding end 24a of the clutch spring 24 engages, and a large number of engaging teeth 26 are protruded from the outer periphery. By engaging and disengaging a control lever 27 whose operating source is an electromagnetic device (not shown) from the engagement teeth 26, the clutch spring 24 is switched between a state in which winding cannot be tightened and a state in which winding is free. The dehydration shafts 13 are switched between a disconnected state and a connected state. 28 is a brake drum that is fitted and fixed to the lower end of the dehydration shaft 13; 29 is an annular brake band with an end that is tightly wound around the outer periphery of the brake drum 28;
The clutch spring 24 and the clutch spring 24 are also controlled by a control lever 27, and when the control lever 27 comes into contact with the claw piece 29a, the brake drum 28 is prevented from rotating integrally with the brake drum 28, thereby braking the brake drum 28. On the other hand, a substantially circular recess 30 is formed at the bottom of the rotary tank 5 at a predetermined distance eccentrically from the center.
An annular wall 31 for preventing the intrusion of foreign matter such as sand is erected near the outer peripheral edge of the bottom, and a large part of the bottom inside this annular wall 31 is opened to form an opening 32. 33 is a bottom plate of the rotating tank 5, which includes a mounting base 5a protruding from the outer bottom of the rotating tank 5 and a recess 30.
The opening 32 is fixed to the outer bottom of the opening 32 with a screw 34 so as to close the opening 32. A fitting hole 35 is formed in the bottom plate 33 at a location corresponding to the center of the rotary tank 5, and the fitting hole 35 is fitted into the cylindrical body 16, so that the bottom plate 33 is attached to the flange of the cylindrical body 16. Part 1
5 is tightened and fixed with a bolt 36, and the rotating tank 5 is directly connected to the dewatering shaft 13. 37
is a drive gear, which is fixed to the lower end of the washing shaft 18 protruding into the recess 30 by a screw 38. Reference numeral 39 denotes a bearing cylinder serving as a shaft support, and this is fixed to the bottom plate 33 by a bolt 40 at a portion offset from the washing shaft 18 by a predetermined distance (a portion corresponding to the center of the recess 30). Reference numeral 41 denotes a pivot shaft rotatably attached to the bearing cylinder 39, and the upper half portion of the pivot shaft 41 protruding from the bearing cylinder 39 has corresponding opposite sides thereof formed flat so as to have a substantially oval-shaped cross section. 42
is a driven gear that constitutes a gear mechanism 43 together with the driving gear 37, which is constituted by an internal gear made of a resin with excellent wear resistance such as polyacetal, and a circular base plate 44 is formed on the upper surface of the driven gear. A boss portion 4 is located approximately at the center of this circular board 44.
5 is formed. The fitting hole 45a of the boss portion 45 is made to have the same cross-sectional shape as the pivot shaft 41, and the boss portion 45 is fitted to the pivot shaft 41 so that the tooth portion 42a meshes with the drive gear 37.
A pulsator 46 is made of polypropylene, for example, and has a boss 47 protruding from the center of the pulsator, and a fitting hole 47a of the boss 47 also has a cross-sectional shape that substantially matches the shape of the pivot shaft 41. An annular rib 46a serving as a fitting portion protruding from the outer periphery of the lower surface of the pulsator 46 is fitted to the outer periphery of the driven gear 42, that is, the outer periphery in this embodiment, and the boss portion 47 is The driven gear 4 of the pivot 41
The pulsator 46 and the driven gear 42 are fitted into the part that protrudes upward from the boss part 45 of the driven gear 4 and are tightened and fixed with a screw 48.
2 is located inside the lower part of the pulsator 46 and integrated, so that the two rotate together. In addition, 49 is a communication port formed at the bottom of the rotary tank 5, 50 is a strainer that covers the communication port 49, 51 is a communication hole formed in the bottom plate 33, 52 is a drain hole formed at the bottom of the recess 30, Reference numeral 53 denotes a drain tube integrally formed at the bottom of the water receiving tank 3, and the drain tube 53 is connected to a drain hose 55 via a drain valve 54.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. When laundry is put into the rotating tub 5 together with detergent and the time switch 9 is set, a water supply valve (not shown) opens and water is supplied into the rotating tub 5. When a predetermined water level is reached, a water level switch (not shown) is activated. Based on this, the water supply valve is closed and the motor is started. and,
In this state, the electromagnetic device is in operation, and the brake band 29 is kept in the braking state via the control lever 27, and the clutch spring 24 is held in the uncoupled state.
8 only. This rotation of the washing shaft 18 is transmitted from the driving gear 37 to the driven gear 42, and the pulsator 46 rotates together with the driven gear 42 together with the pivot 41, thereby performing detergent washing. When this washing with detergent is completed, the water in the water receiving tank 3 and the rotary tank 5 is drained through the drain hose 55, and then the dewatering process is started.
In this dewatering process, the electromagnetic device is cut off, the brake band 29 is in a non-braking state, the clutch spring 24 is in a connected state, and at the same time the motor is started, so the rotary tank 5 is moved at high speed via the dehydration shaft 13. It is driven to rotate, and the water containing detergent in the laundry is centrifugally dehydrated. After this, a rinsing process in which water is stored in the rotary tank 5 again and the pulsator 46 is driven, a drainage process in which water is discharged from the water receiving tank 3 and the rotary tank 5, and a dewatering process are repeated multiple times in order to complete the entire process. ends.

By the way, in the event that the teeth of the driven gear 42 are broken or worn due to long-term use and it becomes necessary to replace the driven gear 42, the screw 48 of the pivot shaft 41 is first removed. As a result, the pulsator 46 and the driven gear 42 are installed in a vertical positional relationship, and the pulsator 46 and the driven gear 42 can be individually removed from the shaft 41, so only the driven gear 42 can be replaced with a new one. You can replace it with . Therefore, unlike the conventional method in which the pulsator and the driven gear are integrally molded, there is no need to replace the entire pulsator even if the driven gear has a failure, which is economical. Moreover, decomposition,
The assembly work is extremely simple since it can be done by simply attaching and detaching one screw 48.

Further, since the driven gear 42 is separate from the pulsator 46, it is possible to make the pulsator 46 from a different material, for example, from an inexpensive resin such as polypropylene, and even if the driven gear 42 is made from an expensive resin such as polyacetal. It can be formed from a resin with excellent wear resistance, thereby ensuring the wear resistance necessary for the driven gear 42 while keeping the material cost low, thereby reducing the overall manufacturing cost. Furthermore, in conventional systems in which the pulsator and driven gear are integrally molded, if the driven gear is made thick in order to obtain mechanical strength, so-called sink marks during molding cause dents on the pulsator surface, which deteriorates its appearance. or damage the
Although there is a problem of deterioration of washing performance, in this embodiment, the driven gear 42 is replaced by the pulsator 4.
It can be made thick regardless of 6, and the pulsator 46
There is no need to create parts where the wall thickness changes, which can cause stains.

Moreover, while producing the excellent effects as described above, the driven gear 42 and the pulsator 46 are connected to one axis 41.
Since it is configured to fit directly into the pulsator, the eccentricity of the driven gear with respect to the pivot can be minimized as much as possible, unlike the case where the driven gear is attached to the pulsator, for example.

Furthermore, since the pulsator 46 is provided with a protruding annular rib 46a that fits with the outer circumferential surface of the driven gear 42, rotation transmission from the driven gear 42 to the pulsator 46 is also performed via the annular rib 46a. become. In this case, even if the force applied from the driven gear 42 to the annular rib 46a is small, since the distance from the rotation center is large, the rotational torque applied to the pulsator 46 via the annular rib 46a becomes large. Therefore, the rotational force applied from the boss part 47 of the driven gear 42 to the boss part 47 of the pulsator 46 via the pivot shaft 41 during rotation is correspondingly smaller, and even if an excessive load is applied to the pulsator 46, the boss part 47 of the driven gear 42 is There is no risk that parts 45 and 47 will be damaged.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the driven gear. In the above embodiment, a circular substrate 44 is attached to the upper end surface of the driven gear 42.
On the other hand, this driven gear 56 has, for example, three arms 57 extending in the radial direction on its upper end surface, and a boss portion 58 is formed at the center of the driven gear 56. There is. As a result, the inner tooth portion 56a of the driven gear 56 is connected between each arm 57.
An opening 59 is formed through which it is visible.

With this configuration, it is possible to fit the driven gear 56 to the pivot shaft 41 while checking the meshing state with the drive gear 37, which is extremely convenient during assembly or inspection.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the same parts as in the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, explanation thereof will be omitted, and only different parts will be explained. Reference numeral 60 denotes a pivot shaft rotatably attached to the bearing cylinder 39, and has a circular cross section. Reference numeral 61 denotes a driven gear that constitutes the gear mechanism 62 together with the drive gear 37. This is constituted by an external gear, and has a boss portion 63 formed approximately in the center and an engagement pin 64 on the outer peripheral side of the upper end surface. is installed protrudingly. Such a driven gear 61 has a boss portion 63
The drive gear 37 is fitted onto the pivot shaft 60 so as to mesh with the drive gear 37. On the other hand, pulsator 46
The engagement pin 64 of the driven gear 61 is located on the lower surface of the
An engagement cylindrical portion 65 is integrally provided as a fitting portion to be fitted with the engagement pin 64.
It is fixed to the pivot shaft 60 together with the driven gear 61 by the screw 48 in the fitted state.

According to the above configuration, the rotational force of the drive gear 37 is transmitted to the pulsator 46 via the driven gear 61, but even if the pivot shaft 60 has a circular cross-sectional shape, the pulsator 46 and the driven gear 61 are connected to each other through the engagement pin. 64 and the engaging cylinder portion 65 to prevent the rotation of the driven gear 6 from slipping between them.
1 rotation can be reliably transmitted to the pulsator 46.

In this case, since the engagement pin 64 is located on the outer circumferential side of the driven gear 61, even if the rotational force acting between the engagement pin 64 and the engagement cylinder portion 65 is relatively small, it becomes a large rotational torque. The load can be transmitted to the pulsator 46, and even if an excessive load is applied to the pulsator 46, there is no possibility that the engagement pin 64 or the engagement cylinder portion 65 will be damaged.

In both of the above embodiments, the pivots 41 and 60 are rotatably supported by the bearing cylinder 39, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the pivots are fixedly supported by the shaft supports, and the driven gears The pulsator and the pulsator may be rotatably fitted and both may be rotated together by an engagement mechanism as shown in FIG.

As described above, the present invention provides a shaft support at a portion eccentric from the washing shaft at the inner bottom of the rotary tank, supports the shaft on the shaft support, and connects the driven gear and pulsator of the gear mechanism to the shaft. It is installed removably from inside the rotating tank in a vertical positional relationship so as to be located inside the lower part of the pulsator, and in this installed state, the outer peripheral part of the driven gear and the fitting part provided on the pulsator are fitted. The pulsator and driven gear are unique in that they are structured so that they rotate together.As a result, even if a failure occurs in the driven gear, the pulsator and driven gear can be removed individually, so only the driven gear can be removed. The pulsator and driven gear are separate parts, and only the driven gear is made of an expensive but highly wear-resistant material, while the pulsator body is made of an inexpensive material. Because it can be formed, material costs can be kept low and manufacturing costs can be reduced.Furthermore, since the rotational torque is transmitted from the driven gear to the pulsator through the fitting part, the rotation transmission part of the driven gear and pulsator can be reduced. To provide a dehydrating and washing machine which has excellent effects such as preventing breakage without applying excessive force to the washing machine.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 1 is a side view of the whole with the upper half cut away;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the main part, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the driven gear, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the main part showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 5 is a rotating tank, 13 is a dehydration shaft, 18 is a washing shaft, 39 is a bearing cylinder (shaft support), 41 and 60 are pivots, 42 and 56 are driven gears, 42a and 56
a is a tooth, 43 and 62 are gear mechanisms, 46 is a pulsator, 46a is an annular rib (fitting part), 59 is an opening, 64 is an engagement pin, and 65 is an engagement cylinder part (fitting part) .

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A dewatering shaft with a washing shaft inserted through it is directly connected to the outer bottom of the rotary tank, and a pulsator is arranged on the inner bottom at a position eccentric from the washing shaft, and the washing shaft is connected to the washing shaft through a gear mechanism. In the apparatus for rotationally driving the pulsator, a shaft support is provided at a portion eccentric from the washing shaft at the inner bottom of the rotary tank, a pivot is supported by the shaft support, and the driven gear of the gear mechanism and the pulsator are connected to the pivot. , the driven gear is removably mounted from within the rotary tank in a vertical positional relationship such that the driven gear is located inside the lower part of the pulsator, and in this mounted state, the outer circumferential portion of the driven gear and the fitting provided on the pulsator are connected to each other. Make sure that the joints fit together,
A dehydrating and washing machine characterized by a structure in which both parts rotate together. 2. The dehydrating and washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the driven gear is composed of an internal gear, and has an opening in its upper surface through which the teeth of the gear can be visually seen.