KR20090035901A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A laundry treating device is provided to increase the energy efficiency but reduce the washing time by reducing the energy for the generation of the steam vapor. A laundry treating device comprises: a cabinet; a washing tub arranged within the cabinet; an ultrasonic wave steam generation unit(100) generating the steam in order to supply to the washing tub by taking advantage of the ultrasonic wave; and a dryer(200) drying the air to be supplied inside the washing tub. The dryer includes: a drying duct(230) conducting the flow of the fluid; and a heat supplier(220) for supplying the heat to the fluid passing through the drying duct.

Description

Laundry Processing Equipment {Washing Machine}

The present invention relates to a steam generating means mainly used in a laundry treatment apparatus for processing laundry such as a drum washing machine, a tower washing machine, a refresher and the like.

In general, a laundry treatment apparatus is a washing apparatus that removes contamination on clothes, bedding, etc. (hereinafter, referred to as 'laundry') by using chemical decomposition of water and detergent and physical action such as friction between water and laundry. And a refresher that simply blows steam to the laundry and washes easily.

The laundry treatment apparatus is a tower-type washing machine that forms a vortex in the washing water in the washing tank in a form in which the washing tank is standing and washes using friction between the laundry, and uses a lifter formed in the drum for the laundry administered in the drum by the rotating drum. Raise it up, it is divided into a drum type washing machine for washing the laundry by the physical impact force generated when the laundry falls again.

On the other hand, in recent years, there has been provided a laundry treatment apparatus having a steam generator for generating heated steam and applying the steam to laundry. Such a laundry treatment device not only provides a function of simply washing the laundry by spraying steam on the laundry, but also adds a means for heating the steam to increase the temperature of the laundry and the inside of the washing tank to increase the solubility of the detergent, and the laundry. In recent years, the demand has been steadily increasing because the contaminants attached to the swelling can greatly improve the washing performance by creating a state that can fall well during washing.

However, since the steam generator of the conventional steam washing method takes a method of generating steam by heating water by boiling water, a lot of energy is consumed to raise the temperature of the water. However, the temperature in the washing tank must not reach the boiling point of water to produce a positive effect such as sufficient solubility of the detergent or swelling of foreign matters in the laundry. In addition, it takes a considerable time to heat the water to the boiling point of the water has the disadvantage of longer washing time.

In general, recent washing apparatuses are often equipped with a separate drying apparatus for drying the laundry, the conventional steam generator is a method of increasing the temperature of the water to generate steam, so that the heat supply used in the drying apparatus and The heat supply for the steam generator should be installed separately in the washing machine. This has the problem of increasing the production cost of the laundry machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a laundry treatment apparatus which reduces energy consumption by reducing components and improves energy efficiency by reducing energy consumption consumed when steam is generated.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, a laundry having a cabinet, a laundry tank disposed in the cabinet for processing the laundry, and ultrasonic steam generating means for generating water vapor supplied into the laundry tank using ultrasonic waves. Provide a processing device.

In this case, the laundry treatment apparatus may further include a steam heating heater for separately heating the steam generated from the ultrasonic steam generating means.

On the other hand, the laundry treatment apparatus further comprises a drying device for drying the air supplied to the inside of the washing tank, it is more preferable to heat the steam generated in the ultrasonic steam generating means by the drying device.

The drying apparatus may include a drying duct for inducing a flow of the fluid and a heat supplier for supplying heat to the fluid passing through the drying duct and drying the same.

At this time, the water vapor generated from the ultrasonic generating means is preferably heated by receiving heat from the heat supply while passing through the drying duct.

In addition, the drying apparatus is preferably further provided with a blower for passing the dried fluid through the heat supply into the washing tank.

First, it is possible to reduce the washing time by reducing the generation time of steam.

Second, it is not necessary to heat the water more than necessary for the generation of steam can reduce the energy required for steam generation, thereby increasing the energy efficiency.

Third, the heating time of the steam is shortened by heating the steam itself to be supplied into the washing tank.

Fourth, the heat supply for heating the steam can be shared with the drying apparatus, reducing the number of heat supply can reduce the cost.

Fifth, by providing the steam generating means in the drying apparatus, the apparatus can be simplified to simplify the assembly process and reduce the cost.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with a drum washing machine as a basic device. However, this is only intended to prevent duplication of description because the present invention is freely available regardless of the type of laundry treatment apparatus, the present invention is a tower-type washing machine, a steam such as a vapor to the laundry to treat the laundry, such as steam It can be used jointly in all laundry treatment apparatuses which process the laundry by means.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

Hereinafter, an overview of the laundry treatment apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

The washing machine 1 includes a cabinet 2 forming an exterior of the washing machine 1, a washing tank 40 installed inside the cabinet 2 and washing laundry, and a rear of the washing tank 40. A drive source 5 mounted on the drive source 5 to provide a driving force transmitted to the washing tub 40, a cabinet cover 8 mounted on the front of the cabinet 2, and a laundry entrance 8A formed at the center thereof, and the cabinet cover A door 10 rotatably installed in the cabinet cover 8 so as to open and close the laundry entrance 8A of (8), steam generating means 100 for supplying steam into the washing tank 40, and the washing tank ( 40 is provided with a drying apparatus 200 for drying the laundry by providing the air dried, a detergent supply 60 for supplying a detergent with water supplied in the washing tank 40, and the like.

At this time, in Figure 3, the steam generating means 100 and the drying apparatus 200 is shown as being installed as a separate device, but is not necessarily limited to this, the steam generating means and the drying apparatus to be installed together in the same housing to be installed Can be.

The washing tub 40 is installed in the cabinet 2 so as to be buffered by a spring 12A and a damper 12B to store wash water, and the driving source inside the tub 30. The drum 20 is rotatably installed by the drum to form a plurality of through holes 20A through which the laundry is accommodated and the washing water passes, and the laundry is lifted to a predetermined height when the drum 20 is rotated, and then gravity It may be composed of a lifter 22 installed on the inner side of the drum 20 to fall by.

On the other hand, since the washing tub 40 is limited to a drum washing machine, the washing tub 40 has a structure including a drum and a tub, but in other types of laundry treatment apparatuses, the washing tub is not necessarily limited thereto.

A water supply device 80 is formed on the upper side of the washing tank 40 to form a water supply passage of the washing tank 40 or the steam generating means 100. The water supply device 80 is installed in the cabinet 2. And one end is connected to the water supply valve 82 to control the flow of water introduced from the outside, and the water supply valve 82 is connected to the tub 30, the steam generating means 100, the detergent supply unit 60, and the like. It consists of a water supply hose 84 to guide the.

The steam generating means 100 is generally installed on the upper side in the cabinet to supply steam to the interior of the washing tank 40 during steam washing or steam rinsing. The steam generating means 40 is installed in communication with the water supply flow path formed between the water supply valve 82 and the washing tank 40, so that the water (W) to be changed to steam from the water supply device 80 is the steam generating means It is supplied to the water supply lake 130 for steam through the 100, and converts the water into steam using ultrasonic waves.

Hereinafter, the steam generating means 100 and the drying apparatus 200 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5.

Referring to Figure 4 describes a steam generating means of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the steam generating means 100 is the first tank 160 and the first tank for receiving and storing the water supplied from the water supply device 80 The second water tank 170, which is a space for converting the water supplied from the 160 into steam, communicates with the first water tank 160 and the second water tank 170, and the water supplied from the first water tank 160 By adjusting the amount of water level control valve 120 to adjust the water level of the water in the second tank 170, the high water vibration is applied to the water stored in the second water tank 170, the fine particles of the water pop out over the surface of the water It is provided with a vibrator 110 for generating a steam 150, and a steam supply pipe 140 for discharging the steam generated by the vibration of the vibrator (110).

At this time, as described above, the first water tank 160 and the second water tank 170 are provided in the steam generation stage 100 so that the water level covering the vibrator in the water supplied from the water supply device 80 can be adjusted. Can be. If the water level of the water covering the vibrator 110 is too high because the amount of water supplied is too high, the amount of fine particles of water radiated from the surface of the water may be reduced compared to the energy input to vibrate the vibrator 110, and thus the efficiency may be reduced. Because there is. Therefore, to overcome this problem, the steam generating means 100 is a water level control valve 120 is composed of a ball 124 and a spring 122 in the first tank 160 and the second tank (120). It may be provided. Since the opening and closing of the valve can be controlled according to the water pressure difference between the first water tank 160 and the second water tank 170 using the water level control valve 120, the second water tank 170 can be adjusted. However, the water level control valve 120 is not limited to the above-described means, and any one of the known level control valves can be used as long as the level of the second water tank 170 can be adjusted.

On the other hand, the water level control problem of the second water tank 170 is to be solved by adjusting the water supply valve 82 provided in the water supply device 80 or by adjusting the height of the water tank to limit the water level of the water supplied. It can be achieved by other means as well. Thus, the tank does not have to be divided into two, as shown in FIG. 4 for the practice of the present invention.

On the other hand, the vibrator 110 is sufficient to transmit ultrasonic waves to the water so that the fine particles of the water can be radiated from the surface is not limited in shape or material. In addition, although only one vibrator 110 is illustrated in FIG. 4, a plurality of vibrators may be installed to increase the generation amount of steam.

In the present invention, a method of generating steam as in the related art does not take a method of generating steam by heating the water above the boiling point, but water molecules are vibrated by the vibration of the vibrator 110, so that water particles Steam is generated in a way that is ejected. As a result, it is not necessary to raise the temperature of the water in order to generate steam, thereby reducing the energy input amount for generating steam, and there is an advantage of not having to separately install a heat supply for steam generation. In addition, in the conventional steam generating means to generate steam only after the temperature of the water reaches the boiling point or more, it was necessary to wait until that time, but by using the means for generating steam using ultrasonic waves to generate steam immediately when needed This can shorten the washing time.

On the other hand, the steam generating means 100 is shown that the heat supply is not provided separately, but the present invention is not limited to this, although there may be a problem that the cost increases, the steam supply means for the heat supply separately The steam generating means to be installed is also included in the scope of the present invention as long as it has the features of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the drying apparatus 200 of the present invention and the steam generated by the steam generating means 100 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5 to be supplied to the washing tank 40.

The drying apparatus 200 includes a steam valve 250 for intermitting the steam supplied from the steam generator 100, an intake valve 240 for inhaling external air, steam supplied from the steam valve 250, or the intake air. Blower 210 for increasing the flow rate of the air supplied from the valve 240, drying duct 230 for inducing the flow of steam or air flow is increased by the blower 210, the temperature of the steam or air A heat feeder 220 is provided.

First, a process of drying laundry by air dried by the drying apparatus 200 will be described. As the blower 210 of the drying apparatus 200 rotates, the pressure at the intake valve side is lowered. At this time, the intake valve 240 is opened and the steam valve 250 is closed to allow air to be sucked through the intake valve 240. Then, the sucked air is heated by the heat generated in the heat supply 220, the relative humidity is lowered and the air is supplied into the washing tank 40 through the drying duct 230.

In this case, in order to dry the laundry, the air applied to the laundry should be dried as much as possible, and the humidity thereof should be lowered, so that the air ejected to the laundry can take a sufficient amount of moisture from the laundry to dry the laundry. For this reason, when lowering the relative humidity by sucking the air in the drying apparatus 200 and heating the air, it is necessary to prevent additional moisture from coming in from the outside. However, since the drying apparatus 200 is connected to communicate with the steam generating means 100, it is necessary to prevent the drying apparatus from sucking the steam from the steam generating means when drying the laundry. To this end, the valve operation is performed such that the intake valve 240 is opened and the steam valve 250 is closed in the process of supplying the air dried in the drying apparatus 100 to the washing tank 40 as described above. desirable. However, even if the intake valve 240 or the steam valve 250 is not operated, if the heat supply 230 supplies sufficient heat, even if the steam generated by some steam generating means is included in the air when the air is sucked in. It is not impossible to dry the air using a heat supply to maintain sufficient humidity. In addition, when the drying apparatus 200 is operated in a state in which the steam generating means 100 is stopped, steam flowing from the steam generating means 100 may be less during the drying process of the air, thereby drying the laundry. The intake valve or the steam valve is not necessarily required since there may be no major problem.

On the other hand, the blower 210 shown in Figure 5 takes the form of sucking air or steam by the rotation of the blade, but is not necessarily limited to this, it can suck the air and steam, such as a gear pump, a piston pump. Any means can be applied without limitation.

In addition, the heat supply 220 may be in the form of a hot wire as shown in FIG. 5, but is not limited thereto. If the heat supply 220 is a means for removing the moisture by a method such as heating a heat pump or other air, the limitation is limited. none. And, if there is a means for chemically removing the moisture from the air can replace the heat supply 220, the heat supply 220 is not necessarily provided for drying.

Hereinafter, a process in which the steam supplied from the steam generating means 100 is heated through the drying apparatus 200 will be described. First, as the blower 210 rotates, the pressure of the steam valve 250 is lowered. At this time, when the intake valve 240 is closed and the steam valve 250 is opened, there is no inflow of air from the intake valve 240 and steam is introduced through the steam valve 250. Then, the introduced steam is heated by receiving heat through the heat supply 220.

In this case, in order to sufficiently increase the temperature of the steam, the length of the drying duct 230 is increased and the area in contact with the steam of the heat supply 220 is increased, or the flow path of the drying duct is increased. It is also possible to use a means of forming the 220 to reciprocate several times to increase the chance of receiving heat from the heat supply 220. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the arrangement of the drying duct 230 or the heating wire as shown in FIG. 5.

On the other hand, by using the steam generating means 100 of the present invention, the drying apparatus 200 is a heat supply means for heating the steam generated by the steam generating means 100 and means for heating the air for drying the laundry. The heat supply 220 provided in the) may be united. For that reason, the heat supply in the steam generating means, which was essentially required in the conventional invention, is not required separately. Therefore, the cost can be reduced as much as the cost of the heat supply, thereby increasing the price competitiveness. In addition, the size of the steam generating means 100 can be drastically reduced, and the size of the steam generating means 100 can be reduced, so that additional space can be secured for other devices and assembly workability can be achieved. It can greatly increase.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

The present invention can be used in all laundry treatment apparatuses for treating laundry using steam, such as tower washing machines, drum washing machines, and refreshers.

1 is a perspective view showing a drum washing machine of a first embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1,

4 is a cross-sectional view of the steam generating means of the present invention,

5 is a cross-sectional view of the drying apparatus of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

100: steam generating means 110: vibrator

120: water level control valve 160: first water tank

170: second tank 200: drying apparatus

210: blower 220: heat supply

230: drying duct 240: intake valve

250: steam valve

Claims (6)

Cabinet; A washing tank disposed in the cabinet to process the loaded laundry; Laundry processing apparatus comprising an ultrasonic steam generating means for generating water vapor supplied into the washing tank by using ultrasonic waves. The method of claim 1, Laundry treatment apparatus further comprises a steam heating heater for heating the steam generated from the ultrasonic steam generating means. The method of claim 1, And a drying apparatus for drying the air supplied into the washing tank, wherein the steam generated by the ultrasonic steam generating means is heated by the drying apparatus. The method of claim 3, wherein The drying apparatus includes a drying duct for inducing a flow of a fluid and a heat supplier for supplying heat to the fluid passing through the drying duct and drying the same. The method of claim 4, wherein The laundry treatment apparatus is heated by receiving heat from the heat supply while the steam generated by the ultrasonic generator passes through the drying duct. The method of claim 4, wherein The drying apparatus further comprises a blower for passing the dried fluid through the heat supply into the washing tank.

Images