JPH0410837B2 - - 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 manually operated by the user and supplied into a washing tub.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the case of the above conventional washing machine, the entire installation structure for the washing machine is fixed, and it is not easy to remove the hopper together with the valve. Therefore, when a user wants to put detergent into the hopper, for example, the user has to carry the detergent container up to the top of the hopper one by one, and then pour detergent from the detergent container into the hopper. It also has the disadvantage of being forced to do so,
A solution to this point was requested.

The detergent supply device for washing machines, etc. of the present invention has been made to satisfy the above-mentioned needs, and therefore, its purpose is to provide a device that facilitates the work of storing detergent in a hopper, and also to provide a detergent supply device for washing machines, etc. The object of the present invention is to provide a device which can prevent new problems from occurring in the process, has a rational structure, and is highly economical in terms of price.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The detergent supply device for a washing machine or the like of the present invention unitizes a hopper and a detergent dispensing member for discharging detergent from the hopper toward a detergent receiving portion. The unit is provided removably from the device, and a lid is provided for opening and closing the detergent outlet portion of the unit, and a closing force is applied to the lid, and at the same time, the removal operation member of the unit is provided with a lid that opens and closes the detergent outlet portion of the unit. It is characterized in that it is provided with a spring member that applies this force.

(Function) According to the above means, the hopper can be easily removed from the equipment in a unit state with the detergent dispensing member, and in the removed state, it is possible to carry out the detergent storage work, etc. as desired.

When the hopper is removed as described above, there is a concern that detergent may spill from the detergent outlet when the hopper is removed or carried in the removed state. On the other hand, when the hopper is removed, the detergent outlet portion can be closed with a lid, thereby eliminating the fear of detergent spilling.

In addition, since the application of a closing force to the lid and the application of force in the opposite direction to the removal operation to the removal operation member of the unit are performed by a common spring member, each of them is performed separately. The structure can be streamlined compared to a structure using a spring member.

(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.
The outer wall 10 is made up of an upper part 10a and a lower part 10b which are separately manufactured and joined together, and the uppermost part of the outer wall 10 is fitted inside the upper outer circumferential rib 12 of the inner wall 9. In particular, the inner wall 9 is connected with a predetermined gap 13 around the outer periphery of the inner wall 9. Note that 14 is a lid of the hopper 7.

15 is a lower part 10 of the outer wall 10 on one side (left side in FIG. 1) of the lowermost sides of the outer wall 10.
A claw 16 formed integrally with b 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);
On the other hand, 18 is a recess formed in the rear panel 5 with its upper edge surrounded by ribs 19 as shown in FIG.
A hole 20 is formed on one side (left side in FIG. 1) of both sides, and a hole 21 is formed on the other side (right side in the same figure), and the claw 15 is inserted into the hole 20. The hopper 7 is removably attached to the rear panel 5 by engaging the claw 16 with 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. Screw 2 shown in Figure 4
8, and is attached to the upper cover 2 by tightening it, and a drive gear 29 that also serves as a waterproof cap is attached to the rotating shaft 25a, and the drive gear 2
9 is meshed with a driven gear 30 attached to the end of the transmission shaft 23 protruding from the detergent delivery section 8.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a recess extending over almost the entire rear edge of the upper cover 2, which includes a drain port facing into the inside of a washing tub (not shown) disposed in the outer box 1 near the tip of the water receiving portion 26. 32 is formed. Moreover, the recess 31
A detergent receiving part 34 is formed at a portion of the hopper 7 located below the detergent outlet 33 at the tip of the detergent delivery part 8, separated from other parts by partition walls 35 and 36. As shown in FIG. 5, this detergent receiving part 34 has a front-downward slope, and has a supply port 37 facing the inside of the washing tub at its tip, and a rear end. A water supply device 38 is arranged in series with a water supply valve 39. 40 is located above the detergent receiving part 34 and is located in the recessed part 18 of the rear panel 5.
This is an opening formed at the bottom for passing detergent through and also for cleaning.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a convex portion protruding from the bottom of the recess 18 of the rear panel 5, while 42 is 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 43. 14), and as shown in FIG. 6, this small lid 42 has a protrusion 44 formed near its upper end, and a spring is inserted between this protrusion 44 and the push button 17. A spring 45, which is a member, is interposed, whereby the push button 17
The small lid 42 is urged inward (in the direction of the detergent outlet 33). And further small lid 4
A diagonal tongue piece 46 is formed at the rear part near the lower end of 2-4, and this tongue piece 46 is engaged with the convex part 41 to move the small lid 42 outward (detergent outlet) against the biasing force of the spring 45. 33 direction) to open the detergent outlet 33.

Here, FIG. 7 shows a state in which the hopper 7 (a unit consisting of the hopper 7 and the detergent dispenser member 22) is being removed, and at this time, the push button 17, which is the operation member for removing the unit, is pressed against the spring 45.
By pushing inward against the urging force of
6 is removed from the hole 21, and then the claw 15 is removed from the hole 20. When the hopper 7 (unit) is removed, the small lid 42 is removed from the tongue piece 46.
is released from the protrusion 41, and the small lid 42 is released from the force of outward rotation by the protrusion 41, and is rotated inward by the biasing force of the spring 45, so that the small lid 42 enters the detergent outlet 33. The outlet 33 is closed by pressure contact. When the hopper 7 (unit) is reattached from this state, the small lid 42 engages the tongue 46 with the protrusion 41 and slides outward against the biasing force of the spring 45 as described above. It is rotated to open the detergent outlet 33.

The stirring body 47 is rotatably disposed inside the outer hopper 7 with a shaft 48 passed between the front and back of the hopper 7, and has a plurality of holes 49 and a plurality of protrusions 50 projecting in the front-rear direction. It has a large number of protrusions 51 that protrude outward from the periphery, and one of the protrusions 51 is engaged with the detergent dispensing 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, and then pour detergent, for example, powdered detergent 52 into the hopper 7. and close the lid 14. Then, the hopper 7 (unit) is installed as shown in FIG. 1, so that the powdered detergent 52 is stored in the installed hopper 7. In this state, when you operate the necessary switches on the operation panel 4 to wash the clothes, a control device (not shown), for example, a microcomputer built into the lower part of the operation panel 4, starts operating. The motor 25 and the water supply valve 39 are energized and operate together, and the motor 25 transmits its rotational force from the rotating shaft 25a to the driving gear 29, and further from the driving gear 29 to the driven gear 30, and transmits the rotational force to the transmission shaft 23.
Then, by transmitting the signal to the detergent dispenser member 22, the detergent dispenser member 22 is rotated, particularly in a so-called spiral direction. Therefore, the powdered detergent 52 in the hopper 7 is advanced in the detergent delivery section 8 toward the detergent outlet 33 by the rotation of the detergent dispensing member 22, and from the detergent outlet 33, the powdered detergent 52 is fed through the detergent outlet 33 as shown in FIGS.
The detergent is ejected as shown by arrow A in the figure and falls onto the detergent receiver 34. On the other hand, the water supply valve 39 allows water to flow onto the detergent receiver 34 through the water supply device 38 as shown by arrow B in FIG. The water is washed away, and both of them are supplied from the supply port 37 into the washing tub (not shown).

When the detergent dispenser 22 is rotated as described above, the stirring member 47, which has one of the protrusions 51 engaged with the detergent dispenser 22, sequentially engages the protrusions 51 with the detergent dispenser 22. The powder detergent 52 in the hopper 7 is thereby agitated, and the powder 52 can be introduced into the detergent delivery section 8 more smoothly.

In this way, according to the present embodiment, the powdered detergent 52 can be supplied without leaving it in the hands of the user, and furthermore, in the configuration, the hopper 7 (unit) is connected to the rear panel 5 as described above. As a result, the powdered detergent 52 can be housed as desired with the hopper 7 removed, unlike conventional hoppers that are fixedly installed. You can eliminate the hassle and stress.

Therefore, if the hopper 7 (unit) is removable as described above, there is a concern that the powdered detergent 52 may spill out from the detergent outlet 33 when it is removed or when it is carried in a detached state. . On the other hand, when the hopper 7 is removed, the small lid 42 closes off the detergent outlet 33 as described above, thereby eliminating the fear of the powdered detergent 52 spilling out.

In addition, applying a closing force to the small lid 42 and applying a force in a direction opposite to the direction of the removal operation (in the case of this embodiment, outward) to the push button 17, which is an operation member for removing the unit, is as follows. Since the spring 45 is a common spring member, the structure can be streamlined compared to a structure in which each spring member is a separate spring member, and it is also more economical in terms of price. You can make it better.

Note that the detergent receiving portion is not limited to the detergent receiving portion 34 formed on the rear panel 5 described above, but may also be a washing tub. In other words, the detergent may be placed directly inside the washing tub and the water supply may be used. 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 drive source for rotationally driving the detergent dispensing member is not limited to the motor 25, and may be, for example, a water wheel operating in a water supply channel. And, as a whole, it is not limited to washing machines, but can be similarly applied to all devices that function using detergent, such as dishwashers, and the agitator 47, etc. In addition, the detergent may be a liquid detergent other than the powder detergent 52.

[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, and a detergent dispensing member for discharging the detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiving portion are provided as a unit, and the unit is provided removably from the device;
A lid is provided to open and close the detergent outlet portion of the unit,
Moreover, since it is provided with a spring member that applies a closing force to the lid and a force in the opposite direction to the direction of the removal operation to the removal operation member of the unit, this prevents detergent from entering the hopper. The storage work, etc. can be done easily, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of detergent spillage, which is a new problem in the product itself, and furthermore, the necessary biasing structure of the lid and the operation member for removing the unit is improved. Therefore, one spring member can be used in common, the structure can be rationalized, and it is possible to obtain good economical efficiency in terms of price, which is an excellent effect.

[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 an outer box of the washing machine, 5 is a rear panel, 7 is a hopper, 15 and 16 are claws, 17 is a push button (operating member for removing the unit), 22 is a detergent dispenser, 2
5 is a motor, 29 is a driving gear, 30 is a driven gear,
33 is a detergent outlet, 34 is a detergent receiving part, 41 is a convex part,
42 is a small lid (lid), 45 is a spring (spring member), 46 is a tongue piece, and 52 is a powder detergent (detergent).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device installed in a washing machine or other device to supply detergent to its detergent receiver, including a hopper that accommodates and stores the detergent, and a detergent dispenser that discharges the detergent from the hopper toward the detergent receiver. The unit is provided as a unit, and the unit is provided removably from the device, and a lid for opening and closing the detergent outlet portion of the unit is provided, and a closing force is applied to the lid, and an operating member for removing the unit is provided. 1. A detergent supply device for a washing machine, etc., comprising a spring member that applies a force in a direction opposite to the direction of a removal operation.