Drum washing machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11332872-B2
Application number	US-201615781112-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 1, 2016
Priority date	Dec 1, 2015
Publication date	May 17, 2022
Grant date	May 17, 2022

Abstract

Provided is a drum washing machine. The drum washing machine, which is provided with a rotating body on the rear a drum, is able to smoothly switch between a first form in which the drum and the rotating body rotate independently and a second form in which the drum and the rotating body rotate integrally. When switching from a biaxial driving form to a uniaxial driving form and vice versa, a control part rotates a rotor clockwise and anticlockwise in a manner of taking a reverse action 1 and a reverse action 2 during the operation of a torque motor, i.e., during an action of moving a clutch body by virtue of a moving mechanism. The reverse action 1 includes an action of stopping the rotor rotating clockwise direction, and the reverse action 2 includes an action of stopping the rotor rotating anticlockwise.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A drum washing machine, comprising:
an outer drum, which is accommodated in a housing;
a drum, which is accommodated in the outer drum and is capable of rotating about a horizontal axis or an inclination axis inclined relative to a horizontal direction;
a rotating body, which is arranged in the rear of the drum and is provided with a protruding part on a surface of the rotating body and in contact with washings;
a driving part, which is used to rotate the drum and the rotating body; and
a control part, which is used to control an action of the driving part,
wherein the driving part comprises:
a driving motor, which comprises a rotor and a stator;
a first rotating shaft, which is used to transfer rotation of the rotor to the rotating body;
a second rotating shaft, which is coaxially arranged with the first rotating shaft and is used to transfer the rotation of the rotor to the drum;
a planetary gear mechanism, which comprises a sun gear, an internal gear, a plurality of planet gears and a planet carrier, wherein the sun gear is configured to rotate along with the rotation of the rotor, the internal gear is annular and surrounds the sun gear, the planet gears are arranged between the sun gear and the internal gear, the planet carrier is capable of freely and rotationally holding the planet gears, one of the planet carrier and the internal gear is fixed to the second rotating shaft; and
a clutch mechanism, which is used to switch a driving form based on the driving part between a first form and a second form, wherein the first form is a driving form rotating the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft independently, and the second form is a driving form rotating the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft integrally,

wherein the clutch mechanism comprises:
a clutch body, which is connected to the other one of the planet carrier and the internal gear not fixed to the second rotating shaft in such a way that the clutch body is capable of rotating together with the other one of the planet carrier and the internal gear and moving towards an axis direction of the second rotating shaft; and
a moving mechanism, which is used to move the clutch body to move to a first position during switching to the first form and to move the clutch body to a second position during switching to the second form,

wherein a first engaging part with a concave-convex shape and a second engaging part with a concave-convex shape are formed in the clutch body,
a first engaged part is formed in a fixing part which does not rotate along with the rotor, the first engaged part has a concave-convex shape corresponding to the concave-convex shape of the first engaging part and engages with the first engaging part along a circumferential direction when the clutch body moves to the first position,
a second engaged part is formed in a rotating part which rotates along with the rotor, the second engaged part has a concave-convex shape corresponding to the concave-convex shape of the second engaging part and engages with the second engaging part along the circumferential direction when the clutch body moves to the second position,
wherein when switching from the first form to the second form,
the control part is configured to alternatively rotate the rotor anticlockwise and clockwise in a manner of taking a first action and a second action during an action of moving the clutch body to the second position by virtue of the moving mechanism,
wherein the first action is an action of stopping the rotor rotating clockwise and then immediately rotating the rotor anticlockwise, and the second action is an action of stopping the rotor rotating anticlockwise and then immediately rotating the rotor clockwise,
the moving mechanism comprises a power source for moving the clutch body;
after the control part takes one of the first action and the second action, the control part is configured to take another one of the first action and the second action; and
the control part is configured to start the power source operating in the course of rotating the rotor in order to take the one of the first action and the second action; and
wherein after the first action, the control part is configured to rotate the rotor anticlockwise without interposing a stopping period;
after the second action, the control part is configured to rotate the rotor clockwise without interposing the stopping period.

2. The drum washing machine according to claim 1 , wherein when switching from the second form to the first form,
the control part is configured to alternatively rotate the rotor anticlockwise and clockwise in a manner of taking the first action and the second action during an action of moving the clutch body to the first position by virtue of the moving mechanism.

3. A drum washing machine, comprising:
an outer drum, which is accommodated in a housing;
a drum, which is accommodated in the outer drum and is capable of rotating about a horizontal axis or an inclination axis inclined relative to a horizontal direction;
a rotating body, which is arranged in the rear of the drum and is provided with a protruding part on a surface of the rotating body and in contact with washings;
a driving part, which is used to rotate the drum and the rotating body; and
a control part, which is used to control an action of the driving part,
wherein the driving part comprises:
a driving motor, which comprises a rotor and a stator;
a first rotating shaft, which is used to transfer rotation of the rotor to the rotating body;
a second rotating shaft, which is coaxially arranged with the first rotating shaft and is used to transfer the rotation of the rotor to the drum;
a planetary gear mechanism, which comprises a sun gear, an internal gear, a plurality of planet gears and a planet carrier, wherein the sun gear is configured to rotate along with the rotation of the rotor, the internal gear is annular and surrounds the sun gear, the planet gears are arranged between the sun gear and the internal gear, the planet carrier is capable of freely and rotationally holding the planet gears, one of the planet carrier and the internal gear is fixed to the second rotating shaft; and
a clutch mechanism, which is used to switch a driving form based on the driving part between a first form and a second form, wherein the first form is a driving form rotating the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft independently, and the second form is a driving form rotating the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft integrally,

wherein the clutch mechanism comprises:
a clutch body, which is connected to the other one of the planet carrier and the internal gear not fixed to the second rotating shaft in such a way that the clutch body is capable of rotating together with the other one of the planet carrier and the internal gear and moving towards an axis direction of the second rotating shaft; and
a moving mechanism, which is used to move the clutch body to move to a first position during switching to the first form and to move the clutch body to a second position during switching to the second form,

wherein a first engaging part with a concave-convex shape and a second engaging part with a concave-convex shape are formed in the clutch body,
a first engaged part is formed in a fixing part which does not rotate along with the rotor, the first engaged part has a concave-convex shape corresponding to the concave-convex shape of the first engaging part and engages with the first engaging part along a circumferential direction when the clutch body moves to the first position,
a second engaged part is formed in a rotating part which rotates along with the rotor, the second engaged part has a concave-convex shape corresponding to the concave-convex shape of the second engaging

Assignees

• Qingdao Haier Washing Mach Co
• Aqua Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yoneda Masanori
• Takeuchi Harumi

Classifications

• D06F37/40 Primary

  for driving the receptacle and an agitator or impeller, e.g. alternatively {(D06F37/304, D06F37/308 take precedence)} · CPC title

• D06F37/304 Primary

  Arrangements or adaptations of electric motors · CPC title

• D06F23/06

  and rotating or oscillating about an inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F37/04

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F34/08

  Control circuits or arrangements thereof · CPC title