CN109957939B

CN109957939B - Washing machine and drainage system thereof

Info

Publication number: CN109957939B
Application number: CN201711421587.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 姜文锋; 张发全
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Washing Electric Appliance Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Washing Electric Appliance Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-25
Filing date: 2017-12-25
Publication date: 2022-09-09
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-25
Also published as: CN109957939A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a washing machine and a drainage system thereof. The drainage system comprises a water inlet, a water outlet and a drainage mode switching unit arranged between the water inlet and the water outlet, wherein the drainage mode switching unit can switch the drainage mode of the drainage system into an upper drainage mode or a lower drainage mode. Preferably, the drainage mode switching unit includes a second drainage chamber and a first drainage chamber which are sequentially arranged along the drainage direction, a valve plate is arranged in the second drainage chamber, an impeller is arranged in the first drainage chamber, the valve plate is driven by a first driving motor, and the impeller is driven by a second driving motor. By the arrangement of the drainage mode switching unit, the free switching between the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode of the washing machine is realized. Meanwhile, the shared drainage outlet reduces the arrangement of pipelines in the washing machine and improves the compactness of the whole structure of the washing machine.

Description

Washing machine and drainage system thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of washing machines, in particular to a washing machine and a drainage system thereof.

Background

The washing machine needs to discharge the dirty washing water in time during or after the washing function is completed. The drainage mode of the current washing machine is mostly single upper drainage or lower drainage, which causes two problems for users: on one hand, when selecting the washing machine, a user can only select and purchase the washing machine with an upper drainage mode or a lower drainage mode according to the existing decoration scheme; on the other hand, in the case that the washing machine has been purchased, the drainage pattern cannot be changed at a later stage, that is, when a user needs to change a decoration scheme or move home, the current washing machine may have its usability affected by the fixed drainage pattern.

As an improvement, a washing machine having one drainage method is generally adjusted to have another or both drainage methods. If the user adjusts the original upper drainage mode into the lower drainage mode by lengthening the drain pipe, the adjusted lower drainage mode easily causes the siphonage phenomenon of the washing machine in the drainage process, easily causes the washing water to flow back, causes secondary pollution to the washed clothes and influences the washing effect. For another example, patent (CN 201056640Y) discloses a washing machine with double drainage function, in which the middle part of the downcomer on the washing machine is fixedly connected to the hose of the water pump through a three-way pipe, and the outlet of the downcomer is fixedly connected to the valve. Under the lower drainage mode, after washing is finished, the valve is opened, and washing water flows through the three-way pipe from the sewer pipe and then flows out of the valve; under the mode of upward drainage, after washing is finished, the water pump rotates, and the water flows through the three-way pipe from the sewer pipe and then flows out from the water outlet of the hose. It can be seen that in the scheme, two water outlets of the tee joint respectively correspond to the upper drainage pipeline and the lower drainage pipeline which are connected in parallel and relatively independent, and the upper drainage pipeline and the lower drainage pipeline are not overlapped in a drainage mode during switching. If the pure superposition type arrangement is used as an improved scheme when leaving a factory, the compactness of the whole structure is influenced; if as the improvement scheme in user's later stage, the repacking degree of difficulty is big, and can influence the performance of complete machine to a certain extent.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new drainage system that addresses the above-mentioned problems.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, namely to solve the problem that the compactness of the whole structure of the washing machine is affected by the single drainage mode of the drainage system of the washing machine and the independent simple superposition mode between the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode although the drainage mode is not single, the invention provides the drainage system of the washing machine, which comprises a water inlet, a water outlet and a drainage mode switching unit arranged between the water inlet and the water outlet, wherein the drainage mode switching unit is arranged to be capable of selectively switching the drainage mode of the drainage system into the upper drainage mode or the lower drainage mode.

In a preferred embodiment of the above drainage system, the drainage manner switching unit includes a first drainage module and a second drainage module that communicate with each other and cooperate with each other to selectively switch the drainage manner of the drainage system to the upper drainage manner or the lower drainage manner.

In the above-mentioned drainage system's preferred technical scheme, first drainage module along the drainage direction set up in the upper reaches of second drainage module, first drainage module include first drainage cavity and set up in the normal close valve block in the first drainage cavity, second drainage module include the second drainage cavity and set up in the impeller in the second drainage cavity, first drainage cavity with the second drainage cavity intercommunication.

In a preferred technical scheme of the above drainage system, the drainage mode switching unit further includes a driving module, the driving module is connected with the impeller so as to drive the impeller to rotate, and the driving module is further connected with the valve plate so as to drive the valve plate to open.

In the preferable technical scheme of the above drainage system, the driving module includes a first driving motor and a second driving motor, the first driving motor is connected with the valve plate, and the second driving motor is connected with the impeller.

In the preferable technical scheme of the drainage system, the driving module comprises a driving motor and a transmission mechanism, and the driving motor can be connected with the valve plate or the impeller through the transmission mechanism.

In a preferred technical solution of the above drainage system, the drainage system further includes a control unit, and the control unit is electrically connected to the first driving motor and the second driving motor respectively so as to make the valve plate and the impeller cooperate with each other to selectively switch the drainage mode of the drainage system to an upper drainage mode or a lower drainage mode.

In a preferred embodiment of the above drainage system, the control unit is configured to operate the first drive motor to drive the normally closed valve sheet to open and to operate the second drive motor so that the impeller does not act to switch the drainage mode of the drainage system to the lower drainage mode.

In a preferred technical solution of the above drainage system, the control unit is further configured to operate the first drive motor to drive the normally closed valve sheet to open and operate the second drive motor to rotate the impeller to switch the drainage mode of the drainage system to the upper drainage mode.

In addition, the invention also provides a washing machine, which comprises the drainage system of the washing machine in any one of the technical schemes.

The technical scheme of the invention can be understood by those skilled in the art that the washing machine can be freely switched between the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode by the arrangement of the drainage mode switching unit and based on the shared water outlet, so that a user can conveniently replace the drainage mode of the washing machine when the drainage mode of the washing machine needs to be changed due to the change of decoration schemes or the removal of the house, and the user experience is optimized. And compared with the mode that the upper water discharge pipeline and the lower water discharge pipeline are simply overlapped, the shared water outlet reduces the pipeline arrangement in the washing machine, and the compactness of the whole structure of the washing machine is improved.

In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the drainage mode switching unit includes a first drainage module and a second drainage module that are communicated with each other and cooperate with each other, the first drainage module is disposed at an upstream of the second drainage module along a drainage direction, the first drainage module includes a first drainage chamber and a normally closed valve plate disposed in the first drainage chamber, the second drainage module includes a second drainage chamber and an impeller disposed in the second drainage chamber, the valve plate is driven by a first driving motor, the impeller is driven by a second driving motor, and the drainage system further includes a control unit that controls cooperation of the first driving motor and the second driving motor to realize lower drainage or upper drainage of the washing machine. Under the upper drainage mode, the control unit controls the first driving motor to rotate so that the first driving motor drives the normally closed valve plate to be opened, washing water in the washing machine flows into the first drainage chamber from the water inlet and then flows into the second drainage chamber, then the second driving motor is controlled to rotate so that the second driving motor drives the impeller to rotate, and the washing water is finally discharged from the water outlet under the driving of the impeller. Under the drainage mode, the control unit controls the first driving motor to rotate so that the first driving motor drives the normally closed valve plate to open, the second driving motor and the impeller do not act, and washing water in the washing machine flows into the first drainage chamber from the water inlet, then flows into the second drainage chamber and finally is discharged from the water outlet under the action of gravity.

Drawings

The drain system of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with a side-opening drum washing machine. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a drum washing machine;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the drum washing machine in a drainage mode, showing the orientation of the drainage pipe in the drainage mode;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a drain system of a drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view along a-a of fig. 3.

List of reference numerals:

1. a door cover; 2. a box body; 3. an outer cylinder; 4. an inner barrel; 5. a connecting pipe; 6. a drainage system; 61. a water inlet; 62. a drainage mode switching unit; 63. a water outlet; 621. a first drainage chamber; 622. a valve plate; 623. a second drain chamber; 624. an impeller; 625. a first drive motor; 626. a second drive motor; 7. a drain pipe; 81. a filtration chamber; 82. a filter chamber wash water inlet; 83. a filter screen; 84. an outlet of the filter screen; 85. a filter chamber cover; 9. a floor drain.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only for explaining the technical principle of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, although the present invention is described by taking a side-opening drum washing machine as an example, the washing machine to which the drainage system of the present invention is applied may be a pulsator washing machine, a top-opening drum washing machine, etc., and those skilled in the art may adjust the drainage system as needed to adapt to specific application occasions, and the adjusted technical solution still falls into the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", "inner", "outer", etc. indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, which are only for convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "fixedly" and "connected" should be interpreted broadly, e.g., as fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a drum washing machine in a draining mode, illustrating an orientation of a drain pipe in the draining mode, fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a draining system of the drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view of fig. 3 along a direction a-a. As shown in fig. 1, the washing machine includes a cabinet 2, an outer tub 3 fixed inside the cabinet 2, and an inner tub 4 provided inside the outer tub 3 and capable of rotating, a door 1 is pivotally provided on a left side panel of the cabinet 2, a bottom of the outer tub 3 communicates with a drain system 6 through a connection pipe 5, and the drain system 6 communicates with a drain pipe 7. In the upper drainage mode, the outlet end of the drain pipe 7 is disposed at a position higher than the normal operating water level of the washing machine. In the up drain mode, the outlet end of the drain pipe 7 is inserted into the floor drain 9, as shown in fig. 2.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 to 4, the drainage system 6 includes a water inlet 61, a water outlet 63, and a drainage mode switching unit 62 provided between the water inlet 61 and the water outlet 63. The drainage manner switching unit 62 includes a first drainage module and a second drainage module communicating with each other and cooperating with each other, the first drainage module being disposed upstream of the second drainage module in the drainage direction. Wherein, the first drainage module includes the first drainage cavity 621 and sets up the normally closed valve block 622 in the first drainage cavity 621, and the second drainage module includes the second drainage cavity 623 and sets up the impeller 624 in the second drainage cavity 623, and delivery port 63 sets up in the second drainage cavity 623 and communicates with drain pipe 7. In one possible embodiment, referring to fig. 3 and 4 and in the orientation of fig. 4, the valve sheet 622 is slidably connected to the left sidewall of the first drain chamber 621 back and forth, so that the valve sheet 622 can be switched between the open and closed states by moving back and forth. The impeller 624, whose central axis is horizontally disposed, is coupled to the front and rear sides of the second drain chamber 623, and the impeller 624 can be rotated counterclockwise about its central axis. It will be understood that the foregoing valve plate and impeller configurations and their manner of attachment are merely exemplary and are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. If the valve plate can be opened and closed in a mode of moving up and down or pivoting, the central shaft of the impeller can be vertically and axially connected to the upper surface and the lower surface of the second drainage chamber. Obviously, such modifications do not depart from the basic concept of the present invention and therefore, should fall within the scope of the present invention.

Further, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the drain system 6 further includes a filter unit disposed upstream of the second drain module, the filter unit mainly including a filter chamber 81, a filter screen 83, a filter chamber washing water inlet 82 disposed at the filter chamber 81, a filter screen outlet 84, and a filter chamber cover 85 pivotally disposed at the filter chamber 81. Through the setting of filter unit, debris such as hair, end of a thread, piece in the washing water can be filtered and in time clear away to drainage system, and the jam of washing machine drainage pipe has been avoided in the change of the filter screen of being convenient for simultaneously. And the filtered washing water can be used for flushing a toilet or watering flowers and the like, so that the water resource is recycled.

With continued reference to fig. 3, the drainage manner switching unit 62 further includes a driving module, the driving module includes a first driving motor 625 and a second driving motor 626, the first driving motor 625 is connected to the valve plate 622 so as to drive the valve plate 622 to open and close, and the second driving motor 626 is connected to the impeller 624 so as to drive the impeller 624 to rotate. Through the rotation of drive module drive impeller or the switching of valve block, drainage system has realized freely switching over between last drainage mode and lower drainage mode to the last drainage or the lower drainage of washing machine have been realized.

It is understood that the first drive motor may be a linear motor or a stepper motor, etc. In a simple situation, the first driving motor may be replaced by an electromagnet, and the valve plate is correspondingly set as a magnet, so that the magnetic pole of the electromagnet is changed by changing the direction of the current flowing through the electromagnet, and the electromagnet and the valve plate attract or repel each other to drive the valve plate to open or close. And the driving module can also comprise a common driving motor and a transmission mechanism, and the driving motor and the transmission mechanism are matched to drive the rotation of the impeller or the opening and closing of the valve plate, so that the free switching between the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode is realized. In the water supply and drainage mode, the common driving motor opens the normally closed valve plate via the transmission mechanism and rotates the impeller via the transmission member. In addition, the driving module can be connected with the impeller so as to drive the impeller to rotate, and is connected with the valve plate so as to drive the valve plate to be opened, so that the free switching between an upper drainage mode and a lower drainage mode is realized.

In addition, the drainage system 6 further includes a control unit electrically connected to the first and

second driving motors

625 and 626, respectively, so as to control the valve plate 622 and the impeller 624 to cooperate with each other to selectively switch the drainage mode of the drainage system 6 to the upper drainage mode or the lower drainage mode. Through the setting of the control unit, when the drainage mode of the washing machine needs to be switched, a user only needs to input an instruction, and the control unit can be electrically connected with the first driving motor and the second driving motor to realize the switching of the drainage mode of the drainage system of the washing machine through the cooperation of the driving valve plate and the impeller. Of course, in the installation stage of the washing machine, an installer can pre-select a control program of the control unit according to the installation position of the washing machine and connect the drain pipe so as to realize one of the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode, and when a user changes a decoration scheme at a later stage or needs to replace the drainage mode of the washing machine after moving, the user selects the corresponding control program through the control unit and connects the drain pipe to the corresponding position so as to switch the drainage mode of the washing machine to the other drainage mode.

As can be seen from the above description, the specific drainage manner of the washing machine is as follows:

in the upper drainage mode, after the washing operation is completed, the control unit controls the rotation of the first drive motor 625 and the second drive motor 626 according to a selected program, the first drive motor 625 drives the normally closed valve plate 622 to open, the second drive motor 626 drives the impeller 624 to rotate, the washing water in the outer barrel 3 flows into the filtering chamber 81 of the filtering unit through the filtering chamber washing water inlet 82 through the connecting pipe 5, the washing water enters the first drainage chamber 621 from the water inlet 61 after being filtered by the filtering net 83 of the filtering unit, then flows into the second drainage chamber 623 from the first drainage chamber 621, and flows through the drainage pipe 7 from the water outlet 63 under the drive of the impeller 624, and finally is discharged out of the washing machine from the outlet end of the drainage pipe 7.

In the lower drainage mode, after the washing operation is completed, the control unit controls the first driving motor 625 to rotate according to a selected program, the first driving motor 625 drives the normally closed valve plate 622 to open, the second driving motor 626 and the impeller 624 do not move, the washing water in the outer tub 3 flows into the filtering chamber 81 of the filtering unit through the filter chamber washing water inlet 82 via the connecting pipe 5, the washing water firstly enters the first drainage chamber 621 from the water inlet 61 after being filtered by the filter screen 83 of the filtering unit, then flows into the second drainage chamber 623 from the first drainage chamber 621, flows through the drainage pipe 7 from the water outlet 63 under the action of gravity, and finally is discharged to the floor drain 9 from the outlet end of the drainage pipe 7.

It can be seen from the above description that the drainage system of the present invention can realize the free switching between the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode by arranging the drainage mode switching unit, and break the defect of the single drainage mode of the existing washing machine, so that the washing machine has two drainage modes of the upper drainage mode and the lower drainage mode at the same time, which facilitates the selection of the drainage mode of the washing machine by the user, and facilitates the free switching of the drainage mode of the washing machine when the drainage mode of the washing machine is changed due to the change of decoration schemes or the need of moving home in the later period of the user, thereby expanding the range of the use place of the washing machine. And through the arrangement of the drainage mode switching unit and the shared drain pipe, compared with a mode that an upper drain pipeline and a lower drain pipeline are simply overlapped, the arrangement of the pipelines in the washing machine is reduced, and the compactness of the whole structure of the washing machine is improved. Preferably, the drainage mode switching unit includes a first drainage module and a second drainage module, the first drainage module includes a first drainage chamber and a valve plate disposed in the first drainage chamber, the second drainage module includes a second drainage chamber and an impeller disposed in the second drainage chamber, and lower drainage or upper drainage of the washing machine is realized by mutual cooperation of opening of the valve plate and rotation of the impeller. Preferably, the drainage mode switching unit of the present invention further comprises a driving module, wherein the driving module comprises a first driving motor and a second driving motor, and the first driving motor and the second driving motor cooperate with each other to drive the valve plate to open and the impeller to rotate, so as to realize lower drainage or upper drainage of the washing machine. In addition, the drainage system of the invention also comprises a control unit which respectively controls the first driving motor and the second driving motor to ensure that the valve plates or the impellers are mutually cooperated to realize the lower drainage or the upper drainage of the washing machine.

So far, the technical solutions of the present invention have been described in connection with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, but it is easily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Equivalent changes or substitutions of related technical features can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle of the invention, and the technical scheme after the changes or substitutions can fall into the protection scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A drainage system of a washing machine is characterized in that the drainage system comprises a water inlet, a water outlet and a drainage mode switching unit arranged between the water inlet and the water outlet, the drainage mode switching unit is provided to be able to selectively switch the drainage mode of the drainage system to an upper drainage mode or a lower drainage mode, the drainage mode switching unit comprises a first drainage module and a second drainage module, the first drainage module is arranged at the upstream of the second drainage module along the drainage direction, the first drainage module comprises a first drainage cavity and a normally closed valve plate arranged in the first drainage cavity, the second drain module includes a second drain chamber and an impeller disposed in the second drain chamber, the first drainage chamber is communicated with the second drainage chamber, and the water outlet is arranged in the second drainage chamber and communicated with a drainage pipe;

under the upper drainage mode, the normally closed valve plate is opened, washing water firstly enters the first drainage chamber from the water inlet, then flows through the second drainage chamber from the first drainage chamber, is driven by the impeller to flow through the drainage pipe from the water outlet, and finally is discharged out of the washing machine from the outlet end of the drainage pipe;

under the drainage mode, the normally closed valve plate is opened, the impeller does not act, washing water firstly enters the first drainage chamber from the water inlet, then flows into the second drainage chamber from the first drainage chamber, flows through the drainage pipe from the water outlet under the action of gravity, and is finally discharged to a floor drain from the outlet end of the drainage pipe.

2. The drainage system of claim 1, wherein the drainage mode switching unit further comprises a driving module, the driving module is connected with the impeller so as to drive the impeller to rotate, and the driving module is further connected with the valve plate so as to drive the valve plate to open.

3. The drain system of claim 2, wherein the drive module includes a first drive motor and a second drive motor,

the first driving motor is connected with the valve plate, and the second driving motor is connected with the impeller.

4. The drainage system of claim 2, wherein the drive module comprises a drive motor and a transmission mechanism, and the drive motor can be connected with the valve plate or the impeller through the transmission mechanism.

5. The drain system according to claim 3, further comprising a control unit electrically connected to the first and second driving motors, respectively, so as to cause the valve sheet and the impeller to cooperate with each other to selectively switch the drainage pattern of the drain system to an upper drainage pattern or a lower drainage pattern.

6. The drain system of claim 5, wherein the control unit is configured to operate the first drive motor to drive the normally closed valve plate open and to deactivate the second drive motor to deactivate the impeller to switch the drain mode of the drain system to a lower drain mode.

7. The drain system of claim 5, wherein the control unit is further configured to operate the first drive motor to drive the normally closed valve flap open and the second drive motor to rotate the impeller to switch the drain mode of the drain system to the top drain mode.

8. A washing machine, characterized in that it comprises a drainage system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.