Patent Application
20200165763
The present disclosure relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine capable of performing a normal washing and an intense washing, which are capable of intensely washing a contaminated site of a laundry during washing.
In general, various laundries are generated in daily life. Such laundries are required to be periodically washed for a clean and hygienic life.
In addition, small and large laundries are generated in a multi-use facility such as a home, a hotel, a factory, a boarding house, a training center, a hospital or the like. These laundries are required to be washed as they are used for a long period of time. There may be a case where a partially contaminated site of the laundry is required to be cleaned. In general, in the case where a portion of a laundry is partially contaminated, the laundry is subjected to a primary washing with a specific detergent to eliminate the partial contamination, and subsequently, is subjected to a secondary normal washing with a general detergent together with other laundries.
In the case where the primary washing and the secondary washing are performed, however, there is a problem in that a washing time becomes longer and a large amount of washing water is required.
(Patent Document 0001) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1383083 (registered on Apr. 9, 2014)
(Patent Document 0002) Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2016-0049403 (published on May 9, 2016)
The present disclosure is made in view of the above problem, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a washing machine which is capable of performing a normal washing process and an intense washing process, and saving a washing time and an amount of a used washing water, by intensely injecting a specific detergent toward a contaminated site of a unfolded laundry in the course of injecting a washing water toward the unfolded laundry under conveyance to wash the laundry.
To accomplish the above objects, a washing machine capable of performing a normal washing and an intense washing performs a washing by injecting a washing water toward a laundry while conveying the laundry, including: a controller in which a plurality of entire washing split regions obtained by partitioning an entire area of the laundry on a certain sector basis are stored, and to which a contamination washing split region corresponding to a contaminated site of the laundry among the entire washing split regions is inputted, the contamination washing split region being subjected to an intense washing; and a washing part including at least one washing nozzle installed to inject the washing water toward each of the entire washing split regions.
In the above washing machine, based on a signal from the controller, the normal washing may be performed in which the washing water mixed with a general detergent is injected toward the laundry from the at least one washing nozzle, and the intense washing may be performed in which the injection of the general detergent is stopped when the contamination washing split region of the laundry passes during the normal washing, and the washing water mixed with a specific detergent is injected toward the contaminated site of the laundry from the at least one washing nozzle corresponding to the contamination washing split region.
In some embodiments, the washing machine may further include a general detergent tank installed to supply the general detergent to the at least one washing nozzle and at least one specific detergent tank installed to supply the specific detergent to at least one the washing nozzle.
In some embodiments, the specific detergent may be supplied for a certain period of time when the contaminated site passes in the course of supplying the general detergent to the at least one washing nozzle.
In some embodiments, the at least one specific detergent which is classified according to a contamination type may be supplied in response to the signal from the controller.
In some embodiments, the washing machine may further include a sensor or a roller configured to measure a size of the laundry entering the washing part.
In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to set a predetermined number of the entire washing split regions and the contamination washing split region based on the measured size of the laundry, and configured to calculate a timing of supplying the specific detergent and a timing of stopping the supply of the specific detergent in consideration of a position of the contamination washing split region under movement.
In some embodiments, the washing part may further include at least one installation bar in which the at least one washing nozzle is installed, the at least one installation bar being arranged at regular intervals in a travel direction of the laundry to intersect the travel direction of the laundry. The specific detergent may be supplied to the at least one washing nozzle installed in the at least one installation bar.
In some embodiments, the washing part may include a first washing part including at least one of a first washing nozzle configured to inject the washing water toward the laundry conveyed from the feeding part, a soaking tank in which the laundry passed through the first washing nozzle is soaked, a sensor configured to sense the laundry passed through the first washing nozzle or the soaking tank, and a second washing nozzle installed to inject the washing water toward the laundry.
In some embodiments, the washing part may include a second washing part including a third washing nozzle installed to inject the washing water toward the laundry passed through the first washing part.
In some embodiments, the washing machine according to the present disclosure may further include at least one of: a feeding part including a feeding conveyor installed to feed the laundry placed thereon while being unfolded toward the washing part; a rinsing part including at least one rinsing nozzle installed to rinse the laundry by injecting a rinsing water toward the laundry passed through the washing part; a dewatering including upper and lower rollers installed to squeeze the laundry passed through the washing part or the rinsing part; a discharging part installed to discharge the laundry passed through the washing part, the rinsing part or the dewatering part; and a conveyor installed in the washing part, the rinsing part, the dewatering part or the discharging part to convey the laundry.
In some embodiments, the conveyor may include at least one of: a first conveyor installed to convey the laundry from the feeding part to the second washing part; a second conveyor installed to convey the laundry from the first washing part to the rinsing part; and a third conveyor installed to convey the laundry from the second washing part to the discharging part through the dewatering part.
In some embodiments, the conveyor may further include at least one of: a pair of a second roller and a first roller provided adjacent to each other in the first conveyor and the second conveyor so as to invert the laundry to be upside down; and a pair of a second roller and a third roller provided adjacent to each other in the second conveyor and the third conveyor so as to invert the laundry to be upside down.
As described above, according to the present disclosure, in a case where a portion of a laundry is excessively contaminated, it is possible to perform a normal washing by injecting a washing water mixed with a general detergent toward another portions other than the contaminated portion, and an intense washing by injecting a washing water mixed with a specific suitable detergent toward the contaminated portion.
Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to wash relatively heavily contaminated portions as well as relatively lightly contaminated portions by selecting a contamination washing split region corresponding to the contaminated portion according to the size of the laundry, and intensively injecting the washing water mixed with the specific detergent toward the contaminated portion.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in the specification, illustrate preferable embodiments of the present disclosure, and together with the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the technical features of the present disclosure. Thus, it should be noted that the present disclosure is limited to the details set forth in the drawings.
Hereinafter, preferable embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present disclosure. However, in describing in detail the principle of operation of the preferable embodiments of the present disclosure, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure, the detailed description thereof will be omitted
<Configurations>
A washing machine capable of performing a normal washing and an intense washing an integral type washing machine in accordance with a preferable embodiment of the present disclosure employs a new method of washing laundries by placing and conveying the laundries on a conveyor in which a plurality of divided sections is provided, and strongly injecting a washing water or a rinsing water toward the conveying laundries using a nozzle. To do this, the washing machine may be provided with: a power unit including a motor for driving the conveyor to wash the laundries while conveying the laundries to the conveyor, a pump installed to discharge the washing water or the rinsing water from the nozzle, and the like; and a control part for controlling an injection pressure and operation of the nozzle while controlling the power unit. In this case, a belt of the conveyor may be a general flat belt, or a belt having a net shape or a porous shape in which the washing water or the rinsing water can pass.
Detailed description thereof will be given below.
As shown in
First, the feeding part 100 includes a feeding conveyor installed to convey a laundry to the first washing part 200. Further, a roller and/or a sensor for measuring a width and length of an incoming laundry L in a plan view may be further provided in the feeding part 100 or the first washing part 200. As shown in
The first washing part 200 is installed to perform a rough washing and a front face washing with respect to the laundry fed from the feeding part 100. The first washing part 200 may include a first conveyor installed to convey the laundry L fed from the feeding part 100 to the second washing part 300, a first washing nozzle A-1 installed to inject a washing water toward the laundry L fed from the feeding part 100, a soaking tank 210 installed so that the laundry passed through the first washing nozzle A-1 is soaked in the washing water, and second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3 installed to inject the washing water toward the laundry passing through the soaking tank 210 so as to wash the laundry. Thus, in the first washing part 200, the laundry L fed from the feeding part 100 is subjected to the rough washing with the washing water injected from the first washing nozzle A-1. Subsequently, the laundry is completely soaked in the soaking tank 210 and then subjected to the front-face washing with the washing water injected from the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3.
The first washing nozzle A-1 may be installed to inject the washing water in the conveyance direction of the laundry, namely in a downwardly inclined direction as shown in
As shown in
In addition, a portion of the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3 connected to the specific detergent tanks 810 may be controlled so as to inject a general detergent in the normal washing, stop the injection of the general detergent when a contaminated site of the laundry L passes, inject a specific detergent toward the laundry L, and inject the general detergent toward the laundry L when the contaminated sites passed. For example, the specific detergent tank 810 may be connected to the second washing nozzle B-1 installed in the installation bar 220 as shown in
In an embodiment, an operator may check the contaminated location in the unfolded laundry L, select a contamination washing split region tin the entire washing split region T, which corresponds to the contaminated location, input the selected contamination washing split region t to the controller. Further, the operator may select a specific detergent adapted to treat the contaminated site, and may input information on the specific detergent to the controller. Thus, it is possible to perform the normal washing and the intense washing by specifying the contamination site and injecting the specific detergent only toward the specified contaminated site.
For example, at least one of the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3 may be installed in the conveyance direction of the laundry, and at least one of the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3 may be obliquely installed at an angle of about 5 to 45 degrees with respect to the conveyance direction or a direction opposite to the conveyance direction. In this case, the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3 may be controlled so as to inject the washing water obliquely in the conveyance direction at the beginning of entry of the laundry L to the nozzles, inject the washing water obliquely in the conveyance direction at the time of entry, and inject the washing water obliquely in the opposite direction at the time of discharge.
On the other hand, the controller may have a shape of a remote controller that can specify the contamination washing split region t by pressing a button, and may have a shape of a touchscreen that can touch and designate the contamination washing split region tin the entire washing split region T which is displayed on the screen as shown in
The second washing part 300 is installed to wash the rear face of the laundry L passed through the first washing part 200. The second washing part 300 may include a third washing nozzles C-1, C-2 and C-3 installed to inject the washing water toward the laundry Land a second conveyor installed to convey the laundry L passed through the first washing part 200 to the rinsing part 400.
The third washing nozzles C-1, C-2 and C-3 may be installed and operated identical or similar to the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3 described above, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted. That is to say, when the contaminated site of the laundry L enters during the normal washing, a portion of the third washing nozzles C-1, C-2 and C-3 may be configured to stop the injection of the general detergent and begin the injection of the specific detergent. Such an operation is identical or similar to that of the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3. In addition, at least one nozzle of the third washing nozzles C-1, C-2 and C-3 and rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4 may be installed to inject a fabric softener.
The second conveyor is installed to convey the laundry L discharged from the first washing part 200 to the rinsing part 400. Of course, the washing water may be injected from the third washing nozzles C-1, C-2 and C-3 toward the laundry L conveyed by the second conveyor. In this case, the first conveyor and the second conveyor may include a first roller R1 and a second roller R2 shown in
The rinsing part 400 is installed to rinse the laundry passed through the second washing part 300. The rinsing part 400 may include the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4 installed to inject the rinsing water toward the laundry L, a third conveyor installed to convey the laundry L passed through the second washing part 300 to the dewatering part 500, and a rinsing roller 410 and a lower support 420 installed to press and squeeze the laundry L when the laundry L passes between the rinsing roller 410 and lower support 420. Thus, the rinsing water may be injected from the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4 toward the laundry L entering the rinsing part 400 so that the laundry can be rinsed.
The third conveyor is installed to convey the laundry L discharged from the second washing part 300 to the discharging part 600. Of course, the rinsing water may be injected from the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4 toward the laundry L conveyed by the third conveyor. Here, as shown in
The rinsing roller 410 and the lower support 420 are installed to press the laundry passed through the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4 from above and below, and squeeze the rinsing water from the laundry. The rinsing roller 410 and the lower support 420 may be located forward or backward of the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4 in the conveyance direction of the laundry, and may be installed in each of the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4.
The dewatering part 500 is installed to dewater the laundry passed through the rinsing part 400. The dewatering part 500 may include at least one of dewatering rollers F1 and F2.
As shown in
The discharging part 600 may include a discharge conveyor installed to discharge the laundry passed through the dewatering part 500.
In some embodiments, a drying part including a drying apparatus equipped with a hot air blower and the like for drying the laundry may be further provided between the dewatering part 500 and the discharging part 600. The drying part may be included in the discharging part 600 as a unit.
Finally, the water collection tank includes a first water collection tank 700, a second water collection tank 710 and a third water collection tank 720. These water collection tanks may be connected to each other or may be installed to be in communication with at least one of the dewatering part 500, the rinsing part 400, the second washing part 300 and the first washing part 200.
The first water collection tank 700 is installed to collect the water discharged from the dewatering part 500. The collected water of the first water collection tank 800 may be supplied into the rinsing part 500 and may be used as the rinsing water through the rinsing nozzles D-1, D-2, D-3 and D-4.
The second water collection tank 710 is installed to collect the water discharged from the rinsing part 400. The collected water of the second water collection tank 710 may be reused as the washing water in at least one of the second washing part 300 and the first washing part 200.
To do this, the collected water of the second water collection tank 710 may be supplied to at least one of the second washing nozzles B-1, B-2 and B-3, and the first washing nozzle A-1, or the soaking tank 210.
The third water collection tank 720 is installed to collect the water discharged from the second washing part 300. The collected water of the third water collection tank 720 may be reused in the first washing part 200. To do this, the collected water of the third water collection tank 720 may be supplied to the first washing nozzle A-1 and the soaking tank 210.
In one example, the water discharged from the dewatering part 500 is collected in the first water collection tank 700, and subsequently, is supplied to the rinsing nozzle 410 of the rinsing part 400. The water discharged from the rinsing part 400 is collected in the second water collection tank 710, and subsequently, is supplied to the third washing nozzles C-1, C-2 and C-3 of the second washing part 300. The water discharged from the second washing part 300 is collected in the third water collection tank 720, and subsequently, is supplied to the first washing nozzle A-1 of the first washing part 200 and the soaking tank 210. Thereafter, the water may be treated as wastewater.
Therefore, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to reduce water consumption to approximately 50% or less by reusing the water discharged in each process, compared with the case of treating, as the wastewater, the water discharged in the washing, rinsing and dewatering processes as in the related art. More specifically, in the related art, in a case in which 120 bed sheets are washed by a washing machine having a capability of 100 kg, all the water of 500 L used in a washing step, the water of 500 L used in a rinsing step (repeated two or three times), and the water of 500 L used in a dewatering step are treated as the wastewater. As a result, a total of 1.5 to 2 tons of water was consumed. However, in the case of using the apparatus of the present disclosure, the water is recycled during the washing, rinsing and dewatering steps, and the wastewater treatment is performed once. This makes it possible to save the water consumption to approximately 50% or less.
As described above, those of ordinary skill in the technical field belong to the present disclosure will readily appreciate that the present disclosure can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. Therefore, it should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are exemplary in all respects and are not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the accompanying claims and theirs equivalents are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2017-0064609 | May 2017 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2018/005051 | 5/2/2018 | WO | 00 |
