Drainage device of washing machine, and washing machine

Abstract

A washing machine has cleaning particles provided between an outer barrel and an inner barrel. A water outlet on the outer barrel communicates with a drainage device including a drain valve body having a particle receiving and discharging chamber and a drainage chamber. The particle collecting and discharging chamber has a water inlet. The drainage chamber has a water outlet. A particle filtering structure is provided between the particle receiving and discharging chamber and the drainage chamber. One side of the particle collecting and discharging chamber has an opening with a sealing cover including an outer cover and an insertion portion inserted through the opening, and fitting the edge wall of the particle receiving and discharging chamber. An inner wall of the insertion portion has a plurality of protrusions for supporting the cleaning particles. Gaps between the protrusions are smaller than a minimum diameter of the cleaning particles.

Claims

1. A drainage device of a washing machine using cleaning particles for cleaning barrel walls, comprising: a drain valve body including a particle collecting and discharging chamber and a drainage chamber, the particle collecting and discharging chamber being in fluid communication with the drainage chamber, wherein an upper wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber is provided with a water inlet, one side of the particle collecting and discharging chamber is provided with an opening and the drainage chamber is provided with a water outlet; a particle filtering structure provided between the particle collecting and discharging chamber and the drainage chamber; and a sealing cover installed on the opening of the particle collecting and discharging chamber, the sealing cover including an outer cover and an insertion portion, the insertion portion being inserted through the opening, and fitting an edge the opening, wherein an inner wall of the insertion portion is provided with a plurality of protrusions and wherein a gap between adjacent protrusions of the plurality of protrusions is smaller than a minimum diameter of the cleaning particles used in the washing machine; the insertion portion includes an extension arranged against the upper wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber and extending toward the water inlet, the plurality of protrusions being provided on a lower surface of the extension and extending vertically downwards from a lower surface of the extension, and a vertical dimension of each protrusion of the plurality of protrusions gradually decreases in a direction toward the water inlet from the outer cover.

2. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 1, wherein lower end surfaces of the protrusions together form an inclined surface gradually rising from the outer cover toward the water inlet.

3. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 2, wherein the protrusions are convex strip-shaped ribs extending from the outer cover toward the water inlet, and a water channel is formed between adjacent strip-shaped ribs.

4. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the protrusions are convex strip-shaped ribs extending from the outer cover toward the water inlet, and a water channel is formed between adjacent strip-shaped ribs.

5. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 4, wherein, the strip-shaped ribs are in an erected sheet structure, and a width of the water channel is less than the minimum diameter of the cleaning particles.

6. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 1, wherein an inner wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber between the particle collecting and discharging chamber and the drainage chamber is provided with a water retaining rib protruding inwardly into the particle collecting and discharging chamber so as to retain final residual water in the particle collecting and discharging chamber.

7. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 6, wherein the water retaining rib is a raised rib formed by compressing the drain valve body from outside to inside of the particle collecting and discharging chamber at a position between the particle collecting and discharging chamber and drainage chamber.

8. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 7, wherein a chamfering is provided between the water retaining rib and the inner wall of particle collecting and discharging chamber, a side of the water retaining rib facing to the particle collecting and discharging chamber is curved, and forms a smooth transition with the chamfering.

9. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 7, wherein the particle filtering structure is a grid structure composed of a plurality of blocking ribs which are parallel arranged, and each of the blocking ribs protrudes farther into the particle collecting and discharging chamber than the water retaining rib.

10. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 6, wherein a chamfering is provided between the water retaining rib and the inner wall of particle collecting and discharging chamber, a side of the water retaining rib facing to the particle collecting and discharging chamber is curved, and forms a smooth transition with the chamfering.

11. The drainage device of a washing machine according to claim 6, wherein the particle filtering structure is a grid structure composed of a plurality of blocking ribs which are arranged in parallel, and each of the blocking ribs protrudes farther into the particle collecting and discharging chamber than the water retaining rib.

12. A washing machine with the drainage device according to claim 1, wherein the washing machine comprises an outer barrel and an inner barrel, the cleaning particles for cleaning barrel walls are provided between the inner and outer barrels, and a water outlet at a bottom of the outer barrel is communicated with the drainage device below, the cleaning particles being one of the following shapes of spherical, square, oval spherical, cylindrical, tetrahedral and other irregular granular material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a drainage device of the prior art;

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a drainage device of the present disclosure;

(3) FIG. 3 is a sectional diagram of a drainage device of the present disclosure;

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a sealing cover of the present disclosure;

(5) FIG. 5 is a view diagram of direction A of the drainage device from FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) Specific embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(7) A drainage device of the present disclosure is installed below an outer barrel of a washing machine, and is connected with a drainage outlet of the washing machine. The washing machine comprises the outer barrel and an inner barrel. Cleaning particles for cleaning the barrel walls are placed between the inner and outer barrels, which float in water. The cleaning particles compact and rub the barrel walls which driven by water flow to clean the inner and outer barrel walls during the washing process. After the washing process, the washing water is discharged through a drainage device and the cleaning particles are collected inside the drainage device. And the cleaning particles float between the outer barrel and the inner barrel with water flow when the water flood in next washing process.

(8) As shown in from FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, the drainage device of the present disclosure comprises, a drain valve body 1. The drain valve body 1 is divided into a particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 and a drainage chamber 3 communicating with each other. The upper wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is provided with a water inlet 4 and the water inlet 4 is communicated with a water outlet of the outer barrel drainage of the washing machine. The drainage chamber 3 is provided with a water outlet 5, a particle filtering structure 6 is provided between the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 and the drainage chamber 3. One side of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is provided with an opening 7, the opening is designed to clean up the clogging caused by accumulation of residual lint for a long time in the particle collecting and discharging chamber and to remove the broken cleaning particles. The opening 7 has a sealing cover 8 installed thereon, the sealing cover 8 comprises an outer cover 81 and an insertion portion 82; the insertion portion 82 is inserted through the opening 7, and fits the edge wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2. An inner wall of the insertion portion 82 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 9 for supporting the cleaning particles. The gaps between the protrusions 9 are smaller than the minimum diameter of the cleaning particles for preventing the cleaning particles from getting stuck inside the gaps between the protrusions. The position of the upper wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 of the present disclosure is set relatively to the position of the drainage device which is installed below the washing machine, the position of the water inlet 4 is the upper direction, the opposite is the lower direction and surrounded is lateral; the inner wall of the insertion portion 82 is set to be in contact with the side wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 with respect to the insertion portion 82, and a side of the insertion portion 82 adjacent to the side being contact with the side wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is an outer wall, the opposite side is an inner wall.

Embodiment 1

(9) As shown in the FIG. 3, the insertion portion 82 comprises an extension 821 which is fitted to the upper surface of the particle collecting and discharging chamber and extends toward the water inlet. Protrusions 9 are provided on the lower surface of the extension 821, and the heights of the protrusions 9 are gradually lowered toward the water inlet 4 from the side of the outer cover 81, that is, the inner space of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is gradually widened from the opening 7 toward the water inlet 4; the lower end surfaces of the protrusions 9 of the lower surface of the extension 821 together form a smooth inclined surface gradually increasing from the outer cover 81 toward the water inlet 4. Further, the extension 821 extends to the side wall of the water inlet 4 below, and the extension 821 and the protrusion 9 smoothly transitions to the side wall of the water inlet 4.

(10) The smooth inclined surface makes the cleaning particles float to the water inlet 4 as the water level rises, and then enter a space between the inner and outer barrels through the drainage outlet of the outer barrel of washing machine. The cleaning particles flow in the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 along with the drainage water during the discharging water process, and rest of the cleaning particles will be sprayed into the particle collecting and discharging chamber when the laundry is distributed during the dehydration process. During the washing and rinsing process, the cleaning particles float up as the water level of the particle collecting and discharging chamber rises, and the floating cleaning particles move in the inclined direction, that is, they move obliquely upward, so as to more easily enter the outer barrel during the water intake process.

Embodiment 2

(11) As shown in FIG. 4, the present embodiment is a further improvement on the basis of the embodiment 1: the protrusions 9 are long ribs 91 extending from the outer cover 81 toward the water inlet 4, a strip-shaped water channel 10 is formed between adjacent long ribs 91, and the height of the long ribs 91 is lowered downward from the outer cover 81 side to the water inlet 4 direction.

(12) Further, the long ribs 91 and the strip-shaped water channels 10 are arranged in turn at intervals. The long ribs 91 are in an upright sheet-like structure, and the lower side portion has an arc-shaped structure extending from the outer cover 81 side toward the water inlet 4. The width of strip-shaped water channel 10 is less than the minimum diameter of the cleaning particles. The arc-shaped structure of the lower edge of the long rib 91 is downward convex shape, that is, the center of the arc-shaped structure is located above the long rib. The arc-shaped structure makes the contact area between the cleaning particles and the long ribs with the long smallest when the cleaning particles floating up, which conducive to the cleaning particles floating to the water inlet.

Embodiment 3

(13) The different between the present embodiment with the embodiment above is: the insertion portion is a cylindrical structure and the cylindrical insertion portion with a extending distance is correspondingly fitted to the side wall with a distance of the particle collecting and discharging chamber extending inwardly from the opening without blocking the water inlet; the inner wall of the insertion portion is provided with a protrusion whose end surface varies in accordance with the design for facilitating the cleaning particles to float, such as the protruding end face of the insertion portion corresponding to the side wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber smoothly transitions from bottom to top; the protrusion end surface of the insertion portion corresponding to the lower wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber is smoothly transitioned from the distal portion to the lower portion of the water inlet, and the above structure is not shown in the drawing.

(14) This is due to the production process of the drainage device, and the protrusions can't be blown integrally directly on the inner wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber, so that the protrusions are arranged on the insertion portion of the sealing cover of the opening to avoid the cleaning particles adhering on the inner wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber.

Embodiment 4

(15) As shown in FIG. 3, between the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 and the drainage chamber 3 is provided with the retaining rib 11 protruding from the inner wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 so as to retain final residual water not to be discharged in the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2. The arc chamfering is provided between the water retaining rib 11 and the inner wall of particle collecting and discharging chamber 2, the side of the water retaining rib 11 corresponding to the side of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is curved, and smooth transition is made with the arc chamfering.

(16) The cleaning particles are collected in the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 with each drainage, and the residual water is blocked by the water retaining ribs 11 so that the cleaning particles in the bottom do not contact with the bottom wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 to avoid sticking to the bottom wall for a long time which will cause blockage.

(17) Further, the water retaining rib 11 is a raised rib formed by compressing the drain valve body 1 from outside to inside at the position between the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 and drainage chamber 3.

Embodiment 5

(18) As shown in FIG. 5, the particle filtering structure 6 is a comb-shaped grid structure composed of a plurality of blocking ribs 61, and one side of the blocking ribs 61 corresponding to the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is protruded from the side of the water retaining ribs 11 corresponding to the particle collecting and discharging chamber. The projection of the side L of the blocking ribs 61 adjacent to the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 on the bottom of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 exceeds the side H of the water retaining rib 11 (see FIG. 3), The structure prevents the lint from being blocked by the water retaining ribs, hung on the blocking ribs first, and sliding out along with water flows.

(19) The particle filter structure 6 comprises two groups of opposing gratings, and between the two groups of gratings are narrow and long passages 62. Each group of gratings is formed as comb-shaped structure by a plurality of blocking ribs 61 extending from one side of inner wall to the passage 62 (see FIG. 5). The blocking ribs 61 are inclined to the passage from the edge toward the passages along the water discharge direction corresponding to the particle collecting and discharging chamber side, and constitute an arc-shaped inclined end surface structure form the passage position concave to the drainage chamber, the gap between two adjacent retaining ribs of each group of gratings is smoothly communicated with the passage at the end of the retaining ribs. When draining, the line-like lint hanging on the retaining ribs slides along the curved sloping end towards the end of the retaining ribs and slides out from the passage location to the drainage chamber. This structure has been disclosed in the prior application of the applicant.

Embodiment 6

(20) As shown in FIG. 3, the water inlet 4 of the present disclosure is arranged above the side of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 which is close to the side of the particle filtering structure 6, and the side of the blocking rib 61 corresponding to the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 protrudes to the projection area where the water inlet 4 is located in the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2. That is, the projection L of the side of the blocking rib 61 adjacent to the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 on the bottom of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 is inside the projection of the water inlet 4 on the wall of the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2. The structure facilitates floating of the cleaning particles in front of the particle filtering structure. In contrast to the prior art, the inclination structure of the upper side of the particle collecting and discharging chamber corresponding to the particle filtering structure is reduced, and the depth of the particle collecting and discharging chamber side corresponding to the opening is relatively increased.

(21) Further, the water outlet is arranged below the drainage chamber, the overflow outlet is provided on the side wall of the drainage chamber, and the overflow outlet is connected with the overflow port of the outer barrel through the overflow pipeline.

Embodiment 7

(22) As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, the water outlet 5 of the present disclosure is arranged below the drainage chamber 3, the overflow outlet 12 is provided on the side wall of the drainage chamber 3, and the overflow outlet 12 is connected with the overflow port of an outer barrel through the overflow pipeline. The water inlet 4, the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2, the drainage chamber 3 and the water outlet 5 are in turn connected to form an outlet passage. A drainage valve plug is installed in the drainage chamber 3 (not shown in FIG. 3, see FIG. 1), through the drainage valve plug to control the outlet passage between the particle collecting and discharging chamber 2 and the water outlet 5 on or off.

(23) The implementation solutions in the above embodiments can be further combined or replaced, and the embodiments merely describe preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, instead of limiting the concept and the scope of the present disclosure; without departing from the design concept of the present disclosure, various variations and improvements made to the technical solutions of the present disclosure by persons skilled in the art all belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure.