Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Takayuki Hirano

Masahiro Imai

Hiroshi Nishimura

Kiyoshi Okazaki

Yoshiyuki Makino

Kimihiko Nakamura

Nobuichi Nishimura

Satoru Matsumoto

Kazutoshi Tani

Tooru Imai

An automatic washing machine includes a clutch float having external gear teeth. The clutch float is located around a shaft which is driven by an electric motor and to which an agitator is secured. The clutch float couples the shaft to an inner rotatable tub when its external gear teeth are engaged with internal gear teeth at the inner tub side in a dehydration step. The clutch float moves upwardly in subjection to buoyancy when water is supplied into the inner tub in a wash step. The external gear teeth of the clutch float are disengaged from the internal gear teeth so that the shaft is decoupled from the inner tub. The washing machine further includes a rotation restricting float which moves upwardly in subjection to the buoyancy in the wash step to couple the inner tub to an outer stationary tub and which decouples the inner tub from the outer tub in the dehydration step. A device delivers a position signal indicative of the position of the clutch float which is vertically movable. Based on the position signal, a control device controls the drive motor. The drive motor is of an outer rotor type and a motor control circuit is disposed in its stator.

Float-type clutch for automatic washing machine

A washing machine includes a dehydrating tub whose interior is divided by rotational angle detecting elements into a plurality of circumferential areas. A period of time required for each area to pass a water pouring location is cumulated by a timer function of a microcomputer in a rinse-with-dehydration operation in which the dehydrating tub is rotated with water being supplied to the tub, A quantity of water poured into or contained in laundry in each area is determined on the basis of a cumulated value so that insufficiency in the quantity of poured water due to rotational unevenness of the dehydrating tub is solved. The washing machine further includes an area display which has area display sections corresponding to the areas and which displays the hydrous state of the laundry in each area, The area display also serves to display the rotational state of the dehydrating tub and an agitator,

Automatic washing machine with improved arrangement for preventing

Growing community of inventors

Seto, Japan

Takayuki Hirano