Patent Publication Number: US-2022233051-A1

Title: Spraying apparatus and dish-washing machine

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present disclosure is a national phase application of International Application No. PCT/CN2018/122630, filed on Dec. 21, 2018, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201811207855.6, filed on Oct. 16, 2018, the entireties of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of a dish-washing machine, and in particular to a spray washer and a dish-washing machine. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Currently, the spraying structure of the dish-washing machine in the market usually rotates by an elongate spraying arm structure. Since the rotation of the spraying arm is driven by a motor, the rotation angle of the spraying arm during rotation is difficult to be accurately controlled, which is not conductive to accurate spray washing of the tableware with the water sprayed by the spraying arm, so that the utilization of water is decreased. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure are to provide a spray washer, which is intended to improve the rotation accuracy of spraying pipes, to increase the utilization of water. 
     In some embodiment, a spray washer proposed in the present disclosure includes: 
     at least one spraying pipe provided with at least one water injection nozzle; 
     a transmission mechanism including a driving gear and a driven gear meshing with the driving gear, the driven gear being connected to the spraying pipe to drive the spraying pipe into rotation; and 
     a driving mechanism connected to the driving gear to drive the driving gear into rotation. 
     In one embodiment, the power source includes a driving motor. The driving gear is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft of the driving motor. 
     In one embodiment, the spray washer includes a plurality of spraying pipes. The spray washer further includes a first transmission wheel and a first linkage. 
     One end of one of the spraying pipes is connected to the first transmission wheel, and another end of the spraying pipe is in communication with a water source. 
     One end of the first linkage is hinged to the driven gear, and another end of the first linkage is hinged to the first transmission wheel, to drive the spraying pipe and the first transmission wheel into rotation with rotation of the driven gear. 
     In one embodiment, the spraying pipe is connected to a middle portion of the first transmission wheel. 
     One end of the first linkage is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the first transmission wheel, and another end of the first linkage is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the driven gear. 
     In one embodiment, the spray washer further includes a second transmission wheel and a second linkage. 
     One end of one of the spraying pipes is connected to the second transmission wheel, and another end of the spraying pipe is in communication with the water source. 
     One end of the second linkage is hinged to the first transmission wheel, and another end of the second linkage is hinged to the second transmission wheel, to drive the spraying pipe and the second transmission wheel into rotation with the rotation of the first transmission wheel. 
     In one embodiment, the spraying pipe is connected to a middle portion of the second transmission wheel. 
     Said one end of the second linkage is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the first transmission wheel, and said another end of the second linkage is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the second transmission wheel. 
     In one embodiment, the spray washer includes a water supply assembly. The water supply assembly includes a water pump, a water feeding pipe and a plurality of water distributing pipes. 
     One end of the water feeding pipe is in communication with the water pump, and another end of the water feeding pipe is in communication with water distributing pipes. 
     One end of each water distributing pipe away from the water feeding pipe is in communication with one of the spraying pipes. 
     In one embodiment, the water supply assembly is located below the spraying pipes, and each water distributing pipe is arranged around the water feeding pipe after being bent. 
     In one embodiment, the spray washer further includes a reinforcing plate. The reinforcing plate is connected to the water distributing pipes along an arrangement direction of the water distributing pipes, and is provided with a fixing portion for fixing the reinforcing plate. 
     In one embodiment, a rotation angle between an initial rotation position and an end rotation position of each spraying pipe is comprised between 100° and 150°. 
     The present disclosure further provides a dish-washing machine. The dish-washing machine includes: 
     an inner container provided with a receiving chamber; and 
     a spray washer arranged within the receiving chamber. 
     Herein, the spray washer includes: 
     at least one spraying pipe provided with at least one water injection nozzle; 
     a transmission mechanism including a driving gear and a driven gear meshing with the driving gear, the driven gear being connected to the spraying pipe to drive the spraying pipe into rotation; and 
     a driving mechanism connected to the driving gear to drive the driving gear into rotation. 
     In one embodiment, the dish-washing machine includes a bowl basket arranged within the inner container. 
     Each spraying pipe is provided with a plurality of water injection nozzles, which are arranged along a length direction of each spraying pipe corresponding to a position of the bowl basket. 
     In some embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving force of the driving mechanism is transmitted to the spraying pipes through the driving gear and the driven gear, so that the spraying pipes rotate along an axial axis thereof, and water is sprayed from the water injection nozzles on each spraying pipe. During the rotation of the spraying pipes, a spray washing area is formed. Since the spraying pipes are driven by a gear structure, both the rotation of the spraying pipes and the transmission of power are very stable and reliable. Meanwhile, the rotation angle of each spraying pipe can be accurately controlled, to control the change of the spray washing area, so that the spray washer can accurately control the spraying area, which facilitates improving the accuracy of the spray washer for spray washing the tableware, and increasing the utilization of water and cleaning efficiency. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly discussed below, and the drawings in the following description are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a spray washer of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a partially enlarged view of a part A in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a spray washer of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of still another embodiment of a spray washer of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of an arrangement of a driven gear and a first transmission wheel of a spray washer of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an arrangement of a driven gear and a first transmission wheel of a spray washer of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a dish-washing machine of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     Explanation of Reference Numeral: 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Reference 
                   
                 Reference 
                   
               
               
                 numerals 
                 Name 
                 numerals 
                 Name 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 100 
                 spraying pipe 
                 110 
                 water inlet end 
               
               
                 120 
                 driving end 
                 200 
                 driving mechanism 
               
               
                 300 
                 transmission 
                 310 
                 driving gear 
               
               
                   
                 mechanism 
                   
                   
               
               
                 320 
                 driven gear 
                 110 
                 water pump 
               
               
                 510 
                 water feeding pipe 
                 400 
                 water distributing pipe 
               
               
                 530 
                 reinforcing plate 
                 520 
                 first transmission wheel 
               
               
                 620 
                 first linkage 
                 610 
                 second transmission wheel 
               
               
                 720 
                 second linkage 
                 710 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The realizing of the aim, functional characteristics of the present disclosure are further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the embodiments. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     In embodiments of the disclosure are clearly and fully described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely some of the embodiments of the disclosure, but not all the embodiments. 
     It should be understand that, all directional indications (such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “back” . . . ) in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to explain the relative positional relationship, motion, and the like, between components in a posture. If the particular posture changes, the directional indication changes accordingly. 
     In addition, if there are descriptions of “first” and “second” in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the descriptions of “first” and “second” are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be appreciated as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated features. Thus, features defining “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. 
     The present disclosure mainly provides a spray washer, which is mainly applied to a dish-washing machine, to increase the utilization of water and the tableware cleaning efficiency of the dish-washing machine. 
     The structure of the spray washer will be mainly described below. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 7 , in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the spray washer includes: 
     at least one spraying pipe  100 , the spraying pipe  100  being provided with at least one water injection nozzle; 
     a transmission mechanism including a driving gear  310  and a driven gear  320  meshing with the driving gear  310 , the driven gear  320  being connected to the spraying pipe  100  to drive the spraying pipe  100  into rotation; and 
     a driving mechanism  200  connected to the driving gear  310  to drive the driving gear  310  into rotation. 
     In this embodiment, the spraying pipe  100  is configured as a columnar pipe. The spraying pipe includes a water inlet end  110  and a driving end  120 . That is, the water inlet structure of the spraying pipe  100  is provided at one end of the spraying pipe  100  and the driving structure of the spraying pipe  100  is provided at another end of the spraying pipe  100 , so that the driving structure and the water inlet structure do not interfere with each other. Of course, in some embodiments, in order to save space, the driving structure and the water inlet structure may also be provided at the same end of the spraying pipe  100 . The driving end  120  of the spraying pipe  100  is closed, and the water is discharged from the water injection nozzle after the water enters from the water inlet end  110 . The water injection nozzle is provided on the pipe wall of the spraying pipe  100 , so that the water flow may be directly sprayed from the water injection nozzle. In one embodiment, a sprinkler may also be installed in the water injection nozzle, so that the water may be sprayed from the sprinkler. 
     The driven gear  320  may be directly provided around the driving end  120 . Of course, in some embodiments, a driven shaft can be provided on the driving end, and the driven gear  320  is provided around the driven shaft. The axis of rotation of the driven gear  320  is collinear with the axial axis of the spraying pipe  100 . The driving gear  310  meshes with the driven gear  320 . There may be a plurality of positions of the driving gear with respect to the driven gear  320 , such as, above, below, at the left side, or at the right side. The position that the driving gear is located below the driven gear  320  is taken as an example. Taking an upward spraying direction as an example, the driving gear  310  is arranged below the driven gear to avoid affecting the cleaning of the tableware. Herein, the driving gear  310  and the driven gear  320  are both spur gears. 
     There are many forms of driving structures, such as motors, impellers, fuel engines, etc. The driving mechanism  200  has a driving shaft. The driving shaft is directly inserted into the driving gear  310 , or connected to the driving gear  310  after being decelerated by the transmission structure  300 . The driving gear  310  rotates through the driving shaft as a rotating shaft. The driving mechanism  200  takes a driving motor as an example, the driving gear  310  is fixedly connected to the rotating shaft of the driving motor. 
     In this embodiment, the driving force of the driving mechanism  200  is transmitted to the spraying pipe  100  through the driving gear  310  and the driven gear  320 , so that the spraying pipe  100  rotates along an axial axis thereof, and water is sprayed from the water injection nozzle on the spraying pipe  100 . During the rotation of the spraying pipe  100 , a spray washing area is formed. Since the spraying pipe  100  is driven by a gear structure, both the rotation of the spraying pipe  100  and the transmission of power are very stable and reliable. Meanwhile, the rotation angle of the spraying pipe  100  can be accurately controlled, to control the change of the spray washing area, so that the spray washer can accurately control the spraying area, which facilitates improving the accuracy of the spray washer for spray washing the tableware, and increasing the utilization of water and cleaning efficiency. 
     It should be noted that, in order to ensure the range of the water feeding area, the rotation angle α of the spraying pipe  100  is from 100° to 150°, taking from 120° to 140° as an example. By setting the rotation angle of the spraying pipe  100  as a range from 100° to 150°, it can avoid that if the angle is too large, the spraying pressure is not enough to clean; if the angle is too small, the area covered by the spraying pipe  100  is too small to cover the entire area required for cleaning. 
     In order to improve the driving efficiency of the driving structure, the spray washer includes a plurality of spraying pipes  100 . The spray washer further includes a first transmission wheel  610  and a first linkage  620 . One end of one of the spraying pipes  100  is connected to the first transmission wheel  610 , and another end of the spraying pipe is in communication with a water source. One end of the first linkage  620  is hinged to the driven gear  320 , and another end of the first linkage is hinged to the first transmission wheel  610 , to drive the spraying pipe  100  and the first transmission wheel into rotation with rotation of the driven gear  320 . 
     In this embodiment, the spraying pipes  100  may be positioned at the front side, the rear side or on the top of the spraying pipe  100  connected to the driven gear  320 . In some embodiments, the spray washer includes a plurality of first linkages  620  and a plurality of first transmission wheels  610  connected to the first linkages  620 . In this case, one driven gear  320  may simultaneously drive the plurality of first transmission wheel  610 , to simultaneously drive the plurality of spraying pipes  100 . One first transmission linkage and one first transmission wheel  610  are described in detail below. 
     One end of the first linkage  620  is hinged to the driven gear  320 , so that the first linkage  620  rotates with the rotation of the driven gear  320 . Another end of the first linkage  620  is hinged to the first transmission wheel  610 , so that the first linkage  620  transmits the rotation displacement of the driven gear  320  to the first transmission wheel  610 , the first transmission wheel  610  converts the displacement of the first linkage  620  into the rotation displacement, and finally transmits the rotation displacement to the spraying pipes  100 . As a result, the spraying pipes  100  rotate with rotation of the driven gear  320 . 
     In some embodiments, in order to better drive the spraying pipes  100 , one of the spraying pipes  100  is connected to a middle portion of the first transmission wheel  610 . One end of the first linkage  620  is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the first transmission wheel  610 , and another end of the first linkage is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the driven gear  320 . Herein, the connection between the spraying pipe  100  and the first transmission wheel  610  is similar to the connection between the driven gear  320  and the spraying pipe  100 . The axis of rotation of the first transmission wheel is collinear with the axis of rotation of the spraying pipe  100 . One end of the first linkage  620  is hinged to the top of the first transmission wheel  610 , and another end of the first linkage is hinged to the top of the driven gear  320 . In this case, the rotation direction of the first transmission wheel  610  is the same as the rotation direction of the driven gear  320 . When one end of the first linkage  620  is hinged to the bottom of the first transmission wheel  610 , and another end of the first linkage is hinged to the top of the driven gear  320 , the rotation direction of the first transmission wheel  610  is opposite to the rotation direction of the driven gear  320 . 
     In order to further increase the driving efficiency of the driving mechanism, the spray washer further includes a second transmission wheel  710  and a second linkage  720 . One end of one of the spraying pipes  100  is connected to the second transmission wheel  720 , and another end of the spraying pipe is in communication with the water source. One end of the second linkage  720  is hinged to the first transmission wheel  610 , and another end of the second linkage is hinged to the second transmission wheel  710 , to drive the spraying pipe  100  and the second transmission wheel into rotation with the rotation of the first transmission wheel. 
     In this embodiment, the second transmission wheel  710  is located on the top of the first transmission wheel  610 , or at a side of the first transmission wheel away from the driven gear  320 . The spray washer includes a plurality of second transmission wheels  710  and a plurality of second linkages  720 . In this case, one first transmission wheel  610  may simultaneously drive the plurality of second transmission wheels  710 . One second transmission linkage and one second transmission wheel  710  are described in detail below. 
     One end of the second linkage  720  is hinged to the first transmission wheel  610 , so that the second linkage  720  rotates with the rotation of the first transmission wheel  610 . Another end of the second linkage  720  is hinged to the second transmission wheel  710 , so that the second linkage  720  transmits the rotation displacement of the first transmission wheel  610  to the second transmission wheel  710 , the second transmission wheel  710  converts the displacement of the second linkage  720  into the rotation displacement, and finally transmits the rotation displacement to the spraying pipes  100 . As a result, the spraying pipes  100  rotate with rotation of the first transmission wheel  610 . 
     In some embodiments, in order to better drive the spraying pipes  100 , the spraying pipe  100  is connected to a middle portion of the second transmission wheel  710 . One end of the second linkage  720  is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the first transmission wheel  610 , and another end of the second linkage is connected to an upper portion or a lower portion of the second transmission wheel. 
     Herein, the connection between the spraying pipe  100  and the second transmission wheel  710  is similar to the connection between the first transmission wheel  610  and the spraying pipe  100 . The axis of rotation of the second transmission wheel  710  is collinear with the axis of rotation of the spraying pipe  100 . One end of the second linkage  720  is hinged to the top of the second transmission wheel  710 , and another end of the second linkage is hinged to the top of the first transmission wheel  610 . In this case, the rotation direction of the second transmission wheel  710  is the same as the rotation direction of the first transmission wheel  610 . When one end of the second linkage  720  is hinged to the bottom of the second transmission wheel  710 , and another end of the second linkage is hinged to the top of the first transmission wheel  610 , the rotation direction of the second transmission wheel  710  is opposite to the rotation direction of the first transmission wheel  610 . 
     In order to supply sufficient water to the spraying pipes  100 , the spray washer includes a water supply assembly. The water supply assembly includes a water pump  400 , a water feeding pipe  510  and a plurality of water distributing pipes  520 . One end of the water feeding pipe  510  is in communication with the water pump  400 , and another end of the water feeding pipe is in communication with water distributing pipes  520 . One end of each water distributing pipe  520  away from the water feeding pipe  510  is in communication with one of the spraying pipes  100 . One end of the water feeding pipe  510  is in communication with the water pump  400 , and another end of the water feeding pipe is in communication with the water distributing pipes  520 . The water pump  400  pumps water from the water source to the water feeding pipe  510 , and then the water feeding pipe  510  delivers water to the water distributing pipes  520 . One end of each water distributing pipe  520  away from the water feeding pipe  510  is in communication with one of the spraying pipes  100 . There are many ways of communication, such as surrounding, adapting through adapters, etc. 
     Herein, the water supply assembly is located below the spraying pipes  100 , and each water distributing pipe  520  is arranged around the water feeding pipe  510  after being bent. When the spraying pipes  100  spray water upwardly, the water supply assembly below does not affect the spray washing of the spraying pipes  100 , which ensures the effect of spray washing while fully utilizing the space. 
     In some embodiments, in order to improve the installation stability of the water feeding assembly and reduce the vibration noise, the spray washer further includes a reinforcing plate  530 . The reinforcing plate  530  is connected to the water distributing pipes  520  along an arrangement direction of the water distributing pipes  520 , and is provided with a fixing portion for fixing the reinforcing plate  530 . The reinforcing plate  530  is fixedly connected to the inner container, so that the reinforcing plate  530  not only strengthens the strength and stability of the water distributing pipes  520 , but also prevents the water distributing pipes  520  from swinging and vibrating greatly due to the impact of water flow by fixing the water distributing pipes  520 , and effectively reducing the noise generated by the swinging and vibrating of the water distributing pipes  520 . 
     The present disclosure further provides a dish-washing machine. The dish-washing machine includes an inner container and a spray washer. The structure of the spray washer refers to the above embodiments. Since the dish-washing machine adopts all of the above embodiments, the dish-washing machine at least has all the beneficial effects brought by the above embodiments, which is not repeated here. Herein, the inner container has a receiving chamber, within which the spray washer is arranged. 
     In order to improve the spray washing efficiency and effect of the spraying pipes  100 , the dish-washing machine includes a bowl basket arranged within the inner container. Each spraying pipe  100  is provided with a plurality of water injection nozzles, which are arranged along a length direction of each spraying pipe  100  corresponding to a position of the bowl basket. The water injection nozzles are arranged corresponding to the bowl basket, so that the water flow sprayed from the water injection nozzles can be accurately sprayed onto the bowl basket, to improve the efficiency of cleaning the tableware in the bowl basket.