Patent ID: 7111478

Claim:
A drum washing machine in which a drum is provided in an outer tub placed in an outer casing, where the drum is rotatable on a horizontal shaft or on an inclined shaft and the circumferential surface of the drum is substantially cylindrical, the drum washing machine comprising: a) a shaft member whose one end is fixed to the drum as the horizontal shaft or inclined shaft; b) a bearing provided on the outer tub for supporting the shaft member in a rotatable manner; c) a drum rotation drive motor including a rotor attached to the other end of the shaft member and a stator attached to the outer tub side, the motor being a DC motor that includes the rotor and the stator for driving the drum to rotate; d) a drum locking mechanism for locking the rotor of the motor to fix a rotational position of the drum at a predetermined stopping position, the drum locking mechanism locking the drum by locking the rotor, which is a member which rotates integrally with the drum to fix a rotational position of the drum at a predetermined stopping position; and e) a drive controller using an inverter for controlling the DC motor so that the drum comes to a vicinity of the predetermined rotating position when the drum locking mechanism locks the drum; wherein the motor is an outer-rotor type motor, the rotor of the motor has a single concave portion for engagement, the drum locking mechanism has an actuator which advances to or withdraws from the rotor, and the rotor of the motor is locked by engagement of a part of the actuator with the concave portion.