Technical Field The present invention relates to a washing machine capable of cleaning a high quality texture such as a woolen fabric or linen using water without damaging the texture.

BackgroundArt Textiles that cannot be washed at home, for example, high quality clothes made of woolen fabrics or linen are usually experienced by dry cleaning at the laundry. The dry cleaning is to wash a high quality cloth for which the water laundry cannot be performed. Such a dry cleaning has been widely used since it can prevent damage such as shrinkage or deformation of clothes. Usually, the dry cleaning is performed using a solvent or a volatile solvent such as perchloroethylene. However, the dry cleaning has problems such as a danger of a fire, air pollution due to natural evaporation, a danger of a carcinogenesis due to inhalation through a respiratory organ and soil pollutionbecause thevolatile solvent is used.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present inventionhas beenmade inview of the 00530

above problems, and it is an object ot the preseni mvennυii ιυ provide a washing machine wherein damage such as shrinkage or deformation of a texture is prevented even if water not a volatile solvent is used. Another object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine capable of effectively increasing the washing capability, wherein a molecule cluster of water is resolved into small pieces by means of electrolysis, a detergent is easily resolved and a mixture of water and a detergent is well infiltrated into a fibrous tissue of a texture. A further object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine wherein clusters of water molecules are made small by cooling water of a water tank and shrinkage or deformation of a texture having a fine fibrous tissue is prevented. To achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a washing machine, comprising a drum unit 10, wherein a drum 11 for containing the washing which rotates, an inflow line 12 for introducing water into the drum 11 and an outflow line 13 for discharging water therein are connected to the drum unit 10; a water supplyunit 20 for storingwater to be supplied to the drum unit 10 therein, wherein the water supply unit is connected to the inflow line 12; a water circulation unit 30 for circulating the water supplied to the drum unit 10 toward the drum unit 10 again, wherein the water circulation unit is connected to the inflow line 12 and the outflow line 13; and a drain valve 40 for discharging the water discharged from the outflow line 13, wherein the water supply unit 20 includes a water tank 21 for storing a certain amount of water therein, a first forced pump 22 for forcibly sending the water of the water tank 21, a heat exchanger 23 for cooling the forcibly sent water, a first valveVl for turning on/off the connection to the inflow line 12, and a second valve V2 disposed between a line between the heat exchanger 23 and the first valve Vl and the water tank 21, wherein the secondvalveV2 is turned on/off so that the water sent from thewater tank 21 circulates to the water tank 21, and wherein the water circulation unit 30 includes a second forced pump 32 for forcibly sending the water discharged from the outflow line'13, and a check valve 33 for allowing thewater sent from the second forcedpump 32 to flow toward the inflow line 12 only. In the above, the water supply unit 20 further comprises an electrolysis device 24 disposed within the water tank 21, for electrolyzing the water. Meanwhile, the inflow line 12 is directly connected to a sub inflow line 12' connected towater pipes. Furthermore, the water circulation unit 30 is connected to a detergent supplyunit 50 for supplying a detergent.

Brief Descriptionof Drawings Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taKen in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings inwhich: FIG. 1 shows the configurationof awashingmachine according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is aperspectiveview illustrating anelectrolysis device applied to thewater tank shown inFIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows a state where a rapid water supplement tank is connected to the water tank shown inFIG. 1; FIG. 4 shows how thewater supplyunit inFIG. 1 operates! and FIG. 5 shows how thewater circulationunit inFIG. 1 operates.

Best Mode for CarryingOut the Invention The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of awashingmachine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an electrolysis device applied to the water tank shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows a state where a rapid water supplement tank is connected to the water tank shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 shows how the water supply unit in FIG. 1 operates, and FIG. 5 shows how the water circulation unit in FIG. 1 operates. Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, the washing machine according to the present invention includes a drum unit 10 having a drum 11 for containing the washing, which rotates, a water supply unit zu tor supplying water to the drum unit 10, a water circulation unit 30 for circulating water discharged from the drum unit 10 and supplying the water to the drum unit 10 again, a drain valve 40 for discharging the water discharged from the drum unit 10, and a detergent supply unit 50 for supplying a detergent to thewater circulationunit 30. An inflow line 12 for introducingwater into the drum 11 and an outflow line 13 for discharging the received water are connected to the drumunit 10. The water supply unit 20 is connected to the inflow line 12 in order to supply water to the drum unit 10. Such a water supply unit 20 includes a water tank 21 for storing a certain amount of water therein, a first forced pump 22 for forcibly sending the water of the water tank 21, a heat exchanger 23 for cooling the forcibly sent water, a first valve Vl for turning on/off the connection to the inflow line 12, a second valve V2 disposed between a line between the heat exchanger 23 and the first valve Vl and the water tank 21, wherein the secondvalve V2 is turned on/off so that the water from the water tank 21 can be circulated toward the water tank 21, and an electrolysis device 24 for electrolyzing thewater stored in thewater tank21. The water tank 21 contains water therein, which is supplied from an external water pipe 21a. The water tank 21 has a sensor (not shown). The sensor generates a predetermined signal when the tank 21 is filled with a predetermined amount of water. The signal is used to turn off a thirdvalve V3 connected to the water pipe ώj.a. The heat exchanger 23mayhave avariety of structures such as a structure having apassage along whichwater moves, and a structure in which a line along which water moves is surrounded. The heat exchanger functions to cool the water sent from the first forced pump 22 to a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, the heat exchanger 23 is organically coupled to a known cooling system having an evaporation pipe, a compressor and a condenser. The cooling system is well known in the art and thus will not be described indetail. The electrolysis device 24 includes a first electrode 24a and a second electrode 24b to both of which a DC is applied. The first electrode 24a and the second electrode 24b have a structure in which they are spaced by a predetermined distance by means of insulators 24c. The construction of the electrolysis device 24 is well known in the art. The electrolysis device 24 serves to not only remove a microorganism such as a colon bacillus, a virus and Algae, which are included in water in the process of electrolyzing water, but also make small molecule clusters of water, so that a detergent can be easily resolved. Furthermore, the electrolysis device 24 allows water into which a detergent is resolved to be infiltrated deeply into the fibrous tissue of the texture, increasing the cleaning capability. Water forms a hydrogen combination among molecules to form a group of water molecules of a dynamic equilibrium state called a cluster. The motion speed of the cluster is nign wnen ine ciusier is small and the cluster will be infiltrated deeply into the fibrous tissue of the texture as the motion speed of the cluster becomes high. The electrolysis device increases the motion speed by making the cluster small. Meanwhile, in order to make the cluster small, a method for lowering a temperature can be used in addition to the electrolysis. In the present invention, the size of the cluster is made small as the heat exchanger 23 lowers a temperature of water contained in the water tank 21. A temperature that canmake the size of the cluster small is in a range of 2°C to 12°C. In this embodiment, the temperature is in a range of 4°C to 8°C. The water tank 21 is connected to the rapid water supplement tank 25, as shown in FIG. 3. The rapid water supplement tank 25 contains water of a temperature, which is lower than that of water contained in the water tank 21. The water stored in the rapid water supplement tank 25 is usedwhen a temperature of water to be used upon a laundry is lower than a temperature of water stored in the water tank 21. In other words, the temperature of the water stored in the water tank is rapidly lowered by supplementing water of a lower temperature to the water tank 21. To this end, the rapid water supplement tank 25 is connected to the first forced pump 22 through a fourth valve V4 and to the water tank 21 through a fifth valve V5. Through this structure, if the fourth valve V4 is turned on (opened), water that is cooled by the heat exchanger 'Δό' is suppiememeα ιo iae rapid water supplement tank 25. If the fifth valve V5 is turned on, the cooled water contained in the rapid water supplement tank 25 is supplied to thewater tank21. Thewater circulationunit 30 serves to circulate water supplied to the drum unit 10 toward the drum unit 10 again and is connected to the inflow line 12 and the outflow line 13. The water circulation unit 30 includes a second forced pump 32 for forcibly sending water discharged from the outflow line 13, and a checkvalve 33 for allowing the water from the second forced pump 32 to flow toward the inflow line 12 only. At this time, the water circulation unit 30 may include a trap 34 for removing naps occurring from the washing, in the process whereinwater is circulatedwhile the laundryproceeds. The drain valve 40 serves to discharge water toward the outside via thewater circulationunit 30. The inflow line 12 may be connected to a sub inflow line 12' connected to external water pipes. If a texture to be washed is a texture that can be water-washed, tap water introduced through the sub inflow line 12' canbe directlyused for the laundry. Furthermore, aplurality of temperature sensor S for detecting a temperature are connected to lines that connect the aforementioned components. These sensors serve to detect a temperature of water, which circulates within the washing machine. Signals generated from the sensors can be used as signals for controlling the components. The detergent supply unit 50 has detergent tubes ior cυπiaimug various kinds of detergents. Each detergent tube includes sub valves V6, V7, V8 and V9. Also, the line between the first forced pump 22 and the heat exchanger 23 is connected to the detergent supply unit 50 via a tenth valve VlO. Thus, if the tenth valve VlO is opened, the detergent of the detergent supply unit 50 is supplied. At this time, a predetermined detergent can be supplied by turning on a predetermined subvalve. The operation of the washing machine constructed above will now be described. If the washing to be cleaned is a high quality texture, a temperature of water must be low in order to prevent damage such as shrinkage or deformation of the texture. It is therefore required that cooled water be secured in advance before the laundry. To this end, as shown inFIG. 4, in a state where the first valveVl is turned off (shut) and the secondvalveV2 is turned on (opened) so that water is prevented to flow toward the inflow line 12, the first forced pump 22 and the cooling system are driven to cool the water via the heat exchanger 23. The water from the water tank21 is then cooledvia the heat exchanger 23 and is introduced into the water tank 21, while moving along the arrow direction. As time goes, the water within the water tank 21 is cooled down to a predetermined temperature. Furthermore, in order for the water to deeply infiltrate into a texture fiber, the cluster must be small. For this purpose, the electrolysis device 24 is driven. The tenth valve viυ is openeα so that a detergent is supplied to the line between the first forcedpump 22 andthe heat exchanger 23. If the above condition is completed, the secondvalveV2 is shut and the first valve Vl is opened so that thewater stored in the water tank 21 is introduced into the drum unit 10. If sufficient water is supplied to the drum unit 10, the first valve Vl is shut so that the water of the water tank 21 is not further supplied to the drum unit 10. Next, in order to perform the laundry, the drum unit 10 and the water circulation unit 30 are driven. In other words, the drum unit 10 is driven so that the drum 11 for containing the washing rotates. The second forced pump 32 is driven so that the water discharged to the outflow line 13 of the drum unit 10 is circulated toward the inside of the drum unit 10 via the check valve 33 and the inflow line 12. The water circulated toward the inside of the drum unit 10 is strongly sprayed from an upper side within the drum 11 that rotates to a lower side thereof. The washing is turned over as the drum 11 rotates. Furthermore, the washing is well washed by means of water that is strongly sprayed from the inside of the drum. At this time, the trap 34 disposed in the water circulation unit serves to remove naps occurring from the washing. If the laundry is finished, the operation of the water circulation unit 30 is stopped and the drain valve 40 is turned on (opened). The water within the drumunit 10 is then discharged to the outside throughthe drainvalve 40. As the above process is repeatedly performed, the laundry is performed.

Industrial Applicability According to the present invention described above, as a heat exchanger and an electrolysis device are used, not only a temperature of water is lowered, but also a molecule cluster of water is made small. Further, the solubility with a detergent cam be increased and water containing the detergent can be infiltrated deeply into a fibrous tissue of a texture. Accordingly, it is possible to wash a high-quality cloth for which a water laundry is impossible but a dry cleaning is possible. Furthermore, as the laundry is performed using cooled water, it is possible to prevent shrinkage or deformation of a texture. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a solvent or a solvent having a strong volatility such as perchloroethylene as in a conventional dry cleaning is not used. It is therefore possible to solve problems such as a danger of a fire, air pollution due to natural evaporation, a danger of a carcinogenesis due to inhalation through a respiratoryorgan andsoil pollution. In addition, as electrolysis is employed, fine germs that may exist in water stored in a water tank are removed. Accordingly, the present invention has an effect that it can prevent fine germs from remaining in thewashing after the laundry. While the present inventionhas been describedwith reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but onlyby the appended claims.