The present utility model relates to a washing machine, and belongs to the field of household appliance technologies.

A washing machine, particularly, a washing machine having a drum disposed axially horizontally or aslant, generally lifts and slams clothes by rotating the drum, thereby washing the clothes, and compared with a conventional top-loading pulsator washing machine, has lower mechanical strength during washing, which can protect clothes better, but results in slightly lower efficiency in washing clothes with stubborn stains. In addition, after such a washing machine spin-dries clothes at a high speed, some clothes made of cotton easily cling to an inner wall of the drum, and may be omitted or affect a possible subsequent drying procedure.

For some washing machines, improvement attempts are made for overcoming the foregoing problems. For example, an agitator rotatable relative to a drum is disposed inside a drum washing machine, to increase a mechanical force for washing clothes, thereby improving washing efficiency. In addition, after the clothes are spin-dried, the clothes can be stirred better during fluffing, and clothes that cling to an inner wall of the drum are more likely to fall off.

To connect and drive the agitator, an existing solution that is known includes a driving and transmission system added to an original drum driving system, and connected to the agitator. Alternatively, a transmission system is added to an original driving system, and the added transmission system includes a bearing seat axially mounted along a drive shaft, and a transmission device disposed in the bearing seat.

The two solutions not only have complex mechanical structures, but also further occupy axial space of a washing machine that is already extremely limited, and consequently, washing space of a drum is reduced.

An objective of the present utility model is to provide a washing machine to make improvements for overcoming technical problems existing in the related art.

An embodiment of the present utility model includes: a washing machine, including a drum disposed axially horizontally or aslant, where a support is fixedly disposed at an axial end portion of the drum, a drive shaft is fixedly connected to the support, a drive module is in transmission connection to the drive shaft to drive the drive shaft and further the support and the drum to rotate, characterized in that one side of the support facing the drum forms a mounting seat integrally, and a transmission device is mounted in the mounting seat, and connects in transmission the drive shaft and an agitator extending into the drum, and drives the agitator to rotate in an opposite direction relative to the drum.

In some embodiments, the drive shaft includes an end portion extending into the mounting seat, an outer surrounding surface of the end portion is toothed, the transmission device includes an annular gear disposed coaxially with the drive shaft and rotatably mounted in the mounting seat, and further includes a group of planetary gears engaged with the drive shaft and the annular gear and an agitator support fixedly connected to the annular gear, and the agitator is fixedly connected to the agitator support. A preferred implementation further includes that a bearing is mounted in the mounting seat, and the annular gear is mounted on an inner side of the bearing rotatably relative to the mounting seat.

Preferably, the bearing includes an outer surrounding wall fixedly connected to the mounting seat and an inner surrounding wall fixedly connected to the annular gear, an annular accommodating cavity is included between the outer surrounding wall and the inner surrounding wall, and a plurality of balls are mounted in the accommodating cavity to allow the inner surrounding wall to be rotatable relative to the outer surrounding wall.

Preferably, the agitator support is fixedly connected to an axial end surface of the annular gear.

Preferably, the support includes a plurality of arm portions extending radially, centripetal ends of the arm portions are integrally connected to form a connection portion, and the mounting seat is disposed on the connection portion.

A preferred implementation further includes that the mounting seat includes an annular surrounding wall and a concave cavity formed and surrounded by the surrounding wall.

According to the embodiments of the present utility model, the agitator is mounted compactly, which saves space while reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs of parts, so that an installation procedure is simpler.

The structure of the present utility model and other inventive objectives and beneficial effects thereof will become more comprehensible from the description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The following accompanying drawings, as a part of the specification and provided to further understand the present utility model, illustrate specific implementations of the present utility model, and are used to describe the principle of the present utility model along with the specification. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a drum system of a washing machine;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a support component, an agitator, and a rear wall of a drum;

FIG. 3 is a partial three-dimensional structural diagram of a support component in an assembled state;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a bearing, an annular gear, and an agitator support; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a movement principle of a transmission device.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a washing machine includes a drum 1 disposed axially horizontally or aslant. The drum 1 includes a cylindrical side wall 11 , an annular front wall 12 connected to one end of the cylindrical side wall 11 , and a rear wall 13 connected to an other end of the cylindrical side wall 11. "Front" and "rear" are merely used for distinguishing a relative positional relationship. For example, the front wall 12 is closer to an operating position of a user in a use process of the washing machine, and the rear wall 13 is farther from the operating position of the user than the front wall 12.

A plurality of lifting ribs 2 are disposed approximately along an axial direction in the side wall 11. Three lifting ribs 2 are usually disposed. During operation of a washing procedure, the drum 1 rotates, the lifting ribs 2 push up clothes that cling thereto, and when a specific angle is reached, the clothes fall down from a higher position under the action of gravity and inertia, so that the clothes are slammed and washed. In some specific washing stages or under some specific washing conditions, the lifting ribs 2 may also be used to stir the clothes and washing water, to accelerate separation of stains.

A support component 3 is disposed at an axial end portion of the drum 1 , is located on an outer side of the rear wall 13, and is fixedly connected to the drum 1. The support component 3 includes a support 31 and a drive shaft 32 that are fixedly connected to each other. A drive module 4 is in transmission connection to the drive shaft 32, and therefore, can drive the drive shaft 32 and further the support 31 and the drum 1 to rotate. The drive module 4 may include a motor 41 , a transmission belt 42, and a belt pulley 43. The drive module 4 may alternatively include various other combinations and structures capable of implementing a driving function, and for example, may be a direct drive motor or a deceleration clutch with a motor.

With reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the support 31 includes a plurality of arm portions 311 extending radially. Centripetal ends of the arm portion 311 are integrally connected to form a connection portion 312. One side of the connection portion 312 facing the drum 1 integrally forms a mounting seat 313. The mounting seat 313 includes an annular surrounding wall 314, and a concave cavity 315 formed and surrounded by the surrounding wall 314. The drive shaft 32 includes an end portion 321 extending into the concave cavity 315. An outer surrounding surface of the end portion 321 is toothed.

A transmission device 33 is mounted inside the concave cavity 315 of the mounting seat 313, and connects in transmission the drive shaft 32 and an agitator 5 extending into the drum 1. The transmission device 33 includes an annular gear 331 disposed coaxially with the drive shaft 32 and rotatably mounted in the mounting seat 313, a group of planetary gears 332 engaged with the toothed end portion 321 of the drive shaft 32 and the annular gear 331 , and an agitator support 333 fixedly connected to the annular gear 331. The agitator 5 is fixedly connected to the agitator support 333. Specifically, the annular gear 331 is sleeved on the toothed end portion 321 of the drive shaft 32, and a gap is radially provided between the annular gear 331 and the toothed end portion 321. The planetary gears 332 are disposed in the gap, and connects the toothed end portion 321 of the drive shaft 32 and the annular gear 331.

The agitator support 333 is fixedly connected to an axial end surface of the annular gear 331. Specifically, the agitator support 333 includes a plurality of supporting legs 3330 radially and uniformly distributed. Outer end portions of the supporting legs 3330 are fixedly connected to the axial end surface of the annular gear 331. Therefore, the agitator 5 can be firmly connected to the annular gear 331 by the agitator support 333.

As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, a bearing 6 is mounted in the mounting seat 313. An oil seal 7 protects the bearing 6, to prevent the bearing 6 from rusting and corroding. The bearing 6 includes an outer surrounding wall 61 fixedly connected to the mounting seat 313 and an inner surrounding wall 62 fixedly connected to the annular gear 331. In specific embodiments, the two fixed connections may be implemented through interference fits. The outer surrounding wall 61 is non-fixedly connected to the inner surrounding wall 62, and an annular accommodating cavity 63 is included therebetween. A plurality of balls 64 are mounted in the accommodating cavity 63 to allow the inner surrounding wall 62 to be rotatable relative to the outer surrounding wall 61. Therefore, the annular gear 331 is allowed to be rotatable relative to the mounting seat 313.

As shown in FIG. 5, when rotating along a first direction A, the drive shaft 32 drives the planetary gears 332 to rotate along a second direction B opposite thereto. Moreover, rotation of the planetary gears 332 further drives the annular gear 331 to rotate in the same direction with the planetary gear 332, that is, rotate along the second direction B. The annular gear 331 drives the agitator support 333 and the agitator 5 that are fixedly connected thereto to rotate along the second direction B. Because the drive shaft 32, the support 31 , and the drum 1 are fixedly connected to each other, the drum 1 rotates in the same direction with the drive shaft 32, that is, the drum rotates along the first direction A. In view of this, under the action of rotation of the drive shaft 32, the agitator 5 and the drum 1 rotate in opposite directions.

FIG. 5 merely assists, in a form of a schematic diagram, in explaining a movement principle of the transmission device. Structures and assembly relationships of parts are subject to other accompanying drawings and literal explanations in the specification.

The agitator 5 may be in a shape of a disc designed with a concave-convex surface as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and is close to the rear wall 13 of the drum 1. In a washing process of the washing machine, the agitator 5 helps to stir clothes and washing water, improves a cleaning effect, and speeds up a procedure, and in addition, in a process of fluffing the clothes, the agitator 5 that rotates reversely can better fluff the clothes, and is more likely to make the clothes clinging to the drum 1 fall off.

The foregoing are merely preferred embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. For a person skilled in the art, this application may have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made without departing from the spirit and principle of this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application.