CN110241544B

CN110241544B - Clothes treatment equipment and RFID signal shielding method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN110241544B
Application number: CN201810196476.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王强; 黄世坤
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Washing Electric Appliance Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Washing Electric Appliance Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-03-09
Filing date: 2018-03-09
Publication date: 2023-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 2038-03-09
Also published as: CN110241544A

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of clothes treatment equipment, in particular to clothes treatment equipment and an RFID signal shielding method thereof. The clothes treatment equipment comprises a box body, an RFID (radio frequency identification) identification module arranged in the box body, and a door unit pivoted on the box body, wherein a window screen and a door handle are arranged on the door unit, a gap exists between the door handle and the box body, the box body comprises a table top unit, and the clothes treatment equipment further comprises a first signal shielding part arranged on the window screen, a second signal shielding part arranged on the door handle and a third signal shielding part arranged on the table top unit. According to the clothes treatment equipment, the areas with different leakage degrees are subjected to targeted shielding treatment, so that RFID signals are intercepted into the equipment, the situation of false identification caused by the fact that the RFID clothes identification module detects clothes outside the equipment is avoided, and the intelligent level of the clothes treatment equipment is optimized.

Description

Clothes treatment equipment and RFID signal shielding method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of clothes treatment equipment, in particular to clothes treatment equipment and an RFID signal shielding method thereof.

Background

Some of the current washing machines on the market are designed with intelligent washing programs to optimize their performance, such as those with RFID laundry identification modules, are also favored by users. The RFID clothes identification module is mainly used for identifying label information on clothes to be washed in a weighing stage, and then selecting a corresponding washing program according to the obtained clothes information, so that the efficiency of the whole washing process is effectively improved, for example, the materials of the clothes to be washed are identified, and the washing program with the least damage to the clothes is selected based on the clothes information of all the clothes. However, the RFID laundry identification module may have a false identification during the process of identifying laundry information, for example, laundry worn on a user who approaches the washing machine or laundry stacked on a panel of the washing machine is false identified as laundry to be washed, thereby resulting in inaccurate laundry information read and referenced by the washing machine, and affecting the intelligent optimization level of the washing machine.

The prior art usually sets a signal shielding structure at the periphery of the structure of the RFID identification module, so that the signal transmitted by the RFID identification module can only be transmitted to the inside of the drum, and the information of clothes worn by a user close to the machine body can not be read. The chinese patent application No. CN200510014345.3, entitled "washing machine", discloses a washing machine, which is provided with a separation part at the periphery of a radio frequency reader to prevent signals sent by the radio frequency reader from being transmitted to the outside of the machine body, however, the following problems exist in this technical scheme: on one hand, such a signal shielding scheme may result in a situation that the transmission range of the RFID signal is limited and thus the laundry tag at the corner of the body may not be recognized; on the other hand, such a signal shielding scheme is substantially equivalent in the degree of signal shielding of each part of the washing machine, and cannot perform targeted processing on areas of different leakage degrees.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new laundry treating apparatus and an RFID signal shielding method thereof to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a laundry treatment apparatus including a cabinet, an RFID identification module provided inside the cabinet, and a door unit pivotally provided on the cabinet, the door unit being provided with a window screen, the RFID identification module being configured to transmit an RFID signal to acquire laundry information of laundry, the laundry treatment apparatus further including a first signal shielding part configured to prevent at least a portion of the RFID signal from leaking to an outside of the laundry treatment apparatus through the window screen.

In a preferred embodiment of the above laundry treatment apparatus, the first signal shielding part includes a shielding film disposed on an outer surface of the window screen.

In a preferred technical scheme of the clothes treatment device, the shielding film is a PC film or a PMMA film.

In a preferred embodiment of the above laundry treatment apparatus, the shielding film further includes a metal film or a metal compound film disposed on the PC film or the PMMA film.

In a preferred aspect of the above laundry treatment apparatus, the laundry treatment apparatus includes a door handle provided on the door unit, a gap exists between the door handle and the cabinet, and the laundry treatment apparatus further includes a second signal shielding part for preventing at least a portion of the RFID signal from leaking to an outside of the laundry treatment apparatus through the gap.

In a preferred embodiment of the laundry treatment apparatus, the second signal shielding part is a shielding sleeve which is provided outside the door handle and can completely cover the gap.

In a preferred aspect of the above laundry treatment apparatus, the cabinet includes a table top unit, and the laundry treatment apparatus further includes a third signal shielding part for preventing at least a portion of the RFID signal from leaking to an outside of the laundry treatment apparatus through the table top unit.

In a preferred aspect of the above laundry treatment apparatus, the third signal shielding part includes a signal shielding material provided at least one side surface of the table unit.

In the preferred technical solution of the above clothes treating apparatus, the table unit includes a table panel, a main control panel, and a seam area between the table panel and the main control panel, and the third signal shielding part includes: and the signal shielding material is arranged on the inner sides of the table panel, the main control panel and the joint area.

The invention provides an RFID signal shielding method of a clothes treatment device, the clothes treatment device comprises a box body, an RFID identification module arranged in the box body and a door unit pivoted on the box body, a window screen and a door handle are arranged on the door unit, a gap exists between the door handle and the box body, the box body comprises a table board unit, and the RFID signal shielding method comprises the following steps: configuring a first signal shielding part for the window screen; configuring a second signal shielding part for the door handle to cover the slit on the basis of forming the first signal shielding part; a third signal shield is provided for the mesa unit before, simultaneously with, or after the second signal shield is formed.

Since the RFID signal leakage situation is mostly concentrated in the window screen, the vicinity of the door handle and the table top unit (mainly including the table top, the main control panel and the joint area therebetween), specifically, the window screen has a larger leakage probability and a larger window screen area, the door handle has a largest leakage probability but a smaller area, and the table top unit has a larger area but a lower leakage probability than the window screen. Therefore, according to the leakage degree of the areas, different levels of shielding treatment are sequentially and pertinently carried out on the areas. Specifically, firstly, for a window screen which is a region with serious RFID signal leakage and large area, the clothes treatment device of the invention is provided with the first signal shielding part with good shielding performance on the window screen so as to prevent RFID signals from leaking to the outside of the clothes treatment device through the window screen of the clothes treatment device, and meanwhile, the light transmittance is ensured so as not to influence the normal observation function of the window screen. Preferably, the first signal shielding part includes a transparent shielding film and a plating film, wherein the transparent shielding film may be, but is not limited to, a PMMA film, a PC film, an automobile radiation protection film, or the like to maintain flatness and transparency of a window screen surface; further, it is preferable that a film composed of a metal or a compound thereof is further plated on the surface of the PC film or the PMMA film so as to enhance the shielding effect.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the door handle is also shielded in particular for the region of greatest leakage probability but smaller area, in order to prevent the RFID signal from leaking out of the laundry treatment device via the door handle and the gap between the door handle and the housing when the non-laundry is in the vicinity of the door handle. Preferably, the second signal shielding part is a shielding sleeve which is arranged on the outer side of the door handle and can completely cover the gap, and the shielding sleeve can shield the path of the RFID signal leaking outwards through the gap so as to further intercept the RFID signal.

After the shielding treatment scheme of the window screen and the door handle is completed, a third signal shielding part can be further arranged for the table top unit with relatively small RFID leakage degree and large area so as to improve the shielding effect on RFID signals. Specifically, the third signal shielding part is a signal shielding material disposed on at least one side of the mesa unit. If the third shielding part can comprise a first signal shielding material arranged on the outer surface of the main control board and covering the joint area and a second signal shielding material arranged on the inner side of the table panel, and the leakage degree and the structure of the table panel and the main control board area are considered to be similar, so that the two shielding materials can be the same or different, and the shielding scheme and the arrangement sequence of the two shielding materials can be exchanged to a certain extent, and only the shielding effect of the part is ensured.

According to the clothes treatment equipment, the areas with different leakage degrees are subjected to targeted shielding treatment, so that the clothes treatment equipment forms a structure with good shielding performance, specifically, the window screen, the door handle and the table top unit are subjected to different shielding levels, when the RFID clothes identification module positioned in the equipment emits RFID signals outwards, the clothes treatment equipment can basically intercept the RFID signals into the equipment, and therefore the situation of misidentification caused by the fact that the RFID clothes identification module detects clothes outside the equipment is avoided, namely, the RFID clothes identification module can only detect clothes information in the clothes treatment equipment, and the intelligent level of the clothes treatment equipment is optimized.

The invention also provides an RFID signal shielding method of the clothes processing equipment, which is characterized in that the RFID signal leakage areas are prioritized according to the RFID signal leakage degree, the RFID signal leakage areas are shielded according to the priority order so as to facilitate the gradual investigation of the leakage path of the RFID signal, and the areas with different leakage degrees can be selectively shielded in a targeted manner, so that the RFID signal is intercepted to the greatest extent so as to prevent the situation of misdiscrimination caused by leakage of the RFID signal outside the equipment.

Drawings

The laundry treating apparatus and the RFID signal shielding method thereof of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with a side-opening drum washing machine. In the accompanying drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a side opening type drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an RFID signal shielding method of a side-opening drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

List of reference numerals:

1. a case; 2. a door unit; 11. a mesa unit; 21. a window screen; 22. a door handle; 111. a deck plate; 112. and a main control board.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are merely for explaining the technical principles of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, although the present invention has been described in connection with a side-opening drum washing machine, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the (first, second, third) signal shielding portions may be provided in other types of laundry treatment apparatuses, such as a top-opening drum washing machine, pulsator washing machine, washing-drying machine, etc., and those skilled in the art may adapt them to specific applications as desired.

It should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, terms such as "inner", "outer", and the like refer to directions or positional relationships based on directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, which are merely for convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected, for example; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to the specific circumstances.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a side opening type drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the washing machine mainly includes a cabinet 1, a door unit 2 pivotally provided on a front panel of the cabinet 1, and an RFID identification module provided inside the cabinet 1 for transmitting an RFID signal to acquire laundry information of laundry to be washed. The door unit 2 mainly comprises an inner frame, a glass observation window, a middle frame, a window screen and an outer frame which are sequentially arranged from inside to outside, wherein the inner frame is provided with a door handle 22 in consideration of the integrity of the outer frame of the washing machine, and a gap is usually reserved between the door handle 22 and the front panel of the box body 1 so as to facilitate the use of the door handle 22. The case 1 further includes a table unit 11, and the table unit 11 includes a table plate 111 located at the top of the case 1, a main control board 112 disposed above and in front of the case 1, and a seam area between the table plate 111 and the main control board 112. Since the identification signal of the RFID laundry identification module is strong, the RFID laundry identification module may be in a state that other laundry outside the washing machine is erroneously identified due to signal leakage in the process of identifying laundry information of laundry to be washed.

Specifically, the inventors found in experiments that the situation that the laundry signal is erroneously recognized is mainly concentrated in the areas in front of the washing machine window screen 21, in the vicinity of the door handle 22, above the deck 111, and in front of the main control panel 112, and on the basis of this, the inventors have made a plurality of experiments, and the degree of signal leakage in the above-mentioned areas is concluded as follows: in the range of 0 to 40cm in front of the window screen 21, the laundry may be recognized, and in the position 40cm away from the window screen 21, the probability of the laundry being recognized is about 50%; the clothes are very easy to be identified near the gap between the door handle 22 and the box body 1 and within the range of 0 to 5cm from the gap, and the probability of being identified is almost 100%; above and in front of the main control board 112, the probability of the RFID tag being identified is approximately 9.5%; above the deck 111, the probability of the RFID tag being recognized is about 1%, and the probability of misrecognition of the deck and the main control panel is mainly for a case where the distance is small, such as laundry directly placed on the deck and the main control panel. It can be seen that the above areas are sequentially ordered from high to low by the degree of leakage into window 21, door handle 22, main control panel 112, and deck 111. Since the leakage of the RFID signals is mostly concentrated in the four areas, the washing machine provided by the invention sequentially performs the following targeted shielding treatment on the areas according to different leakage degrees of the RFID signals in the areas.

Considering that the window screen is the most dominant area of RFID signal leakage, performing shielding treatment for the area with the highest leakage degree of the RFID signal will effectively reduce the probability of occurrence of the false recognition situation of clothes, and under such requirement, the washing machine further comprises a first signal shielding part arranged on the window screen 21, and considering that the window screen 21 is arranged towards a user, the first signal shielding part comprises a shielding film arranged on the outer surface of the window screen 21 to ensure the flatness of the outer surface of the window screen 21, preferably, the shielding film is a transparent shielding film to ensure the transparency of the outer surface of the window screen 21 to avoid affecting the normal observation function of the window screen 21, and as an example, a PC or PMMA material can be plated on the outer surface of the window screen 21 to form a PC film or a PMMA film to shield at least part of RFID signals so as to reduce the false recognition probability of the direction of the window screen. Further, vacuum plating can be performed on the surface of the PC film or the PMMA film to form a film composed of metal or a compound thereof, so that the shielding effect is further enhanced. Such an arrangement ensures not only good shielding properties but also unaffected viewing properties of the window screen and flatness of the outer surface of the door unit.

It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the type of the shielding film is not limited to a PC film, a PMMA film or a metal film, but may be other types of shielding films, for example, an automobile radiation protection film may be adhered to the surface of the window screen 21, so that the signal shielding effect is achieved, and meanwhile, the window screen abrasion can be avoided, so that the service life of the window screen 21 is prolonged, and the multi-color automobile radiation protection film can also play a role of beautifying the window screen 21, so that those skilled in the art can set the first signal shielding part according to actual requirements, so long as the misidentification probability of the window screen direction can be reduced.

After the first signal shielding part is added to the window screen 21, the false recognition probability of the window screen direction is greatly reduced. However, considering that the vicinity of the gap between the cabinet 1 and the door handle 22 is also a high risk area for the false recognition of clothes, in the optimized scheme of the present invention, the washing machine is also specially shielded for the area, specifically, the washing machine further comprises a second signal shielding part for preventing the RFID signal from leaking to the outside of the washing machine through the gap, as in a specific embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the door handle 22 is of a built-in structure, the second signal shielding part is a shielding sleeve which is arranged outside the door handle 22 and completely covers the gap between the door handle 22 and the cabinet 1, such as a radiation-proof silica gel door handle glove, so as to block and shield the leakage of the RFID signal, and the shielding sleeve also has a certain identification function and a protective function for the door handle 22, i.e. the shielding sleeve sleeved outside the door handle 22 can prevent the abrasion of the outside, and the special appearance shielding sleeve is also convenient for reminding the user of the position of the door handle 22.

The first shielding portion and the second shielding portion ensure shielding performance in a severe leakage area. On the basis, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the third signal shielding part is provided on the table top unit 11 with relatively low false recognition probability, for example, the third signal shielding part may be a signal shielding material provided on at least one side surface of the table top 111 and the main control board 112, and as a preferred example, a metal shielding material may be provided on the inner side of the table top 111, the main control board 112 and the seam area therebetween, for example, an aluminum foil tape may be adhered on the inner side of the table top 111 and the seam area therebetween, and the outer side or inner side of the main control board 112 may be sprayed with a metal paint.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the third signal shielding portion may be formed of a non-metallic material having a shielding function, such as a radiation shielding cloth provided on the inner side of the deck 111, in addition to the above-described metallic shielding material. In addition, the third signal shielding part is not limited to be disposed on the inner side of the seam area between the table panel 111 and the main control board 112, for example, the third signal shielding part may be a radiation-proof polymer film disposed on the outer side of the main control board 112, or shielding structures in different forms may be disposed on the inner side and the outer side of the main control board, so that a person skilled in the art can reasonably set the third signal shielding part according to actual requirements, so long as the false recognition probability of the table unit can be reduced.

Accordingly, the present invention also provides an RFID signal shielding method of a laundry treatment apparatus, so as to improve shielding performance of a washing machine according to the aforementioned different leakage degrees of the RFID signal leakage area. Specifically, referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flow chart of an RFID signal shielding method of a side-opening drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

s10, aiming at the window screen area with the most serious RFID signal leakage, a first signal shielding part is firstly configured for the window screen of the clothes processing equipment so as to greatly reduce the RFID signal leakage degree, thereby effectively reducing the probability of false identification, such as a shielding film is arranged on the window screen or the window screen is directly manufactured by adopting shielding materials.

The first treatment of the first window screen avoids the damage or interference of the subsequent shielding process to the first shielding part, and effectively ensures that the first shielding part can achieve the expected good shielding performance.

S20, after the first signal shielding part is formed, a second signal shielding part is configured for the door handle of the clothes processing device to cover the gap between the door handle and the box body aiming at the near-gap area between the door handle and the box body, wherein the gap between the door handle and the box body is severe in RFID signal leakage, for example, a radiation-proof silica gel door handle glove is arranged on the outer side of the door handle, and can completely cover the gap between the door handle and the box body to prevent RFID signals from leaking to the outside of the clothes processing device through the gap between the door handle and the box body.

The targeted arrangement of the second shield ensures a small local shielding performance that is normally easily ignored by users and manufacturers, while such targeted arrangement can circumvent the problem that the false recognition probability is almost 100% once signal leakage occurs in this area.

Before, simultaneously with, or after (e.g., after) the formation of the second signal shielding portion, a third signal shielding portion is configured for the table top unit of the laundry treatment apparatus for the table top unit having a low probability of false recognition to ensure that the RFID signal can be intercepted within the apparatus to a maximum extent. As a specific example, the main control board may be first masked, then the deck plate may be masked, and the seam area between the main control board and the deck plate may be taken into consideration while the main control board is masked. However, the third shielding part has a significantly lower leakage probability, so that the processing mode is flexible.

It should be understood that the above processing sequence is directed to the overall process of the washing machine, but only to the sequence of adding the shielding structure, without omitting the process of the other parts of the washing machine. As in one embodiment, the shielding performance of the washing machine may be improved in the order described above, based on the washing machine having been formed.

Thus far, the technical solution of the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, but it is easily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments. Equivalent modifications and substitutions for related technical features may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention, and such modifications and substitutions will fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A laundry treatment apparatus comprising a cabinet, an RFID identification module provided inside the cabinet, and a door unit pivotally provided on the cabinet, a window screen being provided on the door unit, the RFID identification module being configured to emit an RFID signal to acquire laundry information of laundry, characterized in that the laundry treatment apparatus further comprises a first signal shielding part for preventing at least a portion of the RFID signal from leaking to the outside of the laundry treatment apparatus through the window screen;

the laundry treating apparatus includes a door handle provided on the door unit, a gap exists between the door handle and the cabinet,

the laundry treating apparatus further includes a second signal shielding part for preventing at least a portion of the RFID signal from leaking to the outside of the laundry treating apparatus through the slit;

the cabinet includes a table unit, and the laundry treating apparatus further includes a third signal shielding part for preventing at least a portion of the RFID signal from leaking to the outside of the laundry treating apparatus through the table unit.

2. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first signal shielding portion comprises a shielding film disposed on an outer surface of the window screen.

3. Laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the shielding film is a PC film, a PMMA film.

4. A laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the shielding film further comprises a metal film or a metal compound film provided on the PC film or the PMMA film.

5. The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second signal shielding part is a shielding case which is provided outside the door handle and can entirely cover the slit.

6. The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third signal shielding part comprises a signal shielding material provided at least one side of the table unit.

7. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 6, wherein the table unit comprises a table top, a main control panel, and a seam area between the table top and the main control panel, the third signal shielding part comprising:

and the signal shielding material is arranged on the inner sides of the table panel, the main control panel and the joint area.

8. An RFID signal shielding method of a laundry treatment apparatus including a cabinet, an RFID identification module provided in the interior of the cabinet, and a door unit pivotally provided on the cabinet, a window screen and a door handle provided on the door unit, a gap being present between the door handle and the cabinet, and the cabinet including a table unit, the RFID signal shielding method comprising:

configuring a first signal shielding part for the window screen;

configuring a second signal shielding part for the door handle to cover the slit on the basis of forming the first signal shielding part;

a third signal shield is provided for the mesa unit before, simultaneously with, or after the second signal shield is formed.