CN112176647A

CN112176647A - Humidity detection device and method and roller clothes dryer

Info

Publication number: CN112176647A
Application number: CN202010948096.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 施衍奇
Original assignee: Hisense Shandong Refrigerator Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hisense Shandong Refrigerator Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-10
Filing date: 2020-09-10
Publication date: 2021-01-05

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a humidity detection device and method and a roller clothes dryer, relates to the field of manufacturing of household appliances, and can judge the humidity of clothes more accurately. The humidity detection device is applied to a drum dryer, and comprises: the device comprises a roller, a metal strip, a detection circuit and a controller; the roller is in point connection with the metal strip through a detection circuit; the detection circuit is connected with the controller. The detection circuit is used for acquiring a humidity signal of the clothes when the clothes simultaneously contact the drum and the metal strips after the drum dryer starts to operate. The controller is used for determining a humidity value according to the humidity signal acquired by the detection circuit. The embodiment of the invention is applied to a clothes dryer system.

Description

Humidity detection device and method and roller clothes dryer

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the field of household appliance manufacturing, in particular to a humidity detection device and method and a drum dryer.

Background

Humidity sensors are common devices on tumble dryers for detecting the dryness of the laundry. Generally, a humidity sensor in a tumble dryer is composed of two metal poles, generally in the shape of a strip, disposed on a front support at the front end of a drum, the surfaces of which are capable of contacting the laundry inside the drum.

Because the drum dryer has a certain volume, the amount of clothes put into the drum dryer by a customer is small, when the amount of the clothes is large, the volume of the drum occupied is large, the contact probability of the clothes and the humidity sensor is large, the contact is more sufficient, and the obtained humidity value is relatively more accurate. However, when the amount of the laundry is small, the volume of the occupied drum is also small, and in addition, the laundry is always in an unstable overturning state in the drum, the contact probability of the laundry and the humidity sensor becomes small, and even the laundry cannot be contacted within a certain period of time, so that the precision of the obtained humidity value is reduced, and the judgment of the humidity of the laundry is inaccurate.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a humidity detection device and method and a roller clothes dryer, which can judge the humidity of clothes more accurately.

In a first aspect, a humidity detection device is provided, which is applied to a drum dryer, and is characterized by comprising: the device comprises a roller, a metal strip, a detection circuit and a controller; the roller is in point connection with the metal strip through a detection circuit; the detection circuit is connected with the controller.

The detection circuit is used for acquiring a humidity signal of the clothes when the clothes simultaneously contact the drum and the metal strips after the drum dryer starts to operate.

The controller is used for determining a humidity value according to the humidity signal acquired by the detection circuit.

In the above apparatus, it is considered that the accuracy of acquiring the humidity value of the laundry is not high due to the limitation of the shape and the installation position thereof since the two elongated metal electrodes are used as the humidity sensors in the prior art. Therefore, the device provided by the embodiment of the application can reduce the manufacturing cost of the tumble dryer by replacing one long strip-shaped metal pole with the roller and using the roller as one humidity sensor, and increases the contact area and the contact frequency of the humidity sensor and the clothes, thereby improving the accuracy of clothes humidity detection.

In a second aspect, a humidity detection method is provided, which is applied to the humidity detection apparatus of the first aspect, and includes: after the drum dryer is started to operate, when clothes simultaneously contact with a drum and a metal strip, acquiring a humidity signal of the clothes; and determining a humidity value according to the humidity signal.

In a third aspect, a tumble dryer is provided, which comprises the humidity detection apparatus of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a humidity detection apparatus, including a processor, which is coupled to a memory, and reads and executes instructions in the memory to implement the humidity detection method of the second aspect.

Optionally, the humidity sensing device may further include a memory for storing program instructions and data for the humidity sensing device.

Further optionally, the humidity detection apparatus may further comprise a transceiver for performing the steps of transceiving data, signaling or information under the control of the processor of the humidity detection apparatus.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when run on a humidity detection apparatus, cause the humidity detection apparatus to perform the humidity detection method as provided in the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer instructions which, when run on a humidity detection apparatus, cause the humidity detection apparatus to perform the humidity detection method as provided in the second aspect.

It should be noted that all or part of the above computer instructions may be stored on the first computer readable storage medium. The first computer readable storage medium may be packaged with or separately from a processor of the humidity detection method, which is not limited in this application.

For the description of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects in this application, reference may be made to the detailed description of the first aspect; in addition, for the beneficial effects described in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect and the sixth aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effect analysis of the first aspect, and details are not repeated here.

In the present application, the names of the above-mentioned humidity detection means do not limit the devices or functional modules themselves, which may appear by other names in practical implementations. Insofar as the functions of the respective devices or functional blocks are similar to those of the present invention, they are within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a humidity detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a humidity control system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a front support according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a humidity detection method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart illustrating humidity detection and determination logic according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another humidity detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing different objects or for distinguishing different processes for the same object, and are not used for describing a specific order of the objects.

Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, as referred to in the description of the present application, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements but may alternatively include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

With the increase of the living standard of consumers and due to factors such as climate limitation or air pollution, the demand of the clothes drying equipment in the household is gradually highlighted. The drum dryer can be transported along with the drum dryer; the working principle of the drum clothes dryer is as follows: the motor works to drive the roller and the impeller to rotate simultaneously, the roller rotates to enable clothes to be overturned ceaselessly, the impeller rotates to enable air to flow directionally, the heating device in the air channel heats the air and then the air enters the roller, water vapor is brought away after the air contacts with overturned wet clothes, the water vapor is directly discharged to the external environment, or the water vapor is cooled to condensate water by a condensing device in the circulating air channel and then pumped to a specified position by a water pump, and the operation is circulated until the clothes are completely dried. The humidity detection device of the existing drum-type clothes dryer adopts the double metal strips, because the double metal strips can only be arranged on the front support and are positioned at the air outlet of the drum, only when clothes touch two metal strips simultaneously, the detection circuit can collect the normal humidity value, because the surface area of double metals is limited, when the amount of the clothes is small, the frequency of the clothes contacting the double metal strips can be reduced, and the humidity detection effect and the judgment precision are influenced.

In view of the above technical problem, referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present application provides a schematic structural diagram of a humidity detection apparatus, where the humidity detection apparatus includes a drum 01, a metal strip 02, a detection circuit 03, and a controller 04; the roller 01 and the metal strip 02 are in point connection through a detection circuit 03; the detection circuit 03 is connected to the controller 04.

In one implementation, the detection circuit 03 is configured to obtain a humidity signal of the laundry when the laundry simultaneously contacts the drum 01 and the metal strip 02 after the drum 01 and the dryer start to operate.

Optionally, the controller 04 is configured to determine a humidity value according to the humidity signal acquired by the detection circuit 03.

In general, the humidity signal acquired by the controller 04 from the detection circuit 03 is an analog signal, and the controller 04 converts the humidity signal into a digital signal by performing a/D conversion on the humidity signal to acquire a humidity value corresponding to the humidity signal; for example, the humidity signal may be converted into a digital signal by performing an a/D conversion on the humidity signal through a filtering process, or may be converted into a digital signal by performing an a/D conversion on the humidity signal through another method or algorithm; the manner or algorithm of the a/D conversion is not limited in any way here.

Wherein the humidity value may increase as the resistance of the laundry increases; and may be decreased as the conductivity of the laundry is decreased.

Optionally, the controller 04 is further configured to obtain a humidity value of the laundry after a first preset time period after the drum 01 dryer starts to operate, and determine the amount of the laundry in the drum 01 dryer according to the humidity value of the laundry.

Illustratively, when the drying time is up to T1 (e.g., T1 ═ 3s), the discrimination of the laundry amount is started, specifically including the following:

1) when the humidity value H is more than or equal to 0 and less than H1, the laundry amount Q is 1.

2) When the humidity value H is less than H2 and less than H1, the clothes amount Q is 1/2.

3) When the humidity value H is less than H3 and less than H2, the clothes amount Q is 1/4.

4) When the humidity value H is less than H4 and less than H3, the clothes amount Q is 1/8.

5) When H4 is equal to or less than the humidity value H, the laundry amount Q is 0.

Wherein if the laundry amount Q is detected to be 0, the heating is stopped, the cooling stage is entered or the operation is stopped.

Optionally, the controller 04 is further configured to determine a target humidity value of the laundry according to a preset laundry amount.

Illustratively, if the controller 04 detects that there is laundry in the drum 01 through the detection circuit 03, the target humidity value is set according to the laundry amount as follows:

1) setting a target humidity value Hf-Hf 1 when the laundry amount Q is 1/8;

2) setting a target humidity value Hf-Hf 2 when the laundry amount Q is 1/4;

3) setting a target humidity value Hf-Hf 3 when the laundry amount Q is 1/2;

4) when the laundry amount Q is 1, setting a target humidity value Hf 4;

when the drum 01 dryer continues to dry until the humidity value H reaches the target humidity value Hf, it indicates that the laundry has been dried.

As a further example, the controller 04 divides the humidity values into several ranges (e.g., 0-3%, 3% -10%, 10% -30%, 30% -50%, 90% -100%, etc.) in advance, and assigns different drying times to each range, and the higher the humidity value is, the longer the corresponding drying time is, the lower the humidity value is, the drying time is 0 (i.e., no longer the drying program is run); inquiring corresponding drying time according to the gear of the actual humidity value, and if the corresponding drying time is not 0, continuing to operate the drying program for the corresponding drying time; if the corresponding drying time is 0, the drying procedure is stopped.

As a further example, as shown in fig. 2, an exemplary humidity control diagram is provided in the embodiment of the present application, in which the amount of laundry in the drum 01 is determined at time T1 after the drum 01 dryer is started, and fig. 2 shows humidity variation trends and drying times corresponding to five laundry amounts, i.e., Q-0 (i.e., empty), Q-1/8, Q-1/4, Q-1/2, and Q-1 (i.e., full), respectively. Wherein, the horizontal axis represents the drying time T, and the vertical axis represents the humidity value. As can be seen from fig. 2, the embodiment of the present invention can ensure that the corresponding drying time is reduced by differentiating the amount of the laundry on the premise of drying the laundry, thereby reducing the waste of resources. Note that, the humidity value in fig. 2 increases as the resistance of the laundry increases, that is, the humidity value increases as the laundry becomes drier.

Optionally, the controller 04 is further configured to generate a cooling signal or stop the operation when it is determined that the humidity value of the laundry reaches the target humidity value.

Alternatively, the metal strip 02 is mounted on the front support 05 of the drum 01 dryer as shown in fig. 3.

Illustratively, the metal strip 02 may be mounted to the bottom of the inner ring of the front support 05 as shown in FIG. 3.

In the above apparatus, it is considered that the accuracy of acquiring the humidity value of the laundry is not high due to the limitation of the shape and the installation position thereof since the two elongated metal electrodes are used as the humidity sensors in the prior art. Therefore, the device provided by the embodiment of the application can reduce the manufacturing cost of the tumble dryer by replacing one long strip-shaped metal pole with the roller and using the roller as one humidity sensor, and increases the contact area and the contact frequency of the humidity sensor and the clothes, thereby improving the accuracy of clothes humidity detection. In addition, the clothes amount can be determined according to the humidity value of the clothes, the target humidity value required to be dried of the clothes can be determined according to the clothes amount, and accordingly the corresponding drying time can be reduced on the premise that the clothes are dried, and therefore waste of resources is reduced.

The embodiment of the application also provides a humidity detection method, which can be applied to the humidity detection device shown in fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 4, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a humidity detection method, which may include steps S401 and S402.

S401, after the drum dryer is started to operate, when clothes simultaneously contact with a drum and metal strips, acquiring humidity signals of the clothes.

S402, determining a humidity value according to the humidity signal.

In a specific implementation manner, according to the above steps S401 and S402, the method may be specifically applied to obtaining a humidity value of the laundry after a first preset time period after the drum dryer starts to operate, and determining the amount of the laundry in the drum dryer according to the humidity value of the laundry.

Then, determining a target humidity value of the laundry according to the laundry amount; generating a cooling signal or stopping operation when it is determined that the humidity value of the laundry reaches the target humidity value.

For better understanding, referring to fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention provides a schematic flow chart of humidity detection and determination logic, which specifically includes the following steps.

S501, starting the drum dryer, and jumping to the step S502.

S502, recording drying time T; it jumps to step S503.

S503, collecting a first humidity value Ha; jump to step 504.

S504, judging whether T is greater than or equal to a first preset time length T1; if yes, jumping to step S505; if not, go to step S503.

S505, calculating the laundry amount Q; it jumps to step S506.

S506, determining whether Q is equal to 0; if not, jumping to step S507; if yes, drying is finished.

S507, setting a target humidity value Hf according to Q; it jumps to step S508.

And S508, collecting the current humidity value Hb. It jumps to step S509.

S509, determining whether Hb is larger than or equal to Hf; if so, finishing drying; if not, go to step S508.

As shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present application further provides a humidity detection apparatus, which includes a memory 41, a processor 42, a bus 43, and a communication interface 44; the memory 41 is used for storing computer execution instructions, and the processor 42 is connected with the memory 41 through a bus 43; when the humidity detection apparatus is operating, the processor 42 executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 41 to cause the humidity detection apparatus to perform the humidity detection method provided in the above-described embodiments.

In particular implementations, processor 42(42-1 and 42-2) may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 6, as one example. And as an example, the wetness detecting means may comprise a plurality of processors 42, such as processor 42-1 and processor 42-2 shown in fig. 6. Each of the processors 42 may be a single-Core Processor (CPU) or a multi-Core Processor (CPU). Processor 42 may refer herein to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores that process data (e.g., computer program instructions).

The memory 41 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory 41 (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 41 may be self-contained and coupled to the processor 42 via a bus 43. The memory 41 may also be integrated with the processor 42.

In a specific implementation, the memory 41 is used for storing data in the present application and computer-executable instructions corresponding to software programs for executing the present application. The processor 42 may perform various functions of the humidity sensing device by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 41 and invoking data stored in the memory 41.

The communication interface 44 is any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as a control system, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and the like. The communication interface 44 may include a receiving unit implementing a receiving function and a transmitting unit implementing a transmitting function.

The bus 43 may be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an extended EISA (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus 43 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 6, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

For the explanation of the related contents in this embodiment, reference may be made to the above method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions. For the specific working processes of the system, the apparatus and the unit described above, reference may be made to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described here again.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed by a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the humidity detection method provided in the foregoing embodiment.

The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a RAM, a ROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a register, a hard disk, an optical fiber, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, any suitable combination of the foregoing, or any other form of computer readable storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In embodiments of the present application, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A humidity detection device applied to a drum dryer is characterized by comprising: the device comprises a roller, a metal strip, a detection circuit and a controller; the roller is in point connection with the metal strip through the detection circuit; the detection circuit is connected with the controller;

the detection circuit is used for acquiring a humidity signal of the clothes when the clothes simultaneously contact the drum and the metal strips after the drum dryer starts to operate;

2. The humidity detecting apparatus according to claim 1,

the controller is further configured to acquire a humidity value of the clothes after a first preset time period after the drum dryer is started to operate, and determine the amount of the clothes in the drum dryer according to the humidity value of the clothes.

3. The humidity detecting apparatus according to claim 2,

the controller is also used for determining a target humidity value of the clothes according to the preset clothes amount;

the controller is further configured to generate a cooling signal or stop operation when it is determined that the humidity value of the laundry reaches the target humidity value.

4. The humidity sensing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metal strip is mounted on a front support of said tumble dryer.

5. A humidity detection method applied to the humidity detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising:

after the drum dryer is started to operate, when clothes simultaneously contact with a drum and a metal strip, acquiring a humidity signal of the clothes;

and determining a humidity value according to the humidity signal.

6. The humidity detection method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:

and acquiring the humidity value of the clothes after the first preset time after the drum dryer is started to operate, and determining the amount of the clothes in the drum dryer according to the humidity value of the clothes.

7. The humidity detecting method according to claim 6, wherein after determining the preset laundry amount corresponding to the humidity value of the laundry, further comprising:

determining a target humidity value of the laundry according to the laundry amount;

and generating a cooling signal or stopping the operation when the humidity value of the clothes is determined to reach the target humidity value.

8. A tumble dryer characterized by comprising a humidity detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.