CN114424921A - Dish washing machine and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a dish washing machine and a control method thereof, wherein the dish washing machine comprises an inner container, a water quantity monitoring part, a water suction pump and a switch valve, wherein the inner container is provided with a water inlet; the water quantity monitoring piece is used for monitoring the water quantity in the inner container; the water suction pump is provided with a first liquid inlet and a first liquid outlet, and the first liquid outlet is communicated with the water inlet; the switch valve is provided with a second liquid inlet and a second liquid outlet, and the second liquid outlet is communicated with the first liquid inlet; a controller is in communication with the water volume monitoring member, the suction pump, and the on-off valve. The dishwasher according to the embodiment of the invention has at least the following advantages: the water suction pump is additionally arranged, and then the water faucet and the water container can be used as the water source of the dish washing machine, so that the mounting position of the dish washing machine is not limited by the water source, the use of a user is convenient, and the maintenance is more convenient.

Description

Dish washing machine and control method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of kitchen utensils, in particular to a dish-washing machine and a control method thereof.

Background

With the popularization of household dishwashers, dishwashers with different installation modes appear on the market, such as embedded type dishwashers, independent type dishwashers, small household table dishwashers and the like.

Traditional dish washer mostly all adopts external inlet tube to connect tap mode, utilizes the water pressure of running water to supply water for dish washer, but the defect of this mode of intaking lies in: the location where the dishwasher is to be installed must have a water tap, which becomes an obstacle to the installation of the dishwasher for a home that is finished and where the dishwasher is to be installed without a water tap.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art. Therefore, the invention provides a dish washing machine and a control method thereof, aiming at realizing the water source diversity of the dish washing machine.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment according to a first aspect of the present invention provides a dishwasher including a tub having a water inlet, a water amount monitor, a suction pump, and a switch valve; the water quantity monitoring piece is used for monitoring the water quantity in the inner container; the water suction pump is provided with a first liquid inlet and a first liquid outlet, and the first liquid outlet is communicated with the water inlet; the switch valve is provided with a second liquid inlet and a second liquid outlet, and the second liquid outlet is communicated with the first liquid inlet; a controller is in communication with the water volume monitoring member, the suction pump, and the on-off valve.

The dishwasher according to the embodiment of the invention has at least the following advantages: the water suction pump is additionally arranged, and then the water faucet and the water container can be used as the water source of the dish washing machine, so that the mounting position of the dish washing machine is not limited by the water source, the use of a user is convenient, and the maintenance is more convenient.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the water amount monitoring element is a flow meter or a liquid level sensing element, the flow meter has a third liquid inlet and a third liquid outlet, the third liquid outlet is communicated with the water inlet, and the first liquid outlet is communicated with the third liquid inlet.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the bottom of the inner container is provided with a water collecting cup protruding downwards, and the water inlet is formed on the water collecting cup.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the water suction pump is a diaphragm pump.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the water supply system further comprises a prompting device for outputting corresponding prompting information according to the monitoring information of the water quantity monitoring device, and the prompting device is in communication with the controller.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the water amount monitoring member, the water suction pump and the switch valve are all mounted on the inner container.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, further comprising a connection pipe having one end communicating with the third liquid inlet and the other end positioned at an outer side of the dishwasher.

An embodiment according to a second aspect of the present invention provides a control method of a dishwasher including a tub, a water amount monitor, a suction pump, and an on-off valve, the control method including the steps of:

acquiring a water inlet instruction, and controlling the switch valve to be opened and the water quantity monitoring part to be in a working state;

and acquiring a water volume change value of the inner container, and controlling the water suction pump to work if the water volume change value is equal to zero.

According to the control method provided by the invention, after a water inlet instruction is sent for a certain time, if the water quantity change value of the inner container is zero, the water suction pump is started to convey water in the water container or tap water to the inner container of the dish washing machine, so that the installation position of the dish washing machine is not limited by a water source, and the dish washing machine is convenient to use and more convenient to maintain.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the obtaining the water amount variation value comprises the following steps:

monitoring the liquid level of the inner container to determine the water quantity change value;

or monitoring one or more electrical characteristics of the water flow monitoring member or the water suction pump to determine the water flow of the first liquid outlet of the water suction pump, wherein if the water flow is equal to zero, the water change value is equal to zero.

According to some embodiments of the invention, further comprising: and after the water suction pump is started for a certain time, if the water quantity change value is less than or equal to a set value, a water shortage prompt is sent out.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drawings

The invention is further described with reference to the following figures and examples, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a dishwasher according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the dishwasher shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 3 shows a schematic flow chart of a control method of a dishwasher in an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals:

the dishwasher comprises a dishwasher 10, an inner container 100, a mounting support 110, a water collecting cup 120, a water inlet 121, a water amount monitoring part 200, a third liquid inlet 210, a third liquid outlet 220, a water suction pump 300, a first liquid inlet 310, a first liquid outlet 320, a switch valve 400, a second liquid inlet 410 and a second liquid outlet 420.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the positional descriptions, such as the top, bottom, etc., referred to indicate the positional or positional relationship based on the positional or positional relationship shown in the drawings, are merely for convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the invention, if there are first and second described only for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, they are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the precedence of the indicated technical features.

In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly limited, terms such as arrangement, installation, connection and the like should be understood in a broad sense, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention in combination with the specific contents of the technical solutions.

A dishwasher 10 provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 1-2. The dishwasher 10 includes a tub 100, a water amount monitor 200, a suction pump 300, and an on-off valve 400.

The inner tub 100 is a dish washing and washing water carrying chamber, and has a mounting bracket 110 at a lower portion thereof, the mounting bracket 110 being fixedly coupled to a housing (not shown) of the dishwasher 10 to support the inner tub 100, and electrical components (not shown) and water pipes (not shown) and the like may be selectively mounted to the mounting bracket 110. The inner container 100 is a box body with an upward opening, the bottom wall of the inner container 100 is provided with a water collecting cup 120 protruding downwards, the water collecting cup 120 is a transfer pivot for water inlet and outlet of the dishwasher 10, the water collecting cup 120 is provided with a water inlet 121, and the water inlet 121 is also used as a water outlet.

It should be noted that the water inlet 121 of the inner container 100 and the water outlet of the inner container 100 may be integrated into one body, or may be arranged independently; the water inlet 121 of the inner container 100 and the water outlet of the inner container 100 can also be positioned at other positions of the inner container 100; the water collecting cup 120 may not be provided in the inner container 100, and is not particularly limited herein.

The water quantity monitoring part 200 is used for monitoring the water quantity in the liner 100, the water suction pump 300 is provided with a first liquid inlet 310 and a first liquid outlet 320, and the first liquid outlet 320 is communicated with the water inlet 121 through a water pipe; the on-off valve 400 has a second inlet port 410 and a second outlet port 420, and the second outlet port 420 is connected to the first inlet port 310 via a water pipe. The switching valve 400 is an electromagnetic slide valve or an electromagnetic rotary valve.

A controller (not shown) communicates with the water level monitor 200, the suction pump 300 and the on-off valve 400, for example, wirelessly or by wire, wherein the wireless connection is a bluetooth connection or an infrared connection, etc. The controller comprises a processor, a memory and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, which computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the control method as mentioned in the embodiments below. Specifically, the memory may be a high-speed RAM memory, or may be a non-volatile memory (e.g., a magnetic disk memory). The memory may alternatively be a storage device separate from the aforementioned processor. The memory, which is a computer storage medium, may include a control program for the dishwasher 10 therein, and the processor may be configured to call the control program for the dishwasher 10 stored in the memory and perform the operations associated with the control method of the dishwasher 10 in the following embodiments.

The dishwasher 10 according to the embodiment of the invention has at least the following advantages: the water suction pump 300 is additionally arranged, and the tap water faucet and the water container can be used as the water source of the dish washing machine 10, so that the mounting position of the dish washing machine 10 is not limited by the water source, the use is convenient and fast for a user, and the maintenance is more convenient.

When a user wants to replace the placing position of the dishwasher 10 and the placing position has no tap water, the water in an external water container is sent into the inner container 100 of the dishwasher 10 by using the lift and the thrust of the water suction pump 300 through a water pipe, and the water container can be separated from the dishwasher 10 by a certain distance, so that the trouble that the dishwasher 10 can only receive a tap water is eliminated, the whole structure of the dishwasher is simple, and the production and the maintenance are more convenient.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1-2, in some embodiments of the present invention, the water amount monitoring member 200 is a flow meter, the flow meter has a third liquid inlet 210 and a third liquid outlet 220, the third liquid outlet 220 is communicated with the water inlet 121, the first liquid outlet 320 is communicated with the third liquid inlet 210, the flow meter can accurately measure the water passing through the flow meter and feed back the water inlet information to the controller of the dishwasher 10, and the controller determines whether there is water flowing into the inner container 100 and the amount of water in the inner container 100 according to the information monitored by the flow meter and sends out a corresponding operation instruction. It should be understood that the water level monitoring unit 200 may also be a liquid level sensing unit, which can monitor the water level of the inner container 100 and feed the water level information back to the controller of the dishwasher 10, and the controller determines whether water flows into the inner container 100 and the water level of the inner container 100 according to the information monitored by the liquid level sensing unit and sends a corresponding operation command.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1-2, in some embodiments of the present invention, the water suction pump 300 is a diaphragm pump. By utilizing the one-way water-passing performance of the diaphragm pump, when the diaphragm pump is not started, tap water of the tap can pass through the water suction pump 300 by utilizing the water pressure of the tap water to finish the water inlet mode of the tap water, when the water source is a water container, the water suction pump 300 is started, water in the water container is sent into the cavity of the dish washing machine 10 by utilizing the lift and the thrust of the water suction pump 300, and the diaphragm pump is adopted as the water suction pump 300, so that the diaphragm pump is simple and energy-saving. It is understood that the water suction pump 300 can be other pumps, such as a centrifugal pump and a gear pump, and that whether the water source is a faucet or a water reservoir, the operation of the water suction pump 300 is controlled when the dishwasher 10 receives a water inlet command.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1-2, in some embodiments of the present invention, a prompting device (not shown) is further included for outputting a corresponding prompting message according to the monitoring information of the water quantity monitoring device 200, and the prompting device is in communication with the controller. When the water amount of the inner container 100 reaches a threshold value, the prompt message is a green light and/or a voice broadcast of "water is full"; after receiving the instruction of intaking for a period, the water yield variation value of inner bag 100 is zero, then the prompt message is for bright yellow light and/or voice broadcast "the water source does not have water", through addding the suggestion piece, the user can acquire the state of intaking to improve user experience and feel. The prompting element can be an LED lamp, a horn or a vibrator, and the like.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1-2, in some embodiments of the present invention, the water level monitor 200, the water suction pump 300, and the switch valve 400 are all mounted on the liner 100, which is compact and reasonable. It is understood that the water level monitor 200, the suction pump 300 and the on-off valve 400 may be installed at other positions of the dishwasher 10, such as the cabinet.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1-2, in some embodiments of the present invention, a connection pipe (not shown) is further included, one end of the connection pipe is communicated with the third liquid inlet 210, and the other end of the connection pipe is located outside the dishwasher 10, so as to prevent a user from purchasing a water pipe, and further improve the user experience. The other end of the water inlet pipe can be connected with tap water and can also be placed into a water container.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, the embodiment according to the second aspect of the present invention proposes a control method of a dishwasher 10, the dishwasher 10 including a tub 100, a water amount monitor 200, a suction pump 300, and an on-off valve 400, the control method including the steps of:

acquiring a water inlet instruction, controlling the switch valve 400 to be opened and controlling the water quantity monitoring part 200 to be in a working state;

and acquiring a water quantity change value of the inner container 100, and controlling the water suction pump 300 to work if the water quantity change value is equal to zero.

According to the control method provided by the invention, after a water inlet instruction is sent for a certain time, if the water quantity change value of the inner container 100 is zero, the water suction pump 300 is started to convey water in the water container or tap water to the inner container 100 of the dish washing machine 10, so that the installation position of the dish washing machine 10 is not limited by a water source, and the control method is convenient for a user to use and more convenient to maintain.

Specifically, in some embodiments of the present invention, obtaining the water amount change value comprises the steps of:

monitoring the liquid level of the liner 100 to determine the water amount change value;

or, one or more electrical characteristics of the water amount monitoring member 200 or the water suction pump 300 are monitored to determine the water flow rate of the first liquid outlet 320 of the water suction pump 300, and if the water flow rate is equal to zero, the water amount variation value is equal to zero, where the electrical characteristics refer to parameters such as current or voltage, so as to automatically obtain whether water flows into the inner container 100, and automatically select a water supply mode according to a monitoring result, thereby improving user experience. And electrical characteristic sensors are arranged on the liquid level sensing element, the water outlet of the water suction pump 300, the water inlet 121 of the flowmeter and/or the water outlet of the flowmeter, and the electrical characteristic sensors are communicated with the controller. In one example, the power source provides power to the sorption pump 300 and the sensor can measure one or more of the current consumed by the sorption pump 300 or the voltage provided to the sorption pump 300. When the water level monitor 200 is a liquid level sensing element, the liquid levels of the inner container 100 at different times are differentiated to obtain a water level variation value. It should be noted that the pressure at the water outlet of the water suction pump 300 may also be monitored to determine whether the water source is tap water or a water container, so as to control the operating state of the water suction pump 300.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1-2, in some embodiments of the present invention, the method further includes: after the water suction pump 300 works for a certain time, if the water amount change value is smaller than or equal to the set value, and the set value is larger than or equal to zero, a water shortage prompt is sent, so that a user can be actively reminded that the water amount of a water source is insufficient, and the user experience is improved.

It should be noted that the delivery medium of the water-absorbing pump 300 can be other cleaning products besides water, such as detergents, solvents, bleaches, soaps, etc., and the cleaning products can include liquids, gases, or combinations thereof.

The dishwasher 10 operates in the following manner: the controller receives a water inlet instruction, the switch valve 400 and the flowmeter are both started, after a certain time (for example, 10 seconds), the water volume change value of the inner container 100 is zero, the water source is judged to be a water container, then the water suction pump 300 is started, and if the water suction pump 300 is started for a certain time, the water volume change value is found to be zero, and a water shortage prompt is sent. Specifically, when the dishwasher 10 is supplied with water by the faucet, the dishwasher 10 is started, the controller receives a water inlet instruction, the switch valve 400 is opened, water enters the inner container 100 through the switch valve 400, the water suction pump 300 and the flow meter, meanwhile, the flow meter feeds back a water inlet signal to the controller, and when the designed water amount is reached, the switch valve 400 is stopped, and water inlet is completed; when the connecting pipe of the dishwasher 10 is not connected with tap water, the outer end of the connecting pipe is placed into the water container, the dishwasher 10 is started, the main board sends a water inlet instruction, the water inlet valve is started, no water passes through the flow meter within a certain time, the main board does not receive a water inlet signal, the controller receives the water inlet instruction, the switch valve 400 is started, after the switch valve 400 is started for a period of time, the water quantity change value of the inner container 100 is found to be zero, the water suction pump 300 is started, the water suction pump 300 sucks water in the water container into the connecting pipe by utilizing the suction force of the water suction pump 300, finally, the water enters the inner container 100, meanwhile, the flow meter feeds back the water inlet signal to the controller, when the designed water quantity is reached, the switch valve 400 and the water suction pump 300 are stopped, and water inlet is completed.

After the water suction pump 300 works for a certain time, the water volume change value of the inner container 100 is less than or equal to a set value, namely, when the water volume of the water container is insufficient or the water tap is not water, the controller sends out a prompt that the water source is insufficient, at the moment, a user can press a pause key of an operation panel of the dishwasher 10 to supplement water to the water container or check whether the water tap flows out, the user can manually add water, change the water container or change the water tap connection and the like to eliminate the insufficient water volume, and after the user eliminates the insufficient water volume, the user can restart the dishwasher or recover the work of the dishwasher

The technical features of the above embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described, but should be considered as the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or system that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or system. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or system in which the element is included.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments. The invention is not limited to the claims, and all equivalent structures or equivalent processes that can be directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields using the contents of the specification and the drawings are included in the scope of the invention.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation manner. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (e.g., ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) as described above and includes instructions for enabling a terminal device (e.g., a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A dishwasher, comprising:

the inner container is provided with a water inlet;

the water quantity monitoring piece is used for monitoring the water quantity in the inner container;

the water suction pump is provided with a first liquid inlet and a first liquid outlet, and the first liquid outlet is communicated with the water inlet;

the switch valve is provided with a second liquid inlet and a second liquid outlet, and the second liquid outlet is communicated with the first liquid inlet;

and the controller is communicated with the water quantity monitoring piece, the water suction pump and the switch valve.

2. The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein the water volume monitoring member is a flow meter or a liquid level sensing element, the flow meter having a third liquid inlet and a third liquid outlet, the third liquid outlet communicating with the water inlet, the first liquid outlet communicating with the third liquid inlet.

3. The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein the bottom of the inner tub has a water collecting cup protruded downward, and the water inlet is formed on the water collecting cup.

4. The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein the suction pump is a diaphragm pump.

5. The dishwasher of claim 1, further comprising a prompting member for outputting a corresponding prompting message according to the monitoring message of the water amount monitoring member, wherein the prompting member is in communication with the controller.

6. The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein the water volume monitor, the water suction pump and the switch valve are all mounted on the tub.

7. The dishwasher of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a connection pipe having one end communicating with the third liquid inlet and the other end located at an outer side of the dishwasher.

8. A control method of a dishwasher, the dishwasher comprising an inner tub, a water amount monitoring member, a suction pump, and a switching valve, the control method comprising the steps of:

acquiring a water inlet instruction, and controlling the switch valve to be opened and the water quantity monitoring part to be in a working state;

and acquiring a water volume change value of the inner container, and controlling the water suction pump to work if the water volume change value is equal to zero.

9. The control method according to claim 8, wherein the acquiring of the water amount variation value includes the steps of:

monitoring the liquid level of the inner container to determine the water quantity change value;

or monitoring one or more electrical characteristics of the water flow monitoring member or the water suction pump to determine the water flow of the first liquid outlet of the water suction pump, wherein if the water flow is equal to zero, the water change value is equal to zero.

10. The control method according to claim 8, characterized by further comprising: and after the water suction pump is started for a certain time, if the water quantity change value is less than or equal to a set value, a water shortage prompt is sent out.

Images