CN115595769A

CN115595769A - Washing machine and control method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN115595769A
Application number: CN202110766836.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵志强; 许升; 吕佩师
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Drum Washing Machine Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Drum Washing Machine Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-07-07
Filing date: 2021-07-07
Publication date: 2023-01-13
Also published as: EP4368766A1; WO2023279949A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a washing machine and a control method thereof, wherein the washing machine comprises: a box body; additive dosing device for dosing laundry additive to a washing machine: the spare additive box storage structure is arranged on the box body and is provided with an accommodating space for storing at least one spare additive box. The additive box can be stored in the standby additive box storage structure, so that the problems that the additive box is placed at will and is easy to forget, a user cannot find the additive box conveniently when replacing the additive box and the like are effectively avoided. In the process of adding the additive, the washing machine sends out an alarm prompt that the additive allowance in the additive adding device is insufficient to a user within a set time: if the situation that the user replaces the new additive box is not detected all the time, the standby additive pumping device is controlled to be started, and the additives in the standby additive box are put into the washing machine, so that the problem of poor clothes washing and protecting effect caused by the fact that the user cannot replace the additive box in time is effectively solved.

Description

Washing machine and control method thereof

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of household appliances, and particularly relates to a washing machine and a control method thereof.

Background

The washing machine uses water, laundry additives and mechanical operation to wash and protect the laundry, so that the laundry can achieve the expected washing and protecting effect. With the improvement of the automation of the washing machine and the automatic detergent feeding technology of the washing machine in the related technology, the washing machine is provided with an additive box for placing detergent or/and softener and a water inlet pipeline which are communicated, and the detergent or/and softener in the additive box is flushed into a washing barrel through water inlet.

Chinese patent application No. 201610797034.7 discloses a detergent dispensing device for a washing machine and a washing machine having the same, the detergent dispensing device comprising: the storage cavity is limited with a special detergent box mounting groove, a first thimble and a second thimble which are used for puncturing a special detergent box are arranged in the special detergent box mounting groove, a water inlet hole is formed in the first thimble, a water outlet hole is formed in the second thimble, and the first thimble and the second thimble are both suitable for being communicated with the inner space of the special detergent box after the end part of the first thimble and the end part of the second thimble penetrate into the special detergent box.

The detergent feeding device of the washing machine can directly use the boxed clothes additive, and the boxed clothes additive is used once and is placed at any time, so that the operation is convenient. However, there are the following problems:

1. because the additive box does not have appointed storage structure, the user can not form the good habit of fixed depositing, purchases unnecessary additive box of returning and places at will, forgets easily, needs to spend certain time to look for when changing the additive box, causes the additive box to change untimely scheduling problem.

2. In the process of putting the detergent into the detergent putting device, when the residual quantity of the detergent is insufficient, a user cannot replace the detergent box in time, so that the quantity of the detergent put into the washing program is insufficient, and the clothes washing and protecting effect is poor.

In view of the above, the present invention is particularly proposed.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to overcome the defects of the prior art and provides a washing machine and a control method thereof, which effectively solve the problems that an additive box is randomly placed and is easy to forget, and a user cannot find the additive box conveniently when replacing the additive box by the standby additive box storage structure arranged on the washing machine.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a first aspect of the present application discloses a washing machine, including:

a box body;

the additive feeding device is used for feeding clothes additives into the washing machine and is provided with an installation cavity for storing at least one additive box; further comprising:

the spare additive box storage structure is arranged on the box body and is provided with an accommodating space for storing at least one spare additive box.

Further, the spare additive box storage structure is fixedly arranged on the top wall or the side wall of the box body;

or, may be drawably disposed within the housing.

Further, the spare additive box storage structure is an accommodating shelf or an accommodating box which is detachably fixed on the top wall or the side wall of the box body;

or the spare additive box storage structure is an accommodating shelf or an accommodating box which is arranged in the box body in a drawing mode.

Further, the spare additive box storage structure is a drawer type accommodating structure which can be arranged in the box body in a drawing mode;

drawer type receiving structure includes the interior drawer body who places the chamber that is formed with a plurality ofly and reserve additive box one-to-one deposit the position of intracavity.

Further, the spare additive box storage structure can be arranged at the top or the bottom of the box body close to the front side wall in a drawing mode;

preferably, a handle structure is arranged on the front panel of the drawer body.

Further, the method also comprises the following steps:

the standby feeding pipeline is communicated with the standby additive box and a water supply waterway of the washing machine;

and the standby additive pumping device is arranged on the standby feeding pipeline and is used for feeding the additives in the standby additive box into the washing drum.

Further, the additive delivery device comprises:

the additive dispenser is arranged in the box body in a drawing mode, and an installation cavity used for placing at least one additive box is formed in the additive dispenser.

Preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

the position detection module is arranged in the mounting cavity or on the box body above the mounting cavity and is used for detecting whether a new additive box is replaced;

preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

and the additive allowance detection module is arranged in the installation cavity or the additive box and is used for detecting the allowance information of the additive in the additive box.

Further, the washing machine is a drum washing machine;

the additive dispenser is arranged in the box body above the washing drum in a drawing manner, and the standby additive box storage structure is arranged in the box body below the washing drum in a drawing manner;

or the additive distributor and the standby additive box storage structures are arranged in the box body above the washing drum and are distributed on the left side and the right side of the washing drum.

Furthermore, an electronic tag is arranged on the additive box, and information of the additive is stored in the electronic tag;

the washing machine further includes:

the first identification module is arranged in the mounting cavity or on the box body and used for reading additive information in the electronic tags on the additive boxes in the additive dispenser;

preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

the second identification module is arranged in the spare additive box storage structure or on the box body and is used for reading additive information in the electronic tags on each spare additive box in the spare additive box storage structure;

preferably, the additive information includes one or more of a kind, a concentration, a brand of an additive.

The second aspect of the application also provides a control method with the washing machine, which effectively solves the problem that in the process of putting detergent into the detergent putting device, when the detergent allowance is insufficient, if a user fails to replace the detergent box in time, the amount of the put detergent is insufficient, and the washing and protecting effect of clothes is poor.

Specifically, the control method of the washing machine includes:

in the process of adding the additive, the washing machine sends out an alarm prompt of insufficient additive allowance in the additive adding device to a user within a set time:

and if the situation that the user replaces the new additive box is not detected all the time, controlling the standby additive pumping device to start, and adding the additives in the standby additive box into the washing machine.

Further, the method further comprises the steps of:

acquiring the types of additives of the additive box which is not replaced in time in the additive feeding device;

controlling the second identification module to start, and reading additive information in the electronic tags on each spare additive box in the spare additive box storage structure;

judging whether the standby additive box storage structure stores the additive box of the type: if yes, controlling to put in the standby additives of corresponding types; if not, continuing to alarm.

After the technical scheme is adopted, compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects.

1. According to the invention, the spare additive box storage structure is additionally arranged on the washing machine box body, so that redundant additive boxes purchased by a user can be stored in the spare additive box storage structure, the user can easily form a good habit of fixed storage, and the phenomenon that the additive boxes are randomly placed and easily forgotten to be lost is effectively avoided. Meanwhile, the additive in the additive box in the additive feeding device is used up, when the additive box needs to be replaced, a user can directly take out the corresponding type of additive box from the standby additive box storage structure, the replacement and the use are carried out, the replacement time is shortened, the convenience is brought to the user, the additive box is replaced in time, and great convenience is brought to the user.

2. According to the control method of the washing machine provided by the invention, in the process of adding the additive, the washing machine sends out an alarm prompt of insufficient additive allowance in the additive adding device to a user within a set time: if the situation that the user replaces the new additive box is not detected all the time, the standby additive pumping device is controlled to be started, and the additives in the standby additive box are put into the washing machine, so that the problem that the clothes washing and protecting effect is poor due to the fact that the additive box cannot be replaced in time by the user is effectively solved.

3. According to the control method of the washing machine, the electronic tags arranged on the additive box are used for identifying the identity of the standby detergent box, when the fact that the allowance of a certain type of additives in the additive feeding device is insufficient and the additives are not replaced in time within a set time is detected, the electronic tags on the additive boxes in the standby additive box storage structure can be identified through the second identification module, and when the additives of the corresponding type are identified, the additives are controlled to be fed, so that the effects of accurately identifying and automatically feeding the types of the additives in the additive boxes stored in the standby additive box storage structure are achieved, the automation degree is high, the feeding efficiency is high, and the phenomenon of mistaken feeding can be effectively avoided.

The following describes embodiments of the present invention in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention to the proper form disclosed herein. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments, and that for a person skilled in the art, other drawings can be derived from them without inventive effort. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a structure of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a spare additive cartridge storage structure in an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the conduction state of the additive cartridge and the fluid-guiding insertion structure at position A in FIG. 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the additive cartridge and the fluid-guiding insertion structure in a disengaged state according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a control method of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating another embodiment of a control method of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

in the figure:

1. a box body; 101. a front side wall; 102. cleaning the cover plate by using the thread scraps; 103. a left side wall; 104. a top wall;

2. a reserve additive cartridge storage structure; 201. a handle structure; 3. an additive dispenser; 4. an additive cartridge; 401. an electronic tag; 5. a washing drum; 6. a washing machine; 71. a first identification module; 72. a second identification module;

8. a mounting seat; 9. a reset valve; 91. a valve body; 92. a spring; 93. a seal member; 10. draining and inserting the tube; 110. a top rod; 11. a standby additive pumping device; 12. a limiting part; 13. avoiding the hole.

It should be noted that the drawings and the description are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive concept in any way, but to illustrate it by a person skilled in the art with reference to specific embodiments.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and the following embodiments are used for illustrating the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplification of description, but 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 present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

Example one

As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the present embodiment provides a washing machine 6 including:

a box body 1;

the additive feeding device is used for feeding clothes additives into the washing machine 6 and is provided with an installation cavity for storing at least one additive box 4; further comprising:

and a spare additive box storage structure 2 arranged on the box body 1 and provided with an accommodating space for storing at least one spare additive box 4.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, through the reserve additive box storage structure 2 that adds on washing machine 6 box 1, unnecessary additive box 4 that the user bought back can be deposited in reserve additive box storage structure 2 for the user forms the good custom of fixed depositing easily, avoids additive box 4 to place at will effectively, the phenomenon of forgetting easily. Meanwhile, the additive in the additive box 4 in the additive feeding device is used up, and when the additive box 4 needs to be replaced, a user can directly take out the corresponding additive box 4 from the standby additive box storage structure 2 for replacement, so that the user can replace the additive box 4 in time, and great convenience is brought to the user.

Further, in this embodiment, the additive feeding device may be an external feeding device, and the external feeding device is installed outside the washing machine 6 and is disposed on the water inlet pipeline between the water inlet valve of the washing machine 6 and the tap water connector. Or the additive feeding device is a built-in feeding device arranged in the washing machine 6.

The additive feeding device is provided with an installation cavity for installing and storing the additive box 4, the additive box 4 is installed in the installation cavity and then is communicated with a feeding mechanism of the additive feeding device, if a first Venturi tube or a first feeding pump is used, when the additive needs to be fed, the additive in the additive box 4 is pumped into a water inlet water path or a constant volume cavity of the washing machine 6 by the first Venturi tube or the first feeding pump, and is fed into the washing machine 6 along with the water inlet of the washing machine 6, so that the washing treatment of clothes is realized.

The additive cartridge 4 according to the present embodiment is a closed chamber having an additive stored therein, and the additive cartridge 4 is a disposable ink cartridge type additive cartridge 4. The additive box 4 can store liquid clothes additives such as detergent, softener, flavoring agent, bleaching agent, disinfectant, softener and the like.

Further, the spare additive box storage structure 2 is fixedly arranged on the top wall 104 or the side wall of the box body 1; the spare additive box storage structure 2 can be fixed on the side wall of the box body 1, preferably, the spare additive box storage structure 2 is fixedly arranged at a set height position above the middle part of the side wall of the box body 1, and a user can conveniently take and place the additive box 4 in height. Of course, if the washing machine 6 is a drum washing machine, the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 may be directly fixed to the top wall 104 of the cabinet 1.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 1, in another embodiment, the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 is provided in the cabinet 1 in a drawable manner, so that the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 is not visible from the external appearance, thereby improving the overall aesthetic appearance of the washing machine 6.

Further, the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 is a housing shelf or a housing cartridge detachably fixed to the top wall 104 or the side wall of the case 1. The accommodating shelf or the accommodating box can be fixed on the top wall 104 or the side wall of the box body 1 by screws or buckles or hooks and the like, so that the accommodating shelf or the accommodating box is convenient to disassemble and install.

Preferably, in an embodiment, at least one or more hook holes or hooks are disposed on the left side wall 103 or the right side wall of the cabinet 1, and a hook portion is disposed on the accommodating shelf or the accommodating box and engaged with the accommodating shelf, and the hook portion is hooked in the hook hole or on the hook post to realize the assembling connection between the accommodating shelf or the accommodating box and the washing machine 6, so that the accommodating shelf or the accommodating box can be disassembled without using a disassembling tool.

Of course, the accommodating shelf or the accommodating box may be fixed to the cabinet 1 of the washing machine 6 by a connector such as a screw or a snap, or may be fixed to the top wall 104 or the side wall of the cabinet 1 by welding, melting, bonding, or the like.

Alternatively, in another preferred embodiment, the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 is a storage shelf or a storage cartridge that is drawably disposed within the case 1. Will hold the shelf or hold box drawable and set up in box 1, not only can not occupy the outside space of washing machine 6, still can make the inside space of washing machine 6 by more reasonable utilization for washing machine 6's structure is compacter, can not see from the outside simultaneously hold the shelf or hold the box, promote holistic aesthetic property and regularity, user's use experience is better.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 is a drawer-type accommodating structure that is drawably provided in the case 1.

Drawer type accommodation structure includes the drawer body of placing the chamber in, the uncovered setting in top of drawer body, it is formed with a plurality ofly and reserve additive box 4 one-to-one's the position of depositing to place the intracavity, so that additive box 4 can independently deposit, and is more regular, avoids mixing to put the inconvenient puzzlement of seeking that brings for the user.

Further, a plurality of additive box 4 storage grooves are arranged in the placing cavity side by side to form storage positions for independently storing the additive boxes 4.

Preferably, in this embodiment, a certain storage position or certain storage positions can be designated to store a certain type of additive, so that the user can search the additive box 4 to improve the timeliness of replacing the additive box 4. For example, a first storage position, a second storage position, a third storage position and a fourth storage position are formed in the placing cavity, the first storage position and the second storage position can be designated for storing detergent, the third storage position is used for storing softener, and the fourth storage position can be not set and can be used for storing some unusual additives such as disinfectant, bleaching agent and the like. Like this, the user when wanting to change the detergent, directly deposit the position from first deposit the position with the second and take can, improve the timely rate of change, also more regular simultaneously.

More preferably, an identification structure for reminding what kind of additive box 4 is placed in each storage position is arranged on the inner side wall of the drawer body corresponding to each storage position, so that a user can be more intuitively reminded. The sign structure can be the characters, if paste on the drawer body that first position of depositing and second deposit the position and correspond and have characters signs such as "detergent", "softener", no matter deposit or take additive box 4 like this, can both give the more audio-visual warning of user, avoid putting or taking by mistake, realize accurate input, further guarantee the washing and protecting treatment effect of clothing.

Of course, the identification can be performed by other forms of identification structures, such as a graphic identification card or a color identification card.

Further, the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 is drawably disposed in the case 1 near the top or bottom of the front side wall 101. The drawer body comprises a front panel, the drawer body is pushed into the box body 1 through the drawing opening, the front panel is flush with the front side wall 101 of the box body 1, and therefore the drawer body looks flat and integral and is more attractive in appearance.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 1, a handle structure 201 is disposed on the front panel of the drawer body, and the handle structure 201 may be a handle slot formed on the front panel or a drawer handle protruding from the front panel, and the drawer handle may be an arc-shaped rod-shaped structure. The provision of the handle structure 201 facilitates the user in pulling the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, a lint cleaning opening is formed at a bottom of the front side wall 101 or the left and right side walls of the box 1, and lint dust inside the box 1 can be cleaned through the lint cleaning opening. The thread scrap cleaning opening is provided with a thread scrap cleaning cover plate 102 in an openable and closable manner, the thread scrap cleaning cover plate 102 is opened when thread scrap dust in the box body 1 needs to be cleaned, and the thread scrap cleaning cover plate 102 is closed after cleaning is finished, so that foreign matters are prevented from entering the washing machine 6 through the thread scrap cleaning opening.

Example two

As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the present embodiment is further improved on the basis of the first embodiment, so as to solve the problem of poor clothes washing effect caused by the fact that the user cannot replace the additive box 4 in the additive dispensing device in time in the first embodiment.

As shown in fig. 2 to 4, the washing machine 6 provided in the present embodiment further includes:

the standby feeding pipeline is communicated with the standby additive box 4 and a water supply waterway of the washing machine 6;

and the standby additive pumping device 11 is arranged on the standby feeding pipeline and is used for feeding the additive in the standby additive box 4 into the washing drum 5.

The spare additive suction device 11 is a second dispensing pump or a second venturi tube or the like dispenser, and the spare additive suction device 11 may be fixedly disposed on the drawer mounting base 8.

In the process of adding the additive, the washing machine 6, within a set time after sending an alarm prompt to a user that the additive amount in the additive adding device is insufficient: if not detecting the user to change new additive box 4 all the time, control reserve additive suction device 11 and start, put into the additive in reserve additive box 4 to washing machine 6, avoided effectively because of the user fails in time to change additive box 4 for additive input volume is not enough, leads to the problem that the clothing washing care effect is poor.

As shown in fig. 2, a mounting seat 8 for accommodating and mounting the drawer body is arranged in the box body 1, and the drawer body is in sliding fit with the mounting seat 8, so that the drawer body can be drawn out or pushed into the box body 1.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the spare additive cartridge 4 may be lifted from the upper part of the drawer body or pulled out from the front part of the drawer body.

As shown in fig. 2, the spare additive box 4 can be pushed into the additive box 4 storage groove of the spare additive box storage structure 2, and the sidewall of the spare additive box storage groove is provided with a limiting part 12 to prevent the additive box 4 from moving in the spare additive box storage groove.

As shown in fig. 2 to 4, the additive box 4 has a liquid outlet communicated with the standby feeding pipeline, the liquid outlet connects the sealed cavity of the additive box 4 into the water supply waterway of the washing machine 6 through the standby additive pumping device 11, and the standby additive box storage tank is provided with an avoiding hole 13 for avoiding the standby feeding pipeline.

The standby additive pumping device 11 is fixedly arranged in the box body 1, the inlet of the standby additive pumping device 11 is communicated with the liquid outlet of the ink box type additive box 4, and the outlet of the standby additive pumping device 11 is communicated with the water supply waterway;

preferably, a temporary storage cavity through which a water supply waterway flows is arranged in the box body 1, and an outlet of the standby additive pumping device 11 is communicated with the temporary storage cavity;

it is further preferred that the spare additive suction means 11 comprises a second dosing pump that is only one-way conductive from the inlet to the outlet.

The standby feeding pipeline comprises a liquid guiding insertion structure and a liquid pumping pipeline, wherein one end of the liquid guiding insertion structure is connected with an inlet of the standby additive pumping device 11, and the other end of the liquid pumping pipeline is communicated with a liquid outlet of the ink box type additive box 4 through the liquid guiding insertion structure.

Preferably, the liquid guiding insertion structure comprises a liquid guiding insertion pipe 10, the liquid guiding insertion pipe 10 extends into the placing cavity through a avoiding hole 13 of the standby additive box storage groove, and a liquid outlet of the standby additive box 4 is communicated with the liquid guiding insertion pipe 10 after the standby additive box is installed in place.

The liquid outlet of the ink box type additive box 4 is provided with a container connecting part which is matched and communicated with the liquid guide inserting pipe 10, and the container connecting part is provided with a reset valve 9 which is abutted by the liquid guide inserting pipe 10 to open the liquid outlet and close the liquid outlet in a normal state.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the reset valve 9 includes a valve body 91, a spring 92, and a sealing member 93, which are disposed in a container connection portion, the container connection portion disposed at the liquid outlet of the ink cartridge type additive cartridge 4 is a sleeve structure extending along the drawing direction of the additive cartridge 4, a flow guide channel is disposed in the sleeve structure, one end of the sleeve structure is provided with the valve body 91, and the other end of the sleeve structure is communicated with the inside of the additive cartridge 4.

As shown in fig. 4, a spring 92 in a compressed state is further arranged in the sleeve structure, two ends of the spring 92 are respectively abutted to the valve body 91 and the sleeve structure, and the valve body 91 seals a channel formed inside the sleeve structure under the elastic force of the spring 92, so that a liquid outlet of the ink cartridge type additive box 4 is closed, the ink cartridge type additive box 4 forms a closed container, and sealing is ensured without any leakage after the additive box 4 is pulled out.

As shown in fig. 3, a push rod 110 is disposed in the liquid guiding insertion tube 10, and when the ink cartridge type additive cartridge 4 is correspondingly placed in the standby additive cartridge storage slot, the push rod 110 in the liquid guiding insertion tube 10 contacts the valve body 91 to drive the valve body 91 to move toward the inside of the additive cartridge 4 against the elastic force exerted by the spring 92, so as to achieve the effect of opening the liquid outlet of the additive cartridge 4 and dispensing the additive.

Further, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the additive dispensing device in this embodiment includes:

the additive dispenser 3 is arranged in the box body 1 in a drawing mode, and an installation cavity used for placing at least one additive box 4 is formed in the additive dispenser 3.

The additive dispenser is characterized in that an additive dispenser mounting seat used for accommodating and mounting the additive dispenser 3 is arranged in the box body 1, and the additive dispenser 3 is in sliding fit with the additive dispenser 3 so as to enable the additive dispenser 3 to be drawn out or pushed into the box body 1.

The additive feeding device comprises a feeding mechanism, the feeding mechanism comprises a first feeding pump or a first venturi tube, the first feeding pump or the first venturi tube can suck out the additive in the additive box 4 in the additive distributor 3 and feed the additive into a water inlet waterway of the washing machine 6, and the additive feeding mechanism is used for carrying out washing and protecting treatment on clothes in the washing drum 5. The dosing mechanism may be provided on the additive dispenser mount.

In this embodiment, the dosing principle of the additive dosing device is the same as the dosing principle of the additive in the standby additive box 4, and will not be described herein again.

Preferably, the additive delivery device comprises: and the position detection module is arranged in the installation cavity or on the box body 1 above the installation cavity and is used for detecting whether the additive box 4 is replaced newly. The position detection module can be a pressure sensor or an infrared sensor arranged in the placing cavity. When the additive agent box 4 is detected to have insufficient additive agent amount, whether a new additive agent box 4 is put into the installation cavity of the additive agent dispenser 3 is detected by a pressure sensor or an infrared sensor. When detecting that a new additive box 4 is put into the washing machine 6, a signal is fed back to the main control board of the washing machine, and the alarm is stopped.

Preferably, the additive delivery device comprises: and the additive allowance detection module is arranged in the installation cavity or the additive box 4 and is used for detecting the allowance information of the additive in the additive box 4. The residual amount detection module can be a liquid level conductive probe or a liquid level sensor arranged in the additive box 4 and is used for detecting the liquid level of the additive in the additive box 4.

Preferably, the additive delivery device comprises: and the alarm unit can be an alarm connected with a main control board of the washing machine 6 in a wired or wireless manner, when the allowance detection module detects that no additive is in the additive box 4 and the allowance is lower than a set value, a signal is fed back to the main control board, and the main control board controls the alarm module to give an alarm to prompt a user to replace the additive box 4 in time.

Preferably, the additive delivery device comprises: and the timing module starts timing when the alarm unit starts to give an alarm and feeds back the timing to the main control board.

Further, in the present embodiment, the washing machine 6 is a drum washing machine, but is not limited to the drum washing machine, and may be a pulsator washing machine.

The additive dispenser 3 is arranged in a housing 1 above the washing drum 5 in a removable manner, and the auxiliary additive cartridge storage 2 is arranged in a housing 1 below the washing drum 5 in a removable manner.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 1, in this embodiment, the additive dispenser 3 and the spare additive box storage structure 2 are both disposed in the cabinet 1 above the washing drum 5 and distributed on the left and right sides of the washing drum 5, and since most of the water inlet paths of the washing machine 6 are disposed above the washing drum 5, the spare additive box 4 in the spare additive box storage structure 2 is conveniently connected to the water inlet path of the washing machine 6 through the above design, so as to simplify the arrangement of the internal circuits of the washing machine 6.

Further, in this embodiment, the additive cartridge 4 is provided with an electronic tag 401, and information of the additive is stored in the electronic tag 401. The electronic tag 401 is disposed on either the additive cartridge 4 of the additive dispensing device or the spare additive cartridge 4 stored in the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2.

Preferably, the additive information includes information on related parameters such as the type, manufacturer, brand, production date, concentration, and composition of the additive.

In this embodiment, at least the type information of the additive stored in the additive box 4, such as detergent, softener, flavoring agent, disinfectant, etc., is stored in the electronic tag 401.

The electronic tag 401 is an NFC tag disposed on the outer wall or the inner wall of the additive cartridge 4, and certainly, the electronic tag 401 may also be an RFID tag disposed on the inner wall or the outer wall of the additive cartridge 4, because the information interaction effect of NFC is better than that of RFID, and NFC has advantages of short distance, high bandwidth, low energy consumption, and the like, it is more suitable for being applied to the washing machine 6.

In the above scheme, the additive information stored in the electronic tag 401 is factory-owned, and preferably, the additive information in the electronic tag 401 may be input or changed through an operation panel of the washing machine 6, or may be input or changed through a mobile phone APP.

The electronic tag 401 and the additive box 4 can be connected and fixed by the following connection modes, such as integral injection molding, screw fastening, welding, pasting, clamping and the like.

Further, as shown in fig. 1, the washing machine 6 further includes: and the first identification module 71 is arranged in the mounting cavity or on the box body 1 and is used for reading the additive information in the electronic tags 401 on the additive boxes 4 in the additive dispenser 3.

The first identification module 71 is a first RFID reader or a first NFC reader arranged on an integrated water channel cover plate or in a mounting cavity at the top of the box body 1 corresponding to each additive box 4 in the additive dispenser 3, and can read the additive information in the electronic tag 401 on each additive box 4 in the additive dispenser 3.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 1, further comprising: and the second identification module 72 is arranged in the spare additive box storage structure 2 or on the integrated water channel cover plate at the top of the box body 1 and is used for reading the additive information in the electronic tags 401 on each spare additive box 4 in the spare additive box storage structure 2.

The second identification module 72 is a second RFID reader or a second NFC reader, which is disposed on the box body 1 or in the standby additive cartridge storage structure 2 corresponding to each additive cartridge 4 in the standby additive cartridge storage structure 2, and can read the additive information in the electronic tag 401 on each standby additive cartridge 4 in the standby additive cartridge storage structure 2.

Specifically, the second identification module 72 may identify the type of the additive in the additive cartridge 4 placed in each storage location in the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2.

As shown in fig. 1 to 6, the present embodiment further provides a control method of the above washing machine 6, as shown in fig. 5, the method including:

in the process of adding the additive, the washing machine 6 is used for setting time after an alarm prompt that the additive allowance in the additive adding device is insufficient is sent to a user:

if it is not detected that the user has replaced the new additive cartridge 4, the standby additive pumping device 11 is controlled to be activated to supply the additive in the standby additive cartridge 4 to the washing machine 6.

In the control method of the washing machine provided by this embodiment, in the process of adding the additive, the washing machine 6, within the set time after sending the warning prompt to the user that the additive remaining amount in the additive adding device is insufficient: if the situation that the user replaces the new additive box 4 is not detected all the time, the standby additive pumping device 11 is controlled to be started, and the additives in the standby additive box 4 are put into the washing machine 6, so that the problem that the clothes washing and protecting effect is poor due to the fact that the user cannot replace the additive box 4 in time and the adding amount of the additives is insufficient is effectively solved.

Further preferably, as shown in fig. 6, the method further comprises the steps of:

during the process of adding the additive;

the washing machine sends out an alarm prompt that the residual quantity of the additive in the additive feeding device is insufficient to a user within a set time;

if the situation that the user replaces the new additive box is not detected all the time, acquiring the types of the additives of the additive box 4 which are not replaced in time in the additive feeding device;

controlling the second identification module 72 to start, and reading the additive information in the electronic tag 401 on each spare additive box 4 in the spare additive box storage structure 2;

determining whether the spare additive cartridge storage structure 2 stores an additive cartridge 4 of the type: if yes, controlling to put in the standby additives of corresponding types; if not, continuing to alarm.

According to the control method of the washing machine, the electronic tags 401 arranged on the additive box 4 are used for identifying the identity of the standby detergent box, when the situation that the surplus of a certain type of additives in the additive feeding device is insufficient is detected, and the additives are not replaced in time within a set time, the electronic tags 401 arranged on the additive boxes 4 in the standby additive box storage structure 2 can be identified through the second identification module 72, and when the additives of corresponding types are identified, the additives are controlled to be fed, so that the effects of accurately identifying the types of the additives in the additive boxes 4 stored in the standby additive box storage structure 2 and automatically feeding the additives are achieved, the automation degree is high, the feeding efficiency is high, and the phenomenon of mistaken feeding can be effectively avoided.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A washing machine comprising:

a box body;

the additive feeding device is used for feeding clothes additives into the washing machine and is provided with an installation cavity for storing at least one additive box; it is characterized by also comprising:

2. The washing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spare additive cartridge storing structure is fixedly provided on a top wall or a side wall of the cabinet;

or may be drawably disposed within the housing.

3. The washing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spare additive cartridge storing structure is a receiving shelf or a receiving cartridge detachably fixed on a top wall or a side wall of the cabinet;

4. A washing machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the refill cartridge storage structure is a drawer-type receiving structure drawably provided in the cabinet;

the drawer type accommodating structure comprises a drawer body with an inner placing cavity, and a plurality of storage positions which are in one-to-one correspondence with the standby additive boxes are formed in the placing cavity;

preferably, the spare additive box storage structure is arranged in the box body close to the top or bottom of the front side wall in a drawing way;

5. The washing machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

6. A washing machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the additive delivery means comprises:

the additive dispenser is arranged in the box body in a drawing mode, and an installation cavity for placing at least one additive box is formed in the additive dispenser;

preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

7. A washing machine as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the washing machine is a drum washing machine;

the additive dispenser is arranged in the box body above the washing drum in a drawing mode, and the standby additive box storage structure is arranged in the box body below the washing drum in a drawing mode;

8. The washing machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein the additive box is provided with an electronic tag, and the electronic tag stores information of the additive;

the washing machine further includes:

preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

9. A control method of a washing machine having any one of the above claims 1-8, characterized in that the method comprises:

in the process of adding the additive, the washing machine sends out an alarm prompt that the additive allowance in the additive adding device is insufficient to a user within a set time:

10. The control method of a washing machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

acquiring the types of additives of the additive boxes which are not replaced in time in the additive feeding device;

judging whether the standby additive box storage structure stores the additive box of the type: if yes, controlling to put in standby additives of corresponding types; if not, continuing to alarm.