EP0920591B1 - Electronic control method for drain pumps used in electrical home appliances - Google Patents

Electronic control method for drain pumps used in electrical home appliances Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0920591B1
EP0920591B1 EP98932707A EP98932707A EP0920591B1 EP 0920591 B1 EP0920591 B1 EP 0920591B1 EP 98932707 A EP98932707 A EP 98932707A EP 98932707 A EP98932707 A EP 98932707A EP 0920591 B1 EP0920591 B1 EP 0920591B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
loaded
drain pump
microprocessor
current
unloaded
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP98932707A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0920591A1 (en
Inventor
Semsettin Eksert
Ibrahim Ugurlu
Faruk Tan
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Arcelik AS
Original Assignee
Arcelik AS
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Arcelik AS filed Critical Arcelik AS
Publication of EP0920591A1 publication Critical patent/EP0920591A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0920591B1 publication Critical patent/EP0920591B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
    • D06F39/08—Liquid supply or discharge arrangements
    • D06F39/083—Liquid discharge or recirculation arrangements
    • D06F39/085—Arrangements or adaptations of pumps
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 
    • D06F33/30—Control of washing machines characterised by the purpose or target of the control 
    • D06F33/47—Responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning of pumps 
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04D—NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04D15/00—Control, e.g. regulation, of pumps, pumping installations or systems
    • F04D15/02—Stopping of pumps, or operating valves, on occurrence of unwanted conditions
    • F04D15/0209—Stopping of pumps, or operating valves, on occurrence of unwanted conditions responsive to a condition of the working fluid
    • F04D15/0218—Stopping of pumps, or operating valves, on occurrence of unwanted conditions responsive to a condition of the working fluid the condition being a liquid level or a lack of liquid supply
    • F04D15/0236—Lack of liquid level being detected by analysing the parameters of the electric drive, e.g. current or power consumption
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F2103/00—Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2103/44—Current or voltage
    • D06F2103/48—Current or voltage of the motor driving the pump
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F2105/00—Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2105/58—Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 
    • D06F33/50—Control of washer-dryers characterised by the purpose or target of the control
    • D06F33/72—Control of the energy or water consumption

Definitions

  • the invention is related to a method that provides electronic control of working periods of the synchronous or asynchronous drain pump motors used in electrical home appliances such as dish washing machines and washing machines.
  • the drain pump In the control systems of the existing dish washing and washing machines, the drain pump is in operated along a fixed operating time period at places required by the washing program. This fixed time period, is over the time needed to drain the water out by the drain pump under normal conditions. For example, a drain pump of 16 liters/minute, can empty the water content of 5 liters of water in a washing machine in a short time period but, it is operated for a fixed time period of 1 minute. Similarly, drain pumps are operated half or more of the operating periods in the existing control systems without need for it. This unnecessary operation, despite water is drained by the drain pump, continues without water. to complete the operation period.
  • a water-level detector is used to avoid the drain pump to operate when the water level in the tub reaches to zero.
  • the drain pump operating without water is forming the highest source of noise in the machine that is sucking air from it. Despite there is no water in the machine, the drain pump continues to operate and results in unnecessary energy consumption. For example, in normal" program of dish washing machine. a drain pump of 34W power operating at an average of 5.5 minutes, uses 3.2 wH energy. The drain pump when operated without need for it at 50% of this period. 1.6 wH unnecessary energy consumption is faced with.
  • the drain pump draws different currents from the network while there is water in the machine (loaded) and while there is no water in it (unloaded). For example. a drain pump of 34W, if started to operate with a load over 3.5 liters, draws more or less 125 mA current but after the water in the machine is drained, the current drawn by the pump from the network is decreased to about 110 mA.
  • the objective of this invention is to provide a method by taking the difference of current drawn from the network by the drain pump while operating with and without load as the base, is to control the pump operating time, the values of the current drawn by the pump with electronic control and in parallel to this, to prevent the energy consumption arising out of unnecessary operation, to decrease the noise and to shorten the duration of the program.
  • drain pump is controlled by a microprocessor(1).
  • a microprocessor(1) To realize this, laboratory experiments are carried out and the difference of the currents drawn by the pump while operating with and without load are recorded. These values are saved to the memory of a microprocessor (1).
  • a circuit formed by a "manganin based resistance”(3), a “op-amp”(4) and a “AC-DC converter”(5) is used ( Figure 1).
  • a " current transformer”(6) or a “Hall effect transistor” (7) can also be used.
  • a directly proportional voltage is formed on the manganin based resistance (3) which is connected to the line from the drain pump (2) over the microprocessor (1).
  • This voltage is transmitted to a op-amp (4) circuit such that the highest value is increased to 5V AC.
  • the voltage increasing at 0-5 V AC level in Op-amp (4) circuit is converted into direct voltage in the AC-DC converter (5) circuit and transmitted to the microprocessor(1).This information coming into the microprocessor(1) as analog is later converted into digital information. If the voltage transmitted to microprocessor (1) is constantly above 5V, it means that the drain pump (2) is blocked.
  • the current drawn is started to be measured.
  • This time period being dependent on take off time of the pump, may change between 5-10 seconds.
  • This measurement period changes depending on the microprocessor and software used. In the present method, the time required for this is 640 ⁇ s with PIC 16C74 microprocessor.
  • the values recorded during the first five seconds after starting the measurements are compared with each other and the largest value is saved in the memory as the operation loaded value (I' loaded ). To compare the values with each other, a time period which is different from five seconds, may be preferred.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Control Of Positive-Displacement Pumps (AREA)
  • Washing And Drying Of Tableware (AREA)
  • Control Of Non-Positive-Displacement Pumps (AREA)
  • Devices For Blowing Cold Air, Devices For Blowing Warm Air, And Means For Preventing Water Condensation In Air Conditioning Units (AREA)

Abstract

The invention is related to a method that provides electronic control of working periods of the synchronous or asynchronous drain pump motors used in electrical home appliances such as dish washing machines and washing machines. During normal use of the home appliance, while the drain pump (2) is operating, the values of the current taken is audited by a microprocessor (1) and compared with the previous values of "rates of current drawn while operating loaded (while there is water in the machine) and without load (while there is no water)" which are loaded into the memory of the microprocessor and when the desired balance is attained, the drain pump, by arriving at a decision that operation is done without water, stops. To measure the current drawn by the drain pump (2), a circuit formed by a "resistance based on manganin" (3) an "op-amp" (4) and an "ac-dc converter" (5), is being used.

Description

The invention is related to a method that provides electronic control of working periods of the synchronous or asynchronous drain pump motors used in electrical home appliances such as dish washing machines and washing machines.
In the control systems of the existing dish washing and washing machines, the drain pump is in operated along a fixed operating time period at places required by the washing program. This fixed time period, is over the time needed to drain the water out by the drain pump under normal conditions. For example, a drain pump of 16 liters/minute, can empty the water content of 5 liters of water in a washing machine in a short time period but, it is operated for a fixed time period of 1 minute. Similarly, drain pumps are operated half or more of the operating periods in the existing control systems without need for it. This unnecessary operation, despite water is drained by the drain pump, continues without water. to complete the operation period.
In EP 0 107 234 A, a water-level detector is used to avoid the drain pump to operate when the water level in the tub reaches to zero.
The drain pump operating without water is forming the highest source of noise in the machine that is sucking air from it. Despite there is no water in the machine, the drain pump continues to operate and results in unnecessary energy consumption. For example, in normal" program of dish washing machine. a drain pump of 34W power operating at an average of 5.5 minutes, uses 3.2 wH energy. The drain pump when operated without need for it at 50% of this period. 1.6 wH unnecessary energy consumption is faced with.
The drain pump, during its operation, draws different currents from the network while there is water in the machine (loaded) and while there is no water in it (unloaded). For example. a drain pump of 34W, if started to operate with a load over 3.5 liters, draws more or less 125 mA current but after the water in the machine is drained, the current drawn by the pump from the network is decreased to about 110 mA.
The objective of this invention, is to provide a method by taking the difference of current drawn from the network by the drain pump while operating with and without load as the base, is to control the pump operating time, the values of the current drawn by the pump with electronic control and in parallel to this, to prevent the energy consumption arising out of unnecessary operation, to decrease the noise and to shorten the duration of the program.
In order to reach to these objectives, the proposed method will be explained herebelow with reference to the attached drawings, wherein;
  • Figure 1 is the electronic circuit diagram that controls the pump with microprocessor(1) and measures the currents drawn by the drain pump (2).
  • Figure 2 is the circuit diagram in which "current transformer" (6) is used instead of " Manganin based resistance" (3).
  • Figure 3 is the circuit diagram in which a "Hall effect transistor" (7) is used instead of "Manganin based resistance" (3).
    • In the method according to this invention. drain pump is controlled by a microprocessor(1). To realize this, laboratory experiments are carried out and the difference of the currents drawn by the pump while operating with and without load are recorded. These values are saved to the memory of a microprocessor (1).
    After this phase, current ratios with and without load (Iloaded / Iunloaded) are saved in a microprocessor along with the program to be used.
    During operation, to measure the current drawn by the drain pump(2). a circuit formed by a "manganin based resistance"(3), a "op-amp"(4) and a "AC-DC converter"(5) is used (Figure 1). In this circuit, instead of "manganin based resistance"(3), a " current transformer"(6) or a "Hall effect transistor" (7) can also be used.
    A directly proportional voltage is formed on the manganin based resistance (3) which is connected to the line from the drain pump (2) over the microprocessor (1). This voltage is transmitted to a op-amp (4) circuit such that the highest value is increased to 5V AC. The voltage increasing at 0-5 V AC level in Op-amp (4) circuit, is converted into direct voltage in the AC-DC converter (5) circuit and transmitted to the microprocessor(1).This information coming into the microprocessor(1) as analog is later converted into digital information. If the voltage transmitted to microprocessor (1) is constantly above 5V, it means that the drain pump (2) is blocked.
    During normal use of the dish washing machine, after 7 seconds from the moment of entrance into operation of the drain pump(2). the current drawn is started to be measured. This time period, being dependent on take off time of the pump, may change between 5-10 seconds. This measurement period changes depending on the microprocessor and software used. In the present method, the time required for this is 640µs with PIC 16C74 microprocessor. The values recorded during the first five seconds after starting the measurements are compared with each other and the largest value is saved in the memory as the operation loaded value (I'loaded). To compare the values with each other, a time period which is different from five seconds, may be preferred. Following the saving of the current for operation loaded ((I'loaded) with each measurement made the saved current for operation loaded is compared and the ratio determined (I'loaded /Imeasured) is compared to the ratio of operation with and without load (Iloaded / Iunloaded) which was saved in the memory of the microprocessor during previous laboratory studies after being determined.
    When the value I'loaded / Imesured ≥ (Iloaded / Iunloaded) equivalence is obtained, it is understood that the drain pump is operating without load and it is stopped. In case the measurements taken reaches at 5V continuously; decision is reached that the pump is blocked(2) and in this case, the user is informed with a warning method.

    Claims (3)

    1. A control method for drain pumps used in electrical home appliances including a microprocessor (1), a program and reference values obtained as a result of laboratory experiments that are stored in the microprocessor (1), characterized by;
      Saving the obtained value of the currents used by the drain pump while operating loaded and unloaded in form of a ratio like (|loaded/|unloaded) into the microprocessor (1) along with the program to be used;
      Starting to measure the drawn current during the use of the machine as of the take off period such as (5 to 10 seconds) of the drain pump;
      Saving the highest value which is obtained by comparison of the values obtained within the first five seconds or in a different time period as of the measurement, as loaded operating current (I'loaded) into the memory;
      Comparing the loaded operating current (I'loaded) with each measured value and comparing the obtained ratio (I'loaded/Imeasured) with the values saved previously into the microprocessor as a result of the laboratory experiments;
      Stopping the machine when the I'loaded/Imeasured ≥ (Iloaded/Iunloaded) equivalence is provided assuming that the drain pump is working unloaded.
    2. A method according to claim 1 wherein in order to measure the current used by the said drain pump;
      a circuit comprising of an "op-amp" (4) and "AC-DC converter" (5) is used along with a "manganin based resistance" (3) or a "current transformer" (6) or a " Hall effect transistor'' (7) serially connected to the electric line of the drain pump (2);
      the voltage formed on "manganin based resistance" (3) or "current transformer" (6) or "Hall effect transistor" (7) is raised so that the maximum value is 5 V on the " op-amp" (4);
      The raised current 0 - 5 V AC on the Op-amp (4) circuit is converted to direct current (DC) and transmitted to the microprocessor (1);
      This analog data is converted to digital data.
    3. A method according to claim 2 characterized by that when the voltage supplied to the microprocessor(1) permanently exceeds 5V, it is decided that the drain pump (2) is blocked and the user is informed by any means of warning.
    EP98932707A 1997-06-20 1998-06-19 Electronic control method for drain pumps used in electrical home appliances Expired - Lifetime EP0920591B1 (en)

    Applications Claiming Priority (3)

    Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
    TR9700528 1997-06-20
    TR97/00528A TR199700528A2 (en) 1997-06-20 1997-06-20 Electronic control method for drain pumps used in electrical appliances.
    PCT/TR1998/000011 WO1998059174A1 (en) 1997-06-20 1998-06-19 Electronic control method for drain pumps used in electrical home appliances

    Publications (2)

    Publication Number Publication Date
    EP0920591A1 EP0920591A1 (en) 1999-06-09
    EP0920591B1 true EP0920591B1 (en) 2003-06-04

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    Family Applications (1)

    Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
    EP98932707A Expired - Lifetime EP0920591B1 (en) 1997-06-20 1998-06-19 Electronic control method for drain pumps used in electrical home appliances

    Country Status (7)

    Country Link
    EP (1) EP0920591B1 (en)
    AT (1) ATE242430T1 (en)
    AU (1) AU8252598A (en)
    DE (1) DE69815261T2 (en)
    ES (1) ES2201510T3 (en)
    TR (1) TR199700528A2 (en)
    WO (1) WO1998059174A1 (en)

    Cited By (1)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    US8793828B2 (en) 2010-04-13 2014-08-05 Whirlpool Corporation Laundry treating appliance with automatic pump shutoff

    Families Citing this family (11)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    US6227808B1 (en) 1999-07-15 2001-05-08 Hydroair A Unit Of Itt Industries Spa pressure sensing system capable of entrapment detection
    EP1638201B1 (en) * 2003-10-07 2009-04-08 Askoll Holding S.r.l. Method for controlling and driving a pump for household appliances
    GB2446370A (en) * 2007-02-07 2008-08-13 Dlp Ltd Shower waste pump and supply control
    WO2011106530A1 (en) 2010-02-25 2011-09-01 Hayward Industries, Inc. Universal mount for a variable speed pump drive user interface
    US9031702B2 (en) 2013-03-15 2015-05-12 Hayward Industries, Inc. Modular pool/spa control system
    US9609997B2 (en) 2013-07-09 2017-04-04 Haier Us Appliance Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for detecting appliance pump cavitation or dry state
    US9840803B2 (en) 2015-10-20 2017-12-12 Haier Us Appliance Solutions, Inc. Pump assembly for appliance
    US11720085B2 (en) 2016-01-22 2023-08-08 Hayward Industries, Inc. Systems and methods for providing network connectivity and remote monitoring, optimization, and control of pool/spa equipment
    US20170212536A1 (en) 2016-01-22 2017-07-27 Hayward Industries, Inc. Systems and Methods for Providing Network Connectivity and Remote Monitoring, Optimization, and Control of Pool/Spa Equipment
    US10718337B2 (en) 2016-09-22 2020-07-21 Hayward Industries, Inc. Self-priming dedicated water feature pump
    CN109267290B (en) * 2018-10-30 2023-06-23 青岛海尔洗衣机有限公司 Washing machine control method and washing machine

    Family Cites Families (2)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    FR2534287B1 (en) * 1982-10-11 1984-11-23 Labo Electronique Physique
    DE3440977C2 (en) * 1984-11-09 1986-10-02 Loewe Pumpenfabrik GmbH, 2120 Lüneburg Arrangement for the automatic switching on and off of liquid pumps

    Cited By (1)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    US8793828B2 (en) 2010-04-13 2014-08-05 Whirlpool Corporation Laundry treating appliance with automatic pump shutoff

    Also Published As

    Publication number Publication date
    TR199700528A3 (en) 1999-10-21
    EP0920591A1 (en) 1999-06-09
    ATE242430T1 (en) 2003-06-15
    DE69815261T2 (en) 2004-05-06
    TR199700528A2 (en) 1999-10-21
    DE69815261D1 (en) 2003-07-10
    AU8252598A (en) 1999-01-04
    WO1998059174A1 (en) 1998-12-30
    ES2201510T3 (en) 2004-03-16

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