JP2002078998A - Spin-dry controlling method for laundry machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for controlling spin-drying for a laundry machine by which complication of the construction, reduction in reliability and increase in costs can be prevented because the sway which is occurred by the unbalance of the laundry at the time of spin-drying can be detected without additionally providing a special detection lever, a special switch, and the like. SOLUTION: With respect to the laundry machine which is provided with a water level detecting means with which change in pressure because of change in water supply amount in a spinning tub 5 placed in a bath 4 is received by a diaphragm and the change amount of the diaphragm is converted into electrical signals for detecting the water level, the change in the water bath due to abnormal vibrations produced by the unbalance of he laundry at the time of spin-drying operation is detected by the water level detecting means, the occurrence of unbalance is detected and the spin-drying operation is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a fully automatic washing machine suspends a water tub 4 in an outer box 1 with a hanging rod 2 and a vibration isolator 3 so as to swing freely. Inside, the rotor 6 at the bottom
The washing and dewatering tub 5 having the above structure is rotatably disposed, and a driving device 7 such as a motor is disposed below the water tub 4.

In such a fully automatic washing machine, the steps of water supply, washing, rinsing, and dehydration automatically proceed, and water is automatically supplied to the washing / dehydrating tub 5 to a predetermined water level. After the water is supplied to the predetermined water level, it is set so as to automatically shift to the washing operation. As shown in FIG. 1, a water level detecting means is provided in a space between the water tank 4 and the outer box 1 as a water level detecting means for detecting that water is supplied to a predetermined water level.

The water level detecting means includes a water level sensor 9,
The water tub 4, that is, a pressure guiding tube 8 that transmits a pressure change caused by water supply in the washing and dewatering tub 5 to a water level sensor 9, and one end of the pressure guiding tube 8 opens to the bottom side surface of the water tub 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water level sensor 9 has an air chamber 11 formed in a substantially sealed state by an air chamber cover 13 and the front end of the pressure guiding tube 8 is opened at the bottom of the air chamber 11. The inside of the air chamber 11 is divided into two chambers by a rubber diaphragm 14, and the air pressure inlet 12 is opened in one of the chambers.

In the other chamber partitioned by the diaphragm 14, an iron core 15 is provided integrally with the diaphragm 14, and the iron core 15 is urged in the direction of the diaphragm 14 by a spring 16. A detection coil 17 is arranged around the air chamber 11 at a position where the iron core 15 moves in a direction opposite to the side of the diaphragm 14.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of the water level detecting means for detecting the water level.
An IC inverter 19 is connected to the transmission circuit constituted by C, and an output from the IC inverter 19 is input to a control device (not shown) using a microcomputer.

In the water supply step, when water supply into the washing and dewatering tub 5 starts, the pressure in the washing and dewatering tub 5, ie, the water tub 4 changes as the water level rises. The diaphragm 14 which is transmitted to the diaphragm 14 through FIG. 8 moves to the left in FIG. 2 as the pressure received here increases, and accordingly the iron core 15 integral with the diaphragm 14 also resists the elasticity of the spring 16. To the left. The movement of the iron core 15 in the detection coil 17 in this manner causes the detection coil 17
And the output transmission frequency from the transmission circuit constituted by the IC changes as shown in FIG.

The change in the output transmission frequency is detected by the control device, and when the output transmission frequency corresponding to the set water level is reached, the water supply is terminated and the process proceeds to the next washing step.

In a fully automatic washing machine, during the spinning operation in which the washing and dewatering tub 5 is rotated at a high speed, the laundry in the washing and dewatering tub 5 is biased to one side, and the washing and dewatering tub 5 swings and noises. Is transmitted to the water tub 4 and the water tub 4 vibrates and comes into contact with the outer box 1 of the washing machine, and the entire washing machine abnormally oscillates, and the dehydration operation cannot be performed. In the worst case, the washing machine falls down. Sometimes.

In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, conventionally, for example, an unbalance detection lever which is displaced by abnormal vibration during dehydration and an unbalance detection switch which is operated by the displacement of the lever are provided on the outer periphery of the water tank. When the deviation of the laundry becomes more than a certain level, the shaking of the water tub caused by this is transmitted to the unbalance detection lever, and the displacement of the detection lever activates the unbalance detection switch to detect the unbalance state, and dewatering. This is dealt with by stopping operation.

[0012]

As described above, conventionally, in order to detect the swing during the spin-drying operation caused by the unevenness of the laundry, that is, the imbalance, a detection lever and a detection switch for that purpose are separately provided separately. Therefore, not only is the structure complicated, but also there are problems in terms of reliability and cost of the washing machine.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the inconvenience of the prior art, and to detect a swing during the spin-drying operation caused by unevenness of the laundry, so that it is not necessary to separately provide a detection lever or a detection switch for that purpose. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine in which the structure is not complicated, the reliability is not reduced, and the cost is prevented.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention firstly receives a pressure change caused by a change in the amount of water supplied in a washing tub provided in a water tub by a diaphragm, and changes the pressure of the diaphragm. In a washing machine provided with a water level detecting means for converting the amount into an electric signal and detecting a water level, the water level detecting means detects the displacement of the water tank due to abnormal vibration caused by the unevenness of the clothes during the dehydrating operation, thereby causing an imbalance. By detecting, without separately providing a member for detecting the occurrence of imbalance, this can be detected and the dehydration operation can be stopped, so that the structure does not become complicated and the reliability does not decrease. It does not increase the cost.

Secondly, since the water level detecting means receives the displacement of the water tub caused by the vibration due to the unbalance of the washing tub by the diaphragm, the iron core in the coil is caused by the displacement of the diaphragm similarly to the detection of the water level. It can move and extract this as a change in the electric signal, and the occurrence of an abnormality can be reliably detected.

Thirdly, the water level detecting means is provided with a vertical mounting plate between the water tub and the outer box of the washing machine so as to be positioned parallel to the central axis of the water tub, By attaching to the surface, when the water tank swings, the water tank contacts the mounting plate before the water tank contacts the side wall of the outer box, so that the shaking of the water tank also reliably serves as the water level detecting means. It can be transmitted to the unbalance detection means. Since the displacement of the mounting plate is transmitted to the diaphragm, the diaphragm can be displaced reliably.

Fourth, the water level detecting means determines that imbalance has occurred when abnormal vibration is detected a plurality of times in synchronization with the rotation of the dehydrating operation during the dehydrating operation. And the vibration of the water tub when the washing machine swings due to the impact applied to the washing machine can be detected, and only the vibration of the water tub caused by the unevenness of the laundry can be detected, and the accuracy can be improved.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a washing machine in which a spin-drying control method of the present invention is carried out. The basic structure of the washing machine has already been described, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The washing machine in which the method of the present invention is performed is also watered, washed,
The rinsing and dewatering processes are automatically advanced, and water is automatically supplied to the washing and dewatering tub 5 to a predetermined water level, and after the water is supplied to the predetermined water level, a washing operation is automatically performed. It is set to shift to.

As shown in FIG. 1, a water level detecting means is provided in the space between the water tank 4 and the outer box 1 as a water level detecting means for detecting that water has been supplied to a predetermined water level.

The water level detecting means includes a water level sensor 9,
The water tank 4, that is, a pressure guide tube 8 that transmits a pressure change caused by water supply in the washing and dewatering tank 5 to a water level sensor 9, was fixed to the mounting plate 10. The mounting plate 10 is positioned parallel to the central axis of the water tub 4, and contacts between the water tub 4 and the outer box 1 of the washing machine, that is, when the water tub 4 swings, the rocked water tub 4 comes into contact before the outer box 1. The water level sensor 9 is fixed to a surface of the mounting plate 10 on the outer box 1 side.

Then, one end of the pressure guiding tube 8 opens to the bottom side surface of the water tank 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water level sensor 9 has an air chamber 11 formed in a substantially sealed state by an air chamber cover 13, and the bottom of the air chamber 11 has an opening at the tip of the pressure guiding tube 8. The inside of the air chamber 11 is divided into two chambers by a rubber diaphragm 14, and the air pressure inlet 12 is opened in one of the chambers.

In the other chamber partitioned by the diaphragm 14, an iron core 15 is provided integrally with the diaphragm 14, and the iron core 15 is urged in the direction of the diaphragm 14 by a spring 16. A detection coil 17 is arranged around the air chamber 11 at a position where the iron core 15 moves in a direction opposite to the side of the diaphragm 14.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of the water level detecting means for detecting the water level.
An IC inverter 19 is connected to the transmission circuit constituted by C, and an output from the IC inverter 19 is input to a control device (not shown) using a microcomputer.

In the water supply step, when the water supply into the washing and dewatering tub 5 starts, the pressure in the washing and dewatering tub 5, that is, the water tub 4 changes as the water level rises. The diaphragm 14 is transmitted to the diaphragm 14 through the diaphragm 8 and moves to the left in FIG. 2 as the pressure received there increases, and accordingly the iron core 15 integral with the diaphragm 14 also resists the elasticity of the spring 16. To the left. The movement of the iron core 15 in the detection coil 17 in this manner causes the detection coil 17
And the output transmission frequency from the transmission circuit constituted by the IC changes as shown in FIG.

That is, the frequency is, for example, 24 KHz when there is no water before the start of water supply, but after the start of water supply, the frequency gradually decreases as the water level rises, and becomes 20 KHz at a high water level. Therefore, the water level is detected by detecting this frequency.

By the way, in the dehydrating step, the clutch of the driving device 7 is switched to the dehydrating side after being drained and no water is present, the motor is energized, and the washing and dehydrating tub 5 rotates at a high speed to perform dehydration. . Therefore, the frequency detected in the dehydration step is a state without water.
Means that the frequency X at the time when the water level at the end of the previous operation is 0 is stored as, for example, frequency X = 24, and if this frequency is continuously output, the dehydration operation is continued without any abnormality, and When the time is reached, the operation is stopped and the dehydration ends.

However, in the dehydrating step, the laundry is biased in the washing and dewatering tub 5, and the
When the water tank 4 vibrates greatly (in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 1 and 2), the water tank 4 is attached to the mounting plate 10 of the water level sensor 9.
And press it to the left in FIG.

As a result, as in the case of detecting the water level, the pressure in the air chamber 11 changes, and the diaphragm 14 vibrates,
Since the iron core 15 integrated therewith moves within the detection coil 17, the inductance of the detection coil 17 changes, and I
The output transmission frequency of the transmitter constituted by C greatly changes from the frequency X = 24 KHz in the waterless state as shown in FIG. repeat.

When such a change is detected by the control device, the control device determines that the laundry in the washing and dewatering tub 5 is biased during the spin-drying operation, and stops the energization of the drive device 7 to dehydrate the spin-drying device. Stop driving.

Such a change in the output transmission frequency also occurs, for example, when an external impact is applied to the outer box 1 of the washing machine from outside during the spin-drying operation. Therefore, in order to distinguish the vibration generated by the artificial impact from the vibration generated by the unevenness of the laundry, when abnormal vibration is detected a plurality of times in synchronization with the rotation of the dehydration during the dehydration operation, the Judge that balance has occurred. This improves the accuracy of unbalance detection.

[0032]

As described above, the method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine according to the present invention firstly receives a pressure change caused by a change in the amount of water supplied in a washing tub provided in the water tub by the diaphragm. In a washing machine provided with a water level detecting means for converting a change amount into an electric signal and detecting a water level, displacement of a water tank caused by abnormal vibration caused by bias of clothes during dehydration operation is detected by the water level detecting means, and imbalance occurs. By detecting the unbalance, the dewatering operation can be stopped without separately providing a member for detecting the occurrence of imbalance, and the dehydration operation can be stopped. Not increase the cost.

Second, since the water level detecting means receives the displacement of the water tub caused by the vibration due to the unbalance of the washing tub by the diaphragm, the iron core in the coil is caused by the displacement of the diaphragm similarly to the detection of the water level. It can move and extract this as a change in the electric signal, and the occurrence of an abnormality can be reliably detected.

Third, the water level detecting means is provided with a vertical mounting plate disposed between the water tub and the outer box of the washing machine so as to be positioned in parallel with the central axis of the water tub. By attaching to the surface, when the water tank swings, the water tank contacts the mounting plate before the water tank contacts the side wall of the outer box, so that the shaking of the water tank also reliably serves as the water level detecting means. It can be transmitted to the unbalance detection means. Since the displacement of the mounting plate is transmitted to the diaphragm, the diaphragm can be displaced reliably.

Fourth, the water level detecting means determines that imbalance has occurred when abnormal vibration is detected a plurality of times in synchronization with the rotation of the dehydration during the dehydration operation. And the vibration of the water tub when the washing machine swings due to the impact applied to the washing machine can be detected, and only the vibration of the water tub caused by the unevenness of the laundry can be detected, and the accuracy can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a washing machine in which a method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine according to the present invention is performed.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of a water level / unbalance detecting means which is a main part of the washing machine in which the washing machine dewatering control method of the present invention is implemented.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a water level detecting unit in which the method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine according to the present invention is performed.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of water level detection and unbalance detection according to the washing machine dewatering control method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... outer box, 2 ... hanging rod, 3 ... vibration isolator, 4 ... water tank, 5 ... washing and dewatering tank,
Reference numeral 6: rotating blade, 7: driving device, 8: pressure guiding tube, 9: water level sensor, 10: mounting plate, 1
1 ... air chamber, 12 ... air pressure intake, 13 ...
Air chamber cover, 14 ... diaphragm, 15 ... iron core,
16 ... spring, 17 ... detection coil, 18 ...
Condenser, 19… IC inverter

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Watakuchi 1-1-1, Yamate, Funabashi-shi, Chiba F-term (reference) in Nippon Steel Corporation 3B155 AA06 AA17 BA04 BA16 CB06 CB64 KA19 KA35 LA02 LB24 MA01 MA02 MA08 MA09

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A water level detecting means for receiving a pressure change accompanying a change in water supply amount in a washing tub arranged in a water tub by a diaphragm, converting the change amount of the diaphragm into an electric signal, and detecting a water level. In the washing machine, dehydration control of the washing machine is characterized in that displacement of the water tank due to abnormal vibration caused by unevenness of clothes during the spin-drying operation is detected by the water level detecting means to detect occurrence of imbalance and stop the spin-drying operation. Method. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the water level detecting means receives, by a diaphragm, displacement of the water tub caused by vibration due to unbalance of the washing tub. 3. The water level detecting means is provided with a vertical mounting plate disposed between the water tub and the outer box of the washing machine so as to be positioned in parallel with the central axis of the water tub, and provided on a surface of the mounting plate on the outer box side. The method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method is performed. 4. The water level detecting means determines that imbalance has occurred when abnormal vibration is detected a plurality of times in synchronization with the rotation of the dehydration during the dehydration operation. Item 4. The method for controlling dehydration of a washing machine according to any one of Items 3.