JP2009050350A - Drum-type washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit low-vibration spin-drying to be carried out by efficiently resolving an imbalanced condition of laundry. <P>SOLUTION: The drum-type washing machine includes an imbalance sensing means 20 to sense the amount of an imbalance in the laundry in accordance with the output of a vibration sensor 17 provided in a water tank 13, and a control means 21 to control a motor 12. The control means 21 efficiently sensor a condition in which the amount of imbalance is small by starting up the drum 11 at high revolutions and permits low vibration spin-drying when the output of the imbalance sensing means 20 is equal to or lower than a prescribed threshold value, with the drum 11 made to alternately repeat its rotation at first revolutions at which some of the laundry moves, adhering thereto and second revolutions at which the laundry move more than at the first revolutions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum-type washing machine having an acceleration detection means for detecting vibration of a water tank, and a method for reducing the amount of unbalance of laundry in the drum, and a shift to high-speed rotation based on an unbalance determination result. The present invention relates to a drum type washing / drying machine for determining whether or not it is possible.

  As drum-type washing machines become more widespread, further low vibration and low noise are required. The main causes of noise and vibration in drum-type washing machines are those caused by the unevenness of laundry during dehydration. Conventionally, a vibration detection means has been provided. Many proposals have been made to redo or move to the unwinding process.

Also, in the process of sticking the laundry at the beginning of dehydration to the drum, the unbalance amount is detected at the number of rotations that partly moves while sticking to the drum, and it is detected that the unbalance amount has become small. Thus, a washing machine that shifts to high-speed dewatering has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3522435

  However, in the conventional configuration, the unbalance amount is detected in a state where the rotational speed at which a part of the laundry moves little by little is maintained at a constant speed. However, the amount of movement due to the difference in the amount of laundry and the combination of various materials is On the other hand, there is a possibility that a state where the amount of unbalance is small does not appear easily only by maintaining a constant speed, and there is a problem that stable unbalance detection cannot be performed.

  In addition, even if the laundry is rotating at a low speed where a part of the laundry moves little by little, the amount of moisture contained in the laundry gradually decreases as the drum continues to rotate. As a result, the acceleration applied to the wall surface from the ground is greater than the gravitational acceleration, and as a result, all the laundry is stuck to the drum and the state does not change.

  In addition, when the drum is rotated at a rotational speed at which a part of the drum moves gradually while sticking to the inner surface of the drum, and this rotational speed is maintained at a constant speed, the workpiece near the rotational axis moves only slightly, and unbalanced. The problem was that it was not possible to effectively reduce the state.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and detects imbalance while varying the number of rotations at a constant period, so that there is a difference in the amount of laundry and combinations of various clothing materials. In some cases, even when the moisture content of the laundry changes during the rotation of the drum, it effectively creates a state where the unbalance amount is small, and the low unbalance amount causes low vibration and low noise. An object is to provide a drum-type washing machine.

  In order to solve the conventional problems, the present invention provides a drum having a water passage hole on the outer periphery, a water tank that encloses the drum and stores washing water, a motor that rotationally drives the drum, and a housing that houses the water tank. An anti-vibration damper that is attached between the water tank and the housing to suppress vibration of the water tank, a vibration detection device that detects vibration provided in the water tank, and an unbalance amount of the laundry according to the output of the vibration detection device And a control means for controlling the motor based on the output of the vibration detection device and the unbalance detection means, the control means comprising the laundry as an inner surface of the drum. The unbalance is rotated in such a manner that a first rotation number that partially moves while sticking to a second rotation number and a second rotation number that moves more than the first rotation number are alternately repeated at predetermined intervals. Of detection means Force is obtained as launch high-speed rotation of the drum in case of less than a predetermined threshold value.

  The drum type washing machine of the present invention can create a state where the amount of unbalance of the laundry is small at an early stage of dewatering, and can create a state where the amount of unbalance is small regardless of the amount and material of the laundry. Further, even when the moisture content of the laundry changes during the rotation of the drum, it is possible to create a state with a small unbalance amount.

  A first invention includes a drum provided with a water passage hole on the outer periphery, a water tank that encloses the drum and stores washing water, a motor that rotationally drives the drum, a housing that houses the water tank, a water tank and a housing An anti-vibration damper that is installed in between to suppress vibration of the water tank, a vibration detection device that detects vibration provided in the water tank, and an unbalance detection that detects the unbalance amount of the laundry according to the output of the vibration detection device And a control means for controlling the motor based on the outputs of the vibration detection device and the imbalance detection means, the control means including a part of the laundry while the laundry is stuck to the inner surface of the drum. The output of the unbalance detection means is a predetermined value in a state where the first rotation number at which the motor moves and the second rotation number at which the movement amount is larger than the first rotation number are alternately rotated at predetermined intervals. Below the threshold of When the drum is started up at high speed rotation, it is possible to shift to high speed dewatering in a state where the amount of unbalance generated due to the bias of the laundry is small regardless of the amount and quality of the laundry. It is also possible to start up dehydration while shortening the time and suppressing abnormal vibration of the drum and the water tank.

  Therefore, it is possible to surely eliminate the imbalance that is the bias of the laundry in the dehydration process, and to reduce the vibration and noise caused by the unbalance, thereby realizing high-speed dehydration with low vibration and low noise. And the safety of the product can be improved.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, when the output of the unbalance detection means continues for a predetermined time without the output of the unbalance detection means being equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, the control means only changes the rotational speed alternately. If it is judged that there is little possibility that a state with little unbalance of laundry will appear even if the drum rotation is continued with the rotation pattern in the same rotation direction, the state of the object is changed immediately. If the entire laundry is loosened and then the balancing operation is performed again, there is a high possibility that a state with a small unbalance will appear, and as a result, useless operation time can be shortened.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, there is provided cloth amount detection means for detecting the amount of laundry, and the control means sets the threshold of the unbalance detection means based on the output of the cloth amount detection means. By switching, it becomes possible to perform imbalance detection with higher accuracy according to the output of the vibration detection device that varies depending on the amount of laundry. Specifically, when the amount of laundry is large, the output of the vibration detection device tends to increase, so the threshold of the imbalance detection means is also made larger than the predetermined value, and conversely when the amount of laundry is small Since the output of the vibration detection device tends to be small, the threshold of the unbalance detection means is also made smaller than a predetermined value.

  According to a fourth aspect, in the third aspect, when the amount of cloth is small, when the amount of cloth is small, the time of the second number of rotations is made longer than the time of the first number of revolutions, and the amount of cloth is large. By making the time of the second rotation speed shorter than the time of the first rotation speed, it is possible to reliably detect a state in which the amount of unbalance is small according to the amount of laundry in a short time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control device that suppresses vibration due to unbalance of the laundry of the drum type washing machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a housing, 11 is a drum that accommodates and rotates laundry, and 12 is a motor that rotates the laundry tub while controlling its speed. 13 is a water tank in which the drum 11 is built and water enters, 18 is a cover having a laundry inlet, 14 is a seal packing for connecting the water tank 13 and the cover 18 having a laundry inlet without a gap, 15 A support spring 16 for holding the posture of the water tank 13 is a vibration isolating damper for reducing vibration generated when the motor rotates to reduce vibration transmission to the housing 10 and the floor.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a vibration detection device that detects the vibration of the water tank 13.

  As an example of the vibration detection device, an acceleration sensor capable of outputting a change in acceleration as a voltage change is used in the present embodiment. The acceleration sensor in the present embodiment uses a piezoresistive acceleration sensor having a relatively simple structure. By the way, when the drum is rotated at the first rotation speed or the second rotation speed, the water tank shakes, that is, the output of the acceleration sensor is small, so a low acceleration compatible sensor with low sensitivity is used. Is desirable.

  In addition, the acceleration sensor in the present embodiment employs a sensor capable of detecting three axes, detects vibrations in a plurality of directions, and even at a low rotation speed when the water tank moves irregularly due to a drop impact of the laundry. This makes it possible to detect vibrations with high accuracy.

  The attachment position of the vibration detection device 17 in the present embodiment is the upper front side of the water tank. Since the vibration when accelerating to high-speed rotation with the unbalance of the laundry in the drum in the front part is larger than that in the case of the rear part, high speed is achieved with a large unbalance in the front part. It is necessary to avoid accelerating to rotation as much as possible. If the front part is unbalanced, the water tank shakes easily on the front side, so it is desirable that the vibration detector is attached to the front part.

  Reference numeral 19 denotes an anti-vibration rubber for installing the housing 10 on the floor, and the support spring 15 and the anti-vibration damper 16 constitute a support means. Further, 20 is an unbalance detection means for detecting the unbalance amount according to the output of the vibration detection device, and 21 is a control means for controlling the rotation of the motor 12.

  Hereinafter, the operation and action of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the imbalance determination of the washing machine in the first embodiment of the present invention. Step S1 indicates the start of dehydration. In step S2, the drum is rotated in the forward rotation direction at the first rotation speed, and in step S3, the unbalance detection means performs unbalance determination according to the output of the vibration detection device.

  As an example of an unbalance determination method, the output of the vibration detection device is sampled at a sampling time of 10 msec for one second, and the Peak to Peak value of the sampled value is compared with a predetermined value that is less than a predetermined value. Then, in step S10, the drum rotation is accelerated to shift to high speed dewatering. If it exceeds the predetermined value, sampling is performed again for the next one second, and the Peak to Peak value is similarly compared with the predetermined value.

  If the PeaktoPeak value of the sampled value exceeds the predetermined value, after sampling several times and comparing the PeaktoPeak value with the predetermined value, in step S4, when the time T1 of the first rotation speed has elapsed, In step S5, the drum rotation speed is switched to the second rotation speed. The unbalance determination similar to the above-described unbalance determination method is performed at the second rotation speed. When the Peak to Peak value is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the drum rotation is accelerated. When the peak value exceeds the predetermined value, the unbalance determination as described above is continued. To implement. When the time T2 of the second rotation speed has elapsed, it is returned to the first rotation speed again.

  FIG. 3 is a chart of a drum rotation control pattern in the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the first rotation speed is 63 rpm, the second rotation speed is 56 rpm, the time T1 for rotating the drum at the first rotation speed is 10 seconds, and the time T2 for rotating the drum at the second rotation speed is 10 seconds. Then, after alternately repeating the first rotation speed and the second rotation speed, an example is shown in which the imbalance becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value during the rotation at 56 rpm, and the process shifts to high-speed dehydration.

  FIG. 4 shows the output of the vibration detector during the operation sequence. It can be seen that the fluctuation of the output is increased by periodically changing the rotation speed. It can also be seen that the timing at which the amplitude of the output value is small appears at both the first rotation speed and the second rotation speed. When the amplitude of the output value is small, the unbalance amount is small, and the Peak to Peak value is compared with a predetermined value determined in advance. If the value is less than the predetermined value, the drum rotation is accelerated to shift to high speed dewatering. I will do it.

  If the Peak-to-Peak value does not fall below the predetermined value even if the first rotation number and the second rotation number are repeated a predetermined number of times at predetermined intervals, the drum rotation is stopped in step S9.

  Note that if the drum continues to rotate in the same direction for a long period of time, the laundry will become entangled and cause an unbalanced condition. Therefore, the predetermined number of times should be limited to about 1 minute from the start. Is desirable.

  If the rotation of the drum is temporarily stopped, then the rotation of the drum is reversed, the whole laundry is once loosened, and then the normal rotation is started again from step S1 and the balance operation is performed. The possibility of appearing increases.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control device that suppresses vibration due to unbalance of the laundry of the drum type washing machine in the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 22 denotes a cloth amount detection unit, and other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the operation and action of the present embodiment will be described. When the cloth amount detection means 22 for detecting the amount of cloth based on the acceleration time until the water tank 13 is rotated at a certain rotational speed, etc., detects the cloth amount of the laundry, the information on the cloth amount is transmitted to the control means 21 and the cloth amount is detected. In response to this, control is performed so as to switch a predetermined value preset in the unbalance detection means 20. In general, when the amount of cloth is about 2 kg, the amplitude of the output of the vibration detecting device is relatively small, and when the amount of cloth is about 6 kg, the unbalance amount is larger than that when the amount of cloth is 2 kg. The amplitude of the output of the detection device becomes relatively large.

  When the amount of cloth is about 2 kg (small amount of cloth), the predetermined value of the output value in the unbalance detection means is set to 0.01 V, for example. As in the first embodiment, sampling is performed in one second, and if the value of the sampled Peak to Peak is 0.01 V or less, the drum rotation is accelerated and the process proceeds to high-speed dewatering.

  Further, when the cloth amount is about 6 kg (a large amount of cloth), the predetermined value of the output value in the unbalance detection means is set to 0.02 V, for example. Similarly, sampling is performed in 1 second, and if the value of the Peaked-Peak sampled is 0.02 V or less, the drum rotation is accelerated and the process proceeds to high-speed dewatering.

  In this way, by switching the predetermined value in the imbalance detection means according to the amount of laundry, it is possible to perform more accurate imbalance detection according to the output of the vibration detection device that varies depending on the amount of laundry. Become.

  In the first embodiment, the time T1 for rotating the drum at the first rotational speed is 10 seconds, and the time T2 for rotating the drum at the second rotational speed is 10 seconds. The time distribution between T1 and T2 is output from the cloth amount detecting means. By switching based on the above, it is possible to increase the probability that a state with little unbalance will appear.

  Specifically, for example, when the output of the cloth amount detecting means is “low cloth amount”, the amount of laundry that moves without sticking to the inner surface of the drum at the first rotation speed is larger than that when the cloth amount is large. Since the amount of moving laundry is less, the time distribution of T2 with a larger amount of laundry is made longer than T1 (for example, T1 is set to 10 seconds and T2 is set to 15 seconds), so that the drum is rotated at the second rotation speed. Since it is possible to increase the probability that a state with little unbalance will appear when the vehicle is running, it is possible to shift to high speed rotation in a short time from the start of dehydration.

  On the other hand, in the case of “large amount of cloth”, the amount of laundry that moves without sticking to the inner surface of the drum at the first rotation speed is larger than that in the case where the amount of cloth is small. Can be made shorter than T1, and there is a high probability that a state with little unbalance will appear when the drum is rotated at the first rotation speed, so that a state with a small unbalance amount can be detected efficiently. It is possible to shift to high speed rotation in a short time from the start of dehydration.

  The “dehydration” explained so far is not only a definitive dehydration in each of the washing, rinsing and dehydrating processes in the washing process of the washing machine, but also the dehydration before the washing is finished and the rinsing is started. In addition, rinse dehydration performed after the completion of each rinsing performed a plurality of times is also included.

  As described above, the drum type washing machine according to the present invention can create a state in which there is little unbalance of laundry at an early stage of dehydration, and can suppress vibration during dehydration, so that it can be operated with high efficiency. It is useful as a drum type washing machine and a low vibration, low noise type drum type washing machine.

1 is a block diagram of a control device for a washing machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Flowchart of operation sequence of unbalance detection means in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The graph which shows the drum rotation speed of the imbalance detection process in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph which shows the output of the vibration detection apparatus of the unbalance detection process in Embodiment 1 of this invention Block diagram of a control device for a washing machine in Embodiment 2 of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case 11 Drum 12 Motor 13 Water tank 14 Seal packing 15 Support spring 16 Anti-vibration damper 17 Vibration detection device 18 Cover 19 Anti-vibration rubber 20 Unbalance detection means 21 Control means 22 Cloth amount detection means

Claims (4)

A drum provided with water passage holes on the outer periphery, a water tank that encloses the drum and stores washing water, a motor that rotationally drives the drum, a housing that houses the water tank, and a water tank attached between the water tank and the housing. An anti-vibration damper that suppresses vibration, a vibration detection device that detects vibration provided in the water tank, an unbalance detection means that detects an unbalance amount of the laundry according to an output of the vibration detection device, and the unbalance Control means for controlling the motor based on the output of the detection means, wherein the control means has a first rotational speed at which a part of the drum moves while the laundry is stuck to the inner surface of the drum, and the first The drum is rotated at a high speed when the output of the unbalance detection means is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold in a state where the second rotation speed, which moves more than the rotation speed, is alternately rotated at predetermined intervals. Standing in Gel so in the drum-type washing machine. 2. The drum type washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the control means reverses the rotation of the drum when the output of the unbalance detection means does not fall below a predetermined threshold and continues for a predetermined time. The drum type according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a cloth amount detecting means for detecting a cloth amount of the laundry is provided, and the control means switches a threshold value of the unbalance detecting means based on an output of the cloth amount detecting means. Washing machine. Based on the output of the cloth amount detection means, the control means makes the second rotation time longer than the first rotation time when the cloth amount is small, and the first rotation time when the cloth amount is large. 4. A drum type washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the time of the second rotational speed is shortened.