JP2010148863A - Drum washing and drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drum washing and drying machine attaining the reduction of wrinkles in clothes by efficiently detecting the progress state of a clothes drying step. <P>SOLUTION: The drum washing and drying machine includes: a water tub 2 storing a rotary drum 3 to stir laundry and supported by a spring 8 from a casing 1; a motor 4 driving the rotary drum 3; vibration detecting means 6 detecting the vibration of the water tub 2; and control means 7 for controlling a series of steps of clothes weight determining, washing, spin-drying, and drying. The control means 7 detects the drying step progress state, based on a difference between the output of the vibration detecting means 6 in the clothes weight determining step and the output of the vibration detecting means 6 in the drying step. Thus, the drum washing and drying machine is provided wherein the wrinkles are prevented in drying where the drying is not progressed and the laundry is easily wrinkled at a high moisture content ratio. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum-type washing / drying machine for washing and drying clothes housed therein by rotationally driving a rotating drum formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape installed in a water tank.

  Conventionally, this type of drum-type washing and drying machine is a process that automatically performs the process from washing to drying, along with a function to detect the amount of clothes put in and a washing detection function to perform optimal washing depending on the degree of dirt. A dry end detection function is performed by utilizing the property that the weight change stops when moisture evaporation of the clothing is completed by detecting the weight change of the water tank at the end (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of a conventional drum-type washing and drying machine, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a damper for detecting the clothing weight of the drum-type washing and drying machine, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the correlation of the detected weight of a drum-type washing dryer, and drying time.

  In FIG. 7, a water tank 52 containing a drum 51 that is rotated by putting clothes is supported by a spring 54 from the upper part of the washing / drying machine casing 53 and is supported by a damper 55 from below. The rotation of the motor 56 attached to the outer bottom portion of the water tank 52 is transmitted to the rotation drive of the drum 51 through the belt 58 and the pulley 57.

  After the washing water in the water tank 52 and the drum 51 is drained out of the machine by the drain valve 59, the drying process is performed following the dehydration process.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the damper 55 has a fixed portion 80 fixed to the housing 53 side and an operating portion 81 fixed to the water tank 52 side, and the positional relationship between the coil 83 and the ferrite core 85 is reduced by the sinking of the water tank 52 due to clothing weight. As a result, the output of the displacement detector 92 changes. In response to the change in the output of the displacement amount detection unit 92, a signal is transmitted from the weight change detection unit 93 and the drying end detection unit 94 to the control unit 95.

  FIG. 9 shows the detected weight value from the weight change detection unit 93 on the vertical axis and the time on the horizontal axis.

  In FIG. 9, when the drum 51 is rotated and the drying progresses and the drying of the internal garment is completed, the evaporation reaches the saturation point where the moisture evaporation stops and the control unit saturates the detected weight change. It is determined that the drying is completed using the points to be performed.

JP-A-6-79098

  However, since the conventional means must accurately measure the delicate clothing weight, the rotating drum must be temporarily stopped to stop the movement of the clothing, and the amount of change in the vertical direction of the water tank However, since it can only be detected, it has a problem of low accuracy.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, detecting the drying progress state from the amount of time change of the vibration amount of the water tank due to the collision of the clothes with the side surface of the rotating drum, and not only in the vertical direction but also in the An object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing / drying machine that detects a dry progress state accurately from the amount of time position change in the left-right direction and operates to reduce wrinkles of clothes from the dry progress state.

In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a drum-type washing and drying machine of the present invention includes a rotating drum having a stirring protrusion that hooks and lifts a loaded laundry, and is supported by an elastic support mechanism from a housing. , A drive motor for the rotating drum, vibration detecting means for detecting vibration of the water tank, and control means for controlling a series of steps of clothing weight determination, washing, dehydration and drying, the control means comprising the clothing weight The drying progress state is determined from the difference between the output of the vibration detection unit in the determination step and the output of the vibration detection unit in the drying step, and the vibration value output from the vibration detection unit is the vibration in the clothing weight determination step. When it is larger than the first threshold value that is larger than the output vibration value from the detection means, the control is performed so as not to put on the clothes.
As a result, the size of the laundry being lifted by the stirring protrusion and colliding into the rotating drum due to free fall and the rotating drum vibrating varies depending on the moisture content of the clothes. Therefore, it is not necessary to detect the weight by temporarily stopping the rotation of the drum to detect the weight, and it is possible to detect the progress of drying accurately. Since the operation to reduce is performed, it is possible to accurately detect the dry state of the laundry in the rotating drum, and to provide optimum drying and finishing of clothes.

  The drum type washing and drying machine of the present invention can accurately detect the dry state of the laundry in the rotating drum, and can provide optimum drying and finishing of clothes.

Configuration diagram of a drum-type washing and drying machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows the timing which performs the time transition and wrinkle reduction sequence of vibration value X2 at the time of the drying process of the drum type washing and drying machine The figure which shows the time transition of the vibration value X2 at the time of the drying process of the drum type washing dryer, and the entanglement elimination timing The figure which shows time transition and sticking elimination timing of vibration value X2 at the time of the drying process of the drum type washing and drying machine The figure which shows the time transition of the vibration value X2 at the time of the drying process of the same drum type washing-drying machine, and the drying process end detection timing The other figure which shows the time transition of the vibration value X2 at the time of the drying process of the same drum type washing-drying machine, and the drying process end detection timing Sectional drawing which shows the whole structure of the conventional washing dryer The figure which shows the structure of the damper which performs the clothing weight detection of the washing dryer Figure showing the correlation between the detected weight of the washing dryer and the drying time

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a casing and a rotating drum for loading laundry, a water tank that accommodates the rotating drum and supported by an elastic support mechanism from the casing, and a motor that rotates the rotating drum are loaded. A stirring protrusion for hooking and lifting the laundry, a vibration detecting means for detecting the vibration of the water tank, and a control means for controlling a series of processes such as a clothing weight determination process, a washing, rinsing, dehydrating and drying processes. The control means determines the drying progress state from the difference between the output of the vibration detection means in the clothing weight determination step and the output of the vibration detection means in the drying step, and the vibration value output from the vibration detection means. However, when it is larger than the first threshold value that is larger than the output vibration value from the vibration detecting means in the clothing weight determination step, the rotation drum is temporarily set by controlling the operation so that the clothing does not wrinkle. Without stopping the movement of clothes and detecting the weight, the progress of the drying process is detected accurately, and the drying process is not progressing. It can be prevented from sticking.

  According to a second invention, in particular, in the first invention, the vibration detecting means is composed of at least one device for detecting the positional relationship between the rotating drum and the casing or the amount of change in position, and the upper, lower, left and right, front and rear of the water tank. By detecting as at least one vibration component in the direction, etc., and controlling to output the vibration component for each direction or the sum of the vibration components for each direction, the vibration of the aquarium is not necessarily limited to one direction. By using the sum of the acceleration information for each, it is possible to accurately grasp the vibration of the aquarium due to the complicated movement of the clothing, so that the vibration of the aquarium can be accurately grasped.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in particular, when the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the drying process is greater than or equal to a predetermined value within a predetermined time in the first or second invention, the clothing is entangled. It is possible to detect such a situation and to control the clothes so that the clothes are not wrinkled, to improve the twist of the clothes caused by the entanglement of the clothes, and to prevent the clothes from being wrinkled.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in particular, when the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the drying process is reduced by a predetermined value or more within a predetermined time in the first invention or the second invention, the garment is a rotating drum. By detecting the sticking to the side and controlling the operation to reduce the target rotational speed of the rotating drum, the clothes were prevented from sticking to the side of the rotating drum, and the contact area between the clothes and dry air was prevented from decreasing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the drying efficiency from being lowered and drying variation.

  The fifth invention is the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the clothing weight determination step and the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the drying step, particularly in any one of the first to fourth inventions. When the difference between and becomes smaller than a predetermined value, it is possible to prevent the drying process from being finished due to undried or over-dried by controlling the drying process.

  The sixth aspect of the invention relates to the drying step particularly when the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the drying step in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the invention does not change more than a predetermined value in a predetermined time. By setting it as the control which complete | finishes, the situation where drying is complete | finished by undried or overdried can be prevented.

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the drum type washing and drying machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 performs a time transition of vibration value X2 and a wrinkle reduction sequence during the drying process of the drum type washing and drying machine. FIG. 3 is a timing chart of the vibration value X2 during the drying process of the drum-type washer / dryer and the timing for eliminating the entanglement between clothes, and FIG. 4 is the drying process of the drum-type washer / dryer. It is a time transition of vibration value X2 at the time, and a sticking elimination timing diagram. 5 and 6 show a time transition of the vibration value X2 during the drying process of the drum type washing and drying machine and a timing chart for detecting the end of the drying process.

  In FIG. 1, a rotating drum 3 serving as a washing and dewatering tub that accommodates laundry such as clothes and has a stirring protrusion 12 for stirring clothes is shaken by a spring 8 or a damper 14 that is an elastic support mechanism. It is pivotally supported in the water tank 2 that is movable and supported by vibration isolation.

  The motor 4 fixed to the outer bottom portion of the water tank 2 is constituted by a brushless motor or the like, the rotation speed is variable, and the rotary drum 3 is driven in each process of rinsing, dewatering, and drying.

  In the drying function, an air inlet 15 is provided in the upper part of the water tank 2, and the moist air sent from the air intake cylinder 16 to the air intake fan 17 is heated by the heater 18 and from the air outlet 19 through the air cylinder 20. A so-called circulation path that returns to the inside of the drum 3 is formed, and moisture is released from the clothes inside the drum by the dehumidifying means 21 that is formed in a part of the intake cylinder 16.

  The vibration detecting means 6 composed of a device such as a semiconductor speed sensor fixed to the upper outer wall of the water tank 2 detects acceleration from vibrations in the axial (front / rear, left / right, vertical) direction of the water tank 2. This is because the vibration of the actual water tank 2 is not necessarily limited to one direction, so that the detection accuracy is improved by using the sum of the three-axis acceleration components using the three-axis type. .

  The vibration detecting means 6 detects a swinging state of the water tank 2 when the rotating drum 3 rotates, and is an allowable value for preventing collision with the casing 1 due to abnormal vibration of the water tank 2 and preventing damage to the water tank 2 itself. At the time of the vibration described above, a signal is transmitted to the control device 7 to perform anti-vibration control (for example, a loosening process of clothing unbalance distribution, reduction of the spin speed).

  The control means 7 is originally housed in the housing 1, but in order to explain the function in an easy-to-understand manner, the control means 7 is taken to the right as shown in FIG.

  The control means 7 includes a vibration value calculation means 9 for calculating a frequency component for the signal detected by the vibration detection means 6, a rotation time control means 10 for controlling the rotation speed and time of the motor, washing, rinsing, dehydration, It comprises a sequence control means 11 for controlling a cloth peeling process, a series of processes for extending and drying the cloth peeling process, and anti-vibration control.

  Before starting the washing process, the clothing weight is determined to set the amount of detergent and water level.

  In the clothing weight determination step, for example, while performing rotation control, the average voltage applied to the motor 4 is gradually increased in the control circuit to shift to high speed rotation, and the clothing is uniformly applied to the inner wall of the rotating drum 3 by centrifugal force. Make it stick. In this state, the rotation of the motor 4 is stopped after continuing the rotation for a predetermined time. Thereby, the time until the inertial rotation of the rotary drum 3 is stopped is long when the amount of cloth is large, and short when the amount of cloth is small. Control that detects the amount of cloth using the fact that the difference in time required for this stop is proportional to the amount of cloth is common.

When the weight of the cloth is m, the average radius of the cloth distributed on the inner periphery of the rotary drum 3 is r, and the rotational angular velocity is ω, the centrifugal force F applied to the cloth is obtained by F = mrω ² and the motor 4 is energized. When stopped, the centrifugal force F becomes the initial inertial rotational force of the rotary drum 3. Accordingly, the cloth amount can be detected from the theory that the time until the rotating drum 3 stops is proportional to F, that is, the cloth amount.

  At the time of clothing weight determination, the movement of the water tank is detected by the vibration detection means 6 to detect the vibration value, and this value is defined as (vibration value X1).

  Next, in the washing process and the rinsing process, water is supplied into the water tank 2 and the rotating drum 3, and the forward and reverse rotations are repeated. Then, in the dehydrating process, the washing water is drained from the water tank 2 and then the rotating drum 3 is rotated at a high speed. And dehydrate with centrifugal force.

  In the drying step next to the dehydration step, the air heated by the heating device 18 is introduced into the rotary drum 3 by the blower 17 while rotating the rotating drum 3 at a low speed and the clothing is lifted and dropped by the stirring protrusion 12. To dry.

Also in the drying process, the vibration of the water tank 2 is detected by the vibration detection means 6, and the magnitude of the vibration value is calculated by the vibration value calculation means 9 from the detected output change of vibration (acceleration). The control means
The drying progress state of the laundry in the rotating drum is determined according to the output change due to the time transition of the amplitude of the signal obtained by the vibration detection means 6, and the drying process is performed by the sequence control means 11 corresponding to the progress state of the drying. Is finished, a wrinkle reduction sequence is performed, and the target rotational speed of the rotating drum is controlled.

  The operation / action of the washing / drying machine configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows the change in the output of the vibration detecting means during the drying process, that is, the time transition of the vibration value X2 of the water tank and the timing for performing the wrinkle reduction sequence.

  During the course of the drying operation, the moisture content of the clothes is high and the clothes are easily wrinkled. Although the clothes are lifted by the stirring protrusion 12 and an impact force that collides with the side surface of the rotating drum due to free fall appears as a vibration value X2, the value of X2 increases when the moisture content of the clothes is high.

  When the vibration value X2 is larger than the predetermined value Y3, it is determined that the clothes are likely to be wrinkled, and the drum is temporarily stopped to reverse the rotation before stopping (forward rotation → stop → reverse). A sequence such as reducing the amount of dryness or increasing the amount of dry air and extending the clothes is performed to reduce the occurrence of wrinkles on the clothes. If it becomes below predetermined value Y3, since the moisture content of clothing will become low and generation | occurrence | production of wrinkles will decrease, it transfers to a normal driving | operation.

  FIG. 3 shows that the change in the output of the vibration detecting means during the drying process, that is, the time transition of the vibration value X2 of the water tank and the entanglement of clothing are detected, the target rotation speed of the rotary drum 3 is controlled, and the entanglement is eliminated. It is shown.

  Although the clothes are lifted by the stirring protrusion 12 and an impact force that collides with the side surface of the rotary drum 3 due to free fall appears as a vibration value X2, the clothes are entangled with each other, and fall as a lump of clothes on the side surface of the rotary drum. Since the impact given to 3 increases, the vibration value increases in a short time. In FIG. 3, when the fluctuation value when the vibration value increases in a short time becomes larger than the predetermined value Y2, it is determined that the clothes are entangled with each other, and the target rotation number of the rotary drum 3 is increased. This eliminates the entanglement and reduces the drying efficiency due to the reduction of the contact area of the dry air with the clothes and the drying variation, thereby providing optimum drying.

  FIG. 4 shows the amount of change in the output of the vibration detection means during the drying process, that is, the time transition of the vibration value X2 of the aquarium and the sticking of clothing to the side surface of the rotary drum 3, and controls the target rotational speed of the rotary drum 3. This indicates that the sticking has been eliminated.

  Although the clothes are lifted by the stirring protrusion 12 and an impact force that collides with the side surface of the rotating drum 3 due to free fall appears as a vibration value X2, the clothes do not fall on the side surface of the rotating drum by sticking to the side surface of the rotating drum. Since the impact applied to 3 is low, the vibration value is reduced in a short time. In FIG. 3, when the fluctuation value when the vibration value decreases in a short time becomes larger than the predetermined value Y1, it is determined that the clothing has stuck to the side surface of the rotary drum 3, and the target rotational speed of the rotary drum 3 is reduced. Thus, the sticking of the clothes to the side surface of the rotary drum 3 is eliminated, the drying efficiency is reduced due to the reduction of the contact area between the clothes and the dry air, and the drying variation is eliminated, thereby providing optimum drying.

  5 and 6 show the amount of change in the output (vertical axis) of the vibration detection means during the drying process, that is, the time transition (horizontal axis) of the vibration value X2 of the water tank, and the timing for detecting the end of drying. .

As the drying progresses, the moisture content of the garment decreases and the garment weight becomes lighter.
The impact force that is lifted by 2 and collides with the side surface of the rotating drum 3 due to free fall appears as the vibration value X2, but the moisture in the clothes evaporates and the moisture evaporates and becomes lighter, so X2 decreases.

  In FIG. 5, the clothing drying process ends when X2 decreases with time and the difference from the vibration value X1 obtained at the time of clothing weight determination is Y4 or less.

  That is, if the clothing weight is large, the vibration of the rotating drum is large, and if the clothing weight is small, the vibration is small. If the clothes are the same, the weight of the clothes is determined by the moisture content. If the moisture content is high, the clothing weight is large and undried. If the moisture content is low, the clothing weight is small and drying is progressing. It shows that.

  In FIG. 6, when the vibration value X2 of the water tank decreases with time, and the amount of change in X2 becomes Y5 or less during a predetermined time t1, the removal of moisture from the clothing is finished, and the drying process is finished. .

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the vibration value obtained at the time of garment weight determination, and the laundry in the drying process are lifted by the stirring protrusion, collide into the rotating drum due to free fall, and the rotating drum vibrates. Compared with the vibration value of the clothes, the drying progress state is determined by the change in the moisture content of the clothing. The clothes are not detected without detecting the weight by temporarily stopping the rotating drum and stopping the movement of the clothing. Because it detects vibrations applied to the aquarium due to complex movements of the water, it accurately and efficiently detects the progress of the drying process, and when drying in a state where the moisture content is high and the moisture content is high , Can prevent wrinkles.

  As described above, the drum-type washing / drying machine according to the present invention detects dryness from the change in vibration applied to the water tank by the clothes, and thus efficiently prevents undrying, overdrying, and wrinkles on the clothes. Therefore, it can be widely applied not only to home-use laundry dryers but also to commercial laundry dryers.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Water tank 3 Rotating drum 4 Motor 6 Vibration detection means 7 Control means 8 Spring (elastic support mechanism)
9 Vibration value calculation means 12 Stirring protrusion 14 Damper (elastic support mechanism)

Claims (6)

A housing and a rotating drum for loading laundry, a water tub that accommodates the rotating drum and supported by an elastic support mechanism from the housing, a motor that rotates the rotating drum, and hooks and lifts the loaded laundry A stirring protrusion, a vibration detecting means for detecting vibration of the water tank, and a control means for controlling a series of steps such as a clothing weight determination step, a washing, rinsing, dehydration and drying step, The drying progress state is determined from the difference between the output of the vibration detection unit in the clothing weight determination step and the output of the vibration detection unit in the drying step, and the vibration value output from the vibration detection unit is the clothing weight determination step. The drum-type washing and drying machine is controlled so as to perform an operation that does not wrinkle clothes when it is larger than a first threshold value that is larger than the output vibration value from the vibration detecting means. The vibration detection means is composed of at least one device that detects the positional relationship between the rotating drum and the casing or the amount of change in position, and detects it as at least one vibration component in the vertical, horizontal, front and rear directions of the aquarium. The drum-type washing and drying machine according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to output a vibration component for each direction or a sum of vibration components for each direction. When the vibration value output from the vibration detecting means in the drying process is increased by a predetermined value or more within a predetermined time, the control means detects that the clothes are entangled with each other, and performs control that does not wrinkle the clothes. The drum-type washing / drying machine according to claim 1 or 2. The control means detects that clothing has stuck to the side surface of the rotating drum when the vibration value output from the vibration detecting means in the drying process has decreased by a predetermined value or more within a predetermined time, and reduces the target rotational speed of the rotating drum. The drum type washing / drying machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control is performed. The control means is a control for ending the drying process when the difference between the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the clothing weight determination process and the vibration value output from the vibration detection means in the drying process is smaller than a predetermined value. The drum type laundry dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The drum type according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control means is configured to control the drying process to end when the vibration value output from the vibration detecting means in the drying process does not change by a predetermined value or more in a predetermined time. Washing and drying machine.