JP2011101667A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems of a conventional washing machine that the state of laundry cannot be correctly recognized when the laundry is washed, wherein the washing capability of the washing machine cannot be improved by appropriately controlling the rotational speed of a rotary drum during washing, and wherein high washing performance cannot be achieved as the rotary drum is rotated at fixed rotational speed. <P>SOLUTION: A semiconductor acceleration sensor 6 is mounted at an upper part of a water tub 2, and the state of the laundry within the rotary drum 3 is estimated based on the result of calculation by a frequency component calculation means 9. By repeating centrifugal washing and beat washing based on the result of the estimation, high washing performance can be achieved in the washing machine. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing machine that sequentially executes washing, rinsing, and dewatering.

  Conventionally, in such a washing machine, an accelerometer is attached to a water tank containing the rotating drum, and the rotating drum is rotated by estimating the behavior of the laundry from the amount of change in the acceleration sensor output and the amount of change in the torque current component of the motor. The control means which changes the rotational speed of the motor to be made is provided (for example, refer patent document 1).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional drum-type washing machine.

  A water tank 52 is elastically supported in the casing 51 by a suspension structure, and a rotating drum 53 is disposed in the water tank 52. The rotary drum 53 is rotationally driven by a motor 54. By opening a door 55 that can be freely opened and closed in the casing 51, the laundry can be taken in and out of the rotary drum 53 through the front opening of the water tank 52 and the front opening of the rotary drum 53.

  A semiconductor acceleration sensor 56 is attached to the aquarium 52. From the amount of change in the output of the semiconductor acceleration sensor 56 and the amount of change in the torque current component of the motor 54, the control means 57 estimates the behavior of the laundry, The cleaning operation is controlled by controlling the motor 54 and rotating the rotating drum 53.

  Conventionally, the rotating drum 53 is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed, the laundry is lifted upward by the stirring protrusion provided on the inner peripheral wall of the rotating drum 53, and the gravity applied to the laundry is superior to the centrifugal force due to the rotation. A cleaning method that is generally referred to as a tapping method that drops to the bottom of the rotating drum 53 has been the mainstream. However, in recent years, for the purpose of improving better cleaning performance and rinsing performance, the rotating drum 53 is rotated by rotating the rotating drum 53 at a rotational speed at which the centrifugal force applied to the laundry by rotation always exceeds the gravity. There is also a washing machine that performs control such that a laundry is attached to the inner wall of the machine and combined with a centrifugal washing method in which the washing liquid is permeated into the laundry in this state.

JP 2006-346270 A

  However, when the rotating drum is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed such that the centrifugal force applied to the laundry is superior to the gravity in the case of washing too easily as described above, that is, the laundry sticks to the inner wall of the rotating drum. Had the following problems:

  Since the laundry is tangled and stuck to the inner wall of the rotating drum, a certain degree of detergent power can be exhibited, but since the mechanical power cannot be sufficiently exhibited, a higher cleaning effect cannot be achieved.

The present invention estimates the state of the laundry in the rotating drum with an acceleration sensor, and controls the rotation of the rotating drum correspondingly, thereby washing the above problem The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, in the present invention, a frequency component calculating means for calculating a frequency component with respect to vibration detected by a sensor (vibration detecting means) installed in a water tank, and a motor according to the magnitude of the frequency component. Rotational speed control means for changing the rotational speed of the

  The behavior of the laundry is determined by extracting a vibration component having a specific frequency from the vibration of the aquarium. Specifically, the frequency component corresponding to the product obtained by multiplying the rotational speed of the rotating drum by the number of stirring protrusions is extracted from the vibration obtained by the vibration detecting means by the frequency component calculating means. This component is caused by a component in which the stirring protrusion provided on the rotating drum strikes the supplied water. By calculating the frequency component, the pattern of the laundry inside the rotating drum can be estimated, and based on the result, the rotational speed at which the centrifugal force exceeds that of gravity and the rotational speed at which the centrifugal force is inferior to gravity are alternately executed. . In the case of tapping, the same rotation speed is maintained.

  By efficiently processing the output obtained from the washing machine and acceleration sensor of the present invention, optimal rotation control is performed, so that the cleaning performance and the rinsing performance can be enhanced.

Configuration diagram of washing machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention The graph which shows the frequency characteristic in 2nd Embodiment of the washing machine Determination flowchart in the second embodiment of the washing machine Determination flowchart in the second embodiment of the washing machine Determination flowchart in the second embodiment of the washing machine Configuration diagram of a conventional washing machine

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating drum that accommodates and rotates laundry, a water tank that accommodates the rotating drum and is supported by an elastic support mechanism from a housing, and a motor that rotates the rotating drum. A stirring protrusion for hooking and lifting the laundry, a vibration detecting means for detecting the vibration of the aquarium, a frequency component calculating means for calculating a frequency component with respect to the vibration detected by the vibration detecting means, and a rotational speed of the motor. A rotation speed control means for changing, and a control means for controlling a series of processes such as washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying. The control means mainly in the washing process and the rinsing process, a part of the laundry is part of the rotating drum. The state where the inner wall sticks and the state where the laundry falls in the rotating drum are alternately executed, and the signal detected by the vibration detecting means is rotated by the frequency component calculating means. By accurately determining the state of the laundry in the rotating drum based on the result of inferring the state of the laundry in the rack, the state of the laundry in the rotating drum is quantified to accurately grasp the state of the sticking. Can do. In addition, by alternately performing the sticking and hitting, it is possible to alternately realize the mechanical force and the cleaning force, so that high cleaning performance can be obtained.

  In the second invention, in particular, the frequency component calculating means of the first invention includes a region in which the laundry is not lifted and rolls on the inner peripheral wall, a tapping region in which the gravity falls when the gravity exceeds the centrifugal force, and the laundry Is divided into three areas that stick to the inner wall of the rotating drum, and after rotating at the optimum number of tumbles, the spectral values are summed and compared, so that the laundry in the rotating drum has the largest spectral value in any of the above areas. And the process can be controlled so that the laundry is in a beating state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in particular, when the area estimated by the frequency component calculation means is a rugged area, the control means of the second invention uses the rotation speed control means to determine the rotation speed at which the laundry sticks to the inner wall and wash When the rotational speed is set to be repeated and the operations are repeated, centrifugal washing and tapping are alternately performed, so that it is possible to alternately apply mechanical force and detergent force to the laundry. Therefore, washing of the laundry can be enhanced.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, when the control means of the second or third aspect of the invention is an area where the area estimated by the frequency component calculation means sticks, the rotation speed control means causes the laundry to be struck. By setting the speed and repeating it, the acceleration detected by the sensor is quickly fed back, the state of the laundry is inferred, and the washing of the laundry is enhanced by performing both optimum tapping and centrifugal washing. Can do.

  In the fifth invention, in particular, the control means of any one of the second to fourth inventions, when the area estimated by the frequency component calculation means is a tapping area, is always tapped by the rotational speed control means. By setting and maintaining the rotation speed, it is possible to always provide the most suitable washing for the laundry, so that the washing of the laundry can be enhanced.

  In the sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, the control means of the fourth or fifth aspect of the invention controls the rotational speed control when the comparison of the sum of the spectrum values estimated by the frequency component calculation means becomes a similar value within a predetermined range. By setting the rotation speed at which the washing is always performed by means and maintaining it, the washing of the laundry can always be reproduced, and the washing of the laundry can be enhanced.

  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 configuration diagram of a washing machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The main configuration of the present invention described in the drawings will be described in order.

  In FIG. 1, a rotating drum 3 as a washing tub for storing and rotating laundry such as laundry is connected to a motor 4 and rotates to wash the laundry. The motor 4 for rotating the rotating drum 3 is constituted by a brushless motor or the like, and the rotation speed is variable, and the forward rotation and the reverse rotation are repeated in the washing process. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotating drum 3 and the water tank 2 for containing water are elastically supported by the housing 1 via an elastic support mechanism 8 such as a suspension 8a or a vibration damping damper 8b.

  In the first embodiment, the semiconductor acceleration sensor 6 (vibration detecting means) for detecting the vibration of the water tank 2 detects the acceleration of vibration in the left-right direction with respect to the front surface of the rotating drum 3 as an example. The acceleration sensor may be a semiconductor acceleration sensor, a piezoelectric acceleration sensor, or the like, and may be a multi-axis (two-axis or three-axis) acceleration sensor. Since the actual vibration of the aquarium is not necessarily limited to one direction, it is preferable to use a three-axis acceleration sensor that is obtained by adding and summing three-axis acceleration components or integrating the three-axis acceleration sensors. The frequency component calculation means 9 that performs Fourier transform processing from the vibration (acceleration) detected by the vibration detection means 6 and extracts a frequency component corresponding to the rotational speed of the motor is specifically composed of a microcomputer. Discrete Fourier transform (hereinafter referred to as DFT) or fast Fourier transform (hereinafter referred to as FFT) is performed on the signal obtained by the detection means 6 to calculate the magnitude of the frequency component. The rotation speed of the rotary drum 3 is acquired from the rotation speed control means 10, and the rotation time of the rotary drum 3 is acquired from the rotation time control means 11.

  About the washing machine comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below using FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows the result of frequency analysis performed on the vibration data of the rotating drum 3 obtained by the semiconductor acceleration sensor 6 of the washing machine according to the first embodiment. The horizontal axis is the frequency [Hz], and the vertical axis is the spectrum value. The frequency corresponding to the rotation speed of the rotary drum 3 is N / 60 Hz when the rotation speed is Nr / min, and this N / 60 Hz is multiplied by the number of stirring protrusions 12 attached to the inner wall of the rotary drum 3. The value is the frequency component in the wash-washed state.

  FIG. 2 shows frequency components when three stirring protrusions 12 are provided and the rotational speed of the rotating drum 3 is 49 r / min. Since the frequency in the tapping state is 2.45 Hz from the above calculation formula, in the state of FIG. 2, the spectrum value is the largest in the vicinity of 2.45 Hz (tapping region), so the laundry at this time It can be seen that the state of is a wash-washed state.

  Further, when the spectral value of the frequency component in the sticking region is large, the laundry is in a state of sticking to the inner wall of the rotating drum 3, so that the frequency component substantially the same as the rotation period of the rotating drum 3 appears. That is, since the laundry is attached to the inner wall of the rotating drum 3 and rotates together with the rotating drum 3, the laundry becomes an eccentric load of the rotating drum 3. For this reason, the vibration is regularly generated every time the rotational drum 3 rotates, and as a result, the vibration component at the frequency corresponding to the rotational speed increases.

  On the other hand, when the grooving component is large, the laundry is not lifted up and is grooving at the bottom of the rotating drum 3, so the outer box of the rotating drum 3 is less vibrated, but the spectral value of the frequency component in the grooving region You can see it grows. That is, the laundry always comes into contact with the stirring protrusion 12 at the bottom of the rotary drum 3, and the laundry rotates on the spot due to the influence. Therefore, vibration occurs every time the stirring protrusion hits the laundry, and the vibration component of the stirring protrusion becomes large.

  Next, an actual motion flow will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the washing process starts in step 100, water supply starts in step 101, and then in step 102, whether or not a predetermined water level has been reached is determined. Washing stirring that rotates at the rotation speed begins. If not, repeat this operation until the water level reaches the predetermined level. Next, at step 104, a predetermined rotation speed is given to the motor 4. The predetermined rotational speed at this time is 45 r / min. In step 105, acceleration is detected with the number of tumbles of 4 times, and each of them is DFT transformed, and the spectrum values for the 4 times are summed and output. Here, the number of tumbles is set to four, and the numerical values used for data processing vary greatly with one tumble, and the same can be said with two and three times. Furthermore, if the number of tumbles is 5 times or more, it takes a long time to calculate and detect vibration, so that the cleaning effect by the acceleration sensor cannot be obtained sufficiently, so that the optimum number of tumbles is 4 times.

  Next, in step 106, the sum of the calculated spectrum values for the four tumbles is determined. FIG. 3 shows a case where the value of the rough area is the largest. The result determined in step 106 is the grooving area in step 107. That is, since the laundry is not lifted up and is grooving at the bottom of the rotating drum 3, the vibration of the agitation occurs until the agitation protrusion 12 touches the laundry and the next agitation protrusion comes. The frequency component obtained by adding the value obtained by multiplying the number of 12 and the vibration damping component is used as a gorogoro component.

Next, the motor 4 is instructed to increase the rotational speed of the rotating drum 3 to 70 r / min, which is the rotational speed that realizes the “state where a part of the laundry sticks to the inner peripheral wall of the rotating drum 3” in Step 108. Perform a centrifugal wash. Thereafter, in step 109, the rotational speed at which the spectrum value of the hit component is maximized is set. The rotational speed at which the hit state can be reproduced is 41 r / min to 49 r / min. Then, step 108 and step 109
By alternately repeating the above, higher cleaning performance can be obtained by using detergent power in the sticking state and using mechanical force in the hit state. It should be noted that the same effect can be obtained at any rotational speed as long as 70 r / min set in step 108 is 60 r / min to 80 r / min.

  Next, in FIG. 4, in step 106, the total of spectrum values for four tumbles is determined. The case where the value of the sticking area is the largest is shown. At this time, it becomes a sticking area in step 110. In other words, since the laundry has the same frequency component as the rotation cycle of the rotating drum, the spectrum value of the low frequency component is the largest, so that the laundry is stuck on the inner peripheral wall of the rotating drum. Represents. Next, in step 109, the rotation speed at which the spectrum value of the hit component is the largest is set. In addition, the rotational speed which can reproduce a hit state is 41r / min-49r / min. Then, by repeating Step 110 and Step 109 alternately, higher cleaning performance can be achieved by using detergent power in the sticking state and using mechanical force in the hit state.

  Finally, in FIG. 5, in step 106, the total of spectrum values for four tumbles is determined. The case where the value of the hit area is the largest is shown. At this time, it becomes a hit area in step 111. That is, the laundry is lifted and dropped by the stirring protrusion. Next, in step 112, the motor 4 is instructed to rise to 70 r / min, and centrifugal washing is executed. By alternately repeating Step 111 and Step 112, it is possible to improve the cleaning performance by using mechanical force in the hit state and detergent power in the sticking state. It should be noted that the same effect can be obtained at any rotational speed as long as 70 r / min set in step 112 is 60 r / min to 80 r / min.

  As described above, the washing machine, the rotating drum rotation speed control method, and the program according to the present invention can control the rotation speed of the rotating drum from the frequency component of the aquarium vibration, thereby preventing the laundry from sticking and rotting. The washing ability of the washing machine can be improved. This can be widely applied not only to a home-use washing machine but also to a washing / drying machine and a commercial washing machine.

2 Water tank 3 Rotating drum 4 Motor (drive means)
6 Semiconductor acceleration sensor 7 Control means 9 Frequency component calculation means 10 Rotational speed control means 11 Rotation time control means 12 Stirring protrusion

Claims (6)

A rotating drum that accommodates and rotates laundry, a water tank that accommodates the rotating drum and is supported by an elastic support mechanism from a housing, a motor that rotates the rotating drum, and an inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum A stirring protrusion for hooking and lifting the stored laundry, vibration detecting means for detecting vibration of the water tub, frequency component calculating means for calculating a frequency component with respect to the vibration detected by the vibration detecting means, and A rotation speed control means for changing the rotation speed and a control means for controlling a series of processes such as washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying are provided. The control means mainly includes a part of the laundry in the washing process and the rinsing process. The frequency component calculating means alternately executes a sticking state in which the garment sticks to the inner peripheral wall of the rotating drum and a tapping state in which the lifted laundry falls in the rotating drum. The guess the state of laundry in the rotary drum based on the detected signal by the vibration detecting means, a washing machine, characterized in that determining the rotation speed of the sticking state by state of the guessed the laundry. The frequency component calculation means is divided into three areas: an area where the laundry cannot be lifted up and rolls on the inner wall, a tapping area where the laundry falls when gravity exceeds the centrifugal force, and an area where the laundry sticks to the inner wall of the rotating drum. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein after rotating at an optimum number of tumbles, the spectral values are summed and compared. When the area estimated by the frequency component calculation means is a rough area, the control means has a state in which a part of the laundry sticks to the inner wall and a state in which the laundry falls directly below the inner peripheral wall by the rotation speed control means The washing machine according to claim 2, wherein the washing machine is set to be repeated. The control means, when the area estimated by the frequency component calculation means is a sticking area, sets the laundry to fall in the rotating drum by the rotation speed control means, and repeats the same. The washing machine according to 2 or 3. The control means, when the region estimated by the frequency component calculation means is a tapping area, sets the rotation speed so that the tapping is always performed by the rotation speed control means, and maintains it. The washing machine according to any one of 2 to 4. The control means sets the rotation speed so that the rotation speed control means always beats when the comparison of the sum of the spectrum values estimated by the frequency component calculation means becomes a similar value within a predetermined range. The washing machine according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the washing machine is maintained.