JP2011245211A - Drum-type washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve cleaning performance by accurately detecting the amount of clothes and cloth quality.SOLUTION: A drum-type washing machine includes: a driving device 6 for driving a drum 2 to rotate; a water feed means 14 for feeding washing water into a water tank 1; a water supply quantity detecting means 15 for detecting a quantity of water fed into the water tank 1; a water level sensor (water level detecting means) 20 for detecting a water level in the water tank 1; a clothes amount detecting means 22 for detecting the amount of laundry inserted in the drum 2; and a control means 21 for controlling the driving device 6, and the control means 21 sets a rotation speed of the drum 2 during washing based on the laundry amount detected by the clothes amount detecting means 22, the water feed amount detected by the water supply quantity detecting means 15, and the water level detected by the water level sensor 20.

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum type washing machine for washing clothes and the like.

  In recent years, in a drum-type washing machine, as a method of measuring the amount of clothes put in the drum, for example, a method of determining the amount of clothes by measuring a current value of a drive motor by rotating a drum is common. Also, as means for detecting that a predetermined amount of washing water has been supplied into the drum and water tank, a pipe is connected to the pressure sensor from the bottom of the water tank, and the pressure is measured to detect the water level (water supply amount). Is common. At the start of washing, a predetermined amount of washing water is supplied from the water supply device, and at the same time, the detergent put into the detergent container is also put into the water tank together with the supplied washing water, and the drum is rotated by the drive motor. The clothes are washed.

  In general, the number of rotations of the drum in the washing process is generally set at a constant number of rotations regardless of the amount of clothes put in. In a drum-type washing machine, the clothes are lifted upward in the drum by the rotation of the drum and dropped, so-called tapping washing adds mechanical force to the clothes and at the same time removes dirt from the clothes by contacting with the washing water. To go.

  However, if the drum rotates at the same number of rotations, light and small amount of clothing will not fall from the inner wall of the drum and stick to the inner wall of the drum, depending on the weight of the clothing and the quality of the fabric (differences in fiber types and weaving methods). It may turn around in the state. For this reason, there is a case where a “washing wash” that falls in the drum is not performed, and a predetermined cleaning performance cannot be obtained.

  For example, in the case of clothing that is light and has low water absorption, such as synthetic fiber, if it is rotated at normal rotation speed, it is often too light and sticks to the inner wall of the drum. However, there is a problem that even if the amount is small, the drum cannot be lifted up due to the rotation of the drum, and cannot be dropped from a predetermined height in the drum.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to determine the fabric quality based on the difference in water absorption capacity depending on the clothing fabric quality by measuring the amount of change in the water level before and after stirring the clothing with the pulsator after supplying water to the washing dehydration tank. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  Further, it is considered that the weight of laundry such as clothes is detected by a torque load (for example, current value) applied to the drive motor, and the amount of water stored in the water tank is controlled in the washing process (for example, patents). Reference 2).

  In addition, the weight detection means for detecting the weight of the clothes put into the washing machine and the torque load applied to the drive motor are detected, and the cloth quality of the clothes due to the difference in water absorption is determined from the results detected by these detection means. In addition, it is considered to control the washing process, for example, change the amount of water at the time of rinsing, the rotation time at the time of dehydration, etc. according to the result of the cloth quality determination of the clothes, thereby eliminating unnecessary rinsing water and time (for example, patents) Reference 3).

JP-A-8-173683 JP 2006-43182 A JP 2008-6179 A

  However, in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, as shown in FIG. 5, in a garment with light and low water absorption, the garment sticks to the inner surface of the drum at a normal rotation speed. Therefore, it was necessary to reduce the number of revolutions in order to perform “tapping” and improve the cleaning performance. On the other hand, in the case of heavy and water-absorbent cloth garments, the garments are not lifted, and it is necessary to set the rotational speed high so that the clothes are lifted upward in the drum. In order to realize this, it is necessary to accurately detect the volume of the clothes and accurately determine the quality of the clothes (for example, whether the water absorption is high or low).

  However, in the conventional configuration in which the water quality in the washing tub is detected by detecting the water level in the washing tub before and after stirring the clothes with the pulsator after the water supply, the water absorption into the clothes starts from the time when the washing water starts to be supplied. Therefore, there is a problem that the water level before water supply is unclear, it is difficult to accurately measure the amount of water absorbed into clothing, and the cloth quality cannot be determined accurately.

  In addition, in the configuration in which the weight of the clothes in the washing tub and the rotational torque of the motor after water absorption into the clothes is measured to determine the water absorption of the clothes, there is no means for accurately detecting the amount of water supply. Even if water absorption into clothing starts and torque after clothing absorption is detected accurately, there is a variation in accuracy due to an error in the amount of water supply, and there is a problem that the quality and amount of clothing cannot be detected accurately.

  In addition, according to the cloth quality of clothing, in the case of synthetic fibers with low water absorption, the amount of rinsing water is reduced, and the time for dehydration and drying is less than that of cotton clothing with high water absorption. However, there has been a problem that the cleaning performance cannot be improved depending on the quality and quantity of clothing.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and aims to improve the cleaning performance by accurately detecting the amount and quality of clothing.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the drum type washing machine of the present invention includes a driving device that rotationally drives a drum, water supply means that supplies washing water into the water tank, and a water supply amount that is supplied into the water tank. A water supply amount detecting means for detecting, a water level detecting means for detecting the water level in the water tank, a clothing capacity detecting means for detecting the amount of laundry put in the drum, and a control means for controlling the driving device. And the control means is based on the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detecting means, the amount of water supplied detected by the water supply amount detecting means, and the water level detected by the water level detecting means. The rotation speed of the drum is set.

  Thereby, the difference of the cloth quality of clothing can be discriminate | determined reliably, and at the time of washing | cleaning, it can wash with the rotation speed of the drum optimal for cloth quality, and can improve a detergency.

  The drum type washing machine of the present invention can reliably discriminate the difference in the cloth quality of clothes, and can perform tapping washing accurately at the drum rotation speed optimum for the cloth quality, thereby increasing the cleaning power.

Sectional drawing of the drum type washing machine in Embodiment 1 of this invention Block diagram of the drum type washing machine Flow chart showing operation of the drum type washing machine Operation explanatory diagram of the drum type washing machine Operational diagram of tapping washing of the drum type washing machine Time chart showing operation of drum type washing machine in embodiment 2 of the present invention Sectional drawing of the drum type washing machine in Embodiment 3 of this invention

  A first invention is a water tank for storing washing water, a bottomed cylindrical drum rotatably disposed in the water tank, a driving device for rotationally driving the drum, and washing water in the water tank. Supplying water supply means, water supply amount detecting means for detecting the amount of water supplied into the water tank, water level detecting means for detecting the water level in the water tank, and detecting the amount of laundry put in the drum Clothing capacity detection means for controlling, and control means for controlling the drive device, the control means, the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detection means, the amount of water supply detected by the water supply amount detection means, By setting the rotation speed of the drum at the time of washing based on the water level detected by the water level detecting means, it is possible to reliably determine the difference in the cloth quality of the clothes. Drum wash at the optimal drum rotation speed Nau it can, it is possible to enhance the detergency.

  In the second invention, in particular, the control means of the first invention slows down the drum rotation speed when the water level detected by the water level detection means is high, and when the water level is low, the control speed of the drum is higher than when the water level is high. It was designed to be faster. When the water level is high with respect to the set water supply amount, the clothing has a small water absorption amount. When the water supply level is low at the same water supply amount, the clothing has a large water absorption amount. Therefore, when the garment has a small amount of water absorption, the rotation of the drum can be slowed and the state where the garment is stuck in the drum and rotates can be eliminated. In addition, when clothing has a large amount of water absorption, the drum can be rotated faster to eliminate the situation where the clothing does not lift up. it can.

  In particular, the control means of the first or second invention is characterized in that the control means of the first or second invention rotates and stops the drum for a first predetermined time after the laundry and washing water are added, and after the drum is stopped, By detecting the water level in the water tank by the water level detection means after the elapse of the predetermined time of 2, so that the washing water can be evenly distributed over the clothes and the accurate water absorption amount of the entire clothes put in can be grasped. Thus, the cloth quality of clothing can be accurately determined.

  In the fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, the control means of the third aspect of the invention is configured such that the first predetermined time for rotating the drum becomes longer as the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detecting means increases. Thus, even when the amount of laundry is large, the washing water can be sufficiently distributed to the clothing, and the accurate water absorption amount of the entire clothing can be grasped.

  In particular, according to the fifth aspect of the invention, the control means of the third aspect of the invention increases the rotational speed for rotating the drum for the first predetermined time as the amount of the laundry detected by the clothing capacity detecting means increases. As a result, even when the amount of laundry is large, the washing water can be sufficiently distributed to the clothing, and the accurate water absorption amount of the entire clothing can be grasped.

  In the sixth invention, in particular, the control means of any one of the third to fifth inventions performs at least one forward / reverse inversion operation during a first predetermined time during which the driving device rotates the drum. By doing so, the change of the position of the clothing in the drum can be promoted, the washing water can be sufficiently distributed to the clothing, and the accurate water absorption amount of the entire clothing can be grasped.

  In the seventh invention, in particular, the water supply means according to any one of the first to sixth inventions is configured such that the washing water can be directly supplied into the drum, so that the washing water can be directly applied to the clothing to accelerate the penetration. The accurate water level can be detected quickly, and the time required for detection and determination can be shortened.

  In the eighth aspect of the invention, in particular, the water supply means of any one of the first to seventh aspects of the invention is configured so that the washing water can be directly supplied into the drum while the drum is rotated. The washing water can be directly applied to the clothes being stirred to accelerate the permeation, the accurate water level can be detected quickly, and the time required for detection and determination can be shortened.

  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 sectional view of a drum type washing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the drum type washing machine, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the drum type washing machine. FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the drum type washing machine, and FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the washing operation of the drum type washing machine.

  1 to 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a bottomed cylindrical water tank for storing washing water, and an opening 1a is provided on the front side. 2 is a bottomed cylindrical drum rotatably disposed in the water tank 1, and is provided with a large number of small holes 3 on the peripheral side surface to communicate with the inside of the water tank 1, and from an opening 2 a provided on the front surface side. The laundry 4 can be taken in and out. When the washing water supplied into the water tank 1 exceeds a predetermined amount, the washing water flows into the drum 2 from the small hole 3.

  A plurality of protrusions (baffles) 5 are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the drum 2, and when the drum 2 rotates about a rotation shaft 2 c provided in the horizontal direction, the laundry 4 in the drum 2 is protruded (baffles). ) 5 is lifted up and dropped by 5, and the laundry 4 is hit against the peripheral side wall surface of the drum 2, and washing is performed by the action of tapping.

  A washing motor (driving means) 6 that drives the drum 2 is attached to the lower part of the outer periphery of the water tank 1, and the rotation of the washing motor 6 is transmitted to the drum 2 via the belt 7 and the pulley 8 to rotate. . Reference numeral 9 denotes an openable / closable door for putting the laundry 4 in and out of the drum 2.

  The water tank 1 is suspended from the upper part of the washing machine body 11 by a suspension spring 10 and supported from below by a washing machine bottom plate 12 via a damper 13. Further, a water supply valve (water supply means) 14 for supplying washing water is provided in the water tank 1, and a flow rate sensor (water supply amount detection means) 15 for detecting the water supply amount is provided on the downstream side in the vicinity of the water supply valve 14. Yes. The washing water that has passed through the water supply valve 14 passes through the detergent case 16 containing the detergent, and is supplied to the water tank 1 together with the detergent.

  The drainage pump (drainage means) 17 discharges the wash water in the water tank 1 after washing and rinsing are finished, the suction side is connected to the drainage part 18 provided at the bottom of the water tank 1, and the discharge side is The drainage hose 19 is discharged to the outside of the washing machine main body 11. The water level sensor (water level detection means) 20 is for detecting the level of the washing water in the water tank 1. The control means 21 controls the operation of the entire washing machine, and controls the washing motor 6, the water supply valve 14, the drainage pump 17 and the like, and sequentially controls each process of washing, rinsing and dehydration.

  In the above configuration, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. After opening the door 9 provided on the front surface side of the washing machine main body 11 and putting the laundry 4 into the drum 2 from the openings 1a and 2a provided on the front surface of the water tank 1 and the drum 2 (S1), the power switch ( When the operation is started by operating a start switch (not shown) by turning on a not-shown (S2), the washing motor 6 is rotated for a predetermined time, and the drum 2 is rotated. At this time, the load torque applied to the washing motor 6 is detected as an input current, and the clothing capacity detecting means 22 for determining the capacity of the laundry 4 put in the drum 2 is configured. The capacity of the loaded laundry 4 detected by the clothing capacity detection means 22 (S3) is input to the control means 21.

  Next, the water supply valve 14 is operated to start water supply, and the wash water is supplied into the water tank 1 together with the detergent put into the detergent case 16. At this time, the amount of water to be supplied is set by the detected amount of clothing (S4), and the water supply valve 14 is closed when the flow rate sensor 15 detects that the set amount of water has been supplied. Next, after rotating the drum 2 for a predetermined time T (S5), the water level is detected by the water level sensor 20 (S6).

  The washing process control method based on the capacity of the loaded laundry 4, the amount of water supplied, and the information of the water level sensor 20 after the supply is calculated by a microcomputer (not shown) of the control means 21 according to predetermined rules. Based on the value, a control sequence for washing, rinsing, and dehydration processes such as the number of rotations and operating time of the drum 2 and the ON / OFF time of the drum 2 is set, and the washing program is executed (S7).

  The washing program at this time is determined by a method as shown in FIG. 4, for example. First, the volume of the laundry 4 put into the drum 2 detects any one of A1, A2, A3,..., And the supply water amounts B1, B2, B3,. Thus, the opening and closing of the water supply valve 14 is controlled, and the supply water amount B is input. Further, the drum 2 is rotated by T for a predetermined time, the washing water penetrates into the clothes, and the water level sensor 20 detects the washing water level C in the water tank 1 in a well-familiar state, and C1, C2, C3 ...

  And as the rank of the water level C at the time of the clothing capacity A and the supply water amount B is smaller, the clothing is made of fibers with higher water absorption, and the rotation speed of the drum 2 in the washing process is set higher. Further, when the water level C rank is high, that is, when the water level is high, the water absorption of the clothing is low and the clothing is light, so the rotation speed of the drum 2 is lowered.

  As a result, clothes having high water absorption and containing moisture are set to a high rotation speed of the drum 2 in the washing process to execute the washing process, and light clothes having low water absorption set the rotation speed of the drum 2 to be low. By performing the washing process, the laundry can be washed at the number of revolutions of the drum 2 according to the capacity of the laundry and the quality of the cloth. By removing the state of stagnation, tapping washing can be realized, and the cleaning power can be improved.

  As described above, the drum type washing machine of the present invention is based on the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detecting means, the amount of water supplied detected by the water supply amount detecting means, and the water level detected by the water level detecting means. The difference in fabric quality is accurately discriminated, and the rotation speed of the drum during washing is set, and during washing, the drum can be washed at the optimum rotation speed for the fabric quality. The cleaning power can be increased.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the operation of the drum type washing machine in the second embodiment of the present invention. The feature of the present embodiment is that after the laundry and washing water are added, the drum 2 is stopped by rotating T1 for a first predetermined time T1, and after the second predetermined time T2 has elapsed since the rotation of the drum 2 was stopped, The water level in the water tank 1 is detected by the water level sensor 20. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations, and the detailed description of the first embodiment is used.

When the laundry 4 is put into the drum 2 and the operation is started, the volume of the laundry 4 rotated by rotating the drum 2 is detected by the clothing capacity detecting means 22 and the amount set according to the amount of clothing is set. Wash water is supplied. The water supply amount is detected by a water supply amount detecting means constituted by the flow sensor 15, and the water supply valve 14 is closed when a set amount of washing water is supplied. When the set amount of washing water is supplied, the drum 2 is rotated T1 for a first predetermined time, and the laundry 4 put in the drum 2 is brought into contact with the washing water. The second predetermined time T2 after the rotation of the drum 2 is stopped is a time for the washing water to permeate the laundry 4. Then, after the second predetermined time T2 has elapsed, the water level in the water tank 1 is detected by the water level sensor 20. Accordingly, the washing water is evenly distributed to the clothing, and the accurate water absorption amount of the entire clothing that has been thrown in can be grasped, so that the cloth quality of the clothing can be accurately identified.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a drum-type washing machine according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The feature of the present embodiment is that the washing water can be directly supplied into the drum 2. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations, and the detailed description of the first embodiment is used.

  The water supply nozzle 23 that discharges the washing water is provided above the opening 1 a provided on the front surface of the water tank 1, and the water supplied by opening the water supply valve 14 passes through the flow rate sensor 15 and passes through the detergent case 16. It can be ejected from the nozzle 23 and supplied directly into the drum 2 from the opening 2 a of the drum 2. Thereby, the supplied wash water is directly applied to the clothes in the drum 2, the wash water is reliably absorbed into the clothes, and the level of the wash water accumulated in the water tank 1 can be detected quickly.

  Further, at this time, by supplying the washing water while rotating the drum 2, the washing water can be uniformly absorbed by the entire clothing, and the level of the washing water in the water tank 1 can be detected more quickly and accurately. it can.

  As described above, the drum type washing machine according to the present invention can reliably discriminate the difference in the cloth quality of the clothes, and can perform the tapping washing accurately at the drum rotation speed optimum for the cloth quality. Since it can raise, it is useful as a drum type washing machine.

1 Water tank 2 Drum 6 Washing motor (drive device)
14 Water supply valve (water supply means)
15 Flow rate sensor (Water supply amount detection means)
20 Water level sensor (water level detection means)
21 Control means 22 Clothing capacity detection means

Claims (8)

A water tank for storing washing water, a bottomed cylindrical drum rotatably disposed in the water tank, a driving device for rotationally driving the drum, and a water supply means for supplying the washing water into the water tank, A water supply amount detecting means for detecting the amount of water supplied into the water tank, a water level detecting means for detecting the water level in the water tank, and a clothing capacity detecting means for detecting the amount of laundry put into the drum. Control means for controlling the drive device, the control means detecting the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detection means, the amount of water supplied detected by the water supply amount detection means, and the water level detection means A drum type washing machine which sets the rotation speed of the drum during washing based on the water level. The drum-type laundry according to claim 1, wherein the control means slows the drum rotation speed when the water level detected by the water level detection means is high, and increases the drum rotation speed when the water level is low than when the water level is high. Machine. The control means, after throwing in the laundry and the washing water, rotates the drum for a first predetermined time to stop, and after the second predetermined time has elapsed after stopping the drum, the water level detecting means controls the water level in the water tank. The drum type washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the drum type washing machine is detected. The drum type washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the control means is configured to increase the first predetermined time for rotating the drum as the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detecting means increases. 4. The drum type washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the control means increases the rotational speed for rotating the drum for the first predetermined time as the amount of laundry detected by the clothing capacity detecting means increases. The drum-type washing machine according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the control means performs at least one forward / reverse inversion operation during a first predetermined time in which the drum is rotated by the driving device. . The drum type washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the water supply means is configured to be able to directly supply washing water into the drum. The drum-type washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the water supply means is configured to be able to directly supply washing water into the drum while the drum is rotated.