JP2861281B2 - Washing machine control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for a washing machine for detecting the quality of the laundry or both the quality and the amount of laundry put into a washing tub.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the amount of laundry put into a washing tub is determined, and the washing time, the number of times of rinsing, and the like are determined based on the amount of laundry.

For example, as shown in JP-A-59-139298, when a washing operation is started, after a predetermined level of water is supplied into the washing tub, the stirring blade is continuously rotated for a predetermined time, and the rotation of the stirring blade at this time is performed. There has been proposed a control device for a washing machine that determines the amount of cloth by detecting the number. In this cloth amount detecting method, the laundry in the washing tub is rotated by the stirring blade together with the supplied water, and the rotation speed of the stirring blade changes according to the load (cloth amount) applied to the stirring blade at this time. The amount of cloth was determined by detecting the number of revolutions of the wings.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, according to the conventional cloth amount detection method, it is not possible to determine an accurate cloth amount because the load applied to the stirring blade varies depending on the cloth material. For example, laundry that is easily absorbed by the fabric tends to sink to the bottom of the washing tub and increases the load applied to the stirring blades.On the other hand, laundry that is hard to absorb the fabric hardly sinks into the washing tub. However, there has been a problem that the load applied to the stirring blades is smaller than the actual amount of the cloth, and the accuracy of detecting the amount of the cloth depends on the quality of the cloth.

In addition, since the cloth quality cannot be detected,
There was a problem that rinsing and the like could not be performed.

In view of the above problems, the present invention detects the cloth quality of laundry,
A first object is to be able to set an optimum water level and water flow for laundry.

A second object is to detect the cloth quality and accurately detect the cloth amount regardless of the cloth quality.

Means for Solving the Problems A first means of the present invention for achieving the first object is a water supply control unit for controlling water supply in a washing tub, and a water level detection unit for detecting a water level in the washing tub. A motor that drives a stirring blade disposed at the inner bottom of the washing tub, a motor control unit that controls the energization of this motor, and a rotation speed detection unit that detects the rotation speed of the stirring blade or the stirring blade drive system, A cloth determining means for determining cloth based on an output of the rotational speed detecting means, wherein the cloth determining means rotates the stirring blade at a rotational speed lower than a normal rotational speed before water is supplied into the washing tub. A first detection step of operating the stirring blade at a normal rotation speed for a predetermined time after water is supplied to the washing tub to a predetermined level, and the first detection step is performed. The output of the rotation speed detection means and the second detection In this configuration, the output is compared with the output of the rotation speed detecting means in the process, and the cloth quality is determined from the value.

A second means of the present invention for achieving the second object includes, in addition to the first means, a cloth amount determining means for determining a cloth quality based on an output of a rotation number detecting means. The amount determining means is configured to determine the cloth amount according to the output of the rotation speed detecting means in the first detecting step before water supply.

According to the above-mentioned first means, the cloth quality determining means determines the difference between the detection data of the rotation speed detecting means in the first detecting step before water supply, which has a strong correlation with the dry cloth amount, and the cloth amount in the water absorbing state. Since the data is compared with the detection data of the rotation speed detecting means in the second detection step having a deep correlation, the easiness of water absorption of the cloth can be determined from these data. That is, the ease with which the cloth absorbs water is determined by the quality of the cloth, and the detection data in the first detection step before water supply when the cloth is not immersed in water, and the second detection step in which the cloth absorbs water. , The water absorption performance of the cloth is determined, and the cloth quality can be determined based on the water absorption performance. Therefore, the cloth quality can be determined, and optimal control according to the cloth quality can be performed.

Further, according to the second means, a cloth amount determining means is provided in addition to the cloth quality determining means, and the cloth amount determining means determines the cloth amount based on the detection data of the rotation speed detecting means in the first detecting step before water supply. The amount has been determined. That is, a state in which water absorption due to a difference in cloth quality is omitted (dry state of laundry) can be used as the cloth amount detection data, and highly accurate cloth amount determination can be performed without being affected by the cloth quality.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a washing machine including a cloth quality detecting device according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a washing tub 2 into which laundry 30 is put is provided in an outer tub 1, and a stirring blade 3 is rotatably arranged at the bottom of the washing tub 2. At the outer bottom of the outer tub 1, there is provided a speed reducer 4 for transmitting the rotation of the motor 5 to the stirring blade 3 at a reduced speed. A drain valve 7 for draining the inside of the outer tub 1 is provided at the bottom of the outer tub 1. The rotation of the reduction gear 4 is detected by a rotation speed detector 6, and the rotation speed detector 6
Is input to the main control unit 11 via the rotation speed detection control unit 16. The output of the water level detector 8 that detects the water level in the outer tub 1 is input to the main control unit 11 via the water level detection control unit 18. The main control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer, and includes a motor control unit 15 for controlling the energization of the motor 5, a drain valve control unit 17 for controlling the drive of the drain valve 7, and a water supply valve 9 for supplying water to the washing tub 2. The water supply valve control unit 19 outputs a command signal to the display control unit 20 of the display device 10 that performs a display necessary for washing. Further, the main control unit 11 is a cloth determining unit that determines the cloth and the cloth amount based on the output data of the rotation speed detection control unit 16.
It has functional means of 11A and a cloth amount determining means 11B. These functional means are realized by a microcomputer program.

Next, a specific operation example will be described mainly with reference to FIG. 2 and with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.

First, the laundry 30 is put into the washing tub 2 (step 31).
Then, when the start switch for starting the operation is pressed (step 32), the motor control unit 15 cuts off 2/3 of the commercial power supply waveform shown in FIG. Supply power. With this electric power, the motor 5 rotates at a normal speed of about 40% (step 33), and drives the stirring blade 3 via the speed reducer 4. The rotation of the stirring blade 3
The rotational speed is detected by the rotational speed detector 6 via the speed reducer 4 (step 34), and the signal is sent to the rotational speed detection control unit 16,
When the motor 5 is turned on and when the motor 5 is turned off, they are separately accumulated.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotation of the motor 5 is shifted by 0.3 seconds to the right and by a pause (OFF) of 0.3 as shown in FIG.
The repetition of seconds, 0.3 seconds to the left, and 0.3 seconds of pause is repeated three times, for a total of 3.6 seconds. As a result, the rotation speed of the stirring blade 3 shows a change in the curves A and B in FIG. Curve A is a change characteristic when the cloth amount is small, and curve B is a change characteristic when the cloth amount is large. That is, curve A
Means that the rotation speed when the motor 5 is ON is substantially constant and when the motor 5 is OFF, inertial rotation is observed. This inertia rotation time has a large correlation with the cloth amount when the cloth amount is small. Next, the curve B has a low rise when the motor 5 is turned on, and almost no inertial rotation is observed. This rise delay has a large correlation with the cloth amount when the cloth amount is large. Therefore, high-accuracy detection can be performed by detecting the cloth amount at the number of rotations at the time of OFF when the amount of cloth is small, and at the number of rotations at the time of ON when the amount of cloth is large.

Based on this characteristic, the rotation speed detection control unit 16 separately integrates the ON time and the OFF time of the motor 5 for a predetermined time,
These integrated data are sent to the main control unit 11 and the first
It is used for the second level determination (step 35) to (step 37).

Here, the set value at the time of level determination is experimentally determined based on the above characteristics. OFF>X> N1
If this is the case (step 35), the data X is sent to the main control unit 11 and stored (step 39), assuming that the cloth amount is not more than the medium amount. If X <N1 (step 35), the amount of cloth is determined to be a large amount or more and the process proceeds to the next determination (step 36). If the integrated value Y when the motor 5 is ON is Y> N2, the data Y is determined to be a large amount and main control is performed. It is sent to the unit 11 and stored (step 39). Therefore, at this time, either X or Y data is stored in the main control unit 11 at one time of washing. If Y <N2, the amount of laundry put in is too large, so that an overload is notified (step 37), and the user is notified and the laundry 30 is taken out (step 38).

Next, when the above-mentioned data X or Y is taken into the main control unit 11, a water supply command is issued from the main control unit 11 to the water supply valve control unit 19, the water supply valve 9 is opened, and water supply is started (step 40). Water supply is continued until the water level in the tank reaches a predetermined level (step 41). When the water level reaches a predetermined level, the motor 5 is driven by normal rotation (step 42) to rotate the stirring blade 3 intermittently for a predetermined time. This rotation speed is detected by the rotation detector 6 via the speed reducer 4 (step 43), and the integrated value of the detected rotation speed in the motor OFF period is set as Z and used for the next calculation. The data Z is data that varies depending on the cloth quality because the amount of water absorption is determined by the cloth quality even with the laundry having the same dry cloth weight.

Next, the cloth weight data X or Y when the cloth is dry and the data Z when water is absorbed are calculated using an empirical formula (Step 44), and the cloth weight and the cloth quality are determined (Step 45).
I do. Based on this determination result, the optimum water level is set (step 46), water is supplied to the set optimum water level (steps 47 and 48), and the stirring blade 3 is driven (step 49) to start the washing process. enter. The subsequent steps are the same as those of the conventional washing machine.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cloth quality can be determined, so that the washing control can be performed according to the cloth quality. Also,
The cloth amount can be detected by using a part of the cloth quality determination data, and since the cloth amount is data to be performed before water supply, it is possible to prevent a decrease in cloth amount detection accuracy due to a difference in water absorption.

Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the quality of laundry can be determined, so that water flow and dehydration can be controlled in accordance with the quality of the laundry. It can be a step closer to the realization of an ideal washing machine that does not.

In addition, since the cloth amount can be determined using a part of the cloth quality determination data, there is no need to newly provide a device for determining the cloth amount, and the cloth amount determination is not affected by water. Since the data before water supply is used, high-accuracy cloth amount detection can be performed without being affected by the cloth quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a washing machine including a cloth amount detecting device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the washing machine, and FIG. 3 is control of the motor and rotation of a stirring blade. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of electric power supplied to the motor during the motor control. 2 ... washing machine, 3 ... stirring blade, 4 ... reduction gear, 5 ... motor, 6 ... rotation speed detector, 8 ... water level detector, 9 ...
… Water supply valve, 11… main control section, 11A… cloth determination means, 11B
... cloth amount determination means, 15 ... motor control unit, 16 ... rotation speed detection control unit, 17 ... drain valve control unit, 18 ... water level detection control unit, 19 ... water supply valve control unit, 30 ... Laundry.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takuji Iriyama 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Moriki Fukuda 1006 Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-228991 (JP, A) JP-A-62-204797 (JP, A) JP-A-2-140197 (JP, A) JP-A-3-251295 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) D06F 33/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A water supply control unit for controlling water supply in the washing tub;
A water level detection unit that detects a water level in the washing tub, a motor that drives a stirring blade disposed at the inner bottom of the washing tub, a motor control unit that controls the energization of this motor, and the stirring blade or the stirring blade driving system. A rotation speed detection unit that detects a rotation speed, and a cloth quality determination unit that determines a cloth quality based on an output of the rotation speed detection unit, wherein the cloth quality determination unit is configured to supply water into the washing tub. A first detection step of operating the stirring blade at a rotation speed lower than the normal rotation speed for a predetermined time, and a second detection step of operating the stirring blade at the normal rotation speed for a predetermined time after water is supplied to the washing tub to a predetermined level. And comparing the output of the rotation speed detection means in the first detection step with the output of the rotation speed detection means in the second detection step, and determining the cloth quality from the value. Control device. 2. A water supply control unit for controlling water supply in a washing tub,
A water level detection unit that detects a water level in the washing tub, a motor that drives a stirring blade disposed at the inner bottom of the washing tub, a motor control unit that controls the energization of this motor, and the stirring blade or the stirring blade driving system. Rotation speed detection means for detecting the rotation speed; cloth quality determination means for determining the cloth quality based on the output of the rotation speed detection means; and cloth amount determination for determining the cloth weight based on the output of the rotation speed detection means Means, the cloth quality determination means,
A first detecting step of operating the stirring blade at a rotation speed lower than a normal rotation speed for a predetermined time before water is supplied into the washing tub, and after the water is supplied to the washing tub to a predetermined level, the stirring blade is rotated at a normal rotation speed. And a second detection step of operating for a predetermined time is performed, and an output of the rotation number detection means in the first detection step is compared with an output of the rotation number detection means in the second detection step. A control device for a washing machine configured to determine a cloth quality from a value, wherein the cloth amount determining means determines a cloth amount in accordance with an output of the rotation speed detecting means in the first detecting step.