JP2923399B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to 50 Hz and 60 H
The present invention particularly relates to drive control during a spin-drying step in a washing machine that can share a power supply frequency of z.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a washing machine, a pulsator and a dewatering tub are rotated by the driving force of a driving motor. However, the number of rotations of the driving motor differs between an area where the power frequency is 50 Hz and an area where the power frequency is 60 Hz. Therefore, in the same use, the rotation speed of the pulsator or the dehydration tank also differs. For example, in an area of 50 Hz, the number of rotations is small, and the dewatering efficiency is deteriorated. In an area of 60 Hz, there is a problem that a good operation state cannot be obtained, for example, the vibration noise is large due to the excessive rotation, and the life of the device is shortened.

Accordingly, the present applicant has filed a Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 3-9677.
As proposed in No. 5, in order to share a fully automatic washing machine with a 50 Hz specification by adapting it to a power frequency of 60 Hz,
At the time of washing, the drive time or stop time of the drive motor is controlled so that the number of revolutions of the pulsator within the set time is the same regardless of the power supply frequency.

At the time of dehydration when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz, as shown in FIG. 6, when the dehydration step is started and it is confirmed that there is no water in the dehydration tank, the drive motor and the starting capacitor of the drive motor are turned on. And the dehydration rotation speed is 850 rpm
m, the drive motor and the starting capacitor are simultaneously turned off. When the spinning speed decreases and reaches the set speed X set for each laundry capacity, only the drive motor is turned on. This repetition is performed until the end of the dehydration step time. At this time, even if the drive motor is turned on, the rotation speed does not increase, and if the spin speed becomes 500 rpm or less, the starting condenser is turned on to increase the spin speed. Dehydration speed is 8
When the rotation speed exceeds 50 rpm, the drive motor and the starting capacitor are turned off, and the above operation is repeated.

In this type of fully automatic washing machine, means for detecting the number of rotations of the dewatering tub includes, as shown in FIG. 7, a magnet 2 disposed on the lower surface of a driven pulley 1 connected to the dewatering tub.
And a reed switch 5 installed on a holding plate 4 suspended from the case 3 of the power transmission mechanism so as to approach the lower surface of the magnet 2.

[0006] The rotation speed of the dewatering tub is determined by the rotation of the driven pulley 1 during the dehydration step, whereby the magnet 2 approaches and separates from the reed switch 5.
Was detected by the on / off signal of

In FIG. 7, 6 is a drive motor, 7 is a motor shaft, 8 is a drive pulley, 9 is a V-belt, 10 is a washing shaft, 11 is a dehydrating shaft, and 12 is a spring clutch.

[0008]

In the conventional fully automatic washing machine, members such as the magnet 2 and the reed switch 5 are required to detect the number of rotations of the spin-drying tub, resulting in high cost. Also, 50Hz and 60Hz
When adding a function that enables sharing of a power supply frequency of Hz, the washing machine must employ a rotation detection method of a spin-drying tub, and the range of use has been narrowed.

Furthermore, since the drive motor 7 is turned on and off with the starting capacitor turned off, the motor torque tends to be weak. As a result, the number of rotations of the pulsator and the dehydration tub tends to decrease due to the load (laundry) state and insufficient torque of the drive motor 7. Also, if the drive motor 7 is turned on with the starting capacitor turned off, an electromagnetic noise from the drive motor 7 that may be annoying to the user may be generated.

[0010] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine capable of sharing a power supply frequency at low cost.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz, the capacity of the starting capacitor 29 is maintained while the drive motor 25 is turned on during the dehydration step.
The energizing tap set according to the capacity detection signal from the detection means
On / off control is performed by the imaging .

[0012]

[0013]

[Action] In the above Symbol challenges solving means, the power supply frequency of 60
Hz, when the drive motor 25 and the starting capacitor 29 are energized during the dehydration step when the
The spin-dry spin of begins.

Here, if the starting capacitor 29 is turned off in accordance with the power supply timing according to the capacity of the laundry while the driving motor 25 is turned on, the torque becomes insufficient and the rotation speed of the driving motor 25 decreases. The reason why the energization timing is changed for each laundry capacity category is that the higher the load (capacity), the slower the spinning speed of the spinning dehydration becomes, and the lower the load, the faster the spinning speed of the spinning dehydration.

When the starting capacitor 29 is turned on again, the rotation speed of the drive motor 25 increases. afterwards,
When the starting capacitor 29 is turned off, the rotation speed of the drive motor 25 decreases again. The on / off control of the starting capacitor 29 in accordance with the energization timing is repeated until the end of the spin-drying process time.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a dehydration process of a fully automatic washing machine showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the fully automatic washing machine, and FIG. 3 is a main part of a drive mechanism of the fully automatic washing machine. FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of a drive motor, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing input and output of a control unit.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the configuration of the fully automatic washing machine of the present embodiment.
It will be described based on. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a washing machine main body, 22 denotes a water tub, 23 denotes a dehydration tub, 24 denotes a pulsator arranged on the entire bottom surface of the dehydration tub 23, and 25 denotes a forward / reverse rotatable drive fixed to the bottom of the water tub 22. It is a motor.

The drive motor shaft 31 of the drive motor 25 has
As shown in FIG. 3, the pulley piece 32 and the cooling fan 33 are
Drive-side pulley 3 integrally attached by 4
5 is directly connected. A driven pulley 38 is directly connected to a washing shaft 37 connected to the pulsator 24 via a speed reduction mechanism 36, and a driven pulley 35 and a driven pulley 38
A V-belt 39 is wound between the two. The drive side, driven side pulleys 35 and 38 and the V belt 3
9 has a 50 Hz specification.

A drive motor 25 is provided below the water tank 22.
A clutch mechanism 40 for selectively transmitting the rotational force of the above to the dewatering tub 23 is provided. The clutch mechanism 40 includes a clutch lever 42 that engages with a dehydrating shaft 41 directly connected to the dehydration tub 23 so as to prevent rotation of the dehydration tub 23 during a washing process.
A spring clutch 43 for transmitting the rotational force of the washing shaft 37 to the dehydrating shaft 41 during the dehydrating step is provided.

As a result, when performing the dehydrating operation, the clutch lever 42 is swung by the solenoid 44 that opens and closes a drain valve (not shown), and the engagement between the dehydrating shaft 41 and the clutch lever 42 is released. Then, the driving force of the drive motor 25 is transmitted to the dehydrating shaft 41 via the spring clutch 43, and the driven pulley 38 and the dehydration tub 23 rotate at the same rotational speed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the drive motor 25 is composed of a capacitor motor, and an operation capacitor 28 is connected to a main winding 26 and an auxiliary winding 27.
The starting capacitor 29 and the starting switch 29a are connected in parallel. Reference numeral 30 denotes a motor reversing switch which enables the drive motor 25 to rotate forward and reverse.

The main body 21 of the washing machine has a frequency detecting device 45 for detecting whether the power supply frequency is 50 Hz or 60 Hz.
And a control unit 50 for executing each washing step in accordance with the detected power supply frequency.

As the frequency detecting device 45, a known device such as a frequency meter is used. The control unit 50 is composed of a microcomputer, and as shown in FIG.
5, an operation switch 51, a safety switch 52 linked to opening and closing of the upper lid, a pressure switch 53 as a water level detecting means, a reset circuit 54 for taking operation timing, and a clock circuit 55 are connected. A motor rotation drive circuit 57 including a triac, a transistor, and the like for driving the drive motor 25, and the solenoid 4
4 and a start switch 29a are connected.

The control unit 50 includes a capacity detecting means for detecting the capacity of the laundry in the dewatering tub 23 and a frequency detecting device 4.
Power frequency is 50Hz or 60H depending on output signal from 5
power supply frequency discriminating means for judging z, time setting means for setting the dehydration step time according to the detected capacity of the laundry, and driving the drive motor 25 for the set time as usual during the dehydration step when the power frequency is 50 Hz. A normal dehydrating means for rotating the dewatering tub 23 and an energizing timing setting means for setting energizing timing to the starting capacitor 29 of the drive motor 25 at the time of the dehydrating step according to the capacity of the laundry when the power frequency is 60 Hz. And a capacitor energizing means for turning on and off the starting capacitor 29 at a set energizing timing while the drive motor 25 is on from the start to the end of the dehydrating step when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz.

In the washing and rinsing steps, the control unit 50 controls the drive time or stop time of the drive motor 25 so that the number of rotations of the pulsator 24 within the set time is the same regardless of the power supply frequency. I have.

The capacity detecting means has a driving function of driving the drive motor 25 to rotate the pulsator 24 in a direction opposite to the rotation direction in the dehydrating step before water supply, and a function for generating an inertial rotation of the drive motor 25 after the drive is stopped. A pulse detection function for detecting the number of pulses from the generated electromotive force, and a capacity determination function for determining the load capacity of the laundry in the dehydration tub 23 from the detected number of measured pulses.

In the power supply timing setting means, when the power frequency is determined to be 60 Hz by the power frequency determining means, the rotation speed of the drive motor 25 at the time of normal rotation of 50 Hz, that is, the ideal rotation speed in dehydration is set. Thus, the ON time and the OFF time of the starting capacitor 29, that is, the energization timing are set.

In the above configuration, the power supply frequency used is detected based on the output signal from the frequency detection device 45. The washing process time, the water level in the dewatering tub 23 and the like are set by the capacity detecting means in accordance with the capacity of the laundry, and the washing and rinsing steps are executed.

When the dewatering operation is started, the drain valve and the solenoid 44 are energized, and the drain valve is opened, and the clutch mechanism 4 is opened.
0 is switched. If water is present in the dewatering tank 23 by the pressure switch 53 for detecting the water level, the water is drained. If it is confirmed that there is no water, the drive motor 25 and the starting condenser 29 are energized, and the dewatering rotation of the dewatering tank 23 starts. Begin.

When the power supply frequency detected by the frequency detection device 45 is 60 Hz, a set time A (for example, 20 seconds for a high amount, 15 seconds for a medium amount, and When 10 seconds have elapsed, the start capacitor 29 is turned off by switching the start switch 29a while the drive motor 25 is turned on. Then, since sufficient torque is not given to the drive motor 25, the rotation speed decreases. The reason why the set time is changed for each of the laundry capacity categories is that if the load (capacity) is large, the rising speed of the spinning speed is slow, and the lower the load, the faster the spinning speed of the spinning speed.

When a set time B (for example, 40 seconds for a high amount, 25 seconds for a medium amount, and 15 seconds for a low amount) has elapsed since the power supply to the starting capacitor 29 was turned off, the starting capacitor 29 Is turned on to increase the rotation speed of the drive motor 25 which has been lowered.

When a set time C (for example, 3 seconds for a high amount, 2 seconds for a medium amount, and 1 second for a low amount) elapses after the starting capacitor 29 is turned on, the starting capacitor 29 is reset. Turn off. Then, the rotation speed of the drive motor 25 decreases again. This suppresses the excessive rotation of the drive motor 25 that occurs when a 50 Hz washing machine is used when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz. The on / off control of the starting capacitor 29 based on the set times B and C is repeated until the dehydration step time ends.

The set times A, B, and C, that is, the energization timing of the starting capacitor 29, are almost the same as the maximum spinning speed 800 rpm when the average rotation speed of the drive motor 25 in each capacity section is 50 Hz. It is set as follows.

As described above, since the on / off control of the starting capacitor 29 is performed without detecting the rotation speed of the dehydrating tub 23, members such as a reed switch and a magnet, which are conventionally required, can be eliminated. Further, since the power supply frequencies of 50 Hz and 60 Hz can be shared, the product can be assembled with the same constituent members regardless of the power supply frequency, and the display of the nameplate, the packaging material and the like can be unified. For this reason, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

Further, during the dehydration step when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz, the rotation of the dehydration tub 23 is controlled by turning on and off the starting capacitor 29 while the drive motor 25 is on. In comparison with this, the rotational speed of the drive motor 25 does not decrease due to insufficient torque. In addition, electromagnetic noise from the drive motor 25 that is anxious for the user is less likely to be generated.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above-described embodiment within the scope of the present invention. For example, here, an example in which the present invention is applied to a fully automatic washing machine is shown, but the present invention is also applicable to a two-tub washing machine. Further, here, the drive motor 25 is controlled based on the case where the power supply frequency is 50 Hz, but may be based on the case where the power supply frequency is 60 Hz.

[0037]

As apparent from the above description, according <br/> to the onset bright, and 50Hz without detecting the rotational speed of the dehydrating tub 60H
Since the power supply frequency of z can be shared, the number of members required for detecting the number of revolutions required conventionally can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[0038] Further, at the time of dehydration step when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz, the on-driving capacitor driving motor
Since the starting capacitor is controlled to be turned on and off while power is being supplied, the rotational speed of the drive motor is not reduced due to insufficient torque, and the increase and decrease of the rotational speed is smoother than in the case of drive motor on / off control. , Stable
Rotation control with less hunting
You. In addition, electromagnetic noise from the drive motor that the user is worried about is less likely to be generated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a dehydration process of a fully automatic washing machine showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fully automatic washing machine.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a drive mechanism of the fully automatic washing machine.

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of a drive motor.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing input and output of a control unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a dehydration process of a conventional fully automatic washing machine.

FIG. 7 is a main part configuration diagram of a drive mechanism of a conventional fully automatic washing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 23 Dehydration tank 25 Drive motor 29 Starting capacitor 45 Frequency detector

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) D06F 33/02 D06F 49/04 H02P 7/63 301

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotatable dewatering tub for dehydrating laundry by centrifugal force, and a single-phase induction motor for rotating the dehydration tub .
And a driving motor provided on the driving motor.
Connected in parallel with the capacitor
Starting capacitor and power frequency 50Hz or 60H
and a frequency detection device for detecting the
Capacitance detection means for detecting capacitance, and power supply frequency of 50 Hz
In this case, the dehydration speed of the dehydration tank is kept constant, and the power frequency is 6
When the frequency is 0 Hz, the start-up condenser responds to the capacity detection signal from the capacity detection means while the drive motor is turned on during the dehydration process.
And a capacitor energizing means for performing on / off control according to an energizing timing set in advance.