JP3138082B2 - Control method of drum type washer / dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a drum type washer / dryer, and more particularly to a method for controlling a drum type washer / dryer which performs washing in a process such as washing, rinsing, spin-drying, drying and cooling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional control method of a drum-type washing and drying machine (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "control method"), all of warm water used in a washing process is drained, and cold water is newly supplied to execute a rinsing process. I was trying to do it. Further, in the dehydration process, the drum rotation speed is set to be constant regardless of the load of the laundry. And in the drying process,
The drum is rotated while blowing hot air heated by the heater into the drum. In the cooling process, the heater is stopped, and the drum is rotated at the same rotation speed as that in the drying process while blowing into the drum. I was

[0003]

In the conventional control method,
Since the temperature difference between the hot water used in the washing step and the cold water used in the rinsing step is large, there is a problem that the detergent dissolved in the washing step crystallizes in the rinsing step, and the rinsing step takes a long time. Was. In general, when the load on the laundry is large, the dehydration rate is high, and a sufficient dehydration effect can be obtained even when the rotation speed of the drum is low. On the other hand, when the load on the laundry is small, If the rate is low and the rotation speed of the drum is low, a sufficient dewatering effect cannot be obtained.
Therefore, in the conventional control method in which the drum rotation speed is set to be constant regardless of the load of the laundry, there is also a problem that when the load of the laundry is small, the spin-drying process takes a long time. .

There is another problem that a long cooling time is required after the drying step. Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a drum-type washing / drying machine that can reduce the operation time.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems A first invention is an outer tank, an outer tank,
Horizontal shaft drum rotatably supported in the tank, into the drum
Blower and air blown by the blower
It has a heater for heating, and warm air heated by the heater
While rotating the drum while blowing air into the drum,
Control method of drum type washer / dryer for drying laundry
After the drying process, stop the heater and blow air into the drum.
The drum at a higher speed than during the drying process
Control method for a drum-type washing and drying machine
It is.

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

According to the first aspect , the drum is raised during the cooling stroke.
It rotates at high speed to improve cooling efficiency,
The time required for the cooling process can be reduced.

[0009]

[0010]

According to the present invention, the operation time of the drum type washer / dryer can be reduced. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, a drum type washing and drying machine 10 to which the present invention is applied includes a frame 12 having a substantially housing shape.
including. An opening 16 that is opened and closed by an upper lid 14 is formed at the center of the upper surface of the frame 12, and an upper panel 22 on which an operation panel 18, a power switch 20, and the like are arranged is attached to a peripheral edge of the upper surface of the frame 12. An outlet 2 for taking out a movable filter 26 and the like provided in the warm air passage 24 in the frame 12 is provided on a side surface of the frame 12.
8 and a water supply solenoid valve 30 are provided, and a lid 32 is attached to the outlet 28.

Inside the frame 12, an outer tank 36 having a substantially horizontal axis and having an opening 34 at its upper part is provided with an upper support 38.
a and the lower supporting member 38b elastically supports it. The opening 34 of the outer tub 36 and the opening 16 of the frame 12 are connected by a connecting member 40 made of rubber or the like. Inside the outer tank 36, a horizontal cylindrical drum 42 made of stainless steel or the like is rotatably supported by rotating shafts 44a and 44b. On the peripheral side surface of the drum 42, an opening (not shown) for taking in and out of the laundry and a plurality of holes 46 and the like which function as a drainage port during dehydration and function as a hot air discharge port during drying are formed. A baffle 48 for scraping up the laundry is provided. In addition, an introduction port 50 for introducing warm air into the drum 42 during the drying operation is formed in the center of the front surface (the left side surface in FIG. 5) of the drum 42.

An inlet 52 is formed in the lower part of the front of the outer tub 36, and an inlet 50 is formed on the outer front of the outer tub 36.
A warm air passage 24 is formed which communicates with the suction port 52.
Inside the hot air passage 24, a blower 54 for sending out the hot air sucked from the suction port 52 during the drying operation from the inlet port 50 into the drum 42 is provided, and downstream of the blower 54,
The movable filter 26, the fixed filter 56, the semiconductor heater 58 and the like are provided. A heater 60 is provided at the bottom of the outer tank 36.

An air trap 62 (FIG. 6) is formed at a lower portion on the front outside of the outer tub 36, and a water level sensor 64 is provided on the back side of the upper panel 22. The air trap 62 and the water level sensor 64 are connected with a pressure hose. It is communicated via 66.
The water level sensor 64 detects a water level change in the outer tank 36 as a pressure change in the air trap 62, moves the magnetic body into the coil according to the pressure change, and detects the water level change as a coil inductance change. Then, this change in inductance is detected as a change in oscillation frequency,
It is input to the first microcomputer 68 (FIG. 7). Thus, the first microcomputer 68 continuously and widely detects the water level in the outer tank 36 based on the change in the oscillation frequency.

While the drum 42 is supported in the outer tub 36, the rotating shaft 44b of the drum 42 is protruded from the side surface of the outer tub 36 to the outside, and a driving pulley 70 is attached to this protruding portion. Further, a motor 72 is disposed below the outer tub 36, and a small pulley 74 is attached to an output shaft of the motor 72. Then, the driving pulley 70 and the small pulley 74 are connected by a belt 76, whereby the power of the motor 72 is transmitted to the drum 42.

A control unit 78 for controlling the operation of the drum type washer / dryer 10 is provided on the back side of the upper panel 22.
The control unit 78 includes a first microcomputer 68 and a second microcomputer 80 as shown in FIG. The input side of the first microcomputer 68 is connected to an input key circuit 82 to which various input keys are connected, a water level sensor 64 and the like, and the output side is a first drive circuit 84 for driving the blower 54 and the like, and a water supply electromagnetic circuit. Valve 30, heater 6
0, a second drive circuit 86 for driving the semiconductor heater 58 and the like are connected. On the other hand, the input side of the second microcomputer 80 is connected to a heater output detection circuit 88 for detecting the output of the semiconductor heater 58, and the output side is connected to the motor 7
And an inverter driving circuit 90 for driving the driving circuit 2.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are flowcharts showing a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. When a required program is selected by the washing program selection key on the operation panel 18 (FIG. 4) and the start key is pressed, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not only the drying process is to be performed. If it is determined that only the drying step is to be performed, the drying step after step S2 (FIG. 3) is performed, while it is determined that steps other than the drying step (washing step, rinsing step, and dewatering step) are also performed. Proceeding to step S3, the load of the laundry is detected. As a means for detecting the load, for example, laundry is put into the drum 42, washing water is supplied to a predetermined water level, a decrease in the water level after a predetermined time has elapsed is detected by the water level sensor 64, and the obtained data is measured. A method of obtaining the load by processing in the first microcomputer 68 may be used.

After the load is detected, a washing operation is performed in step S4. That is, the washing water supplied into the outer tub 36 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 60, and the drum 42 is repeatedly inverted by the motor 72 at about 50 rpm. At this time, the laundry in the drum 42 is raked up by the baffle 48 and dropped downward from above, so-called hit washing is performed. When the washing process in step S4 is completed, a part of the washing water (warm water) is drained in step S5, and new rinse water (cold water) is supplied in step S6. If it is determined in step S7 that the number of times of rinsing is the predetermined number of times (a-th time), the rinsing water is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 60 in step S8, and the rinsing step is performed in step S9. If it is determined in step S7 that the number of times of rinsing is not the predetermined number of times (a time), the process directly proceeds to step S9, and the rinsing process is performed.

If it is determined in step S10 that the number of times of rinsing has reached the preset number of times (b), the rinsing water is drained, and the dehydration step after step S11 is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S10 that the number of times of rinsing has not reached the set number of times (b), the process returns to step S5, and the rinsing process is repeated. When the dehydration process is started, first, in step S12, it is determined whether or not to perform the loosening operation. If it is determined that the loosening operation is to be performed, after the loosening operation is performed in step S13, the process proceeds to step S14, and the loosening operation is not performed. When the determination is made, the process proceeds directly to step S14. In step S14, it is determined whether the load of the laundry detected in step S3 is equal to or less than a predetermined value (c). If it is determined that the load is equal to or less than the predetermined value (c), the drum 42 is moved in step S15. It is rotated at a higher speed than usual. On the other hand, if it is determined that the value is larger than the predetermined value (c), the drum 42 is rotated at a normal rotation speed in step S16. And
In step S17, it is determined whether or not to execute the drying step. If it is determined to execute the drying step, step S17 is performed.
The drying step 2 (FIG. 3) and subsequent steps are executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the drying step is not to be executed, the process is terminated.

When the drying process is started, first, in step S18, the drum 42 is rotated at a low speed to prevent the laundry from sticking to the inner surface of the drum 42. If it is determined in step S19 that the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S20, where the rotation speed of the drum 42 is increased to a normal rotation speed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the set time has not elapsed, the process stands by until the elapsed time. If it is determined in step S21 that it is immediately before the heater is stopped, the process proceeds to step S22 and the drum 42
Is further increased (about 60 rpm). on the other hand,
If it is determined that it is not immediately before stopping, the process waits until immediately before stopping. Immediately after the rotation speed of the drum 42 is increased in step S22, in step S23, the heater 5
8 is stopped, and the inside of the drum 42 (the laundry) is cooled.
Then, when the temperature in the drum 42 becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, the operation is terminated.

According to this embodiment, rinsing water (cold water) is supplied while leaving a part of the washing water (warm water). Therefore, the detergent dissolved in the washing process crystallizes in the rinsing process. There is no problem, and the rinsing efficiency can be improved. In the dehydration process, when the load on the laundry is small, the drum 42 is rotated at a high speed.
Dehydration efficiency can be improved.

After the drying process is completed, the heater 58 is stopped and the drum 42 is rotated at a high speed, so that the time for cooling the laundry can be reduced. In addition,
FIG. 8 is a graph in which the horizontal axis represents the time elapsed since the heater 58 was stopped and the vertical axis represents the temperature in the drum 42. From the graph, it can be seen that according to the control method of this embodiment, the cooling time can be shortened by about 30% as compared with the prior art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a drum type washing and drying machine to which the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 is applied;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control unit for executing the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a relationship between a cooling time and a temperature in a cooling process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Drum type washing-drying machine 24 ... Hot air path 26 ... Movable filter 36 ... Outer tank 42 ... Drum 50 ... Inlet 52 ... Suction port 54 ... Blower 56 ... Fixed filter 58 ... Semiconductor heater 60 ... Heater 64 ... Water level sensor 72… Motor 78… Control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Baba 2-18-18 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenji Nakagawa 2-18-18 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Kentaro Mochizuki 2-18-18 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Kenji Fujii 2--18 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric (56) References JP-A-3-131300 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D06F 58/28

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An outer tub, rotatably supported in the outer tub.
Horizontal axis type drum, blower blowing into said drum and front
Has a heater to heat the air blown by the blower
And the warm air heated by the heater is supplied to the inside of the drum.
Rotating the drum while blowing air to the inside of the drum
In the control method of the drum type washer / dryer for drying the rinse
After the drying process, the heater is stopped, and
Rotate the drum at a higher speed than during the drying process while blowing air
Of the drum type washer / dryer,
Control method.