JP3430601B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine for automatically determining the type of laundry and automatically determining various washing conditions according to the result.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional washing machine, a cloth type is discriminated by a change in a load applied to the pulsator when the pulsator is rotated.

[0003]

However, since the load on the pulsator is less dependent on the fabric type, the conventional method of determining the fabric type has been insufficient.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems .
Corrects the cloth amount dependent part of the water level rise speed using the cloth amount sensor
At the same time, the flow rate sensor is used to correct the flow rate dependent portion of the water level rising speed to accurately determine the cloth type .

[0005]

To accomplish the object before Symbol of the Summary of] includes a laundry amount sensor for detecting an amount of laundry, a water level sensor for detecting a water level, the flow rate for detecting the flow rate of the water supply
A sensor, differentiating means for calculating the rising speed of the water level from the detection value of the flow rate sensor and the detection value of the water level sensor, and the type of laundry from the output value of the differentiating means and the detection value of the cloth amount sensor comprising a cloth type judging means for judging, to determine various washing conditions from the determination results of the fabric type determining means
This is a washing machine.

[0006]

[Action] action by the previous Kite stage is as follows. The behavior of the water level rising speed obtained from the differentiating means differs depending on the cloth type, but since the influence of the cloth quantity and the water supply flow rate is also included, the cloth quantity sensor detects the cloth quantity and the flow rate sensor detects the water supply flow rate, respectively The cloth type discrimination means discriminates the type of laundry from the speed, the amount of cloth, and the flow rate of water supplied. This makes it possible to properly determine the type of cloth regardless of the amount of cloth and the flow rate of water supplied.

[0007]

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below. The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, 1 is a washing tub for storing laundry and washing water, and 2 is an outer tub for storing washing water. 3 is a pulsator for stirring laundry and washing water, which is rotated by a motor 4 via a belt 5 and a mechanical mechanism 6. The motor 4 drives the washing tub 1 during dehydration. A water level sensor 7 detects the amount of water in the washing tub by detecting the air pressure in the air trap 8. Water supply and withdrawal in and out of the washing tub are controlled by a water supply valve 9 and a drain valve 10 driven by solenoid valves.

Next, the water level rising speed during water supply will be described. The water level sensor 7 sequentially detects the water level at the time of water supply. The differentiating means 11 differentiates the detected value to calculate the water level rising speed. When there is no laundry in the washing tub, the water level rising speed (hereinafter referred to as the no-load rising speed) is uniquely determined by the shapes of the outer tub and the washing tub and the water supply flow rate. FIG. 2 shows the difference in the water level rising speed depending on the fabric type at this time. This difference occurs because the cloth bulk, water absorption, and floating property differ depending on the cloth type. Basically, when laundry is loaded in the washing tub, the water level rises faster than when it is not loaded. However, when the laundry completely floats on the water or becomes completely immersed in the water, the water level rising speed becomes the same as the no-load rising speed.

For example, since wool has a high floating property and floats in the initial stage of water supply, the water level rising speed quickly converges to the no-load rising speed. Since towels are highly water absorbent and sink in water,
The water level rising speed converges to the no-load rising speed only after it is completely immersed in water. Further, the blanket is almost completely filled in the washing tub, so that the water level rising speed becomes very large.

As described above, since the patterns of the water level rising speed differ depending on the fabric type, the fabric type discriminating means 12 discriminates the fabric type by analyzing which fabric type the observation result matches.
The pattern discrimination of the water level rising speed can be easily realized by a neural network or fuzzy reasoning. The washing condition determining means 13 determines various washing conditions such as the water level, the washing time, the water flow and the dehydration time according to the determination result of the cloth type determining means 12. According to this washing condition, the control means 14 controls the motor 4,
The water supply valve 9 and the drain valve 10 are controlled. The differentiating means 11,
The cloth type determining unit 12, the washing condition determining unit 13, and the control unit 14 can be easily realized by the microcomputer 15.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, 16 is a washing tub for storing laundry and washing water, and 17 is an outer tub for storing washing water. 18 is a pulsator for stirring laundry and washing water, which is a motor 19
Is rotated by the belt 20 and the mechanical mechanism 21.
The motor 19 drives the washing tub 16 during dehydration. Reference numeral 31 is a cloth amount sensor for detecting the weight of the laundry loaded into the washing tub by detecting the amount of vertical displacement of the outer tub, and 22 is the inside of the washing tub for detecting the atmospheric pressure in the air trap 23. A water level sensor that detects the amount of water. Water supply and withdrawal in and out of the washing tub are controlled by a water supply valve 24 and a drain valve 25 which are driven by solenoid valves. Differentiating means 26 and the detection value of the water level sensor 22 are differentiated to calculate the water level rising speed. The cloth type discriminating means 27 is the weight sensor 31.
The cloth type is discriminated from the detected value of 1 and the calculated value of the differentiating means 26.

Next, a cloth type discriminating method by the cloth type discriminating means 27 will be described. As described in the first embodiment,
The water level rise rate pattern during water supply varies depending on the fabric type. However, as shown in FIG. 4, this water level rising speed pattern also depends on the amount of cloth. Therefore, the cloth type discriminating means 2 in the present embodiment
7 determines the type of cloth by removing the influence of the amount of cloth in the water level rising speed pattern from the amount of cloth detected by the weight sensor 31. The pattern discrimination of the water level rising speed can be easily realized by a neural network or fuzzy reasoning. The washing condition determining means 28 determines various washing conditions such as the water level, the washing time, the water flow, and the dehydration time based on the determination result of the cloth type determining means 27. The control means 29 controls the motor 19, the water supply valve 24, and the drain valve 25 according to the washing conditions. Further, the differentiating means 26, the cloth type determining means 27, the washing condition determining means 28 and the control means 29 can be easily realized by the microcomputer 30.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, 32 is a washing tub for storing laundry and washing water, and 33 is an outer tub for storing washing water. Numeral 34 is a pulsator for stirring laundry and washing water, which is a motor 35.
Is rotated by the belt 36 and the mechanical mechanism 37.

The motor 32 drives the washing tub 32 during dehydration. 33 is a cloth amount sensor for detecting the weight of the laundry put into the washing tub by detecting the amount of vertical displacement of the outer tub, and 48 is the flow rate of the washing water supplied to the washing tub 32 from the water supply valve 40. A flow rate sensor for detecting 38 is a water level sensor for detecting the amount of water in the washing tub by detecting the atmospheric pressure in the air trap 39. Water supply and removal of water in the washing tub 4 driven by a solenoid valve
0 and drain valve 41. Differentiating means 42
Calculates the water level rising rate in unit flow rate from the detection value of the water level sensor 38 and the detection value of the flow rate sensor 48. As a result, fluctuations in water level rise rate due to fluctuations in flow rate are eliminated. The cloth type discriminating means 43 discriminates the cloth type from the detected value of the weight sensor 47 and the calculated value of the differentiating means 42. The pattern discrimination of the water level rising speed can be easily realized by a neural network or fuzzy reasoning. The washing condition determining means 44 determines various washing conditions such as the water level, the washing time, the water flow, and the dehydration time according to the determination result of the cloth type determining means 43. The control means 45 controls the motor 35, the water supply valve 40, and the drain valve 41 according to the washing conditions. Further, the differentiating means 42, the cloth type determining means 43, the washing condition determining means 44, and the control means 4
5 can be easily realized by the microcomputer 46. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately determine the type of cloth regardless of the amount of cloth and the flow rate.

The washing condition determining means 44 is a cloth type determining means 43.
The washing conditions such as the water level, the washing time, the water flow and the dehydration time are determined according to the result of the determination. The control means 45 controls the motor 35, the water supply valve 40, and the drain valve 41 according to the washing conditions. For example, in the case of lingerie, increase the amount of water and weaken the flow of water.

[0016]

As described above, according to the washing machine of the present invention, the water level rising speed, the amount of laundry, and the water supply flow rate are different.
It is possible to determine the kind of cloth Luo laundry, it is possible to perform appropriate washing according to the kind of cloth automatically. The cloth type can be accurately determined regardless of the variable factors such as the cloth amount and the water supply flow rate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a washing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing changes in the water level rising speed depending on the cloth type.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a washing machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing changes in the water level rising speed depending on the amount of cloth.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a washing machine according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 16, 32 washing tub 2, 17, 33 outer tank 3, 18, 34 pulsator 4, 19, 35 motor 7, 22, 38 Water level sensor 9, 24, 40 Water valve 10, 25, 41 drain valve 11, 26, 42 Differentiation means 12, 27, 43 cloth type discrimination means 13, 28, 44 Washing condition determining means 14, 29, 45 Control means 15, 30, 46 Microcomputer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Tadashi Sadahira, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Haruo Terai, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-35683 (JP, A) JP-A-5-3989 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D06F 33/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cloth amount sensor for detecting the amount of laundry, a water level sensor for detecting the water level, and a flow rate for detecting the flow rate of water supply.
A sensor, differentiating means for calculating the rising speed of the water level from the detection value of the flow rate sensor and the detection value of the water level sensor, and the type of laundry from the output value of the differentiating means and the detection value of the cloth amount sensor comprising a cloth type judging means for judging, to determine various washing conditions from the determination results of the fabric type determining means
Washing machine was. 2. A water level rising speed calculated by differentiating means
Degree pattern determination can be performed using a neural network or
The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the washing machine is performed by fuzzy reasoning .