JP4455637B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing machine having a tank drying operation function for drying a tank.

  Among washing machines, a washing and drying machine equipped with a drying function is equipped with a hot air supply device that supplies hot air into the tub so that it can be dried in addition to washing, rinsing and dehydrating laundry. It has become. However, even with this type of washer / dryer, when the normal washing operation (washing and rinsing and dehydration, or only rinsing and dehydration) is performed, moisture remains in the tank, It was the cause of the outbreak.

  In order to deal with this, some tanks have a dedicated operation course called a tank drying course where the tank is emptied and warm air is supplied into the tank to dry the tank. It is necessary to select a course. Even in this case, when only normal washing operation is performed, moisture remains in the tank.

Therefore, when performing a normal washing operation, there has been considered a device provided with an automatic tank drying function that automatically executes a tank drying operation after the washing operation is completed by a key operation by a user. Specifically, after a normal washing course is set by key operation, it is set by operating a tank drying key (switch). Then, after performing a normal washing operation, if opening / closing of the lid that opens and closes the laundry entrance / exit is detected by the lid opening / closing detection switch, the tank drying operation is performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-49254 A

  What provided the automatic tank drying function mentioned above has the following problems. That is, in order to shift to the tank drying operation after executing the normal washing operation, it is necessary to take out the laundry in the tank and empty the tank. For this purpose, the lid opening / closing detection switch detects the opening / closing of the lid. However, even though the user has opened and closed the lid, even if a part of the laundry remains in the tub, the tub drying operation is performed as it is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to perform a bath drying operation while washing is left in the bath when the bath drying operation is performed after the washing operation is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine capable of preventing the occurrence of the above.

In order to achieve the above object, the washing machine of the invention of claim 1 opens and closes a tub used for washing, rinsing and dehydrating laundry and a laundry doorway for loading and unloading the laundry into and from the tub. A lid, a lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid, a laundry detection means for detecting presence / absence of laundry in the tub based on driving of a motor used for washing, rinsing and dehydrating the laundry, The lid opening / closing detection is performed within a predetermined time after executing the washing operation including at least one of the washing process, the rinsing process, and the dehydration process, and the tank drying means for drying the tank. When the opening / closing of the lid is detected by the means, the presence / absence of the laundry in the tub is detected by the laundry detection means, and when the detection result indicates that there is no laundry, the tub drying means dries the tub. run the bath drying operation , When not detected the opening and closing of the lid by the lid opening and closing detecting means within the predetermined time, without executing the cell drying operation, characterized in that a control means for turning off the power.

According to the present invention, the control means detects the presence or absence of the laundry in the tub by the laundry detection means when the lid opening / closing detection means detects the opening / closing of the lid after the execution of the washing operation is completed. When the detection result is no laundry, the tank drying operation is executed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the tank drying operation from being performed while the laundry remains in the tank.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, FIG. 2 shows a vertical side view of a vertical washing machine. In FIG. 2, the outer box 1 has a rectangular cylindrical shape, and an outer shell of the washing / drying machine is formed by the outer box 1 and a top cover 2 mounted on the top of the outer box 1. Legs 3 are provided on the lower surface of the outer box 1. A tank 4 is disposed inside the outer box 1.

  The tank 4 is composed of a double tank composed of an outer tank 5 and an inner tank 6 disposed in the outer tank 5. Both the outer tub 5 and the inner tub 6 have a bottomed cylindrical shape, and are arranged in a vertical axis shape in which each axis center line is directed in the vertical direction. The outer tub 5 is elastically supported by the outer box 1 through an elastic suspension mechanism 7 mainly composed of a suspension rod 7a. The outer tub 5 is configured to be able to store water. The inner tank 6 is rotatably accommodated in the outer tank 5 and has a large number of through holes 8 in the peripheral wall portion. A rotation balancer 9 is provided at the peripheral edge of the upper end opening of the inner tank 6.

  A pulsator 10 is rotatably disposed at the bottom of the inner tank 6, and a driving device 11 is disposed at the outer bottom of the outer tank 5. The drive device 11 includes a motor 12 (see FIG. 4) that can rotate forward and reverse, a clutch mechanism (not shown), and the like, and is configured to selectively rotate the pulsator 10 and the inner tank 6. An annular tank cover 13 is provided on the upper surface of the outer tank 5, and an inner lid 14 can be opened and closed in the vertical direction via a hinge 14a on the rear side (left side in FIG. 2). Is provided. The inner lid 14 is located above the upper surface opening of the inner tank 6.

  The top cover 2 is formed above the inner lid 14 and is formed with a laundry entrance / exit 15 for taking in / out the laundry to / from the inner tub 6, and a lid for opening / closing the laundry entrance / exit 15. 16 is rotatably provided through a hinge 16a on the rear side. In this case, the lid 16 is folded in two.

  A hot air supply device 20 also serving as a tank drying means is disposed at the rear of the top cover 2. The hot air supply device 20 includes a fan 21 for blowing air, a fan casing 22 that surrounds the fan 21, a fan motor 23 that rotationally drives the fan 21, a heater 24 for heating, and a heater that houses the heater 24. The case 25 is composed of a supply duct 26 connected to the heater case 25. A suction port 22 a of the fan casing 22 communicates with an external suction port 27 formed at the rear portion of the top cover 2, and a discharge port 22 b of the fan casing 22 communicates with the heater case 25. The supply duct 26 has a bellows shape rich in elasticity and flexibility, and a lower end portion is connected to a hot air supply port 28 formed in the tank cover 13.

  A discharge port 29 is formed in the lower part of the peripheral wall portion of the outer tub 5. A circulation duct 30 extending in the vertical direction is provided outside the peripheral wall portion of the outer tub 5, and a lower portion of the circulation duct 30 communicates with the inside of the outer tub 5 through the discharge port 29. The upper part of the circulation duct 30 communicates with the inside of the outer tank 5 through a circulation port 31 formed in the tank cover 13. An exhaust port 32 is formed at the upper end of the circulation duct 30, and a filter 33 is attached to the exhaust port 32. A drainage channel 35 is connected to the bottom of the outer tub 5 via a drainage valve 34.

  Here, when the fan 21 is rotationally driven by the fan motor 23 of the hot air supply device 20 and the heater 24 is energized, the fan 21 blows air, as shown by the arrow A in FIG. The air is sucked into the fan casing 22 from the external suction port 27 through the suction port 22a, and the air in the fan casing 22 is discharged into the heater case 25 from the discharge port 22b. The air in the heater case 25 is heated by the heater 24 to be warmed, and the warm air is supplied into the tank 4 through the supply duct 26. The hot air supplied into the tank 4 is mainly supplied into the inner tank 6 and then supplied between the inner tank 6 and the outer tank 5 through the through holes 8. The hot air in the outer tub 5 once exits from the discharge port 29 toward the circulation duct 30 and flows upward through the circulation duct 30, and then partly flows outside the circulation duct 30 (inside the outer box 1 from the exhaust port 32. The remainder is circulated in such a manner that the remainder is returned from the circulation port 31 back into the tank 4.

  A control circuit unit 39 is provided inside the front portion of the top cover 2, and an operation panel 40 shown in FIG. 3 is provided on the top surface of the front portion of the top cover 2. The operation panel 40 includes a power “on” key 41, a “off” key 42, a “start” key 43 (also serving as a “pause” key), a “dry” key 44, and a “wash / dry” key 45. , “Laundry” key 46, “Reservation” key 47, “Dehydration” key 48, “Rinse” key 49, “Washing” key 50, “Bath clean” key 51, “Clean” key 52, “Water level” key 53 In addition, a “water flow” key 54 and a “flowing water” key 55 are provided, and various indicators 57 to 64 for displaying the contents and presence / absence of selection or setting thereof are provided.

  Among the indicators 57 to 64, the indicator 60 corresponding to the “bath clean” key 51 includes a laundry presence / absence display portion 60a for displaying the presence / absence of laundry. In this case, the character display “laundry is present” is displayed on the laundry presence / absence display portion 60a. The laundry presence / absence display unit 60a displays “with laundry” when lit and displays “without laundry” when turned off. The laundry presence / absence display unit 60a constitutes notification means for notifying the presence / absence of laundry.

  The control circuit unit 39 is provided with a control circuit 65 (see FIG. 4) mainly composed of a microcomputer. FIG. 4 shows an electrical configuration centered on the control circuit 65. The control circuit 65 constitutes the control means of the present invention and is connected to the nonvolatile memory 66. The control circuit 65 is provided with various operation signals input from the various operation keys 41 to 55 provided on the operation panel 40 and detects the water level in the tank 4 (outer tank 5). A water level detection signal from the water level sensor 67 and a temperature detection signal from a temperature sensor 68 provided to detect the temperature in the heater case 25 are detected by a lid switch 69 (lid opening / closing detection means). ), And a rotation speed detection signal is input from a rotation sensor 70 provided to detect the rotation speed of the motor 12 of the driving device 11.

  The rotation sensor 70 and the control circuit 65 constitute weight detection means for detecting the weight of the laundry housed in the inner tub 6 and laundry detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the laundry in the inner tub 6. Specifically, the pulsator 10 is rotated by the motor 12, and the weight of the laundry accommodated in the inner tub 6 is based on the rotation speed of the rotation sensor 70 at that time and the table previously held by the control circuit 65. Judging. When the amount (weight) of the laundry stored in the inner tub 6 is large, the rotation number detected by the rotation sensor 70 is low, and when the amount (weight) of the laundry is small, the rotation sensor 70 detects. The number of rotations to be increased.

  The control circuit 65 is based on the input signal described above and a control program stored in advance, the motor 12, the water supply valve 71 provided to supply water into the tank 4 (inside the inner tank 6), The drain valve 34, various indicators 57 to 64 provided on the operation panel 40, a buzzer 72 as an alarm, the fan motor 23, the heater 24, and the lid 16 are locked in a closed state. The lid lock mechanism 73 provided in this manner is controlled via a drive circuit 74, respectively.

  Next, there are three types of operation courses that describe the operation of the washer / dryer controlled by the control circuit 65: a washing course, a washing course, and a drying course, each of which has several courses. When a normal course operation is performed, a predetermined course is selected by operating any one of the “washing” key 46, the “washing / drying” key 45, and the “drying” key 44. As necessary, the contents of the washing process, rinsing process, dehydration process, water level setting, strength of water flow, presence / absence of bath water supply can be set by "dehydration" key 48, "rinse" key 49, "washing" key 50, The “water level” key 53, “water flow” key 54, and “flow water” key 55 are used for setting. In addition to the course operation described above, a tank cleaning course for cleaning the tank 4 (outer tank 5 and inner tank 6) and a tank drying course for drying the tank 4 (outer tank 5 and inner tank 6) can also be set. When the setting of each course is completed, operation is started by operating the “start” key 43. The laundry is put in the inner tub 6 in advance.

  In the course operation described above, when the washing course is operated, the washing process, the rinsing process, and the dehydration process are performed in this order (some processes may not be performed depending on the setting). When performing the washing process, a detergent is put in the inner tank 6 in advance. When performing the washing process, the control circuit 65 first detects the weight of the laundry stored in the inner tub 6. In the weight detection, only the pulsator 10 is rotated by the motor 12, and the weight of the laundry is determined based on the rotation speed of the rotation sensor 70 at that time and a table previously held by the control circuit 65. The control circuit 65 determines the feed water level based on the detected weight. The control circuit 65 supplies and stores water in the tank 4 by opening the water supply valve 71 with the drain valve 34 closed. The water level at this time is the water level determined based on the weight detection. Thereafter, the control circuit 65 causes the motor 12 to rotate the pulsator 10 forward and backward. Thereby, the laundry accommodated in the inner tub 6 is washed.

  When the washing process is completed, the drain valve 34 is opened, and the water in the tank 4 is discharged from the drain 35 to the outside of the machine. The rinsing process is performed in the same manner as the washing process except that no detergent is used and no weight detection is performed. The dehydration process is performed by rotating the pulsator 10 and the inner tank 6 integrally at high speed by the motor 12 with the drain valve 71 opened. Thereby, the laundry in the inner tub 6 is centrifugally dehydrated. Water discharged from the laundry is discharged from the drainage channel 35 to the outside of the machine.

  When such a washing course is performed, the operation is usually terminated at the time when the dehydration process is completed, and after the notification by the buzzer 72, the power of the washing and drying machine is turned off. The user opens the lid 16 and the inner lid 14, takes out the laundry in the inner tub 6, and then closes the inner lid 14 and the lid 16. After this, the laundry dryer is left unattended. At this time, moisture remains on the inner surface of the outer tub 5 in the tub 4 and the inner and outer surfaces of the inner tub 6, which causes mold generation.

Therefore, in the present invention, the following automatic tank drying function is added. Hereinafter, the automatic tank drying function will be described with reference to the flowchart showing the control contents of the control circuit 65 of FIG.
First, the user sets a course to be driven on the operation panel 40 (step S1). Here, when the user sets the automatic tank drying function, the “care” key 52 is operated when the washing course is selected and set. As a result, the control circuit 65 sets the automatic tank drying function, turns on the indicator 61 corresponding to the “care” key 52, and stores the automatic tank drying function in the nonvolatile memory 66. Let Once the automatic tank drying function is set, it is stored as it is set at the next washing.

  To cancel the setting of the automatic tank drying function, the user operates the “care” key 52 again when the washing course is selected and set. Then, the display 61 corresponding to the “care” key 52 is turned off, whereby the control circuit 65 cancels the setting of the automatic tank drying function and stores the cancellation in the nonvolatile memory 66. In this case, it is handled that the automatic tank drying function is not set at the next washing.

  In step S2, the control circuit 65 determines whether or not the automatic tank drying function is set in the selected course. If the automatic tank drying function is set, the process proceeds to step S3 according to “YES”, and it is determined whether or not the operation of the washing course is set here. If the operation of the washing course is set, the process proceeds to step S4 according to “YES”. Here, the process of the set washing course is the process of washing, rinsing, and dehydration, or the process of rinsing and dehydration. It is determined whether or not a process is set. If it is a normal washing course, it corresponds to either.

  If it is determined in step S4 that the set course of the washing course is a process of washing, rinsing and dehydration, or a process of rinsing and dehydration, the process proceeds to step S5 according to “YES”. It waits until the “start” key 43 is operated. When the “start” key 43 is operated, the control circuit 65 executes the washing course (corresponding to the washing operation of the present invention) selected and set by the user (step S6). In the washing course selected and set, the process is a process of washing, rinsing, and dehydration, or a process of rinsing and dehydration.

  The control circuit 65 executes the washing course selected and set by the user. When the operation is completed, the control circuit 65 notifies the user that the washing operation is completed by notifying the buzzer 72 (step S7). Thereafter, the elapsed time from the end of the washing operation is measured, and it is determined whether or not a predetermined time set in advance, in this case, 1 hour has elapsed, and whether or not the lid opening / closing has been detected ( Steps S8 and S9).

  Normally, when the user finds out that the washing operation is finished by the notification by the buzzer 72, the lid 16 and the inner lid 14 are opened, the laundry in the inner tub 6 is taken out, and then the inner lid 14 and The lid 16 is closed. The control circuit 65 determines that the laundry has been taken out from the inner tub 6 by detecting the opening / closing operation of the lid 16 by the lid switch 69.

  When the control circuit 65 detects the opening / closing operation of the lid 16 within one hour after the washing operation is completed in steps S8 and S9, the control circuit 65 determines that the user has taken out the laundry from the inner tub 6, and "YES" The process proceeds to steps S10 and S11. The elapsed time after the opening / closing detection of the lid 16 is measured, and it is determined whether or not the start key has been operated within a predetermined time set in advance, in this case within 30 minutes. If it is determined in step S10 that the “start” key 43 has been operated within 30 minutes, the process proceeds to step S12 according to “YES”, and the lid lock mechanism 73 is operated to lock the lid 16 in the closed state. To do. Thereafter, the control circuit 65 detects the weight and determines whether there is laundry in the inner tub 6 (steps S13 and S14).

  Here, in the weight detection in step S13, as in the washing process, only the pulsator 10 is rotated by the motor 12, and the rotation speed of the rotation sensor 70 at that time and the table previously stored in the control circuit 65 are used. Based on the weight of the laundry. The determination of the presence or absence of laundry in step S14 is not to determine the amount of laundry, but to determine whether or not there is laundry remaining in the inner tub 6. Compared with the threshold value, the presence or absence of laundry is determined. If it is determined in step S14 that there is no laundry, the process proceeds to step S15 according to "YES". If there is a display indicating "laundry is present" on the laundry presence / absence display unit 60a, the display is displayed. In addition to erasing (extinguishing), the storage of “with laundry” in the nonvolatile memory 66 is erased. Thereafter, the control circuit 65 executes a tank drying operation (step S16). In this case, after executing the washing operation, the specific operation for executing the tank drying operation is an opening / closing operation of the lid 16 and a key operation of the “start” key 43.

  The tank drying operation is specifically performed as shown in FIG. The tank drying operation includes a tank drying process and a cooling process. In the tank drying process, the drain valve 34 is opened, the fan motor 23 is energized to rotate the fan 21, the heater 24 is energized, and the motor 12 rotates the inner tank 6 at a high speed. In FIG. 5, the energized state or the drive state is indicated by hatching.

  Of these, as described above, the air blown by the rotation of the fan 21 and the heating by the heater 24 cause air outside the machine to be sucked into the fan casing 22 from the external suction port 27 and the air inside the fan casing 22 to be discharged. It is discharged into the heater case 25 from the outlet 22b, heated by the heater 24 to be warmed, and the warm air is supplied into the tank 4 through the supply duct 26. The hot air supplied into the tank 4 is mainly supplied into the inner tank 6 and then supplied between the inner tank 6 and the outer tank 5 through the through holes 8. The hot air in the outer tub 5 once exits from the discharge port 29 toward the circulation duct 30 and flows upward through the circulation duct 30, and then partly flows outside the circulation duct 30 (inside the outer box 1 from the exhaust port 32. The remainder is circulated in such a manner that the remainder is returned from the circulation port 31 back into the tank 4. Further, when the inner tub 6 is rotated at a high speed, the water adhering to the inner tub 6 is blown off by centrifugal force.

  In this manner, the tank 4 (the outer tank 5 and the inner tank 6) is dried by the warm air and the high-speed rotation of the inner tank 6. At this time, by opening the drain valve 34, the exhaust amount from the tank 4 can be increased, the water in the tank 4 can be discharged out of the tank 4 earlier, and the drying efficiency can be improved. Is possible. The tank drying process is performed for 10 minutes, for example.

When the drying process is completed, a cooling process is performed. In the cooling process, the drain motor 34 is closed and the heater 24 is disconnected while the operation of the fan motor 23 continues. Moreover, the high speed rotation of the inner tank 6 is stopped, and only the pulsator 10 is rotated forward and backward instead. This cooling process is performed for 5 minutes, for example. When the time of the cooling stroke has elapsed, the fan motor 23 is stopped and the rotation of the pulsator 10 is also stopped. Thereby, the tank drying operation is completed.
When the tank drying operation is completed, the control circuit 65 releases the locked state of the lid 16 by the lid lock mechanism 73 (step S17), and then turns off the power (step S18) and ends all the operations.

  When the washing operation is executed in step S6 and the opening / closing detection of the lid 16 is not performed after 1 hour from the notification of the buzzer 72, the user forgets to take out the laundry, or It is determined that there is no intention to take out the laundry, and the process proceeds to step S18 according to “YES” in step S8, and the power is forcibly turned off without executing the tank drying operation. Thereby, even if it is a case where a user leaves after performing washing operation, it can prevent leaving for a long time with a power supply on.

  In addition, the washing operation is executed in step S6, and after the buzzer 72 is notified, the lid 16 is detected to be opened and closed (“YES” in step S9), but the “start” key 43 is operated even after 30 minutes. If not (steps S10 and S11), the control circuit 65 determines that the user has taken out the laundry but forgot to operate the “start” key 43, and in step S11, “YES” is followed by step S12. , And after the lid 16 is locked by the lid lock mechanism 73, weight detection is performed (step S13).

  If the weight is detected in step S13, the presence / absence of laundry is determined in step S14, and it is determined that there is laundry, the laundry may be left in the inner tub 6. In this case, the process proceeds to step S19 according to “NO”, where “there is laundry” is displayed (lights up) on the laundry presence / absence display unit 60a, and “there is laundry” in the nonvolatile memory 66. Remember. By displaying “laundry is present” on the laundry presence / absence display unit 60a, the user is notified that the laundry remains in the inner tub 6. The user notices that he / she has forgotten to take out the laundry by looking at the indication of “laundry is present” in the laundry presence / absence display section 60a, opens the lid 16 and the inner lid 14 again, and opens the inner tub 6. The laundry inside is taken out, and then the inner lid 14 and the lid 16 are closed.

  The control circuit 65 displays whether there is laundry in the laundry presence / absence display section 60a, and then whether the lid 16 has been opened or closed within a predetermined time (second predetermined time), in this case within 10 minutes. It is determined whether or not (steps S20 and S21). If the opening / closing operation of the lid 16 is detected within 10 minutes, it is determined that the user has taken out the laundry from the inner tub 6, and the process returns to step S10 according to "YES" in step S21. If the opening / closing operation of the lid 16 is not detected after 10 minutes, the process proceeds to step S18 according to “YES” in step S20, and the power is turned off.

  In step S19, the control circuit 65 displays “laundry present” on the laundry presence / absence display unit 60a and stores “laundry present” in the nonvolatile memory 66 as described above for 10 minutes. If the lid 16 is not opened / closed, the tank drying operation is not performed, and the power is turned off after the elapse of time, “there is laundry” is displayed on the laundry presence / absence display portion 60a when the power is turned on next time (lights up) ) Thereby, it can inform a user that the laundry is left in the inner tub 6.

  On the other hand, if the control circuit 65 determines in step S2 that the automatic tank drying function is not set in the set operation course, the process proceeds to step S22 according to “NO” until the start key is operated. stand by. When the “start” key 43 is operated, the selected and set course is executed (step S23). When the operation of the selected and set course is completed, the buzzer 72 is notified (step S24), and then the process proceeds to step S18 and the power is turned off.

The control circuit 65 determines that the automatic tank drying function is set in step S2, and if it is determined in step S3 that the set course is not a washing course (for example, a washing course and a drying course have been set). In the case), the process proceeds to step S25 according to “NO”, the automatic tank drying setting is disabled, and the process waits until the start key is operated (step S26). When the “start” key 43 is operated, the selected and set course is executed (step S27). When the operation of the selected course is completed, the buzzer 72 is notified (step S28), and then the process proceeds to step S18 to turn off the power.
In step S4, if the process of the washing course set in step S1 is not washing, rinsing, dehydrating or rinsing, and dehydrating, the control circuit 65 proceeds to step S25 according to “NO”.

According to the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
When the control circuit 65 performs the washing operation including the washing process, the rinsing process, and the dehydrating process, or the washing operation including the rinsing process and the dehydrating process, when the automatic tank drying function is set , the execution of the washing operation is completed. After that, the lid switch 69 detects the opening / closing operation of the lid 16, detects that the “start” key 43 has been operated, and then detects the presence or absence of laundry in the tub 6 by weight detection, When the detection result indicates that there is no laundry, the tank drying operation is automatically executed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the tank drying operation from being performed while the laundry is left in the inner tank 6.

  When the result of detection by the weight detection indicates that there is laundry, the control circuit 65 displays a notification indicating that there is laundry on the laundry presence / absence display unit 60a. The user can see that the laundry remains in the inner tub 6 by looking at the indication of “there is laundry”. Therefore, the user opens the lid 16 and the inner lid 14 again, takes out the laundry in the inner tub 6, and then closes the inner lid 14 and the lid 16, thereby washing the inner tub 6. It is possible to prevent the tank drying operation from being performed while the object remains.

Only when the opening / closing of the lid 16 is detected by the lid switch 69 within a predetermined time (one hour) after the execution of the washing operation is finished , the control circuit 65 detects the presence or absence of the laundry in the inner tub 6 by the weight detection. Is to be detected. Since the laundry cannot be taken out without the opening / closing operation of the lid 16, the presence / absence of the laundry in the inner tub 6 may be detected only when the opening / closing operation of the lid 16 is performed. Detection of the presence or absence of laundry in the inner tub 6 is not performed wastefully.

  When the opening / closing of the lid 16 is detected by the lid switch 69 within a predetermined time (10 minutes) after the presence / absence of the laundry is notified by the laundry presence / absence display unit 60a, the control circuit 65 again detects the weight in the inner tub 6 by detecting the weight. The presence / absence of laundry is detected, and the detection result is notified by the laundry presence / absence display section 60a. According to this, it is possible to prevent the laundry from being left in the inner tub 6 as much as possible.

  If the opening / closing of the lid 16 is not detected by the lid switch 69 even after a predetermined time (10 minutes) has elapsed after the laundry presence / absence display section 60a notifies the presence of the laundry, the control circuit 65 dries the tank. Turn off the power without performing the operation. According to this, it is possible to reliably prevent the tank drying operation from being performed while the laundry is left in the inner tank 6. Further, it is possible to prevent the device from being left for a long time with the power on.

  Further, when the control circuit 65 determines that the lid 16 has not been opened / closed after a lapse of a predetermined time (1 hour) after the washing operation is finished, the control circuit 65 does not execute the tank drying operation and turns on the power. Turn off. According to this, even if the user leaves the laundry after executing the washing operation, it can be prevented that the user is left for a long time with the power on.

Further, the control circuit 65, after the execution of the washing operation is completed, detects the opening and closing operation of the lid 16 by the lid switch 69, then, if even after 30 minutes not operated the "start" key 43 When the weight is detected and it is determined that there is no laundry, the tank drying operation is performed. According to this, the tank drying operation can be automatically performed even if the user forgets to operate the “start” key 43 after taking out the laundry.

  When the “care” key 52 for setting the presence / absence of the automatic tank drying function is provided, and the automatic tank drying function is set by operating the “care” key 52, the setting is stored in the nonvolatile memory 66. When the power is turned on the next time, the automatic tank drying function is automatically set. For this reason, it is not necessary for the user to make a setting with the automatic tank drying function every time the washing operation is performed, and it is easy to use. In addition, the automatic tank drying function can be set by operating the “care” key 52. Even when the automatic tank drying function is not set, it is stored in the nonvolatile memory 66 and the power is turned on next time. When this happens, the automatic tank drying function is automatically set.

After the execution of the washing operation is completed, before performing the weight sensing, since a structure for locking the lid 16 in the closed state by a lid lock mechanism 73, when running the weight detection and the bath drying operation, erroneous Thus, the lid 16 can be prevented from being opened.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified or expanded as follows.
The tank drying means is not limited to the hot air supply device 20 provided with the fan 21 for blowing and the heater 24 for heating, but may be provided with, for example, the fan 21 for blowing and the fan motor 23 that rotationally drives the fan 21. Further, the tank drying means may only rotate the inner tank 6 by the motor 12.

After the washing operation is finished and the buzzer is notified, the time for waiting for the lid opening / closing detection (time in step S8) is not limited to 1 hour, but may be 45 minutes or 1 hour 15 minutes.
The time to wait for the start key operation after the lid opening / closing detection (time in step S11) is not limited to 30 minutes, and may be 20 minutes or 40 minutes.
After displaying and storing the presence of laundry, the time for waiting for detection of lid opening / closing (time in step S20) is not limited to 10 minutes, and may be 15 minutes or 8 minutes.
The present invention is not limited to the vertical type washing and drying machine, and can also be applied to a drum type washing and drying machine in which the axial center line of the tank is oriented substantially in the horizontal direction (including a case where the tank is slightly inclined).

The flowchart which shows one Embodiment of this invention and shows the control content of a control circuit. Longitudinal side view of washer / dryer Top view of the operation panel Electrical configuration block diagram Diagram showing process details of tank drying operation

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 4 is a tub, 5 is an outer tub, 6 is an inner tub, 12 is a motor, 15 is a laundry doorway, 16 is a lid, 20 is a hot air supply device (tub drying means), 21 is a fan, and 23 is a fan. Motor, 24 is a heater, 60a is a laundry presence / absence display (notification means) 65 is a control circuit (control means, laundry detection means), 69 is a lid switch (lid opening / closing detection means), 70 is a rotation sensor (laundry detection) Means).

Claims (6)

A tank used for washing, rinsing and dehydrating laundry,
A lid that opens and closes a laundry doorway for loading and unloading laundry to and from the tub;
Lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid;
Laundry detection means for detecting the presence or absence of laundry in the tub based on the driving of a motor used for washing, rinsing, and dehydration of the laundry;
Tank drying means for drying the tank;
A washing operation including at least one of a washing process, a rinsing process, and a dehydration process is performed, and after the execution of the washing operation is completed, the lid opening / closing detection unit detects opening / closing of the lid within a predetermined time . In this case, the laundry detection means detects the presence or absence of laundry in the tub, and when the detection result indicates that there is no laundry, the tub drying operation is performed to dry the tub by the tank drying means. A washing machine comprising: control means for turning off the power without performing the tank drying operation when the lid opening / closing detection means does not detect opening / closing of the lid within time . Providing a notification means,
2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein when the result of detection by the laundry detection means indicates that there is laundry, the control means notifies the presence of laundry by the notification means.   2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein when the result of detection by the laundry detection unit is that there is laundry, the control unit does not execute the tank drying operation and turns off the power. When the control means detects the opening / closing of the lid by the lid opening / closing detection means within a second predetermined time after notifying the presence of the laundry by the notification means, the laundry detection means again causes the inside of the tub The washing machine according to claim 2 , wherein the presence or absence of laundry is detected and the detection result is notified by the notification means . If the control means does not detect the opening / closing of the lid by the lid opening / closing detection means even after the second predetermined time has elapsed after notifying the presence of laundry by the notification means, the tank drying operation is performed. 3. The washing machine according to claim 2 , wherein the washing machine is turned off without being executed . If the control means does not detect the opening / closing of the lid by the lid opening / closing detection means even after the second predetermined time has elapsed after notifying the presence of laundry by the notification means, the tank drying operation is performed. without running, the power is turned off, the washing machine according to claim 2, wherein that you notify the presence laundry by the notification means at the next power-on.

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