JP5326842B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing machine that sequentially executes washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying.

  Conventionally, this type of washing machine has been arranged in a water tub with the rotating drum centered in the horizontal direction or in a state where the rotating shaft is lifted forward from the horizontal direction. Therefore, the laundry is stored in the rotating drum and rotated. In this case, the laundry and water tend to be biased downward, and vibration is likely to occur.

  In particular, when a dehydration process is performed in which the rotating drum is rotated at a high speed to dehydrate the laundry, the laundry containing water is stored in the rotating drum after the washing or rinsing process is completed. Depending on the type, fabric, or shape, there is a state where the rotating drum tends to gather at the biased position during the rotation of the dehydration process, and when the laundry is biased, a large vibration is generated in the water tank that houses the rotating drum, Abnormal noise is generated. When a large vibration occurs, a control operation for eliminating the unevenness of the laundry is performed by a drive control for temporarily stopping the rotation of the rotary drum and then a re-rotation or a drive control for reducing the rotation speed of the rotary drum. Yes.

  For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, as a method of detecting imbalance in a rotating drum, the rotating drum is rotated for a predetermined time so that a predetermined rotating speed is obtained, and the unbalance in the drum is determined from the degree of fluctuation in the rotating speed. There is known an unbalance detection method for determining the above.

JP 2003-326093 A

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, since it is necessary to rotate the rotating drum for a predetermined time in order to detect the degree of fluctuation in the rotational speed, the dehydration time is used when the unbalance detection is repeatedly performed until it is determined that the balance state is good. There was a problem that it took too much.

  In addition, the determination value for determining whether or not the degree of variation in the rotational speed of the rotating drum is a value indicating an unbalanced state is usually different depending on the amount of laundry. When the laundry is small at the start of washing but the laundry is added on the way, it is not judged with an appropriate judgment value, and it is judged that the balance state is good even in the unbalanced state. In some cases, the dehydration process and the drying process are performed in an unbalanced state, and there is a problem that vibration noise increases.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems. In a short time, the laundry balance in the rotating drum and the amount of the laundry are detected. The purpose is to provide a washing machine that suppresses abnormal vibration and noise even when added.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the washing machine of the present invention includes an acceleration detection means for detecting the acceleration of the vibration of the aquarium, and a control means for executing each operation such as washing, rinsing, and dehydration. Performs the cloth amount determination based on the detection result from the acceleration detecting means at the start of the dewatering process, and performs unraveling operation according to a predetermined cloth amount after the cloth amount determination, thereby reliably reducing unbalance and reducing the time. Can be shortened.

  The washing machine of the present invention can shorten the dehydration time and suppress vibrations at the start of dehydration.

Main sectional drawing of the washing machine in a 1st embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the control apparatus in 1st Embodiment of the washing machine The block diagram of the control apparatus in 2nd Embodiment of the washing machine First flowchart of the dehydration process of the washing machine in the third embodiment of the washing machine Second flowchart of the dehydration process of the washing machine in the third embodiment of the washing machine 3rd flowchart of the dehydration process of the washing machine in 3rd Embodiment of the washing machine 4th flowchart of the dehydration process of the washing machine in 3rd Embodiment of the washing machine

  The first invention includes a rotating drum that accommodates laundry and has a central axis of rotation in a horizontal direction or an inclined direction, a water tub that rotatably includes the rotating drum and elastically supported in a washing machine body, A motor for rotationally driving the rotating drum; acceleration detecting means for detecting acceleration of vibration of the aquarium; and control means for executing operations such as washing, rinsing, and dehydration. The cloth amount is determined based on the detection result from the acceleration detecting means, and after the cloth amount is determined, a loosening operation according to a predetermined amount of cloth is performed to reliably capture the motion of the laundry in three dimensions. The amount of laundry can be reliably detected. Moreover, the laundry can be loosened reliably, the time of all processes can be shortened by reducing imbalance, and stable high-speed dewatering can be started.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, there is provided current detection means for detecting a drive current of the motor, and the control means detects the laundry from the current detection means and the acceleration detection means in the rotating drum when the dehydration operation starts. By determining the amount of cloth based on the result, it is possible to detect the vibration of the motor and the vibration of the water tank quickly and accurately, and it is possible to detect the amount of laundry and the position of unbalance.

  According to a third aspect, in the first or second aspect, the control means outputs the rotation drum to the gravity of the laundry when a detection result indicating that the laundry has reached a level smaller than a predetermined amount is output. By performing a loosening operation that reverses forward rotation for a predetermined time at a predetermined rotation speed greater than the centrifugal force, the laundry can be unraveled without sticking to the rotating drum, reducing unbalance and a water tank during dehydrating high-speed rotation Can suppress abnormal vibration.

  In a fourth aspect based on the first or second aspect, when the detection result indicating that the laundry has become a level larger than a predetermined amount is output, the control means rapidly accelerates / reverses the rotating drum. By performing the unwinding operation that reverses the normal rotation for a predetermined time at the rotation speed to be able to loosen the laundry that is strongly entangled during washing, it is possible to reduce unbalance and reliably suppress abnormal vibration of the aquarium during high-speed dehydration it can.

  In a fifth aspect of the invention, in particular, in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, by always determining the amount of laundry by performing the cloth amount determination every time the laundry is put into the rotating drum, Quickly and accurately determine the laundry balance.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in particular, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the cloth amount is determined before the drying step, so that the drying time can be shortened and the laundry can be reduced by reducing the imbalance during the drying step. The total time from rinsing to rinsing, dehydration and drying can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a main cross-sectional view of the washing machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A water tub 3 is provided in the washing machine casing 6 of the washing machine 1, the rotating drum 2 is accommodated in the water tub 3, and the rotating shaft 2 a of the rotating drum 2 is supported by a bearing 68 provided on the back surface of the water tub 3. In addition, a water tank unit 7 in which a drum drive motor (motor) 5 is connected to the rotary shaft 2a is disposed so as to be inclined upward.

  Since this water tank unit 7 has heavy components such as the bearing 68 and the drum drive motor 5 attached to the back side thereof, the center of gravity position becomes unstable from the back side. 70 is a first coil spring that elastically supports the water tank unit 7 below the center of gravity of the water tank unit 7 downward from the center of gravity and is installed between the upper support fitting 75 fixed to the upper part of the water tank 3 and the upper surface of the washing machine housing 6. 71 urges the aquarium unit 7 toward the front side, and a second coil spring is provided between the back surface of the aquarium unit 7 below the support height position by the vibration isolating damper 70 and the back surface of the washing machine casing 6. By constructing 72, it is corrected that the aquarium unit 7 supported by the vibration isolating damper 70 near the front side from the center of gravity position falls to the back side, and the support structure has a high vibration damping effect. It has been.

  A rotating drum 2 formed in a cylindrical shape with a bottom is rotatably supported in the water tank 3, and the rotating drum 2 is rotationally driven by a drum driving motor 5 attached to the back surface of the water tank 3 so that the rotation speed can be changed and the rotation direction can be switched. Is done.

  Further, an acceleration sensor (acceleration detecting means) 36 for detecting the acceleration of the vibration of the water tank 3 is attached to the front upper part of the water tank 3.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the rotating drum 2 is formed on the front side of the washing machine casing 6 because the rotating shaft 2 is inclined so that the rotation axis direction is inclined downward from the front side toward the back side. Opening the door 9 that can be freely opened and closed on the inclined surface does not require bending at the time of putting the laundry in and out of the rotating drum 2, so that there is a space on the front side of the washing machine 1. Since it is not necessary to ensure, it can be comprised in the washing machine 1 which can be installed also in narrow spaces, such as a washroom.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the control base (control device) 13 of the washing machine described in FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The washing machine 1 has a drying function provided with a heat pump system 18 for generating warm air in the rotary drum 2 and the like, a series of operations over washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying, input of process instructions, and operating states of each part Control means 20 for controlling based on monitoring is provided.

  In the control board 13, the AC power 31 is rectified by the rectifier 32, and the drum drive motor 5 is rotationally driven by the inverter circuit 26 using the DC power smoothed by the smoothing circuit including the choke coil 33 and the smoothing capacitor 34 as the driving power. At the same time, the rotation of the drum drive motor 5 is controlled based on the operation instruction input from the input setting means 21 and the monitoring information of the operation state detected by each detection means, and the water supply valve 14 and the drain valve 13 are controlled by the load drive means 37. The operation of the heat pump system 18 is controlled.

  For example, by opening the door 9 and putting the laundry into the rotary drum 2, by performing the washing course input and the driving start input from the input setting means 21 provided on the upper front side of the washing machine housing 6, The driving operation corresponding to the instructed driving course is started, and the required operation is executed under the control of the control means 20. The amount of laundry put into the rotary drum 2 is determined by the cloth amount determination means 30, and the control means 20 controls the opening and closing of the water supply valve 14 so as to obtain the amount of water supply according to the amount of laundry. The water is supplied into 3.

  The drum drive motor 5 includes a stator having three-phase windings 5a, 5b, and 5c, and a rotor having an 8-pole permanent magnet, and is configured as a DC brushless motor provided with three position detection elements 24a, 24b, and 24c. The rotation of the rotary drum 2 is controlled by the PWM control inverter circuit 26 constituted by the switching elements 26a to 26f at the time of washing, rinsing, dehydrating and the like.

  The rotor position detection signals detected by the position detection elements 24a, 24b, and 24c are input to the control means 20, and the on / off states of the switching elements 26a to 26f are PWM-controlled by the drive circuit 25 based on the rotor position detection signals, The rotor is rotated at a required rotational speed by controlling energization to the three-phase windings 5a, 5b and 5c of the stator.

  The control means 20 detects the cycle each time the signal state of any of the three position detection means 24a, 24b, 24c changes, and calculates the rotational speed of the rotor based on the cycle.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an acceleration sensor (acceleration detecting means) 36 is attached to the front upper part of the aquarium 3, and after the washing process is finished, the clothes are filled with a large amount of water and rotated at the start of dehydration. An evaluation table corresponding to the vibration acceleration of the water tank 3 while rotating the drum 2 in the forward rotation direction (right direction) for 3 to 5 seconds by the drive circuit 25 and detecting the vibration of the water tank 3 in real time by the acceleration sensor 36 A comparison is made to accurately determine the amount of laundry.

  The acceleration sensor 36 has detection axes in three directions (front and rear, left and right, and up and down directions), and can capture a three-dimensional motion from the vibration of the water tank 3. Accordingly, since the acceleration varies depending on the amount of laundry, the amount of laundry can be determined preferentially from the motion in the three-dimensional direction.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the control device for the washing machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As in the first embodiment, the washing machine 1 of the present invention opens the door 9 and puts the laundry into the rotating drum 2, and input setting means provided at the upper front side of the washing machine housing 6. By performing the washing input of the driving course and the driving start input from 21, the driving operation corresponding to the instructed driving course is started, and the required operation is executed under the control of the control means 20. The amount of laundry put into the rotary drum 2 is determined by the cloth amount determination means 30, and the control means 20 controls the opening and closing of the water supply valve 14 so as to obtain the amount of water supply according to the amount of laundry. The water is supplied into 3.

  In the second embodiment, the current flowing through the inverter circuit 26 changes according to the load state received by the drum drive motor 5 when the rotary drum 2 is started up at a predetermined rotational speed when determining the amount of cloth. The current detection circuit 29 detects the amount of current from the voltage at both ends of the resistor 28 connected in series, and the cloth amount determination means 30 determines the amount of laundry from the amount of current.

Further, by combining the current amount detected by the current detection means 27 configured by the resistor 28 and the current detection circuit 29 and the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 36, the drum drive that changes from the current amount according to the load state. Since the motion of the laundry in the rotary drum 2 can be known simultaneously from the movement of the motor 5 and the acceleration of the water tub 3, the amount of the laundry can be determined instantaneously (within 3 seconds). As described above, the position of the laundry and the unbalanced state can be simultaneously determined by combining the amount of current and the acceleration.

(Embodiment 3)
Hereinafter, the operation in the dehydration process will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the dehydration process of the washing machine in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when the dehydration process is started in step 100, the drain operation for draining the washing water in the water tub 3 is performed in step 101, and the data is initialized, and the process proceeds to step 102. In order to determine the cloth amount in Step 102, the current amount in Step 103 and the acceleration in Step 104 are detected while rotating in the forward rotation direction at about 45 r / m for a rotation time of 3 s to 5 s. Make a decision.

  When the result determined in step 105 is the result of a cloth amount of 1 kg to 6 kg (step 107 to step 110), respectively, the optimum loosening that reverses the rotating drum 2 in accordance with the cloth amount (steps 111 to step). 115) Perform the operation. When the result determined in step 105 is different from the current amount and the acceleration value corresponding to each predetermined cloth amount, the process returns to step 102 to detect the current amount and acceleration again.

  In addition, in the case of clothing smaller than a predetermined amount (for example, the amount of cloth is 2 kg or less), there is not so much entanglement, and a strong unwinding operation is not required due to a small unbalance. However, in the case of a larger amount of clothing than the predetermined amount, the clothing is very strongly entangled, and it becomes necessary to loosen the clothing separately. Therefore, by changing the loosening operation according to the amount of cloth, the unbalance can be reliably released, and abnormal vibration during rotation can be prevented.

  After performing a loosening operation according to the amount of cloth, the speed increases to a predetermined rotation speed (for example, 120 r / m), and acceleration (vibration value) is detected at step 116. Here, when it becomes below a predetermined threshold value, it moves to the next process in step 117. When the acceleration becomes equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value in step 116, the loosening corresponding to the cloth amount is performed again (steps 111 to 115).

  Further, in the cloth amount determination, as shown in FIG. 5 in addition to the current amount and acceleration value table corresponding to each cloth amount, it is determined in step 118 that the level is smaller than the predetermined amount (for example, the cloth amount is 2 kg or less). In this case, the rotating drum is rotated for 5 s at a rotational speed (for example, about 50 r / m) in the relationship of gravity to the laundry> centrifugal force to the laundry in the left / right (forward / reverse) direction. Loosen it.

  As a result, in the case of clothing at a level smaller than the predetermined amount, there is no significant entanglement, and even if the rotation is about 50 r / m, the clothing is loosened while floating in the rotating drum, so the unbalance is surely released. doing. In addition, it is possible to prevent abnormal vibrations and noises that occur during high-speed rotation even with a small amount of clothing. In addition, the same effect is acquired if it is the rotation speed in the relationship of gravity> centrifugal force.

  Further, in the cloth amount determination, as shown in FIG. 6, when it is determined in step 120 that the level is larger than the predetermined amount, the rotational speed at which the rotating drum is suddenly accelerated / reversed to the left and right (forward / reverse). (For example, the rotation speed is 180 r / m for 3 seconds, and the clothes that are strongly entangled are loosened by using the reaction generated by sudden acceleration and sudden reversal from side to side.

As a result, a large unbalance can be released, and abnormal vibration and abnormal noise during startup and high-speed rotation can be reduced. In addition, since it is possible to start up to high speed rotation with a small number of unwinding times, the time of all processes can be shortened. The same effect can be obtained if the rotational speed at which rapid acceleration / rapid reversal is performed in the range of 120 r / m to 180 r / m. The same effect can be obtained even if the rotation time is shortened to about 2 s.

  Next, FIG. 7 shows a cloth determination method in the clothes drying process. After the dehydration process is completed at step 122, the drum is unraveled by reversing the drum forward and backward at step 123. At this time, the same rotation speed and time as those in step 102 in FIG. 4 are used. Next, in step 124 and step 125, the current value and acceleration are detected, and the amount of cloth is calculated based on the detected current value and acceleration.

  Next, after performing a drying process in step 127, the cloth amount determination b is performed in step 128. In step 129, the cloth amount determination a and the cloth amount determination b are compared. At this time, when the cloth amount determination b is smaller than the cloth amount determination a, that is, when the weight of the dried clothes is lightened, the drying process is ended at step 130. If the cloth amount determination b is larger than the cloth amount determination a, the drying time is extended for a while and the cloth amount detection b is executed again in step 128.

  As described above, the washing machine according to the present invention can loosen clothes for a short time and can release unbalance. Further, the present invention is useful as a washing machine that can suppress vibration at the start of dehydration and can shorten the time for drying and a washing and drying machine having a drying function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Washing machine 2 Rotating drum 3 Water tank 5 Drum drive motor (motor)
20 control means 27 current detection means 36 acceleration sensor (acceleration detection means)

Claims (6)

A rotating drum that accommodates the laundry and has a rotation center axis in the horizontal or inclined direction, a water tank that rotatably includes the rotating drum and is elastically supported in the washing machine body, and rotationally drives the rotating drum A motor, acceleration detecting means for detecting acceleration of vibration of the water tank, and control means for executing each operation such as washing, rinsing, dehydration, etc., the control means from the acceleration detection means at the start of the dehydration process A washing machine that performs a cloth amount determination based on a detection result and executes a loosening operation according to a predetermined cloth amount after the cloth amount determination. A current detection means for detecting the motor drive current is provided, and the control means determines the amount of cloth based on the detection results from the current detection means and the acceleration detection means in the rotating drum when the dehydration operation starts. The washing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the detection result indicating that the laundry has reached a level smaller than the predetermined amount is output, the control means loosens the rotating drum in the normal direction for a predetermined time at a predetermined rotational speed at which the gravity of the laundry is greater than the centrifugal force. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the washing machine performs an operation. When the detection result indicating that the laundry has reached a level larger than the predetermined amount is output, the control means performs a loosening operation for normal rotation inversion for a predetermined time at a rotation speed at which the rotating drum is rapidly accelerated / reversed rapidly. The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the laundry amount is determined each time the laundry is put into the rotating drum. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cloth amount is determined before the drying step.