JP5860717B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a washing machine.

Conventionally, in a washing machine, when washing laundry such as wool products that are easily damaged, generally the laundry is put in a net and put into the washing tub together with the net, and a weak water flow is stirred. A dedicated course was selected that was generated by body rotation and washed.
In contrast, a laundry attachment is installed in the lower part of the washing tub, and the laundry is placed on or in the laundry attachment so that the laundry is separated from the stirring body. There are some which wash laundry by rotating a stirring body (for example, refer to patent documents 1 to 3).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-38376 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-140989 JP 9-201489 A

  What is washed using the above-mentioned washing attachment has the advantage that it can be washed effectively while reducing the fabric damage to the laundry. However, the water flow generated by the rotation of the stirring body becomes stronger. ing. For this reason, when washing is performed without installing a laundry attachment on a course where a laundry attachment is installed, the ones described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem that fabric damage occurs. It was.

On the other hand, in the thing of patent document 3, it has a function which detects the presence or absence of the attachment for washing in a washing tub, and if it detects that there is no attachment for washing, it will stop driving. Abnormality notification is provided.
However, in such a case where the operation is stopped and the abnormality is notified, the operation does not proceed any further and the washing of the laundry is stopped in the middle or the operation with the attachment for washing is installed. There is a problem that reworking is forced.

  Therefore, even if washing is performed without installing a laundry attachment, fabric damage will not occur, washing of the laundry will not be stopped halfway, and a laundry attachment will be installed. A washing machine capable of washing without being forced to re-operate is provided.

The washing machine of the present embodiment includes a washing tub for storing laundry together with washing water, an agitator that is disposed inside the washing tub and agitates the laundry together with washing water by being rotated, and the agitation. A driving device for rotating the body; a laundry attachment installed in the washing tub, wherein the laundry is placed separately from the stirring body; and whether the washing attachment is installed in the washing tub. An attachment installation detecting means for controlling and a control means capable of executing a course including a course for installing and washing the attachment for washing. In the case where a course for washing by installing the washing attachment is selected, the control means, when the attachment installation detecting means does not detect the installation of the washing attachment, the attachment installation detecting means Compared to the case where the installation of the washing attachment is detected, the operation is performed with a specification in which the strength of the water flow generated by the rotation of the stirring body during washing and rinsing is set to be weak.

Flowchart 1 of the dry course showing the first embodiment Flow chart of dry course 2 Longitudinal side view of the entire washing machine Electrical configuration block diagram Standard course flowchart Operation specifications in dry course part 1 Operation specifications in dry course 2 Operation specifications in dry course part 3 Operation specifications in dry course part 4 FIG. 1 equivalent diagram showing the second embodiment Operation specification diagram showing the third embodiment

The first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9.
First, FIG. 3 shows an overall configuration of a washing machine (vertical washing machine). The outer box 1 is an outer shell, and a plurality of water tanks 2 (only one is shown) inside the outer box 1. ) And an elastic support mechanism 3 mainly composed of a spring 3b mounted on the suspension bar 3a.

  The water tank 2 has a bottomed cylindrical shape in detail, and an annular water tank cover 4 is attached to the upper edge portion, and an inner lid 5 is attached to the water tank cover 4. Inside the water tub 2, a rotating tub 6 which is a washing tub and also a dewatering tub is disposed. The rotating tub 6 also has a bottomed cylindrical shape, and a large number of dewatering holes 7 (partially shown) are formed on the peripheral side thereof, and a rotating balancer 8 is mounted on the upper edge.

  A stirring body 9 is concentrically disposed at the bottom inside the rotary tank 6. A washing attachment mounting portion 10 is provided around the stirring body 9 in the rotating tub 6, and the washing attachment 11 can be attached to and detached from the washing attachment mounting portion 10 in a non-rotating state. It has become. In this case, the washing attachment 11 has a shape obtained by inverting the top and bottom of a flat circular container. The upper surface portion 11a has a large number of holes 12, and the lower edge of the peripheral side portion 11b is attached to the laundry. It mounts on the attachment attachment part 10 for installation, and is attached to the partition plate shape which partitions on the stirring body 9. As shown in FIG.

  A driving device 13 is disposed below the bottom of the water tank 2. The drive device 13 is mainly composed of a motor 13a shown in FIG. 4, and directly and selectively rotates the rotating tub 6 and the stirring body 9. In addition, an electric drain valve 14 and a drain hose 15 for discharging water in the tank 2 are disposed below the bottom of the tank 2.

  On the other hand, a top cover 16 is attached on the outer box 1, and a laundry doorway 17 is formed in the top cover 16 in the central region, and an outer lid 18 that opens and closes the laundry doorway 17. A water supply device 19 is disposed in the space behind the laundry entrance 17. The water supply device 19 is mainly composed of an electric water supply valve 19a connected to a water supply (not shown). In addition, the water supply device 19 has a detergent storage case 19b and a water supply pipe 19c. Alternatively, water is supplied without a detergent.

  Further, an operation panel 20 is provided on the top surface of the top cover 16 in front of the laundry entrance 17, and a control device 21 is disposed on the back side (inside the top cover 16). Among these, the operation panel 20 is for performing operations related to the operation of the washing machine, and has various operation keys and various display parts, although not shown in detail. The control device 21 functions as a control means for controlling the overall operation of the washing machine, and as shown in FIG. 4, is mainly composed of a microcomputer 21a.

  The control device 21 receives a water level detection signal from a water level sensor 22 provided so as to detect the water level in the water tank 2 and has switches (not shown) corresponding to various operation keys of the operation panel 20. Various operation signals are input from the operation circuit 23, and a rotation detection signal is input from the rotation sensor 24 that detects the rotation of the motor 13 a of the driving device 13. For example, an acceleration sensor detects the vibration of the rotating tub 6. A vibration detection signal is input from the vibration sensor 25. In addition, a nonvolatile memory 26 is connected to the control device 21.

  And the control apparatus 21 controls the said motor 13a, the said water supply valve 19a, and the said drain valve 14 through the drive circuits 27-29 based on those inputs and the control program memorize | stored beforehand, respectively. At the same time, a display circuit 30 having various display units that the operation panel 20 has, a buzzer 31 that is an alarm, and a lid locking device 32 that is used to lock the outer lid 18, a drive circuit 33 to 35 is controlled via each.

Next, the operation of the washing machine having the above configuration will be described.
The washing machine having the above configuration can be selected and executed between the standard course shown in FIG. 5 and the dry course shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by an operation using the operation keys of the operation panel 20. Of these, the standard course is suitable for washing ordinary laundry, and the dry course is suitable for washing laundry that is easily damaged by cloth, such as the wool product.

  In the “standard” course, when the operation is started (started) by the operation of the operation key of the operation panel 20, the laundry amount detection operation is first executed (step A1). This laundry amount detection operation is performed by operating the motor 13a of the driving device 13 to rotate the agitator 9, and simultaneously counting the rotation detection signal output from the rotation sensor 24 that detects the rotation of the motor 13a. At this time, if the laundry is put in the rotating tub 6 and the amount thereof is large, the load applied to the stirrer 9 is large and the number of rotation detection signals of the rotation sensor 24 is small, but on the contrary, if the amount is small, The load applied to the stirring body 9 is small, and the number of rotation detection signals of the rotation sensor 24 is large. Therefore, the amount of laundry in the rotating tub 6 can be detected based on the number of rotation detection signals. Accordingly, at this time, the control device 21 detects the amount of laundry in the rotating tub 6. It functions as a laundry amount detection means.

  And, after setting the specifications such as the washing water level, the washing water flow, the washing time according to the detected amount of laundry (not shown in FIG. 5), water supply (step A2), washing (step A3), drainage (step A4), Dehydration (step A5), shower rinsing (step A6), dehydration (step A7), water supply (step A8), rinsing (step A9), drainage (step A10), and dewatering (step A11) are executed.

  Among them, the water supply stroke is to supply water into the water tank 2 up to the set water level by opening the water supply valve 19a of the water supply device 19, and the washing stroke is performed by moving the stirrer 9 in both forward and reverse directions by the motor 13a. What is washed by stirring the laundry together with the washing water in the operation of rotating at a low speed, the process of draining is to drain the water in the water tank 2 by the operation of opening the drain valve 14, and the process of dehydration is performed by the motor 13a. Centrifugal dehydration from the laundry by rotating the rotating tub 6 at a high speed in one direction, the shower rinsing process is performed by rotating the rotating tub 6 while supplying water into the water tank 2 (in the rotating tub 6). The process of rinsing and rinsing by centrifugal dehydration is the process of rinsing the laundry in the same manner as the washing process.

Then, when the dehydration process in step A11 is completed, the operation is terminated.
On the other hand, in the dry course, when the operation is started (started) by the same operation, it is first determined whether or not there is an arbitrary setting without a washing process (step B1). If it is determined in this step B1 that there is no arbitrary setting without a washing process (NO), it is next determined whether or not water is stored in the rotary tank 2 (step B2). If it is determined in step B2 that the water is not stored in the rotating tub 2 (NO), whether or not the washing attachment 11 is next installed in the rotating tub 6 (whether or not the washing attachment 11 is installed). ) Is detected (step B3).

  The detection operation of whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed in step B3 is performed in the same manner as the laundry amount detection operation (step A1) in which the amount of laundry is detected in the standard course, that is, the driving device. The motor 13a is operated to rotate the stirring member 9, and at the same time, the rotation detection signal output from the rotation sensor 24 that detects the rotation of the motor 13a is counted. Accordingly, at this time, the control device 21 functions as an attachment installation detection unit that detects whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed in the rotating tub 6.

Here, if the laundry attachment 11 is installed in the rotating tub 6, the laundry is placed on the laundry attachment 11 as indicated by S in FIG. And is not placed directly on the stirrer 9. For this reason, when the detection operation of whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed is performed in that state, the load applied to the stirring body 9 is zero or extremely small, and the number of rotation detection signals of the rotation sensor 24 is accordingly reduced. There are many .

On the other hand, if the attachment 11 for washing is not installed in the rotating tub 6, the laundry is placed directly on the stirring body 9. Therefore, when performing detection operation of the presence or absence of installation of the washing attachment 11 According to the process 30 in this state, the load on the agitator 9 are those greater than above, rotation detection signal speed of the rotation sensor 24 in response thereto Less than above . Therefore, also in this case, the presence / absence of installation of the washing attachment 11 in the rotating tub 6 can be detected based on the number of rotation detection signals.

  Thereafter, in B3, it is determined whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed (step B4). If it is determined that the laundry attachment 11 is installed (YES), the operation with the laundry attachment 11 installed is performed. The specification is set (step B5), and if it is determined that it is not installed (NO), the operation specification without setting the washing attachment 11 is set (step B6).

  Here, FIGS. 6 to 9 specifically show an example of the operation specification with the laundry attachment 11 installed and the operation specification without the laundry attachment 11 installed, and FIG. 6 shows the water flow at the time of washing and rinsing. FIG. 7 shows the washing time, and FIGS. 8 and 9 show the water level specifications at the time of washing and rinsing.

Specifically, the specification of the strength of the water flow at the time of washing and rinsing is that the rotation speed of the motor 13a (rotation speed of the stirrer 9) is 130 [rpm] when the washing attachment 11 is installed, and the driving is performed. Is set to repeat in the timed mode of 1.5 [seconds] and the pause is 0.6 [seconds]. When the washing attachment 11 is not installed, the motor 13a is rotated at 30 [rpm] and is driven. A setting is made such that 0.9 [second] and a pause are repeated in a timed mode of 1.5 [second]. In other words, in this case, the specification of the strength of the water flow at the time of rinsing is relatively set to “strong” when the laundry attachment 11 is installed, and is more moderate than that when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed. Is set to “weak”.

In addition, at the time of washing and rinsing, the rotation of the stirring member 9 causes the washing water to circulate up and down as indicated by arrows in FIG. 3, thereby washing the laundry.
The specification of the washing time is set to 10 [minutes] when the laundry attachment 11 is installed, and is set to 6 [minutes] when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed. That is, in this case, the specification of the washing time is set relatively longer when the washing attachment 11 is installed, and shorter than when the washing attachment 11 is not installed.

  There are five types of water level specifications for washing and rinsing in the standard course: “high”, “medium”, “low”, “low”, and “very low”. When the laundry attachment 11 is installed, the water level is set to “low”, and when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, the water level is set to “medium”. That is, in this case, the specification of the water level at the time of washing and rinsing is set relatively low when the washing attachment 11 is installed and higher than that when the washing attachment 11 is not installed. is there.

  The specification of the water level at the time of washing and rinsing can be arbitrarily set (manually) by the operation of the operation key of the operation panel 20. In this case, the water level of "low" or "very low" Is not allowed to be set. Therefore, the water level that can be set is limited to “high”, “medium”, and “low” as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 regardless of whether the laundry attachment 11 is installed or not.

In this case, as the water level is increased, the rotational speed of the motor 13a is gradually increased, the driving time of the motor 13a is gradually increased, and conversely, the rest time is gradually shortened, so that the water flow is gradually increased. The washing performance of the laundry is not lowered.
In general, these are set so that the laundry is washed with specifications that do not damage the laundry when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, rather than when the laundry attachment 11 is installed.

  In addition, as an operation specification set by the detection result of the attachment installation detection means, there is an unbalance detection level of the drive device 13 that rotates the rotating tub 6 during dehydration. The detection of imbalance at the time of dehydration is performed based on the vibration detection signal input from the vibration sensor 25, and is determined to be unbalanced when it is determined that the vibration of the rotating tub 6 is large. The weight balance of the rotating tub 6 is different between the case where the laundry attachment 11 is installed in the rotating tub 6 and the case where the attachment 11 is not present, and the weight balance is larger when the rotating tub 6 is installed than when the attachment is not installed. Therefore, the magnitude of the vibration (unbalance detection level) that is determined to be unbalanced is also changed depending on whether the laundry attachment 11 is installed or not. Specifically, the unbalance detection level is changed. Is set larger with and without installation than without.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation is finished through steps B7 to 16 similar to steps A2 to A11 in the standard course.
Further, if it is determined in step B1 that there is an optional setting without a washing process (YES), an unnecessary operation for detecting the amount of laundry is not performed, and therefore the presence / absence of installation of the laundry attachment 11 cannot be detected. The process proceeds to step B6. If it is determined in step B2 that the water is stored in the rotating tub 2 (YES), the laundry floats on the water and the amount of laundry cannot be accurately detected, and the laundry attachment 11 is installed. Since it is not possible to detect the presence or absence, the process proceeds to step B6.

  As described above, the washing machine having the above configuration includes the attachment installation detecting means for detecting whether or not the laundry attachment 11 for arranging the laundry to be separated from the stirring body 9 is installed in the rotary tub 6, and depending on the detection result. The operation specifications are set, and the operation is executed with the set specifications.

  Accordingly, the operation can be executed with the specifications depending on whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed. In particular, when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, the laundry is not damaged as compared with the case where the laundry attachment 11 is installed. It is possible to wash according to the specifications, so even if washing is performed without installing the washing attachment 11, washing can be performed without causing cloth damage, and washing of the laundry is stopped halfway. In addition, the laundry can be washed without being forced to re-operate after installing the washing attachment 11.

  In addition, in the washing machine configured as described above, the attachment installation detection means detects whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed by the same operation as detecting the amount of laundry. As a result, the presence / absence of installation of the laundry attachment 11 can be detected using the operation of detecting the amount of laundry as it is, and therefore it can be realized without the need to separately design and provide the attachment installation detection means.

In the washing machine configured as described above, the operation specification set based on the detection result of the attachment installation detection means is the strength of the water flow generated by the rotation of the stirring body during washing and rinsing. When the attachment 11 for washing is installed, the rotational speed of the motor 13a (the rotational speed of the stirring member 9) is 130 [rpm], the driving is 1.5 [seconds], and the rest is 0.6. If the setting is repeated in the [second] timed mode, and the washing attachment 11 is not installed, the rotation speed of the motor 13a is 30 [rpm], the drive is 0.9 [second], and the pause is 1.5 [second]. As a setting to repeat in the time mode of [second], the strength of the water flow is relatively set to “strong” when the laundry attachment 11 is installed, and is set to a gentler “no” when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed. Weakly So that a constant.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of fabric damage more reliably when washing is performed without installing the washing attachment 11.

Furthermore, in the washing machine configured as described above, the operation specification set based on the detection result of the attachment installation detection means is the washing time. Specifically, as described above, the laundry attachment 11 is installed. Is set to 10 [minutes], and if the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, set to 6 [minutes], and the washing time is set relatively longer when the laundry attachment 11 is installed. When the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, the setting is made shorter.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of fabric damage more reliably when washing is performed without installing the washing attachment 11.

  Further, in the washing machine having the above-described configuration, the operation specification set based on the detection result of the attachment installation detection means is the water level at the time of washing and rinsing. Specifically, as described above, this is also the attachment 11 for washing. When installed, the water level is set to “low”, and when the washing attachment 11 is not installed, the water level is set to “medium”. When the attachment 11 is installed, the lower setting is made, and when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, the higher setting is made.

  Thereby, when the attachment 11 for washing | cleaning exists, the effect of pushing and washing the laundry arrange | positioned on the attachment 11 for washing | cleaning can be acquired optimally. In this case, if the water level is less than “low” (“low”, “very low”), the laundry arranged on the laundry attachment 11 is not immersed in the washing water, and the effect of the press washing is optimally obtained. If the water level is above “low” (“medium”, “high”), there is a possibility that there is too much washing water and the effect of the press washing will be diminished. On the other hand, when the laundry attachment 11 is not installed, the laundry is prevented from coming into contact with the stirring body 9.

  In addition, in the washing machine configured as described above, the specification of the operation set based on the detection result of the attachment installation detection means is the unbalance detection level of the driving device that rotates the washing tub during dehydration. As described above, the unbalance detection level is set to be larger in the case of installation than in the case of no installation. This is because the weight balance of the rotating tub 6 is different between the case where the laundry attachment 11 is installed in the rotating tub 6 and the case where the attachment 11 is not present, and the weight balance is larger when the rotating tub 6 is installed than when the attachment is not installed. Based on this, in the case where the attachment 11 for washing is installed, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection that determines that the rotation of the rotating tub 6 is unbalanced even though the vibration of the rotating tub 6 is small.

  When it is determined that the vibration of the rotary tank 6 is unbalanced, the rotation of the rotary tank 6 is stopped and an unbalance correction operation is performed. The unbalance correction operation is to adjust the laundry balance by rotating the stirring body 9 after supplying water into the aquarium 2 and then opening the drain valve 14 to discharge the water in the aquarium 2. Thereafter, the operation returns to the dehydration operation (rotation of the rotating tub 6).

  In contrast to the above, FIGS. 10 and 11 show the second and third embodiments. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. Only the part is described.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10, when it is determined that there is an arbitrary setting without a washing process (YES) in step B1 in the dry course, the specification for the previous operation is the installation of the washing attachment 11. It is determined whether or not the operation specifications are present (step B101). In this case, the specifications at the time of the previous operation are stored in the nonvolatile memory 26, and if it is determined in step B101 that the operation specifications with the attachment 11 for washing are installed (YES), the process proceeds to step B5. move on. That is, the operation specification with the attachment 11 for washing is set.

On the other hand, if it is determined from the stored contents of the non-volatile memory 26 that the operation specification with the attachment 11 for washing is not installed (NO) in step B101 , the process proceeds to step B6. That is, the operation specification without setting the washing attachment 11 is set.
By doing in this way, it becomes unnecessary to detect the presence or absence of installation of the attachment 11 for every driving | operation, and a driving | operation can be started rapidly.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the operation specifications are different between the operation of detecting whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed and the operation of detecting the amount of laundry. Specifically, in the operation of detecting the amount of laundry, the motor 13a is rotated at a target of 180 [rpm], and the forward rotation and the reverse rotation are driven once every 0.3 [second], thereby the amount of laundry. In the operation for detecting whether or not the attachment 11 for washing is installed, the motor 13a is driven at a target of 100 [rpm], and the forward rotation and the reverse rotation are driven at 0.3 [second]. In this specification, the presence or absence of the attachment 11 for washing is detected by rotating it once. That is, when detecting whether or not the laundry attachment 11 is installed, the operation specification is such that the rotational speed of the motor 13a and thus the rotational speed of the stirring body 9 are lower than when the amount of laundry is detected.
Thereby, the damage of the laundry at the time of detecting the installation of the laundry attachment 11 without installing the laundry attachment 11 can be reduced.

The washing machine described above is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not departing from the gist.
In addition, although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, 6 is a rotating tub (washing tub), 9 is a stirring body, 11 is a washing attachment, 13 is a drive device, and 21 is a control device (laundry amount detection means, attachment installation detection means , control means ).

Claims (5)

A washing tub for storing laundry together with washing water;
An agitator which is disposed in the inside of the washing tub and agitates the laundry together with washing water by being rotated;
A driving device for rotating the stirring body;
A laundry attachment installed inside the washing tub, wherein the laundry is disposed separately from the stirring body; and
Attachment installation detection means for detecting whether or not the laundry attachment is installed in the washing tub ;
Control means capable of executing a course including a course for installing and washing the attachment for washing, and
In the case where a course for washing by installing the washing attachment is selected, the control means, when the attachment installation detecting means does not detect the installation of the washing attachment, the attachment installation detecting means A washing machine that performs operation with a specification in which the strength of the water flow generated by the rotation of the stirring body during washing and rinsing is set lower than when the installation of a washing attachment is detected . In the case where a course for washing by installing the washing attachment is selected, the control means, when the attachment installation detecting means does not detect the installation of the washing attachment, the attachment installation detecting means The washing machine according to claim 1 , wherein the operation is performed with a specification in which a washing time is set to be shorter than a case where installation of a washing attachment is detected . In the case where a course for washing by installing the washing attachment is selected, the control means, when the attachment installation detecting means does not detect the installation of the washing attachment, the attachment installation detecting means The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation is performed with a specification in which a water level at the time of washing and rinsing is set higher than when the installation of a washing attachment is detected . In the case where a course for washing by installing the washing attachment is selected and the attachment setting detecting means detects the setting of the washing attachment, the control means detects the attachment setting by the attachment setting detecting means. 4. The operation according to claim 1, wherein the operation is performed with a specification in which an unbalance detection level of the driving device that rotates the washing tub during dehydration is set larger than when no attachment is detected. of a washing machine. A laundry amount detection means for detecting the amount of laundry stored in the washing tub;
The laundry amount detecting means rotates the agitator by the driving device in a state before supplying water into the washing tub, and detects the amount of the laundry based on a load applied to the agitator. Is,
The said attachment installation detection means detects the presence or absence of the installation of the said laundry attachment by the same operation | movement as the said laundry quantity detection means detects the quantity of the said laundry. Washing machine.

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