JP6750162B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a washing machine.

Conventionally, a cabinet with an open upper side is housed in a case with an open front so that it can be pulled out from the front, and the cabinet has a built-in washing tub that can store washing water and can be washed and dehydrated. A washing machine has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). The washing tub is supported on the bottom surface of the cabinet via a suspension having a cushioning function. Further, the cabinet can be linearly moved in the front-rear direction by the slide means provided between the cabinet and the case.

JP, 2002-119786, A

In such a drawer-type washing machine, the resistance inside the sliding means, that is, the resistance between the roller and the rail in the configuration of Patent Document 1 is made as small as possible, so that the cabinet can be easily drawn out from the case. It will be possible. However, if the cabinet easily moves in the front-back direction with respect to the case, when the vibration of the washing tub generated during dehydration is transmitted to the cabinet without being completely attenuated by the suspension, the cabinet easily vibrates in the front-back direction.

Normally, a latch is provided between the front surface of the closed cabinet, that is, between the door and the front of the case, and the door is locked so as not to open. However, since the latch has some play, if the cabinet vibrates violently in the front-back direction, repeated small collisions will occur between the door and the front of the case, leading to noise and damage to the door. There is a risk.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to effectively suppress vibration of the washing tub during dehydration in a washing machine configured to pull out the washing tub from the inside of the outer case.

A washing machine according to a main aspect of the present invention is a washing machine having an exterior case having a doorway at a front surface, a drawer unit that can be taken in and out of the exterior case through the doorway, and a fluid balancer installed in the drawer unit via a suspension. A washing tub including a dehydration tub and an outer tub in which the washing/dehydration tub is rotatably accommodated, a slide mechanism unit for linearly moving the drawer portion with respect to the exterior case, and a drawer unit arranged in the drawer unit. An acceleration sensor and a control unit are included. Here, the control unit acquires the inclination of the washing machine body based on the static acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, performs the first dehydration control based on the inclination, and detects the dehydration by the acceleration sensor. The second dehydration control is performed based on the dynamic acceleration corresponding to the vibration of the drawer portion at the time.

According to the above configuration, the acceleration sensor is used to detect whether or not the main body of the washing machine is in an inclined state and whether or not the vibration of the washing tub at the time of dehydration is large, and detect each of them. Depending on the result, dehydration control for suppressing the vibration of the washing tub can be performed. Thereby, the vibration of the washing tub at the time of dehydration can be effectively suppressed.

In the washing machine according to this aspect, when the inclination of the main body of the washing machine is larger than a threshold value related to the inclination, the control unit causes the unbalanced load generated in the washing/dehydrating tank to be inclined as the first dehydration control. The washing/dehydrating tub may be rotated so as to be positioned at a higher position in the main body of the washing machine, and then the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub may be started for dehydration.

According to the above configuration, when the main body of the washing machine is in an inclined state, after the weight balance between the biased fluid in the fluid balancer and the unbalanced load due to the laundry in the washing/dehydrating tank is improved, The rotation of the washing and dewatering tank is started up. As a result, the washing/dehydrating tub is unlikely to largely swing when it starts to move, and the drawer portion is unlikely to largely swing in the front-rear direction to cause a violent collision between the drawer portion and the outer case. Further, when the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tank passes near the resonance point in the lateral direction, the large shaking of the washing tub due to resonance hardly occurs.

In the washing machine according to this aspect, as the second dehydration control, the control unit stops the rotation of the laundry dehydration tub when the dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor is larger than a threshold value related to the dynamic acceleration. After that, it may be configured to perform a loosening operation for loosening the laundry in the washing/dehydrating tub.

According to the above configuration, when the vibration of the washing tub at the time of dehydration is large, the rotation of the washing and dehydrating tub is stopped and the loosening operation is performed. As a result, the vibration of the washing tub can be reduced when the dehydration is restarted.

According to the present invention, in a washing machine configured to pull out a washing tub from the inside of an outer case, vibration of the washing tub at the time of dehydration can be effectively suppressed.

The effects and significance of the present invention will be more apparent from the description of the embodiments below. However, the following embodiments are merely examples for embodying the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to those described in the following embodiments.

FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of the fully automatic washing machine according to the embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a state in which two fully automatic washing machines according to the embodiment are stacked vertically. It is a front perspective view showing. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the fully automatic washing machine showing a state in which the washing tub is pulled out to the front of the outer case according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the fully automatic washing machine taken along the line AA′ in FIG. 1A according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the fully automatic washing machine according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control operation during the dehydration step according to the embodiment. FIG. 6A is a diagram schematically showing a state of a fluid in the fluid balancer and an unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub after drainage when the fully automatic washing machine body is tilted according to the embodiment. FIG. 6( b) is a schematic view of the state of the fluid in the fluid balancer and the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub when the washing/dehydrating tub is rotated half a turn from the state of FIG. 6( a) according to the embodiment. FIG. FIG. 7: is a flowchart which shows the control operation at the time of the dehydration process based on the example 1 of a change. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the balance adjustment operation according to the first modification. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing how an unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub moves along with the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub in the balance adjustment operation according to the first modification. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the configuration of the holding plate according to another modification, and FIG. 10C is a diagram showing the configuration of the cabinet according to another modification. ..

Hereinafter, a fully automatic washing machine 1 which is an embodiment of a washing machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of the fully automatic washing machine 1, and FIG. 1B is a front perspective view showing a state in which two fully automatic washing machines 1 are vertically stacked. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the fully automatic washing machine 1 showing a state where the washing tub 20 is pulled out to the front of the outer case 10. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the fully automatic washing machine 1 taken along the line AA′ in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the fully automatic washing machine 1 includes an outer case 10, a washing tub 20, a drive unit 30, a drainage unit 40, a water supply unit 50, four suspensions 60 in the front, rear, left and right directions. It includes four front and rear and left and right connecting portions 70, two left and right holding plates 80, a door portion 90, and a pair of left and right slide rails 100. The two holding plates 80 and the door 90 form a drawer of the present invention. The slide rail 100 corresponds to the slide mechanism section of the present invention.

The fully automatic washing machine 1 is a so-called drawer type washing machine, and the user pulls the washing tub 20 forward from the outer case 10, puts the laundry into the pulled-out washing tub 20 from above, and then opens the washing tub 20 again. It is housed in the outer case 10 to wash the laundry. As shown in Fig. 1(b), two fully-automatic washing machines 1 can be installed vertically on a floor such as a washroom, so that the installation space can be effectively used to separate the laundry. It is also possible to do so.

The outer case 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and substantially the entire front surface thereof opens as a doorway 11. Engaging portions 12 are provided on the left and right inner side surfaces of the outer case 10 in the upper portion near the entrance 11. Further, on the rear surface of the outer case 10, a water supply connection port 13 is formed in the upper part and a drainage connection port 14 is formed in the lower part. A drain joint 15 is provided at the drain connection port 14. Further, leg portions 16 are provided at four corners on the bottom surface of the outer case 10.

The washing tub 20 includes an outer tub 21 and a washing/dehydrating tub 22. A laundry inlet 23 is formed on the upper surface of the outer tub 21, and a water inlet 24 is formed behind the inlet 23. The inlet 23 is covered with an inner lid 25 that can be opened and closed. Suspension mounting portions 26 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the outer tub 21 at the front right and left ends and at the rear right and left positions, respectively. The suspension attachment portion 26 may be formed integrally with the outer tub 21, or may be formed separately from the outer tub 21 and fixed to the outer tub 21. In the outer case 10, the gap between the washing tub 20 and the outer case 10 is made larger in the front-rear direction than in the left-right direction.

A washing/dehydrating tub 22 is rotatably housed in the outer tub 21. The washing/dehydrating tub 22 rotates about a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction in the outer tub 21. A large number of dehydration holes 22a are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 over the entire circumference. A fluid balancer 27 is provided above the washing/dehydrating tank 22. A fluid such as salt water is enclosed in the fluid balancer 27. Further, a pulsator 28 is arranged at the bottom of the washing/dehydrating tank 22. A plurality of blades 28 a are radially provided on the surface of the pulsator 28.

The drive unit 30 and the drainage unit 40 are arranged on the outer bottom portion of the outer tank 21. The drive unit 30 generates torque for driving the washing/dehydrating tub 22 and the pulsator 28. The drive unit 30 includes a drive motor 31 and a transmission mechanism section 32. The transmission mechanism unit 32 has a clutch mechanism, and by the switching operation by the clutch mechanism, in the washing process and the rinsing process, the torque of the drive motor 31 is transmitted only to the pulsator 28 to rotate only the pulsator 28, and in the dehydration process. The torque of the drive motor 31 is transmitted to the pulsator 28 and the washing/dehydrating tub 22 to integrally rotate the pulsator 28 and the washing/dehydrating tub 22. Further, the transmission mechanism section 32 has a speed reduction mechanism. In the washing process and the rinsing process, the pulsator 28 rotates at the rotation speed of the drive motor 31 lowered according to the reduction ratio of the reduction mechanism.

The drainage unit 40 includes a drainage valve 41, a drainage pipe 42, and an internal drainage hose 43. A drain pipe 42 is connected to one end of the drain valve 41, and an internal drain hose 43 is connected to the other end of the drain valve 41. The drainage pipe 42 is connected to a drainage port (not shown) formed at the bottom of the outer tank 21. The internal drain hose 43 is connected to the drain joint 15 of the drain connection port 14 from the inside. An external drain hose (not shown) is connected to the drain joint 15 from the outside. When the drain valve 41 is opened, the water stored in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 and the outer tub 21 is discharged to the outside of the machine through the drain pipe 42, the internal drain hose 43, and the external drain hose.

The internal drainage hose 43 fits in the rear part of the outer case 10 so as to meander to the left and right while the washing tub 20 is housed in the outer case 10. When the washing tub 20 is pulled out from the outer case 10, the internal drainage hose 43 is deformed from being pulled by the washing tub 20 and meandering to being almost straight.

A water supply unit 50 is arranged behind the upper part of the outer case 10. The water supply unit 50 includes a water supply valve 51, a water supply pipe 52, and a connection pipe 53. A water supply pipe 52 is connected to one end of the water supply valve 51, and a connection pipe 53 is connected to the other end of the water supply valve 51. In the state where the washing tub 20 is housed in the outer case 10, the outlet 52 a of the water supply pipe 52 faces the water injection port 24 of the outer tub 21. The connection pipe 53 faces the outside in the water supply connection port 13 and is connected to a water supply hose (not shown) extending from the tap. When the water supply valve 51 is opened, tap water is supplied into the outer tub 21 through the water supply pipe 52 and the water injection port 24.

The washing tub 20 is held by holding plates 80 arranged on both left and right sides below the washing tub 20 via four front, rear, left and right suspensions 60. The suspension 60 has an upper end fixed to the suspension mounting portion 26 of the washing tub 20 and a lower end fixed to the holding plate 80 via the connecting portion 70. The suspension 60 supports the washing tub 20 in a bufferable manner. The holding plate 80 is long in the front-rear direction, the right holding plate 80 receives the two front and rear suspensions 60 on the right side, and the left holding plate 80 receives the two front and rear suspensions 60 on the left side.

The suspension 60 includes a damper 61 and a coil spring 62. The damper 61 is, for example, an oil damper, and includes a cylinder 61a and a piston rod 61b. Oil is enclosed in the cylinder 61a. The piston rod 61b has a piston (not shown) at its upper end, and when the piston rod 61b moves up and down, the piston moves up and down in the cylinder 61a while slidingly contacting the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 61a. The cylinder 61a side is connected to the suspension mounting portion 26, and the piston rod 61b side is connected to the connecting portion 70. The coil spring 62 is provided between the cylinder 61a and the connecting portion 70 so as to include the piston rod 61b. The suspension 60 elastically supports the washing tub 20 by the coil spring 62, and damps the vibration of the coil spring 62 by the damper 61. The damper 61 may be an air damper.

The acceleration sensor 110 is attached to the upper surface of the left holding plate 80. The acceleration sensor 110 is a triaxial acceleration sensor that can detect dynamic acceleration and static acceleration in the three axial directions of the up-down direction, the front-rear direction, and the left-right direction. When the holding plate 80 is stationary, the acceleration sensor 110 detects static acceleration in three axial directions according to the direction and size of the tilt of the fully automatic washing machine 1 body. Further, when the holding plate 80 vibrates due to the vibration of the washing tub 20 during dehydration, the acceleration sensor 110 detects a dynamic acceleration according to the direction and magnitude of the vibration. It should be noted that in the present embodiment, the acceleration sensor 110 has a holding plate so that the upward, forward, and leftward accelerations have positive values and the downward, backward, and rightward accelerations have negative values. It is attached to 80.

The door portion 90 is fixed to the front end portions of the left and right holding plates 80 by the L-shaped attachment fitting 81. A lock device 91 for holding the door portion 90 in a closed state with respect to the outer case 10 is provided on the upper portion of the door portion 90.

The lock device 91 includes a lever 92, a link mechanism 93, and two left and right latches 94. When the door portion 90 is closed as shown in FIG. 3, the latch 94 engages with the engaging portion 12 of the outer case 10. When the door portion 90 tries to move forward, the latch 94 is hooked on the engagement portion 12, whereby the door portion 90 is held in the closed state. When the user operates the lever 92 in the releasing direction, the operation of the link mechanism 93 moves the latch 94 upward, and the engagement between the latch 94 and the engaging portion 12 is released. As a result, the washing tub 20 can be pulled out from the outer case 10 together with the door 90. In the state where the latch 94 is engaged with the engaging portion 12, a gap that provides some play is provided in the front-rear direction between the latch 94 and the engaging portion 12.

The left and right holding plates 80 can be linearly moved in the front-rear direction together with the washing tub 20 and the door 90 by the left and right slide rails 100. The slide rail 100 includes a fixed rail 101 and a movable rail 102 that are long in the front-rear direction. The fixed rail 101 is fixed to a lower portion of the inner side surface of the outer case 10, and the movable rail 102 is fixed to a surface of the holding plate 80 facing the inner side surface of the outer case 10. A roller (not shown) is provided inside the fixed rail 101, and the movable rail 102 moves in the front-rear direction in the fixed rail 101 as being fed to the roller. As a result, the holding plate 80 fixed to the movable rail 102 smoothly moves in the front-rear direction together with the washing tub 20 and the door 90.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the fully automatic washing machine 1.

The fully automatic washing machine 1 includes an operation unit 120, a water level sensor 130, and a control unit 200 in addition to the above-described configuration. The control unit 200 includes a control unit 201, a storage unit 202, a motor drive unit 203, a clutch drive unit 204, a water supply drive unit 205, and a drainage drive unit 206.

The operation unit 120 outputs to the control unit 201 an input signal corresponding to a button operated by the user from among various buttons such as the power button 121, the start button 122, and the course selection button 123. The water level sensor 130 detects the water level in the outer tub 21, and outputs a water level detection signal corresponding to the detected water level to the control unit 201.

The motor drive unit 203 supplies a drive current to the drive motor 31 according to the control signal from the control unit 201. The motor drive unit 203 includes a speed sensor that detects the rotation speed of the drive motor 31, an inverter circuit, and the like, and adjusts the drive current so that the drive motor 31 rotates at the rotation speed set by the control unit 201. For example, PWM control is used as motor drive control. In this case, the control unit 201 applies the pulse voltage of the duty ratio determined based on the detected rotation speed to the drive motor 31, so that the drive current corresponding to the pulse voltage is supplied to the drive motor 31. ..

The clutch drive unit 204 drives the clutch mechanism 32a according to the control signal output from the control unit 201. The water supply drive unit 205 drives the water supply valve 51 according to a control signal from the control unit 201. The drainage drive unit 206 drives the drainage valve 41 according to a control signal from the control unit 201.

The storage unit 202 includes an EEPROM, a RAM and the like. The storage unit 202 stores a program for executing a laundry operation of various operation courses. Further, the storage unit 202 stores various parameters and various control flags used for executing these programs.

The control unit 201 follows a program stored in the storage unit 202 based on each signal from the operation unit 120, the acceleration sensor 110, the water level sensor 130, and the like, and drives the motor drive unit 203, the clutch drive unit 204, the water supply drive unit 205, The drain driving unit 206 and the like are controlled.

In the fully-automatic washing machine 1, the washing operation of various operation courses is performed according to the operation of the operation unit 120 by the user. In the washing operation, under the control of the control unit 201, a washing process, an intermediate dewatering process, a rinsing process, and a final dewatering process are sequentially executed.

In the washing process and the rinsing process, the pulsator 28 rotates to the right and to the left while water is stored in the washing/dehydrating tank 22. Due to the rotation of the pulsator 28, a water flow is generated in the washing/dehydrating tub 22. In the washing step, the laundry is washed with the generated water stream and the detergent contained in the water. In the rinsing process, the generated water flow rinses the laundry.

In the intermediate and final dewatering steps, the laundry dewatering tub 22 and the pulsator 28 integrally rotate at high speed. The laundry is dehydrated by the action of the centrifugal force generated in the washing/dehydrating tank 22.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control operation during the dehydration process. The control operation of the control unit 201 during the dehydration process will be described below with reference to FIG.

When the dehydration process is started, the control unit 201 detects the magnitude and direction of the inclination of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body with respect to the horizontal direction based on the three-axis static acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 110 (S1). Then, the control unit 201 determines whether or not the magnitude of the detected tilt is equal to or larger than the threshold value related to the tilt (S2). For example, when the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is installed on an installation surface that is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body may be in a state of being horizontally inclined.

When the magnitude of the detected inclination is equal to or larger than the threshold value (S2: YES), the control unit 201 rotates the drive motor 31 to rotate the washing/dehydrating tub 22 integrated with the pulsator 28 by half (S3). At this time, the control unit 201 rotates the washing/dehydrating tub 22 more slowly than when rotating the washing/dehydrating tub 22 for dehydration.

FIG. 6A is a diagram schematically showing a state of the fluid in the fluid balancer 27 and the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tank 22 after draining when the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is tilted. FIG. 6B is a diagram schematically showing the state of the fluid in the fluid balancer 27 and the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 when the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is half-turned from the state of FIG. 6A. 6A and 6B show a state in which the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is viewed from above.

When the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is tilted, as shown in FIG. 6A, in the washing/dehydrating tub 22, the fluid in the fluid balancer 27 tends to be biased to the low side. In addition, during drainage before the dehydration process, the laundry floating in the water tends to come close to the low side in the laundry dehydration tub 22 due to the action of gravity as the water in the laundry dehydration tub 22 is discharged. Therefore, after drainage, as shown in FIG. 6A, it is considered that an unbalanced load due to the laundry is likely to occur on the low side in the washing/dehydrating tub 22. When the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is rotated halfway from such a state, the unbalanced load is transferred to the high side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body, that is, to the high side in the washing/dehydrating tub 22. On the other hand, the fluid once moves to the high side, but immediately returns to the low side again. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6( b ), the unbalanced load and the fluid are placed at positions facing each other, and the weight balance in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is improved.

The control unit 201 rotates the drive motor 31, starts the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 for dehydration, and raises the rotation speed to 120 rpm (S4). As described above, since the weight balance inside the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is in a good state, when the rotating speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 passes around 80 rpm, which is the resonance point in the lateral direction, the washing tub 20 has a large size due to resonance. It is possible to suppress rolling.

When the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is not tilted and the magnitude of the tilt is less than the threshold value (S2: NO), the control unit 201 does not rotate the washing/dehydrating tub 22 half a turn, and the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is rotated. The rotation is started and the number of rotations is increased to 120 rpm (S4). When the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is not in a tilted state, there is no deviation of the fluid and uneven load due to the laundry in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 as shown in FIG. When the rotation speed passes around 80 rpm, the large shaking of the washing tub 20 due to resonance hardly occurs.

When the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 reaches 120 rpm, the control unit 201 keeps the rotation speed at 120 rpm and determines the acceleration of the dynamic acceleration of the holding plate 80 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction of the fully automatic washing machine 1. (S5). Then, the control unit 201 determines whether or not the absolute value of the detected dynamic acceleration is greater than or equal to the threshold value related to the dynamic acceleration, regardless of the direction of the dynamic acceleration, that is, the positive or negative (S6). The control unit 201 performs detection of dynamic acceleration and determination of whether or not the absolute value of the detected dynamic acceleration is equal to or greater than a threshold value until a predetermined time has elapsed (S7).

When the washing/dehydrating tub 22 largely vibrates due to an unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 or the like, the vibration is transmitted to the holding plate 80 via the suspension 60 and the connecting portion 70. Since the holding plate 80 is easily moved in the front-rear direction by the slide rail 100, the transmission of this vibration allows the holding plate 80 to vibrate greatly in the front-rear direction. In such a case, the absolute value of the dynamic acceleration in the front-rear direction tends to be equal to or more than the threshold value.

In the present embodiment, the lateral acceleration is also detected, but since the longitudinal acceleration is usually larger than the lateral acceleration, the absolute value of the lateral acceleration is greater than or equal to the threshold value. Is unlikely to happen. Therefore, the dynamic acceleration in the left-right direction does not necessarily have to be detected.

When the absolute value of the dynamic acceleration becomes equal to or more than the threshold value (S6: YES), the control unit 201 stops the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 (S8). After that, the control unit 201 performs the loosening operation (S9). Specifically, the control unit 201 opens the water supply valve 51 to supply water to store water in the washing/dehydrating tub 22, and rotates the pulsator 28 left and right while the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is stopped. By this loosening operation, the laundry is dispersed and the unbalanced load is eliminated. After discharging the water from the washing/dehydrating tank 22, the control unit 201 returns to step S1 and restarts the dewatering process.

When the absolute value of the dynamic acceleration remains less than the threshold value (S6: NO) and a predetermined time has elapsed (S7: YES), the control unit 201 increases the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 to the maximum rotation speed, for example, 900 rpm. (S10). At this time, the number of rotations of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 passes around 240 rpm which is the resonance point in the vertical direction, but since the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is small, a large vertical swing of the washing tub 20 due to resonance is unlikely to occur.

When the number of rotations of the washing/dehydrating tank 22 reaches the maximum number of rotations, the control unit 201 maintains the maximum number of rotations for a predetermined dehydration time, and dehydrates the laundry (S11).

<Effects of the embodiment>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the acceleration sensor 110 is used to detect whether or not the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is in an inclined state, and whether or not the vibration of the washing tub 20 during dehydration is large. The detection can be performed, and the dehydration control for suppressing the vibration of the washing tub 20 can be performed according to each detection result. Thereby, the vibration of the washing tub 20 during dehydration can be effectively suppressed.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, when the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is tilted, the weight balance between the fluid deviated in the fluid balancer 27 and the unbalanced load due to the laundry in the washing/dehydrating tank 22 is balanced. After being improved, the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is started for dehydration. As a result, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is unlikely to largely swing when it starts moving, and the holding plate 80 and the door portion 90 largely swing in the front-rear direction, causing a violent collision between the door portion 90 and the exterior case 10. Is unlikely to occur. Moreover, when the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 passes near the resonance point in the lateral direction, the large shaking of the washing tub 20 due to resonance hardly occurs.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the vibration of washing tub 20 during dewatering is large, the rotation of washing and dewatering tub 22 is stopped and the loosening operation is performed. Thereby, the vibration of the washing tub 20 can be reduced when the dehydration is restarted. In particular, since the acceleration sensor 110 detects the dynamic acceleration, that is, the vibration is detected when the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is lower than the resonance point in the vertical direction, the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 resonates in the vertical direction. It is possible to prevent a large vertical vibration of the washing tub 20 due to resonance when passing near the point.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the embodiment of the present invention can be modified in various ways other than the above. ..

<Modification 1>
FIG. 7: is a flowchart which shows the control operation at the time of the dehydration process based on the example 1 of a change. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the balance adjustment operation according to the first modification.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, when the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1 is tilted, it is considered that an unbalanced load due to the laundry is generated on the low side of the washing/dehydrating tub 22, and the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is halved. By rotating the eccentric load, the eccentric load is moved to the high position side, and the weight balance between the eccentric load and the fluid that is biased to the low position side in the fluid balancer 27 is improved.

On the other hand, in the present modified example, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is slowly rotated to detect the position of the eccentric load, and the eccentric load is removed so that the eccentric load is located on the high side of the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1. By stopping the water tank 22, a balance adjustment operation for improving the weight balance between the biased fluid and the unbalanced load is performed.

In the control operation of FIG. 7 according to the present modification, the processing of step S12 is executed instead of the processing of step S3 in the control operation of FIG. 5 according to the above embodiment.

When the magnitude of the inclination of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is equal to or larger than the threshold value (S2: YES), the control unit 201 performs the balance adjustment operation (S12).

Referring to FIG. 8, the control unit 201 first starts the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 more slowly than when starting the rotation for dehydration, and raises the rotation speed to 20 rpm (S101). At this time, even if the weight balance between the deviated fluid in the fluid balancer 27 and the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is not good, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 starts to rotate slowly. A large shake is unlikely to occur, and a violent collision between the door 90 and the outer case 10 is unlikely to occur.

Next, the control unit 201 samples the dynamic acceleration in the front-rear direction by the acceleration sensor 110 for a predetermined time, for example, 15 seconds while maintaining the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 at 20 rpm (S102). The washing/dehydrating tub 22 rotates a plurality of times within a predetermined time, for example, 5 times if the predetermined time is 15 seconds.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing how an unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 moves as the washing/dehydrating tub 22 rotates during the balance adjustment operation. In FIG. 9, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is viewed from above, and a gray-colored circle in the drawing indicates an unbalanced load due to the laundry in the washing/dehydrating tub 22.

In the balance adjustment operation, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 rotates clockwise. As shown by circle A in FIG. 9, when an unbalanced load passes through the right side of the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 swings forward, and the holding plate 80 swings forward accordingly, so that the acceleration sensor The forward dynamic acceleration detected at 110, that is, the positive dynamic acceleration, becomes maximum. Further, as shown by a circle C in FIG. 9, when an unbalanced load passes through the left side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 shakes backward, and the holding plate 80 shakes backward accordingly, The backward dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 110, that is, the negative dynamic acceleration, becomes maximum. Further, as indicated by circles B and D in FIG. 9, when an unbalanced load passes through the front side and the rear side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 does not easily shake in the front-rear direction, and the acceleration sensor 110 detects The absolute value of the dynamic acceleration is minimized.

The control unit 201 extracts the positive maximum value, the negative maximum value, and the minimum absolute value each time the washing/dehydrating tub 22 makes one rotation from the sampled dynamic acceleration, and based on these, extracts the position of the eccentric load. The maximum positive value, the maximum negative value, and the minimum absolute value used for the determination are determined (S103). For example, the average value of each of the positive maximum value, the negative maximum value, and the minimum absolute value for multiple times can be set as the positive maximum value, the negative maximum value, and the minimum absolute value for judgment. .. Alternatively, of the positive maximum value, the negative maximum value, and the minimum absolute value of multiple times, the minimum value of each may be the positive maximum value, the negative maximum value, and the minimum absolute value for judgment. it can.

The control unit 201 determines which of the front, rear, left and right of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is the high side from the inclination of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body detected in step S1 (S104). When the front side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is a high place (S104: front side), the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tank 22 is detected by the acceleration sensor 110 when passing the front side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body. The absolute value of the dynamic acceleration becomes the minimum value that follows after the dynamic acceleration becomes the positive maximum value. Therefore, when the control unit 201 detects that the absolute value of the dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 110 becomes the minimum value that continues after the dynamic acceleration becomes the positive maximum value (S105: YES), the laundry removal is performed. The water tank 22 is suddenly stopped by a brake (S109). For example, the control unit 201 can apply a brake to the washing/dehydrating tub 22 by applying an electromagnetic brake to the drive motor 31. In this way, the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is stopped in a state where the unbalanced load is located on the front side which is the high side of the main body of the fully automatic washing machine 1.

On the other hand, when the rear side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is at the high side (S104: rear side), the acceleration sensor is used when an unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tank 22 passes through the rear side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body. The absolute value of the dynamic acceleration detected at 110 becomes the minimum value that continues after the dynamic acceleration becomes the negative maximum value. Therefore, when the control unit 201 detects that the absolute value of the dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 110 has become the minimum value that continues after the dynamic acceleration becomes the negative maximum value (S106: YES), the laundry removal is performed. The water tank 22 is suddenly stopped by a brake (S109). Further, when the left side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is the high side (S104: left side), when the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tank 22 passes the left side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body, the acceleration sensor 110 The detected dynamic acceleration has the maximum negative value. Therefore, when the control unit 201 detects that the dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 110 has reached a negative maximum value (S107: YES), the laundry dehydration tub 22 is suddenly stopped by a brake (S109). Further, when the right side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body is the high side (S104: right side), when the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tank 22 passes the right side of the fully automatic washing machine 1 main body, the acceleration sensor 110 The detected dynamic acceleration has a maximum positive value. Therefore, when the control unit 201 detects that the dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 110 has reached the positive maximum value (S108: YES), the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is suddenly stopped by the brake (S109).

By performing the balance adjustment operation in this manner, in the washing/dehydrating tub 22, an unbalanced load is located on the high side in the washing/dehydrating tub 22, as shown in FIG. The fluid that is offset in the fluid balancer 27 is located on the lower side of 22. Therefore, the weight balance between the biased fluid and the unbalanced load is improved.

As described above, also with the configuration of the present modified example, it is possible to achieve the same effects as the above-described embodiment. Furthermore, in this modification, the position of the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is detected, and the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is rotated based on the detection result. The weight balance can be adjusted better.

<Other changes>
In the above embodiment, the acceleration sensor 110 is arranged on the holding plate 80. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the acceleration sensor 110 may be arranged on the door 90. Further, another member such as a mounting member may be attached to the holding plate 80 or the door portion 90, and the acceleration sensor 110 may be arranged on this other member. In this case, another member constitutes the drawer portion of the present invention together with the holding plate 80 and the door portion 90.

Further, in the above embodiment, the washing tub 20 is held by the two holding plates 80 on the left and right. However, the configuration for holding the washing tub 20 is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in FIG. 10A, four front, rear, left and right holding plates 80A are provided, and the two left holding plates 80A are movable left. A configuration in which the rail 102 is attached may be adopted. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10B, one holding plate 80B may be provided, and the left and right movable rails 102 may be attached to the left and right side surfaces of the holding plate 80B.

Further, as a configuration for holding the washing tub 20, a cabinet 80C having an open upper surface as shown in FIG. 10C may be provided. In this case, the washing tub 20 is installed inside the cabinet 80C via the suspension 60. Then, the movable rails 102 are attached to the lower left and right side surfaces of the cabinet 80C. The acceleration sensor 110 may be disposed on the bottom surface of the cabinet 80C or the front, rear, left, and right side surfaces, for example. The cabinet 80C constitutes the drawer portion of the present invention together with the door portion 90.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the slide rail 100 including the fixed rail 101 and the movable rail 102 is used to move the holding plate 80 holding the washing tub 20 in the front-rear direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, as a slide mechanism portion, rollers are provided on the lower left and right inner side surfaces of the outer case 10, and the rollers come into contact with rails provided on the bottom surfaces of the left and right holding plates 80 to rotate. By doing so, a configuration may be adopted in which the rail is fed in the front-rear direction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the suspension 60 is composed of the damper 61 and the coil spring 62. However, the suspension 60 may be composed of only the damper 61 or the coil spring 62.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, during the period in which the rotation speed of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 is maintained at 120 rpm, that is, in a part of the period in which the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub 22 rises to the maximum rotation speed, the acceleration sensor 110 causes the dynamic acceleration. Was detected, and the magnitude of vibration of the washing tub 20 was determined based on the detected dynamic acceleration. However, the acceleration sensor 110 detects the dynamic acceleration during the entire period in which the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tank 22 rises to the maximum rotational speed, or in a part of the period more than that in the above-described embodiment, and the detected dynamic acceleration is A configuration may be adopted in which the magnitude of vibration of the washing tub 20 is determined based on the above.

Furthermore, although the fully automatic washing machine 1 is illustrated in the above embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to a fully automatic washer/dryer having a drying function in addition to the washing function.

Besides, the embodiment of the present invention can be appropriately modified in various ways within the scope of the technical idea shown in the claims.

1 Fully automatic washing machine (washing machine)
10 exterior case
20 washing tub
21 Outer tank
22 Washing/dehydrating tank
60 suspension
80 Holding plate (drawer)
90 Door (drawer)
100 slide rail (slide mechanism)
110 Accelerometer
201 control unit

Claims (2)

An outer case having an entrance on the front,
A drawer portion that can be taken in and out from the outer case through the doorway,
A washing tub installed on the drawer through a suspension and including a washing/dehydrating tub having a fluid balancer and an outer tub in which the washing/dehydrating tub is rotatably accommodated;
A slide mechanism unit that linearly moves the drawer unit with respect to the exterior case,
An acceleration sensor arranged in the drawer,
And a control unit,
The control unit acquires the magnitude and direction of the inclination of the washing machine body based on the static acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, and as the first dehydration control, the inclination of the washing machine body is larger than a threshold value related to the inclination. When
The rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub is started more slowly than when the rotation is started for dewatering to maintain a constant number of rotations, and the drawer part is shaken due to an unbalanced load generated in the washing/dehydrating tub. Detects the dynamic acceleration when the acceleration sensor,
From the tilt direction of the washing machine body, determine which side of the tilted washing machine body is the high side,
Based on the dynamic acceleration when the drawer section shakes, when the unbalanced load in the washing/dehydrating tub passes through the determined height side, the washing/dehydrating tub is stopped by a brake, and then for dehydration. Start up the rotation of the washing and dewatering tank,
Further, the control unit performs a second dehydration control based on a dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor according to the vibration of the drawer unit during dehydration,
A washing machine characterized by that. The washing machine according to claim 1 ,
When the dynamic acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor is larger than the threshold value related to the dynamic acceleration, the control unit stops the rotation of the washing/dehydrating tub and then, in the washing/dehydrating tub, as the second dehydration control. Perform a loosening operation to loosen the laundry,
A washing machine characterized by that.

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