JPH01185293A - Controller for washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect amount of articles to be washed accurately with a simple construction so as to control throw-in amount of washing agent and the like by ON-OFF controlling a washing motor after water is supplied to a standard minimum water level, detecting condenser voltage during motor OFF time so as to judge the amount of the article, and resetting the water lever according to the amount of the article. CONSTITUTION:Water is supplied to the standard minimum water level (extremely low level) divided into five stages so as to detect the amount of article to be detected, and mixing blades are rotated, so as to judge the amount. After the judgement, water is supplied to the water level in accordance with the amount. The standard minimum water level is set at a position 80-150mm from the bottom of a washing container. In a timing chart which alternately ON-OFF controls thyristers 220a, 220b for detecting load, thyrister TR1 is turned ON/OFF three times while a thyrister TR2 is turned ON/OFF three times for reverse controlling. By repeating this several times, a pulse vc at the time of motor OFF (T2 period) is counted and added so that the amount of article to be washed is judged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine control device useful for controlling washing time, water supply amount, detergent input amount, etc. according to the amount of laundry.

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of devices have been proposed as laundry amount detection devices for washing machines.

An example of this is a method of detecting the rotational speed of a stirring blade, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-21559. That is, after water is supplied to the reference low water level, the agitation blade is rotated for a certain period of time, and the number of rotations is detected to detect the amount of laundry, and the amount of water supplied is controlled according to the amount of laundry.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the conventional configuration, the detection means for detecting the rotation speed of the stirring blade is expensive and has a complicated configuration, so there is a problem that the price of the washing machine control device is high. was. Further, since variations in the torque characteristics of the motor that drives the stirring blades greatly affect the rotation speed, there has been a problem in that errors in determining the amount of laundry increase.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to accurately detect the entire amount of washing material with a simple configuration and control water supply, detergent input amount, etc.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve all of the above objects, the first technical means of the present invention is a water level detection device, a capacitor voltage detection circuit for a motor that fully drives the stirring blades, a water supply valve, the motor, and the water supply. The switching device that drives the valve is configured to drive stirring at the reference minimum water level and reset the water level. Also, the second
The amount of detergent is also reset based on the amount of laundry determined as a technical means.

According to the first configuration described above, the stirring blade is controlled to be reversed in the normal direction at the reference minimum water level, and the capacitor voltage when the motor is turned off is detected to determine the amount of dented material. The voltage charged in the capacitor when the motor is turned off attenuates as the motor rotation decreases. In other words, if the motor rotation is zero, the capacitor voltage is instantaneously attenuated through the motor coil, but when the motor is rotating, the capacitor energy does not disappear due to the back electromotive force and gradually attenuates, so the motor rotation decreases. It is possible to detect the attenuation rate and the amount of load. After determining the amount of material to be washed, water is supplied to the specified water level.

In the second configuration, the amount of detergent to be added is also reset and additional detergent is added to the washing tub.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a fully automatic washing machine control device according to the present invention. That is, 1 is an AC power supply that applies an AC voltage to the control device 2. The control device 2 includes a washing motor 3 that rotationally drives an agitating blade, a phase advancing capacitor 4 thereof, a drain valve 5 that drains water in the washing tub, and a water supply valve 6 that supplies water to the washing tub.
, a motor 7 for supplying detergent and a detergent dispenser box opening/closing valve 8
The present invention includes a switching device 21 for controlling a detergent input amount control device. 9 is a safety switch that stops dehydration when the washing lid is opened during dehydration, and 10 is a water level detection device that converts the water level into an electrical signal. The control device 2 is composed of a control circuit 20 consisting of a microcomputer, its peripheral circuits, a DC power supply, etc., an operation display 22 and a switching device 21 consisting of a display device, key switches, etc. The switching device 22 is composed of a bidirectional three-terminal thyristor (hereinafter simply referred to as a thyristor). The capacitor voltage detection circuit 23 is connected to output terminals V+ and V2 connected to the washing motor 3 of the switching device 21,
The terminal voltage Vc is waveform-shaped and the signal vc is sent to the control circuit 2.
Add to 0.

FIG. 2 shows a specific embodiment of the capacitor voltage detection circuit 23. Thyristor 220a that controls the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 3
, 220b between T2 terminal V+ -V2, resistor 23o1
Input terminal of photo coupler 231 and diode 232
Connect the series connection body.

The output terminal of the photocoupler 231 has a resistor 233°234
A load resistor 236 is connected to the collector terminal of the ○NPN transistor 2356 to -7 which connects the base terminal of the run risk 235 in series, and the relationship between the output signal VC and the input voltage Vc is as shown in FIG. 3a.

The relationship is as shown in b. FIG. 3a shows the output terminal waveform of the motor control thyristor when the washing motor is off, and as the rotational speed of the washing motor 3 decreases, the thyristor output voltage Vc also attenuates. Then, by detecting the number of 9 edges in the rising and falling edges of the waveform-shaped signal vc shown in FIG.
Pulses of voltage Vc can be detected. Reference numeral 11 indicates a choke for protecting the surge current of the thyristor.

FIG. 4 shows a thyristor 220a for detecting load amount.

220b is a timing chart for alternately controlling on/off control of 220b. When the T1 period is on and the T2 period is on, the thyristor Tr1 turns on three times, and then the thyristor Tr2 turns on.
turns on and off three times to perform inversion control.

This is repeated a total number of times, the pulse VC'c count is added when the motor is turned off (T2 period), and the amount of laundry is determined based on the number of pulses.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of load amount determination.

After setting the initial value in step 201, it is determined in step 202 whether or not the normal reversal of the motor for determining the amount of cloth has been completed based on the number of times N of motor on/off. In step 203, the number of normal rotations or reverse rotations of the motor is counted, and the control flag for normal rotation is changed. Steps 205 and 206 are motor-on control, and when the motor-on time period elapses, step 205 and 206 are motor-on control.
The motor is turned off at step 7, and the pulses are counted and added at step 208. When the motor off period T2 has elapsed, motor forward/reverse control counters n and N are incremented,
Return to step 202. Motor on/off number N is 24
When the time comes, the process moves to the cloth amount determination loop 211. T1. T2
is about 0.3 to 0.8 seconds. If the motor is reversed in the forward direction only once, there will be a large error in determining the amount of cloth.One cycle of turning on and off three times to the right and three times to the left is repeated 4 cycles, and the pulses when the motor is turned off are added and accumulated to determine the amount of cloth. Determine the amount. If the number of pulses is large, the amount of laundry is small, and the water level in the washing tub, amount of detergent, washing time, and spin-drying time can be set to be small.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the operation display device 220.

The water level switch 220 allows the set water level to be changed manually, and the water level indicator 222 displays five levels. The strength of the water flow can be changed with the water flow switch 220, and the water flow indicator 2
23 performs four-stage display.

Similarly, 224 is a washing time setting switch, 226 is a washing time indicator, 226 is a rinsing setting switch, 227 is a rinsing indicator, 228 is a spin-drying time setting switch, 22
9 is a dehydration time indicator.

In order to detect the amount of laundry, water is supplied to the standard minimum water level (minimum water level) divided into six levels, and the stirring blade is rotated to determine the amount of laundry. After the determination, water is supplied to the water level according to the amount of laundry. Note that a black display indicates lighting or flashing.

The standard minimum water level is 80 to 150 m from the bottom of the washing tub.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the water level detection device, in which figure a is a sectional view showing the structure, and figure 7 is its circuit diagram. The water level detection device converts a change in water level into a change in oscillation frequency.By vertically moving a ferrite core 102 on a diaphragm 101, a change in inductance of a coil 103 arranged vertically concentrically with the ferrite core 102 is converted into a change in oscillation frequency. Convert to 104 is a spring whose diaphragm stroke changes according to water pressure, and is a case that supports the entire 1o5u. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which a CMOS inverter 106 constitutes a resonant capacitor 107J107b and a coil 103 constitutes an oscillation circuit. Resistor 108 is a feedback resistor for self-biasing.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart for detecting the amount of laundry according to the present invention. First, in step 12, the water supply valve is opened, and at the same time, detergent is added and water supply is continued until the standard minimum water level (very low water level) is reached (step 213). Once the reference minimum water level is reached, the agitation and pulse count subroutine 200 is entered. This subroutine 200 is the flowchart shown in FIG.

The subroutine 211 determines the amount of cloth based on the pulse count, and resets the water level, washing time, rinsing time, spin-drying time, water flow, and detergent amount. In step 214, water is supplied again, and the knob 215 to the step 10 controls the amount of detergent added, and in this embodiment, the time of addition is controlled. In steps 216 and 215, detergent is added for a predetermined period of time, and in step 217 it is determined whether the water level is at the set level. The set water level is small.

There are four levels: low, medium, and high. Basically, it is used to judge the amount of laundry at a very low water level and to wash several towels or handkerchiefs.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the amount of laundry is determined by supplying water up to the reference minimum water level and detecting the terminal voltage of the capacitor of the washing motor, and the water level at the time of the determination is used as the reference. By setting the lowest water level (water level from SO to 150 liters > K, the amount of laundry can be determined very accurately, and the water level can also be set for washing one towel or two handkerchiefs. Also, the standard Water and detergent are added after the minimum water level is reached, making it easy to finely control the amount of detergent and water supplied.In addition, the capacitor voltage detection circuit requires a simple circuit configuration, has a small number of parts, and is highly reliable. This makes it possible to detect the amount of laundry at a low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a control device for a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a time chart showing the stirring sequence of the same capacitor, and Fig. 6 is a capacitor pulse count and a condenser pulse count for determining the amount of laundry. Flowchart showing the cloth amount detection sequence, Fig. 6 is a front view showing an embodiment of the operation display device, Fig. 7 is a sectional view and circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the water level detection device, Fig. 8 is a washing It is a flowchart which shows one example of article amount detection and control after laundry amount detection. 2...control device, 3...washing motor,
4... Capacitor, 6... Water supply valve, 2
1... Switching device, 22... Operation display device, 23... Capacitor voltage detection circuit. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person■
Tsukaen
℃Figure 8

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A washing motor that rotationally drives an agitating blade, a water supply valve that supplies water to the washing tub, a water level detection device that detects the water level in the washing tub, a switching device that drives the washing motor and the water supply valve, and the above-mentioned. A capacitor voltage detection circuit that detects a terminal voltage of a capacitor provided between windings of a washing motor, and a control means that controls the switching device,
The control means operates the water supply valve to supply water up to the reference minimum water level, then controls the washing motor on and off, detects the capacitor voltage when the motor is off with the capacitor voltage detection circuit, determines the amount of laundry, and washes the laundry. A washing machine control device characterized by resetting the water level based on the amount of material. (2) The washing machine control device according to claim 1, wherein the water level and the amount of detergent dispensed by the detergent dispenser are reset based on the determined amount of laundry.