JPH0211199A - Controller for electric washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To refrain from the waste of time by detecting the change of a specific water level by a control means ad switching from the supply of bath water to the supply of city water when a feed water pump is put in a bath, and water is supplied to a washing machine. CONSTITUTION:At the time of supplying the bath water, etc., to the washing machine by a feed water pump 12, while the water supply is continued when the change of the output signal of a water level detecting means 3 in fixed time is a fixed value or above, the operation of the feed water pump 12 is stopped, and the water supply is switched to the water supply by a feed valve 14 when the change becomes in the fixed value. It is detected that the water level in a tank at the start time of the water supply is a prescribed water level or above, it is made into 1 cycle that the change of the output signal of the water level detecting means 3 in the fixed time is in the fixed value, and when the prescribed number of cycles are obtained, the operation of the feed water pump 12 is stopped, and the water supply is switched to the water supply by the feed valve 14. Further, it is made into 1 cycle that the change of the output signal of the water level detecting means 3 in the fixed time is in the fixed value after prescribed time passes from the start of the water supply, and when the prescribed number of cycles are obtained, the operation of the feed water pump 12 is stopped, and the water supply is switched to the water supply by the feed valve 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for an electric washing machine that controls the water level with a water level sensor and can supply water into a tank with a water supply pump.

Conventional technology A conventional electric washing machine control device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-2564.
This is the configuration shown in Publication No. 94. To explain this simply, water is supplied from the bath water supply pump for 1 minute (for example, T
=6) If the process is not completed and the process does not proceed to the next step, such as rotating the stirring blade, stop the operation of the bath water supply pump,
Water supply was to begin from the tap.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional method as described above, for example, when trying to supply water to a washing machine by inserting a bath water supply pump into the bath, there is almost no bath water left in the bath. Tokidemo 6
Since the bath water supply pump is kept on for several minutes, there is a problem in that the washing process does not proceed at all during this time.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problem. Even when there is almost no bath water left in the bath, time is wasted. This is immediately detected and the system switches from bath water supply to tap water supply. The purpose is to

Means for Solving the Problem The first technical means of the present invention to achieve this object is a water supply valve for supplying tap water into a tank, and a water supply valve for supplying bath water etc. into the tank. A water supply pump driving means for driving a water supply pump, a water level detection means for detecting a water level in a tank and using an electric signal as an output signal, and an output signal of the water level detection means as an input signal for driving the water supply valve and the water supply. comprising a control means for controlling the operation of the pump driving means for
The control means continues to supply water by the water supply pump if a change in the output signal of the water level detection means within a certain time period is equal to or greater than a certain value when water is supplied by the water supply pump, and if the change is within a certain value. In this case, the operation of the water supply pump is stopped and the water supply is switched to the water supply by the water supply valve.In addition, the second technical means is such that when the water supply pump is supplying water, the control means is configured to stop the operation of the water supply pump and switch to the water supply by the water supply valve. Detecting that the water level in the water tank is higher than a predetermined water level, and the change in the output signal of the water level detection means within a certain period of time is considered to be one cycle, and when the predetermined number of cycles is reached, the water supply pump is activated. This is a configuration in which the operation of the water supply pump is stopped and the water supply is switched to the water supply by the water supply valve.

In addition, the third technical means is that the control means determines that when water is supplied by the water supply pump, a change in the output signal of the water level detection means within a certain period of time after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of water supply is one cycle. When a predetermined number of cycles is reached, the water supply pump driving means is turned off, the operation of the water supply pump is stopped, and water is supplied by the water supply valve.

Effect According to the first technical means described above, when trying to supply water to a washing machine by inserting a water supply pump into a bath, if there is almost no bath water left in the bath, the water supply pump is turned on within a certain period of time. Since the change in water level decreases, the control means immediately detects the change and switches from supplying bath water to supplying tap water, thereby eliminating wasted time.

In addition, the second technical means and the third technical means repeatedly detect the decrease in the change several times, detect that the decrease has definitely occurred, and then determine that there is no bath water left. to decide.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure is a block diagram of main parts when the present invention is applied to a fully automatic washing machine. In FIG. 1, a control means 6 composed of a microcomputer includes input means 1 for setting washing time, number of rinses, spin-drying time, whether or not to supply bath water, etc., and a control means 6 for detecting the water level in the tank and for setting the frequency. A water level detection means 3 that outputs a signal is connected. Also, the control means 6
Based on the input signal, the display means 2 for displaying the set washing time etc. to the user and the water supply pump driving means 4 for driving the water supply pump 12 for supplying bath water etc. into the tank are turned on. , OFF is controlled. 6 and 7 are bidirectional thyristors for driving the washing/drying motor 15, and have gates G1 and G2. 8 and 9 are water supply valves 14 for supplying tap water into the tank, respectively.
and a bidirectional thyristor for driving the drain valve 13, gate G3. It has G4.

1o is a commercial power supply for supplying power to the washing and dewatering motor 15, water supply valve 14, and drain valve 13, 11 is a power switch, and 16 is a phase advance capacitor.

Note that the outputs G1 to G4 of the control means 6 are connected to respective gates 01 to G4 of the bidirectional thyristors 6 to 9, and perform ON-OFF control of the bidirectional thyristors 6 to 9.

Furthermore, in the configuration of the fully automatic washing machine shown in FIG.
is an outer frame, 28 is a tank, 29 is a washing/drying tank, and 3
0 is a power switching mechanism that switches the power of the washing/extracting motor 16 so as to rotate the rotary blade 31 during washing and the washing/extracting tank 29 during dehydrating. 32 is an air pocket for generating pressure corresponding to the water level;
34 is an air hose for transmitting the pressure within the air pool 32 to the water level detection means 3, and 34 is a drain hose.

Next, the principle of water level detection of the general water level detection means 3 will be explained using FIG. 4, FIG. 6, and FIG. Figure 4 shows the configuration of the displacement detector that converts changes in pressure proportional to the water level in the tank into changes in coil inductance, and Figure 6 shows the configuration of the oscillation circuit that converts changes in coil inductance into changes in frequency. It shows the configuration. In FIG. 4, P is a pressure proportional to the water level in the tank, and this pressure P is applied to a thin film diaphragm 17 made of rubber or the like.
This is the configuration that will be received. 18 is a coil; 19 is a magnetic body that is fixed to the diaphragm 17 and moves in the vertical direction in the coil 18 in FIG. 4; 20 is a spring that suppresses displacement of the magnetic body 19; 21 is an adjustment screw; It is an outer frame to which the circumferential portion, the coil 18, and the adjustment screw 21 are fixed. The coil 18 is a part of the oscillation circuit shown in FIG. In the figure, 23 is an inverter, 24 is a feedback resistor, and 26 and 26 are capacitors.

In the above configuration, when the pressure P proportional to the water level applied to the diaphragm 17 changes, the magnetic body 19 is displaced in the vertical direction under the action of the spring 2o. At this time, since the magnetic body 19 is displaced within the coil 18, the inductance of the coil 18 changes. Since the frequency of the oscillation circuit is determined by the inductance of the coil 18 and the capacitance of the capacitors 25 and 26, the frequency changes when the inductance of the coil 18 changes. The relationship between the water level in the tank and the frequency is expressed in a graph as shown in Figure 6. The figure shows that when the water level in the tank 28 is at the water level reference plane, it is 0, and when it is 0, the output frequency of the water level detection means 3 is fo, and when the water level is high, the output frequency is fh. .

A first embodiment of the present invention using the water level detection means 3 in the above configuration will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 2. First, when the input means 1 is set to supply bath water into the tank using the water supply pump 12, the control means 6 sends a signal to the water supply pump driving means 4 in step 500 to start the water supply pump 12. Turn on. Next tank 28
In order to proceed to the following sequence only when the water level inside changes and the output frequency of the water level detection means 3 changes,
In step 501 and step 502, a certain period of time Ta(
For example, it is determined whether the water level in the tank 28 has become equal to or higher than the water level reference level shown in FIG. The output frequency of the detection means 3 is measured and this value is set as fo. In step 505, a certain period of time Tb(
After a delay of, for example, 6 seconds, the output frequency is measured again in step 606 and this value is set as fN. In step 507, it is determined whether or not the set water level set by the input means 1 etc. has been reached. If the set water level has been reached, the process goes to step 517 and sends a signal to the water supply pump driving means 4. Turn OFF to end the water supply operation. If the set water level has not been reached, go to step 508 and
Compare fN and 8, and if fo-fN≦fa, go to step 510 from step 509, increment the number of cycles N, and then judge whether it has reached a predetermined number of cycles, and if N is the predetermined number of cycles. If the amount of water supplied by the water supply pump 12 has decreased, that is, it is detected that the bath water is almost gone, the process goes from step 611 to step 612, and the water supply pump 12 is turned off.
F and the water supply valve 14 is turned ONL, automatically switching from bath water supply to tap water supply. Here, fa is a frequency corresponding to a case where there is almost no change in the water level in the tank 2B during a certain period of time Tb. Further, if the predetermined number of cycles is 1, if fo-fN≦fa, the water supply is immediately switched to the water supply valve, and it may be set to 4 or 8 in consideration of the influence of external noise. On the other hand, if fo-fN>8 in step 608, and if N has not reached the predetermined number of cycles in step 510, the value of fN is assigned to fo in step 616, and the process returns to step 506. In step 503 and below,
Determining whether the water level in the tank 28 has reached the set water level at fixed time intervals Ta by supplying tap water with the water supply valve 14,
When the set water level is reached, the water supply valve 14 is turned FF to end the water supply operation.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described using the flow chart of FIG. First, when the input means 1 is set to supply bath water into the tank using the water supply pump 12, the control means 6 sends a signal to the water supply pump drive means 4 in step 620 to start the water supply pump 12. Turn on. Next, in order to proceed to the following sequence only when the water level in the tank 28 changes and the output frequency of the water level detection means 3 changes, step 621 is performed for a certain period of time To (for example, 1
0 seconds). Here, To is the water supply pump 1
2 or by water supply from the water supply valve 14, it is the time from when there is no water in the tank 28 to reaching the water level reference level when the amount of water supplied is smaller than the normal water supply amount. The following steps 622 to 636 are the same as steps 503 to 617 in the first embodiment, so the explanation will be omitted.

Although this embodiment has been described for the time of water supply to a fully automatic washing machine, it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a two-tub type washing machine. Furthermore, the displacement detection section for water level detection uses a variable inductance method that converts changes in pressure proportional to the water level into changes in the inductance of the coil; Similar effects can be obtained by using a variable capacitance type water level detection means whose output signal is connected to an oscillation circuit.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above-described embodiments, the present invention has the advantage that when water is supplied by a water supply pump, when the water level in the tank at the start of water supply is equal to or higher than a predetermined water level, or after a predetermined period of time has passed after the start of water supply, A cycle is defined as a change in the output signal of the detection means within a certain value within a certain period of time, and when the specified number of cycles is reached, the water supply is switched from the water supply pump to the water supply valve, so there is no need to worry about the temperature inside the bath. Even when there is almost no water left, it is possible to immediately detect this and switch from the bath water supply to the tap water supply. Furthermore, since it is determined that there is no bath water after detecting a predetermined number of cycles, malfunctions caused by external noise can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a fully automatic washing machine which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing the first embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the second embodiment of the invention. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the change detection part of the water level detection means, Figure 6 is an electric circuit diagram of the four-stroke circuit, Figure 6 is a characteristic diagram of the same, and Figure 7 is a cross-section of a fully automatic washing machine. It is a diagram. 3... Water level detection means, 4... Water supply pump driving means, 6... Control means, 14...
...Water supply valve. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A water supply valve for supplying tap water into the tank, a water supply pump driving means for driving a water supply pump for supplying bath water, etc. into the tank, and an electric power supply that detects the water level in the tank. water level detection means that uses a signal as an output signal; and control means that uses the output signal of the water level detection means as an input signal to control the operation of the water supply valve and the water supply pump drive means; When water is supplied by the pump, if the change in the output signal of the water level detection means within a certain period of time is greater than or equal to a certain value, the water supply pump continues to supply water, and if the change is within a certain value, the water supply pump A control device for an electric washing machine, characterized in that the operation of the washing machine is stopped and the water supply is switched to the water supply by the water supply valve. (2) When water is supplied by the water supply pump, the control means detects that the water level in the tank at the start of water supply is equal to or higher than a predetermined water level, and the change in the output signal of the water level detection means within a certain period of time is within a certain value. 2. The electricity according to claim 1, wherein when a predetermined number of cycles is reached, the water supply pump driving means is turned off, the operation of the water supply pump is stopped, and the water supply is switched to a water supply valve. Washing machine control device. (3) When water is supplied by the water supply pump, the control means determines that a change in the output signal of the water level detection means within a certain period of time after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of water supply is one cycle, and that the control means determines a predetermined number of cycles. 2. The control device for an electric washing machine according to claim 1, wherein when the water supply pump is reached, the water supply pump drive means is turned off, the operation of the water supply pump is stopped, and the water supply is switched to a water supply valve.