JPH02277496A - Control method of washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect a correct amount of load even when the amount of water is more than the specified one by a method wherein the amount of clothes obtained by a load judging device is corrected according to the amount of water detected by a water level detector to calculate an amount of load at a specified water level. CONSTITUTION:A water level detector 18 and a load judging device are provided, and the load judging device makes a control circuit 28 count the inertia pulses generated by a tachometer generator 16 after power supply to a motor 10 is cut off and detect the amount of laundry. The amount of the clothes obtained by a load judging device is corrected according to the amount of water detected by a water level detector 18 to calculate a amount of load at a specified water level. As a result, the correct amount of the load can be detected even in case the amount of water is more than the specified one when the amount of laundry load is detected. Thereby, proper contents of washing operation can be set corresponding to the load, and damage on cloth, lack of washing force, and poor rinsing and dewatering can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for controlling the operation of a washing machine, and particularly to a method for detecting the amount of laundry.

[Conventional technology]

To explain the entire washing machine using a single-tank fully automatic washing machine as an example, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, a fixed water tank (2) is provided inside the outer box (1), and this water tank (2) A washing and dehydrating tank (4) with a stirring blade (3) in the center is installed inside the outer box (1), and a lid (5) equipped with a switch mechanism is attached to the top surface of the outer box (1). An operation switch section (6) was formed on the.

In the figure, (7) shows a power cord, (8) shows a ground wire, and (9) shows a drain hose that communicates with a drain port provided in the water receiving tank (2).

Then, a motor (10) is installed below the water tank (2), and the motor (10) is connected to the small pulley (11), V bell)
(12) and a large pulley (13), which are connected to the rotation transmission section (14) via a deceleration transmission mechanism. This rotation transmission part (
14) has a double drive shaft (15a) (15b) that is switched by a spring clutch mechanism, and the outer drive shaft (
15a) is the washing and dehydrating tank (4), and the inner drive shaft (15a)
b) are respectively connected to the stirring blades (3).

A speed generator (16) is attached to the motor (10) as a detection means for detecting its rotation speed, and a water receiving tank (
A pressure impulse pipe (17) is connected to 2), and the pressure impulse pipe (17)
A water level sensor (18) is installed at the top of the □. The water level sensor (18) uses, for example, a cam-type mechanical pressure switch with bimetallic contacts.

As shown in Fig. 5, the operation switch section (6) is a push-button type operation switch, and includes an on switch (19) for controlling the power supply, an off switch (20), and a water level switch (21) for setting the water level for use. ), a wash switch (22), a rinse switch (23), a spin switch (24), a course selection switch (33), and a start switch (27) for the user to set the washing time, number of rinses, and dehydration time, respectively. In addition, the water level set by the water level switch (21) is displayed as an indicator (25).
"Medium" [LED (light emitting diode) that displays low J
Indicator lamps (25a) (25b) using etc.
(25c) and an indicator lamp (25d) that displays the course selected with the course selection switch (33): "Automatic", "Speedy", or "Standard".
(25e) (25f) and wash switch (2
2), rinse switch (23), dehydration switch (2)
4) is equipped with a numerical display (26) that digitally displays the washing contents set respectively.

A control circuit (28) using a microcomputer or the like is disposed in the operation switch section (16), and as shown in the electrical circuit diagram of FIG.
It is connected to the power cord (7) via the on/off switch (19), off switch (20), and water level switch (29).
1), wash switch (22), rinse switch (2)
3), dehydration switch (24), course selection switch (33), start switch (27), speed generator (
16) and the water level sensor (18) are introduced, and the control signal from the control circuit (28) is input to the indicator (25).
) display lamps (25a) (25b) (25c)
, numeric display (26), motor (10), water supply valve (31) and drain valve (3) via each triac (30).
2) will be introduced.

Next, usage and operation will be explained.

To do laundry, put the laundry into the washing/spinner tub (4), close the lid (5), press the on switch (19) in the operation switch section (6), and then press the wash switch in manual operation. (22), the rinse switch (23), and the spin-drying switch (24) allow the user to individually set washing details such as wash time, number of rinses, spin-drying time, etc., and these settings are displayed on the numerical display (26). Ru. Also, if the water level to be used is set using the water level switch (21) according to the amount of laundry, any of the indicator lamps (25a), (25b), and (25c) in the indicator (25) will light up accordingly. do.

Next, if you press the start switch (27) to start washing, the washing process, rinsing process, and dehydration process will automatically proceed according to the program set in the control circuit (28).
Washing operation ends.

By the way, in the case of fully automatic operation in which a desired one is selected from a plurality of washing operation courses that are preset in the control circuit (28), the amount of laundry (load amount) is automatically determined.
When you use the course selection switch (33) to select the Omakase (sensor) course, which automatically sets the water level and washing content according to the load amount, the first option is "High", "Medium", "
Water is automatically supplied up to the ``low'' water level, which is divided into three levels. As shown in Part 11, this water supply receives water pressure from inside the water tank (2) and receives water from the water level sensor (I).
The oscillation frequency f output from 8) varies depending on the water level,
Utilizing the characteristic that the lower the water pressure (the smaller the amount of water), the higher the oscillation frequency is, detection is based on this oscillation frequency r.In the case of a low water level, the oscillation frequency f is detected by the water level sensor (18). When there is an output of , it is determined that the water level has reached a low level and the water supply is stopped.

Then, in the control circuit (28), a motor control process is started in which the motor (10) is energized to perform a forward and reverse operation, and the forward and reverse operation of the motor (10) is controlled by the small pulley (
11), V-belt (12), large pulley (13)
The rotation is transmitted to the stirring blade (3) via the rotation transmission section (14), and the laundry is stirred and washed.

When the motor (10) rotates, the speed generator (16) also rotates, and the speed generator generated voltage, which is a sine waveform outputted from its coil, is converted into a waveform-shaped voltage that is a 5V rectangular wave. ) will be introduced.

Figure 9 shows the relationship between the movement of the motor (1o) and the pulses generated by the speed generator (16).As is well known, the energizing circuit of the motor (10) allows forward rotation (clockwise rotation) and reverse rotation (clockwise rotation). There is an energization pause time during the counterclockwise rotation), and the energization time is 80 pulses in the speed generator (16).

Figure 7 shows the motor control stroke, and as mentioned above, when the speed generator (16) reaches 80 pulses, the control circuit (28
) turns off the power to the motor (10) [stepwa,
Power, yo].

Even after turning off the power to the motor (lO), the dehydration tank (4
), the motor (lO) continues to rotate due to inertia, and as a result, the speed generator (16) also outputs pulses due to this inertia.

The control circuit (28) starts counting pulses due to this inertia on the condition that the power supply to the motor (10) is turned off [Stella Play], but the inertial force eventually disappears and no inertial pulses are generated.

If there is no inertial pulse of 200 m5ec or more, it is assumed that the motor (10) and stirring blade (3) have also stopped, and the pulse count is stopped [step port], and the motor (10) is rotated in the opposite direction from the previous time. let [stepne,
U, two].

The control circuit (28) integrates the inertial pulses several times (
5 times), and the values of the inertia pulses when the motor (lO) is energized five times are integrated, and the load is determined based on the sum.

By the way, in the case of the automatic (sensor) course, as shown in the flowchart in Figure 8, after the motor (10) is energized five times (step-on) as described above, when the motor (10) is energized for the sixth time (step-on), ), the amount of laundry is detected based on the number of inertial pulses counted during inertial operation. As shown in Figure 10, the larger the amount of laundry, the more
Since the resistance of the laundry applied to the stirring blade (3) increases, the inertia rotation of the stirring blade (3) decreases, and as a result, the motor (
This method takes advantage of the characteristic of 10) that the inertial rotation due to inertia is reduced and the number of inertial pulses is also reduced. By keeping the water level constant and then fixing the number of times the motor (10) is energized, the total number of inertial pulses and the number of inertial pulses can be reduced. By obtaining the relative relationship value with the amount of material (load N) in advance, it becomes possible to obtain the load amount from the number of inertial pulses.

If the number of inertia pulses np obtained by energizing the motor five times is greater than n1 (stepped), the load amount is considered small and the content is set to 7 minutes of washing, 1 time of rinsing, and 3 minutes of dehydration. If the number of inertial pulses np is n or more (step), the load is medium and the washing is carried out for 11 minutes.
Please set the settings to rinse 2 times and dehydrate 4 times).
If the number of inertial pulses np is less than n2 (step 1), the load amount is considered to be large and the contents are set to 15 minutes of washing, 2 rinses, and 5 minutes of dehydration (step 1).

In this way, the amount of laundry is detected based on the number of inertial pulses at the initial stage of the start of the washing operation, and the appropriate washing content corresponding to this amount is automatically set.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The amount of laundry loaded changes depending on the amount of water, so if for some reason the amount of water when detecting the amount of laundry is higher than the low water level, which is the specified amount of water for detection, the resistance of the clothes applied to the stirring blades will decrease. As a result, the value of the detected load amount becomes small.As a result, it is not possible to set the appropriate washing contents commensurate with the actual amount of laundry, and the required amount of water, washing time, and spin-drying time cannot be set properly. This results in fabric damage, insufficient cleaning power, insufficient rinsing, insufficient dehydration, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the conventional example and to provide a method for controlling the operation of a washing machine that can detect the correct load amount even when the amount of water used when detecting the load amount of laundry is larger than the specified water amount. be.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a washing machine which is provided with a water level detection means and a load determination means, and sets the content of washing operation according to the layout detected by the load determination means. The gist of the present invention is to correct the value of the amount of cloth by the amount of water obtained by the water level detection means and calculate the amount of load at a predetermined water level.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, when detecting the placement (load amount) of laundry, the water level at this time is detected by the water level detection means, so even if more water is supplied than the set water amount, the water level is higher than the set value. The actually detected load amount is corrected by the amount of water, and the correct load amount at the specified water level value can be obtained regardless of the actual amount of water.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the method for operating a washing machine according to the present invention. The washing machine used in the method of the present invention is the same as that already explained with reference to FIGS. A detailed explanation will be omitted.

In the operation control method of the present invention, when the automatic (sensor) course of fully automatic operation is selected, after water is supplied to a low water level as in the past, the motor (10) is energized (step-by) and the washing operation starts. . Then, when the motor (10) is energized five times (step port), the number of inertial pulses is counted and the water level is detected based on the oscillation frequency r from the water level sensor (18) (step c).

As shown in Figure 2, the number of inertial pulses np at this time is approximately 50
The count will increase, and if the water level is high, it will increase by about 50 more counts, and when the load is constant, as the amount of water increases, the number of inertial pulses will increase in proportion to this increase.

Therefore, the water level sensor actually detected by the following formula (1
Based on the oscillation frequency f from 8), the actually detected number np of inertial pulses is corrected to obtain the number np1 of inertial pulses at the set water level (Step E).

f, -f np = np -100 f, −fz n　p.

n　p　　.

100.

f.

rl.

f2+ And, the number of inertial pulses The correction value of the number of inertial pulses The difference in the number of inertial pulses between low water level and high water level The frequency of the water level sensor due to the current water level The frequency of the water level sensor due to low water level The frequency of the water level sensor due to high water level This corrected According to the number of inertial pulses np, if this number of pulses np° is greater than or equal to the number of inertial pulses n1 at the time of a small load (stepped), the load is considered small and the contents are 7 minutes of washing, 1 rinse, and 3 minutes of dehydration. If the number of inertial pulses nP° is less than n6 and greater than or equal to n2 (step 1), set the medium load to 11 minutes of washing, 2 rinses, and 4 minutes of dehydration. If ' is less than n2, the load should be set to 15 minutes of washing, 2 cycles of rinsing, and 5 minutes of dehydration (Sterapuri). From then on, the washing operation will be performed by the output from the control circuit (28) according to the set washing content. progresses.

In this embodiment, the number of inertial pulses is counted as a means for detecting the load amount of laundry, but the present invention is not limited to this and other means may be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the washing machine operation control method of the present invention, when detecting the load amount of laundry, the water level at this time is also detected by the water level detection means at the same time. Even if a large amount of water is supplied, the actually detected load amount is corrected by the amount of water above the specified value based on the detected current water amount, and the correct load amount at the specified water level value can be obtained.

Therefore, it is possible to set washing contents appropriate to the load, and prevent fabric damage, insufficient cleaning power, insufficient rinsing, insufficient dehydration, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the washing machine operation control method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a characteristic curve diagram showing the relationship between the number of inertia pulses and the load amount, and FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of the washing machine. 4
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the same as above, Figure 5 is a front view of the operation switch section, Figure 6 is an electric circuit diagram for control, Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of motor control, and Figure 8 is a conventional example of the operation control method. FIG. 9 is a correlation diagram of pulse waveforms from motor energization and speed generation, FIG. 1O is a characteristic curve diagram of load amount, and FIG. 11 is a characteristic curve diagram of oscillation frequency from a water level sensor. (1)...Outer box (2)...Water tank (3)
... Stirring blade (4) ... Washing/dehydration tank (15
a (25a...Lid (6)...Operation switch part...
・Power cord (8)...Ground wire...Drain hose (10)...Motor...Small pulley (12)
...■Belt...Large pulley (14)...Rotation transmission part) (15b)...Drive shaft...Speed generator...Ipulsion pipe (18)...Water level sensor...
・On switch (20)...Off switch...Water level switch (22)...Wash switch...Rinse switch (24)...Dehydration switch...Display) (25b) (25c) ( 25d) (25e) (25f
)...Indication lamp

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a washing machine that is provided with a water level detection means and a load determination means, and sets the content of washing operation according to the amount of cloth detected by the load determination means, the value of the amount of cloth obtained by the load determination means is determined by the amount of cloth detected by the water level detection means. 1. A method for controlling operation of a washing machine, comprising correcting the amount of water obtained by calculating a load amount at a predetermined water level.