JPH0252520B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an automatic washing machine in which a rotary blade rotated by a drive motor is installed in a washing tank, and in particular, an automatic washing machine in which the amount of water supplied to the washing tank is adjusted according to the amount of items to be washed. This invention relates to an automatic washing machine that can automatically set the optimum value.

[Prior art]

In conventional automatic washing machines, the user first determines the amount of items to be washed, empirically determines the amount of water to be stored in the washing tank, that is, the water level in the washing tank, according to the amount, and then sets the water level detector to the desired water level. It is assumed to be set to . However, with this conventional device, the water level is left up to the user's judgment, so if there are very few items to be washed, it is possible to make a mistake and use a high water level even though a low water level can be used efficiently. I often end up washing at the same high water level that I set the last time I wanted to wash. In this way, if you wash at a high water level when there is only a small amount of items to be washed, the detergent concentration will be low, which will not only reduce the cleaning efficiency, but also cause the amount of water used to be larger than necessary, making it difficult for washing machines that automatically perform the rinsing process. In this case, even during rinsing, rinsing proceeds with the high water level set, resulting in a very large amount of water being used. On the other hand, when there are many items to wash, setting the water level to a low level may cause damage to the items, and in addition, if the item is automatically rinsed, rinsing may not be sufficient. Then,
Detergent residue will remain on the items being washed.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems,
A control device for an electric washing machine has been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 32563, which controls water supply to a washing tank in accordance with the average current level of a motor for agitating washing items. However, in the control method using this control device, the fluctuation range of the average current level of the motor depending on the size of the item to be washed is small and the sensitivity is poor, and if accuracy is to be improved, operation must be continued for a long time with an inappropriate water flow. There is a problem that this may cause damage to the items being washed.

[Summary of the invention]

This invention was made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and depending on whether the amount of laundry to be washed is large or small, the amount of rotation due to the inertia of the rotor after cutting off the power to the drive motor, that is, the inertia. Focusing on the difference in rotation angle, by directly detecting the inertial rotation angle of this rotor blade, the amount of laundry to be washed is automatically determined with high sensitivity, and the water level in the washing tank is adjusted to the amount of laundry to be washed. The present invention aims to provide an automatic washing machine that can automatically set the optimum value according to the user's needs.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line shown in Fig. 1. In Figs. This washing tank 2 is fixed to the outer box 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a main shaft that is watertightly inserted into the center of the bottom of the washing tank 2 and is rotatably supported by a main bearing 4. Reference numeral 5 indicates a rotating shaft provided at the bottom of the washing tank 2, which is attached to the upper end of the main shaft. The blade 6 is a main shaft pulley attached to the lower end of the main shaft 3, and the pulley 6 has a plurality of detection holes 7 arranged circumferentially at predetermined intervals for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary blade 5. It is set in. Reference numeral 8 denotes a rotation angle detector, which is composed of a light emitting section 9 and a light receiving section 10. The light from the light emitting section 9 passes through the detection hole 7 of the pulley 6 and reaches the light receiving section 10.
Therefore, a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle of the pulley 6, that is, the rotation angle of the rotor blade 5, is emitted from the light receiving section 10. In the figure, the pulley 6 is provided with twelve detection holes 7 at equal intervals, so that one pulse signal is emitted from the light receiving section 10 for every 30 degrees of rotation angle of the rotary blade 5. 11 is a washing drive motor provided at the bottom of the outer box 1;
2 is the motor pulley attached to this motor,
13 is this motor pulley 12 and the main shaft pulley 6
It is a belt that connects the Therefore motor 1
1, the rotary blade 5 in the washing tank 2 is driven through the pulley 12, belt 13, pulley 6, and main shaft 3.
will be rotated. 14 is a water level detector,
It is composed of a low water level switch 14a, a middle water level switch 14b, and a high water level switch 14c, each of which is disposed via an air trap provided at the lower end of the washing tank 2.
15 is a water supply hole 16 provided at the upper end of the washing tank 2
This is a water supply valve for supplying water to. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.
is a control circuit as a controller, and includes a memory circuit 18,
It is composed of an arithmetic processing circuit 19, an input control circuit 20, and an output control circuit 21, and a power supply is connected to the control circuit 17 via a power switch circuit 22. The rotation angle detector 8 detects the rotation angle of the rotary blade 5 as described above, and this detection signal is input to the control circuit 17 via the input control circuit 20. The low water level, middle water level and high water level switches 14a, 14b and 14c of the water level detector 14 are respectively controlled by the control circuit 1.
7 and these switches 14a, 14
The switching states of the motors b and 14c and the detection signal of the rotation angle detector 8 are processed and calculated by the memory circuit 18 and the arithmetic processing circuit 19, and the motor 11 is controlled to rotate clockwise or Rotated to the left. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention. Step (100) is the inertia pulse setting section.
The number N of inertial pulses is set to determine whether the water level is appropriate for the amount of items to be washed. In other words, since the optimum rotation angle due to inertial rotation of the rotary blade 5 after deenergization is approximately 120 degrees, the number of pulses N=3 is set, and N=3 is input to the X register in step (101). In steps (102), (103), and (104), the water supply valve 15 is energized and the washing tank 2 is turned on.
is supplied with water. Step (105) is a low water level determination unit that determines whether the low water level switch 14a is in a closed state; Steps (106) and (107) are a medium water level determination unit that determines whether or not the middle water level switch 14b is in a closed state; Steps (108) and (109) are high water level determination units that determine whether the high water level switch 14c is closed, and step (110) is a high water level determination unit that determines whether the high water level switch 14c is in the closed state.
Step (111) is the washing amount judgment operation section, and the clockwise and counterclockwise rotations of the motor 11 are set in a predetermined time-limited mode (for example, energization for 2 seconds and stop for 1 second).
It is operated for 2 cycles. Step (112) is a counter that counts inertia pulses corresponding to the angle at which the rotor blade 5 rotates due to inertia after the motor 11 is de-energized, that is, the pulses generated by the rotation angle detector 8, and the count is stored in the T register. is input.
Step (113) is an inertia pulse judgment section, which calculates the number of inertia pulses N set in step (101) as described above and step (112) after washing amount judgment operation.
The count number T counted in is compared. Step (114) is a normal operation section, in which the motor 11 is driven to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise in a predetermined time-limited mode (for example, energization for 2 seconds and stop for 1 second).
In each of the determination units (105) to (109) and (113) in FIG. 4, Y indicates an output terminal when the condition is satisfied, and N indicates an output terminal when the condition is not satisfied.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, an amount of items to be washed close to the rated capacity of the washing machine and a predetermined amount of detergent are placed in the washing tank 2, and the power switch circuit 22 is turned on.In step (100), the inertia pulse is
= 3, 3 is input to the X register in step (101), the process proceeds to step (102), the water supply valve 15 is energized, and water is supplied from the water supply hole 16 to the washing tank 2. Next, in step (105), it is determined whether the low water level switch 14a is closed. At this time, if the amount of water supplied has not yet reached the low water level, the process returns to step (102), the water supply valve 15 remains energized, and water supply to the washing tank 2 is continued. Next, wash tank 2
When the water level within reaches the low water level, the low water level switch 14a is closed, and in step (110), the water supply valve 15 is de-energized and the water supply is stopped. Next, the process proceeds to step (111), in which the motor 11 is energized for 2 seconds to determine the amount to be washed.
Motor 11 starts rotating. This rotation is transmitted to the rotary blades 5 via the motor pulley 12, belt 13, and further pulley 6, and the rotary blades 5 agitate the items to be washed and the water. After stopping for one second, the motor 11 rotates in the opposite direction, and the rotary blades 5 agitate the items to be washed and the water in the opposite direction. This cycle is repeated twice, and after this process is completed, that is, after the power supply to the motor 11 is cut off, the rotor blade 5 rotates due to inertia, but at this time, the amount of laundry to be washed is large and the resistance applied to the rotor blade 5 is Because of its large size, the inertial rotation angle of the rotor blade 5 stops at approximately 30 degrees. Therefore, one pulse of the detection signal is generated from the rotation angle detector 8, and 1 is input to the T register in step (112). Then, in step (113), the contents of the T register and the X register are compared. However, in this case T=1<
Since X=3, it is determined that the amount of water at the low water level is still insufficient, and the process proceeds to step (106). At this point, the middle water level switch 14b is still open, so the process proceeds to step (103), where the water supply valve 15 is energized again until the middle water level switch 14b is closed, that is, the water level is at the middle water level. Water supply continues until the When the middle water level switch 14b is closed, the process goes to step (110) again, where the water supply valve 15 is de-energized and the water supply is stopped, and at step (111), the washing amount determination operation is performed in the same manner as above, and again. Inertial pulses are counted. At this point, if the resistance applied to the rotor blade 5 becomes slightly smaller and the rotation angle due to the inertial rotation of the rotor blade 5 stops at approximately 70 degrees, then the rotation angle detector 8
Two pulses are generated, and 2 is counted in the T register at step (112). Inertia pulse judgment is made again in step (113), and at this time T=
Since 2<X=3, it is determined that the amount of water at the middle water level is still insufficient, and the process returns to step (106). At this time, since the middle water level switch 14b is already closed in step (106), the process proceeds to step (108), but the high water level switch 14b is closed.
Since 4c is still open, open the water supply valve 15 again.
is energized and water is supplied. When water is supplied to the high water level, the high water level switch 14
c is closed and the process proceeds to step 114. Since the water has been stored in the washing tank 2 to the maximum level, the regular washing starts, and the specified washing time ends in the operating mode of clockwise rotation and counterclockwise rotation with energization time of 2 seconds and energization cutoff time of 1 second. The motor 11 is driven and controlled until the rotary blade 5 rotates clockwise and counterclockwise to agitate and oscillate the object to be washed in the detergent liquid, thereby removing dirt from the object.

Next, a case where the amount of laundry to be washed is small will be explained.

When the items to be washed are placed in the washing tank 2, a predetermined amount of detergent is added, and the power switch circuit 22 is turned on, the number of inertia pulses is set in the same manner as described above, and water supply is started. When the water level of the water supplied to the washing tank 2 reaches a low water level, the water supply is stopped, a washing amount determination operation is performed, and the inertia pulses are counted after the power supply to the motor 11 is cut off. In this case, since the amount of laundry to be washed is small, there is little resistance applied to the rotor blade 5 even when the water level is low, so the rotation angle due to inertia is large, and the rotor blade 5 rotates approximately 140 degrees and then stops. . Therefore, in this case, since four pulse signals are generated from the rotation angle detector 8, the T register counts four. Since T=4≧X=3 in the inertial pulse determination section of step (113), the process proceeds to step (114), where washing is carried out in the normal operation mode at a low water level until the desired washing time ends. .

By the above-described operation, if the amount of washing within the rated capacity is input, water is automatically supplied to an appropriate water level corresponding to the amount, and washing starts.

In the above embodiment, the water level is set to three levels, but it is not limited to this.
By using 4 or 5 stages, it is possible to set a finer water level according to the amount of items to be washed. Also,
The timed modes of washing amount judgment operation and regular washing operation are not limited to those mentioned above, and furthermore, the forward and reverse rotation control of the motor is not performed in a timed manner, but the rotation detector detects the rotation angle of the rotor blade. It may also be performed based on a signal. Further, the same application is possible even when the rotation is performed in one direction rather than in the forward and reverse directions.
It goes without saying that the number of pulses serving as an inertial pulse determination criterion is appropriately set to have appropriate washing performance, including the resolution of the rotation angle detector and the shape of the washing tank and rotor blade.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, this invention focuses on the fact that the inertia rotation of the rotor blade after the current is cut off varies depending on the load condition, and the inertia rotation angle of the rotor blade is directly detected by a rotation angle detector, and the rotation angle of the rotor blade is detected based on this. The load condition inside the tank is determined with high sensitivity, and the appropriate amount of water is automatically supplied according to the load amount, and washing is started, so that the items to be washed are not damaged and water is not wasted. It has the effect of being able to perform high-quality, resource-saving washing without any problems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. This is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the invention, and in the figure, 2 is a washing tank, 3 is a main shaft, 5 is a rotary blade, 6 is a pulley, 7 is a detection hole, 8 is a light emitting part 9, and a light receiving part 10. Rotation angle detector, 11 is a drive motor, 12 is a pulley,
13 is a belt, 14 is a water level detector, 15 is a water supply valve, and 16 is a water supply hole. Note that the same reference numerals in each figure indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A washing tank into which items to be washed are placed and water is supplied through a water supply valve, a rotary blade that is rotationally driven by a drive motor installed in the washing tank, and inertial rotation of the rotary blade after the motor is turned off. An automatic washing machine comprising a rotation angle detector that directly detects an angle, and the water supply valve is controlled by the output of the rotation angle detector.