JPH04367642A - Washing control method for tableware washer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically set a washing condition corresponding to the quantity of tableware, and to eliminate waste of energy and a useless operation by inputting an initial washing temperature before water supply, and a temperature rise rate between two. prescribed points of washing water in the course of washing, and executing a fuzzy inference with respect to the quantity of tableware contained in a washing tank. CONSTITUTION:While a water temperature becomes 50 deg.C from 40 deg.C, a current to a heater 4 is detected by a current sensor, and subjected to duty control in 30 second cycle. As a result, since it is controlled to prescribed power being lower than power consumption of the heater, a fluctuation of power does not occur, and a temperature rise rate is measured exactly. Subsequently, an initial washing temperature detected by a temperature sensor 22 in advance before water supply and stored in a controller is inputted, and a temperature rise time for showing a temperature rise rate until a water temperature of washing water rises to 50 deg.C from 40 deg.C in the course of washing is measured. Next, the temperature rise time and the initial washing temperature are inputted, and the quantity of tableware contained in a washing tank 2 is outputted by a fuzzy inference.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing control method for a dishwasher, and more particularly to a method for setting the time or number of washing, rinsing, and drying steps.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A dishwasher cleans dishes stored in a washing tank by sequentially performing washing, rinsing, and drying steps according to a preset time or number of times. Conventionally, as methods for setting washing conditions such as time and number of times for each step, there are two methods: a method in which the washing conditions are uniformly set in advance for a rated amount of tableware, and a method in which the washing conditions are set according to the user's judgment.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the former case, the washing conditions are constant regardless of the amount of dishes, and even when there are few dishes, washing is performed under the conditions of the rated capacity, which wastes time, water, and electricity. It had been. Moreover, in the latter case, it is necessary to change the conditions each time depending on the amount of dishes and the degree of soiling, and there is a problem that the operation is cumbersome. The present invention aims to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a washing control method for a dishwasher in which washing conditions are automatically set according to the amount of dishes, and there is no wastage of energy or unnecessary operations. shall be.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a washing control method for a dishwasher, which controls each process of washing, rinsing, and drying at a preset time or number of times. , the amount of dishes stored in the washing tank is determined by inputting the initial washing temperature before water supply detected by the temperature detection means installed in the washing tank and the temperature rise rate between two predetermined points of the washing water during washing. Based on the amount of tableware output as a result, the time or number of times for each process such as washing time, number of times of cold water rinsing, and drying time is set.

[0005]

Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a dishwasher implementing the method according to the invention. A cleaning tank 2 is housed inside the exterior body 1, and the exterior body 1 and the cleaning tank 2 can be opened by a front door (not shown). A tableware basket 3 is housed inside the cleaning tank 1, and a heater 4 is disposed inside the bottom so as to be immersed in the standard liquid level NL. Further, a water reservoir 5 is formed at the bottom of the cleaning tank 2, and a suction pipe 7 of a cleaning pump 6 and a suction pipe 9 of a drain pump 8 are attached to this water reservoir 5. The cleaning pump 6 and the drain pump 8 are powered by motors 10 and 1, respectively.
1.

A discharge pipe 12 of the cleaning pump 6 penetrates into the inside of the cleaning tank 2 from the bottom, and a first injection nozzle 13 is rotatably attached to its tip. Further, a branch pipe 14 branched from the middle of the discharge pipe 12 stands up at the rear of the cleaning tank 2, and a second injection nozzle 15 is rotatably attached to its tip. The first injection nozzle 13 and the second injection nozzle 15 are hollow rod-shaped, and are adapted to rotate by themselves by the washing water ejected from injection holes arranged in the longitudinal direction. The discharge pipe 16 of the drain pump 8 is installed at the rear of the cleaning tank 2, where it is once raised and then lowered, and the tip opens to the outside of the exterior body 1 to serve as a drain pipe connection port. ing.

A water supply pipe 17 that penetrates the back surface of the cleaning tank 2 from near the drain pipe connection port of the discharge pipe 16 and opens into the inside.
A water supply pipe 17 is provided with a water supply valve 18 that is opened and closed by a solenoid 19. A fan 20 rotatably driven by a fan motor 21 is provided above inside the cleaning tank 2 . Further, inside the cleaning tank 2, a float type water level detection switch 23 for detecting the level of the cleaning water is provided, and a temperature sensor 22 is provided on the outer surface of the bottom.

An operation panel 24 as shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the front surface of the exterior body 1. As shown in FIG. This operation panel 24 has keys K1 to 1 to start each course: fully automatic, low temperature fully automatic, prewash, rinse dry, dry and care.
K6 and a key K7 for temporarily stopping and restarting are provided. In addition, there are six LEDs L1 to L6 that light up when keys K1 to K6 are turned on, and each course of washing, rinsing,
and three LEDL7 that lights up during each process of drying.
- L9 and a segment LED L10 that displays the remaining time until the end of each course.

When the key K1 for the fully automatic course and the key K2 for the low temperature fully automatic course are operated once, the standard cleaning time is set, but when operated twice in succession, the cleaning time is set. You can choose a long and thorough course. At this time, L1 and L2 change from red to green. In addition, segment LEDL1
The remaining time displayed as 0 is the required time in the fully automatic course and low-temperature fully automatic course, after cleaning conditions such as the number of rinses and drying time are set based on the amount of dishes based on fuzzy reasoning during washing, as described later. is displayed, but
Fluctuations in water supply time due to water pressure, fluctuations in the time required for hot water rinsing due to fluctuations in outside air temperature, water temperature, and heater heating power due to voltage fluctuations occur, and the tentative remaining time that is assumed as a standard is sequentially subtracted as it is. If so, the end times will not match. Therefore, the remaining time is corrected during each washing, rinsing, and drying process, so that the correct remaining time is displayed.

[0010] This dishwasher is equipped with a control device equipped with a microcomputer, and this control device sequentially executes washing, rinsing, and drying steps selected by keys K1 to K6. It has become. below,
The operation of the steps in each course will be explained according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 to 9. 1) Fully automatic and low temperature fully automatic In this course, as shown in Figure 3, initial drainage, washing, hot water rinsing and drying are performed fully automatically. Low-temperature fully automatic is a course for cleaning tableware that is sensitive to heat such as plastic tableware, and is exactly the same as fully automatic except that the washing time during washing, the control temperature of the washing water, the drying temperature and drying time are different. It is a process. In this course, the number of cold water rinses and drying time are automatically set and adjusted based on the amount of dishes determined by the amount of dishes determined during washing.

■Initial drainage In the initial drainage of step 101 shown in FIG. 3, the drainage pump motor 11 is driven for 10 seconds, and the
Washing water remaining in the suction pipes 7, 9, etc. is removed from the drain pump 8.
The water is drained by the water. Here, if there is water up to the normal water level NL and the water level switch 23 is off, normal drainage is performed for 50 seconds. (2) In the washing process, first, in step 102, the solenoid 19 is turned on, the water supply valve 18 is opened, and water is supplied into the washing tank 2 through the water supply pipe 17. This water supply ends when the water level reaches the normal water level NL and the water level detection switch 23 is turned off.

Next, in step 103, the heater 4 is energized and the cleaning pump motor 10 is started. In addition,
When the washing water reaches 60°C (50°C for fully automatic low temperature), the temperature is automatically controlled. As a result, the washing water in the water reservoir 5 is sucked by the washing pump 6 and sprayed toward the dishes from the first and second injection nozzles 13 and 15, thereby washing away dirt from the dishes. The washing water sprayed toward the dishes flows down to the water reservoir 5 and is circulated. This cleaning is completed in 9 minutes in the standard course and 14 minutes in the careful course after the temperature sensor 22 detects 40°C.

[0013] During this washing, while the water temperature rises from 40°C to 50°C, the amount of dishes stored in the washing tank 2 is determined as described later, and the conditions for the process described later are determined. is set. Subsequently, in step 104, the drain pump motor 11 is activated for 50 seconds, and the dirty wash water is drained. Note that this drainage is stopped for 3 seconds after 30 seconds to prevent air from being sucked into the pump.

Determination of amount of dishes As mentioned above, in determining the amount of dishes performed during washing in step 103, as shown in FIG.
At 001, the current flowing to the heater 4 is detected by the current sensor until the water temperature reaches 50° C. from 40° C., and the duty is controlled in a 30 second cycle. As a result, the power consumption is controlled to a constant power of 1020 W, which is lower than the power consumption of the heater of 1200 W, so there is no fluctuation in power, and the rate of temperature rise can be accurately measured. Next, in step 1002, the temperature sensor 22 is set in advance before the water supply in step 102 shown in FIG.
The cleaning initial temperature Y detected by and stored in the control device is taken in. Then, in step 1003, a timer measures a temperature rise time X indicating the rate of temperature rise until the temperature of the washing water rises from 40° C. to 50° C. during washing. Note that instead of indicating the temperature increase rate in terms of this temperature increase time, it may be expressed in terms of the temperature increase after a certain period of time. Next, in step 1004, the temperature rise time X and the initial cleaning temperature Y are input, and the cleaning tank 2 is
The amount Z of tableware accommodated in the container is output.

[0015] In this fuzzy inference, in advance,
As shown in FIG. 12, membership functions corresponding to fuzzy sets for each degree of temperature rise time, initial washing temperature, and amount of dishes are defined. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the temperature rise time is extremely short (E), short (S),
It is divided into four levels: medium (M) and long (L), and each membership function is represented by a triangular function. Also,
The initial cleaning temperature is low (L), medium (
It is divided into three levels: M) and high (H), and each membership function is represented by a triangular function. Similarly, as shown in Figure 12, the amount of tableware is for 0 people, 1 person, ..., 5
It is divided into six levels, such as the number of people, and each membership function is represented by a triangular function.

Between each membership function, Table 1
The following fuzzy rules are defined. For example, in rule 4, if the temperature rise time is S and the initial washing temperature is L, the amount of dishes is enough for one person, and in rule 6, even if the temperature rise time is S and the initial washing temperature is H, the amount of dishes is enough for 4 people. shall be. This is done in consideration of the fact that, as shown in Table 2, even for the same amount of dishes, the temperature rise time varies depending on the initial cleaning temperature, that is, the temperature inside the refrigerator.
Table 1 Rule Temperature rise time
Initial cleaning temperature Y Tableware amount Z
1 E
L 0
2 E
M 0
3 E
H
3 4 S
L
1 5 S
M
2 6
S.H.
4 7
M L
3 8
M M
4 9
M.H.
5 10
L L
4 11
L
M5 12
L
H5

[0017]
Table 2 Amount of tableware Z Temperature rise time X Initial cleaning temperature Y
0 E
L 0
E
M1
S
L 2
S M
3 E
H
3M
L 4
S
H 4
M
M4
L L
5M
H
5 L
M5
L
H

As shown in FIG. 9, under the thus defined membership functions and fuzzy rules, first, in step 1101, the temperature rise times E, S, M, L are calculated for the input value X of the temperature rise time. The respective degrees XE, XS, XM, and XL are calculated. Next, in step 1102, the degrees YL, YM. YH is calculated. Subsequently, in step 1103, the smaller value Zf of either the temperature rise time or the degree of initial cleaning temperature is taken for each fuzzy rule, and the membership function of the corresponding tableware amount is truncated by the value of Zf. fuzzy output is calculated. After this, in step 1104, the center of gravity position G from the reference point of the sum of areas of the membership function of the cut-off tableware amounts for 0 to 5 people is determined, and the amount of tableware corresponding to this center of gravity position G is calculated. is determined, and a defuzzified output value Z is output.

Next, based on the amount of tableware Z output by this fuzzy inference, cleaning conditions for the subsequent process are set in step 1005 of FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 13, the conditions set are the number of cold water rinses and the drying time, and these are determined in advance in accordance with the amount of tableware. Note that the cleaning time of this washing step may also be determined at this time.

The determination of the amount of dishes and the setting of washing conditions based on the above fuzzy inference will be explained in more detail. Figure 14,
As shown in Figure 15, if the temperature rise time is 330 seconds and 3
Assume that X1 is for 60 seconds and the initial cleaning temperature is Y1 between 10°C and 20°C. First, from the membership function of temperature rise time, XE=XL=0, XS=0.7, XM
=0.3 is obtained. Also, from the membership function of the initial cleaning temperature, YL=0.2, YM=0.8, YH=0
is obtained.

Next, according to the fuzzy rules in Table 1, as the degree of each portion of tableware, according to rule 4, one serving is 0.2
, 0.7 for 2 people according to rule 5, 0.2 for 3 people according to rule 7, 0.3 for 4 people according to rule 8, and 0 for all other rules. Then, the membership function of the amount of tableware is truncated at the beginning of each amount as shown in FIG. 16, and a trapezoidal fuzzy output is obtained. The amount of tableware Z1 corresponding to the position of the center of gravity G of the area sum of this fuzzy output is obtained as a defuzzified output value. This amount of tableware Z
1, the number of cold water rinses is 3 as shown in Figure 13.
The drying time is 12 minutes on the standard course and 17 minutes on the low temperature course.
minutes.

[0022] After the washing process including cold water rinsing is completed, steps 105 to 3 in Fig. 3 are completed.
As shown at 107, a cold water rinsing step consisting of water supply, washing, and drainage is performed the number of times set based on the amount of tableware based on the fuzzy inference. In the cleaning in step 105, heating by the heater 4 is not performed, and the cleaning is performed for one minute with the supplied cold water. Water supply in step 105 and drainage in step 107 are the same as in the washing process. ■ Hot water rinsing In the hot water rinsing process, water is first supplied in step 108, and in step 109, the heater 4 is energized and the cleaning pump 6 is driven, so that the water temperature reaches 70°C (50°C in low-temperature fully automatic mode). Rinse with boiling water until
Draining occurs in step 110.

(2) Drying In the drying process, first, in step 111, the duty of the heater 4 is controlled, and the fan motor 21 is started to perform drying with hot air. This drying time is carried out for a time set in the washing process based on the amount of dishes determined by fuzzy reasoning. The hot air temperature is controlled at 70°C (50°C in fully automatic low temperature mode). Next, in step 112, only the fan motor 22 is started, and drying with cold air is continued for 5 minutes (
In the low-temperature fully automatic course, the process is performed for 3 minutes), and the power is cut off in step 113 to end this fully automatic course (low-temperature fully automatic course).

2) Prewash This prewash course is performed in step 201 as shown in FIG.
Initial drainage is performed in steps 202 to 204, and water is supplied in steps 202 to 204.
Two cold water rinses consisting of washing and draining are performed. This course suggests that when children and parents have two dinners at home, the dishes should be pre-washed after the child's first meal to make them easier to remove, and then washed all at once after the parent's meal. It is beneficial for 3) Rinse and dry This rinse and dry course is performed to remove dust and dirt from dishes that have not been used for a long time.As shown in FIG. 5, after initial drainage is performed in step 301,
In steps 302 to 304, a cold water rinse consisting of water supply, washing, and drainage is performed once, in steps 305 to 307, a hot water rinse consisting of water supply, washing, and drainage is performed once, and in steps 308 and 309, hot water rinsing is performed by hot air and cold air. Drying takes place.

4) Drying This drying course is used for the purpose of drying hand-washed dishes, and as shown in FIG.
After initial drainage is performed in steps 402 and 403, drying is performed using hot air and cold air. 5) Maintenance This maintenance course is performed for the purpose of cleaning the dishwasher and removing internal odors when the dishwasher has not been used for a long period of time. As shown in FIG. 7, after initial drainage is performed in step 501, steps 502-50
In step 4, washing consisting of water supply, washing and drainage is performed, and in steps 505 to 507, one cold water rinse consisting of water supply, washing and drainage is performed. In the washing process of step 503, the water temperature is controlled at 60°C for a predetermined time (15
minutes).

[0026] This maintenance course eliminates the need to manually clean the inside of the cleaning tank 2, making maintenance easy. Note that washing--hot water rinsing, or washing--cold water rinsing--hot water rinsing may be performed in this order. In this case, there is an advantage that the final process of rinsing with hot water speeds up the drying of the cleaning tank 2 due to residual heat.

[0027]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the amount of dishes in the washing tank is automatically determined by fuzzy reasoning, and the washing conditions are set according to the amount of dishes. , there is no wastage of energy such as time, electricity, water, etc. Furthermore, the user does not need to set conditions for each use, and is freed from troublesome operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a dishwasher.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the operation panel.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a fully automatic or low temperature fully automatic course.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a pre-washing course.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a rinsing and drying course.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a drying course.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a care course.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a tableware amount determination routine.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a fuzzy inference routine for the amount of tableware.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a membership function of temperature rise time.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a membership function of initial cleaning temperature.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the membership function of the amount of tableware.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for determining washing conditions based on the amount of dishes.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing specific values of membership functions for a certain value X1 of temperature rise time.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing specific values of membership functions for a certain value Y1 of initial cleaning temperature.

16 is a diagram showing a fuzzy output of the amount of tableware for specific values of the membership functions in FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2...Cleaning tank, 22...Temperature sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] Washing at a preset time or number of times,
In a washing control method for a dishwasher that controls each process of rinsing and drying, the initial washing temperature before water supply detected by a temperature detection means provided in the washing tank and the predetermined two points of washing water during washing are determined. Fuzzy inference is made on the amount of dishes stored in the washing tank using the temperature increase rate between
A washing control method for a dishwasher, characterized by setting the time or number of times of each process such as drying time.