JPH0496794A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a non-cyclic operational pattern so as to reduce the possibility of cloth being damaged by providing a speed control portion for an electric motor, and a timing signal generating portion for generating pulses, and a storage device for the randam operational patterns of the electric motor, and causing the speed control portion to control the electric motor at a specific pattern. CONSTITUTION:The velocity data of such an operational pattern whereby 1/f fluctuation is realized is stored in a storage device 5 and data on command speed values N1, N2...N50 produced is reserved every predetermined time DELTAt. Pulse signals for the timing of a DELTAt cycle are output from a timing signal generating portion 4 and the storage device 5 changes command speeds each time receiving a pulse signal, and outputs to a speed control portion 3 data on speed corresponding to this timing and performs the patterned operation of an electric motor 2. Therefore the cycle characteristics of the sound of water flow and that of the drive of the electric motor are eliminated and operating sound easy to listen to is realized with no sudden change in the speed of the electric motor and with a little possibility of cloth of washing being damaged.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention relates to a washing machine control device.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional washing machine has a structure as shown in FIG. That is, it was a capacitor motor drive system in which the triac 1 or 2 was driven using a trigger element 1 and 2 such as a triac, and a phase advance capacitor 3, and a capacitor motor 5 was driven with single-phase alternating current 4. . The drive pattern consisted of driving at a constant rotational speed determined by the commercial frequency of the power source, and repeating on/off cycles with stop periods at appropriate intervals.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional method described above, the drive pattern is a simple on/off pattern.
Since the washing machine is repeatedly turned off, the sound of the water stream or the sound of the motor drive during the washing operation is cyclical, which is psychologically very bothersome. Moreover, each time the switch is turned on and off, a very large load is applied to the clothes, causing great damage to the laundry.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a primary object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine having a non-cyclic operation pattern. Further, a second purpose is to provide a second means for achieving the first purpose.

Means for Solving the Problems A first means of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned first object includes an electric motor, a rotation speed control section that controls the rotation speed of the electric motor, and a pulse of an appropriate timing signal. The washing machine is provided with a timing signal generation section that generates a timing signal, and a storage device that stores a random operating pattern of the electric motor, and the rotation speed control section controls the electric motor with a 1/f fluctuation pattern. Further, a second means of the present invention for achieving the second object includes an electric motor, a drive unit that drives the electric motor, a storage device that stores a random driving pattern as appropriate, and a reference time that indicates a reference time. and a clock unit that outputs a signal, and the driving unit controls the electric motor in a 1/f fluctuation pattern.

According to the first means of the present invention, the 1/f fluctuation pattern is stored in the storage device, and the 1/f fluctuation pattern is configured according to the timing signal generated by the timing signal generation section. Each instantaneous speed command is sent to the rotation speed control section, and the washing machine is operated in a non-cyclic variable speed mode. Further, the second means of the present invention is
The same effect as the first means described above can be performed with a simpler configuration.

EXAMPLE An example of the washing machine of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 is the washing machine body, electric motor 2, electric motor 2
A rotation speed control section 3 that controls the rotation speed of the motor, a timing signal generation section 4 that generates a pulse signal at an appropriate timing, and a storage device 5 that stores a 1/f fluctuation pattern as a random operation pattern. We are prepared. The rotational speed control section 3 controls the speed of the electric motor 2 to a speed indicating the 1/f fluctuation pattern stored in the storage device 5 for each pulse signal generated by the timing signal generation section 4. Here, the 1/f fluctuation pattern will be explained based on FIG. 2. The flow of wind in nature, the flow of J, the chirping of birds,
It is also known that biological rhythms have their own unique rhythms. These changes in the power spectrum are said to result in so-called 1/f fluctuations in which the power is proportional to the reciprocal of the frequency. As an example, FIG. 2(a) shows observation results regarding changes in natural wind speed over a certain period of time. Further, the power spectrum at that time exhibits approximately l/f as shown in FIG. 2(b). The present embodiment is an attempt to provide a washing machine that provides a psychologically pleasant feeling by realizing the 1/f fluctuation pattern inherent in such natural phenomena. Third
The figure shows an example of the 1,/f fluctuation pattern provided in the storage device 5. Originally, 1/f fluctuation is defined as being infinitely non-periodic, such as wind in the natural world. However, it is not very practical to perform arithmetic processing on something that is infinitely non-periodic and use it for rotational speed control. In this embodiment, the I/f fluctuation is performed in a periodic pattern as shown in the figure. This signal is Fourier transformed, and the power spectrum is calculated and graphed in FIG. 4. As shown in the figure, the power spectrum lies on a curve of approximately 1/f.

In this way, the operation pattern shown in FIG. 3 realizes 1/f fluctuation.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. As mentioned above, the storage device 5 includes the 1. / The speed data of the driving pattern that achieved the f fluctuation is stored.

In the figure, Δt is set to about 0.1 seconds in this embodiment. In other words, all the data of the commanded rotational value N - N . . . N at each time interval Δ is saved. Further, from the timing signal generation section 4, Δ
A pulse signal for timing with a period of seconds is output. Every time the storage device R5 receives a timing pulse signal with a cycle of 8 seconds from the timing signal generating section 4, the storage device R5 switches the stored command rotation speed and stores the data of the rotation speed that matches this timing in the rotation speed control section. I am trying to output to 3. The rotation speed control unit 3 executes pattern operation of the electric motor 2 according to the signal received from the storage device 5. In this way, the washing machine of this embodiment completely eliminates the cyclic nature of the water flow sound and motor drive sound, and achieves 1/f fluctuation, making the operating sound easy to hear. At the same time, 1
By realizing the /f fluctuation, there is no sudden change in the number of rotations, and there is less damage to the laundry when turning on and off.

Next, an embodiment of the second means of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 5. In the figure, numerals 1 and 2 are the washing machine main body and electric motor similar to the embodiment of the first means. Reference numeral 8 represents a drive unit that drives the electric motor 2, and reference numeral 9 represents a storage device that stores random driving patterns as appropriate. Further, 10 is a clock section that outputs a reference time signal. The storage device 9 takes out a signal corresponding to this timing using the reference time signal of the clock section 10 as a reference, and outputs it to the drive section 8 .

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. The storage device 9 stores data of an operating pattern that achieves 1/f fluctuation as shown in FIG. In the operation pattern shown in FIG. 6, the control rotational speed is kept constant at 1000 r/5 in, and the on/off time is set for Δ in units of seconds. The data for Δ in seconds and the rotation direction data are stored. In this way, clock 89 is standard #! When it receives a reference time signal indicating the time, it extracts the rotation direction and on/off data corresponding to this moment.
Output to the drive unit 8. The drive unit 8 receives this signal and operates the electric motor 2 in a pattern. In this way, similar to the embodiment of the first means, when the washing machine is operating, the water flow sound and the motor drive sound have no cyclicity, and 1/f fluctuation is realized, making the operating sound easy to hear. At the same time, 1/f
By realizing this fluctuation, there are no sudden changes in the rotation speed, and there is less damage to the laundry when the machine is turned on and off.

In this embodiment, since the control rotational speed is set to a constant value of 1000r/old n as the driving pattern that realizes 1/f fluctuation, the rotational speed control section 3 of the embodiment of the first means is
The configuration of the drive unit 8 can be made extremely simple compared to the above.

Furthermore, although both the embodiment of the first means and the embodiment of the second means are shown for a washing machine, the present embodiment can also be applied to a device driven by a two-phase induction motor, such as a dryer. Similar effects can be obtained.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the first means of the present invention, an electric motor;
M? f) a rotation speed control unit that controls the rotational speed of the electric motor;
A timing signal generating section that generates a pulse of an appropriate timing signal, and a storage device that stores a random operation pattern of the electric motor, and the rotation speed control section controls the electric motor with a 1/f fluctuation pattern. Therefore, it is possible to provide a washing machine that realizes a non-cyclic operation pattern, produces a pleasant operation sound, and can reduce fabric damage to laundry. According to the second means of the present invention, an electric motor, a drive unit that drives the electric motor, a storage device that stores a random driving pattern as appropriate, and a clock unit that outputs a reference time signal indicating a reference time. wherein the drive unit controls the electric motor in a 1/f fluctuation pattern, thereby providing a washing machine having a similar effect with a simpler configuration than that of the first means. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a washing machine which is an embodiment of the first means of the present invention, and Fig. 2 (a) and (b) are respectively 1/f
Figure 3 shows the observation results of changes in wind speed showing a fluctuation pattern (an analysis diagram of the same power spectrum as in 4). 4 is a diagram showing the same power spectrum, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a washing machine which is an embodiment of the second means of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an operation diagram showing the same 1/f fluctuation pattern. The pattern diagram and FIG. 7 are diagrams showing the configuration of a conventional washing machine. 1... Washing machine main body, 2... Electric motor, 3... Rotation speed control section, 4... Timing signal generation section. , 5...Storage device, 8...Drive unit, 9...Storage device, 10...
Clock part. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano et al.
--Joka5!1to and%Izl

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An electric motor, a rotation speed control unit that controls the rotation speed of the electric motor, a timing signal generation unit that generates appropriate timing signal pulses, and a storage device that stores random operating patterns of the electric motor. , a washing machine in which the rotation speed control section controls the electric motor in a 1/f fluctuation pattern. (2) An electric motor, a drive unit that drives the electric motor, a storage device that appropriately stores a random driving pattern, and a clock unit that outputs a reference time signal indicating a reference time, and the drive unit f. A washing machine that controls the electric motor using a fluctuation pattern.