JPH05277276A - Cloth damage prevention device for washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the cloth damage of a wash by detecting a quantity of lint flowing through a circulation passage to circulate wash water in a spin basket on the operation of a circulation pump, and controlling the operation of an electric motor means to apply torque to a water flow generation means on the basis of the detected lint quantity. CONSTITUTION:This washing machine is equipped with a water flow generation means 4 for generating a flow of wash water contained in the spin basket 2 of a washing tub, and an electric motor means 5 controllable in the range of a low speed operation to a high speed operation, and capable of applying torque to the means 4. Also, a quantity of lint running through a circulation passage 6 for circulating wash water in the spin basket 2 on the operation of a circulation pump P, is detected with a lint quantity detecting section 8 and the operation of the means 5 is controlled on the basis of the detected lint quantity. For example, when the quantity is large, a water flow is judged to be too strong for a cloth volume and quality, and the means 5 applies a low torque to the means 4. Consequently, a wash water flow is weakened, and a water flow of optimum strength can always be maintained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine capable of automatically carrying out all the washing treatments by simply inserting laundry, and in particular, a washing machine which solves the problem of cloth damage during the washing process and the rinsing process. The present invention relates to a cloth damage preventing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a washing machine automatically detects the amount and quality of laundry put in a washing tub, and based on the detected amount and quality of laundry, the amount and flow of washing water. With the advent of fully automatic washing machines that determine the strength and weakness of the washing machine, which automatically performs washing, rinsing, and dehydrating treatments, making it easier and more convenient to wash clothes, and users simply call the start button. All you have to do is press.

[0003]

Even in such a fully-automatic washing machine that has been developed, it is possible to accurately detect the damage to the cloth that occurs during the washing process and the rinsing process, for example, in accordance with the amount of cloth, the quality of cloth, and the like. However, the processing function for preventing the cloth damage was still incomplete.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cloth damage preventing device for a washing machine, which is intended to eliminate damage to the cloth during the washing process and the rinsing process.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a dehydration tub arranged in a washing tub, and a water flow generating means for generating a strong to weak water flow in the washing water in the dehydration tub. And an electric motor means that can control from low speed operation to high speed operation and that applies rotational power to the water flow generating means, a circulation path that circulates the wash water in the dehydration tub by a circulation pump, and a lint amount that flows in the circulation path. And a lint amount detector for controlling the operation of the electric motor means based on the detected value.

[0006]

According to such a cloth damage preventing device, the washing water in the dehydration tub is provided with a predetermined water flow by the water flow generating means, and the laundry is washed or rinsed. During the washing process or the rinsing process, the washing water in the dehydration tank is circulated through the circulation path by the circulation pump. The lint amount generated during this processing step is detected by the lint amount detection unit, and the electric motor means is controlled based on the detected value. Therefore, for example, if the lint amount is large, it is judged that the water flow is too strong for the cloth amount and the cloth quality,
A low rotational power is applied to the water flow generating means from the electric motor means. As a result, the washing water flow is weakened. Hereinafter, the water flow having the optimum strength is always ensured based on the detected value of the lint amount.

[0007]

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

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing the internal structure of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The washing machine according to the present embodiment has a small-sized and large-capacity washing tub by performing direct drive using a brushless DC motor, and uses the characteristics of the brushless DC motor to determine the amount and amount of laundry to be washed. It can automatically detect quality and water level, set washing time and water flow, detect cloth clogging and loosen cloth clogging, prevent cloth damage, and achieve dehydration rate set according to clothing, For example, put the laundry in the washing tub and simply press the start button to accurately wash the water, drain and dehydrate the laundry while preventing the cloth from getting caught and the cloth being damaged by the water flow and the water flow. be able to.

First, a direct drive mechanism using a brushless DC motor will be described with reference to FIG. This washing machine is housed in an outer case 1 having an open upper part, and an openable / closable lid 14 is attached to the upper part of the outer case 1 so that the upper part can be closed. A washing tub 2 is provided inside the outer box 1, and a dehydration tub 3 is provided inside the washing tub 2. Washing tub 2
Is supported on the outer box 1 by four suspension rods 10 and suspensions 11 provided around the periphery at appropriate intervals. A brushless DC motor 5 serving as an electric motor means is attached below the bottom of the washing tub 2 via a mechanism 9 for rotating the washing tub 2 and the dehydration tub 3.

A drain hose 12 for draining water in the wash tub 2 and a circulation hose 7 forming a circulation path 6 are attached to the bottom of the wash tub 2, and the drain hose 12 is the outer case 1. Can be pulled out. A drain valve (not shown) is provided between the drain hose 12 and the bottom of the washing tub 2 to which the drain hose 12 is attached.
The washing water in the washing tub 2 can be drained by controlling the opening and closing of the drain valve.

The circulation hose 7 constituting the circulation path 6 has one end connected to the bottom of the washing tub 2 and the other end facing above the dehydration tub 3, and below the circulation path 6 is a circulation pump P. However, a lint amount detection unit 8 described below is provided above each. The circulation pump P pumps the washing water flowing from the dehydration tub 3 to the washing tub 2 upward through the circulation path 6 and returns it to the dehydration tub 3 again to forcibly wash the washing water in the dehydration tub 3. It functions to circulate.

Although not shown, a water supply valve is appropriately provided on the upper portion of the washing tub 2 to which the lid 14 is attached,
Water can be supplied into the washing tub 2 by controlling the opening and closing of the water supply valve.

A pulsator 4, which is a water flow generating means for generating strong and weak water flows in the dehydration tank 3, is provided at the bottom of the dehydration tank 3, and the pulsator 4 is a drive shaft of a brushless DC motor 5 (see FIG. A first transmission shaft 37 connected to the first transmission shaft 37
Is splined to. The first conductive shaft 37 penetrates the bottoms of the mechanism section 9, the washing tub 2 and the dehydration tub 3,
It extends to the pulsator 4. As a result, the brushless DC motor 5 directly applies rotational driving force to the pulsator 4.

The mechanical section 9 provided between the brushless DC motor 5 and the bottom of the washing tub 2 is a brushless DC motor 5
It has a clutch disk which is a clutch means for transmitting or shutting off the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 to the dehydration tank 3, a brake for forcibly stopping the dehydration tank 3, and the like. An actuator 16 is provided on the side of the mechanism unit 9. The actuator 16 actuates a flat clutch disk 57 provided in the mechanism unit 9 as will be described below, thereby causing a brushless operation. Switching control for transmitting the rotation of the DC motor 5 not only to the pulsator 4 but also to the dehydration tank 3 via the flat clutch disk 57 to rotate the dehydration tank 3 or to brake the dehydration tank 3 to stop it. Is used for. In addition, the balancer 13 is provided in the upper peripheral portion of the dehydration tank 3 so that when the dehydration tank 3 rotates, the rotation is performed stably.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the internal structure of the mechanical section 9 will be described in detail. In FIG. 2, a cylindrical second conductive shaft 43 rotatable relative to the first conductive shaft 37 is fitted into a small diameter portion 37 a of the first conductive shaft 37 in a part of an outer peripheral portion of the first conductive shaft 37. Has been. The upper end of the second conduction shaft 43 is attached to the lower portion of the dehydration tank 3 to form the flange 4 shown in FIG.
It is attached through 5. A cutout surface 51 having a predetermined length in the axial direction from the lower end 47 to the upper end 49 is formed on the outer periphery of the second conductive shaft 43. On the other hand, a rectangular portion 55 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the upper end of the large diameter portion 37b of the first conductive shaft 37, which is in contact with the lower end 47 of the second conductive shaft 43. The flat clutch disk 5 as a moving body that can be engaged with the notch surface 51 and the rectangular portion 55 and that transmits / blocks the driving force from the first transmission shaft 37 to the second transmission shaft 43.
7 is provided so as to be movable on the second conduction shaft 43 by several mm.

The flat clutch disk 57 has a disk portion 57a located at the lower portion and a cylindrical portion 57b located at the upper portion, and the second conductive shaft 43 penetrates these. The through hole 59 is formed in the cutout surface 51 of the second conductive shaft 43.
The second conductive shaft connecting portion 59a aligned with the first conductive shaft 37
The first conductive shaft connecting portion 59b aligned with the rectangular portion 55 of FIG. Disk part 5 of flat clutch disk 57
On the upper surface of 7a, a plurality of protrusions 61 are provided upward at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Further, an annular groove 6 is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end of the cylindrical portion 57b of the flat clutch disc 57.
3 is provided.

Around the flat clutch disc 57, there is provided a brake disc 65 as a sliding body for exerting a braking force on the spinning dehydration tub 3. The brake disc 65 includes a turntable 67 and the turntable 67.
Lining material 73 attached to both the upper and lower outer peripheral sides
It consists of and.

The brake disc 65 is a lining material 7.
3 is supported from both upper and lower sides in a pressurized state by biasing springs 75 provided at four locations on the outer peripheral portion through brake pads 69 and 71 that serve as fixing portions for the washing tub 2.

The brake pads 69, 71 are fixed in the cover 41 of the mechanism section 9 as shown in FIG. First
The transmission shaft 37 and the second transmission shaft 43 are rotatable with respect to a bearing provided as a separate body (not shown).

On the inner peripheral side of the turntable 67, there is provided a concave portion 83 capable of engaging with the protrusion 61 of the flat clutch disc 57.
The same number is formed.

Annular groove 63 of the flat clutch disc 57
Is engaged with an operation lever 77 having a projection at its tip, and a shaft 81 which is rotated by the actuator 16 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the rear end of the operation lever 77. When the tip of the operating lever 77 is moved upward, the flat clutch disc 57
The plurality of protrusions 61 engage with the recesses 83 of the turntable 67.

The operation of the mechanical portion of the washing machine having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. First, in the washing operation, when the flat clutch disc 57 is set to the upper position by the operation lever 77 as shown in FIG. 3A, the flat clutch disc 57 has the second transmission shaft connecting portion 59a notched. It is aligned with the surface 51 and is connected to only the second conduction shaft 43. Thereby, the first conduction shaft 3
The connection between 7 and the second conduction shaft 43 is cut off,
The rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 is transmitted only to the first transmission shaft 37 connected to the pulsator 4.

Next, in the dehydration operation, the operation lever 77
Is moved downward, and the state shown in FIG. 3 (c) is passed through FIG. 3 (a) to FIG. 3 (b). As a result, the flat clutch disc 57 has the second transmission shaft connecting portion 59.
a is connected to the cutout surface 51 of the second conductive shaft 43, and the first conductive shaft connecting portion 59b is connected to the rectangular portion 55 of the first conductive shaft 37, so that the first conductive shaft 37 and the second conductive shaft 43 are connected.
And are connected via the flat clutch disk 57. When the brushless DC motor 5 is operated in this state, the dehydration tub 3 connected to the second transmission shaft 43 rotates.

Further, in order to stop the rotating dewatering tank 31, the driving of the motor 5 connected to the first transmission shaft 37 is stopped, and the flat clutch disk 57 is moved by the operating lever 77 as shown in FIG. Set it in the same position as above. As a result, the flat clutch disc 57 is connected only to the second transmission shaft 43, and at the same time, the projection 61 is engaged with the recess 83 of the brake disc 65, so that the second transmission shaft 4 is engaged.
3 rotates the brake disc 65 via the flat clutch disc 57. As the brake disc 65 rotates, it receives a braking force from the brake pads 69, 71, and the rotation of the dehydration tub 3 connected to the second transmission shaft 43 stops.

In this way, the second movement of the flat clutch disc 57, which is connected to the dehydration tub 3, by the slight movement of the flat clutch disc 57 in the vertical direction.
It is possible to switch between driving and braking of the transmission shaft 43. Therefore, the axial lengths of the clutch mechanism portion and the brake mechanism portion are shortened, and the dehydration tub can be performed without enlarging the outer case 1 of the conventional washing machine body. The volume of 3 can be increased, and the ratio of the washing capacity to the size of the outer box 1 can be increased.

The mechanical section 9 of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 is constructed and operates as described above.
The operation of the C motor 5, the water supply / drainage unit, and other parts are as shown in FIG.
It is controlled by the circuit part shown in.

The circuit section shown in FIG. 4 comprises, for example, a microprocessor and memories such as ROM and RAM, and an interface. The operation of the brushless DC motor 5 and the entire operation, that is, the amount of laundry, the quality of the laundry and the water level are detected, and the laundry is washed. It has a microcomputer 26 for controlling all operations such as setting of time and water flow, detection of cloth clogging and loosening of cloth clogging, prevention of cloth damage, achievement of a dehydration rate set according to clothes, and the like. This microcomputer 26
Controls the brushless DC motor 5 via the drive circuit 80, receives information such as the drive voltage or current of the brushless DC motor 5 from the brushless DC motor 5 via the filter 30 and the A / D converter 29, and
Further, as described below, the rotational speed information of the brushless DC motor 5 is also received.

Further, the microcomputer 26 includes the above-mentioned flat clutch disc 57, the clutch mechanism 82 including the actuator 16, the water supply valve 84 and the drain valve 8.
6 is controlled.

Next, the drive circuit 80 for driving the brushless DC motor 5 under the control of the microcomputer 26 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG. 5 showing the drive circuit 80 is shown in FIG. 5, in which the brushless DC motor 5, the microcomputer 26, the filter 30, the A / D converter 2
9 is also shown at the same time for the sake of explanation, but the portion excluding these circuit elements corresponds to the drive circuit 80.

As shown in FIG. 5, a brushless DC motor 5 having three-phase armatures U, V, W is used, and the brushless DC motor 5 is driven by a three-phase full-wave bridge type inverter circuit 17. Has been done. In the inverter circuit 17, 92 is a diode bridge for rectification, 93 is a smoothing capacitor, and the commercial AC power supply 91
After the AC voltage from is rectified by the diode bridge 92, it is smoothed by the smoothing capacitor 93 to obtain a DC voltage. And this input DC voltage is 3
It is designed to be converted into a three-phase alternating current at the phase full-wave bridge portion. That is, the three-phase full-wave bridge part has three
Six transistors U1, U2, V1, V2, W1 as switching elements are provided in three pairs of arms corresponding to the phases.
W2 is connected. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the three arms on the side to which the transistors U1, V1, and W1 are connected are referred to as upper arms, and the three arms on the other side to which the other transistors U2, V2, and W2 are connected are referred to as lower arms. A free wheel diode 94 is connected in parallel to each of the six transistors U1 to W2, and three transistors of the upper arm and the lower arm are connected.
Three connection points are connected to the three-phase armature windings U, V, W in the brushless DC motor 5.

The brushless DC motor 5 includes, in addition to the armature windings U, V and W, a rotor (not shown) formed of permanent magnets and three Hall elements for detecting the rotational position of the rotor. 23a, 23b, 23c are provided.
The rotor position detection signals of the hall elements 23a, 23b, 23c are given to the motor control circuit 24.

The motor control circuit 24 is connected to the microcomputer 26 and has hall elements 23a, 23b, 23.
A rotation speed signal is generated from the rotor position detection signal from c and supplied to the microcomputer 26, and control signals such as a start / stop signal of the brushless DC motor 5 and a forward / reverse signal are received from the microcomputer 26.

The motor control circuit 24 also controls the upper arm transistors U1, V1, and V1 via the upper arm drive circuit 21.
W1 is driven to drive the lower arm transistors U2, V2 and W2 via the lower arm drive circuit 22. The rotor position detection signals from the Hall elements 23a, 23b, 23c are supplied to the motor control circuit 24, which uses the rotor rotation position detection signals to form the upper arm transistors U1, V1 constituting the inverter circuit 17. , W1 and the lower arm transistor U
The switching timing of 2, V2 and W2 is determined, and the upper arm drive circuit 21 and the lower arm drive circuit 22 are controlled so as to switch each transistor at this timing. Specifically, the Hall elements 23a, 23b, 23c
The rotor position detection signal from is subjected to logical conversion in the motor control circuit 24 and corresponds to the rotor position of the brushless DC motor 5, for example, the upper arm transistor U1 and the lower arm transistor V2, similarly the transistors V1 and W2, and the transistor V1 and W2. It is output as a drive signal for sequentially controlling ON of various combinations of transistors such as W1 and U2. Then, the DC voltage is converted into a three-phase AC by switching the transistor ON, and the brushless DC motor 5
A current sequentially flows through the armature windings U-V, V-W, and W-U, and the brushless DC motor 5 rotates in one direction. The forward and reverse rotations of the brushless DC motor 5 are performed by armature windings U, V,
It is carried out by reversing the order of the currents supplied to W, and the normal / reverse control is carried out via the motor control circuit 24 by the normal / reverse signals from the microcomputer 26.

The microcomputer 26 is supplied with the rotation speed signal of the brushless DC motor 5 created by the motor control circuit 24 on the basis of the rotor position detection signals from the hall elements 23a, 23b, 23c, and this rotation speed is set at the set rotation speed. Create an on-duty signal such that
It is supplied to the oscillator 25 to control the on-duty of the PWM signal from the PWM oscillator 25.

The rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 is changed by variably controlling the applied DC voltage. To change the rotation speed, a PWM oscillator 25 is connected to the microcomputer 26 and the PWM is applied. A microcomputer 26 supplies a PWM on-duty setting signal, which is a rotation control signal, to the oscillator 25. The output of the PWM oscillator 25 is connected to the upper arm drive circuit 21 via the chopper circuit 27, whereby the PWM oscillator 25 is turned on by a PWM on-duty setting signal from the microcomputer 26, for example, at a repetition frequency of 15 KHz. A PWM signal with a variable off-on duty is output, and this PWM signal is chopped by the chopper circuit 27 and passed through the upper arm drive circuit 21 to the upper arm transistors U1, V1, W1.
The DC voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 is changed, and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 is changed. There is. That is, as the on-duty ratio of the upper arm transistors U1, V1, W1 decreases, for example, the brushless D
The DC voltage applied to the C motor 5 becomes smaller and the rotation speed becomes slower. As the on-duty ratio becomes larger, the DC voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 becomes larger and the rotation speed becomes faster. ..

When the brushless DC motor 5 is stopped, the stop signal from the microcomputer 26 is supplied to the motor control circuit 2.
4 is supplied to the upper arm transistors U1 and U1 of the inverter circuit 17 under the control of the motor control circuit 24.
V1, W1 and lower arm transistors U2, V2, W
This is done by turning off all two.

Further, one end of the smoothing capacitor 93 of the inverter circuit 17 and the lower arm transistors U2, V2, W2.
A resistor 28 is connected between the commonly connected emitters of the inverters, and the resistor 28 detects the inverter current flowing through the inverter circuit 17 as a voltage value. Since the detected voltage value is a pulse wave turned on and off at the inverter frequency, for example, 15 KHz,
A / D converter 29 for averaging through the filter 30
As a digital signal via the microcomputer 2
6, which allows the microcomputer 26 to identify the voltage value applied to the brushless DC motor 5.

The characteristics of the brushless DC motor 5 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 66, the relationship between the torque generated by the brushless DC motor 5 and the rotation speed n is inversely proportional to the torque decreasing as the rotation speed n increases. The voltage Vdc applied to 5 changes as shown in the figure, and the torque generated by the brushless DC motor 5 increases as the voltage Vdc increases at the same rotation speed. Therefore, when the rotation speed n is constant, the relationship between the load torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 and the voltage Vdc is proportional as shown in FIG. From this relationship, the brushless D which is the laundry
The load of the C motor 5 can be obtained from the voltage Vdc at the final rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5.

When the supply voltage Vdc to the brushless DC motor 5 is constant, that is, when the capacity of the brushless DC motor 5 is constant, the brushless DC motor 5 is
Since the energy required until the number of revolutions reaches the predetermined target number of revolutions depends on the load torque, the time required to reach the target number of revolutions is as shown in FIG. Is almost proportional to. Therefore, the load of the laundry can also be obtained from the time required to reach the target rotation speed. It is needless to say that the characteristics of FIG. 68 tend to saturate the load torque when the arrival time is very long.

Further, FIG. 40 shows a brushless DC motor 5
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a torque and a rotation speed applied to the brushless DC motor 5 when intermittent rotation is normally reversed. When the brushless DC motor 5 is about to start forward rotation or reverse rotation, the rotation speed gradually rises and finally reaches a constant target rotation speed ni at time tn, but this time tn is as described above. It changes depending on the load that is laundry. Further, the change dn of the rotation speed from the start of rotation to a predetermined time changes depending on the load which is the laundry. The torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 increases at the start of rotation, and when the rotation speed becomes constant, the voltage Vdc applied to the brushless DC motor 5 becomes constant. Time tr is the time of normal rotation and reversal, and time ts is the time between normal rotation and reversal.

Since the voltage Vdc applied to the brushless DC motor 5 is proportional to the inverter current Idc flowing through the brushless DC motor 5, the inverter current can be used instead of the voltage Vdc, and the voltage Vdc can also be used.
And the inverter current Idc is the microcomputer 26
PWM output from the PWM oscillator 25 under the control of
Since it is controlled by the on-duty ratio δ of the signal, the on-duty ratio δ instead of voltage and inverter current.
Can also be used.

FIG. 69 shows the relationship between the torque and the rotational speed of the brushless DC motor 5 in which the axes of the torque and the rotational speed are reversed in FIG. Shows the change of the inverter current I with respect to the change of. The inverter current thus changes almost in proportion to the torque.

Next, with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. 6, the overall flow of the washing machine will be schematically described.

As shown in FIG. 6, the washing machine has a pretreatment 1
10, washing treatment 121, first dehydration treatment 130, first rinse treatment 140, second dehydration treatment 150, second rinse treatment 1
60, having a final dehydration treatment 170.

In the "pretreatment 110", after the laundry is put into the dehydration tub 3 of the washing machine and the start button is pressed to start (steps 101 and 105), the amount of the laundry initially loaded is set. Is detected (step 11
1) The amount of detergent corresponding to the detected amount of cloth is displayed (step 112). According to this display, the user puts the detergent, or if the automatic detergent feeder is installed, the detergent is automatically put (step 11).
3).

Then, the wash water level corresponding to the cloth amount, which is the reference water level according to the cloth amount detected in step 111, is determined (step 114), and the water supply up to the low water level is performed while detecting the water level (step 115). The cloth quality is detected at this low water level (step 116). Then, the water level adjustment amount is determined according to this cloth quality (step 117), the reference water level is corrected by this water level adjustment amount, the final wash water level is determined, and the final wash water level and the cloth amount cloth quality are determined. The corresponding water flow, washing operation time, target dehydration rate, etc. are determined (step 118). Then, the water supply up to the determined final wash water level is performed while detecting the water level (step 119), and when the water supply up to the final wash water level is completed, the process proceeds to the next washing process 120.

In the "washing process, that is, the washing operation 120", the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 is not transmitted to the dehydration tub 3 by the action of the flat clutch disk 57, only the pulsator 4 is rotated, and the pulsator 4 causes the washing tub to wash. Two
A water flow is generated in the inside, and the washing operation is performed for a predetermined operation time while appropriately performing the cloth slack detection, the cloth loosening control for the detected cloth slack, the cloth damage detection, and the cloth damage prevention control (step 121). Then, when the washing operation is completed, the water in the dehydration tub 3 of the washing machine is drained (step 12
3), and proceeds to the next first dehydration process 130.

In the "first dehydration process 130", the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 is transmitted to the dehydration tank 3 and the pulsator 4 by the action of the flat clutch disk 57, and both are integrally rotated to detect the dehydration rate. While step 1
The dehydration is performed up to the target dehydration rate set in 18, and when the dehydration is completed up to the target dehydration rate, the process proceeds to the next first rinse process 140.

In the "first rinsing process 140", water supply up to the final wash water level determined in step 118 is performed while detecting the water level (step 141). When the water is supplied to the final washing water level, only the pulsator 4 is rotated by the action of the flat clutch disc 57, and the cloth clogging detection, the cloth loosening control, the cloth damage prevention control, as in the washing processing,
The rinsing operation is performed for a predetermined time while appropriately detecting the cloth damage (step 143). When the rinsing operation for a predetermined time is completed, drainage is performed (step 145) and the process proceeds to the next second dehydration process 150.

In the "second dehydration process 150", as in the first dehydration process, the dehydration tank 3 and the pulsator 4 are integrally rotated to detect the dehydration ratio and reach the target dehydration ratio set in step 118. When the dehydration is performed and the dehydration is completed up to the target dehydration rate, the process proceeds to the next second rinse process 160.

In the "second rinsing process 160", as in the first rinsing process, water is supplied up to the final wash water level while detecting the water level (step 161). When the water is supplied up to the final wash water level, the pulsator 4 The rinsing operation is performed for a predetermined time while rotating only the device and appropriately performing the cloth squeezing detection, the cloth loosening control, the cloth damage prevention control, and the cloth damage detection (step 163). When the rinsing operation is completed, drainage is performed (step 165) and the process proceeds to the next final dehydration process 171.

In the "final dehydration process 170", the dehydration tank 3 and the pulsator 4 are integrally rotated in the same manner as in the first and second dehydration processes, and dehydration is performed up to the target dehydration ratio while detecting the dehydration ratio (step 171). ), And the whole process is completed (step 172).

Table 1 below shows the water supply valve 84, the brushless DC motor 5, the drain valve 86, and the drain valve 86 in all the steps of the washing machine.
6 is a table showing the operation of each component such as the clutch mechanism 82. In this table, thick lines show the state in which each component operates. In addition, the brushless DC motor 5 is shown separately for forward rotation and reverse rotation. The clutch mechanism 8
2 operates as indicated by the thick line, brushless D
The rotation of the C motor 5 is also transmitted to the dehydration tank 3 via the clutch mechanism 82, and the dehydration tank 3 also rotates.

[0054]

[Table 1] Next, each operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 11 and subsequent drawings while describing the overall operation of the washing machine in more detail according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 show the continuous operation of the washing machine as a whole, and the respective drawings are continuous with the jump symbols A, B, and C.

First, as shown in FIG. 7, the laundry is put in the dehydration tub 3 of the washing machine, the power is turned on, and the start button or the like is pressed to start the operation of the main washing machine (step 2).
10, 220), the microcomputer 26 detects the amount of laundry put in (step 230).

In order to detect the amount of cloth, the microcomputer 26 controls the flat clutch disk 57 in the mechanism section 9 via the clutch mechanism 82 to transmit the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 to the dehydration tub 3. The first transmission shaft 37 and the second transmission shaft 43 are connected to each other so that the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated, whereby the dehydration tank 3 and the pulsator 4 are integrally rotated. It should be noted that this cloth amount detection operation is performed without putting water in the dehydration tub 3.

The amount of cloth is detected by converting it into the weight of the laundry, but the change information of the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 at the start of rotation or during the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 or the rotating dehydration tank 3 is detected. Load torque (Tj) of the dehydration tub 3 and the laundry from the electromotive force generated in the brushless DC motor 5 when the brake is stopped by the brake of the brushless DC motor 5.
Is detected and the weight of the laundry is calculated as the amount of laundry from this load torque, or the brushless DC motor 5 rotates the dehydration tub 3 containing the laundry at a constant speed, and then the brushless DC motor 5 is electrically braked. The brushless DC motor 5 is operated by setting the motor torque to zero after detecting the laundry amount from the electric power consumed by the electric brake or rotating the dehydration tub 3 containing the laundry at a constant speed.
Is run free and the amount of cloth is detected by the magnitude of the moment of inertia of the dehydration tank 3.

Next, a specific method for detecting the amount of cloth will be described in detail.

This first cloth amount detecting method is a brushless D
This is a method of detecting the cloth amount from the reduction rate of the rotation speed of the motor when the C motor 5 has a constant rotation speed and the drive voltage for the motor is set to 0 and the motor is free-run only by the moment of inertia.

More specifically, in the first cloth amount detecting method, when the dehydration tub 3 containing the laundry is rotated, the torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 becomes constant, that is, the brushless DC motor 5 is used. Changes the on-duty δ of the PWM signal from the PWM oscillator 25 so as to rotate at a constant rotation speed np to control the voltage Vdc applied to the brushless DC motor 5. And brushless D
At a certain point after the rotation speed of the C motor 5 becomes constant, all of the upper arm transistors U1, V1, W1 and the lower arm transistors U2, V2, W2 driving the brushless DC motor 5 are turned off, and the laundry is washed. The dehydration tub 3 containing is rotated only by inertia, and the state where the rotation speed is gradually decreased is monitored.

The decrease in the rotation speed in this case depends on the amount of cloth that is the laundry in the dewatering tub 3. The larger the amount of cloth due to the moment of inertia, the slower the decrease in the rotation speed and the smaller the amount of cloth. The lower the rotation speed, the faster. Therefore, starting from the time when all of the upper arm transistors U1, V1, W1 and the lower arm transistors U2, V2, W2 are turned off, the rotation speed n is the predetermined rotation speed n1.
The amount of cloth can be detected by counting the time until the temperature decreases by the microcomputer 26 and comparing the counted time T1 with preset data.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the relationship between the time and the rotation speed in the first cloth amount detecting method. At the time t01 when the brushless DC motor 5 is rotating at a constant rotation speed np. Brushless DC motor 5
When the rotation is stopped and the free run is performed, the brushless DC motor 5 depends on the amount of laundry in the dehydration tub 3,
Continue to rotate while lowering. In this case, when the cloth amount is small, the rotation speed decreases quickly as shown by the curve 11a,
When the amount of cloth is medium, the rotation speed is moderately decreased as shown by the curve 11b, and when the amount of cloth is large, the curve 11c is rotated.
Since the rotation speed slows down as shown in, the rotation speed n
The time t1 and t2 until the rotational speed decreases to a predetermined rotational speed n1.
, T3 can be counted to identify the amount of cloth.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing in detail the procedure of the first cloth amount detecting method described above. In the figure, when the start switch of the washing machine is pressed as described above (step 220), the flat clutch disk 57 is connected (step 1210), and the dehydration tub 3 rotates with the pulsator 4 by the brushless DC motor 5 (step). 1220). It is checked whether the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5, that is, the angular speed ω has reached a predetermined angular speed ωp (step 1230). When the predetermined angular speed ωp is reached, the upper arm transistors U1, V1, W1 of the inverter circuit 17 and Lower arm transistor U
2, V2, W2 are all off and brushless D
The supply of the drive voltage to the C motor 5 is stopped, the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated by inertia, and at the same time, the soft timer in the microcomputer 26 is reset and clocked (step 1240).

Then, it is checked whether or not the angular velocity ω of the brushless DC motor 5 which continues to rotate with the moment of inertia has reached a predetermined angular velocity ω1 (step 1250). The time T1 measured by the timer is taken in, and the size of the cloth amount is determined from the data table preset in the memory of the microcomputer 26 based on the size of the counting time T1 (step 1260).

The amount of cloth for the counting time T1 is determined by counting the counting time T1 as shown in the table of step 1260 in FIG.
It is decided to be large, medium and small in proportion to large, medium and small.

Next, a second method for detecting the amount of cloth will be described.

The second method for detecting the amount of cloth is a brushless DC motor 5 that rotates only by inertia when the brushless DC motor 5 is free-run only by the moment of inertia after the brushless DC motor 5 reaches a constant rotation speed. This is a method of measuring the current flowing by the back electromotive force induced in the winding and detecting the amount of cloth by the time from the free run of the motor to the time when this current disappears.

In order to implement the second cloth amount detecting method, as shown in the circuit of FIG. 13, a resistor 28a for current measurement is inserted between the emitters of the lower arm transistors V2 and W2 in the circuit of FIG. In addition to the filter 30 and the A / D converter 29 in the circuit of FIG. 5, a filter 30a and an A / D converter 29a for supplying the voltage across the current measuring resistor 28a to the microcomputer 26 are additionally provided.

In the circuit having such a configuration, when the brushless DC motor 5 is free-running, the counter electromotive force induced in the winding by the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 due to inertia causes the current measuring resistor 28a to have a current. Figure 1
At 4, the current flows as indicated by the arrow. Then, as shown in FIG. 15, this current decreases with time, that is, as the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 decreases, and finally becomes zero, so that the time t1, t2, etc. until this current becomes zero. The amount of cloth can be detected by measuring t3 with the soft timer of the microcomputer 26.

In FIG. 15, the curve shown by the dotted line is a plot of the peak value of the pulsating current.
If the amount of cloth indicated by 5a is small, the time is short and the curve 15
When the cloth amount shown by b is medium, the time is also medium, and when the cloth amount is large as shown by the curve 15c, the time is long.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing in detail the procedure of the second cloth amount detecting method described above. In the figure, the processing of steps 220 to 1230 is the same as the processing of the first cloth amount detecting method shown in FIG. That is, the washing machine is started and the flat clutch disc 57 is
Is connected to rotate the dehydration tub 3 containing the laundry, and then it is determined that the angular velocity ω of the brushless DC motor 5 has reached a predetermined angular velocity ω p (steps 220 to 123).
0).

After the angular velocity ω of the brushless DC motor 5 reaches a predetermined angular velocity ωp, the inverter circuit 17
The upper arm transistors U1, V1, W1 are all turned off, the lower arm transistors U2, V2, W2 are all turned on, and the brushless DC motor 5, and hence the dehydration tank 3 are rotated by inertia, and at the same time, The soft timer in the computer 26 is reset and clocked (step 1640).

Then, the voltage generated across the inverter current detecting resistor 28a by the counter electromotive force induced in the winding of the motor by the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 which continues to rotate with the moment of inertia is converted into an A / D converter 29.
And the respective output voltage V of the A / D converter 29a
The microcomputer 26 reads from 0 and V1 and calculates the current Ia flowing through the inverter current detecting resistor 28a from the difference between these voltages (step 1650).

Then, the microcomputer 26 determines whether or not the current Ia has become zero, that is, whether or not the current pulse has disappeared (step 1660), and when the brushless DC motor 5 enters the free-run state. The time T1 from when the current pulse disappears is counted by the soft timer in the microcomputer 26.
The size of the cloth amount is determined based on the size of 1 from the data table preset in the memory of the microcomputer 26 (step 1670).

The table of the cloth amount with respect to the counting time T1 shown in step 1670 is the same as that shown in step 1260 of FIG. 12, and the cloth amount is large or medium in proportion to the large, medium or small of the counting time T1. , Determined to be small.

Next, a third method for detecting the amount of cloth will be described.

In the third cloth amount detecting method, the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated in the first direction of, for example, right rotation to reach a constant rotation speed, and then the brushless DC motor 5 is suddenly rotated in the opposite direction. When the voltage is controlled to rotate at the rotation speed, the brushless DC motor 5 tries to continue to rotate in the first direction due to inertia, so that the current due to the counter electromotive force and the control current for the reverse rotation generated in both directions. This is a method of measuring the added combined current and measuring the time from the time when the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated in the reverse direction until the combined current returns to the regular current to detect the cloth amount.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the current flowing through the brushless DC motor 5 with respect to time when the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated in the reverse direction at time t01 in the third cloth amount detecting method. When the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated in the reverse direction at time t01, the increased combined current of the current due to the counter electromotive force and the control current for reverse rotation flows as the initial current io as described above. Of these, the current due to the back electromotive force is a component that depends on the inertia of the brushless DC motor 5, so it gradually decreases and eventually becomes zero, and the combined current becomes a constant current of only the control current for reverse rotation. .. Therefore, the amount of cloth is detected as described above by measuring the time when this constant current is reached.

In the reverse rotation of the brushless DC motor 5, the direction of the current flowing through the three-phase windings of the brushless DC motor 5 is "1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → as shown in FIG.
Assuming that the order is “6”, if a current of 3 is being supplied and a current is applied in the opposite direction, an opposite force will be applied. Therefore, control is performed so that a current of 4 is applied, and “4 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 6 →
This is achieved by passing current in the order of 5 → 4 ”.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing in detail the procedure of the above-mentioned third cloth amount detecting method. In the figure, the processing of steps 220 to 1230 is the same as the processing of the first and second cloth amount detecting methods. That is, it is determined that the angular velocity ω of the brushless DC motor 5 has reached a predetermined angular velocity ωp after the washing machine is started, the flat clutch disc 57 is connected, and the dehydration tub 3 containing the laundry is rotated. (Steps 220-1230).

After the angular velocity ω of the brushless DC motor 5 reaches a predetermined angular velocity ωp, the voltage across the inverter current detecting resistor 28 in the circuit of FIG.
The peak value of the inverter current flowing through the brushless DC motor 5 is fetched into the microcomputer 26 via the D converter 29 and stored as the voltage value V0 of the A / D converter 29 (step 1940). This voltage value V
The value 0 corresponds to the above-mentioned fixed current, and is stored for use in determining when the combined current drops to the fixed current.

When the peak value V0 is saved, the brushless D
Brushless D through the inverter circuit 17 so that the C motor 5, and hence the dehydration tub 3 may have the same rotational speed in the opposite direction.
At the same time that the voltage of the C motor 5 is controlled, the soft timer of the microcomputer 26 is reset and the time counting operation is started (step 1950).

When the brushless DC motor 5 is rotated in the reverse direction, the above-mentioned combined current is generated. Therefore, a voltage corresponding to this combined current is taken into the microcomputer 26 via the filter 30 and the A / D converter 29,
The peak value V1 is detected (step 1960). Then, the peak value V1 is compared with the stored peak value V0 corresponding to the constant current (step 1970), and the time T1 until both values become equal is determined by the microcomputer 2
The count is performed by the soft timer 6 and the cloth amount is determined from the data table preset in the memory of the microcomputer 26 based on the size of the count time T1 (step 1980).

The table of the amount of cloth for the counting time T1 shown in step 1980 is the same as that shown in step 1260 of FIG. 12, and the amount of cloth is large, medium and small in proportion to the large, medium and small counting times. Determined to be small.

When the cloth amount detecting operation is completed as described above, in the cloth amount detecting step 230 (FIG. 7),
Washing water level LWs corresponding to the detected amount of cloth
Is determined from a data table stored in advance in the memory of the microcomputer 26. Table 2 shown below is a table showing the relationship between the cloth amount corresponding to the counting time T1 or the load torque Tj and the wash water level LWs corresponding to the cloth amount.

[0086]

[Table 2] In the laundry amount detecting step 230 of FIG. 7, when the laundry amount corresponding washing water level LWs corresponding to the detected laundry amount is determined, it is then determined whether or not the detergent throwing machine is provided in the washing machine as an option, for example, the microcomputer 26. Is determined (step 240), and if the detergent throwing machine is provided, the amount of detergent corresponding to the washing amount and the washing water level LWs corresponding to the washing amount is automatically put into the dehydration tank 3 (step 25).
0) In addition, if the detergent dosing machine is not provided, the detergent dosing amount corresponding to the cloth amount and the washing water level LWs corresponding to the cloth amount is displayed (step 260). In this case, the user dispenses the displayed amount of detergent.

When the detergent dose is displayed or the detergent is dispensed, the microcomputer 26 causes the water supply valve 84 to
(Fig. 4) is opened and the water supply process is started (step 27).
0). Even in this water supply, the dehydration tank 3 is brushless D
The C motor 5 continues to rotate at a low speed continuously or intermittently, and the water supply time is counted by the soft timer of the microcomputer 26 while monitoring the motor torque from the start of water supply. Water begins to collect from the bottom of the washing tub 2 below the dehydration tub 3, and there is time until this water reaches the bottom of the dehydration tub 3, but during this time, the load, that is, the torque, related to the brushless DC motor 5 Is relatively small, the torque acting on the brushless DC motor 5 suddenly increases when the water level of the water accumulated in the washing tub 2 reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tub 3. Therefore, monitor this torque as described above. Due to
It can be detected that the water level has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 (step 280).

Incidentally, instead of detecting that the water level has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tub 3 by the rapid change of the torque, the microcomputer 26 controls the P
The same is true even when the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal output from the WM oscillator 25 is changed rapidly. That is, when the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, the load increases and the torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 increases, but the microcomputer 26 keeps the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 constant. In order to work, the microcomputer 26 changes the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5. Since this voltage change is achieved by changing the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal, the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tub 3 when the time point at which the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal rapidly changes is detected. Sometimes it can be detected.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a change in the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal described above. When the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 at time tb, the on-duty δ rapidly changes. It indicates that

The counting time until the water level reaches the bottom of the dehydration tank 3 is obtained from the count value tb by the soft timer of the microcomputer 26. By the way, the water amount Wb of the water level to the bottom surface of the dehydration tub 3 in the washing tub 2 is known in advance from the design data of the washing machine. From the relationship between this water amount Wb and the counting time tb, The water supply speed Sw can be calculated.

Sw = Wb / tb When it is detected that the water level has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 is stopped and the low water level L for detecting the cloth quality is detected.
Water supply up to W1. This is to find the water amount difference dW between this low water level LW1 and the current water level up to the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3,
As shown in the following equation, this water amount difference dW is defined as the water supply speed Sw
By dividing by, the remaining water supply time Tr up to the low water level LW1 can be calculated.

Tr = dW / Sw Therefore, this water supply time Tr water supply is further performed to supply water to the low water level LW1 for detecting the cloth quality (steps 280, 29).
0).

Generally, at the water level for detecting the cloth quality, the cloth may be in a state of being immersed in water to some extent or completely, but in the present embodiment, the low water level LW1 for washing is used.

When the water supply to the low water level LW1 is completed, the water supply valve is closed and the cloth quality detecting operation is started (step 3).
00).

To detect the cloth quality, the dehydration tub 3 is not rotated while the laundry is put in the dehydration tub 3 that has been supplied to a low water level.
Brushless D at that time by rotating only pulsator 4
Load torque acting on C motor 5 or brushless DC
This is performed by determining the cloth quality based on the relationship between the torque information, which is the load torque calculated from the rotation speed of the motor 5, and the cloth amount calculated in step 230.

This torque information is the starting torque at the time of normal rotation or reversal, the torque at a certain point during normal reversal, or the average torque during a certain period during normal reversal, and the rotational speed information is supplied to the brushless DC motor 5. When the voltage applied to the washing tub 2 is constant, it is the number of revolutions of the motor or the final number of revolutions after a lapse of time from the start of rotation, and both are means for measuring the load torque Tq in the washing tub 2. Then, the cloth amount obtained by the cloth amount detection processing and the load torque T obtained by the cloth quality detection
From q, the fabric quality is judged by the combinations shown in Table 3 below.

[0097]

[Table 3] Next, a specific method of cloth quality detection will be described in detail.

The first method of detecting the cloth quality will be described.

In the first cloth quality detecting method, the pulsator 4 alone is rotated by the brushless DC motor 5 without rotating the dehydration tub 3 in a state where the laundry is put in the dehydration tub 3 supplied to a low water level. This is a method in which the starting voltage or starting torque of the brushless DC motor 5 required when starting is obtained, and the cloth quality is detected from this starting voltage or starting torque and the previously obtained amount of cloth.

The cloth quality can be expressed as, for example, "supple", "standard", "rough", etc., but when the cloth quality is "supple", the resistance to the pulsator 4 is small,
The pulsator 4 rotates easily, and the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 required to rotate it may be small.
When the cloth quality is "stiff", the resistance to the pulsator 4 is large, the pulsator 4 is difficult to rotate, and the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 required to rotate the pulsator 4 is large.

FIG. 20 shows the relationship between such cloth quality, the resistance applied to the pulsator 4 and the torque of the brushless DC motor 5. The resistance in this case is cloth,
Including the friction of the pulsator 4 and the dehydration tub 3, as the cloth quality becomes "rougher", the resistance received by the pulsator 4 increases, and the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 that attempts to rotate the pulsator 4 also needs to be large. .. And this resistance shows the maximum value at the moment when it starts moving from the stationary state. Therefore, by utilizing such a relationship, the cloth quality is distinguished by the resistance of the cloth, the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 that receives this resistance is detected, or the current or voltage that changes with the torque from the characteristics of the brushless DC motor 5 is detected. , The number of rotations, etc. are detected, and the cloth quality can be determined using these information.

The procedure of the first cloth quality detecting method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

As described above, in order to rotate only the pulsator 4 without rotating the dehydration tub 3 in a state where the laundry is put in the dehydration tub 3 supplied to the low water level, the brushless D
The voltage applied to the C motor 5 is gradually increased (step 2110), and in this case, when the brushless DC motor 5 rotates is detected from the motor rotation speed (step 2120). When the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 is detected, the voltage at this time is measured, the starting torque corresponding to this voltage is obtained as described below, and the relationship between the starting torque, the cloth amount, and the cloth quality is preset. The cloth quality can be determined from the data table (step 213).
0).

FIG. 22 is a graph showing the relationship between the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 and the starting torque, obtained from the characteristics of the brushless DC motor 5. By utilizing such characteristics, the starting torque with respect to the voltage measured as described above can be obtained.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the relationship between the cloth amount detected by the cloth amount detection, the starting torque and the cloth quality. As shown in the figure, when the cloth quality is "supple", the starting torque is small, and when the cloth quality is "rough", the starting torque is large. There is.
That is, even when the cloth quality is "supple" and the starting torque is small, the starting torque tends to be small when the cloth amount is small, and the starting torque tends to be large when the cloth amount is large. Further, even when the cloth quality is "rough" and the starting torque is large, the starting torque is small when the cloth amount is small, and the starting torque is further large when the cloth amount is large.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a data table created from the relationship between the cloth amount, the starting torque and the cloth quality as described above. Note that T00 to T22 in this data table are starting torques.

By applying the starting torque obtained in step 2130 of FIG. 21 and the cloth amount previously obtained to the data table shown in FIG. 24, the cloth quality can be identified. For example, if the brushless DC motor 5 starts to rotate when the voltage of the brushless DC motor 5 is gradually increased to reach Va, this voltage Va
Since the starting torque Ta for is calculated from FIG. 22,
This starting torque Ta is searched from the data table shown in FIG. 24, and it is assumed that the starting torque Ta is close to the starting torque T12.
Also, if the amount of cloth is medium, it can be seen that the quality of the cloth is "rough".

FIG. 25 is similar to FIG. 24 showing the relationship between the amount of cloth, the voltage and the cloth quality based on FIGS. 22 and 23, using the voltage of the brushless DC motor 5 instead of the starting torque shown in FIG. It is a data table. By using this data table, the cloth quality can be determined from the voltage at the time when the brushless DC motor 5 starts rotating and the cloth amount detected previously. For example, brushless DC
If the brushless DC motor 5 starts rotating when the voltage of the motor 5 is gradually increased to Va, the voltage Va is searched for in the data table shown in FIG. And the amount of cloth is medium, it can be seen that the quality of the cloth is "rough".

Next, the second method for detecting the cloth quality will be described.

The second cloth quality detecting method is a method of detecting the starting current of the brushless DC motor 5 and detecting the cloth quality from the starting current and the previously obtained amount of cloth.

The starting current of the brushless DC motor 5 becomes maximum at the time of starting the motor when the motor torque becomes maximum due to the characteristics of the motor. Therefore, while gradually increasing the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5, the motor current, which is also increasing at this time, is monitored and the current at the time when this current decreases is detected. The peak current value that is the maximum value of the current, that is, the starting current can be obtained.

FIG. 26 shows the relationship between the starting current and the starting torque. By referring to FIG. 26, the starting torque can be obtained from the starting current obtained as described above. The cloth quality can be determined from the data table of the relationship between the cloth amount, the starting torque, and the cloth quality shown in 24.

FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the second cloth quality detecting method. In the figure, brushless D
While gradually increasing the voltage applied to the C motor 5, the increasing motor current at this time is detected (step 2710), and the current at the time when this motor current decreases is set as the maximum value of the motor current. It is determined as a certain peak current value, that is, a starting current (step 2720). Then, the starting torque for this motor starting current is obtained from FIG.
The obtained starting torque and the previously obtained amount of cloth can be applied to the data table shown in FIG. 24 to determine the cloth quality (step 2730).

FIG. 28 is a data table showing the relationship between the cloth amount, the starting current Iij, and the cloth quality from the data table shown in FIG. 24 and the graph showing the relationship between the starting torque and the starting current shown in FIG. By using this data table, it is possible to determine the cloth quality from the starting current of the brushless DC motor 5 and the cloth amount.

Next, the third method for detecting the cloth quality will be described.

The third cloth quality detecting method utilizes the fact that the rotational speed of the brushless DC motor 5 for driving the pulsator 4 after a fixed time when a constant voltage is applied to the brushless DC motor 5 varies depending on the cloth quality. It is a method of determining the cloth quality by the rotation speed or the torque corresponding to the rotation speed.

The procedure of the third cloth quality detecting method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 29,
A constant voltage is applied to the brushless DC motor 5 that drives the pulsator 4, and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 is detected (step 2910). Then, the passage of a certain time is monitored (step 2920), and the torque corresponding to the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 after the passage of the predetermined time is shown in FIG. 30, which is a characteristic showing the relationship between the torque and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5. Then, the cloth quality is determined from the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 thus obtained, the previously detected amount of cloth and the data table as shown in FIG. 24 (step 2930).

For example, when it is detected that the number of revolutions of the brushless DC motor 5 after a certain period of time is Na, the torque corresponding to this number of revolutions Na is T12 from the characteristic of FIG.
Therefore, the torque T12 and the amount of cloth previously obtained,
For example, referring to the data table shown in FIG. 24 based on the medium capacity, the cloth quality is determined to be "stiff".

Next, a fourth method for detecting cloth quality will be described.

In the fourth cloth quality detecting method, the time until the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 for driving the pulsator 4 reaches a predetermined rotation speed when a constant voltage is applied to the brushless DC motor 5 depends on the cloth quality. Take advantage of different things,
This is a method for determining the cloth quality based on this time.

The procedure of the fourth cloth quality detecting method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 31,
A constant voltage is applied to the brushless DC motor 5 that drives the pulsator 4 to rotate the brushless DC motor 5, and at the same time, the soft timer of the microcomputer 26 starts measuring time. Then, the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 is monitored, and it is discriminated whether or not this rotation speed has reached a predetermined rotation speed (step 3110).

When it is identified that the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 has reached the predetermined rotation speed, the time until the rotation speed reaches the predetermined rotation speed is read from the soft timer of the microcomputer 26 (step 3120).

Here, the relationship between the time, the cloth amount and the cloth quality is previously obtained by an experiment or the like as shown in FIG. 32. From this relationship, as shown in FIG. 33, the time tij, the cloth amount and the cloth quality are A data table showing quality relationships is created and stored in the memory of the microcomputer 26.

Therefore, the time obtained in step 3120 and the amount of cloth already detected are applied to the data table shown in FIG. 33 to judge the cloth quality (step 3130).

For example, if the time for a medium volume cloth amount is t12, the cloth quality is determined to be "stiff" from the data table of FIG.

When the cloth quality is detected as described above, returning to FIG. 7 and proceeding to step 310, the optimum water level at the time of washing is determined from the combination of the cloth quantity and the cloth quality, the washing operation time and the water quantity. The target dehydration rate at the end of washing and at the end of rinsing is determined.

First, in step 230 described above, the wash water level LWs corresponding to the cloth amount is determined. For this wash water level LWs corresponding to the cloth amount, the correction water level LWa or the correction coefficient LWc is calculated from the cloth quality. Then, the wash water level LWs corresponding to the cloth amount is corrected by the correction water level LWa or the correction coefficient LWc, and the final wash water level LWo is determined.

Washing water level LWs and corrected water level L corresponding to the amount of cloth
The formula for calculating the final wash water level LWo from Wa is given by the following formula.

LWo = LWs + LWa Further, the formula for calculating the final wash water level LWo from the wash amount corresponding wash water level LWs and the correction coefficient LWc is given by the following equation.

LWo = LWs × LWc Tables 4 and 5 below show the relationship between the correction water level LWa and the correction coefficient LWc with respect to the cloth amount and the cloth quality, respectively.

[0131]

[Table 4]

[Table 5] Table 4 (a) shows that the correction water level LWa increases as the cloth amount increases, and the correction water level LWa increases as the cloth quality changes from "rough" to "supple".

Table 4 (b) was obtained by correcting the wash water level LWs corresponding to the cloth amount by the corrected water level LWa obtained from the relationship between the cloth amount, the cloth quality and the corrected water level LWa shown in Table 4 (a). The final wash water level LWo is shown with respect to the amount of cloth and the cloth quality. In Table 4 (b), low, low, medium,
High is the final wash water volume Wo corresponding to the final wash water level LWo,
That is, although the amount of water is large or small, the amount of water according to this expression has a relation of small <low <medium <high.

Table 5 shows that the correction coefficient LW increases as the cloth amount increases.
c becomes large, and the quality of the cloth changes from "rough" to "supple"
The correction coefficient LWc increases as

When the final wash water level LWo is determined as described above, water is supplied up to the final wash water level LWo (step 320). This water supply process is performed while detecting the water level in order to properly supply water up to the final wash water level LWo (steps 330 and 340).

There are two methods for detecting the water level: a method of obtaining the water level from the relationship between the water supply rate and the water supply amount, and a method of obtaining the load torque of the dehydration tank 3 which changes with the water level. The load torque in this case is the torque when the brushless DC motor 5 is started, the torque when the brushless DC motor 5 rotates at a constant rotation speed, the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 when the brushless DC motor 5 rotates at a constant torque, and the rotation speed at a constant rotation speed. It can be detected as the time until the brushless DC motor 5 is reduced to a predetermined rotation speed or the time when the brushless DC motor 5 is stopped when the brushless DC motor 5 is free-running.

As a first method of detecting the water level, a method of obtaining it from the relationship between the water supply speed and the water supply amount will be described.

In the above-mentioned step 290, since water is already supplied to the low water level LW1 in the dewatering tank 3 for the purpose of detecting the cloth quality, in the water supply detection processing of steps 320 to 340, the water level from the final wash water level LWo is lowered. Remaining water amount dWr (= final wash water amount Wo-low water amount W) after subtracting the water level LW1
Water 1) should be supplied.

By the way, in step 290, since the water supply speed Sw when water is supplied to the low water level LW1 for cloth quality detection is calculated, water supply to the remaining water amount dWr is also performed at this water supply speed Sw. Therefore, the remaining water amount dWr is divided by the water supply speed Sw to calculate the water supply time tr as shown in the following equation.

Tro = dWr / Sw Therefore, it is possible to supply water up to the final wash water level LWo by performing the water supply time tro water supply at the water supply speed Sw while monitoring the water supply time.

FIG. 35 is a flow chart showing the procedure of water supply processing and the water level detection for the water supply processing using the relationship between the water supply speed and the water supply amount as described above.

The flow chart shown in FIG. 35 continuously shows a series of operations of the above-mentioned cloth amount detection, water supply up to the low water level LW1, cloth quality detection and water supply up to the final wash water level LWo. The contents are substantially the same as those described above.

That is, in FIG. 35, step 35
10, 3520 is the cloth amount detection processing, but the torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 when the dehydration tub 3 is rotated at a constant rotation speed is detected by detecting the inverter current, and the cloth capacity is calculated from the inverter current. It is detecting.
Further, steps 3530 to 3620 show the water supply process up to the low water level LW1, but a rapid increase in the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal was detected (FIG. 34), and the water level reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3. That is, the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 is stopped. Then, water is supplied to the low water level LW1 by supplying water for the time Tr at the water supply speed Sw, and the water supply valve is closed. Further, steps 3630 to 3650 are low water level LW1.
Although the cloth quality is detected in, the cloth quality is detected from the on-duty ratio δ when the brushless DC motor 5 is started. Steps 3660 to 3700 determine the final wash water level LWo from the amount of cloth and the quality of the cloth as described above, and the water supply up to this final wash water level LWo is performed at the water supply speed Sw for the water supply time tro to obtain the final wash water level LWo. The water supply valve is closed.

Next, as a second method of detecting the water level, a method of detecting the water level from the load torque of the dehydration tank 3 will be described.

According to this method, the dehydration tank 3 is continuously or intermittently rotated in one direction or in both forward and reverse directions during water supply at a constant rotation speed, and a change in load torque due to a rise in water level due to water supply is detected. By stopping the water supply when the predetermined load torque corresponding to the final wash water level LWo is reached, the water can be supplied up to the final wash water level LWo.

FIG. 36 is a graph showing the relationship between the water level in the dehydration tank 3 and the load torque. As shown in the figure, it can be seen that the load torque has a small constant value until the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, but above that, the load torque changes in proportion to the rise of the water level.

Instead of detecting the load torque, the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal supplied to the brushless DC motor 5 or the inverter current may be detected. That is, although the load torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 increases due to the rise in the water level due to the water supply into the dehydration tub 3, the brushless DC motor 5 always tries to maintain a constant rotation with respect to such an increase in the load torque. Therefore, it is necessary to change the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5. For this purpose, the microcomputer 26 responds by changing the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal. Therefore, by detecting this on-duty ratio δ, the change in the load torque can be detected. In addition, PWM
When the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 due to the on-duty ratio δ of the signal changes, the inverter current also changes, so this inverter current may be detected.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing the on-duty ratio δ with respect to changes in the water level. In this figure, a rapid change in the on-duty ratio δ in the middle indicates that the water level has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3. Then, it can be seen that after the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, the on-duty ratio δ changes substantially in proportion to the change in the water level.

The third water level detecting method detects the starting torque T of the motor required for starting the dehydration tub 3 in the water supply every fixed time Δt, and detects the water level from the change in the starting torque T at this time. To do.

Since the starting torque changes depending on the resistance generated between the dehydration tank 3 and water, the higher the water level, the larger the starting torque. This starting torque gradually increases the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 in the stopped state, detects the voltage at the moment when the brushless DC motor 5 rotates as the voltage corresponding to the starting torque T, and corresponds to this voltage. The water level can be detected from the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal or the inverter current.

In the fourth water level detecting method, a constant voltage is always applied to the brushless DC motor 5 to supply water while rotating the dehydration tub 3, and the water level is determined from the change in the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 at this time. It is something to detect. That is, the load torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 increases as the water level rises, but since a constant voltage is always applied to the brushless DC motor 5, the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 decreases. Therefore, the water level can be detected by detecting the rotational speed n. In order to keep the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 constant, the microcomputer 26 may control the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal to be constant.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 with respect to changes in the water level. In this figure, the fact that the rotation speed n drops sharply on the way indicates the time when the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3. From this point onward, it can be seen that the water level and the rotation speed n are in a substantially proportional relationship.

The fifth water level detecting method is to rotate the dehydration tub 3 at a constant rotation speed n at constant time intervals Δt during water supply, and then free-run the brushless DC motor 5 for brushless D.
The water level is detected from the change in the time tw until the rotation speed n of the C motor 5 decreases to a predetermined rotation speed.

When water is supplied to the dehydration tank 3 and the dehydration tank 3 is rotated at a constant rotation speed n at constant time intervals Δt, and then the brushless DC motor 5 is free run, if the load on the motor, that is, the water level is large, it is large. The rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 decreases more rapidly. Therefore, the time tw until the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 decreases to the predetermined rotation speed changes depending on the water level, so that the water level can be detected from this time tw. FIG. 39 is a diagram showing such a relationship between the water level and the time tw.

The sixth water level detecting method is a method of detecting the water pressure using a diaphragm and detecting the water level from the water pressure.

When the water supply up to the final wash water level LWo is completed by using the above water level detection method, the wash operation time is next determined.

The washing operation time is the time for the entire washing treatment, and is determined from the amount of cloth and the quality of cloth as shown in Table 6 below.

[0157]

[Table 6] As shown in this table, when the amount of cloth is small and the quality of the cloth is supple, the washing operation time is set to be short, and when the amount of cloth is large and the quality of the cloth is rough, the washing operation time is set to be long. It

Next, the water flow for washing the laundry put in the dehydration tub 3 will be described.

The water flow depends on the forward / reverse time tr of the pulsator 4 by the brushless DC motor 5 and the brushless DC motor 5
It is determined by determining the number of rotations n, and the relationship between the cloth amount and the cloth quality is determined as shown in Table 7 below.

[0160]

[Table 7] As shown in this table, when the cloth amount is small and the cloth quality is supple, the water flow is weak, and when the cloth amount is large and the cloth quality is rugged, the water flow is set strong.

The forward / reverse time tr of the pulsator 4 and the rotational speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 for determining the water flow are determined as shown in Tables 8 and 9 below depending on the amount of cloth and the quality of cloth, respectively. ..

[0162]

[Table 8]

[Table 9] The strength of the water flow depends on the forward reversal time tr and the rotation speed n.
Depending on the combination of, there is a relationship as shown in Table 10 below.

[0163]

[Table 10] FIG. 40 is a diagram showing the forward reversal time tr and the rotation speed n described above together with the torque of the brushless DC motor 5.
In addition, in the figure, ts is a pause time during the forward / reverse time tr.

Further, in step 310 shown in FIG. 7, in addition to the final wash water level LWo, the wash operation time, and the water flow described above, the target dehydration rate in the dehydration process performed at the end of washing and the end of rinsing can be set. Has become
This allows the user to set a desired dehydration rate according to the type of clothes to be washed at this stage before the start of the washing process, so that, for example, excessive dehydration and wrinkles can be prevented. It is intended to prevent or allow any dehydration such as sufficient dehydration.

As described above, the final wash water level LWo,
When the washing operation time, the water flow, and the target dehydration rate are determined and the water supply up to the final washing water level LWo is completed (steps 310 to 340), the washing process is started under these conditions (step 350).

In this washing step, the microcomputer 26 controls the flat clutch disk 57 via the clutch mechanism 82 so as not to transmit the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 to the dehydration tank 3, that is, to prevent the dehydration tank 3 from rotating. The brushless DC motor 5 is rotated at the rotation speed n and the forward reversal time tr determined as described above through the motor control circuit 24, the upper arm drive circuit 21, the lower arm drive circuit 22 and the inverter circuit 17 while controlling Then, the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 is transmitted only to the pulsator 4, and a water flow determined by the rotation speed n and the forward / reverse time tr is generated in the dehydration tub 3, whereby the laundry in the dehydration tub 3 is washed. Laundry during driving time.

This washing process is carried out while performing cloth clogging detection, cloth loosening control, cloth damage detection, and cloth damage prevention control as shown in step 121 of FIG. The cloth squeezing detection, the cloth loosening control, the cloth damage detection, and the cloth damage prevention control are similarly performed in the first rinsing processing and the second rinsing processing.

In FIG. 7, first, as shown in step 360, the cloth slump is detected, and when the cloth slump is detected, a cloth loosening process is performed (step 37).
0).

The cloth clogging is detected by the brushless DC motor 5
Is rotated at a constant rotation speed n, and washing and rinsing of the laundry are performed to detect cloth clogging, that is, twist, generated on the clothes. When the pulsator 4 rotates the clothes in the case where the clothes are clogged as described above, the load applied to the brushless DC motor 5 is different depending on whether the clothes are further twisted or unwound. Differently, since a larger load is applied to the brushless DC motor 5 in the case of rotating in the twisting direction than in the case of rotating in the unwinding direction, it is necessary to detect such a load changing in the rotating direction of the brushless DC motor 5. With this, it is possible to detect cloth clogging.

The microcomputer 26 keeps the brushless DC motor 5 rotating at a constant rotation speed n even if the load is different.
Therefore, the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5, that is, the on-duty ratio of the PWM signal is changed according to the load, that is, the torque. Therefore, when the brushless DC motor 5 maintains a constant rotation speed n, a difference in torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 during forward rotation and reverse rotation, that is, a difference in the voltage, the inverter current, or the on-duty ratio is detected. By doing so, it is possible to detect the state and direction of cloth clinging to clothing.

FIG. 41 shows the first method for detecting cloth entangling.
And it demonstrates with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 41 and 42 are connected by the interlace symbols A and B, and both figures show a series of cloth entrapment detection processing.

This first cloth squeezing detection method is used when the brushless DC motor 5 is in the normal rotation (CW) and the reverse rotation (CC).
W) difference ΔTmax between maximum values Tmax (CW) and Tmax (CCW) of the torque T applied to the brushless DC motor 5
It detects the state and direction of cloth clogging.
The maximum torque values Tmax (CW) and Tmax (CC
In order to detect W), the microcomputer 26 performs the control so that the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 becomes the constant value n, and the maximum value δmax ( CW) and δmax
Calculate (CCW). Further, the maximum value δmax (CW) among the maximum values δmax (CW) during forward rotation and reverse rotation is further increased.
W) max and maximum value δmax (CCW) maximum value δ
max (CCW) max is updated and maintained, and the state and direction of cloth clinging are detected based on these maximum values δmax (CW) max and δmax (CCW) max.

41 and 42, step 4
110 to 4130 are processes for detecting the amount of cloth, supplying water up to the final washing water level LWo, and determining the number of revolutions n with respect to the determined water flow as described above. Actually, in addition to these, as described above, the washing operation time, the water flow forward / reverse time tr, and the like are also determined, but they are omitted here for the purpose of explaining the cloth clogging detection.

In step 4140 of FIG. 41, the microcomputer 26 gives a start signal and a forward rotation control signal to the motor control circuit 24, and at the same time, the brushless D
A PWM signal with an on-duty ratio δ that allows the C motor 5 to rotate at a constant rotation speed n is supplied from the PWM oscillator 25 to the brushless DC motor 5 via the chopper circuit 27, the upper arm drive circuit 21, and the inverter circuit 17. , The brushless DC motor 5 is started to rotate normally.

When the brushless DC motor 5 starts to rotate in the normal direction, it is checked whether or not this normal rotation period has ended (step 4150), and the rotation speed N of the brushless DC motor 5 is detected (step 4160). It is determined whether the rotation speed N has become equal to a constant rotation speed n (step 4170). When the rotation speed is not equal to the constant rotation speed n, the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal of the microcomputer 26 is changed and controlled to be equal (step 4180). When the rotation speed N of the brushless DC motor 5 becomes equal to the constant rotation speed n, it is checked whether or not Δt time has elapsed (step 4190). If not, the process returns to step 4150, but If so, it is checked whether the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal at this time is the maximum value (step 420).
0) If it is not the maximum value, the process returns to step 4150. If it is the maximum value, it is checked whether it is within the normal rotation period (step 4210).

If it is within the normal rotation period, step 42.
The maximum value δmax (C
W) (step 4220), and if it is not within the normal rotation period, it is within the inversion period, so step 420
The on-duty ratio δ detected at 0 is the maximum value δmax (CC
W) (step 4230) and step 41
Return to 50, repeat the above process for the forward rotation period,
The maximum value δmax (CW) in this normal rotation period is detected.

Note that in the above description, step 415
The processing from 0 to 4230 is the maximum value δmax during the forward rotation period.
(CW) is detected, but this same step 41
When 50 to 4230 are returned from step 4410 shown in FIG. 42, the maximum value δmax (C
CW) will be detected.

Therefore, in steps 4150 to 4230, the maximum value δ max (C
W) and δ max (CCW) will be updated and detected.

When the normal rotation period or the reverse rotation period ends, the routine proceeds from step 4150 to step 4240, the brushless DC motor 5 is stopped, and it is checked again whether it is the normal rotation period (step 4250). In the case of the normal rotation period, the maximum value δ updated in step 4220
It is checked whether max (CW) is the maximum value (step 4260). If the maximum value is the maximum value, the maximum value δmax is checked.
(CW) is set to the maximum value δmax (CW) max (step 4270). Further, in the case of the inversion period in the check in step 4250, it is checked whether or not the maximum value δmax (CCW) updated in step 4230 is the maximum value (step 4280). The value δmax (CCW) is set to the maximum value δmax (CCW) max (step 4290).

As described above, the maximum value δmax (CW)
When max and δmax (CCW) max are determined, the difference Δδ between them is calculated by the following equation (step 430).
0).

Δδ = δmax (CW) max −δmax (CCW) max FIG. 45 shows the maximum values δmax (CW) max and δmax.
It is a figure which shows the change of the on-duty ratio (delta) at the time of normal rotation and inversion which shows the relationship of (CCW) max and those difference (delta) (delta).

Next, the routine proceeds to step 4310 of FIG. 42, where the absolute value of the difference Δδ shown in the above equation is the predetermined reference value Δδref.
Check if less than.

If the absolute value of the difference Δδ is smaller than the reference value Δδref, it is determined that there is no cloth clogging, so the routine proceeds to step 4390, where it is checked whether or not the cloth clogging detection processing has ended, and the processing ends. If not, it is checked whether or not the previous rotation is forward rotation (step 4400), and if it is forward rotation, reversal is started (step 4410) and the procedure returns to step 4150 in FIG. Repeat the same process as.

If the absolute value of the difference Δδ is not smaller than the reference value Δδref, that is, if it is larger than the reference value Δδref, it is judged that there is cloth clinging. Therefore, in order to identify the direction of cloth clinging, the difference Δδ is 0. Whether or not it is greater than the difference Δ
The sign of δ is checked (step 4320). Difference Δδ
Is larger, that is, when the brushless DC motor 5 is positive, it is considered that there is cloth clogging in the forward rotation direction.
The inversion period tccw of the above is set longer than the normal rotation period tcw, and control is performed so as to loosen the cloth clutter (steps 4330 and 43).
50).

When the difference Δδ is not larger than 0 in the check in step 4320, that is, when it is negative, it is considered that there is cloth clogging in the reversing direction, and therefore the forward rotation period tcw of the brushless DC motor 5 is set. It is set longer than the inversion period tccw to control to loosen the cloth (steps 4340 and 4350).

When the loosening of the cloth clogging in step 4350 is completed, it is checked whether or not the cloth clogging detection processing is completed (step 4360). If not, the absolute value of the difference Δδ is the reference value Δδref. Until it becomes smaller, the disintegration washing in step 4350 is continued (step 4370). When the absolute value of the difference Δδ becomes smaller than the reference value Δδref, the normal rotation or inversion cycle is returned to the standard (step 4380), and if the cloth entrapment detection processing is not completed, it is checked whether the previous rotation is normal rotation. (Step 4400), if it is normal rotation, reverse rotation is started (step 4410), and if it is not normal rotation, normal rotation is started (step 4420) and the processing returns to step 4150 in FIG. The same processing as described above is repeated.

Next, the second method for detecting cloth clogging will be described.

This second cloth squeezing detection method uses the brushless DC motor 5 instead of using the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal in the above-described first cloth squeezing detection method.
It utilizes the inverter current that flows through.

43 and 44 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the second cloth entrapment detection method. The processes shown in both figures are the PWM signal in the first cloth entrapment detection method shown in FIGS. The only difference is that the inverter current I is used instead of the on-duty ratio δ of 1., and the other processes are all the same, so description thereof will be omitted.
43 and 44, the maximum values Imax (CW) and Imax (CCW) of the inverter current correspond to the maximum values δmax (CW) and δmax (CCW) of the torque T, and the maximum value Imax of the inverter current I. The maximum values Imax (CW) max and Imax (CCW) max among (CW) and Imax (CCW) are the maximum values δma of the torque T.
It corresponds to x (CW) max and δmax (CCW) max.

FIG. 46 is a graph showing the relationship between the maximum values Imax (CW) max and Imax (CCW) max and the difference ΔI between the maximum values Imax (CW) max and Imax (CCW) max at the time of forward rotation and reverse rotation.

The third method for detecting cloth entangling is the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal in the first cloth entangling detecting method.
Instead of the maximum values δmax (CW) and δmax (CCW) of the on-duty ratio δ during one normal rotation period or inversion period δave (CW) and δave (CCW)
Is used, and the others are the same as the first method.

The fourth method for detecting the cloth jamming is the maximum value Imax of the inverter current I in the second cloth jamming detecting method.
Instead of (CW) and Imax (CCW), the average value I of the inverter current I during one normal rotation period or one reversal period
ave (CW) and Iave (CCW) are used, and the others are the same as the second method.

In the above-described first to fourth cloth entrapment detection methods, the cloth entangling, that is, the disentanglement washing for disentanglement is performed by shortening the forward rotation or reversal time in the twisting direction. This can also be done by changing the rotation speed. That is,
Set a low rotation speed in the twisting rotation direction,
In the untwisted direction, it is controlled to be set larger.

As another method, there is also a method in which the rotation is repeated in the opposite direction to the twisting direction without repeating the forward and reverse rotations.

When the cloth squeezing detection processing and the cloth loosening processing (steps 360 and 370 in FIG. 7) are completed as described above, the cloth damage is detected next (step 380) and the water flow is reduced so as to reduce the cloth damage. Changed (step 39)
0).

The detection of the cloth damage is performed, for example, when the cloth quality is "supple".
When washing clothes with the same amount of cloth, if the water flow is weak, that is, if the rotation speed is slow, the clothes will not be damaged, but a strong water flow,
That is, if the rotation speed is high, the clothes will be damaged. Therefore, the lint amount increases in proportion to the degree of damage. Therefore, the lint amount flowing in the circulation path 6 is detected by the lint amount detection unit 8 and detected. By controlling the water flow intensity based on the value, it is possible to prevent cloth damage.

47 and 48 show a specific example of the lint amount detecting section 8.

In FIG. 47, reference numeral 74 designates a circulating water tray portion connected to and communicating with the circulation path 6. Inside, a net-like lint filter 75 formed of a mesh that does not pass lint is supported by a support frame 76. It is supported. The support frame 76 is provided with a crystal oscillator 78 facing the surface of the lint filter 75. The crystal oscillator 78 has a high vibration frequency when the lint in the lint filter 75 is close to zero, and has a low vibration frequency when the lint amount is large.
Since the vibration frequency changes depending on the weight of the lint amount, the resonance frequency generated by the crystal oscillator 78 and the oscillation circuit 79 is combined with the counter circuit by combining with the oscillation circuit 79 as shown in FIG. 47B. It is read at 85 and sent to the microcomputer 26.

In FIG. 48, a reticulated lint filter 87 formed of a mesh that does not pass lint is supported by a support frame 88 in the circulating water receiving tray 74. The support frame 88 is a weight sensor 89 that detects the weight of the lint amount.
As the weight sensor 89, a piezoresistive pressure sensor 90 as shown in FIG. 49 and a proximity sensor 94 as shown in FIG. 50 are adopted.

The piezo-resistive pressure sensor 90 extends downward from the piezo-resistive pressure sensor 90 at the bottom of the cylinder 95 provided at the bottom of the circulating water tray 74 and the support frame 88 at the top. Support pistons 96 and are respectively provided. The support piston 96 is a biasing spring 87.
Is constantly biased upward by the support piston 96 that moves up and down in proportion to the lint amount to change the sealed air pressure in the cylinder 95, and the piezoresistive pressure sensor 90 detects the pressure value at that time. , Is a means for detecting the lint amount.

The proximity sensor 94 is the circulating water pan section 74.
At the bottom of the cylinder 97 provided at the bottom of the E-shaped core 9
8 is provided, and a vertically movable support piston 98 extending downward from the support frame 74 is provided on the upper side.

The support piston 98 is provided with an iron plate 99 at the bottom and is constantly biased upward by a biasing spring 100. Therefore, the iron plate 9 is proportional to the lint amount.
By changing the distance between 9 and the E-shaped core 98, the inductance changes, and it is a means for detecting the amount of lint from the amount of change, and each of these detected values serves as information on the total amount of lint and the amount of increase. It is input to the microcomputer 26.

A method of suppressing excessive cloth damage during the washing process and the rinsing process from the increased lint amount in the lint filters 75 and 87 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 51, the cloth amount and cloth quality are detected at the start of operation (step S
1) The water level, the water flow intensity, and the operating time are determined from the cloth quality and quantity (step S2), and then the circulation pump P is started (step S3). The water level amount, the water flow intensity, the operating time, and the lint increase amount at constant time intervals are prepared as table data as shown in FIG. In FIG. 53, the lint adhering to the laundry is released into the washing water immediately after the start of operation, and thereafter, the lint amount due to the cloth damage increases as shown in FIG. 52. Therefore, the former is called the initial state, and the latter is the latter. It is distinguished from the state of cloth damage. The difference between the measured lint amount and the initial value becomes the lint generation amount, and this value is compared with the table data.

After a certain period of time has passed since the circulation pump P was started (steps S4 and S5), the circulation pump P is stopped.
Next, in step S7, the lint filters 75, 87
The lint amount Ml inside is detected. The measured lint amount Ml and the lint amount of the table data Mlref1 are compared (step S8). If the measured lint amount is larger, the circulation pump P is started (step S9), and the process returns to step S5 again. Repeating the above, it is judged that the cloth is damaged too much because the water flow is too strong, and the water flow strength is weakened and the operation time is corrected longer (step S10) to suppress excessive cloth damage. On the other hand, when the measured lint amount Ml is smaller than the lint amount Mlref2 of the table data (step S11), it is determined that the damage to the cloth is small, the upper limit is set to increase the water flow intensity, and the operation is performed to shorten the operation time (step S1).
3). Hereinafter, the operation of returning to step S5 is repeated. Then, the above measurement and control are continued until the end of the washing operation and the rinsing operation, and control is always performed so as to obtain the optimum water flow with respect to the cloth damage. Then, after the washing operation is completed (step S13), the process proceeds to the next draining process (step S14).

By performing the above control, it is possible to minimize the damage to the cloth during the washing process and the rinsing process, and it is also possible to shorten the operating time.

When the cloth damage detection and cloth loosening processing (steps 380 and 390 in FIG. 7) are completed as described above, it is next checked whether or not the washing operation time set in step 310 has elapsed (step 400), if it has passed, drainage treatment is performed (step 410).

In the drainage treatment, it is necessary to detect that the water in the dehydration tub 3 and the washing tub 2 is completely exhausted and then to perform the dehydration treatment. Therefore, the process proceeds from step 410 in FIG. 7 to step 420 in FIG. , Performs water level detection operation in drainage. Then, in this water level detection, it is first checked whether or not the water level of the wastewater has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 (step 430).

It is judged that the water level of the drainage water has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 by continuously or intermittently rotating the dehydration tank 3 at a low speed in the forward or reverse direction from the start of the drainage while the load of the brushless DC motor 5 is being applied. By detecting the torque and identifying that the load torque of the brushless DC motor 5 changes significantly when the water level falls below the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, it is possible to detect that the water level has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3. It can be carried out.

In the drainage treatment up to the bottom of the dehydration tank 3, the final wash water level L supplied to the dehydration tank 3
Wo, that is, the final wash water amount Wo and the water level dW or water amount W to the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 are known as described above. Therefore, after the drain valve 86 is opened by the control of the microcomputer 26, the water level is changed as described above. Is the dehydration tank 3
The time th1 required to reach the bottom of the dehydration tank 3 is counted by the microcomputer 26, and the water amount (Wo-W) obtained by subtracting the water amount W from the final wash water amount Wo to the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 to the time t
The drainage speed Sh can be obtained by dividing by h1 as in the following equation.

Sh = (Wo-W) / th1 As described above, drainage was performed, but it is not possible to detect that the water level has reached the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 even after 3 minutes and 30 seconds have passed. For example, the drain valve or drain hose may be clogged, so an abnormal condition is notified (step 4).
40,450).

When it is detected that the water level of the drainage water has dropped to the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, the water remaining below the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3 is drained (step 460). This is because the remaining water amount W below the bottom surface of the dehydration tub 3 is known from the design of the washing machine as described above. Therefore, as shown in the following equation, divide this remaining water amount W by the drainage speed Sh in the above equation. Since the drainage time trh of the remaining water amount is calculated by this, this drainage time trh
A certain amount of wastewater is treated.

Trh = (W1 / Sh) × Ch Here, Ch is a correction coefficient for drainage time.

At the time of drainage, since the laundry is drained in a state where the laundry liquid is contained therein, the amount of discharge estimated is smaller than the amount of water determined at the time of water supply. However, at the water level below the bottom of the dehydration tank 3, the amount of water is the same as that at the time of water supply. Therefore, the amount of drained water calculated based on the drainage speed Sh obtained from the time change of the water level causes insufficient drainage. It is corrected by the drainage time correction coefficient Ch as in the formula. Further, the drainage speed depends on the water level, and the drainage speed becomes small at a low water level below the bottom surface of the dehydration tank 3, so the correction coefficient is also included in the correction coefficient.

The washing tub 2 remaining below the bottom of the dehydration tub 3
When the water inside is drained, the first dehydration process is started next (step 470).

In the dehydration treatment, vibration occurs due to the unevenness of the laundry at the end of drainage, and the number of rotations of the dehydration tub 3 does not increase, resulting in a state in which dehydration is impossible, a so-called unbalanced state. The state is detected by detection means using, for example, a mechanical switch (step 480). And if there is an unbalanced state,
For example, the imbalance is corrected by interrupting the dehydration process and re-supplying water and re-draining (step 500). If the imbalance cannot be corrected even after performing such imbalance correction three times, an abnormal state is notified (steps 490 and 510).

If there is no imbalance, or if the imbalance is corrected and disappears, the dehydration rate is detected during the next dehydration process, and the dehydration process is performed until the target dehydration rate set in step 310 is achieved. Do (Step 5
20, 530).

The detection of the dehydration rate is carried out by utilizing the fact that the moisture contained in the clothes decreases due to the dehydration and the moment of inertia of the dehydration tank 3 containing the wet clothes decreases. Specifically, the dehydration time from the change of the moment of inertia to the target dehydration rate is previously obtained for the combination of the amount of cloth and the quality of cloth, and is stored in the memory of the microcomputer 26 as a data table. By performing the dehydration treatment for this dehydration time, the target dehydration rate is achieved.

The moment of inertia is not directly detected, but the following first to fourth control variables controlled by the microcomputer 26 are detected as substitutes for the moment of inertia.

The first control variable is the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 when the brushless DC motor 5 rotates so as to maintain a constant rotation speed, that is, the on-duty ratio of the PWM signal, or a change in this on-duty ratio. Is the inverter current associated with.

The second control variable is the rotation speed when a constant voltage is applied to the brushless DC motor 5, that is, when the on-duty ratio of the PWM signal is constant.

The third control variable is brushless D when a constant voltage is applied to the brushless DC motor 5, that is, when the PWM signal is started with the on-duty ratio of the PWM signal kept constant.
This is the time until the C motor 5 reaches a certain rotation speed.

The fourth control variable is the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor 5 when the brushless DC motor 5 transits from a certain rotation speed to another rotation speed, that is, the on-duty ratio of the PWM signal.

Next, various methods for detecting the dehydration rate will be described.

The first method for detecting the dehydration rate is the change in the moment of inertia during dehydration while rotating at a constant number of revolutions n, that is, the change in the clothes, from the amount and quality of clothes detected before dehydration. The change of dehydration state is estimated, the dehydration time is determined, and the dehydration rate of clothes is controlled. Comparing the methods of reducing the water content in clothes that are being dehydrated under the condition that the amount of cloth is the same, the supple cloth quality such as synthetic fiber is You can see that it is faster than the one.

FIG. 54 is a graph showing the change of the moment of inertia with respect to the dehydration time when the cloth quality is changed as a parameter, and FIG. 55 shows the characteristics similar to those of FIG. 54 of the PWM signal changing with the moment of inertia. 7 is a graph showing changes in on-duty ratio δ with respect to dehydration time.

FIG. 56 is a graph showing changes in the moment of inertia with respect to the dehydration time when the amount of cloth is changed as a parameter for the same cloth quality, and FIG. 57 is shown in FIG.
PWM that changes characteristics with moment of inertia similar to
6 is a graph showing a change in on-duty ratio δ of a signal with respect to dehydration time.

From the graphs of FIGS. 54 to 57, it can be seen that the moment of inertia or the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal decreases as the dehydration time increases. Therefore,
By storing such a curve of the moment of inertia, specifically, a curve of the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal, in the memory of the microcomputer 26 as a data table in advance for a combination of the cloth amount and the cloth quality, a constant value is obtained. The moment of inertia after time, that is, the dehydration state can be known. That is, it is possible to know how much time t should be dehydrated from the cloth quality and amount of clothes before dehydration to obtain what dehydration rate.

Table 11 shown below is a table showing the magnitude of time for a combination of cloth amount and cloth quality when the same dehydration rate is obtained.

[0229]

[Table 11] From this table 11, when the amount of cloth is small and the quality of the cloth is supple such as synthetic fiber, the time to reach the same dehydration rate is short, the amount of cloth is large, and the quality of the cloth is such as cotton. In that case, it can be seen that the time is large.

Next, the procedure of the first dehydration rate detecting method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 58, the cloth amount detection, the cloth quality detection, and the dehydration rate determination, which are the processings of steps 5410 to 5430, are the same as the processings described above. Next Step 544
At 0, the curve of the on-duty ratio of the PWM signal corresponding to the cloth amount and the cloth quality obtained by the cloth amount detection and the cloth quality detection is selected from the curves shown in FIGS.

From the curve of the on-duty ratio thus selected, the target time t for reaching the set target dehydration rate is determined from the data table (step 545).
0). Then, the dehydration tub 3 is rotated at a constant rotation speed n to perform the dehydration process until the target time t has elapsed (step 546).
0.5470). When the dehydration time t has elapsed, the clothes in the dehydration tank 3 have been dehydrated to the target dehydration rate.
The rotation of is stopped (step 5480).

A second method for detecting dehydration is to determine in advance a dehydration time Δt shorter than the target dehydration time t by counting from the start of dehydration, based on the amount and quality of clothes, and after this dehydration time Δt. The moment of inertia is examined to determine the dehydration state, and the subsequent dehydration time is corrected. Table 12 shown below is a table showing the short dehydration time with respect to the combination of the amount of cloth and the cloth quality. The moment of inertia can be obtained as the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal in the case of the constant rotation speed n as in the above-described first control variable.

[0234]

[Table 12] Next, the procedure of the second dehydration rate detection method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 59, the processes of steps 5510 to 5530, ie, the detection of the amount of cloth, the detection of the cloth quality, and the determination of the dehydration rate are the same as those described above. Next Step 554
At 0, the curve of the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal is detected from the curves as shown in FIGS. 54 to 57 based on the cloth amount and the cloth quality obtained by the cloth amount detection and the cloth quality detection,
The short dehydration time Δt is set.

Next, the on-duty ratio δt after the short dehydration time Δt is determined from the on-duty ratio curve (step 5550). Then, the dehydration tank 3 is rotated at a constant rotation speed n, and the dehydration process is once performed until the short dehydration time Δt elapses (steps 5560 and 5570). After the elapse of this short dehydration time Δt, the on-duty ratio δ is detected (step 5580), and the difference Δδ between this on-duty ratio δ and the on-duty ratio δt determined in step 5550 is calculated (step 5590).

Then, it is checked whether or not this difference Δδ is larger than the reference value δref (step 5600), and if it is larger, it can be judged that the water which has not been dehydrated is contained more than expected. Therefore, the dehydration end time t is set to be large (step 5610), and the dehydration end time t is set.
After the passage of, the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 is stopped (step 563).
0.5640). If the difference Δδ is not larger than the reference value δref in the check in step 5600, the dehydration end time t is set short (step 562).
0), after the elapse of the dehydration end time t, the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 is stopped (steps 5630 and 5640).

The third method for detecting the dehydration rate is, as in the second method, after the short dehydration time Δt, the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal as shown as the above-mentioned second control variable.
Is controlled to be constant for a certain time, and the subsequent dehydration time is corrected based on the rotational speed no of the brushless DC motor 5 at this time and the preset rotational speed nt of the data table.

FIGS. 60 (a) and 60 (b) show the dehydration time and on-duty ratio δ in the third dehydration rate detecting method described above.
It is a figure which respectively shows the relationship of rotation speed n. As shown in the figure, when the on-duty ratio δ is controlled to be constant after the lapse of Δt time, the rotation speed is reduced. Then, in this case, the speed of reduction of the rotation speed decreases faster as the dotted line in FIG. 60 (b) lowers the dehydration rate, and decreases as the solid line indicates the higher dehydration rate.

The fourth method for detecting the dehydration rate is brushless D.
After the rotation of the C motor 5 is once stopped, as shown as the third control variable described above, when the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal is made constant and the brushless DC motor 5 is restarted, the brushless DC motor 5 The time tc until the number of revolutions of n reaches a constant number of revolutions n is used.

FIG. 61 is a diagram showing the relationship between the dehydration time and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 in the above-mentioned fourth method. As shown in the figure, brushless D at time t01
After stopping the C motor 5 once, the brushless DC motor 5 is restarted at a constant on-duty ratio to
The time tc until the rotation speed of the motor 5 reaches a constant rotation speed n is measured. This time tc becomes longer as the dehydration rate becomes lower as shown by the dotted line in the figure, and becomes shorter as the dehydration rate becomes higher as shown by the solid line.

The fifth method for detecting the dehydration rate is to change the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 during the rotation of the dehydration from the rotation speed n to the rotation speed n + Δn at a certain time, and change the on-duty ratio Δδ at this time. This is the method to use.

62 (a) and 62 (b) are diagrams showing the dehydration time, the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5, and the on-duty ratio in the fifth method, respectively. The same figure (a)
As shown in FIG. 6, when the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5 is changed to the rotation speed n + Δn on the way, the on-duty ratio changes to Δδ as shown in FIG. 7B, but this change changes depending on the dehydration rate. Therefore, the dehydration rate can be detected by utilizing this change.

The sixth method for detecting the dehydration rate is to detect the moment of inertia immediately after the start of dehydration as the on-duty ratio δo, and also to detect the moment of inertia as the on-duty ratio δt at regular time intervals after dehydration. Ratio of
Is compared with the reference value dref, and the end of dehydration is determined from the comparison result.

The procedure of the sixth dehydration rate detecting method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 63, the processing shown in steps 5910 and 5920 is the same as the above-mentioned cloth amount detection and cloth quality detection processing. In the next step 5930, the reference value d is calculated from the cloth amount, the cloth quality and the set target dewatering rate.
Determine the ref. Then, the dehydration tank 3 is started to rotate at a constant rotation speed n, and the on-duty ratio δo immediately after this is detected as the moment of inertia (steps 5940 and 595).
0).

Next, after the short dehydration time Δt has elapsed from the start of rotation of the dehydration tank 3, the on-duty ratio δt is detected,
The ratio d between the on-duty ratio δt and the on-duty ratio δo immediately after the start of rotation is calculated (step 5960-
5980). Then, it is checked whether or not this ratio d is smaller than the reference value dref (step 5990), and if it is not smaller, the process returns to step 5960 and the same processing is repeated. Is stopped (step 6000).

Although the sixth dehydration rate detecting method uses the first control variable as the moment of inertia, other control variables described above may be used.

The seventh method for detecting the dehydration rate is brushless D.
The on-duty ratio of the PWM signal is controlled by the microcomputer 26 so that the C motor 5 is started and the rotation speed thereof becomes a constant rotation speed n, and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 becomes the constant rotation speed n. This is a method of comparing the on-duty ratio δo immediately after reaching and the on-duty ratio δt for each constant time Δt, and performing the dehydration process in the same manner as the sixth dehydration rate detection method based on the ratio of both.

FIG. 64 is a diagram showing the relationship between the dehydration rate time and the on-duty ratio in the above-described seventh dehydration rate detection method. In the figure, the on-duty ratio when the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 reaches a constant rotation speed n at time t01 is δo, and the on-duty ratio at time t2 when a fixed time Δt has elapsed from this time t01 is δ.
t. A ratio d = δt / δo of both on-duty ratios is calculated, and dehydration is performed until the ratio d becomes smaller than the reference value dref.

This reference value dref is set differently depending on the required dehydration rate, that is, when a high dehydration rate is required, the reference value is set small,
When a low dehydration rate is required, a large setting enables dehydration with various dehydration rates. The inverter current may be used instead of the on-duty ratio δ.

The eighth method of detecting the dehydration rate is to detect the moment of inertia immediately after the start of dehydration as the on-duty ratio δo and detect the moment of inertia after a certain time Δt has elapsed since the dehydration as the on-duty ratio δt. , The ratio d of both is compared with the reference value dref, and the end of dehydration is determined from the comparison result.

The procedure of the seventh dehydration detecting method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 65, the processing shown in steps 6110 and 6120 is the same as the above-mentioned cloth amount detection and cloth quality detection processing. In the next step 6130, the reference value d is calculated from the cloth amount, the cloth quality and the set target dewatering rate.
Determine the ref. Then, the dehydration tub 3 is started to rotate at a constant rotation speed n, and the on-duty ratio δo immediately after this is detected as the moment of inertia (steps 6140 and 615).
0).

Next, after the short dehydration time Δt has elapsed from the start of rotation of the dehydration tank 3, the on-duty ratio δt is detected,
This on-duty ratio δt is calculated as the ratio d of the on-duty ratio δo immediately after the start of rotation (step 6160-
6180). Then, it is checked whether or not this ratio d is less than or equal to the reference value dref (step 6190), and if it is not less than or equal to the reference value dref, the remaining dehydration time t is determined from the ratio d and the reference value dref (step 6200), This time t
After the lapse of time, the rotation of the dehydration tank 3 is stopped (step 621).
0, 6230). When the ratio d is equal to or less than the reference value dref in the check in step 6190, the rotation of the dehydration tub 3 is stopped (step 6230).

In the setting of the remaining time in step 6200, when the ratio d is close to the reference value dref, the remaining time t is set small, otherwise it is set large. As in the sixth method, by setting the reference value dref so as to differ depending on the required dehydration rate, dehydration can be performed at various dehydration rates.

The moment of inertia and Δ
Needless to say, the second to fourth control variables described above can be used in place of the on-duty ratio or the inverter current described above to detect the moment of inertia after the elapse of time t.

The eighth dewatering rate detecting method detects the time change of the torque of the brushless DC motor 5 during the dewatering process, and uses the data table set in advance for the combination of the amount of cloth and the cloth quality to determine the above. This is a method of correcting the dehydration time for achieving an appropriate dehydration rate corresponding to the change in torque. In this case, the dehydration time for reaching the target dehydration rate is obtained from the data table.

The ninth dehydration rate detection method is brushless DC.
When the motor 5 is controlled with a constant torque, that is, a constant voltage or current, the load torque increases as the moisture content increases in a laundry with the same amount of cloth, so the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 increases, and Since the load torque is smaller as the water content is smaller, the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5 is reduced, and the dehydration rate is detected from the rotation speed difference Δn between the rotation speed immediately after the start of dehydration and the rotation speed after dehydration. To do.

Since the rotation speed difference Δn is substantially proportional to the amount of dehydrated water, the larger the rotation speed difference Δn, the larger the dehydration rate, and the smaller the rotation speed difference Δn, the smaller the dehydration rate. Therefore, the dehydration rate can be estimated from the change in the rotation speed n when the same torque control is performed before and after the dehydration. By detecting the dehydration rate, it is possible to prevent excessive dehydration of the wrinkled clothes by performing dehydration treatment until sufficient dehydration or excessive dehydration.

The tenth dehydration rate detecting method is a method of detecting the dehydration rate by comparing the amount of cloth before washing and the weight of the amount of cloth after completion of dehydration. Then, the weight of the amount of cloth after dehydration can be measured from the torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5, and in this torque measurement, the rotation of the brushless DC motor 5 is stopped after the dehydration, and then one direction It can be measured from the torque when it is rotated in the opposite direction and then in the opposite direction.

The eleventh dehydration rate detecting method is a method for detecting the dehydration rate by comparing the amount of cloth before washing with the weight of the cloth during dehydration or after completion of dehydration. The weight of the cloth amount during or after dehydration can be measured from the torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5, and in this torque measurement, the brushless DC can be measured during or after dehydration.
This is performed by detecting the torque fluctuation that occurs when the rotation speed of the motor 5 is changed.

The twelfth dehydration rate detecting method is the brushless D method.
This is a method of detecting the dehydration rate based on a change in the inertia moment when the C motor 5 is controlled to a constant torque, that is, a constant current.

More specifically, the relation between the torque T of the brushless DC motor 5 and the angular acceleration β is T = Iβ, where I is the moment of rotation. Therefore, when the torque T is constant, the angular acceleration β decreases when the moment I is large, and the angular acceleration β increases when the moment I is small. This is because the larger the moment I, the smaller the angular acceleration β, and the certain constant angular velocity ω
It means that the time t until reaching is increased.

Therefore, the moment Ie after dehydration of the dehydrated clothes with reduced water content is smaller than the moment Is before dehydration, and the change is proportional to the amount of dehydrated water.
That is, when Ie-Is is large, the amount of dehydrated water is large and the dehydration rate is large.

Therefore, when the brushless DC motor 5 is started with a constant torque, that is, a constant current, the time required to reach a preset rotation speed is measured before and after dehydration, and the dehydration rate is estimated from the change. can do.

The thirteenth dehydration rate detecting method is a method for detecting the dehydration rate by utilizing the difference in the moment of inertia before and after dehydration. That is, since the moment of inertia of the clothes after dehydration should be smaller than the moment of inertia of the clothes after dehydration, the change in the moment of inertia is proportional to the change amount of the water content in the clothes, that is, the angular change in the dehydration rate. Also,
Since the starting torque of the brushless DC motor 5 is proportional to the moment, the change in the moment, that is, the change in the dehydration rate is estimated from the difference between the starting torque before and after the dehydration. For example, the rotation speed n of the brushless DC motor 5
When the torque peaks at the time of startup are constant, the greater the difference between the two, the greater the dehydration rate, and the greater the ratio of the startup torque before dehydration to the startup torque after dehydration, the smaller the dehydration rate. You can judge.

The fourteenth dehydration rate detecting method is a brushless D
This is a method for detecting the dehydration rate from the change in the torque applied to the brushless DC motor 5 before dehydration and the torque after dehydration when the C motor 5 is rotated at a constant rotation speed. Brushless DC
When the motor 5 rotates at a constant rotation speed, the torque before dehydration is larger than the torque after dehydration, and thus the change in this torque becomes larger as the amount of dehydrated water increases. That is, when the change in torque is large, the dehydration rate is large, and when the change in torque is small, the dehydration rate is small. Therefore, the dehydration rate can be estimated from the change in torque at the same rotational speed before and after dehydration.

A fifteenth dehydration rate detecting method is to obtain a target dehydration rate by obtaining a difference dI in moment of inertia at a certain time interval and determining the remaining dehydration time from this difference dI and the cloth amount and cloth quality data. Is.

More specifically, the difference d between the inertia moments.
I is compared with a predetermined reference value dI1, and when it is less than or equal to this reference value, the remaining dehydration time for the combination of the amount of cloth and the cloth quality is obtained from the following Table 13 which is obtained in advance and stored in the memory of the microcomputer 26. The taij is determined, and dehydration is performed for the remaining dehydration time.

[0271]

[Table 13] Although the remaining dehydration time varies depending on the target dehydration rate, generally, the target dehydration rate at the end of the washing treatment and at the end of the first rinsing treatment is lower than the target dehydration rate at the end of the second rinsing treatment. A plurality of tables such as 15 are provided and used appropriately.

[0272]

[Table 14]

[Table 15] Table 14 is used when the difference dI is between the reference values dI1 and dI2, and Table 15 is used when the difference dI is equal to or larger than the reference value dI2. For example, when the amount of cloth is small, the cloth quality is standard, and the difference dI is between the reference values dI1 and dI2, the dehydration is continued for the remaining time tb12, thereby completing the dehydration up to the target dehydration rate. .

When the dehydration process up to the target dehydration rate is completed as described above, the process proceeds to step 540 in FIG. 8 to start the water supply for the next first rinse process, while detecting the water level (step 550), as in the washing treatment, water is supplied up to the final washing water level LWo determined from the amount and quality of the cloth (step 560).

When water is supplied up to the final wash water level LWo, the first
The rinsing process is started (step 570). Similar to the washing process, the first rinsing process is performed for the set time with the optimum water flow while performing the cloth clogging detection, the cloth loosening control, the cloth damage detection, and the cloth damage prevention control (steps 580 to 620).

When the first rinsing process is completed, drainage process is performed (step 630). This wastewater treatment is step 4
This is performed while performing water level detection and the like as in steps 10 to 460 (steps 640 to 680 in FIG. 9).

When the first rinsing process is completed, the second dehydrating process is started (step 690). Similarly to the first dehydration process, the second dehydration process is performed up to the target dehydration rate while performing unbalance detection and unbalance correction (step 70).
0-750).

When the dehydration is completed up to the target dehydration rate in the first dehydration process, the water supply for the next second rinse process is started (step 760) and while the water level is being detected (step 770), the same as the washing process. Water is supplied up to the final wash water level LWo determined from the amount and quality of cloth (step 78).
0).

When water is supplied up to the final wash water level LWo, the second
The rinsing process is started (step 790). Similarly to the washing process and the first rinsing process, the second rinsing process is also performed with the optimum water flow for the set time while performing the cloth clogging detection, the cloth loosening control, the cloth damage detection, and the cloth damage prevention control (step 80).
0-840).

When the second rinsing process is completed, drainage process is performed (step 850). This wastewater treatment is step 4
This is performed while performing water level detection and the like as in steps 10 to 460 (steps 860 to 900 in FIG. 10).

When the second rinsing process is completed, the final dehydration process is started (step 910). Similarly to the first and second dehydration processes, the final dehydration process is performed up to the target dehydration rate while performing the imbalance detection and the imbalance correction, thereby ending all the processes (steps 920 to 97).
0).

[0281]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The lint amount during the washing process or the rinsing process can be detected by the lint amount detection unit to control the strength and weakness of the water flow of the washing water. It is possible to prevent damage to the cloth.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of a mechanism section used in the washing machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the mechanism section shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a circuit unit that controls the operation of the washing machine shown in FIG.

5 is a circuit diagram of a drive circuit used in the circuit unit shown in FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the entire washing machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is the first part of a flow chart showing the overall operation of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 8 is a part following FIG. 7 of the flowchart showing the entire operation of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

9 is a part following FIG. 8 of the flowchart showing the entire operation of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

10 is the last part following FIG. 9 of the flow chart showing the overall operation of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the relationship between time and rotation speed in the first cloth amount detection method.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing in detail a procedure of a first cloth amount detecting method.

FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram in which the drive circuit shown in FIG. 5 is partially modified so that it can be used to implement the second cloth amount detection method.

FIG. 14 is a brushless DC in the second cloth amount detection method.
It is a circuit diagram which shows a part of circuit of FIG. 13 which showed the electric current which flows by the electromotive force induced in the winding of a motor with the arrow.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing changes in time and current in the second cloth amount detection method.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing in detail the procedure of a second cloth amount detection method.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the current flowing through the brushless DC motor 5 with respect to time when the brushless DC motor is rotated in the reverse direction at time t01 in the third cloth amount detection method.

FIG. 18 shows a brushless DC in the third cloth amount detecting method.
It is a figure for demonstrating the direction and order of the electric current which flows into the winding of a brushless DC motor at the time of rotating a motor reversely.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing in detail a procedure of a third cloth amount detection method.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing the relationship between the cloth quality, the resistance applied to the pulsator, and the torque of the brushless DC motor.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a first cloth quality detecting method.

FIG. 22 is a graph showing the relationship between the voltage applied to the brushless DC motor and the starting torque.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a relationship between the amount of cloth, the starting torque, and the quality of cloth detected by the amount of cloth detection.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a data table created from the relationship between the amount of cloth, the starting torque, and the cloth quality in the first cloth quality detection method.

FIG. 25 is a data table similar to FIG. 24, which shows the relationship between the amount of cloth, the voltage, and the cloth quality based on FIGS. 22 and 23, using the voltage of the brushless DC motor instead of the starting torque shown in FIG. 24. ..

FIG. 26 is a graph showing a relationship between a starting current and a starting torque in the second cloth quality detecting method.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a second cloth quality detecting method.

28 is a data table showing the relationship between the amount of cloth, the starting current and the cloth quality from the data table shown in FIG. 24 and the graph showing the relationship between the starting torque and the starting current shown in FIG.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a third cloth quality detecting method.

FIG. 30 is a graph showing the relationship between torque and rotation speed in the third cloth quality detection method.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a fourth cloth quality detecting method.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a relationship among time, cloth amount, and cloth quality in the fourth cloth quality detection method.

FIG. 33 is a data table showing the relationship among time, cloth amount, and cloth quality in the fourth cloth quality detection method.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing an on-duty ratio δ that sharply increases when the water level reaches the bottom surface of the dehydration tank.

FIG. 35 is a flow chart showing a procedure of water supply processing and a water level detection for the water supply processing using the relationship between the water supply speed and the water supply amount.

FIG. 36 is a graph showing the relationship between the water level in the dehydration tank and the load torque.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing an on-duty ratio δ with respect to a change in water level.

FIG. 38 is a brushless DC motor 5 for changes in water level.
It is a figure which shows the rotation speed n of.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a relationship between water level and time in a fifth water level detection method.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing the torque and rotation speed applied to the brushless DC motor 5 when the brushless DC motor is rotated in the normal direction
It is a figure which shows a normal reversal time.

FIG. 41 is a part of the first half of a flowchart showing the procedure of the first cloth stagnation detection method.

FIG. 42 is a part of the latter half of the flowchart showing the procedure of the first cloth stagnation detection method.

FIG. 43 is a part of the first half of a flowchart showing the procedure of the second method for detecting cloth entrapment.

FIG. 44 is a part of the latter half of the flowchart showing the procedure of the second cloth stagnation detection method.

FIG. 45 is a maximum value δma in the first cloth squeezing detection method.
It is a figure which shows the change of the on-duty ratio (delta) at the time of normal rotation and inversion which shows the relationship of x (CW) max and (delta) max (CCW) max and those difference (delta) (delta).

FIG. 46 is a maximum value Ima in the second cloth stagnation detection method.
It is a figure which shows the change of the inverter current I at the time of normal rotation and inversion which shows the relationship of x (CW) max and Imax (CCW) max and their difference (DELTA) I.

FIG. 47 is an explanatory diagram (a) of the lint amount detection unit, and an explanatory diagram (b) of the oscillation circuit and the crystal unit.

FIG. 48 is an explanatory diagram of a second lint amount detection unit.

FIG. 49 is an explanatory diagram of a piezoresistive pressure sensor.

FIG. 50 is an explanatory diagram of a proximity sensor.

FIG. 51 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a cloth damage detection method.

FIG. 52 is an explanatory diagram showing a total lint amount with respect to operating time.

FIG. 53 is an explanatory diagram showing an increase in the amount of lint in the lint filter with respect to operating time.

FIG. 54 is a graph showing changes in the moment of inertia with respect to the dehydration time when the cloth quality is changed as a parameter.

FIG. 55 is a graph showing changes in the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal, which changes with the moment of inertia, having characteristics similar to those in FIG. 54 with respect to the dehydration time.

FIG. 56 is a graph showing changes in the moment of inertia with respect to the dehydration time when the amount of cloth is changed as a parameter in the case of the same cloth quality.

FIG. 57 is a graph showing a change in the on-duty ratio δ of the PWM signal, which changes with the moment of inertia, having the same characteristics as in FIG. 52 with respect to the dehydration time.

FIG. 58 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a first dehydration rate detection method.

FIG. 59 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a second dehydration rate detection method.

FIG. 60 is a diagram showing the relationship among the dehydration time, the on-duty ratio δ, and the rotation speed n in the third dehydration rate detection method.

FIG. 61 is a diagram showing the relationship between the dehydration time and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor in the fourth dehydration detection method.

62 is a diagram showing a dehydration time, a rotation speed of the brushless DC motor 5, and an on-duty ratio, respectively, in a fifth dehydration detection method. FIG.

FIG. 63 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a sixth dehydration detection method.

FIG. 64 is a diagram showing the relationship between the dehydration rate time and the on-duty ratio in the seventh dehydration rate detection method.

FIG. 65 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a seventh dehydration detection method.

FIG. 66 is a diagram showing the relationship between the torque and the rotation speed of a brushless DC motor, using voltage as a parameter.

FIG. 67 is a diagram showing a relationship between load torque and voltage applied to a brushless DC motor.

FIG. 68 is a diagram showing the relationship between the load torque and the time required to reach the target rotation speed of the brushless DC motor when the capacity of the brushless DC motor 5 is constant.

FIG. 69 is a diagram showing the relationship between the torque and the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor with respect to the voltage parameter, and also showing the change in the inverter current with respect to the change in torque.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Washing tub 3 Dehydration tub 4 Pulsator (water flow generation means) 5 Brushless DC motor (electric motor means) 6 Circulation path 8 Lint amount detection unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A dewatering tub arranged in a washing tub, a water flow generating means for generating a strong to weak water flow in the washing water in the dewatering tub, and controllable from a low speed operation to a high speed operation. An electric motor means for giving rotational power to the means, and a circulation path for circulating the washing water in the dehydration tub by a circulation pump,
A lint amount detection unit for detecting the amount of lint flowing in the circulation path and controlling the operation of the electric motor means based on the detected value.