JPH06126084A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively perform water pouring rinsing by setting a water pouring rinsing time long when it is judged that a water supply flow rate is low and turbidity of washing water at the time of washing is high. CONSTITUTION:A microcomputer 22 functions as a water supply flow rate detection means detecting the flow rate of the water supplied to an inner tub along with a water level sensor 18 and also functions as a control means receiving not only various operation signals by various operation keys of an operation panel but also the water level detection signal from the water level sensor 18 and also receiving the rotation signal from a rotation sensor 8 and the turbidity detection signal from a turbidity sensor 12. When it is judged that a water supply flow rate is low and the turbidity of washing water at the time of washing is high, water pouring rinsing time is set long. By this constitution, the insufficiency of the quantity of water to the turbidity at the time of washing is compensated by the length of time and water pouring rinsing can effectively be performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine adapted to effectively perform water rinsing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a so-called automatic washing machine, generally, the water level and the time are uniquely determined and executed in the same manner as in the case of rinsing. Even in the case of "water rinsing", the time is uniquely decided and executed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned one, the water rinsing cannot be effectively carried out, and in particular, the washing water supply flow rate is small and the amount of detergent introduced at the time of washing is large, so that the washing water is washed. When the turbidity was high, the rinsing effect was insufficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine which can effectively perform water rinsing.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the washing machine of the present invention comprises a water supply flow rate detecting means for detecting the water supply flow rate to the washing tub and the turbidity of the washing water in the washing tub. It is equipped with turbidity detection means to detect the degree of turbidity. It is characterized in that it is set to be long and is controlled to be executed.

[0006]

As described above, conventionally, the rinsing effect was insufficient when the flow rate of water supplied to the washing tub was small and the turbidity of the washing water during washing was large. Therefore, while detecting the water supply flow rate to the washing tub and detecting the turbidity of the washing water in the washing tub, when it is determined that the water supply flow rate is small and the turbidity of the washing water during washing is high, The water rinsing can be effectively performed by setting the time for the water rinsing to be longer than in the case where the water rinsing is not performed.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 3 shows the structure of the so-called fully automatic washing machine. An outer tub 2 for receiving water is disposed in an outer box 1 supported by an elastic suspension mechanism 3, and the outer tub 2 is washed. An inner tank 4 which is a tank and a dehydration tank is provided. An agitator 5 is arranged at the bottom of the inner tank 4.

Further, a drive mechanism 7 having a motor 6 as a main component is disposed below the outer tank 2 so that the stirring body 5 and the inner tank 4 are selectively driven to rotate. I have to. A rotation sensor 8 is attached to the motor 6. In addition, a drain case 9, a drain valve 10, and a drain hose 11 for draining from the inside of the outer tub 2 (inside the inner tub 4) are arranged in a lower portion outside the outer tub 2. The drain case A turbidity sensor 12 that functions as a turbidity detection unit that detects the turbidity of the washing water in the inner tub 4 is provided at 9.

As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the turbidity sensor 12 has a light emitting element 13 and a light receiving element 14 facing each other, and the light receiving element 14 receives light emitted from the light receiving element 14 in an inner tank. The light receiving signal is emitted by receiving the wash water from 4 into the drainage case 9, and the light receiving signal becomes smaller as the turbidity of the wash water becomes larger.

On the other hand, a top cover 15 is mounted on the outer box 1, and the inside of the inner tank 4 (inside the outer tank 2) is located inward of the rear portion of the top cover 15.
A water supply valve 16 functioning as a water supply means for supplying water to the outer tank 2 and a water level sensor 18 for detecting the water level in the outer tank 2 (in the inner tank 4) by a change in air pressure by an air trap 17 attached to the outer tank 2 are provided. The operation panel 19 shown in FIG. 5 is provided on the upper surface of the front part.

Various operation keys 2 are provided on the operation panel 19.
0 and various display sections 21 are present. Among them, the "favorite rinse" key 20a is for selecting whether to perform standard rinse or careful rinse, and the display section 21a displays the selected content. Yes (the word "remark" appears only when careful is selected).

In addition, a microcomputer 22 is arranged inside the front portion of the top cover 15. As will be described later, the microcomputer 22 uses the water level sensor 18
It functions as a water supply flow rate detecting means for detecting the water supply flow rate for the inner tub 4 and as a control means, and various operation signals are input from various operation keys 20 of the operation panel 19 as shown in FIG. At the same time, a water level detection signal is input from the water level sensor 18, a rotation detection signal is input from the rotation sensor 8, and a turbidity detection signal is input from the turbidity sensor 12.

Then, based on those inputs and the control program stored in advance, the microcomputer 22 drives the various display portions 21 of the operation panel 19, the water supply valve 16, the motor 6, and the drain valve 10, respectively. A drive control signal is supplied to the drive circuits 23 to 26.

Therefore, the microcomputer 2 will be described below.
The control contents based on the function 2 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the microcomputer 22 first detects the amount of laundry in the inner tub 4 when the operation thereof is started (step S1). To detect the laundry amount, for example, the motor 6 is energized to rotate the stirring body 5 in the inner tub 4 without supplying water, and the rotation sensor 8 detects the rotation of the motor 6 at that time. , By counting the number of rotations. In this case, the larger the amount of laundry is, the larger the rotation load is. Therefore, the number of rotations of the motor 6 is counted less. On the contrary, if the amount of laundry is less, the rotation load is smaller, and thus the number of rotations is counted more. The microcomputer 22 stores the amount of laundry in the inner tub 4 thus detected.

Next, the microcomputer 22 sets the water level based on the detected laundry amount (step S
2) After that, the water supply valve 16 is opened to start water supply into the inner tank 4 (step S3). And the water level sensor 1
From the water level detection signal from 8, it is judged whether or not the water level in the inner tank 4 has reached, for example, the small water level H1 shown in FIG. 3 (step S4), and when it is judged that it has reached, the time is measured. Start (step S5). After that, it is judged whether or not the water level in the inner tank 4 has reached the low water level H2 shown in FIG. 2 (step S6), and when it is judged that it has reached, the time measurement is ended (step S7). . Then, the water supply flow rate is calculated from the amount of water from the small water level H1 to the low water level H2 and the time (measurement time) required to supply it, in short, the water supply flow rate is detected and stored (step S
8).

Thereafter, the microcomputer 22 detects the turbidity of the washing water in the inner tub 4 by the detection signal from the turbidity sensor 12 (step S9). In this case, the detection signal from the turbidity sensor 12 is output as the detection voltage V, and is output as the initial value V0 at this point, and the microcomputer 22 stores this. After that, it is judged whether or not the water level in the inner tank 4 has reached the set water level (step S10), and when it is judged that the water level has reached the set water level, the water supply valve 16 is closed to end the water supply (step S11). ), And then the motor 6 is again energized to rotate the agitator 5 in the inner tank 4 in earnest to start washing (step S12).

Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time, for example, 6 minutes, the turbidity of the washing water in the inner tub 4 is detected again (step S13). The detection signal from the turbidity sensor 12 in this case is output as the detection voltage V1, and the microcomputer 22 stores this. After that, the detection voltage V0 in step S9 and the detection voltage V0 in step S13
By calculating the difference ΔV01 (ΔV01 = V0-V1) from 1, the turbidity of the washing water at the time of washing is detected,
It is stored (step S14).

After these, the microcomputer 22
Judges whether the washing time is over (step S15), and when it is judged that the washing time is over, the motor 6
Is turned off to complete the washing (step S16).

After washing, the drain valve 10 is opened to drain water from the inside of the outer tank 2 (inside the inner tank 4) (step S17),
Further, the motor 6 is energized to rotate the inner tub 4 to dehydrate the laundry (step S18). Thereafter, water supply is started in the same manner as in step S3 (step S19), and it is determined whether or not the water level in the inner tank 4 has reached the set water level (step S20) as in step S10, and it is determined that the water level has been reached. By the way, similarly to step S11, the water supply valve 16 is closed to end the water supply (step S21). Then, like the step S12, the motor 6 is energized to start the rinsing (trial rinsing) by rotating the agitator 5 in the inner tank 4 in earnest (step S22), and then the step S22.
Similarly to 15, it is judged whether or not the rinsing time is over (step S23). When it is judged that the rinsing time is over, the motor 6 is cut off and the rinsing is over, similarly to step S16 (step S24).

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1, the microcomputer 22 determines whether or not the rinse is carefully selected (step S25). If it is determined that the rinse is selected, the next step is performed. And the stored contents in step S8,
From the stored contents in step S14 and the stored contents in step S1, the supplied water flow rate is small, for example, about 5 liters per minute, the turbidity of the washing water is large, and the laundry amount is 3 to 4 [k].
g] is determined (step S26). If it is determined that this is also the case, the rinsing time is lengthened and, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is set to "7 minutes", which is twice as long as "0 seconds" (step S2
7) After that, water supply is started similarly to steps S3 and S19 (step S28), and it is determined whether the water level in the inner tank 4 has reached the set water level as in steps S10 and S20 (step S29). When it is determined that it has reached, rinsing (pouring and rinsing) is started by energizing the motor 6 in the same manner as in steps S12 and 22 to rotate the agitator 5 in the inner tank 4 in earnest (step S30).

Thereafter, it is judged whether or not the time set in the above step S27 has been reached (step S31), and when it is judged that the time has been reached, the water supply valve 16 is closed to supply water in the same manner as in steps S11 and 21. End (step S3
2) Further, similarly to steps S16 and 24, the motor 6 is cut off and the rinsing is finished (step S33). During this period, excess water due to continuous water supply is discharged to the outside of the machine from an overflow port (not shown) of the outer tub 2 through an overflow pipe together with the detergent amount discharged from the laundry. Then, thereafter, as in step S18, the motor 6 is energized to rotate the inner tub 4 to dehydrate the laundry (step S34), and the entire operation is ended (end).

On the other hand, in the previous step S25,
If it is determined that the rinsing has not been selected as “intensive”, in this case, the rinsing time is set to the standard (3 minutes and 30 seconds) (step S35), and then steps S19 to S2.
3 through similar steps S36 to S40 to step S3
Go to 3. Furthermore, in step S26, when the water supply flow rate is small,
If it is diagnosed that the turbidity of the washing water is large and the laundry amount is not 3 to 4 [kg], it is next determined whether or not the laundry amount is more than 4 [kg] (step S41). 4 [k
If it is determined that it is not over g], the process proceeds to step S27, and if it is determined that it is over 4 [kg], step S2.
Go to 8.

As described above, in this structure, the flow rate of the water supplied to the washing tub is detected, and the turbidity of the wash water in the washing tub is detected, so that the flow rate of the supplied water is small and the turbidity of the wash water during washing is small. When it is judged to be large, the water rinsing is set to be executed for a longer time than it is otherwise, so that the lack of water volume against the turbidity of washing water is compensated for by the length of time. Therefore, water rinsing can be effectively performed.

In particular, in the above-mentioned construction, the execution time of the water rinsing is set in consideration of the amount of laundry as well, so that the water rinsing is more effective on the condition of the amount of laundry. However, the execution time of water rinsing may be set only on the basis of the water supply flow rate and the turbidity of the wash water.

Besides, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and may be carried out by appropriately changing the presence or absence of a dehydration function and the like without departing from the scope of the invention. .

[0026]

As is clear from the above description, the washing machine of the present invention is provided with the water supply flow rate detecting means for detecting the water supply flow rate to the washing tub and detects the turbidity of the washing water in the washing tub. With turbidity detection means, when it is judged from the detection results that the water supply flow rate is small and the turbidity of the washing water at the time of washing is high, set the time longer than if not using water rinsing. It is characterized in that it is controlled so as to be executed by this, and thereby, an excellent effect that water rinsing can be effectively performed is achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention (part 2)

FIG. 2 is a flowchart 1

[FIG. 3] Side view of the entire fracture

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a turbidity sensor portion.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the operation panel.

FIG. 6 is a schematic electrical configuration diagram.

FIG. 7 is a diagram specifically showing control contents.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 is an inner tub (laundry tub), 12 is a turbidity sensor (turbidity detection means), 16 is a water supply valve (water supply means), 18 is a water level sensor (water supply flow rate detection means), and 22 is a microcomputer (water supply flow rate detection means).・ Control means) is shown.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A turbidity detecting means for detecting the turbidity of the washing water in the washing tub as well as a water supplying means for supplying water into the washing tub and a water supply flow rate detecting means for detecting a water supply flow rate by the water supplying means. In addition, when it is judged from the detection results that the water supply flow rate is small and the turbidity of the washing water at the time of washing is large, the water rinsing is set to a longer time than it is otherwise. A washing machine characterized by comprising control means for controlling.