JPH06182082A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a sufficient softening effect by detecting an amount of washing to set the frequency of untangling operation for inverting an agitator at a shorter cycle than that of washing operation basing on the results of the detection at multiple stages, which makes the untangling operation corresponding to the amount of the washing possible. CONSTITUTION:An outer tank 2 is arranged in an external box 1, an inner tank 3 as washing/dewatering tank therein and an agitator 5 is provided in the inner tank 3 being rotated therein 3 set at a rest during the washing. In a washing machine of such a type, a phase detector is provided to detect a load value working on a motor 9 of a drive mechanism 10 electrically as given when a small amount of water is fed into the inner tank 3 and the agitator 5 is rotated. Then, a phase difference detection signal is outputted to a controller 14 as an amount of washing detection signal and a washing water level and the frequency of the untangling operation are set with the controller 14 basing on the results of detecting the amount of washing. Then, the untangling operation by the inversion of the agitator 5 at a shorter cycle is performed at a frequency set during a washing process.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine for performing a loosening operation for loosening laundry in a washing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a washing machine, laundry is liable to be entangled during a washing process, so that a washing machine is provided which is loosened at the end of the washing process.

[0003]

However, recent washing machines tend to have a large capacity, and the amount of laundry to be washed at one time is increasing. As described above, in the unraveling operation performed only at the end of the washing process, the laundry cannot be fully unraveled, and the laundry remains entangled, which makes it difficult to take out the laundry. Further, in the combined dehydrator washing machine for washing and dehydrating the laundry in the same tank, the above-mentioned entanglement of the laundry causes an unbalanced load during rotation of the dehydration, resulting in an increase in the number of abnormal vibrations. Had the problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and therefore an object thereof is to provide a washing machine which can perform a loosening operation according to the amount of laundry.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the washing machine of the present invention comprises a laundry amount detecting means for detecting the amount of laundry, and loosens the laundry based on the detection result. It is characterized in that the number of loosening operations is set in multiple stages, and the loosening operation is controlled during the set number of washing steps.

In this case, the control means also sets the rotational speed of the stirring body in the loosening operation in multiple stages based on the detection result of the laundry amount detecting means, and sets the loosening operation at the set number of times. It is more preferable to control the rotation speed of the agitator to be executed during the washing process.

[0007]

According to the above means, it is possible to perform the loosening operation a number of times according to the detection result of the laundry amount detecting means, that is, the detected laundry amount, during the washing process, and further, the agitator according to the detected laundry amount. The loosening operation can be executed even at the rotation speed of.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a washing machine for combined use of dehydration will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 2 shows an outer box 1 of the entire washing machine, in which an outer tub 2 which is a water storage tub is arranged, and an inner tub 3 which is a washing tub and a dehydrating tub is provided in the outer tub 2. Are installed. A large number of dehydration holes 4 are formed in the inner side of the inner tank 3, and an agitator 5 is arranged in the inner bottom. In addition, a drain case 6, a drain valve 7, and a drain hose 8 for discharging the water in the outer tub 2 (in the inner tub 3) to the outside of the machine are provided at the outer lower portion of the outer tub 2, and A drive mechanism 10 having a motor 9 as a main component is provided. The drive mechanism 10 stops the inner tub 3 during washing to rotate the agitator 5 and rotates the inner tub 3 together with the agitator 5 during dewatering. I have to.

On the other hand, a top cover 11 is mounted on the outer box 1, and inside the rear part of the top cover 11, inside the inner tank 3 (inside the outer tank 2).
A water supply valve 12 for supplying water is provided, a water level sensor 13 for detecting the water level in the outer tub 2 (inner tub 3) is provided, and a control device 14 serving as a control means is provided inward of the front portion. is doing. The control device 14 is configured to include a microcomputer, and as shown in FIG. 4, an operation signal is input from an operation unit 15 including various operation switches, and
A water level detection signal is input from the water level sensor 13, and a phase difference detection signal is input from a phase difference detection device 16 which is a laundry amount detection means in this case.

The phase difference detection device 16 electrically detects a load amount applied to the motor 9 of the drive mechanism 10 when the stirring body 5 is rotated by supplying a small amount of water into the inner tank 3. The phase difference detection signal is output as a laundry amount detection signal. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the applied voltage V to the motor 9 is detected, and a pulse rising and falling at the zero cross point is obtained, At the same time, the current I flowing through the motor 9 is detected, a pulse that rises and falls at the zero-cross point is similarly obtained, and a pulse corresponding to their phase difference θ is obtained from both pulse waveforms and a voltage obtained by smoothing this pulse is obtained. The signal is further digitized and a detection signal corresponding to the amount of laundry is output.

Then, the control device 14 gives an operation signal to the display section 17 composed of various displays based on various inputs including the above-mentioned phase difference detection signal and a control program stored in advance, and the water supply valve. 12, a drive circuit 1 for driving the drain valve 10 and the motor 9 respectively
A drive control signal is given to 8 to 20.

Therefore, the contents of control by the controller 14 will be described below. As shown in FIG. 6, the controller 14 energizes and opens the water supply valve 12 at the beginning of its operation (start) to start water supply into the inner tank 3 (step S1). Next, it is judged whether or not the water level in the inner tank 3 has reached a small level (step S2), and the water level sensor 1
When it is determined that the water level has been reached by the water level detection signal from 3, the water supply valve 12 is cut off and closed to stop the water supply,
Instead, the amount of laundry is detected by the phase difference detection device 16 (step S3). Then, based on the detection result, the washing water level is set and the number of loosening operations performed in the washing process is set (step S4).

FIG. 1 shows the setting contents. In this case, the detected amount of laundry is divided into six levels of levels 1 to 6,
When the minimum level 1 laundry amount is set, the wash water level is set to "low", and the number of loosening operations is set to "1". When the next level 2 laundry amount is set, the wash water level is set to "low". The number of times is set to "2", the washing water level is set to "medium" at the time of the next level 3, and the number of loosening operation is set to "3", and the washing water level is set to the level 4 of the next time. Set to "medium" and the number of loosening operation to "4", set the washing water level to "high" and the number of loosening operation to "5" at the next level 5, and set the maximum level 6 When the laundry amount is, the washing water level is set to "high" and the number of loosening operations is set to "6".

Then, after that, the water supply valve 12 is again energized and opened to start water supply into the inner tank 3 (step S5),
It is judged whether or not the water level in the inner tank 3 has reached the set water level (step S6), and when it is determined that it has been reached by the water level detection signal from the water level sensor 13, the water supply valve 1
2 is cut off and closed to stop water supply, and instead, the motor 9 of the drive mechanism 10 is energized to rotate the agitator 5 in the inner tub 3 forward and backward to wash, and among them, washing is performed first (step S
7).

FIG. 2 shows an example of the washing carried out in this way. When the detected laundry amount is level 6 which is the maximum,
Since the number of loosening operations is set to "6", six loosening operations are performed during this washing process. The washing operation is performed by the motor 9 of the drive mechanism 10.
Is conducted for 1.5 seconds in each of the forward and reverse directions by turning off the electricity for 0.6 seconds and reversing the stirring body 5. In the loosening operation, the motor 9 is turned on for 0.9 seconds and turned off for 0.6 seconds. Then, the stirring body 5 is reversed, that is, the stirring body 5 is reversed in a shorter cycle than the washing operation. In other cases, only the number of loosening operations changes accordingly, and the reversal cycle of the stirring body 5 in the washing operation and the loosening operation is the same. Also, for washing, there is rinsing,
This is also executed in the same manner as described above.

As described above, according to the present construction, the number of times of the loosening operation for loosening the laundry is performed in multiple stages by reversing the stirring body 5 in a shorter cycle than the washing operation based on the result of detecting the amount of the laundry. Is set to, and the loosening operation is performed during the set number of washing steps, that is, the number of loosening operations corresponding to the detected laundry amount can be performed during the washing step, and thus a large amount of In the above washing machine for both dehydration and washing, the laundry can be sufficiently unraveled and can be easily taken out, and the washing and dehydration of the laundry can be performed in a common tank (inner tank 3). , It is possible to reduce the number of times that abnormal vibration occurs.

In contrast to the above, FIG. 7 shows a different embodiment of the present invention, and only the difference from the above embodiment will be described, which is based on the detection result of the laundry amount by the phase difference detection device 16. In addition to setting the number of times of the loosening operation, the rotation speed of the stirring body 5 is set to 95 [rpm] to 120.
There are multiple stages of [rpm], and the loosening operation is executed during the washing process at the set number of times and the set rotation speed of the stirring body 5. By doing so, the loosening operation can be performed more effectively.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but may be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0019]

The washing machine of the present invention is as described above, and has the following effects. The washing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a laundry amount detecting means for detecting the amount of laundry,
Based on the detection result, the agitator is inverted in a shorter cycle than the washing operation to loosen the laundry. The laundry is loosened. The number of loosening operations is set in multiple stages, and the loosening operation is performed at the set number of times during the washing process. By performing the control to be executed in step 1, the loosening operation can be performed according to the amount of laundry, and a sufficient loosening effect can be obtained.

In the washing machine of claim 2, the rotation speed of the stirring body in the loosening operation is also set in multiple stages based on the detection result of the laundry amount detecting means, and the loosening operation is performed a set number of times. Further, by performing the washing operation at the set rotation speed of the agitator, it is possible to obtain a more sufficient loosening effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a setting content diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Washing process diagram

FIG. 3 is a side view of a washing machine for combined use of dehydration and a fracture.

FIG. 4 is a schematic electrical configuration diagram.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the functional contents of a phase difference detection device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation.

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a different embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 is an agitator, 14 is a control device (control means), and 16 is a phase difference detection device (laundry amount detection means).

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A laundry amount detecting means for detecting the amount of laundry, and based on the detection result, the agitator is inverted in a cycle shorter than the washing operation to thereby loosen the laundry and the number of unraveling operations is multi-staged. And a control means for controlling the setting and performing the loosening operation during the set number of washing steps. 2. The control means sets the rotational speed of the stirrer in the loosening operation in multiple stages based on the detection result of the laundry amount detecting means, and the stirrer operation is performed with the set number of times and the set stirring body. 2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the washing machine is controlled to be executed at a rotation speed of 1.