JPH07124367A - Control devices for washing machines - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a constitution and miniaturize a control device of a washing machine and the like, the control device detecting abnormality in a washing machine and the like and indicating the contents of the abnormality, by reducing the number of digits to indicate in an abnormality contents indicating means. CONSTITUTION:When contents of abnormality detected by a cover-opening detecting means 10 are judged by a control means 21 and the contents of abnormality are indicated by an indicating means (abnormality contents indicating means) 17, the contents of abnormality detected by the cover-opening detecting means 10 are indicated in turn by switching every given time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for a washing machine or the like which detects an abnormality in a washing machine and displays the content of the abnormality.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a washing machine provided with a control device for this type of washing machine has been constructed as shown in FIGS. The configuration will be described below.

As shown in the figure, a water tub 1 contains a washing / dehydrating tub 2, and a stirring blade 3 is rotatably provided at the bottom of the washing / dehydrating tub 2. The deceleration mechanism 4 decelerates the driving force from the motor 5 and transmits the driving force to the stirring blade 3 at the time of washing and to the washing / dehydrating tub 2 at the time of dewatering. Switching between dehydration and washing at this time is performed by driving the drain valve 6,
When is driven, the washing water is drained, the clutch of the speed reduction mechanism 4 is switched, and the dehydration operation is performed. The washing tub lid 6 has a folding structure with a hinge at the center,
It covers the upper opening of the outer frame 7.

A reed switch 8 is attached to the outer frame 7, and a magnet 9 attached to the washing tub lid 6 facing the reed switch 8 constitutes a lid opening detection means (abnormality detection means) 10. The reed switch 8 is turned on when the magnet 9 facing the reed switch 8 approaches, that is, when the washing tub lid 6 is closed, and when the magnet 9 is separated, that is, the washing tub lid 6
Turns off when is open.

The control device 11 is composed of a microcomputer and comprises a control means 12 for sequentially controlling a series of steps of washing, rinsing and dehydration, and a motor 5, a drain valve 6, a water supply valve 13 and the like in response to signals from the control means 12. Power switching means 14 for controlling, operation means 16 made up of key switches arranged in the operation panel 15, and display means (abnormality content display means) 17 made up of a display device such as a light emitting diode.
And storage means 18. 19 is an AC power source, 2
Reference numeral 0 is a phase advancing capacitor of the motor 5.

In the above structure, when the setting of the dehydration operation is input by the operating means 16 or the reed switch 8 is off when the dehydration step is entered in the fully automatic operation, the washing tub lid 6 is opened in the dehydration step. Because it is dangerous
In order to detect the lid opening abnormality and request the user to close the washing tub lid 6, "U12" indicating the lid opening abnormality is displayed on the display means 17, as shown in FIG.

[0007]

In the conventional configuration as described above, in order to express the content of the abnormality, one digit of the alphabet is used as the major item and two digits are used as the minor items, ie, a total of three digits, and the content of the abnormality is displayed. The display means 17 must be provided with a display unit of three digits or more, and there is a problem that the display unit can be limited in space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The first object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to reduce the number of digits displayed in the abnormality content display means, simplify the structure, and reduce the size.

A second object is to make it easy to understand the change in the display content displayed by the abnormality content display means.

A third object is to make it possible to distinguish the end and the beginning of a series of display contents when a series of display contents are repeatedly displayed.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above first object, the present invention provides an abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality, a control means for determining an abnormality content, and an abnormality content display means for displaying the abnormality content. According to the first problem solving means, the control means displays the abnormality content detected by the abnormality detection means by switching in order at regular time intervals.

Further, in order to achieve the second object, the control means of the first problem solving means provides a turn-off time when switching the display of the abnormality content detected by the abnormality detection means. Is used as a means for solving the problem.

Further, in order to achieve the third problem solving means, the control means of the second problem solving means sets the turn-off time for each segment of the displayed contents to be different from the other turn-off times. This is the third means for solving the problems.

[0014]

According to the first means for solving the above problems, the present invention provides:
The display portion of the abnormality content display means can display the content of three digits with only two digits, the cost for one digit of the display portion can be reduced, and the area of the printed wiring board can be reduced accordingly. it can.

Further, the second problem solving means makes it clear that the display has changed, makes it easier to see, and can call attention to the abnormality.

Further, by the third means for solving the problem, the delimiter of the series of contents becomes clear, and the displayed contents are easy to understand.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The same components as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, the control means 21 inputs the information from the lid opening detection means 10 (abnormality detection means) to judge the abnormality content, and detects the abnormality content detected by the lid opening detection means 10. The display is switched to the display unit (abnormality content display unit) 17 in order at regular intervals. Further, the control means 21 is configured to sequentially control a series of steps of washing, rinsing and dehydrating.

The operation of the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. First, in step 31 of FIG. 2, it is determined whether the dehydration process is to be started. If the dehydration process is not reached, the process directly proceeds to the next process. move on. If the dehydration process is about to be performed in step 31, the process proceeds to step 32. If the washing tub lid 6 is open, the lid opening detection means 10 detects a lid opening abnormality, and the abnormality is displayed on the display means 17 as the lid opening abnormality. To start.

In this case, the display content of the lid opening abnormality is "U1.
2 ", the first half and the second half are divided into two and displayed alternately. That is, in step 33, the first half “U” of the abnormality content is displayed on the display means 17. And step 3
In order to keep the display of the first half “U” for a predetermined time in 4,
Wait for 8 seconds.

Next, at step 35, the display is switched to the latter half of the abnormality content and the latter half "12" is displayed. Then, in step 36, the display of the latter half "12" is held for a predetermined time, so that it waits for 0.8 seconds to elapse. afterwards,
Since the one cycle display is completed, the process returns to step 33,
The display is repeated again. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the display means 17 displays “U” in the first half 0.8 seconds of one cycle.
Is displayed, and "12" is displayed for 0.8 seconds in the latter half.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the abnormality content detected by the lid opening detection means 10 is divided into the first half portion and the second half portion, which are sequentially switched at regular intervals, and the display means 17 is displayed.
Therefore, the display unit 17 has a display unit of 2
It becomes possible to display the contents of three digits only by digits, and the cost of the display means 17 can be reduced.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The control means 21 in FIG.
An off time is provided when the display of the abnormality content detected by 0 is switched. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment.

The operation of the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The same steps as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In step 34, the first half "U" of the abnormality content
Is displayed for 0.8 seconds, the display of the display means 17 is turned off in steps 37 and 38 for a fixed time (0.4 seconds). Next, in steps 35 and 36, the latter half of the content of the abnormality, “1
"2" is displayed for 0.8 seconds. Next, step 39,
At 40, the display of the display means 17 is displayed for a fixed time (0.4 seconds).
Turn off the light. Since one cycle display is completed, step 3
Return to 3 and repeat the display.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the display means 1
In No. 7, "U" is displayed for 0.8 seconds in the first half of the cycle, then it is extinguished for 0.4 seconds, and "12" is displayed for 0.8 seconds in the latter half of the cycle. The light is turned off for 4 seconds, and this is repeated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the light-off time is provided when switching the display of the abnormality content detected by the lid opening detection means 10, it is easy to understand the change in the display content displayed by the display means 17. You can

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The control means 21 in FIG. 1 sets the extinguishing time for each break of a series of displayed contents to be different from other extinguishing times. The other structure is the same as that of the second embodiment.

The above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The same steps as those in the second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

When the latter half "12" of the abnormality content is displayed for 0.8 seconds in steps 35 and 36, steps 41 and 42 are displayed.
The display of the display means 17 is extinguished for a fixed time (0.8 seconds) at, and the extinguishing time is changed at the last extinction of one cycle of the abnormality content.

As a result, as shown in FIG.
In No. 7, "U" is displayed for 0.8 seconds in the first half of the cycle, then it is extinguished for 0.4 seconds, and "12" is displayed for 0.8 seconds in the latter half of the cycle. The light is turned off for 8 seconds, and this is repeated. Here, the last extinguished time is the same as the display time, but it is not always necessary to match it.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the turn-off time for each break of the series of displayed contents to be displayed is different from the other turn-off times, the break of the series of contents becomes clear and the displayed contents are Easy to understand.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the abnormality display content is divided into three digits, the display portion is divided into two digits, and the series of display contents is divided into two. The same effect can be expected if the number of divisions of the display content is adjusted to that.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the lid opening detecting means is used as the abnormality detecting means, but the same can be realized by using other abnormality detecting means. The same applies when an abnormality is detected by the program of the microcomputer constituting the control means 21 without using the abnormality detection means. For example, if drainage does not end within a certain time after starting the drainage process, the abnormality can be detected as an abnormality in the drainage route. Can be realized.

Furthermore, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the washing machine has been described, but it goes without saying that a dryer or a dishwasher can be realized in the same manner.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality, the control means for judging the abnormality content, and the abnormality content display means for displaying the abnormality content are provided. Since the control means sequentially switches and displays the abnormality content detected by the abnormality detection means at regular time intervals, it is possible to display the content of three digits or more even if the display portion has two digits. The cost can be reduced and the area of the printed wiring board can be reduced. Further, it is possible to clearly distinguish and display one digit of an alphabet as a large item and two digits of a small item.

Further, since the control means provides the turn-off time when switching the display of the abnormality content detected by the abnormality detection means, the change in the display becomes clear and easy to see. You can call attention.

Furthermore, since the control means sets the turn-off time for each break of a series of displayed contents to be different from other turn-off times, the break of the series of displayed contents becomes clear,
The displayed contents are easy to understand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of a washing machine including a control device for a washing machine and the like according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an abnormality content display operation of the washing machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a time lapse of display contents of the washing machine.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an abnormality content display operation of the washing machine including the control device for the washing machine and the like according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a time lapse of display contents of the washing machine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an abnormality content display operation of the washing machine including the control device for the washing machine and the like according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a time lapse of display contents of the washing machine.

FIG. 8 is a block circuit diagram of a conventional washing machine including a control device such as a washing machine.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the washing machine.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an abnormality content display of the washing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Lid Open Detection Means (Abnormality Detection Means) 17 Display Means (Abnormality Content Display Means) 21 Control Means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An abnormality detection unit for detecting an abnormality, a control unit for determining an abnormality content, and an abnormality content display unit for displaying the abnormality content, wherein the control unit detects the abnormality content detected by the abnormality detection unit. A control device for a washing machine or the like, which switches and displays in order at fixed time intervals. 2. The control device for a washing machine or the like according to claim 1, wherein the control means provides a turn-off time when switching the display of the abnormality content detected by the abnormality detection means. 3. The control device for a washing machine or the like according to claim 2, wherein the control means sets the turn-off time for each break of a series of displayed contents to be different from other turn-off times.