JPH08206387A - Method for judging quantity of cloths in washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the accuracy in judgment of quantity of cloths regardless of existence of water by judging the existence of water before judgment of quantity of cloths, and using the quantity of cloths detected in a quantity-of-cloths judgment mode for the time of nonexistence of water at the time of nonexistence of water, and detecting the quantity of cloths used after rinsing in quantity-of-cloths judgment mode for the time of existence of water at the time of existence of water, and using this quantity of cloths in and after rinsing process. CONSTITUTION: A start switch is turned on, and a water level detection means 10 judges whether there is water in a vessel for washing and dehydration 6 or not. When there is no water, the quantity of clothes is decided by executing a quantity-of-cloths judgment mode. And, this decided quantity of cloths is used to the finish of all processes. On the other hand, in case of existence of water, a specified motor is supplied with a current to drive a rotary wing 5 in a specified sequence, and water is fed up to a specified quantity so that it may goes up to a specified revolutional speed. When it goes up to the specified quantity of water, it shifts to washing. And, the quantity of water is judged in quantity-of-cloths judgment mode for the time of existence of water, at the time of execution of dehydration process. And, in and after rinsing process, this quantity of cloths is used.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laundry amount determination method for a washing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a fully automatic washing machine, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a water receiving tub 4 is suspended by a vibration-proof means such as a suspension rod 3 having a vibration-proof spring 2 in an outer box 1. . Inside the water receiving tank 4, a rotary blade 5 is provided at the center, a washing / dewatering tank 6 having a dehydration hole on a side wall is rotatably arranged, and a motor 8 is arranged below the water receiving tank 4. A belt 12 connects the pulley 7a provided on the rotary shaft, the rotary shaft of the rotary blade 5 and the pulley 7b provided on the rotary shaft of the washing / dehydrating tank 6 to each other.

A drainage hose 9c is connected to the drainage pipe 9a through a drainage valve 9b as drainage means 9 at the bottom of the water receiving tank 4. Further, a pressure guiding pipe 10a is connected to the drainage pipe 9a on the inflow side of the drainage valve 9b, and a water level sensor is provided at the tip of the pressure guiding pipe 10a.
The water level detecting means 10 is configured by providing 10b. Although not shown, the water level sensor 10b is composed of a combination of a core (iron core) that moves according to the amount of water and a coil corresponding to the core, and an LC oscillation circuit using a capacitor is connected to the coil. The output of the LC oscillation circuit is connected so as to be introduced into a control device using a microcomputer or the like via a frequency dividing circuit.

The drive of the pulley 7b is transmitted to the rotary vanes 5 and the washing / dehydrating tub 6 through a reduction gear 11 using a planetary gear, and a clutch 13 is interposed in the washing / dehydrating tub 6.
In the figure, 14a is a water supply valve, 14b is a water supply hose, and these are water supply means 14. Reference numeral 15 is an operation unit having the control device and the like built therein.

By the way, as described in JP-A-5-115668 and JP-A-5-92096, the cloth amount (load amount) is determined and this is used to control the proper operation. . This determination of the cloth amount is obtained by the rotation information of the motor after the start switch is turned on (determined by the damping ratio of the inertia rotation when the motor energization is stopped by repeating driving and stopping a plurality of times). As a method, a method of obtaining from capacitor voltage / current change, a method using an encoder such as magnetism or light (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1156)
No. 68, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-92096), and a method using a pilot generator (PG) 19 which is a speed generator.

In order to determine the amount of laundry, the laundry is put into the washing / dehydrating tub 6 and then the motor 8 is energized to rotate the rotary blades 5 in this state, and after a predetermined time, the motor 8 is rotated. To the pilot generator by changing the rotational speed of the rotor blade 5 due to inertia to stop the energization to the rotor 5, that is, the inertia rotational speed of the motor 8.
It counts according to the number of inertial pulses output from 19.

In this case, the larger the amount of laundry, the more the rotor 5
Since the load applied to the rotor is large, the rotor blade 5 stops in a short time, so the smaller the inertia pulse number is, the larger the load is, and the small load of 2 kg or less depending on the inertia pulse number, the medium load of 2 to 4 kg, and the 4 to 6 kg. It is determined that the load is large, and thereafter, the amount of water and the amount of detergent suitable for this load are displayed, and the motor 8 and the rotary blades 5 are rotated at an appropriate speed for washing.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-92096, a relatively accurate judgment result is obtained by putting laundry in a washing / dehydrating tub and judging the amount of cloth without water. , Also trying to prevent cloth damage. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-115668, there is no water because the content of the determination is different in both the determination of the amount of cloth when there is no water in the washing / dehydrating tub and the state when there is water in the washing / dehydrating tub. In this case, the rotor is driven for a shorter period of time than during normal washing, and it is judged from the inertial rotation in the operation of resting for a predetermined time.In the presence of water, the rotor is intermittently driven multiple times and the inertial rotation during that idle period is performed. In this case, a plurality of judgment tables corresponding to the water level in the tank are provided and the amount of cloth is judged based on the judgment tables.

[0009]

As described above, when there is no water in the determination of the amount of cloth, the laundry does not contain water, so that a relatively accurate determination result can be easily obtained. However, as the convenience of the user, it is not the case that the water is first poured into the tub and the laundry is put therein, so that it is necessary to judge the amount of cloth in the presence of water.

The relationship between the laundry and the water level is important in determining the laundry amount, and an accurate laundry amount cannot be determined unless the appropriate water level is obtained for the appropriate laundry. Kashi,
When there is a lot of laundry in a small amount of water, the rotor is likely to be overloaded, and when there is a small amount of laundry in a large amount of water, the amount of this laundry is determined by the inertial rotation speed of the rotor. Is difficult to determine. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 15668, only by having a plurality of determination tables according to the water level in the tub and determining the amount of cloth based thereon, the relative relationship between the amount of water and the amount of laundry is not taken into consideration. There was a possibility that the judgment could not be obtained.

In particular, when judging by the attenuation rate, it is necessary to set a plurality of threshold values. Alternatively, it is necessary to formulate and discriminate a complicated curve. On the other hand, it is only possible to make a stepwise decision, and it is difficult to know which is to be decided near the threshold, and there are many errors.

Further, after turning on the start switch,
When the amount of cloth is judged by the rotation information of the motor based on the damping rate of inertial rotation after the motor energization is stopped by repeating driving and stopping a plurality of times, the damping rate of inertial rotation differs depending on the timing of issuing a time-out signal to stop the motor. Things happen. Fig. 72 and Fig. 73 show such a situation.Since the motor current continues to flow until the zero cross point when the current is turned off even after the timeout signal is issued, the timeout signal near this zero cross point is the most damped. This is because the time-out signal causes variations.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the conventional example, firstly, the cloth amount can be accurately judged regardless of the presence or absence of water, secondly, the accuracy is improved, and thirdly, the judgment time can be shortened. 4th, the efficiency of the program can be obtained, 5th, the proper detergent amount can be displayed at an early stage, and 6th, the laundry amount judgment method of the washing machine that can obtain the continuous proper water amount corresponding to the amount of cloth is provided. To do.

[0014]

According to the present invention, firstly, after the start switch is turned on, driving and stopping are repeated a plurality of times, and the cloth is detected by the rotation information of the motor based on the damping ratio of the inertial rotation after stopping the power supply to the motor. In the method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine, the presence or absence of water is determined by the water level detecting means before the amount of laundry is determined. The amount of cloth is detected and this cloth quantity information is used until the end of all processes.When water is present, it is checked whether or not it starts up to a certain rotation speed when the motor is energized for a certain amount of time. Start
Before rinsing, judge separately with water amount judgment mode with water,
This amount of cloth information is used after rinsing, and when it does not stand up, the point is to supply water until it rises to a constant rotation speed. With this configuration, the amount of cloth can be determined regardless of the presence or absence of water.

Secondly, when it is judged that there is water by the water level detecting means before the cloth amount is judged, a means for urging the user to set a desired water level before energizing a predetermined motor. It is assumed that the water level setting is accepted for a certain period of time, and if there is a water level setting input, the set water level will be used to start washing, and this water level information will be used after rinsing, and the water level will be set even after a predetermined time has elapsed. When there is no input, the point is to go through the process with water. With this configuration, the usability of the user is improved, and the water level desired by the user can be freely set, which leads to saving water and saving detergent. If the user does not input the water level setting within the predetermined time, the cloth amount is automatically determined.

Thirdly, the drive as the rotation information of the motor
The stop is repeated a plurality of times, and the damping ratio of the inertial rotation after stopping the motor energization is that the motor is stopped in synchronization with the timing of the (next) power supply zero cross signal after the motor OFF request signal is generated for a predetermined time. It is a thing. By keeping the motor current OFF constant, the measurement start timing becomes the same condition, and the detection accuracy improves.

Fourthly, the gist is that the rotation speed detecting means is provided on a pulley that drives a rotary blade or a dehydration tank. With this configuration, the error factor of the rotation speed due to the slip and vibration of the belt can be eliminated, so that the cloth amount determination with high accuracy can be realized.

Fifth, the damping rate during inertial rotation means that the time required to reach a predetermined number of pulses is continuously sampled,
Storing in a plurality of buffers and processing according to the rate of change. Sixth, the predetermined pulse number when sampling the required time to reach the predetermined pulse number is a divisor of the pulse value generated in one rotation of the motor or Set to be a multiple and set to be able to sample at least twice with the maximum cloth amount.
In addition, the motor OFF period, which is the pulse count time period, can be changed according to the pulse generation rate, and the individual pulse interval is 2
The predetermined OFF period must be extended until the predetermined number of pulses is fetched in addition to the above, and eighthly, the rate of change is the first predetermined pulse count time (first buffer count). The gist is to use the data after performing the normalization calculation based on (value).

According to the fifth method, not a specific time change but a continuous change until just before the motor is stopped can be detected. Therefore, a small amount to a large amount of cloth can be determined with the same accuracy and with high accuracy. ..

According to the sixth method, H per pulse
Since the / W error is reduced, the accuracy per one rotation can be improved.

According to the seventh method, the determination time when the capacity is large can be shortened, and the accuracy when the capacity is medium to small is improved.

According to the eighth method, since a pure change rate can be obtained by a simple processing algorithm, it is easy to make a relative comparison. Further, since the fluctuation factors of the initial conditions (power supply voltage fluctuation, belt tension, etc.) can be absorbed, accuracy is improved.

Ninth, the rate of change after the normalization process is identified (guided) to the relationship between the rate of change and the cloth amount by using a neural network. Tenth, the neural network uses the power supply frequency (50 / 60Hz) Prepare two compatible networks with the same network configuration.
In the neural network, a network for belt tension correction is prepared, and the value stored in the nonvolatile memory of the information (detected cloth amount) when there is no cloth amount is corrected as input information of the neural network. ,
The gist is to read the data in the final buffer of the data acquisition when there is no cloth amount, calculate the belt tension correction value by the threshold value, store the result in the non-volatile memory, and correct the cloth amount judgment result. To do.

According to the ninth method, the processing is simple,
Also, it is easy to change and there is no big mistake. Further, due to the generalization performance, a continuous cloth amount output can be obtained.

According to the tenth method, it is only necessary to tabulate the coupling coefficients, and even if the factor changes, it is possible to deal with it without adding or changing the program.

According to the eleventh method, it is possible to cope with the fluctuation of the belt tension and absorb the tension error at the time of factory shipment, so that the adjustment is easy.

According to the twelfth method, the structure of the neural network can be used as it is and the processing is simple.

Thirteenth, after the cloth amount is detected, it is allocated to the necessary water amount with the resolution of the detected cloth amount, and fourteenth, the damping factor during inertial rotation is that the number of pulses at every predetermined time is continuously sampled. And processing according to the rate of change, first
5) Check whether or not the rotation speed rises to a constant rotation speed after acclimatizing the cloth for a predetermined time for the purpose of absorbing water. 16th. Predicting the amount of water shortage from the water supply, supplying this amount of water shortage, and rechecking whether or not the water will rise to a constant rotation speed after water supply.
In addition, the purpose of predicting the amount of water shortage from the change characteristic of the rising is based on the determination from the change characteristic of the rising of the first rotation.

According to the thirteenth method, the quantization error can be reduced. Furthermore, even if there is an error in the cloth amount detection, it is suppressed to the minimum water amount error, so the water saving effect is remarkable.

According to the fourteenth method, similar to the fifth method, the determination can be performed with the same accuracy and high accuracy, and the measurement time can be made constant.

According to the fifteenth method, the determination can be made under the same conditions by sufficiently supplying water to the cloth.

According to the sixteenth method, the amount of water shortage can be predicted, so that it is possible to expect efficient, not sequential, and prevention of cloth jamming.

According to the seventeenth method, in addition to the operation of the fifteenth method, the judgment time can be shortened and highly accurate judgment can be realized.

Eighteenth, displaying the required detergent amount at the time of predicting the amount of water shortage, and nineteenth, the method for separately determining the amount of water in the presence of water is to complete the washing (or rinsing) and drainage steps, and When the detection means detects the absence of water, the same processing method as that of the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water according to claim 1 or 2 is executed, and the determination result is corrected by the correction means for the weight increase due to water. 20th, in the method of determining the amount of cloth when there is water separately, when there is no water in the water level detection means after the washing (or rinsing) and drainage steps are completed, the water level in the method according to claim 1 or 2 Using the same processing method as the cloth amount determination mode at the time, prepare a coupling coefficient table of the neural network dedicated to the water-containing cloth.
The amount of cloth is determined by the inertial rotation speed change rate of the washing / dehydrating tub after F. Twenty-second, the inertial rotation speed change rate uses the same processing method as that of the cloth quantity determination mode when there is no water, and has the same configuration. Utilizing a neural network, 23rdly, the method of determining the amount of cloth in the presence of water is made into an approximate expression of the relationship between the rate of change in inertial rotation speed of the washing / dehydrating tank after spin-off and the cloth quantity, and this approximate expression is used. Twenty-fourth, separately, the method for determining the amount of cloth with water determines the amount of cloth at the rate of change in the rotation speed of the washing / dewatering tub at the start of dewatering, and at the same time monitors the power supply voltage and corrects the output result. The main point is to do.

According to the eighteenth method, the proper detergent amount can be displayed at an early stage.

According to the nineteenth method, as a separate method for determining the amount of cloth with water, the same processing method as the mode for determining the amount of cloth without water after the washing step is used, and the same neural network and coupling coefficient table can be used. Therefore, the efficiency of the program can be improved.

According to the twentieth method, as the method for determining the amount of cloth with water separately, the same processing method as the mode for determining the amount of cloth without water after the washing process is used, and a neural network and a coupling coefficient dedicated to the determination of the amount of water-containing cloth are used. Since a table is used, highly accurate judgment can be realized.

According to the twenty-first method, the amount of cloth can be determined by inertial rotation of the washing / dewatering tub at the time of dewatering, the measurement algorithm can be made the same as in the fifth method, and the efficiency of the program can be improved. can get.

According to the 22nd method, the same network configuration can be used and the efficiency of the program can be obtained.

According to the twenty-third method, the cloth amount determining method with water separately counts the inertial rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub after the motor has been de-energized as the number of pulses of the motor rotation sensor or the pulley rotation sensor. Since the relationship between the number of pulses and the cloth amount can be approximated, the cloth amount can be determined by a mathematical expression, and the efficiency of the program can be improved.

According to the twenty-fourth method, the amount of cloth can be determined by inertial rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub during dewatering as in the twenty-first method.

[0042]

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

Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a laundry amount determination method for a washing machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the same.

The outline of the fully automatic washing machine is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the present invention uses the pilot generator 19, and includes a motor rotation sensor 17 as a rotor blade rotation speed detecting means and a tank rotation sensor 18 as a washing / dehydrating tank rotation speed detecting means. Is provided.

An example of this motor rotation sensor 17 is shown in FIG. 6 to FIG.
Rotating magnet 17a with S poles evenly arranged in 16 divisions
And an iron core 17b and a coil 17c which are combined therewith, and which is assembled coaxially with the motor 8 and, as shown in FIG.
A pulse of 1 cycle is generated from the coil 17c at / 16 rotation.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the tub rotation sensor 18 is composed of a combination of a rotating magnet 18a having N poles and S poles evenly arranged in 16 divisions and a hall IC 18b. The magnet 18a is coaxially incorporated in the output shaft of the rotating reduction gear 11, and as shown in FIG. 11, the magnet 18a generates a 1-cycle rectangular pulse from the Hall IC 18b.

As another example of the rotary blade rotation speed detecting means, instead of the motor rotation sensor 17, the rotation speed of the pulley 7b for driving the rotary blade 5 or the dehydration tank 6 may be detected. Such a pulley rotation sensor 30 has the same structure as the motor rotation sensor 17 shown in FIGS. Or, as yet another example, a pulley rotation sensor
As shown in FIG. 12, reference numeral 30 denotes a disk 31 arranged coaxially with the pulley 7b and provided with holes 32 uniformly arranged in 16 divisions, and a photo interrupter 33 arranged so that the holes 32 face each other.
You may comprise with. According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 13, the light emitting diode 33 of the photo interrupter 33 is
Disk 31 rotates through the gap between a and phototransistor 33b
As 32 advances, light from the light emitting diode 33a passes or is blocked. Therefore, the voltage generated in the phototransistor 33b has a waveform that draws a rectangular pulse of one cycle every 1/16 rotation of the disk 31, as in FIG.

Referring again to FIG. 1, reference numeral 16 in the drawing denotes a control device utilizing a microcomputer or the like, which is an input circuit 16a, C.
PU16b, E as a sequentially rewritable non-volatile memory
² PROM 16c and output circuit 16d. This controller
The input circuit 16a of 16 includes an output from an input means 20 such as a switch in the operation unit 15, an output of the motor rotation sensor 17 (or the pulley rotation sensor 30) and a tank rotation sensor 18, and a water level sensor 10b. Output from the detection means 10,
In addition, the outputs of the zero-cross detection means 21 and the power supply frequency detection means 22 described later are introduced.

From the output circuit 16d of the controller 16,
Outputs are introduced into the display means 23, the water supply means 14, and the drainage means 9 in the operation unit 15, and further, the output from the output circuit 16d is introduced into the motor drive means 24 for the motor 8 and the clutch switching means 25 for the clutch 13. To do. The motor drive means 24 and the clutch switching means 25 control the drive of the rotary vanes 5 and the drive of the washing / dehydrating tub 6.

In the overall flow of FIG. 2, laundry is put into the washing / dehydrating tub 6 (step S1), the start switch is turned on (step S2), and the washing / dehydrating tub 6 is turned on by the water level sensor 10b of the water level detecting means 10. It is determined whether or not there is water (step S3).

If there is no water, the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water is executed to determine (detect) the cloth amount, and this cloth amount information is used until the end of all steps (steps S4 and S5). That is, the amount of detergent and the water level are displayed, water is supplied up to the determined water level, and control parameters such as the time of washing, rinsing, dehydration, and the rotation speed of the rotor are determined (steps S6, S8,
S9).

Since the amount of detergent is displayed in step S6, the user puts in the detergent here (step S6).
7). Then, the washing process is executed (step S10).

When the washing process is completed, it is checked whether or not the amount of cloth has been determined (step S11). Since it has already been determined in step S5, the dehydration process is executed (step S12). Then, a rinsing process is executed (step S13), a dehydration process is executed (step S14), and the process ends.

When water is present, a predetermined motor is energized,
Constant (predetermined) when the rotor 5 is driven in a predetermined sequence
It is checked whether or not the rotation speed rises up to (steps S21 and S22).

When it does not stand up, a predetermined amount of water is supplied (step S23). Further, the rotary blade 5 is driven in a predetermined sequence, and it is further checked whether or not the rotation speed rises to a constant (predetermined) rotation speed (steps S24 and S25).
Such operation is repeated.

When the rotary blades 5 start to rise to a constant (predetermined) rotational speed, the water supply is stopped, the water level sensor 10b measures the water level (step S26), and the cloth amount is determined from the water amount (step S26). S27). After that, the process proceeds to the step of displaying the detergent amount / water level in step S6.

On the other hand, when the rotary blade 5 rises to a constant (predetermined) rotation speed in step S22, it can be determined that the amount of water is more than the proper amount with respect to the amount of cloth. Display the corresponding detergent amount (step S28),
When the detergent amount and the washing process in steps S7 and S10 are executed, the amount of cloth is not yet determined in the step of checking whether the amount of cloth is determined in step S11. The determination is made in the determination mode (step S31), the amount of cloth is determined, and the water level is determined (step S32).

Then, as in step 9, the control parameters are determined (step S33), the cloth amount information is used after the rinsing, and the process proceeds to step S13 of rinsing process execution.

As another example, without determining the amount of water from the amount of water in step S27,
If the rotor blade 5 starts to rise to a constant (predetermined) rotation speed at 25, after the water supply is stopped, step S6 is performed as it is.
It is also possible to shift to the step of displaying the amount of detergent and the water level, and make the determination in the determination mode with water when the dehydration process of step S31 is executed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, since there is a judgment mode when there is no water and a judgment mode when there is water, the amount of cloth can be judged regardless of the presence or absence of water. it can. Especially in the judgment mode with water, the rotor blade 5
Since the amount of cloth is determined by whether or not the speed rises to a constant (predetermined) rotation speed, it is possible to know the amount of cloth accurately and to determine the appropriate amount of water and detergent for that amount of cloth. .

Embodiment 2. FIG. 14 shows an overall flowchart according to the second embodiment. Fig. 14 shows the ease of use and operability of the user when water is present.
The water level can be set by the user before energizing a predetermined motor. That is, in the presence of water, the display means (light emitting diode,
A user is prompted by the buzzer 23) to set the water level, and the water level setting is accepted by the input means (switch, etc.) 20 for a predetermined time (step S19). If there is a water level setting input in step S20, the water level is set. The information is held, the detergent amount and water level are displayed using the set water level (step S6), and this water level information is used until the end of all steps. On the other hand, if there is no water level setting input even after the elapse of a predetermined time in step S20, the steps after step S21 are performed as in the flow of FIG.

According to the second embodiment, since the water level setting by the user is prioritized, it is possible to set the desired water level according to the amount of cloth and wash it, and the washing machine is easy to use. Become. The amount of cloth depends on the judgment based on the experience of the user, but the amount of cloth can be automatically judged as described above if there is no setting input of the water level. In addition, the water level can be set according to the user's preference, which leads to saving water and saving detergent.

Embodiment 3. In the third embodiment, the contents of the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water will be described. In the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water in Fig. 2 or Fig. 14, the damping rate during inertial rotation after stopping the motor energization is the sampling of the time required to reach a predetermined number of pulses continuously, and processing is performed according to the rate of change. To do. Explaining this in detail, when the start / turn on is repeated, driving / stopping is repeated a plurality of times, and when the cloth amount is determined by the rotation information of the motor based on the damping rate of the inertial rotation after the power supply to the motor 8 is stopped, As shown in 24, in principle, it is performed three times: OFF after forward rotation (CW), OFF after reverse rotation (CCW), and OFF after forward rotation (CW).

At that time, as shown in FIG. 15, the motor power is cut off for stopping the motor.
After the time-out signal, which is a request signal, is generated, the motor drive signal is turned off in synchronization with the timing of the (next) power supply zero-cross signal.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, FIG. 2 or FIG.
In the flow of step S4, in the waterless cloth amount determination mode, the motor 8 is energized to normally rotate (first time), reverse (second time), and normally rotate (third time) the rotor blade 5 (step S41), each of these rotations receives a time-out signal after 0.2 seconds has passed, and the zero-cross detection means 21
In step S42, S43, it is detected by the zero cross signal (10 ms at 50 Hz) whether or not there is a zero cross signal, and in synchronization with this zero cross signal, the motor driving signal of the motor driving means 24 is changed from Hi to Lo to energize the motor. Is cut off (step S44).

In this state, the motor 8 shifts to inertial rotation, so the data is taken in (step S45), after 0.4 seconds has passed, and after three sets of data have been taken in (steps S46, S47), the average of the data is obtained. The conversion process is performed (step S48), and the determination ends.

As another example, the motor 8 may be turned off due to a timeout signal, the data may be fetched, and the measurement start point may be from the next zero cross.

As shown in FIG. 20, in the above-mentioned data acquisition, the time (T ₀ , T ₁ , T ₂ ...) When the sensor pulse from the motor rotation sensor 17 reaches 8 pulses is counted. The details of this 8-pulse time counting are shown in FIG. And
The time (count) for every 8 motor pulses is stored in the buffer by the control device 16 using a microcomputer,
A maximum of 9 pieces (9 buffers) are obtained.

As described above, the data acquisition is 0.4
After the lapse of seconds, and as shown in the allocation diagram in Figure 22, 3
After the setting is completed, the data in the buffers A to C are averaged.
Equation 1 below shows an averaging formula, and FIG. 23 shows an allocation diagram for storing averaged data.

[0070]

[Equation 1]

In FIG. 22, when eight pulses do not come, 00 is stored in the subsequent buffers. In addition, it goes without saying that at the time of pulse measurement, noise removal processing, setting of a buffer area in which the count time does not overflow, and counter accuracy are provided.

The three sets of data are averaged in this way, the cloth amount is judged according to the procedure described below, and the judgment of the cloth amount when there is no water is completed (see FIG. 16).

The damping time of the inertial rotation when the motor drive signal is changed from Hi to Lo changes depending on the amount of cloth (t ₁ , t ₂ , t ₃ ), as shown in FIG. T _{0 of} FIG. 17,
Fig. 19 shows a graph of T ₁ , T ₂ ... When the amount of cloth is small, the attenuation is gentle, so the time is extended every 8 pulses, but when the amount of cloth is large, it is 8 pulses. The way the time increases each time is also steep. Dotted lines indicate an upper threshold 101 and a lower threshold 102 that divide the amount of cloth into large, medium and small.

When the nine buffers have been fetched, the data fetching ends, and the threshold values 101 and 102 of FIG. 19 are used in the subsequent cloth amount determination processing.

The motor rotation sensor 17 (or the pulley rotation sensor 30 for detecting the rotation of the pulley 7b) by the pilot generator 19 is used not only for judging the amount of cloth but also for controlling the rotation speed. Instead, fine pulses are required. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 25, 16 pulses are output when the motor 8 makes one rotation. In other words, one cycle of the pulse becomes 1/16 rotation, and one pulse width may vary.

As shown in FIG. 19, at least T ₀ and T ₁
In order to see such changes, it is necessary to have two or more data, and considering the error of the pulse width, the setting of the number of pulses is preferably the number of pulses generated in one rotation or multiple rotations. .

Moreover, since the inertial rotation of the motor 8 is less than 1.5 to 2 rotations at the maximum cloth amount, considering this,
The setting of the number of pulses is optimally set to be a divisor or a multiple of the number of pulses generated in one rotation, and capable of performing sampling at least twice with the maximum cloth amount.

Turning off the motor 8 during the pulse count time period
The period can be changed depending on the pulse generation rate. As shown in FIG. 26 as the first, as shown in FIG. 26, the pulse width of each of Hi and Lo ends at the time when the pulse arrives twice or more (2t) with respect to the previous pulse width (t). To do. In the figure, the motor 8 is turned on in synchronization with the zero-cross signal immediately after receiving the end information.

Furthermore, as the second part, in addition to this, FIG.
As shown in, the original motor OFF period is 0.4S (seconds)
However, if 8 pulses are being captured, the OFF period of 0.4S is extended until 8 pulses are captured.

As described above, the end of data acquisition is
At the same time as having the termination conditions shown in Table 1 below, it also has the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 28. First, when the timeout of 0.4S comes, the measurement is terminated at that time. Further, if 0.4S or less, it may be finished when 9 buffers are filled. Second
Even after the 0.4S time-out, if 8 pulses are being captured, the process continues until the 8 pulses are captured. However, if the pulse width t '> 2t, it is considered that the motor is stopped, and the process ends at that time. Thirdly, pulse width t '>
If it is 2t, it is considered that the motor is stopped, and the process ends at that time.

[0081]

[Table 1]

As described above, the damping rate during inertial rotation means that the time required to reach a predetermined number of pulses is continuously sampled and processed according to the rate of change. The data after performing the normalization processing calculation based on the time measurement time of T _{0 of} 19 is used. Fig. 29 shows the raw data of inertial rotational damping rate, which is similar to Fig. 19, and Fig. 30 shows Fig. 29.
The data is normalized, but as can be seen, the threshold value is linear, easy to determine, easy to process, and easy to make relative comparison. Further, by doing so, the initial conditions (power supply voltage fluctuation, belt tension, etc.) are made uniform, which improves accuracy.

In this normalization, three sets of averaged buffers are as shown in FIG. 31, but the first data (T
_{Based on} the (average value of ₀ ), the following formula 2 is used.

[0084]

[Equation 2]

As shown in FIG. 32, the first buffer is always 1.0.

The change rate after the normalization processing identifies (leads to) the relationship between the change rate and the cloth amount by using a neural network. Figure 33 shows its outline. BP (Back Propagation: Error Back Propagation Learning) is a supervised learning method for hierarchical networks and can be divided into "execution calculation", "comparison evaluation", and "learning calculation" configurations. The "execution calculation" part in this is realized by the execution software, but the network configuration learned offline (computer etc.) is transplanted to the microcomputer and the execution calculation is performed online. Table 2 below shows an example of teacher data to be learned by the neural network.

[0087]

[Table 2]

The structure of the neural network, the teacher data and the software used in the present invention are as follows. Input layer: 9 neurons Intermediate layer: 5 neurons Output layer: 1 neuron Total number of neurons: 15 neurons (excluding bias) Connection method: Full connection (50 links)

Of these, a data string of the time required to count 8 pulses in the input layer (graph (d) of FIG. 33)
The normalized data (graph of (c)) is input. Therefore, a data string whose initial value is always "1" (FFh inside the microcomputer) by normalization is assigned to nine neurons and input. The bias is a neuron that always has a value of 1.

The output layer means the cloth amount and is composed of one neuron and is processed as a continuous value. For example, the cloth amount of 0 to 6 kg is assigned to the neuron value of 0 to 1 as shown in the following Expression 3.

[0091]

(Equation 3)

The determination of the middle layer often requires trial and error efforts. In this example, 5 neurons have been experimentally determined, but the learning ability is used to make the determination.

As shown in FIG. 34, the washing machine has a power frequency (5
(0/60 Hz), the pulley 7a on the motor 8 side is replaced with a different size. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35, the pulley 7a in the case of 60 Hz is smaller than that in the case of 50 Hz, and therefore the reduction ratio (attenuation rate) is large even if the start is the same in the original data. As a result, the normalized data is naturally different.

FIG. 36, FIG.
As shown in 37, using the normalized data group at 50 Hz as teacher data during offline learning,
It is assumed that two power supply frequency compatible networks that use the normalized data group at 0 Hz as teacher data are prepared in the same network configuration. Table is 50H
There are two, a coupling coefficient table for z and a coupling coefficient table for 60 Hz.

At the time of execution by the microcomputer, the power supply frequency detecting means 22 determines whether it is 50 Hz or 60 Hz, and the neural network execution calculation is performed by each table to determine the cloth amount.

The inertial rotation damping factor of the belt 12 connecting the pulley 7a on the motor 8 side and the pulley 7b on the shaft side of the rotary blade 5 shown in FIG. 34 varies depending on the tension. If there is no load, that is, the amount of cloth, the belt tension is weak, medium,
The higher the inertial rotational damping rate is, the steeper it is.

When the neural network is trained, the outside of the teacher data range is not guaranteed, but normally this learning is based on the stage during belt tension.
If the belt tension is weak or strong, the result may be out of warranty.

Therefore, in the present invention, as such belt tension correction processing, the neural network is configured to have two output layers, a cloth amount neuron and a belt tension neuron, as shown in FIG. When the data outside the guaranteed range is input to the tension neuron, the weak side of the belt tension when no load is assigned, and when the data within the guaranteed range is input, 0 is assigned.

The correction process is performed by a factory line inspection or a service person, for example, by pressing the start switch of the washing machine for several seconds, or by pressing the start switch and other switches at the same time.

The flow is shown in FIG. 38. If the belt tension neuron is 0, it is divided into a negative neuron value which is judged as no correction and a belt tension is strong depending on whether the cloth volume neuron is 0 or not. Further, when the belt tension neuron is not 0, if the cloth amount neuron is 0, it is a plus neuron value for judging that the belt tension is weak, and such information (detected cloth amount) when there is no cloth amount is E. ² Store in PROM 16c.

As another example of the belt tension correction processing, as shown in FIG. 40, the data of the ninth buffer, which is the final buffer for the data acquisition when there is no cloth, is read and the belt tension correction value is set according to the threshold value. May be calculated and the result may be stored in an E ² PROM or the like.

FIG. 41 shows the normalized data showing the inertial rotation characteristics when the amount of cloth is not applied with respect to the strength of the belt tension. Figure
42 shows a subroutine flowchart for determining the belt tension based on the threshold value. The 9 tension values are equal to or greater than 0.8 and are equal to or greater than 0.65. judge.

In any of the above-mentioned cases, in the execution processing of the neural network at the time of detecting the cloth amount, when the correction is necessary, as shown in FIG. 39, it is read from the E ² PROM 16c and the correction processing is performed to determine the cloth amount.

When the amount of cloth is determined in step S5 in the flow of FIG. 2 or FIG. 14, the amount of water commensurate with the amount of cloth is determined. The method of determining this amount of water is as shown by the stepless line in FIG. The amount of cloth detected is assigned to the required amount of water without changing the resolution.

This allocation may be either a table method or a calculation method, but the amount of water supply is determined steplessly. FIG. 43 and FIG. 44 are comparisons between the case of the conventional five-stage water amount and the case of the stepless water amount of the present invention. By using the stepless water supply method as in the present invention, waste can be eliminated and the judgment error Even if there is a water supply error, it is possible to keep the water supply error within the error range.

In the above example, the damping rate during inertial rotation is such that the time required to reach the predetermined number of pulses is continuously sampled and processed according to the change rate thereof. It is also possible to continuously sample the number of pulses of, and process by the rate of change. Figure 45
Corresponds to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 46, in the data fetching, the pulse count is performed for 40 ms, the data fetching is completed at the time when 9 buffers have been fetched, and the determination processing ends. Details of the pulse count for 40 ms are shown in FIG.

When the counter is initialized and the pulse count is started, the timer is turned on and the rising edge of the pulse is detected. When the counter is incremented, the timer is stopped at 40 ms and the count value is stored in the buffer.

This buffer storage is for obtaining a maximum of 9 motor pulses every 40 ms. If no pulse comes,
00 is stored in the subsequent buffers. As shown in FIG. 48, after the completion of three sets, the data in buffers A to C are averaged. Equation 4 below shows an averaging formula, and FIG. 49 shows an allocation diagram for storing averaged data.

[0110]

[Equation 4]

FIG. 50 shows raw data of inertial rotation damping, and FIG. 51 shows normalized data. When 9 buffers have been taken in, data fetching ends, and thereafter, in the judgment processing, the threshold values 101, 102, 103 in FIG. 51 are set. To use.

Fourth Embodiment In the fourth embodiment, the contents of the cloth amount determination mode when there is water will be described. In the cloth amount determination mode in the presence of water in the flow of FIG. 2 or FIG. 14, the load applied to the rotary blades 5 differs depending on whether the laundry 26 is floating in water or sinking as shown in FIG. Therefore, a difference occurs in the rotation speed of the motor 8. Therefore, in the flow of FIG. 2 or FIG. 14, the check as to whether or not the rotation speed rises to a constant rotation speed in step S22 is to be measured after acclimatizing for a predetermined time for the purpose of absorbing water and running.

In this acclimatization operation, as shown in FIG. 53, the rotation speed of the motor 8 is reduced by about 1/3 of the rotation of normal washing, and instead, the rotation time is slowly rotated by about 3 times. The forward rotation and the reverse rotation are performed about three times. This is because sudden rotation may damage the cloth.

Further, in the flow of FIG. 2 or FIG. 14, it is checked whether or not the rotation speed reaches a constant (predetermined) rotation speed (steps S21 and S22). If the rotation speed does not rise, a predetermined amount of water is supplied so as to rise (step S23). )But,
To supply water until such a constant rotation speed is reached,
Predict the amount of water shortage from the change characteristics of rising.

When there is a large amount of cloth in a small amount of water as shown in FIG. 54, the rotor blade 5 is t ₁ (0.2 s) for the first time.
When turned on, the rotation speed of the rotary blade 5 does not reach the predetermined rotation speed. Therefore, the rotation characteristic (w ₀ −w ₁ ) after t ₁ seconds from when the motor 8 is turned on is measured, and the insufficient water amount (q) is determined from the correlation shown in FIG. 55.

The reason why it is limited to the first time is that the laundry is lifted after the second time and the difference as described above is unlikely to occur. As another example, a method of using the neural network to determine the insufficient water amount from the difference in the damping characteristics after the motor 8 is turned off is also conceivable.

Furthermore, when the amount of insufficient water is predicted, the required amount of detergent is displayed. As shown in Figure 56,
Assuming that the amount of insufficient water is q and q is ₀ , the required amount of water Q ₁ is
Since Q ₁ = Q ₀ + q, the detergent amount W commensurate with this water amount Q ₁ is immediately displayed (step S6 after step S25 in the flow of FIGS. 2 and 14).

In the flow of FIG. 2 or FIG. 14, when there is a predetermined amount of water and the rotor blade 5 rises to a constant (predetermined) rotation speed in step S22, whether the cloth amount in step S11 is determined or not. Since the amount of cloth has not yet been determined at the step of seeing, the washing step (step S10) [or the rinsing step execution (step S13)] and the draining step (not shown) are completed, and then there is no water in the water level setting means 10. When water is detected, the waterless judgment mode (step S4)
The amount of cloth is judged by using the same processing method as above and using the same neural network and the coupling coefficient table. However, since the cloth contains water, it is judged excessively than the actual amount of cloth. The amount of increase in the weight of water is corrected by the correction unit, and the amount of cloth is separately determined when there is water.

Table 3 shows an example of the weight W ₁ of the water-containing cloth after the washing step and the draining step with respect to the dry cloth weight W ₀ , and the weight ratio W ₀ / W ₁ of both. From Table 3, the dry cloth weight W ₀ is the weight ratio W ₀ / water-containing cloth weight W ₁
It can be obtained by multiplying by W ₁ . Therefore, the weight ratio W ₀ / W ₁ ≈0.
It may be corrected by multiplying by 30.

[0120]

[Table 3]

FIG. 57 shows a normalized data string of the rotor blade inertial rotational damping factor of a water-containing cloth. This data string is learned offline as teacher data, a neural network is constructed, and a coupling coefficient table of the completed neural network is created. Prepare for the microcomputer. Separately, the amount of cloth with water is determined by using the same processing method as the mode of determining the amount of cloth without water (step S4) and using the coupling coefficient table of the prepared neural network.

As a separate cloth amount judgment for determining the amount of cloth in the presence of water, the rate of inertial rotation speed change of the washing / dehydrating tub 6 after spin-off is used instead of the rotor blade rotation attenuation rate after the washing step. The amount of cloth may be determined by. When performing the dehydration process, the amount of cloth is determined in the determination mode with water (step S31). The method for determining the amount of cloth separately with water is shown in FIG. 58
As shown in FIG. 62, the amount of cloth is determined by the rate of inertial rotation change of the washing / dehydrating tub 6 after spin-off.

The flow is shown in FIG. 58. When the predetermined time (2 minutes) has elapsed in the high-speed dehydration after the preliminary dehydration (low-speed dehydration), the motor 8 is stopped and the data acquisition is performed for the predetermined time (60 seconds). To do.

This cloth amount judging method is the same as the cloth amount judging mode when there is no water in step S4 in the flow of FIG. 2 or FIG. 14, but the measuring time and the number of pulses are different. The pulse is seen after the motor 8 is stopped. Since the washing / dehydrating tub 6 rotates at a high speed, it is assumed that the pulse divided by 8 is counted by 128 pulses. In this case, the larger the amount of cloth (load), the slower the damping. Therefore, the relationship between the amount of cloth and the rotational damping is reversed from that in the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water.

For the rate of inertial rotation change in this case, the same processing method as in the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water is used, and the neural network having the same configuration is used.

On the other hand, as the rate of change of the inertial rotation speed, the inertial rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub 6 after the energization of the motor 8 is stopped is counted as the number of pulses of the motor rotation sensor 17 or the pulley rotation sensor 30. It is also possible to determine the amount of cloth from, and the flow is shown in FIG. In FIG. 63, a mask period is set for a predetermined time Tm, for example, 50 seconds after the power supply to the motor is stopped. The mask period is set because the inertia rotation speed change rate of the washing / dehydrating tub 6 immediately after the power supply to the motor is stopped is smaller than the amount of cloth. When the masking period ends, the number of pulses of the motor rotation sensor 17 or the pulley rotation sensor 30 is counted for a predetermined time Tc, for example, 10 seconds. In this case, since the rotation speed of the motor rotation sensor 17 or the pulley rotation sensor 30 is high, one divided by 128 is counted as one pulse. FIG. 64 shows a graph of the relationship between the amount of cloth and the number of pulses. The correlation coefficient r between the two is r = 0.99, and it is confirmed by experiments that the linearity is high. The amount of cloth is x, the number of pulses is y, and the relationship between them is y =
When expressed by a linear expression of ax + b, the expression 5 is obtained. When this is transformed into an expression for obtaining the cloth amount x, it is expressed as the expression 6.

[0127]

(Equation 5)

(Equation 6)

Therefore, the number of counted pulses is calculated by the above equation 6
The amount of cloth is determined by substituting into and calculating.

As a separate cloth amount determination method for determining the cloth amount, instead of the inertial rotation change rate of the washing / dehydrating tub 6 after spin-off, the rotation speed changing rate of the washing / dewatering tub 6 at the start of dewatering is performed. It is also possible to look at (rate of increase).

FIG. 65 shows the flow thereof. Preliminary dehydration (slow speed dehydration) is performed for a predetermined time (2 minutes), and when high speed dehydration is performed, data acquisition is performed for a predetermined time (9 seconds).

However, the rotation speed change rate (rate of increase) of the washing / dewatering tub 6 at the start of such dehydration changes due to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage, and the same motor rotation speed increase curve is obtained at 1 kg / 90 V and 3 kg / 100 V. It has been clarified experimentally that Therefore, it may not be possible to distinguish them even if the amount of cloth is different. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 66, the power supply voltage is monitored and the output result is corrected.

FIG. 67 is a power supply voltage monitor block diagram, in which 27 is a power transformer, 28 is a rectifying diode bridge, and 29 is a regulator. As shown in the figure, the power supply voltage is monitored at the point after full-wave rectification.

FIG. 68 shows power supply voltages 90V, 100V, 110.
The rectified voltage at V and the zero-cross signal are shown. Since the rectified voltage has a pulsating flow, the rectified voltage is read in synchronization with the zero-cross pulse. FIG. 69 shows a rectified voltage diagram with respect to the power supply voltage.

Since the AC voltage vs. the rectified voltage is shown in Table 4 below, the power supply voltage can be estimated from the rectified voltage.

[0135]

[Table 4]

FIG. 70 and Table 5 below show the experimental results of the dehydration acceleration characteristics with respect to the power supply voltage, and it can be assumed that the dehydration acceleration characteristics can be assumed to be approximately proportional to the square of the power supply voltage. It is almost the same as when it is assumed to be proportional to the square of (dotted line)]. Therefore, if the ratio of the reciprocal of the square of the power supply voltage is 110V, for example, 1/1.
The correction may be made by multiplying 21≈0.83.

[0137]

[Table 5]

[0138]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The laundry amount judging method for a washing machine of the present invention has the following effects by adopting the above-mentioned construction.

The amount of cloth can be accurately determined regardless of the presence or absence of water, the accuracy is improved, and the proper amount of detergent can be displayed at an early stage.

When there is water, by accepting the water level setting by the user, the water level can be adjusted to the user's intended water level from the washing process, the usability is improved, and the amount of water used is optimized and water saving is achieved. And the amount of detergent used can be saved.

The damping ratio of the inertial rotation after stopping the motor energization is
By performing the operation in synchronization with the timing of the power source zero-cross signal, the motor current OFF is kept constant, the measurement start timing is the same condition, and the detection accuracy is improved.

By providing the rotation speed detecting means on the rotary blades or the pulley for driving the dehydration tub, it is possible to eliminate the error factor of the rotation speed due to the slip and vibration of the belt, so that highly accurate determination can be realized.

The damping rate during inertial rotation is obtained by continuously sampling the time required to reach a predetermined number of pulses, storing it in a plurality of buffers, and processing it according to the rate of change.
Since it is possible to capture not the specific time change but the continuous change until just before the motor stops, from small to large amount of cloth,
It can be judged with the same accuracy and high accuracy.

The pulse number, which is the time required to reach the predetermined pulse number, is set to be a divisor or multiple of the pulse number generated in one rotation, and the maximum cloth amount can be sampled at least twice. The H / W error per pulse is reduced, and the accuracy per rotation can be improved.

The motor OFF period, which is a pulse count time period, can be varied according to the degree of occurrence of pulses. In addition to this, a predetermined OFF period is taken until the individual pulse interval is doubled or more, and a predetermined number of pulses is fetched. By extending it, the judgment time at the time of large capacity can be shortened.
The accuracy when the capacity is small improves.

The rate of change is a relative rate because a pure rate of change can be obtained by a simple processing algorithm by using the data after performing the normalization processing calculation based on the first predetermined pulse count time. Easy to compare. Further, since the fluctuation factors of the initial conditions (power supply voltage fluctuation, belt tension, etc.) can be absorbed, accuracy is improved.

The rate of change after the normalization processing is identified (derived) from the relationship between the rate of change and the cloth amount by using a neural network.
By doing so, the processing is easy, the change is easy, and there is no big error. Furthermore, due to the generalization performance,
A continuous cloth amount output is obtained.

If two neural networks corresponding to the power supply frequency (50/60 Hz) are prepared with the same network configuration, the coupling coefficient only needs to be tabulated and no additional program change is required even if the factors change. Can be dealt with.

As the neural network, a network for belt tension correction is prepared, and the information (detected cloth amount) when there is no cloth amount is corrected as input information of the neural network stored in the non-volatile memory. Adjustments are easy because it can accommodate fluctuations and absorb belt tension errors at the time of factory shipment.

Reading the data in the final buffer of data acquisition when there is no cloth amount, calculating the belt tension correction value by the threshold value, storing the result in the non-volatile memory, and correcting the cloth amount judgment result. Then, the configuration of the neural network can be used as it is and the processing is simple.

After the cloth amount is detected, the quantization error can be reduced by allocating the necessary water amount with the resolution of the detected cloth amount. Furthermore, even if there is an error in the cloth amount detection, it is suppressed to the minimum water amount error, so the water saving effect is remarkable.

The damping rate during inertial rotation can be determined with the same accuracy and high accuracy because the number of pulses for each predetermined time is continuously sampled and processed by the rate of change, and the measurement time can be made constant.

The check as to whether or not the rotation speed reaches a constant rotational speed is performed after the fabric has been acclimatized for a predetermined time for the purpose of absorbing water, so that the determination can be made under the same conditions by sufficiently supplying water to the fabric.

In order to supply water until the rotation speed reaches a constant rotation speed, a shortage of water is predicted from the change characteristic of rising, and the insufficient water quantity is supplied, and it is rechecked whether or not the water starts up to a constant rotation speed after water supply. The amount of water can be predicted, and it is expected to be effective, not sequential, and to prevent cloth clogging.

Predicting the amount of water shortage from the rising change characteristic is judged from the rising change characteristic of the first rotation, so that the judgment time can be shortened and highly accurate judgment can be realized.

Since the required detergent amount is displayed at the time when the insufficient water amount is predicted, the proper detergent amount can be displayed at an early stage.

The method of determining the amount of cloth with water separately uses the same processing method as the mode of determining the amount of cloth without water after the washing process, and the same neural net and coupling coefficient table can be used, which improves the efficiency of the program. To be

The method for determining the amount of cloth with water separately uses the same processing method as the mode for determining the amount of cloth without water after the washing process, and uses the neural network and the coupling coefficient table dedicated to the determination of the amount of water-containing cloth. Can be determined.

[0159] Separately, when the amount of water is present, the method for determining the amount of cloth is:
Since the amount of cloth is determined by the rate of inertial rotation speed change of the subsequent washing and dewatering tub, the amount of cloth can be determined by inertial rotation of the washing and dewatering tub during dewatering, and the measurement algorithm can be the same, Efficiency can be obtained.

The inertia rotation speed change rate uses the same processing method as the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water, and the neural network having the same configuration is used, so that the same network configuration can be used and the efficiency of the program can be improved.

Separately, in the method of determining the amount of cloth with water, the inertial rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub after the power supply to the motor is stopped is counted as the number of pulses of the motor rotation sensor or the pulley rotation sensor,
Since the relationship between the pulse number and the cloth amount can be approximated, the cloth amount can be determined by a mathematical expression, and the efficiency of the program can be improved.

The method of determining the amount of cloth with water separately determines the amount of cloth at the rate of change in the rotation speed of the washing / dewatering tub at the start of dehydration, and at the same time monitors the power supply voltage and corrects the output result. The amount of cloth can be determined by inertial rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a laundry amount determination method for a washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a laundry amount determination method for a washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a fully automatic washing machine.

FIG. 4 is a vertical side view of the fully automatic washing machine.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotating mechanism of the fully automatic washing machine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a motor rotation sensor.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a magnet of a motor rotation sensor.

FIG. 8 is an output waveform diagram of a motor rotation sensor.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a tank rotation sensor.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of a tank rotation sensor.

FIG. 11 is an output waveform diagram of the tank rotation sensor.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a pulley rotation sensor.

FIG. 13 is an electric circuit diagram of a pulley rotation sensor.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a waveform diagram for synchronizing the motor stop signal with the timing of the power supply zero-cross signal.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a method of fetching / processing data in the waterless cloth amount determination mode.

FIG. 17 is a waveform diagram at the time of sampling the pulse number.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing the relationship between the damping rate and the cloth amount during inertial rotation.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing the relationship between the damping rate and time during inertial rotation.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing data acquisition during inertial rotation.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a method of counting a predetermined number of pulses.

FIG. 22 is an allocation diagram of data acquisition.

FIG. 23 is a storage allocation diagram for data averaging.

FIG. 24 is a waveform diagram of a rotation direction and a rotation speed of a motor when data is captured.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing variations in motor pulses.

FIG. 26 is a waveform diagram showing a first condition for ending data acquisition.

FIG. 27 is a waveform diagram showing a second condition for ending data acquisition.

[Fig. 28] Fig. 28 is an explanatory diagram showing the priority order of the data acquisition end conditions.

FIG. 29 is a graph showing raw data of a damping ratio of inertial rotation of a motor.

FIG. 30 is a graph showing normalized data of a damping ratio of inertial rotation of a motor.

FIG. 31 is a storage allocation diagram for data averaging.

FIG. 32 is an allocation diagram of storage of data normalized with the first data as a reference.

FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the laundry amount detection of the washing machine and a network configuration.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a pulley and a belt depending on a power supply frequency.

FIG. 35 is a graph showing the relationship between the original data of the damping ratio of the inertial rotation of the motor depending on the power supply frequency and the normalized data.

FIG. 36 is an explanatory diagram of a learning unit of the neural network.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing execution of a neural network.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing belt tension correction processing.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart of cloth amount correction using a neural network.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing belt tension correction processing.

FIG. 41 is a graph showing the inertial rotation damping characteristic when there is no amount of cloth.

FIG. 42 is a flowchart of a belt tension determination subroutine based on a threshold value.

FIG. 43 is a graph showing the amount of water with respect to the amount of load.

FIG. 44 is a chart showing a comparison between the effect of water level on five levels and the effect of stepless water amount.

FIG. 45 is a waveform diagram at the time of sampling the pulse number.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing data acquisition during inertial rotation.

FIG. 47 is a flowchart showing a method of counting a predetermined number of pulses.

FIG. 48 is an allocation diagram showing data acquisition.

FIG. 49 is a storage allocation diagram for data averaging.

FIG. 50 is a graph showing raw data of the damping ratio of inertial rotation.

FIG. 51 is a graph showing normalized data of damping ratio of inertial rotation.

FIG. 52 is an explanatory diagram showing a laundry state and a motor rotation speed.

FIG. 53 is a waveform chart at the time of running-in the laundry.

FIG. 54 is a waveform chart showing the relationship between the motor rotation speed and the amount of water.

FIG. 55 is a graph showing the relationship between the difference in motor rotation speed and the amount of water.

FIG. 56 is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of water and the amount of detergent.

FIG. 57 is a graph showing normalized data of inertial rotational damping rate of a water-containing cloth.

FIG. 58 is a flow chart showing a method of fetching data in the cloth amount determination mode with water.

FIG. 59 is a waveform diagram showing inertial rotation of the tank after the motor is turned off during dehydration rotation.

FIG. 60 is a waveform diagram at the time of sampling the number of rotation pulses of the dehydration tank.

FIG. 61 is a graph showing raw data of a damping rate of inertial rotation of a dehydration tank.

FIG. 62 is a graph showing normalized data of the damping rate of inertial rotation of the dehydration tank.

FIG. 63 is a flowchart showing a method for counting the number of pulses in the dehydration tank.

FIG. 64 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of pulses and the amount of cloth during inertial rotation of the dehydration tank.

[Fig. 65] Fig. 65 is a flowchart showing a method for capturing data during inertial rotation of the dehydration tank.

FIG. 66 is a flowchart of voltage correction processing.

FIG. 67 is a power supply voltage monitor block diagram.

FIG. 68 is a waveform diagram showing a rectified voltage and a zero-cross signal.

FIG. 69 is a rectified voltage diagram with respect to a power supply voltage.

FIG. 70 is a graph showing dehydration acceleration characteristics with respect to power supply voltage.

FIG. 71 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a neural network in belt tension correction processing.

FIG. 72 is a waveform diagram showing conventional motor drive stop and motor current.

FIG. 73 is a graph showing the relationship between motor rotation speed and time when the conventional motor drive is stopped.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Outer box, 2 ... Anti-vibration spring, 3 ... Hanging rod, 4 ... Water receiving tank, 5 ...
Rotor blades, 6 ... Washing / dehydrating tank, 7a, 7b ... Pulleys, 8 ...
Motor, 9 ... Drainage means, 9a ... Drain pipe, 9b ... Drain valve, 9c ... Drain hose, 10 ... Water level detection means, 10a ...
Pressure guide tube, 10b ... Water level sensor, 11 ... Reduction gear, 12 ...
Belt, 13 ... Clutch, 14 ... Water supply means, 14a ... Water supply valve, 14b ... Water supply hose, 15 ... Operation part, 16 ... Control circuit, 16a ... Input circuit, 16b ... CPU, 16c ... E
² ROM, 16d ... Output circuit, 17 ... Motor rotation sensor, 17a ... Magnet, 17b ... Iron core, 17c ... Coil, 18 ... Tank rotation sensor, 18a ... Magnet, 18b
... Hall IC, 19 ... Pilot generator, 20 ...
Input means, 21 ... Zero cross detection means, 22 ... Power frequency detection means, 23 ... Display means, 24 ... Motor drive means,
25 ... Clutch switching means, 26 ... Laundry, 27 ... Power transformer, 28 ... Rectifier diode bridge, 29 ... Regulator, 30 ... Pulley rotation sensor, 31 ... Disc, 32 ...
Hole, 33 ... Photointerrupter, 33a ... Light emitting diode, 33b ... Phototransistor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Manitani 2-3-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Sanryo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Masafumi Nagata 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Ryo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masayuki Watakuchi 1-1-1, Yamate, Funabashi City, Chiba Nihon Kenketsu Co., Ltd.

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine, wherein after the start switch is turned on, driving / stopping is repeated a plurality of times, and the amount of laundry is determined based on motor rotation information based on a damping rate of inertial rotation after stopping energization of the motor. Before the amount of cloth is judged, the water level detecting means judges whether or not there is water, and if there is no water, the cloth amount judgment mode when there is no water is executed to detect the amount of cloth Information is used.If there is water, it is checked if the motor starts up to a certain speed when the motor is energized for a certain amount of time. A method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine, wherein the amount of laundry is determined in an amount determination mode, and this amount of laundry information is used after rinsing, and when the amount of water does not rise, water is supplied until rising to a constant rotation speed. 2. When water is present, a means for prompting a user to set a desired water level is provided before energizing a predetermined motor, and water level setting is accepted for a certain period of time. The washing is started using the set water level, and this water level information is used after rinsing, and if there is no water level setting input even after a lapse of a predetermined time, the step with the water is performed. The method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine according to 1. 3. The driving / stopping as the rotation information of the motor is repeated a plurality of times, and the damping ratio of the inertial rotation after the motor energization is stopped is the (next) power source zero cross after the motor stop request signal is generated for a predetermined time. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operation is performed in synchronization with the timing of the signal.
The method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine described. 4. The rotating speed detecting means is provided on a rotary blade or a pulley for driving a dehydration tub.
Alternatively, the method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine according to claim 2. 5. The damping rate during inertial rotation is characterized in that the time required to reach a predetermined number of pulses is continuously sampled, stored in a plurality of buffers, and processed by the rate of change. The method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine according to claim 2 or 3. 6. The predetermined pulse number when sampling the time required to reach the predetermined pulse number is a divisor or multiple of the pulse value generated for one rotation of the motor, and sampling can be performed at least twice at the maximum cloth amount. 6. The method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine according to claim 5, wherein the setting is made differently. 7. A motor OFF period, which is a pulse count time period, can be varied depending on the degree of pulse generation, and the individual pulse interval ends when the number of pulses is double or more, and in addition, a predetermined OFF period is acquired until a predetermined number of pulses are captured. The method according to claim 3, wherein the period is extended. 8. The rate of change uses data after performing a normalization process calculation based on a first predetermined pulse count time (value in the first buffer).
The method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine described. 9. The method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine according to claim 8, wherein the change rate after the normalization processing is identified (guided) by a neural network using a neural network. . 10. The neural network is provided with two power supply frequency (50/60 Hz) compatible networks having the same network configuration.
The method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine described. 11. The neural network is characterized in that a network for belt tension correction is prepared, and correction processing is performed on the information (detected cloth amount) when there is no cloth amount as input information of the neural network stored in a non-volatile memory. The method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine according to claim 9 or 10. 12. The data in the final buffer of data acquisition when there is no cloth amount is read, a belt tension correction value is calculated by a threshold value, and the result is stored in a non-volatile memory to correct the cloth amount judgment result. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: 13. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein after the amount of cloth is detected, the resolution of the detected amount of cloth is allocated to the required amount of water as it is. 14. The damping ratio during inertial rotation is characterized in that the number of pulses for each predetermined time is continuously sampled and processed by the rate of change thereof.
The method for determining the amount of laundry in the washing machine described. 15. The cloth for a washing machine according to claim 1, wherein whether or not the cloth reaches a constant rotation speed is checked after the cloth has been acclimated for a predetermined time for the purpose of absorbing water, and after the operation. Quantity determination method. 16. To supply water until a constant rotation speed is reached, predict the amount of water shortage from the change characteristics of rising, supply this amount of water shortage, and re-check whether or not the water will rise to a constant rotation speed after water supply. The method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the water shortage amount is predicted from the rising change characteristic by determining from the rising change characteristic of the first rotation. 18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the required detergent amount is displayed at the time when the water shortage amount is predicted. 19. The separate method for determining the amount of water when there is water, when the water level is detected by the water level detecting means after completion of the washing (or rinsing) and drainage steps, 3. The laundry amount determination method for a washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the method is executed by using the same processing method as that of the laundry amount determination mode, and the determination result is corrected by the correction unit for the weight increase due to water. 20. The method for separately determining the amount of water when there is water, when the water level is detected by the water level detecting means after the washing (or rinsing) and drainage steps are completed, The laundry amount determination method for a washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the same processing method as that of the laundry amount determination mode is used to prepare a coupling coefficient table of a neural network dedicated to water-containing fabric. 21. Separately, the method for determining the amount of cloth with water is dehydrated O
The method for determining the amount of cloth in a washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the amount of cloth is judged based on a rate of change in inertial rotation speed of the washing and dehydrating tub after FF. 22. The rate of inertial rotation speed change of the washing / dehydrating tub after spin-off is performed by using the same processing method as in the cloth amount determination mode when there is no water, and using a neural network of the same construction. The method for determining the amount of laundry in a washing machine according to claim 21. 23. Separately, the method for determining the amount of cloth with water is dehydrated O
The laundry amount determination of the washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the relation between the rate of change in the inertial rotation speed of the washing / dehydrating tub after FF and the amount of cloth is approximated, and the relation is obtained using this approximate expression. Method. 24. A separate method for determining the amount of cloth with water is to determine the amount of cloth by the rate of change in the rotation speed of the washing / dewatering tub at the start of dehydration, and at the same time monitor the power supply voltage and correct the output result. The method for determining the amount of cloth in a washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein