JPH0924181A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing machine capable of accurately determining the quantity of washing by a signal based on the motor rotation state when a motor for blade drive is driven in a state washing is thrown into the washing tub, and, after that, determining the quality of washing by a similar signal when water is fed to a prescribed level and the motor is driven. SOLUTION: When a start key is operated at a key input part 17, a control part 16 determines the quantity of washing preliminarily thrown into the washing and dehydrating tub 2 when no water is discriminated to be filled therein based on a detection signal from a water level sensor 13. That is, a motor 7 is driven and controlled to rotate a rotation blade 6 in clockwise then counterclockwise, the pulse accompanied by the motor voltage wave form is counted to determine the quantity of washing comparing the pulse with a reference. Then a water supply solenoid valve is opened up to the minimum washing water level to supply water, and the quality of washing is determined. Proper washing and rinsing water levels are determined from the determined results of quantity and quality as well as washing time and rinsing time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a laundry machine that determines the amount of laundry and the quality of laundry, determines the washing conditions based on these determination results, and executes a washing operation. Regarding

[0002]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the amount and quality of laundry are accurately determined, and the washing conditions such as the washing water level and the washing time are appropriately determined based on the results of these determinations to perform the washing operation. It is intended to provide a washing machine to run.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a washing machine in which the quantity of laundry can be judged even if the quality of the laundry cannot be judged.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a washing tub, a wing arranged in the washing tub, a motor for driving the wing, a water level sensor for detecting a water level in the washing tub, and In a washing machine provided with a signal output means for outputting a signal based on a rotation state of a motor, and a control section for driving and controlling the motor based on the outputs of the water level sensor and the signal output means, the control section includes: Water determination means for determining whether or not water is accumulated in the washing tub by a water level sensor,
When it is determined that the water is not accumulated by the water determination means, the motor is drive-controlled while the laundry is put in the washing tub, and the output signal of the signal output means at this time is output. Based on the first amount determining means for determining the amount of laundry based on the first amount determining means, and after the determination by the first amount determining means, water is supplied until the water level sensor detects the first predetermined water level, and then the motor is drive-controlled, Washing conditions are determined based on the quality determination means for determining the quality of the laundry on the basis of the output signal of the signal output means, and the determination results by the first amount determination means and the quality determination means. When it is determined by the first executing means for executing the operation and the water determining means that water is accumulated, the laundry is put into the washing tub and the water level sensor detects the second predetermined water level. Water up to Drive control the motor, and determine the laundry amount based on the second amount determining means for determining the laundry amount based on the output signal of the signal output means at this time and the determination result by the second amount determining means. It has a 2nd execution means which performs a washing operation under this washing condition. The first predetermined water level and the second predetermined water level are water levels below the minimum washing water level.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional washing machine, a rotary wing is intermittently rotated (a motor for driving the rotary wing is intermittently driven and controlled) in a state in which laundry is put into a washing tub and water is not put therein. ,
A pulse signal based on the rotation state of the motor at this time is taken out, and the amount of laundry is judged by the number of this pulse.
That is, when the amount of laundry is large, the resistance to the rotary blades (laundry) is large, and the rotation of the motor deteriorates. In particular, the inertial rotation speed of the motor rapidly decreases during the inertial rotation when the motor is turned off. As a result, the number of pulses is reduced and it is determined that the amount of laundry is large. On the other hand, when the amount of laundry is small, the number of pulses is increased, and it is determined that the amount of laundry is small.

After that, water is supplied to the minimum washing water level in the washing tub and the rotary blades are rotated for a certain period of time, and the quality of the laundry is judged based on the decrease in the water level at this time. That is, as for the quality of the laundry, for example, synthetic fiber and cotton have different water supply rates, which causes a difference in lowering the water level after a certain period of time, and the quality of the laundry is determined based on this difference.

[0007] Here, the drop in water level also changes depending on the amount of laundry, even if the laundry has the same quality. Therefore, the amount of laundry is first determined as described above, and the quality of the laundry is determined based on the degree of water level drop under the determined amount of laundry.

Then, based on the result of the determination of the amount and quality of the laundry, the washing conditions such as the washing water level and the washing time are determined and the washing operation is executed.

However, there is a problem in that the quality judgment due to the water level drop has a large error because it cannot detect a fine water level change.

Before the amount is determined, the amount of laundry cannot be determined, and the amount of laundry cannot be determined when bath water is already poured into the washing tub with a bucket or the like. There is a problem that the quality judgment cannot be performed under the quantity.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First, it is judged by a water level sensor whether or not water is accumulated in the washing tub, and if it is judged that no water is accumulated, laundry is put in the washing tub. In this state, the motor that drives the blades is drive-controlled, and the amount of laundry is determined by the signal (pulse number) based on the rotation state of the motor at this time. After that, after supplying water to the first predetermined water level (minimum washing water level), the motor is driven and controlled, and the quality of the laundry under the amount of the laundry is determined by the similar signal (pulse number) at this time. . Then, the washing conditions such as the washing water level and the washing time are determined based on these determination results, and the washing operation is executed under the washing conditions.

As described above, both the quantity and the quality of the laundry are determined by the signal based on the rotation state of the motor, and the determination can be performed with high accuracy.

On the other hand, when the bath water is already put in the washing tub with a bucket or the like in advance of not only putting the laundry in advance, the water is accumulated in the washing tub by the water level sensor. Is determined. Then, after supplying water to the second predetermined water level (minimum washing water level), the motor is drive-controlled, and the quantity is determined instead of the quality of the laundry by the signal (pulse number) based on the rotation state of the motor at this time. Then, the washing condition is determined based on this determination result, and the washing operation is executed.

Therefore, when water is supplied to the washing tub in advance, at least the amount of laundry is determined, so that the tentative washing conditions are determined.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a power supply frequency of 60H according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The structure of the fully automatic washing machine used in z area | region is shown. Reference numeral 1 is a machine frame, 2 is an outer tub suspended and supported by four hanging rods (not shown) in the machine frame 1, and 3 has a large number of dehydration holes 4 in the periphery. In the arranged washing / dehydrating tub (the washing tub of the present invention), the washing / dehydrating tub 3 rotates around a rotary shaft 5 provided on the bottom wall. Reference numeral 6 denotes a rotary blade rotatably arranged at the bottom of the washing / dehydrating tub 3, and 7 denotes a drive motor connected to the washing / dehydrating tub 3 and the rotary blade 6 via a power transmission mechanism 8. The drive motor 7 rotates only the rotary blades 6 at low speed during washing and rinsing, and rotates the washing / dewatering tub 3 at high speed in one direction around the rotary shaft 5 at the time of spin-drying the laundry (at this time, the rotary blades 6 are also simultaneously rotated. Rotate at high speed). Reference numeral 9 is a water supply pipe for supplying water to the washing and dehydrating tub 3 from above, and the water supply pipe 9 is connected to a water faucet. Reference numeral 10 is an electromagnetic water supply valve provided in the middle of the water supply pipe 9. Reference numeral 11 is a drainage pipe provided on the bottom wall of the outer tank 2, and 12 is an electromagnetic drainage valve provided in the middle of the drainage pipe 11. Reference numeral 13 is a water level sensor connected to an air trap 14 at the bottom of the outer tub 2 via a pressure hose 15. The water level sensor 13 detects the water level in the washing / dehydrating tub 3 and supplies it to the washing / dehydrating tub 3. You can see the amount of water given.

FIG. 2 shows a block circuit of the washing machine. 16
Is a control unit including a microcomputer that controls the washing machine. The control unit 16 is based on a key input signal from the key input unit 17, a detection result by the water level sensor 13, and information from a signal output unit 18 that outputs a signal (pulse) based on the rotation of the motor 7. , The motor 7, the electromagnetic water supply valve 10, and the electromagnetic drain valve 12 are driven and controlled.

FIG. 3 shows a flow of a program incorporated in the control unit 16. The operation of the washing machine will be described below with reference to FIG. When a start key signal arrives based on the operation of the start key on the key input unit 17, the control unit 1
First, 6 detects whether or not water is accumulated in the washing / dehydrating tub 3 by the detection of the water level sensor 13 (S1 step:
Water judging means of the present invention). When the water level is lower than the detectable water level, the water level sensor 13 determines that no water is accumulated even if water is accumulated in the washing / dehydrating tank 3. However, the amount of water at this time is very small, which is substantially the same as no water.

When it is determined that the water is not accumulated, the control unit 16 determines the amount of the laundry put in the washing / dehydrating tub 3 in advance (S2 step: the first of the present invention). 1 amount determination means). Specifically, energizing the motor 7 for 0.6 seconds so as to rotate the rotor 6 to the right and then stopping energizing for 0.4 seconds is repeated twice, and then the motor 7 is rotated so as to rotate the rotor 6 to the left. The motor 7 is drive-controlled for 4 seconds by repeating energization for 0.6 seconds and then deenergization for 0.4 seconds twice.

At this time, the voltage waveform of the motor 7 is shown in FIG.
As described above, when the power is supplied, the power supply frequency is responded to, but when the power supply is stopped, the back electromotive force is generated according to the inertial rotation, and is rapidly attenuated. Then, the signal output unit 1
8 inputs this motor voltage waveform and outputs a pulse as shown in FIG. 4 (b) as long as the amplitude is above a predetermined level.

In this case, when the amount of laundry is large, the resistance to the rotor blades (laundry) is large, so that the rotation of the motor deteriorates, and the inertial rotation speed of the motor during inertial rotation when the motor is off (stops energization). It drops rapidly and the number of pulses decreases. On the other hand, when the amount of laundry is small, the number of pulses is large.

Then, the control unit 16 counts the number of pulses for the entire 4 seconds and compares the number of pulses with a reference value to determine the amount of laundry. now,
The amount of laundry is determined to be small between 1.5 kg and 2.5 kg.

Thereafter, the control unit 16 drives and opens the electromagnetic water supply valve 10 to supply water until the water level sensor 13 detects the minimum wash water level L0 (first predetermined water level) (S3 step). The wash water level is L in addition to this minimum wash water level L0.
The washing water level is set to 1, L2, and L3.

When water is accumulated in the washing / dehydrating tub 3 up to the minimum wash water level L0 and the water level sensor 13 detects the minimum wash water level L0, the control unit 16 determines the quality of the laundry this time (S).
4 steps: Quality judging means of the present invention). Specifically, the motor 7 is energized for 0.3 seconds so as to rotate the rotor blade 6 to the right and then stopped for 0.7 seconds, which is repeated four times, and then the motor 7 is rotated so as to rotate the rotor blade 6 to the left. One cycle is to repeat 4 times of energizing for 0.3 seconds and then stopping energizing for 0.7 seconds, and the motor 7 is drive-controlled for 32 seconds by repeating this cycle 4 times. At this time, the voltage waveform of the motor 7 and the output of the signal output unit 18 are substantially the same as those in FIG.

In this case, depending on the quality of the laundry (synthetic fiber, cotton, mixed state of synthetic fiber and cotton), the cloth-wrapping state of the laundry is different and the resistance to the rotary blade 6 is different. That is, in the case of cotton, the cloth rotation is poor, the resistance to the rotor blades is large, and the rotation of the motor is poor, and the inertial rotation speed of the motor is rapidly reduced during inertial rotation when the motor is turned off, and the number of pulses is reduced.
On the other hand, when the fiber is a synthetic fiber, it has good cloth coverage and a large number of pulses.

Then, the control section 16 counts the number of pulses for the entire 32 seconds and compares the number of pulses with a reference value to judge the quality of the laundry.

Here, the number of pulses for 32 seconds changes even if the quality of the laundry is the same or the amount is different. Therefore, the amount of laundry is first determined as described above, and the quality of the laundry is determined based on the number of pulses for 32 seconds under the determined amount of laundry. That is, for example, when the amount of laundry is small between 1.5 Kg and 2.5 Kg, it is determined that the quality of the laundry is synthetic fiber when the number of pulses is 735 or more as shown in FIG. , 715 to 735, it is determined that the synthetic fiber and the cotton are in a mixed state, and if it is 715 or less, the cotton is determined to be the cotton.

When the quantity and quality of the laundry are determined as described above, the control unit 16 then determines the washing conditions based on these determination results (step S5). That is, the washing water level L0
From among L3, an appropriate washing and rinsing water level is determined, and an appropriate washing time, rinsing time and dewatering time are determined. After determining the washing conditions in this way, the control unit 16 determines the motor 7, the electromagnetic water supply valve 10 and the electromagnetic drainage valve 1 based on these conditions.
A washing operation (a washing process, a rinsing process, a dehydrating process) is executed by drivingly controlling 2 (S6 step: first executing means of the present invention).

Now, let's not forget to put laundry in advance,
In the case where the bath water is put in a bucket or the like, or the rinse water used in the previous operation is left and some water has already been supplied to the washing / dehydrating tank 3, in the step S1, the control unit 1
6 determines that water is accumulated. Then, the control unit 16 drives and opens the electromagnetic water supply valve 10 to supply water until the water level sensor 13 detects the minimum washing water level L0 (second predetermined water level) (S7 step).

When the water level sensor 13 detects the minimum wash water level L0 in the washing / dehydrating tub 3 and the water level sensor 13 detects the minimum wash water level L0, the control unit 16 determines the amount of laundry in this state (step S8: book). Second amount determining means of the invention). Specifically, the motor 7 is drive-controlled by the same control as in the case of the quality judgment, the pulse number for 32 seconds at this time is counted, and this pulse number is compared with a reference value. Determine the amount of.

That is, in addition to the quality of the laundry, the condition around the laundry varies depending on the quantity, and the resistance to the rotary blades 6 also varies. And here, paying attention to the relationship between the amount of laundry and the cloth circumference, if the cloth circumference is poor and the resistance to the rotary blades is large and the number of pulses is small, it is determined that the laundry quantity is large and the cloth circumference is good. If the number of pulses is large, it is determined that the amount of laundry is small.

In this case, the control section 16 determines the washing condition only based on the determined amount of laundry (S9 step). That is, an appropriate washing and rinsing water level is determined from the washing water levels L0 to L3, and an appropriate washing time,
Determine rinse and spin times. After determining the washing condition in this way, the control unit 16 drives and controls the motor 7, the electromagnetic water supply valve 10 and the electromagnetic drain valve 12 based on this condition to perform the washing operation (washing process, rinsing process, dehydration process). Execute (S6 step: in this case, the second executing means of the present invention).

[0032]

According to the present invention, when it is determined that water is not accumulated in the washing tub, the motor for driving the blades is controlled while the laundry is loaded in the washing tub. Then, the amount of laundry is determined by a signal based on the rotation state of the motor at this time, and then the water is supplied to the first predetermined water level to drive and control the motor. To determine the quality of the laundry below,
Therefore, both the quantity and the quality of the laundry are determined by the signal based on the rotation state of the motor, and the determination can be performed with high accuracy.

Further, it was judged in advance that not only the laundry was put in, but also the bath water was already put in the washing tub with a bucket or the like and the water was already accumulated in the washing tub. In this case, water is supplied up to the second predetermined water level to drive and control the motor, and the quantity is determined instead of the quality of the laundry by a signal based on the rotation state of the motor at this time (if the quantity is unknown, I don't know the quality suddenly), so
When water is supplied to the washing tub in advance, at least the amount of laundry can be determined, and the washing operation can be executed under a temporary washing condition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a fully automatic washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the washing machine.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a program incorporated in a control unit of the washing machine.

FIG. 4 is a main part waveform diagram of the washing machine.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between quality and quantity of laundry in the same washing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Washing and Dewatering Tank 6 Rotor Blade 7 Drive Motor 10 Electromagnetic Water Supply Valve 12 Electromagnetic Drain Valve 13 Water Level Sensor 16 Control Unit 18 Signal Output Unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hoyuki Murakami 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A washing tub, a wing arranged in the washing tub, a motor for driving the wing, a water level sensor for detecting a water level in the washing tub, and a signal based on a rotation state of the motor. In a washing machine provided with a signal output means for outputting the water level sensor and a control section for driving and controlling the motor based on the output of the water level sensor and the signal output means, the control section is provided in the washing tub by the water level sensor. When the water judging means for judging whether or not water is accumulated and the judgment that the water is not accumulated is made by this water judging means, the motor is operated with the laundry being put in the washing tub. Drive control is performed, and a first amount determination unit that determines the amount of laundry based on the output signal of the signal output unit at this time, and after the determination by the first amount determination unit, the water level sensor detects a first predetermined water level. After watering up to The motor is driven and controlled, and the quality determination means for determining the quality of the laundry based on the output signal of the signal output means at this time, and the washing condition based on the determination results by the first amount determination means and the quality determination means When it is determined by the first executing means that executes the washing operation under this washing condition and the water determining means, the laundry is put into the washing tub and A second amount determination means for controlling the drive of the motor while supplying water until the water level sensor detects the second predetermined water level, and determining the amount of laundry based on the output signal of the signal output means at this time; A washing machine comprising: a second execution unit that determines a washing condition based on a determination result of the two-quantity determination unit and executes a washing operation under the washing condition. 2. The first predetermined water level and the second predetermined water level are:
The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the water level is equal to or lower than the minimum washing water level.