JPS58195589A - Washer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention detects the amount of laundry and controls the washing process in accordance with the amount of laundry, such as washing bath ratio and amount of detergent.

The present invention relates to a washing machine that can control the number of times the cloth is turned.

Conventionally, various methods have been proposed as laundry amount detection devices for washing machines, but they have many difficult problems.

For example, in a pulsator (agitating blade) type washing machine that agitates the laundry, there is a method that takes advantage of the fact that the rise time for the pulsator to reach a predetermined rotation speed changes depending on the amount of laundry.

Generally, when laundry is stirred by a pulsator in a washing tub, the load applied to the pulsator depends on various conditions such as the shape of the material of the laundry, the degree of entanglement of the laundry in the washing tub, and the degree of water content of the laundry. It is already known that there are significant changes in

Therefore, in order to relate the load applied to the pulsator V to the amount of laundry, it is necessary to agitate the laundry so that the above-mentioned conditions are balanced, and it is also necessary to measure it during the agitation.

However, the rise time for the pulsator to reach a predetermined rotational speed is extremely short, and it is impossible to detect the amount of laundry by measuring the rise time of the pulsator once, so it is necessary to measure the amount of laundry multiple times. Therefore, as the number of times the pulsator rotation is stopped increases, the cloth may become damaged depending on the washing bath ratio. Furthermore, as described above, since the measurement is performed over a short period of time, the accuracy of detecting the amount of laundry is extremely poor.

Alternatively, since the rotation speed of the pulsator, the rotation speed of the motor that drives the pulsator, and the average value of the current of the motor correspond to the amount of laundry, that is, the load, There is a method that takes advantage of the fact that the half-average value is related to the amount of laundry.

It is natural that the motor rotation speed or current changes depending on the load, but it also changes due to factors other than the load, such as the voltage supplied to the motor, the temperature of the motor core casing or windings, and differences in characteristics between motors. This requires judgment to distinguish between load fluctuations and fluctuations due to external factors, correction, or voltage stabilization, which complicates the configuration.

On the other hand, the absolute value of the amount of change due to load is extremely small compared to that under no load, and the accuracy of detecting the amount of laundry is not good.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems by detecting the amount of laundry with high precision and controlling the washing process based on this detection signal. This allows for appropriate settings such as:

The present invention will be explained in detail below. Fig. 1 shows the general structure of a washing machine with dehydrating function. 1 is the main body, 2 is an outer tank supported by vibration-proof hanging inside the main body 1, and 3 is a rotating spinneret inside the outer tank 2.
The spin-drying and washing tub (hereinafter simply referred to as "1" and "washing tub") is located at the inner bottom of the washing tub 3.
5 is a motor, and clutch mechanism 6 is switched.

The rotational force is transmitted to the stirring blade 4 or the washing tub 3 by the rotating action. 7 is a belt for transmitting the rotational force of the motor 5 to the clutch mechanism 6, 8 is a drain port, and 8 is a drain hose outside the machine.

The general operation of the washing machine configured as described above is well known and will not be described in detail.

The load acting on the stirring blade 4 will be described in detail below.

The stirring blades 4 are not continuously loaded with laundry. As the laundry approaches and separates from the stirring blades 4, a load is applied discontinuously and instantaneously.

Further, the load applied to the stirring blades 4 is related to the amount of laundry and the water level, and when the amount of laundry is large and the washing bath ratio is small, the load fluctuation is larger than when the bath ratio is large. The load fluctuation appears as a rotational fluctuation of the stirring blade 4. That-
An example is shown in FIG.

In Figure 2, the horizontal axis shows time T and the vertical axis shows the amount of rotational displacement of the stirring blade 4. In the figure, ^ is when no laundry is put in the washing tub 3 and only water is loaded. This is the case. Same figure (
B) shows the case when IKF laundry is added to the water amount in case 4 of the same figure, and FIG.

Figure 3 shows the I+41 displacement of the stirring blade 4 when the amount of laundry is constant at 2/2 and the amount of water is changed, that is, the bath ratio. ratio to 1
When the ratio is 2, Figure (B) shows the case where the bath ratio is 1:3.

As is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, the amount of rotational displacement of the stirring blade 4 is related to the amount of laundry and the bath ratio, and the amount of laundry can be indirectly known by detecting the amount of rotational displacement. . The amount of rotational displacement is extremely unaffected by disturbances such as the power supply voltage of the motor 6 for driving the stirring blades 4 and the temperature of the motor 5, and these disturbances can be ignored. Furthermore, since the amount of rotational displacement is related to the amount of laundry, it is a laundry amount signal, and this signal determines the amount of water, that is, the bath ratio, and the amount of detergent.

By appropriately controlling the washing time and the number of times the cloth is rotated, there is less damage to the cloth, less damage, and water savings.

It becomes possible to carry out the (k washing process) which is effective in shortening the washing/fA time.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a block diagram for realizing the present invention, in which reference numeral 10 denotes an agitating blade 4 comprising, for example, a plurality of rotating magnet pieces attached to the agitating blade 4, a Hall element, and a counter.
11 is a means for detecting the amount of displacement of the detected rotation speed; 12 is a cloth amount determining means for determining the amount of cloth based on the amount of displacement; these three means,
It constitutes a laundry amount detection means that detects a load change applied to the agitating blade 4, that is, an instantaneous rotational displacement amount, and generates a laundry amount signal. Reference numerals 13 to 16 are means for setting appropriate bath ratio, detergent amount, washing time, and number of cloth rotations based on the amount of laundry determined by the amount determining means 12, that is, the laundry amount signal.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart for realizing the rotational displacement amount detecting means 11 and the cloth amount determining means 12 using a microconbeater. In the figure, the count value obtained by inputting the output of the Hall IC is read at regular intervals, and the average count number is calculated. Next, the absolute value of the difference between the average count and the newly read count value is calculated, and if the value is larger than the maximum displacement value in the previous time, it is stored.

After repeating this for a certain period of time, the amount of cloth is determined based on the magnitude of the maximum displacement value.

Note that Figure 6 shows an example of having two reference levels and determining the amount of laundry (cloth amount) in three stages, but if you increase the number of reference levels, you can use the same method to determine the amount of laundry in more detail. Can judge.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which instantaneous rotational fluctuations of the stirring blade (instantaneous rotational fluctuation) are detected in order to detect the instantaneous value of load fluctuations applied to the stirring blade. Depending on the configuration, effects similar to those of this embodiment can be achieved.

That is, the stirring blade receives the rotational force of the motor directly or via a belt. As a result, instantaneous load fluctuations on the agitating blades result in fluctuations in motor rotation and current. Therefore, the amount of laundry can be determined by detecting the rotation of the motor or the displacement of the electric current, t''fz-, or the rotational displacement of the stirring blade.

When using an AC induction motor as the motor to drive the stirring blade, stirring can be achieved by detecting the displacement of the current phase angle of the AC induction motor or the instantaneous voltage displacement of the auxiliary winding of the AC induction motor. It is possible to detect instantaneous load fluctuations on the blades and accurately detect the amount of laundry.

In this embodiment and other embodiments described above, a whirlpool-type washing machine using an agitation blade was described, but an agitation-type washing machine in which the agitation blade is operated in a oscillating manner, and the interior of the washing machine by rotating a rotary drum. Even in a drum-type washing machine that agitates laundry, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiments can be achieved. In a drum-type washing machine, the rotating drum corresponds to the agitation blade in the present invention, and the agitation body includes the agitation blade, (b) rotating drum, and the like.

In addition, in this example, a washing machine with dehydrating function was shown, but
Even in so-called two-tank washing machines with washing tubs installed side by side,
The same effect as this embodiment is achieved.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a laundry amount detecting means that receives as input the instantaneous value of the load fluctuation applied to the laundry agitator and generates a laundry amount signal, and the laundry amount i1i: i, 1'
It is equipped with a control means for controlling the laundry row ("1") based on "5", and can detect the laundry JI with high accuracy without being affected by external disturbances. ratio,
It is possible to fine-tune the amount of detergent or the number of times the detergent is used, and the cleaning performance can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a washing machine in an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 shows the amount of rotational displacement of the stirring blade during instantaneous load fluctuations,
The same figure ^ is the characteristic diagram for the case of water only, the same figure (B) is I Kg
Figure 3 shows the characteristics when 2 kg of laundry is loaded, and Figure 3 shows the stirring string when the bath ratio is changed for 2 kg of laundry. The rotational displacement amount is shown in the same figure (8 is a characteristic diagram when the bath ratio is set to 1:2, the same figure (B) is a characteristic diagram when the bath ratio is set to 1:3, and Fig. 4 is a characteristic diagram when the bath ratio is set to 1:3. Fig. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the main parts. 3... Dewatering/washing tub, 4... Stirring blade (
Stirring body), 6...Motor. @ 1 Figure 76 Figure 3 → T

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) Laundry amount detection means that receives as input the instantaneous value of the load fluctuation applied to the laundry agitator and generates a laundry amount signal, and control that controls the washing process based on the laundry amount signal. Washing machine with means. (2) The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the laundry amount detection means detects instantaneous rotational fluctuations in the agitator. (3) The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the laundry amount detection means detects instantaneous rotational fluctuations of a motor for driving an agitator. (4) The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the laundry amount detection means detects an instantaneous current change in the motor for driving the agitator. . (6) The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the laundry amount detection means detects instantaneous voltage fluctuations in an auxiliary winding of an AC induction motor for driving an agitator.