JPS60122595A - Control of automatic 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] (Technical division) The present invention relates to a method of controlling an automatic washing machine, and in particular, the rinsing process is controlled by automatically determining the degree of rinsing using the light transmittance of the liquid in the washing tub. 0 (Prior art) Conventionally, as a control method for automatically determining the degree of rinsing using the light transmittance of the liquid, there are two methods: before the start of rinsing and during the execution of rinsing. There is a method of determining based on the difference in light transmittance between the inside and the liquid.

However, such a method has the following drawbacks. After the washing process is completed, intermediate drainage and dehydration are performed, and then water is supplied for the rinsing process.At this time, there are a lot of detergent bubbles and dirt left on the inside of the washing tub and on the laundry. These substances end up contaminating the clean water that is supplied. Therefore, the light transmittance level of the liquid detected before the start of rinsing is lower than the light transmittance level of clean water, and the conventional method of determining the degree of rinsing based on this low value inevitably tends to result in insufficient rinsing. There were drawbacks.

;, (-target) 55 The present invention was made in view of this point, and detects the light transmittance of the liquid (supplied clean water) in the washing tub before adding detergent prior to the washing process. This value is stored in the storage section, and the degree of rinsing can be determined based on this value, thereby solving the problem of insufficient rinsing as in the prior art.

(Example) Examples of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control system of a fully automatic washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a water tank, 2 is a washing tub that also serves as a dehydrator, 3 is a pulsator, 4 is a dehydrating and washing motor, 5 is a drain pipe for the water tank l into which a drain valve 6 is inserted, and 7 is a water supply to the washing tub 2. Water supply valve 8 is for detergent 9 to washing tub 2.
10 is a motor control unit that controls the drive of the motor 4, 11 is a drain valve control unit that controls the drain valve 6 on and off, and 12 is a water supply that controls the water supply valve 7 on and off. The valve control section 13 is a water amount detection section that detects the amount of water in the washing tub 2. Reference numeral 14 denotes a detector consisting of a combination of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, which detects the light transmittance of the liquid in the washing tub 2 in the drain pipe 5, and provides a signal to the light transmittance detector 15. 16 is a storage unit that stores the value detected by the detection unit 15; ]7 is the value detected by the light transmittance detection unit 15;
A level comparison section 18 compares and determines the levels of values stored in the storage section 16, and each control section 10. A sequence control unit 19 is a time counter that controls the water supply, detergent injection device 8, etc. to automatically execute a series of steps such as water supply, detergent injection, washing, drainage, rinsing, and dehydration in sequence.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When a washing start switch (not shown) is turned on, the sequence control unit 18 controls the detergent injection device 8, the motor control unit 10, the drain valve control unit 11 . A signal is given to the water supply valve control section 12. First, the water supply valve control section 12
When the water supply valve 7 is turned on and water is supplied to the set water level, the water supply valve 7 is turned off in response to a signal from the water amount detection section 18 and the water supply is stopped. At this time, the light transmittance of the liquid (supplied clean water) in the washing tub 2 is detected by the light transmittance detection unit 15 using the detector 14, and the value V is detected.

are stored in memories A and H of the storage unit 16. This detected value V. indicates the clean water level value, which is used as the reference value for determining the degree of rinsing.

After that, the detergent injection device 8 is operated to input the detergent 9,
The motor control unit 10 drives the motor 4 to rotate the pulsator 3 and execute the washing process. When the washing process is completed, the motor control section 10 stops the motor 4, and the drain valve control section I+ opens the drain valve 6 to start draining water. Thus, intermediate drainage and intermediate dehydration steps are performed in sequence,
When these steps are completed, the drain valve 6 is closed and the water supply valve 7 is opened, and the process shifts to the water supply process for the rinsing process.

When water is supplied to the set water level over time, the water supply valve control section 12 operates in response to a signal from the water amount detection section 13 to turn off the water supply valve 7, and the water supply is stopped.

Then, the motor control unit 10 causes the motor 4 to rotate the drive ζ↓ ipulsator 8, thereby starting the rinsing process.

Simultaneously with the start of the rinsing process, time is measured by the time counter 19, and each time a certain period of time t elapses, the light transmittance of the liquid in the washing tub 2 is detected by the light transmittance detector 15, and the detected value vt1 and The level comparison unit 17 determines whether the difference between the value v0 and the value v0 stored in the memory B of the storage unit 16 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value α. Therefore, if vo-Vt1≦α,
The motor control unit 10 stops the motor 4 to complete the rinsing process, and then moves on to the final drainage and dehydration process. Vo-
VB) If α, the contents of memory B are ■. The rinsing process is continued by changing to VB, and the light transmittance of the liquid is detected every hour, and the level comparison between the detected value at that time and the value stored in memory B is repeated. The nth detected value Vtn is compared with the stored value Vtn-1 of the memo 1Jf-H at that time,
When Vtn-1-Vtn≦α, the detected value Vtn and the stored value V in the memory A are then stored. A level comparison is made to see if the difference between the two and V is equal to or greater than a predetermined value β. -Vtn
If ≦β, the rinsing process is completed and the process moves to the final drainage and dehydration process. If vo-vtn>β, it is determined that rerinsing is necessary, and the process returns to the intermediate drainage process, and after the intermediate dewatering and water supply processes, the rinsing process is performed again, and the above operations are repeated. In addition, until the relationship of Vjll-I Vtn≦α is reached, the rinsing duration time is a predetermined time tMA.
When the time reaches X, the process returns to the intermediate drainage process, and after passing through the intermediate dehydration and water supply processes, the rinsing process is executed again. In the flowchart of FIG. 2, MA indicates a value stored in memory A, and MB indicates a value stored in memory B.

In the above embodiment, the predetermined value α is an extremely small value, and is set to detect the progress of rinsing based on the change in light transmittance per hour. In other words, when a large amount of detergent is precipitated from the laundry, the change in light transmittance of the liquid is large, and as the amount of detergent precipitated decreases and rinsing approaches the end, the change in light transmittance becomes smaller. , and the predetermined value α
There was almost no change in light transmittance compared to
In other words, it is determined that the degree of rinsing has hardly progressed, and it is determined that rinsing is complete.

On the other hand, the predetermined value β is a value for determining whether the degree of contamination of the rinse liquid has reached the limit. In other words, when the degree of contamination of the rinsing liquid reaches its limit, even though the laundry still contains a large amount of detergent, the detergent does not precipitate into the rinsing liquid, and the light transmittance of the liquid changes. The predetermined value α
There is a risk that rinsing is erroneously determined if the comparison is made only by comparing the rinse with water.Therefore, a predetermined value .beta. is set and confirmation is performed by comparing with clean water in order to eliminate the above-mentioned concerns.

As described above, in the embodiment, the light transmittance of the liquid (clean water) in the washing tub is detected before the detergent is added, and the value is memorized, and this value is used as a reference for the light transmittance of the liquid during the rinsing process. By comparing and judging the permeability level, it is possible to accurately judge the degree of rinsing, and by controlling the rinsing process based on the judgment results, it is possible to control the thickness of the laundry, the type of fiber, the type of detergent, the amount of cloth, and the amount of rinsing. It has the advantage of being able to carry out optimal rinsing without being affected by the amount of water, etc., and not damaging the cloth more than necessary.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, a fully automatic washing machine was explained, but
The present invention can also be implemented in automatic washing machines that do not have a dehydrating function. In addition, the present invention can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope of the invention.

(Effects) The present invention detects the light transmittance of clean water before adding detergent, stores that value as a reference value, and compares the level of the value detected during the rinsing process based on the above reference value. By determining the condition and controlling the rinsing process based on the result, it is possible to accurately determine the rinsing condition, perform optimal rinsing, and eliminate the problem of insufficient rinsing as in the conventional method.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control system of a fully automatic washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a process control flowchart of the same. 15: Light transmittance detection section, 16: Storage section, 17: Level comparison section, 18 Nisikens control section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic washing machine that automatically sequentially performs processes such as water supply, detergent injection, washing, draining, and rinsing, a light transmittance detection section that detects the light transmittance of the liquid in the washing tub; It is equipped with a storage unit that stores the detected value and a level comparison unit that compares and determines the level of the value detected by the light transmittance detector, and detects the light transmittance of the liquid in the washing tub before adding detergent. The automatic washing method stores the value as a reference value in the storage section, compares and judges the level of the value detected by the light transmittance detection section during the rinsing process based on the above reference value, and controls the rinsing process based on the judgment result. How to control the machine.