JPS61162984A - Centrifugal dehydrator - 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 (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a centrifugal dewatering machine that automatically detects a load amount and controls a process based on the detected load amount.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, this type of dehydrator was also used as a special public
There is a washing machine disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 36556.

This is because before an automatic washing machine starts washing, it performs water supply/drainage and dehydration processes for a certain period of time in addition to the washing operation, and is used to dehydrate laundry that has been properly moistened. The amount of laundry is detected by detecting the drive current of the motor and comparing it with a preset reference value.

However, if the upper cover is opened, etc., and the power to the motor 11 is cut off before detecting the current, the detection of the motor drive current when the motor is driven again will be due to the inertial rotation of the motor. Starts from state.

Therefore, the current at the time of starting the motor is omitted, and the number of laundry items is detected to be less than the actual number, which causes problems in subsequent process control.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention provides a centrifugal dehydrator that performs appropriate process control with respect to automatically detected load amounts.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a motor current detection device for detecting the current flowing through the drive motor in a centrifugal dewatering machine with dehydrated material placed in the dehydration tank; A load amount detection device that compares data based on a signal from a motor current detection device with a predetermined reference value and detects the amount of dehydrated material, and a control device that controls a process according to the detected load amount, The control device controls the process based on a load amount greater than the load amount detected after the energization is resumed, when the energization to the drive motor is temporarily interrupted before the load amount is detected.

(E) Effect: When the motor is driven from an inertial rotation state and the load is detected, the load will be detected as less than the actual amount due to the fact that the motor start-up is not taken into consideration. The process is also controlled based on the amount of load.

(f) Examples Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In Figure 3, (1) shows a washing tank (3) inside the machine frame (2).
This is a two-tank washing machine with a dewatering tank (4) and a dewatering tank (4) installed side by side, and a control box (5) at the top and rear. A large diameter chevron-shaped rotary blade (not shown) is disposed at the inner bottom of the washing machine (3), and rotates at a low speed during washing. Dehydration tank (4
) is provided with a dehydration tank (6) whose upper opening edge (6a) is curled inward.

This dehydration tank (6) has dehydration holes (7〉...) drilled on its circumferential side, and is connected to the motor rotation shaft (8) to perform "dehydration" by continuous clockwise rotation, dehydration control, stop (braking and It performs "dehydration rinsing" by repeating the cycle of water supply while the motor is stopped. In addition, the motor (9) is elastically attached to the inner bottom of the machine frame (2) by a fat swing spring 10), and the motor rotation shaft (8) is mounted on a fat swing spring 10). Rubber (11
) is elastically supported.

(12) is a top plate fixed to the upper opening of the dehydration tank (4), and has a clothes input port (13) that has approximately the same diameter as the upper opening of the dehydration tank (6) and faces from above.

<14) is a dish-shaped safety cover that is pivoted in the control box (5) to open and close the clothes slot (13), and has a number of small holes (15) bored in the bottom. It is also deeply recessed into the clothes input port (13) and close to the upper opening of the dehydration tank (6). Although not shown, the top of this safety cover (14) is covered with a dehydration top cover.

Inside the control box (5), there is a washing water supply channel (18) and a rinse water supply channel that communicate with the water supply hose attachment port (16) via a double-barrel switching electric water supply valve (17). (19〉 is installed, and the water supply channel (18〉 is a washing machine (
3) Supply water inside the water supply channel (19) with a safety cover (14)
Water is supplied into the cover facing the side wall of the

Therefore, this washing machine (1) washes in the washing tub (3), rinses if necessary, and performs dehydration rinsing and dewatering in the dehydration receiving tank (4). To explain the operation of the , first, for normal "dehydration", the dehydration tank (6) is set at 140 rpm by setting the timer.
Rotate clockwise to perform centrifugal dehydration.

In addition, in "dehydration rinsing", the supplied rinsing water is continuously poured into the recessed safety cover (14) from the water supply channel (19), and from there the small holes (15), etc. and fall precisely into the dehydration tank (6).

The rinsing water in the dewatering tank (6) is directly absorbed by the laundry in the upper part of the tank, and also sequentially enters the middle part where it is absorbed.

When centrifugal force is applied, the water absorbed into the laundry is drained out through the dehydration hole (7), and by repeating water absorption and dehydration several times in this way, the water is absorbed into the laundry. After the detergent solution is completely diluted, so-called rinsing is performed.

Next, FIG. 4 is a front view of the control box (5), in which (20) is a finishing agent inlet, (21) is an overflow water level adjustment lever, and (22) is a drain valve operation button.

(23) is a water flow selection switch that switches the water flow intensity;
(24) is a switch that changes the rinsing process, which is normally performed on the washing tub (3) side, to a water pouring rinse, which performs rinsing while pouring water; (25) is a switch for temporarily stopping the rotor and water supply; (26) is a washing machine (3) Wash/rinse time setting and start switch on the side, (27) is the dehydration tank (6> side dehydration rinse → dehydration automatic course start switch,
<28) is a dehydration time setting and start switch. In addition, each switch is equipped with display light emitting diodes (28) to (3).
1') (hereinafter referred to as LED) is attached.

Therefore, in order to wash/rinse in the washing tub (3), the process time is first set using the washing/rinsing switch (26). That is, each time this switch (26) is pressed, the display section (32a) will display 10 → 7 → 5 → 2 → 0 → 15 → 10 →
..., the process time is displayed (however, if the water flow intensity is "soft", it starts from 5), and at the same time, the water supply solenoid valve (17a) leading to the washing tub (3) is opened and water is supplied. During this water supply, the set time is not subtracted, and the subtraction starts when the water level switch is set to 0FFL and the water supply stops, and at the same time the rotor blades are driven.

If the water level is not 0FFL even after 15 minutes have passed after pressing the wash/rinsing switch (26), it is determined that there is a drainage abnormality, and the water supply is stopped and the time display on the display section (32a) is blinked.

If the water injection rinsing switch (24) is set, water is supplied into the washing tub (3) as the rotary blades are driven.
So-called water injection rinsing is performed. However, if the washing/rinsing process cannot be started even after a predetermined period of time has passed after setting the switch (24), that is, the washing/rinsing switch (26)
) is not operated, the water inlet rinse switch (
24) will be automatically canceled. This is because if you forget to release the water injection rinse switch (24), when you perform the next washing process, water may be supplied again and the detergent may be flushed out even though you have put in the detergent. This is to prevent this from happening.

When it is desired to stop the water supply to these washing tubs (3), the washing/rinsing time can be set to zero.

Next, by setting the dehydration time with the dehydration time setting switch (28), dehydration is performed in the dehydration tank (6).

That is, each time this switch (28) is pressed - times, the corresponding L
E D (31) lights up 3 → 1 → 0.5 → none → 5
Switches to -3 Pass...

The washing, rinsing, and spin-drying times can be changed mid-way, and by holding down each switch (26) (28) for more than 2 seconds, the set time will be memorized and the memorized time will be used from next time. It can be displayed first.

The display section (32) is composed of 4 digits and normally displays the time, and for washing and rinsing, the display section (32) is composed of 4 digits.
In a), the dehydration rinse and dehydration time are displayed in the lower two digits (
32b) to display the minutes, use each switch (25
) (26) <27>.

FIG. 5 shows a block circuit diagram of the control section of this washing machine,
(33) is a microcomputer that is the center of the control section;
(34) is a display circuit consisting of a group of LEDs that display washing/rinsing and spin-drying times, water flow strength, etc., (35) is a water level detection switch on the washing tub side, and (36) is a safety link that is linked to the opening and closing of the spin-drying top cover. switch, (37) is for each switch (23
) to (28), 38) is the buzzer circuit, (39) and (40) are the motor left and right rotation drive circuits, and (41) is the operation of the water supply valve (17a) leading to the washing tub (3). , (42) is the operation part of the water supply valve (17b) leading to the dehydration tank, (43) is the finishing agent input part, and (44) is the dehydration tank (
6) is a rotation braking circuit, (45) is a dehydration motor drive circuit, and (46) is a motor current detection circuit to be described later.

The microcomputer (33) corresponds to a control device, and compares the signal from the motor current detection circuit (46) with stored reference values (s, te, tc to be described later),
A load amount detection device detects the amount of laundry or dehydrated material (hereinafter referred to as load) based on the comparison result with this standard value, and the process time is calculated based on a predetermined time for this detected load amount. This device has a built-in arithmetic unit and controls the drive of a load such as a motor based on input signals from the various switches and the calculated process time.

Then, dehydration and rinsing is performed by operating the rinse and dehydration switch (27).
) is pressed twice to select the standard course (the cycle of dewatering - braking (water supply) - stop (water supply) is repeated 4 times, adding the same finishing agent → dehydration for 3 minutes), and pressing twice to select the careful course (the above cycle is repeated 5 times → finishing agent). 3 minutes) is executed, and pressing it three times cancels the process.

The finishing agent injection starts 5 seconds before stopping from braking in the final cycle of dewatering and rinsing in each course, and is carried out during the stopping time.

Immediately after each course is set and the motor (9) starts rotating, the microcomputer (33) receives a signal from the motor current detection circuit (46), detects the load amount, and calculates the appropriate time. Then, this time and the dehydration time of 3 minutes are added and displayed on the lower two-digit display section (32b). Note that the dehydration time can be changed using a switch (28). Further, this load amount detection is also performed during the normal dehydration process.

The motor current detection means will be explained below.

In Figure 6, (47) and (48) are dehydration motors (
9) is a bidirectional cyrisk connected to the microcomputer (33), and is turned on and off by a signal from the microcomputer (33). The one bidirectional thyristor (47) constitutes a braking circuit that applies DC braking by applying a DC voltage to the dehydration motor (9) via a diode (49).

Now, (50) is a current transformer, and a voltage proportional to the current flowing through the dehydration motor (9) appears on the secondary side.
This is converted into a DC chamber EE vcT through a rectifier circuit (51) and a smoothing circuit (52).

Generally, when the dehydration motor (9) is driven, a large current flows during startup, and as the motor (9) reaches steady rotation, the motor current gradually decreases to a steady current. That is, the above V. T has a characteristic as shown in FIG.

Here, the reference voltage V□1 is determined in advance, and this VRE
A comparator (53) compares F and the vcT, and outputs V. Get UT. Figure 8 shows this V. This is a time chart of UT, and it is explained based on the solid line in Fig. 7.
V after motor (9) starts. , T is High level (V)
! ), and when vCT exceeds VYF, L ov
a level (vL), then vCT decreases and V again
When VOUT becomes smaller than REF, it becomes High again.
Indicates h level.

Therefore, the microcomputer (33) is connected to the motor (9).
The above-mentioned V from the time of startup. , the time T until T becomes High level again is counted.

The time T naturally varies depending on the amount of load, and the larger the amount of load, the longer the time T becomes.

In Figure 7, tA e jl r k are reference values determined using ideal large, medium, and small loads, respectively (
tA > b > tc), the microcomputer (33) compares the time T with the reference values ts, t++, tc, and divides the load amount into four stages, that is, a large load (tA
≦T), medium load (b+≦T x tA), light load (tc
≦7 < tl) and a small load (T < tc).

Here, Table 1 shows the time required for one cycle of dehydration and rinsing at each load amount.

Margin Table 1 Below: However, the stop time in the final cycle of the dehydration rinse in each of the standard and careful courses, that is, the stop time when adding the finishing agent, was 55 seconds for each load amount. This 55 seconds is a sufficient time for finishing agents (fabric softeners, antistatic agents, laundry starch, etc.) to penetrate into clothing at each load level, but in particular,
It is sufficient to set the time according to the amount of load, even if it is not 55 seconds. By setting this time, it is possible to obtain a uniform finishing effect even if the load amount changes.

Now, when the microcomputer (33) determines the rank of the load amount, it quadruples the cycle time corresponding to this load amount (five times in the case of a careful course) and extends the stop time to add the finishing agent. Add the time, convert it to minutes, add the dehydration time (minutes), and display it on the display (
32b) (For example, if a large load is determined, the dehydration rinse time will be 540 + 10 - 550 seconds, 1 minute and 3 minutes to 13 minutes will be displayed, and if it is determined to be a small load, the dehydration rinse time will be 264 + 45 - 309 If you change to the careful course in the middle of the standard course, the display will be changed to compensate for the additional cycle.

Note that if a decimal term occurs during the calculation, it is rounded up and displayed in minutes, but when the number of seconds corresponding to this decimal term has elapsed, one is subtracted from the display.

Based on this, the process of detecting the load amount in the dewatering and rinsing process will be explained based on FIG. 2.

Load the spindle tank (6) and turn the rinse/spin switch (
27) to start the dehydration and rinsing process. When the dehydration motor (9) is turned on, the output is V for a while. UT indicates High level, time measurement is performed without setting the measurement OK flag at this point, and the output VOU
When T switches to the Los level, set the measurement OK flag (time measurement is still being carried out) When the output vou'r switches to the old GH level again, the time T up to that point is set to the reference value jA. + il + tC compared to
Determine the rank of load amount. Thereafter, the dehydration rinsing process time is calculated from the cycle time corresponding to the determined load amount, and the dehydration time is displayed including the dehydration time.

As described above, the microcomputer (33) determines the rank of the load amount and counts the number of repetitions of the cycle determined according to the load amount.

At this time, for example, during the first dewatering process, if the load is unevenly placed in the tank, a greater than normal load will be applied when the tank rotates, and the load will be judged to be a large amount even though it is actually a medium load. Sometimes. In this case, time and water are wasted due to heavy load cycles.

Therefore, at the stage of counting the number of repetitions of the cycle, the microcomputer (33) judges the load amount not only at the first cycle but also at the second cycle. During the water supply during the cycle, the load is loosened and placed in an average position in the tank, so a normal load amount can be determined the second time. If the result of the second judgment is different from the previous one, the microcomputer (33) immediately changes the execution cycle, corrects the remaining time, and displays the result.

In addition, as mentioned above, load amount detection is also carried out during the normal dehydration process.To explain based on Fig. 2, for example, the rinse/dry switch (27) is
When switching to the dewatering and rinsing process, if the load detection has been completed, this will be considered the first time, and after water is supplied, the second load detection will be performed during the next dehydration. Let's do it. Furthermore, if the load amount detection has not yet been completed, dehydration is extended until the detection is completed, then water is supplied, and this is done once.
This is the second load amount detection.

In this way, if the load amount is detected during the dehydration process,
When switching to the dehydration and rinsing process, the process can be started immediately, and the dehydration and rinsing process does not have to be performed from the beginning, which can shorten the time. Conversely, even when switching from a dehydration rinsing process to a dehydration process, an appropriate dehydration process can be performed.

In this embodiment, load amount detection is performed up to the second cycle, but it may be performed at each cycle.

Now, if you start the dehydration rinsing process and open the dehydration top cover and cut off the power to the drive motor (9) before the first load detection ends, the dehydration tank (6) will be in an inertial rotation state. . Therefore, when the top cover is closed again in this state and the load amount is detected, the measurement will start from the time when the drive motor (9) is already rotating, so the time T will be shorter than when measuring normally. , the load amount will be determined to be lower than the actual amount. Therefore, when the load amount is detected from the inertial rotation state of the motor in this way, process control is performed based on the load amount one rank higher than the detected load amount. The following will explain based on FIG.

First, when the dehydration and lid are opened and the safety switch (36) is opened, a "motor inertia rotation" signal is input to the microcomputer (33).In this state, the top lid is closed again and the motor (9) When the is driven again, the first load amount detection is performed.Here, the microcomputer (
33) remembers that it was in an inertial rotation state at the start of load detection, so it controls the time required for this first cycle based on the load that is one rank higher than the detected load. (For example, when it is determined that the load is a light load, a cycle corresponding to a medium load is executed), and the cycle is corrected to an appropriate cycle at the next second load detection.

The above description applies to the case where the top cover is opened and closed before the first load detection is completed, but the same cycle control also applies when the top cover is allowed to open and close before the load detection is completed during the second dehydration process. However, since the next load amount detection will not be performed, subsequent process control will be performed in the cycle determined at the time of this second load amount detection. The opening/closing operation is just a temporary stop operation.

The above-mentioned opening/closing operation of the dehydration top cover refers to the case where it takes less than 6.7 seconds from opening to closing.
．． If 7 seconds have elapsed or within 6.7 seconds, if you open the top cover and cancel the course using the rinse/spin switch (27) and then set the course again,
When the dewatering and rinsing cycle that was being performed up to that point is canceled, the top cover is closed, and the motor (9) is driven again, the set course is performed from the beginning. At this time of re-driving, the clothes in the tank are almost always slightly dehydrated, so the amount of load detected at this time of re-driving can also be determined to be less than normal. Therefore, in this case as well, the process control of one rank higher is performed as described above.

(G) Effects of the Invention The centrifugal dewatering machine of the present invention automatically detects the amount of load and determines the process time commensurate with the amount of load, so it is possible to perform dehydration rinsing and dewatering that are appropriate for the amount of load. It is possible to prevent fabric damage and save water. Furthermore, even if an error occurs in the detected value due to load detection starting from the motor's inertial rotation state, process control is performed based on a load greater than this detection result, so insufficient rinsing or dehydration can be compensated for. , it is possible to perform appropriate process control according to the amount of load.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing the load amount detection process started from the inertial rotation state of the motor in the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing the normal load amount detection process, and Fig. 3 is a two-tub washing machine. Fig. 4 is a front view of the control box, Fig. 5 is a block circuit diagram of the control section, Fig. 6 is a motor flow detection circuit diagram, Fig. 7 is a characteristic diagram of output vcT, Figure 8 shows the time chart A of the output VOUT.
・-It is. (6)...Dehydration tank, (9)...Dehydration motor, (33
)...Microcomputer (load amount detection device, control device). 11th! I Warikuchi Figure 7 Figure 8 Inkan (1) Display of the case 1985 Patent Application No. 5858 Name of the invention Person who amends centrifugal dehydrator Relationship to the case Patent applicant Name (188) Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. Agent Co., Ltd. Address: 2-18 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City Contact: Telephone (Tokyo) 835-1111 5 Nakagawa, resident at the Patent Center Subject of amendment (1) "Detailed description of the invention" column in the specification ( 2; Attached drawing 6, contents of amendment (1) The word "control" on page 4, line 7 of detailed description of cattle is corrected to "braking". (2) The word "braking" is corrected as "braking" on page 4 of detailed description. Correct it to t-r (241J and -~61), which says -~Cυ.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A motor current detection device that detects the current flowing through the drive motor when dehydrated material is placed in the dehydration tank, and data based on the signal from the motor current detection device is compared with a predetermined reference value, and the dehydrated material is a load amount detection device that detects an amount of In this case, a centrifugal dewatering machine is characterized in that the process is controlled based on a load amount greater than the load amount detected after power supply is resumed.