JPS6319187A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine that detects the load of laundry and controls the washing, rinsing, and spin-drying times and the strength of the water flow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional washing machines have been equipped with load amount detection means for detecting the amount of load applied to a condenser-type induction motor that rotates a dehydration tank. This load amount detection means utilizes the fact that the rise time of the terminal voltage of a capacitor provided between the windings of a capacitor-type induction motor changes depending on the amount of laundry in the water tank. Based on the load amount detected by the load amount detection means, washing, rinsing,
Time for each step of dehydration.

A control means was provided to automatically control the strength of the water flow, the number of rinses, etc. This control means was constituted by a microcomputer, and a display means for displaying the progress status of each process was connected to a part of the output port of this microcomputer.

This display means had a function of displaying the remaining time of each washing, rinsing, and spin-drying process to notify the progress status, and a function of notifying the settings of the strength of the washing water flow and the number of rinses.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional configuration, if the load amount detection means falsely detects the amount of laundry, for example, even if the user feels that there is a large amount of laundry, the load amount detection means may erroneously detect that the amount of laundry is small. If it is detected, the strength of the water flow, rinsing time, number of rinses, spin-drying time, etc. are most inappropriate for the laundry. There were problems in that some dirt remained, dirt was not removed sufficiently, and water was not sufficiently dehydrated.

The present invention solves these problems, and even if the load amount detection means makes a false detection, the user can check the result and determine the appropriate water flow strength, rinsing time, and rinsing amount. To provide a washing machine in which settings such as the number of times of dehydration, spin-drying time, etc. can be re-set.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above objects, the washing machine of the present invention includes a load amount detection means for detecting the load amount of laundry, and a signal from the load amount detection means for washing and rinsing.

A configuration comprising a control means for controlling sequential operations of dewatering, and a display means for displaying the sequential operations of the control means, and the display means is provided with a load amount display means for displaying the load amount detected by the load amount detection means. It is.

Effect With the above configuration, even if the load amount detection means makes a false detection, the user is notified of the load amount detected by the load amount display means, and the user can check whether or not the sequential operation is appropriate based on the data of the load amount detection means. The user can decide. Therefore, when the load amount is erroneously detected, the user can re-set the water flow strength, rinsing time, number of rinsing times, and spin-drying time appropriate for the amount of laundry.

Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. In FIG. 1, a load amount detection means 5 is provided to detect the amount of load applied to a condenser-type induction motor M that rotates a spin-drying tank, and a control means 8 controls a series of sequential operations of washing, rinsing, and spin-drying based on this detection signal. is controlled by The control means uses a display means 6 that displays washing time, number of rinses, dehydration time, strength of water flow, etc. to display the set control contents and progress status, and also controls the load of the condenser type induction motor M etc. to control each process. Executes sequential operations.

5-7 The display means 6 is provided with a load amount display means for displaying the load amount detected by the load amount detection means 5 as high, medium, or low as shown in FIG. A more specific configuration is shown in the third section.
This will be explained using figures. The condenser type induction motor M is connected to an AC power source via a motor drive means 2 composed of a triac. A voltage detection means 3 that detects the voltage across the capacitor 1 provided between the windings of the capacitor-type induction motor M performs voltage detection only when the motor drive means 2 is on. Further, a timer means 4 whose purpose is to measure the time from when the motor drive means 2 is first turned on until the voltage across the capacitor 1 reaches a predetermined value is connected to the load amount detection means 5 via the control means 8. Output the time data. The load amount detection means 5 takes in time data using the timer means 4, takes in capacitor voltage data from the voltage detection means 3, measures the time until the voltage value reaches a predetermined value, and determines the amount of load applied to the capacitor type induction motor M. seek. The control means 8 sets control contents for a series of sequential operations of washing, rinsing, and spin-drying 6' in accordance with the load amount from the load amount detection means 5, and operates the motor drive means 2 based on the settings. Alternatively, each load is operated to execute the sequential operations of each process, and the sequential operations are displayed on the display means 6.

Further, the contents of the detected load amount are displayed by a load amount display means 6a which informs the user of the detected load amount among the display means. The input means 7 for setting the control contents of the control means inputs the strength of water flow, washing time, rinsing time, etc.
This is for the user to set the number of rinses, dehydration time, etc.

The control operation of the washing machine with the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. First, after washing is finished, drain the detergent-containing water remaining in the washing tub. Further, in order to scatter the detergent-containing water contained in the clothes by centrifugal force, the condenser type induction motor M is rotated at high speed by the motor driving means 2. At this time, the motor drive means 2 controls the condenser-type induction motor M so that it is periodically turned on and off so that the clothes in the washing tub are not unbalanced. This type of dehydration method is hereinafter referred to as intermittent dehydration. Figure 4 shows how the voltage across the capacitor 1 changes over time after the intermittent dehydration starts. Here, VO in FIG. 4 is the voltage across the capacitor 1 immediately after the start of intermittent dehydration, and T is the voltage across the capacitor 1 that increases by a constant value va immediately after the start of intermittent dehydration to Vo + V.

It's time to reach the sweet spot.

Immediately after the start of intermittent dehydration, the voltage detection means 3 measures ■○, and at the same time, the timer means 4 starts counting the time.

Thereafter, only when the capacitor-type induction motor M is on, the voltage test means 3 measures the voltage (2) across the capacitor 1, and the data is transferred to the load amount detection means 5 each time. Here ■≧Vo + V.

It is determined whether or not the following holds true: ■≧v0+■. If not established, the process returns to the control routine for the capacitor type induction motor M. If ■≧Vo×6 is satisfied, the timer of the timer means 4 is stopped, and the load amount, that is, the amount of cloth is classified into three types according to the size of the counted time T. For example, if O<T<tl, the amount of cloth is considered to be ``small'', if t1≦T<t2, it is considered to be medium, and if t2≦T, it is considered to be ``large'', and the load shown in Fig. 2 is assumed. The amount of cloth detected by the indicator light of the amount display means 6a is notified to the user.Here, tl.

t2 is a predetermined value. Then, the control means 8 controls the motor drive means 2 and the like in the subsequent rinsing process and dehydration process in accordance with the detected amount of cloth.

In this embodiment, the amount of cloth is detected during intermittent dehydration at the beginning of the rinsing process, and the detected amount of cloth is notified to the user by the load amount display means 6a, but the present invention is not limited to this. At the start of washing, the amount of cloth is measured using ultrasonic waves, then washed and rinsed.

It goes without saying that it can also be applied to washing machines that automatically control all processes up to dehydration. In short, it can be applied to any washing machine that detects the load and automatically controls each process.

In addition, as a method of displaying the load amount, LE
D etc. can be used to display numbers or alphabetical characters.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the detected load amount is notified to the user by the load amount display means, so even if the load amount detection means makes a false detection, the user can easily check the result. You will be able to adjust settings such as water flow strength, rinsing time, number of rinses, dehydration time, etc. to suit the load.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the control section of the washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of the load amount display means, and Fig. 3 is a specific block diagram of the control section of the washing machine. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the change over time in the voltage across the capacitor at the time of starting the capacitor-type induction motor, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control operation. M... Capacitor type induction motor, 5...
・Load amount detection means, 6...Display means, 6a...
. . . Load amount display means, 8 . . . Control means. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure, ≦ Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] Load amount detection means for detecting the load amount of laundry; control means for controlling sequential operations of washing, rinsing, and spin-drying based on signals from the load amount detection means; and sequential operations of washing, rinsing, and spin-drying of this control means. The washing machine is provided with a display means for displaying a load amount display means for displaying a load amount detected by the load amount detection means.