JPS6351894A - 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 (Invention 1) (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a washing machine equipped with a control circuit consisting of a microcomputer.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in a washing machine equipped with a control circuit composed of a microcomputer, operations such as washing, rinsing, and spin-drying are controlled according to an operation course that is preset in the control circuit. For example, in a two-tub washing machine, which is equipped with a control circuit consisting of a microcomputer as described above, there are two operating courses for washing and rinsing, such as a "standard" operating course and a "careful" operating course. Several operating courses, such as "Easy" and "Economy" operating courses, are set in the rme control circuit, and the "Standard" operating course is uniquely selected in the initial state when the washing machine is turned on. It has become. In addition, ] - note "
“Standard” driving course, “Careful” driving course and “Saving”
Depending on the driving course, control data such as the strength of the water flow or the length of driving time may differ.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional method described in -1-1, even if there is no driving course suitable for washing the laundry depending on the type of laundry, the user can Since the user has to select one of these driving courses, there are cases where the washing operation cannot be carried out in accordance with the user's wishes. Therefore, recently, there are devices that allow the control data for each of the above operation courses to be changed, but in this case, no matter which operation course is selected, the control data is changed each time before starting the washing operation. It was a pain to have to input it.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described in item 1-1.The first object of the present invention is to enable a user to set a desired driving course, to perform a washing operation according to the user's wishes, and to provide a driving course. To provide a washing machine that can eliminate the need for selection and designation operations for one frequently used driving course after setting, and can also simplify selection and setting operations for other driving courses, thereby making it convenient to use. is to provide.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a control circuit that is composed of a microcomputer and controls driving based on a driving course, and a control data input switch that inputs control data to the control circuit. and a plurality of course switches that cause the control circuit to store and set driving courses based on the control data that have different priorities, and in an initial state of the control circuit after the driving course is stored and set, the course The driving course that has been memorized and set with the course switch with the highest priority among the switches is selected and set in the control circuit, and the lower driving courses that have been memorized and set with the other course switches are set to the highest priority by operating the corresponding course switch. Instead of the driving course, a selection is set in the control circuit.

(Operation) Control data is input into the control circuit using the control data input switch, and one of the 112 course switches is operated to store and set a driving course based on the control data in the control circuit. In this way, one operation course for the washing operation desired by the user is set in the control circuit. Since there are multiple course switches, when setting a driving course different from the above-mentioned driving courses, input the control data into the control circuit in the same manner as described above, operate the other course switches, and set the driving course based on the control information. is stored and set in the control circuit.

Multiple course switches have priorities, and after setting the driving course described above, in the initial state of the control circuit, the driving course stored and set by the course switch with the highest priority is selected in this control circuit. Set. Therefore, if the driving course desired by the user is the highest driving course set by the 11th highest course switch, the user can simply start driving without performing the driving course selection operation. Furthermore, when a user desires another lower-level driving course, by operating the course switch on which the corresponding driving course is set, that driving course is selected and set in place of the highest-ranking driving course.

(Example) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIG. 3, 1 is an outer box of a two-tub washing machine, 2 is an operation box, and 3 is an operation panel of this operation box 2. Next, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 4 denotes a control circuit consisting of a microcomputer provided inside the operation box 2.
It is configured to include U5, memory (RAM) 6, etc. -1- The CPU 5 and memory 6 have a power supply voltage Vdd.
In addition, when this power supply voltage Vdd is not supplied, backup power is supplied from the backup power supply circuit 7.

Now, FIG. 1 shows the operation panel 3, and in the same figure, reference numerals 8, 9, and 10 are control data input switches, such as a water flow changeover switch, a washing/rinsing time set switch, and a dewatering time set switch. The water flow changeover switch 8 is used to input into the control circuit 4 the strength and weakness of the water flow for washing and washing operations as control data, and the water flow is set to "weak" depending on the number of times the switch is turned on.

``Standard'' control data and ``Strong'' control data are given to the control circuit 4, and each time the light emitting diode 1
Select 1, 12, and 13 in sequence [2 to light up and display. The switch 9 inputs the execution time value for washing and rinsing to the control circuit 4 as control data, and changes the execution time value to ``15 minutes'' or ``12 minutes'' depending on the number of times the switch is turned on. minutes J, rlo minutes", "7 minutes", "5
"minute" and "2 minutes" respectively, and light emitting diodes 14.15. . . . 19 are selected in sequence and lit up.

The dewatering time set switch 10 inputs the execution time value for the dehydration operation as control data to the control circuit 4, and sets the execution time value "5 minutes" according to the number of times it is turned on.
, "3 minutes", "1 minute", and "1/4 minute", and each time the light emitting diodes 20.2-1.22.23 are sequentially selected and displayed. 24 is a setting switch for validating the control data input to the control circuit 4 for driving course storage settings. 25, 26, and 27 are the first priority. Second. Among the third course switches, the highest course switch is the first course switch 25, and the other lower course switches are the second course switches 26. A third course switch 27 is used. The control data inputted from each of the switches 8, 9.10 is validated by the setting switch 24, and then the control data is activated by turning on any of the course switches 25, 26.27. A driving course based on the data is stored and set in the memory. In addition, 28 is washed.
Pause 1 for rinsing operation - Start switch that also serves as a switch, 29 is Pause 1 for dehydration operation
A start switch also serves as a switch, and 30 is a power switch.

Now, the control circuit 4 shown in - starts the washing/rinsing operation when the start switch 28 is operated, and also starts the washing/rinsing operation when the start switch 28 is operated.
If 9 is operated, the dehydration operation will be performed in 1. Control is performed according to a second or third driving course, and each driving course is set by the user. The setting of the driving course will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, when the power switch 30 is turned on, the control circuit 4 is in an initial state, and in this initial state, the driving course stored and set by the first course switch 25 as the driving course is selected and set as the driving course in step S1. However, in this case, since the driving course has not been stored and set by the first course switch 25, the driving course has not been substantially selected and set yet at this point. Next, in step S2, scanning is performed to determine which switch has received the input. At this time, if the water flow changeover switch 8 is turned on to input control data regarding the water flow (step S3), control data regarding the strength of the water flow is input according to the number of times the switch is operated, and each light emission One of the diodes 11, 12, and 13 is displayed as being lit (step S,). The process then proceeds to step S2.

When the washing/rinsing time setting switch 9 is operated as shown in the next step S5, control data regarding the execution time value of the washing/rinsing operation corresponding to the number of operations is input to the control circuit 4. Light emitting diode 14,1
5. . . . 19 is displayed as a dot (step Ss). After this, the process returns to step S2 again. Then, as shown in step s7, when the dehydration time set switch 1o is input, the execution time value for the dehydration operation is input as control data according to the number of operations, and the light emitting diodes 20, 21, 22, 23 are input. One of these will be displayed lit. After this, the process returns to step s2. Next, when the setting switch 24 is operated (step S9), each of the above-mentioned control data is validated as control data for setting the driving course, and then the course switches 25, 26
．． 27 will be operated. Here, when the first course switch 25 with the highest priority order is turned on as shown in step SIG, step S11
As shown in , the driving course based on the above-mentioned control data is stored and set in the memory 6 as the first driving course (second-rank driving course in terms of frequency of use). Thereafter, in the same manner as described above, various control data or each switch 8, 9, 10
is input to the control quantity path 4 by the setting switch 24.
, and then turn on the second course switch 26 as shown in step S12.
13, a driving course based on each control data is stored and set in the memory 6 as a second driving course (lower driving course). Also, when storing and setting the third driving course (another lower driving course), various control data were input in the same way and the setting switch 24 was turned on.
-, if the third course switch 27 is turned on as shown in step S14, a third driving course based on various control data is stored and set in the memory 6 as shown in step StS. In this way, the user is allowed to memorize and set three desired driving courses. After this, step S
16. Step 318. As shown in step 820, if one of the course switches 25, 26 and 27 is turned on, step sl? , Step S19+ As shown in Step S21, the driving course stored and set by the course switch is selected and set.

Note that step S1□, step S13. In step S21, control data for the corresponding driving course is displayed by lighting the light emitting diodes 11 to 23 as appropriate. Then, by turning on the start switch 28 or 29 as shown in step S22 and step S26, step 323+step S24. Step s2B, the washing/rinsing operation or dehydration operation is executed according to the operation course as shown from step S2□, the operation is controlled, and then stopped or terminated.

On the other hand, after setting the driving course memory as described in -1-, step 3
2B, when the power switch 30 is operated to turn off the power, the power to the CPU 5 of the control circuit 4 is also turned off, but the memory 6 is supplied with power from the backup power circuit 7, and therefore, each of the items described in - The driving course is memorized.

Thereafter, when the power switch 30 is turned on again, the control circuit 4 enters the initial state, and the first driving course stored and set by the first course switch 25 is selected and set, as shown in step S1. Ru. Therefore, if the start switch 28 or 29 is turned on after the operation course selection/instruction operation is performed using each course switch 26, 27, the washing/rinsing operation or dehydration operation is started in the first operation course. Here, if the user sets the most frequently used driving course using the first start switch 25, the frequency of operations for selecting and setting the driving course can be reduced. In this case, if the second or third course switch 26 or 27 is turned on,
The second or third operation course stored in each course switch 26, 27 is selected and set in place of the first operation course, and then, by turning on the start switch 28 or 29, washing/rinsing operation is performed. Or dehydration operation is started.

In the above embodiment, a two-tub type washing machine was used as an example, but this can also be applied to a fully automatic type washing machine that performs washing, rinsing, and spin-drying operations in one tank (simultaneous rotation tank). In this case, the value of use is often improved. In addition, in the embodiment described in -, the stored contents of the memory are retained by a backup power source, but this backup power source is not necessarily required, and in this case, the DC power source from the commercial power source can be used regardless of whether the power switch is on or off All you have to do is keep it in memory all the time.

The pond water invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the present invention allows the user to input control data using the control data input switch and then operate the course switch to control the control circuit to control an arbitrary driving course. Since the settings can be stored in memory, a driving course can be set according to the user's wishes depending on the amount and type of laundry, and since multiple course switches are provided, the driving course can be set according to the user's wishes. In addition, in the initial state of the control circuit after setting the driving course by prioritizing the multiple courses and memorizing the driving course by each course switch, Since the courses are set in advance, if you set the most frequently used driving course as the most frequently used driving course, you can eliminate the need to select and set the driving course. To select and set a lower driving course other than the top driving course, you only need to operate the course switch corresponding to the lower driving course, and input various control data each time before starting the washing operation. Compared to the case where the driving course is memorized and set, the setting operation of the driving course can be made easier, and a washing machine which is extremely user-friendly in general can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a front view of the operation panel, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of the main parts, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the entire washing machine, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the operation panel. It is a flowchart. In the figure, 4 is a control circuit, 6 is a memory, 8 is a water flow selection switch (control data input switch), 9 is a washing/rinsing time set switch (control data input switch), and 10 is a dewatering time set switch (control data input switch) ),
25, 26, and 27 are course switches.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A control circuit that is composed of a microcomputer and controls driving based on a driving course, a control data input switch that inputs control data to this control circuit, and a driving course that has a priority order and controls driving based on the different control data. The control circuit includes a plurality of course switches to be memorized and set, and in the initial state of the control circuit after the driving course is memorized and set, the course switch having the highest priority among the course switches performs the memorized and set driving. A washing machine comprising a washing machine in which a course is selected and set in the control circuit, and a lower operating course that is memorized and set using another course switch is selected and set in the control circuit instead of the uppermost operating course by operating the corresponding course switch. .