KR100429636B1 - Amount of a laundry Sensing apparatus for washing machine and the method - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus and method for detecting a quantity of washing machine according to the present invention includes a power separator comprising a photo coupler for separating a power voltage applied from the outside into a strong part and a weak part, and a smoothing part for smoothing a signal output from the power separator. And a control unit which detects the quantity of the washing machine by measuring the existence time of the signal by receiving the waveform output from the smoothing unit, and smoothing the electromotive force generated by inertia rotation immediately after energizing and turning off the motor of the washing machine for a predetermined time. By measuring the signal generation duration and determining the quantity, the accuracy of the quantity detection can be improved.

Description

Amount of a laundry Sensing apparatus for washing machine and the method}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for detecting a quantity of washing machine. In particular, an electromotive force generated by inertia rotation immediately after energizing and turning off a motor of a washing machine for a predetermined time is smoothed using a capacitor, and a quantity of the quantity is measured by measuring a pulse generation duration. The present invention relates to a quantity detecting device and a method of a washing machine capable of improving the accuracy of the quantity detecting by determining.

In general, when a washing machine puts soiled clothing into a washing solution, the detergent separates the fibers from the fibers by the chemical action of the detergent, but the action of the detergent alone takes a long time, so that the speed of time of removal is increased by applying mechanical action such as friction or vibration. Will perform the action.

Washing operation control of these washing machines. First, after detecting the quantity of clothes and the like put into the washing tank, if the quantity is determined, set the washing water flow, detergent and total washing time according to the quantity, and then vortex the water through the reverse rotation of the pulsator with the washing time. Carry out a washing stroke to separate the dirt from the laundry by friction with

Next, when the washing administration is completed, the turbid wash water is discharged and the new washing water is supplied from the washing tank to rinse for a predetermined number of times already set in the system. When the rinsing stroke is completed, the water in the washing tank is discharged and the induction motor is rotated at a high speed at a predetermined speed to remove the laundry water by centrifugal separation to perform dehydration stroke.

1 is a view illustrating a quantity detection device of a conventional washing machine, and includes a washing / dehydrating motor 2 for driving a rotary blade (not shown) and a main coil and an auxiliary coil of the washing / dehydrating motor 2. Connected motor starting condenser 3, load driving triacs 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d connected between the washing / dehydrating motor 2 and the power supply voltage 1, and the load driving Control means 5 for controlling the energization of the washing / dehydrating motor 2 via the triacs 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d, and generating a pulse in response to the voltage change of the motor starting condenser 3. It comprises a pulse generating device (6).

The control means 5 detects the washing cloth or the load amount by the number of pulses generated from the pulse generator 6 immediately after turning on and off the washing / dehydrating motor 2 for a predetermined time.

2 illustrates an embodiment of the pulse generator, and FIG. 3 illustrates a pulse generated from the pulse generator.

Conventional pulse generator 6 is composed of a plurality of resistors (R1 to R5), transistors, diodes (T1 to T3, D1, D2) including a photocoupler, the inertia of the washing / dehydration motor (2) The analog signal Vc generated by the rotation is converted into the digital pulse signal Vo via the pulse generator, that is, the photocoupler P1.

The quantity detection device of the conventional washing machine configured as described above operates as follows.

First, the laundry is put into the washing water to the amount of water detection level, and when the driving voltage is applied to the washing / dehydrating motor (2) by the control means (5) the rotating shaft of the washing / dehydrating motor (2) is rotated The rotational force of the rotary shaft rotates a pulsator (not shown).

When the washing / dehydrating motor 2 is driven for about 0.4 seconds and then turned off, the pulsator rotates for a certain period of time by inertia, and at this time, the voltage stored in the motor driving capacitor is By the pulse generating means, a pulse as shown in FIG. 3 is generated.

At this time, the number of pulses varies depending on the amount of washing cloth, and in general, if the amount is small, the number of pulses generated from the pulse generating means increases. Therefore, it is possible to detect the amount of water by the number of pearls, and to determine the amount of washing required for washing according to the amount of water, usually divided into 4 to 10 steps.

However, in the above-described method for detecting a quantity of washing machine, since the difference in the number of pulses for each quantity is not large, the determination of the quantity depends on the difference in the number of two to three pulses. That is, if the number of pulses is 20 to 23, it is determined as the amount of water corresponding to the high water level, and if it is 17 to 19, it is determined as the amount of water corresponding to the medium water level.

As shown in FIG. 4, when an abnormal pulse is added due to noise or the like during the detection of a dose, the possibility of erroneous detection is increased. Pulses generated by external noise such as a, b, and c are controlled although the time is very short. Since the means recognizes one pulse, it is erroneous.

That is, in the washing machine detection method and method for detecting the quantity of water by the number of pulses as in the prior art, even if the pulse generated by external noise is a pulse irrelevant to the quantity of water, the control means recognizes as one pulse, and thus may be misdetected. There is a problem that this becomes large, and the capacity detection accuracy falls.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, the object is to smooth the electromotive force generated by inertial rotation immediately after turning off the motor of the washing machine for a predetermined time by using a capacitor, the signal generation duration It is to provide a quantity detection device and method of the washing machine that can improve the accuracy of the quantity detection by determining the quantity by measuring the.

1 is a block diagram showing a quantity detection device of a washing machine according to the prior art,

2 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a pulse generator;

3 is a graph showing a pulse generated in the pulse generator;

4 is a graph showing an abnormally generated pulse in the pulse generator;

5 is a circuit diagram showing a quantity detection device of a washing machine according to the present invention;

6 is a graph showing a pulse generated in the quantity detection device of the washing machine according to the present invention,

7 is a flowchart illustrating a quantity detection method of a washing machine according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

10: power separation unit 20: smoothing unit

30 control part P1 photocoupler

According to a characteristic of the quantity detection device of the washing machine according to the present invention for solving the above problems, a power separation unit for separating the power voltage applied from the outside into the strong and weak parts, and the signal output from the power separation unit A smoothing unit and a control unit for detecting the amount of washing machine by measuring the time of existence of the signal received from the waveform output from the smoothing unit.

In addition, according to the present invention, a washing capacity detection method according to the present invention includes a first method of counting a time from the first occurrence of a signal to the end of the signal by the rotation of the motor when the power is turned off after driving the washing / dehydrating motor for a predetermined time; Steps; And a second step of determining a dose based on the signal duration counted in the first step.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The apparatus for detecting a quantity of washing machine according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5 includes a power separating unit 10 for separating a power voltage applied from the outside into a strong portion and a weak portion, and a signal output from the power separating portion 10. The smoothing unit 20 and the control unit 30 for detecting the amount of washing machine by measuring the time of existence of the signal received from the waveform output from the smoothing unit 20 is configured.

When the power separating unit 10 drives a washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) for a predetermined time and then turns off, the power separating unit 10 rotates for a predetermined time due to the inertia of the pulsator (not shown). Diodes R11 to R13 and D11 to D13 include a photocoupler P2 for converting the voltage change generated by the rotation of the excitation into a digital pulse signal.

In addition, the smoothing part 20 is connected to the emitter of the transistor T11 constituting the photocoupler P2, and is composed of a capacitor and resistors C11 and R14.

FIG. 6 illustrates motor driving pulses and microcomputer input waveforms A and B generated in the quantity detection device of the washing machine according to the present invention, wherein the motor driving pulses A are the washing / dehydrating motors (not shown). It is a pulse to drive the washing / dehydration motor power off at time t1.

The microcomputer input waveform B illustrates a waveform in which the output of the smoothing unit 20 is input to the controller 30. The microcomputer input waveform B is charged at a time t1 at which the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) is turned off. The process of attenuating the discharge repeatedly is shown. That is, since the power of the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) is turned off at the time t1, T1 is present. The smoothed waveform that disappears changes according to the amount of washing cloth.

If the amount of laundry is large, the load on the pulsator (not shown) increases, so that the pulsator (not shown) stops quickly, and the signal duration time T1 is shortened, and when the quantity is small, the load on the pulsator (not shown) is increased. Since the pulsator (not shown) rotates a lot, the signal duration time T1 becomes longer because it becomes smaller.

The operation of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7.

In the first step, when the laundry is put into the washing machine and a power voltage is applied to the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) for a predetermined time, the rotating shaft of the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) rotates and the rotating force of the rotating shaft is Rotate the pulsator (not shown) (see S1).

In the second step, the driving is stopped by turning off the power supply voltage of the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) which has been driven on for a predetermined time in the first step (S1), but the pulsator (not shown) is fixed by inertia. The residual rotation is performed for a time, and this causes a signal due to the residual rotation in the photocoupler P2 by changing the voltage of the power separation unit 10 (see S2).

In this case, the signal generated by the photocoupler P2 is outputted as a waveform for repeatedly attenuating charging and discharging through the smoothing unit 20.

In the third step, the timer in the controller 30 starts to measure the duration of the signal generated in the second step S2. In the fourth step, a high signal is applied to the port of the controller 30. If the determination result of the fourth step is positive, it is determined that a signal due to the remaining rotation of the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) is generated, and the timer continuously measures the signal duration time. If the determination result of step 4 is negative, in the fifth step, it is determined that the signal generation due to the remaining rotation of the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown) is finished, and the counting of the timer is stopped (see S3, S4, and S5). )

In the sixth step, the signal duration time T1 measured in the fifth step S5 is stored in the controller 30. In the seventh step, the signal duration time T1 stored in the sixth step is 10 ms or more. If it is detected that the determination result of the seventh step is negative, the eighth step determines that the water level of the washing machine corresponds to the high water level (see S6, S7, and S8).

If the determination result of the seventh step (S7) is affirmative, in the ninth step it is determined whether the signal duration time (T1) stored in the control unit 30 in the sixth step (S6) is 30 ms or more, If the determination result is negative, in the tenth step, it is determined that the water level of the washing machine is the medium water level (see S9 and S10).

If the determination result of the ninth step S9 is affirmative, the eleventh step determines whether the signal duration time T1 of the sixth step S6 is 60 ms or more. In step 12, it is determined that the water level of the washing machine is low level, and if the determination result of the eleventh step is affirmative, in step 13 it is determined that the water level of the washing machine is a minority level (see S11, S12, and S13).

T1 Water level Counterpart Less than 10㎳ High water 10 kg or more 10㎳ ~ 30㎳ Water level 6㎏-10㎏ 30㎳ ~ 60㎳ Water level 4㎏-6㎏ 60㎳ or more Minority Less than 4kg

Table 1 shows the washing water level and the amount of washing according to the signal duration of the washing machine. The longer the signal duration time (T1) generated by the residual rotation of the washing / dehydrating motor (not shown), the smaller the washing amount and the water level. It can also be seen that it is determined to be low.

The fourteenth step is to supply water to reach the appropriate level corresponding to the water level determined in the seventh to thirteenth steps (S7 to S13), to detect the amount of water in the washing tank and determine the washing time and the water flow strength according to the Operation is performed (see S14).

The apparatus and method for detecting a quantity of washing machine according to the present invention can improve the precision of the quantity sensing by allowing the electromotive force generated by the inertia rotation when the motor is turned off to determine the quantity of the smoothness using the capacitor and the duration thereof. .

The quantity detection device and method of the washing machine of the present invention configured as described above smooths the electromotive force generated by the inertia rotation immediately after energizing the motor for a predetermined time through the smoothing part, and measures the pulse generation time to improve the accuracy of the quantity detection. By doing so, it is possible to determine the washing water and the washing amount of the water level suitable for the amount of washing cloth, which has the effect of saving water / environmentally friendly.

Claims (4)

The power supply separating the power supply voltage applied from the strong and weak parts, and generates a pulse, a smoothing unit for smoothing the signal output from the power separation unit, and the waveform received from the smoothing signal It comprises a control unit for detecting the amount of washing machine by measuring the existence time of, The control unit is configured to sense the amount of washing machine by measuring the signal duration from the end of the washing machine driving motor until the output waveform output from the smoothing unit is switched from high to low or from low to high Quantity detection device. A first step of counting a signal duration until the signal generated by the turning of the motor after the washing / dehydrating motor is turned off is changed from high to low or low to high; And a second step of determining that the amount of washing cloth is smaller as the signal duration time counted in the first step is longer. delete delete