KR101019668B1 - Apparatus and method for opening door of washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a door opening device and a method of a washing machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a door opening device and a method of a washing machine capable of immediately preventing a safety accident by opening a door of a washing machine immediately when a door of the washing machine is closed while a small child or pet is inside the washing machine. . The present invention provides a door opening apparatus for a washing machine including a washing tub and a door, the weight measuring unit being coupled to the washing tub and measuring the weight of the washing tub when the door is closed; A situation determination unit determining whether an object other than laundry in the washing tank is input using the measurement result; And a door opening that opens the door according to the determination result. According to the present invention, by detecting a situation in which the door of the washing machine is closed while the child or pet is inside the washing machine, the door of the washing machine is immediately opened, thereby preventing a safety accident that may occur due to the child or pet being trapped inside the washing machine. It has the possible effect.

Washing machine, laundry tub, door, opening

Description

Apparatus and method for opening door of washing machine}

The present invention relates to a door opening device and a method of a washing machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a door opening device and a method of a washing machine capable of immediately preventing a safety accident by opening a door of a washing machine immediately when a door of the washing machine is closed while a small child or pet is inside the washing machine. .

In general, a washing machine uses an electric motor as its main power to wash, rinse, and dehydrate water to remove contaminants from clothes by using detergent and water. A mechanical part that delivers energy to a motor and a motor , A control unit for adjusting the washing process, a water supply device, and a drainage device.

The type of the washing machine is classified into a pulsator type, an agitator type, and a drum type according to a washing method.

The vortex type washing machine is a method in which water flow generated when a small winged rotary blade coupled to a lower part of a washing tank rotates to wash the laundry, while having a simple structure, low trouble, and low cost, There is a disadvantage that the water flow is too strong to damage the fiber, a lot of lint occurs during the washing is attached to the laundry, the clothes are twisted with each other during the laundry is uneven washing. Such vortex type washing machines are mainly used in Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, which are capable of cold water washing due to their good water quality.

Agitated washing machine is a way that the large stirring blades with wings in the center of the washing tank is inverted regularly to form a stream of water to wash the laundry, which can wash a large amount of laundry at a time, and less tangled or damaged laundry. On the other hand, the rods are coupled to the inside of the washing tank and the structure is complicated, so that the input and withdrawal of large laundry is somewhat inconvenient, and the price is rather expensive compared to the washing machine in the vortex type. These vortex type washing machines are mainly used in the United States, and most of them adopt a fully automatic method.

The drum type washing machine puts laundry inside the washing drum, rotates the washing drum, and washes by the impact of the drop and washing power of the detergent.The rotating cylinder has branches, and the laundry is supported by stirring the tax solution according to the rotation of the cylinder. Up and down force is acting to increase the washing effect. It is mainly used in Europe, which has less damage to the cloth and includes a laundry drying device, which is convenient because it only takes out and cleans the laundry after washing, while using the force (free fall) of the laundry by rotating the drum. Since the power to rub the laundry is very weak, it has to be washed for a long time at a high temperature of about 60 ° C., and the structure is complicated, which is expensive and consumes many power. Such drum-type washing machines are mainly used in European regions where the soap is hard to loosen.

As such, the washing machine is essentially used in daily life, but it is equipped with a safety device to prevent the door from opening during washing. Therefore, a safety accident occurs frequently. In particular, in the case of a drum-type washing machine, laundry is a space where laundry is put in. If you accidentally close the door of a washing machine after a child or pet enters the drum, the door will not open inside the washing machine, and the child or pet may get trapped inside the washing machine and die from asphyxiation. There was a problem that often occurs.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and when the door of the washing machine is closed in a state in which a small child or pet enters the inside of the washing machine, the door of the washing machine can be immediately opened to prevent safety accidents. It is an object to provide a door opening device and method.

A door opening device of a washing machine according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a door opening device of a washing machine including a washing tank and a door, the weight measuring unit coupled to the washing tank and measuring the weight of the washing tank when the door is closed ; A situation determination unit determining whether an object other than laundry in the washing tank is input using the measurement result; And a door opening that opens the door according to the determination result.

In addition, the door opening method of the washing machine according to the invention, the door opening method of the washing machine comprising a washing tank and the door, (a) measuring the weight of the washing tank when the door is closed; (b) determining whether an object other than laundry is put into the washing tank using the measurement result; And (c) opening the door according to the determination result.

According to the present invention, since the door of the washing machine is immediately opened by detecting a situation in which the door of the washing machine is closed while the child or pet is inside the washing machine, a safety accident that may occur due to the trapping of the child or pet inside the washing machine may be delayed. It is possible to prevent it.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First of all, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are used as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. In addition, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but the technical idea of the present invention may be implemented by those skilled in the art without being limited or limited thereto.

1 is a block diagram of a door opening device of a washing machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the door opening device 1 of the washing machine according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a weight measuring unit 10, a situation determination unit 20, a door opening unit 30, and an alarm generating unit ( 40).

The weight measuring unit 10 is coupled to a lower portion of the washing drum which is a space where laundry is washed in the washing machine, and measures the weight of the washing drum when the door of the washing machine is closed.

The situation determination unit 20 determines whether an object other than laundry is put into the washing drum by using a measurement result of the weight of the washing drum measured by the weight measuring unit 10. In this case, a detailed configuration and operation method of the situation determination unit 20 will be described below with reference to FIG. 2.

The door opening unit 30 opens the door when it is determined by the situation determination unit 20 that something other than laundry is put into the washing drum. In this case, the other object may be a child, a pet, or an object inserted by mistake of a user.

In addition, the door opening unit 30 is connected to a control unit for adjusting the washing process of the washing machine to open the door so that the control unit opens the door when it is determined that an object other than laundry is put into the washing drum. can do.

The alarm generating unit 40 is connected to the door opening unit 30 to inform the occurrence of an abnormal situation when the door opening unit 30 determines that an object other than laundry is put into the washing drum to open the door. To generate an alarm sound.

Here, the case in which the door opening device 1 of the washing machine according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied to a drum type washing machine including a washing drum and a door as described above has been described, but this is only one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The door opening device 1 of the washing machine according to the example can be applied to a vortex type and agitated washing machine including a washing tank and a door.

2 is a detailed block diagram of a situation determination unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the situation determination unit 20 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a comparison unit 22, a determination unit 24, an allowable weight adjusting unit 26, and a determination result transmission unit 28. It includes.

The comparison unit 22 calculates a difference value between the measurement result of the washing drum measured when the door is closed in the weight measuring unit 10 and the weight of the washing drum which is predetermined. In this case, the predetermined weight of the washing drum may be the weight of the washing drum predetermined in the manufacturing process of the washing machine.

The determination unit 24 has a difference value between the measurement result of the washing drum measured when the door is closed by the weight measuring unit 10 calculated by the comparing unit 22 and the weight of the washing drum which is predetermined. When the weight exceeds the determined allowable weight, it is determined that an object other than laundry is put into the washing tank.

In this case, the predetermined allowable weight may be a rated capacity of the washing drum in which laundry can be put into the washing drum, and the rated capacity of the washing drum may be predetermined in the manufacturing process of the washing machine.

In addition, the allowable weight is adjustable, and the adjustment may be made in the allowable weight adjusting unit 26. The reason why the allowable weight is adjustable in the allowable weight adjusting unit 26 as described above is that the washing drum is actually adjusted by adjusting the allowable weight according to the age group of the young child or pet existing in the place where the washing machine is used. In order to increase the accuracy of the judgment of the determination unit 24 when a small child or a pet other than the laundry is accidentally entered.

For example, assuming that the washing drum has a predetermined capacity of 12 kg, which is determined in the manufacturing process of the washing machine, statistically, the young child's standard weight is 9.77 kg, the second standard weight is 12.94 kg, and the standard weight is 3 years. Is 15.08kg, 4 years old standard weight is 16.99kg, so if the child is 1 year old using the allowable weight control unit 26 at home raising young children from 1 year to 4 years old, the allowable weight is 21kg, young When the child is 2 years old, the allowable weight is 24 kg, when the young child is 3 years old, the allowable weight is 27 kg, and when the young child is 4 years old, the allowable weight may be set to 28 kg.

Therefore, a safety accident can be prevented regardless of the age of the young child or pet present in the place where the washing machine is used.

The determination result transmission unit 28 transmits the determination result determined by the determination unit 24 that the object other than the laundry into the laundry drum to the door opening unit 30, and controls the washing process of the washing machine. The door opening 30 connected to the control unit may allow the control unit to open the door.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a door opening method of a washing machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the door opening method of the washing machine according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps performed in time series in the door opening device 1 of the washing machine.

In S10 the weight measuring unit 10 measures the weight of the washing drum when the door of the washing machine is closed. At this time, the weight measuring unit 10 is coupled to the lower portion of the washing drum and when the door is closed may measure the weight of the washing drum which is a space for washing the laundry inside the washing machine.

In S20, the situation determination unit 20 determines whether an object other than the laundry is put into the washing drum by using the weight of the washing drum measured by the weight measuring unit 10, and an object other than the laundry inside the washing drum. If it is determined that the input is the door opening portion 30 in S30 is operated after the control unit for controlling the washing process of the washing machine connected to the door opening portion 30 to open the door is terminated, the If it is not determined that an object other than laundry is put into the washing drum, the termination is performed immediately.

In this case, the detailed flowchart of S20 will be described below with reference to FIG. 4, and may further include a step of generating an alarm sound when the door is opened by the alarm generator 40 after S30.

4 is a detailed flowchart of S20 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the comparison unit 22 calculates a difference value between the weight of the washing drum and the weight of the predetermined washing drum measured when the door of the washing machine is closed in the weight measuring unit 10. . In this case, the predetermined weight of the washing drum may be the weight of the washing drum predetermined in the manufacturing process of the washing machine.

In S24, the determination unit 24 allows a predetermined value of the difference between the weight of the washing drum and the weight of the washing drum, which is measured when the door of the washing machine calculated by the comparing unit 22 is closed, is predetermined. If the weight is exceeded in S26 it is determined that an object other than laundry is inserted into the washing drum, and then the determination result is transmitted to the door opening part 30, and the termination is made. The washing measured when the door of the washing machine is closed The termination is immediately performed when the difference between the weight of the drum and the predetermined weight of the laundry drum is less than the predetermined allowable weight.

In this case, the predetermined allowable weight may be a rated capacity of the washing drum in which laundry can be put into the washing drum, and the rated capacity of the washing drum may be predetermined in the manufacturing process of the washing machine.

In addition, the allowable weight may be adjusted in the allowable weight adjusting unit 26. The reason for allowing the allowable weight to be adjustable in the allowable weight adjusting unit 26 as described above is that a child or a pet in a home having a washing machine installed in advance. When a child or a pet other than laundry actually enters the laundry drum by adjusting the allowable weight according to the age of the animal, an object other than laundry is put into the laundry drum by the determination unit 24. This is to increase the accuracy of judgment.

For example, assuming that the washing drum has a predetermined capacity of 12 kg, which is determined in the manufacturing process of the washing machine, statistically, the young child's standard weight is 9.77 kg, the second standard weight is 12.94 kg, and the standard weight is 3 years. Is 15.08kg, 4 years old standard weight is 16.99kg, so if the child is 1 year old using the allowable weight control unit 26 at home raising young children from 1 year to 4 years old, the allowable weight is 21kg, young When the child is 2 years old, the allowable weight is 24 kg, when the young child is 3 years old, the allowable weight is 27 kg, and when the young child is 4 years old, the allowable weight may be set to 28 kg.

Therefore, a safety accident can be prevented regardless of the age of a young child or pet present in a place where a washing machine is used.

In operation S26, the determination result transmission unit 26 ends the transmission surface of the determination result determined by the determination unit 24 that the object other than the laundry is put into the washing drum to the door opening unit 30. In this case, the door opening 30 is connected to a control unit for adjusting the washing process of the washing machine, and when it is determined that an object other than laundry is put into the washing drum, the door may be opened by operating the control unit.

Herein, the case in which the door opening method of the washing machine according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied to the drum type washing machine including the washing drum and the door as described above is described, but this is only one of the embodiments and according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The door opening device 1 of the washing machine can be applied to a vortex type and agitated washing machine including a washing tank and a door.

The door opening device 1 of the washing machine of the present invention is a washing machine including a washing drum and a door, when the weight measuring unit 10 coupled to the lower portion of the washing drum measures the weight of the washing drum when the door is closed. do.

Next, the situation determination unit 20 calculates a difference between the weight of the washing drum and the predetermined weight of the washing drum measured when the door is closed, and then the allowable weight at which the difference is predetermined. When exceeding, it is determined that an object other than laundry is put into the washing drum, and the determination result is transmitted to the door opening 30.

In addition, the door opening unit 30 opens the door according to the determination result, and when the door is opened, the alarm generating unit 40 may generate an alarm to inform the abnormal situation.

Therefore, by detecting a situation in which the door of the washing machine is closed while the child or pet is inside the washing machine, the door of the washing machine is opened immediately, thus preventing a safety accident that may occur due to the trapping of the child or pet inside the washing machine. Has the possible effect.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications, changes, and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. It will be possible. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention and the accompanying drawings are intended to illustrate and not to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments and the accompanying drawings . The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

According to the present invention, by detecting a situation in which the door of the washing machine is closed while the child or pet is inside the washing machine, the door of the washing machine is immediately opened, thereby preventing a safety accident that may occur due to the child or pet being trapped inside the washing machine. Since it is possible to replace the door opening device previously used in vortex type, stirring type, drum type washing machine, it is possible to utilize.

1 is a block diagram of a door opening device of a washing machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a detailed block diagram of a situation determination unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a door opening method of a washing machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and

4 is a detailed flowchart of S20 of FIG. 3.

<Brief description of the main parts of the drawings>

(1): door opening device of the washing machine (10): weight measuring unit

(20): situation judgment section 22: comparison section

24: judgment unit 26: allowable weight control unit

(28): judgment result transmission unit 30: door opening

40: alarm generator

Claims (8)

In the door opening device of the washing machine comprising a washing drum and the door, A weight measuring unit coupled to the washing drum and measuring the weight of the washing drum when the door is closed; A situation determination unit determining whether an object other than laundry is put into the laundry drum using the measurement result measured by the weight measuring unit; And It includes a door opening for opening the door according to the determination result determined by the situation determination unit, The situation determination unit, A comparator for calculating a difference between the measurement result measured by the weight measuring part and the predetermined weight of the laundry drum, and when the calculation result calculated by the comparator exceeds a predetermined allowable weight, the washing drum And a determination unit which determines that an object other than laundry is put into the inside, and a determination result transmission unit which transmits the determination result determined by the determination unit to the door opening unit. delete The method of claim 1, The situation determination unit, The door opening device of the washing machine, further comprising an allowable weight adjusting unit for adjusting the allowable weight. The method of claim 1, The door opening device of the washing machine, further comprising an alarm generating unit for generating an alarm sound when the door opening unit opens the door. In the door opening method of the washing machine comprising a washing drum and the door, (a) measuring the weight of the laundry drum when the door is closed; (b) determining whether an object other than laundry is put into the laundry drum using the measured weight of the laundry drum; And (c) opening the door according to a determination result of whether an object other than laundry is put into the laundry drum, In step (b), (b1) calculating a difference value between the measurement result of step (a) and the weight of the washing drum predetermined; (b2) comparing a calculation result of the difference value with a predetermined allowable weight and determining that an object other than laundry is put into the laundry drum when the calculation result exceeds the predetermined allowable weight; And (b3) The door opening method of the washing machine comprising the step of transmitting a result of determining that an object other than laundry in the laundry drum. delete The method of claim 5, The allowable weight in the step (b2) is door opening method of the washing machine, characterized in that adjustable. The method of claim 5, Following step (c), (d) generating an alarm further comprising the step of opening the door of the washing machine.

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