KR20050045366A - Method for controlling of smart washer using the home network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to the control of home appliances using a washing machine. In particular, in a home equipped with a home network, when the washing course required by the user is finished, the washing machine itself can use the smart for the home network. A method of controlling a washing machine, the method comprising: transmitting a washing end message and a message for knowing when to wash laundry when the entire washing course is finished; selectively turning on / off a light of a laundry room according to a user's response message Transmitting a control command to the lamp from the washing machine; transmitting a message regarding a result of turning on / off the lamp according to the control command from the washing machine to the user.

Description

Method for controlling smart washer using home network {Method for controlling of smart washer using the home network}

The present invention relates to the control of home appliances using a washing machine. In particular, in a home equipped with a home network, when the washing course required by the user is finished, the washing machine itself can use the smart for the home network. The control method of a washing machine.

In general, a washing machine is a device that removes contaminants from contaminated laundry through washing, rinsing, and dehydration according to a predetermined algorithm. The washing machine uses a horizontal rotation of a rotary blade, an outer tank, or an inner tank (washing tank / dehydrating tank). It can be divided into a full-automatic washing machine or a drum washing machine using vertical rotation of the drum.

Such a washing machine has been developed for a variety of washing courses, functions, etc. in order to respond to a variety of needs of the user and applied to the actual product.

Hereinafter, a washing machine according to the prior art will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a washing machine according to the prior art, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a home network system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the washing machine according to the related art includes a motor 10 for directly or indirectly rotating a washing blade, an inner tank, or an outer tank, and various other loads 11 such as a water supply valve and a drain valve. A key input unit 12 for inputting various washing-related operation commands by the user, a display unit 13 for displaying the operation state or function of the washing machine, and the like are input through the key input unit 12. The microcomputer 14 for controlling the driving of the motor 10 and the load 11 so as to perform a washing operation corresponding to a user's operation command, and controlling the display unit 13 to display a corresponding operation state or function. It is configured to include.

At this time, the display unit 13 is mainly used to display the state of use by the LED (Light Emitting Diode), the microcomputer 14 is provided with a ROM (ROM) for storing a laundry-related program.

Referring to the operation of the washing machine according to the prior art configured as described above are as follows.

First, the user 'turns on' the power of the washing machine, puts laundry into the washing tank, and then selects a course according to the type of laundry through the key input unit 12, switches the function to manual mode, or inputs a washing command.

Subsequently, the microcomputer 14 recognizes the washing instruction input through the key input unit 12, reads the washing program from an internal ROM (not shown), and drives the motor 10 and the load 11 based on the washing program. Carry out the laundry.

In addition, the microcomputer 14 controls the current washing progress to be displayed on the display unit 13.

At this time, the display unit 13 displays the washing progress state and the like according to the control signal of the microcomputer 14.

The washing machine having such a configuration was not able to remotely control the washing machine from the outside because the user had to operate the washing machine by directly operating a function button, and the washing machine can be operated by using a reservation function when going out, but it operates according to a predetermined reservation program. Could not be confirmed.

In order to solve such a problem, a method of building a home network system to enable remote control of various home appliances including a washing machine has been applied.

In the early stages of home automation, which automatically controlled home appliances at home or remotely, each device was controlled by telephone or infrared, and there was no connection between the devices. A home network system has been commercialized to establish a network between home appliances using a communication means and have a controller for controlling the integrated management.

Referring to the schematic configuration of a home network system, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of home electronic devices, such as a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a microwave oven, a washing machine, a personal computer (PC), and the like are connected through a communication bus, It is composed.

Many microcomputers applied to home appliances have a built-in serial communication function so that they can communicate with other microcomputers or devices.

These microcomputers have various sizes of resources that can be used for communication such as memory according to the characteristics of the product.

In a multimedia product including a network or a DTV composed of a PC and its peripheral devices, a high-performance H / W specification is adopted to operate basic functions, and thus a specification for a large amount of data and high speed communication is required.

On the other hand, home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and microwave ovens, and lamps, gas alarms, stands, boilers, etc., generally employ a relatively low-performance microcomputer of 8 bits or less to perform their own functions. In a home network, remote control and monitoring of operation status are the main communication goals, and unlike a network composed of PC or multimedia products, a protocol for communicating with a small amount of microcomputer resources is required.

Communication with other product lines or the Internet is possible because the network manager that manages the home network acts as a bridge between other external protocols.

However, the control of home appliances using the home network system of the prior art described above, in particular, the control of the washing machine has the following problems.

In the related art, when the laundry is finished, the user knows that the laundry is finished by relying only on the washing end alarm sound generated by the washing machine.

In addition, it is inconvenient because the user must directly control the on / off control of the laundry room light, and there is a problem of increasing power consumption when the light is unnecessarily turned on by a user mistake.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional home network system as described above, when the washing course required by the user in the home network is provided, the washing machine itself is able to communicate necessary for the operation control An object of the present invention is to provide a control method of a smart washing machine using a home network.

The control method of the smart washing machine using the home network according to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the control of the home appliance using the home network, to know the time to wash the laundry end message and laundry when the entire washing course is finished Sending a message from the washing machine to the user; Transmitting a control command from the washing machine to the light to selectively turn on / off the light in the laundry room according to the response message of the user; On the result of the on / off of the light by the control command And transmitting a message about the message from the washing machine to the user.

Here, if a response message from the user is not received within the first setting time after transmitting the washing end message, a melody indicating that the washing is finished is sounded, and when the response message is received within the first setting time, the lamp on command is received according to the received message. It characterized in that the transmission from the washing machine to the light.

And if the user reply in the received message that the laundry is not hanging now, the entire control flow is terminated as it is, and the light on command is sent only when the user replies that the laundry is now empty.

Here, the light receiving the on / off command transmitted from the washing machine includes a light in the laundry room and the lights located in the path that the user moves to the laundry room.

If it is determined that the lamp is not normally turned on by the lamp on command transmitted from the washing machine, a message indicating that the lamp is not operated and a message asking whether to report a failure is transmitted from the washing machine to the user, and when the user wants to report the failure of the lamp, the washing machine itself At the service center to report the failure and request for repair, and as a result characterized in that it transmits a message to the user.

And if the response message from the user is not received within the first setting time, determining whether the washing machine door is opened within the second setting time after ringing a melody indicating that the washing is finished; the third setting time after the washing machine door is opened. After this, determining whether the light of the current laundry room is on; If the light is on, it characterized in that the washing machine transmits a light off command to the light.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments.

A preferred embodiment of a method for controlling a smart washing machine using a home network according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration for controlling a home appliance using a home network according to the present invention.

The present invention is to intelligently determine the washing machine among a plurality of home appliances connected to a home network, and after performing the entire washing course, the washing machine notifies the washing end message to the user by himself or by communicating with the user. To control the lights.

To this end, the present invention is configured such that the control of the washing machine and the light connected to the home network is made by the control command from the washing machine.

The configuration for controlling the home appliance using the home network is as shown in FIG. 3.

It is connected to a communication network such as the Internet 31 to perform communication with the user, control at a remote location, and update data necessary for operating the device through the manufacturer's site, and connect each home appliance to a home network and The home network manager 32 manages communication with other product lines or the Internet, and the home network, and the home network manager 32 is connected to an external communication network such as the Internet. The washing machine 33 performs intelligent control such as transmission of a message asking for opinions and a failure report when an on / off operation of a lamp is not performed correctly, and a washing machine 33 is connected to a home network to be connected to a laundry administration. It is composed of the home appliances under the control of the washing machine 33, that is, the lamp 34 of the laundry room.

The operation control method after the end of the washing process using the home network system having such a configuration will be described.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a smart washing machine using a home network according to the present invention.

Operation control of the washing machine according to the present invention can directly control the washing machine, or can be controlled remotely using a home network.

To this end, the present invention has a step in which the washing machine itself controls the lights on or off after performing the entire washing course, or controls the lights of the laundry room by communication with the user.

First, when the washing is completed by performing the entire washing process of the washing machine, a washing end message and a question asking whether to take out the laundry after washing the laundry from the washing machine are sent to the user (S401).

After sending the message to the user, it is determined whether the washing machine has reached the first set time (S402).

If a reply is received from the user within the first setting time, it is determined whether or not the laundry is hung in the message content from the user (S403).

If the user replies that the laundry is not empty, the whole control flow is terminated as it is, or the washing machine transmits the light on command of the laundry room (S404).

Here, the first setting time is set in a range in which the laundry is left undamaged for a long time, and is preferably set to 1 minute.

The lights include lights in the laundry room and lights located in a path of the user's movement to the laundry room.

If there is no reply from the user within the first setting time, a washing end alarm sounds so that the user recognizes that the washing is finished.

And receives the 'light on command' transmitted from the washing machine in the light (S405), and turns on the light. (S406)

When the result of turning on the lamp is transmitted from the lamp to the washing machine (S407), it is received by the washing machine (S408) to determine whether the lamp is normally turned on (S409).

If the lights of the laundry room are normally turned on, the result is transmitted to the user (S410).

If the lamp is not normally turned on, the washing machine determines that the lamp is in an inoperable state and transmits the message and a question message about whether the lamp is to be reported to the lamp failure repair service (SVC) center (S411).

Judging the response message to the question message (S412), if the user gave a reply that you want to report the lamp failure, report the lamp failure to the service center (S413).

In response to the question message, if the user does not want to report a failure and the lamp failure report is completed, the result message is transmitted to the user (S410).

Here, the transmission of the result message in step S410 is a result when the lamp is normally turned on, a result when the failure report is completed, and sends a message to the user any one of the message if the user does not want to report the failure of the lamp. .

When the transmission of the result message regarding the on or failure of the lamp is completed and there is no reply to the washing end message within the first set time, the washing machine sounds a melody alarm to indicate that the entire washing course is finished (S414).

Subsequently, it is determined whether the door of the washing machine is opened within the second set time after the melody alarm is sounded (S415).

Here, the second set time is determined in consideration of the time when the user receives the melody alarm or the washing end message from the washing machine outside the laundry room and comes to the laundry room to open the washing machine door, preferably set within 3 minutes.

Then, the door of the washing machine is opened and it is determined whether the third set time has elapsed (S416). If the set time has elapsed, it is determined that the user has taken out all the laundry and determines whether the lamp of the laundry room is currently on (S417).

If the light is on, the washing machine transmits a light off signal to the light. (S418)

Here, if the door of the washing machine is not opened within the second set time, the user judges that the laundry is not inclined at the moment and checks whether the light of the laundry room (or the lights located in the path to the laundry room) is on. To judge.

Receiving the light off command transmitted from the washing machine in the light (S419) to turn off the light (S420).

After the light is turned off, the result is transmitted from the light to the washing machine.

Subsequently, the operation result of the light is received in the washing machine (S422), and it is determined whether the light is normally turned off (S423).

If it is determined that the lamp of the laundry room is normally off, the washing machine transmits a message of the corresponding content to the user. (S427)

If it is determined that the lamp of the laundry room is not normally turned off, it is determined that the lamp is in an inoperable state in the washing machine and transmits a message to the user and a message message about whether to report the lamp failure to the SVC center. (S424)

Judging the response message to the question message (S425), if the user gave a reply that you want to report a lamp failure, report the lamp failure to the service center. (S426)

In this case, the transmission of the result message in step S427 sends a message to the user either as a result when the lamp is normally turned off, as a result when the failure report is completed, or when the user does not want to report a failure of the lamp. .

Such a method for controlling a smart washing machine using a home network according to the present invention can be classified into operation control flows as follows.

First, when the user's reply to the laundry end message is received within the first setting time and the on / off of the lamp is performed step by step normally. Second, when the user's reply to the laundry end message is received within the first setting time and the light is received. 3 is divided into a case in which on / off is not normally performed step by step, and a third case in which a user's reply to the washing end message is not received within the first setting time.

The control method of the smart washing machine using the home network according to the present invention communicates with the user in the washing machine or determines the situation of the washing machine by the washing machine so as to increase the convenience of the user after washing and to reduce the power consumption of the light. It allows you to control peripheral devices.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Such a control method of a smart washing machine using a home network according to the present invention has the following effects.

According to the present invention, after washing, the washing machine determines the washing end message itself and transmits it to the user, and when the laundry is taken out, the timing of the washing is determined by communication with the user, thereby automatically controlling the light of the laundry room on / off. Increase

This has the effect of reducing power consumption by preventing the user from unnecessarily keeping the light on by accident.

In addition, in case of failure of home appliances, especially a lamp, the washing machine judges itself or requests communication with the user for a failure report and repair service so that the performance of home appliances connected by the home network can always be optimally maintained. It works.

The present invention provides a next-generation home networking system that enables the user to maximize the convenience of the control for washing and the control of the peripheral home appliances by the intelligent washing machine in the home equipped with a home network.

1 is a block diagram of a typical washing machine

2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a home network system

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration for controlling a home appliance using a home network according to the present invention

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a smart washing machine using a home network according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

31.Internet 32.Home Network Manager

33. Washing machine 34. Light fixture

Claims (13)

In control of home appliances using a home network, Transmitting a washing end message and a message for knowing when to wash the laundry to the user when the entire washing course is finished; Transmitting a control command from the washing machine to the lights for selectively turning on / off the lights of the laundry room according to a response message of the user; The control method of the smart washing machine using a home network comprising the step of transmitting a result message relating to the on / off of the light by the control command from the washing machine to the user. The method of claim 1, wherein if a response message from the user is not received within the first set time after sending the laundry end message, a melody indicating that the laundry is finished is sounded. If the response message is received within the first set time, the control method of the smart washing machine using a home network, characterized in that for transmitting a light on command from the washing machine to the lamp according to the received message. The method of claim 2, wherein if the user returns a message saying that the laundry is not empty, the entire control flow is terminated as it is, and the light on command is transmitted only when the user returns the laundry to be empty. Smart washing machine control method using home network. The control method of claim 1, wherein the lights receiving the on / off command transmitted from the washing machine include lights in the laundry room and lights located in a path of the user moving to the laundry room. . The home network according to claim 1, wherein if it is determined that the lamp is not normally turned on by the lamp on command transmitted from the washing machine, the home network is characterized in that a lamp operation message and a message asking whether to report a failure are transmitted from the washing machine to the user. Smart washing machine control method. The method of claim 5, wherein when the user wants to report a failure of the lamp, the washing machine itself reports a failure to the service center and requests for repair, and as a result, transmits a message to the user. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein if no response message is received from the user within the first setting time, Determining whether the washing machine door is opened within the second set time after ringing a melody indicating that the washing is finished; Determining whether the lamp of the laundry room is on when the third setting time elapses after the washing machine door is opened; The control method of a smart washing machine using a home network, characterized in that when the light is on, performing a step of transmitting a light off command from the washing machine to the light. The control method of a smart washing machine using a home network according to claim 7, wherein the first setting time is set to 1 minute, the second setting time is set to 3 minutes, and the third setting time is set to 10 minutes. The control method according to claim 7, wherein the second setting time is set in consideration of the time when the user moves to the laundry room by a washing end message or a melody alarm. The control method of claim 7, wherein the third setting time is set in consideration of the time when the user opens the door of the washing machine and removes all the laundry. The smart washer of claim 7, wherein when it is determined that the light is not normally turned off by the light off command, the washing machine sends a message to the user from the washing machine to the user, the message indicating whether the lamp is not operated and a failure report. Control method. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein when the user wants to report a failure, the washing machine itself reports a failure to the service center and requests for repair, and as a result, transmits a message to the user. The control method of claim 1, wherein the lamp transmits the on / off result to the washing machine after the lamp performs the corresponding operation by the on / off command of the lamp.