KR20070023887A - Operating method for laundry machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An operating method of a washing machine is provided to offer totally dried clothes after the wrinkle removing process by supplying steam inside a drum to remove wrinkles, blowing hot air to remove humidity within the clothes, and cooling the clothes to initial normal temperature. An operating method of a washing machine comprises a step(S10) of feeding wrinkled clothes in a drum; a step(S20) of providing hot steam into the drum by controlling a steam supplying part; a step(S30) of rotating the drum during the predetermined time by controlling a drive unit; a step(S40) of drying stroke for removing humidity within the clothes by forcibly ventilating hot air into the drum after the step of rotating the drum is over; and a step(S50) of providing cold air for cooling the clothes by forcibly blowing cold air into the drum.

Description

Operating method for laundry machine

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the structure of a washing apparatus to which the driving method according to the present invention is applied;

2 is a plan view for explaining the internal structure of the laundry apparatus of FIG.

Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a driving method for the wrinkle removal course of the laundry machine according to an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating in detail the drying administration step and cold air supply step of the wrinkle removal course of Figure 3

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100. Main unit 110. Slot

120. Door 130. Rim

140. Washing water supply line 141,161. On-off valve

150. Detergent box 160. Steam water supply pipe

200. Tub 210. Washing water heater

220. Drainage flow path 230. Drainage pump

300. Drum 310. Drive section

400. Steam supply unit 410. Steam generator

420. Steam supply line 500. Temperature sensor

600. Air supply unit 610. Drying duct

620. Drying Heater 630. Blower Fan

The present invention relates to a method of operating a laundry apparatus, and more particularly, to a method of removing wrinkles of clothes using steam.

In general, the washing apparatus includes a pulsator washing machine in which the drum is set in the vertical direction, a drum washing machine in which the drum is laid in the horizontal direction, a combined-use washing machine having a drying function, and a clothes dryer for performing drying of clothes and the like. do.

Among the above-mentioned washing apparatuses, the combined-use washing machine and the clothes dryer are usually operated to supply hot air into the drum to dry the wet clothes and the like.

However, the above-mentioned conventional combined drying machine and clothes dryer did not have a separate structure or operation for removing the wrinkles despite the occurrence of many wrinkles of dried clothes by the operation thereof.

In particular, the conventional combined dry washing machine and clothes dryer could not remove wrinkles for clothes in a dried state.

For this reason, the user is inconvenient to wear the garment only when the finished clothing is performed using a separate ironing device, such as legs.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned various problems with the prior art, an object of the present invention to provide a method for operating a new washing apparatus that can remove the wrinkles of the wrinkle removal object such as clothing using steam. It is.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of operating a new washing device to achieve a state that can be worn by the user immediately after the wrinkle removal of the wrinkle removal object is completed.

Operation method of the present invention for achieving the above object, clothing supply step of providing a wrinkle removal object such as clothing into the drum; Steam supply step of supplying high temperature steam into the drum by controlling the steam supply; A drum rotating step of controlling the driving unit to rotate the drum for a set time; A drying administrative step of removing moisture contained in the garment by forcibly blowing hot air into the drum after the drum rotating step is finished; It is characterized in that it comprises a cold air supply step of cooling the clothes by forcibly blowing low-temperature air into the drum.

According to another aspect of the invention, the clothing supply step of providing a wrinkle removal object such as clothing into the drum; Steam supply step of supplying high temperature steam into the drum by controlling the steam supply; A drum rotating step of controlling the driving unit to rotate the drum for a set time; After the drum rotation step is completed, there is provided a method of operating a laundry apparatus including a blowing step of forcibly blowing low temperature air into the drum to remove moisture contained in the clothes and at the same time cooling the clothes.

Hereinafter, a laundry apparatus and a driving method thereof according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Prior to describing an embodiment of the present invention, the washing apparatus presented in the present invention suggests that the combined washing machine is an embodiment. Of course, the washing apparatus may be a washing-only washing machine, or may be a clothes-only dryer for drying.

First, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the washing apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has a main body 100, a tub 200, a drum 300, a steam supply unit 400, and a temperature. The sensor 500 and the air supply unit 600 is configured.

Here, the main body 100 forms the appearance of the washing apparatus, the inlet 110 is formed on the front thereof.

In this case, the door 120 for opening and closing the inlet 110 is mounted at a portion where the inlet 110 of the main body 100 is formed, and the door 120 and the inner peripheral surface of the inlet 110 are provided. Rim 130 for sealing between the inlet 110 is mounted.

In addition, the main body 100 is provided with a wash water supply pipe 140 for supplying the wash water into the tub (200).

At this time, the main body 100 is provided with a detergent box 150, the wash water supply pipe 140 is connected to communicate with the inside of the tub 200 via the detergent box 150.

In addition, the tub 200 is supported in a floating state in the main body 100.

At this time, the lower portion of the tub 200 is provided with a washing water heater 210 for heating the wash water supplied into the tub 200.

In addition, the bottom of the tub 200 is connected to the drainage passage 220 for draining the wash water.

At this time, the drainage passage 220 is provided with a drain pump 230 driven for forced drainage of the wash water.

In addition, the drum 300 is rotatably installed in the tub 200, and is mounted such that a side opened toward the inlet 110 of the main body 100 is positioned.

At this time, the driving unit 310 for rotating the drum 300 is coupled to the rear of the drum 300.

In addition, the steam supply unit 400 is configured to supply a predetermined amount of steam into the drum 300 (or tub), and at least one is provided. 2 is an example of mounting of the steam supply unit 400 is shown in detail.

The steam supply unit 400 is configured to include a steam generator 410 for generating steam by heating the water stored therein, and a steam supply pipe 420 for guiding the flow of the generated steam.

At this time, the steam discharge side of the steam supply pipe 420 is preferably installed through the rim 130 to face the drum 300.

In addition, the temperature sensor 500 serves to sense a temperature inside the tub 200.

The temperature sensor is preferably provided on the space in the tub (200). The temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 500 is used for the operation control of the steam supply unit 400 and the operation control of the air supply unit 600.

In addition, the air supply unit 600 is used for drying clothes, and is configured to supply high temperature hot air or cold air into the drum 300.

The air supply unit 600 includes a drying duct 610, a drying heater 620, a blowing fan 630 and a fan motor (not shown).

Both ends of the drying duct 610 are installed to communicate with the inside of the tub 200. At this time, one end of the drying duct 610 is connected to the rear side of the tub 200, the other end of the drying duct 610 is preferably connected to the front side of the tub 200. Of course, one end of the drying duct 610 may be installed in communication with the tub 200, and the other end thereof may be installed in communication with the outside of the main body 100.

In addition, the drying heater 620 is provided inside the drying duct 610, and is configured to heat the flow air in the drying duct 610 to generate air.

In addition, the blowing fan 630 and the fan motor are provided in the drying duct 610, so that the air in the drying duct 610 passes through the drying heater 620 to be supplied into the drum 300. Configured to blow.

On the other hand, reference numeral 160 is a steam water supply pipe for supplying tap water to the steam supply unit 400.

In addition, reference numerals 141 and 161 are open / close valves that open and close the pipes of the washing water supply pipe 140 and the steam water supply pipe 160.

Hereinafter, a driving method for removing wrinkles among driving methods according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention using the structure of the above-described washing apparatus will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, referring to Figure 3, prior to the operation for removing the wrinkles of the washing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as "wrinkling removal course") to remove the wrinkles to remove the wrinkles inside the drum 300 (hereinafter referred to as "clothing" Step) is performed (S10).

At this time, the wrinkle removal course is a target of the wrinkled clothes in a dry state, the dehydration is completed, the clothes containing a small amount of water may also be the target.

When the supply of the clothes as described above is completed, the controller (not shown) performs a steam supply process of supplying high temperature steam to the drum 300 by controlling the steam supply unit 400 (S20). .

That is, by supplying steam water to the steam generator 410 and generating heat, steam water is vaporized to generate steam, and then the generated steam is supplied into the drum 300.

The steam is intended to allow the clothing to contain a small amount of moisture, thereby the clothing is in a state in which smooth wrinkles can be removed. In particular, when considering that the steam is a high temperature state can be more smoothly removed wrinkles of the clothing.

Steam generated by the steam generator 410 is injected into the drum 300 through the steam supply pipe 420. As the steam is supplied into the drum 300 as described above, it is preferable to control the driving unit 310 to rotate the drum 300 so that the steam can be more smoothly supplied to the clothes.

In particular, the drum 300 is controlled not to rotate in one direction but to be reversed left and right to prevent the clothes inside the drum 300 from being stuck together, and the steam can be more evenly supplied to all parts of the clothes. More preferably.

As described above, the steam supply process for supplying steam into the drum 300 is continuously performed until the temperature inside the drum 300 reaches a preset temperature.

At this time, the preset temperature is a temperature of 40 ℃ or more, the standard of this temperature is because the temperature inside the drum 300 is the most effective temperature for removing wrinkles of the clothes is above 40 ℃.

Of course, the higher the temperature, the smoother the removal of the clothing may proceed. However, when the temperature inside the drum 300 is too high, problems such as damage or deformation of the cloth may occur, and a problem may occur that the clothes may be excessively wet by a large amount of steam.

Therefore, the set temperature is excellent in wrinkle removal performance, it is preferable that the temperature of the temperature between 40 ℃ to 60 ℃ can be prevented.

When the temperature inside the drum 300 reaches the set temperature by the above-described process, the steam supply unit 400 is controlled to stop the steam supply (S33).

Subsequently, while the steam supply is stopped, the drum 300 rotates for a predetermined set time t1 to continuously perform the wrinkle removal process (S30). Preferably, the set time t1 at which the drum 300 is rotated is set in proportion to the amount of clothes provided in the drum, that is, the quantity of the clothes.

That is, it is preferable that a large amount of drum is set for a relatively long drum rotation time to achieve sufficient wrinkle removal, and a small amount of drum is set for a relatively short drum rotation time to obtain a satisfactory wrinkle removal effect within a short time.

As described above, while the drum is rotated after the steam supply, the wrinkles of the clothes are removed while the clothes contain moisture. Therefore, after the drum rotation step (S30) it is preferable to perform a 'refresh (refresh) process of removing the wrinkles to the most suitable state for wearing the clothes and drying the clothes containing moisture by steam.

According to the present invention, the refreshing step is a drying administration step (S40) for drying clothes by supplying high temperature dry air into the drum after the drum rotation step (S30), and supplying low-temperature air into the drum after the drying stroke By performing a cold air supply step (S50) to cool the clothing in order.

The drying administration step S40 and the cold air supply step S50 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4.

First, heat the drying heater 620 of the air supply unit 600. As a result, the air inside the drying duct 610 is heated to form a high temperature state. Along with this, the fan motor is driven to rotate the blower fan 630. As a result, the heated air inside the drying duct 610 flows along the drying duct 610 and is then blown into the tub 200. Therefore, the heated air blown into the tub 200, that is, the hot air, is supplied during the operation time t2 set in the drum 300.

At this time, the drying heater 620 is controlled on / off (on / off) in accordance with the temperature inside the drum 300 detected by the temperature sensor 500 to maintain the drum internal temperature in a predetermined temperature range. Do. For example, the drying heater 620 during the drying administration step (S40) is heated (on) the drum internal temperature is below (T _L ) or higher, and off (T) above the T _H to stop the heat generation. Here, the control temperature range (T _L, T _H ) of the drying heater is a temperature lower than the drying heater control temperature range during the normal drying operation step (for example, the drying stroke performed after washing and dehydration stroke in the drum washing machine) of the laundry machine. It is preferable that it consists of a range. This is because the moisture contained in the wrinkle removing object is smaller than the moisture contained in the drying object in the normal drying operation, so that cloth damage or the like may be caused when hot air of too high temperature is supplied to the wrinkle removing object.

When the drying administration step (S40) is carried out as described above, it is preferable that the drum is rotated so that the hot air supplied into the drum 300 evenly affects the clothes. At this time, it is more preferable to stir-rotate the drum 300 to the left and right to prevent the clothes from being twisted and to have the hot air affect the clothes evenly. In addition, the drum may be controlled to repeat the rotation and stop at a constant cycle.

The operation time t2 at which the drying stroke is performed is preferably set differently in proportion to the amount of clothes provided in the drum 300, that is, the quantity of the clothes. That is, when the amount is small, the driving time may be set to about 10 minutes, and when the amount is large, the driving time may be set to about 20 minutes.

The setting of the operation time is preferably made before the operation for the refresh process is started, that is, before steam is supplied into the drum 300.

When hot air is supplied into the drum as described above, the moisture contained in the clothes will evaporate, and the clothes will be dry again.

Since the interior of the drum 300 is at a substantially high temperature during the drying administration step S40, taking out clothes directly from the drum 300 is not only dangerous, but also inappropriate for wearing the clothes immediately.

Therefore, when the operation time t2 of the drying operation step S40 is completed, the drying heater 620 is turned off, and the blower fan 630 maintains an operating state, thereby supplying cold air to blow low temperature air into the drum. Step S50 is performed for a predetermined set time t3.

The cold air supply step (S50) may be controlled to proceed for a predetermined set time (t3) as described above, but unlike this embodiment to proceed until the temperature inside the drum 300 falls below a predetermined temperature It may be controlled.

In addition, it is more preferable that the temperature inside the drum 300 is more smoothly reduced by controlling the drum 300 to be rotated while the aforementioned cold wind supply step S50 is in progress.

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiment, the condensation process of removing moisture in the air in the circulation process of the air through the dry duct 610 during the drying administration step S40 and the cold wind supply step S50 is not performed.

However, alternatively by removing the moisture from the air circulated through the drying duct by supplying condensate into the drying duct 610 through the condensate supply pipe 650 during the drying administration step (S40) and / or cold air supply step (S50). It may be possible to further increase the drying performance.

Of course, in this case, it is preferable to periodically discharge the condensate accumulated in the lower portion of the drying duct 610 by operating the drain pump 230.

When the set time (t3) has elapsed through the above-described series of cold air supply steps (S50), or when the temperature inside the drum 300 reaches a preset temperature or less, the rotation of the drum 300 is stopped and a blowing fan ( The entire wrinkle removal course is terminated by stopping the rotation of 630.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the operating method of the washing apparatus described above, after the step of rotating the drum (S30), the drying and cooling were sequentially performed by supplying hot air and low temperature air in order. However, after the step of rotating the drum (S30) differently, the drying fan may be operated by simultaneously supplying low-temperature air by operating only a blower fan without operating a drying heater. In this case, although drying proceeds slowly compared to the operation method of the above-described embodiment, there is an advantage that the power consumption can be reduced.

As described above, the driving method of the laundry apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention has the effect that the satisfaction of the use of the product can be improved by only the wrinkle removal course for refreshing such as removing wrinkles of clothing. Have

In particular, the steam is supplied to the inside of the drum to remove wrinkles, and then the hot air is supplied to remove moisture contained in the clothes, and the user can wear the clothes immediately after the wrinkle removal course by cooling to an initial room temperature state. When worn, the clothing is completely dry, so a better satisfaction can be obtained.

Claims (20)

Clothing supply step of providing a wrinkle removal object such as clothing into the drum; Steam supply step of supplying high temperature steam into the drum by controlling the steam supply; A drum rotating step of controlling the driving unit to rotate the drum for a set time; A drying administrative step of removing moisture contained in the garment by forcibly blowing hot air into the drum after the drum rotating step is finished; And a cold air supply step of cooling the clothes by forcibly blowing low temperature air into the drum. The method according to claim 1, wherein the drum is rotated during the drying administration step. The method of claim 1, wherein the drum is rotated during the cold air supply step. The method of claim 1, wherein the steam supplying step is performed until the temperature inside the drum reaches a predetermined set temperature (T). 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set temperature (T) is a temperature between 40 ° C and 60 ° C. The method of claim 1, wherein the drum is rotated while steam is supplied in the steam supplying step. The method of claim 1, wherein the drying administration step is performed for a predetermined time. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the set time is determined according to the amount of the wrinkle removal object provided in the drum. The method of claim 1, wherein the cold air supply step is performed until the temperature inside the drum becomes equal to or less than a preset temperature. The method of claim 1, wherein the cold air supply step is performed for a predetermined time. The method according to claim 10, wherein the set time is determined according to the amount of the wrinkle removal object provided in the drum. The method of claim 1, wherein a condensation process of condensing the air discharged from the drum is performed during the drying administration step. The method of claim 12, wherein the drainage pump is operated during the drying administration step to discharge the condensate generated during the condensation process. Clothing supply step of providing a wrinkle removal object such as clothing into the drum; Steam supply step of supplying high temperature steam into the drum by controlling the steam supply; A drum rotating step of controlling the driving unit to rotate the drum for a set time; After the drum rotation step is completed, the operation method of the laundry apparatus including a blowing step for cooling the clothes at the same time to remove moisture contained in the clothes by forcibly blowing low-temperature air into the drum. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the drum is rotated during the blowing step. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the blowing step is performed for a predetermined time. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the set time is determined according to the amount of wrinkle removal objects provided in the drum. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the blowing step is performed until the temperature inside the drum becomes equal to or less than a preset temperature. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the blowing step is performed for a predetermined time. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the set time is determined according to the amount of wrinkle removal objects provided in the drum.

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