KR20070042881A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The washing machine includes a rotating drum, a housing, a housing housing the housing, a washing machine bottom, a motor, a vibration detector, a controller, a waveform input circuit, a first output detection circuit, and a second output detection circuit. Has The rotary drum houses the garment and has a central axis of rotation in the horizontal or inclined direction. The storage container is rotatably contained and is rotatably supported by the rotating drum. The washing machine bottom is provided under the housing and supports the housing. The motor drives the rotating drum to rotate. The vibration detecting unit has a primary coil, a secondary coil, and a magnetic body, and is provided between the storage container and the bottom of the washing machine. When a predetermined voltage waveform is input to the primary coil and the magnetic body swings in accordance with the swing of the housing, the secondary coil outputs the voltage waveform according to the movement of the magnetic body to the first output detection circuit. The first output detection circuit rectifies this output and outputs it to the control unit. The second output detection circuit amplifies the output of the first output detection circuit and outputs it to the control unit.

Description

Washing machine {WASHING MACHINE}

1 is a side sectional view of a washing machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a perspective view of a vibration detecting unit of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a cross-sectional view of the vibration detection unit shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a wiring circuit diagram for vibration detection including the vibration detection unit shown in FIG. 2;

5 is a characteristic diagram of the first and second output detection circuits in the wiring circuit diagram shown in FIG. 4;

6 is a cross-sectional view of another vibration detecting unit of the washing machine in the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: rotary drum 3: storage container

4: shaft 5: motor

7: cover 9: input setting section

10: washing machine 10A: housing

11: control unit 18: vibration detection unit

19: coil portion 20: magnetic material

21: primary coil 22: secondary coil

23: shaft 25: waveform input circuit

26: first output detection circuit 27: second output detection circuit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine having a rotating drum rotating about an axis in a substantially horizontal or inclined direction, and storing clothes in the rotating drum to perform washing, rinsing, and dehydration.

Conventional washing machines include a rotating drum, a storage container, a support bracket for supporting the storage container, a washing machine bottom portion supporting the washing machine body, a motor for driving the rotating drum, and an input setting for setting the operation of the washing machine. And a control unit. The rotary drum receives the clothes and rotates about an axis in a substantially horizontal or inclined direction. The storage container contains this rotating drum and is supported by the washing machine main body via an appropriate support. The control unit executes control of the washing operation and control of the motor set by the input setting unit. By these controls, each step of washing, rinsing and dehydration is finely controlled.

However, when the washing step reaches the dehydration step, the rotating drum contains the garment containing the water after the washing step. When the rotating drum rotates in order to dewater them, the clothes are unbalanced with respect to the rotational motion of the dehydration step depending on the kind, cloth or shape of the clothes. For this reason, a rotating drum vibrates greatly and produces a noise.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1986-98286 discloses a method of detecting abnormal vibration in the dehydration step of a washing machine. In this method, the rotating drum which puts clothes and washing | cleaning liquid and rotates is supported so that a rotation may be made to an inner frame, and the inner frame is supported by the shock absorbing mechanism, such as a spring, to the outer frame of a washing machine. And mechanical vibration of an inner frame is detected by the vibration detector provided in the outer frame.

In the dewatering step, first, a balancing step of uniformly adhering the garment to the inner wall of the rotating drum by centrifugal force by rotating the rotating drum at low speed rotation of the motor is performed. Thereafter, the rotary drum is rotated at a high speed to perform the dehydration step. If abnormal vibration occurs in the meantime, the rotating drum is stopped.

However, in such a configuration, when the balancing step is performed at a low speed rotation, the amplitude of the mechanical vibration is small even if there is an unbalance in the rotating drum depending on how the clothes stick. Therefore, abnormal vibration is not detected. When the rotating drum is rotated at a high speed, large vibrations are generated and abnormal vibrations are detected. It is impossible to detect whether or not abnormal vibrations occur before such a high-speed rotation. Therefore, it stops after abnormal vibration is generated, which may damage clothes and a washing machine, and at the same time, much useless time is required until the rotating drum is stopped.

Also, in recent years, an abnormal vibration detection method of a washing machine has been proposed in which abnormal vibration caused by unbalance is detected before a high speed rotation of the rotating drum, so as to execute a dehydration step that is safe and has high operational efficiency. The washing machine has an induction motor for rotationally driving a rotating drum and an inverter circuit for driving the induction motor. Then, the washing step for rotating the rotating drum forward and reverse rotation, the balancing step for rotating the low speed, and the dewatering step for rotating the high speed are successively performed. In such a washing machine, the current effective value is detected from the output of the inverter circuit at the same time as the start of the balancing step. Then, the detected difference current value is calculated from the current maximum value and the current minimum value of the current effective value, and compared with the preset over-vibration current set value, and when exceeded, it is output as an over-vibration warning as an over-vibration detection current value. Such an abnormal vibration detection method is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1994-170080.

In this method, the abnormal vibration is indirectly estimated by the current rms value of the induction motor. In other words, the unbalance of the clothes appears in the current effective value of the induction motor, and the unbalanced state is established by the estimation that the abnormal vibration leads to the abnormal vibration. However, the change in the current effective value of the induction motor is influenced by the bearings and other mechanical factors of the induction motor in addition to the unbalance of clothing. In the above method, not only the imbalance is based, but also the presence or absence of over-vibration is determined by comparison with the over-vibration current setting value, so that the over-vibration warning is issued more than necessary, and the rotating drum is often stopped.

The washing machine includes a rotating drum, a housing, a housing housing the housing, a washing machine bottom, a motor, a vibration detector, a controller, a waveform input circuit, a first output detection circuit, and a second output detection circuit. Has The rotary drum houses the garment and has a central axis of rotation in the horizontal or inclined direction. The storage container is rotatably contained and is rotatably supported by the rotating drum. The washing machine bottom is provided under the housing and supports the housing. The motor drives the rotating drum to rotate. The vibration detecting unit has a primary coil, a secondary coil, and a magnetic body, and is provided between the storage container and the bottom of the washing machine. When a predetermined voltage waveform is input to the primary coil, and the magnetic material swings in accordance with the swing of the housing, the secondary coil outputs the voltage waveform according to the movement of the magnetic material to the first output detection circuit. The first output detection circuit rectifies this output and outputs it to the control unit. The second output detection circuit amplifies the output of the first output detection circuit and outputs it to the control unit. By this structure, the vibration and the up-and-down displacement of the accommodating cylinder which contained the rotating drum can be detected with high accuracy by one secondary coil. That is, vibrations and abnormal sounds due to unbalance of clothing such as abnormal vibrations occurring in the dehydration step can be prevented, and the amount of laundry loaded can be detected with high precision.

1 is a side cross-sectional view of a washing machine in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vibration detection unit of the washing machine of FIG. 1. The rotary drum 1 is cylindrical with a bottom, and a plurality of water passages 2 are provided in the entire outer circumference thereof, and are rotatably disposed in the storage cylinder 3. The rotating drum 1 is equipped with a rotating shaft (rotational central shaft) 4. The rotating shaft 4 inclines downward from the front side of the washing machine 10 toward the back side. The motor 5 attached to the rear surface of the storage container 3 is connected to the rotating shaft 4. The motor 5 drives the rotating drum 1 to rotate in the forward rotation and reverse rotation directions.

On the inner wall surface of the rotating drum 1, a plurality of protrusions 6 are provided. In the upwardly inclined surface on the front side of the storage container 3, an opening 3a covered by the lid 7 so as to be openable and closed is provided. The user can open and close the laundry in the rotary drum 1 through the clothing entrance 8 by opening the lid 7. In addition, since the lid 7 is provided on the upward inclined surface, the user does not need to bend the waist greatly when dispensing the laundry.

The input setting part 9 for setting the driving course of the washing machine 10, etc. is provided in the upper side of the cover 7. As shown in FIG. In the lower part of the front surface in the washing machine 10, the information from the input setting part 9 is input, and the control part 11 which controls the operation of the motor 5 etc. based on the information is provided. The control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer or the like and sequentially controls a series of steps of washing, rinsing, dehydration and drying.

The storage container 3 is accommodated in the housing 10A of the washing machine 10, suspended by the spring body 12 from the housing 10A, and supported by the damper 13 from below. That is, the storage container 3 is supported so that swinging is possible. One end of the drain path 14 is connected to the lower part of the storage container 3, and the other end of the drain path 14 is connected to the drain valve 15. The wash water in the storage container 3 is discharged through the drainage path 14.

The support bracket 16 which supports the storage container 3 is provided in the lower part of the storage container 3. The vibration detection part 18 which detects the vibration of the storage container 3 is attached between the support bracket 16 and the bottom plate 17 which is one of the bottom parts of a washing machine. Moreover, you may comprise the upper part of the vibration detection part 18 in the shape corresponding to the support bracket 16. As shown in FIG. That is, the vibration detection part 18 is provided between the storage cylinder 3 and the bottom plate 17. The washing machine bottom part is provided below the housing 10A, and supports the housing 10A.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the vibration detecting unit 18 is formed of a coil unit 19 and a shaft 23. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the vibration detection unit 18. The coil unit 19 is composed of a coaxial primary coil 21 and a secondary coil 22. The primary coil 21 for input is provided inside, and the secondary coil 22 for output is provided outside. The shaft 23 is made of a nonmagnetic material such as synthetic resin, and contains the axial magnetic body 20. The shaft 23 is provided so as to penetrate the central part of the two coaxial coils 21 and 22 so that it may move up and down in an axial direction. By such a configuration, the magnetic body 20 swings the central portions of the coils 21 and 22 in accordance with the swinging of the storage container 3.

Here, the position when the lower end of the magnetic body 20 in the shaft 23 is in the range of the coil of the primary coil 21 is made into the reference position of the up-down vibration of the shaft 23. The number of turns of the secondary coil 22 is about 10 times the number of turns of the primary coil 21, and the length of the magnetic body 20 is longer than the winding width of the secondary coil 22.

4 is a wiring circuit diagram of the washing machine 10. The waveform input circuit 25 which inputs the waveform of a predetermined voltage is connected to the primary coil 21 of the vibration detection part 18. The secondary coil 22 is connected to the control unit 11 via a first output detection circuit (hereinafter, circuit) 26. The circuit branched from the circuit 26 to the control unit 11 is connected to the control unit 11 via a second output detection circuit (hereinafter referred to as a circuit) 27. The circuit 26 is composed of a rectifier circuit and a first smoothing circuit, and the circuit 27 is composed of an amplifying circuit and a second smoothing circuit.

The control unit 11 executes control of the washing operation and control of the motor 5 set by the input setting unit 9 which sets the operation of the washing machine 10. Using the power supply voltage (for example, 5 V) supplied to the microcomputer 24 constituting a part of the control unit 11, the waveform input circuit 25 produces a triangular wave, and converts the triangular wave into the primary coil 21. Type in Thereby, the secondary coil 22 outputs the output according to the position of the magnetic body 20 to the circuit 26. The circuit 26 rectifies and smoothes the output from the secondary coil 22. The output voltage is input to the A / D conversion port 28a of the microcomputer 24. The output voltage rectified and smoothed by the circuit 26 is further amplified and smoothed by the circuit 27. The output voltage is input to the A / D conversion port 28b of the microcomputer 24.

The output of the secondary coil 22 is the vibration output voltage detected by the circuit 26, and the amplification circuit of the circuit 27 amplifies the vibration output voltage. In general, an amplifier circuit composed of an operational amplifier can only output up to about 1.5V lower than the circuit power supply voltage of the amplifier circuit even when the amplification ratio is increased. Therefore, the output voltage after amplification becomes lower than the power supply voltage of the microcomputer 24 which comprises the control part 11. As shown in FIG.

Therefore, the power supply voltage of the microcomputer 24, the power supply voltage input to the waveform input circuit 25, and the power supply voltage of the rectifier circuit which comprise the circuit 26 are set to the same voltage, and the circuit 27 is comprised. It is preferable to set the power supply voltage of the amplifier circuit higher than these power supply voltages. That is, when the power supply voltage of the microcomputer 24 etc. is 5V, for example, it is preferable to set the power supply voltage of the amplifier circuit which comprises the circuit 27 to 1.5V or more higher than that. For example, let it be 6.5V. By such a voltage setting, the output voltage after amplification can be raised to 5V which is the power supply voltage of the microcomputer 24 at the maximum. Thus, the detection resolution mentioned later using the signal from the circuit 27 improves by raising the voltage level of the signal from the circuit 27 to the level of the power supply voltage of the microcomputer 24.

5 is a characteristic diagram of the circuits 26 and 27 of the vibration detection unit 18 according to the above configuration. These characteristics are the circuits 26 and 27 when the input to the primary coil 21 is made constant and the shaft 23 containing the magnetic body 20 is moved to the upper part (extension direction) or the lower part (compression direction). ) Shows the change in output voltage. That is, FIG. 5 has shown the relationship of the displacement amount from the reference position of the up-down displacement of the shaft 23, and the output voltage of each of the circuits 26 and 27. As shown in FIG.

The operation and operation of the circuits 26 and 27 in the vibration detecting unit 18 configured as described above will be described. The amount of displacement due to the movement of the shaft 23 incorporating the magnetic body 20 and the output voltage of the circuit 26 show a predetermined relationship to the right in the range of about 10 mm in the stretching direction and 40 mm in the compression direction. The range from about 10 mm in the stretching direction to 40 mm in the compression direction corresponds to the range of sinking displacements up to the maximum load in which the clothes enter the rotary drum 1 and the water enters in the washing step. Since the output voltage of the circuit 26 has a wide detection range and the voltage gradient per unit displacement amount may be small, it is suitable for detecting vibration. That is, by using the output voltage of the circuit 26, the control part 11 can detect the vibration in a series of washing steps especially in the dehydration step suitably.

On the other hand, the output voltage of the circuit 26 is amplified by the amplifying circuit of the circuit 27. That is, the output voltage of the circuit 27 is voltage amplified compared with the output voltage of the circuit 26. Therefore, the displacement amount caused by the movement of the shaft 23 incorporating the magnetic body 20 and the output voltage of the circuit 27 exhibit a substantially straight line in the range of about 10 mm in the stretching direction to 10 mm in the compression direction, and about 15 mm in the compression direction. Is the maximum at. The range from about 10 mm in the stretching direction to 10 mm in the compression direction corresponds to the range of displacement that sinks when the clothes enter the rotary drum 1. The output voltage of the circuit 27 is suitable for detecting the amount of cloth (laundry) put into the rotating drum 1 because the voltage gradient per unit displacement is large even if the detection range is narrow. That is, by using the output voltage of the circuit 27, the control part 11 can detect a quantity with good precision.

In such a configuration, the user opens the lid 7, puts laundry into the rotary drum 1, selects and inputs a driving course from the input setting unit 9 provided on the front side of the washing machine 10. Run the input. By this operation, the washing machine 10 starts a driving operation corresponding to the instructed driving course, and performs a desired operation under the control of the control unit 11. At this time, according to the amount of laundry put into the rotating drum 1, the storage container 3 sinks in the downward direction at the time of loading laundry.

The support bracket 16 supports the storage container 3, and the vibration detection unit 18 is mounted between the bottom plate 17 and the storage container 3. The vibration detecting unit 18 is composed of a coil unit 19 composed of a plurality of coils and a magnetic body 20, the coil unit 19 is fixed to the bottom plate 17, and the magnetic body 20 is a storage container 3. It is fixed to the support bracket 16 attached to the). For this reason, the magnetic body 20 moves downward in response to the settlement in the lower direction of the storage container 3. This movement changes the output voltage of the circuit 27. By determining the relationship between the output voltage of the circuit 27 and the amount of laundry in advance, the control unit 11 can detect the amount of laundry put in from the amount of change in the output voltage of the circuit 27. Then, the control unit 11 determines the amount of washing water or the time of the washing step in accordance with the amount of laundry to be put, and proceeds the washing operation according to the amount of laundry sequentially.

When the washing step reaches the dewatering step, the rotating drum 1 contains the clothes including the water after the washing step is completed, and the control unit 11 rotates the rotating drum 1 at a predetermined first rotation speed in order to dewater them. Rotate The first rotational speed is, for example, the same rotational speed as the washing step. At this time, when the clothes are unbalanced with respect to the rotational motion by the first rotational speed by the kind, cloth or shape of the clothes, the rotating drum 1 vibrates, and the storage container 3 containing them also vibrates. do. When the storage cylinder 3 vibrates, the magnetic body 20 moves up / down in response to this vibration. Since the output voltage of the circuit 26 changes according to the displacement, the control unit 11 can detect the vibration.

The control unit 11 controls a series of washing operations preset by the input setting unit 9 according to the output voltage of the circuit 27. In the dehydration step, if the vibration level is small from the output voltage of the circuit 26, the motor 5 rotates the rotary drum 1 at a second rotation speed (maximum rotation speed) larger than the first rotation speed. If the vibration level is determined to be an abnormal level, the control unit 11 stops the rotation of the motor 5 or once stops the rotation of the motor 5, and then restarts the rotation again from low rotation. Start off the unbalance of clothing. If it is determined that the vibration level is slight, the control unit 11 lowers the rotational speed of the motor 5 to reduce vibration and noise during dehydration rotation. As a result, abnormal vibrations and abnormal noises of the rotary drum 1 and the like can be suppressed in advance. Moreover, the detail of such rotation control is disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-230315, for example.

In Fig. 3, the primary coil 21 on the input side is disposed inside, the secondary coil 22 on the output side is disposed on the outside, and the coils 21, 22 are placed on the outside of the axial magnetic body 20. It is arranged coaxially. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the primary coil 21 may be arranged above and the secondary coil 22 may be arranged in a parallel shape below. Alternatively, the primary coil 21 may be arranged below and the secondary coil 22 may be arranged in parallel on the upper side. That is, the primary coil 21 and the secondary coil 22 may be arranged in the axial direction of the shaft 23 in which the magnetic body 20 is incorporated. Even in such a configuration, when the shaft 23 incorporating the magnetic body 20 moves up and down in the axial direction, the voltage is induced in the secondary coil 22, and the same effect as the configuration shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained.

In addition, the number of turns of the primary coil 21 or the secondary coil 22 may be changed, or the amplification factor of the circuit 27 may be changed. By these, in the detection of the vibration by the output voltage of the circuit 26 and the detection of the amount of the output by the output voltage of the circuit 27, the specifications of the washing machine, the relationship between the different displacement amount and the output voltage by this, the optimum characteristics Can be used as

The vibration detection unit 18 further moves to penetrate the primary coil 21 on the input side, the secondary coil 22 on the output side arranged coaxially with the primary coil 21, and the coils 21 and 22. It consists of the axial magnetic body 20 arrange | positioned possibly. By this structure, the primary coil 21 and the secondary coil 22 are efficiently magnetically coupled. In addition, since the axial magnetic body 20 is arranged to penetrate the coils 21 and 22 and to be movable, the secondary coil 22 is moved from the positional relationship between the coils 21 and 22 and the magnetic body 20. It is possible to induce a secondary voltage with high accuracy.

In addition, the control part 11 detects the output of the secondary coil 22 by the circuit 26, and detects the signal which further amplified the output by the circuit 27. As shown in FIG. This configuration makes it possible to set the secondary voltage induced in one secondary coil 22 as two output voltages. Therefore, the control part 11 can detect the vibration and the up-and-down displacement of the accommodating cylinder 3 which contained the rotating drum 1 with one secondary coil 22 with high precision. Using this detection result, the control part 11 can prevent the vibration or abnormal sound by the unbalance of clothing which abnormal vibration generate | occur | produces in a dehydration stage. Moreover, even in the displacement by the small settlement down of the housing | casing 3, the quantity of the laundry which was thrown in can be detected by the output voltage of the circuit 27. Thus, the present invention can provide a washing machine that is inexpensive and easy to use.

By thus performing each detection using one secondary coil 22, the structure of the vibration detection unit 18 can be simplified. Therefore, the vibration detection unit 18 can be miniaturized. In addition, the throughput of the vibration detection unit 18 is improved.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the rotating shaft 4 inclines downward from the front side of the washing machine 10 toward the back side, it may be substantially horizontal. In addition, the circuits 26 and 27 may be integrally formed on one substrate.

As described above, in the washing machine according to the present invention, the vibration of the storage container is directly detected by the vibration detecting unit, and vibrations or abnormal sounds due to unbalance of clothing such as abnormal vibrations occurring in the dehydration step can be prevented. have. At the same time, the quantity of clothes in the rotating drum can be detected. Therefore, it is very useful for washing clothes, household washing machines having a dehydration function, and commercial washing machines. In addition, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

Claims (5)

A rotating drum for storing clothes and having a central axis of rotation in a horizontal or inclined direction; A storage container rotatably enclosing the rotating drum and rotatably supported; A housing accommodating the storage container; A washing machine bottom portion provided below the housing and supporting the housing; A motor for rotationally driving the rotary drum; A vibration detecting unit provided between the storage container and the bottom of the washing machine, the vibration detecting unit having a primary coil, a secondary coil, and a magnetic body that swings in response to the shaking of the storage container; A control unit for inputting an output from the vibration detecting unit and controlling at least the motor; A waveform input circuit for inputting a waveform of a voltage to the primary coil; A first output detection circuit having a rectifier circuit, receiving an output of the secondary coil, rectifying the output of the secondary coil and outputting the output to the controller; And a second output detection circuit for amplifying the output of the first output detection circuit and outputting the amplified circuit to the control unit. washer. The method of claim 1, The secondary coil is disposed coaxially with the primary coil, and the magnetic material penetrates through the central axis of the primary coil and the secondary coil and is movably disposed. washer. The method of claim 1, The first output detection circuit further has a first smoothing circuit, and the second output detection circuit further has a second smoothing circuit. washer. The method of claim 1, The power supply voltage of the amplifier circuit is higher than the power supply voltage of the controller. washer. The method of claim 1, The amplifier circuit is composed of an operational amplifier, the power supply voltage of the amplifier circuit is 1.5V or more higher than the power supply voltage of the control unit washer.

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