WO2013068886A1

WO2013068886A1 - Washing machine and method for controlling the same

Info

Publication number: WO2013068886A1
Application number: PCT/IB2012/056015
Authority: WO
Inventors: Aifen Chen; Ting DAI; Lianhua Li; Xiaofeng Zhang
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2011-11-11
Filing date: 2012-10-30
Publication date: 2013-05-16
Also published as: CN103103727A

Abstract

Disclosed is a washing machine (100), which includes a washing machine body (10) with a built- in main controller (7) and a detergent dispenser box (6) disposed on the washing machine body (10), where the detergent dispenser box (6) has more than two mutually independent cavities for receiving detergents for different purposes. An indication device (5) for indicating each independent cavity is further disposed on a position associated with the detergent dispenser box (6) on the washing machine, and the indication device is controlled by the main controller. In addition, the present invention further provides a method for controlling the washing machine, through which the washing machine controls an indication state of the indication device according to different clothing processing procedures input into the washing machine, thereby achieving automatic indication of the detergent dispenser box.

Description

WASHING MACHINE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE

SAME

The present invention relates to a washing machine and a method for controlling the same, and in particular, to a washing machine that can automatically indicate a detergent dispenser box of the washing machine and a method for controlling the same.

A washing machine is a device for cleaning washing such as clothes and quilt covers in a drum with water and detergents through a series of washing processes such as washing, rinsing, dewatering, and drying, so as to remove dirt attached to the washing. The washing machine generally includes: a housing, which forms an appearance and has a washing inlet at a side; a washing machine door, installed on the housing, and used to open and close the washing inlet; a tub, disposed inside the washing machine, and used to contain laundry water; a drum, rotatably installed in the tub, used to accommodate the washing; and a motor, used to rotate the drum. In addition, a detergent dispenser box with two or three independent cavities is generally disposed on the washing machine. For example, one of the two cavities may be used to receive washing powder, and the other one may be used to receive clothing and fabric softener. In different stages of laundry work, the different detergents in the two cavities are respectively washed into the drum by water imported through a drain valve. In existing washing machines available in the market, generally, simple words or some special symbols are set on the detergent dispenser box to prompt a user to place different detergents in different cavities. However, as the prompt of the words or symbols are not sufficiently obvious, the user does not know where a certain type of washing powder should be placed or the user does not know different clothing processing procedures. For example, when the user selects a clothing processing procedure with pre-wash setting, the user needs to place pre-wash washing powder in a pre-wash grid of the detergent dispenser box in advance; however, as the user does not know about this, the user forgets to place the pre-wash washing powder in advance or places the pre-wash washing powder after the pre-wash process is finished, resulting in inconveniences in actual use of the washing machine and influencing the laundry effect. In view of the above problems, the objective of the present invention is to provide a washing machine with an indication device for a detergent dispenser box, in which the washing machine controls an indication state of the indication device according to different clothing processing procedures input into the washing machine.

In view of the above objective, the present invention adopts the technical solutions as defined in the independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the method and of the washing machine are defined in dependent claims. Preferred embodiments of the washing machine correspond to preferred embodiments of the method and vice versa, and this even in cases not expressly indicated herein.

In view of the above objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions: A washing machine includes a washing machine body with a built-in main controller and a detergent dispenser box disposed on the washing machine body, where the detergent dispenser box has more than two mutually independent cavities for receiving detergents for different purposes. The washing machine is characterized in that an indication device for indicating each independent cavity is further disposed on a position associated with the detergent dispenser box on the washing machine, and the indication device is controlled by the main controller.

As an improvement of the present invention, the detergent dispenser box has three mutually independent cavities, namely, a pre-wash detergent receiving cavity, a main- wash detergent receiving cavity, and a rinsing detergent receiving cavity.

As another improvement of the present invention, the indication device includes three mutually independent indication units, namely, a pre-wash indication unit, a main-wash indication unit, and a rinsing indication unit, for correspondingly indicating the three mutually independent cavities.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the indication device is disposed on the detergent dispenser box or a washing machine display panel.

As yet another improvement of the present invention, the indication device is a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device or a liquid crystal display device. In order to automatically instruct the washing machine detergent dispenser box, the present invention provides a method for controlling the washing machine, which includes the following step: controlling an indication state of the indication device by the main controller according to different clothing processing procedures input into the washing machine.

As again an improvement of the present invention, the indication state includes switch-on or switch-off of the indication device, for indicating whether the different detergent dispenser box cavities participate in the clothing processing procedure.

In order to achieve automatic indication of the detergent dispenser box with three independent cavities, the present invention further provides a method for controlling the washing machine, which includes the following steps: (a) selecting a clothing processing procedure; (b) judging whether the clothing processing procedure includes a pre-wash process and/or a main-wash process and/or a rinsing process, and if the clothing processing procedure includes the pre-wash process, a main controller controls a pre-wash indication unit to be ON; otherwise, the pre-wash indication unit maintains to be OFF; if the clothing processing procedure includes the main-wash process, the main controller controls a main-wash indication unit to be ON; otherwise, the main-wash indication unit maintains to be OFF; and if the clothing processing procedure includes the rinsing process, the main controller controls a rinsing indication unit to be ON; otherwise, the rinsing indication unit maintains to be OFF; (c) running the clothing processing procedure; (d) judging whether the pre-wash process and/or the main-wash process and/or the rinsing process is started, and if the pre-wash process is started, the main controller controls the pre-wash indication unit to be OFF; otherwise, return back to Step (c); if the main-wash process is started, the main controller controls the main-wash indication unit to be OFF; otherwise, return back to Step (c); and if the rinsing process is started, the main controller controls the rinsing indication unit to be OFF; otherwise, return back to Step (c).

As an improvement of the present invention, the indication unit is an LED indicator or a liquid crystal display unit. As compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the problem that the indication is not sufficiently obvious when simple words or some special symbols are set on the detergent dispenser box to prompt a user to place different detergents in different cavities in the prior art is solved, and a user who does not know function setting of the different clothing processing procedures can place a corresponding detergent in the corresponding cavity of the detergent dispenser box according to an automatic indication of the detergent dispenser box, thereby avoiding forgetting to place or misplacing the detergent.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be elaborated upon in detail with reference to the attached drawing. In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a front view of a washing machine;

FIG. 2 is a front view of another embodiment of a washing machine;

FIG. 3 is top view of a detergent dispenser box of a washing machine; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for controlling the washing machine.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a washing machine 100 in an embodiment of the present invention includes: a washing machine body 10 with a built-in main controller 7, and a detergent dispenser box 6 disposed on the washing machine body 10, where the detergent dispenser box 6 has more than two mutually independent cavities for receiving detergents for different purposes; an indication device 5 for indicating each independent cavity is further disposed on a position associated with the detergent dispenser box 6 on the washing machine, and the indication device 5 is generally an LED display device or a liquid crystal display device, and is connected to the washing machine main controller 7 through a circuit and is controlled by the washing machine main controller 7. The washing machine main controller 7 controls the LED display device or the liquid crystal display device through software programming and modification in the main controller 7, which is the well- known technology to those skilled in the art, so details are not described herein again. The washing machine body 10 includes a housing, and the housing includes a top surface, a bottom surface, two side surfaces, a rear surface, and a front surface 1 1. In most cases, the surfaces of the housing are made of a conductive metal material, or, except the top surface, the other surfaces are made of a metal material. The bottom surface and the rear surface cannot be easily contacted, other surfaces are possibly be contacted by the user. The housing of the washing machine body 10 has an operation panel area 1 , a detergent dispenser box area 2, and a door and handle area 3 on the front surface 1 1 , and the user usually operates the areas according to requirements. In washing machines of different models or types, the position and arrangement of the operation area may be different. For example, in some washing machines, the operation panel is located on the top surface; as for a pulsator washing machine, the door and the handle are always located on the top surface; and some washing machines have no detergent dispenser box. In addition, the housings of some washing machines are not a regular hexahedral, for example, a smooth transition surface is formed between the top surface and the front surface, and the housings may be of other irregular three-dimensional structures. The embodiments of the several washing machines are not shown in the drawings, but those of ordinary skill in the art can understand without any doubts through the foregoing description. In addition, other washing machines that are not described in the above, including washing machines, drying machines, washing and drying machines, and other household washing machines suitable for the present invention, are also fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a washing machine procedure selection and start composite key 8 and a display panel 4 for displaying a working state of the washing machine are disposed on the operation panel area 1 on the front surface 1 1 of the washing machine body. The detergent dispenser box 6 is disposed on the detergent dispenser box area 2 on the washing machine, and the user can place detergents for different purposes in the detergent dispenser box according to different clothing processing procedures. The indication device 5 is further disposed on the detergent dispenser box 6, and the indication device 5 includes three indication units 51 , 52, and 53, namely, a pre-wash indication unit 51 , a main-wash indication unit 52, and a rinsing indication unit 53. As shown in a top view of the detergent dispenser box 6 in FIG. 2, the detergent dispenser box 6 has three mutually independent cavities 61 , 62, and 63, namely, a pre-wash detergent receiving cavity 61 , a main-wash detergent receiving cavity 62, and a rinsing detergent receiving cavity 63. The three indication units 51 , 52, and 53 disposed on the detergent dispenser box 6 respectively indicate the three independent cavities 61 , 62, and 63 of the detergent dispenser box 6 correspondingly, that is, the pre-wash indication unit 51 correspondingly indicates the pre-wash detergent receiving cavity 61 , the main-wash indication unit 52 correspondingly indicates the main-wash detergent receiving cavity 62, and the rinsing indication unit 53 correspondingly indicates the rinsing detergent receiving cavity 63. The indication device 5 is generally disposed on a position on the detergent dispenser box 6 that can be easily seen by the user, for example, FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 respectively show the indication device 5 disposed at different positions on the detergent dispenser box 6 in different embodiments. The indication device 5 is connected to the washing machine main controller 7 through an electronic circuit, and displays different indication states under the control of the main controller 7, that is, ON or OFF of the indication units, so as to indicate whether the different cavities of the detergent dispenser box 6 participate in the clothing processing procedure. According to different clothing processing procedures and operation processes, the main controller 7 controls ON or OFF of the indication units. The user can easily place a corresponding detergent in the cavity that is correspondingly indicated according to ON or OFF of the indication unit. A washing machine door 9 for opening or closing the washing inlet is disposed in the door and handle area 3 on the washing machine.

Different from the foregoing embodiment, in a washing machine 100 according to another embodiment shown in FIG. 2, an indication device 5 is disposed on a washing machine display panel 4, three indication units 51 , 52, and 53 are arranged on the display panel 4 from left to right and correspondingly indicate three independent cavities 61 , 62, and 63 of the detergent dispenser box 6. If the washing machine display panel is a liquid crystal display panel, by rewriting the washing machine control software, the indication device 5 can be displayed on the washing machine display panel 4 under the control of the main controller 7 without any change on the structure of the existing washing machine, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

In other embodiments, the indication device 5 may also be disposed on other positions associated with the detergent dispenser box 6 on the washing machine, provided that the user can easily see the indication device 5 when operating the washing machine. A method for controlling the washing machine 100 includes the following steps. A main controller 7 controls an indication state of an indication device 5 according to different clothing processing procedures input into the washing machine 100. The indication state includes ON or OFF of the indication device 5, and is used to indicate whether different cavities of a detergent dispenser box 6 participate in the clothing processing procedure. For example, when a user selects a clothing processing procedure with pre-wash setting, the main controller 7 controls a pre-wash indication unit 51 of the indication device 5 to be ON according to the clothing processing procedure, so as to prompt the user to place a pre-wash detergent in a pre-wash detergent receiving cavity 61 of the detergent dispenser box 6.

In order to achieve automatic indication of the detergent dispenser box 6 with three independent cavities, as shown in FIG. 4, the present invention further provides another method for controlling the washing machine 100, which includes the following steps: (a) selecting a clothing processing procedure; (b) judging whether the clothing processing procedure includes a pre-wash process and/or a main-wash process and/or a rinsing process, and if the clothing processing procedure includes the pre-wash process, the main controller 7 controls the pre-wash indication unit 51 to be ON; otherwise, the pre- wash indication unit 51 maintains to be OFF; if the clothing processing procedure includes the main-wash process, the main controller 7 controls a main-wash indication unit 52 to be ON; otherwise, the main-wash indication unit 52 maintains to be OFF; and if the clothing processing procedure includes the rinsing process, the main controller 7 controls a rinsing indication unit 53 to be ON; otherwise, the rinsing indication unit 53 maintains to be OFF; (c) running the clothing processing procedures; and (d) judging whether the pre-wash process and/or the main-wash process and/or the rinsing process is started, and if the pre-wash process is started, the main controller 7 controls the pre-wash indication unit 51 to be OFF; otherwise, return back to Step (c); if the main-wash process is started, the main controller 7 controls the main-wash indication unit 52 to be OFF; otherwise, return back to Step (c); and if the rinsing process is started, the main controller 7 controls the rinsing indication unit 53 to be OFF; otherwise, return back to Step (c). In this way, the user that does not know function setting of the different clothing processing procedures can place a corresponding detergent in the corresponding cavity of the detergent dispenser box 6 according to an automatic indication of the indication device 5, thereby avoiding forgetting to place or misplacing the detergent. The indication units 51 , 52, and 53 are generally LED indicators or liquid crystal display units, and so on, the ON or OFF of the indication state is the ON or OFF of the LED indicator or the liquid crystal display unit.

The embodiments described in the above with reference to the accompany drawings are merely used to illustrate the present invention, but not all the embodiments of the present invention. In the scope of the basic technical spirit of the present invention, any modification made by those of ordinary skill in the art falls within the protection scope of the present invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

washing machine

washing machine body

washing machine front side

operation panel area

detergent dispenser box area

door and handle area

display panel

indication device

pre-wash indication unit

main-wash indication unit

rinsing indication unit

detergent dispenser box

pre-wash detergent receiving cavity

main-wash detergent receiving cavity rinsing detergent receiving cavity

main controller

procedure selection and start composite key washing machine door

Claims

1. A washing machine (100), comprising a washing machine body (10) with a built-in main controller (7) and a detergent dispenser box (6) disposed on the washing machine body (10), wherein the detergent dispenser box (6) has more than two mutually independent cavities for receiving detergents for different purposes; characterized in that, an indication device (5) for indicating each independent cavity is further disposed on a position associated with the detergent dispenser box (6) on the washing machine body (100), and the indication device (5) is controlled by the main controller (7).

2. The washing machine (100) according to claim 1 , characterized in that, the detergent dispenser box (6) has the following three mutually independent cavities: a prewash detergent receiving cavity (61 ), a main wash detergent receiving cavity (62), and a rinsing detergent receiving cavity (63).

3. The washing machine (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that, the indication device (5) comprises the following three mutually independent indication units: a prewash indication unit (51 ), a main wash indication unit (52), and a rinsing indication unit (53), which correspondingly indicate the three mutually independent cavities.

4. The washing machine (100) according to claim 1 , characterized in that, the indication device (5) is disposed on the detergent dispenser box (6) or a washing machine display panel (4).

5. The washing machine (100) according to claim 1 , characterized in that, the indication device (5) is a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device or a liquid crystal display (LCD) device.

6. A method for controlling the washing machine (100) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising: controlling an indication state of the indication device (5) by the main controller (7) according to different clothing processing procedures input into the washing machine.

7. The method for controlling the washing machine (100) according to claim 6, characterized in that, the indication state comprises switch-on or switch-off of the indication device (5), for indicating whether the different cavities of the detergent dispenser boxes

(6) participate in the clothing processing procedure.

8. A method for controlling the washing machine (100) according to claim 3, characterized by comprising:

a. selecting a clothing processing procedure;

b. judging whether the clothing processing procedure comprises a prewash process and/or a main wash process and/or a rinsing process, wherein if the clothing processing procedure comprises the prewash process, the main controller (7) controls the prewash indication unit (51 ) to switch on ; otherwise, the prewash indication unit (51 ) stays in a switch-off state; if the clothing processing procedure comprises the main wash process, the main controller (7) controls the main wash indication unit (52) to switch on; otherwise, the main wash indication unit (52) stays in a switch-off state; if the clothing processing procedure comprises the rinsing process, the main controller (7) controls the rinsing indication unit (53) to switch on; otherwise, the rinsing indication unit (53) stays in a switch-off state;

c. running the clothing processing procedure; and

d. judging whether the prewash process and/or the main wash process and/or the rinsing process is started, wherein if the prewash process is started, the main controller

(7) controls the prewash indication unit to switch off; otherwise, step c is returned to; if the mainwash process is started, the main controller (7) controls the main wash indication unit to switch off; otherwise, step c is returned to; if the rinsing process is started, the main controller (7) controls the rinsing indication unit to switch off; otherwise, step c is returned to.

9. The method for controlling the washing machine (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that, the indication unit is an LED indicator or an LCD unit.