WO2013092486A1

WO2013092486A1 - Household appliance for caring for pieces of laundry as well as a method for determining an error status of an oscillating device in a household appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2013092486A1
Application number: PCT/EP2012/075786
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hasan Gökcer ALBAYRAK; Sebastian Bauer; Ansgar RISCHKE; Rudolf Seidl; Jörg SKRIPPEK
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2011-12-22
Filing date: 2012-12-17
Publication date: 2013-06-27
Also published as: EP2794974B1; RU2589475C2; CN104011279A; PL2794974T3; DE102011089624A1; RU2014129739A; CN104011279B; EP2794974A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a household appliance (1) for caring for pieces of laundry which has a drum (3) for accommodating the pieces of laundry and a housing (2) in which the drum (3) is mounted with an oscillating device (5), wherein the oscillating device (5) has an apparatus (10) for recognising an error status of the oscillating device (5), wherein the apparatus (10) comprises at least one acceleration sensor (11) that can be used to measure the direction (12) of the gravitational acceleration relative to the acceleration sensor (11), and depending on the result, an error status of the oscillating device (5) can be recognised. The invention also relates to a method for determining an error status of an oscillating device (5) in a household appliance (1).

Description

Household appliance for the care of laundry items and method for determining a fault condition of a vibrating device of a household appliance

The invention relates to a household appliance for the care of laundry items, with a drum for receiving the laundry items, and a housing in which the drum is mounted with a vibrating device. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for determining a fault condition of a vibration device of a household appliance for the care of laundry, in which a drum for receiving the laundry items is mounted in a housing of the household appliance by means of the oscillating device.

In household appliances for the care of items of laundry, such as a washing machine or a tumble dryer, it is known that the drum is mounted for receiving the laundry with a vibrating system or a vibrating device in the housing. This oscillating device usually includes dampers and spring suspensions. During operation of the household appliance, the drum rotates about its axis and is formed relative to the housing due to the oscillating mounting means of the vibrating device for performing oscillatory movements.

If such an oscillating device has a fault condition, for example as a result of a spring break or damper break or due to a worn spring or a worn damper, the oscillating movement of the drum is provided with an undesired imbalance during operation, which can lead to damage to the domestic appliance, in particular to further bearings , In such an error state of the oscillating device, the drum is also stored virtually unsymmetrical in the idle state, which is also undesirable. The mechanical stress on other components of the household appliance in such a fault condition of the vibrating device may lead to further malfunction or destruction of other components of the household appliance. It is therefore essential to be able to detect a fault condition of a vibrating device accurately and as early as possible in order to avoid the above-mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a household appliance for the care of laundry items and a method for determining a fault condition of a vibrating device of such a household appliance, in which or with which such error condition detection can be done very accurately and quickly.

This object is achieved by a household appliance for the care of laundry as well as a method according to the independent claims.

An inventive household appliance for the care of laundry comprises a drum for receiving the laundry items, and a housing in which the drum is mounted with a vibrating device. The vibrating device includes means for detecting an error condition of the vibrating device. For this purpose, the device comprises at least one acceleration sensor with which the direction of gravitational acceleration relative to the acceleration sensor can be measured and, depending on the result, an error state of the oscillating device can be detected. By such a configuration, a very precise and rapid detection of fault conditions of the vibrating device can be achieved. Even the slightest deviations from a fault-free mounting of the oscillating device can thus be detected. In addition, the design is extremely minimized in terms of component count and space requirements, so that there are corresponding advantages here.

It is preferably provided that the acceleration sensor has at least one measuring axis, and the direction of gravitational acceleration is measurable relative to the direction of this measuring axis. The precision is high in this regard.

In particular, it is provided that the acceleration sensor has at least two measuring axes, and the direction of the gravitational acceleration can be measured relative to directions of these measuring axes. The determination of an error state can thus be carried out more accurately and even the slightest deviations of the oscillating device from a standard state can be detected. For this purpose, no further components are needed, but it can be achieved by a specific embodiment of this acceleration sensor. It is preferably provided that the acceleration sensor is arranged on the drum. There, it can be positioned mechanically stable and since the drum is coupled to the oscillating device, it is therefore also possible to make a very precise statement about the state of the oscillating device via the position of the drum. Unwanted high loads of the acceleration sensor in a moving oscillating device can be avoided by this positioning. Since the springs and / or dampers of the oscillating device change length during operation due to their configuration, positioning the acceleration sensor on such a component is more difficult and can also lead to impairments of the acceleration sensor. By attaching to the drum these possibly occurring difficulties can be avoided.

It is preferably provided that the acceleration sensor is arranged on an outer side of the drum. As a result, on the one hand the interior of the drum, in which the laundry items are arranged, not affected and on the other hand, the acceleration sensor in this regard is not polluted. He is also not entrained by possibly hanging laundry or damaged.

It is preferably provided that the acceleration sensor is arranged at the bottom center of the drum. As a result, very accurate statements can be made with regard to the gravitational acceleration, which usually extends vectorially oriented vertically to the ground. As a result, a statement about a possible skew of the oscillating device and thus a fault condition can be detected in a very simple yet precise and reliable manner. In particular, the household appliance is a washing machine or a tumble dryer.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for determining a fault condition of a vibrating device of a household appliance for the care of laundry, in which a drum for receiving the laundry items is mounted in a housing of the household appliance by means of the oscillating device. By means of an acceleration sensor of a device for detecting the error state of the vibrating device, the direction of gravitational acceleration relative to the acceleration sensor is measured, and depending on the result becomes Error condition of the oscillating device detected. The above advantages apply analogously.

It is preferably provided that the direction of the gravitational acceleration is measured relative to a direction of at least one measuring axis of the acceleration sensor. In particular, such a measurement is carried out to a plurality of measuring axes of the acceleration sensor.

Preferably, in a fault-free state of the oscillating device, a reference measurement is carried out, which is stored in the device. By such an approach, in which then at least one actual measurement is performed in particular in the further operation of the household appliance, which is compared with the reference measurement, wherein an error condition is detected depending on the comparison, the measurement and evaluation can be made extremely simple. As a result, very fast and precise results can be achieved without great computational effort.

It is preferably provided that the at least one measurement is carried out in the operation of the household appliance in an idle state of the oscillating device. As a result, distortions of the measurement result due to complex oscillatory movements of the entire oscillating device can be avoided and possible misdetections can be avoided.

It is preferably provided that a limit value for a deviation between the direction of the gravitational acceleration of the reference measurement and the direction of at least one measuring axis of the acceleration sensor is determined and an error condition of the oscillating device is detected when the limit value is exceeded. By such a configuration, in particular a wide variety of error conditions can be detected and grouped. In this context, on the one hand a complete failure of a component of a vibrating device can be detected quickly, such as a breakage of a damper or a spring. On the other hand, with such an approach, a damper or a spring can be detected, which is still not broken, but in comparison to another damper or to another spring is already more worn and the full functionality is no longer given. An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to schematic drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of an embodiment of a household appliance according to the invention in a faultless state; and

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view of FIG. 1, in which a fault condition of the oscillating device of the household appliance is present. In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

In Fig. 1 a household appliance 1 for the care of laundry is shown in a simplified representation, which may be, for example, a washing machine or a tumble dryer. The household appliance 1 comprises a housing 2. In the housing 2, a drum 3 is arranged, which is designed to receive laundry and which is rotatable about an axis A which is oriented perpendicular to the plane of the figure. If the domestic appliance 1 is a washing machine, it also includes, in particular, a tub 4 which surrounds the drum 3 and in which the drum 3 is rotatably mounted.

The household appliance 1 further comprises a vibrating device 5, which has in the upper region by way of example springs 6 and 7, and in the lower region comprises dampers 8 and 9. The springs 6 and 7, which are only mentioned by way of example in number and position, are connected in an upper region of the housing 2 with this.

Correspondingly, the dampers 8 and 9, which are also shown by way of example in number and position, are connected to the housing 2 at a lower area. For driving the drum 3, the oscillating device 5 comprises a drive motor, not shown, which may be, for example, a permanent magnet synchronous motor. The rotor of this motor is connected to the drum 3 via a belt.

The oscillating device 5 comprises a device 10 for detecting an error state of the oscillating device 5. In the exemplary embodiment, this device 10 comprises at least one acceleration sensor 11.

With this, the direction of gravitational acceleration relative to this acceleration sensor 1 1 is measurable, in which case in particular a comparison of the directions of gravity acceleration 12 and a direction 13 of a measuring axis 14 of the acceleration sensor 1 1 is performed. The acceleration sensor 1 1 comprises at least one such measuring axis, preferably at least two measuring axes oriented in different directions. The acceleration sensor 1 1 can be arranged on an outer side 15 of the drum 3 and in particular at the bottom there. However, it can also be arranged on the tub 4 at a corresponding position.

In Fig. 1, an error-free state of the vibrating device 5 is shown. This is because the direction 12 coincides with the direction 13.

In order to be able to recognize a corresponding error state, a reference measurement is first of all carried out in which the oscillating device 5 is centered and centered and without imbalance, and thus also the drum 3 and / or the tub 4 are positioned centered. This reference measurement and thus also the direction 13 of the measuring axis 14 of the acceleration sensor 1 1 are then stored accordingly. For this purpose, the household appliance 1 and in particular the oscillating device 5 comprises a control and evaluation unit, which is not shown. In the further operation of the household appliance 1, one or more actual measurements are then performed and checked whether the error-free state of the vibrating device 5 is given or an error condition has occurred. For this purpose, a comparison of a measured actual direction of at least one measuring axis of Acceleration sensor 1 1 performed with the direction of gravity acceleration 12. If a deviation occurs here, or if a deviation occurs which is greater than a limit value, an error state is detected. An error condition may be a break of a damper 8 and / or 9 and / or a spring 6 and / or 7. However, a fault condition may also be such that a damper 8 or 9 or a spring 6 or 7 is not yet broken but worn and has functionality in comparison to the other dampers 8 and / or 9 and / or the springs 6 and / or 7 is deteriorating.

In Fig. 2, a state is shown, in which an error of the vibrating device 5 is present. It can be seen that the drum 3 is no longer centrally positioned centrally when the oscillating device 5 is at rest, but a certain inclination occurs. As a result, the direction 13 of the measuring axis 14 is no longer vertically downwards and no longer coinciding with the direction 12 of the gravitational acceleration. In Fig. 2, therefore, a deviation between the directions 13 and 12 has occurred, which characterizes a fault condition.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 home appliance

2 housings

3 drum

4 tubs

5 oscillating device

6 spring

7 spring

8 dampers

9 dampers

10 setup

1 1 acceleration sensor

12 direction

13 direction

14 measuring axis

15 outside

Claims

claims

1 . Domestic appliance (1) for the care of laundry, comprising a drum (3) for receiving the items of laundry, and a housing (2) in which the drum (3) is mounted with a vibrating device (5), characterized in that the

Oscillating device (5) has means (10) for detecting a fault condition of the oscillating device (5), wherein the device (10) at least one

Acceleration sensor (1 1), with which the direction (12) of

Gravitational acceleration relative to the acceleration sensor (1 1) is measurable, and depending on the result of a fault condition of the vibrating device (5) can be seen.

2. Household appliance (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the

Acceleration sensor (1 1) has at least one measuring axis (14) and the direction (12) of the gravitational acceleration relative to the direction (13) of this measuring axis (14) is measurable.

3. Household appliance (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the

Acceleration sensor (1 1) has at least two measuring axes and the direction (12) of the gravitational acceleration relative to directions of these measuring axes can be measured.

4. Household appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the acceleration sensor (1 1) on the drum (3) or a tub (4) is arranged.

5. Household appliance (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the

Acceleration sensor (1 1) on an outer side (15) of the drum (3) or an outer side of the tub (14) is arranged.

6. Household appliance (1) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the acceleration sensor (1 1) is arranged at the bottom center of the drum (3) or the tub (4).

7. A method for determining a fault condition of a vibrating device (5) of a household appliance (1) for the care of laundry, wherein a drum (3) for receiving the laundry in a housing (2) of the household appliance (1) by means of the oscillating device (5) is stored, characterized in that by means of a

Acceleration sensor (1 1) of a device (10) for detecting the error state, the direction (12) of the gravitational acceleration relative to the acceleration sensor (1 1) is measured, and depending on the result of a fault condition of

Swinging device (5) is detected.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the direction (12) of the gravitational acceleration relative to a direction (13) at least one measuring axis (14) of the

Acceleration sensor (1 1) is measured.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that in a fault-free state of the vibrating device (5), a reference measurement is performed, which is stored in the device (10).

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that in the further operation of the household appliance (1) at least one actual measurement is performed, which is compared with the reference measurement and depending on the comparison, an error condition is detected.

1 1. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the at least one actual measurement in the operation of the household appliance (1) in the idle state of the oscillating device (5) is performed.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 1 1, characterized in that a limit value for a deviation between the direction (12) of the gravitational acceleration of

Reference measurement and the direction (13) of at least one measuring axis (14) of the

Acceleration sensor (1 1) is determined and when exceeding the

Limit a fault condition of the vibrating device (5) is detected.