CN103906871B - Tumbling-box washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

Equipped with: a drum driving unit (4), which rotates and drives the drum (3); and a control unit (30), which is input to detect the dirt of the laundry in the drum as the state detection for detecting the state of the laundry in the drum. The output of the dirt detection unit (18) of the unit, and sequentially control each process of the cleaning process, the rinsing process and the dehydration process. In addition, the cleaning process has a stirring process and a centrifugal force cleaning process. In this stirring process, the drum (3) is rotated at a low speed such that the laundry in the drum (3) does not stick to it. , the drum (3) is rotated at a high speed at which the laundry will stick to the inner peripheral wall surface of the drum (3), and the washing water is discharged from the laundry by centrifugal force, and the control unit (30) makes the drum in the centrifugal force cleaning process The rotation speed of the dirt detection part (18) changes correspondingly.

Description

front load washing machine

technical field

The invention relates to a drum type washing machine for washing laundry and the like.

Background technique

Conventionally, in this type of drum type washing machine, after loading laundry into the drum, tap water is supplied from the outside of the washing machine through a water supply unit, and water is poured into a water tank accommodating the drum through a detergent container into which a predetermined amount of detergent has been put in advance. After water injection, fully soak the laundry with washing water while rotating the drum at a low speed, and then pass the soaked washing while rotating the drum at a low speed for a fixed time so that the laundry will not stick to the wall surface of the drum. Cleaning is performed by removing dirt by the impact of objects falling from the top of the drum as it rotates. In such a drum type washing machine, especially when there is a large amount of laundry, it is difficult to uniformly wet the laundry, such as clothes put into the drum, in the process of soaking the laundry, so there may be occurrence of washing unevenness. , cleaning performance significantly decreased and the like.

Therefore, the following method has been considered: after the water supply, the drum is rotated at a relatively low rotational speed to perform beat washing, and the angular speed of the drum is higher than the angular speed at which the washing water in the laundry can be discharged out of the drum by centrifugal force. The laundry is further mixed and stirred by twisting at a high rotational speed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

In addition, in other existing washing machines, the clothiness of the clothes is judged based on the weight level of the clothes detected by the weight detector and the torque output level detected by the torque detector when the clothes contain water before the washing process. When it is judged that the water absorption rate is low, the amount of water in the rinsing step is reduced (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

In addition, in other conventional washing machines, the rotational speed of the drum during washing is changed by distinguishing the cloth quality of laundry such as laundry. Specifically, when there is a lot of cotton, the rotation speed of the drum is set so that the laundry is in a beating state, and when there is a lot of chemical fiber, the rotation speed is reduced so that the laundry will not stick to the drum and be lifted. The laundry is hammer-washed (for example, refer to Patent Document 3).

However, in the structure described in Patent Document 1, the fixed high-speed rotation operation is performed regardless of the amount of dirt on the laundry, so even when the dirt on the laundry is small, the high-speed rotation operation is performed, consuming unnecessary energy. Electricity, there is a problem in terms of energy saving.

In addition, in the structure described in Patent Document 1, a fixed high-speed rotation operation is performed regardless of the amount of detergent that is put in. Useless high-speed rotation will be performed excessively. Therefore, there is a problem that energy saving performance is lacking.

Furthermore, in the configurations described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, the cloth quality of laundry such as clothes is discriminated and washed appropriately, but there is a problem that cleaning cannot be performed efficiently according to the cloth quality. That is, in Patent Document 3, the rotational speed of the drum is changed when there are many cottons and when there are many chemical fibers, but the laundry is hammer-washed in either case. Especially in the case of chemical fibers, the water content is low and the weight is light, so there is a problem that the mechanical impact on the laundry in the beat washing is weak and the detergency is poor.

The present invention was made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing machine that performs ideal washing operation with high cleaning power and low power consumption according to the amount of dirt.

In addition, the present invention was made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a front-loading washing machine capable of performing ideal washing according to the amount of detergent and performing washing operation with high energy saving.

In addition, the present invention was made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a front-loading washing machine capable of optimally driving the drum in the washing step according to the recognized cloth quality.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-299658

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-6179

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-114278

Contents of the invention

In order to solve the existing problems, the drum type washing machine of the present invention has: a water tank, which is elastically supported in the casing; a drum, which is rotatably installed in the water tank; a drum driving part, which rotates the drum; The detection unit detects the state of the laundry in the drum; and the control unit sequentially controls the washing process, the rinsing process and the dehydration process by taking the output of the state detection unit as input. In addition, the cleaning process includes a stirring process and a centrifugal force cleaning process. In the stirring process, the drum is rotated at a low speed so that the laundry does not stick to the drum. In the centrifugal force cleaning process, the drum is rotated with the laundry The drum rotates at a high speed in a state attached to the inner peripheral wall surface of the drum, and wash water is discharged from the laundry by centrifugal force. And the control part controls the operation|movement of the drum drive part in a cleaning process based on the output from a state detection part.

In addition, in order to solve the existing problems, the drum type washing machine of the present invention uses the state detection unit as a dirt detection unit that detects the dirt of the laundry in the drum, and the control unit makes the rotational speed of the drum in the centrifugal force cleaning process and the rotation speed determined by the dirt detection unit. The detected dirt changes accordingly.

In addition, in order to solve the existing problems, the drum-type washing machine of the present invention uses the state detection unit as a detergent quantity determination unit for determining the amount of detergent, and the more the amount of detergent determined by the detergent quantity determination unit, the more the control unit becomes. Reduce the rotational speed of the drum in the centrifugal force cleaning process.

In addition, in order to solve the conventional problems, the drum type washing machine of the present invention has a state detection unit as a cloth quality judgment unit for judging the cloth quality of laundry, and a circulation unit for circulating washing water in the water tank into the drum. Moreover, when it is judged by the cloth quality judgment part that the cloth quality of the laundry is mostly chemical fiber, the control part performs a stirring process in a washing process. In addition, when it is judged by the cloth quality judging unit that the cloth quality of the laundry is mostly cotton, the control unit performs the centrifugal washing process in the washing process, and the washing water in the water tank is sprayed into the drum by the circulation unit. things.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a control block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

3A is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit during the washing operation of the front-loading-type washing machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

3B is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit during the washing operation of the front-loading-type washing machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

4 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

5 is a control block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

6A is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit during the washing operation of the front-loading-type washing machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

6B is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit during the washing operation of the front-loading-type washing machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

7 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

8 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

9 is a control block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading-type washing machine according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

Fig. 10A is a diagram showing movement of laundry rotating in the rotary drum in the front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

10B is a diagram showing a state in which laundry is attached to the rotary drum in the front-loading-type washing machine according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a timing chart showing the operation of the front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention.

detailed description

(Embodiment 1)

1 is a sectional view of main parts showing a schematic configuration of a drum-type washing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drum-type washing machine.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 , a cylindrical water tank 2 for storing washing water is elastically supported in a casing 1 . Here, the washing water includes detergent water for supplying detergent components to wash laundry in the washing process and rinsing water for rinsing the detergent components in the rinsing process. A cylindrical drum 3 having an open front and a bottom surface for accommodating laundry is rotatably installed in the water tub 2 . A drum driving motor 4 (drum driving unit) that rotates a rotating shaft 3 a of the drum 3 obliquely forward and upward is attached to the back surface of the water tank 2 .

A water supply valve 6 is provided in the water supply path 5 connected to the water pipe, and water is supplied to the water tank 2 through the water supply valve 6 and the water flows into the drum 3 . Between the water supply valve 6 and the water tank 2 is provided a detergent box 7 (detergent input unit) for injecting a predetermined amount of detergent in advance, and water is supplied to the water tank 2 through the water supply pipe 8 while dissolving the detergent in the supplied water.

A heater (heating unit) (not shown) for heating the washing water stored in the water tank 2 is provided at the lowermost part of the water tank 2. Even if the tap water is low temperature, the temperature of the washing water can be increased ( For example, 30°C to 40°C) to improve the cleaning effect of the detergent.

In addition, a water intake unit 10 is connected to the lowermost part of the water tank 2 , and the washing water after washing and the rinsing water after rinsing can be discharged out of the machine through the drain pipe 12 through the drain valve 11 . Water intake unit 10 is provided with water level sensor 13 (water level detection unit) for detecting the water level of washing water supplied to water tank 2 and drum 3 .

Between the water intake part 10 and the drain valve 11, a circulating water channel 15 is communicated and connected, so that the washing water in the water tank 2 and the rinsing water can be circulated into the drum 3. The discharge port 14 which discharges into the inside of the drum 3 is connected to the opening part 3b of the front surface of the drum 3. The washing water is taken into the circulation channel 15 by the circulation pump 16 . As a result, the washing water can be circulated by the circulating water channel 15 only by controlling the circulating pump 16. Therefore, the washing water can be circulated by the circulating water channel 15 regardless of the cleaning control that usually controls the cleaning power, such as controlling the water flow by using the rotation of the drum 3. cycle.

If the washing water flowing in the circulating water channel 15 contains a large amount of foreign matter such as fibers and hairs of the laundry, the circulating pump 16 may be blocked. Therefore, a drain filter 17 is provided in the circulating water channel 15 on the upstream side of the circulating pump 16. Removes foreign matter such as fibers and hair from laundry. Circulating water channel 15 is provided with dirt sensor 18 (stain detecting unit) as a state detector for detecting the state of laundry in drum 3 to detect dirt in the washing water flowing in circulating water channel 15 .

A door 19 is provided on the front side of the housing 1 facing the opening 3b of the drum 3 , and the user can put laundry (clothes) in or out of the drum 3 by opening the door 19 .

A plurality of protrusions 20 are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the drum 3, and by rotating the drum 3 at a low speed, it is possible to perform a stirring action (tumbling action) in which the clothes are caught by the protrusions 20 and lifted upwards, and then the clothes are dropped at an appropriate height. ). In addition, a plurality of through-holes 21 are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the drum 3 so that washing water and air can freely flow between the drum 3 and the water tub 2 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the front-loading washing machine has a control unit 30 . The control unit 30 displays the setting information input by the user through the input setting unit 31 on the display unit 32, and controls a series of operations of the entire washing, rinsing, and spin-drying processes based on the setting information and the monitoring of the operating status of each unit. .

The control unit 30 can be composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit: Central Processing Unit) not shown, a ROM (ReadOnly Memory: Read Only Memory) storing programs, and a RAM (Random Access Memory: Random Access Memory) storing programs and data when executing various processes. ), input and output interfaces, and the bus connecting them.

In addition, the control unit 30 has a timer 33 . As the timer 33 , an internal timer installed as an internal function of the operation of the control unit 30 can be used. In addition, a timer device provided separately from the control unit 30 can also be used as the timer 33 .

In the front-loading washing machine, AC power 40 is rectified by rectifier 41 and then smoothed by a smoothing circuit including choke coil 42 and smoothing capacitor 43 . Then, the drum drive motor 4 is rotationally driven by the inverter circuit 44 using the smoothed DC power as drive power.

The control unit 30 controls the rotation of the drum drive motor 4 based on the operation instruction input from the input setting unit 31 and the monitoring information of the operation state detected by each detection unit. Furthermore, the control unit 30 controls the operation of required loads such as the water supply valve 6 , the heating unit 9 , the drain valve 11 , and the circulation pump 16 via the load driving unit 45 .

Drum drive motor 4 can be configured, for example, as a DC brushless motor having a stator having three-phase windings 4a, 4b, 4c and a rotor having permanent magnets with two poles, and three position detection elements 27a to 27c. The rotation of the drum drive motor 4 can be controlled by an inverter circuit 44 configured to allow PWM control by switching elements 44a to 44f.

Here, the rotor position detection signals detected by the position detection elements 27 a to 27 c are input to the control unit 30 . Then, the control unit 30 outputs a control signal to the inverter drive circuit 46 based on the rotor position detection signal, and performs PWM control on and off states of the switching elements 44 a to 44 f via the inverter circuit 44 .

In this way, the control unit 30 controls the energization of the three-phase coils 4a, 4b, and 4c of the stator, and rotates the rotor of the drum drive motor 4 at a desired rotational speed. In addition, whenever the signal state of any one of the three position detection elements 27a to 27c changes, the control unit 30 detects its period, and the rotational speed detection unit 34 as an internal function calculates the rotor speed based on the period. speed. It also has the following function: the cloth amount detection unit 35 detects the current signal flowing through the drum drive motor 4 to judge the weight of the drum 3 , that is, the weight of the laundry.

Next, the operation and effects of the front-loading washing machine configured as above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B .

When laundry is put into drum 3 to start washing, control unit 30 detects the amount of laundry (S1). The amount of the laundry is detected by detecting the magnitude of the current signal of the drum drive motor 4 when the drum drive motor 4 is controlled to rotate the drum 3 together with the laundry.

The basic amount of water supply is determined according to the amount of the laundry. For example, when it is determined that the amount of laundry is "little", the "low" water level WL1 is set as the set water level. When it is judged that the amount of laundry is "medium", the "medium" water level WL2 is set as the set water level. In addition, when it is judged that the amount of laundry is "a lot", the "high" water level WL3 is set as the set water level (step S2).

Next, the control unit 30 opens the water supply valve 6 (step S3), and supplies water to the water tank 2 and the drum 3 until the set water level is reached (step S4).

During the water supply period, the controller 30 controls the circulation pump 16 to circulate the washing water supplied together with the detergent through the circulation channel 15 from the discharge port 14 into the drum 3 to promote dissolution of the detergent in the water. When the washing water is sprayed from the spray port 14 into the drum 3, the clothes will absorb water before the detergent dissolves in the water. Therefore, it is desirable that the rotation speed of the circulation pump 16 be weak so that the circulating water is not sprayed into the drum 3 very much. .

Then, when the set water level is reached (step S4 is "Yes"), the water supply valve 6 is closed (step S5), and stirring is started while the drum 3 is rotated at a low speed (S6). The rotation speed of the drum 3 is preferably such that the laundry will not stick to the inner peripheral wall of the drum 3 due to centrifugal force, so that the laundry is lifted upwards in the drum 3 and is lifted from the rotation of the drum 3 due to gravity. Kinetic energy is effectively applied to the laundry when it is dropped up and down, and the rotation speed of the drum 3 depends on the amount of the laundry, but is preferably 50 rpm or less. The rotation direction can be the same direction, or the forward and reverse rotation can be switched.

At this time, the circulation pump 16 is controlled by the controller 30 to circulate the washing water in which the detergent has been sufficiently dissolved through the circulation channel 15 from the discharge port 14 into the drum 3 to promote the penetration of the washing water into the laundry. Therefore, the rotation speed of circulation pump 16 is set to a rotation speed at which the washing water can be circulated into drum 3 and sprayed out reliably, so that the washing water can easily penetrate into the laundry.

When a predetermined time (for example, two minutes) has elapsed since drum 3 started to rotate at a low speed (YES in S7), dirt sensor 18 detects the amount of dirt (S8). The control unit 30 determines the amount of dirt based on the output of the dirt sensor 18 . The period of time when the dirt is detected by the dirt sensor is the time when the dirt dissolves into the washing water.

If the output of the dirt sensor 18 is more than the specified value A (such as 100) (S9 is "yes"), then the parameter R is set to 300rpm (S10), if the output of the dirt sensor 18 is more than the specified value B (such as 50) ( If S11 is "Yes"), the parameter R is set to 200 rpm (S12), and if not (S11 is "No"), the parameter R is set to 150 rpm (S13). That is, the larger the output value of the dirt sensor 18 is, the larger the value of the parameter is set.

Thereafter, the drum 3 is rotated at a high speed at the rotation speed of the parameter R set as described above (S14). The centrifugal force generated by rotating the drum 3 at a high speed makes the laundry stick to the wall of the drum 3, and the moisture contained in the laundry moves to the water tank 2 through the through holes 21 of the drum 3 after being twisted out.

The speed at which the drum 3 is rotated at a high speed needs to be 100 rpm or more at which moisture contained in the laundry can be forcibly detached by centrifugal force. More preferably, it is 150 rpm or more, which is sufficient to forcibly remove moisture contained in the laundry, and more preferably 300 rpm or more.

In the present embodiment, the rotational speed is varied according to the detected output of the dirt sensor 18 . That is, when there is little dirt, the drum 3 does not need to be rotated at high speed to 300 rpm, but is limited to the minimum 150 rpm required to remove the moisture contained in the laundry to perform an energy-saving operation with less power consumption of the drum drive motor 4 .

On the other hand, when there is much dirt, the drum 3 is rotated at a high speed up to 300 rpm to remove the dirt. In addition, as the unit operation at the time of performing this high-speed rotation, it may be a continuous one operation, or an intermittently repeated operation such as opening/closing for a short time.

In the centrifugal force cleaning process of rotating the drum 3 at a high speed, the washing water near the fibers of the clothes is removed by the centrifugal force of the detergent consisting of surfactants containing the dirt substances attached to the fibers of the clothes in the agitation process of the previous low-speed rotation. , capable of efficiently removing dirt substances from the fibers together with the wash water.

In addition, when the drum 3 rotates at a high speed, if the circulation pump 16 is used to spray the washing water to the laundry in the drum 3, the washing water that has not yet adhered to the dirt is effectively absorbed by the laundry, thereby promoting the content of the laundry in the fibers of the clothes. Replacement of washing water.

The time for rotating the drum 3 at high speed may be relatively short as long as the washing water contained in the laundry can be wrung out, for example, only 30 seconds (YES in S15).

Next, the stirring process (S16) of rotating the drum 3 at a low speed is implemented again. In this stirring step, the circulation pump 16 is driven in the same manner as the step of S6 , and washing water is sprayed from the discharge port 14 into the drum 3 through the circulating water channel 15 . At this time, the drum 3 rotates at such a rotational speed that the laundry rolls in the drum 3 without sticking to it, and the timing at which the circulation pump 16 is driven to spray the washing water from the discharge port 14 may be continuous or intermittent. of.

After the centrifugal force cleaning process of rotating the drum 3 at a high speed, the agitation process of rotating the drum 3 at a low speed is continued, so that the chemical force of the detergent and the mechanical force generated by the rotation of the drum 3 can be used again to further remove the residues in the fibers. of dirt substances. When the concentration of dirt substances in the washing water between the fibers is high, there is concern that the dirt substances will adhere to the fibers again, but the dirt that is adhered by the surfactant of the detergent and surrounded by the surfactant is difficult to adhere again. Adsorbs surfactants that are not attached to dirt, and therefore, works on remaining dirt.

The time for the stirring step of rotating drum 3 at a low speed is sufficient as long as the remaining detergent is sufficiently permeated into the laundry, and therefore may be fixed to a predetermined time regardless of the amount of cloth. For example, in this embodiment, if it is set to finish the cleaning process after five minutes from the start of the second stirring process (S17 is "Yes"), the cleaning process can be completed with fewer calculations and constant tables, so the control unit can be lightened. 30 burden.

As mentioned above, the larger the output of the dirt sensor 18 is, the higher the rotation speed of the drum 3 in the centrifugal force cleaning process is set, the larger the amount of dirt in the laundry is, and the more powerfully it is possible to peel off the mixed washing in the vicinity of the laundry. The washing water of the detergent and the dirt attached to the detergent can improve the cleaning power. On the other hand, the smaller the output of the dirt sensor 18 is, the lower the rotational speed of the drum 3 in the centrifugal force cleaning process is, and thus, if the amount of dirt on the laundry is small, the drum can be driven by the minimum required motor. 4 power consumption to clean, can achieve energy-saving operation.

In addition, in the said embodiment, although the washing|cleaning process which implements the centrifugal washing process (S14) which rotates the drum 3 at a high speed only once was illustrated, it is not limited to this. For example, when the amount of laundry and the amount of dirt are large, by alternately repeating the centrifugal force cleaning process (S14) and the stirring process (S16) multiple times, the frequency of the centrifugal force cleaning process (S14) can be increased to further strongly Strips away dirt.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the drum type washing machine having only the washing function has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and can also be applied to a drum type washing and drying machine having both the washing function and the clothes drying function.

The front-loading washing machine of the present embodiment includes: a water tank elastically supported in the housing; a drum rotatably installed in the water tank; a drum drive unit for rotating the drum; and a dirt detection unit for detecting the The dirt of the laundry inside; and the control unit, which is input to the output of the dirt detection unit, sequentially controls the processes of washing, rinsing and dehydration. Furthermore, the cleaning process includes a stirring process in which the drum is rotated at a low speed so that the laundry in the drum does not stick to it, and a centrifugal force cleaning process in which the drum is rotated at a The laundry rotates at high speed in a state attached to the inner peripheral wall surface of the drum, and wash water is discharged from the laundry by centrifugal force. And the control part changes the rotation speed of the drum in a centrifugal washing process according to the dirt detected by the dirt detection part. Thus, the rotation speed of the drum in the centrifugal force cleaning process can be changed according to the dirt detected by the dirt detection unit. When there is little dirt on the object, the rotation speed can be slowed down to suppress the power consumption of the drum drive motor and reduce the power consumption.

In addition, in the drum-type washing machine of this embodiment, the more the amount of dirt detected by the dirt detection unit, the higher the rotation speed of the drum in the centrifugal force washing process is set by the control unit, so that the dirt can be fully removed from the laundry. When the ground is dissolved in the washing water and becomes saturated, the drum is rotated at a high speed to further peel off the dirt from the laundry, and the cleaning power can be improved.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine of this embodiment includes a water-containing part that contains washing water in the laundry, and the water-containing part makes the laundry contain washing water in the centrifugal washing process, thereby allowing the washing water to act on the dirt attached to the laundry. And improve the cleaning power.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine according to the present embodiment immerses part of the laundry in the washing water accumulated at the bottom of the water tank to make a part of the laundry contain water, so that the laundry can effectively absorb the washing water that has not yet adhered to the dirt, and can Promotes the replacement of the washing water contained in the fibers of the clothes and improves the cleaning power.

In addition, in the front-loading-type washing machine of the present embodiment, the circulation shower part that sucks the washing water accumulated in the bottom of the water tank and sprays it onto the laundry in the drum can be configured, thereby only controlling the circulation pump. The washing water is circulated, so the washing water can be circulated independently of the washing control that usually controls the cleaning power, such as the rotation of the drum to control the water flow, so that the washing can effectively absorb the washing water that has not yet attached dirt, and promote the decontamination of the clothes fibers. The cleaning power is improved by replacing the contained washing water.

In addition, in the drum-type washing machine of this embodiment, as the dirt detection unit, at least one sensor among the turbidity sensor, the conductivity sensor, and the color (fading) sensor is used for detection, thereby being able to cope with the contamination of the laundry. High-precision dirt detection corresponding to various dirt components contained in the filter and cleaning according to the dirt.

In addition, the drum type washing machine according to the present embodiment includes a drying unit for drying the washed clothes, thereby realizing a drum type washing and drying machine with high cleaning power and low power consumption according to the amount of dirt on the laundry.

(Embodiment 2)

4 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 5 is a control block diagram of the front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

In FIG. 4 , water tank 102 is a cylindrical water tank that is elastically supported in housing 100 and stores wash water containing detergent components. A cylindrical drum 101 with an open front and a bottom surface is rotatably installed in the water tank 102 to store laundry. A drum driving motor 103 (drum driving unit) that rotates the rotating shaft of the drum 101 obliquely forward and upward is attached to the back surface of the water tank 102 .

The water supply port 104 is connected to a water pipe, and the water tank 102 and the drum 101 are sequentially filled through the water supply valve 105 .

Between the water supply valve 105 and the water tank 102, the detergent box 118 (detergent injecting part) for injecting detergent in advance is provided. Water is poured into drum 101 through water supply pipe 119 while mixing the supplied water and the injected detergent.

A heater (heating unit) not shown in the figure for heating the washing water stored in the water tank 102 is provided at the lowermost part of the water tank 102, and the temperature of the washing water can be raised even when the tap water is low temperature. , can improve the cleaning ability of detergent.

A water intake unit 106 is connected to the lowermost part of the water tank 102 , and the washing water after washing and the rinsing water after rinsing are discharged from the drain pipe 108 to the outside of the machine through the drain valve 107 .

Water intake unit 106 is provided with water level sensor 109 (water level detection unit) for detecting the level of water supplied to water tank 102 and drum 101 .

In addition, a circulating water channel 111 is communicated from between the water intake unit 106 and the drain valve 107, and the circulating water channel 111 is connected to the discharge port 110 for spraying the washing water and rinsing water taken in from the water intake unit 106 to the drum 101. . Washing water and rinsing water in the water tank 102 can be circulated by being sent from the water intake unit 106 to the inside of the drum 101 through the circulation channel 111 and from the discharge port 110 . If water is taken into the circulating water channel 111 using the circulating pump 112 as the water-containing part, the washing water can be circulated through the circulating water channel 111 only by controlling the circulating pump 112, so that the water flow can be controlled with the rotation of the drum 101, etc. Usually, the washing control which controls the washing power circulates the washing water independently.

If the washing water (rinsing water, rinse water) during circulation contains a large amount of foreign matter such as fibers and hairs of laundry, the circulation pump 112 may be clogged. Therefore, a drain filter 113 is provided upstream of the circulation pump 112 . Foreign substances such as fibers and hair of the laundry are removed by the drain filter 113 .

In this embodiment, in order to detect the amount of detergent, a turbidity sensor 114 capable of detecting the transparency of water passing through the circulating water channel 111 is provided in the circulating water channel 111 as a state detection unit that detects the state of the laundry in the drum 101. . The turbidity sensor 114 is composed of an LED as a light-emitting element and a phototransistor as a light-receiving element, and is provided at approximately horizontal positions facing each other across the circulating water channel 111 . When the injected detergent is mixed with water and dissolved, the permeability (turbidity) of the washing water changes according to the amount of detergent, so the amount of detergent is detected according to the output result of turbidity sensor 114 . The turbidity sensor 114 includes a light emitting element that emits infrared light and a light receiving element that receives the infrared light emitted from the light emitting element. The light emitting element and the light receiving element are located outside the circulating water channel 111 and face each other. Therefore, an optical axis of infrared light is formed between the light emitting element and the light receiving element, so the circulating water channel 111 on which the turbidity sensor 114 is installed at least partly includes a material capable of transmitting infrared light. Infrared rays from the light emitting element pass through the washing water in the circulating water channel 111 corresponding to the position where the turbidity sensor 114 is installed. When the amount of detergent in the washing water is large and the turbidity is high, the amount of infrared light reaching the light-receiving element is small; when the amount of detergent in the washing water is small and the turbidity is small, the amount of infrared light reaching the light-receiving element is large. Therefore, the turbidity sensor 114 outputs an output corresponding to the turbidity of the washing water, and the detergent amount determination unit 132 can determine the detergent amount.

Housing 100 is provided with door 115 facing the opening end of drum 101 , and a user can put laundry (clothes) into or out of drum 101 by opening door 115 .

A plurality of protrusions 116 are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the drum 101 . By rotating drum 101 at a low speed, the laundry is caught by protrusions 116 and lifted upward. Afterwards, the laundry falls from an appropriate height. In this way, the stirring operation (tumbling operation) can be performed by the protrusion 116 .

In addition, a plurality of through holes 117 are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the drum 101 to allow water to flow freely between the drum 101 and the water tank 102 .

As shown in FIG. 5 , the front-loading washing machine has a control unit 170 . The control unit 170 displays the setting information input by the user through the input setting unit 130 on the display unit 131 , and controls a series of operations including washing, rinsing, and spin-drying based on the setting information and the monitoring of the operating status of each unit.

The control unit 170 can be constituted by, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) not shown, a ROM (ReadOnlyMemory) storing programs, a RAM (RandomAccessMemory) storing programs and data when executing various processes, an input/output interface, and a bus connecting them. In addition, control unit 170 has detergent amount determination unit 132 and timer 171 . Detergent amount determination unit 132 determines the amount of detergent to be injected. As the timer 171 , an internal timer implemented as an internal function of the operation of the control unit 170 is used. In addition, a timer device provided separately from the control unit 170 may be used as the timer 171 .

In the drum-type washing machine of this embodiment, the AC power 120 is rectified by the rectifier 124 and then smoothed by a smoothing circuit including a choke coil 125 and a smoothing capacitor 126 . Then, the drum drive motor 103 is rotationally driven by the inverter circuit 122 using the smoothed DC power as drive power. The control unit 170 controls the rotation of the drum drive motor 103 based on the operation instruction input from the input setting unit 130 and the monitoring information of the operation state detected by each detection unit. Furthermore, the control unit 170 controls the operation of required loads such as the water supply valve 105 , the drain valve 107 , and the circulation pump 112 via the load driving unit 123 .

Drum drive motor 103 can be configured, for example, as a DC brushless motor including a stator having three-phase windings 103a, 103b, and 103c, a rotor having two-pole permanent magnets, and three position detection elements 127a to 127c. The rotation of the drum drive motor 103 can be controlled by an inverter circuit 122 configured to allow PWM control by switching elements 122a to 122f. Here, the rotor position detection signals detected by the position detection elements 127 a to 127 c are input to the control unit 170 . Then, the control unit 170 outputs a control signal to the inverter drive circuit 121 based on the rotor position detection signal, and performs PWM control on and off states of the switching elements 122a to 122f via the inverter drive circuit 121 . In this way, the control unit 170 controls the energization of the three-phase coils 103a, 103b, and 103c of the stator, and rotates the rotor of the drum drive motor 103 at a desired rotational speed. In addition, whenever the signal state of any one of the three position detection elements 127a-127c changes, the control unit 170 detects its period, and the rotational speed detection unit 172 as an internal function calculates the rotor speed based on the period. speed.

In addition, it also has a function of determining the weight of the drum 101 , that is, the weight of the laundry, by detecting the current signal flowing through the drum drive motor 103 by the cloth amount detection unit 173 .

Next, the operation and effects of the front-loading washing machine configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B .

When the laundry is put into the washing machine to start washing, the cloth amount detection unit 173 of the control unit 170 detects the amount of the laundry (S1). The amount of the laundry is detected by detecting the magnitude, acceleration, and acceleration time of the current signal of the drum drive motor 103 when the drum drive motor 103 is controlled to rotate the drum 101 together with the laundry.

The basic amount of water supply is determined according to the amount of the laundry. For example, when cloth amount detection unit 173 determines that the amount of laundry is “little”, control unit 170 sets “low” water level WL1 as the set water level. When cloth amount detection unit 173 determines that the amount of laundry is “medium”, control unit 170 sets “medium” water level WL2 as the set water level. In addition, when cloth amount detection part 173 determines that the amount of laundry is "large", control part 170 sets "high" water level WL3 as the set water level (step S2).

Next, the control unit 170 opens the water supply valve 105 (step S3), and supplies water to the water tank 102 and the drum 101 until the set water level is reached (step S4).

Next, when the set water level is reached (YES in S4), the water supply valve 105 is closed (S5), and the detergent amount judging unit 132 determines the detergent amount (S6).

When the circulation pump 112, the drum 101 is driven, the laundry absorbs the wash water before the detergent is dissolved in the water, so it is desirable to perform the determination of the amount of detergent before driving them. Alternatively, the amount of detergent may be determined by driving the circulation pump 112 at such a rotational speed that the washing water is not sprayed onto the clothes to make the detergent concentration uniform.

If the determination result of the detergent amount judging unit 132 is the detergent amount below the predetermined value A (YES in S7), the parameter R (rotational speed of the drum at high speed) is set to 300 rpm (S8). If the judgment result is a detergent amount greater than the predetermined value A and less than 1.2 times the predetermined value (YES in S9), the parameter R is set to 200 rpm (S10). If not (S9 is "No"), that is, if the judgment result is 1.2 times more detergent than the predetermined value A, then the parameter R is set to 150rpm (S17). That is, the value of parameter R is set to be larger as the amount of detergent determined by detergent amount determination unit 132 is smaller. In this way, when the amount of detergent is large, the rotation speed of the high-speed rotation is reduced to suppress the power consumption of the drum driving motor, thereby improving energy-saving performance. In addition, in a state where the amount of detergent is large and the concentration of detergent is high, the rotation speed of the high-speed rotation of the drum is reduced, so that the generation of abnormal foam can be reduced. On the other hand, when the amount of detergent is small, increasing the rotation speed of the high-speed rotation enables the washing liquid to efficiently act on the dirt of the clothes, thereby improving the cleaning power.

Next, a stirring process of rotating drum 101 at a low speed such that the laundry does not stick to drum 101 is started ( S12 ). The rotational speed of the drum 101 is such that the laundry will not stick to the wall of the drum 101 due to centrifugal force, so that the laundry is lifted in the drum 101 and falls from the upper part of the drum 101 by gravity to effectively Applies kinetic energy when falling. The rotational speed at this time depends on the amount of laundry, but is preferably 50 rpm or less. The direction of rotation may be the same direction, or may be periodically switched.

At this time, the circulation pump 112 is controlled by the controller 170, and the washing water in which the detergent is fully dissolved is circulated through the circulating water channel 111 from the spray port 110 to the circulating spray part in the drum 101 to promote the penetration of the washing water into the laundry. Therefore, the rotation speed of circulation pump 112 is set to a rotation speed at which circulating water can be reliably sprayed into drum 101 and washing water can easily penetrate into the laundry. In addition, the laundry in drum 101 is soaked in the washing water accumulated in the inner bottom of water tub 102 . As drum 101 rotates, the entire laundry is repeatedly soaked, and the washing water is repeatedly hydrated and dehydrated, thereby promoting the penetration of the washing water into the laundry.

After a predetermined time (for example, two minutes) has elapsed (YES in S13 ), a centrifugal force cleaning step is performed ( S14 ). The rotation speed at this time is high-speed rotation at the rotation speed of the parameter R set above.

The centrifugal force generated by rotating the drum 101 at a high speed causes the laundry to stick along the wall of the drum, and the moisture contained in the laundry moves to the water tank 102 through the through holes 117 of the drum 101 after being twisted out.

The speed at which the drum 101 is rotated at a high speed needs to be at least 100 rpm at which moisture contained in the laundry can be forcibly separated by centrifugal force. More preferably, it is 150 rpm or more, which is sufficient to forcibly remove moisture contained in the laundry, and more preferably 300 rpm or more.

However, as described above, the rotational speed is varied according to the amount of detergent determined by detergent amount determination unit 132 . That is, when the amount of detergent is large (the concentration of detergent in the washing water is high), the motor does not rotate at a high speed to 300rpm, but is limited to the minimum 150rpm required to remove the moisture contained in the laundry to perform energy-saving operation with less power consumption of the motor. On the other hand, when the amount of detergent is small (the concentration of detergent in the washing water is low), the high-speed rotation to 300 rpm effectively promotes the replacement of the cleaning solution contained in the laundry. In addition, as the unit operation at the time of performing this high-speed rotation, it may be a continuous one operation, or an intermittently repeated operation such as opening/closing for a short time.

In the centrifugal washing process of rotating drum 101 at high speed, the washing water near the clothing fibers is removed by centrifugal force from the detergent consisting of surfactants containing the stains attached to the clothing fibers in the preceding agitation process. The soiling substances can thereby be efficiently removed from the fibers together with the wash water. In addition, if the circulation pump 112 sprays the washing water toward the laundry in the drum 101 during high-speed rotation, the washing water that has not yet adhered to the dirt is effectively absorbed by the laundry, thereby promoting the washing water contained in the fibers of the clothes. replace.

The time for the centrifugal force washing step may be relatively short as long as the washing water contained in the laundry can be wrung out, for example, only 30 seconds (YES in S15 ).

Next, the stirring process (S16) of rotating the drum 101 at a low speed is implemented again. In this step, circulation pump 112 is activated in the same manner as in step S12, and washing water is sprayed from discharge port 110 into drum 101 through circulating water channel 111 . At this time, the drum 101 rotates at such a rotational speed that the laundry rolls in the drum 101 without sticking to it, and the timing at which the circulation pump 112 is operated to spray the washing water from the discharge port 110 may be continuous or intermittent. .

The stirring step is continued after the step of rotating the drum 101 at a high speed, whereby the chemical force of the detergent and the mechanical force generated by the rotation of the drum 101 can be used again to further peel off the remaining dirt in the fibers. When the concentration of dirt substances in the washing water between the fibers is high, there is concern that the dirt substances will adhere to the fibers again, but the dirt that is adhered by the surfactant of the detergent and surrounded by the surfactant is difficult to adhere again. Adsorbs surfactants that are not attached to dirt, thus enabling the chemical power of the detergent to act on remaining dirt.

Thereafter, when the timer 171 confirms that five minutes have elapsed since the stirring step after the centrifugal force cleaning step was started (YES in S17 ), the rotation of the drum 101 is stopped, and the cleaning step ends.

The time for the stirring step after the centrifugal force washing step is only required to allow the remaining detergent to sufficiently penetrate into the laundry, and therefore is fixed to a predetermined time regardless of the amount of cloth. Since the cleaning process can be completed with fewer calculations and constant tables, the load on the control unit 170 can be reduced. In addition, in this embodiment, five minutes have elapsed since the stirring process after the centrifugal force cleaning process was started, but the time of the cleaning process may also be specified, and when a predetermined time, such as 10 minutes, has passed since the cleaning process started, the centrifugal force is terminated. Stirring process after cleaning process. By doing so, the washing step is not unnecessarily prolonged.

As described above, the greater the amount of detergent determined by the detergent amount determination unit 132, the lower the rotational speed of the drum in the centrifugal force washing process, thereby enabling the washing water with a high concentration of detergent to be replaced with the washing water contained in the laundry. The minimum power consumption of the drum drive motor is required to perform cleaning. Therefore, highly energy-saving operation can be realized. On the other hand, the smaller the amount of detergent determined by the detergent amount determination unit 132, the higher the rotation speed of the drum in the centrifugal washing process, thereby effectively promoting the replacement of washing water contained in the laundry and improving the cleaning power.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the detection part which consists of the turbidity sensor 114 was demonstrated as a detergent amount detection part, this invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be configured with a conductivity sensor that detects the conductivity of water. That is, since the conductivity of water changes according to the components eluted when the detergent and water are mixed and dissolved, it can also be configured to determine the amount of detergent based on the rate of change. In addition, detergent amount determination unit 132 may be constituted by a chromaticity sensor that detects chromaticity of water. That is, since the chromaticity of water changes according to the components eluted when the detergent and water are mixed and dissolved, it can also be configured to determine the amount of detergent based on the rate of change.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the washing|cleaning process which implemented the centrifugal force washing process (S14) only once was illustrated, it is not limited to this. For example, when the amount of laundry is large, it is also possible to set the cleaning process as follows: by alternately repeating the centrifugal force cleaning process (S14) and the stirring process (S15) multiple times, the frequency of the high-speed rotation of the drum can be increased. Powerfully expels dirt.

In addition, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, a drum-type washing machine having only a washing function has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and can also be applied to a machine equipped with a drying unit for drying washed clothes. Tumble-type washer-dryer with tumble-drying function.

The drum-type washing machine of this embodiment includes: a drum that accommodates laundry and rotates; a water tank that accommodates the drum; a drum drive unit that drives the drum; and a control unit that includes a detergent amount determination unit that determines the amount of detergent, The control unit sequentially controls the steps of the washing step, the rinsing step, and the spin-drying step based on the judgment result of the detergent amount judging unit. Moreover, the cleaning process includes a stirring process and a centrifugal force cleaning process, wherein in the stirring process, the drum is rotated at a low speed such that the laundry in the drum does not stick to it, and in the centrifugal force cleaning process, the drum is filled with the laundry The drum rotates at a high speed in a state of sticking along the wall surface direction of the drum, and the washing water is discharged from the laundry by centrifugal force. And, the more the amount of detergent determined by the detergent amount determination unit is, the more the control unit reduces the rotational speed of the drum in the centrifugal washing process.

According to this configuration, when the amount of detergent is large, the rotation speed of the high-speed rotation is reduced to suppress the power consumption of the drum drive motor, thereby improving energy-saving performance. In addition, in the drum type washing machine according to the present embodiment, when the amount of detergent is large and the concentration of detergent is high, the rotation speed of the drum at high speed is reduced, thereby reducing the generation of abnormal foam. On the other hand, when the amount of detergent is small, the rotation speed of the high-speed rotation is increased, so that the washing liquid can efficiently act on the dirt of the clothes to improve the cleaning power.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine according to the present embodiment further includes a water-containing unit that contains washing water in the laundry, and the water-containing unit contains the washing water in the laundry in the centrifugal washing step.

According to this configuration, the washing water containing the detergent component can actively act on the dirt adhering to the laundry to improve the cleaning power.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the water-containing unit immerses a part of the laundry in the washing water accumulated in the inner bottom of the water tank to contain water in a part of the laundry.

According to this structure, the laundry effectively absorbs the washing water without dirt attached to the inner bottom of the water tank, and the washing water containing the dirt components is detached from the laundry by centrifugal force, thereby promoting the cleaning of the laundry fibers. Water replacement.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine of this embodiment is characterized in that the water-containing part is a circulation shower part that sucks the washing water accumulated in the inner bottom of the water tank and sprays it again onto the laundry in the drum.

According to this structure, the washing water can be circulated only by controlling the circulation pump. Therefore, the washing water can be circulated independently of the washing control that usually controls the washing power, such as controlling the water flow by the rotation of the drum, so that the laundry can be effectively absorbed and returned. The washing water free of dirt can further detach the washing water containing dirt components from the laundry by the centrifugal force, thereby promoting the replacement of the washing water contained in the fibers of the clothes.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine according to the present embodiment uses at least one of a turbidity sensor, a conductivity sensor, and a chromaticity sensor to determine the detergent amount by the detergent amount judgment unit.

According to such a configuration, the detergent amount determination unit can perform highly accurate determination of the amount of detergent according to the type of detergent and detergent components, and can cope with cleaning according to the amount of detergent.

In addition, the drum-type washing machine of the present embodiment includes a drying unit for drying washed laundry.

Thus, by applying the above-mentioned drum-type washing machine, it is possible to realize an energy-saving drum-type washing and drying machine with high cleaning power according to the amount of detergent.

(Embodiment 3)

The drum type washing machine according to the present embodiment includes the cloth amount detection unit 173 as a state detection unit for detecting the state of the laundry in the drum 101 for detecting the amount of the stored laundry. The detergent amount determination unit 132 of the state detection unit determines the amount of detergent based on the amount of laundry detected by the cloth amount detection unit 173 . That is, detergent amount determination unit 132 indirectly determines the amount of detergent required for washing. Other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Detergent amount determination unit 132 determines the amount of detergent based on the amount of laundry detected by cloth amount detection unit 173 that detects the amount of loaded laundry. That is, the amount of detergent recommended according to the amount of laundry is determined by the type and brand of detergent. If the amount of laundry is detected, the user can know the reference value of the amount of detergent to be put in. Therefore, it is determined based on the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit. Detergent dosage. In this way, by indirectly determining the amount of detergent based on the output of cloth amount detection unit 173 , it is possible to determine the amount of detergent at low cost without newly installing a detergent amount detection unit.

(Embodiment 4)

The drum type washing machine according to this embodiment includes: a cloth amount detection unit 173 as a state detection unit for detecting the state of the laundry in the drum 101 for detecting the amount of the stored laundry; The detergent quantity judging part 132 of the state detection part of the state of the laundry in the drum 101 determines the amount of detergent according to the amount of laundry detected by the cloth amount detection part 173, and the control part 170 uses the automatic detergent injection device to the water tank 102. The detergent corresponding to the determined amount of detergent is supplied. That is, detergent amount determination unit 132 specifies the amount of detergent to be automatically injected. Other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Detergent amount determination unit 132 determines the amount of detergent based on the amount of laundry detected by cloth amount detection unit 173 that detects the amount of loaded laundry. That is, the detergent amount determination unit 132 can reliably determine the amount of the injected detergent without detecting the amount of the injected detergent or estimating the amount of the detergent. The detergent amount is determined based on the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit 173, and the controller 170 determines the rotational speed of the drum 101 in the centrifugal force washing process based on the detergent amount. In this way, the amount of detergent can be determined with high precision by providing an automatic detergent injection device. Thereby, centrifugal force cleaning can be performed according to the amount of detergent actually charged, and energy-saving performance can be improved and cleaning power can be ensured.

(Embodiment 5)

The drum-type washing machine according to the present embodiment further includes a detergent input unit weight detection unit 133 that detects the weight of detergent in the detergent box 118 (detergent input unit), as a state detection unit that detects the state of the laundry in the drum 101. Detergent amount determination unit 132 of the unit determines the detergent amount based on the detergent weight detected by detergent input unit weight detection unit 133 . Other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

7 is a side cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Detergent input part weight detection part 133 which detects the weight of the detergent in detergent box 118 is provided.

When detergent is injected into detergent box 118 , detergent input portion weight detector 133 that detects the weight of detergent box 118 detects the weight of the detergent. Detergent amount judging unit 132 judges the detergent amount based on the detected detergent weight. In this way, the detergent amount is determined by directly detecting the weight of the detergent input portion which changes according to the weight of the injected detergent. Therefore, the detergent injected by the user can be directly detected by the weight, and the detergent amount can be determined with high accuracy. Thereby, centrifugal force cleaning can be performed according to the amount of detergent actually charged, and energy-saving performance can be improved and cleaning power can be ensured.

(Embodiment 6)

The drum-type washing machine according to this embodiment includes an input setting unit 130 , and the detergent amount determination unit 132 determines the amount of detergent based on the detergent amount set through the input setting unit 130 . That is, the amount of detergent determination unit 132 determines the amount of detergent based on the amount of detergent reflecting the user's intention. Other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

The user sets the amount of detergent through the input setting unit 130 . The control unit 170 determines the rotational speed of the centrifugal force washing according to the set amount of detergent. That is, the user determines the amount of detergent by personally judging the amount of detergent according to the amount of laundry and the degree of dirt of the laundry. According to such a configuration, it is not necessary to newly provide a detergent amount detection unit, and since it does not require a judgment time, a simple configuration can be adopted.

(Embodiment 7)

8 is a sectional view of main parts of a front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the front-loading washing machine.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 , inside the housing 201 of the front-loading washing machine, the water tank 202 for accumulating washing water is arranged in a state inclined forward and upward, and the suspension spring (not shown) and the shock absorber ( not shown) for elastic support. Bottomed cylindrical drum 203 for storing laundry is rotatably installed in water tank 202 . A plurality of protrusions 204 and a plurality of through holes 205 communicating with the inside of the water tank 202 are provided on the peripheral wall of the drum 203, and an opening 206 for taking out and putting in laundry is provided on the front side.

Drum drive motor 207 for rotationally driving drum 203 is fixed to the outer peripheral lower portion of water tank 202 and rotates drum 203 via belt 208 and pulley 209 . Water supply valve 210 serving as a water supply unit for supplying washing water into water tank 202 supplies washing water into water tank 202 through detergent box 212 provided in water supply path 211 for injecting detergent.

At the bottom of the water tank 202, a water storage part 213 for storing washing water is provided. In this water storage part 213, a heater 214 is arranged substantially parallel to the water surface of the washing water stored in the water tank 202, and can heat the washing water stored in the water storage part 213 to a predetermined temperature suitable for washing ( For example, 30°C to 40°C). The temperature of the water storage part 213 is detected by the temperature detection part 215, such as a thermistor.

The washing water accumulated in the water storage part 213 in the water tank 202 can be circulated into the drum 203 by the circulation pump 217 as a circulation part provided in the circulation water channel 216 . A suction part 218 for sucking washing water communicated with the circulating water channel 216 is provided at the bottom of the water storage part 213, and a spray part 219 is provided at the upper part of the opening part 206 provided on the front surface side of the drum 203. The washing water is sprayed toward the inside of the drum 203 .

In the circulating water channel 216, a switch valve 220 is provided on the downstream side of the circulating pump 217, and can selectively switch between the circulating water channel 216 communicating with the spray part 219 and the drain channel 221 that discharges the washing water to the outside of the machine. either one. During cleaning and rinsing, the washing water in the water storage part 213 can be sprayed from the spray part 219 to the laundry in the drum 203 through the circulating water channel 216, and the washing water after washing and rinsing can be discharged to the washing machine through the drain path 221. off-board.

The control unit 222 installed in the casing 201 drives the drum driving motor 207, the water supply valve 210, the heater 214, the circulation pump 217, and the switching valve 220 to sequentially control the processes of washing, rinsing, and dehydration.

Next, the operation and function of the front-loading-type washing machine configured as described above will be described. Open the door 223 provided on the front surface side of the housing 201 to open and close freely, and put the laundry into the drum 203 from the opening 206. When the power switch (not shown) of the operation part 224 is turned on and the operation starts When the switch (not shown) starts the operation, the weight detection unit 225 as a state detection unit for detecting the state of the laundry in the drum 203 detects the amount of laundry put in, and the water supply valve 210 operates to start water supply.

The amount of water is set in advance according to the amount of cloths thrown in, and the washing water is supplied into the water tank 2 together with the detergent put into the detergent box 212 . When the water level detector 226 detects that a set amount of washing water has been supplied, the water supply is stopped, and the drum driving motor 207 is driven.

In the cleaning process, the drum 203 is driven in forward and reverse rotation by the drum driving motor 207, and the laundry in the drum 203 is lifted by the protrusions 204 and dropped from above the drum 203 onto the water surface for hammer washing. When the temperature of the supplied washing water is low, the heater 214 is energized to heat the washing water in the water reservoir 213 to a temperature suitable for washing. The heating temperature of the washing water in warm water washing is generally 30°C to 40°C, and it is effective to improve the washing effect if the temperature of the water supply is as low as 10°C or lower.

The washing water accumulated in the bottom of the water tank 202 is heated by the heater 214, the temperature of the water storage part 213 is detected by the temperature detection part 215 provided on the outer bottom of the water storage part 213, and the temperature of the water storage part 213 is controlled by the control part 222 so that the washing water becomes preset temperature. The control unit 222 switches the switching valve 220 to the side of the circulating water channel 216, and drives the circulating pump 217 at a preset speed to circulate a predetermined amount of washing water into the drum 203, so that the washing water can be dispersed and permeated into the drum 203. The laundry being stirred inside.

The warm water obtained by heating in the water storage part 213 is sprayed from the spray part 219 and quickly penetrates into the laundry, thereby promoting the dissolution of the detergent and enhancing the effect of separating dirt from the clothes to improve cleaning. Effect.

Circulation pump 217 circulates the washing water in water storage unit 213 into drum 203, whereby the water level in water tub 202 drops. When the temperature of water reservoir 213 detected by temperature detector 215 exceeds a predetermined temperature (for example, 70° C.), the rotation speed of circulation pump 217 is reduced to reduce the ability to circulate the washing water.

Accordingly, the circulation amount of washing water is reduced, and the water level in water tank 202 can be raised. When the water level rises, the temperature of the water storage part 213 falls and is controlled to the set temperature again. The heater 214 is submerged in the rising washing water, and the set temperature is stably maintained by the control unit 222 . Therefore, heater 214 is kept in a state capable of dissipating heat to the washing water without protruding from the water surface of the washing water, and can circulate the washing water into drum 203 while heating the washing water to an optimum temperature.

Control unit 222 uses cloth quality determination unit 227 , which is a state detection unit that detects the state of laundry in drum, to determine the quality of cloth in drum 203 wetted with washing water. The current value of the drum drive motor 207 during rotation was measured by rotating the drum 203, and the output torque characteristic of the drum drive motor 207 was measured. Regarding this output torque characteristic, it is known that the output torque increases in proportion to the increase in the rotational speed of drum drive motor 207 that drives drum 203 , but the increase in torque differs depending on the weight of laundry in drum 203 .

As is well known, this output torque is proportional to the q-axis current value obtained in the case of vector control of the DC brushless motor, and by using this property to measure the current value of the drum drive motor 207, it is possible to measure the current value of the drum drive motor 207 based on this property. The output torque characteristics to judge the cloth quality.

The level of the torque value is added to the detected current value according to the output torque characteristic of the drum drive motor 207, based on the laundry weight derived from the judgment of the weight of the clothes and the drum drive motor 207 derived from the judgment level of the output torque. The data of the torque level is judged by referring to the cloth quality judgment standard stored in the control unit 222 .

The laundry thrown into the drum 203 absorbs water and increases in weight due to being soaked in the washing water. In the case of cotton cloth, the water absorption rate is higher than that of chemical fiber, and the water content of the washing water increases. Therefore, the difference in the cloth quality of the clothes is judged by the difference in the water content before and after the clothes are soaked in the washing water. .

The cloth quality grades judged by the cloth quality judging unit 227 are classified into three grades and held in a table form, whereby the water absorption rate is set to "low", "standard", and "high". When it is judged that the water absorption rate is "low", it can be seen that most of the clothes in the drum 203 are chemical fibers, so the controller 222 controls the drum drive motor 207 to rotate the drum 203 at 37rpm-41rpm.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 10A , when the drum 203 rotates in the direction of the arrow "i", the protrusions 204 will lift the clothes in the direction of rotation, but the clothes will roll against the protrusions in the bottom of the drum 203. 204 hits, and chemical fiber laundry can be effectively cleaned by utilizing the mechanical force generated by hitting against the protrusions 204 (stirring process).

In addition, when it is judged that the water absorption rate is "high", it can be seen that most of the clothes in the drum 3 are cotton, so the control unit 222 controls the drum driving motor 207, and the washing water in the water storage part 213 is circulated to the drum by the circulation pump 217. 203, and the drum 203 is raised to 150rpm-200rpm to rotate.

Thereby, as shown in FIG. 10B , when drum 203 rotates in the arrow "i" direction, the laundry is in a state of sticking to the inner surface of drum 203 due to centrifugal force. At this time, the washing water contained in the laundry is temporarily discharged to the outside by centrifugal force, thereby removing the dirt accumulated between the fibers and frequently replacing the washing water in the fibers, so that the cotton laundry can be effectively washed ( centrifugal force cleaning process).

Similarly, in the rinsing process performed after the washing step, after the washing water in water tank 202 is drained, water supply valve 210 is opened to start water supply, and a predetermined amount of rinsing water is supplied into water tank 202 . When a predetermined water level is detected by the water level detector 226 , the water supply is stopped, and the drum drive motor 207 drives it. During the rinsing process, the drum 203 is driven in forward and reverse rotation by the drum driving motor 207, and the laundry in the drum 203 is lifted and dropped onto the water surface.

At this time, the heater 214 installed at the bottom of the water tank 202 can be energized to heat the rinsing water in the water tank 202 to perform rinsing. Therefore, in the rinsing process, the switching valve 220 is also switched to the side of the circulating water channel 216 and the circulating pump 217 is activated, thereby circulating the rinsing water into the drum 203, so that the detergent components and residual dirt can be detached from the clothes as soon as possible to improve the washing process. rinse effect.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the cloth quality judging unit 227 judges that the cloth quality of the laundry is mostly chemical fiber, in the washing process, the rotational speed at which the laundry rolls on the bottom of the drum 203 is determined. The drum 203 is driven to rotate, and if it is judged that the laundry is mostly cotton, the drum 203 is driven to rotate at a rotational speed so that the laundry sticks to the inner surface of the drum 203 in the washing process. Accordingly, regardless of whether the laundry is mostly cotton or chemical fiber, the drum 203 can be properly driven in the washing process, and the cleaning can be performed efficiently regardless of the cloth quality, and the stain releasability of the chemical fiber can be improved.

(Embodiment 8)

Fig. 11 is a timing chart showing the operation of the front-loading washing machine according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention. The present embodiment is characterized in that when the cloth quality judgment unit 227, which is a state detection unit that detects the state of the laundry in the drum 203, judges that the cloth quality of the laundry does not tend to be either cotton or chemical fiber, Next, in the cleaning process, the rotational speed at which the laundry rolls on the bottom of the drum 203 (stirring process) and the rotational speed at which the laundry sticks to the inner surface of the drum 203 (centrifugal force cleaning process) are repeated forward and reverse rotation. The other configurations are the same as those of the seventh embodiment, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same configurations, and the detailed description refers to the description of the seventh embodiment.

When it is judged that the water absorption rate of the cloth quality level judged by the cloth quality judgment unit 227 as a state detection unit that detects the state of the laundry in the drum 203 is “standard”, that is, it is judged that the cloth quality of the laundry is In the case of neither cotton nor chemical fiber, in the cleaning process, the rotating speed that makes the laundry roll on the bottom of the drum 203 is driven forward and reverse for a predetermined time, and then the laundry can be attached The rotating speed of the inner surface of the drum 203 is rotated forward and reverse for a predetermined time, and this operation is repeated.

According to the above configuration, even when cotton and chemical fiber laundry are mixed to approximately the same degree, the position of the laundry can be changed in the drum 203, thereby eliminating washing unevenness and improving the cleaning effect.

(Embodiment 9)

The present embodiment is characterized in that, in the cleaning process, the drum 3 is set to a large amount when it is judged by the weight detection unit 225 that the amount of laundry is large and the fabric quality of the laundry is mostly cotton. The laundry is attached to the inner surface of the drum 203 and rotates at a rotational speed, and the washing water in the water tank 202 is distributed to the laundry in the drum 203 by the circulation pump 217 as a circulation unit. The other configurations are the same as those of Embodiments 7 and 8, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same configurations, and the descriptions of Embodiments 7 and 8 are referred to for detailed description.

When it is judged by the weight detection unit 225 and the cloth quality judgment unit 227 that the amount of laundry is large and the cloth quality is mostly cotton, the control unit 222 controls the drum drive motor 207 to make the washing in the water storage unit 213 Water circulates into the drum 203, and the drum 203 is raised to 150 rpm to 200 rpm to rotate.

Thereby, as shown in FIG. 10B , when drum 203 rotates in the arrow "i" direction, the laundry is attached to the inner surface of drum 203 by centrifugal force (centrifugal washing step). At this time, the washing water contained in the laundry is temporarily discharged to the outside by the centrifugal force, thereby removing the dirt accumulated between the fibers and frequently replacing the washing water in the fibers, so that the cotton laundry can be washed efficiently.

In particular, when the amount of laundry is large and the laundry is loaded into drum 203 at or near the rated capacity of drum 203 , there is less space for the laundry to move freely in drum 203 . Therefore, in low-speed rotation or beat washing (55 rpm to 65 rpm), mechanical force cannot be applied to the laundry and the dirt on the laundry cannot be effectively removed. Therefore, by rotating the drum 3 at a high speed (150 rpm to 200 rpm) and applying centrifugal force to the laundry, washing water can be frequently exchanged between the fibers, thereby enabling efficient washing.

Industrial availability

As described above, the drum-type washing machine according to the present invention is useful as a drum-type washing machine because it can perform ideal washing operation with high cleaning power and low power consumption according to the amount of dirt on the laundry.

Explanation of reference signs

1, 100, 201: shell; 2, 102, 202: sink; 3, 101, 203: drum; 3a: rotating shaft; 3b, 206: opening; 4, 103, 207: drum drive motor (drum drive part ); 4a～4c, 103a～103c: three-phase winding; 5, 211: water supply path; 6, 105, 210: water supply valve; 7, 118, 212: detergent box; 8, 119: water supply piping; 10, 106 : water intake; 11, 107: drain valve; 12, 108: drain pipe; 13, 109: water level sensor; 14, 110: spray outlet; 15, 111, 216: circulating waterway; 16, 112, 217: circulating pump ( circulation part); 17, 113: drainage filter; 18: dirt sensor (dirt detection part); 19, 115, 223: door body; 20, 116: protrusion; 21, 117, 205: through hole; 27a～27c , 127a-127c: position detection elements; 30, 170, 222: control part; 31, 130: input setting part; 32, 131: display part; 33, 171: timer; 34, 172: speed detection part; 35 , 173: cloth amount detection unit; 40, 120: AC power; 41, 124: rectifier; 42, 125: choke coil; 43, 126: smoothing capacitor; 44, 122: inverter circuit; 44a ~ 44f, 122a ～122f: switch element; 45, 123: load driving part; 46, 121: inverter drive circuit; 104: water supply port; 114: turbidity sensor; 132: detergent dosage judgment part; 133: detergent input part weight detection 204: protrusion; 208: belt; 209: pulley; 213: water storage part; 214: heater; 215: temperature detection part; 218: suction part; 219: ejection part; 220: switching valve; 221 : drainage path; 224: operation part; 225: weight detection part; 227: cloth quality judgment part.

Claims (8)

1. a tumbling-box washing machine, possesses:

Tank, it is resiliently supported in housing;

Cylinder, it is can be arranged in the way of rotating in above-mentioned tank;

Drum driven portion, above-mentioned cylinder is carried out rotary actuation by it;

State detecting section, it detects the state of the washes in above-mentioned cylinder; And

Control portion, it, taking the output of above-mentioned state detecting section as input, controls each operation of matting, rinsing process and dehydration procedure successively,

Wherein, above-mentioned matting has agitating procedure and centrifugal force matting, in this agitating procedure, the low speed making above-mentioned cylinder can not attach this kind of degree with washes in above-mentioned cylinder rotates, in centrifugal force matting, the high speed of the state that above-mentioned cylinder can become the interior peripheral wall surfaces attaching above-mentioned cylinder with above-mentioned washes is rotated, discharges washing water by centrifugal force from above-mentioned washes

Above-mentioned control portion controls the action in the above-mentioned drum driven portion in above-mentioned matting according to the output from above-mentioned state detecting section,

Above-mentioned state detecting section is the detergent amount judging part of the amount judging washing composition,

The amount of the above-mentioned washing composition that above-mentioned detergent amount judging part is judged is more many, and the rotating speed of the above-mentioned cylinder in above-mentioned centrifugal force matting is established more low by above-mentioned control portion.

2. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 1, it is characterised in that,

Also possess the moisture portion making above-mentioned washes contain above-mentioned washing water,

Above-mentioned moisture portion makes above-mentioned washes contain above-mentioned washing water in above-mentioned centrifugal force matting.

3. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 2, it is characterised in that,

Above-mentioned moisture portion makes washes moisture by making a part for above-mentioned washes flood in the above-mentioned washing water of the inner bottom part accumulating in above-mentioned tank.

4. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 2, it is characterised in that,

Above-mentioned moisture portion is made up of the circulation portions of the above-mentioned washing water made in above-mentioned tank to above-mentioned cylinder internal recycle.

5. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 1, it is characterised in that,

At least one sensor in use turbidity transducer, conductivity sensor, chromaticity transducer carries out the judgement of the amount of the above-mentioned washing composition of above-mentioned detergent amount judging part.

6. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 1, it is characterised in that,

Also possess the cloth amount detection portion of the amount of the above-mentioned washes that detection is accommodated,

Above-mentioned detergent amount judging part judges the amount of above-mentioned washing composition according to the amount of the above-mentioned washes detected by above-mentioned cloth amount detection portion.

7. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 1, it is characterised in that, also possess:

For dropping into the washing composition throw-in part of above-mentioned washing composition; And

Washing composition throw-in part weight detecting portion, it detects the weight of the above-mentioned washing composition of above-mentioned washing composition throw-in part,

Wherein, above-mentioned detergent amount judging part judges the amount of above-mentioned washing composition according to the weight of the above-mentioned washing composition detected by above-mentioned washing composition throw-in part weight detecting portion.

8. tumbling-box washing machine according to claim 1, it is characterised in that,

Also possess input configuration part,

Above-mentioned detergent amount judging part judges the amount of above-mentioned washing composition according to the detergent amount set via above-mentioned input configuration part.