JPH03292998A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform washing under proper conditions accurately corresponding to the actual laundry amount in which the floatability of laundry is taken into consideration, by providing a laundry amount detector which detects the load amount exerted on a driving motor and a protrusion amount detector which detects the protrusion amount of laundry above the water surface. CONSTITUTION:A controller 16 detects the laundry amount according to the load on a driving motor detected by a phase difference detector 19, and compares the laundry amount with a criterion read out from a memory 25 to judge the laundry amount from among three grades. Then, the controller 16 measures the time period during which ultrasonic waves emitted from a transducer 14 of a ultrasonic wave sensor 13 are received by a receiver 15 after the ultrasonic waves strike the laundry C and are reflected by it, and calculates the protrusion amount H of the laundry C above the water level W. The washing conditions are decided according to both detected amounts of sinking and floating laundry, and errors in the setting due to the sort of laundry, the way of putting the laundry into a washing drum, the way of spraying water over the laundry and others are corrected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a washing machine that automatically controls washing operation according to the amount of laundry.

(Prior Art) In recent years, washing machines that automatically control the washing operation according to the amount of laundry have been provided.

In this case, the amount of laundry is detected by detecting the amount of load applied to the drive motor, the detection result is compared with a predetermined judgment reference value, and washing conditions such as water supply level and washing time are set. The washing operation is executed under the set conditions.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, laundry has different water absorbency depending on the type.For example, cotton has good water absorbency, while cotton has good water absorbency.
That of synthetic fibers is extremely bad. However, since highly absorbent laundry tends to sink in water, the amount of load placed on the drive motor is large. Since bad laundry does not easily sink in water, the load and load applied to the drive motor are small, and the amount of laundry is detected as being small. Moreover, even if the laundry is placed in the wrong way or if the laundry is not properly covered with water, it will float on the water and the amount of load on the drive motor will be reduced, so the amount of laundry will still be detected as being small. If the amount of laundry is detected to be small in this way, the washing conditions will be set lower than the actual amount of laundry, making it impossible to wash the laundry adequately.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and therefore, its purpose is to provide an excellent method that allows washing to be carried out under appropriate conditions, taking into account the degree of floating of the laundry, and accurately responding to the actual amount of laundry. There is a washing machine provided.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the washing machine of the present invention includes laundry amount detection means that detects the amount of laundry by detecting the amount of load applied to the drive motor. In addition to the above, it also includes laundry protrusion amount detection means for detecting the amount of protrusion of the laundry from the water surface,
The present invention is characterized in that washing conditions are set in response to the detection results of the laundry amount detection means and the laundry protrusion amount detection means, and the washing operation is executed under the set conditions.

(Function) According to the above means, the washing conditions are determined by the detection results of both the amount of laundry that has sunk in water and the amount that has floated, and the washing conditions are determined by the detection results of both the amount of laundry that has sunk in water and the amount that has floated. Errors in settings due to various methods will be corrected.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, an outer box 1 of the entire washing machine has an outer tub 2 supported therein by an elastic suspension mechanism 3, only a portion of which is shown. A drive motor 4, a transmission belt 5, a drive mechanism section 6, a drain valve 7, etc. are arranged in the outer lower blade part of the outer tank 2, and on the other hand, inside the outer tank 2, there are installed a drive motor 4, a transmission belt 5, a drive mechanism part 6, a drain valve 7, etc. An inner tank 8 is provided which communicates with the inside of the outer tank 2 through a dehydration hole, and a dehydration shaft 9 projects from the drive mechanism 5 into the outer tank 2.
The inner tank 8 is attached to the inner tank 8, and during dewatering, the inner tank 8 is rotated by a dehydrating shaft 9 to perform dewatering.

In addition, an agitator 10 is disposed in the lower part of the inner tank 8, and the agitator 10 is attached to a washing shaft 11 that protrudes from the dehydration shaft 9 into the inner tank 8, so that the agitator 10 can be used during washing. Washing axis 11
I rotate the clothes and wash them.

On the other hand, a top cover 12 is mounted on the outer box 1, and an ultrasonic sensor 13 serving as means for detecting the amount of laundry protrusion is disposed in the center of the top cover 12. Specifically, this ultrasonic sensor 13 has a transmitting section 14 and a receiving section 15, and emits ultrasonic waves from the transmitting section 14 toward the bottom of the inner tank 8 as shown by arrow A in FIG. Same arrow B
As shown in the figure, the reflected ultrasonic waves are received by the receiving section 15.

A control bag M16, which is a washing condition setting means and an operation control means, is disposed inside the front part of the top cover 12. In detail, this control device 16 is also constituted by a microcomputer, and as shown in FIG. A water level sensor 18 provided to detect the water level in the inner tank 8 via
A water level detection signal is input from the ultrasonic sensor 1.
A laundry protrusion amount side ratio signal is input from 3, and a phase difference detection signal is further input from a phase difference detection device 19, which is laundry amount detection means in this case.

The phase difference detection device 19 electrically detects the amount of load applied to the drive motor 4 and outputs the phase difference detection signal as a laundry amount detection signal. , detects the voltage applied to the drive motor 4 and obtains a pulse that rises and falls at its zero-crossing point, and simultaneously detects the current I flowing through the drive motor 4 and obtains a pulse that similarly rises and falls at its zero-crossing point. , a pulse corresponding to the phase difference θ is obtained from each pulse waveform, and a voltage signal corresponding to the phase difference θ obtained by smoothing this pulse is further digitized and a detection signal is output. I see, the detection signal is becoming smaller.

The control device 16 includes the switch input section 1 described above.
7, a water level detection signal from the water level sensor 18, and a phase difference detection signal from the phase difference detection device 19. Control signals are given to a drive circuit 22 for driving the provided water supply valve 21 and a drive circuit 23 for driving the drain valve 7, respectively, and a display section consisting of various LEDs etc. (not shown) is provided. 24
It also provides a control signal to the non-volatile memory 2 backed up by a battery (not shown).
5 receives a reference value signal for determining the amount of laundry.

Therefore, below, the operation of the above configuration will be explained together with the function of the control device 16.

First, when determining the amount of laundry, the control device 16 opens the water supply valve 21 to supply water to the "detection" water level, which is one step lower than the "low" water level, for example, into the inner tub 8, and then,
The drive motor 4 is energized and started to rotate the stirring body 10 for a certain period of time. At this time, the amount of load applied to the drive motor 4 via the drive mechanism section 6 and the transmission belt 5 is measured by the phase difference detection device 1.
9 detects the amount of laundry by sensing as described above, and the control device 16 reads the detection signal (phase difference detection signal) and compares it with the judgment reference value read from the memory 25. Then, the amount of laundry is shown as the initial value in Figure 5, for example, rl, 5 [kg or less], [1,5~3
[kg] Judging from 3 levels: J, r3 [kg or more].

Following this, the control device 16 starts "correction of laundry amount determination" shown in FIG. In this "correction of laundry amount determination", first, the protrusion amount of the laundry is calculated based on the detection signal obtained from the ultrasonic sensor 13 (step Sl
). Here, "detection" from the ultrasonic sensor 13 at this time
The distance shown in Figure 2 to the water level is a constant and known value. On the other hand, the transmitter 1 of the ultrasonic sensor 13
The ultrasonic waves emitted from 4 hit the water surface in the inner tank 8 (see Figure 2 W).
The distance β from the ultrasonic sensor 13 to the laundry can be calculated by measuring the time it takes for the light to hit the laundry protruding from the ultrasonic sensor 13 (see C in the same figure) and be reflected by the receiver 15. Therefore, based on them, by subtracting the distance g from the ultrasonic sensor 1B to the laundry from the distance from the ultrasonic sensor 13 to the "detection" water level (Li), the protrusion of the laundry C from the water surface W is calculated. ff1H can be calculated.

Thus, once the protrusion ff1H of the laundry C is calculated, the control device 6 next determines whether the calculated protrusion amount H of the laundry C is equal to or larger than a predetermined value. It is determined whether or not (step S2). Here, laundry C
If it is determined that the protrusion amount H is equal to or not larger than the predetermined value, the "correction of laundry amount determination" is completed, and the determination result (1, 5
Set washing conditions such as water supply water level, washing time, spin-drying time, etc. for washing based on [1.5 to 3 kg, 1.5 to 3 kg, or 3 kg or more], and Then run the washing operation. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the protrusion amount H of the laundry C is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the control device 16 next determines that the previous determination result regarding the amount of laundry is 1.゜5 [kg] or less is determined (step S3). Here, the previous judgment result regarding the amount of laundry is 1. 5 [kg
] If it is determined that the value is less than or equal to
B [kg] is corrected (step S4).
After completing “Correction of Laundry Amount Judgment”, set the correction value (1,5 to 3
[kg]) is set, and then a washing operation is executed under the set conditions.

Furthermore, if it is determined in step S3 that the amount of laundry is not less than 1.5 [kg],
Next, the control device 16 determines whether or not the previous determination result regarding the amount of laundry was 1.5 [kg] to 3 [kg] (step S5). Here, if it is determined that the previous determination result regarding the amount of laundry was between 1.5 [kg and 3 kg], the determination value is corrected to 3 [kg] or more (step S6). , complete the "correction of laundry amount determination", set washing conditions according to the correction value (3 [) cg] or more), and then execute the washing operation under the set conditions.

Further, if it is determined in step S5 that the previous determination result regarding the amount of laundry is not 1.5 [kg] to 3 [kg], the control device 16 ends the "correction of laundry amount determination", Washing conditions are set based on the previous determination result regarding the amount of laundry (3 kg or more), and the washing operation is then executed under the set conditions.

As described above, according to this configuration, the washing conditions can be determined based on the detection results of both the amount of laundry that has sunk in water and the amount that has floated, and it is possible to determine the washing conditions based on the detection results of both the amount of laundry that has sunk in water and the amount that has floated. If there is a misjudgment due to differences in the floating volume of the laundry due to the way it is loaded, how the water is applied, etc., this will be corrected.
It can be carried out under appropriate conditions, depending exactly on the actual amount of laundry, and thus a sufficient washing effect can always be obtained.

In addition, as the laundry protrusion amount detecting means, an optical sensor or the like may be used instead of the ultrasonic sensor. Further, the amount of laundry detection means is not limited to the phase difference detection device, but may be one that detects the number of rotations of the drive motor 4 to detect the amount of laundry.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but can be implemented with appropriate changes within the scope of the gist.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the washing machine of the present invention not only includes a laundry amount detection means that detects the amount of laundry by detecting the amount of load applied to the drive motor. , comprising laundry protrusion amount detection means for detecting the amount of the laundry protruding from the water surface, and setting washing conditions based on the detection results by the laundry amount detection means and the laundry protrusion amount detection means. Since the washing operation is executed according to the conditions, an excellent effect can be obtained in that washing can be carried out under appropriate conditions, taking into account the degree of floating of the laundry and accurately responding to the actual amount of laundry. Can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a routine for correcting laundry amount determination, FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the entire washing machine, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram for explaining the functional contents of the phase difference detection device, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correction value based on the initial value for determining the amount of laundry and the detected amount of protrusion of the laundry. In the drawing, 4 is a drive motor, 13 is an ultrasonic sensor (laundry protrusion amount detection means), 16 is a control device (washing condition setting means, operation control means), and 1 is a phase difference detection device (laundry amount detection means). shows.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Equipped with laundry amount detection means for detecting the amount of laundry by detecting the amount of load applied to the drive motor,
A laundry protrusion amount detection means for detecting the amount of protrusion of the laundry from the water surface, and a washing condition setting means for setting washing conditions in response to the detection results from the laundry amount detection means and the laundry protrusion amount detection means; A washing machine characterized by comprising an operation control means for executing a washing operation under the set conditions.