JPH0673587B2 - How to control the washing machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial field of application> The present invention relates to a method for controlling a washing machine such as a fully automatic washing machine having an automatic unbalance correction function for automatically correcting the unbalanced state during dehydration. It is about.

<Prior Art> A conventional method of controlling a washing machine having a function of automatically correcting an unbalanced state stops dehydration when an unbalanced state is detected, and after supplying water until the water is full, the method shown in FIG. As described above, the unbalanced state was corrected by reversing the pulsator in the same manner as in the rinsing process.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In the above conventional washing machine control method, since the unbalance correction operation is performed only at a certain water level, the dewatering process is performed in a state where this correction action is insufficient. When it moves, an unbalanced state occurs again, and even if the unbalance correction operation is performed again at the same water level, the unbalance may not be resolved, resulting in reduced work efficiency and waste of water and electricity. There is a problem.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a washing machine control method capable of improving the effect of correcting an unbalanced state, improving work efficiency, and preventing waste of water, electricity, and the like.

<Means for Solving Problems> In the washing machine control method according to the present invention, the washing machine having an unbalance automatic correction function for automatically correcting the unbalanced state at the time of dehydration detects the unbalanced state at the time of dehydration. When the water is supplied, the dehydration operation is stopped to supply water to the washing tub, and when the water is filled in the tub due to the water supply, the water supply is stopped and the water in the tub is stirred for a certain period of time. After that, the water in the tub is stirred for a certain period of time, and then the water in the tub is drained to a predetermined water level and the water in the tub is stirred again for a certain period of time. After the end of the water reduction stirring step, the water in the tank is drained to return to the original dehydration step.

<Operation> In this case, when the inner tank has an unbalanced state during dehydration, the unbalanced state is corrected in two different water level states, a full water state and a relatively low water level state. The entanglement can be surely performed, the effect of correcting the unbalanced state can be improved, the work efficiency can be improved as a result, and the waste of water, electricity, etc. can be prevented.

<Example> Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the washing machine in which the manufacturing method of the present invention is implemented
Description will be made with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a washing machine that implements the control method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the washing machine, and FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the washing machine. , FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the same water supply and drainage sections, FIG. 5 is the same block diagram of the control device, FIG. 6 is the same timing chart, and FIG. 7 is the flow when the unbalanced state is not corrected. It is a chart.

First, the schematic structure of the fully automatic washing machine according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. This is the washing machine body 1
Is formed in a box shape with an open upper surface, a leg 2 made of synthetic rubber for vibration damping is attached to a bottom plate 1a thereof, and a switch for operation and a display unit are provided at a rear portion of the upper plate 1b on an upper portion of the washing machine main body 1. The operation unit 3 is arranged. A lid 1c is fitted in a circular hole provided in the center of the upper surface plate 1b.

Inside the washing machine main body 1, an outer water tank 7 having an open upper surface elastically supported by a support rod 6 and a coil spring 6a is installed.
The outer water tank 7 is internally provided with an inner tank 8 having a large number of drainage holes 8a. Then, a stirring blade (pulsator) 9 is provided at the bottom of the inner tank 8.
Is rotatably internally supported via a rotary shaft 10, and the rotary shaft
A belt pulley 12 is fixed to the lower end of the penetrating outer water tank 7.

A motor 13 is fixed to the lower surface of the outer water tank 7, and a belt 15 is wound between the motor pulley 14 mounted on the motor shaft 13b of the motor 13 and the belt pulley 12. The rotating shaft 10 has an inner shaft 10a having the stirring blade 9 fixed to the upper end thereof and the belt pulley 12 fixed to the lower end thereof, and an outer shaft rotatably fitted to the inner shaft 10a so that the upper end thereof is located below the inner tank 8. It has a double shaft structure consisting of a fixed outer shaft 10b.
It is detachably connected to each other by 6 and brake.
The clutch 16 and the rotating shaft 10 are installed in a housing 17 fixed to the lower surface of the outer water tank 7.

The outside water tank 7 has a drainage channel 18 formed at the bottom thereof, and a drainage channel 18a for rinse water is formed at the top of the outside water tank 7.
A drain valve 19 that is opened and closed by a solenoid or the like is provided at the branch of both drainage channels 18 and 18a.

As shown in FIG. 4, a water supply passage 21 connected to a tap of a water supply is formed in the upper part of the washing machine main body 1, and a water supply valve 23 which is opened and closed by a solenoid or the like is provided in the water supply passage 21.

The motor 13 is capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions. For example, in the case of an AC type, a capacitor run type whose rotation direction can be changed by switching terminals is used. In the case of the DC type, normal rotation and reverse rotation are possible by switching the direction of the flowing current.

Then, the control device for a washing machine that implements the control method of the present invention has an unbalance correction control circuit 40 that corrects the unbalanced state of the inner tub 8 based on the unbalanced detection signal from the unbalanced sensor 24 during dehydration. However, the unbalance correction control circuit 40 is provided with a water reduction stirring means 40a for reducing and stirring the water in the inner tank 8.

As shown in FIG. 1, the unbalance correction control circuit 40 includes the unbalance sensor 24 in addition to the reduced water stirring means 40a.
An unbalance detection means 40b for detecting an unbalance detection signal from the water supply means 40c for driving the water supply valve 23 by stopping the motor 13 based on the detection signal from the unbalance detection means 40b, and the reduced water stirring means 40a. After stirring is completed,
It comprises a drainage means 40d etc. for driving the drainage valve 19. Then, the control unit 41 including the unbalance correction control circuit 40,
The control unit 41 is composed of a general one-chip type micro computer, and has a function of sequentially performing a water supply process, a preliminary washing process, a washing process, a water rinsing process, and a dehydration process in addition to the unbalance correction control function.

As shown in FIG. 5, the microcomputer constituting the control unit 41 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 42, a read-only memory device (ROM) 43, and a readable / writable memory device (R) at any time.
AM) 44, input buffer controller 45 as input / output device (I / O) and output buffer controller 46,
It consists of a clock control device 47, a timer device 48 and the like.

The output buffer control device 46 includes, as an external output unit, a motor drive unit 13a that drives the motor 13 so that the motor 13 can rotate forward and backward, and a drain valve drive unit 1 that opens and closes a drain valve 19.
9a, a water supply valve driving unit 23a for opening and closing the water supply valve 23, a display unit 50 configured by a light emitting diode for displaying the progress of washing, and a buzzer 51 for notifying the end of washing are connected. The drain valve drive unit 19a and the water supply valve drive unit 23a
Is composed of, for example, a solenoid that opens and closes the drain valve 19 and the water supply valve 23.

Further, the input buffer control device 45 includes, as an external input section, the unbalance sensor 24 for detecting abnormal vibration of the outer water tank 7 (or the inner tank 8) and a lid sensor 52 for detecting opening / closing of the lid 1c. A water level sensor 53 for detecting the water level in the outer water tank 7, a key switch 54 for controlling other functions of the washing machine, and the like are connected.

Then, the CPU 42 reads the state of the switch and the sensor in the external input section through the input buffer control device 45, and reads the process data from the ROM 43 to wash (including water supply), drain, rinse, dehydrate. The output buffer control device 46 gives a signal to each drive circuit to control each unit in the external output unit required to execute the process. This is performed in cooperation with the CPU 42 by the device 48.

The water level sensor 53 is for detecting the water level of the outer water tank 7, and its output signal is an analog-digital converter (hereinafter
It is input to the control unit 41 via the A / D converter) 55.
The water level sensor 53 is installed in the operation panel of the operation unit 3 and the water level is detected by the following configuration. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a water level detecting box 57 having a hole 56 communicating with the outer water tank 7 is formed outside the bottom corner of the outer water tank 7, and the water level detecting box 57 constitutes an air trap. An air outlet 58 is formed in the upper part of 57, and the air outlet 58 is formed.
A pressure guiding pipe 59 is connected to the water level sensor 53. In addition, at the bottom of the water level detection box 57, the water level detection box 57
A lid 60 is provided to seal the air inside.

The unbalance sensor 24 includes a detection rod 24b that is swingably mounted around a shaft 24a inside the main body 1 adjacent to the outer water tank 7, and a detection switch 24c that is turned off when the detection rod 24b swings. Consisting of an outer water tank 7 (or an inner tank 8)
When is rotated in an unbalanced state, the outer circumference thereof comes into contact with the detection rod 24b and the detection switch 24c is turned off.

In the above configuration, the control during dehydration will be described based on FIG.

When the dehydration process is started, the control unit 41 opens the drain valve 19 (S1), drains the water in the external water tank 7, and then drives the motor 13 (S2) to rotate the external water tank 7. The dehydration operation is performed by. During this dehydration, the control unit 41 (the imbalance detecting means 40b) monitors by the imbalance sensor 24 whether the outer water tank 7 causes abnormal vibration (S3). When the dehydration ends without abnormal vibration (S4), the motor 13 is stopped (S5), the drain valve 19 is closed (S6), and the dehydration process ends.

Further, when abnormal vibration is detected during the dehydration operation (S7), the unbalanced correction step (S8) is started assuming that the object to be washed in the outer water tank 7 is in an unbalanced state. In this imbalance correction process (S8), the control unit 41 (water supply means 40c)
First, the motor 13 is stopped (S9), the outer water tank 7 is stopped, the drain valve 19 is closed (S10), and the water supply valve 23 is opened (S1).
1) Supply water into the outer water tank 7. And the water level sensor 5
3 is monitored (S12), and when the water level sensor 53 is turned on (that is, when the water level is full), the water supply valve 23 is closed (S13), and the step of blending and stirring the material to be washed and water (S14)
Do. This soaking and stirring step (S14) is performed by generating the same water flow as in the general water-pouring and rinsing step for a relatively short time.

Then, after this familiarizing and stirring step (S14) is completed,
The control unit 41 (reduced water stirring means 40a) executes the reduced water step (S15). In this water reduction process (S15), the drain valve 19 is opened (S15
a) After waiting for a certain time (S15b), close the drain valve 19 (S)
15c) is carried out by this process, the outside water tank 7
Part of the water inside is drained. At this time, the drainage time, that is, the estimation is determined according to the capacity of the outer water tank 7, the amount of the laundry, and the like.

Then, after the water reduction step (S15) is completed, the modified stirring step (S1
6) is executed and the unbalanced state of the external water tank 7 is resolved. This correction stirring step (S16) is carried out by repeating forward and reverse rotation of the motor 13 as shown in FIG.
The water flow caused by this rotation loosens the entanglement of the laundry.

At this time, the forward rotation or reverse rotation time t3 of the motor 13 is shorter than the forward rotation or reverse rotation time t1 of the motor 13 in the water injection rinse step, and the stop time t4 of the motor 13 is longer than the stop time t2 of the motor 13 in the water injection rinse step. Be lengthened. And
It was confirmed by an experiment that the force of the motor 13 is more likely to be transmitted to the object to be washed and the entanglement effect is greater after water reduction than before water reduction.

Then, after the completion of the correction stirring process (S16), the control unit 41
(Drainage means 40d) opens the drain valve 19 (S17), drains the water in the external water tank 7 and returns to the dehydration process until the water level sensor 53 is turned off (S18).

If the unbalanced state is not resolved even after the unbalance correction process has been executed once, the operation of the washing machine is stopped and the user is informed of the abnormal state, as shown in FIG. 7.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

For example, after the water rinsing step is completed, the water in the tank is not drained, and the step of blending (S14) and the water reduction step (S15) of FIG.
If it is configured so as to be in between, the water at the time of rinsing and rinsing can be used to preventively correct the unbalanced state. Further, the modified stirring step (S16) may be started before the water reduction step (S15) is completed or at the same time as the start of the water reduction step (S15). Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to washing machines other than fully automatic washing machines.

<Effects of the Invention> As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when the inner tank is in an unbalanced state during dehydration, it is possible to remove the water in two different water level states, a full water state and a relatively low water level state. Since the balance correction is performed, it is possible to reliably entangle the clothes to be washed, compared to the case where the unbalance correction is repeatedly performed at the same water level, and the effect of correcting the unbalanced state can be improved, resulting in work efficiency. It has an excellent effect that it is possible to prevent water and electricity from being wasted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a washing machine that implements a control method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the washing machine, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure, FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the water supply part and drainage part, FIG. 5 is the same block diagram, FIG. 6 is the same timing chart, and FIG. 7 is the same unbalanced state. FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the conventional modified stirring process when not performed. 1: Washing machine main body, 2: Leg, 3: Operating part, 6: Support rod, 7: Outer water tank,
8: Inner tank, 9: Stirrer, 10: Rotating shaft, 13: Motor, 18: Drainage channel, 19: Drainage valve, 21: Water supply channel, 23: Water supply valve, 24: Unbalance sensor, 40: Unbalance correction Control circuit, 41: control unit,
53: Water level sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A washing machine having an automatic unbalance correction function for automatically correcting an unbalanced state during dewatering, when the unbalanced state is detected during dewatering, the dewatering operation is stopped and water is supplied into the washing tub. And a water-filling step in which the water is stopped and the water in the tank is agitated for a certain period of time so that the laundry and the water to be blended can be blended with each other. After the soaking and stirring, part of the water in the tank is drained, and the water in the tank is again stirred for a certain period of time with the water level reduced to a predetermined level. A method for controlling a washing machine, characterized in that the water in the tub is drained to return to the original dehydration process.