Method and apparatus for controlling motor, washing machine, and method of controlling the washing machine

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling a motor, a washing machine, and a method of controlling the washing machine that efficiently calculate an amount of laundry within a drum are provided. The method of controlling a washing machine that calculates an amount of laundry housed within a drum rotating by a motor, the method includes: accelerating the drum from a first rotation speed to a second rotation speed by enabling the motor to apply torque to the drum in a predetermined direction and decelerating the drum from the second rotation speed to the first rotation speed by enabling the motor to apply torque to the drum in an opposite direction; and calculating the laundry amount from the sum of currents applied to the motor at the accelerating of the drum.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of PCT Application No. PCT / KR2011 / 002183 filed on Mar. 30, 2011, which claims priority to Korean Application Nos. 10-2010-0028667 filed in Korea on Mar. 30, 2010 and 10-2010-0038637 filed in Korea on Apr. 26, 2010, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a motor, a washing machine, and a method of controlling the washing machine, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling a motor, a washing machine, and a method of controlling the washing machine that efficiently calculate an amount of laundry within a drum.[0004]2. Related Art[0005]In general, washing machines are an apparatus for washing through a process such as wash, rinse, and dehydration in order to remove a contamination material stuck to clothes and bedclothes (he...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]A method and apparatus for controlling a motor, a washing machine, and a method of controlling the washing machine according to the present invention have the following effects.

[0017]First, even when unbalance of a drum is large, a motor can constantly rotate with a desired rotation speed.

[0018]Second, in order to enable a rotation speed of the motor to approach an instruction speed to correspond to a rotation speed change of the motor according to an unbalance degree of the drum, an instruction voltage value can be applied.

[0019]Third, after a compensated instruction voltage value is stored by comparing an instruction speed and a present rotation speed, when the instruction speed is input again, by outputting the compensated instruction voltage value, the present rotation speed can rapidly approach the instruction speed.

[0020]Fourth, by maintaining a rotation speed adjacent to 108 rpm, which is a preferable rotation speed that measures an unbalance degree of a drum, an unbalance degree of the drum can be efficiently measured.

[0021]Fifth, when calculating a laundry amount, by repeating acceleration and deceleration of the drum with a speed in which laundry stick to the drum and rotate, an error generating due to a fall of laundry can be minimized.

Problems solved by technology

In such a washing machine, a phenomenon in which laundry are leaned to one side by entangled laundry occurs and thus eccentricity in which one side is heavy based on the center of the drum occurs.

When the drum rotates with a high speed (e.g., when dehydrating laundry) in an eccentric state of laundry, due to unbalance in which a geometrical center of a rotation shaft of the drum and an actual center of gravity do not correspond, a vibration and noise occurs.

A washing machine using such a balancer measures a rotation speed change amount of a drum after rotating the drum with a predetermined speed before rotating the drum with a high speed, thereby measuring an unbalance degree of the drum.

Therefore, in order to measure an unbalance degree of the drum, it is required to constantly rotate a motor with a desired rotation speed.

Further, there is a problem that it is difficult for a washing machine using a balancer to measure an amount of laundry within a drum.

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