A washing machine drainage method and a washing machine

Abstract

The present invention discloses a washing machine drainage method and a washing machine. The method includes: obtaining an estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at the current water level; starting the drainage pump and timing the drainage time to obtain the actual drainage duration; after the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, controlling the drainage pump to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends. The technical solution provided by the present invention aims to solve the technical problem that there is a large amount of residual water in the washing tub after the drainage of the washing machine in the prior art.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electrical appliances, and particularly to a drainage method and a washing machine for a washing machine. Background Art

[0002] There are two common drainage methods for fully automatic washing machines, namely, upper drainage and lower drainage. The upper drainage model uses a drainage pump to pump out the water in the washing tub to achieve the purpose of drainage. The pumped sewage can be stored in a water storage container for flushing the toilet or mopping the floor. The installation position of the washing machine can also be freed from the constraint of the floor drain installation position. Therefore, the fully automatic washing machine with an upper drainage structure also has its advantages. However, the fully automatic washing machine with upper drainage is more likely to have the problem of dewatering with water.

[0003] In the related art, for a fully automatic washing machine with upper drainage, a drainage pump is used for drainage. Different drainage pumps and different assembly methods will affect the drainage effect of the drainage pump. When the drainage effect is poor, there will be too much residual water in the washing tub. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The main object of the present invention is to provide a drainage method and a washing machine for a washing machine, so as to solve the technical problem that there is a large amount of residual water in the washing tub after the drainage of the washing machine in the prior art.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a drainage method for a washing machine, including:

[0006] Obtaining an estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at the current water level;

[0007] Starting the drainage pump and timing the drainage time to obtain the actual drainage duration;

[0008] After the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, controlling the drainage pump to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends.

[0009] Preferably, the estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at each water level is obtained by using the drainage volume at the current water level and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drainage pump, where the drainage volume satisfies the following conditions: the difference between the water inflow volume at the current water level and the drainage volume satisfies a preset water volume condition.

[0010] Preferably, the drainage volume at the current water level is obtained by the following method, including:

[0011] Obtaining the water inflow volume information at the current water level in the washing tub;

[0012] Determining the water absorption volume information of the clothes in the washing tub;

[0013] Determine the drainage volume of the drainage pump at the current water level according to the water inlet volume information and the water absorption volume information of the clothes.

[0014] Preferably, the water absorption volume information of the clothes in the washing tub is obtained in the following manner, including:

[0015] Obtain the weight information of the clothes in the washing tub;

[0016] Determine the water absorption volume information of the clothes according to the weight information of the clothes.

[0017] Preferably, the weight information of the clothes in the washing tub is obtained in the following manner, including:

[0018] Obtain the rated capacity information of the washing machine, and determine the weight information of the clothes according to the rated capacity information; or,

[0019] Obtain the weight information of the washing tub with clothes inside before water inlet, and obtain the weight information of the clothes according to the obtained weight information.

[0020] Preferably, the estimated duration is obtained in the following manner, including:

[0021] Use the pre-set drainage ratio information to determine the target drainage volume corresponding to the drainage volume;

[0022] Use the target drainage volume and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drainage pump to determine the estimated duration.

[0023] Preferably, controlling the drainage pump to be intermittently turned on includes:

[0024] Control the drainage pump to be turned on for M seconds and then turned off for N seconds, and repeat the preset number of times, and then control the drainage pump to be always on, where M and N are positive integers.

[0025] The present invention also provides a storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and wherein the computer program is configured to execute the method described in any one of the above when running.

[0026] The present invention also provides an electronic device, including a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to execute the method described in any one of the above.

[0027] The present invention also provides a washing machine, including a device for implementing any one of the above.

[0028] In the technical solution of the present invention, the estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at the current water level is obtained, the drainage pump is started, and the drainage time is timed to obtain the actual drainage duration. After the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, the drainage pump is controlled to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends, achieving the purpose of triggering the intermittent opening of the drainage pump by using the actual drainage duration and the estimated duration, improving the drainage effect of the drainage pump, and reducing the occurrence of the problem of excessive residual water in the washing tub. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings.

[0030] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of the washing machine drainage method provided by the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 It is a flowchart of the drainage method of the upper drainage washing machine provided by the present invention.

[0032] The realization, functional characteristics and advantages of the object of the present invention will be further described in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0033] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back...) in the embodiments of the present invention are only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement conditions between components in a specific posture (as shown in the drawings). If the specific posture changes, the directional indications will also change accordingly.

[0035] In addition, the descriptions such as "first" and "second" in the present invention are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0036] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined and limited, terms such as "connection" and "fixation" shall be understood in a broad sense. For example, "fixation" may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or integrated; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the communication inside two components or the interaction relationship between two components, unless otherwise clearly defined. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0037] In addition, the technical solutions between various embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the ability of those of ordinary skill in the art to implement. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or cannot be implemented, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the protection scope required by the present invention.

[0038] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of the washing machine drainage method provided by the present invention. As Figure 1 shown, the method includes:

[0039] Step 101, obtain the estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at the current water level;

[0040] Among them, the water level of the washing machine is used to represent the water inflow of the washing tub of the washing machine. The higher the water level, the more water inflow in the washing tub; on the contrary, the lower the water level, the less water inflow in the washing tub.

[0041] The estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at different water levels can be preset. After determining the selected water level, determine the estimated duration of the current water level from the estimated durations corresponding to each water level stored in advance.

[0042] Step 102, start the drainage pump and time the drainage time to obtain the actual drainage duration;

[0043] The duration of the drainage operation can be obtained through a timing device.

[0044] Step 203, after the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, control the drainage pump to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends;

[0045] Due to the structural design of the drainage pump, when the amount of water in the washing tub is small, if the drainage pump is always on, the water entering the drainage pump will be less, which will cause an increase in air in the drainage pump, making it difficult for the drainage pump to drain water and resulting in a relatively large noise of the drainage pump.

[0046] After the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, it indicates that the amount of water in the washing tub is small, and then the drainage pump is controlled to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends. By intermittently turning on the drainage pump, a certain amount of water can be accumulated when the drainage pump is turned off, so as to squeeze out the air in the drainage pump; since the air in the drainage pump becomes less, the water is easily drained out, so that the drainage effect is better when the drainage pump is turned on again.

[0047] Different from the method of using a water level detector to trigger the intermittent opening of the drainage pump in the related art, the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is to use the actual drainage duration and the estimated duration to trigger the intermittent opening of the drainage pump. Without setting a water level sensor, the triggering of the intermittent opening can be completed, saving hardware costs.

[0048] The method provided in the embodiment of the present application obtains the estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at the current water level, starts the drainage pump, and times the drainage time to obtain the actual drainage duration. After the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, the drainage pump is controlled to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends, achieving the purpose of using the actual drainage duration and the estimated duration to trigger the intermittent opening of the drainage pump, improving the drainage effect of the drainage pump, and reducing the occurrence of the problem of excessive residual water in the washing tub.

[0049] The method provided in the embodiment of the present invention will be described below:

[0050] In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the estimated duration required for the drainage pump to drain water at each water level is obtained by using the drainage volume at the current water level and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drainage pump, where the drainage volume satisfies the following conditions: the difference between the water inflow at the current water level and the drainage volume satisfies a preset water volume condition.

[0051] In the above implementation, the drainage volume is not randomly selected, but is determined for the case where the drainage effect of the drainage pump may deteriorate during the drainage process; that is, when the difference between the water inflow at the current water level and the drainage volume satisfies the water volume condition, the water entering the drainage pump in the washing tub is lower than the water volume threshold, affecting the drainage effect of the drainage pump.

[0052] The water volume condition can be represented by setting a water volume threshold, and a corresponding water volume threshold can be set for each water level, or the same water volume threshold can be used as the water volume threshold for all water levels.

[0053] Among them, the drainage volume can be determined according to the water inflow at the current water level. For example, an adjustment coefficient is set for the water inflow, where the value of the adjustment coefficient is less than 1, and the water inflow at the current water level is multiplied by the adjustment coefficient to obtain the drainage volume.

[0054] For example, when the water level setting of a certain pulsator washing machine is 10, the water inlet volume is 70L, and the preset adjustment coefficient is 0.75. By performing the multiplication operation of the water inlet volume and the adjustment coefficient, the drainage volume of the pulsator washing machine at the 10th water level setting is obtained as 52.5L.

[0055] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the drainage volume at the current water level setting is obtained in the following manner, including:

[0056] Obtain the water inlet volume information at the current water level setting in the washing tub;

[0057] Determine the water absorption information of the clothes in the washing tub;

[0058] According to the water inlet volume information and the water absorption information of the clothes, determine the drainage volume of the drainage pump at the current water level setting.

[0059] In practical applications, after the washing tub is filled with water, the clothes in the washing tub will absorb water, reducing the amount of water that can be drained from the washing tub. Therefore, the actual amount of water that the drainage pump can drain is less than the water inlet volume at the current water level setting. By calculating the water absorption information of the clothes, the drainage volume can be determined more accurately.

[0060] Among them, the water absorption of the clothes can be preset, and a numerical value of the water absorption of the clothes can be set for each water level setting. After obtaining the current water level setting, determine the water absorption of the clothes corresponding to the current water level setting. The implementation method of determining the water absorption of the clothes by the above method is simple and fast.

[0061] For example, when the water level setting of a certain pulsator washing machine is 10, the water inlet volume is 70L, the preset adjustment coefficient is 0.75, and the water absorption of the clothes is 10L. By calculating the difference between the water inlet volume and the water absorption of the clothes, the amount of water that can be drained is obtained as 60L. Then, perform the multiplication operation on the amount of water that can be drained and the adjustment coefficient, and the drainage volume of the pulsator washing machine at the 10th water level setting is obtained as 45L.

[0062] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the water absorption information of the clothes in the washing tub is obtained in the following manner, including:

[0063] Obtain the weight information of the clothes in the washing tub;

[0064] According to the weight information of the clothes, determine the water absorption information of the clothes.

[0065] Among them, the more clothes there are in the washing tub, the greater the water absorption of the clothes; conversely, the fewer clothes there are in the washing tub, the less the water absorption of the clothes. Therefore, by obtaining the weight information of the clothes in the washing tub, the water absorption of the clothes can be determined more accurately, providing data support for more accurately determining the drainage volume.

[0066] After obtaining the weight information of the clothes, the water absorption capacity of the clothes can also be determined in combination with the material of the clothes, so as to more accurately determine the water absorption of the clothes.

[0067] If the washing machine is equipped with a device for identifying the material of the clothes, the material of the clothes in the washing tub can be determined by calling the device for identifying the material of the clothes. The water absorption capacity parameter of the clothes of this material can be determined according to the material of the clothes, and the water absorption of the clothes can be determined according to the water absorption capacity parameter. Among them, the device for identifying the material of the clothes can use RFID, AI camera sampling or spectral analysis technology to analyze the water absorption capacity of the clothes. The above implementation method makes the calculation of the water absorption more accurate.

[0068] In addition, if there are clothes of at least two materials in the washing tub, the water absorption capacity information of the clothes of at least two materials can be obtained respectively, and the weighted sum of the water absorption capacities of the clothes of the at least two materials can be performed, and the obtained value is used as the overall water absorption capacity of the clothes.

[0069] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the weight information of the clothes in the washing tub is obtained by any of the following methods, including:

[0070] Method 1: Obtain the rated capacity information of the washing machine, and determine the weight information of the clothes according to the rated capacity information;

[0071] In Method 1, the rated capacity information of the washing machine can be obtained, where the rated capacity information is the weight information of the dry clothes that the washing machine can wash at most;

[0072] Among them, the water absorption of the clothes with the rated capacity at each water level is obtained by the following method, including:

[0073] After placing clothes with the rated capacity at each water level in the washing tub, drain the water in the washing tub, calculate the volume of the drained water, and obtain the first volume at each water level; according to the water inflow at each water level and the first volume at each water level, calculate the water absorption information of the clothes at each water level.

[0074] The above water absorption is determined based on the clothes with the maximum weight, and the implementation method is simple and fast.

[0075] Method 2:

[0076] Obtain the weight information of the washing tub with clothes inside before water inlet, and obtain the weight information of the clothes according to the obtained weight information.

[0077] Among them, the water absorption of clothes in different weight ranges can be obtained in advance. After obtaining the weight information of the washing tub with clothes inside, determine the weight information of the clothes corresponding to the weight information.

[0078] Among them, the water absorption of clothes in different weight ranges can be obtained in the following ways, including:

[0079] After placing clothes in a certain weight range in the washing tub at each water level, empty the water in the washing tub, calculate the volume of the drained water, and obtain the second volume at each water level, where the placed clothes can submerge the water surface in the washing tub;

[0080] According to the water inlet volume of the washing tub and the second volume at each water level, calculate the water absorption information of the clothes in this weight range.

[0081] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the estimated duration is obtained in the following ways, including:

[0082] Use the pre-set drainage ratio information to determine the target drainage volume corresponding to the drainage volume;

[0083] Use the target drainage volume and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drainage pump to determine the estimated duration.

[0084] The value of this drainage ratio is a value greater than 0.5 and less than 1, so as to ensure the rationality of the estimated duration, ensure that the drainage pump enters the intermittent start mode at an appropriate time, and thus can maintain a good drainage effect.

[0085] Preferably, this drainage ratio can be set to 0.8.

[0086] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, controlling the intermittent opening of the drainage pump includes:

[0087] Control the drainage pump to start for M seconds and then close for N seconds, and execute the preset number of times in a loop, and then control the drainage pump to be always on, where M and N are positive integers.

[0088] The values of M and N can be set as needed.

[0089] Preferably, the value of M is greater than the value of N.

[0090] Controlling the drainage pump by means of timed opening and closing can simplify the control logic and improve the management efficiency.

[0091] The following takes the upper drainage washing machine as an example to illustrate the method provided by the embodiments of the present invention:

[0092] Before performing the laundry operation, it is necessary to obtain the maximum drainage flow rate of the inlet valve of the upper-drain washing machine, and estimate the estimated time T(N) required to empty the water under the condition of 1-N water level gears based on the current volume of water in the washing tub of the upper-drain washing machine, the volume of the washing tub, and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drain pump of the upper-drain washing machine.

[0093] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the drainage method for the upper-drain washing machine provided by the present invention. As Figure 2 shown, the method includes:

[0094] Step 201, detect that the washing machine fills water to the Nth water level gear for washing;

[0095] When the user uses the washing machine, it operates in sequence of water inlet - washing - drainage - dehydration. Set the water inlet to the 8th water level gear, and the frequency value of the 8th water level gear set in the main control program is 23.75KHZ.

[0096] Step 202, after the washing is completed, estimate the time T(n) required to empty the water level from the Nth gear according to the maximum drainage flow rate F;

[0097] Based on the current water level frequency value, obtain the current volume of water in the washing tub; obtain the maximum drainage flow rate of the drain valve of the upper-drain washing machine; according to the current volume of water in the washing tub of the upper-drain washing machine, the volume of the washing tub, and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drain pump of the upper-drain washing machine, estimate that the time required to empty the water under the condition of the 8th water level gear is 3 minutes.

[0098] Step 203, open the drain pump to start draining;

[0099] Start the drainage operation, open the drain pump, drain the water in the washing tub, and accumulate the actual drainage duration;

[0100] Step 204, judge whether the actual drainage duration T reaches the required drainage duration T(n);

[0101] If so, execute Step 205; otherwise, execute Step 206;

[0102] Step 205, control the drain pump to be always open;

[0103] If the current drainage time has not reached 3 minutes, the drain pump is in the always-open state;

[0104] Step 206, control the drain pump to be periodically and cyclically opened until the drainage is completed;

[0105] If the drainage time exceeds 3 minutes, the drain pump operates in a cycle of opening for 20 seconds and closing for 5 seconds until the drainage is completed and the drain pump is closed;

[0106] Since a certain amount of water accumulates and expels air during the 5-second process of turning off the drain pump, when the drain pump is turned on, the water is discharged normally and the noise is relatively small.

[0107] Due to the structural design of the drain pump, when the water volume in the washing machine tub is small, if the drain pump is always on, when the water entering the drain pump is less, the drain pump being always on will cause an increase in air in the drain pump. With more air in the drain pump, it is not easy to discharge water and the drain pump makes a relatively loud noise. If the drain pump is turned on and off regularly, when the drain pump is turned off, a certain amount of water will accumulate in the drain pump, and then the air will be squeezed out. With less air, the water is easier to discharge, so the drainage effect is better when the drain pump is turned on. In practical applications, the control method of turning the drain pump on and off regularly can achieve better drainage.

[0108] Here, the above-drainage washing machine is taken as an example for illustration. In practical applications, other washing machines using a drain pump for drainage are also applicable to the above method.

[0109] An embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. Wherein, the computer program is configured to execute the method described in any one of the above when running.

[0110] An embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device, including a memory and a processor. A computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to execute the method described in any one of the above.

[0111] An embodiment of the present invention provides a washing machine, characterized by including the device described in any one of the above.

[0112] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the patent scope of the present invention accordingly. Any equivalent structural transformation made under the concept of the present invention by using the content of the specification and drawings of the present invention, or any direct / indirect application in other related technical fields, is included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A washing machine drainage method, characterized in that, Including: Obtaining an estimated duration required for the drain pump to drain water at the current water level; Starting the drain pump and timing the drainage time to obtain the actual drainage duration; After the actual drainage duration reaches the estimated duration, controlling the drain pump to be intermittently turned on until the drainage operation ends; Wherein, the estimated duration required for the drain pump to drain water at each water level is obtained by using the drainage volume at the current water level and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drain pump, and the drainage volume satisfies the following condition: the difference between the water inflow at the current water level and the drainage volume meets a preset water volume condition; Wherein, the drainage volume at the current water level is obtained by the following method, including: Obtaining the water inflow information at the current water level in the washing tub; Determining the water absorption amount information of the clothes in the washing tub; Determining the drainage volume of the drain pump at the current water level according to the water inflow information and the water absorption amount information of the clothes; Wherein, the water absorption amount of the clothes is obtained by the following method, including: Determining the material of the clothes in the washing tub; If there are at least two types of clothes in the washing tub, respectively obtaining the water absorption capacities of the at least two types of clothes, and performing weighted summation on the water absorption capacities of the at least two types of clothes, and taking the obtained value as the overall water absorption capacity of the clothes; Determining the water absorption amount information of the clothes according to the weight information of the clothes in the washing tub and the overall water absorption capacity; 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The weight information of the clothes in the washing tub is obtained by the following method, including: Obtaining the rated capacity information of the washing machine and determining the weight information of the clothes according to the rated capacity information; or, Obtaining the weight information of the washing tub with clothes placed therein before water inlet, and obtaining the weight information of the clothes according to the obtained weight information; 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The estimated duration is obtained by the following method, including: Using the pre-set drainage ratio information to determine the target drainage volume corresponding to the drainage volume; Using the target drainage volume and the maximum drainage flow rate of the drain pump to determine the estimated duration; 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The controlling the drain pump to be intermittently turned on includes: Controlling the drain pump to be turned on for M seconds and then turned off for N seconds, and executing the preset number of times in a loop, and then controlling the drain pump to be always on, where M and N are positive integers; 5. A storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program is stored in the storage medium, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 4 when running; 6. An electronic device, comprising a memory and a processor, characterized in that, A computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 4; 7. A washing machine, characterized in that, Including a device for implementing the method described in any one of claims 1 to 4.

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