Control method for laundry treatment device, and laundry treatment device

Abstract

A control method for a laundry treatment device, and a laundry treatment device. The laundry treatment device is configured to be capable of delivering low-temperature air from the outside to a laundry treatment drum. The control method comprises: acquiring the material of laundry in a laundry treatment drum; and selectively running a low-temperature dehumidification mode according to the material of the laundry, wherein the low-temperature dehumidification mode comprises delivering low-temperature air from the outside to the laundry treatment drum. When the material of the laundry is a material that requires special care, the laundry is directly dried by means of low-temperature air in nature, without the need for heating the air, such that the laundry can be protected from being damaged by a high temperature, thus improving the care effect of the laundry, and also saving on electric energy. Moreover, debris such as lint on the laundry can also be blown out of the laundry treatment drum by means of external air.

Description

Control method of clothing processing equipment and clothing processing equipment

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202310710322.4 filed on June 14, 2023. The full text of the above Chinese patent application is incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to the technical field of clothing processing equipment, and in particular provides a control method for clothing processing equipment and the clothing processing equipment. Background Art

[0003] Existing washing machines often have a drying function. However, after washing clothes made of special care materials such as wool or silk, the drying temperature adjustment often lags behind the actual temperature of the inner drum, resulting in the drying temperature being too high and causing damage to the clothes. In addition, long drying times will also result in higher energy consumption.

[0004] Accordingly, the art needs a new control method for clothes processing equipment to solve the problem that clothes made of special care materials are easily damaged when being dried by existing washing machines.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention aims to solve the above technical problem, that is, to solve the problem that existing washing machines easily cause damage to clothes when drying clothes made of special care materials.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a control method for a clothes processing device, wherein the clothes processing device is configured to deliver low-temperature ambient air into a clothes processing drum;

[0008] The control method includes: obtaining the material of the clothes in the clothes processing drum;

[0009] A low-temperature dehumidification mode is selectively operated according to the material of the clothes, wherein the low-temperature dehumidification mode includes delivering external low-temperature air into the clothes processing drum.

[0010] In the preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned clothes processing device, the step of "selectively running the low-temperature dehumidification mode according to the clothes material" further includes:

[0011] When the clothing is made of special care material, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is run for a preset time.

[0012] In the preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned clothing processing device, before the step of "obtaining the material of the clothing in the clothing processing drum", the control method includes:

[0013] Get the weight of the clothes;

[0014] When the laundry weight is greater than the first preset weight, the fresh air mode will be run for the preset time.

[0015] In the preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned clothing processing device, the step of "obtaining the material of the clothes in the clothing processing drum" further includes:

[0016] When the weight of the clothes is less than or equal to the first preset weight, the material of the clothes in the clothes processing drum is obtained.

[0017] In a preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned laundry processing device, before the step of "obtaining the weight of the laundry", the control method includes:

[0018] The laundry treating apparatus runs a normal laundry treating program.

[0019] In the preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned clothes processing device, the low-temperature dehumidification mode further includes:

[0020] The air outlet speed is controlled to be a first preset speed, and the clothes processing drum rotates at a first preset speed.

[0021] In the preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned clothes processing device, the fresh air mode further includes:

[0022] The air outlet speed is controlled to be a second preset speed, and the clothes processing drum rotates at a second preset speed; wherein the first preset speed is greater than the second preset speed, and the first preset speed is greater than the second preset speed.

[0023] In the preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned clothes processing device, the step of "selectively running the low-temperature dehumidification mode according to the clothes material" further includes:

[0024] When the material of the clothing is regular care material, the fresh air mode is operated.

[0025] In a preferred technical solution of the control method of the above-mentioned laundry processing device, the control method further includes:

[0026] The clothes treating device runs a special clothes treating program;

[0027] After the clothes are dehydrated, the low-temperature dehumidification mode will be directly operated.

[0028] The present invention also provides a clothing processing device, which includes a controller and a memory, wherein the memory is suitable for storing multiple program codes, and the program codes are suitable for being loaded and run by the controller to execute the control method of the clothing processing device described in any one of the above technical solutions.

[0029] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the control method of the clothing processing device of the present invention includes obtaining the material of the clothing; selectively running the low-temperature dehumidification mode according to the material of the clothing, wherein the low-temperature dehumidification mode includes delivering low-temperature air from the outside world into the clothing processing drum.

[0030] When the above technical solution is adopted, when the clothing material is a material that requires special care, for example, silk, wool, etc., the clothing can be dried directly by the natural low-temperature air without heating the air. This can protect the clothing from damage and improve the care effect of the clothing, and it can also save electricity. At the same time, the outside air can also blow the lint and other debris on the clothing out of the clothing treatment drum, and the water vapor is also blown out of the clothing treatment drum directly, and there is no need to set up a condenser to condense the circulating water vapor, which greatly reduces the cost of the drying care module and the cost of the whole machine. In addition, if the user does not take out the clothes to dry for a long time after washing, it may cause the clothes to mold or breed bacteria. By supplying fresh air to the clothing treatment drum, the above problems can be prevented and the user experience can be improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0032] FIG1 is a flow chart showing the main steps of a control method for a clothes processing device according to the present invention;

[0033] FIG2 is a flowchart showing the specific steps of the control method of the clothes processing device of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make adjustments to them as needed to adapt to specific applications. For example, although the present application is described in conjunction with a washing machine, this is not restrictive. The control method of the clothing processing device of the present invention can obviously also be applied to other equipment for clothing processing, for example, the clothing processing device can also be a sock washing machine, a shoe washing machine, a clothing care machine, etc.

[0035] In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0036] Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the term "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can mean that two components are directly connected internally or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0037] In order to solve the problem that existing washing machines are easily damaged when drying clothes made of special materials such as wool or silk, the present invention provides a control method for a clothing processing device, wherein the clothing processing device is configured to be able to deliver low-temperature air from the outside to the clothing processing drum. Specifically, the clothing processing device includes a first air duct, one end of the first air duct is connected to the outside of the clothing processing device, and the other end of the first air duct is connected to the inside of the clothing processing drum. A fan is provided in the first air duct, so that after the fan is turned on, the outside air can be delivered to the clothing processing drum. However, it should be noted that the clothing processing device may not be provided with a first air duct, but directly delivers air to the clothing processing drum through a fan. Those skilled in the art can set the structure of the clothing processing device according to their needs. The present invention does not impose any restrictions on the specific structure of the clothing processing device, as long as the clothing processing device can deliver outside air to the clothing processing drum.

[0038] Specifically, as shown in FIG1 , the control method of the clothes processing device mainly includes the following steps:

[0039] Step S100: obtaining the material of the clothing;

[0040] Step S200: Selectively operate the low-temperature dehumidification mode according to the material of the clothes.

[0041] Among them, the low-temperature dehumidification mode includes turning on the fan, and delivering low-temperature air from the outside world to the clothing treatment drum through the first air duct. Therefore, when the clothing material is a material that requires special care, for example, silk, wool and other materials that require special care, the clothing can be dried directly by the natural low-temperature air without heating the air. This can not only protect the clothing from damage and improve the clothing care effect, but also save electricity. At the same time, the external air can also blow the lint and other debris on the clothing out of the clothing treatment drum, and the water vapor is also blown out of the clothing treatment drum directly, without the need to set up a condenser to condense the circulating water vapor, which greatly reduces the cost of the drying care module and the cost of the entire machine. In addition, when the user does not take out the clothes to dry for a long time after washing, it may cause the clothes to mold or breed bacteria. By delivering fresh air to the clothing treatment drum, the above problems can be prevented and the user experience can be improved.

[0042] The material of the clothes can be obtained by installing a sensor in the clothes processing drum to detect the clothes, or the clothing material data can be pre-stored in the clothes processing equipment, and the user can set the clothing material through buttons or terminals such as mobile phone APP when using it. Therefore, the present invention does not impose any restrictions on the method of obtaining the clothing material. Those skilled in the art can set it by themselves according to their needs, and it should all fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0043] As shown in FIG2 , a possible implementation of the control method of the washing machine of the present invention is introduced below.

[0044] Specifically, the control method includes the following steps:

[0045] Step S301: receiving an instruction for the washing machine to run a normal laundry processing program;

[0046] Step S302: Control the washing machine to run a washing program;

[0047] Step S303: Control the washing machine to run a dehydration program;

[0048] Step S304: Obtain the weight of the clothes after dehydration;

[0049] Step S305: When the weight of the clothes is greater than the first preset weight, the fresh air mode is directly operated.

[0050] The washing machine weighs the clothes after washing and dehydrating. If the weight of the wet clothes exceeds the first preset weight, it means that there are too many clothes and exceeds the threshold of the weight that can be handled by the low-temperature dehumidification mode. Therefore, the user can take out all the clothes for natural drying or low-temperature dehumidification in batches, or adopt other drying methods. In order to prevent the clothes from staying in the clothes processing drum for a long time and causing bacteria to grow, a small amount of external fresh air is delivered to the inner drum by running the fresh air mode to reduce bacterial growth or mold.

[0051] Step S306: When the weight of the clothing is less than or equal to the first preset weight, obtaining the material of the clothing;

[0052] Step S307: When the material of the clothing is a special care material, the low temperature dehumidification mode is run for a preset time;

[0053] Step S308: When the material of the clothing is regular care material, the fresh air mode is run for a preset time;

[0054] Step S309: After the user takes out all the clothes, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is run for a preset time.

[0055] The user can send a washing machine program instruction by pressing a button or through a terminal device such as a mobile phone app. The washing program of the washing machine specifically fills water into the laundry drum and then controls the laundry drum to rotate according to preset parameters to wash the clothes. The dehydration program specifically rotates the laundry drum to dehydrate the clothes and reduce the humidity. However, those skilled in the art can set the washing program and dehydration program as needed, and the present invention does not impose any restrictions on this, and all should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0056] Next, if the weight of the wet laundry is less than or equal to a first preset weight, it indicates that the laundry is relatively small and does not exceed the threshold for the laundry weight that can be handled by the low-temperature dehumidification mode. The material of the laundry is then obtained. If the laundry is made of a special care material, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is operated. If the laundry is made of a regular care material, such as cotton, polyester, acrylic, etc., the user can take the laundry out to air-dry or use other drying methods to dry it. To prevent the laundry from being retained in the laundry treatment drum for a long time and causing bacterial growth, the fresh air mode is operated to deliver a small amount of external fresh air into the inner drum to reduce bacterial growth or mold. In addition, after the user has taken out all the laundry, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is continued for a period of time to dry the laundry treatment drum and water tank, etc., to prevent mold from being caused by long-term non-use of the washing machine. Of course, those skilled in the art can set the special care material and regular care material as needed. The present invention does not impose any restrictions on the specific types of special care materials and regular care materials, and both should be limited within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0057] Low temperature dehumidification mode specifically includes:

[0058] Steps: Control the fan to start;

[0059] Step: controlling the air outlet speed to be a first preset speed, and the clothes processing drum to rotate at a first preset speed;

[0060] The fresh air mode specifically includes:

[0061] Steps: Control the fan to start;

[0062] Step: Control the air outlet speed to be a second preset speed, the clothes processing drum rotates at a second preset speed, the first preset speed is greater than the second preset speed, and the first preset speed is greater than the second preset speed.

[0063] Since the fresh air mode mainly delivers fresh air into the drum to prevent bacteria from growing on clothes, while the low-temperature dehumidification mode requires drying clothes, in order to save electricity, the air outlet speed in the fresh air mode is lower than that in the low-temperature dehumidification mode, and the speed of the clothes processing drum in the fresh air mode is also lower than that in the low-temperature dehumidification mode. Alternatively, the speed of the clothes processing drum in the fresh air mode can be zero, that is, it is stationary, thereby further saving energy. However, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can set the specific parameters of the fresh air mode and the low-temperature dehumidification mode as needed, and the present invention does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0064] In another possible implementation, the control method further includes:

[0065] Step S401: receiving an instruction for the washing machine to run a special laundry treatment program;

[0066] Step S402: Control the washing machine to run a washing program;

[0067] Step S403: Control the washing machine to run a dehydration program;

[0068] Step S404: Obtain the weight of the clothes after dehydration;

[0069] Step S405: When the weight of the clothes is greater than the first preset weight, the fresh air mode is operated;

[0070] Step S406: When the weight of the clothes is less than or equal to the first preset weight, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is operated.

[0071] When using the washing machine, the user directly chooses to run a special clothing treatment program. When the washing machine directly starts running the special clothing treatment program, there is no need to detect the material of the clothes. Instead, the clothes are assumed to be of special care material. The washing program and dehydration program in the special clothing treatment program can be the same as or different from the regular clothing treatment program. For example, compared with the regular clothing treatment program, the special clothing treatment program has a slower rotation speed of the clothes treatment drum during washing and dehydration, thereby causing less damage to the clothes during washing and dehydration. When the weight of the wet clothes does not exceed a threshold, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is directly run to improve the care effect of the clothes and reduce damage to the clothes. Of course, the low-temperature dehumidification mode can be directly run after dehydration without detecting the weight of the clothes. Those skilled in the art can make their own choices according to their needs, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0072] In addition, the method for obtaining the weight of the clothes can be to set a sensor on the clothes processing drum and obtain the weight of the clothes by measuring the electrical signal of the sensor, or to obtain the weight of the clothes by a weighing device. However, it should be noted that the method for obtaining the weight of the clothes can be set by those skilled in the art according to their needs. The present invention does not impose any restrictions on the method for obtaining the weight of the clothes. As long as the weight of the clothes can be obtained accurately, it should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0073] In another possible embodiment, the washing machine is further configured to supply hot, dry air into the laundry tub. Specifically, the washing machine includes a second air duct, which is equipped with a heater and communicates with the laundry tub, enabling the washing machine to operate in a high-temperature dehumidification mode. The high-temperature dehumidification mode specifically includes turning on the heater and controlling the laundry tub to rotate at a preset speed. However, the specific steps of the high-temperature dehumidification mode can be customized by those skilled in the art as needed, and the present invention does not impose any restrictions thereon, as long as the high-temperature dehumidification mode can supply hot, dry air into the laundry tub.

[0074] The control method also includes:

[0075] Steps: After the clothes are dehydrated, if the clothes are made of regular care material, or the clothes are made of special care material and the clothes weight is greater than the first preset weight, the high temperature dehumidification mode is run;

[0076] Steps: Get clothing humidity;

[0077] Step: When the humidity of the clothes is less than or equal to the first preset humidity, the high-temperature dehumidification mode is turned off and the low-temperature dehumidification mode is operated;

[0078] Steps: When the humidity of clothes is less than or equal to the second preset humidity, turn off the low-temperature dehumidification mode and run the fresh air mode.

[0079] The second preset humidity is lower than the first preset humidity.

[0080] When the user is in a hurry to wear clothes, the high-temperature dehumidification mode can be used to speed up the drying process. Specifically, when the clothes are made of regular care materials and do not require high drying temperatures, the high-temperature dehumidification function can be used for dehumidification. That is, the heater is turned on and hot dry air is introduced into the clothes treatment drum to dry the clothes, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the clothes. When the humidity of the clothes in the clothes treatment drum drops below a first preset humidity, it indicates that the clothes are in a semi-wet and semi-dry state. At this time, continuing high-temperature dehumidification will cause great damage to the clothes. Therefore, the high-temperature dehumidification mode is turned off and the low-temperature dehumidification mode is operated. That is, low-temperature air from the outside is introduced into the clothes treatment drum. The low-temperature air can dry the clothes without damaging them. Since the low-temperature dehumidification mode does not require air heating, it can save electricity. After a period of low-temperature dehumidification, when the clothes reach the target dryness, that is, when the humidity of the clothes is lower than the second preset humidity, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is turned off and the fresh air mode is operated. This prevents the user from forgetting to take out the clothes and causing bacteria to grow in the clothes treatment drum for a long time.

[0081] In addition, when the material of the clothes is special care material and the weight of the clothes is greater than the first preset weight, the high-temperature dehumidification mode can also be operated. Since there are a lot of clothes, the dry hot air will quickly evaporate the moisture on the clothes during the early high-temperature dehumidification, so that the temperature of the clothes will rise slowly, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the clothes while causing less damage to the clothes. However, as the humidity of the clothes decreases, the temperature of the clothes gradually increases. Therefore, when there are a lot of clothes, the high-temperature dehumidification mode is operated when the humidity of the clothes is high in the early stage. After the humidity of the clothes decreases a little, the low-temperature dehumidification mode is operated to dry the clothes at a low temperature. After the humidity of the clothes is reduced a little, the fresh air mode is operated until the humidity of the clothes reaches the target humidity. The combination of high-temperature dehumidification and low-temperature dehumidification can achieve the maximum drying efficiency with minimal damage and minimal energy consumption when the user is eager to wear clothes.

[0082] In summary, the present invention obtains the material of the clothes. When the material of the clothes is a special care material, the clothes are dried in a low-temperature dehumidification mode, thereby saving electricity and avoiding damage to the clothes caused by high temperature. Furthermore, when the clothes are made of regular care materials or there are a lot of clothes, they can be dried in a high-temperature dehumidification mode when the humidity is high in the early stage, and in a low-temperature dehumidification mode when the humidity is low in the later stage, thereby improving the drying efficiency and preventing damage to the clothes and reducing energy consumption. In addition, the present invention can also prevent the clothes from being retained in the clothes processing drum for a long time and breeding bacteria through the fresh air mode. After the washing machine finishes processing the clothes, the user can take the clothes out and dehumidify the clothes processing drum at a low temperature for a period of time, so that the inside of it can be dried quickly to prevent the occurrence of odors, mold, etc., thereby improving the user experience.

[0083] As stated in the first paragraph of this section, the above implementation mode is only used to illustrate the principles of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Without departing from the principles of the present invention, those skilled in the art can adjust the above structure so that the present invention can be applied to more specific application scenarios.

[0084] In addition, the present invention also provides a clothing processing device, which includes a controller and a memory, the memory is suitable for storing multiple program codes, and the program codes are suitable for being loaded and run by the controller to execute the control method of the clothing processing device in any of the above embodiments.

[0085] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the aforementioned clothing processing device also includes other known structures, such as a processor, a controller, and a memory. Memory includes, but is not limited to, random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, serial memory, parallel memory, or registers. Processors include, but are not limited to, CPLD / FPGA, DSP, ARM processor, MIPS processor, and the like. To unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the present disclosure, these known structures are not shown in the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the methods of the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention may also be accomplished through hardware associated with computer program instructions. The computer program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of each of the aforementioned method embodiments. The computer program includes computer program code, which may be in source code form, object code form, an executable file, or some intermediate form. Computer-readable storage media may include any entity or device, medium, USB flash drive, removable hard drive, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer memory, read-only memory, random access memory, electrical carrier signal, telecommunication signal, and software distribution medium, etc., capable of carrying the computer program code. It should be noted that the content contained in the computer-readable storage medium can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the requirements of legislation and patent practices in the jurisdiction. For example, in some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practices, computer-readable storage media do not include electrical carrier signals and telecommunication signals.

[0086] Furthermore, it should be understood that since the control modules are merely provided to illustrate the functional units of the system of the present invention, the physical device corresponding to the control module may be the processor itself, or a portion of the software in the processor, a portion of the hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. Therefore, the number of control modules can be configured as needed.

[0087] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the control module can be adaptively split. The specific splitting of the control module will not cause the technical solution to deviate from the principles of the present invention. Therefore, the technical solutions after the splitting will fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Although the various steps in the above embodiment are described in the above-mentioned order, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that in order to achieve the effect of this embodiment, the different steps do not have to be executed in such an order, and they can be executed simultaneously (in parallel) or in a reversed order.

[0088] Thus far, the technical solutions of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principles of the present invention, those skilled in the art may make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after such changes or substitutions will fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for a clothes processing device, characterized in that: The clothes processing device is configured to deliver low-temperature ambient air into the clothes processing drum; The control method comprises: Obtaining the material of the clothes in the clothes processing drum; A low-temperature dehumidification mode is selectively operated according to the material of the clothes; wherein the low-temperature dehumidification mode includes conveying external low-temperature air into the clothes processing drum.

2. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of "selectively running the low temperature dehumidification mode according to the clothing material" further includes: When the clothing material is special care material, the low temperature dehumidification mode is run for a preset time.

3. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before the step of "obtaining the material of the clothes in the clothes processing drum", the control method includes: Get the weight of the clothes; When the laundry weight is greater than the first preset weight, the fresh air mode will run for a preset time.

4. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The step of "obtaining the material of the clothes in the clothes processing drum" further includes: When the weight of the clothes is less than or equal to the first preset weight, the material of the clothes in the clothes processing drum is obtained.

5. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: Before the step of "obtaining the weight of the laundry", the control method includes: The laundry treating apparatus runs a conventional laundry treating program.

6. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The low temperature dehumidification mode further includes: The air outlet speed is controlled to be a first preset speed, and the clothes processing drum rotates at a first preset speed.

7. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The fresh air mode further includes: The wind speed is controlled to be a second preset wind speed, and the clothes processing drum rotates at a second preset speed; wherein the first preset speed is greater than the second preset speed, and the first preset wind speed is greater than the second preset wind speed.

8. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of "selectively running the low temperature dehumidification mode according to the clothing material" further includes: When the material of the clothing is regular care material, the fresh air mode is operated.

9. The control method of the clothes processing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The control method further comprises: The clothes treatment device runs a special clothes treatment program; After the clothes are dehydrated, the low-temperature dehumidification mode will be directly operated.

10. A clothes processing device, characterized in that: The laundry processing device comprises a controller and a memory, wherein the memory is suitable for storing a plurality of program codes, and the program codes are suitable for being loaded and run by the controller to execute the control method of the laundry processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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