Defoaming method for laundry treatment device, and laundry treatment device

Abstract

A defoaming method for a laundry treatment device, and a laundry treatment device. The method comprises a first defoaming procedure, a second defoaming procedure and a water-removal pulse process, the first defoaming procedure, the water-removal pulse process and the second defoaming procedure being sequentially executed. The water-removal pulse process comprises controlling a drum to rotate at a first rotational speed, wherein the first rotational speed is a rotational speed at which water can be removed from laundry inside the drum. The first defoaming procedure and the second defoaming procedure comprise: monitoring the amount of foam inside the drum, and if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam inside the drum is greater than or equal to a set threshold, executing a defoaming process; and during execution of the defoaming process, monitoring the amount of foam inside the drum, and if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam inside the drum is less than the set threshold or the execution duration of the defoaming process reaches a set time length, terminating the first defoaming procedure or the second defoaming procedure. Primary defoaming is performed first; water containing foam and foam are then squeezed out of laundry by means of water-removal pulses; and secondary defoaming is then performed, thus improving the cleaning ratio.

Description

Defoaming method of laundry treating apparatus and laundry treating apparatus TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of household appliances, and in particular relates to a defoaming method of a laundry treating apparatus and a laundry treating apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0002] In modern life, laundry treating apparatus has become an indispensable household appliance in people's daily life. With the continuous progress of science and technology, the functions of laundry treating apparatus are also constantly enriched and improved. However, in the process of using laundry treating apparatus, the problem of foam has always been a difficult problem that troubles users and manufacturers.

[0003] Excessive detergent produces a large amount of foam, and if the foam cannot be handled in time and effectively, it will bring a series of adverse effects. On the one hand, too much foam may overflow the laundry treating apparatus, causing pollution to the surrounding environment, and also increasing the cleaning burden of the user. On the other hand, foam will affect the washing effect of the laundry treating apparatus. Foam will hinder the full contact of laundry with washing water, reduce the cleaning ability of detergent, so that the laundry cannot be thoroughly washed. In addition, foam may also cause damage to the internal structure of the laundry treating apparatus, affect its normal operation, and reduce the service life of the laundry treating apparatus. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a defoaming method of a laundry treating apparatus. The dehydration pulse process is added to simulate the user squeezing the foam-containing water in the laundry when washing the laundry by hand. The laundry treating apparatus sequentially executes a first defoaming program, a dehydration pulse process, and a second defoaming program. The first defoaming is performed, and then the foam-containing water in the laundry is squeezed out through the dehydration pulse, and the second defoaming is performed to realize fast and effective defoaming and improve the cleaning ratio.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the basic idea of the technical solution of the present application is:

[0006] A defoaming method of a laundry treating apparatus, comprising a first defoaming program, a second defoaming program and a dehydration pulse process, sequentially executing the first defoaming program, the dehydration pulse process and the second defoaming program.

[0007] Among them, the dehydration pulse process is to control the cylinder to rotate at a first speed; the first speed is the rotation speed of the cylinder that can dehydrate the laundry.

[0008] Further, the first defoaming program and the second defoaming program comprise,

[0009] monitoring the amount of foam in the cylinder, and if it is judged that the monitored amount of foam in the cylinder is greater than or equal to a set threshold, performing a defoaming process,

[0010] In the execution of the defoaming process, the amount of foam in the drum is monitored, and if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is less than the set threshold value or the execution time of the defoaming process reaches the set time, the first defoaming program or the second defoaming program is ended.

[0011] Further, if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is less than the set threshold value, the first defoaming program is ended and the dewatering pulse process is executed or the second defoaming program is ended.

[0012] Further, the defoaming process is to open the rinsing nozzle for rinsing defoaming and open the drainage pump, and control the clothes treatment apparatus to operate at a set rotation speed and rotation stop ratio.

[0013] Further, the dewatering pulse process is executed, including gradually increasing the rotation speed of the drum to the first rotation speed, and controlling the drum to rotate at the first rotation speed.

[0014] Further, it further includes that after the second defoaming program is ended, a dewatering program is executed.

[0015] Further, it further includes at least one drainage program, and after the drainage program is ended, the first defoaming program, the dewatering pulse process and the second defoaming program are sequentially executed.

[0016] Further, during the execution of the dewatering program, if it is monitored that the amount of foam in the drum is greater than or equal to the foam threshold value, the dewatering program is ended and the first defoaming program, the dewatering pulse process and the second defoaming program are sequentially executed repeatedly.

[0017] Further, the monitoring of the amount of foam in the drum and the monitoring of the amount of foam in the drum at least include acquiring a foam image in the drum, and obtaining the amount of foam in the drum according to the foam image.

[0018] A clothes treatment apparatus adopts the defoaming method of the clothes treatment apparatus described above, and includes an inner drum and a defoaming device, the defoaming device including an image acquisition device and a rinsing nozzle.

[0019] After the above technical solution is adopted, the present application has the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art.

[0020] 1. The water with foam in the clothes is squeezed out through the dewatering pulse process, and the clothes treatment apparatus sequentially executes the first defoaming program, the dewatering pulse process and the second defoaming program, the water with foam in the clothes is squeezed out through the dewatering pulse after the first defoaming is ended, and then the second defoaming program is performed to realize fast and effective defoaming.

[0021] 2、By executing the defoaming process when the foam reaches the first set value, the interference of the foam to the washing process can be effectively reduced. The rotation speed and rotation stop ratio in the defoaming process are small, which ensures the clothes to be turned over, avoids the rinsing nozzle to rinse the same position all the time, and avoids the influence of the residual foam on the clothes cleaning effect.

[0022] 3、The rotation speed of the dehydration pulse program is the minimum rotation speed at which the clothes can drain water, which is beneficial to squeeze out the water with foam on the clothes and remove part of the foam, and then perform the second defoaming program, so as to facilitate defoaming of the foam generated in the dehydration pulse process.

[0023] The specific embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] The accompanying drawings are part of the present application and serve to provide a further understanding of the present application, the schematic embodiments of the present application and the description thereof serve to explain the present application, but do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor. In the drawings:

[0025] Fig. 1 is a defoaming method flowchart of a clothes treatment device (I);

[0026] Fig. 2 is a defoaming method flowchart of a clothes treatment device (II);

[0027] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a clothes treatment device; 1, image acquisition device; 2, spraying head; 3, rinsing nozzle; 4, clothes treatment device; 5, glass window.

[0028] It should be noted that these drawings and written descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the concept of the present application in any way, but to illustrate the concept of the present application to those skilled in the art by referring to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the technical scheme in the embodiments will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present application, but not to limit the scope of the present application.

[0030] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the directions or position relationships indicated by the terms “in”, “out” and the like are based on the directions or position relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application in that the devices or elements indicated must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction.

[0031] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that unless specifically stated and limited otherwise, the terms "mounting", "connecting", "connecting", "contacting", "communication" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixed connection, or detachable connection, or integral connection; it can be mechanical connection, or electrical connection; it can be direct connection, or indirect connection through intermediate medium. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0032] Embodiment one

[0033] The present embodiment provides a defoaming method of a clothes treatment apparatus.

[0034] When a user washes clothes using a clothes treatment apparatus, the user usually adopts a manual detergent dispensing method. However, since the user's cognition of the amount of detergent to be dispensed is relatively vague, the user often dispenses an excessive amount of detergent when manually dispensing the detergent. If the clothes to be washed by the user are not seriously soiled, the excessive detergent will not only remove the dirt on the clothes, but also generate a large amount of foam. In particular, in some heatable washing modes, the higher the temperature, the more foam is generated. The excessive foam will fill the drum of the clothes treatment apparatus, causing the clothes treatment apparatus to be unable to normally spin-dry. At the same time, the elimination of the foam is time-consuming, and only water inletting cannot eliminate the foam in the drum, but rather increases the foam.

[0035] To solve the above problems, the present embodiment provides a defoaming method of a clothes treatment apparatus, which includes a first defoaming program, a second defoaming program, and a spin-dry pulse process. The first defoaming program, the spin-dry pulse process, and the second defoaming program are executed in sequence. The spin-dry pulse process is to control the drum to rotate at a first rotational speed, which is the lowest rotational speed at which the clothes in the drum can be spin-dried. The first defoaming program and the second defoaming program are specifically as follows: when it is judged that the foam in the drum is greater than or equal to a set threshold, a defoaming process is performed; and when it is judged that the foam in the drum is less than the set threshold or the execution time of the defoaming process reaches a set time, the first defoaming program and the second defoaming program are ended.

[0036] By first performing the first defoaming program, the amount of foam in the drum is initially reduced. Further, through the spin-dry pulse process, the water with foam in the clothes is squeezed out by using the lowest spin-dryable rotational speed, thereby further reducing the foam content. Then, the second defoaming program is performed, so that rapid and effective defoaming is achieved. The wash ratio is improved, so that the clothes treatment apparatus can more efficiently remove foam during the washing process, improve the washing effect, and also avoid the problem that the clothes treatment apparatus cannot normally spin-dry due to excessive foam.

[0037] In some schemes of the embodiment, the operation of the laundry treating apparatus includes multiple drainage stages, and as the steps of washing, rinsing, etc. are performed, the interaction of the detergent, the stains and the water will continuously generate foam. If the foam is not timely treated, the foam will accumulate in the drum.

[0038] Therefore, the foam in the drum of the laundry treating apparatus is defoamed after each drainage stage, and the defoaming method of the defoaming treatment is shown in FIG. 1, in which a first defoaming program, a dehydration pulse process, and a second defoaming program are sequentially performed.

[0039] By performing the defoaming treatment after the drainage stage, the interference of the foam on the washing process is reduced, and it is ensured that the detergent can better play a role.

[0040] After the first defoaming program, the amount of foam is preliminarily reduced, and then the dehydration pulse process is performed to squeeze out the water with foam in the laundry, thereby further reducing the content of the foam. However, in the dehydration pulse process, foam is generated as the water with foam in the laundry is squeezed out, and therefore the second defoaming program is performed to achieve rapid and effective defoaming. In this way, it is ensured that the laundry is not wrapped by too much foam in the washing process, so that the detergent can fully act on the laundry, the washing ratio is improved, and the washing quality is improved. By performing the defoaming treatment after each drainage stage, the foam can be timely removed, and the foam is prevented from filling the drum of the laundry treating apparatus, so that each program of the laundry treating apparatus can be smoothly performed.

[0041] In the dehydration pulse process, the drum is controlled to rotate at a first rotational speed, and the first rotational speed is a rotational speed at which the laundry in the drum can be dehydrated.

[0042] For example, when the laundry treating apparatus performs a dehydration program, the rotational speed of the drum of the laundry treating apparatus can reach 500 rpm per minute or a higher rotational speed to achieve efficient dehydration, and a certain centrifugal force is generated on the laundry. In the dehydration pulse process, the first rotational speed is a low rotational speed at which the laundry can be dehydrated, for example, 150 rpm, 200 rpm, 300 rpm, or 400 rpm. Before the rotational speed is increased to the pulse rotational speed, the laundry needs to be distributed to a small eccentric state, and then the rotational speed is gradually increased to avoid the collision of the drum caused by the large eccentricity of the laundry. Moreover, the time of the dehydration pulse process is much smaller than the running time of the normal dehydration program, so that the rotation of the drum can ensure that the laundry is tumbled in the drum.

[0043] The dehydration pulse process includes gradually increasing the rotational speed of the drum to the first rotational speed and controlling the drum to rotate at the first rotational speed, which is beneficial to squeeze out the water with foam on the laundry and remove part of the foam. Then, the second defoaming program is performed to facilitate the defoaming of the foam generated in the dehydration pulse process.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 2, the first defoaming procedure and the second defoaming procedure include monitoring the amount of foam in the drum, if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is greater than or equal to a set threshold, a defoaming process is performed, and during the defoaming process, the amount of foam in the drum is monitored, if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is less than the set threshold or the defoaming process is performed for a set time, the first defoaming procedure or the second defoaming procedure is ended.

[0045] If it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is less than the set threshold, the first defoaming procedure is ended and a dehydration pulse process is performed or the second defoaming procedure is ended. During the defoaming process, the foam is washed and drained.

[0046] The defoaming process is to open the washing nozzle to wash and defoam and open the drainage pump, and control the laundry treatment apparatus to operate at a set rotational speed and rotational stop ratio. Through the above process, part of the foam on the surface and inside the laundry is dissolved and washed away by water, at this time, the water in the laundry is in a saturated state, simulating the process of manually washing clothes, at this time, the water with foam on the laundry needs to be squeezed out, which can remove part of the foam, so the dehydration pulse process needs to be performed. The dehydration pulse process serves to squeeze out the water on the laundry.

[0047] In the case of a large amount of foam in the drum, a large rotational speed and rotational stop ratio of the defoaming process will generate more foam, which is not conducive to defoaming, so the rotational speed and rotational stop ratio of the drum during the defoaming process are small, for example, during normal washing or dehydration, the rotational speed can reach 800 rpm per minute, or rotate at a higher speed, while during the defoaming process, the rotational speed is only 50-100 rpm per minute. In addition, for example, a large rotational stop ratio is 30 seconds of rotation and 10 seconds of stop, while during the defoaming process, the rotational stop ratio is at least 5 seconds of rotation and 10 seconds of stop. Such settings can make the drum of the laundry treatment apparatus as gentle as possible when rotating, reducing disturbance to the foam, thereby more conducive to the elimination of foam. At the same time, the longer stop time also gives the foam more time to naturally break and dissipate, improving the efficiency and effect of defoaming.

[0048] The washing procedure includes at least a main washing procedure, a rinsing procedure, a draining procedure, and a dehydration procedure, a large amount of foam is generated during the main washing procedure; after the draining procedure is ended and before the dehydration procedure is performed, the first defoaming procedure, the dehydration pulse process, and the second defoaming procedure are sequentially performed, after the second defoaming procedure is ended, the dehydration procedure is performed, and during the dehydration procedure, if it is monitored that the amount of foam in the drum is greater than or equal to a foam threshold, the dehydration procedure is ended and the first defoaming procedure, the dehydration pulse process, and the second defoaming procedure are sequentially repeated.

[0049] In some embodiments of the present embodiment, the set threshold value includes at least a first set threshold value and a second set threshold value, wherein the set threshold value is determined at least according to the height of the foam in the drum of the laundry treatment apparatus, for example, the first set threshold value is that the height of the foam reaches one third of the height of the drum, and the second set threshold value is that the height of the foam reaches one fifth of the height of the drum.

[0050] When the foam in the drum is greater than or equal to the first set threshold value, the first defoaming program is run; after the first defoaming program is run, the dehydration pulse process is executed, and when it is monitored that the foam in the drum is greater than or equal to the second set threshold value and less than the first set threshold value, the second defoaming program is run.

[0051] After the execution of the pulse process is completed, it is monitored that the foam in the drum is less than the second set threshold value, and then the dehydration program is directly executed.

[0052] In some embodiments of the present embodiment, the entire washing process is at least sequentially executing a main washing program, a first drainage program, a dehydration program, a first rinsing program, a second drainage program, a dehydration program, a second rinsing program, a third drainage program, and a dehydration program, wherein the second rinsing program is configured to be a softening rinsing, and the softening agent is flushed into the drum,

[0053] If it is monitored that the amount of foam in the drum is greater than or equal to the set threshold value before the execution of the second rinsing program, the first rinsing program is executed again to avoid that there is still foam on the laundry after the last rinsing is completed, and the second rinsing program is executed after the foam is washed clean.

[0054] The monitoring of the amount of foam in the drum includes at least acquiring a foam image in the drum and obtaining the amount of foam in the drum according to the foam image, which includes the following steps,

[0055] Image acquisition: first, a high-resolution camera or camera system is installed above the drum of the laundry treatment apparatus to clearly capture the position of the foam in the drum. The camera can be set to acquire the amount of foam in the drum in real time or can be set to acquire the amount of foam in the drum at a set time interval.

[0056] Image processing: the image processing algorithm processes the acquired image, at least including image enhancement, denoising and binarization, etc., so as to better separate the foam region.

[0057] Target recognition and segmentation: computer vision techniques such as edge monitoring, region growing or deep learning models such as convolutional neural networks are used to accurately segment the foam in the image and distinguish it from the background.

[0058] Measurement calculation: the segmented image is analyzed, and the amount of foam is obtained by the pixel difference between consecutive frames.

[0059] The foam amount is obtained by interframe difference calculation with a clean image without foam in the laundry treatment device as a background image and a real-time acquired image as a foreground image.

[0060] Embodiment two

[0061] The embodiment provides a laundry treatment device for implementing the defoaming method of the laundry treatment device in the above embodiment one,

[0062] As shown in FIG. 3, the laundry treatment device 4 comprises a defoaming device, which comprises an image acquisition device 1, a spraying head 2 and a flushing nozzle 3. Taking a drum washing machine as an example, the drum washing machine further comprises a glass window 5 installed on a door body; the image acquisition device 1 is used for acquiring a drum foam image.

[0063] The spraying head 2 is used for flushing the foam remaining on the glass window 5 and the foam in the window gasket gap.

[0064] During the execution of the last dehydration program, the image acquisition device monitors whether there is foam remaining on the glass window and the window gasket gap of the glass window. If not, the dehydration program is executed normally; if it is monitored that there is foam remaining on the glass window and the window gasket gap of the glass window, the rotation speed of the drum is reduced from the current rotation speed to a low rotation speed, the low rotation speed is 90 rpm-110 rpm, preferably 93 rpm or 105 rpm, the spraying valve is opened for flushing, and the dehydration is performed after it is monitored that there is no foam remaining, so as to spin out the water in the laundry.

[0065] The flushing nozzle 3 is installed above the glass window 5, uniformly sprays water to the laundry in the drum, and flushes the foam on the laundry in the drum.

[0066] The image acquisition device 1 refers to a hardware device used for capturing, converting and recording picture data or video data. It can be a sensor or a camera. Its working principle is to convert light into digital signals, which are processed and stored by a built-in processor. The image acquisition device in the embodiment can acquire static picture data or dynamic video data.

[0067] The above only describes the preferred embodiments of the present application and does not limit the present application in any form. Although the present application has been disclosed as the above preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present application. Any skilled person in the art can make some changes or modifications to the above-mentioned technical content without departing from the technical solution of the present application to obtain equivalent embodiments with equivalent changes. Any simple modification, equivalent change and modification of the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present application are still within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of defoaming a laundry treating apparatus, characterized by, The method comprises a first defoaming procedure, a second defoaming procedure and a dehydration pulse process, and the first defoaming procedure, the dehydration pulse process and the second defoaming procedure are executed in sequence. The dehydration pulse process is to control the drum to rotate at a first rotating speed, and the first rotating speed is a rotating speed at which the laundry in the drum can be dehydrated.

2. The defoaming method of a laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first defoaming procedure and the second defoaming procedure comprise, monitoring the amount of foam in the drum, and if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is greater than or equal to a set threshold, executing a defoaming process, In the defoaming process, the amount of foam in the drum is monitored, and if it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is less than the set threshold or the execution time of the defoaming process reaches a set time, the first defoaming procedure or the second defoaming procedure is ended. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein, If it is determined that the monitored amount of foam in the drum is less than the set threshold, the first defoaming procedure is ended and the dehydration pulse process is executed or the second defoaming procedure is ended. 4.The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein, The defoaming process is to open the rinsing nozzle to perform rinsing defoaming and open the drainage pump, and control the laundry treatment device to operate at a set rotating speed and rotating stop ratio.

5. The defoaming method of a laundry treating apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that, The dehydration pulse process is executed, which comprises gradually increasing the rotating speed of the drum to the first rotating speed and controlling the drum to rotate at the first rotating speed. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein, The method further comprises executing a dehydration process after the second defoaming procedure is ended.

7. The method of claim 1-6, wherein the method is a method of defoaming a laundry treating apparatus, characterized in that, The method further comprises at least one drainage process, and after the drainage process is ended, the first defoaming procedure, the dehydration pulse process and the second defoaming procedure are executed in sequence. 8.The method of claim 7, wherein, During the execution of the dehydration process, if it is monitored that the amount of foam in the drum is greater than or equal to the foam threshold, the dehydration process is ended and the first defoaming procedure, the dehydration pulse process and the second defoaming procedure are executed in sequence repeatedly.

9. The method of claim 2-4, wherein the method is a method of defoaming a laundry treating apparatus, characterized in that, The monitoring of the amount of foam in the drum and the monitoring of the amount of foam in the drum at least comprise acquiring a foam image in the drum and obtaining the amount of foam in the drum according to the foam image. 10.A laundry treating apparatus, characterized by, A defoaming method for a laundry treatment device according to any one of claims 1-9.

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