Laundry Washing Machine Fluid Sensor for Dynamic Rinse Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laundry washing machines often experience suboptimal performance due to user inattentiveness or lack of understanding when manually selecting load types, leading to inefficient rinsing which can result in excessive water and energy consumption or residual detergent causing skin irritation.
Innovation Solution
A laundry washing machine equipped with a fluid property sensor to sense the detergent level during the wash cycle, controlling the rinse operation based on the sensed properties, allowing for dynamic adjustment of rinse profiles to ensure optimal detergent removal without unnecessary water or energy usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual load type selection is provided, then user interaction is simplified, but suboptimal performance occurs due to user inattentiveness or lack of understanding
Solution Approach 1:
The washing machine performs automated load type detection and rinse operation control without requiring manual user input. The system serves itself by automatically sensing detergent levels and adjusting rinse parameters, eliminating the reliability issues associated with manual user selection while maintaining ease of operation through automatic mode.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses fluid property sensors to continuously monitor detergent concentration in the wash water and provides feedback to the controller. This feedback loop enables real-time adjustment of rinse operations based on actual detergent levels, ensuring optimal performance regardless of user input accuracy.
2Reliability
If excessive rinsing is performed, then detergent removal is improved, but water and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rinse operation is dynamically adjusted based on real-time detergent level sensing. The system transitions from static, predetermined rinse cycles to dynamic control where rinse duration, water temperature, and water quantity are continuously adapted to match actual detergent concentration, achieving optimal detergent removal with minimal water and energy usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters (rinse water temperature, rinse water quantity, rinse duration) based on sensed detergent levels. When detergent concentration is low, the system reduces rinse intensity; when concentration is high, it intensifies rinsing, thereby optimizing the balance between detergent removal and resource consumption.
3Loss of energy
If insufficient rinsing is performed, then water and energy consumption is reduced, but residual detergent causes skin irritation
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid property sensor provides continuous feedback on detergent concentration, enabling the controller to adjust rinse operations in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures that rinsing continues until detergent levels are sufficiently low, preventing skin irritation while avoiding unnecessary water and energy consumption by stopping rinsing at the optimal point.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual judgment of when rinsing is sufficient with automated sensor-based detection. The fluid property sensor objectively measures detergent concentration, substituting human estimation with precise instrumental measurement to determine when residual detergent levels are safe for the user.
4Reliability
If automated rinse control based on fluid property sensing is implemented, then rinsing performance is optimized, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid property sensor serves multiple functions: it detects detergent concentration, monitors wash water quality, and provides data for both rinse operation control and cycle timing adjustments. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized sensors and control mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving optimized rinsing performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures optimal rinsing performance by dynamically adjusting rinse operations based on detergent levels, reducing water and energy consumption while preventing skin irritation from residual detergent, thus enhancing user convenience and machine efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid property sensor configured to sense a fluid property that varies with an amount of detergent in fluid from the wash tub
Implementation Method 2
spin the wash basket to cause fluid to be released from the load and into the wash tub
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry washing machine and method utilize a fluid property sensor to sense a fluid property of a fluid during a wash cycle to sense the level of detergent remaining in a load and control a rinse operation performed thereafter based upon the sensed fluid property. In some instances, the fluid property may be sensed while the load is being spun at a rate sufficient to cause fluid to be released from the load such that the sensed fluid property is based at least in part on fluid that was previously absorbed into the load. In addition, in some instances, the fluid property may be sensed during a spin phase of a wash cycle to selectively cause a wash cycle to selectively revert to an additional rinse phase when required, or otherwise proceed directly to the remainder of the spin phase to complete the wash cycle.