Laundry appliance and operating method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laundry washing machines often inefficiently assume the presence of a laundry ring and perform unnecessary loosening operations, which can be time-consuming, energy-intensive, and stressful on the machine, especially when dealing with varying load sizes, and may fail to detect light loads accurately.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that use motor current measurements at different rotational speeds to determine the presence of an undetached laundry ring, allowing for targeted loosening operations only when necessary, involving a controller-driven laundry washing machine with a current sensor to differentiate between loads with and without a laundry ring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If laundry ring loosening operations are performed to ensure proper load detachment, then the laundry ring detachment reliability is improved, but the washing cycle time and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of laundry ring presence by measuring motor current at different rotational speeds before initiating loosening operations. This preliminary action allows the system to determine whether loosening operations are actually needed, avoiding unnecessary time-consuming operations while ensuring proper detachment when a ring is present.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from motor current measurements to dynamically control the washing process. By continuously monitoring motor current at different rotational speeds and comparing it to reference values, the system receives feedback about laundry ring presence and adjusts its operations accordingly, performing loosening only when the feedback indicates a ring is present.
2Reliability
If laundry ring loosening operations are performed to ensure proper load detachment, then the laundry ring detachment reliability is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of laundry ring presence by measuring motor current at different rotational speeds before initiating loosening operations. This preliminary action allows the system to determine whether loosening operations are actually needed, avoiding unnecessary energy-consuming operations while ensuring proper detachment when a ring is present.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from motor current measurements to dynamically control the washing process. By continuously monitoring motor current at different rotational speeds and comparing it to reference values, the system receives feedback about laundry ring presence and adjusts its operations accordingly, performing loosening only when the feedback indicates a ring is present.
3Measurement precision
If motor current measurements are taken at multiple rotational speeds to detect laundry rings, then the detection accuracy is improved, but the measurement complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the existing motor and current sensor to perform multiple functions: normal washing operations and laundry ring detection. The motor serves both to wash clothes and to create the centrifugal force needed for detection, while the current sensor serves both to monitor motor operation and to detect laundry ring presence through current measurements at different rotational speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses its own operational characteristics (motor current at different speeds) to detect the presence of laundry rings. The washing machine essentially detects rings using itself as the detection instrument, leveraging the natural variation in motor current that occurs during normal operation at different rotational speeds without requiring external specialized detection equipment.
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
This approach allows for efficient detection and handling of laundry rings across various load sizes, reducing energy consumption and machine stress, while ensuring accurate detection even for light loads, thereby optimizing the washing cycle and improving machine performance.
Implementation Method 1
The rotational speed of the drum during the high speed spin may be greater than 1000 rpm... During the high speed spin, the laundry/clothes load is spread over the drum's inner surface around its circumference and compressed there-against
Implementation Method 2
A method and system that use motor current measurements at different rotational speeds to determine the presence of an undetached laundry ring
Implementation Method 3
the adhesive force of the load to the drum in some situations is sufficient, when the drum is subsequently stationary, to resist the weight of the load such that even the fabric at the top of the drum does not drop to the bottom of the drum under its own weight
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a laundry washing (or washing and drying) machine, and a machine so operated, for determining whether an undetached laundry ring is present within the drum at the end of a washing cycle. The method includes rotating the drum at first and second rotational speeds, respectively below and above the threshold speed at which the load is centrifugally held against the drum's surface, measuring motor current/torque at each speed and comparing the measured values. Optionally, a percentage change in current/torque can be calculated and the existence of the ring detected if the percentage change is above/below a predetermined threshold value. Optionally, speed variation of the drum at each threshold speed can be determined and this information also used in the determination of whether the ring exists.