Washing Machine Spin Control for Cabinet Strike Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Washing machine appliances face issues with unbalanced loads during the spin cycle, leading to undesirable vibrations, noise, and potential cabinet strikes due to misalignment, which existing measurement and rebalancing methods at low speeds cannot effectively predict or prevent.
Innovation Solution
A system that ramps the motor speed from 60 RPM to 90 RPM to assess average speed deviation and power consumption, comparing these values to thresholds to determine if a rebalancing process is needed before proceeding with standard operations, thereby preventing cabinet strikes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the drum is rotated at high speeds during spin cycle, then moisture removal efficiency is improved, but cabinet strike events and damage occur due to load imbalance
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary load balance assessment by measuring speed deviation and power consumption at a first speed before initiating the high-speed spin cycle. This preliminary action identifies imbalanced loads in advance, allowing the system to prevent cabinet strike events by avoiding high-speed operation when imbalance is detected, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and reliability
2Reliability
If measurement process operates at low dwelling speed, then cabinet strike risk is reduced, but cabinet strike events can still occur during measurement
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary load balance assessment by measuring speed deviation and power consumption at a first speed before initiating the high-speed spin cycle. This preliminary action identifies imbalanced loads in advance, allowing the system to prevent cabinet strike events by avoiding high-speed operation when imbalance is detected, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and reliability
3Reliability
If load rebalancing is performed, then cabinet strike prevention is improved, but operational time is increased due to additional process steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from speed deviation and power consumption measurements to determine whether load rebalancing is necessary. By continuously monitoring these parameters and comparing them against thresholds, the system only performs rebalancing when actually needed, thus improving reliability without unnecessarily increasing operational time
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for predicting and preventing a cabinet strike event in a washing machine appliance are provided. An exemplary method includes ramping a target speed of a motor from a first speed to a second speed over a ramping period. The method includes computing an average deviation of an observed speed of the motor from the target speed over the ramping period. The method includes computing an average power consumption by the motor over the ramping period. The method includes determining whether both the average deviation is greater than a first threshold value and the average power consumption is greater than a second threshold value. The method includes rebalancing the load if both the average deviation is greater than a first threshold value and the average power consumption is greater than a second threshold value. The method includes performing one or more standard operations if both conditions are not satisfied.