Method of controlling laundry treatment apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treatment apparatuses require complex sensors to detect overturning, which are difficult to recognize variations in inductance, necessitating a method to determine if the apparatus has been overturned without additional sensors.
Innovation Solution
A control method that measures the amount of current supplied to the driving unit to differentiate between the apparatus being upright and overturned, using predetermined reference values for current variations and weight measurements to determine if the apparatus has been overturned, and remeasures dynamic unbalance to ensure accurate detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sensor including a coil and a piece of metal is used to detect overturning, then the apparatus can determine whether it has been overturned, but the structure becomes complicated and the controller cannot recognize variation in the inductance of the coil
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the overturn detection function from a complex sensor system and implements it using the existing driving unit's current measurement capability. By removing the need for additional sensors and using only the current data already being measured by the controller, the solution eliminates structural complexity while maintaining detection reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The driving unit serves dual purposes: it not only drives the drum but also provides the current measurement data needed for overturn detection. The controller uses the same current measurements intended for motor control to simultaneously detect apparatus orientation, making the system self-sufficient without additional components
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If additional sensors are added to detect overturning, then the detection capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The existing current measurement system is made multi-functional by using it for both motor control and overturn detection. The same current data that controls the drum rotation also provides information about apparatus orientation, eliminating the need for dedicated detection sensors
Solution Approach 2:
The controller performs overturn detection using its own existing current measurement capability without requiring external sensing devices. The system serves its own detection needs through the data already being collected during normal operation
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
Enables determination of the apparatus' state without additional sensors, ensuring safe operation by accurately distinguishing between upright and overturned states based on current and weight measurements, thereby preventing damage from excessive vibration.
Implementation Method 1
a stator configured to generate a rotating field when current is supplied to the stator, a rotor configured to be rotated by the rotating field generated by the stator
Implementation Method 2
a drum provided in the tub for storing laundry... rotating the drum at a predetermined first number of rotations to measure the weight of the laundry stored in the drum
Data Source
AI summary
A control method of a laundry treatment apparatus is disclosed. The control method includes rotating the drum at a predetermined first number of rotations to measure the weight of the laundry stored in the drum (a laundry weight measurement step), rotating the drum at a predetermined second number of rotations to determine the magnitude of the dynamic unbalance of the drum (an unbalance measurement step), accelerating the drum to a target number of rotations, which is greater than the first number of rotations and the second number of rotations, when the magnitude of the dynamic unbalance measured at the unbalance measurement step is less than a predetermined reference value (an acceleration step), interrupting the rotation of the drum when the variation per unit time of current supplied to the stator during execution of the acceleration step is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference variation (a first interruption step), rotating the drum at the first number of rotations to determine the weight of the laundry stored in the drum (a laundry weight remeasurement step), and interrupting the rotation of the drum when the deviation between the laundry weight measured at the laundry weight remeasurement step and the laundry weight measured at the laundry weight measurement step is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference deviation (a second interruption step).