Patent Application
20100024490
For a wash process of a washing machine, the water level in the tub may be set based on the size of a fabric load and, sometimes, the fabric type of the fabric load, if this information is available. The more cost effective solution from a cost of the washing machine perspective is to have the size of the user manually input the fabric load information through a user interface; although from the perspective of convenience to the user, it may be desirable to have the washing machine automatically determine this. For manual input by the user, the user may oftentimes overestimate or underestimate the load size, thereby resulting in too much or too little water, respectively, for the wash process. Too much water is wasteful, and too little water may lead to an insufficient wash performance and/or other negative implications.
Many methods are known for the washing machine to automatically determine the load size and/or fabric type, such as by employing an output of the motor that drives the drum within the tub and the agitator within the drum. However, these systems depend on additional motor sensors, such as motor torque, and the associated hardware, such as multiple or variable speed motors, and their electronics, such as the motor controller, which naturally increase the cost of the machine. These associated additional costs are often unacceptable. Therefore, many machines have motors that do not provide output useful for determining load size or have other limitations that preclude or make undesirable known methods for automatically determining load size.
A method and apparatus for determining the laundry load size according to one embodiment of the invention in an automatic clothes washer comprising supplying water to a reference water level to define a first amount of water, supplying water from the reference water level to a second water level above the reference water level and sufficient to submerge the laundry load to define a second amount of water, and determining a load size for the laundry load based on the second amount of water such that errors associated with the first amount of water are not considered in the load size determination based on the second amount of water.
In the drawings:
Referring now to the figures,
The washing machine 10 may include a cabinet or housing 12, an imperforate tub 14 having a sump 16, a perforated basket or drum 18 mounted within and rotatable relative to the tub 14 and defining a laundry chamber for receiving a laundry load, and an agitator 20 mounted within and rotatable relative to and/or with the basket 16. The exemplary agitator 20 may have a lower circular base or skirt portion 22, a central shaft 24 extending upwardly from the base 22, and a plurality of vanes or blades 26 spaced around and extending radially from the central shaft 24 with the lower edge of each blade 26 spaced above the base 22. A variety of other designs for the agitator 20 may also be used, or the agitator 20 may be omitted altogether without affecting the scope of the invention. The basket 18 and/or the agitator 20 may be driven by an electrical motor 28 operably connected via a transmission 30 to the basket 18 and/or the agitator 20. The transmission 30 may be a gear driven direct drive. The motor may be an induction motor, which may be coupled to a transmission 30. Other motors, such as brushless permanent magnet (BPM) or a permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor may be used. Similarly, drive systems, other than a transmission 30, may be used. Illustrative examples of which include direct drives or belt drives. A selectively openable lid 32 may be provided on the top of the cabinet 12 to provide access into the basket 18 through the open top of the basket 18. A user interface 34, which may be located on a console 36, may include one or more knobs, switches, displays, and the like for communicating with the user, such as to receive input and provide output.
A spraying system 40 may be provided to spray liquid, such as water or a combination of water and one or more wash aids, such as detergent, into the open top of the basket 18 and onto the top of any fabric or laundry load placed within the basket 18. The spraying system 40 may be configured to supply water directly from a household water supply and/or from the tub 14 and spray it onto the fabric load. The spraying system 40 may also be configured to recirculate liquid from the tub 14, including the sump 16 in the tub 14, and spray it onto the top of the fabric load. Other embodiments of the invention may use other water delivery techniques known to those skilled in the art. As used herein, the terms water and liquid are interchangeable and may refer to water or a combination of water and wash aid, including detergents, bleaches, and other wash or rinse aids.
As illustrated, the spraying system 40 may have one or more spray heads 42 directed into the open top of the basket 18. A liquid supply line (not shown) supplies liquid to a distribution manifold 44 integrated with the balancing ring to effect the supply of liquid to the spray heads 42. The supply line may be fluidly coupled to either or both of the household water supply or the tub 14 as previously described. When liquid is supplied to the supply line from either the household supply or the tub 14, the liquid may be directed to the spray heads 42 through the manifold 44 and then be emitted through the spray heads 42 into the open top of the basket 18 and onto any fabric load in the basket 18.
If the number, location, and coverage of the spray heads 42 is insufficient to substantially cover the basket 18, the basket may be rotated so that the fabric load is rotated beneath the spray heads 42 for a more even wetting. However, the number of spray heads 42 and their location may be selected to control their spray coverage such that they sufficiently evenly wet the fabric load in the basket 18 without the need for rotating the basket 18, which likely reduces the cost and complexity of the motor 28, transmission 30, and controller 56.
Referring now to
When the water supply control 50 controls the supply of water to the tub 14, the level of water in the tub 14 may be detected by the water level sensor 54, which may be positioned in any suitable location for detection of the water level in the tub 14. The water level sensor 54 may be any suitable type of water level sensor, such as a pressure sensor, including a dome-type pressure sensor or a float-type sensor, as is well-known in the art and illustrated in the drawings.
In the embodiment illustrated in
Referring back to
The washing machine 10 shown in the figures and described herein is a vertical axis washing machine. As used herein, the “vertical axis” washing machine refers to a washing machine having a rotatable drum that rotates about a generally vertical axis relative to a surface that supports the washing machine. However, the rotational axis need not be vertical; the drum may rotate about an axis inclined relative to the vertical axis. Typically, the drum is perforate or imperforate and holds fabric items and a fabric moving element, such as an agitator, impeller, pulsator, infuser, nutator, and ribbing or baffles on the interior wall of the basket or drum, and the like, that induces movement of the fabric items to impart mechanical energy directly to the fabric articles or indirectly through wash water in the drum for cleaning action. The clothes mover is typically moved in a reciprocating rotational movement, although non-reciprocating movement is also possible.
Although the washing machine 10 is a vertical axis washing machine, the methods described below may be employed in any suitable washing machine having a fabric moving element, including washing machines other than vertical axis washing machines. As used herein, “agitator” refers to any type of fabric moving element and is not limited to the structure commonly associated with an agitator, such as the structure shown in
A washing machine may perform one or more manual or automatic operation cycles, and a common operation cycle includes a wash process, a rinse process, and a spin extraction process. Other processes for operation cycles include, but are not limited to, intermediate extraction processes, such as between the wash and rinse processes, and a pre-wash process preceding the wash process, and some operation cycles include only a select one or more of these exemplary processes. Regardless of the processes employed in the operation cycle, the methods described below may relate to determining a size of the fabric load for a process in the operation cycle.
As illustrated the motor 28 and transmission 30, while economical and functional, are not capable of more advanced load size determination methodologies, such as inertia determination based on motor torque data obtained from the motor current. The motor control provides for only a single speed of operation for the motor 28. There is mechanical noise from the clutch and brake that would interfere with such a control. There is no feedback from the motor power signal. The drain pump is also driven by the motor 28, which will cause pump draining when the basket is spun. For this type of configuration, other load size methods must be used, especially something other than relying on the motor torque signal.
In general, the method 100 may employ the water level sensor 54 and the water flow sensor 52 during supply of water to the tub 14 to determine laundry load size. The water supply control 50 supplies water to preset water levels in the tub 14, which may be detected by the water level sensor 54, and the water flow sensor 52 determines the amount of water actually supplied to the tub 14 to reach the preset water levels. The amounts of water supplied to reach each of the preset water levels may be employed to determine the laundry load size. According to one embodiment of the invention, the preset water levels may be selected according to water absorption and displacement behavior of the laundry load, as will be described in more detail below.
The flow chart in
Prior to examining the specific steps in the method 100, the general approach of the method will be described for ease of understanding the specific example. The method 100 determines a qualitative or relative load size based on the amount of supplied water and the resulting water level in the tub 14. However, there may not be correspondence between the amount of supplied water and the resulting water level because of a variety of sources of error. The supplied water rarely results in a corresponding increase in the water level, that is, a one-to-one relationship between volume of supplied water and volumetric increase of the water level in the tub 14, until the clothes load is fully saturated and any interstitial spaces between the clothes items are filled with water. The method 100 takes into account many of the sources of error, especially those errors that are great enough to effect the load size determination.
One source of error is variation in the absorbency of the clothes load. Different clothes have different water absorption characteristics. For example, cottons will absorb more water than most synthetics. Therefore, the synthetic type load generally may have the tendency to be classified as smaller load size comparing to the same weight of cotton type load based on absorption method. In some cases, depending on the fabric mix, a smaller load of highly absorbent fabrics may absorb more than a larger load of less absorbent fabrics.
One source of error is the inlet 58 height respective to sump bottom due to the manufacturing process variation, which will affect the relationship between the amount of supplied water and the resulting water level. The higher the inlet 58 position is, the more water will be needed to satisfy the set water level.
The physical setup and operation of the washing machine 10 may also introduce error into the relationship between the amount of supplied water and the resulting water level. In a properly working and properly level machine, a known amount of water is required to raise the water level to a sensing water level S (
Another source of error may be residual water in the sump. Under normal operation, a drain pump, which is normally located in the sump 16, will drain most to all of the water from the sump 16 after the completion of an operational cycle. However, not all washing machines drain all of the water either purposefully or accidentally. For example, an improperly working or installed drain pump will often leave some residual water in the sump. The residual water will cause the water level to reach the sensing water level sooner than it would if the water was completely drained, which tends to cause an underestimation of the load size when using a water supply and resulting water level method.
All of these sources of error can be thought of as “noise” in the system related to the accuracy of the water level seen by the water level sensor 54. Additional noise can come from the quality of the signal from the water level sensor 54 to the controller 60. The method 100 addresses many of these sources of noise in the system such that the amount of water supplied and its resulting level may be used to accurately determine clothes load size.
The method 100 begins with a step 102 of supplying water to the tub 14, such as via the spraying system 40, to the sensing water level S, which may be a level of water corresponding to a first sensible or meaningful water level that can be sensed by the water level sensor 54. As mentioned above, in the configuration of washing machine 10 of
Thus, the actual water level corresponding to the sensing water level S may vary depending on the washing machine configuration and the type and location of the water level sensor 54 and may even vary for different operational cycles on the same washing machine. In the configuration of the washing machine 10 in the figures, the sensing water level S is a water level positioned in the sump 16 of the tub 14 at or above the inlet 58 to the water level sensor 54, as illustrated in
Once the water reaches the sensing water level S, the water level sensor 54 is able to detect the water level in the tub 14, and the water supply continues at a step 104 to a reference water level A (
The reference water level A is at least higher than the sensing water level S and may be a water level sufficiently high such that the sump 16 is full. In the illustrated embodiment of
Furthermore, the water level A may be selected such that when the water reaches the reference water level A, the laundry load in the basket 18 may have absorbed an amount of water at or near a maximum limit of absorption for the laundry load. In other words, the laundry load may be fully saturated or nearly fully saturated whereby any additional amount of water that the laundry load is able to absorb is negligible compared to the total amount of water that the laundry load is capable of absorbing. This condition may be referred to as effectively saturated, which is when the laundry load is sufficiently saturated such that any more absorption will not substantially negatively impact the accuracy of the load size determination for the resolution of the system. At the reference water level A, some or all of the laundry load, depending on the size of the laundry load, may be located below the reference water level A. Effective saturation may occur even though some of the laundry load may be positioned above the reference water level A because the water supply to the tub 14 may be directed onto the laundry load in the basket 18, as described above.
Meanwhile, the water flow sensor 52 determines the amount of water supplied to the tub 14 to reach the reference water level A. As the water is supplied to the tub 14, the water not only begins to fill the tub 14 but is also absorbed by the laundry load in the basket 18. Thus, the total amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A is a combination of water that fills the space in the tub below the reference water level A and the water absorbed by the laundry load. Because the space in the tub below the reference water level A is known and consistent among different laundry loads, the amount water needed to fill that space is consistent among different laundry loads. Variation in the amount of water amount of water supplied to the tub 14 to reach the reference water level A, therefore, may be attributed to the load size and fabric type according to absorbency characteristics of the laundry load, i.e., all other things being equal, a larger load absorbs more water than a smaller load and requires more water to reach the water level A. Thus, the method 100 employs the amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A, which relates to the absorbency of the laundry load, to determine whether the laundry load corresponds to a first qualitative load size at a step 106. In practice, the time to reach water level A is particularly useful to determine if an extra large load is present because such a load will absorb almost all of the water introduced by this time.
The amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A may be employed to determine an absorption value of the laundry load, and the load size may be determined, in turn, on the absorption value. The absorption value may be any value related to the absorbency of the fabric load and may simply be the amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A, in which case, the load size may be determined directly from the amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A, which may be determined by the water flow sensor 52. Alternatively, the amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A may be manipulated in a desired manner to obtain the absorption value, which may then be employed to determine the load size. In cases where the water flow sensor 52 is a wheel that rotates in the flow of water, the number of rotations or “count” may be used as the absorption value, which is supplied to the controller 60, which looks up the count in a data table stored in the controller 60. The data table may include a count range for different qualitative load sizes and the match the actual count to the count range to make a load size determination. Different data tables may be provided for different fill levels.
At step 106, a first qualitative load size may be determined. The first qualitative load size references a first determination. In some cases a first qualitative load size involves selecting between different qualitative load sizes. For example, in the method 100, the first qualitative load size may comprise an extra small load size and an extra large load size because both of these qualitative load sizes may be determined or ruled out depending on the absorption value. The use of the absorbency characteristics of the laundry load during the water supply to the reference level A may be suited to determine whether the laundry load is extra small or extra large, i.e., relative extremes on a load size scale, as compared to load sizes between extra small and extra large because the load size may dominate at these extreme load sizes with respect to the absorption behavior such that the absorbency due to fabric type may become negligible. In other words, the relatively small amount of water absorbed by an extra small load size and the relatively large amount of water absorbed by an extra large load size may be sufficiently small and large, respectively, so as to readily identify the laundry load sizes as such without considering the effect of fabric type on the absorbency of the laundry load.
When the first qualitative load size comprises the extra small and extra large load sizes, the determination at the step 106 may be made by comparing the amount of water needed to reach the reference water level A to a preset and empirically determined extra small and extra large amounts of water, respectively. If the amount of supplied water is less than the preset extra small amount of water, then the load size may be determined to be extra small, and, similarly, if the amount of supplied water is greater than the preset extra large amount of water, then the load size may be determined to be extra large.
Optionally, the method 100 may also include an overflow protection process whereby the amount of water added during the water supply may be compared to a preset overflow water amount; if the amount of water reaches the overflow water amount without a corresponding detection of water level by the water level sensor 54, then the controller 60 may assume that an error has occurred, such as an error of the water flow sensor 54, and cease water supply.
If the laundry load corresponds to the first qualitative load size, then at a step 108, water may be supplied to an operational water level corresponding to the laundry load size, if the water level has not already achieved the operational water level. An operational water level may be a level corresponding to the volume of water used in the wash or other operational process for the determined load size. As an example, in one embodiment, an extra small load of about less than 1 pound may have an operational water level corresponding to about 10 gallons of water, and an extra large load of about greater than 17 pounds may have an operational water level corresponding to about 22 gallons of water. All exemplary load sizes provided herein have a fabric type of about 50% cotton and 50% polyester for exemplary purposes.
If the laundry load does not correspond to the first qualitative load size, then at a step 110, water is supplied to a water level B, which may be any suitable water level at or above the reference water level A. The water supply during the steps 104 and 110 may be continuous, or a pause may occur between the supply of water in the steps 104 and 110 such that the water supplies are discrete. Upon reaching the water level B, the agitator 20 rotates to agitate and move the laundry load in the drum 18. In one exemplary embodiment, the water level B may be just above, such as a few millimeters, the reference water level A, as indicated in
Agitation of the laundry load typically facilitates a more even distribution of the individual fabric items in the laundry load. As the laundry moves in the basket 18, larger loads may be brought or pulled down into the water rather than forming a pile in the basket 18. The agitation helps to reduce variation by moving the fabric items to a more repeatable position. As shown in
Referring back to
During the supply of water from the reference water level A to the water level C, the laundry load displaces the water as it becomes submerged. In other words, because the laundry load is effectively saturated at the water level A, additional water supplied after the saturation goes to filling the space below the water level C in the tub 14 and the basket 18 except for the physical space occupied by the laundry load. Displacement refers to the physical space occupied by the laundry load (rather than the water) below the actual water level. A larger laundry load takes up more space than a smaller laundry load and displaces more water; therefore, a larger laundry load requires less water than a smaller laundry load to reach a given water level once the laundry is effectively saturated. The displacement caused by the laundry load, accordingly, may be employed as an indicator of load size.
In particular, the amount of water supplied to the tub 14 from the reference water level A to the water level C, which may be referred to as water amount A-C, may be employed to determine whether the laundry load corresponds to a second qualitative load size at a step 114. The second qualitative load size references a second determination. In one embodiment, the total amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A may subtracted from the total amount of water supplied to reach the water level C to obtain the water amount A-C. Using the water amount A-C to determine load size provides several advantages. First, by subtracting or ignoring the amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A, the load size determination at this step primarily relies upon the displacement caused by the laundry load as any absorption that occurs between the reference water level A and the water level C may be considered negligible. Second, water level sensing errors that may result from residual water in the sump 16 may be avoided because water supply below the reference level A, which is above water levels affected by such factors, is effectively canceled and not considered in the load size determination. By referring back to the water supply from the reference water level A rather than to the beginning of water supply, these errors may be effectively eliminated.
In one embodiment, for example, the water amount A-C may be employed to determine a displacement value of the laundry load, and the load size may be determined, in turn, based on the displacement value. The displacement value may be any value related to the displacement caused by the fabric load and may simply be the water amount A-C, in which case, the load size may be determined directly from the water amount A-C. The amount of water A-C may be determined from the water flow sensor 52 and, in the case of a rotating wheel flow rate sensor, may be the count of revolutions it took to raise the water level from A to C. Alternatively, the water amount A-C may be manipulated in a desired manner to obtain the displacement value, which may then be employed to determine the load size. For example, the count may be compared to a data table in the controller 60 to determine the load size or the count may be input to an algorithm in the controller 60 to determine the load size. As an example, the water amount A-C may be compared to a volume of the tub between the reference water level A and the water level C, which may be referred to as volume A-C. Because the volume A-C is fixed for a given washing machine and assuming that absorption is negligible (due to the laundry load being effectively saturated at or before the water level A), the difference between the volume A-C and the water amount A-C may be a volume attributable to the volume of the laundry load. The difference volume, or displacement value, may then be employed to determine the load size.
The second qualitative load size may be any suitable load size, and, continuing the example given above where the first qualitative load size comprises the extra small and extra large load sizes, the second qualitative load size may comprise a small load size. When the second qualitative load size comprises small load size, the determination at the step 114 may be made by comparing the water amount A-C to a preset and/or empirically determined amount of water. If the water amount A-C is greater than the preset amount of water (because smaller loads require more water to reach a given level), then the load size may be determined to be small or at least larger than the extra small load size.
Referring back to
If the laundry load does not correspond to the second qualitative load size, which, in the example provided above, may be determined if the water amount A-C is not greater than the preset amount of water, then at a step 118, water is supplied to a water level D. The water supply during the steps 112 and 118 may be continuous, or a pause may occur between the supply of water in the steps 112 and 118 such that the water supplies are discrete. The water level D may be any desirable water level above the reference water level C, and, in the illustrated embodiment of
Referring again to
In one embodiment, for example, the water amount A-D may be employed to determine a displacement value of the laundry load, and the load size may be determined, in turn, based on the displacement value. The displacement value may be any value related to the displacement caused by the fabric load may simply be the water amount A-D, in which case, the load size may be determined directly from the water amount A-D. The amount of water A-D may be determined from the water flow sensor 52 and, in the case of a rotating wheel flow rate sensor, may be the count of revolutions it took to raise the water level from A to D. Alternatively, the water amount A-D may be manipulated in a desired manner to obtain the displacement value, which may then be employed to determine the load size. As an example, the water amount A-D may be compared to a volume of the tub between the reference water level A and the water level C, which may be referred to as volume A-D. Because the volume A-D is fixed for a given washing machine and assuming that absorption is negligible (due to the laundry load being effectively saturated at or before the water level A), the difference between the volume A-D and the water amount A-D may be a volume attributable to the volume of the laundry load. The difference volume, or displacement value, may then be employed to determine the load size.
The third qualitative load size determination, in one embodiment, may comprise selecting from multiple qualitative load sizes. Continuing the example provided above for the first and second qualitative load sizes, the third qualitative load size may comprise either a medium or a large load size. In another example, the system may have sufficient resolution at the step 114 for the third qualitative load size to comprise additional load sizes, such as two medium load sizes, a first medium load size and a second medium load size, rather than a single medium load size.
When the third qualitative load size comprises the first medium, second medium, and large load sizes, the determination at the step 120 may be made by comparing the water amount A-D to a series of decreasing (due to larger loads needing less water to reach a given level) preset and empirically determined amounts of water corresponding to the first medium, second medium, and large load sizes. If the water amount A-D is greater than the first medium preset amount of water, then the load size may be determined to be the first medium size; if the water amount A-D is less than the first medium preset amount of water and greater than the second medium preset amount of water, then the load size may be determined to be the second medium size; and if the water amount A-D is less than the second medium preset amount of water and greater than the large preset amount of water, then the load size may be determined to be the large size. Optionally, the third qualitative load size may also include an extra large load size in the case where the water amount A-D is outside the large load size range, i.e., the water amount A-D is less than the large preset amount of water.
Referring again to
Referring again to
After determination of the load size in one of the steps 106, 114, and 120 and supply of water to the corresponding operational water level during one of the steps 108, 116, and 122, the process associated with the method 100 may begin or continue in any desired manner in a step 124.
Optionally, the amounts of water supplied to reach the various levels in the tub 14 (
The water levels A, B, C, and D are not limited to the particular levels illustrated in
In the method 100, the operational water level may be set without a corresponding inference or determination of load size and vice-versa. It is possible that the method 100 may be employed only for setting the operational water level, in which case the inference of the load size may not be necessary. For example, in the steps 106, 114, and 120 of the exemplary method in
When the method 100 is employed for determining load size, the inferred load size may be a qualitative load size wherein the laundry load is assigned to a category, such as small, medium, and large, of load size based on the qualities of the laundry load. That is, the size of the load need not be weighed or otherwise directly measured to obtain a quantitative or numerical measurement. While the qualitative load size may not correlate with a direct numerical measurement of the weight or volume of the fabric load, an estimated or empirical weight or weight range may be associated to the qualitative load size (e.g., a small load size may be described as a 1-5 pound load size).
The method 100 may be adapted for determining more or less than three qualitative load sizes comprising the six load sizes extra small, small, first medium, second medium, large, and extra large, and, similarly, setting more or less than the corresponding number of operational water levels. In one example, the amount of water supplied to reach the reference water level A may be compared to more than two predetermined water amounts, which may enable more load sizes and operational water levels. Further, water may be supplied to additional levels above the water level D, and the water levels may be closer together for greater resolution, which may also enable more load sizes and operational water levels. As an example, water levels E and F and corresponding water amounts A-E and A-F may be used to determine additional load sizes and operational water levels.
The method 100 may be adapted for use with different washing machines. Various aspects, such as the number of load sizes and operational water levels, may depend on the configuration of the washing machine 10 and the external water supply. The method 100 may also be combined with a flow meter, flow restrictor, alternate fill method, and/or inputs by the user, such as fabric type.
The above description and the figures refer to the supply of water to the tub 14. The water may be water alone or water in combination with an additive, such as a wash aid, including, but not limited to a detergent, a bleach, an oxidizer, a fabric softener, etc. Any additive supplied to the tub 14, either through a detergent dispenser or manually added directly into the basket 18 or the tub 14, may affect the output of the water level sensor 54, and the method 100 may be adapted to account for such effects.
While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation, and the scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.
