阅读说明：本技术 洗衣机 (Washing machine ) 是由 堀田宗佑 细糸强志 于 2021-04-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明的课题在于提供一种洗衣机,通过推断洗衣机的洗涤桶内的布类的偏离的产生位置,从而能够基于布偏离的状态进行更适当的运行控制。实施方式的洗衣机具有洗涤桶、外桶、控制部以及振动检测机构。所述洗涤桶收容洗涤物。所述外桶将所述洗涤桶支承为旋转自如,在内部收容所述洗涤桶。所述控制部控制所述洗涤桶的清洗动作。所述振动检测机构检测所述外桶的振动信息并向所述控制部输出。所述控制部根据所述振动检测机构所取得的至少一周期以上的连续的振动数据的特征量,判断所述洗涤桶内的洗涤物的偏离状态。(The invention provides a washing machine, which can perform more appropriate operation control based on the cloth deviation state by estimating the deviation generating position of the cloth in the washing barrel of the washing machine. The washing machine of the embodiment is provided with a washing barrel, an outer barrel, a control part and a vibration detection mechanism. The washing tub accommodates laundry. The outer tub rotatably supports the washing tub and accommodates the washing tub therein. The control part controls the washing action of the washing barrel. The vibration detection mechanism detects vibration information of the outer barrel and outputs the vibration information to the control part. The control part judges the deviation state of the washings in the washing barrel according to the characteristic quantity of the continuous vibration data of at least one period acquired by the vibration detection mechanism.)

1. A washing machine is provided with:

a washing tub for accommodating laundry;

an outer tub which rotatably supports the washing tub and accommodates the washing tub therein;

a control part for controlling the washing action of the washing barrel; and

a vibration detection mechanism for detecting vibration information of the outer barrel and outputting the vibration information to the control part,

the control unit determines the deviation state of the laundry in the washing tub based on the characteristic amount of the continuous vibration data of at least one cycle or more acquired by the vibration detection unit.

2. The washing machine according to claim 1, wherein,

the control unit classifies the deviation state of the laundry in the washing tub into a plurality of patterns and determines the deviation state.

3. The washing machine according to claim 1 or 2,

the vibration detection mechanism has a sensor that detects acceleration of the outer tub of the washing machine.

4. The washing machine according to claim 3, wherein,

the control unit determines a deviation state of the laundry based on a waveform map or a two-dimensional distribution map generated using the time-series data of the acceleration of the outer tub.

5. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the control part changes an algorithm for judging the deviation state of the washings according to the combination of the cloth amount information and the cloth quality of the washings.

6. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the control part changes the rotation control of the washing barrel according to the deviation state of the washings.

7. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

the control unit changes the amount of water used in the washing operation according to the deviation state of the laundry.

8. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the control unit changes the rotation control of the washing tub according to the deviation state of the laundry during the washing operation.

9. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 8,

the control unit estimates the deviation state of the laundry based on learned data obtained by machine learning a relationship between a feature amount of the vibration data and the deviation state of the laundry.

10. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

the control unit is pre-programmed with a learning result of machine learning.

11. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

the laundry management system is configured to be connectable to a server via a network, and the server determines a deviation state of the laundry.

12. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 11,

the deviation state of the laundry is judged by combining the information of each user.

13. The washing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 12,

the control part controls the washing motion of the washing tub in cooperation with an operation environment of each of the users.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a washing machine.

Background

The laundry machine may generate abnormal vibration due to the deviation of the distribution of the clothes put into the laundry machine. As a method for detecting such abnormal vibration, a method is known in which an acceleration sensor is attached to an upper portion of a washing tub of a washing machine to measure a signal measured by the acceleration sensor, and the measured signal of the acceleration sensor is compared with a threshold value to determine abnormal vibration. However, in this method, it is difficult to estimate the position of occurrence of deviation of the cloth in the washing tub of the washing machine.

Prior art documents:

patent documents:

patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2014-131592

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a washing machine, which can perform more appropriate operation control based on the state of cloth deviation by estimating the position of the deviation of the cloth in the washing tub of the washing machine.

The washing machine of the embodiment is provided with a washing barrel, an outer barrel, a control part and a vibration detection mechanism. The washing tub accommodates laundry. The outer tub rotatably supports the washing tub and accommodates the washing tub therein. The control part controls the washing action of the washing barrel. The vibration detection mechanism detects vibration information of the outer barrel and outputs the vibration information to the control part. The control part judges the deviation state of the washings in the washing barrel according to the characteristic quantity of the continuous vibration data of at least one period acquired by the vibration detection mechanism.

The invention has the following effects:

according to the washing machine of the present embodiment, unbalance can be detected at the initial stage of the dehydration process.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a washing machine according to an embodiment, the cross-sectional view being perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of the structure of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of a washing process of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing time-series data of a 2-axis acceleration sensor of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a two-dimensional distribution diagram of time-series data of the 2-axis acceleration sensor of the washing machine of the embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of the dehydration operation of the washing machine of the embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of determining a cloth deviation state of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a part of the structure of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a part of the structure of the washing machine according to the embodiment.

Description of the reference numerals

1 … washing machine, 2 … server, 3 … gateway, 4 … cover, 8 … dewatering hole, 9 balance ring, 11 … case, 12 … top cover, 13 … water tub (outer tub), 14 … rotating tub, 15 … impeller, 16 … motor, 17 … shaft, 18 … suspension rod, 19 … acceleration sensor, 20 … control part, 21 … operation panel, 30 … communication part, 32 … rotation sensor, 34 … water level sensor, 38 … valve, 42 … circulating pump, 44 … drying unit, 50 … vibration detection mechanism, 131 … drain outlet, 132 …, 133 … switching motor, 201 … operation processing part, 202 … water discharge valve deduction judging part, 301 … communication part, 302 … deviation judging part, O … rotating shaft

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a washing machine according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to components having the same or similar functions. Moreover, a repetitive description of these configurations may be omitted.

In this specification, a vertical lower side, which is an installation surface side of the washing machine, is defined as a lower side of the washing machine, and a vertical upper side, which is an opposite side of the installation surface, is defined as an upper side of the washing machine. The left and right sides are defined with reference to a direction in which a user standing from the front of the washing machine views the washing machine. In addition, a side close to a user standing on the front side of the washing machine as viewed from the washing machine is defined as "front", and a side far from the user is defined as "rear". In the present specification, the "widthwise direction" means the left-right direction in the above definition. In the present specification, the "depth direction" means the front-rear direction in the above definition. In the figure, the + X direction is the right direction, the-X direction is the left direction, the + Y direction is the rear direction, the-Y direction is the front direction, the + Z direction is the up direction, and the-Z direction is the down direction.

The structure of the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. First, the overall structure of the washing machine 1 will be described. However, the washing machine 1 does not need to have all the configurations described below, and some of the configurations may be omitted as appropriate.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the washing machine 1 perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

The washing machine 1 of the embodiment has, for example, a casing 11, a top cover 12, a tub (outer tub) 13, a rotary tub 14, a pulsator 15, and a motor 16. The washing machine 1 is a so-called vertical axis type fully automatic washing machine in which the rotation axis O of the tub 14 is oriented in the vertical direction. The washing machine 1 is not limited to a vertical axis type, and may be a horizontal axis type so-called drum-type washing machine in which the rotation axis of the tub is inclined downward toward the horizontal or the rear.

The case 11 is formed of a steel plate, for example, in a rectangular box shape as a whole. The top cover 12 is made of, for example, synthetic resin, and is provided on the upper portion of the housing 11. A lid 4 for opening and closing the entrance and exit of the laundry is openably and closably provided in the top cover 12. The water tub 13 and the rotary tub 14 function as a spin tub and a washing tub for storing laundry to be washed. The tub 13 and the tub 14 are provided in the cabinet 11. The tub 13 and the tub 14 are formed in a container shape with an upper surface opened. The tub 13 is elastically suspended and supported by a vibration isolator having a suspension rod 18 provided at four corners of the housing 11 and a coil spring, not shown, as a main body. The central axes of the tub 13 and the tub 14 are directed in the up-down direction. The rotary tub 14 has a plurality of dewatering holes 8 in a peripheral wall portion and a balancer ring 9 at an upper end portion. Each dewatering hole 8 penetrates the peripheral wall portion of the rotary tub 14 in the thickness direction, and communicates the inside and outside of the rotary tub 14. The arrangement of the dewatering holes 8 arranged in the peripheral wall portion of the rotary tub 14 is not particularly limited.

The motor 16 has a flat cylindrical appearance with a smaller diameter than the tub 13, and is assembled to a lower side of the tub 13 in such a manner that the rotation shaft O passes through the center thereof. The motor 16 includes a shaft 17, a rotor 161, and a stator (stator) not shown. The shaft 17 is coupled to the rotor 161 and rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor 161. The axis of rotation of the shaft 17 coincides with the axis of rotation O.

The shaft 17 is connected to the rotary tub 14 and the pulsator 15 via a clutch mechanism not shown. The clutch mechanism selectively transmits the rotation of the motor 16 to the tub 14 and the pulsator 15. The motor 16 and the clutch mechanism transmit the driving force of the motor 16 to the pulsator 15 in a state where the rotation of the rotary tub 14 is stopped during washing and rinsing, and directly drive the pulsator 15 to rotate forward and backward at a low speed. On the other hand, the motor 16 and the clutch mechanism transmit the driving force of the motor 16 to the rotary tub 14 during the dehydration or the like, and rotationally drive the rotary tub 14 and the pulsator 15 in one direction at high speed.

A drain hose is connected to a drain port 131 formed at the bottom of the tub 13 via a drain valve 132. The water in the tub 13 flows out from the drain port 131 and is drained to the outside through the drain valve 132. If the drain valve 132 is opened, the water in the tub 13 and the tub 14 is drained to the outside of the machine through the drain hose. In this case, the clutch mechanism and the drain valve 132 are switched in conjunction with a switching motor 133 provided at the bottom lower surface of the tub 13. Specifically, when the switching motor 133 opens the drain valve 132, the clutch mechanism is switched so that the pulsator 15 and the tub 14 are rotated integrally by the motor 16. When the water discharge valve 132 is closed, the clutch mechanism is switched so that only the pulsator 15 is independently rotated by the motor 16. Further, a configuration may be adopted in which an electromagnetic solenoid is used instead of the switching motor 133.

As shown in fig. 1, an operation panel 21 is provided on the front portion on the upper surface of the top cover 12. The operation panel 21 is provided with a display unit and an operation input unit for receiving an operation from a user. In the top cover 12, as shown in fig. 2, a water supply valve 38 for supplying water into the tub 13 and the tub 14, and a water level sensor 34 for detecting a water level in the tub 13 are provided. A water supply hose, not shown, connected to a tap of a water supply line is connected to the water supply valve 38, and when the water supply valve 38 is opened, the water is supplied into the tub 14 and the water tub 13 through a water filling port, not shown.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a part of the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment. A control unit 20 for controlling the operation of the washing machine 1 is provided in the casing 11 of the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment. The control unit 20 is realized by a computer having a microcomputer, a timer, and the like. As shown in fig. 2, the communication unit 30, the operation panel 21, the rotation sensor 32, the water level sensor 34, the acceleration sensor 19, the switching motor 133, the motor 16, the water supply valve 38, the drain valve 132, the circulation pump 42, and the drying unit 44 are connected to the control unit 20.

The communication unit 30 is, for example, a wireless module including an antenna and a high-frequency circuit. As shown in fig. 9 described later, the communication unit 30 can communicate with a communication unit 301 of the server 2 via the gateway 3 and a network, for example.

The motor 16 is, for example, a brushless DC motor, and rotationally drives the rotary tub 14 in both forward and reverse directions. The rotation sensor 32 is provided on the rotation shaft of the motor 16 and detects the rotation position of the motor 16. The rotation sensor 32 outputs information on the detected rotational position of the motor 16 and the like to the control unit 20.

The water level sensor 34 is provided at an upper portion of the housing 11, detects water levels of the water stored in the tub 13 and the tub 14, and outputs information thereof to the control unit 20.

The acceleration sensor 19 is mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the tub 13. The acceleration sensor 19 detects the size of the swing of the tub 13 when the washing machine 1 is operating. For example, the acceleration sensor 19 can detect the acceleration of the swing of the tub 13 in the up-down direction, the left-right direction, and the front-rear direction. The acceleration sensor 19 detects the amount of swing of the tub 13, and outputs vibration information related to the swing of the tub 13 to the control unit 20. As shown in fig. 1, the acceleration sensor 19 is mounted on an upper portion of the outer circumferential surface of the tub 13, but is not limited thereto. The acceleration sensor 19 of the embodiment may be appropriately disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the tub 13 as long as it can detect the amount of swing of the tub 13.

The water supply valve 38 is, for example, an electromagnetic on-off valve, and is provided in the water supply valve unit. The open state and the closed state of the water supply valve 38 are switched based on control from the control unit 20. When the water supply valve 38 is in the open state, the tap water supplied to the water supply valve unit is supplied to the tub 13 through a detergent inlet or an automatic input mechanism, not shown.

The drain valve 132 is, for example, an electromagnetic on-off valve, and is provided in the drain port 131 of the tub 13. The open state and the closed state of the discharge valve 132 are switched based on control from the control unit 20. In the case where the drain valve 132 is in the open state, the water stored in the tub 13 is drained to the outside of the washing machine 1.

The suction port of the circulation pump 42 sucks the water stored in the tub 13 through the filter unit based on the control from the control part 20, and circulates the sucked water in the tub 13.

The drying unit 44 circulates warm air into the tub 13 to dry the laundry based on the control from the control part 20. The drying unit 44 includes, for example, a circulation duct, and a blower fan and a heater provided in the circulation duct. The drying unit 44 may include a dehumidifying mechanism such as a heat pump provided in the circulation duct, for example.

The control unit 20 controls the respective mechanisms such as the motor 16, the water supply valve 38, the drain valve 132, and the circulation pump 42 according to an operation control program based on an operation signal from the user on the operation panel 21 and a detection signal from the water level sensor 34. The control unit 20 controls the above-described configuration of the washing machine 1, and executes a washing operation including each step such as a washing step, a rinsing step, and a dewatering step. The control unit 20 performs the following control in the washing step and the rinsing step: the circulation pump 42 is appropriately driven in a water supply state up to a predetermined water level in the tub 13, and only the pulsator 15 is alternately rotated at a predetermined time interval in the forward direction and the reverse direction at a relatively low speed by the motor 16. The controller 20 performs control for continuously rotating the pulsator 15 and the tub 14 in one direction at a high speed by the motor 16 in the dehydration step. As shown in fig. 1, the control unit 20 of the embodiment is provided in the top cover 12, but is not limited thereto.

The flow of the washing operation process of the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 3. First, when the washing operation of washing machine 1 according to the embodiment is started, control unit 20 performs weight sensing detection of laundry put into tub 14 of washing machine 1 as laundry (S10). For example, the control unit 20 may be configured to rotate the motor 16 of the washing machine 1 at a constant rotation speed and measure the load current of the motor 16 in a state where only laundry is put in without putting water into the tub 14 of the washing machine 1. Further, the control unit 20 may measure the rotation speed of the motor 16 by supplying a constant current to the motor 16 of the washing machine 1. The control unit 20 obtains the weight of the laundry put into the rotary tub 14 of the washing machine 1, and proceeds to the next step.

Next, the control unit 20 determines a predetermined washing program corresponding to the weight of the laundry based on the acquired weight of the laundry in the tub 14, and starts the washing operation (S20). The control part 20 determines, for example, washing conditions regarding the amount of water, the amount of detergent, and the washing time to be supplied into the tub 14 and the tub 13 based on the weight of the laundry in the tub 14. Thereafter, the controller 20 supplies an amount of water and detergent corresponding to the weight of the laundry into the tub 13, and controls the motor 16 to rotate the pulsator 15 forward and backward to perform a washing operation.

The control unit 20 may start the washing operation and determine the quality of the laundry, which is the laundry put into the rotary tub 14 (S30). The control unit 20 can detect the cloth quality of the laundry, for example, whether the cloth quality is a cloth quality that is likely to contain water, to some extent by measuring the variation in the current flowing through the motor 16 by a known method. The control unit 20 can correct the method of controlling the motor 16 during the washing operation based on the acquired information on the weight of the laundry and the texture of the laundry.

The control unit 20 may start the washing operation and detect a deviation of the distribution of the laundry in the rotary tub 14, that is, a deviation of the laundry. The details of the step (S40) of determining the laundry cloth deviation state will be described later. When the washing operation for the laundry is completed in the predetermined washing program, the control unit 20 ends the washing operation (S50). When the washing operation is completed, the control unit 20 opens the drain valve 132 to drain the water in the tub 13 to the outside of the washing machine 1, and proceeds to the next step.

The control part 20 controls and switches the clutch mechanism to rotate the pulsator 15 integrally with the tub 14 using the motor 16 after the water inside the tub 13 is substantially drained, thereby starting the dehydrating operation (S60). The details of the step of determining the cloth off-state by combining the results of the weight sensing detection of the laundry as the laundry when the washing machine 1 starts the spinning operation will be described later.

In the washing machine 1, when the spin-drying operation in the rotary tub 14 is started, if the distribution of the laundry in the rotary tub 14 is deviated, the vibration of the washing machine 1 may be increased to generate a large abnormal noise, or the washing machine 1 may move from a fixed position. Further, for example, when the rotation speed is high (for example, 200RPM) during the dehydration operation, the laundry containing water, the tub 13 and the tub 14 may vibrate more largely due to the resonance phenomenon, and the washing machine may malfunction. Therefore, in the dehydration operation of the washing machine 1, it is preferable to set the dehydration time to be long, for example, in a region where the rotation speed of the motor 16 is relatively low, so as to avoid such a resonance phenomenon to reduce the vibration. Alternatively, when the vibration of the tub 13 and the tub 14 exceeds a certain level during the spin-drying operation of the washing machine 1, it is necessary to detect the vibration and stop the spin-drying operation.

Based on this situation, the control unit 20 determines the deviation state of the distribution of the laundry in the tub 14 based on the information indicating the vibration components in the plurality of directions acquired by the acceleration sensor 19 (S70). The following describes in detail the step of determining the deviation of the cloth during the spin-drying operation in the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment.

When determining the deviation state of the distribution of the laundry in the rotary tub 14, the control unit 20 can appropriately change the control of the motor 16 in accordance with the deviation state. For example, in the case where the laundry in the tub 14 of the washing machine 1 is biased to the upper side in the vertical direction, the resonance phenomenon in the tub 13 may occur when the rotation speed of the motor 16 is about 200RPM in the dehydration operation. To avoid this, the control unit 20 sets the time for the motor 16 to perform the spin-drying operation at a lower rotation speed to be longer, thereby shortening the time for the spin-drying operation at the rotation speed near the resonance point of the tub 13. Thereby, resonance of the tub 13 at the time of the dehydrating operation can be reduced.

For example, in the case where the laundry in the tub 14 of the washing machine 1 is biased downward in the vertical direction, the laundry is located near the bottom of the tub 14. Therefore, the control unit 20 reduces the amount of water to be poured into the tub 14 and the tub 13 in order to correct the laundry biased to the lower side of the tub 14. Further, for example, when the laundry in the tub 14 of the washing machine 1 is biased to both the upper side and the lower side in the vertical direction, it is predicted that the swing of the tub 13 is increased. Therefore, the control unit 20 stops the motor 16 in advance and starts the spin retry promptly. In addition, when the laundry is entangled with each other during the washing operation and the cloth deviation can be predicted, the control unit 20 may change the cycle of the forward and reverse rotation operations of the washing operation to an operation in which the entangled laundry is disentangled with each other to eliminate the cloth deviation.

The control unit 20 can perform optimum control according to each state by determining the state of deviation of the laundry in the rotary tub 14. When the control unit 20 ends the optimum spin-drying operation in accordance with the off-state of the selection object (S80), the washing operation process of the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment is ended.

Hereinafter, a process of determining the deviated state of the laundry, which is executed by the control unit 20, will be described with reference to fig. 4 to 7. Fig. 4 shows time-series data of accelerations of the tub 13 in two directions taken using the acceleration sensor 19. Fig. 5 shows a distribution of data of accelerations of the tub 13 in two directions, which are taken using the acceleration sensor 19. Fig. 4 and 5 show data of the acceleration in the up-down direction and the front-rear direction of the tub 13, for example. However, since the acceleration in the left-right direction of the tub 13 has the same tendency as the acceleration in the front-rear direction, the acceleration in the up-down direction and the left-right direction of the tub 13 may also be obtained using the acceleration sensor 19.

Fig. 4 is obtained by multiplying time-series data of the accelerations in the up-down direction and the front-back direction of the tub 13 in each cloth deviated state. Fig. 4 is manufactured, for example, by setting the rotation speed of the motor 16 at about 130RPM during the dewatering operation, and arranging loads of the same weight at respective offset positions of the upper offset, the lower offset, and the vertical offset. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing time-series data obtained by multiplying sensor values of the acceleration in the vertical direction and the longitudinal direction acquired by the acceleration sensor 19 during the dehydration operation of the washing machine 1. As shown in fig. 4, the multiplication values continue with a certain period with respect to time. In the case where the laundry is displaced upward as shown in fig. 4 (a), the laundry is displaced downward as shown in fig. 4 (b), and the laundry is displaced upward and downward as shown in fig. 4 (c), waveforms having different characteristics are formed.

Fig. 5 shows a two-dimensional distribution of time-series data of the acceleration in the up-down direction and the front-back direction of the tub 13 corresponding to each cloth deviation state. Fig. 5 is prepared by measuring time-series data of the acceleration in the up-down direction and the front-back direction of the tub 13 corresponding to each cloth deviation state for a plurality of cycles. In the case where the laundry is deviated from the upper side as shown in fig. 5 (a), the laundry is deviated from the lower side as shown in fig. 5 (b), and the laundry is deviated from the upper side and the lower side as shown in fig. 5 (c), distribution patterns having different characteristics are formed.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, since the features of the patterns corresponding to different cloth-out states are different, the different cloth-out states can be discriminated using these patterns. When the weight of the laundry is different during the dewatering operation, the scales of the patterns corresponding to the cloth-off states shown in fig. 4 and 5 are changed, but the shapes of the patterns corresponding to different loads are similar. Therefore, the control unit 20 can determine the cloth off-state using the acceleration data acquired by the acceleration sensor 19 based on the different pattern shapes, in other words, based on the patterns (patterns) of the different patterns. Conventionally, in the case of detecting vibration using an acceleration sensor, the vibration condition may not be accurately measured as long as the rotational speed of the tub 13 does not reach a value close to the speed at which resonance is caused. In the washing machine 1 of the present embodiment, the cloth deviation state can be discriminated by recognizing the pattern of the figure corresponding to each cloth deviation state.

As described above, the characteristic amount, that is, the pattern of the pattern corresponding to the different cloth-off states can be discriminated based on the acceleration time-series data of the tub 13 acquired by the acceleration sensor 19. However, other feature amounts may be used to determine different cloth deviation states. For example, in the washing machine 1 of the embodiment, the rotation sensor 32 of the motor 16, a current sensor, or the like may be used.

Referring to fig. 6, a process of determining a cloth off-state by combining results of weight sensing detection of laundry at the start of the dehydration operation of washing machine 1 according to the embodiment will be described. In the washing machine 1 of the present embodiment, not only the distribution of the laundry in the tub 14 but also the weight of the entire laundry in the tub 14 affect the vibration of the tub 13. Therefore, as shown in fig. 6, when the spinning operation in the washing machine 1 is started (S60), the control part 20 acquires vibration information of the tub 13 using, for example, time-series data of acceleration acquired by the acceleration sensor 19 (S62). Then, the control unit 20 performs a step of determining the cloth slip state in the rotary tub 14 by referring to the weight of the entire laundry located in the rotary tub 14 acquired in the weight sensing step (S10).

When the weight of the whole laundry in the rotary tub 14 is less than 1 kg (yes in S641), the control unit 20 selects the deviation determination algorithm 1(S661) and determines the cloth deviation state in the rotary tub 14. When the control unit 20 determines the operation of the motor 16 based on the cloth deviation state determined by the deviation determination algorithm 1 (S681), it proceeds to the next dewatering operation step.

When the weight of the whole laundry located in the rotary tub 14 is 1 kg or more (no in S641) and less than 3 kg (yes in S642), the control unit 20 selects the deviation determination algorithm 2(S662) and determines the cloth deviation state in the rotary tub 14. When the control unit 20 determines the operation of the motor 16 based on the cloth deviation state determined by the deviation determination algorithm 2 (S682), the process proceeds to the next dewatering operation step.

When the weight of the whole laundry in the tub 14 is 3 kg or more (no in S642) and less than 6 kg (yes in S643), the control unit 20 selects the deviation determination algorithm 3(S663) and determines the cloth deviation state in the tub 14. When the control unit 20 determines the operation of the motor 16 based on the cloth deviation state determined by the deviation determination algorithm 3 (S683), it proceeds to the next dewatering operation step.

When the weight of the whole laundry located in the rotary tub 14 is 6 kg or more (S643: no), the control unit 20 selects the deviation determination algorithm 4(S664) and determines the cloth deviation state in the rotary tub 14. When the control unit 20 determines the operation of the motor 16 based on the cloth deviation state determined by the deviation determination algorithm 4 (S684), the process proceeds to the next dewatering operation.

The deviation determination algorithm 1, the deviation determination algorithm 2, the deviation determination algorithm 3, and the deviation determination algorithm 4 are algorithms optimized for each weight. As shown in fig. 6, by combining the entire weight of the laundry located in the tub 14 and the vibration condition of the tub 13 obtained using the acceleration sensor 19, the cloth-off state of the laundry in the tub 14 can be determined with higher accuracy. Further, since the possibility that the laundry in the tub 14 is entangled with each other due to the quality of the laundry and the manner of discharging water during the dewatering operation are different, information on the quality of the laundry acquired in the quality determination (S30) shown in fig. 3 may be combined, for example.

Referring to fig. 7, a process of determining a deviation state of the distribution of laundry in the rotary tub 14 of the washing machine 1 (S70) will be described. As shown in fig. 7, when the control unit 20 determines that the laundry in the tub 14 is in the state of being deflected upward (yes in S721), the motor operation corresponding to the cloth-off state deflected upward is changed for the motor 16 (S741), and the cloth-off determination is ended.

When the control unit 20 determines that the laundry in the rotary tub 14 is not biased upward (no in S721) but biased downward (yes in S722), the motor operation corresponding to the laundry biased downward is changed for the motor 16 (S742), and the laundry deviation determination is ended.

When the laundry in the tub 14 is judged to be in the vertically deviated state (yes in S723), the control unit 20 changes the motor operation corresponding to the cloth deviation state in which the laundry is deviated vertically with respect to the motor 16 (S742), and ends the cloth deviation judgment.

If the control unit 20 determines that the laundry in the rotary tub 14 is not in any cloth deviated state (S723: no), the deviation determination is terminated as it is without changing the operation of the motor 16. In this case, the laundry is considered to be located in the vicinity of the central portion of the washing tub 14. The control unit 20 can determine the deviation state of the laundry in the tub 14 by classifying the deviation state into a plurality of patterns. For example, the control unit 20 of the present embodiment can determine the deviation state of the laundry in the rotary tub 14 by classifying the deviation state into three patterns, i.e., the cloth deviation state biased to the upper side, the cloth deviation state biased to the lower side, and the cloth deviation state biased to both the upper and lower sides. However, the state of the laundry deviated in the tub 14 is not limited to the three states described above. For example, in the rotary tub 14, the laundry may be in a state of being deviated from the three states. At this time, as will be described later, the control unit 20 can indicate the deviation state of the laundry in the tub 14 by probability.

The determination of the cloth deviation state by the control unit 20 of the washing machine 1 according to the above-described embodiment may be performed by machine learning. In this case, as shown in fig. 8, for example, in the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment, the control unit 20 may include an arithmetic processing unit 201 and an inference determination unit 202. As shown in fig. 8, in the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment, the vibration detection means 50 acquires vibration information related to the vibration of the tub 13 and inputs the vibration information to the arithmetic processing unit 201 of the control unit 20. The vibration detection mechanism 50 may use the acceleration sensor 19 of the embodiment, or may use other configurations, such as the rotation sensor 32 of the motor 16, a current sensor, and the like. The control unit 20 calculates data for performing the cloth deviation determination using the vibration information by the arithmetic processing unit 201. The arithmetic processing unit 201 inputs, as a calculation result, a waveform obtained by multiplying time-series data of acceleration shown in fig. 4 or a graph relating to the distribution of time-series data of acceleration shown in fig. 5, for example, to the inference determination unit 202, and performs a cloth deviation determination.

In the washing machine 1 of the embodiment, the control unit 20 determines the cloth deviation state by machine learning, so that the cloth deviation state can be appropriately determined even when it is difficult to determine the normal state. The control unit 20 can indicate the state of the laundry in the tub 14 with a probability of cloth deviation by machine learning. For example, the control unit 20 may calculate the upper deviation probability of 70%, the lower deviation probability of 20%, and the upper and lower deviation probabilities of 10% for the cloth deviation state of the laundry in the tub 14, and finally determine that the cloth deviation state is the upper deviation.

As shown in fig. 8, the control unit 20 may store the results of the machine learning performed a plurality of times in the inference determination unit 2020. The control unit 20 can appropriately determine the cloth deviation state without setting a determination rule for determining the cloth deviation in advance by performing machine learning on the feature amount related to the vibration information and the cloth deviation state of the laundry. The control unit 20 may be configured to incorporate learning results (learned data) of a plurality of machine learning processes into a control device including a microcomputer or the like in advance. The washing machine 1 according to the embodiment can perform inference using machine learning even with a relatively inexpensive microcomputer and can perform highly adaptive processing by incorporating only an inference part as a learning result into the microcomputer.

The washing machine 1 according to the embodiment may be connected to a network via the gateway 3 and configured to be able to communicate with a server. As shown in fig. 9, the washing machine 1 may include a vibration detection mechanism 50, an arithmetic processing unit 201, and a communication unit 30. The communication unit 30 of the washing machine 1 according to the embodiment can communicate with the communication unit 301 of the server 2 via the gateway 3 and the network. The server 2 includes a communication unit 301 and a deviation determination unit 302. Examples of the Network include one or more of the internet, a cellular Network, a Wi-Fi Network, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a public line, a telephone line, and a radio base station.

As shown in fig. 9, the vibration detection mechanism 50 of the washing machine 1 acquires vibration information related to the vibration of the tub 13 and inputs the vibration information to the arithmetic processing unit 201. The arithmetic processing unit 201 of the washing machine 1 calculates data for determining the cloth deviation using the vibration information, and transmits the data to the server 2 via the communication unit 30. The server 2 inputs the data transmitted by the washing machine 1 to the deviation determination unit 302, and the deviation determination unit 302 determines the cloth deviation state using the machine learning result. The server 2 transmits the cloth deviation state determined by the deviation determination unit 302 to the washing machine 1 via the communication unit 301. As a result, the deviation determination unit 302 of the server 2 can learn and update the data of the washing machine 1 that is always transmitted, and can determine the cloth deviation state with higher accuracy.

The cloth deviation state may be determined using the installation environment of the user, information on laundry washing, history, and the like, and the operation of washing machine 1 may be customized according to the operation environment of washing machine 1 for each user. For example, the intensity of vibration transmitted to the floor and the vibration of the washing machine are different depending on the material and inclination of the floor of the user house. As shown in fig. 9, since the deviation determination unit 302 is disposed in the server 2, machine learning can be performed based on vibration data acquired by a plurality of users. As a result, by adding such information, it is possible to contribute to determination of a cloth out-of-position state that matches the user's home, improvement of accuracy, and reduction of vibration.

According to at least one embodiment described above, vibration data representing a vibration state of an outer tub of a washing machine for at least one continuous cycle is acquired, and a cloth-off state of laundry in a rotary tub of the washing machine is determined, thereby reducing vibration of a tub caused by the cloth-off of the laundry and reducing an amount of water used in a washing operation of the laundry.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in other various manners, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope and equivalents of the invention described in the claims.