JPH0277296A - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute an optimum water supply in a rinsing tank by detecting the dirty degree of water reserved in the rinsing tank, detecting feed water quantity and adjusting the feed water quantity to the rinsing tank with a fuzzy inference based on the detected data. CONSTITUTION:A water meter 3 detects a water quantity to flow in a feed pipe, it outputs a signal S1 to express the water quantity, and a sensor 7 outputs a signal S2 to express the degree of the dirt of the water. The detected signals S1 and S2 are given to a fuzzy inference part 30. The matching degrees of the input signals S1 and S2 to membership functions related to the water quantity and the dirt of the water are obtained, respectively. The smaller one between two matching degrees is selected for each rule, and thereby, the membership function related to the opening degree of an electromagnetic valve in the rule is judged. The membership functions are superposed over all rules, and for example, by obtaining a gravity center position, a defuzzy is executed, and a final opening degree command V is obtained. A water quantity adjustor 25 controls the opening degree of an electromagnetic valve 2 in response to the opening degree command V.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Summary of the Invention When rinsing is performed in a washing machine, the amount of water supplied to the rinsing tank and the dirt (degree of turbidity) of the water in the rinsing tank are detected, and based on these detected values, a fuzzy The amount of water supplied to the rinse tub of the washing machine is controlled by reasoning. This makes it possible to efficiently save water.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a washing machine that optimally and automatically adjusts the amount of water supplied to a rinse tank during rinsing according to the amount of water supplied to the rinse tank and the amount of dirt in the water in the rinse tank.

Conventional washing machines either collect a certain amount of water in the rinse tank and rinse, or supply and drain a certain amount of water while rinsing.
The only thing I can do is the street. Because the amount of water supplied cannot be adjusted automatically according to the amount of dirt, even if the water is dirty, the user continues to rinse with dirty water without supplying or draining the water, resulting in insufficient rinsing or insufficient rinsing. Even when the water was on, water continued to be supplied to the rinse tank, resulting in wasted water.

Summary of the Invention Purpose of the Invention The present invention eliminates dirt in the water in the rinse tank when rinsing.
To provide a washing machine that can automatically adjust the amount of water supplied to the washing machine to be appropriate according to the amount of water supplied.

Structure and Effects of the Invention The present invention adjusts the amount of water supplied to the rinse tank in a washing machine that stores a predetermined amount of water in a rinse tank and rotates the stored water using a motor to rinse clothes. A control valve, a water amount detection means for detecting the amount of water supplied to the rinsing tank under the adjustment of the water amount by the control valve, a sensor for detecting dirt in the water supplied to the rinsing tank, the water amount detection means and the sensor. Input the detection signal from
The opening degree of the control valve is determined based on a predetermined rule and the respective membership functions of the amount of water supplied to the rinsing tank, the contamination of the water stored in the rinsing tank, and the opening degree of the control valve. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a fuzzy inference section that calculates the expressed quantity, and means that controls the control valve based on the inference result from the fuzzy inference section.

According to this invention, a sensor detects the degree of contamination (turbidity) of water stored in a rinse tank.

The amount of water supplied is also detected, and the amount of water supplied to the rinse tank is adjusted using fuzzy inference based on the detected data. This makes it possible to adjust the optimum water supply amount depending on the degree of contamination of the water in the rinse tank, thereby saving water.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a so-called fully automatic washing machine will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a side sectional view of the fully automatic washing machine, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG.

The washing machine is entirely surrounded by an outer frame 4.
A lid 11 that can be opened and closed is provided on the top. An outer tank 5 is provided within the outer frame 4, and a washing tank (
A rinse tank) 9 is provided. Clothes are put in and taken out by opening and closing the lid 11. Laundry! Reference numeral 9 is for washing and rinsing clothes by putting them therein, and there are many holes 9a on the sides and bottom. Water supplied to the washing tub 9 through this hole 9a flows into the outer tub 5, and the water also accumulates in the outer tub 5. A rotating member 10 for rotating the water stored in the washing tub 9 is provided at the bottom of the washing tub 9. The rotating member 10 has a mountain-shaped cross section 9
This member 10 has a protrusion formed on a part of its surface.
The rotation of the water causes the water to rotate. This rotating member 10
is rotationally driven by a motor 13 via a transmission member 12.

The outer tank 5 is used to store water supplied to the washing tub 9 having a hole 9a therein, and a part of its circumferential surface protrudes outward to form a convex portion 6. ing. An optical sensor 7 is attached to the inner wall of this convex portion 6. Optical sensor 7
The device detects the dirt (turbidity) of the water stored in the outer tank 5, that is, the water in the washing tub 9, and consists of a light projector and a light receiver, and outputs a signal according to the degree of water dirt. Since the optical sensor 7 is provided in the outer tub 5 rather than inside the washing tub 9,
Light is not blocked by clothes existing in the washing tub 9 and malfunctions do not occur.

Water is supplied to the washing tub 9 through a water supply pipe (water pipe) 1. A solenoid valve 2 and a water meter 3 are attached to the water supply pipe 1 . The electromagnetic valve 2 is capable of continuously adjusting the amount of water flowing into the water supply pipe 1, and the water meter 3 measures the amount of water flowing inside the water supply pipe 1, and any known type can be used.

Drainage from the washing tub 9 during rinsing is carried out through a rinsing drain port (path shown) provided at the top of the circumferential surface of the outer tub 5.
It is carried out by The rinsing drain is used to prevent water from overflowing from the outer tank when the water exceeds a certain level, and to maintain a constant water level. Water flowing out of the rinse drain is drained to the outside of the washing machine through a drain pipe 16. When rinsing is finished and all the water stored in the outer tank 5 is drained, a drain valve 14 of a drain port 15 provided at the bottom of the outer tank 5 is opened to drain the water to the outside of the washing machine from a drain pipe 16.

Referring to FIG. 3, the water meter 3 detects the amount of water flowing into the water supply pipe 1, outputs a signal S1 representing this amount of water, and
outputs a signal S2 representing the degree of contamination of the water.

These detection signals S 1 and S 2 are given to the fuzzy inference section 30. The fuzzy inference section 30 refers to all devices that execute fuzzy inference or fuzzy operations, and is a concept that includes what are called fuzzy computers, fuzzy controllers, fuzzy inference devices, fuzzy inference arithmetic devices, and the like. In addition, dedicated devices (regardless of analog type or digital type) for fuzzy inference (for example, “Nikkei Electronics J 19
(see Nikkei McGraw-Hill, July 27, 2007, pp. 148-152), as well as binary type computers, processors, etc., programmed to perform fuzzy inference.

In any case, rules for adjusting the amount of water are preset in the fuzzy inference section, and membership functions used in these rules are set in memory or something similar.

Sensory attributes such as water volume, water contamination, and electromagnetic valve opening are expressed by membership functions.

Examples of these membership functions are shown in FIGS. 4-6.

For example, in FIG. 4, regarding the amount of water, there are membership functions representing five types of linguistic information: small, slightly small, normal, slightly large, and large. Similar membership functions are set for the degree of water contamination and the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

It goes without saying that the shape of the membership function is not limited to the triangular shape shown in the figure, but any arbitrary shape can be adopted.

The rules for fuzzy inference in the fuzzy inference section 30 are so-called If, then rules, and for example, the following rules are set.

If the amount of water is large and the water is dirty (th
en), open the solenoid valve.

If there is a lot of water and the water is a little dirty.

Open the solenoid valve slightly.

If the water level is high and the water is clean, close the solenoid valve.

If the water level is low and the water is clean, close the solenoid valve slightly.

If the water level is low and the water is a little clean, open the solenoid valve a little.

If the water level is low and the water is a little dirty, open the solenoid valve.

There are various types of inference calculations performed by the fuzzy inference unit, but here we will exemplify one based on the old N-MAX calculation rules.

For each of the above-mentioned rules, the goodness of fit of the input signals S, , S (ie, the function values corresponding to the signals S , S , respectively) with respect to the membership functions regarding water volume and water contamination is determined. For each rule, the smaller of these two degrees of conformity is selected (MIN calculation), and the membership function regarding the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve for that rule is determined based on this selected degree of conformity (the part below the degree of conformity is (a kind of MIN operation).

The membership functions regarding the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve obtained in this way are superimposed over all rules (MA
X7*calculation), for example, by determining the center of gravity position, defuzzifying (non-fuzzyization), and obtaining the final opening command (for example, analog voltage) (2).

The opening degree command V is given to the water amount adjustment device 25. The water amount adjusting device 25 controls the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 2 in response to the opening degree command V. In this way, the amount of water flowing through the water supply pipe 1 is adjusted to an appropriate amount according to the above rules. Further, the above rules can be changed as appropriate.

Furthermore, the water is stained to compensate for individual differences in water contamination. A key may be provided for inputting linguistic information representing dirt, such as clean or just right, and this key may be used to input a subjective opinion. Then, by including these input linguistic information as conditions in the above rules, and setting membership functions expressed by these linguistic information, and making them the targets of inference in the fuzzy inference section 30, water It is preferable to derive a command V that takes into account individual differences in dirt. By doing so, it is possible to achieve an optimal adjustment of the amount of water supplied, taking into account the personal subjective evaluation criteria of water contamination.

In the embodiment described above, the amount of water from the water supply channel is controlled by detecting the amount of water and the degree of contamination of the water. Similarly to this, the rotation of the motor can also be controlled by detecting the rotation speed of the motor and the degree of water contamination. In this case, a device for detecting the rotation speed of the motor I3 is used to utilize the membership functions of fast, slightly fast, normal, slightly slow, and slow for the motor rotation, as well as the membership function of water contamination. This is possible by using the If, Then rule, such as slowing down the rotation of the motor if the rotation of the motor is fast and the water is clean.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of the washing machine, Figure 2 is If-I in Figure 1.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 to 6 show membership functions of water volume, water flow, and valve opening/closing, respectively. 2...Solenoid valve. 3...Water meter. 7... Optical sensor. 9...Washing tub (rinsing 14). 25...Water volume adjustment device. 30...Fuzzy reasoning section. That's all

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A control valve that adjusts the amount of water supplied to the rinse tank in a washing machine that stores a predetermined amount of water in a rinse tank and rotates the stored water using a motor to rinse clothes. , a water amount detection means for detecting the amount of water supplied to the rinsing tank under the water amount adjustment of the control valve, a sensor for detecting contamination of the water supplied to the rinsing tank, A detection signal is input, and the control is performed based on a predetermined rule and the respective membership functions of the amount of water supplied to the rinsing tank, the dirt of the water stored in the rinsing tank, and the opening degree of the control valve. A washing machine comprising: a fuzzy inference section that calculates a quantity representing the degree of opening of a valve; and means for controlling the control valve based on an inference result by the fuzzy inference section.