Laundry treating appliance and method of control
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsALI R. BUENDIA, KARL DAVID MCALLISTER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of operating a laundry treating appliance to control a rotational speed of a drum to move the laundry within the drum according to a predetermined category of movement.
Claims19
A method for operating a laundry treating appliance having a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment, a motor operably coupled to and rotating the drum, a controller coupled to and controlling the motor, and a user interface operably coupled to the controller, wherein the controller controls the motor according to a cycle of operation selected via the user interface, the method comprising:
- establishing a desired movement of the laundry within the treating chamber;
- controlling the speed of the motor to control the rotational speed of the drum by the controller providing a speed control signal to the motor;
- receiving by the controller a torque signal indicative of the torque of the motor;
- monitoring by the controller of an amplitude and a frequency of a ripple in the torque signal;
- determining by the controller a category of movement of the laundry from a predetermined group of movement categories based on the monitored amplitude and frequency;
- and
- controlling by the controller the speed of the motor until the determined movement of the laundry satisfies the desired movement of the laundry.
A laundry treating appliance comprising:
- a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment;
- a motor operably coupled to and rotating the drum;
- a motor speed sensor outputting a speed signal indicative of the speed of the motor;
- a motor torque sensor outputting a torque signal indicative of the torque of the motor;
- a user interface outputting a cycle signal indicative of a selected cycle of operation;
- a closed loop feedback control system receiving the motor speed signal, motor torque signal, and cycle signal to establish a desired movement of the laundry within the treating chamber, determining a movement of the laundry based on an amplitude and a frequency of a ripple of the torque signal, and controlling the speed of the motor until the determined movement of the laundry satisfies the desired movement of the laundry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.