Apparatus and method for determining inertia of a laundry load
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsDONALD E. ERICKSON, PETER E. ZASOWSKI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation including a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber in which a laundry load is received for treatment, a motor rotatably driving the drum in response to a motor control signal, and a controller outputting a motor control signal to rotate the drum according to a speed profile having at least a constant speed phase, where the drum is rotated at a constant speed, and an acceleration phase, where the drum is accelerated to the constant speed and a method of operating a laundry treating appliance to determine an inertia of the laundry load.
Claims20
A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation, comprising:
- a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber in which a laundry load is received for treatment;
- a motor rotatably driving the drum in response to a motor control signal;
- and
- a controller outputting a motor control signal to rotate the drum according to a speed profile having at least a constant speed phase, where the drum is rotated at a constant speed, and an acceleration phase, where the drum is accelerated to the constant speed, monitoring the power provided to the motor during the acceleration phase, calculating the power provided to the motor for the constant speed based on the monitored power during the acceleration phase, determining the power provided to the motor during the constant speed phase, and determining an inertia of the laundry load based on a difference between the calculated power and the determined power.
A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation, comprising:
- a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber in which a laundry load is received for treatment;
- a motor rotatably driving the drum in response to a motor control signal;
- and
- a controller outputting a motor control signal to rotate the drum according to a speed profile having at least a constant speed phase, where the drum is rotated at a constant speed, immediately followed by an acceleration phase, where the drum is accelerated to the constant speed such that the speed phase and acceleration phase define a pairing, monitoring the power provided to the motor during the acceleration phase, calculating the power provided to the motor for the constant speed based on the monitored power during the acceleration phase, determining the power provided to the motor during the constant speed phase, and determining an inertia of the laundry load based on a difference between the calculated power and the determined power.
A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation, comprising:
- a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber in which a laundry load is received for treatment;
- a motor rotatably driving the drum in response to a motor control signal;
- and
- a controller outputting a motor control signal to rotate the drum according to a speed profile having at least a constant speed phase, where the drum is rotated at a constant speed, and an acceleration phase, where the drum is accelerated to the constant speed, repeatedly determining a torque of the motor during the acceleration phase, calculating a torque for the constant speed phase based on the repeated determinations of torque, determining the torque during the constant speed phase, and determining an inertia of the laundry load based on a quotient of the difference between the calculated torque and the determined torque divided by the acceleration rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.