Drum type washing machine and dryer

A drum type washing machine comprising:

• a drum for accommodating laundry, said drum having a plurality of holes and a baffle for tumbling the laundry at a circumferential wall thereof;
• a water tank for supporting said drum to be rotatable about a horizontal shaft, said water tank surrounding said drum entirely;
• a drive unit for applying a driving force of forward/reverse rotation to said drum;
• vibration-detecting means for detecting vibration of said water tank;
• decision means for determining the amplitude of vibration detected by said vibration-detecting means at a predetermined low rotation speed at which vibration is substantially proportional to vibration of said drum at high-speed rotation;
• and
• control means for controlling said drive unit to correct localization of the laundry in said drum such that when the amplitude of the vibration determined by said decision means at the predetermined low rotation speed at which the vibration is substantially proportional to vibration of said drum in high-speed rotation is a predetermined value or less, said control means controls said drive unit to rotate said drum at a higher speed.

A drum type washing machine comprising:

• a drum for accommodating laundry, said drum having a plurality of holes and a baffle for tumbling the laundry at a circumferential wall thereof;
• a water tank for supporting said drum to be rotatable about a horizontal shaft, said water tank surrounding said drum entirely;
• a drive unit for applying a driving force of forward/reverse rotation to said drum;
• vibration-detecting means for detecting vibration of said water tank;
• decision means for determining the amplitude of vibration detected by said vibration-detecting means at a predetermined low rotation speed at which vibration is substantially proportional to vibration of said drum at high-speed rotation;
• and
• control means for controlling said drive unit to correct localization of the laundry in said drum such that when the amplitude of the vibration determined by said decision means exceeds a predetermined value at any rotation speed not more than the predetermined low rotation speed, said control means controls said drive unit to temporarily stop rotation of said drum and then to rotate said drum in a reverse rotation direction so that localization of the laundry is corrected, and when the amplitude of the vibration decided by said decision means exceeds a vibration limit value at any rotation speed including that of high-speed rotation, said control means controls said drive unit to temporarily stop rotation of said drum so that localization of the laundry is corrected.

A method of correcting localization of laundry in a washing machine, the washing machine having a drum for accommodating the laundry and a water tank for supporting the drum to be rotatable, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) driving the drum in a first rotational direction at a predetermined low rotational speed;
• b) determining if vibration of the water tank during rotation of the drum in the first rotational direction is less than or equal to a first predetermined value;
• c) driving the drum in a second rotational direction at the predetermined low rotational speed upon determination in said step b) that the vibration is greater than the first predetermined value;
• d) determining if vibration of the water tank during rotation of the drum in the second rotational direction is less than or equal to the first predetermined value;
• and
• e) driving the drum in the second rotational direction at a predetermined high rotational speed upon determination in said step d) that the vibration is equal to or less than the first predetermined value.

A washing machine comprising:

• a drum for accommodating laundry;
• a water tank for supporting said drum to be rotatable;
• driving means for driving said drum in opposite first and second rotational directions;
• vibration means for detecting vibration of said water tank during rotation of said drum;
• and
• control means for controlling said driving means to drive said drum at predetermined low and high rotational speeds in the first and second rotational directions and for comparing detected vibration to a first predetermined value,
• said control means controlling said drive means to drive said drum in the first rotational direction at the predetermined low rotational speed, to drive said drum in the second rotational direction at the predetermined low rotational speed upon determination that the detected vibration during rotation of said drum in the first rotational direction is greater than the first predetermined value, and to drive said drum in the second rotational direction at the predetermined high rotational speed upon determination that the detected vibration during rotation of said drum in the second rotational direction is less than or equal to the first predetermined value.

A washing machine comprising:

• a drum for accommodating laundry;
• a water tank for supporting said drum to be rotatable;
• driving means for driving said drum in opposite first and second directions;
• vibration means for detecting vibration of said drum during rotation;
• control means for controlling said drive means to correct localization of the laundry in accordance with the detected vibration;
• and
• a liquid balancer, mounted on said drum, having a viscous liquid injected and sealed therein such that, assuming that an internal pressure of said liquid balancer at a high temperature satisfies (atmospheric pressure+P.sub.1), the internal pressure of said liquid balancer at room temperature satisfies (atmospheric pressure-P.sub.1), wherein P.sub.1 is a vapor pressure of the viscous liquid.

A drum type washing machine comprising:

• a drum for accommodating laundry, said drum having a plurality of holes and a baffle for tumbling the laundry at a circumferential wall thereof;
• a water tank for supporting said drum to be rotatable about a horizontal shaft, said water tank surrounding said drum entirely;
• a drive unit for applying a driving force of forward/reverse rotation to said drum;
• a liquid balancer, mounted on said drum, having a glycerin solution therein;
• vibration-detecting means for detecting vibration of said water tank;
• decision means for determining the amplitude of vibration detected by said vibration-detecting means at a predetermined low rotation speed at which vibration is substantially proportional to vibration of said drum at high-speed rotation;
• and
• control means for controlling said drive unit, based on the amplitude of the vibration, to correct localization of the laundry in said drum by changing rotation direction of said drum.