Tangling detection for an automatic washer
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsFarhad Ashrafzadeh, Kalyanakrishnan Vadakkeveedu, Raveendran Vaidhyanathan
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining the degree of tangling of fabric items during a wash process based on at least one of the motor speed or motor current.
Claims15
A method for controlling the operation of an automatic washer comprising a wash tub in which is disposed a wash basket defining a wash chamber for receiving fabric articles and an article mover located within the wash chamber and driven by a motor to impart mechanical energy to the fabric articles, the method comprising:
- determining the presence of ripples, which are caused by the loading and unloading of the fabric articles on the clothes mover, of at least one of the speed and current waveforms of the motor during a steady state operation of the motor;
- determining a frequency of the ripples;
- determining a degree of tangling of the fabric articles from the determined frequency;
- and controlling an operating cycle of the automatic washer based on the determined degree of tangling.
A method for controlling the operation of an automatic washer comprising a wash tub in which is disposed a wash basket defining a wash chamber for receiving fabric articles and an article mover located within the wash chamber and driven by a motor to impart mechanical energy to the fabric articles, the method comprising:
- rotating the article mover alternating between forward and backward strokes;
- determining the presence of ripples, which are caused by the loading and unloading of the fabric articles on the clothes mover, of at least one of the speed and current waveforms of the motor during the forward and backward strokes;
- determining an average frequency of the ripples for each of the forward and backward strokes;
- determining a degree of tangling of the fabric articles based on a difference between the average frequency of the forward and backward strokes;
- and controlling an operating cycle of the automatic washer based on the determined degree of tangling.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.