Laundry treating appliance with tumble pattern control
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsFarhad Ashrafzadeh, Ryan R. Bellinger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and a method of operating a laundry treating appliance treating laundry according to a cycle of operation including determining a rotational speed of the drum corresponding to a predetermined movement of the laundry within the drum and setting an operating parameter for the cycle of operation based on the determined rotational speed of the drum corresponding to the predetermined movement of the laundry.
Claims20
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:
- rotating the drum by providing a speed control signal to the motor;
- receiving by the controller a torque signal from the motor in the time domain indicative of the torque of the motor;
- converting by the controller the torque signal from the time domain to a torque signal in the frequency domain;
- determining by the controller a change in the torque signal in the frequency domain, wherein the change in torque signal in the frequency domain is indicative of a predetermined movement of the laundry within the drum;
- determining by the controller a rotational speed of the drum corresponding to the predetermined movement of the laundry within the drum based on the change in the torque signal in the frequency domain;
- setting by the controller an operating parameter for the cycle of operation based on the determined rotational speed of the drum corresponding to the predetermined movement of the laundry;
- and
- operating the laundry treating appliance to implement the cycle of operation according to the operating parameter set by the controller.
A laundry treating appliance comprising:
- a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment according to a cycle of operation;
- a motor operably coupled to the drum to effect a rotation of the drum;
- at least one component operably coupled to the treating chamber for carrying out the cycle of operation;
- and
- a controller coupled to and controlling the motor according to a cycle of operation selected via a user interface operably coupled to the controller, the controller configured to:
- rotate the drum by providing a speed control signal to the motor;
- receive from the motor a torque signal in the time domain indicative of the torque of the motor;
- convert the torque signal from the time domain to a torque signal in the frequency domain;
- determine change in the torque signal in the frequency domain, wherein the change in torque signal in the frequency domain is indicative of a predetermined movement of the laundry within the drum;
- determine a rotational speed of the drum corresponding to the predetermined movement of the laundry within the drum based on the change in the torque signal in the frequency domain;
- and
- set an operating parameter for the cycle of operation based on the determined rotational speed of the drum corresponding to the predetermined movement of the laundry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.