Laundry treating appliance and methods of operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10041202-B2
Application number	US-201514945908-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 19, 2015
Priority date	Nov 19, 2015
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

A method of estimating water mass extraction in a laundry treating appliance where the geometry changes in a laundry load affect inertia estimations includes accelerating rotation of the drum during a water extraction cycle to at least two distinct speeds, each for a dwell time, by way of acceleration ramps; determining, during the accelerating rotation, by a controller communicably coupled with the motor, a torque of the motor, an acceleration of the drum, a speed of the drum, and/or an angular position of the drum; and estimating with a parameter estimator inertia values of a laundry load in the drum, based on the torque, acceleration, speed, and/or angular position of the drum at the beginning and the end of each dwell time. The estimated inertia values are transformed based on differing geometries of the laundry load, and water mass extraction is determined based on the transformed estimated inertia values.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of estimating water mass extraction in a laundry treating appliance having a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to a cycle of operation, and a motor operably coupled with the drum to rotate the drum, where geometry changes in a laundry load affect inertia estimations, the method comprising:
rotating the drum during a water extraction cycle to at least two distinct speeds, each for a dwell time, by way of at least one acceleration ramp;
determining, during the rotation, by a controller communicably coupled with the motor, at least one of a torque of the motor, an acceleration of the drum, a speed of the drum, or an angular position of the drum;
estimating with a parameter estimator inertia values of a laundry load in the drum, based on at least one of the torque, acceleration, speed, or angular position of the drum at a beginning and an end of each dwell time;
using an algebraic formula to geometrically transform the estimated inertia values of the laundry load at a first speed to an inertia value of the laundry load at a second speed based on differing geometries of the laundry load at different dwell times;
determining water mass extraction based on the transformed estimated inertia values; and
adjusting the cycle of operation based on the determined water mass extraction.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the transforming includes multiplying an inertia value at the end of a dwell time by an inertia value at the end of a preceding dwell time divided by an inertia value at the beginning of the dwell time.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising multiple speeds and multiple times.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the dwell speed includes a small change in speed.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising applying a transformed estimated inertia to a fraction formula to determine a mass percentage of one of extracted liquid and remaining liquid in the laundry treating appliance.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising adjusting the cycle of operation based on the determination of mass percentage.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the adjusting includes adjusting at least one of amount of water added, amount of detergent added, maximum spin speed, acceleration rate during a ramp, or spin duration.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein estimating the inertia utilizes a model comprising:
T=J{dot over (ω)}+bω+c+A sin(α+β)

wherein T=torque, J=inertia, {dot over (ω)}=acceleration of the drum, ω=rotational speed of the drum, b=viscous friction, c=coulomb friction, A=amplitude of a basket speed first harmonic torque disturbance, which may be a function of an unbalance mass, surface tilt angle, gravitational acceleration, unbalance mass position, and basket speed, α=rotational position of the drum, and β=phase of the basket speed first harmonic torque disturbance relative to the rotational position of the drum.

9. A laundry treating appliance comprising:
a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to a cycle of operation;
a motor operably coupled with the drum to accelerate rotation of the drum to at least two distinct speeds, each for a dwell time, by way of at least two acceleration ramps;
a controller coupled to the motor for determining at least one of a torque of the motor, an acceleration of the drum, a rotational speed of the drum, or an angular position of the drum; and
a processor operably coupled with the controller and having a parameter estimator to estimate inertia values of a laundry load based upon at least one of the torque, acceleration, speed, or angular position of the drum as the drum rotates;
wherein the processor is configured to estimate the inertia values at a beginning and an end of each dwell time, and to use an algebraic formula to geometrically transform the estimated inertia values of the laundry load at a first speed to an inertia value of the laundry load at a second speed based on differing geometries of the laundry load at different dwell times and wherein water mass extraction can be determined based on the transformed estimated inertia values and the cycle of operation can be adjusted based on the determined water mass extraction.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 wherein the processor is further configured to transform the estimated inertia values multiplying an inertia value at the end of a dwell time by an inertia value at the end of a preceding dwell time divided by an inertia value at the beginning of the dwell time.

11. The laundry treating appliance of claim 10 wherein the dwell speed includes a small change in speed.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 wherein the motor accelerates the drum to multiple speeds and multiple dwell times.

13. The laundry treating appliance of claim 9 further comprising applying a transformed estimated inertia to a difference fraction to determine liquid mass percentage of one of extracted liquid and remaining liquid in the laundry treating appliance.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 13 wherein the mass percentage is used to adjust at least one of amount of water added, amount of detergent added, maximum spin speed, acceleration rate during a ramp, or spin duration.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Sumer Erol D
• De Oliveira Fernando E

Classifications

• D06F37/04

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F37/12

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a vertical axis · CPC title

• D06F37/02

  Rotary receptacles, e.g. drums · CPC title

• D06F35/007

  for spin-drying only · CPC title

• D06F37/36 Primary

  for rotating the receptacle at more than one speed {(D06F37/304, D06F37/308 take precedence)} · CPC title