Control method of laundry treatment apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10870941-B2
Application number	US-201615548336-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2016
Priority date	Feb 23, 2015
Publication date	Dec 22, 2020
Grant date	Dec 22, 2020

Abstract

A control method of a laundry treatment apparatus is disclosed. The control method includes supplying electric power to a first load unit to execute a first cycle set in a first treatment device (a first step), supplying electric power to a second load unit to execute a second cycle set in a second treatment device (a second step), when an amount of current per unit time that is supplied to the laundry treatment apparatus is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference current amount, terminating the second step and executing a third cycle set in the second treatment device so as to consume a lower amount of current than an amount of current per unit time necessary to execute the second cycle (a third step), terminating the first cycle of the first treatment device (a fourth step), and executing the second cycle of the second treatment device after completing the fourth step (a fifth step).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising a first treatment device having a first load unit for treating laundry and a second treatment device having a second load unit for treating laundry, the control method comprising:
supplying electric power to the first load unit to execute a first cycle set in the first treatment device (a first step);
supplying electric power to the second load unit to execute a second cycle set in the second treatment device (a second step), the second step being performed during performance of the first step;
when an amount of current per unit time that is supplied to the laundry treatment apparatus is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference current amount, terminating the second step and executing a third cycle set in the second treatment device so as to consume a lower amount of current than an amount of current per unit time necessary to execute the second cycle (a third step);
terminating the first cycle of the first treatment device (a fourth step); and
re-executing the second cycle of the second treatment device (a fifth step) after completing the fourth step,
wherein re-executing the second cycle comprises:
terminating the third cycle and re-executing the second cycle of the second treatment device after completing the fourth step, if the first cycle is a cycle for heating water to treat the laundry; and
determining whether to re-execute the second cycle of the second treatment device based on an execution time at which the second cycle and the third cycle were executed in the second treatment device, if the first cycle is a cycle for supplying heated air to treat the laundry.

2. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein, if the first cycle is the cycle for supplying heated air to treat the laundry, the fifth step is performed only when the execution time at which the second cycle and the third cycle were executed in the second treatment device is less than a predetermined second cycle reference time.

3. The control method according to claim 2 , wherein, when an execution time of the second cycle in the second step is greater than a second reference time set so as to be less than the second cycle reference time, the second cycle in the fifth step is executed until a sum of an execution time of the second cycle in the second step, an execution time of the third cycle, and an re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time.

4. The control method according to claim 2 , wherein, when an execution time of the second cycle in the second step is less than a second reference time set so as to be less than the second cycle reference time, the second cycle in the fifth step is executed until a sum of an execution time of the third cycle and an re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time.

5. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein, if the first cycle is the cycle for heating water to treat the laundry, the fifth step is terminated:
when a re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches a predetermined second cycle reference time;
when a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step and the re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time; or
when the sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step and the execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches a time obtained by adding a predetermined additional time to the second cycle reference time.

6. The control method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
supplying electric power to the first load unit to execute a fourth cycle set in the first treatment device after completing the fourth step (a sixth step), the sixth step being performed during performance of the fifth step; and
when the amount of current per unit time that is supplied to the laundry treatment apparatus during performance of the fifth step and the sixth step is equal to or greater than the reference current amount, terminating the fifth step and re-executing the third cycle of the second treatment device (a seventh step).

7. The control method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
terminating the sixth step (an eighth step); and
terminating the seventh step and executing the second cycle of the second treatment device (a ninth step).

8. The control method according to claim 7 , wherein the ninth step is terminated when a sum of continuous execution times of the second cycle in the ninth step reaches the second cycle reference time or when a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step, the execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step, and the execution time of the second cycle in the ninth step reaches the second cycle reference time.

9. The control method according to claim 7 , wherein the ninth step is terminated when a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step, the execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step, and the execution time of the second cycle in the ninth step reaches a time obtained by adding a predetermined additional time to the second cycle reference time.

10. The control method according to claim 9 , wherein the additional time is set so as to be proportional to at least one selected from between an execution time of the third cycle in the third step and a re-execution time of third cycle in the seventh step or to be inversely proportional to at least one selected from between the execution time of the second cycle in the second step and the re-execution time of second cycle in the fifth step.

11. The control method according to claim 5 , wherein, when a number of times that the second cycle was executed is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference number of times,
the fifth step is commenced when a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step and the execution time of the third cycle in the third step is less than the second cycle reference time or when the execution time of the third cycle in the third step is less than the second cycle reference time, and
the fifth step is continued until a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step, the execution time of the third cycle in the third step, and the re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time or until a sum of the execution time of the third cycle in the third step and the re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time.

12. The control method according to claim 5 , wherein, when an operation time of a heat exchange unit provided in the first load unit for heating a fluid is equal to or greater than a predetermined heating reference time,
the fifth step is commenced when a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step and the execution time of the third cycle in the third step is less than the second cycle reference time or when execution time of the third cycle in the third step is less than the second cycle reference time, and
the fifth step is continued until a sum of the execution time of the second cycle in the second step, the execution time of the third cycle in the third step, and the re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time or until a sum of the execution time of the third cycle in the third step and the re-execution time of the second cycle in the fifth step reaches the second cycle reference time.

13. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein
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Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Heo Kwangchul
• Sung Kijung

Classifications

• D06F58/48

  Control of the energy consumption · CPC title

• D06F25/00

  Washing machines with receptacles, e.g. perforated, having a rotary movement, e.g. oscillatory movement, the receptacle serving both for washing and for centrifugally separating water from the laundry and having further drying means, e.g. using hot air  (control of washing or of washing and drying D06F33/00, D06F34/00; domestic laundry dryers D06F58/00) · CPC title

• D06F29/005 Primary

  the other separate apparatus being a drying appliance · CPC title

• D06F33/46 Primary

  Control of the energy or water consumption · CPC title

• D06F2103/38

  Time, e.g. duration · CPC title