Laundry treating apparatus and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11905645-B2
Application number	US-202117392906-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2021
Priority date	Aug 14, 2020
Publication date	Feb 20, 2024
Grant date	Feb 20, 2024

Abstract

A method for controlling a laundry treating apparatus includes a dry cloth sensing operation of sensing an amount of clothes put into a drum, a wet cloth sensing operation of sensing a washing load based on a moisture content of the clothes by supplying water into a tub, and a cloth material sensing operation of sensing a cloth material of the clothes put into the drum based on a rpm gap and a motor-constrained state where rotation of a motor is restricted. The rpm gap is a difference between a target rpm of a rotator in the drum and an actual rpm of the rotator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a laundry treating apparatus including a tub, a drum that is rotatably disposed inside the tub and has an open surface configured to receive clothes therethrough and a bottom surface located at an opposite side of the open surface, a rotator rotatably disposed inside the drum, a motor configured to drive the drum and the rotator, and a controller configured to control operation of the motor, the rotator including a bottom portion disposed at the bottom surface, a pillar that protrudes from the bottom portion toward the open surface, and a plurality of blades that are spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and that extend toward the open surface along a direction inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, the method comprising:
sensing an amount of the clothes in the drum;
supplying water into the tub;
sensing a washing load of the clothes that include a moisture content from the water supplied into the tub;
supplying power to the motor to rotate the rotator at a predetermined target revolution per minute (rpm);
determining an actual rpm of the rotator;
determining a rpm gap that is a difference between the target rpm of the rotator and the actual rpm; and
determining a cloth material of the clothes based on the rpm gap and whether the motor is in a motor-constrained state in which rotation of the motor is restricted.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the cloth material comprises:
determining whether the motor is in the motor-constrained state after sensing the washing load of the clothes.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the cloth material comprises:
determining a first rpm gap between the target rpm and the actual rpm of the rotator in a state in which rotation of the motor is not restricted.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the first rpm gap comprises:
performing a cycle including rotating the rotator for a preset number of times based on the target rpm being set; and
determining the first rpm gap based on a result of the performance of the cycle.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the first rpm gap comprises performing the cycle for a multiple number of times.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
based on the first rpm gap being less than or equal to a preset reference, performing a first washing process according to the washing load.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
based on the first rpm gap being greater than the preset reference or the motor being in the motor-constrained state, supplying additional water into the tub.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining whether the motor is in the motor-constrained state after the additional water is supplied into the tub.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining a second rpm gap between the target rpm and the actual rpm of the rotator based on determining that the motor is no longer in the motor-constrained state after the additional water is supplied into the tub.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
performing a cycle including rotating the rotator for a preset number of times after the additional water is supplied into the tub; and
determining the second rpm gap based on a result of the performance of the cycle.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
based on the second rpm gap being less than or equal to the preset reference, performing a second washing process according to a water level in the tub after the additional water is supplied into the tub.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein performing the first washing process comprises rotating the rotator at a first rpm, and
wherein performing the second washing process comprises rotating the rotator at a second rpm that is greater than the first rpm.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
based on the motor being in the motor-constrained state or the second rpm gap being greater than the preset reference, performing a third washing process that is different from the first washing process and the second washing process.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein performing the third washing process comprises rotating the rotator at an rpm that is less than rpms of the rotator in the first washing process and the second washing process.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein rotating the rotator in the third washing process comprises rotating the rotator by a rotation angle that is less than or equal to 90 degrees with respect to a reference position.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
supplying additional water into the tub before performing the third washing process; and
performing the third washing process after the additional water is supplied into the tub.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the motor is in the motor-constrained state based on the rpm gap being equal to the target rpm.

18. A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
a cabinet;
a tub configured to receive water;
a drum rotatably disposed inside the tub, the drum having an open surface configured to receive clothes therethrough and a bottom surface located at an opposite side of the open surface;
a rotator rotatably disposed inside the drum;
a motor configured to drive the drum and the rotator; and
a controller configured to control operation of the motor,
wherein the rotator comprises:
a bottom portion disposed at the bottom surface of the drum,
a pillar that protrudes from the bottom portion toward the open surface of the drum, and
a plurality of blades that are spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and extend toward the open surface along a direction inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, and

wherein the controller is configured to:
supply power to the motor to rotate the rotator at a predetermined target revolution per minute (rpm) in a state in which water is supplied in the tub,
determine an actual rpm of the rotator,
determine a rpm gap that is a difference between the target rpm of the rotator and the actual rpm, and
determine a cloth material of the clothes based on the rpm gap and whether the motor is in a motor-constrained state in which rotation of the motor is restricted.

19. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the controller is configured to:
based on the motor being in the motor-constrained state or the rpm gap being greater than or equal to a preset reference, determine the cloth material after supplying additional water into the tub.

20. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the controller is configured to, based on the rpm gap being equal to the target rpm, determine that the motor is in the motor-constrained state.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Sunho
• Kim Youngjong
• Kim Dongcheol

Classifications

• D06F58/50 Primary

  Responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning of blowers · CPC title

• D06F34/18 Primary

  Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight · CPC title

• D06F33/34

  of water filling · CPC title

• D06F33/36

  of washing · CPC title

• D06F37/40

  for driving the receptacle and an agitator or impeller, e.g. alternatively {(D06F37/304, D06F37/308 take precedence)} · CPC title