Drainage passage including filter and washing machine having the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11976401-B2
Application number	US-202217701115-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2022
Priority date	Mar 22, 2021
Publication date	May 7, 2024
Grant date	May 7, 2024

Abstract

A washing machine including a tub disposed inside a main body, a drainage pump configured to cause the received water inside the tub to flow to an outside of the washing machine through a drainage passage, a first filter, arrangeable along the drainage passage, to filter out foreign matter equal to or greater than predetermined size from the water, and a second filter, arrangeable along the drainage passage, to filter out foreign matter smaller than the predetermined size from the water. The drainage passage includes a first connecting hose to guide the water to flow from the tub to the first filter, a second connecting hose to guide the water to flow from the first filter to the second filter, and a drainage hose to guide the water to be discharged from the second filter to the outside of the washing machine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A washing machine comprising:
a main body;
a tub, arrangeable inside the main body, and configured to receive water;
a drainage pump configured so that the water received inside the tub flows to an outside of the main body through a drainage passage;
a first filter, arrangeable along the drainage passage, and configured to filter out foreign matter equal to or greater than a predetermined size from the water which flows through drainage passage; and
a second filter, arrangeable along the drainage passage, and configured to filter out foreign matter smaller than the predetermined size from the water which flows through drainage passage,
wherein the drainage passage includes:
a first connecting hose, connectable to the tub and an inlet of the first filter, to guide the water to flow from the tub to the first filter,
a second connecting hose, connectable to an outlet of the first filter which is positioned lower than an inlet of the second filter, to guide the water to flow from the outlet of the first filter toward the inlet of the second filter and guide the water to flow to the outside of the main body without passing through the second filter, and
a drainage hose, connectable to an outlet of the second filter, to guide the water to flow from the second filter to the outside of the main body and guide the water to flow to the outside of the main body without passing through the second filter.

2. The washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising:
a bypass passage to guide the water to flow to the outside of the main body without passing through the second filter,
wherein the bypass passage includes a bypass hose which is either branched from the second connecting hose and connected to the drainage hose or branched from the drainage hose and connected to the second connecting hose.

3. The washing machine of claim 2 , further comprising:
a bypass device at a point where the bypass hose is connected to the second connecting hose or the drainage hose, the bypass device including a valve configured to control whether the water flows to the bypass hose.

4. The washing machine of claim 3 , further comprising:
a water level sensor configured to measure a water level in the tub; and
a controller configured to control opening/closing of the valve of the bypass device based on the measured water level,
wherein, based on the measured water level not changing for a predetermined amount of time, the controller controls the bypass device so that the water is discharged to the outside of the washing machine through the bypass passage.

5. The washing machine of claim 3 , further comprising:
a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the water in the tub; and
a controller configured to control opening/closing of the valve of the bypass device based on the measured temperature,
wherein, based on the measured temperature of the water being a predetermined temperature or lower, the controller controls the bypass device so that the water is discharged to the outside of the washing machine through the bypass passage.

6. The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the second filter includes:
a micro filter which has an inner peripheral surface; and
a filter cleaner including a blade configured to rotate while in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the micro filter and scrape off the foreign matter smaller than the predetermined size filtered from the water by the second filter, and
a collection filter, adjacent to the micro filter, to receive the foreign matter scraped off by the filter cleaner.

7. The washing machine of claim 6 , wherein:
the second filter further includes a housing which includes a micro filter portion forming the inner peripheral surface of the micro filter;
the micro filter and the collection filter are insertable into the housing; and
the water introduced through the inlet of the second filter flows into the micro filter and then passes through the micro filter portion to be discharged through the outlet of the second filter.

8. The washing machine of claim 7 , wherein:
the blade includes a blade shaft and a screw along an extending direction of the blade shaft and comes in close contact with the micro filter portion; and
the micro filter and the collection filter are parallel to each other along the extending direction of the blade shaft so that the micro filter is closer to the inlet of the second filter than the collection filter.

9. The washing machine of claim 8 , further comprising:
a blade motor at one side of the housing, the blade motor connectable to the blade shaft to rotate the blade.

10. The washing machine of claim 9 , further comprising:
a bypass device, connectable to the second connecting hose or the drainage hose, including a valve configured to control whether the water flows to through a bypass passage without passing through the second filter;
a revolutions-per-minute (RPM) sensor configured to measure RPM of the blade motor; and
a controller configured to control opening/closing of the valve of the bypass device based on the measured RPM,
wherein, based on the measured RPM being outside a predetermined range, the controller controls the bypass device so that the water is discharged to the outside of the washing machine through the bypass passage.

11. The washing machine of claim 9 , further comprising:
a bypass device, connectable to the second connecting hose or the drainage hose, including a valve configured to control whether the water flows to through a bypass passage without passing through the second filter;
a current measurement sensor configured to measure a value of current flowing in the blade motor; and
a controller configured to control opening/closing of the valve of the bypass device based on the measured value of current,
wherein, based on the measured value of current being outside a predetermined range, the controller controls the bypass device so that the water is discharged to the outside of the washing machine through the bypass passage.

12. The washing machine of claim 4 , further comprising a control panel configured to display an operational state of the washing machine,
wherein the control panel is provided to display an error based on the measured water level not changing for a predetermined amount of time after the controller controls the bypass device so that the water is discharged to the outside of the washing machine through the bypass passage.

13. The washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising:
an auxiliary drainage pump connectable to the first filter; and
an auxiliary drainage hose to guide the water to flow from the first filter to the outside of the main body.

14. The washing machine of claim 13 , further comprising:
a water level sensor configured to measure a water level in the tub; and
a controller
configured to control the auxiliary drainage pump based on the water level measured by the water level sensor not changing for a predetermined amount of time so that the water flows to the outside of the washing machine through the auxiliary drainage hose.

15. The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the second connecting hose or the drainage hose is in a U-shape with curvature toward a bottom of the main body so as to allow the water to flow toward the curvature in response to a stop of operation of the drainage pump.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Kanghyun
• Yang Byoungyull
• Cho Youngjin
• Jung Sanggyu

Classifications

• D06F33/42 Primary

  of draining · CPC title

• B01D29/11

  with bag, cage, hose, tube, sleeve or like filtering elements · CPC title

• B01D29/56 Primary

  in series connection · CPC title

• B01D29/605

  by level measuring · CPC title

• B01D29/608

  by temperature measuring · CPC title