Laundry treating apparatus and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12270139-B2
Application number	US-202117392883-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2021
Priority date	Aug 14, 2020
Publication date	Apr 8, 2025
Grant date	Apr 8, 2025

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus includes a tub, a drum rotatably disposed inside the tub, a rotator that is rotatably disposed on a bottom surface of the drum and includes a pillar extending inside the drum and a plurality of blades spaced apart from each other along a circumferential direction of the pillar and inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, a motor for driving the drum and the rotator, and a controller that controls operation of the motor. A method for controlling the apparatus includes sensing an amount of clothes in the drum, sensing a washing load of the clothes including a moisture content from water supplied into the tub, and sensing a cloth material of the clothes. When the washing load corresponds to a normal washing load in the first cloth material sensing operation, a first washing process is performed according to the washing load.

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, a rotator that is rotatably disposed at a bottom surface of the drum and includes a pillar extending inside the drum and a plurality of blades spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, a motor configured to drive the drum and the rotator, and a controller configured to control operation of the motor, the method comprising:
sensing a first amount of a washing load that is put into the drum, the washing load including clothes;
supplying water into the tub based on sensing the first amount of the washing load;
sensing a second amount of the washing load based on a moisture content absorbed by the clothes after supplying the water into the tub; and
sensing a cloth material of the clothes,
wherein sensing the cloth material of the clothes comprises:
determining whether the motor is in a constrained state in an attempt to rotate the rotator after supplying the water into the tub, wherein the method further comprises performing a first washing process according to the second amount of the washing load based on determining that the motor is not in the constrained state in the attempt to rotate the rotator,
based on determining that the motor is in the constrained state in the attempt to rotate the rotator, supplying additional water to the tub, and
determining whether the motor is in the constrained state in another attempt to rotate the rotator after supplying the additional water,

wherein the method further comprises:
based on determining that the motor is no longer in the constrained state in the another attempt to rotate the rotator with the additional water, performing a second washing process according to a water level in the drum, and
based on determining that the motor remains in the constrained state in the another attempt to rotate the rotator with the additional water, performing a third washing process, the third washing process comprising reducing a torque acting on the rotator, and

wherein reducing the torque acting on the rotator comprises (i) rotating the rotator and the drum in a same direction, (ii) decreasing a target revolutions per minute (rpm) of the rotator in the third washing process to be less than target rpms of the rotator in the first and second washing processes, and (iii) decreasing a drum rpm of the drum in the third washing process to be less than the drum rpms in the first and second washing processes.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing the torque acting on the rotator further comprises:
controlling at least one of an acceleration slope for the rotator to reach the target rpm in the third washing process or a rotation angle of the rotator.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
changing a rotation direction of the rotator; and
stopping supplying power to the rotator for an idle time while changing the rotation direction of the rotator to thereby stop rotating the rotator for the idle time.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the idle time comprises a first idle time in the first washing process, a second idle time in the second washing process, and a third idle time in the third washing process, the third idle time being greater than the first idle time and the second idle time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target rpm of the rotator in the first washing process is less than the target rpm of the rotator in the second washing process.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target rpm of the rotator in the third washing process is set to be less than or equal to 100 rpm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the drum rpm of the drum in the third washing process is less than or equal to 50 rpm.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
rotating the rotator in a first direction to thereby generate an ascending water flow in the drum;
rotating the rotator in a second direction to thereby generate a descending water flow in the drum; and
alternating rotation of the rotator in the first direction and rotation of the rotator in the second direction.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein rotating the rotator in the first direction or the second direction comprises rotating the rotator by a rotation angle that is less than or equal to 90 degrees with respect to a reference position.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first washing process comprises rotating the rotator by a first rotation angle with respect to a reference position,
wherein the second washing process comprises rotating the rotator by a second rotation angle with respect to the reference position,
wherein the third washing process comprises rotating the rotator by a third rotation angle with respect to the reference position, and
wherein the third rotation angle is less than the first rotation angle and the second rotation angle.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first washing process comprises rotating the rotator with a first acceleration slope,
wherein the second washing process comprises rotating the rotator with a second acceleration slope,
wherein the third washing process comprises rotating the rotator with a third acceleration slope, and
wherein the third acceleration slope is greater than the first acceleration slope and the second acceleration slope.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing the torque acting on the rotator further comprises:
controlling an acceleration slope for the rotator to reach the target rpm in the third washing process, a rotation angle of the rotator, or an idle time for which a rotation direction of the rotator is changed, wherein power supply to the rotator is stopped during the idle time.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing the torque acting on the rotator further comprises setting an acceleration of the rotator in the third washing process to be greater than accelerations of the rotator in the first and second washing processes.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Sunho
• Kim Youngjong
• Kim Dongcheol

Classifications

• D06F2103/04

  Quantity, e.g. weight or variation of weight · CPC title

• D06F2105/52

  Changing sequence of operational steps; Carrying out additional operational steps; Modifying operational steps, e.g. by extending duration of steps · CPC title

• D06F2105/02

  Water supply · CPC title

• D06F2103/06

  Type or material · CPC title

• D06F2105/48

  Drum speed · CPC title