Washing machine and method of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12486608-B2
Application number	US-202318204067-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2023
Priority date	Jul 20, 2022
Publication date	Dec 2, 2025
Grant date	Dec 2, 2025

Abstract

A washing machine including a tub, a drum configured to be rotatable inside the tub, a detergent supply device configured to supply a detergent into the tub, the detergent supply device including a storage area, a pump motor configured to pump a liquid in the storage area, and a discharge port configured to guide the liquid pumped by the pump motor into the tub; a user interface configured to receive a user input to request a cleaning of the storage area, and a controller configured to detect a cleaning condition of the storage area based on a load of the pump motor, and based on the user input being received, perform a cleaning process of the storage area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A washing machine comprising:
a tub; a drum configured to be rotatable inside the tub; a detergent supply device configured to supply a detergent into the tub, the detergent supply device including:
a storage area;
a pump motor configured to pump a liquid in the storage area; and
a discharge port configured to guide the liquid pumped by the pump motor into the tub;
a user interface configured to receive a user input to request a cleaning of the storage area; and a controller configured to:
detect a cleaning condition of the storage area based on a detected load of the pump motor; and
based on the user input being received and the detected cleaning condition, perform a cleaning process of the storage area.

2 . The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to, based on the detecting of the cleaning condition of the storage area, control the user interface to notify a user that the storage area needs to be cleaned.

3 . The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to drive the pump motor during a wash process or a rinse process, and detect the cleaning condition of the storage area based on a driving voltage value of the pump motor during the wash process or the rinse process.

4 . The washing machine of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to, in response to the driving voltage value of the pump motor being greater than or equal to a predetermined value, detect the cleaning condition of the storage area.

5 . The washing machine of claim 3 , wherein the storage area includes a first storage area and a second storage area, the pump motor includes;
a first pump motor configured to pump a liquid accommodated in the first storage area; and a second pump motor configured to pump a liquid accommodated in the second storage area, and the controller is configured to drive the first pump motor during the wash process and drive the second pump motor during the rinse process.

6 . The washing machine of claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to, in response to a driving voltage value of the first pump motor being greater than or equal to a predetermined value, detect a cleaning condition of the first storage area; and
in response to a driving voltage value of the second pump motor being greater than or equal to a predetermined value, detect a cleaning condition of the second storage area.

7 . The washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor configured to detect the liquid accommodated in the storage area,
wherein based on the detecting of the cleaning condition of the storage area, the controller is configured to, control the user interface to guide a user to input the user input in response to the liquid not being detected by the sensor.

8 . The washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising:
a water supply device configured to supply external water into the tub; a drive motor configured to rotate the drum; and a drain device configured to drain water in the tub, wherein the controller is configured to control the pump motor, the water supply device, the drive motor, and the drain device to perform the cleaning process of the storage area.

9 . The washing machine of claim 8 , wherein the cleaning process of the storage area includes:
a pump process to drive the pump motor; a water supply process to drive the water supply device; an agitation process to agitate the drum; a drain process to drive the drain device; and a spin-dry process to rotate the drum while driving the drain device.

10 . The washing machine of claim 9 , further comprising a sensor configured to detect a liquid accommodated in the storage area, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to a start of the cleaning process of the storage area, start the pump process, and based on the liquid not being detected by the sensor, end the pump process.

11 . The washing machine of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to perform each of the water supply process and the agitation process at least once before an ending of the pump process but after the start of the cleaning process to clean the storage area.

12 . The washing machine of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to, in response to the ending of the pump process, perform each of the water supply process, the drain process, and the spin-dry process at least once.

13 . The washing machine of claim 9 , wherein the storage area includes a first storage area and a second storage area, the pump motor includes a first pump motor configured to pump a liquid accommodated in the first storage area and a second pump motor configured to pump a liquid accommodated in the second storage area,
the cleaning process of the storage area includes a first cleaning process to clean the first storage area, a second cleaning process to clean the second storage area, and a third cleaning process to clean both the first storage area and the second storage area, and the pump process includes a first pump process to drive the first pump motor, a second pump process to drive the second pump motor, and a third pump process to drive at least one of the first pump motor and the second pump motor.

14 . The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the storage area includes a first storage area and a second storage area, the user interface is configured to:
provide a first user interface to set a use of the second storage area as a detergent compartment or a softener compartment; and provide a second user interface to request a cleaning of the second storage area in response to the use of the second storage area being changed through the first user interface.

15 . The washing machine of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to, upon receiving a user input to request the cleaning of the second storage area through the second user interface, perform a cleaning process to clean the second storage area.

16 . The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the user interface to notify a user by displaying a message indicating that the storage area needs to be cleaned.

17 . The washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the user interface to notify a user by sounding a warning sound or outputting a text message as sound indicating that the storage area needs to be cleaned.

18 . The washing machine of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to the user interface to transmit a message to an external device to notify that the storage area needs to be cleaned.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Choi Seunghun
• Kim Jeongnam
• Lee Wanhee
• Lee Jaepoong
• Chun Kwangmin

Classifications

• D06F33/43 Primary

  Control of cleaning or disinfection of washing machine parts, e.g. of tubs · CPC title

• D06F2105/58

  Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user · CPC title

• D06F2103/02

  Characteristics of laundry or load · CPC title

• D06F2103/42

  related to filters or pumps · CPC title

• D06F39/085

  Arrangements or adaptations of pumps · CPC title