Laundry treating appliance and methods of operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020256000-A1
Application number	US-202016861907-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 29, 2020
Priority date	Oct 1, 2015
Publication date	Aug 13, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods of reducing a likelihood of contact between a rotating laundry-container, such as a basket or drum, located within a tub of a laundry treating appliance where the method includes rotating the drum during a measurement period, determining a torque, speed, acceleration, and position of the drum, using a parameter estimator to estimate the position of a mass relative to an imbalance of laundry and accelerating the rotation of the drum when the mass is determined to be angularly spaced from the relative position of the imbalance of laundry.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of operating a laundry treating appliance, the method comprising:
rotating a drum during a measurement period, the drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to a cycle of operation, a motor operably coupled with the drum to rotate the drum, and at least one balance ring mounted to the drum and defining an internal annular cavity in which a mass is located; determining, during the measurement period, at least one of a torque of the motor, an acceleration of the drum, a speed of the drum, or an angular position of the drum; repeatedly estimating with a parameter estimator, during the measurement period, a relative position of an imbalance of a laundry load and a relative position of the mass, based on the at least one of the torque of the motor, the acceleration of the drum, the speed of the drum, or the angular position of the drum; and accelerating the rotating of the drum during the cycle of operation when the relative position of the mass is determined to be angularly spaced from the relative position of the imbalance of the laundry load.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a reference position for the mass, relative to the angular position of the drum.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the relative position of the mass is repeatedly determined with a sensor.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the parameter estimator repeatedly estimates the relative position of the mass and the relative position of the imbalance of the laundry load utilizing a first model comprising:
T=J{dot over (ω)}+bω+c+mgr sin(α+β)+ m BB gr BB sin(α BB +β BB ),  (1)

wherein T=torque, J=inertia, {dot over (ω)}=acceleration of the drum, ω=rotational speed of the drum, b=viscous friction, c=coulomb friction, m=mass of the imbalance of the laundry load, g=gravitational acceleration, r=radius from an axial center of the drum to a center of mass of the imbalance of the laundry load, α=rotational position of the drum, β=rotational position of the imbalance of the laundry load relative to the rotational position of the drum, m BB =mass of the center of mass of the mass, r BB =radius from the center point of the drum to the center of mass of the mass, α BB =rotational position reference for the mass, and β BB =rotational position of the center of mass of the mass relative to the rotational reference position α BB .

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining an angular spacing of the relative position of the mass and the relative position of the imbalance of the laundry load utilizing a second model comprising:
γ=(α+β)−(α BB +β BB )
wherein γ=the angular spacing, α=rotational position of the drum, β=rotational position of the imbalance of the laundry load relative to the rotational position of the drum, α BB =rotational position reference for the mass, and β BB =rotational position of the center of mass of the mass relative to the rotational reference position α BB .

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeatedly estimating with the parameter estimator, during the measurement period, a magnitude of the mass and a magnitude of the imbalance of the laundry load, based on the at least one of the torque of the motor, the acceleration of the drum, the speed of the drum, or the angular position of the drum.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the mass is a plurality of balance balls.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining that the plurality of the balance balls are ungrouped about the internal annular cavity; and accelerating the rotating of the drum in response to the determination that the plurality of balance balls are ungrouped without regard to the angular spacing, such that the angular spacing of the relative position of the ungrouped balance balls is indeterminable relative to the position of the imbalance of the laundry load.

9 . The method of claim 1 wherein the parameter estimator is operated continuously throughout the measurement period.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the acceleration or deceleration of the drum during the measurement period is about zero.

11 . The method of claim 1 wherein the relative position of the mass is a raw value.

12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the relative position of the imbalance of the laundry load is a raw value.

13 . The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one balancing ring comprises two balance rings.

14 . A method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to a cycle of operation, a motor operably coupled with the drum to rotate the drum, and at least one balance ring mounted to the drum and defining an internal annular cavity in which a mass is located, the method comprising:
using a parameter estimator to repeatedly estimate a relative position of the mass and a relative position of the laundry load based upon at least one of a torque, an acceleration, a speed, or an angular position of the drum as the drum rotates during an initial period; and accelerating the rotational speed of the drum during the cycle of operation when the relative position of the mass is estimated to be angularly spaced from the relative position of the laundry load.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining a reference position for the mass, relative to the angular position of the drum.

16 . The method of claim 14 wherein estimating a relative position of the mass comprises repeatedly sensing the position of the mass with a sensor.

17 . The method of claim 14 wherein the mass is a plurality of balance balls.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining that the plurality of the balance balls are ungrouped about the internal annular cavity and accelerating the rotating of the drum in response to the determination that the plurality of balance balls are ungrouped without regard to the angular spacing, such that the angular spacing of the relative position of the ungrouped balance balls is indeterminable relative to the position of the imbalance of the laundry load.

19 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising repeatedly estimating with a parameter estimator, during the initial period, a magnitude of the mass and a magnitude of the imbalance of the laundry load, based on the at least one of the torque, the acceleration, the speed, or the angular position of the drum.

20 . The method of claim 14 wherein the accelerating is one of a positive acceleration or a negative acceleration.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Borlin Christopher L
• Janke Brian P
• Keres Joseph M
• Keres Stephen L
• Bencke Teixeira Da Silva Guilherme
• Rodriguez Adrian A

Classifications

• D06F37/225 Primary

  Damping vibrations by displacing, supplying or ejecting a material, e.g. liquid, into or from counterbalancing pockets · CPC title

• D06F2105/48

  Drum speed · CPC title

• D06F2103/26

  Imbalance; Noise level · CPC title

• D06F2103/24

  Spin speed; Drum movements · CPC title

• D06F33/48

  Preventing or reducing imbalance or noise · CPC title