Method and apparatus for determining laundry load
First Claim
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1. A method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum defining a treating chamber, a motor driving the rotation of the drum, and a controller for controlling the operation of the motor according to a treating cycle of operation, the method comprising:
- accelerating the motor speed to a set speed with an underdamped control scheme such that a transient speed of the drum oscillates within a decaying envelope relative to the set speed; and
determining a parameter indicative of the torque of the motor while the motor is accelerated with the underdamped control scheme; and
determining a load size based on the parameter.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for operating a laundry treating appliance that has a rotating treating chamber, which is rotatable about a rotation axis by a motor operably coupled to the rotating treating chamber, with the operation of the motor being controlled by an underdamped control scheme to determine a laundry load size.
29 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum defining a treating chamber, a motor driving the rotation of the drum, and a controller for controlling the operation of the motor according to a treating cycle of operation, the method comprising:
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accelerating the motor speed to a set speed with an underdamped control scheme such that a transient speed of the drum oscillates within a decaying envelope relative to the set speed; and determining a parameter indicative of the torque of the motor while the motor is accelerated with the underdamped control scheme; and determining a load size based on the parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A laundry treating appliance comprising:
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a rotatable drum defining a treating chamber and rotating about a horizontal axis of rotation; a motor operably coupled to the drum to rotate the drum; and a controller operably coupled to the motor and configured to control the operation of the motor according to a treating cycle of operation, with the controller further configured to accelerate the motor to a set speed with an underdamped control scheme such that a transient speed of the drum oscillates within a decaying envelope relative to the set speed, determine a parameter indicative of the torque of the motor during the acceleration, and determine a load size based on the parameter. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for determining the load size of a laundry load of operating a laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum defining a treating chamber for receiving the laundry load, a motor driving the rotation of the drum, and a controller for controlling the operation of the motor according to a treating cycle of operation, the method comprising:
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an underdamped acceleration phase where the motor is accelerated with an underdamped control scheme such that a transient speed of the drum oscillates within a decaying envelope relative to a set speed; a torque summing phase where a motor parameter indicative of the torque is summed during at least a portion of the underdamped acceleration phase; and a load size determination phase where the load size is determined from the summed motor parameter. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification