Efficient energy usage for a laundry appliance

• US 8,819,880 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Ashrafzadeh, Farhad, Janke, Brian P., Zasowski, Peter E.
• Primary Examiner(s): CORMIER, DAVID G
• Application Number:
  US13/469,125
• Publication Number:
  US 20130160219A1
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 815/8, 815/9, 68/120.1, 68/120.2, 68/121.4
• US Class Current: 8/158
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/08 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/00 Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 25/00 Washing machines with receptacles, e.g. perforated, having a rotary movement, e.g. oscillatory movement, the receptacle serving both for washing and for centrifugally separating water from the laundry and having further drying means, e.g. using hot air control of washing or of washing and drying D06F33/00, D06F34/00; domestic laundry dryers D06F58/00
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/46 Control of the energy or water consumption
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/28 Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance has a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to at least one cycle of operation and operated such that the extraction of liquid from the laundry load is controlled based on the inertia of the laundry load so that the total energy usage by the laundry treating appliance and a laundry drying appliance with which it is operably coupled may be minimized.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an operation of a laundry treating appliance having a rotating drum defining a treating chamber in which a wet laundry load is present, the method comprising:

extracting a portion of moisture present in the laundry load from the laundry load by rotating the drum to apply a centrifugal force to the laundry load;

monitoring a value representative of a remaining amount of the moisture present in the laundry load during the extracting;

determining, based on the value, at least one of an amount of energy, or a cost of energy to extract a portion of the remaining amount of the moisture present in the laundry load during the extracting; and

terminating the extracting when the at least one of the amount of energy satisfies a first threshold, or the cost of energy satisfies a second threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the rotating of the drum comprises rotating the drum at a speed wherein at least a portion of the laundry load is satellized within the treating chamber.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring of the representative value comprises monitoring an operating parameter that is indicative of a mass of the laundry load.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the operating parameter comprises an inertia of at least one of the laundry load or the laundry load in combination with the drum.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the operating parameter comprises a torque of a motor rotating the drum.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the operating parameter comprises a number of electrical closings of two spaced electrodes in the treating chamber.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first threshold represents an amount of energy to remove the remaining amount of moisture by drying, and the second threshold represents a cost of energy to remove the remaining amount of moisture by drying.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first and second thresholds are determined by a controller controlling the operation of the laundry treating appliance.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the controller at least one of calculates or looks up the first and second thresholds.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first and second thresholds are determined by a laundry drying appliance in communication with the laundry treating appliance.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the portion of the remaining amount of moisture comprises a predetermined amount of the remaining amount of moisture.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the predetermined amount of the remaining amount of moisture is a percentage of the remaining amount of moisture by weight of the laundry load.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second thresholds are determined by a laundry drying appliance in communication with the laundry treating appliance.