Laundry treating appliance and method of operation

• US 9,822,476 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2015
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Janke, Brian P., Richmond, Peter J., Zasowski, Peter E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perrin, Joseph L
• Application Number:
  US14/874,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20160024704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 778 Days
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/00 User input for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/04 Quantity, e.g. weight or variation of weight
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/24 Spin speed; Drum movements
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/26 Imbalance; Noise level
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/46 Drum speed; Actuation of motors, e.g. starting or interrupting
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/48 Drum speed
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/58 Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 23/04 and rotating or oscillating about a vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/48 Preventing or reducing imbalance or noise

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation and a method of operating a laundry treating appliance to control the rotation of the drum to distribute the laundry load with an acceptable amount of imbalance such that the laundry treating appliance may be operated in an effective and efficient manner.

Claims

1. A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation, comprising:

a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving the laundry load for treatment;

a motor operably coupled to the rotatable drum for rotating the rotatable drum;

a load sensor providing a load output indicative of an amount of the laundry load in the treating chamber;

an imbalance sensor providing an imbalance output indicative of an amount of imbalance in the laundry load; and

a controller configured to receive as input the load output and the imbalance output and configured to control the rotation of the rotatable drum to distribute the laundry load with an acceptable amount of imbalance by;

a) setting an acceleration profile based on the load output, b) accelerating the rotatable drum according to the acceleration profile from a non-satellizing speed to a satellizing speed, c) decelerating the rotatable drum from the satellizing speed to a non-satellizing speed when the imbalance output is unacceptable, d) re-setting the acceleration profile to a different acceleration profile and repeating a)-d) until the imbalance is acceptable, and e) storing the different acceleration profile for a corresponding load amount when the imbalance is acceptable to define an acceptable acceleration profile.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the acceleration profile comprises at least one acceleration rate.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of the laundry load within the treating chamber based on the load output and the acceleration profile is set based on the determined amount.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 3 wherein the determining an amount of laundry comprises determining an inertia value indicative of the inertia of the laundry load.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 4 wherein the load sensor is a motor torque sensor.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 3 wherein the controller is configured to conduct a table look-up of an acceleration rate corresponding to the determined amount of the laundry load and set an acceleration rate based thereon to define the different acceleration profile.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 3 wherein the controller is configured to look up a range of an amount of laundry in which the determined amount of the laundry load falls.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to re-set the acceleration profile by increasing or decreasing an acceleration rate.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 wherein the controller is configured to increase the acceleration rate when the determined amount of the laundry load resides within a lower half of the range.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to decelerate the rotatable drum by shutting off power to the motor.

11. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to decelerate the rotatable drum by operating the motor to dynamically brake the rotatable drum.

12. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the load sensor provides a quantitative load output regarding the amount of the laundry in the treating chamber.

13. The laundry treating appliance of claim 12 wherein the load sensor measures a weight or a volume of laundry in the treating chamber.

14. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the load sensor provides a qualitative load output regarding the amount of the laundry load.

15. The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 wherein the load output indicates the load amount is small, medium, or large.

16. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the imbalance sensor comprises an accelerometer, a load sensor, a ball balance ring, or a mass sensor.

17. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the imbalance sensor provides an imbalance output in the form of a motor torque signal, which is indicative of an amount of imbalance in the laundry load.

18. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to continuously monitor the imbalance output.

19. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 wherein the controller is configured to compare the imbalance output to a threshold value to determine when the imbalance output is unacceptable.

20. A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation, comprising:

a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving the laundry load for treatment;

a motor operably coupled to the rotatable drum for rotating the rotatable drum;

a user interface providing a cycle selection output indicative of a user selected cycle of operation;

an imbalance sensor providing an imbalance output indicative of an amount of imbalance in the laundry load; and

a controller configured to receive as input the cycle selection output and the imbalance output and configured to control the rotation of the rotatable drum to distribute the laundry load with an acceptable amount of imbalance by;

a) setting an initial acceleration profile based on the cycle selection output or a load amount, b) accelerating the rotatable drum according to the acceleration profile from a non-satellizing speed to a satellizing speed, c) decelerating the rotatable drum from the satellizing speed to a non-satellizing speed when the imbalance output is unacceptable, d) re-setting the acceleration profile to a different acceleration profile and repeating a)-d) until the imbalance is acceptable, and e) storing the different acceleration profile for a corresponding cycle of operation when the imbalance is acceptable to define an acceptable acceleration profile.