EP3130696A1

EP3130696A1 - Washing machine and anti-pinching control method for electric door thereof

Info

Publication number: EP3130696A1
Application number: EP16166395.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wei Zhang; Dongliang YAN; Xiaotao LV; Xiaofeng Wang; Qin TANG
Original assignee: Wuxi Filin Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Wuxi Filin Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-08-12
Filing date: 2016-04-21
Publication date: 2017-02-15
Also published as: CN105063958B; CN105063958A

Abstract

An anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine and a washing machine are provided. The method includes: obtaining closed position information of the electric door of the washing machine, and detecting a current value of a driving motor of the electric door; determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor; and controlling the driving motor to stop running if the electric door pinches fingers.

Description

FIELD

The present invention relates to a field of electrical appliance manufacturing technology, and more particularly, to an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine, and to a washing machine.

BACKGROUND

As the requirement on intelligence of washing machines becomes higher, an electric door for the washing machine turns up in the market. Currently, the electric door is driven and controlled in many ways, but has poor security. For example, it is a common phenomenon that fingers are pinched and injured. The electric door is not controlled manually, and tends to directly press on fingers when it is closed, which causes injuries.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention seek to solve at least one of the problems existing in the related art to at least some extent. Thus, embodiments of the present invention provide an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine. The method can realize an anti-pinching function, and improve the security of the washing machine.
Embodiments of the present invention further provide a washing machine that has the anti-pinching function, and the resulting enhanced security.
In order to solve the above problem, according to embodiments of an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine. The method includes the following steps: obtaining closed position information of the electric door of the washing machine, and detecting a current value of a driving motor of the electric door; determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor; and controlling the driving motor to stop running if the electric door pinches fingers.
With the method according to embodiments of the present invention, the finger-pinching judgment based on the closed position information of the electric door and the current value of the driving motor may conduct a unilateral detection or a double detection which is more reliable compared with the single detection means in the related art, such that it is possible to determine whether fingers are pinched in case of the failure of the unilateral detection, so as to improve the security of the washing machine.
The step of obtaining the closed position information of the electric door of the washing machine specifically includes: detecting a closed angle of the electric door by an angle sensor; and obtaining the closed position information according to the closed angle of the electric door.
Further, the step of determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor specifically includes: determining that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or the closed position information does not vary within a first preset time period.
Further, the step of determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor specifically includes: determining that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or a change value of the closed position information within a second preset time period is smaller than a preset change value.
After the step of controlling the driving motor to stop running, the method further includes: alarm prompting via an alarm, such that others are informed of a finger-pinching accident by the alarm prompt, so as to take a corresponding action; and controlling the driving motor to run after a third preset time period to open the electric door, such that the user may take out fingers and the machine returns to normal operation.
In order to solve the above problem, according to embodiments of another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a washing machine. The machine includes: a cabinet; an electric door disposed on the cabinet and a driving motor configured to drive the electric door ; a position sensor configured to detect closed position information of the electric door; a current sensor configured to detect a current value of the driving motor; and a controller configured to determine whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor, and to control the driving motor to stop running if the electric door pinches fingers.
With the washing machine according to embodiments of the present invention, the controller is configured to determine whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information of the electric door and the current value of the driving motor. That is, it is possible to conduct a unilateral detection or a double detection which is more reliable compared with the single detection means in the related art, such that it is possible to determine whether fingers are pinched in case of the failure of the unilateral detection, so as to improve the security of the washing machine.
Specifically, the position sensor is configured as an angle sensor for detecting a closed angle of the electric door, and the controller obtains the closed position information according to the closed angle.
Specifically, the controller is further configured to determine that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or the closed position information does not vary within a first preset time period.
Specifically, the controller is further configured to determine that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or a change value of the closed position information within a second preset time period is smaller than a preset change value.
In addition, the washing machine further includes an alarm controlled by the controller for giving an alarm prompt after the driving motor stops running. That is, others are informed of a finger-pinching accident by the alarm prompt, so as to take a corresponding action. The controller is further configured to control the driving motor to run after a third preset time period to open the electric door, such that the user may take out fingers and the machine returns to normal operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an anti-pinching control signal stream for an electric door of a washing machine according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a flow chart of an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a washing machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions. The embodiments described herein with reference to drawings are explanatory, illustrative, and used to generally understand the present invention. The embodiments shall not be construed to limit the present invention.
Considering that electric doors of some washing machines at present do not have an anti-pinching function, or only depend on unilateral detection to realize the anti-pinching function. For example, it is judged whether finger pinching occurs according to the phenomenon of increased current due to motor stalling. Once the unilateral detection fails, security accidents may be caused. Embodiments of the present invention provide a new drive control method for anti-pinching, so as to improve the security of washing machines.
In the following, an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine and a washing machine according to embodiments of the present invention are illustrated with respect to the drawings. The washing machine includes an electric door and a driving motor for the electric door which is driven to open or close by the driving motor.
Fig. 1 is a flow chart of an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the method includes the following steps.
S1: closed position information of the electric door of the washing machine is obtained, and a current value of a driving motor of the electric door is detected.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the washing machine may be provided with an angle sensor configured to detect an open/closed angle of the electric door. The electric door has different open/closed angles corresponding to different open/closed positions. That is, it is possible to obtain the angle information via the angle sensor to determine the open/closed position. Specifically, the closed angle of the electric door is detected via the angle sensor, so as to obtain the corresponding closed position information according to the closed angle, and thus determine the status of the electric door according to the closed position information.
The electric door is driven to open or close by the driving motor, and it is possible to obtain the current value of the driving motor by detecting the current value of a driver of the driving motor.
S2: it is determined whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor.
Specifically, in a normal situation, the electric door may be automatically opened or closed to a corresponding open/closed position according to the preset open/closed position information, so as to control the electric door to stop movement and to realize normal control of the opening or closing of the electric door. However, if a finger-pinching accident, for example, occurs during the process of opening or closing the electric door, the driving motor will stall and the current value of the driving motor will be increased instantly, such that it is possible to determine whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the change in the current value. Moreover, in some embodiments of the present invention, the angle sensor is configured to detect the closed position information of the electric door, and the position information fed back from the angle sensor does not vary or suddenly varies slowly in a case of finger-pinching.
The anti-pinching control method according to embodiments of the present invention may judge whether fingers are pinched according to either the closed position information or the current value of the driving motor; and may perform double detection by means of the closed position information fed back from the angle sensor and the change in the current value of the driving motor, so as to adjust the opening or closing speed of the electric door to realize the anti-pinching function.
Specifically, when the electric door is closed, it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or the closed position information does not vary within a first preset time period. In other words, it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than the preset current value (i.e. motor stalling); or it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the closed position information (e.g., the closed angle) does not vary within the first preset time period; or it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than the preset current value and the closed position information does not vary within the first preset time period.
Alternatively, when the electric door is closed, it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than the preset current value and/or a change value of the closed position information within a second preset time period is smaller than a preset change value. In other words, it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than the preset current value (i.e. motor stalling); or it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the change value of the closed position information (e.g., the closed angle) within the second preset time period is smaller than the preset change value, i.e. a slow change; or it is determined that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than the preset current value and the closed position information of the electric door within the second preset time period changes slowly.
S3: the driving motor is controlled to stop running if the electric door pinches fingers, so as to prevent the electric door from continuing closing and thus avoid injuries.
In practical applications, as shown in Fig. 2, a micro control unit (MCU) conducts communication through a serial port. When the driving motor stalls, the current value of the driver of the driving motor is increased immediately. In such a case, the MCU will automatically control the driving motor to stop running and report that the stalling is detected. Meanwhile, the MCU obtains the angle information detected by the angle sensor. When the opening or closing action is initiated, a program activates a timer to scan the angle information. If the detected value of the angle sensor does not change or changes too slowly within a designated time period, it is determined that the driving motor stalls. In such a case, an instruction of stopping the motor is given out to control the driving motor to stop running, so as to prevent the electric door from continuing closing and to avoid injuries of fingers.
Fig. 3 is a flow chart of an anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 3, the method includes: step 100, activating the driving motor to enter step 110 and step 120 respectively; step 110, determining whether the angle of the electric door changes, if yes, entering step 130, and if no, entering step 140; step 120, determining whether the current value of the driver of the driving motor is increased instantly, for example, greater than the preset current value, if yes, entering step 140, and if no, continuing this step; step 130, determining whether the angle of the electric door reaches the open/closed position, if yes, entering step 140, otherwise returning to step 110; step 140, controlling the driving motor to stop.
Consequently, it is determined whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information of the electric door and the current value of the driving motor in the anti-pinching control method according to embodiments of the present invention, which involves a unilateral detection or a double detection that is more reliable compared with the single detection means in the related art. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether fingers are pinched in case of the failure of the unilateral detection, so as to improve the security of the washing machine.
Further, after the driving motor is controlled to stop running, an alarm gives an alarm prompt. In other words, others are informed of a finger-pinching accident by the alarm prompt, so as to take a corresponding action.
The driving motor is controlled to run after a third preset time period since the driving motor stops operation, in order to open the electric door, such that the user may take out fingers and the machine returns to normal operation.
Based on the description of the above anti-pinching control method, embodiments of another aspect of the present invention provide a washing machine.
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 4, a washing machine 100 includes a cabinet 10, an electric door 20, a driving motor 30, a position sensor 40, a current sensor 50 and a controller 60.
The electric door 20 is disposed on the cabinet 10; the driving motor 30 is configured to drive the electric door 20; the position sensor 40 is configured to detect closed position information of the electric door 20; and the current sensor 50 is configured to detect a current value of the driving motor 30.
Specifically, the position sensor 40 may be configured as an angle sensor for detecting a closed angle of the electric door; and the controller 60 obtains the closed position information according to the closed angle. The electric door 20 is driven to open or close by the driving motor 30. The current sensor 50 may detect the current value of a driver of the driving motor 30, so as to obtain the current value of the driving motor 30.
The controller 60 is configured to determine whether the electric door 20 pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor 30, and to control the driving motor 30 to stop running if the electric door 20 pinches fingers.
In a normal situation, the controller 60 controls the electric door 20 to automatically open or close to a corresponding open/closed position according to the preset open/closed position information, so as to control the electric door 20 to stop movement and to realize normal control of the opening or closing of the electric door 20. However, if a finger-pinching accident, for example, occurs during the process of opening or closing the electric door 20, the driving motor 30 will stall and the current value of the driving motor 30 will be increased instantly, such that it is possible to determine whether the electric door 20 pinches fingers according to the change in the current value. Moreover, in some embodiments of the present invention, the angle sensor is configured to detect the closed position information of the electric door 20, and the position information fed back from the angle sensor does not vary or suddenly varies slowly in a case of finger-pinching.
The washing machine 100 according to embodiments of the present invention may perform the double detection according to the angle detected by the angle sensor and the change in the current value of the driving motor 30, so as to adjust the opening or closing speed of the electric door 200 to realize the anti-pinching function.
Specifically, the controller 60 determines that the electric door 20 pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor 30 is larger than a preset current value and/or the closed position information of the electric door 20 does not vary within a first preset time period; or the controller 60 determines that the electric door 20 pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor 30 is larger than a preset current value and/or a change value of the closed position information within a second preset time period is smaller than a preset change value.
In the washing machine 100 according to embodiments of the present invention, the controller 60 determines whether the electric door 20 pinches fingers according to the closed position information of the electric door 20 and the current value of the driving motor 30, which is a double detection and thus is more reliable compared with the single detection means in the related art, such that it is possible to determine whether fingers are pinched in case of the failure of the unilateral detection, so as to improve the security of the washing machine 100.
As shown in Fig. 5, the washing machine 100 further includes an alarm 70. After the driving motor 30 stops running, the controller 60 controls the alarm 70 to give an alarm prompt. That is, others are informed of a finger-pinching accident by the alarm prompt, so as to take a corresponding action. Moreover, the controller 60 controls the driving motor 30 to run after a third preset time period to open the electric door 20, such that the user may take out fingers and the washing machine 100 returns to normal operation.
It will be understood that, the flow chart or any process or method described herein in other manners may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that comprises one or more modules, segments or portions of codes of executable instructions for achieving specific logical functions or steps in the process, and the scope of a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes other implementations, and the functions may be implemented in a substantially same manner or a reverse sequence beside the sequences shown or discussed herein, according to the functions involved, which should be understood by those skilled in the art.
The logic and/or step described in other manners herein or shown in the flow chart, for example, a particular sequence table of executable instructions for realizing the logical function, may be specifically achieved in any computer readable medium to be used by the instruction execution system, device or equipment (such as the system based on computers, the system comprising processors or other systems capable of obtaining the instruction from the instruction execution system, device and equipment and executing the instruction), or to be used in combination with the instruction execution system, device and equipment. As to the specification, "the computer readable medium" may be any device adaptive for including, storing, communicating, propagating or transferring programs to be used by or in combination with the instruction execution system, device or equipment. More specific examples of the computer readable medium comprise but are not limited to: an electronic connection (an electronic device) with one or more wires, a portable computer enclosure (a magnetic device), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or a flash memory), an optical fiber device and a portable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM). In addition, the computer readable medium may even be a paper or other appropriate medium capable of printing programs thereon, this is because, for example, the paper or other appropriate medium may be optically scanned and then edited, decrypted or processed with other appropriate methods when necessary to obtain the programs in an electric manner, and then the programs may be stored in the computer memories.
It should be understood that each part of the present invention may be realized by the hardware, software, firmware or their combination. In the above embodiments, a plurality of steps or methods may be realized by the software or firmware stored in the memory and executed by the appropriate instruction execution system. For example, if it is realized by the hardware, likewise in another embodiment, the steps or methods may be realized by one or a combination of the following techniques known in the art: a discrete logic circuit having a logic gate circuit for realizing a logic function of a data signal, an application-specific integrated circuit having an appropriate combination logic gate circuit, a programmable gate array (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.
Those skilled in the art shall understand that all or parts of the steps in the above exemplifying method of the present invention may be achieved by commanding the related hardware with programs. The programs may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the programs comprise one or a combination of the steps in the method embodiments of the present invention when run on a computer.
In addition, terms such as "first" and "second" are used herein for purposes of description and are not intended to indicate or imply relative importance or significance or to imply the number of indicated technical features. Thus, the feature defined with "first" and "second" may comprise one or more of this feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality of" means two or more than two, unless specified otherwise.
Reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases such as "in some embodiments," "in one embodiment", "in an embodiment", "in another example," "in an example," "in a specific example," or "in some examples," in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example of the present invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.
Although explanatory embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments cannot be construed to limit the present invention, and changes, alternatives, and modifications can be made in the embodiments without departing from spirit, principles and scope of the present invention.

Claims

An anti-pinching control method for an electric door of a washing machine, comprising:
obtaining closed position information of the electric door of the washing machine, and detecting a current value of a driving motor of the electric door;

determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor; and

controlling the driving motor to stop running if the electric door pinches fingers.
The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the closed position information of the electric door of the washing machine comprises:
detecting a closed angle of the electric door by an angle sensor; and

obtaining the closed position information according to the closed angle of the electric door.
The method according to claim 1, wherein determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor comprises:
determining that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or the closed position information does not vary within a first preset time period.
The method according to claim 1, wherein determining whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor comprises:
determining that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or a change value of the closed position information within a second preset time period is smaller than a preset change value.
The method according to claim 1, after controlling the driving motor to stop running, further comprising:
alarm prompting via an alarm; and

controlling the driving motor to run after a third preset time period to open the electric door.
A washing machine, comprising:
a cabinet;

an electric door disposed on the cabinet and a driving motor configured to drive the electric door;

a position sensor configured to detect closed position information of the electric door;

a current sensor configured to detect a current value of the driving motor; and

a controller configured to determine whether the electric door pinches fingers according to the closed position information and/or the current value of the driving motor, and to control the driving motor to stop running if the electric door pinches fingers.
The washing machine according to claim 6, wherein the position sensor is configured as an angle sensor for detecting a closed angle of the electric door, and the controller obtains the closed position information according to the closed angle.
The washing machine according to claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to determine that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or the closed position information does not vary within a first preset time period.
The washing machine according to claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to determine that the electric door pinches fingers if the current value of the driving motor is larger than a preset current value and/or a change value of the closed position information within a second preset time period is smaller than a preset change value.
The washing machine according to claim 6, further comprising:
an alarm controlled by the controller for giving an alarm prompt after the driving motor stops running, in which the controller is further configured to control the driving motor to run after a third preset time period to open the electric door.