Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Yoshiyuki Makino

Masahiro Imai

Kimihiko Nakamura

Katsuharu Matsuo

Fumio Torita

Tomio Hotta

Satoru Matsumoto

Naotaka Ikeda

Hiroshi Ikeda

Nobuichi Nishimura

Toru Imai

Kiyoshi Okazaki

Fumihiro Imamura

Kazutoshi Tani

Takayuki Hirano

A full-automatic washing machine with an electric motor for driving an agitator and a dehydration tub includes an inverter main circuit including a plurality of switching elements connected to windings of a plurality of phases of the motor respectively, and a control device for driving the switching elements of the inverter main circuit. The control device executes an increase rate changing control in which a rotational speed of the motor is changed among a plurality of increase rates during drive of the motor in at least one of operation steps between a wash step and a final dehydration step before the motor reaches a final target speed.

Motor speed control for washing machine

A full automatic washing machine includes in an operation panel a display device together with power ON and OFF switches and a light-emitting diode serving as a pilot lamp. The display device is formed into the shape of a rectangular flat plate and has elasticity. The display device is constituted by a nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) liquid crystal panel and a reflecting plate. The display device includes a plurality of display sections for displaying a plurality of pieces of information about the washing operation. A membrane switch is disposed on the back of the display device. The membrane switch is turned on when the display device is depressed. The membrane switch has a plurality of key switches positioned so as to correspond to the display sections of the display device.

Washing machine with operation panel including display device and

A washing machine includes a dehydrating tub whose interior is divided by rotational angle detecting elements into a plurality of circumferential areas. A period of time required for each area to pass a water pouring location is cumulated by a timer function of a microcomputer in a rinse-with-dehydration operation in which the dehydrating tub is rotated with water being supplied to the tub, A quantity of water poured into or contained in laundry in each area is determined on the basis of a cumulated value so that insufficiency in the quantity of poured water due to rotational unevenness of the dehydrating tub is solved. The washing machine further includes an area display which has area display sections corresponding to the areas and which displays the hydrous state of the laundry in each area, The area display also serves to display the rotational state of the dehydrating tub and an agitator,

Automatic washing machine with improved arrangement for preventing

A full automatic washing machine includes a non-volatile memory, such as EEPROM, for storing data of contents of the washing operation executed at a plurality of times in the past. A control circuit originates the data during execution of every washing operation. The data stored in the non-volatile memory are read out and displayed when some switches on an operation panel are operated in a specific mode. The displayed data serve to find out the cause for trouble or failure in the washing machine.

Washing machine with means for storing and displaying data of contents

A clothes dryer includes a drum for accommodating clothes to be dried, a heater and a fan for supplying hot air into the drum in a drying operation, and a temperature sensor sensing the temperature in the drum. A drying operation includes a drying step in which hot air is supplied into the drum and a cooling step in which the heater is deenergized. An intermittent operation is initiated upon completion of the drying operation. The intermittent operation is completed when the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor has reached a predetermined value set for preventing occurrence of creases in the clothes.

Clothes dryer automatically determining a period of crease-preventing,

A washing machine includes a rotational tub, a single-phase induction motor driving the rotational tub in a dehydrating operation and having a main and an auxiliary coils, a speed detector for detecting a speed of the motor, thereby generating a detection signal, and an output changeover device for changing between an operation mode in which both of the main and auxiliary coils are excited and the other operation mode in which either the main or auxiliary coil is excited. When the motor speed is increased in the dehydrating operation, a control circuit controls the motor in a feedback manner. More specifically, in low and medium speed ranges, the control circuit executes a control pattern in which both of the main and auxiliary coils are excited and selectively executes another control pattern in which only the auxiliary coil is excited when necessary.

Washing machine

A cleanser feeding mechanism has a cleanser housing portion, a cleanser feeding member for feeding a cleanser housed in the cleanser housing portion, and a synchronous motor for applying a drive force to the cleanser feeding member, and feeds an amount of cleanser corresponding to the number of revolutions of the synchronous motor. A cleanser feeding amount-setting unit sets an amount of cleanser to be fed from the cleanser feeding mechanism. A driving unit applies an AC source voltage of an AC power source to the synchronous motor. A counter counts the number of cycles of the AC source voltage from a timing at which the AC source voltage is applied to the synchronous motor. A reference cycle number-setting unit sets a total cycle number of the AC source voltage which corresponds to a cleanser amount set by the cleanser feeding amount-setting unit. A motor controller compares a count output from the counter with a total cycle number from the reference cycle number-setting unit and stops application of the AC source voltage to the synchronous motor when the count output and the total cycle number coincide with each other.

Automatic detergent dispenser apparatus having synchronous motor drive

A cleanser feeding mechanism has a cleanser housing portion, a cleanser feeding member for feeding a cleanser housed in the cleanser housing portion, and a synchronous motor for applying a drive force to the cleanser feeding member, and feeds and amount of cleanser corresponding to the number of revolutions of the synchronous motor. A cleanser feeding amount-setting unit sets an amount of cleanser to be fed from the cleanser feeding mechanism. A driving unit applies an AC source voltage of an AC power source to the synchronous motor. A counter counts the number of cycles of the AC source voltage from a timing at which the AC source voltage is applied to the synchronous motor. A reference cycle number-setting unit sets a total cycle number of the AC source voltage which corresponds to a cleanser amount set by the cleanser feeding amount-setting unit. A motor controller compares a count output from the counter with a total cycle number from the reference cycle number-setting unit and stops application of the AC source voltage to the synchronous motor when the count output and the total cycle number coincide with each other.

A motor load detector detects an electrical value representing a rise characteristic of a motor, which varies in accordance with a load acting on the motor serving as a power source for a series of operations including a wash cycle and a spin-drying cycle executed by an electric washing machine for washing and spin-drying. A determining section receives a value detected by the motor load detector during the spin-drying cycle, and determines a weight of washings contained in the electric washing machine in accordance with a time which has elapsed until the detected value reaches a second reference value from a first reference value. The determined washings weight is used in a cycle subsequent to the spin-drying cycle.

Growing community of inventors

Seto, Japan

Yoshiyuki Makino