Drum type washing machine

Abstract

The present invention provides a drum type washing machine capable of adequately distributing the laundry articles along the inner circumferential wall of the drum at the start-up of the dehydrating operation with high probability, thereby reducing the start-up time of the dehydration. In an embodiment of the present invention, the drum is controlled to rotate at a constant speed 50 r.p.m. to agitate the laundry articles (Step S), and the drum speed is almost continuously monitored. If the change in the speed does not exceed 1.5 r.p.m. for 0.5 second (Steps Sthrough S), the laundry articles are loosened and easy to distribute. Therefore, the drum speed is raised to 80 r.p.m. (Steps Sand S). If the eccentric load detected at this speed does not exceed a predetermined value (Steps Sand S), the laundry articles are adequately distributed along and pressed onto the inner circumferential wall of the drum. If a sudden change in the speed has been detected within a short period of time that is less than 36 milliseconds (Step S), the laundry articles are tangled in a mass form. Therefore, the rotating direction of the drum is reversed, and the agitating direction is restarted in the opposite direction (Step S).