KR20160090277A - Control method for Dishwasher - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a control method for a dishwasher comprises the steps of providing steam to a filter assembly before or after washing the dishes to separate a foreign substance attached to the filter assembly, and discharging the separated foreign substance to prevent the dishes from being re-contaminated due to the foreign substance attached to a filter when washing the dishes, thereby realizing a washing force which is consistent in a washing stroke.

Description

Control Method for Dishwasher [0002]

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a dishwasher.

Generally, a dishwasher is a household appliance that cleans food waste buried on a surface of a dish by high-pressure washing water sprayed from an injection nozzle.

The conventional dishwasher is composed of a tub having a washing tub formed therein and a sump mounted on a bottom surface of the tub to store wash water.

By the pumping action of the washing pump installed in the sump, the washing water is moved to the injection nozzle, and the washing water moved to the injection nozzle is injected at a high pressure through the injection port formed at the end of the injection nozzle. Then, the washing water sprayed at the high pressure impinges on the surface of the utensil, so that dirt such as garbage or the like on the utensil falls to the bottom of the tub.

A filter is disposed between the sump and the tub, and the filter filters the foreign substances contained in the washing water.

In the conventional dishwasher, foreign substances are filtered on the filter in repeated use and then dried or hardened, thereby deteriorating the performance of the filter. Particularly, the filter is required to be periodically cleaned by the user to maintain the optimum performance, but the filter is not cleaned due to the lack of recognition of the user or the method of use.

Korean Patent No. 10-1235952

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dishwasher that automatically performs cleaning of a filter assembly.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a dishwasher which minimizes foreign matter adhering to the filter assembly to provide a consistent cleaning force.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dishwasher for sterilizing, deodorizing, and removing foreign matter of a filter assembly before a cleaning stroke to prevent contamination in a cleaning stroke.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dishwasher which removes and inhibits the scale attached to the inside of the tub by supplying organic acid in the process of sterilizing, deodorizing, and removing foreign substances from the filter assembly through steam.

A control method of a dishwasher according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a pre-operation drainage step (S10) for automatically discharging water remaining in a sump by driving a drainage module at an initial operation of the dishwasher; A pre-filter clean step ST10 for self-cleaning the filter assembly; And a washing step (S50) of washing the dishes. The number of times of the washing steps is counted, and the pre-filter clean step (ST10) is periodically performed automatically every predetermined number of times even if the user does not artificially select , The pre-filter clean step (ST10) includes: a pre-operation water supply step (S20) for supplying wash water for self-cleaning the filter assembly by driving the water supply module to the sump; A pre-clean steam step (S30) for driving the heater module to generate steam in the sump, and supplying the generated steam to the filter assembly to clean the filter assembly; And a pre-clean drain step (S40) for draining the wash water by operating the drain module after the pre-clean steam step (S30).

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present invention is advantageous in self-cleaning the filter assembly periodically even if the user does not artificially select a course.

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present invention is characterized in that steam is supplied to the filter assembly before or after washing the dishes to separate the foreign substances adhered to the filter assembly and to remove separated foreign substances, There is an effect of preventing contamination.

Further, since the control method of the dishwasher according to the present invention is configured to automatically self-clean the filter assembly, there is an effect of realizing a consistent cleaning force in the cleaning stroke.

In addition, the control method of the dishwasher according to the present invention has an effect of sterilizing and deodorizing the filter through the steam provided in the process of removing foreign matter, thereby preventing contamination of dishes due to bacteria and odors during the washing stroke.

Also, the control method of the dishwasher according to the present invention has an effect of supplying organic acid in the self-cleaning process of the filter assembly and removing the scale attached to the tub.

1 is a schematic front cross-sectional view of a dishwasher according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a front section view of the filter and sump shown in Fig.
3 is a flowchart showing a control method of the dish washer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart showing the control method of the dish washer according to the second embodiment of the present invention
5 is a flowchart showing the control method of the dishwasher according to the third embodiment of the present invention
6 is a flowchart showing the control method of the dish washer according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention
7 is a flowchart showing the control method of the dishwasher according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

1 is a schematic front sectional view of a dishwasher according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a front sectional view of a filter and a sump shown in Fig.

The dishwasher according to the present embodiment includes a cabinet assembly 10 for forming an external shape, a rack 20 disposed inside the cabinet assembly 10 and to which a tableware is mounted, A sump 40 disposed in the cabinet assembly 10 for supplying wash water to the spray module 30; a sump 40 disposed inside the cabinet assembly 10 for supplying wash water to the spray module 30; A water supply module 50 for supplying water to the sump 40 or the injection module 30, a drain module 60 connected to the sump 40 to discharge the washing water to the outside, A filter assembly 70 for filtering wash water, and a heater module 90 installed in the sump 40 to heat the wash water.

The cabinet assembly 10 forms an outer shape of the dishwasher and includes a cabinet 12, a door 14 coupled to the cabinet 12 to open and close the cabinet 12, And a tub 16 to which the washing water or steam is applied.

The rack (20) is installed inside the tub (16), and the tableware is mounted on the rack (20).

The spray module 30 is for spraying wash water toward the tableware and includes a spray nozzle 32 and a nozzle flow path 34 for supplying wash water to the spray nozzle 32.

In the present embodiment, three injection nozzles 32 are disposed, three nozzle nozzles 34 are arranged corresponding to the injection nozzles 32, and water is selectively supplied to the nozzle nozzles 34 The nozzle flow path switching portion 36 is disposed.

In the present embodiment, the injection module 30 is configured to supply and discharge the washing water from the sump 40 in which the washing water is stored. However, unlike the present embodiment, water is directly supplied through the water supply module 50 .

The water supply module 50 is configured to receive water from the outside and supply the water to the sump 40. In this embodiment, water is supplied to the sump 40 through the filter assembly 70.

The drainage module 60 is for discharging the washing water stored in the sump 40 to the outside and is composed of a drainage passage 62 and a drainage pump 64.

The filter assembly 70 is disposed on the flow path of the wash water flowing from the tub 16 to the sump 40 for filtering foreign matter such as food waste contained in the wash water.

The sump 40 is provided with a filter mounting portion 42 on which the filter assembly 70 is installed and a filter flow path 41 connecting the filter mounting portion 42 and the inside of the sump 40 is disposed.

The sump 40 further includes a pump module 80 formed with a sump storage part 45 for storing wash water therein and for feeding the stored wash water to the injection module 30.

The pump module 80 includes a pump motor 82 and an impeller 84 connected to the pump motor 82 and rotated. The pump module 80 is rotated by the impeller 84 and stored in the sump 40 The washing water is sent to the injection module 30.

In this embodiment, the pump module 80 is configured to flow the washing water using the impeller 84, but it may be configured in various ways, unlike the present embodiment.

The pump module 80 is connected to the injection module 30 through a pump flow path 81.

The sump 40 is connected to the steam channel 43 and the steam nozzle 44 for spraying the steam generated by the heater module 90 into the tub 16. [

The steam flow path 43 may be provided with a valve for interrupting the steam 44 and may control the steam sprayed to the tub 16 through the valve, The amount can also be adjusted.

The steam generated in the sump 40 may be supplied to the inside of the tub 16 through the filter passage 41 and the filter mount 42 rather than the steam nozzle 44. Therefore, the sump 40 is connected to the tub 16 in both directions through the steam flow path 43 and the filter flow path 41.

The filter assembly 70 includes an outer filter 72 inserted into the filter mounting portion 42 of the sump 40 and an outer filter 72 inserted into the outer filter 72 and separated from the outer filter 72 And an inner filter 74 as much as possible.

The inner filter (74) filters foreign matter of large particles contained in the washing water, and the outer filter (72) filters foreign substances smaller than particles in the washing water filtered by the inner filter (74).

The washing water filtered in the outer filter 72 flows to the sump storing part 45 through the filter flow path 41.

When the dishwasher is repeatedly used, foreign matter or dirt of fine particles adheres to the inner surface of the outer filter 72. Conventionally, after the water is drained, the foreign matter adhered to the outer filter 72 hardens, 72).

In this embodiment, a method of maintaining the performance of the outer filter 72 in an appropriate state is described through a control method described later.

The heater module 90 is installed in the sump 40 to heat the washing water stored in the sump storing part 45.

The cabinet assembly 10 is further provided with an organic acid providing module 100 for supplying harmless organic acids to the human body in the tub 16 and the organic acid providing module 100 is provided with a scale And sterilizing the inside of the tub.

3 is a flowchart showing a control method of the dish washer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present embodiment is a process operated when the dishwasher is initially driven. The control method includes a pre-operation drainage step (S10) for draining water by driving the drainage module (60) (S20) for supplying washing water to the sump (40) by driving the heater module (50); and generating steam in the sump (40) by driving the heater module (90) A pre-clean steam step S30 for supplying the cleaning water to the assembly 70 to clean the filter assembly 70, and the water drainage module 60 after the pre-clean steam step S30 to clean water in the tub 16 And a pre-clean drain step (S40) for drainage.

The control method is for removing foreign substances adhered to the filter assembly 70 before the washing step S50 for dishwashing, and is automatically performed even if the user does not artificially drive, so that the filter assembly 70 is attached Remove the foreign substance.

The pre-operation drainage step S10 is a step for removing contaminated water in the sump 40 or the drainage module 60 if the water remains in the sump 40 or the drainage module 60, though it is not a necessary step for removing foreign matter from the filter.

For example, when the user places the tableware in a dishwasher for drying the tableware, the water remaining in the tableware can be stored inside the tub 16, and the pre-operation drainage step S10 can drain such water So that the interior of the tub 16 can be prevented from being contaminated again.

The pre-operation water supply step (S20) is a step for supplying clean water for generating steam, and the wash water is supplied through the water supply module (50).

In the present embodiment, the washing water is stored in the sump 40 via the filter assembly 70, and the filter assembly 70 is wet by the washing water.

The pre-clean steam step (S30) is a step of generating steam for cleaning the filter assembly (70), and the generated steam is supplied to the filter assembly (70).

The steam generated in the sump 40 may be supplied to the inside of the tub 16 in both directions as described above and the steam flowing into the filter assembly 70 may be supplied to the filter assembly 70 The foreign matter attached to the outer filter 72 is released and then separated from the outer filter 72.

The heater module 90 may increase the pressure of steam flowing toward the filter assembly 70 by forming the steam at a high pressure.

In addition, when a valve is provided in the steam passage 43, the valve of the steam passage 43 is shut off to supply a larger amount of steam to the filter assembly 70, It is possible to more effectively separate the foreign matter adhered to the surface.

The steam generated in the sump 40 provides steam to the filter assembly 70 at the shortest distance through the filter flow path 41, so that heat loss of the steam can be minimized.

Since the steam flows from the sump 40 to the inside of the filter assembly 70, the steam is separated and stored in the filter assembly 70.

The pre-clean drainage step (S40) drains the foreign substances separated from the outer filter (72) together with the wash water, thereby preventing the dishes from being re-contaminated by foreign substances separated in the wash step (S50).

The washing step S50 may include a series of processes such as rinsing and drying, which are generally performed by those skilled in the art, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Steps S20 to S40 according to the present embodiment are steps for self-cleaning the filter assembly at the time of initial operation of the dishwasher, which is defined as a pre-filter clean stroke (ST10) in this embodiment.

The wash water supplied in the pre-filter clean step (ST10) is supplied to about 1 liter and generates steam for about 10 minutes to separate foreign substances from the filter assembly (70).

The pre-filter clean step ST10 such as this is effective to achieve a consistent cleaning force in the cleaning stroke S50 by removing the hard solid foreign substance attached to the filter assembly 70, and the self- The clogging of the filter 72 can be minimized.

Also, the pre-filter clean step ST10 has an effect of reducing the inconvenience of the user having to clean the filter.

On the other hand, the controller of the dishwasher can periodically perform the pre-filter clean step ST10. That is, the number of cleaning strokes of the dishwasher can be counted, and the pre-filter clean strokes ST10 can be controlled every predetermined number of times.

That is, the pre-filter clean step ST10 may be activated every time the dishwasher is initialized, or may be driven every predetermined period.

The pre-filter clean step ST10 is a stroke for removing foreign matters to the filter assembly 70, but also has an effect of pre-heating the inside of the tub 16 before the washing stroke to increase the dish washing effect.

Since the pre-filter clean step ST10 provides steam to the filter assembly 70 before the cleaning stroke S50, the filter assembly 70 is sterilized, and the odor-inducing substance of the filter assembly 70 And it is possible to prevent the dishware from being contaminated by the odor causing substance in the washing step (S50).

4 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling a dishwasher according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment, and self-cleans the filter assembly 70 before the end of the cleaning stroke.

That is, a post-clean water supplying step S60 for supplying the water to the sump 40 before the washing step S50 is completed and finished, the supplied washing water is heated, and the generated steam is supplied to the filter assembly 70 A post-clean steam step (S70) for separating the foreign substances adhered to the filter assembly (70), and a post-clean drain step (S80) for draining the separated foreign substances and the wash water.

Steps S60 to S80 are defined as a post-filter clean stroke (ST20).

The post-filter clean step ST20 provides steam to the foreign matter blowing after the cleaning stroke S50, thereby more effectively separating the foreign matter.

Although the pre-filter clean step ST20 is performed in the same manner as the pre-filter clean step ST10 in this embodiment, the pre-filter clean step ST10 is not performed. After the cleaning step S50, It is also possible to perform only the clean process (ST20).

Since the remaining configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the detailed description will be omitted.

5 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling a dishwasher according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present embodiment is a control method when a user selects a specific course for scaling. The control method includes a pre-operation drainage step (S10) for draining water by driving the drainage module (60) A water supply step (S20) for supplying washing water to the sump (40) by driving the water supply module (50) before the operation of the water supply module (50) (S30) of supplying steam to the filter assembly (70) to clean the filter assembly (70), wherein the organic acid is removed after the pre-clean steam step (S30) A descaling stroke ST30 for removing the scale in the tub 16 is performed.

For example, the specific course may be a filter cleaning course or a filter sterilization course.

The scale is formed by hard water, and the hard water is water having a high hardness including calcium ion, magnesium ion, etc., and is also referred to as a fine water. The amount of calcium (Ca2 +) and magnesium (Mg2 +) contained in water is converted to calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and 1 mg / liter is referred to as 1 hardness. Hardness is 0 to 50, soft water, , 100 ~ 150 is about soft water, between 150 ~ 250 is hard water, and 250 is hard water. Limestone zone, inland basin lake and ground water are hard water.

Here, the dishwasher forms drying or steam using the heater module 90. When the water containing calcium ions and magnesium ions is repeatedly heated and used, calcium ions and magnesium ions are chemically contained in the tub And a hardened scale is formed by the reaction.

The organic acid forms a scale and a reduction reaction to reduce calcium ions and magnesium ions, thereby removing scale.

As the organic acid, at least one of citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, and formic acid harmless to the human body is used.

At the time of the chemical reaction between the organic acid and the scale, a high temperature atmosphere promotes the reduction reaction.

The scale removal step ST30 includes an organic acid supply step S92 for controlling the organic acid module 100 to supply organic acid to the inside of the tub 16 and a step for supplying organic acid to the inside of the tub 16 through the injection module 30 A rinsing step (S94) for supplying washing water, and a drying step (S96) for drying the inside of the tub (16) by heating.

The organic acid introduced into the tub 16 reduces the scale formed on the tub 16 with metal ions to remove the scale.

The introduced organic acid is sprayed evenly into the tub 16 while being circulated together with the washing water in the rinsing step S94.

In this embodiment, the user can select a specific course for scale and filter cleaning, and perform filter cleaning and scaling at the same time.

Since the remaining configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the detailed description will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling a dishwasher according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present embodiment removes the scale of the tub 16 by injecting organic acid in the self-cleaning process for the filter assembly 70 of the first embodiment.

To this end, the present embodiment further includes a step (S92) of injecting organic acid before the supply of the washing water, after the supplying of the washing water or during the supply of the washing water during the pre-filter clean step ST10.

In addition, the organic acid is automatically injected in the self-cleaning process, thereby inhibiting scale from being generated in the tub.

Since the remaining configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the detailed description will be omitted.

7 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling a dishwasher according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

The control method of the dishwasher according to the present embodiment removes the scale of the tub 16 by injecting organic acid in the self-cleaning process for the filter assembly 70 of the second embodiment.

To this end, the present embodiment further includes a step (S92) of injecting the organic acid before the supply of the washing water, after the supplying of the washing water or during the supply of the washing water during the post filter clean step ST20.

In addition, the organic acid is automatically injected in the self-cleaning process, thereby inhibiting scale from being generated in the tub.

The rest of the configuration is the same as in the second embodiment, and therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

10: cabinet assembly 20: rack
30: injection module 40: sump
50: water supply module 60: drainage module
70: Filter 80: Pump module
90: Heater module

Claims (1)

A pre-operation drainage step (S10) for automatically discharging the water remaining in the sump by driving the drainage module at the time of initial operation of the dishwasher; A pre-filter clean step ST10 for self-cleaning the filter assembly; And a washing step (S50) of washing the tableware,
The number of times of the cleaning strokes is counted and the pre-filter clean strokes ST10 are periodically performed automatically every predetermined number of times even if the user does not artificially select them,
The pre-filter clean step (ST10)
A water supply step (S20) before operation to supply washing water for self-cleaning the filter assembly by driving the water supply module to the sump;
A pre-clean steam step (S30) for driving the heater module to generate steam in the sump, and supplying the generated steam to the filter assembly to clean the filter assembly; And
And a pre-clean drain step (S40) for draining the wash water by operating the drain module after the pre-clean steam step (S30).

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