Washing machine and rinsing control method thereof

Abstract

Disclosed herein are a washing machine that performs a rinsing operation while rotating a drum at a predetermined RPM without stopping the drum after spin-drying and a rinsing control method thereof The washing machine includes a drum to receive laundry and a motor to rotate the drum. The rinsing control method includes rotating the drum to perform spin-drying and decelerating the drum to a predetermined velocity to perform rinsing. Consequently, it is possible to improve rinsing efficiency even using a small amount of water. Also, it is possible to uniformly distribute the laundry in the drum without eccentricity, although a laundry untangling process for spin-drying is performed only once during the rinsing, which is performed several times, thereby reducing the total rinsing time.

1 . A rinsing control method of a washing machine including a drum to receive laundry and a motor to rotate the drum, the rinsing control method comprising:
 rotating the drum to perform spin-drying; and   decelerating the drum to a predetermined velocity to perform rinsing operation.   
   
   
       2 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 performing a laundry untangling process to uniformly distribute the laundry in the drum to perform the spin-drying, wherein   the laundry untangling process is performed only once during the rinsing operation, which is performed several times.   
   
   
       3 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined velocity is a balance maintenance velocity to uniformly distribute the laundry in the drum though the deceleration of the drum after the spin-drying. 
   
   
       4 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 3 , wherein the balance maintenance velocity is a velocity to cling the laundry to the inner wall of the drum while maintaining balance without eccentricity. 
   
   
       5 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 3 , wherein the balance maintenance velocity is approximately 100 RPM or more. 
   
   
       6 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 3 , wherein the performing rinsing operation includes performing the supply of water, rinsing, and drainage of water for rinsing operation while rotating the drum at the balance maintenance velocity. 
   
   
       7 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 6 , wherein the performing rinsing operation includes
 rotating the drum to perform spin-drying after the drainage, and   continuously performing the supply of water, rinsing, and drainage of water for the next rinsing operation while rotating the drum at the balance maintenance velocity.   
   
   
       8 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 6 , wherein the balance maintenance velocity is a velocity in which the water passes through the laundry by a centrifugal force to dissolve detergent contained in the laundry. 
   
   
       9 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 6 , wherein the balance maintenance velocity is a velocity in which the water passes through the laundry by a centrifugal force to immediately discharge detergent remaining in the laundry. 
   
   
       10 . A rinsing control method of a washing machine including a drum to receive laundry and a motor to rotate the drum, the rinsing control method comprising:
 rotating the drum to perform spin-drying; and   decelerating the drum to a predetermined velocity to supply water.   
   
   
       11 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 10 , wherein the predetermined velocity is a balance maintenance velocity to uniformly distribute the laundry in the drum though the deceleration of the drum after the spin-drying. 
   
   
       12 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 11 , wherein the balance maintenance velocity is a velocity to cling the laundry to the inner wall of the drum while maintaining balance without eccentricity. 
   
   
       13 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 11 , wherein the balance maintenance velocity is approximately 100 RPM or more. 
   
   
       14 . The rinsing control method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 performing rinsing, drainage of water, and spin-drying for rinsing while rotating the drum at the balance maintenance velocity after the supply of water.   
   
   
       15 . A washing machine comprising:
 a drum to receive laundry;   a motor to rotate the drum; and   a control unit to control the velocity of the drum such that the drum is rotated to perform spin-drying and is decelerated to a predetermined velocity to perform rinsing operation.   
   
   
       16 . The washing machine according to  claim 15 , wherein the control unit controls a laundry untangling process to be performed to uniformly distribute the laundry in the drum to perform the spin-drying, the laundry untangling process being performed only once during the rinsing operation, which is performed several times. 
   
   
       17 . The washing machine according to  claim 15 , wherein the predetermined velocity is a balance maintenance velocity to uniformly distribute the laundry in the drum though the deceleration of the drum after the spin-drying. 
   
   
       18 . The washing machine according to  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a water supply unit, wherein   the control unit controls the motor to rotate the drum at the balance maintenance velocity and the water supply unit to supply water, during the rotation of the drum, to perform the rinsing.   
   
   
       19 . The washing machine according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a drainage unit, wherein   the control unit controls the drainage unit to drain the water during the rotation of the drum.   
   
   
       20 . The rinsing method according to  claim 1 , wherein the performing rinsing operation includes performing the supply of water, rinsing, and drainage of water for rinsing operation while rotating the drum at the balance maintenance velocity. 
   
   
       21 . The rinsing method according to  claim 20 , wherein the predetermined velocity is more than 100 RPM.