Controlling the operation of a dishwashing appliance

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling one or more operations of a dishwashing appliance are provided. In particular, a supply voltage applied to a heating element of the dishwashing appliance can be determined. The supply voltage can be compared with an acceptable operating range of supply voltages to determine whether the supply voltage is within the acceptable operating range and, if the supply voltage is not within the acceptable operating range, one or more operations of the dishwashing appliance can be controlled based at least in part on the determined supply voltage. For instance, an amount of time during which the heating element is active during one or more operational cycles can be adjusted to compensate for the determined supply voltage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dishwashing appliance comprising:
 a tub defining a wash chamber;   a rack assembly disposed within the wash chamber of the tub, the rack assembly configured for supporting articles for washing within the wash chamber of the tub;   a resistive heating element located in the wash chamber; and   one or more control devices configured to control operation of the dishwashing appliance based at least in part on the determined supply voltage by executing computer-readable instructions stored in one or more memory devices that when executed by the one or more control devices cause the one or more control devices to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 detecting a supply voltage associated with the heating element; 
 determining whether the supply voltage is within an acceptable operating supply voltage range; and 
 adjusting at least one operational cycle of the dishwashing appliance when it is determined that the supply voltage is outside of the acceptable operating supply voltage range. 
   
     
     
         2 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 1 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is not within the acceptable operational supply voltage range, the operations further comprise determining whether the supply voltage is greater than or less than the acceptable operating supply voltage range. 
     
     
         3 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 2 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is greater than the acceptable operating supply voltage range, adjusting at least one operational cycle of the dishwashing appliance comprises decreasing an amount of time during which the heating element provides heat energy within the wash chamber. 
     
     
         4 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 3 , wherein decreasing an amount of time during which the heating element provides heat energy within the wash chamber comprises at least one of decreasing a duration of one or more operational cycles of the dishwashing appliance, or decreasing a number of operational cycles of the dishwashing appliance. 
     
     
         5 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 2 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is less than the acceptable operating supply voltage range, adjusting at least one operational cycle of the dishwashing appliance comprises increasing an amount of time during which the heating element provides heat energy within the wash chamber. 
     
     
         6 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 5 , wherein increasing an amount of time during which the heating element provides heat energy within the wash chamber comprises at least one of increasing a duration of one or more operational cycles of the dishwashing appliance, or increasing a number of operational cycles of the dishwashing appliance. 
     
     
         7 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 2 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is greater than the acceptable operational supply voltage range, the one or more control devices are configured to determine whether the supply voltage is greater than a threshold value. 
     
     
         8 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 7 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is greater than the threshold value, adjusting at least one operational cycle of the dishwashing appliance comprises ceasing operation of at least one of the heating element or the dishwashing appliance. 
     
     
         9 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 1 , wherein one or more control devices are further configured to store the determined supply voltage in the one or more memory devices. 
     
     
         10 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 1 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is within the acceptable operating supply voltage range, the one or more control devices are further configured to compare the supply voltage to a nominal voltage value. 
     
     
         11 . The dishwashing appliance of  claim 10 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage does not equal the nominal voltage value, the one or more control devices are further configured to adjust at least one operational cycle of the dishwashing appliance. 
     
     
         12 . A method of controlling a dishwashing appliance, the method comprising:
 determining a supply voltage based at least in part on one or more monitored signals, the supply voltage associated with a heating element located in a dishwashing appliance;   determining whether the supply voltage is within an acceptable operating range of supply voltages; and   controlling one or more operations of the dishwashing appliance based at least in part on whether the supply voltage is within the acceptable operating range;   wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is not within the acceptable operating range, controlling the one or more operations of the dishwashing appliance comprises adjusting a time during which the heating element is active during one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, when it is determined that the supply voltage is not within the acceptable operating range, determining whether the supply voltage is greater than the acceptable operating range. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is not greater than the acceptable operating range, adjusting a time during which the heating element is active during one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage comprises increasing a time during which the heating element is active during the one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein increasing a time during which the heating element is active during the one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage comprises at least one of increasing a duration of the one or more operational cycles, or increasing a number of operational cycles of the dishwashing appliance based at least in part on the supply voltage. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is greater than the acceptable operating range, adjusting a time during which the heating element is active during one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage comprises decreasing a time during which the heating element is active during the one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein decreasing a time during which the heating element is active during the one or more operational cycles based at least in part on the supply voltage comprises at least one of decreasing a duration of the one or more operational cycles, or decreasing a number of operational cycles of the dishwashing appliance based at least in part on the supply voltage. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, when it is determined that the supply voltage is greater than the acceptable operating range, determining whether the supply voltage is greater than a threshold voltage, and when it is determined that the supply voltage is greater than the threshold voltage, ceasing operations of at least one of the heating element or the dishwashing appliance. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, when it is determined that the supply voltage is within the acceptable operating range, determining if the supply voltage is equal to a nominal voltage value within the acceptable operating range. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein, when it is determined that the supply voltage is not equal to the nominal voltage value, controlling the one or more operations of the dishwashing appliance comprises adjusting a time during which the heating element is active based at least in part on the supply voltage and the nominal voltage.