Laundry treatment apparatus and control method of laundry treatment apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed is a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus including a drum for storing laundry, a duct provided outside the drum for guiding air discharged from the drum to the drum, a fan provided in the duct, a heat pump for performing heat exchange between air introduced into the duct and a refrigerant to dehumidify and heat the air, and a temperature sensing unit for measuring the temperature of the air introduced into the duct, the control method including operating the fan and the heat pump to supply heated air to the drum (a hot air supply step), measuring the temperature of the air discharged from the drum through the temperature sensing unit (a temperature measurement step), when the temperature of the air measured by the temperature sensing unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference temperature, measuring the amount of time for which the temperature of the air remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature (a time measurement step), and when the amount of time for which the temperature of the air remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature is equal to or greater than a reference amount of time, stopping the operation of the fan and the heat pump (a hot air supply completion step).

1 . A laundry treatment apparatus comprising:
 a drum for storing laundry,   a duct provided for reintroducing air discharged from the drum into the drum,   a fan provided in the duct,   a heat pump for dehumidifying and heat air flowing in the duct,   a temperature sensing unit for measuring a temperature of air discharged from the drum, and   a controller configured to determine an amount of time, for which the measured temperature of the discharged air remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature, and to stop operation of the fan and of the heat pump, when the amount of time is equal to or greater than a reference amount of time.   
     
     
         2 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the reference temperature and the reference amount of time are independent from an amount of laundry introduced into the drum. 
     
     
         3 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to compare an accumulated value of the amount of time, for which the measured temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature, with the reference amount of time. 
     
     
         4 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to compare the amount of time, for which the measured temperature continuously remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature, with the reference amount of time. 
     
     
         5 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the reference temperature is 60° C. to 70° C. 
     
     
         6 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the reference amount of time is 50 minutes to 60 minutes. 
     
     
         7 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to stop the operation of the heat pump and to maintain the operation of the fan for a predetermined amount of time of a cooling step and to stop the operation of the fan after completion of the cooling step. 
     
     
         8 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to rotate the drum while the fan and the heat pump are operated for supplying heated air into the drum in a hot air supply step. 
     
     
         9 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of time, for which the measured temperature of the discharged air remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature, when the measured temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference temperature. 
     
     
         10 . A control method of a laundry treatment apparatus, the control method comprising:
 operating a fan and a heat pump to supply heated air to a drum of the laundry treatment apparatus in a hot air supply step;   measuring a temperature of air discharged from the drum in a temperature measurement step;   when the measured temperature of the air is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference temperature, measuring an amount of time for which the temperature of the air remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature in a time measurement step; and   when an amount of time, for which the temperature of the air remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature, is equal to or greater than a reference amount of time, stopping operation of the fan and the heat pump in a hot air supply completion step.   
     
     
         11 . The control method according to  claim 10 , wherein the hot air supply step, the temperature measurement step, and the time measurement step are performed when a sterilization course is selected through an input unit. 
     
     
         12 . The control method according to  claim 11 , wherein the reference temperature and the reference amount of time are uniform irrespective of an amount of laundry introduced into the drum, or wherein the time measurement step comprises comparing an accumulated value of the amount of time for which the measured temperature of the air is equal to or higher than the reference temperature with the reference amount of time. 
     
     
         13 . The control method according to  claim 12 , wherein the time measurement step comprises comparing the amount of time for which the measured temperature of the air continuously remains equal to or higher than the reference temperature with the reference amount of time. 
     
     
         14 . The control method according to any one of  claims 13 , wherein the reference temperature is 60° C. to 70° C., and/or wherein the reference amount of time is 50 minutes to 60 minutes. 
     
     
         15 . The control method according to any one of  claims 14 , wherein the hot air supply completion step comprises:
 stopping the operation of the heat pump and maintaining the operation of the fan for a predetermined amount of time in a cooling step; and   stopping the operation of the fan after completion of the cooling step in a fan operation completion step.