Dish washer and control method thereof

Abstract

A dishwasher comprises: a body; a tub; a door to open or close the tub; and input device; and an automatic detergent injection device to discharge a solid detergent toward the inside of the tub. The automatic detergent injection device comprises: a storage chamber in which a plurality of solid detergents is stored; a storage chamber sensor to sense solid detergent inside the storage chamber; an ejector to eject one of the multiple pieces of solid detergent out of the storage chamber; a seating portion; a seating portion sensor to sense the solid detergent seated on the seating portion; and at least one processor to control the ejector to eject the solid detergent from the storage chamber, and determine whether or not there is an error in discharging of the solid detergent based on the result of sensing by the storage chamber sensor and the seating portion sensor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dish washer comprising:
 a main body;   a tub arranged in the main body;   a door  1 to open or close the tub;   an input device arranged on an outside of the main body; and   an automatic detergent injection device arranged to discharge a solid detergent into the tub, the automatic detergent injection device comprising:
 a storage chamber in which a plurality of solid detergents is to be stacked and loaded in a vertical direction; 
 an ejector configured to discharge one of the plurality of solid detergents out of the storage chamber; 
 a seating portion where the one solid detergent discharged from the storage chamber is to be seated; and 
 at least one processor configured to:
 control the ejector to discharge the one solid detergent out of the storage chamber in response to receiving a selection of a washing course being input through the input device; and 
 determine whether there is an error in discharging of the one solid detergent or not based on a number of revolutions of the ejector; and 
 control the ejector based on a result of the determining. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The dish washer of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one processor is configured to
 determine that error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent based on a rotation of the ejector being stopped before one round of the rotation of the ejector is completed in a forward direction. 
   
     
     
         3 . The dish washer of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 rotate the ejector in a backward direction based on the determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent. 
   
     
     
         4 . The dish washer of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 generate a control signal for a notification based on the determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent. 
   
     
     
         5 . The dish washer of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the automatic detergent injection device further comprises:
 a seating portion sensor to detect the one solid detergent seated in the seating portion, and 
   wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 in response to a rotation of the ejector being stopped before one round rotation is completed and the determining that the one solid detergent is not seated in the seating portion based on a result of the detecting of the seating portion sensor, determine that an error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent. 
   
     
     
         6 . The dish washer of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the automatic detergent injection device further comprises:
 a storage chamber sensor configured to detect the solid detergent in the storage chamber; and 
 a seating portion sensor to detect the one solid detergent seated in the seating portion, and 
   wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 in response to the determining that the one solid detergent is not seated in the seating portion based on a result of the detecting of the seating portion sensor and the determining that there is the solid detergent in the storage chamber based on an output of the storage chamber sensor, determine that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent. 
   
     
     
         7 . The dish washer of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the ejector is rotated in a backward direction in response to the determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent.   
     
     
         8 . The dish washer of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 generate a control signal for a notification based on the determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent. 
   
     
     
         9 . The dish washer of  claim 1 , wherein the automatic detergent injection device further comprises a seating portion sensor to detect the one solid detergent seated in the seating portion, and
 wherein the ejector comprises:
 a cam configured to rotate to move the one solid detergent out of the storage chamber, and 
   wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 rotate the cam one round in a forward direction to discharge the one solid detergent from the storage chamber based on a selection of a washing course being input through the input device. 
   
     
     
         10 . The dish washer of  claim 9 ,
 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 determine whether the solid detergent is seated in the seating portion based on an output of the seating portion sensor after rotating the cam in the forward direction. 
   
     
     
         11 . The dish washer of  claim 10 ,
 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to
 rotate the cam for one additional round in the forward direction based on the determining that the solid detergent is not seated in the seating portion. 
   
     
     
         12 . A method of controlling a dish washer including a main body, a tub arranged in the main body, a door to open or close the tub and an input device arranged on an outside of the main body, the method comprising:
 receiving a selection of a washing course through the input device;   controlling an ejector to discharge one solid detergent out of a storage chamber where a plurality of solid detergents is to be stacked and loaded therein in a vertical direction in response to receiving the selection of the washing course;   determining whether there is an error in discharging of the one solid detergent based on a number of revolutions of the ejector; and   controlling the ejector based on a result of the determining.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 ,
 wherein the determining of whether there is the error in discharging of the one solid detergent comprises
 determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent based on a rotation of the ejector being stopped before completing one round rotation of the ejector in a forward direction. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 rotating the ejector in a backward direction based on the determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 generating a control signal for a notification based on the determining that the error occurs in discharging of the one solid detergent.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 detecting the one solid detergent in the storage chamber; and   detecting whether the one solid detergent discharged from the storage chamber is seated in a seating portion where the one solid detergent is to be seated, wherein the determining of whether there is the error in discharging the one solid detergent includes, in response to determining that the solid detergent is not seated in the seating portion as a result of detecting the seating portion and that there is the solid detergent in the storage chamber based on a result of the detecting the storage chamber, determining that the error occurs in discharging the solid detergent.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the ejector includes a cam configured to rotate to move the one solid detergent out of the storage chamber, and the controlling of the ejector further includes rotating the cam one round in a forward direction to discharge the one solid detergent out of the storage chamber. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising determining whether a solid detergent is seated in the seating portion based on a result of detecting the seating portion after rotating the cam in the forward direction. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising rotating the cam one more round in the forward direction based on determining that one solid detergent is not seated in the seating portion.