Patent ID: 9745684
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: D06F

Claim:
1. A method by a controller of a washing machine which includes a rotary tub accommodating wash water to rotate upon receiving rotational force from a drive source, a balancer mounted to the rotary tub to include a ring-shaped channel in which a plurality of balancing modules, each assigned a module identification (ID), are disposed to attenuate unbalance generated by rotation of the rotary tub, a position detection sensor to detect a position of the plurality of balancing modules, and the controller to send movement commands that include a communication ID to the plurality of balancing modules, the method comprising; measuring a first time between position detection time points of the balancing modules during rotation of the rotary tub when the plurality of balancing modules are in a static mode which is a fixed position in the channel for each balancing module of the plurality of balancing modules; measuring a second time between position detection time points of the balancing modules during rotation of the rotary tub when one of the balancing modules among the plurality of balancing modules is shifted by a predetermined distance within the channel through a first movement command of shifting or moving the one of the balancing modules; and confirming a correspondence between a first module ID of the one of the balancing modules and a first communication ID of the first movement command in response to a relative variation of the second time with respect to the first time, such that sending of the first movement command using the first communication ID to the one of the balancing modules attenuates the generated unbalance.