Patent Description:
In general, electromagnetic interference (EMI) of electronic components occurs due to a switching frequency generated by a switching operation and a harmonic component of the frequency. In particular, the EMI mainly occurs in a switched mode power supply (SMPS) integrated circuit (IC) and a motor in a dishwasher.

In the related art, EMI occurred in the SMPS IC has been suppressed using a resistor-capacitor-diode (RCD) snubber in which a resistor, a capacitor, and a diode are combined, and EMI occurred in the motor has been suppressed using a harness core.

However, of the suppressing methods in the related art, the harness core has to be wound by a large number of turns in order to have a large inductance. Therefore, there is a difficulty in product development due to an increased cost and a large core volume.

In addition, the related art methods have a problem in that it is impossible to further suppress noise emitted to outside of the motor.

<CIT> relates to electric motor particularly suited for an electric motor powered automotive vehicle with reduced EMI emissions.

<CIT> relates to a motor drive device for driving a motor with an inverter circuit.

<CIT> discloses an electric power converter for driving a motor comprising a noise reduction transformers connected in series to AC source power input lines.

<CIT> discloses a noise reducing device in form of a leakage current detector connected into the AC input lines of a converter and comprising a core around which the AC power lines are wound.

The present disclosure has been invented to overcome the above-mentioned problems, and an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a control circuit, effectively suppressing electromagnetic interference (EMI) while reducing a volume of a product and a manufacturing cost, and a dishwasher including the same. The invention is defined in Claim <NUM>.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a control circuit, capable of lowering a level of additionally generated harmonic noise by cancelling noise generated at a primary resonant frequency of a motor.

In order to achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of this specification, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a control circuit, including a converter configured to convert alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power, an inverter configured to generate driving power of at least one motor using the DC power, and a second core formed by winding a coil by a number of windings determined in correspondence with an impedance of the motor. The number of windings may be determined that an impedance of the second core is inversely proportional to the impedance of the motor, and a driving power line for driving the motor may pass through a center of the second core.

The motor of the control circuit is a three-phase motor driven by three driving power applied to a first power line, a second power line, and a third power line, respectively, and the first to third power lines may pass through the center of the second core.

In one embodiment, the number of windings may be determined such that the impedance of the second core exceeds the impedance of the motor in a first range of operating frequencies of the motor of the control circuit.

In one embodiment, the first range of the control circuit may be a range between a first operating frequency and a second operating frequency, and a difference between the impedance of the second core and the impedance of the motor may be the greatest at a central frequency of the first range.

In one embodiment, the central frequency may be a primary resonant frequency of the motor.

In one embodiment, the control circuit may further include a relay configured to perform a switching operation of the first power line and the second power line, and a control unit configured to control the inverter and the relay.

In one embodiment, the relay of the control circuit may control the switching operation so that the first power line and the second power line are connected to a first motor in a first state, and control the switching operation so that the first power line and the second power line are connected to a second motor in a second state.

In one embodiment, the inverter may be configured to generate the three driving power using the DC power to correspond to a load condition of the motor.

In one embodiment, the control circuit may further include a first core disposed between an external power source and the converter. The central frequency may be <NUM>, the first operating frequency may be <NUM>, and the second operating frequency may be <NUM>. The number of windings may be 19Ø or 14Ø.

In one embodiment, the external power source may be a commercial AC power source.

The first state may be a default state of the relay. The first motor may be controlled to perform a washing operation in the first state, and the second motor may be controlled to perform a draining operation in the second state.

In order to achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of this specification, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a dishwasher including a control circuit. The control circuit may include a converter configured to convert alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power, an inverter configured to generate driving power of at least one motor using the DC power, and a second core formed by winding a coil by a number of windings determined in correspondence with an impedance of the motor. The number of windings may be determined that an impedance of the second core is inversely proportional to the impedance of the motor, and a driving power line for driving the motor may pass through a center of the second core.

The motor of the dishwasher is a three-phase motor driven by three driving power applied to a first power line, a second power line, and a third power line, respectively, and the first to third power lines pass through the center of the second core.

In one embodiment, the number of windings may be determined such that the impedance of the second core exceeds the impedance of the motor in a first range of operating frequencies of the motor of the dishwasher.

In one embodiment, the first range of the dishwasher may be a range between a first operating frequency and a second operating frequency, and a difference between the impedance of the second core and the impedance of the motor may be the greatest at a central frequency of the first range.

In one embodiment, the relay of the dishwasher may control the switching operation so that the first power line and the second power line are connected to a first motor in a first state, and control the switching operation so that the first power line and the second power line are connected to a second motor in a second state.

In one embodiment, the inverter of the dishwasher may be configured to generate the three driving power using the DC power to correspond to a load condition of the motor.

In one embodiment, the control circuit of the dishwasher may further include a first core disposed between an external power source and the converter. The central frequency may be <NUM>, the first operating frequency may be <NUM>, and the second operating frequency may be <NUM>. The number of windings may be 19Ø or 14Ø.

In one embodiment, the external power source may be a commercial AC power source. The first state may be a default state of the relay. The first motor may be controlled to perform a washing operation in the first state, and the second motor may be controlled to perform a draining operation in the second state.

In a control circuit and a dishwasher including the same according to implementations, EMI can be effectively suppressed while reducing a volume of a product and lowering a manufacturing cost.

Also, in the control circuit and the dishwasher including the same according to the implementations, a level of additionally generated harmonic noise can be lowered by offsetting noise generated at a primary resonant frequency of a motor.

Description will now be given in detail according to exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to the drawings, the same or equivalent components may be provided with the same or similar reference numbers, and description thereof will not be repeated. In general, a suffix such as "module" and "unit" may be used to refer to elements or components. Use of such a suffix herein is merely intended to facilitate description of the specification, and the suffix itself is not intended to give any special meaning or function. In describing the present disclosure, if a detailed explanation for a related known function or construction is considered to unnecessarily divert the gist of the present disclosure, such explanation has been omitted but would be understood by those skilled in the art. The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understand the technical idea of the present disclosure and it should be understood that the idea of the present disclosure is not limited by the accompanying drawings. The idea of the present disclosure should be construed to extend to any alterations, equivalents and substitutes besides the accompanying drawings.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected with" another element, the element can be connected with the another element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected with" another element, there are no intervening elements present.

Hereinafter, a dishwasher according to an implementation will be described with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a part of configuration of a dishwasher in accordance with an embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, a dishwasher <NUM> according to an embodiment may include a power supply unit <NUM>, a noise filter <NUM>, a control circuit <NUM>, a first motor M1, and a second motor M2.

The dishwasher <NUM> is configured to shield electromagnetic interference (EMI) which occurs in the first motor M1 and the second motor M2 by using a first core <NUM> and a second core <NUM> included in the control circuit <NUM>. A detailed description of shielding EMI through the first core <NUM> and the second core <NUM> will be described later.

The power supply unit <NUM> is configured to supply power for driving or operating the first motor M1 and the second motor M2. The power supply unit <NUM> may include an alternating current (AC) power source connection part p connected to a commercial AC power source, and a rectifying circuit (not illustrated) for converting AC power supplied from the commercial AC power source into direct current (DC) power. Specifically, the AC power source connection part p may be provided with a cord and a cord reel.

An AC power source connected through the AC power source connection part p is a commercial AC power source that includes a first power line (i.e., live line L) and a second power line (i.e., neutral line N).

The noise filter <NUM> is disposed between the power supply unit <NUM> and the control circuit <NUM> to have a predetermined interval from the control circuit <NUM>, and configured to remove noise included in the first power line L and/or the second power line N of the power supply unit <NUM>.

The noise filter <NUM> may be configured as any filter as long as it is a filter capable of removing noise from a power line.

The first motor M1 is driven by first to third power lines u, v, and w. The connection of the first power line u and the second power line v is controlled through a relay <NUM> (see <FIG>). The third power line w of the first motor M1 is shorted from a third power line w of the second motor M2 through a node n (see <FIG>). The first motor M1 is configured such that dirty water generated after washing dishes in the dishwasher <NUM> can be drained in a draining mode.

The second motor M2 is driven by first to third power lines u, v, and w. The connection of first power line u and the second power line v is controlled through the relay <NUM> (see <FIG>). The third power line w is shorted from the third power line w of the first motor M1 through the node n (see <FIG>). The second motor M2 is configured such that water required for washing dishes in the dishwasher <NUM> is fed.

The control circuit <NUM> is disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB) substrate, and is configured to connect the first to third power lines u, v, and w to the first motor M1 and the second motor M2, respectively, so that the first motor M1 and the second motor M2 are driven by using power supplied via the noise filter <NUM>.

Hereinafter, the control circuit <NUM> according to the embodiment will be described with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating the control circuit included in the dishwasher of <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, the control circuit <NUM> according to the embodiment includes a first core <NUM>, a converter <NUM>, an inverter <NUM>, a control unit <NUM>, a second core <NUM>, and a relay <NUM>.

The first core <NUM> may be disposed between the power supply unit <NUM> and the converter <NUM> and may accumulate or discharge power supplied from the power supply unit <NUM>. The first core <NUM> may function to limit a harmonic current due to high-speed switching of the converter <NUM>. The first core <NUM> may be a common mode (CM) core.

The converter <NUM> converts and outputs commercial AC power that has passed through the first core <NUM> into DC power under the control of a converter control circuit (not illustrated).

The inverter <NUM> generates driving power of three phases u, v, and w applied to the first motor M1 and the second motor M2, respectively, by using an output voltage of the converter <NUM> under the control of the control unit <NUM>.

Specifically, the inverter <NUM> is a power conversion device that converts voltage and frequency of driving power supplied to the first motor M1 and the second motor M2. The inverter <NUM> generates first to third driving power u, v, and w by varying the output voltage and frequency of the converter <NUM> to correspond to load conditions of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2, under the control of the control unit <NUM>.

The control unit <NUM> is configured to control the relay <NUM> and the inverter <NUM>, and may be an MCU or a microcomputer, but the embodiment is not limited thereto.

The second core <NUM> may be designed in consideration of motor impedances of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2. A specific method of designing the second core <NUM> will be described later.

The relay <NUM> is configured to perform a switching operation with respect to the first power line u and the second power line v so that the first motor M1 or the second motor M2 is driven in a predetermined operation mode of the dishwasher <NUM> according to the control of the control unit <NUM>.

In detail, the first power line u and the second power line v may be connected to the second motor M2 in a default state of the relay <NUM> (corresponding to a washing mode of the dishwasher <NUM>).

Therefore, in the washing mode of the dishwasher <NUM>, the relay <NUM> is controlled by the control unit <NUM> to connect the first power line u and the second power line v to the second motor M2. The second motor M2 is driven by the first to third power lines u, v, and w.

In addition, the first power line u and the second power line v may be connected to the first motor M1 in a driven state of the relay <NUM> (corresponding to a draining mode of the dishwasher <NUM>).

Therefore, in the draining mode of the dishwasher <NUM>, the relay <NUM> is controlled by the control unit <NUM> to connect the first power line u and the second power line v to the first motor M1. The first motor M1 is driven by the first to third power lines u, v, and w.

Hereinafter, a method of designing a second core according to an embodiment will be described in detail with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an impedance of a second core and an impedance of a motor in accordance with an embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, impedances of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2 are drastically reduced at a reference frequency fc (about <NUM>). This is caused by a common mode (CM) of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2.

In order to offset the impedance reduction, the second core <NUM> may be formed by winding a coil by a number of windings or turns (hereinafter, referred to as the number of windings) which is determined to correspond to the common mode of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2.

Specifically, as illustrated in <FIG>, a frequency corresponding to a point at which the impedance IMPDANDCE of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2 is drastically lowered is referred to as a reference frequency fc.

The number of windings of the second core <NUM> may be designed so that the impedance of the second core <NUM> exceeds the impedance of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2 in a frequency range between a first frequency f1 (e.g., <NUM>) and a second frequency f2 (e.g., <NUM>) in which the reference frequency fc is included.

Here, the number of windings of the second core <NUM> may be set so that the second core <NUM> has the largest impedance with respect to the reference frequency fc, and the number of windings may be 19Ø or 14Ø, but the embodiment is limited thereto.

The reference frequency fc may be a primary resonant frequency of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2, but the embodiment is not limited thereto.

Therefore, noise generated in the frequency range based on the reference frequency fc of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2 can be cancelled by the second core <NUM>, thereby lowering a level of additionally generated harmonic noise.

Claim 1:
A control circuit (<NUM>), comprising:
a converter (<NUM>) configured to convert alternating current, AC, power into direct current, DC, power,
an inverter (<NUM>) configured to generate driving power of at least one motor (M1, M2) using the DC power, wherein the motor (M1, M2) is a three-phase motor (M1, M2) driven by three driving powers applied to a first power line, a second power line, and a third power line, respectively, characterized by
a second core (<NUM>) formed by winding a coil by a number of windings determined in correspondence with an impedance of the motor (M1, M2),
and in that the number of windings is determined in a manner that an impedance of the second core (<NUM>) is inversely proportional to the impedance of the motor (M1, M2), and a driving power line for driving the motor (M1, M2) passes through a center of the second core (<NUM>),
wherein the first to third power lines pass through the center of the second core (<NUM>).