Patent Description:
In general, a home appliance such as a refrigerator or a washing machine includes a motor for performing specific functions. In recent years, on the other hand, a plurality of home appliances with motors may be generally provided within one household. For example, a general refrigerator and a kimchi refrigerator may be provided within one household.

On the other hand, when the plurality of home appliances are provided in one household and the motors included in each home appliance operate according to similar operating frequencies, there is a problem in that a beat phenomenon occurs between noises generated from each home appliance to cause loud noise.

Therefore, the necessity of preventing the beat phenomenon that may occur when the plurality of home appliances are disposed at adjacent locations increases.

<CIT> describes an example of a home appliance which can communicate with other home appliances. <CIT> describes an electric motor control device for controlling a plurality of electric motors in parallel. <CIT> discloses a noise reduction apparatus which reduces noise made when a rotary body rotates at high speed.

The invention provides a method of controlling a home appliance according to claim <NUM>. Features of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the description.

The above and/or other aspects of the disclosure will be more apparent by describing certain embodiments of the disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

After terms used in the specification are briefly described, the disclosure will be described in detail.

General terms that are currently widely used were selected as terms used in embodiments of the disclosure in consideration of functions in the disclosure, but may be changed depending on the intention of those skilled in the art or a judicial precedent, the emergence of a new technique, and the like. In addition, in a specific case, terms arbitrarily chosen by an applicant may exist. In this case, the meaning of such terms will be mentioned in detail in a corresponding description portion of the disclosure. Therefore, the terms used in embodiments of the disclosure should be defined on the basis of the meaning of the terms and the contents throughout the disclosure rather than simple names of the terms.

Terms 'first', 'second', and the like, may be used to describe various components, but the components are not to be construed as being limited by these terms. The terms are used only to distinguish one component from another component.

It will be further understood that terms "include" or "formed of" used in the specification specify the presence of features, numerals, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof mentioned in the specification, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numerals, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains may easily practice the disclosure. However, the disclosure may be modified in various different forms, and is not limited to embodiments described herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted to clarify the description of the disclosure.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

<FIG> is a block diagram for describing a simple configuration of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, a home appliance <NUM> is configured to include a motor <NUM> and a processor <NUM>.

The home appliance <NUM> is an apparatus in which vibration and noise may occur due to driving of the motor <NUM> during a process of performing a unique function. For example, the home appliance <NUM> may correspond to a washing machine, a refrigerator, a cleaner, or the like, but is not limited thereto.

The motor <NUM> is disposed in the home appliance <NUM> to drive a configuration related to performing a function of the home appliance <NUM>. For example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a refrigerator, the motor <NUM> may start a refrigerant compressor that generates a refrigerant or a fan. As another example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a washing machine, the motor <NUM> may rotate a drum, in which laundry is accommodated, at high speed to dehydrate the laundry.

In addition, the motor <NUM> may rotate at various operating frequencies under control of the processor <NUM>. The operating frequency of the motor <NUM> may be expressed using a unit of revolutions per minute (RPM).

The motor <NUM> may be an inverter motor capable of adjusting a rotation speed according to the operating frequency. However, the motor <NUM> is not limited thereto.

The processor <NUM> controls each component in the home appliance <NUM>. In detail, when receiving a command for a specific function, the processor <NUM> may control an operation of a configuration related to performing the function.

For example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a refrigerator, the processor <NUM> may control the operation of the motor <NUM> to provide an additional torque to the refrigerant compressor when receiving a use command to lower a set temperature. As another example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a washing machine, the processor <NUM> may control the operation of the motor <NUM> to provide a torque to the drum in which the laundry is accommodated when receiving a dehydration command.

Meanwhile, the processor <NUM> may operate the motor <NUM> in a state where another home appliance with a motor is disposed at a location adjacent to the home appliance <NUM>. In this case, when the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> has a similar value to the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance, a beat phenomenon may occur between noises generated from the motors of the respective home appliances.

Here, the beat phenomenon is a phenomenon in which two waves having similar frequency interfere with each other and loudness of sound increases and decreases regularly. The noise caused by the beat phenomenon may adversely affect user's emotion.

Therefore, the processor <NUM> may prevent the beat phenomenon by controlling the operation of the motor <NUM> according to an operating frequency which differs from the operating frequency of the motor included in another home appliance.

Hereinafter, the detailed operation of the processor <NUM> for preventing the above-described beat phenomenon will be described.

First, the processor <NUM> may identify another home appliance disposed at a location adjacent to the home appliance <NUM>. In detail, the processor <NUM> may identify whether there are other home appliances that can communicate with the home appliance to identify another home appliance disposed at an adjacent location.

For example, the processor <NUM> may identify whether there is another home appliance connected to the same network as a network to which the home appliance <NUM> is connected, or whether there is another home appliance capable of direct communication, such as Bluetooth, with the home appliance <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> may perform an operation of identifying another home appliance disposed at a location adjacent to the home appliance <NUM> when a predetermined event occurs.

Here, the predetermined event may be at least one of a first turn-on event of the home appliance, an input event of the use command of the home appliance, an event that the home appliance <NUM> is connected to a new network, and an identify event of another new home appliance that can communicate with the home appliance <NUM>, a connection release event of another home appliance that can communicate with the home appliance <NUM>, and an arrival event of a predetermined time period.

On the other hand, the predetermined event is not limited to the above-described example, the event may be added according to the unique characteristics of the home appliance <NUM>. For example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a refrigerator, an event detected that temperature around the refrigerator changes by a predetermined value or more may be added to the predetermined event.

The processor <NUM> acquires operating frequency information on a motor included in another home appliance from another home appliance. In detail, the processor <NUM> may acquire operating frequency information on a motor included in another home appliance from the identified another home appliance as being disposed at an adjacent location.

More specifically, the processor <NUM> may request another home appliance <NUM> connected to the home appliance <NUM> by wire through a communication device <NUM>, another home appliance connected to the same wireless network as the home appliance <NUM>, or another home appliance capable of direct communication with the home appliance <NUM> for the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home application, and receive the operating frequency information from another home appliance.

In accordance with the invention, the processor <NUM> detects a sound generated while driving the motor of another home appliance through a microphone <NUM>, and acquires the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home appliance from audio data corresponding to the detected sound. A detailed operation of the processor <NUM> acquiring the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home appliance using the microphone <NUM> will be described later with reference to <FIG>.

The processor <NUM> identifies the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance based on the acquired operating frequency information. In detail, the processor <NUM> identifies the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> having a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance.

Herein, the predetermined value is a difference value between the operating frequencies for preventing noise caused by the above-described beat phenomenon, and is <NUM>. In embodiments that do not fall under the present claimed invention, the predetermined value is not limited to the example described above.

Meanwhile, a detailed operation of identifying the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance will be described later with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

The processor <NUM> controls the operation of the motor <NUM> based on the identified operating frequency. Specifically, the processor <NUM> uses the identified operating frequency to control the operation of the motor <NUM> corresponding to the current cycle of the home appliance <NUM> or the operation of the motor <NUM> corresponding to the next cycle of the home appliance <NUM>.

For example, when the current motor <NUM> identifies an operating frequency (B) which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance during operation according to a specific operating frequency A, the processor <NUM> changes the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> from the specific operating frequency A to the identified operating frequency B.

As another example, when the current motor <NUM> identifies the operating frequency B which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance during the operation according to the specific operating frequency A, the processor <NUM> may control the motor <NUM> to operate according to the identified operating frequency B instead of the specific operating frequency A during the operation corresponding to the next cycle.

Meanwhile, in illustrating and describing <FIG>, the home appliance is illustrated and described as having one motor, but the home appliance may include a plurality of motors in implementation.

In addition, only the simple component configuring the home appliance are illustrated and described above, but in the implementation, various components may be additionally provided. This will be described below with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the home appliance according to the invention.

Referring to <FIG>, the home appliance <NUM> is configured to include a motor <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a communication device <NUM>, a microphone <NUM>, an input device <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and a display <NUM>.

The motor <NUM> and the processor <NUM> perform the same functions as components illustrated in <FIG>, and the duplicated description thereof will be omitted.

The communication device <NUM> may be connected to an external device (not illustrated) and receive various data from the external device. In detail, the communication device <NUM> can be formed to be connected to the external device through a local area network (LAN) and the Internet network or be connected to the external device through a universal serial bus (USB) port or a wireless communication (for example, WiFi <NUM>. 11a/b/g/n, NFC, Bluetooth) port. Here, the external device may be a home appliance, a PC, a laptop, a smartphone, a server, or the like.

The communication device <NUM> may request another home appliance connected to the home appliance <NUM> by wire, another home appliance connected to the same wireless network to which the home appliance <NUM> is connected, or another home appliance capable of direct communication with the home appliance <NUM> for the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home application, and receive the operating frequency information from another home appliance.

The microphone <NUM> is disposed in the home appliance <NUM> to measure sound around the home appliance <NUM>. For example, when the home appliance <NUM> supports a voice recognition function, the microphone <NUM> may detect user's spoken voice, and the processor <NUM> may use sound data corresponding to the detected voice to perform the voice recognition function.

The microphone <NUM> is configured to detect a sound generated while driving the motor of another home appliance disposed at a location adjacent to the home appliance <NUM>. The processor <NUM> acquires the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home appliance from the sound data corresponding to the detected sound. The detailed operation of the processor <NUM> acquiring the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home appliance using the microphone <NUM> will be described later with reference to <FIG>.

The input device <NUM> may include a plurality of function keys by which a user may set or select various functions supported by the home appliance <NUM>. As a result, the user may input various driving commands for the home appliance <NUM>. For example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a washing machine, the user may input a dehydration command of the washing machine through the input device <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> stores various data for the overall operation of the home appliance <NUM>, such as a program for processing or controlling the processor <NUM>. In detail, the memory <NUM> may store a plurality of application programs driven by the home appliance <NUM> and data and instructions for operating the home appliance <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> is accessed by the processor <NUM>, and readout/recording/correction/deletion/update, and the like of data may be performed by the processor <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may be implemented as an external storage medium, a removable disk including a USB memory, a web server though a network, and the like in addition to a storage medium in the home appliance <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> may store information on another home appliance <NUM> adjacent to the home appliance <NUM>. In detail, the memory <NUM> may store information on another home appliance connected to the home appliance <NUM> by a wire, another home appliance connected to the same network as the wireless network to which the home appliance <NUM> is connected, or another home appliance capable of direct communication, such as Bluetooth, with another home appliance.

In this case, the information on another home appliance may include the information on the operating frequency information of the motor included in another home appliance as well as a name and type of another home appliance, but is not limited to thereto.

The memory <NUM> may store a speed control table of the motor <NUM>. Here, the speed control table is a table having the information on the operating frequency according to the time of the motor <NUM> in response to a specific function of the home appliance <NUM>.

For example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a washing machine, the memory <NUM> may store the speed control table having the information on the operating frequency according to the time of the motor <NUM> in response to the dehydration function of the washing machine. In addition, when the home appliance <NUM> is a cleaner, the memory <NUM> may store the speed control table having the information on the operating frequency according to the time of the motor <NUM> in response to a suction level set by a user.

The speed control table may include not only a specific function but also the information on the operating frequency identified based on at least one of environmental information of the home appliance <NUM> and setting information input from a user.

Here, the environmental information means the information on the surrounding environment of the home appliance <NUM> and may include various information such as temperature information and humidity information. In addition, the setting information may refer to setting information input from a user, and may include information on a user's use command for a specific function.

For example, when the home appliance <NUM> is a refrigerator, the environmental information may be the inside temperature of the refrigerator or the outside temperature of the refrigerator, and the setting information may be a user setting temperature or the like for a refrigerating function or a cooling function.

The speed control table may further include information on an operating frequency range corresponding to the specific function, the environmental information, the setting information, and the like. The processor <NUM> may identify an operating frequency range corresponding to at least one of the specific function, the environmental information, and the setting information, identify one frequency within the corresponding frequency range, and control the motor <NUM> to operate at the identified frequency.

For example, when the operating frequency of the specific function of the home appliance <NUM> has a range of <NUM> to <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may select one of the frequencies of <NUM> to <NUM>, for example, <NUM>, and control the motor <NUM> to operate at <NUM>.

In addition, when the home appliance <NUM> includes the plurality of motors <NUM>, the memory <NUM> may store speed control tables for each of the plurality of motors <NUM>.

The display <NUM> may display various information provided from the home appliance <NUM>. In detail, the display <NUM> may display an operation state of the home appliance <NUM> or a user interface window for selecting a function and an option selected by the user.

For example, if the home appliance <NUM> is a refrigerator, the display <NUM> may display the interface window to display that the refrigerator is performing a refrigeration operation according to a set temperature, or to enable a user to select whether to operate a function such as power freezing.

Meanwhile, in illustrating and describing <FIG>, the microphone <NUM> is illustrated and described as being provided in the home appliance <NUM>, but in other examples that are useful for understanding the invention, the microphone <NUM> may be provided separately from the home appliance <NUM>.

Conventionally, when a plurality of home appliances including motors are disposed at adjacent locations, and the motors of the plurality of home appliances operate according to similar operating frequencies, there is a problem in that a beat phenomenon occurs between noises generated from each home appliance to cause loud noise.

On the other hand, as described above, the home appliance controls the motor according to the operating frequency which differs from the operating frequency of the motor included in another home appliance disposed at an adjacent location, thereby making it possible to prevent the beat phenomenon that may be caused by the motors operating at the similar operating frequencies.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams for describing a beat phenomenon occurring when a plurality of home appliances are adjacent and a method for preventing the beat phenomenon.

Referring to <FIG>, first, it may be identified that a plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are disposed at adjacent locations. The first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may operate a motor according to an operating frequency f1, and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may operate a motor according to an operating frequency f2.

In this case, when the operating frequency f1 and the operating frequency f2 are similar, for example, have a difference of about <NUM>, a beat phenomenon may occur that sound increases or decreases periodically as sounds generated from each of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> overlap.

To prevent the beat phenomenon, the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may control the respective motors based on operating frequencies different enough to prevent the beat phenomenon. In detail, one home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) of the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may identify an operating frequency which sufficiently differs from the operating frequency by using the operating frequency information of the motor of the other home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>, and control the motor <NUM> to operate at the operating frequency.

Referring to <FIG>, it may be identified that the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> operates the motor according to an operating frequency f3 which differs from the operating frequency f1 of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>. Hereinafter, a method for identifying an operating frequency of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> based on the operation of the processor <NUM> of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> will be described.

First, the processor <NUM> acquires the operating frequency information of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> through the communication device <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> identifies the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> based on at least one of the environmental information and the setting information.

Here, the environmental information refers to information on the surrounding environment of the home appliance <NUM> and may include various information such as temperature information and humidity information. In addition, the setting information may refer to setting information input from a user, and may include information on a user's use command for a specific function.

For example, when the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is a refrigerator, the processor <NUM> may identify the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> based on the ambient temperature information, the internal temperature information of the refrigerator, and the set temperature information of the user.

On the other hand, when the memory <NUM> stores the speed control table of the motor <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may identify the operating frequency corresponding to the environmental information or the setting information by referring to the speed control table.

In addition, the speed control table may further include information on an operating frequency range corresponding to the specific function, the environmental information, the setting information, and the like. Here, the operating frequency range is an operating frequency range that the motor <NUM> may have to achieve targeted effects in response to the specific function, the environmental information, the setting information, and the like. The processor <NUM> may identify one operating frequency within a corresponding operating frequency range.

The processor <NUM> may identify whether the identified operating frequency is similar to the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>. In detail, the processor <NUM> may identify whether the difference between the identified operating frequency and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is within the predetermined difference.

For example, when the difference between the identified operating frequency and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is less than <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may identify that the operating frequencies for the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are similar.

If the difference between the identified operating frequency and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is greater than the predetermined difference, it may be considered that the beat phenomenon does not occur, such that the processor <NUM> controls the operation of the motor <NUM> according to the identified operating frequency.

On the other hand, if the difference between the calculated operating frequency and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is smaller than the predetermined difference, there may be a possibility that the beat phenomenon may occur, such that the processor <NUM> may correct the identified operating frequency.

In detail, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency identified so that the difference between the identified operating frequency and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. Herein, the predetermined value is a difference value between the operating frequencies for preventing noise caused by the above-described beat phenomenon, and is <NUM>.

For example, when the identified operating frequency is <NUM> and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may correct the identified operating frequency to <NUM> or <NUM>.

When the operating frequency is corrected, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency to a value smaller or greater than the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> by the predetermined value according to a predetermined criterion. Herein, the predetermined criterion may be a criterion set based on the environmental information or the setting information, and may be changed according to manufacturer or user setting.

For example, the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may be a refrigerator, the motor <NUM> may be a motor of a refrigerant compressor, and the predetermined criterion may be an internal temperature of the refrigerator. In this case, when the internal temperature of the refrigerator is high, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency to a value greater than the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> by the predetermined value to perform a fast refrigeration function. On the other hand, when the internal temperature of the refrigerator is low, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency to a value greater than the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> by the predetermined value.

When the operating frequency is corrected, the processor <NUM> may correct the identified operating frequency within the corresponding operating frequency range by using the information on the operating frequency range included in the speed control table.

For example, when the corresponding operating frequency range is <NUM> to <NUM>, the identified frequency is <NUM>, and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency to <NUM> which differs from <NUM> by <NUM> and is included within <NUM> to <NUM>.

Meanwhile, it may occur that a suitable operating frequency may not be identified when correcting the operating frequency identified by considering the operating frequency range.

For example, when the operating frequency range is <NUM> to <NUM>, the identified operating frequency is <NUM>, and the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> is <NUM>, the operating frequency which differs from <NUM> by <NUM> needs to be <NUM> or less or <NUM> or more, such that the processor <NUM> may not correct the operating frequency identified within the operating frequency range.

In addition, the motor may not operate according to the corrected operating frequency due to the limitation of the characteristics of the home appliance itself.

In this case, the processor <NUM> may control the operation of the motor <NUM> according to the operating frequency identified based on at least one of the environmental information and the setting information, but may request the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> to change the operating frequency through the communication device <NUM>. In detail, the processor <NUM> may transmit the identified operating frequency information to the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> and request the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> to change the operating frequency.

When the information on the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> has a plurality of operating frequencies that change with time, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency identified so that a difference from each of the plurality of operating frequencies is greater than a predetermined value.

For example, when the information on the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> includes the contents that the motor operates at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes and operates at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency so that a difference from <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, is <NUM> or more. Alternatively, the processor <NUM> may correct the operating frequency so that a difference from <NUM> by <NUM> or more occurs when the motor operates for <NUM> minutes, and correct the operating frequency so that a difference from <NUM> is <NUM> or more when the motor operates for <NUM> minutes.

The processor <NUM> may control the operation of the motor <NUM> based on the corrected operating frequency. Meanwhile, when the identified operating frequency may not be corrected, the processor <NUM> may control the operation of the motor <NUM> based on the identified operating frequency.

Meanwhile, the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may include a plurality of motors, and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may include one motor. In this case, the processor <NUM> may acquire a plurality of operating frequency information on each of the plurality of motors from the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>.

The processor <NUM> identifies the operating frequency which differs from the operating frequencies for the plurality of motors of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> based on the acquired operating frequency information. The operation of the motor <NUM> is controlled according to the identified operating frequency.

For example, when the acquired plurality of operating frequencies are <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, the processor <NUM> may identify, as the operating frequency, <NUM> which is a frequency that differs by <NUM> or more when compared with <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively.

In addition, the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may include one motor, and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may include the plurality of motors <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. In this case, the processor <NUM> may acquire an operating frequency corresponding to one motor from the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>.

The processor <NUM> may identify the operating frequencies for each of the plurality of motors <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> based on the acquired operating frequency information. The operations for each of the motors <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may be controlled according to the plurality of identified operating frequencies.

For example, when the acquired operating frequency is <NUM> and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> includes two motors, the processor <NUM> may identify, as the operating frequencies for each of the plurality of motors, frequencies of <NUM> and <NUM> which differ from the <NUM> by <NUM> or more. This can be identified by the operating frequency of each motor.

As described above, the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may prevent the beat phenomenon by identifying the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> based on the operating frequency of the motor included in the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>.

Meanwhile, which of the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> performs the above-mentioned beat phenomenon preventing operation may be identified through the communication between the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>.

In detail, when it is identified that the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are disposed at adjacent locations to each other through the communication, it is possible to identify a device to perform the above-described beat phenomenon preventing operation according to the predetermined criterion.

For example, the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may share specification information of each other and identify a device having a higher specification as a device to perform the beat phenomenon preventing operation. As another example, the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may identify, as a device to perform the beat phenomenon preventing operation, a device to perform the operation of the motor later between the plurality of home appliances <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>.

Meanwhile, in illustrating and describing <FIG> and <FIG>, a method for preventing a beat phenomenon in a relationship between two home appliances is illustrated and described, but in the implementation, the beat phenomenon can be prevented using the same method even in the relationship between three or more home appliances.

<FIG> is a diagram describing an operation of acquiring operating frequency information of another home appliance using a microphone according to the invention.

Referring to <FIG>, the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may be disposed at a position adjacent to the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> and may include the microphone <NUM>. Hereinafter, a method for acquiring an operating frequency of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> based on the operation of the processor <NUM> of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> will be described.

First, the processor <NUM> detects a sound generated during the driving of the motor of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> using the microphone <NUM>. In detail, when receiving a driving start signal of the motor from the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>, the processor <NUM> uses the microphone <NUM> to detect a sound generated during the driving of the motor of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>.

The processor <NUM> acquires the operating frequency information on the motor included in the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> from the sound data corresponding to the detected sound. In detail, the processor <NUM> may perform Fourier transform of sound data into a frequency domain and acquire the operating frequency information from the transformed result.

More specifically, the processor <NUM> may perform short time Fourier transform (STFT) of the sound data into the frequency domain, identify a time having maximum power from the transformed result, and acquire, as the operating frequency, the frequency having the largest magnitude in the corresponding time zone.

The processor <NUM> identifies different operating frequencies based on the acquired operating frequency information.

<FIG> is a flowchart for describing the method for controlling a home appliance.

Referring to <FIG>, first, operating frequency information on a motor included in another home appliance is acquired from another home appliance (S610). Meanwhile, another home appliance adjacent to a home appliance may be identified prior to acquiring the operating frequency information on the motor included in another home appliance. The operating frequency information on the motor included in the identified another home appliance may be acquired from the identified another home appliance.

In detail, another home appliance connected to the same network as the home appliance or another home appliance capable of direct communication with the home appliance may be identified. The operating frequency information on the motor included in the identified another home appliance may be requested to the identified another home appliance, and the operating frequency information on the motor included in the identified another home appliance may be received from the identified another home appliance.

The home appliance according to the invention is provided with a microphone, and the sound generated during the driving of the motor of another home appliance is detected through the microphone. The operating frequency information on the motor included in the identified another home appliance is acquired from the sound data corresponding to the detected sound. In detail, Fourier transform of the sound data into a frequency domain is performed, and the operating frequency information of the motor of another home appliance may be acquired from the transformed result.

The operating frequency of the motor of the home appliance, which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance, is identified based on the acquired operating frequency information (S620). In detail, the operating frequency of the motor <NUM> having a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance is identified. Herein, the predetermined value is a difference value between the operating frequencies for preventing noise caused by the above-described beat phenomenon, and is <NUM>.

More specifically, the operating frequency of the motor of the home appliance may be calculated based on at least one of the environmental information and the setting information of the home appliance.

Here, the environmental information means the information on the surrounding environment of the home appliance and may include various information such as temperature information and humidity information. In addition, the setting information may refer to setting information input from a user, and may include information on a user's use command for a specific function.

In addition, it may be identified whether the difference between the calculated operating frequency and the operating frequency of other home appliances in the acquired operating frequency information is within the predetermined difference.

If the difference is within the predetermined difference, the calculated operating frequency may be corrected so that the calculated operating frequency and the operating frequency of another home appliance are different by the predetermined value or more. On the other hand, if the difference is greater than the predetermined difference, the calculated operating frequency may be identified as the operating frequency of the motor.

The operation of the motor of the home appliance is controlled based on the identified operating frequency (S630). Specifically, at least one of an operation of the motor corresponding to a current cycle of the home appliance and an operation of the motor corresponding to a next cycle of the home appliance may be controlled based on the identified operating frequency.

Meanwhile, another home appliance may include a plurality of motors, and the home appliance may include one motor. In this case, the plurality of operating frequency information on each of the plurality of motors can be acquired from another home appliance.

The operating frequency which differs from the operating frequencies for each of the plurality of motors of another home appliance may be identified based on the plurality of acquired operating frequency information. The operation of the motor <NUM> may be controlled according to the identified operating frequency.

In addition, another home appliance may include one motor, and the home appliance may include a plurality of motors. In this case, the operating frequency information corresponding to one motor can be acquired from another home appliance.

The operating frequencies for each of the plurality of motors of the home appliance, which differs from the operating frequency of the motor of another home appliance, may be identified based on the acquired operating frequency information. The operations of each of the plurality of motors <NUM> may be controlled according to the plurality of identified operating frequencies.

Therefore, as described above, the method for controlling a home appliance according to the disclosure controls the motor according to the operating frequency which differs from the operating frequency of the motor included in another home appliance disposed at an adjacent location, thereby making it possible to prevent the beat phenomenon that may be caused by the motors operating at the similar operating frequencies. The control method as illustrated in <FIG> may be executed on the home appliance having the configuration of <FIG> or <FIG> or be executed even on the home appliance having other configurations.

In addition, the control method as described above may be implemented as at least one execution program for executing the control method as described above, and the execution program may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium.

The non-transitory computer readable medium is not a medium that stores data therein for a while, such as a register, a cache, a memory, or the like, but means a medium that semi-permanently stores data therein and is readable by a device. In detail, various applications or programs described above may be stored and provided in the non-transitory computer readable medium such as a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a hard disk, a Blu-ray disk, a universal serial bus (USB), a memory card, and a read only memory (ROM).

<FIG> is a sequence diagram for describing the method for controlling a home appliance according to the embodiment of the disclosure.

First, the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may identify each other as adjacent home appliances through communication (S710). In detail, when the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may be connected to the same network or can perform direct communication, the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> and the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may identify each other as adjacent home appliances.

The first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may request the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> for the operating frequency information on the motor included in the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> (S720). The first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> receives the operating frequency information on the motor included in the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> from the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> (S730). The first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may compare the operating frequency of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> with the operating frequency of the second home appliance <NUM>-<NUM>, and identify whether the difference satisfies within <NUM> (S740). In this case, the operating frequency of the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may correspond to an operating frequency calculated based on at least one of the environmental information and the setting information, but is not limited thereto.

If the difference between the operating frequencies is not within <NUM> (S740-N), the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may identify to maintain the existing control without changing the operating frequency (S750).

On the other hand, if the difference between the operating frequencies is within <NUM> (S740-Y), the first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> may correct the operating frequency (S760). The method for correcting an operating frequency is omitted as it overlaps with the operation of the above-described processor.

The first home appliance <NUM>-<NUM> controls the operation of the motor according to the identified operating frequency (S770).

Therefore, as described above, the method for controlling a plurality of home appliances according to the disclosure controls the motor according to the operating frequency which differs from the operating frequency of the motor included in another home appliance disposed at an adjacent location, thereby making it possible to prevent the beat phenomenon that may be caused by the motors operating at the similar operating frequencies. The control method as illustrated in <FIG> may be executed on the home appliance having the configuration of <FIG> or <FIG> or be executed even on the home appliance having other configurations.

Claim 1:
A method of controlling a first home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) including a motor (<NUM>), comprising:
receiving, from a second home appliance, operating frequency information of a motor included in the second home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>);
identifying, based on the received operating frequency information, an operating frequency of the motor (<NUM>) included in the first home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) which differs from an operating frequency of the motor included in the second home appliance; and
controlling the motor (<NUM>) included in the first home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) to operate at the identified operating frequency,
characterized in that the identifying identifies the operating frequency of the motor (<NUM>) included in the first home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) having a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value from the operating frequency of the motor included in the second home appliance,
wherein the predetermined value is <NUM>,
wherein the first home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) includes a microphone (<NUM>), and
wherein the method further comprises:
detecting a sound generated during driving of the motor included in the second home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) through the microphone (<NUM>), and
acquiring the operating frequency information of the motor included in the second home appliance (<NUM>-<NUM>) from sound data corresponding to the detected sound.