Patent ID: 8910335

Claim:
A method of controlling a washing machine comprising a casing, a tub suspended in the casing, a drum rotatably provided in the tub, a pulsator rotatably provided in the drum, and a driving unit rotating the pulsator, the method comprising: (a) controlling the driving unit to rotate the pulsator while a certain amount of laundry is being provided in the drum; (b) measuring a first property that varies in accordance with a resistant load applied to the driving unit while the pulsator is being rotated; (c) calculating a first laundry load based on the first property; (d) measuring a second property that varies in accordance with a vertical load applied by the tub while the certain amount of laundry is being provided in the drum; (e) calculating a second laundry load based on the second property; (f) determining that the laundry provided in the drum is in a dry state when the first laundry load calculated in (c) and the second laundry load calculated in (e) are substantially identical values; and (g) determining that the laundry provided in the drum is in a wet state when a difference between the first laundry load calculated in (c) and the second laundry load calculated in (e) is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.