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Method for controlling washing machine having drying functionRelated Patent Categories: Bleaching And Dyeing; Fluid Treatment And Chemical Modification Of Textiles And Fibers, Fluid Treatment (manipulative), Gas Or VaporMethod for controlling washing machine having drying function description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070163056, Method for controlling washing machine having drying function. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2005-0115485 filed on Nov. 30, 2005, and 10-2005-0118253 filed on Dec. 6, 2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a washing machine having a drying function, and more particularly to a method for controlling a washing machine having a drying function which can reduce operating time of a drying operation and further improve a drying performance. [0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art [0005] Generally, washing machines are electric home appliances that remove contaminants from laundry, such as clothes or bedclothes, using emulsification of detergent, friction of washing water motion generated by the rotation, and impact applied to the laundry. The washing machines perform a washing operation, a rinsing operation and a dehydrating operation. [0006] Washing machines equipped with a drying device perform a drying operation for automatically drying wet clothes, as well as washing, rinsing and dehydrating operations. [0007] The washing, rinsing, dehydrating and drying operations may be performed sequentially by a predetermined washing program, or may be performed independently according to a user's demand. [0008] Normally, a washing operation is a course of supplying detergent and washing water to laundry to be washed such that contaminants can be removed from the laundry by a chemical action of the detergent contained in the washing water and a physical action of a drum. A rinsing operation is a course of supplying washing water containing no detergent to laundry such that the detergent and contaminants can be rinsed out of the laundry. [0009] A dehydrating operation is a course of rotating a drum at high speed after the completion of the rinsing operation such that moisture can be removed from the laundry. And, a drying operation is a course of circulating hot air through the drum such that the wet laundry can be dried. [0010] A washing machine having a drying function is equipped with a drying device for drying laundry in a drum. The drying device includes a blower fan which forcedly sucks external air and blows the air into the drum, a heater which heats the air sucked by the blower fan to supply hot dry air into the drum, and a blow duct which forms an air passage through which the external air sucked by the blower fan flows into the drum via the heater. [0011] In other words, the drying operation is performed in such a manner that external air is sucked into the blow duct by the operation of the blower fan while the heater is radiating heat, and the sucked air is heated by the heater and enters the rotated drum. While the drying operation is being performed, when dryness of objects to be dried reaches a target value, a control unit determines that the drying is completed and terminates the drying operation. [0012] Generally, if a user selects a specific operation, time required to perform the user-selected operation is displayed on display means to inform the user of the necessary time. However, because the drying operation is controlled to be continuously performed until dryness of objects to be dried reaches a target value, it is troublesome to calculate accurate time required to perform the drying operation. [0013] Therefore, when the drying operation is performed, a washing machine is configured to display tentative drying time according to the amount of laundry. The tentative drying time refers to time which is determined by repeated experiments of measuring time until dryness of various groups of the laundry classified by volumes reaches a target value. [0014] For example, the tentative drying time is 120 minutes, 90 minutes and 60 minutes with respect to a large amount (over 5 kg), a middle amount (2 to 5 kg) and a small amount (below 2 kg) of laundry, respectively. When the drying operation is performed, one of the above exemplary tentative drying times, corresponding to the detected amount of laundry to be dried, is displayed. [0015] However, when the dehydration of laundry is low and so the laundry to be dried contains a large amount of moisture, it takes much more time than the tentative drying time determined by the amount of laundry to finish the actual drying operation. Thus, it is troublesome to estimate the accurate time required to perform the drying operation. [0016] Also, when the user manually inputs the drying operation time, it happens frequently that the laundry of low dehydration, i.e., the laundry containing a large amount of moisture cannot be dried to the extent of a target dryness within the manually inputted time, thereby deteriorating the drying performance of the washing machine. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0017] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method for controlling a washing machine having a drying function that substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. [0018] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a washing machine having a drying function which can reduce operating time of a drying operation and further improve a drying performance. [0019] Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. [0020] To achieve the object and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a method for controlling a washing machine having a drying function which includes a drum and a drying device for drying laundry by supplying hot dry air into the drum, comprises: a) dehydrating the laundry if a command for performing a drying operation is inputted by a user; and b) drying the laundry after the dehydrating step a). [0021] Preferably, the command may be a command for independently performing only the drying operation. [0022] Preferably, the dehydrating step a) may include: rotating the drum at a predetermined velocity (V1) for a predetermined time (T1). Continue reading about Method for controlling washing machine having drying function... Full patent description for Method for controlling washing machine having drying function Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Method for controlling washing machine having drying function patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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