Laundry treating appliance with bulky item detection

• US 10,215,491 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2016
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Ashrafzadeh, Farhad, Carow, James P., Kanchanavally, Shreecharan
• Primary Examiner(s): McCormack, John
• Application Number:
  US15/094,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20160222577A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,054 Days
• Field of Search: 34536, 34550, 34261
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/02 Characteristics of laundry or load
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/02 Water supply
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/20 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/38 Conditioning or finishing, e.g. control of perfume injection
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/46 Drum speed; Actuation of motors, e.g. starting or interrupting
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/48 Drum speed
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/52 Changing sequence of operational steps; Carrying out additional operational steps; Modifying operational steps, e.g. by extending duration of steps
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 25/00 Washing machines with receptacles, e.g. perforated, having a rotary movement, e.g. oscillatory movement, the receptacle serving both for washing and for centrifugally separating water from the laundry and having further drying means, e.g. using hot air control of washing or of washing and drying D06F33/00, D06F34/00; domestic laundry dryers D06F58/00
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/00 Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers D06F31/00 takes precedence; details of control systems therefor D06F34/00; control of operations performed in domestic laundry dryers D06F58/32
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/32 Control of operational steps, e.g. optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/52 Control of the operational steps, e.g. optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/18 Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/28 Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/02 having dryer drums rotating about a horizontal axis
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/203 Laundry conditioning arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/30 Drying processes controlling a series of operations in domestic laundry dryers D06F58/32
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/36 Control of operational steps, e.g. for optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 11/02 in moving drums or other mainly-closed receptacles F26B11/18 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 25/00 Details of general application not covered by group F26B21/00 or F26B23/00 loading, conveying, and unloading in general B65G

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance and method for controlling the operation of a laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation by determining the presence of a bulky laundry item based on image data of the laundry within the treating chamber.

Claims

1. A method for controlling an operation of a laundry treating appliance comprising a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber, the method comprising:

imaging the laundry within the treating chamber, via at least one imaging device located within the treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, to generate multiple images of a laundry load within the treating chamber; and

determining, by a controller, a size of the laundry load from the multiple images by processing image data with computer software stored on the controller to define a determined size.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the multiple images are obtained over time.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising rotating the rotatable drum while generating the multiple images of the laundry load and wherein the laundry load remains static during the rotating.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising setting at least one parameter of the treating cycle of operation based on the determined size of the laundry load.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the at least one parameter is one of a rotational speed of a drum, a direction of drum rotation, a temperature in the treating chamber, an air flow through the treating chamber, a type of treating chemistry, an amount of treating chemistry, a start of cycle condition, an end of cycle condition, a start of cycle step condition, an end cycle step condition, a rotational speed of an agitator, a direction of agitator rotation, or a wash liquid fill level.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising selecting the treating cycle of operation based on the determined size of the laundry load.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the multiple images of the laundry load are generated via multiple imaging devices providing different viewpoints of the laundry load.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the multiple imagining devices generate images of a same area of the treating chamber.

9. The method according to claim 7 wherein generating the multiple images of the laundry load comprises generating the multiple images at a same time.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining the size of the laundry load comprises analyzing the multiple images by isolating the laundry from a background in the at least some of the multiple images.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the imaging comprises capturing a digital image.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein generating the multiple images comprises taking at least one of a visible light image, an ultraviolet light image and an infrared image.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining the size of the laundry load comprises determining one of a perimeter, radius, major axis, or minor axis of the laundry load from the image data.

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein the rotatable drum is a horizontal axis rotatable drum disposed between a rear bulkhead and a front bulkhead and the at least one imaging device is mounted to one of the rear bulkhead or the front bulkhead.

15. The method according to claim 1 wherein the imaging occurs during loading of the laundry load within the treating chamber.

16. A method for controlling an operation of a laundry treating appliance comprising a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, the method comprising:

imaging the laundry within the treating chamber, via at least one imaging device, to generate an image of a laundry load within the treating chamber; and

determining, by a controller, a size of the laundry load from the image by processing the image data with computer software stored on the controller including by dividing the image into multiple segments to create a grid composed of multiple grid elements overlying the image and determining the size of the laundry load therefrom to define a determined size.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising at least one of:

setting at least one parameter of the treating cycle of operation based on the determined size of the laundry load, selecting the treating cycle of operation based on the determined size of the laundry load, or displaying on a user interface the determined size of the laundry load.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising dispensing a treating chemistry into the treating chamber, wherein at least one of a type or amount of the treating chemistry is selected based on the determined size of the laundry load.