ICE QUALITY SENSING SYSTEM EMPLOYING DIGITAL IMAGING
First Claim
1. A refrigerator comprising:
- a cabinet including top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls that collectively define a refrigerator body having a refrigeration compartment;
a door for selectively providing access to the refrigeration compartment;
an ice maker mounted in the refrigeration compartment;
an ice cube storage bin for receiving ice cubes from the ice maker;
a digital image capture device for capturing digital images, said digital image capture device being focused upon the ice cube storage bin; and
a digital image analyzing system operatively connected to the digital image capture device, said digital image analyzing system being adapted to evaluate a centroid of the ice cubes through the digital images wherein, when the centroid is outside a predetermined acceptable boundary, the digital image analyzing system determines clumping of the ice cubes in the ice cube storage bin.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A refrigerator includes a sensing system for detecting quality of ice cubes in an ice cube storage bin. The system includes a digital image capture device coupled to a digital image analyzing system which captures digital images of the ice cube storage bin intermittently. The digital images are processed to determine a centroid of the ice mass within the bin, and the centroid is analyzed to determine whether it is located outside a predetermined acceptable boundary. A centroid outside of the acceptable range indicates an ice clumping situation. Additionally, the digital images are analyzed to determine whether ice cubes are smaller than a predetermined minimal acceptable size in order to detect stale ice. The level of ice in the bin can also be determined from the images. Notifications for clumping, stale and/or low level ice are sent to a user interface.
20 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A refrigerator comprising:
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a cabinet including top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls that collectively define a refrigerator body having a refrigeration compartment; a door for selectively providing access to the refrigeration compartment; an ice maker mounted in the refrigeration compartment; an ice cube storage bin for receiving ice cubes from the ice maker; a digital image capture device for capturing digital images, said digital image capture device being focused upon the ice cube storage bin; and a digital image analyzing system operatively connected to the digital image capture device, said digital image analyzing system being adapted to evaluate a centroid of the ice cubes through the digital images wherein, when the centroid is outside a predetermined acceptable boundary, the digital image analyzing system determines clumping of the ice cubes in the ice cube storage bin. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of analyzing ice cubes in an ice cube storage bin of a refrigerator comprising:
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focusing a digital image capture device, mounted in a refrigeration compartment of the refrigerator, on an ice cube storage bin; capturing a digital image of ice cubes in the ice cube storage bin; processing the digital image to determine a centroid of the ice cubes; determining whether the centroid is outside an acceptable boundary; and establishing that ice clumping exists in the ice cube storage bin if the centroid is outside the acceptable boundary. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification