LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE WITH IMAGING CONTROL

• US 20160160432A1
• Filed: 02/17/2016
• Published: 06/09/2016
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 10,113,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/00 User input for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/02 Characteristics of laundry or load
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/24 Flow or velocity
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/48 Drum speed
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/50 Starting machine operation, e.g. delayed start or re-start after power cut
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/60 Audible signals
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/18 Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/04 Details controlling or regulating devices D06F34/00
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/30 Drying processes controlling a series of operations in domestic laundry dryers D06F58/32

Abstract

A laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum defining a laundry treating chamber, where the laundry in the laundry treating chamber may be imaged and a condition of the laundry determined based on the imaging of the laundry. A notification can be provided to a user based on the determined motion condition.

Claims

1. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic treating cycle of operation, comprising:

a laundry treating chamber receiving laundry for treatment;

at least one component operable to implement at least part of the automatic treating cycle of operation;

an imaging device mounted to the laundry treating appliance and having a sensor operably coupled with at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber during execution of the automatic treating cycle of operation and outputting data representative of at least a portion of the laundry in the laundry treating chamber;

a controller operably coupled to the at least one component and the imaging device, the controller configured to determine a condition of the laundry based on the data; and

a user interface operably coupled to the controller and providing an input and output function for the controller; and

wherein the controller is operably coupled to the user interface and configured to send a signal based on the determined condition to activate a portion of the user interface to notify a user of the determined condition.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein a portion of the user interface can be activated to emit an audible signal or a visual signal.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein determining the condition comprises the controller being configured to analyze multiple images over time.

4. The laundry treating appliance of claim 3 wherein the condition determined by the controller comprises at least one of rolling, tumbling, sliding or satelliting.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the output on the user interface comprises an indictor light configured to indicate a condition of concern.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to control at least one component, based on the determined condition, to set at least one of:

a rotational speed of a drum defining the laundry treating chamber;

a direction of rotation of a drum defining the laundry treating chamber;

a temperature in the laundry treating chamber;

an air flow through the laundry treating chamber;

at least one of a start and end of cycle condition;

at least one of a start and end of cycle step condition;

a rotational speed of an agitator;

a direction of agitator rotation;

or

a wash liquid fill level.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a visible light sensor, an ultraviolet light sensor or an infrared sensor.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the controller comprises analysis software that is configured to determine a motion condition of the laundry based on the data.

9. A method of operating a laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum defining a laundry treating chamber and a controller, according to an automatic cycle of operation, the method comprising:

imaging the laundry in the laundry treating chamber with an imaging device mounted to the laundry treating appliance and having a sensor operably coupled with at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber during execution of the cycle of operation;

determining a condition of the laundry based on the imaging of the laundry; and

sending a signal from the controller indicative of the determined condition of the laundry.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the imaging comprises taking at least one of a still image or a moving image.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the imaging comprises taking both a still image and a moving image.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the imaging comprises digitally imaging the motion of the laundry.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a visible light sensor, an ultraviolet light sensor or an infrared sensor.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the imaging occurs when the rotatable drum is rotating.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein the signal is comprises at least one of an audible signal or a visual signal.

16. The method of claim 9 wherein the signal is provided through a user interface.

17. The method of claim 9 wherein the sending the signal comprises notifying a user of the determined condition, which requires user attention.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising ceasing the automatic cycle of operation contemporaneously with sending the signal.

19. The method of claim 9 wherein the condition is a condition of concern and the controller is configured to send the signal after all pre-determined corrective actions for a given condition have been tried, after a pre-determined number of corrective actions have been tried, or after a pre-determined amount of time has elapsed since the condition was identified.

20. The method of claim 9, further comprising controlling the operation of the laundry treating appliance based on the determined condition.

21. The method of claim 9 wherein the controlling the operation comprises setting an operating parameter of the laundry treating appliance.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the setting the operating parameter comprises setting at least one of:

a rotational speed of the drum;

a direction of rotation of the drum;

a temperature in the laundry treating chamber;

an air flow through the laundry treating chamber;

at least one of a start and end of cycle condition;

at least one of a start and end of cycle step condition;

a rotational speed of an agitator;

a direction of agitator rotation;

or

a wash liquid fill level.

23. The method of claim 9 wherein the determining a condition comprises:

receiving the data by a controller having memory in which is stored computer software for processing the data; and

processing the data with the computer software to determine a motion condition of the laundry based on the data.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the motion condition comprises at least one of rolling, tumbling, sliding or satelliting.

25. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic treating cycle of operation, comprising:

a laundry treating chamber receiving laundry for treatment;

at least one component operable to implement at least part of the automatic treating cycle of operation;

an imaging device mounted to the laundry treating appliance and having a sensor operably coupled with at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber during execution of the automatic treating cycle of operation and outputting data representative of at least a portion of the laundry in the laundry treating chamber;

an indicator configured to output a signal; and

a controller receiving the data and operably coupled to the indicator, the controller configured to determine a condition of concern of the laundry based on the data and to activate the indicator to emit a signal based on the determined condition to notify a user of the determined condition of concern.

26. The laundry treating appliance of claim 25, further comprising a user interface and wherein the indicator is located on the user interface.

27. The laundry treating appliance of claim 26 wherein the signal is an audible signal or a visual signal.

28. The laundry treating appliance of claim 25 wherein the controller comprises analysis software that is configured to determine a motion condition of the laundry based on the data.