Apparatus and method for controlling a clothes dryer
First Claim
1. An appliance for drying clothing articles, the appliance comprising:
- a drum for receiving the clothing articles;
a motor for rotating the drum about an axis;
a heater for supplying heated air to the drum during a drying cycle;
a moisture sensor for providing a moisture signal indicative of the moisture content of the clothing articles;
an inlet temperature sensor for sensing temperature of the heated air flowing into the drum;
a processor coupled to the moisture sensor for estimating the stop time of the dry cycle as the dry cycle is executed based on a signal representative of the moisture content of the clothing articles and a selected target signal, the processor selecting the selected target signal based on at least one input parameter received from a first parameter generating module; and
the first parameter generating module being coupled to the inlet temperature sensor to sense inlet temperature of heated air entering into the drum, the first parameter generating module measuring a first slope corresponding to rise of the inlet temperature of air entering the drum during a first initial time period of operation of the dryer, comparing the first slope with a first value indicative of a first predetermined slope for rise of the inlet temperature during the first initial period, and generating and transmitting to the processor one of a first air flow input parameter or a second air flow input parameter, the first air flow input parameter being generated when the first parameter generating module determines that the first slope is less than the first value and the second air flow input parameter being generated when the first parameter generating module determines that the first slope is greater than the first value.
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Abstract
A clothes dryer has a degree of dryness control system that is responsive to moisture level of clothing articles tumbling in a drum and a target moisture value to control the drying cycle of the clothes dryer. The clothes dryer has a load size parameter producing module and an air flow detection parameter module. These modules generate one of two parameter conditions used by the processor to modify or select an appropriate moisture target value. The load size producing parameter module generates one of a small load input parameter and a large load input parameter. The air flow detection module produces one of a first and second air flow parameter to be utilized by the degree of dryness processor. As a result, the processor selects one of four target moisture values from these conditions.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. An appliance for drying clothing articles, the appliance comprising:
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a drum for receiving the clothing articles; a motor for rotating the drum about an axis; a heater for supplying heated air to the drum during a drying cycle; a moisture sensor for providing a moisture signal indicative of the moisture content of the clothing articles; an inlet temperature sensor for sensing temperature of the heated air flowing into the drum; a processor coupled to the moisture sensor for estimating the stop time of the dry cycle as the dry cycle is executed based on a signal representative of the moisture content of the clothing articles and a selected target signal, the processor selecting the selected target signal based on at least one input parameter received from a first parameter generating module; and the first parameter generating module being coupled to the inlet temperature sensor to sense inlet temperature of heated air entering into the drum, the first parameter generating module measuring a first slope corresponding to rise of the inlet temperature of air entering the drum during a first initial time period of operation of the dryer, comparing the first slope with a first value indicative of a first predetermined slope for rise of the inlet temperature during the first initial period, and generating and transmitting to the processor one of a first air flow input parameter or a second air flow input parameter, the first air flow input parameter being generated when the first parameter generating module determines that the first slope is less than the first value and the second air flow input parameter being generated when the first parameter generating module determines that the first slope is greater than the first value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification