Detection of contamination status for refrigerator ultrasonic sensor assembly
First Claim
1. A refrigerator, comprising:
- a sensor assembly comprising;
a first ultrasonic sensor configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal; and
a second ultrasonic sensor configured to receive the ultrasonic signal;
wherein the refrigerator is configured to perform operations comprising;
operating the sensor assembly to send and receive the ultrasonic signal;
comparing an amount of received crosstalk to a threshold value; and
determining the contamination status of the sensor assembly based on the comparison of the amount of received crosstalk to the threshold value;
wherein determining a contamination status of the sensor assembly based on the comparison comprises detecting that the sensor assembly is contaminated when the amount of received crosstalk is greater than the threshold value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for detecting a contamination status of an ultrasonic sensor assembly included in a refrigeration appliance are provided. An exemplary refrigerator includes a sensor assembly. The sensor assembly includes a first ultrasonic sensor configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal and a second ultrasonic sensor configured to receive the ultrasonic signal. The refrigerator is configured to perform operations comprising detecting whether the sensor assembly is contaminated based on one or more characteristics of the received ultrasonic signal. An exemplary method includes monitoring a change in a characteristic of a plurality of crosstalk components of a plurality of ultrasonic signals of over a period of time to detect a contaminated state of an ultrasonic sensor.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A refrigerator, comprising:
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a sensor assembly comprising; a first ultrasonic sensor configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal; and a second ultrasonic sensor configured to receive the ultrasonic signal; wherein the refrigerator is configured to perform operations comprising; operating the sensor assembly to send and receive the ultrasonic signal; comparing an amount of received crosstalk to a threshold value; and determining the contamination status of the sensor assembly based on the comparison of the amount of received crosstalk to the threshold value; wherein determining a contamination status of the sensor assembly based on the comparison comprises detecting that the sensor assembly is contaminated when the amount of received crosstalk is greater than the threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for determining a contamination status of an ultrasonic sensor assembly included in a refrigerator appliance, the method comprising:
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operating the ultrasonic sensor assembly to send and receive one or more ultrasonic signals; comparing an amount of received crosstalk to a threshold value; and determining the contamination status of the ultrasonic sensor assembly based on the comparison of the amount of received crosstalk to the threshold value; wherein determining the contamination status of the ultrasonic sensor assembly based on the comparison comprises detecting that the ultrasonic sensor assembly is contaminated when the amount of received crosstalk is greater than the threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification