Dryer monitoring

• US 9,850,621 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2015
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morin, Victor N., Boehne-Schickert, Beth V., Panama, Julio R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Laux, David J
• Application Number:
  US14/936,264
• Publication Number:
  US 20160060806A1
• Time in Patent Office: 778 Days
• Field of Search: 34491, 34497, 34572, 34550, 34524
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/08 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/12 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/38 Time, e.g. duration
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/58 Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/38 of drying, e.g. to achieve the target humidity

Abstract

A dryer monitoring system receives dryer information from one or more sensors concerning operation of one or more dryers, such as clothes dryers. For example, the dryer monitoring system may receive temperature and/or humidity information from one or more dryers. The dryer monitor analyzes the dryer data to determine whether textiles in the dryer are dry. The dryer monitor may analyze one or more states and/or one or more indicators (patterns in the dryer data) during the dryness determination.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a current temperature associated with a dryer cycle of a clothes dryer for a number of sequential data points;

receiving a current humidity associated with the dryer cycle for the number of sequential data points;

calculating an absolute humidity (AH(P)) value based on the current temperature and the current humidity for each of the sequential number of data points;

identifying a maximum AH(P) value for the dryer cycle from among the AH(P) values calculated for each of the sequential number of data points;

comparing subsequent AH(P) values received subsequent to the maximum AH(P) value with the maximum AH(P) value;

determining whether the current temperature is higher than a temperature at the start of the dryer cycle;

determining that textiles in the clothes dryer are dry if at least the subsequent AH(P) values decrease from the maximum AH(P) value for at least a first predetermined number of sequential AH(P) values, the current temperature is higher than a temperature at the start of the dryer cycle, and the current temperature remains within a predetermined temperature range for at least a second predetermined number of sequential data points; and

in response to determining that the textiles are dry, at least one of generating a dryness indicator on a user interface of the clothes dryer and turning off the clothes dryer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the specified period of time is at least 3 minutes.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the textiles in the clothes dryer are dry further comprises determining whether the dryer cycle has run for a minimum amount of time.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the textiles in the clothes dryer are dry further comprises determining whether a relative humidity is below a relative humidity reference value.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the textiles in the clothes dryer are dry further comprises determining whether the absolute humidity is below an absolute humidity reference value.

6. A dryer monitor comprising:

a temperature sensor that senses a current temperature associated with a dryer cycle of a clothes dryer for a number of sequential data points;

a humidity sensor that senses a current humidity associated with the dryer cycle for the number of sequential data points; and

a controller that calculates an absolute humidity (AH(P)) value based on the current temperature and the current humidity information for each of the sequential number of data points, identifies a maximum AH(P) value for the dryer cycle from among the AH(P) values calculated for each of the sequential number of data points, compares subsequent AH(P) values received subsequent to the maximum AH(P) value with the maximum AH(P) value, determines whether the current temperature is higher than a temperature at the start of the dryer cycle, determines that textiles in the clothes dryer are dry if at least the subsequent AH(P) values decrease from the maximum AH(P) value for at least a predetermined number of sequential AH(P) values, the current temperature is higher than a temperature at the start of the dryer cycle, and the current temperature remains within a predetermined temperature range for at least a second predetermined number of sequential data points, and in response to determining that the textiles are dry, at least one of generating a dryness indicator on a user interface of the clothes dryer and turning off the clothes dryer.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that cause one or more processors of a computing device to perform operations comprising:

receive a current temperature associated with a dryer cycle of a clothes dryer for a number of sequential data points;

receive a current humidity associated with the dryer cycle for the number of sequential data points;

calculate an absolute humidity (AH(P)) value based on the current temperature and the current humidity for each of the sequential number of data points;

identify a maximum AH(P) value for the dryer cycle from among the AH(P) values calculated for each of the sequential number of data points;

compare subsequent AH(P) values received subsequent to the maximum AH(P) value with the maximum AH(P) value;

determine whether the current temperature is higher than a temperature at the start of the dryer cycle;

determine that textiles in the clothes dryer are dry if at least the subsequent AH(P) values decrease from the maximum AH(P) value for at least a predetermined number of sequential AH(P) values, the current temperature is higher than a temperature at the start of the dryer cycle, and the current temperature remains within a predetermined temperature range for at least a second predetermined number of sequential data points; and

in response to determining that the textiles are dry, at least one of generate a dryness indicator on a user interface of the clothes dryer and turn off the clothes dryer.