LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE WITH LOAD SURFACE AREA DETECTION

• US 20100205820A1
• Filed: 02/19/2009
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: ASHRAFZADEH, FARHAD, KANCHANAVALLY, SHREECHARAN, CAROW, JAMES P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,745,688 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 34/389
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/02 Characteristics of laundry or load
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/04 Quantity, e.g. weight or variation of weight
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/06 Type or material
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/20 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/24 Flow or velocity
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/38 Conditioning or finishing, e.g. control of perfume injection
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/48 Drum speed
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/56 Remaining operation time; Remaining operational cycles
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/18 Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/36 Control of operational steps, e.g. for optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/255 Details, e.g. use of specially adapted sources, lighting or optical systems

Abstract

The invention relates to a laundry treating appliance and method for controlling the operation of the laundry treating appliance by determining the surface area of the laundry based on image data of the laundry.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the operation of a laundry treating appliance comprising a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, the method comprising:

imaging the laundry to generate image data; and

determining the surface area of the laundry from the image data.

2. The method according to claim 1, and further comprising setting at least one parameter of a treating cycle of operation of the laundry treating appliance based on the determined surface area of the laundry.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the at least one parameter is one of a rotational speed of a drum, a direction of drum rotation, a temperature in the treating chamber, an air flow through the treating chamber, a type of treating chemistry, an amount of treating chemistry, a start of cycle condition, an end of cycle condition, a start of cycle step condition, an end cycle step condition, a rotational speed of an agitator, a direction of agitator rotation, and a wash liquid fill level.

4. The method according to claim 1, and further comprising selecting the treating cycle of operation of the laundry treating appliance based on the determined surface area of the laundry.

5. The method according to claim 1, and further comprising dispensing a treating chemistry into the treating chamber, wherein at least one of the type and amount of the treating chemistry is selected based on the determined surface area of the laundry.

6. The method according to claim 1, and further comprising determining the number of individual items of laundry from the image data.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the imaging step comprises capturing at least one image of a portion of the treating chamber.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the determining step comprises analyzing the at least one image by separating the laundry from the background in the at least one image.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the determining step further comprises separating individual items of laundry from each other based on differences in at least one of saturation, hue, and luminance in the at least one image.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the imaging comprises taking at least one of a still image and a moving image.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the imaging comprises capturing a digital image.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the imaging comprises taking at least one of a visible light image, an ultraviolet light image and an infrared image.

13. A method for controlling the operation of a laundry treating appliance comprising a rotatable drum partially defining a treating chamber containing laundry, the method comprising:

automatically determining the surface area of the laundry in the treating chamber; and

setting at least one parameter of a treating cycle of operation of the laundry treating appliance based on the determined surface area of the laundry.

14. The method according to claim 13 wherein the at least one parameter is one of a rotational speed of a drum, a direction of drum rotation, a temperature in the treating chamber, an air flow through the treating chamber, a type of treating chemistry, an amount of treating chemistry, a start of cycle condition, an end of cycle condition, a start of cycle step condition, an end cycle step condition, a rotational speed of an agitator, a direction of agitator rotation, and a wash liquid fill level.

15. The method according to claim 13, and further comprising dispensing a treating chemistry into the treating chamber, wherein at least one of the type and amount of the treating chemistry is selected based on the determined surface area of the laundry.

16. The method according to claim 13, and further comprising automatically determining the number of individual items of laundry in the treating chamber.

17. The method according to claim 16 wherein the at least one parameter of a treating cycle of operation of the laundry treating appliance is further set based on the determined number of individual items of laundry.

18. A laundry treating appliance, comprising:

a treating chamber;

an imaging device configured to generate image data representative of laundry in the treating chamber; and

a controller operably coupled to the imaging device and configured to determine the surface area of laundry in the treating chamber from the image data and control the treating cycle of operation based on the surface area.

19. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 18 wherein the imaging device comprises a camera.

20. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 18 wherein the imaging device captures at least one of a visible light image, an ultraviolet light image and an infrared image.

21. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 18 wherein the controller is further configured to execute a treating cycle of operation of the laundry treating appliance based on the determined surface area of laundry.

22. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 21 wherein the controller is further configured to set at least one parameter of the treating cycle of operation based on the determined surface area of laundry.

23. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 22 wherein the at least one parameter is one of a rotational speed of a drum, a direction of drum rotation, a temperature in the treating chamber, an air flow through the treating chamber, a type of treating chemistry, an amount of treating chemistry, a start of cycle condition, an end of cycle condition, a start of cycle step condition, an end cycle step condition, a rotational speed of an agitator, a direction of agitator rotation, and a wash liquid fill level.

24. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 18, and further comprising a dispensing system configured to dispense a treating chemistry into the treating chamber.

25. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 24 wherein the dispensing system is operably couple to the controller and wherein at least one of the type and amount of the treating chemistry is selected based on the determined surface area of laundry.

26. The laundry treating appliance according to claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the number of individual items of laundry in the treating chamber from the image data and control the treating cycle of operation based on the number of individual items of laundry.

27. The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 and further comprising at least one of the following sensors operably coupled to the controller and providing a corresponding input to the controller:

a treating chamber temperature sensor, an inlet air temperature sensor, an exhaust air temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, an air flow rate sensor, a weight sensor, and a motor torque sensor.