Leftover load detection method using a humidity sensor in a laundry appliance

1 . A laundry treatment appliance comprising:

a cabinet;

a basket rotatably mounted within the cabinet and defining a chamber configured for receiving a load of clothes;

a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet for providing selective access to the chamber;

a sensor positioned within the cabinet, the sensor configured to measure a humidity of air within the cabinet; and

a controller operably coupled to the sensor, the controller being configured to:

determine that an operating cycle of the laundry treatment appliance has been completed;

determine that a user has removed the load of clothes from the chamber based on the door being opened at least once and that no other action has been taken within a predetermined time;

obtain one or more humidity measurements of the chamber using the sensor after determining that the user has removed the load of clothes;

identify a leftover article remaining in the chamber by comparing the one or more humidity measurements against an ambient humidity measurement and determining that at least one of the one or more humidity measurements is greater than the ambient humidity measurement by a predetermined threshold after a predetermined length of time; and

implement a responsive action in response to identifying the leftover article remaining in the chamber.

2 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time is between 1 hour and 2 hours.

3 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined threshold is between 10% and 15%.

4 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ambient humidity measurement is obtained via a remote device in remote connection with the laundry treatment appliance.

5 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:

providing a user notification that the leftover article remains in the chamber.

6 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 5 , further comprising:

a user interface panel, wherein the user notification is provided through the user interface panel.

7 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 5 , wherein the controller is in operative communication with a remote device through an external network, and wherein the user notification is provided through the remote device.

8 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 7 , wherein the user notification includes displaying a warning on the remote device, the warning comprising a length of time for which the leftover article has been in the chamber.

9 . A method of operating a laundry treatment appliance, the laundry treatment appliance comprising a basket rotatably mounted within a cabinet and defining a chamber; a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet; and a sensor positioned within the cabinet, the sensor configured to measure a humidity of air within the cabinet, the method comprising:

determining that an operating cycle of the laundry treatment appliance has been completed;

determining that a user has removed a load of clothes from the chamber based on the door being opened at least once and that no other action has been taken within a predetermined time;

obtaining one or more humidity measurements of the chamber using the sensor after determining that the user has removed the load of clothes;

identifying a leftover article remaining in the chamber by comparing the one or more humidity measurements against an ambient humidity measurement and determining that at least one of the one or more humidity measurements is greater than the ambient humidity measurement by a predetermined threshold after a predetermined length of time; and

implementing a responsive action in response to identifying the leftover article remaining in the chamber.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined time is between 1 hour and 2 hours.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined threshold is between 10% and 15%.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the ambient humidity measurement is obtained via a remote device in remote connection with the laundry treatment appliance.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:

providing a user notification that the leftover article remains in the chamber.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the laundry treatment appliance further comprises:

a user interface panel, wherein the user notification is provided through the user interface panel.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the laundry treatment appliance is in operative communication with a remote device through an external network, and wherein the user notification is provided through the remote device.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the user notification includes displaying a warning on the remote device, the warning comprising a length of time for which the leftover article has been in the chamber.