IP Library Granted Patent US 12703937
Granted Patent B2
US 12703937 · App. 18/754,985 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

Clothing management apparatus and control method thereof

Inventors: Sujin Seong (Suwon-si, KR); Byung-In Ma (Suwon-si, KR); Kisup Lee (Suwon-si, KR); Yong Hoon Lee (Suwon-si, KR); Sukyoung Choi (Suwon-si, KR)
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
D06F34/18D06F34/28D06F58/10D06F73/02D06F2103/02D06F2105/38G01N21/33
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12703937
App. No.
18/754,985
Granted
Aug 11, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A clothing management apparatus including: a body including a reception space to accommodate clothes to be managed; an optical sensor; a door; a display arrangeable at one side of the door; and a processor which controls the optical sensor to emit ultraviolet light, when reflected light of the emitted light is received through the optical sensor, identifies an allergen value of the clothes to be managed based on an intensity of the reflected light, identifies a degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed on the basis of the identified allergen value, and controls the display to display information on a recommended management course corresponding to the clothes to be managed on the basis of the identified degree of contamination.

Claims (101)

1 . A clothing management apparatus comprising:

a body including a reception space to accommodate clothes to be managed;

an optical sensor;

a door coupleable to the body;

a display arrangeable on one side of the door; and

a processor configured to:

control the optical sensor to emit an ultraviolet light,

identify an allergen value of the clothes to be managed based on an intensity of a reflected light within a wavelength range, due to the emitted ultraviolet light,

identify a degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed based on the identified allergen value being at a contamination level among a plurality of contamination levels, and

control the display to display information on a recommended management course corresponding to the clothes to be managed based on the identified degree of contamination.

2 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is arranged on an inner side of the body and an outer side of the reception space,

wherein the processor is configured to:

based on the identified contamination level being less than a threshold level, recommend a first management course, and

based on the identified contamination level being greater than or equal to the threshold level, recommend a second management course, and

wherein a sterilization treatment level of the second management course provides higher sterilization than a sterilization treatment level of the first management course.

3 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

an air shower arrangeable on an inner side of the body,

wherein the processor is configured to:

control the air shower to emit air into the reception space, and

after the clothes to be managed are processed with air shower, control the optical sensor to emit the ultraviolet light into the reception space.

4 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 3 ,

wherein the optical sensor is arranged on a suction flow path arranged on the inner side of the body and detects an allergen value in air inside the reception space.

5 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 3 ,

wherein the optical sensor comprises:

a suction hole that suctions air inside the reception space;

a filter, arrangeable at some areas of the suction hole, to filter the air;

a discharge hole that discharges air filtered by the filter;

a light emitting part that emits the ultraviolet light to air not filtered by the filter among the air suctioned through the suction hole;

a light transmitting part that receives the reflected light of the emitted light;

a light collecting part that collects the light received from the light transmitting part; and

a light receiving part that receives the collected light, and

the processor is configured to identify the allergen value of the clothes to be managed based on the intensity of the light received through the light receiving part.

6 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 5 ,

wherein the light collecting part is implemented as a heterogeneously coupled light collecting mirror, an elliptical mirror and a spherical mirror are coupled.

7 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to:

control the display to display information on the identified degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed,

after clothing management based on the recommended management course is completed according to a user instruction, control the optical sensor to re-emit the ultraviolet light into the reception space, and

based on a reflected light of the re-emitted light being received through the optical sensor, re-identify the degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed based on an allergen value after the clothing management based on the intensity of the reflected light, and

control the display to display information on the re-identified degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed.

8 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising:

a communication interface,

wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit the information on the identified degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed and the information on the recommended management course to an external apparatus through the communication interface, and

after the clothing management based on the recommended management course is completed, transmit the information on the identified degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed to an external device through the communication interface.

9 . The clothing management apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the recommended management course comprises:

at least one of a fine dust course, a sterilization course, a rapid course, or a powerful course.

10 . A control method of a clothing management apparatus, the control method comprising:

emitting an ultraviolet light through an optical sensor;

identifying an allergen value of the clothes to be managed based on an intensity of a reflected light within a wavelength range, due to the emitted light;

identifying a degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed based on the identified allergen value being at a contamination level among a plurality of contamination levels; and

displaying information on a recommended management course corresponding to the clothes to be managed based on the identified degree of contamination.

11 . The control method of claim 10 ,

wherein the identifying the degree of contamination comprises:

the displaying the information on the recommended management course comprises:

based on the identified contamination level being less than a threshold level, recommending a first management course, and based on the identified contamination level being greater than or equal to the threshold level, recommending a second management course, and

wherein a sterilization treatment level of the second management course provides higher sterilization than a sterilization treatment level of the first management course.

12 . The control method of claim 10 ,

wherein the control method further comprises:

emitting air into a reception space through an air shower arrangeable on an inner side of a body to accommodate clothes to be managed; and

after the clothes to be managed are processed with air shower, emitting the ultraviolet light into the reception space.

13 . The control method of claim 12 ,

wherein the optical sensor is arranged on a suction flow path arranged on the inner side of the body and detects an allergen value in air inside the reception space.

14 . The control method of claim 12 ,

wherein the optical sensor comprises:

a suction hole that suctions the air inside the reception space;

a filter, arrangeable at some areas of the suction hole, to filter the air;

a discharge hole that discharges air filtered by the filter;

a light emitting part that emits the ultraviolet light to air not filtered by the filter among the air suctioned through the suction hole;

a light transmitting part that receives the reflected light of the emitted light;

a light collecting part that collects the light received from the light transmitting part; and

a light receiving part that receives the collected light, and

the identifying the allergen value comprises:

identifying the allergen value of the clothes to be managed based on the intensity of the light received through the light receiving part.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing computer instructions to cause an electronic apparatus perform operations in case the instructions are executed by a processor of the electronic apparatus, the operations comprising:

emitting an ultraviolet light through an optical sensor;

identify an allergen value of clothes to be managed based on an intensity of a reflected light within a wavelength range, due to the emitted light;

identifying a degree of contamination of the clothes to be managed based on the identified allergen value being at a contamination level among a plurality of contamination levels; and

displaying information on a recommended management course corresponding to the clothes to be managed based on the identified degree of contamination.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 ,

the displaying the information on the recommended management course comprises:

based on the identified contamination level being less than a threshold level, recommending a first management course, and based on the identified contamination level being greater than or equal to the threshold level, recommending a second management course, and

wherein a sterilization treatment level of the second management course provides higher sterilization than a sterilization treatment level of the first management course.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

emitting air into a reception space through an air shower arrangeable on an inner side of a body to accommodate clothes to be managed; and

after the clothes to be managed are processed with air shower, emitting the ultra violet light into the reception space.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 ,

wherein the optical sensor is arranged on a suction flow path arranged on the inner side of the body and detects an allergen value in air inside the reception space.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 ,

wherein the optical sensor comprises:

a suction hole that suctions the air inside the reception space;

a filter, arrangeable at some areas of the suction hole, to filter the air;

a discharge hole that discharges air filtered by the filter;

a light emitting part that emits the ultraviolet light to air not filtered by the filter among the air suctioned through the suction hole;

a light transmitting part that receives the reflected light of the emitted light;

a light collecting part that collects the light received from the light transmitting part; and

a light receiving part that receives the collected light, and

the identifying the allergen value comprises:

identifying the allergen value of the clothes to be managed based on the intensity of the light received through the light receiving part.