IP Library Granted Patent US 11,408,679
Granted Patent B2
US 11,408,679 · App. 17/015,990 · Granted Aug 9, 2022

Shoe dryer and control method thereof

Inventors: Hiroto Ohnari (Yokohama, JP); Daisuke Fukuoka (Yokohama, JP); Kazutoshi Takenoshita (Yokohama, JP); Suguru Nakagawa (Yokohama, JP); Toshiyuki Fujiyoshi (Yokohama, JP)
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
F26B21/06F26B3/04F26B11/00F26B21/001F26B21/10F26B21/12F26B25/008
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,408,679
App. No.
17/015,990
Granted
Aug 9, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A shoe dryer including a main body, a shoe receiver provided inside the main body and configured to receive a shoe, a blower configured to blow air toward the shoe received in the shoe receiving portion, a camera configured to obtain an image of the shoe by photographing the shoe received in the shoe receiver, and a control device configured to recognize information about the shoe from the image of the shoe obtained by the camera, and control a direction of air blown by the blower based on the information about the shoe.

Claims (40)

1. A shoe dryer comprising:

a main body;

a shoe receiver provided inside the main body and configured to receive a shoe;

a blower configured to blow air toward the shoe received in the shoe receiver;

a camera configured to obtain an image of the shoe by photographing the shoe received in the shoe receiver; and

a control device configured to recognize information about the shoe from the image of the shoe obtained by the camera and control a direction of air blown by the blower based on the information about the shoe.

2. The shoe dryer of claim 1 , wherein:

the information about the shoe includes position information of a mouth portion of the shoe, and

the control device controls the direction of air blown by the blower to face toward a center of the mouth portion of the shoe.

3. The shoe dryer of claim 2 , wherein the center of the mouth portion of the shoe is a center of a circle or an ellipse that is approximated to a shape of an upper surface of the mouth portion of the shoe.

4. The shoe dryer of claim 1 , wherein:

the blower includes a blowing nozzle, and

the blowing nozzle is provided to be rotatable.

5. The shoe dryer of claim 4 , wherein the blowing nozzle includes a guide plate formed adjacent to a center of a flow path of the blowing nozzle and is configured to guide an air current.

6. The shoe dryer of claim 4 , wherein the blowing nozzle includes an opening/closing mechanism formed at a suction port or a discharge port of the blowing nozzle and is configured to open and close a flow path of the suction port or the discharge port.

7. The shoe dryer of claim 4 , wherein the blower further includes an extension nozzle coupled to the blowing nozzle and is extended into the shoe received in the shoe receiver.

8. The shoe dryer of claim 4 , further comprising a driving unit configured to rotate the blowing nozzle to adjust a direction of discharged air from the blowing nozzle.

9. The shoe dryer of claim 8 , wherein the driving unit includes a motor that configured to determine an amount of movement of the blowing nozzle based on a driving power waveform.

10. The shoe dryer of claim 4 , wherein:

the blowing nozzle includes a plurality of blowing nozzles, and

the plurality of blowing nozzles include a first blowing nozzle configured to blow air toward a right shoe and a second blowing nozzle configured to blow air toward a left shoe.

11. The shoe dryer of claim 10 , wherein the first blowing nozzle has a direction controlled independent of a direction of the second blowing nozzle.

12. The shoe dryer of claim 1 , wherein:

the shoe receiver includes a first shoe receiver having a first partition to receive one pair of shoes and a second shoe receiver provided below the first shoe receiver and having a second partition to receive another pair of shoes, and

the first partition is detachably provided.

13. The shoe dryer of claim 1 , further comprising an accessary receiver provided inside the main body and configured to receive a shoe accessary.

14. The shoe dryer of claim 1 , further comprising:

a manipulation portion configured to display the information about the shoe; and

a display element indicating a direction in which air is blown by the blower, the display element configured to perform manipulation on the display element using a finger or speech.

15. A method of controlling a shoe dryer including a shoe receiver configured to receive a shoe, and a blower configured to blow air toward the shoe received in the shoe receiver, the method comprising:

acquiring an image of the shoe received in the shoe receiver by photographing the shoe;

recognizing information about the shoe from the acquired image of the shoe; and

controlling a direction of air blown by the blower based on the information about the shoe.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the recognized information about the shoe includes position information of a mouth portion of the shoe, and

the direction of air blown by the blower is controlled to face toward a center of the mouth portion of the shoe.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the center of the mouth portion of the shoe is a center of a circle or an ellipse that is approximated to a shape of an upper surface of the mouth portion of the shoe.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining an existence of a trigger to image the shoe.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising setting an operating mode according to the recognized information about the shoe.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the operating mode includes at least one of a temperature of air blown by the blower, a wind volume of air blown by the blower, a wind speed of air blown by the blower, and an operating time of the shoe dryer.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 9, 2020
From: OHNARI, HIROTO; FUKUOKA, DAISUKE; TAKENOSHITA, KAZUTOSHI; NAKAGAWA, SUGURU; FUJIYOSHI, TOSHIYUKI
To: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 053741/0181 →
Priority Claims (2)
JP JP2019-164911 · Sep 10, 2019 · national
KR 10-2020-0094017 · Jul 28, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210071950A1 · Mar 11, 2021
Cited By (7)
US 1,061,096 US 1,066,832 US 1,140,400 US 12,201,258 US 12,232,683 US 12,279,738 US 12,318,055