IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,638,382
Granted Patent B2
US 12,638,382 · App. 18/389,451 · Granted May 26, 2026

Clothes care apparatus and control method thereof

Inventors: Yumee Kim (Suwon-si, KR); Soomin Park (Seoul, KR); Jangpyo Park (Suwon-si, KR); Joonho Kim (Suwon-si, KR); Yongwon Jeong (Suwon-si, KR)
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
G01N21/31D06F43/00D06F34/18D06F58/10D06F58/36D06F73/02D06F2103/00D06F2103/64D06F2105/52G06N3/08
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,638,382
App. No.
18/389,451
Granted
May 26, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A clothes care apparatus includes a main body including a clothes care chamber configured to accommodate one or more clothes items; an optical sensor module configured to photograph an inside of the clothes care chamber, the optical sensor module including a plurality of light receiving elements, each being sensitive to different wavelength bands; and a processor configured to: acquire, from the plurality of light receiving elements, a sensing value for the one or more clothes items, acquire spectroscopic data for the one or more clothes items based on the sensing value, acquire feature information corresponding to the one or more clothes items based on the spectroscopic data, input the feature information into a trained neural network model, acquire, from the trained neural network model, information on materials of the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, and determine an operation course of the clothes care apparatus.

Claims (61)

1 . A clothes care apparatus comprising:

a main body comprising a clothes care chamber configured to accommodate one or more clothes items;

an optical sensor module configured to photograph an inside of the clothes care chamber, the optical sensor module comprising:

a light emitting part in the clothes care chamber;

a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in an array, each of the plurality of light receiving elements being sensitive to different wavelength bands, each of the plurality of light receiving elements being configured to receive light that is output from the light emitting part and reflected from the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, and generate a sensing value for the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the received light; and

a processor configured to:

acquire, from the plurality of light receiving elements, the sensing value,

acquire spectroscopic data for the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the sensing value,

acquire feature information corresponding to the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the spectroscopic data,

input the feature information into a trained neural network model,

acquire, from the trained neural network model, information on materials of the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, and

determine an operation course of the clothes care apparatus based on the information on the materials of the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber.

2 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the spectroscopic data comprises pixel information of the optical sensor module for each wavelength band sensitive to a respective light receiving element among the plurality of light receiving elements.

3 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a number of the different wavelength bands sensitive to the plurality of light receiving elements constituting pixels of the optical sensor module is at least four.

4 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein light receiving elements, among the plurality of light receiving elements of the optical sensor module, corresponding to a first pixel among a plurality of pixels of the optical sensor module are configured to sense different wavelength bands.

5 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein light receiving elements, among the plurality of light receiving elements of the optical sensor module, corresponding to a first pixel among a plurality of pixels of the optical sensor module are configured to sense a same wavelength band.

6 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

acquire the feature information based on intensities of lights for the different wavelength bands sensitive to the plurality of light receiving elements and a difference among intensities of lights corresponding to adjacent wavelength bands among the different wavelength bands.

7 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

reduce a dimension of the spectroscopic data by using linear discriminant analysis, and

acquire the feature information based on the spectroscopic data in which the dimension of the spectroscopic data is reduced.

8 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

the processor is further configured to:

acquire flight time data of a light output from the light emitting part,

acquire depth information corresponding to the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the flight time data, and

determine the operation course of the clothes care apparatus based on the depth information.

9 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor module comprises:

a first light receiving element among the plurality of light receiving elements is configured to detect the light output from the light emitting part and reflected on the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, and

a second light receiving element among the plurality of light receiving elements is configured to detect intensities of lights for the respective wavelength bands.

10 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first light receiving element and the second light receiving element are the same.

11 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a display,

wherein the one or more clothes items comprise a plurality of clothes items, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the plurality of clothes items can be processed at a same time based on information on the materials of the plurality of clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, and

based on determining that the plurality of clothes items cannot be processed at the same time, control the display to output a guide message regarding clothes care.

12 . The clothes care apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a communication interface comprising a communication circuit,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive weather information from an external server through the communication interface, and

determine the operation course of the clothes care apparatus based on the weather information.

13 . A control method of a clothes care apparatus comprising a main body comprising a clothes care chamber configured to accommodate one or more clothes items, and an optical sensor module configured to photograph an inside of the clothes care chamber, the optical sensor module comprising a light emitting part in the clothes care chamber and a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in an array, each of the plurality of light receiving elements being sensitive to different wavelength bands, each of the plurality of light receiving elements configured to receive light that is output from the light emitting part and reflected from the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, the control method comprising:

acquiring, from the plurality of light receiving elements, a sensing value for the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber, the sensing value being generated based on the light received by the plurality of light receiving elements;

acquiring spectroscopic data for the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the sensing value;

acquiring feature information corresponding to the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the spectroscopic data;

inputting the feature information into a trained neural network model;

acquiring, from the trained neural network model, information on materials of the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber; and

determining an operation course of the clothes care apparatus based on the information on the materials of the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber.

14 . The control method of claim 13 , wherein the spectroscopic data comprises pixel information of the optical sensor module for each wavelength band sensitive to a respective light receiving element among the plurality of light receiving elements.

15 . The control method of claim 13 , wherein a number of the different wavelength bands sensitive to the plurality of light receiving elements constituting pixels of the optical sensor module is at least four.

16 . The control method of claim 13 , wherein light receiving elements, among the plurality of light receiving elements of the optical sensor module, corresponding to a first pixel among a plurality of pixels of the optical sensor module are configured to sense different wavelength bands.

17 . The control method of claim 13 , wherein light receiving elements, among the plurality of light receiving elements of the optical sensor module, corresponding to a first pixel are configured to sense a same wavelength band.

18 . The control method of claim 13 , wherein the acquiring the feature information comprises:

acquiring the feature information based on intensities of lights for the different wavelength bands sensitive to the plurality of light receiving elements and a difference among intensities of lights corresponding to adjacent wavelength bands among the different wavelength bands.

19 . The control method of claim 13 , wherein the acquiring the feature information comprises:

reducing a dimension of the spectroscopic data by using linear discriminant analysis; and

acquiring the feature information based on the spectroscopic data in which the dimension of the spectroscopic data is reduced.

20 . The control method of claim 13 , further comprising:

acquiring depth information corresponding to the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber by using the optical sensor module; and

acquiring wrinkle information for the one or more clothes items accommodated in the clothes care chamber based on the depth information,

wherein the determining the operation course of the clothes care apparatus comprises:

determining the operation course of the clothes care apparatus based on the information on the materials of the one or more clothes items and the wrinkle information.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 14, 2023
From: KIM, YUMEE; PARK, SOOMIN; PARK, JANGPYO; KIM, JOONHO; JEONG, YONGWON
To: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 065560/0693 →
Priority Claims (2)
KR 10-2021-0075720 · Jun 10, 2021 · national
KR 10-2021-0143337 · Oct 26, 2021 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTKR2022008135 · Jun 9, 2022
Related Publication 20240085315A1 · Mar 14, 2024
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