IP Library Granted Patent US 10,113,263
Granted Patent B2
US 10,113,263 · App. 15/046,033 · Granted Oct 30, 2018

Laundry treating appliance with imaging control

Inventors: Farhad Ashrafzadeh (Stevensville, MI); James P. Carow (Saint Joseph, MI); Shreecharan Kanchanavally (Lille, IL)
Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
D06F58/28D06F33/02D06F37/42D06F39/002D06F58/04D06F2058/2803D06F2058/2854
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,113,263
App. No.
15/046,033
Granted
Oct 30, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

A laundry treating appliance having a rotatable drum defining a laundry treating chamber, where the laundry in the laundry treating chamber may be imaged and a condition of the laundry determined based on the imaging of the laundry. A notification can be provided to a user based on the determined motion condition.

Claims (30)

1. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic treating cycle of operation, comprising:

a laundry treating chamber receiving laundry for treatment;

at least one component operable to implement at least part of the automatic treating cycle of operation;

an imaging device mounted to the laundry treating appliance and having a sensor operably coupled with at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber during execution of the automatic treating cycle of operation and outputting data representative of at least a portion of the laundry in the laundry treating chamber;

an indicator configured to output a signal; and

a controller receiving the data and operably coupled to the indicator, the controller comprising analysis software that is configured to determine a motion condition of the laundry based on the data and the controller configured to determine a condition of concern of the laundry based on the data and to activate the indicator to emit a signal based on the determined condition to notify a user of the determined condition of concern.

2. The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface and wherein the indicator is located on the user interface.

3. The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 wherein the signal is an audible signal or a visual signal.

4. A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic treating cycle of operation, comprising:

a laundry treating chamber receiving laundry for treatment;

at least one component operable to implement at least part of the automatic treating cycle of operation;

an imaging device mounted to the laundry treating appliance and having a sensor operably coupled with at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber during execution of the automatic treating cycle of operation and outputting data representative of at least a portion of the laundry in the laundry treating chamber;

a controller operably coupled to the at least one component and the imaging device, the controller configured to determine a condition of the laundry based on the data; and

a user interface operably coupled to the controller and providing an input and output function for the controller; and

wherein the controller comprises analysis software that is configured to determine a motion condition of the laundry based on the data and the controller is operably coupled to the user interface and configured to send a signal based on the determined condition to activate a portion of the user interface to notify a user of the determined condition.

5. The laundry treating appliance of claim 4 wherein a portion of the user interface can be activated to emit an audible signal or a visual signal.

6. The laundry treating appliance of claim 4 wherein determining the condition comprises the controller being configured to analyze multiple images over time.

7. The laundry treating appliance of claim 6 wherein the condition determined by the controller comprises at least one of rolling, tumbling, sliding or satelliting.

8. The laundry treating appliance of claim 4 wherein the output on the user interface comprises an indictor light configured to indicate a condition of concern.

9. The laundry treating appliance of claim 4 wherein the controller is configured to control at least one component, based on the determined condition, to set at least one of:

a rotational speed of a drum defining the laundry treating chamber;

a direction of rotation of a drum defining the laundry treating chamber;

a temperature in the laundry treating chamber;

an air flow through the laundry treating chamber;

at least one of a start and end of cycle condition;

at least one of a start and end of cycle step condition;

a rotational speed of an agitator;

a direction of agitator rotation; or

a wash liquid fill level.

10. The laundry treating appliance of claim 4 wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a visible light sensor, an ultraviolet light sensor or an infrared sensor.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 17, 2016
From: ASHRAFZADEH, FARHAD; CAROW, JAMES P.; KANCHANAVALLY, SHREECHARAN
To: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 037756/0692 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 14022132 · Sep 9, 2013
Continuation 12388605 · Feb 19, 2009
Related Publication 20160160432A1 · Jun 9, 2016
Cited By (1)
US 12,215,451