Customer selection of desired remaining moisture in clothing via user interface at machine or portable electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10907298-B2
Application number	US-201916555451-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2019
Priority date	Dec 29, 2016
Publication date	Feb 2, 2021
Grant date	Feb 2, 2021

Abstract

A method of controlling the clothes dryer includes offering one or more preset dryness levels that may be selected using a programmable dryness level selector to establish a drying cycle. Each of the preset dryness levels may correspond to a stored remaining moisture content. The method additionally includes sensing a remaining moisture content of a load of fabric in the clothes dryer and displaying the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric to a user. The method further includes automatically stopping the clothes dryer using a controller configured to determine when the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric reaches the selected preset dryness level. The one or more preset dryness levels may be customizable by saving a target remaining moisture content for each preset dryness level.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of drying a load of fabric using a clothes dryer, the method comprising:
establishing a drying cycle via a portable electronic device by accessing a programmable dryness level selector;
selecting a preset dryness level of a plurality of preset dryness levels using the portable electronic device to access the programmable dryness level selector to define a selected preset dryness level;
retrieving a stored target remaining moisture content that corresponds to the selected preset dryness level;
customizing the selected preset dryness level by changing the stored target remaining moisture content to a desired remaining moisture content in response to user input that is provided by the portable electronic device, wherein the desired remaining moisture content is different than the stored target remaining moisture content;
sensing a remaining moisture content of the load of fabric in the clothes dryer; and
automatically stopping the clothes dryer using a controller configured to determine when the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric reaches the corresponding stored target remaining moisture content.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of:
displaying the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric at least on the portable electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein sensing the remaining moisture content comprises using one or more sensors with one or more physics modules.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein displaying the remaining moisture content includes continually updating a real time remaining moisture content during the drying cycle.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of displaying the remaining moisture content includes simultaneously displaying an estimated time remaining for the drying cycle.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of:
receiving user input from the portable electronic device by the controller to change the stored target remaining moisture content corresponding to the selected preset dryness level to the desired remaining moisture content.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of:
displaying at least on the portable electronic device the stored target remaining moisture content for each selected preset dryness level with the programmable dryness level selector.

8. A method of controlling a clothes dryer, the method comprising:
offering one or more preset dryness levels that are selectable using a programmable dryness level selector to establish a drying cycle, wherein the programmable dryness level selector is remotely accessible via a portable electronic device;
selecting, via the portable electronic device, one of the one or more preset dryness levels using the programmable dryness level selector to define a selected preset dryness level;
retrieving a stored target remaining moisture content that corresponds to the selected preset dryness level;
customizing the selected preset dryness level by changing the stored target remaining moisture content corresponding to the selected preset dryness level to a desired remaining moisture content in response to user input wherein the desired remaining moisture content is different than the stored target remaining moisture content, wherein the user input is provided by the portable electronic device;
saving the desired remaining moisture content as the stored target remaining moisture content to correspond to the selected preset dryness level;
sensing a remaining moisture content of a load of fabric in the clothes dryer;
and
automatically stopping the clothes dryer using a controller configured to determine when the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric reaches the corresponding stored target remaining moisture content.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein sensing the remaining moisture content comprises using one or more sensors.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising displaying, at least on the portable electronic device, the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric wherein displaying the remaining moisture content includes continually updating a real time remaining moisture content during the drying cycle.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising a step of:
displaying, at least on the portable electronic device, an estimated time remaining for the drying cycle.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising a step of:
receiving user input from the portable electronic device by the controller to change the stored target remaining moisture content corresponding to the selected preset dryness level.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising a step of:
displaying the stored target remaining moisture content for each selected preset dryness level with the programmable dryness level selector.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the programmable dryness level selector has more than one preset dryness level with a user-modifiable stored target remaining moisture content.

15. A clothes dryer comprising:
a drum rotatably mounted within a cabinet for receiving a load of fabric to be processed;
a display adapted to present a real time remaining moisture content for the load of fabric; and
a controller configured to receive information from one or more sensors and a selector to determine a length of time for a drying cycle, the controller and the selector being selectively operable via a portable electronic device; wherein
the selector comprises a programmable dryness level selector with one or more preset dryness levels, the one or more preset dryness levels each having a corresponding user-modifiable stored target remaining moisture content;
the corresponding user-modifiable stored target remaining moisture content is modifiable using the portable electronic device; and
the portable electronic device also displays the real time remaining moisture content for the load of fabric.

16. The clothes dryer of claim 15 , further comprising:
one or more sensors and/or one or more physics modules to sense the real time remaining moisture content for the load of fabric.

17. The clothes dryer of claim 15 , wherein the display simultaneously presents an estimated time remaining for the drying cycle.

18. The clothes dryer of claim 15 , wherein the programmable dryness level selector displays a stored target remaining moisture content for each preset dryness level.

19. The clothes dryer of claim 15 , wherein the programmable dryness level selector has more than one dryness level that can be preset with a stored target remaining moisture content.

20. The clothes dryer of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to receive input from a portable electronic device to change the length of time for the drying cycle.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Adkins Andrew
• Halbleib Alexander

Classifications

• D06F2105/62

  Stopping or disabling machine operation · CPC title

• D06F34/30

  characterised by mechanical features, e.g. buttons or rotary dials · CPC title

• D06F34/32

  characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens · CPC title

• D06F2105/58

  Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user · CPC title

• D06F58/38 Primary

  of drying, e.g. to achieve the target humidity · CPC title