Water purifier and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11144792-B2
Application number	US-201916542940-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2019
Priority date	Jul 18, 2019
Publication date	Oct 12, 2021
Grant date	Oct 12, 2021

Abstract

Disclosed are a water purifier and a control method thereof for controlling a main body by executing an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm or a machine learning algorithm in a 5G environment established for the Internet of things. The control method of the water purifier according to the present disclosure includes a photographing step, a scanning step, a recognizing step, a calculating step, a determining step, and a water discharging step. When the water discharging step is initiated, the distance sensor generates real-time height information on the water surface, and may stop discharging water before a real-time height exceeds the highest point height.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control method of a water purifier for discharging water into a container,
the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are installed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor, and to store reference image information and reference water discharge information on each of the container and content contained in the container,
the control method comprising:
a photographing step for photographing, by the camera, the seating surface to generate real-time image information, when water discharge information is inputted;
a scanning step for scanning, by the distance sensor, the seating surface to generate real-time distance information;
a recognizing step for recognizing the container and the content by comparing the real-time image information and the reference image information; and
a water discharging step for discharging the water according to the water discharge information or the reference water discharge information,
wherein the real-time distance information includes lowest point height information and highest point height information on the container; and
wherein when the water discharging step is initiated, the distance sensor is configured to generate real-time height information on a water surface and stop discharging the water before a real-time height exceeds the highest point height.

2. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the water discharge information comprises temperature information on the water;
a determining step is further performed before the water discharging step;
at the determining step, it is determined whether the water temperature information matches the reference water discharge information; and
when the water temperature information matches the reference water discharge information, at the water discharging step, the water is discharged according to the water discharge information.

3. The control method according to claim 2 , wherein when, at the determining step, the water temperature information does not match the reference water discharge information, a confirmation request signal is outputted.

4. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein when the container and the content are recognized at the recognizing step, at the water discharging step, the water is discharged according to the reference water discharge information.

5. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein when the container and the content are not recognized at the recognizing step, a confirmation request signal is outputted.

6. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein an updating step is further performed after the water discharging step; and
at the updating step, the reference image information and the reference water discharge information are updated to include the real-time image information, the real-time distance information, and the water discharge information.

7. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the reference water discharge information comprises at least one of the water temperature information or amount of water information;
a calculating step is further performed before the water discharging step;
at the calculating step, the real-time image information and the real-time distance information are analyzed to generate capacity information on the container; and
at the water discharging step, the water is discharged according to the reference water discharge information and the capacity information, instead of the water discharge information.

8. The control method according to claim 7 , wherein:
two or more markers are provided on the seating surface;
the control unit stores relative coordinates of the two or more markers; and
the calculating step comprises a first calculating step for calculating area information on the container based on the relative coordinates of the container and the plurality of markers in the real-time image information.

9. The control method according to claim 8 , wherein the calculating step comprises:
a second calculating step for calculating height information on the container using the lowest point height information and the highest point height information on the container; and
a third calculating step for calculating the capacity information on the container using the area information and the height information.

10. A control method of a water purifier for recognizing a container,
the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are disposed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor, and to store reference image information and reference water discharge information on the container,
the control method comprising:
a photographing step for photographing, by the camera, the seating surface to generate real-time image information on the container;
a scanning step for scanning, by the distance sensor, the seating surface to generate real-time distance information on the container; and
a calculating step for analyzing the real-time image information and the real-time distance information to generate capacity information on the container,
wherein the reference image information and the reference water discharge information are updated to include the real-time image information, the real-time distance information, and the capacity information.

11. A water purifier for recognizing a container and content contained in the container and discharging water, the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are disposed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor,
wherein the camera is configured to photograph the seating surface to generate real-time image information,
wherein the distance sensor is configured to scan the seating surface to generate lowest point height information and highest point height information on the container before the water is discharged, and to generate real-time height information on a water surface after the water is discharged,
wherein the control unit is configured to stop discharging the water before a real-time height exceeds the highest point height, and
wherein the control unit is configured to compare at least one of the reference image information on the container or the reference image information on the content with the real-time image information, and to control the amount of water to be discharged according to the comparison result.

12. A water purifier for recognizing a container and content contained in the container and discharging water, the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are disposed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor,
wherein the camera is configured to photograp

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Jin Moon Sub
• Kim Ji Hye
• Park Jin Sung
• Huh Ji Young
• Kim Beom Oh

Classifications

• B67D1/0014 Primary

  the beverage being supplied from water mains · CPC title

• G06V20/00

  Scenes; Scene-specific elements (control of digital cameras H04N23/60) · CPC title

• G06F18/2413

  based on distances to training or reference patterns · CPC title

• G06F18/21

  Design or setup of recognition systems or techniques; Extraction of features in feature space; Blind source separation · CPC title

• B67D1/1227

  the cup to be filled · CPC title