Gesture control module, household appliance and use of gesture control module in household appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11625102-B2
Application number	US-202117207978-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2021
Priority date	Mar 20, 2020
Publication date	Apr 11, 2023
Grant date	Apr 11, 2023

Abstract

A non-contact gesture control module based on the principle of infrared reflection, contains a sensing area composed of a plurality of infrared transmitting tubes and a plurality of infrared receiving tubes, the infrared transmitting tubes and the infrared receiving tubes being alternately arranged in an extending direction. A control circuit controls the switching on and off of the individual infrared transmitting tubes and the individual infrared receiving tubes. A signal processor is provided for receiving and processing signals generated by the plurality of infrared receiving tubes and determining a coordinate position of an object in the extending direction above the sensing area. The gesture control module performs precise non-contact control and fine adjustment of gears and thus stepless speed regulation of a household appliance.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A non-contact gesture control module based on a principle of infrared reflection, comprising:
a sensing area having a plurality of infrared transmitting tubes and a plurality of infrared receiving tubes, said infrared transmitting tubes and said infrared receiving tubes being alternately disposed in an extending direction;
a control circuit for controlling a switching on and off of individual ones of said infrared transmitting tubes and individual ones of said infrared receiving tubes; and
a signal processor for receiving and processing signals generated by said plurality of infrared receiving tubes and determining a coordinate position of an object in the extending direction above said sensing area.

2. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein said signal processor determines a normal distance of the object relative to said sensing area according to the signals generated by said infrared receiving tubes.

3. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein a beginning and/or an end of said sensing area is defined by one of said infrared transmitting tubes.

4. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein the extending direction is a straight line direction, a fold line direction, a plane tangent direction, or a space tangent direction.

5. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein said control circuit controls the switching on and off of individual ones of said infrared transmitting tubes and individual ones of said infrared receiving tubes in a time division multiplexing manner.

6. The gesture control module according to claim 5 , wherein said control circuit controls the switching on and off of individual ones of said infrared transmitting tubes and individual ones of said infrared receiving tubes in a following manner:
switching on all of said infrared receiving tubes simultaneously, and switching on each of said infrared transmitting tubes in sequence; or
switching on at least one infrared transceiver group in sequence, each said at least one infrared transceiver group includes at least one of said infrared transmitting tubes and at least one of said infrared receiving tubes adjacent to one another; or
switching on a plurality of non-adjacent infrared transceiver groups in staggered time, each of which includes at least one of said infrared transmitting tubes and at least one of said infrared receiving tubes adjacent to one another.

7. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein said sensing area is divided into a plurality of operation sub-regions, a gesture for an operation sub-region of said operation sub-regions is recognized if the object is detected in at least one of said operation sub-regions.

8. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein the coordinate position of the object in the extending direction above said sensing area is determined based on an amplitude and/or slope and/or phase of the signals generated by individual ones of said infrared receiving tubes.

9. The gesture control module according to claim 2 , wherein the normal distance of the object relative to said sensing area is determined based on an amplitude and/or slope and/or phase of the signals generated by individual ones of said infrared receiving tubes.

10. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one visible light-emitting device is disposed in a surrounding of a detecting area.

11. The gesture control module according to claim 10 , wherein said at least one visible light-emitting device indicates a current position of the object, an input gesture or operation tips.

12. The gesture control module according to claim 1 , wherein the gesture control module is capable of recognizing at least one of or a combination of the following gestures:
sliding positioning;
waving;
hovering;
clicking; and
tapping.

13. A household appliance, comprising:
at least one non-contact gesture control module according to claim 1 .

14. The household appliance according to claim 13 , wherein the household appliance is a range hood, a refrigerator, an oven, a food processor, a washing machine, a smart faucet or a smart toilet.

15. A method of using a gesture control module according to claim 1 in a household appliance, wherein the non-contact gesture control module is used for controlling at least one of the following functions of the household appliance:
turning on or off the household appliance;
turning up/down gears;
shifting operation modes;
fine adjustment of gears;
specific mode; and
switching on or off lights.

16. The method according to claim 15 , which further comprises:
using a clicking or hovering gesture to turn on or off the household appliance;
using a waving gesture to turn up/down the gears and/or to shift the operation modes;
using the hovering or clicking gesture for confirmation; and
using a tapping gesture to realize a switch function.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the household appliance is configured as a range hood and which further comprises:
using a sliding positioning gesture to trigger a corresponding function;
using the clicking or hovering gesture to choose a triggered function;
using the waving gesture to switch to the specific mode;
using the sliding positioning gesture to realize a fine adjustment for the gears of the range hood.

Assignees

• Diehl Ako Stiftung Gmbh & Co

Inventors

• Li Zhongke
• Shi Lin

Classifications

• H04N23/20

  for generating image signals from infrared radiation only · CPC title

• G06F3/017 Primary

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G01S7/4808

  Evaluating distance, position or velocity data · CPC title

• G08C23/04

  using light waves, e.g. infrared · CPC title

• G01S7/51

  Display arrangements · CPC title