Household appliance havng an ambient light detection unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12281844-B2
Application number	US-202218084755-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2022
Priority date	Dec 20, 2021
Publication date	Apr 22, 2025
Grant date	Apr 22, 2025

Abstract

An ambient light detection unit for a household appliance includes a sensor housing and a brightness sensor which is disposed in the sensor housing and detects the brightness of the ambient light in the environment. The ambient light detection unit has a lens with which the ambient light that is incident on the sensor housing is focused toward the brightness sensor. A household appliance is also provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A household appliance, comprising:
an appliance housing having a door and an interior receiving space;
an illumination apparatus for illuminating said interior receiving space with a base illumination scenario upon opening said door, said base illumination scenario being independent of a brightness of ambient light in an environment;
an ambient light detection unit including a sensor housing, a brightness sensor disposed in said sensor housing, said brightness sensor detecting the brightness of the ambient light upon opening said door, and a lens focusing the ambient light incident on said sensor housing toward said brightness sensor; and
an evaluation unit for evaluating the detected brightness, generating an end illumination scenario for said receiving space based on the evaluated detected brightness and replacing the base illumination scenario with the end illumination scenario.

2. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein said lens is convex at least on one side.

3. The household appliance according to claim 2 , wherein said brightness sensor is disposed in a focus of said lens.

4. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein said lens and said sensor housing are formed as a single piece.

5. The household appliance according to claim 4 , wherein said sensor housing and said lens are an injection molded component.

6. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein said lens is disposed on said sensor housing with at least one outer side of said lens exposed toward the environment.

7. The household appliance according to claim 1 , which further comprises a light guide guiding the incident ambient light.

8. The household appliance according to claim 7 , wherein said lens and said light guide are coupled to one another.

9. The household appliance according to claim 8 , wherein said lens is disposed in a beam path of the incident ambient light upstream of said light guide.

10. The household appliance according to claim 8 , wherein said lens is configured as an end of said light guide and as a single piece with said light guide.

11. The household appliance according to claim 1 , which further comprises a circuit board, said brightness sensor being disposed on said circuit board.

12. The household appliance according to claim 11 , which further comprises a moisture sensor disposed on said circuit board.

13. The household appliance according to claim 1 , which further comprises:
said appliance housing having a front strip; and
said door having a door closure strip;
said ambient light detection unit disposed directly on said front strip or on said door closure strip.

14. The household appliance according to claim 13 , wherein said front strip is separate from said housing.

15. The household appliance according to claim 13 , which further comprises at least one snap connection disposed on said front strip or on said door closure strip for fastening said ambient light detection unit.

16. The household appliance according to claim 13 , wherein said front strip or said door closure strip has a hole formed therein through which said ambient light detection unit detects ambient light.

17. The household appliance according to claim 16 , wherein said hole is shaded at least when said door is in a closed state, resulting in ambient light being at least reduced upon arriving at said hole.

18. The household appliance according to claim 17 , wherein:
the household appliance is an integrated appliance;
said door has a door leaf with a front side;
a design plate is separate from said door leaf and disposed on said front side of said door leaf; and
said hole overlaps said design plate in a height direction of the household appliance, and at most a minimum distance is formed between said hole and said design plate in a depth direction of the household appliance, resulting in said hole being at least shaded by said design plate.

19. The household appliance according to claim 13 , which further comprises:
a door actuation identification unit configured to detect an actuation or an opening of said door;
said ambient light detection unit configured to be activated by said door actuation identification unit.

Assignees

• Bsh Hausgeraete Gmbh

Inventors

• Schimmele Martin
• Weber Armin

Classifications

• G01J1/4204

  with determination of ambient light (solar light G01J2001/4266) · CPC title

• G01J1/0271

  Housings; Attachments or accessories for photometers · CPC title

• F21W2131/305

  for refrigerators · CPC title

• F21V23/0464

  the sensor sensing the level of ambient illumination, e.g. dawn or dusk sensors · CPC title

• G05B2219/2654

  Fridge, refrigerator · CPC title