System comprising a dishwasher, method for operating a dishwasher, and computer program product

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12329344-B2
Application number	US-202117926151-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2021
Priority date	Jun 18, 2020
Publication date	Jun 17, 2025
Grant date	Jun 17, 2025

Abstract

A system includes a dishwasher having a receptacle for items to be washed, an image capturing facility configured to capture an image of the receptacle of the dishwasher for items to be washed, and an image processing facility configured to determine in dependence upon the captured image a map of an arrangement of the items to be washed. The map includes a division of the receptacle into a number of regions, with each region having a predetermined arrangement of items to be washed from a number of predetermined arrangements of items to be washed. An allocation unit determines a cleaning matrix including an allocation of a treatment specification to each of the regions in the map, and outputs the cleaning matrix. A control apparatus executes a wash program based on the cleaning matrix.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a dishwasher including a receptacle for items to be washed;
an image capturing facility configured to capture an image of the receptacle, the captured image corresponding to a first view of the receptacle;
a transformation unit configured to generate a new image based on the captured image and to output the generated image, the generated image corresponding to a second view of the receptacle different from the first view of the captured image;
an image processing facility configured to determine in dependence upon the captured image or the generated image a map of an arrangement of the items to be washed, with the map comprising a division of the receptacle into a number of regions, each said region comprising a predetermined arrangement of items to be washed from a number of predetermined arrangements of items to be washed, each pixel of the captured image or the generated image being allocated to a respective predetermined arrangement of items to be washed to form each region of the map;
an allocation unit configured to determine a cleaning matrix, which comprises an allocation of a treatment specification to each of the regions in the map, and to output the cleaning matrix; and
a control apparatus configured to control at least one physical component positioned in the dishwasher to execute a wash program based on the cleaning matrix such that each region of the receptacle is treated based on a respective allocated treatment specification indicated by the cleaning matrix.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dishwasher is a household dishwasher.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transformation unit is further configured to transform the captured image and to output a transformed image in dependence upon the captured image and to output the transformed image, said image processing facility configured to determine the map based on the transformed image.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transformation unit comprises a neural network.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the neural network is a generating generic network.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image capturing facility is arranged on the dishwasher in such a manner that the image capturing facility captures the image of the receptacle of the dishwasher from an upper hemisphere with regard to the receptacle.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transformation unit is configured to generate the generated image such that the generated image corresponds to a view of the receptacle from a lower hemisphere.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the generated image corresponds to a view in a perpendicular manner from below.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a pattern recognition unit configured to recognize a pattern present in the captured image, in a transformed image, or in the generated image, and to output a pattern image that comprises the recognized pattern, said image processing facility configured to determine the map based on the pattern image.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image processing facility is configured to determine a type of items to be washed, a form of items to be washed and/or a material of items to be washed.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map comprises, at each point on the map, information relating to a type of items to be washed, a material of items to be washed, a form of items to be washed and/or a spatial orientation of the items to be washed at the point.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dishwasher includes a spray apparatus that is allocated to the receptacle for spraying washing liquor onto the items to be washed arranged in the receptacle, said spray apparatus being configured to allow adjustment of a position of the spray apparatus relative to the receptacle, and wherein the spray apparatus is part of the at least one physical component controlled by the control apparatus to execute the wash program.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the spray apparatus includes a spray arm.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dishwasher includes a hydraulic system that comprises at least one intensive wash zone that is selectively activatable in dependence upon the map.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein treatment specifications are allocated to the regions, respectively, with each treatment specification establishing a parameter value from a predetermined value range and/or a temporal variation of the parameter value for one or multiple treatment parameters comprising a washing liquor spraying pressure, a washing liquor temperature, a spray apparatus position, a spray apparatus orientation and/or a duration during which washing liquor is sprayed.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein a specific treatment specification is allocated to a respective predetermined arrangement of items to be washed of the number of predetermined arrangements of items to be washed.

17. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a facility external to the dishwasher and configured to integrate at least the image processing facility, said dishwasher including a communication unit configured to transmit the captured image to the external facility and to receive the map from the external facility.

18. A method for operating a dishwasher, said method comprising:
capturing an image of a receptacle of the dishwasher for items to be washed, the captured image corresponding to a first view of the receptacle;
determining a map of an arrangement of the items to be washed in dependence upon the captured image or a new image generated based on the captured image and corresponding to a second view of the receptacle different from the first view, with the map having a division of the receptacle into a number of regions, wherein each said region comprises a predetermined arrangement of items to be washed from a number of predetermined arrangements of items to be washed, wherein each pixel of the captured image or the generated image is allocated to a respective predetermined arrangement of items to be washed to form each region of the map;
determining a cleaning matrix, which comprises an allocation of a treatment specification to each of the regions in the map;
outputting the cleaning matrix; and
executing a wash program based on the cleaning matrix by controlling at least one physical component positioned in the dishwasher such that each region of the receptacle is treated based on a respective allocated treatment specification indicated by the cleaning matrix.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the dishwasher is a household dishwasher.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising a computer program product comprising commands which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
capturing an image of a receptacle of a dishwasher for items to be washed, the captured image corresponding to a first view of the receptacle;
determining a map of an arrangement of the items to be washed in dependence upon the captured image or a new image generated based on the captured image and corresponding to a second view of the receptacle different from the first view, with the map having a division of the receptacle into a number of regions, wherein each said region comprises a predetermined arrangement of items to be washed from a number of predetermined arrangements of items to be washed, wherein each pixel of the captured image or the generated image is allocated to a respective predetermined arrangement of items to be washed to form each r

Assignees

• Bsh Hausgeraete Gmbh

Inventors

• Singh Kuldeep Narayan
• Paintner Kai
• Rupp Michael

Classifications

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title

• H04N5/2628

  Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation · CPC title

• A47L2501/20

  Spray nozzles or spray arms · CPC title

• A47L2501/06

  Water heaters · CPC title

• A47L2501/04

  Water pressure or flow rate · CPC title