Laundry treatment appliance and method of estimating drying time based on laundry load size

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12509810-B2
Application number	US-202318519302-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 27, 2023
Priority date	Nov 27, 2023
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

A laundry treatment appliance includes a tub; a laundry basket rotatably mounted within the tub; a sensor positioned within the laundry basket; and a controller operably coupled to the sensor and configured to perform an operation. The operation includes detecting a load size of the laundry load at a completion of a recently performed washing cycle; obtaining a plurality of operational parameters from the recently performed washing cycle; determining a maximum drying cycle length of time for the laundry load based on the detected load size and the plurality of operational parameters; detecting a failure of the sensor; and directing a drying cycle according to the maximum drying cycle length of time in response to detecting the failure of the sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A laundry treatment appliance comprising:
a cabinet; a tub positioned within the cabinet; a laundry basket rotatably mounted within the tub, the laundry basket defining a chamber for receipt of a laundry load for washing or drying; a sensor positioned within the chamber, the sensor being configured to sense a quality of the laundry load; and a controller operably coupled to the sensor and configured to perform an operation, the operation comprising:
detecting a load size of the laundry load at a completion of a recently performed washing cycle of the laundry load;
obtaining a plurality of operational parameters from the recently performed washing cycle of the laundry load;
determining a maximum drying cycle length of time for the laundry load based on the detected load size and the plurality of operational parameters;
detecting a failure of the sensor; and
directing a drying cycle according to the maximum drying cycle length of time in response to detecting the failure of the sensor.

2 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the failure of the sensor is detected during the drying cycle.

3 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of operational parameters comprises at least two of a fabric type of the laundry load, a requested dryness level of the laundry load, a rotational speed of the laundry basket, and an initial moisture content of the laundry load at the completion of the recently performed washing cycle.

4 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 3 , wherein each of the fabric type, the requested dryness level of the laundry load, and the rotational speed of the laundry basket are determined according to user input.

5 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 4 , wherein the rotational speed of the laundry basket is determined from a final spin phase of the recently performed washing cycle.

6 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 3 , wherein the initial moisture content is determined from the rotational speed of the laundry basket.

7 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a relative humidity sensor, a temperature sensor, or a moisture sensor.

8 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the quality of the laundry load comprises a moisture content of the laundry load as compared to a desired final moisture content of the laundry load.

9 . The laundry treatment appliance of claim 1 , wherein the laundry treatment appliance is a combination washing machine and dryer appliance configured to perform each of a washing cycle such as the recently performed washing cycle and the drying cycle.

10 . A laundry treatment appliance comprising:
a cabinet; a tub positioned within the cabinet; a laundry basket rotatably mounted within the tub, the laundry basket defining a chamber for receipt of a laundry load for washing or drying; a heater configured to heat and remove moisture from air flowing through the laundry basket; a sensor positioned within the chamber, the sensor being configured to sense a quality of the laundry load; and a controller operably coupled to the heater and configured to initiate an operation, the operation comprising:
detecting a load size of the laundry load at a completion of a recently performed washing cycle of the laundry load;
obtaining a plurality of operational parameters from the recently performed washing cycle of the laundry load;
determining a maximum drying cycle length of time for the laundry load based on the detected load size and the plurality of operational parameters;
storing the determined maximum drying cycle length of time for the laundry load within a memory on board the laundry treatment appliance; and
initiating a drying cycle, wherein a completion of the drying cycle is determined according to a hierarchy, the hierarchy comprising the quality of the laundry load sensed by the sensor followed by the maximum drying cycle length of time.

Assignees

• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Martinello Daniele
• Djerekarov Jivko Ognianov
• Dunn David Scott

Classifications

• D06F2103/68

  Operation mode; Program phase · CPC title

• D06F2103/24

  Spin speed; Drum movements · CPC title

• D06F2103/04

  Quantity, e.g. weight or variation of weight · CPC title

• D06F2105/48

  Drum speed · CPC title

• D06F2103/08

  Humidity · CPC title