Method of determining a load size in a laundry treating appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016273146-A1
Application number	US-201615171146-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 2, 2016
Priority date	Jun 3, 2013
Publication date	Sep 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Method of determining a laundry load size in a laundry treating appliance comprising a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, an imaging device, and a controller having a processor, the method includes generating an image, detecting markings in the generated image, and determining, by the controller, a load size based thereon.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry in accordance with an automatic treating cycle of operation, comprising:
a laundry treating chamber configured for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation; detectable graduated markings located on at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber; an imaging device configured to generate an image of a portion of the treating chamber where the detectable graduated markings are located; and a controller operably coupled to the imaging device and configured to detect at least one of the detectable graduated markings in the generated image by processing the image with computer software stored in the controller and configured to determine a load size based on the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking in comparison to reference information that indicates a free volume or free height associated with the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking.

2 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a rotatable drum at least partially defining the laundry treating chamber.

3 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 wherein the detectable graduated markings are located on a solid portion of the rotatable drum.

4 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 , further comprising a rear bulkhead and a front bulkhead and wherein the detectable graduated markings are located on a solid portion of the rear bulkhead or the front bulkhead.

5 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 2 , further comprising at least one of a door or window.

6 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 5 wherein the detectable graduated markings are located on a solid portion the at least one of the door or window.

7 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the detectable graduated markings are uniformly spaced.

8 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 1 wherein the detectable graduated markings are non-uniformly spaced.

9 . The laundry treating appliance of claim 8 wherein at least some of the detect at least a portion of the multiple detectable graduated markings increase in number per unit height as the detectable graduated markings go up in height.

10 . A method of determining a laundry load size in a laundry treating appliance comprising a treating chamber for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation, an imaging device, and a controller having a processor, the method comprising:
generating an image, with the imaging device, of at least a portion of the treating chamber where the treating chamber has detectable graduated markings located on a solid portion forming the treating chamber; detecting, by the controller, at least one of the detectable graduated markings in the generated image; and determining, by the controller, a load size based on the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking wherein the determining the load size comprises comparing the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking to reference information that indicates a free volume or free height associated with the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein generating the image comprises generating an image of at least one detectable graduated marking formed on at least one of a door or window.

12 . The method of claim 10 wherein generating the image comprises generating an image of at least one detectable graduated marking having a reflectance or specific color.

13 . The method of claim 10 wherein the determining the load size comprises determining a height of the laundry load based on the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking.

14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the determining a load size further comprises estimating a volume of the laundry load based on the determined height.

15 . The method of claim 10 wherein the generating the image comprises generating at least one of a still image or a video.

16 . The method of claim 10 wherein the generating the image comprises taking a visible light image, an ultraviolet light image, or an infrared image.

17 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising setting at least one parameter of the treating cycle of operation based on the determined load size.

18 . The method of claim 17 wherein the at least one parameter is a cycle time, an air flow rate in the treating chamber, a wash liquid fill level, or an amount of treating chemistry.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising indicating the set cycle time on a user interface of the laundry treating appliance.

20 . The method of claim 10 wherein the determining the load size comprises determining a number of graduated markings visible in the image below an uppermost graduated marking.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Leitert Andrew
• Mcallister Karl David

Classifications

• D06F2103/02

  Characteristics of laundry or load · CPC title

• D06F2202/10

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic

• D06F2202/12

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic

• D06F33/02 Primary

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic

• D06F39/005

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic