Clothes dryer with improved moisture sensing and wireless data transfer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9518354-B2
Application number	US-201414307861-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2014
Priority date	Jun 18, 2014
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

A clothes dryer with improved moisture sensing and wireless data transfer is provided. An example drying appliance includes a plurality of sensors positioned inside a drum of the drying appliance. The plurality of sensors are wired together to provide a combined output signal indicative of one or more parameters of clothing inside the drum. The drying appliance includes a near field communication (NFC) tag mounted on an exterior surface of the drum. The NFC tag receives the combined output signal from the plurality of sensors. The drying appliance includes an NFC reader positioned on a stationary member of the drying appliance and receiving external utility power. The NFC reader receives sensor data from the NFC tag and provides the sensor data to a controller, such that the controller can control the drying appliance based on the one or more parameters of the clothing inside the drum.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes dryer, comprising:
a cabinet;
a drum rotatably mounted within the cabinet, the drum defining a space for the receipt of clothes for drying;
a controller for controlling operation of the clothes dryer;
a plurality of sensors positioned within the drum, wherein the plurality of sensors respectively output a plurality of output signals indicative of an amount of moisture contained within the clothes;
a near field communication (NFC) tag positioned on an exterior surface of the drum and wired to receive the output signals from the plurality of sensors;
a power supply electrically connected to the plurality of sensors so as to provide electrical power to the plurality of sensors; and
an NFC reader positioned exterior to the drum, wherein the NFC reader receives sensor data from the NFC tag and provides the sensor data to the controller, such that the controller can control operation of the clothes dryer based on the amount of moisture contained within the clothes;
wherein the plurality of sensors, the NFC tag, and the power supply are secured with respect to the drum so as rotate concurrently with the drum; and
wherein the NFC reader is stationary and positioned adjacent to a rotational path of the NFC tag.

2. The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein:
each of the plurality of sensors comprises at least two separate conductive portions;
the output signal for each sensor comprises an electrical signal describing an electrical characteristic at at least one of the conductive portions versus time;
the electrical signal decreases when clothing with moisture contacts any or all of the two conductive portions; and
the amount by which the electrical signal decreases when clothing with moisture contacts any or all of the two conductive portions is proportional to the amount of moisture contained within the clothing.

3. The clothes dryer of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of sensors are wired together to provide a combined output signal to the NFC tag.

4. The clothes dryer of claim 3 , wherein the NFC tag transforms the combined output signal into a digital signal, the sensor data comprising the digital signal.

5. The clothes dryer of claim 4 , wherein the controller controls operation of the clothes dryer based the digital signal or an analog conversion of the digital signal.

6. The clothes dryer of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of lifters protruding at different positions along an interior surface of the drum;
wherein each of the plurality of lifters has a lifting face; and
wherein the plurality of sensors are respectively positioned at the plurality of lifting faces of the plurality of lifters.

7. The clothes dryer of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of lifters protruding at different positions along an interior surface of the drum;
wherein each of the plurality of lifters has a lifting face and a non-lifting face;
wherein one of the plurality of sensors is positioned at the lifting face of each lifter; and
wherein one of the plurality of sensors is positioned at the non-lifting face of each lifter.

8. The clothes dryer of claim 7 , wherein:
the sensors positioned at the lifting faces of the plurality of lifters are wired together to provide a first combined output signal to the NFC tag;
the sensors positioned at the non-lifting faces of the plurality of lifters are wired together to provide a second combined output signal to the NFC tag; and
the NFC tag transmits both the first and second combined output signals to the NFC reader separately.

9. The clothes dryer of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of lifters protruding at different positions along an interior surface of the drum;
wherein a plurality of basins along the interior surface of the drum are respectively defined between each pair of adjacent lifters; and
wherein the plurality of sensors are respectively positioned within the plurality of basins.

10. The clothes dryer of claim 9 , further comprising an insulative material placed between each of the plurality of sensors and the interior surface of the drum.

11. The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein:
the drum is cylinder-shaped and has a longitudinal axis;
the plurality of sensors comprise circumferentially-oriented sensors positioned along an interior surface of the drum at respective longitudinal axis positions.

12. The clothes dryer of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of sensors is one of circular, semi-circular, or three-fourths circular in shape.

13. The clothes dryer of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of lifters protruding at different positions along an interior surface of the drum;
wherein a surface of each of the plurality of lifters is coated with a conductive material except for where the lifter contacts the interior surface of the drum; and
wherein the plurality of sensors comprise the plurality of conductive surfaces of the plurality of lifters.

14. A method for drying clothes, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a near field communication (NFC) tag, a combined output signal from a plurality of sensors positioned within a drum of a clothes dryer, wherein the combined output signal is indicative of an amount of moisture remaining in items of clothing within the drum, and wherein the NFC tag is positioned on an exterior surface of the drum and rotates concurrently with the drum;
transforming, by the NFC tag, the combined output signal into a digital signal;
transmitting, by the NFC tag, the digital signal to an NFC reader, wherein the NFC reader is stationary and positioned adjacent to a rotational path of the NFC tag;
providing, by the NFC reader, the digital signal or an analog conversion of the digital signal to a controller; and
controlling, by the controller, operation of the clothes dryer based on the digital signal or the analog conversion of the digital signal.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising converting the digital signal into an analog signal using a digital to analog converter, wherein the controller controls operation of the clothes dryer based on the analog signal.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein controlling, by the controller, operation of the clothes dryer based on the digital signal or the analog conversion of the digital signal comprises:
comparing, by the controller, the digital signal or the analog conversion of the digital signal to a threshold value; and
when the digital signal or the analog conversion of the digital signal exceeds the threshold value, de-energizing, by the controller, a heater of the clothes dryer.

17. A drying appliance, the drying appliance comprising:
a plurality of sensors positioned inside a drum of the drying appliance, the plurality of sensors wired together to provide a combined output signal indicative of one or more parameters of clothing inside the drum;
a near field communication (NFC) tag mounted on an exterior surface of the drum, wherein the NFC tag receives the combined output signal from the plurality of sensors;
a power supply that provides power to the plurality of sensors and the NFC tag, the power supply rotating concurrently with the drum;
an NFC reader positioned on a stationary member of the drying appliance and receiving external utility power, wherein the NFC reader receives sensor data from the NFC tag and provides the sensor data to a controller, such that the controller can control the drying appliance based on the one or more parameters of the clothing inside the drum.

18. The drying appliance of claim 17 , further comp

Assignees

• Gen Electric
• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Kulkarni Ashutosh
• Noh Jaeseok

Classifications

• D06F2103/02

  Characteristics of laundry or load · CPC title

• D06F2103/10

  expressed as capacitance or resistance · CPC title

• D06F58/38

  of drying, e.g. to achieve the target humidity · CPC title

• D06F58/04 Primary

  Details  (controlling or regulating devices D06F34/00) · CPC title

• D06F2058/2861

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic