Controlling the operation of a dispenser system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9739517-B2
Application number	US-201514831989-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2015
Priority date	Aug 21, 2015
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling the operation of a dispenser system are provided. In particular, one or more sensors associated with the dispenser system may be configured to detect one or more signals indicative of a container proximate the dispenser system and/or a level of water or ice within the container. The dispenser system may include an analog-to-digital converter configured to sample the detected signals at a predetermined sample frequency. The dispenser system may further include a direct memory access controller configured to store the sampled signals in memory without having to rout the sampled signals through a central processing unit associated with dispenser system. The operation of the dispenser system can then be controlled based at least in part on the sampled signals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dispensing system for dispensing liquid or ice, the system comprising:
a dispenser defining a dispensing recess, the dispenser comprising a nozzle for dispensing liquid or ice;
one or more sensors disposed within the dispensing recess, the one or more sensors configured to emit one or more pulses during one or more time periods and to receive one or more return signals;
an analog-to-digital converter configured to sample the one or more return signals at a predetermined sampling frequency to determine a plurality of discrete signals;
a direct memory access controller configured to store the discrete signals in one or more memory devices via a system bus without routing the discrete signals to the one or more control devices; and
one or more control devices configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in one or more memory devices that when executed by the one or more control devices cause the one or more control devices to perform operations, the operations comprising determining a return time indicative of a time period between emission of the one or more pulses and reception of the one or more return signals by the one or more sensors, and controlling an operation of the dispensing system based at least in part on the determined return time.

2. The dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of discrete signals is indicative of a container positioned proximate the dispensing system.

3. The dispensing system of claim 2 , the operations further comprising detecting the presence of the container proximate the dispensing system based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals.

4. The dispensing system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising receiving an input from a user indicative of a request to dispense liquid or ice, and, responsive to receiving the input from the user, controlling the operation of the dispensing system to dispense liquid or ice.

5. The dispensing system of claim 4 , the operations further comprising detecting a top portion of the container and a level of liquid or ice in the container relative to the top lip based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals.

6. The dispensing system of claim 5 , the operations further comprising controlling the operation of the dispensing system to cease dispensing liquid or ice when the level of liquid or ice in the container reaches a threshold point relative to the top portion of the container.

7. The dispensing system of claim 6 , wherein a level of ice is detected in the container relative to the top lip of the container based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals, the operations further comprising:
receiving an input from a user indicative of a request to dispense liquid, and, responsive to receiving the input from the user, controlling the operation of the dispensing system to dispense liquid; and
dispensing liquid for a predetermined period of time without regard to the plurality of discrete signals.

8. The dispensing system of claim 6 , wherein a level of ice is detected in the container relative to the top lip of the container based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals, the operations further comprising:
determining the height of the top lip of the container based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals;
receiving an input from a user indicative of a request to dispense liquid, and, responsive to receiving the input from the user, controlling the operation of the dispensing system to dispense liquid; and
dispensing liquid for a period of time based at least in part on the height of the top lip of the container.

9. The dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined sampling frequency corresponds a sampling period of between about 5 microseconds and about 10 microseconds.

10. The dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein the direct memory access controller is further configured to provide an interrupt to the one or more control devices when the number of discrete signals stored in the one or more memory devices reaches a sample sequence threshold.

11. The dispensing system of claim 10 , wherein the sample sequence threshold corresponds to a number of samples that can be taken during a predetermined time period at the predetermined sampling frequency.

12. The dispensing system of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined time period is between about 1 millisecond and about 2 milliseconds.

13. The dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein the operation of the analog-to-digital converter and the direct memory access controller are controlled at least in part in accordance with one or more timers associated with the dispensing system.

14. The dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more sensors is an ultrasonic transducer configured to periodically transmit one or more sound waves, and receive one or more reflected sound waves.

15. A method of dispensing liquid or ice by a dispensing system associated with a refrigerator appliance, the method comprising:
receiving, by an analog-to-digital converter, one or more return signals, wherein at least one of the one or more return signals is indicative of a container positioned proximate a dispensing system;
sampling, by the analog-to-digital converter, the one or more return signals at a predetermined sampling frequency to determine a plurality of discrete signals;
granting, by a central processing unit, control of a system bus to a direct memory access controller;
providing, by the direct memory access controller, each of the discrete signals to one or more memory devices via the system bus without routing the discrete signals to the central processing unit; and
providing, by the direct memory access controller, an interrupt to the central processing unit when a threshold number of samples have been provided to the one or more memory devices.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
detecting, by the central processing unit, a presence of the container proximate the dispensing system based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals;
receiving, by the central processing unit, an input from a user indicative of a request to dispense liquid or ice; and
controlling, by the central processing unit, an operation of the dispensing system to dispense liquid or ice.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
identifying, by the central processing unit, a top portion of the container and a level of liquid or ice within the container relative to the top portion based at least in part on the plurality of discrete signals; and
controlling the operation of the dispensing system to cease dispensing liquid or ice when the level of liquid or ice within the container reaches a threshold point relative to the top portion of the container.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing, by the direct memory access controller, an interrupt to the central processing unit when a number of samples stored in the one or more memory devices reaches a sample sequence threshold, the sample sequence threshold corresponding to a number of samples that can be taken during a predetermined time period at the predetermined sample frequency.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising, disabling, by the central processing unit, at least one of the analog-to-digital converter or the direct memory access controller based at least in part on the interrupt from the direct memory access controller.

20. A refrigerator appliance, comprising

Assignees

• Gen Electric
• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Root Steven Keith

Classifications

• F25C2700/04

  Level of water · CPC title

• F25C5/005 Primary

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F25D23/126

  Water cooler · CPC title

• F25C2700/02

  Level of ice · CPC title

• B67D1/0888

  Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means) · CPC title