# US 10,501,880 B2 · Laundry treating appliance and method of operation > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,501,880 B2 - Document ID: US10501880B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/606,188 - Filed: 2017-05-26 - Published: 2018-11-29 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-26 - Assignees: Whirlpool Corporation - Applicants: Whirlpool Corporation - Inventors: Daniel E. Quinn - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10501880B2 ## CPC - D06F 33/40: of centrifugal separation of water from the laundry - G05B 19/0415: {adapting phase duration according to measured parameters} - D06F 33/48: Preventing or reducing imbalance or noise - D06F 2101/00: User input for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers - D06F 2103/04: Quantity, e.g. weight or variation of weight - D06F 2103/06: Type or material - D06F 2103/08: Humidity - D06F 2103/26: Imbalance; Noise level - D06F 2105/48: Drum speed - D06F 2105/56: Remaining operation time; Remaining operational cycles - D06F 2105/58: Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user - D06F: LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) ## Abstract A laundry treating appliance and method of operating a laundry treating appliance that includes wetting the laundry load in a drum according to a selected cycle of operation. A controller associated with the laundry treating appliance may be configured to determine a remaining moisture content of the laundry and a time remaining in the selected cycle of operation based on the remaining moisture content. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of operating a laundry treating appliance in accordance with an automatic cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance having a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber and rotatable about an axis of rotation, a motor configured to rotate the drum, a liquid supply system, and a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation, the method comprising: receiving, as user input provided to the controller, a selected final remaining moisture content of a laundry load; wetting the laundry load with liquid from the liquid supply system according to at least one of a wash phase or a rinse phase of a selected cycle of operation to define a selected phase, the wetted laundry load having a first remaining moisture content; during the selected phase, rotating the drum; determining, by an imbalance sensor in communication with the controller, a magnitude of imbalance of the laundry load; determining, by the controller, a first extraction speed for rotating the drum during an extraction phase to extract moisture from the laundry load based on the magnitude of imbalance; during the extraction phase, determining, by the controller, a time remaining in the extraction phase to decrease the first remaining moisture content of the laundry to the selected final remaining moisture content, wherein the controller is configured to provide the selected final remaining moisture content and a value indicative of the first extraction speed as input into a first function that provides an output indicative of the time remaining in the extraction phase; and rotating the drum at the first extraction speed to extract moisture from the laundry load to decrease the remaining moisture content of the laundry load to the selected final remaining moisture content as determined by a moisture sensor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising during the extraction phase, determining, by the controller, a second extraction speed, different than the first extraction speed, for rotating the drum based on the magnitude of imbalance. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising rotating the drum at the second extraction speed, wherein the second extraction speed is greater than the first extraction speed. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising, subsequent to rotating the drum at the second extraction speed, determining, by the controller, a second remaining moisture content, less than the first remaining moisture content, wherein the controller is configured to provide a value indicative of the second extraction speed as input into a second function that provides an output indicative of the second remaining moisture content. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising determining, by the controller, a time remaining in the extraction phase to decrease the remaining moisture content of the laundry from the second remaining moisture content to the selected final remaining moisture content, wherein the controller is configured to provide the selected final remaining moisture content and a value indicative of the second extraction speed as input into a second function that provides an output indicative of the time remaining in the extraction phase. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying the time remaining in the extraction phase on a user interface incorporated into the laundry treating appliance based on the output indicative of the time remaining in the extraction phase. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising determining, during the rotating of the drum at the first extraction speed, a power output of the motor. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein when the power output of the motor is less than a predetermined power limit of the motor, rotating the drum at the second extraction speed. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the controller, a second remaining moisture content of the laundry, less than the first remaining moisture content, based on the first extraction speed and one of a time remaining in the extraction phase or an elapsed time. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the first function is based on at least one an amount of laundry in the load or a type of laundry in the load. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the time remaining in the extraction phase on a user interface incorporated into the laundry treating appliance. ### Claim 12 A laundry treating appliance, comprising: a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to a cycle of operation and rotatable about an axis of rotation; a liquid supply system fluidly coupled with the treating chamber for supplying liquid to the laundry load to wet the laundry load to a first remaining moisture content according to at least one of a wash phase or a rinse phase of the cycle of operation to define a selected phase; a motor operably coupled with the drum and configured to rotate the drum according to the selected cycle of operation; and a controller operably coupled with the motor and configured to control the motor to rotate the drum, the controller being further configured to: receive, as input from a user, a selected final remaining moisture content of the laundry load; determine, by an imbalance sensor, a magnitude of imbalance of the laundry load; determine a first extraction speed for rotating the drum during an extraction phase to extract moisture from the laundry load based on the magnitude of imbalance; provide the selected final remaining moisture content and a value indicative of the first extraction speed as input into a first function that provides an output indicative of a time remaining in the extraction phase; and rotate the drum at the first extraction speed to extract moisture from the laundry load to decrease the remaining moisture content of the laundry load to the selected final remaining moisture content as determined by a moisture sensor. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The laundry treating appliance of claim 12, further comprising a user interface operably coupled with the controller, the controller configured to control the user interface to display the time remaining in the extraction phase. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The laundry treating appliance of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to, during the extraction phase, determine a second extraction speed, different than the first extraction speed, for rotating the drum based on the magnitude of imbalance. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The laundry treating appliance of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to, subsequent to rotating the drum at the second extraction speed, determine a second remaining moisture content, and where the controller is configured to provide a value indicative of the second extraction speed as input into a second function that provides an output indicative of the second remaining moisture content. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The laundry treating appliance of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to determine a time remaining in the extraction phase to decrease the remaining moisture content of the laundry from the second remaining moisture content to the selected final remaining moisture content, and where the controller is configured to provide the selected final remaining moisture content and a value indicative of the second extraction speed as input into a second function that provides an output indicative of the time remaining in the extraction phase. ### Claim 17 The laundry treating appliance of d 16, further comprising a user interface operably coupled with the controller, the controller configured to control the user interface to display the time remaining in the extraction phase based on output indicative of the time remaining in the extraction phase. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The laundry treating appliance of claim 14 wherein the controller is configured to determine a power output of the motor during the rotating of the drum at the first extraction speed. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The laundry treating appliance of claim 18 wherein when the power output of the motor is less than a predetermined power limit of the motor, the controller is configured to rotate the drum at the second extraction speed. ### Claim 20 A method of operating a laundry treating appliance in accordance with an automatic cycle of operation, the laundry treating appliance having a drum at least partially defining a treating chamber and rotatable about an axis of rotation, a motor configured to rotate the drum, a liquid supply system, and a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation, the method comprising: receiving as user input to the controller, a selected final remaining moisture content of a laundry load; wetting the laundry load with liquid from the liquid supply system according to at least one of a wash phase or a rinse phase of a selected cycle of operation to define a selected phase, the wetted laundry load having a first remaining moisture content; rotating the drum at an extraction speed to extract at least a portion of the liquid wetting the laundry load; determining, by an imbalance sensor, a magnitude of imbalance of the laundry load and a rotation speed for the drum for extracting moisture from the laundry load based upon the magnitude of imbalance; determining, by input from a moisture sensor provided to the controller, a remaining moisture content of the laundry; determining, by the controller, a time remaining in the selected cycle of operation based on the remaining moisture content of the laundry; rotating the drum at the rotation speed to extract moisture from the laundry until a moisture content of the laundry load reaches the selected final remaining moisture content; and displaying the time remaining on a user interface.