Method of determining a load size in a laundry treating appliance
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsAndrew Leitert, Karl David McAllister
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims20
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 and a controller having a processor, the method comprising:
- generating a set of multiple images, with at least one imaging device, of at least a portion of the treating chamber having detectable graduated markings located on a solid portion forming the treating chamber to define image data;
- detecting, by the controller, at least one of the detectable graduated markings in at least some of the image data;
- and
- determining, by the controller, a load size of a laundry load within the treating chamber based on the detected at least one of the detectable graduated markings wherein the determining the load size comprises comparing the detected at least one of the detectable graduated marking to reference information indicative of a free volume or free height associated with the detected at least one of the detectable graduated markings.
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 and a controller having a processor, the method comprising:
- generating a set of multiple images, with an 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 to define image data;
- detecting, by the controller, at least one of the detectable graduated markings in at least some of the image data;
- and
- determining, by the controller, a load size based on the detected at least one of the detectable graduated markings wherein the determining the load size comprises comparing the detected at least one of the detectable graduated markings to reference information that indicates a free volume or free height related thereto.
A method of determining a laundry load size in a laundry treating appliance comprising an imaging device and a controller having a processor, the method comprising:
- generating multiple images to form image data, with at least one imaging device, of at least a portion of a treating chamber defined by a perforated receptacle configured for receiving laundry for treatment in accordance with a treating cycle of operation wherein perforations of the perforated receptacle define detectable graduated markings located on at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber;
- detecting, by the controller, at least one of the detectable graduated markings in at least some of the image data by processing the image data with computer software stored in the controller;
- and
- determining, by the controller, a load size based on the detected at least one of the detectable graduated markings in comparison to reference information that indicates a free volume or free height associated with the detected at least one of the detectable graduated markings located on at least a portion of the laundry treating chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.