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US 11,896,182 B2Granted
Dishwasher with image-based object sensing
AssigneeMidea Group Co., Ltd.
InventorsJoel Boyer, Robert M. Digman, Bassam Fawaz, Russell Dietrich
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Image-based object sensing is utilized in a dishwasher to configure a wash cycle and/or perform other operations in the dishwasher.
Claims20
A dishwasher, comprising:
- a wash tub;
- a fluid supply configured to supply fluid to the wash tub;
- an imaging device configured to capture images in the wash tub;
- a controllably-movable sprayer;
- and
- a controller coupled to the controllably-movable sprayer and the imaging device and configured to control the controllably-movable sprayer to spray fluid onto a soil spot on a utensil disposed in the wash tub during a wash cycle based upon a location of the soil spot determined from one or more images of the utensil captured by the imaging device.
3 more elements
A dishwasher, comprising:
- a wash tub;
- a fluid supply configured to supply fluid to the wash tub;
- an imaging device configured to capture images in the wash tub;
- a controllably-movable sprayer in fluid communication with the fluid supply, the controllably-movable sprayer being configurable to emit fluid in a plurality of spray patterns;
- and
- a controller coupled to the imaging device and the controllably-movable sprayer, the controller configured to control the imaging device to capture one or more images in the wash tub and assign one of the plurality of spray patterns for the controllably-movable sprayer based upon a load configuration for a load in the dishwasher and determined from the captured one or more images, wherein the controller is further configured to control the controllably-movable sprayer to spray fluid using the assigned spray pattern.
3 more elements
A dishwasher, comprising:
- a wash tub;
- a fluid supply configured to supply fluid to the wash tub;
- an imaging device configured to capture images in the wash tub;
- a plurality of controllably-movable sprayers in fluid communication with the fluid supply, wherein at least one of the plurality of controllably-movable sprayers is a multi-zone sprayer configurable to spray fluid into each of first and second zones in the wash tub;
- and
- a controller coupled to the imaging device and the plurality of controllably-movable sprayers, the controller configured to control the imaging device to capture one or more images of the first and second zones in the wash tub and to assign the multi-zone sprayer to one of the first and second zones based upon a load configuration for a load in the dishwasher and determined from the captured one or more images, wherein the controller is further configured to perform concurrent wash operations in the first and second zones by controlling controllably-movable sprayers among the plurality of controllably-movable sprayers to concurrently spray fluid into each of the first and second zones, and wherein the controller is further configured to control the multi-zone sprayer to spray fluid into the assigned one of the first and second zones when performing the concurrent wash operations.
3 more elements
A dishwasher, comprising:
- a wash tub;
- a fluid supply configured to supply fluid to the wash tub;
- an imaging device configured to capture images in the wash tub;
- a controllably-movable sprayer in fluid communication with the fluid supply;
- and
- a controller coupled to the imaging device and the controllably-movable sprayer, the controller configured to control the imaging device to capture one or more images of first and second zones in the wash tub, and to restrict a control path of the controllably-movable sprayer to spray fluid into the first zone while avoiding spraying fluid into the second zone based upon a determination made using the captured one or more images that the first zone is a high wash strength zone and the second zone is a low wash strength zone.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.