# US 12,006,611 B2 · Child detection algorithm for a laundry appliance

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- Number: US 12,006,611 B2
- Document ID: US12006611B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/166,293
- Filed: 2021-02-03
- Published: 2022-08-04
- Granted: 2024-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2021-02-03
- Assignees: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
- Applicants: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
- Inventors: Je Kwon Yoon; Seung-Yeong Park; Hoyoung Lee; Khalid Jamal Mashal
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12006611B2

## CPC

- D06F 33/47: Responding to irregular working conditions, e.g. malfunctioning of pumps (safety arrangements D06F37/42)
- D06F 23/02: and rotating or oscillating about a horizontal axis
- D06F 34/04: Signal transfer or data transmission arrangements
- D06F 34/14: Arrangements for detecting or measuring specific parameters
- D06F 34/28: Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating programme parameters, e.g. the selected programme or its progress
- D06F 37/266: {Gaskets mounted between tub and casing around the loading opening}
- D06F 37/42: Safety arrangements, e.g. for stopping rotation of the receptacle upon opening of the casing door
- G06T 7/254: involving subtraction of images
- G06V 10/82: using neural networks
- G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69)
- G06V 40/20: Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition (recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16)
- D06F 34/05: for wireless communication between components, e.g. for remote monitoring or control
- D06F 39/14: Doors or covers; Securing means therefor
- D06F 2103/24: Spin speed; Drum movements
- D06F 2105/02: Water supply
- D06F 2105/46: Drum speed; Actuation of motors, e.g. starting or interrupting
- D06F 2105/58: Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
- D06F 2105/60: Audible signals
- D06F 2105/62: Stopping or disabling machine operation
- G06T 2207/20081: Training; Learning
- G06T 2207/20084: Artificial neural networks [ANN]
- D06F: LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING

## Abstract

A laundry appliance includes a basket rotatably mounted within a cabinet and defining a chamber configured for receiving a load of clothes, and a camera assembly mounted within the cabinet in view of the chamber. A controller of the laundry appliance implements a method for detecting living things in the chamber and initiates a responsive action, for example, by disturbing the chamber by adjusting at least one operating parameter of the laundry appliance, obtaining one or more images of the chamber using the camera assembly, and determining that there is movement in the chamber based at least in part on the one or more images using an image processing algorithm and a machine learning image recognition process.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A laundry appliance comprising:
a cabinet;
a basket rotatably mounted within the cabinet and defining a chamber configured for receiving a load of clothes;
a motor assembly operably coupled to the basket for selectively rotating the basket;
a camera assembly mounted within the cabinet in view of the chamber; and
a controller operably coupled to the motor assembly and the camera assembly, the controller being configured to:
receive a command to commence an operating cycle;
disturb the chamber by adjusting at least one operating parameter of the laundry appliance;
determine, in response to and after the disturbance of the chamber, that there is movement in the chamber after the basket is no longer rotating, wherein determining that there is movement in the chamber comprises obtaining one or more images of the chamber using the camera assembly and implementing an image processing algorithm on the one or more images; and
implement a responsive action in response to determining that there is movement in the chamber.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein disturbing the chamber comprises:
operating the motor assembly to rotate the basket.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, further comprising:
an audible alarm, wherein disturbing the chamber comprises generating an alarm sound with the audible alarm.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, further comprising:
a water supply system, wherein disturbing the chamber comprises supplying water into the basket.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the image processing algorithm utilizes image differentiation.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The laundry appliance of claim 5, wherein determining that there is movement in the chamber further comprises:
analyzing the one or more images using a machine learning image recognition process to identify movement or visual changes within the chamber.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein determining that there is movement in the chamber comprises:
analyzing the one or more images using a machine learning image recognition process.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The laundry appliance of claim 7, wherein the machine learning image recognition process comprises at least one of a convolution neural network (“CNN”), a region-based convolution neural network (“R-CNN”), a deep belief network (“DBN”), or a deep neural network (“DNN”) image recognition process.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
stopping the performance of the operating cycle and sounding an alarm.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
providing a user notification of the movement in the chamber.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The laundry appliance of claim 10, wherein the laundry appliance further comprises:
a user interface panel, wherein the user notification is provided through the user interface panel.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The laundry appliance of claim 10, wherein the controller is in operative communication with a remote device through an external network, and wherein the user notification is provided through the remote device.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive a cycle verification from a remote device; and
commence the operating cycle in response to receiving the cycle verification.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, further comprising:
a tub light for illuminating the chamber, wherein the controller is further configured to turn on the tub light prior to obtaining the image of the chamber.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, further comprising:
a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet for providing selective access to the chamber; and
a gasket positioned between wherein the door and the cabinet, wherein the camera assembly is mounted in the gasket or on an inner surface of the door.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the laundry appliance is a washing machine appliance, a dryer appliance, or a combination washer/dryer appliance.