Dispensing cup monitoring for a dishwasher appliance
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorRicardo Alberto Aguiar, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dishwasher appliance includes a door pivotally mounted to a cabinet to provide selective access to a wash chamber, a dispensing assembly including a dispenser cup, a dispenser door for providing selective access to the dispenser cup, and an actuating mechanism for moving the dispenser door from a closed position to an open position, and a microphone for monitoring sound generated during operation of the dishwasher appliance. A controller is configured to energize the actuating mechanism, obtain a sound signal generated during energization of the actuating mechanism and/or a power draw from the actuating mechanism, determine that the dispensing assembly has malfunctioned based at least in part on the sound signal or the power draw, and implement a responsive action.
Claims20
A dishwasher appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the dishwasher appliance comprising:
- a wash tub positioned within a cabinet and defining a wash chamber;
- a door pivotally mounted to the cabinet to provide selective access to the wash chamber;
- a dispensing assembly comprising a dispenser cup, a dispenser door for providing selective access to the dispenser cup, and an actuating mechanism for moving the dispenser door from a closed position to an open position;
- a microphone for monitoring sound generated during operation of the dishwasher appliance;
- and
- a controller in operative communication with the dispensing assembly and the microphone, the controller being configured to:
- energize the actuating mechanism;
- obtain a sound signal generated during energization of the actuating mechanism;
- determine that the dispensing assembly has malfunctioned based at least in part on the sound signal;
- and
- implement a responsive action in response to determining that the dispensing assembly has malfunctioned based at least in part on the sound signal.
A method of operating a dishwasher appliance, the dishwasher appliance comprising a dispensing assembly comprising a dispenser cup, a dispenser door for providing selective access to the dispenser cup, and an actuating mechanism for moving the dispenser door from a closed position to an open position, the dishwasher appliance further comprising a microphone for monitoring sound generated during operation of the dishwasher appliance, the method comprising:
- energizing the actuating mechanism;
- obtaining a sound signal generated during energization of the actuating mechanism;
- determining that the dispensing assembly has malfunctioned based at least in part on the sound signal;
- and
- implementing a responsive action in response to determining that the dispensing assembly has malfunctioned based at least in part on the sound signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.