Apparatus and method for determining a characteristic of a consumable
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsKIRK M. DUNSBERGEN, KAUSTAV GHOSH, ROBERT J. PINKOWSKI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The embodiments of the invention relate to a method and apparatus for determining at least one characteristic of a physical resource for use in a physical resource consuming apparatus.
Claims70
A method for determining at least one characteristic of a treating chemistry inside a removable component having a graphic applied to the removable component, with the graphic, removable component, and removable component contents defining a multiple layer composite, the method comprising:
- illuminating a first depth of the composite and determining a corresponding first reflectance of the first depth of the composite;
- illuminating a second depth of the composite, which is deeper than the first depth, and determining a corresponding second reflectance of the second depth of the composite;
- and
- determining at least one characteristic of the treating chemistry from the first and second reflectances.
A physical resource consuming apparatus comprising:
- a physical resource consuming system operating according to a cycle of operation requiring a consumption of a physical resource;
- a physical resource dispensing system coupled to the physical resource consuming system to dispense the physical resource coupled to the physical resource dispensing system and comprising:
- a removable component removably coupled to the physical resource dispensing system and defining a reservoir configured to hold the physical resource;
- a graphic provided on the removable component;
- and
- a composite defined by at least a portion of the graphic, the removable component and the physical resource, residing at different depths in the composite, the composite having optically encoded information regarding a characteristic of the physical resource contained in the reservoir;
- an optical reading system comprising:
- an illumination source selectively providing illumination to first and second depths of the composite when the removable component is coupled to the physical resource dispensing system;
- a reflectance reader configured to read the reflectance from the composite when illuminated by the illumination source at the first and second depths and provide an output indicative of the read reflectance during illumination at the first and second depths;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the optical reading system to receive the output and determine at least one operating parameter of the physical resource consuming apparatus as a function of the output.
A method of operating a physical resource consuming apparatus operable according to a cycle of operation and having a removable component supplying the physical resource, and on which is provided a graphic, with the graphic, removable component and physical resource defining a multiple layer composite, the method comprising:
- illuminating a first depth of the composite and determining a corresponding first reflectance;
- and
- illuminating a second depth of the composite, different than the first depth, and determining a corresponding second reflectance;
- determining at least one characteristic of the physical resource from the first and second reflectances;
- and
- determining at least one operating parameter for the physical resource consuming apparatus as a function of the at least one characteristic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.