# US 2019/0377973 A1 · Water purifier and control method thereof

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 2019/0377973 A1
- Document ID: US20190377973A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/542,940
- Filed: 2019-08-16
- Published: 2019-12-12
- Earliest claimed: 2019-07-18
- Assignees: LG Electronics Inc.
- Applicants: LG Electronics Inc.
- Inventors: Moon Sub JIN; Ji Hye KIM; Jin Sung PARK; Ji Young HUH; Beom Oh KIM
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190377973A1

## CPC

- B67D 1/0014: {the beverage being supplied from water mains}
- B67D 1/0884: {Means for controlling the parameters of the state of the liquid to be dispensed, e.g. temperature, pressure}
- B67D 1/0888: {Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means)}
- B67D 1/0894: {for the vessel to be filled}
- B67D 1/1236: {comprising means for detecting the size of vessels to be filled}
- B67D 1/1238: {comprising means for detecting the liquid level in vessels to be filled, e.g. using ultrasonic waves, optical reflexion, probes}
- B67D 1/124: {the flow being started or stopped by means actuated by the vessel to be filled, e.g. by switches, weighing}
- G06F 18/21: Design or setup of recognition systems or techniques; Extraction of features in feature space; Blind source separation
- G06F 18/2413: based on distances to training or reference patterns
- G06V 20/00: Scenes; Scene-specific elements (control of digital cameras H04N23/60)
- B67D 2210/0001: for liquid
- B67D 2210/00065: related to the use of drinking cups or glasses
- B67D 2210/00102: Heating only
- B67D: DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (cleaning pipes or tubes or systems of pipes or tubes B08B9/02; emptying or filling of bottles, jars, cans, casks, barrels, or similar containers, not otherwise provided for B67C; water supply E03; pipe systems F17D; domestic hot-water supply systems F24D; measuring volume, volume flow, mass flow or liquid level, metering by volume G01F; coin-freed or like apparatus G07F)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING

## Abstract

Disclosed are a water purifier and a control method thereof for controlling a main body by executing an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm or a machine learning algorithm in a 5G environment established for the Internet of things. The control method of the water purifier according to the present disclosure includes a photographing step, a scanning step, a recognizing step, a calculating step, a determining step, and a water discharging step. When the water discharging step is initiated, the distance sensor generates real-time height information on the water surface, and may stop discharging water before a real-time height exceeds the highest point height.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A control method of a water purifier for discharging water into a container,
the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are installed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor, and to store reference image information and reference water discharge information on each of the container and content contained in the container, the control method comprising:
a photographing step for photographing, by the camera, the seating surface to generate real-time image information, when water discharge information is inputted;
a scanning step for scanning, by the distance sensor, the seating surface to generate real-time distance information;
a recognizing step for recognizing the container and the content by comparing the real-time image information and the reference image information; and
a water discharging step for discharging the water according to the water discharge information or the reference water discharge information,
wherein the real-time distance information includes lowest point height information and highest point height information on the container; and
wherein when the water discharging step is initiated, the distance sensor is configured to generate real-time height information on a water surface and stop discharging the water before a real-time height exceeds the highest point height.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The control method according to claim 1, wherein:
the water discharge information comprises temperature information on the water;
a determining step is further performed before the water discharging step;
at the determining step, it is determined whether the water temperature information matches the reference water discharge information; and
when the water temperature information matches the reference water discharge information, at the water discharging step, the water is discharged according to the water discharge information.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The control method according to claim 2, wherein when, at the determining step, the water temperature information does not match the reference water discharge information, a confirmation request signal is outputted.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The control method according to claim 1, wherein when the container and the content are recognized at the recognizing step, at the water discharging step, the water is discharged according to the reference water discharge information.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The control method according to claim 1, wherein when the container and the content are not recognized at the recognizing step, a confirmation request signal is outputted.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The control method according to claim 1, wherein an updating step is further performed after the water discharging step; and
at the updating step, the reference image information and the reference water discharge information are updated to include the real-time image information, the real-time distance information, and the water discharge information.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The control method according to claim 1, wherein:
the reference water discharge information comprises at least one of the water temperature information or amount of water information;
a calculating step is further performed before the water discharging step;
at the calculating step, the real-time image information and the real-time distance information are analyzed to generate capacity information on the container; and
at the water discharging step, the water is discharged according to the reference water discharge information and the capacity information, instead of the water discharge information.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The control method according to claim 7, wherein:
two or more markers are provided on the seating surface;
the control unit stores relative coordinates of the two or more markers; and
the calculating step comprises a first calculating step for calculating area information on the container based on the relative coordinates of the container and the plurality of markers in the real-time image information.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The control method according to claim 8, wherein the calculating step comprises:
a second calculating step for calculating height information on the container using the lowest point height information and the highest point height information on the container; and
a third calculating step for calculating the capacity information on the container using the area information and the height information.

### Claim 10

A control method of a water purifier for recognizing a container,
the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are disposed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor, and to store reference image information and reference water discharge information on the container,
the control method comprising:
a photographing step for photographing, by the camera, the seating surface to generate real-time image information on the container;
a scanning step for scanning, by the distance sensor, the seating surface to generate real-time distance information on the container; and
a calculating step for analyzing the real-time image information and the real-time distance information to generate capacity information on the container,
wherein the reference image information and the reference water discharge information are updated to include the real-time image information, the real-time distance information, and the capacity information.

### Claim 11

A water purifier for recognizing a container and content contained in the container and discharging water, the water purifier comprising:
a main body configured to form a seating surface on which the container is placed, and to discharge water into the container;
a camera and a distance sensor that are disposed vertically over the seating surface and that face the seating surface; and
a control unit configured to control operations of the main body, the camera, and the distance sensor,
wherein the camera is configured to photograph the seating surface to generate real-time image information;
wherein the distance sensor is configured to scan the seating surface to generate lowest point height information and highest point height information on the container before the water is discharged, and to generate real-time height information on a water surface after the water is discharged; and
wherein the control unit is configured to stop discharging the water before a real-time height exceeds the highest point height.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The water purifier according to claim 11, wherein the control unit is configured to compare at least one of the reference image information on the container or the reference image information on the content with the real-time image information, and to control the amount of water to be discharged according to the comparison result.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The water purifier according to claim 11, wherein:
two or more markers are provided on the seating surface, and
wherein the control unit is configured to:
store relative coordinates of the two or more markers; and
calculate area information on the container based on the relative coordinates of the container and the plurality of markers in the real-time image information.