Patent Grant
10443182
The present disclosure generally relates to clothes drying appliances, and in particular, to a clothes dryer adapted to detect and display moisture-related information.
In order to provide a user with enhanced control features for a clothes drying appliance, it may be desirable to know the moisture content of the clothing being dried. For example, the dryer can be operated until it senses that the moisture content of the clothing has reached or fallen below a desired amount. The drying cycle of the clothes dryer may then be stopped or the temperature lowered accordingly.
In at least one aspect, a method of drying a load of fabric using a clothes dryer is provided. The method includes offering one or more preset dryness levels that are selectable using a programmable dryness level selector to establish a drying cycle, retrieving a stored target remaining moisture content that corresponds to the selected preset dryness level, sensing a remaining moisture content of the load of fabric in the clothes dryer, displaying the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric, and automatically stopping the clothes dryer using a controller configured to determine when the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric reaches the corresponding stored target remaining moisture content.
In at least another aspect, a method of controlling a clothes dryer is provided. The method includes offering one or more preset dryness levels selectable using a programmable dryness level selector to establish a drying cycle, storing a target remaining moisture content for at least one of the preset dryness levels, sensing a remaining moisture content of a load of fabric in the clothes dryer, displaying the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric, and automatically stopping the clothes dryer using a controller configured to determine when the remaining moisture content of the load of fabric reaches the corresponding stored target remaining moisture content.
In at least another aspect, a clothes dryer is provided. The clothes dryer includes a cabinet, a drum rotatably mounted within the cabinet for receiving a load of fabric to be dried, a display adapted to present a real time remaining moisture content for the load of fabric, a controller configured to receive information from one or more sensors and a selector to determine a length of time for a drying cycle, and a control panel coupled to the cabinet. The selector in communication with the controller includes a programmable dryness level selector, a temperature selector, and/or a cycle selector.
These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present device will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
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Remaining moisture content can be quantified in a variety of ways. In certain implementations, remaining moisture content can be quantified as a measure of the moisture content of a material, such as fabric or clothing, in equilibrium with the environment and the relative humidity of that environment. For example, in certain applications, remaining moisture content is quantified as the percent water weight remaining in a sample relative to the initial percent water weight in the sample. For example, if a wet load of fabric added to the clothes dryer 10 had 500 grams of total water being retained by the fabric, the remaining moisture content could be computed as “X” divided by 500 grams where “X” is calculated to be the total remaining amount of water retained by the saturated load of fabric at a particular point in time. This exemplary quantification approach is sometimes described within the industry as “relative moisture content” and abbreviated as “RMC.” However, other approaches that measure and quantify the amount of moisture remaining with clothes are within the scope of the present disclosure.
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To enable additional means of communications between the user and the clothes dryer 10, a receiver (not shown) may be additionally coupled to the controller 46 to receive and transmit information obtained from Wi-Fi signals, microwave signals, radio signals, infrared signals, Bluetooth signals, and/or satellite signals. In some embodiments, the controller 46 is configured to receive input from a portable electronic device to change the stored target remaining moisture content for the preset dryness level. The portable electronic device is not meant to be limiting and may include, for example, cellphones, tablets, remote controls, and/or laptop computers.
The display 22 can be any one of various display types. In some embodiments, the display 22 may be a 7-segment display and in other embodiments the display 22 may be a liquid crystalline display (LCD display). The display 22 may be positioned in the cabinet 14 of the clothes dryer 10 to appear as part of the control panel 18 or surface of the cabinet 14. In other examples, the display 22 may extend out away from the cabinet 14 of the clothes dryer 10 to be visible by the user. Using the display 22, the remaining moisture content presented by the display 22 represents a real time remaining moisture content that is continually updated during performance of the drying cycle. In other embodiments, the display 22 may simultaneously display the real time remaining moisture content and an estimated time remaining for the drying cycle to the user based upon the remaining moisture content in conjunction with the parameters of the drying cycle 52.
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The programmable dryness level selector may be a dial, a button, a switch, or a menu option that allows the user to choose between the one or more preset dryness levels. In some embodiments, the programmable dryness level selector is used to select the desired preset dryness level that may be presented as a drying cycle, for example, a normal cycle, a delicate cycle, a casual cycle, or a permanent press cycle. In other embodiments, the programmable dryness level selector may display the stored remaining moisture content for each selected preset dryness level. As shown in
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To meet and qualify for certain energy standards and criteria, such as those of the Consumer Union (CU), manufacturers may pre-program the clothes dryer 10 with target remaining moisture contents to achieve various testing scores. For example, a given drying cycle with a less dry setting may be set with a higher percent target remaining moisture content while the same cycle with a more dry setting may be set with a lower percent target remaining moisture content. Each of the cycles and/or dryness levels, including those not tested by the CU, may have a default remaining moisture content setting of any desired remaining moisture content percentage.
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Once the portion of the method 500 relating to programming the preset dryness levels is completed, the method 500 further includes selecting one of the preset dryness levels (step 528) and adding the load of fabric to be dried (step 532). The user may then start the drying cycle (step 536) and may engage the programmable dryness selector to view the remaining moisture content for the load of fabric (step 540). The user may again engage the dryness selector to view on the display 22, which can display the remaining moisture content and/or an estimated time remaining (step 540). The user may choose to view or change views between the remaining moisture content for the load of fabric and the estimated time remaining at any time. The method 500 further includes removing the load of fabric having a desired dryness (step 544) and powering off the clothes dryer (548).
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described device and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the device disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of description herein the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the device as oriented in
As used herein, the term “and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the device as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present device. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present device, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
The above description is considered that of the illustrated embodiments only. Modifications of the device will occur to those skilled in the art and to those who make or use the device. Therefore, it is understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above is merely for illustrative purposes and not intended to limit the scope of the device, which is defined by the following claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law, including the Doctrine of Equivalents.
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| 20180187366 A1 | Jul 2018 | US |
