CA2588105A1 - A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance - Google Patents

A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2588105A1
CA2588105A1 CA002588105A CA2588105A CA2588105A1 CA 2588105 A1 CA2588105 A1 CA 2588105A1 CA 002588105 A CA002588105 A CA 002588105A CA 2588105 A CA2588105 A CA 2588105A CA 2588105 A1 CA2588105 A1 CA 2588105A1
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Canada
Prior art keywords
stop time
cycle
dry
program code
computer
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
CA002588105A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2588105C (en
Inventor
William Joseph Wunderlin
Alexander Carswell Cambon
Cathy Diane Emery
Zubair Hameed
Mahmoud Fariz Ismail
Michel Dion
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mabe Canada Inc
General Electric Co
Original Assignee
Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US09/563,022 external-priority patent/US6845290B1/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2588105A1 publication Critical patent/CA2588105A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2588105C publication Critical patent/CA2588105C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Abstract

System and method for controlling an appliance for drying clothing articles is provided. The appliance has a container for receiving the clothi ng articles. A motor is provided for rotating the container about an axis. A heater is provided for supplying heated air to the container during a dry cycle. A sensor is provid ed for providing a signal indicative of moisture content of the articles. Memory is provided memory for storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles. A noi se- reduction filter is coupled to receive the signal from the moisture sensor t o provide selectable filtering to that signal. A timer provides a signal indicative of elapsed time upon start of the dry cycle. A module is responsive to the historical data i n the memory for determining an initial estimate of the stop time of the dry cycle to be executed. A processor allows for estimating the stop time of the dry cycle a s the cycle is being executed. The estimation of the stop time is based on a respective functional relationship of the noise-reduced sensor signal, and the timer signal, relative to one or more characteristics of the articles and one or more desired values of predetermined dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer. The initial estimate of the stop time is superceded by the stop time estimated b y the processor as the cycle is being executed.

Claims (52)

1. An appliance for drying clothing articles, the appliance comprising:
a container for receiving the clothing articles;
a motor for rotating the container about an axis;
a heater for supplying heated air to the container during a dry cycle;
a sensor for providing a signal indicative of moisture content of the articles;
memory for storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles;
a noise-reduction filter coupled to receive the signal from the moisture sensor to provide selectable filtering to that signal;
a timer for providing a signal indicative of elapsed time upon start of the dry cycle;
a module responsive to the historical data in the memory for determining an initial estimate of the stop time of the dry cycle to be executed; and a processor for estimating the stop time of the dry cycle as the cycle is being executed, the estimation of the stop time based on a respective functional relationship of the noise-reduced sensor signal, and the timer signal, relative to one or more characteristics of the articles and one or more desired values of predetermined dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer, the initial estimate of the stop time being superceded by the stop time estimated by the processor as the cycle is being executed.
2. The appliance of claim 1 further comprising a control decision module coupled to the processor to receive the stop time being estimated therein for controlling the appliance subsequent to the dry cycle.
3. The appliance of claim 2 wherein the control decision module is further configured for controlling execution of a sanitize cycle subsequent to the dry cycle.
4. The appliance of claim 1 wherein the memory further stores summary statistics of the historical data.
5. An appliance for drying clothing articles, the appliance comprising:
a container for receiving the clothing articles;
a motor for rotating the container about an axis;
a heater for supplying heated air to the container during a dry cycle to be executed; and a module for estimating an initial stop time of the dry cycle to be executed based on historical stop time data of previously executed dry cycles.
6. The appliance of claim 5 wherein the module for estimating the initial stop time is configured to execute a moving average of the historical stop time data.
7. The appliance of claim 6 wherein the moving average executed on the historical data is an exponentially-weighted moving average.
8. The appliance of claim 5 further comprising a sub-module for maintaining consistent relationships for each estimated initial stop time regardless of respective characteristics of the articles and desired values of respective dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer.
9. The appliance of claim 8 wherein the sub-module is configured to execute the following:
constructing a table having a plurality of cells respectively populated with initial stop time estimates corresponding to the respective characteristics of the articles and desired values of the dry-cycle parameters;

selecting one of the plurality of cells as a reference cell;
retrieving the last value of the reference cell;
retrieving an estimated stop time value of the last-executed dry cycle;
retrieving the actual stop time value of the last-executed dry cycle; and calculating a present value of the reference cell based on executing a predetermined moving average on the respective retrieved values.
10. The appliance of claim 9 wherein the sub-module is further configured to execute the following:
updating each initial stop time estimate in each cell, other than the reference cell, based on a respective weighing ratio relative to the calculated present value of the reference cell.
11. An appliance for drying clothing articles, the appliance comprising:
a container for receiving the clothing articles;
a motor for rotating the container about an axis;
a heater for supplying heated air to the container during a dry cycle;
a sensor for providing a signal indicative of moisture content of the articles;

memory for storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles;
a timer for providing a signal indicative of elapsed time upon start of the dry cycle;

a module responsive to the historical data in the memory for determining an initial estimate of the stop time of the dry cycle to be executed;

a processor for estimating the stop time of a respective dry cycle as the cycle is being executed, the estimation of the stop time based on a respective functional relationship of the noise-reduced sensor signal, and the timer signal, relative to one or more characteristics of the articles and one or more desired values of dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer; and a stop time update module configured to update the estimated initial stop time as the dry cycle is being executed based on the stop time estimation from the processor.
12. The appliance of claim 11 further comprising a display for displaying data related to the stop time estimate for the dry cycle.
13. The appliance of claim 12 wherein the display comprises a light-emitting diode display.
14. The appliance of claim 12 wherein the display comprises a liquid crystal display.
15. The appliance of claim 12 wherein the display in response to respective control signals applied thereto is configured to execute the following:
displaying the initial estimate of the stop time;
counting down to a minimum stop time for the cycle being executed;
displaying the stop time estimate from the processor upon a respective moisture threshold level being reached; and displaying an await indication in case the threshold level has not being reached.
16. The appliance of claim 15 wherein the display comprises a plurality of segments being selectively lighted in response to the control signals.
17. The appliance of claim 15 wherein the control signals applied to the display are programmed for sequentially illuminating adjacent segments at the periphery of the display at a predetermined rate to give the appearance of movement around the periphery of the display and thus conveying to the user the await indication.
18. The appliance of claim 15 wherein the predetermined rate is chosen proportional to the time remaining for completing the dry cycle being executed.
19. The appliance of claim 12 wherein the stop time update module is configured to update the stop time being presently displayed without substantial time jumps through the use of await indications in case the estimated stop time by the processor is longer relative to the presently displayed stop time.
20. The appliance of claim 19 wherein the display comprises a plurality of segments being selectively lighted in response to control signals applied thereto.
21. The appliance of claim 20 wherein the control signals applied to the display are programmed for sequentially illuminating adjacent segments at the periphery of the display at a predetermined rate to give the appearance of movement around the periphery of the display and thus conveying to the user the await indication.
22. The appliance of claim 21 wherein the predetermined rate is chosen proportional to the time remaining for completing the dry cycle being executed.
23. A method for drying clothing articles in a dryer appliance, the method comprising:
generating a signal indicative of moisture content of the articles;
storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles;
executing selectable filtering to the sensor signal to generate a smoothed signal;
generating a signal indicative of elapsed time upon start of the dry cycle;
determining an initial estimate of the stop time of the dry cycle to be executed based on the historical stop time data; and estimating the stop time of the dry cycle as the cycle is being executed, the estimation of the stop time based on a respective functional relationship of the noise-reduced signal, and the elapsed time signal, relative to one or more characteristics of the articles and one or more desired values of predetermined dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer, the initial estimate of the stop time being superceded by the stop time estimated as the cycle is being executed.
24. The method of claim 23 further comprising processing the stop time estimated as the cycle is being executed for controlling the appliance subsequent to the dry cycle.
25. The method of claim 24 further comprising controlling execution of a sanitize cycle subsequent to the dry cycle.
26. The method of claim 23 wherein the storing step comprises storing summary statistics of the historical data.
27. A method for drying clothing articles in a dryer appliance, the method comprising estimating an initial stop time of the dry cycle to be executed based on historical stop time data of previously executed dry cycles.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein estimating the initial stop time comprises executing a moving average on the historical stop time data.
29. The method of claim 28 wherein the moving average executed on the historical data is an exponentially-weighted moving average.
30. The method of claim 27 further comprising maintaining consistent relationships for each estimated initial stop time regardless of respective characteristics of the articles and desired values of respective dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein maintaining consistent relationships comprises:
constructing a table having a plurality of cells respectively populated with initial stop time estimates corresponding to the respective characteristics of the articles and desired values of the dry-cycle parameters;
selecting one of the plurality of cells as a reference cell;
retrieving the last value of the reference cell;
retrieving an estimated stop time value of the last-executed dry cycle;

retrieving the actual stop time value of the last-executed dry cycle; and calculating a present value of the reference cell based on executing a predetermined moving average on the respective retrieved values.
32. The method of claim 31 further comprising updating each initial stop time estimate in each cell, other than the reference cell, based on a respective weighing ratio relative to the calculated present value of the reference cell.
33. An article of manufacture comprising:
a computer-readable medium containing program code means for causing a controller to control drying of clothing articles in a dryer appliance, the computer-readable program code means comprising:
computer-readable program code means for receiving a signal indicative of moisture content of the articles;
computer-readable program code means for storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles;
computer-readable program code means for executing selectable filtering to the sensor signal to generate a smoothed signal;
computer-readable program code means for receiving a signal indicative of elapsed time upon start of the dry cycle;
computer-readable program code means for determining an initial estimate of the stop time of the dry cycle to be executed based on the historical stop time data; and computer-readable program code means for estimating the stop time of the dry cycle as the cycle is being executed, the estimation based on a respective functional relationship of the noise-reduced signal, and the elapsed time signal, relative to one or more characteristics of the articles and one or more desired values of predetermined dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer, the initial estimate of the stop time being superceded by the stop time estimated as the cycle is being executed.
34. The article of manufacture of claim 33 further comprising computer-readable program code means for processing the stop time estimated as the cycle is being executed for controlling the appliance subsequent to the dry cycle.
35. The article of manufacture of claim 34 further comprising computer-readable program code means for controlling execution of a sanitize cycle subsequent to the dry cycle.
36. The article of manufacture of claim 33 wherein the computer-readable program code means for storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles comprises code means for storing summary statistics of the historical data.
37. An article of manufacture comprising:
a computer-readable medium containing program code means for causing a controller to control drying of clothing articles in a dryer appliance, the computer-readable program code means comprising:
computer-readable program code means for estimating an initial stop time of the dry cycle to be executed based on historical stop time data of previously executed dry cycles.
38. The article of manufacture of claim 37 wherein the computer-readable program code means for estimating the initial stop time comprises computer-readable program code means for executing a predetermined moving average on the historical stop time data.
39. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein the predetermined moving average executed on the historical data is an exponentially-weighted moving average.
40. The article of manufacture of claim 37 further comprising computer-readable program code means for maintaining consistent relationships for each estimated initial stop time regardless of respective characteristics of the articles and desired values of respective dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer.
41. The article of manufacture of claim 40 wherein the computer-readable program code means for maintaining consistent relationships comprises:
computer-readable program code means for constructing a table having a plurality of cells respectively populated with initial stop time estimates corresponding to the respective characteristics of the articles and desired values of the dry-cycle parameters;
computer-readable program code means for selecting one of the plurality of cells as a reference cell;
computer-readable program code means for retrieving the last value of the reference cell;
computer-readable program code means for retrieving an estimated stop time value of the last-executed dry cycle;
computer-readable program code means for retrieving the actual stop time value of the last-executed dry cycle; and computer-readable program code means for calculating a present value of the reference cell based on executing a predetermined moving average on the respective retrieved values.
42. The article of manufacture of claim 41 further comprising computer-readable program code means for updating each initial stop time estimate in each cell, other than the reference cell, based on a respective weighing ratio relative to the calculated present value of the reference cell.
43. An article of manufacture comprising:
a computer-readable medium containing program code means for causing a controller to control drying of clothing articles in a dryer appliance, the computer-readable program code means comprising:
computer-readable program code means for receiving a signal indicative of moisture content of the articles;

computer-readable program code means for storing historical stop time data of respective dry cycles;
computer-readable program code means for receiving a signal indicative of elapsed time upon start of the dry cycle;
computer-readable program code means for processing the historical data for determining an initial estimate of the stop time of the dry cycle to be executed;
computer-readable program code means for estimating the stop time of a respective dry cycle as the cycle is being executed, the estimation of the stop time based on a respective functional relationship of the moisture-indicative signal, and the time-elapsed signal, relative to one or more characteristics of the articles and one or more desired values of dry-cycle parameters selectable by a respective user of the dryer; and computer-readable program code means for updating the estimated initial stop time as the dry cycle is being executed based on the stop time estimation as the cycle is being executed.
44. The article of manufacture of claim 43 further comprising computer-readable program code means for displaying data related to the stop time estimate for the dry cycle.
45. The article of manufacture of claim 44 wherein the computer-readable program code means for displaying data related to the stop time estimate comprises:
computer-readable program code means for displaying the initial estimate of the stop time in a display;
computer-readable program code means for counting down to a minimum stop time for the cycle being executed;
computer-readable program code means for displaying the stop time estimate from the processor upon a respective moisture threshold level being reached;
and computer-readable program code means for displaying an await indication in case the threshold level has not being reached.
46. The article of manufacture of claim 45 further comprising computer-readable program code means for selectively lighting a plurality of display segments.
47. The article of manufacture of claim 45 wherein the computer-readable program code means for selectively lighting the plurality of display segments is programmed for sequentially illuminating adjacent segments at the periphery of the display at a predetermined rate to give the appearance of movement around the periphery of the display and thus conveying to the user an await indication.
48. The article of manufacture of claim 47 wherein the predetermined rate is chosen proportional to the time remaining for completing the dry cycle being executed.
49. The article of manufacture of claim 45 wherein the computer-readable program code means for updating of the stop time being presently displayed is programmed to avoid substantial time jumps through the use of await indications in case the estimated stop time is longer relative to the presently displayed stop time.
50. The article of manufacture of claim 49 further comprising computer-readable program code means for selectively lighting a plurality of display.
51. The article of manufacture of claim 50 wherein the computer-readable program code means for selectively lighting the plurality of display segments is programmed for sequentially illuminating adjacent segments at the periphery of the display at a predetermined rate to give the appearance of movement around the periphery of the display and thus conveying to the user the await indication.
52. The article of manufacture of claim 51 wherein the predetermined rate is chosen proportional to the time remaining for completing the dry cycle being executed.
CA2588105A 2000-05-02 2001-04-26 A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance Expired - Fee Related CA2588105C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US09/563,022 2000-05-02
US09/563,022 US6845290B1 (en) 2000-05-02 2000-05-02 System and method for controlling a dryer appliance
CA002345631A CA2345631C (en) 2000-05-02 2001-04-26 A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002345631A Division CA2345631C (en) 2000-05-02 2001-04-26 A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2588105A1 true CA2588105A1 (en) 2001-11-02
CA2588105C CA2588105C (en) 2011-09-13

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CA2588011A Expired - Fee Related CA2588011C (en) 2000-05-02 2001-04-26 A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance
CA2588105A Expired - Fee Related CA2588105C (en) 2000-05-02 2001-04-26 A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA2588011A Expired - Fee Related CA2588011C (en) 2000-05-02 2001-04-26 A system and method for controlling a dryer appliance

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Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11008697B2 (en) 2019-09-27 2021-05-18 Whirlpool Corporation Laundry treating appliance having sensors, and methods of operation

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CA2588105C (en) 2011-09-13
CA2588011C (en) 2010-08-17
CA2588011A1 (en) 2001-11-02

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Effective date: 20130426