EP3696307A1 - Verfahren und system zur durchführung einer behandlung durch ein haushaltsgerät an einem textilmaterialgegenstand basierend auf einer automatischen behandlungsbestimmung - Google Patents

Verfahren und system zur durchführung einer behandlung durch ein haushaltsgerät an einem textilmaterialgegenstand basierend auf einer automatischen behandlungsbestimmung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3696307A1
EP3696307A1 EP20156164.4A EP20156164A EP3696307A1 EP 3696307 A1 EP3696307 A1 EP 3696307A1 EP 20156164 A EP20156164 A EP 20156164A EP 3696307 A1 EP3696307 A1 EP 3696307A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
signal
textile material
scan
treatment
area
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Pending
Application number
EP20156164.4A
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Leonardo Sergi
Luca APPIANO
Alessandro Malacrida
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Candy SpA
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Candy SpA
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Publication of EP3696307A1 publication Critical patent/EP3696307A1/de
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    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 
    • D06F33/50—Control of washer-dryers characterised by the purpose or target of the control
    • D06F33/52—Control of the operational steps, e.g. optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F34/00—Details of control systems for washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F34/14—Arrangements for detecting or measuring specific parameters
    • D06F34/18—Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F34/00—Details of control systems for washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F34/28—Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F2103/00—Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2103/02—Characteristics of laundry or load
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F2103/00—Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
    • D06F2103/02—Characteristics of laundry or load
    • D06F2103/06—Type or material
    • D06F2202/10—
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 

Definitions

  • the present invention relates, in general, to the technical field of determining, by means of electronic processing, and performing a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item (e.g., by means of a household appliance).
  • the invention relates to a method and system for performing a treatment on a textile material item, on the basis of an automatic determination of the treatment to be carried out, based on scans by means of electromagnetic radiations and subsequent processing of the obtained signals.
  • the invention further relates to a method and system for recognizing types of fabric and types of stain on fabric, also based on scans by means of electromagnetic radiations and the subsequent processing of the obtained signals.
  • Such an object is achieved by a method according to claim 1.
  • a further object of the present invention is a method for recognizing a type of textile material and for recognizing and classifying a stain present on said textile material. Such a method is defined in claim 8.
  • a system for performing a treatment on a textile material item by a household appliance implementing the aforesaid method of performing a treatment.
  • an object of the present invention is a household appliance capable of performing a treatment on a textile material by carrying out the aforesaid method for performing a treatment.
  • a household appliance is defined in claims 14 and 15.
  • the method comprises the steps of carrying out a first scan on an area R of the textile material item by means of electromagnetic radiation E1 in the near-infrared band, NIR, to obtain a first signal indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned area, and carrying out a second scan on the aforesaid area R of the textile material item by means of electromagnetic radiation E2 in the visible band to obtain a second signal S2 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area.
  • the method then provides transmitting the aforesaid first signal S1 and second signal S2 to electronic processing means 3, and determining, by said electronic processing means 3, a treatment program which can be performed on the textile material item by processing the aforesaid first signal S1 and second signal S2.
  • the method finally includes providing information I about the treatment program determined by the electronic processing means 3 to a control unit of a household appliance 5 and/or to a user interface 4.
  • the method thus provides for at least a double scan, on the same area of the fabric, in order to gather the information necessary to determine the treatment to be performed on the textile material item, as shown in figure 1 .
  • the identified treatment, or treatment program may be performed by a household appliance, or by a user, or may involve a pre-treatment performed by a user and successive treatment performed by a household appliance.
  • the treatment program may comprise a washing and/or pre-washing and/or drying program, or the like, which can be performed by a household appliance, such as a washing machine or dryer.
  • the step of determining a treatment program comprises, for example, selecting a treatment program from a plurality of stored treatment programs.
  • the treatment or treatment program comprises stain removal or pre-treatment actions, which can be performed by a user (possibly preparatory to a subsequent treatment by a household appliance).
  • the aforementioned first and second scans are performed on a non-stained area RC of the textile material. Furthermore, the method comprises, in this case, the further step of carrying out a third scan by means of electromagnetic radiation E3 in the near-infrared band on a stained area RS of the textile material item, in which a stain is present, to obtain a third signal S3 indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned stained area (as shown in figure 2 ).
  • the step of determining the treatment program comprises determining the treatment program for the textile material item, by the electronic processing means 3, by processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3.
  • the method further provides carrying out a fourth scan on said stained area RS of the textile material item, by means of electromagnetic radiation E4 in the visible band, to obtain a fourth signal S4 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned stained area.
  • the step of determining a treatment program comprises determining a treatment program for the textile material item, by said electronic processing means 3, by processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, third signal S3 and fourth signal S4.
  • FIG. 2 two successive steps of the method are shown in the left and right part of the figure: on the left, performing first and second scan, which can be mutually simultaneous, to generate the first and second signal (S1, S2); on the right, performing the third and fourth scan, which may be mutually simultaneous, to generate the third and fourth signal (S3, S4).
  • the electronic processing means 3 After the performing two steps, the electronic processing means 3 have the four signals S1-S4 on the basis of which, in this embodiment, further processing is performed.
  • the aforesaid steps of carrying out a first scan and of carrying out a third scan are performed by an electromagnetic radiation sensor 1 operating in the near-infrared band, and the aforesaid steps of carrying out a second scan and carrying out a fourth scan are performed by a color sensor 2 operating in the visible band.
  • the step of carrying out a first scan comprises generating electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E1 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E1 onto the area to be scanned RC of the textile material; then receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band ER1 reflected by the scanned area of the textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid first signal S1 indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned area on the basis of the received reflected electromagnetic radiation ER1.
  • the step of carrying out a second scan, by means of the electromagnetic radiation sensor 2 operating in the visible band comprises: generating an electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 onto the area RC to be scanned of the textile material; then receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER2 reflected by the scanned area of the textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid second signal S2 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area, on the basis of the received reflected electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER2.
  • the step of carrying out a third scan, by means of the electromagnetic radiation sensor 1 operating in the near-infrared band comprises: generating an electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E3 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E3 onto the stained area to be scanned RS of the textile material; then, receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band ER3 reflected by the scanned stained area of the textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid third signal S3, indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned stained area, on the basis of the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band ER3 reflected by the scanned stained area.
  • the step of carrying out a fourth scan by the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the visible band 2 comprises: generating an electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 onto the stained area RS to be scanned of the textile material; then receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER4 reflected by the scanned area of the stained textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid fourth signal S4 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned stained area on the basis of the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER4 reflected by the scanned stained area.
  • various embodiments of the method provide either two detections carried out on the fabric and one processing operation based on two signals, or three detections carried out on the fabric (two in a non-stained area and one in a stained area) and one processing operation based on three signals, or four detections carried out on the fabric (two in a non-stained area and two in a stained area) and one processing operation based on four signals.
  • at least one of the detections is based on scanning with electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band and at least one of the detections is based on scanning with electromagnetic radiation in the visible band.
  • the aforesaid electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band (E1, E3) used for the first and third scan are substantially mutually identical, i.e., they have the same nominal spectrum.
  • the respective reflected radiations (ER1, ER3) may be different, since the scanned areas are different.
  • the aforesaid electromagnetic radiations in the visible band (E2, E4), used for the second scan and the fourth scan, are substantially mutually identical, i.e., they have the same nominal spectrum.
  • the respective reflected radiations (ER2, ER4) may be different, since the scanned areas are different.
  • the aforesaid step of determining comprises: processing the first signal S1 to obtain a first signal spectral curve corresponding to the frequency spectrum of the first signal; then comparing such a first signal spectral curve with each of a first plurality of stored reference spectra representative of the respective known types of textile material; finally, determining the nature of the scanned area of textile material on the basis of such a comparison.
  • recognizing the nature and/or type of the textile item to be treated (basic information which is useful to determine the most appropriate treatment) is thus obtained by comparing the spectral curve in the infrared reflected by the fabric with known spectral curves, which are, for example, determined experimentally a priori , by performing the aforesaid scans on different types of known fabrics, and appropriately stored.
  • the spectral curve obtained from a given fabric will usually have a high degree of similarity, or will even be substantially identical, to the reference spectrum of the known fabric corresponding to the fabric to be analyzed.
  • the classes of fabrics which can be recognized by the method can be the most varied and of any number, and can refer both to the material of the fabric (e.g. linen, silk, wool, cotton, man-made, or the most varied mixed compositions, as will be detailed below) and to other characteristics of the fabric.
  • the breadth and the granularity of the fabric classification, which can be obtained with the method, can be expanded simply by increasing the amount of basic experimental data.
  • the fabrics which can be recognized and classified belong to a group consisting of any combination of the following PURE FABRICS: acetate (AC), acrylic (PC), cotton (CO), wool (WO), modal (MO), polyamide (PA), polyester (PL), silk (SE), viscose (CI).
  • PURE FABRICS acetate (AC), acrylic (PC), cotton (CO), wool (WO), modal (MO), polyamide (PA), polyester (PL), silk (SE), viscose (CI).
  • Reference spectra were obtained experimentally and stored (as shown by way of example in figures 10 and 10A - 10C ) for each of such fabrics, mentioned by way of example, and this allows recognizing and classifying a fabric as one of these fabrics, or in a further group (fabric other than those indicated).
  • the key shows the same identifiers indicated above in brackets.
  • the obtained spectra represent electromagnetic radiations reflected following the exposure of a clean area of the fabric to standard radiation (E1, E3) in the near-infrared band.
  • such standard radiation (E1, E3) in the near-infrared band has a spectrum in the band between 1550 nm and 1850 nm.
  • the fabrics which can be recognized and classified belong to a group consisting of any combination of the following MIXED FABRICS:
  • a sub-classification of composition into three subclasses is determined for each of the aforesaid mixed fabrics:
  • the aforesaid electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 has known chromatic coordinates.
  • the step of determining comprises processing the aforesaid second signal S2 to identify the color coordinates of the reflected radiation ER2, and to determine the color of the scanned area of textile material on the basis of the identified color coordinates of the reflected radiation.
  • additional information useful for determining the treatment is obtained, i.e., information about the color of the fabric.
  • the step of determining comprises determining the treatment program on the basis of not only on the nature and/or type but also of the color of the scanned area of textile material.
  • the color coordinates can be detected and color can be identified by means of color sensors 2 (operating with radiations in the visible band) which are known in themselves.
  • the determined chromatic coordinates may be of different types, known in themselves: e.g. RGB coordinates, or x, y coordinates.
  • the chosen chromatic coordinates are of type x-y.
  • a fabric area is scanned to determine its x-y color coordinates.
  • the averages of such measurements, on x and y, are taken as "chromatic coordinates" of the fabric area, and shown in the "color space” in x, y coordinates, as shown in figure 11 .
  • the "color space” is a known diagram in the field of chromatic characterization.
  • Figure 11 shows a "color space” in chromatic coordinates x, y (also called “sailplane diagram"), wherein the axes show the values of x and y, and wherein the parametric values shown in the diagram refer to wavelength values.
  • the position of the chromatic coordinates on the diagram allows the color of the scanned area of the fabric to be determined.
  • the step of determining further comprises processing the aforesaid third signal S3 to obtain a third signal spectral curve corresponding to the frequency spectrum of the third signal indicative of properties correlated with the type of stain and identifying the type of stain on the basis of such a third signal spectral curve.
  • the step of determining comprises determining the treatment program on the basis of the nature and color of the scanned non-stained area of textile material, and also on the basis of the identified type of stain.
  • the determination is therefore based, in this example, on three measurements, two (near-infrared and visible bands) on a non-stained area and one (near-infrared band) on a stained area.
  • Such an implementation example provides the additional advantage of making the decision on the treatment to be performed by availing of additional information on the type of stain.
  • the method can recognize a wide variety of types of stain, comprising, for example, stains belonging to the following groups and subgroups:
  • a fourth scan is carried out on the stained area.
  • the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 has known chromatic coordinates.
  • the step of determining comprises processing the aforesaid fourth signal S4 to identify the chromatic coordinates of the radiation reflected by the scanned stained area; recognizing the color of the scanned stained area of textile material on the basis of the identified chromatic coordinates of said reflected radiation E4; determining the treatment program on the basis of the nature and color of the scanned non-stained area of textile material, and also on the basis of the type of stain identified and of the recognized stain color.
  • the chromatic coordinates determined can be of different types, known in themselves: e.g., RGB coordinates, or x, y coordinates.
  • the example described above for detecting the color in the fabric illustrates a procedure which can further be applied to a detection of a stain color.
  • a result by way of example (referring to a strawberry stain) is shown in figure 12 .
  • the position of the chromatic coordinates on the diagram allows determining the type of stain (possibly in cooperation with spectral information).
  • the step of identifying the type of stain on the basis of the third signal spectral curve firstly provides selecting a set of reference spectra from a plurality of stored spectra sets, on the basis of the determined nature and/or type of the textile material. Each of such sets is associated with a respective nature and/or type of textile material.
  • the set of reference spectra comprises a second plurality of reference spectra representative of respective types of stain on the determined specific textile material.
  • the method therefore, provides comparing the aforesaid third signal spectral curve and each of the second plurality of spectra; and determining the type of stain on the basis of such a comparison between the third signal spectral curve and each spectrum of the second plurality of spectra.
  • the identification of the nature and/or type of the fabric also serves as a basis for the stain type recognition procedure.
  • the comparison of the third spectral curve (derived from the NIR detection on the stain) with the reference spectra belonging to the particular selected set allows recognizing the type of stain from a predefined group of stains for which experimental data are available (i.e., stored spectra).
  • the information obtained from the aforesaid comparison of the third spectral curve (third signal) is combined with information related to the color of the stain (obtained from the aforesaid fourth signal), to obtain a more precise recognition, suitable to discriminate different stains associated with similar spectra but of different color.
  • Such an option is useful, for example, if the stains contain pigments of staining substances which do not significantly modify the spectrum of the clean fabric and which can be detected with respect to the background color.
  • such an option is useful for recognizing pigment stains on light-colored fabrics.
  • the decision on the appropriate treatment program also takes into account the available information on the color of the fabric which can be derived from the aforesaid second signal.
  • further processing operations are performed on different possible combinations of two or more of the four available pieces of information (NIR spectra on clean fabric and stain, color on clean fabric and stain) in order to obtain useful information for determining the treatment.
  • information about spectra detected on clean fabric and stain may be combined to obtain a derived spectrum which takes the background into account; or, information about the colors of clean fabric and stain can be combined with one another, to better estimate the stain color, taking the background color into account.
  • the method can take into account, based on experimental results, how and by what extent the clean spectrum curves are modified, with regard to the stain spectrum curves, according to the type of fabric. Indeed, such deviations may be different and peculiar to different possible situations. A similar observation applies to color and its chromatic coordinates.
  • the steps of the first and second scan are performed at the same time by detection means 21 comprising both the sensor 1 operating with electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared and the sensor 2 operating with electromagnetic radiation in the visible band 2; similarly, the third and fourth steps of scanning are performed at the same time by the aforesaid detection means 21 comprising both the sensor 1 operating with electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band and the sensor 2 operating with electromagnetic radiation in the visible band.
  • the method further comprises the step of providing a user interface 4.
  • the user interface 4 is configured to display information about the identified type of fabric and/or type of stain, and/or to display information about the determined treatment program which is recommended, and/or to allow the user to control the start of the recommended treatment program or to perform the actions provided by the treatment.
  • the method further comprises the step of calibrating the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the near-infrared band 1.
  • Such a step of calibrating comprises the following sub-steps: providing a sliding cover in front of the sensor, having a bottom such as to generate a reflection with known and predetermined near-infrared spectrum; closing the sliding cover in front of the color sensor; activating the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the near-infrared band so that it generates near-infrared electromagnetic radiation and receives the reflected radiation from the bottom of the cover; comparing the obtained spectrum with a reference spectrum; calibrating operating parameters of the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the near-infrared band so that the obtained spectrum coincides with the reference spectrum.
  • the method further comprises the step of calibrating the color sensor 2.
  • Such a step of calibrating comprises the following steps: providing a sliding cover in front of the sensor, having a white bottom with the known and predefined chromatic coordinates; closing the sliding cover in front of the color sensor; activating the color sensor so that it generates visible electromagnetic radiation and receives the reflected radiation from the bottom of the cover; comparing the obtained spectrum with a reference spectrum; finally, calibrating operating parameters of the color sensor so that the obtained spectrum coincides with the reference spectrum.
  • a method is now described for recognizing a type of textile material and for recognizing and classifying a stain present on such textile material, according to the present invention.
  • Such a method comprises the steps of carrying out a first scan on a non-stained area RC of the textile material by means of near-infrared NIR band electromagnetic radiation E1 to obtain a first signal indicative of the nature of the textile material S1 in the scanned non-stained area; furthermore, carrying out a second scan on the aforesaid non-stained area RC of the textile material by means of electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 to obtain a second signal indicative of the color of the textile material S2 in the scanned non-stained area; furthermore, carrying out a third scan on a stained area RS of the textile material in which a stain is present, by means of electromagnetic radiation E3 in the near-infrared NIR, band, to obtain a third signal indicative of the nature of the textile material S3 in the scanned stained area.
  • the method then, provides transmitting the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3 to electronic processing means 3, and recognizing and classifying the stain, by the electronic processing means 3, on the basis of processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, and third signal S3.
  • the method finally includes providing information I' about the type of textile material and type of stain to a control unit of a household appliance 5 and/or a user interface 4 by the electronic processing means 3.
  • such a method further provides carrying out a fourth scan on the aforesaid stained area RS of the textile material item by means of electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 to obtain a fourth signal S4 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned stained area; and further transmitting such fourth signal S4 to the electronic processing means 3.
  • the step of recognizing comprises recognizing the type of textile material and recognizing and classifying the stain by the electronic processing means 3, by processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, third signal S3 and fourth signal S4.
  • the fourth scan (in the visible band on a stained area) is optional. It may be useful to discriminate against different spots which generate very similar reflective spectra (e.g., different types of pigments) and which can be distinguished and correctly recognized by having information about their color.
  • an implementation option of the method provides that, if the recognition is unsuccessful, the user is asked to make a further scan attempt.
  • a method is now described for performing a treatment on a textile material item by a household appliance, according to the present invention.
  • Such a method comprises the steps of performing a method for determining a treatment according to any one of the embodiments described above for selecting a treatment program, such a treatment program being performed by a household appliance 100; then providing information about the selected treatment program to a control unit 5 of a household appliance 100; finally, performing the selected treatment on the textile material item by the household appliance 100.
  • a system 10 will now be described, with reference again to figures 1-9 , to determine a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item, comprised in the present invention.
  • Such a system 10 comprises first detection means 1 operating in the near-infrared band, NIR, second detection means 2 operating in the visible band, and electronic processing means 3.
  • the first detection means operating in the near-infrared band, NIR are configured to carry out a scan on an area R of the textile material item by means of near-infrared band electromagnetic radiation E1 and to generate, based on such a scan, at least one signal indicative of the nature of the textile material S1 in the scanned area.
  • the second detection means 2 operating in the visible band are configured to carry out a scan on an area R of the textile material item by means of visible band electromagnetic radiation E2 to obtain at least one signal indicative of the color of the textile material S2 in the scanned area.
  • the electronic processing means 3 are operatively connected to the first detection means 1 to receive the at least one signal indicative of the nature of the textile material S1, and to the second detection means 2 to receive the at least one signal indicative of the color of the textile material S2.
  • the electronic processing means 3 are configured to determine a treatment program, which can be performed on the textile material item, based on a processing of the aforesaid received signals (S1, S2) indicative of the nature and color of the textile material, and to provide information I about the determined treatment program to a control unit 5 of a household appliance and/or a user interface 4.
  • the first detection means 1 are configured to carry out a first scan over an unstained area RC of the textile material item and to generate a respective first signal S1 based on such a first scan; and they are further configured to carry out a third scan over a stained area RS of the textile material item and to generate, based on such third scan, a respective third signal S3.
  • the second detection means 2 are configured to carry out a second scan over a non-stained area RC of the textile material item and to generate a respective second signal S2 based on such a second scan.
  • the electronic processing means 3 are configured to receive the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3, and to determine the treatment program based on such first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3.
  • the second detection means 2 are further configured to carry out a fourth scan on a stained area RS of the textile material item and to generate, based on said fourth scan, a respective fourth signal S4.
  • the electronic processing means 3 are configured to receive also said fourth signal S4 and to determine the treatment program on the basis of the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, third signal S3 and fourth signal S4.
  • the aforesaid first detection means 1 comprise at least one electromagnetic radiation sensor 1 operating in the near-infrared band.
  • a sensor 1 is configured to generate electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band (E1 or E3) and to direct the generated electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band to the scanned area of the textile material (RC or RS), to receive the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared reflected (ER1 or ER3) from the scanned area of the textile material, and to generate the aforesaid signal (S1 or S3) indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned area, based on the received reflected electromagnetic radiation (ER1 or ER3).
  • the aforesaid second detection means 2 comprise at least one electromagnetic radiation sensor 2 operating in the visible band.
  • a sensor 2 is configured to generate an electromagnetic radiation in the visible band (E2 or E4) and to direct the generated electromagnetic radiation in the visible band to the scanned area of the textile material (RC or RS), to receive the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band (ER2 or ER4) reflected by the scanned area of the textile material, and to generate the aforesaid signal (S2 or S4) indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area, on the basis of the received reflected electromagnetic radiation in the visible band (ER2 or ER4).
  • the system 10 further comprises a user interface 4, operationally connected to the processing means 3 to receive information I' related to the determined treatment program or to the type of fabric and/or recognized stain.
  • the user interface 4 is configured to display the aforesaid received information and/or to allow the user to send controls to a household appliance to activate the determined treatment program.
  • the user interface 4 allows the user to perform a wide range of possible actions, such as, for example, launching the scans, saving the scan results, collecting the scan results in order to create wash baskets, asking for suggestions on the most appropriate groupings of the scanned fabrics, getting suggestions on stain removal methods, launching the indicated washing/drying cycles by transmitting respective controls to one or more connected household appliances.
  • the processing means of the system 3 comprise first processing means 31 and second processing means 32.
  • the first processing means 31 are configured to generate the aforesaid first and/or second and/or third and/or fourth signal S1-S4 as digital signals on the basis of the detected analog signals associated with the received reflected electromagnetic radiations.
  • the second processing means 32 are configured to receive the aforesaid first S1 and/or third digital signal S3, to obtain respective frequency spectral curves on the basis of such first S1 and/or third digital signal S3, and to compare the derived spectral curves with reference spectra stored in the second processing means 32.
  • the second processing means 32 are also configured to receive the second S2 and/or fourth digital signal S4, and obtain the chromatic coordinates, on the basis of such second S2 and/or fourth digital signal S4.
  • the second processing means 32 are also configured to determine the treatment program based on the results of the aforesaid step of comparing the spectral curves and/or the aforesaid step of obtaining the chromatic coordinates; and are also configured to provide information I about the determined treatment program to a control unit 5 of a household appliance and/or user interface 4.
  • the system 10 comprises a portable scanning device 11, which includes the aforesaid first detection means 1 and second detection means 2, and the aforesaid first processing means 31.
  • both detection means i.e., sensors
  • the integration of both detection means (i.e., sensors) of the system into the portable scanning device 11 allows advantageously performing both detections at the same time.
  • the user simply needs to approach the portable scanning device 11 closer to the fabric, on a clean area and then possibly on a stain, and to activate it, in order to obtain all the detections and signals necessary to perform the method.
  • the portable scanning device 11 by virtue of the first processing means 31, can provide a digital signal, which can be used for any successive processing.
  • the first processing means 31 of the portable scanning device 11 are also configured to perform compensation and/or calibration processing of the digital signal generated with respect to temperature or other variables, in order to ensure maximum reliability of the digital signal generated for subsequent processing.
  • the portable scanning device further comprises the aforesaid second processing means 32 and user interface 4. Therefore, in such a case, the portable processing device 11 also comprises all the intelligence for signal processing and, thus, is able to provide information I' on the fabric and/or the stain recognition and/or information I' on the recommended treatment program. Therefore, such an implementation option offers a fully integrated solution in a portable device.
  • the system 10 comprises a portable scanning device 11 and a mobile communication device 12.
  • the portable scanning device 11 comprises the first detection means 1, the second detection means 2, the first processing means 31, and further comprises scanning device transmission means 110, configured to transmit digital signals from the analog signals generated by the first and second detection means.
  • the mobile communication device 12 comprises the user interface 4, the aforesaid second processing means 32 and telecommunications means 120, operationally connected to the scanning device transmission means 110, to receive the aforesaid signals generated by the first and second detection means.
  • the portable scanning device 11 operates as a scanner
  • the mobile communication device 12 comprises a smartphone, or another type of mobile user device, which in itself offers all telecommunication functions and user interface support.
  • the second processing means 32 comprise one or more smartphone processors, and one or more applications or software programs, installed on the smartphone and which can be run by the processor of the smartphone and configured to perform the processing and calculation functions mentioned above with regard to the second processing means.
  • an Android and iOS application (app) is used, loaded on the smartphone.
  • apps can also be incorporated into a more general home appliance control application available for smartphones or other mobile devices.
  • libraries containing reference data can be stored on the mobile communication device 12 (e.g., the aforesaid reference spectra and reference chromatic coordinates used for the comparisons required by the processing).
  • Such libraries may contain any number of spectra measured during the step of characterization, on the most different types of fabrics and types of stain, and on the most varied fabric and stain combinations (e.g., all the types of fabrics, pure or mixed, and all the types of stain mentioned above).
  • libraries contain not only the reference data but also the algorithms for data analysis and processing.
  • the aforesaid portable scanning device 11 and mobile communication device 12 are integrated into a single device.
  • a further embodiment provides that the system 10 comprises an additional remote processing unit 13, capable of performing, either partially or totally, the functions of the second processing means 32, and in particular the storage of reference data libraries and the running of comparisons.
  • the remote processing unit 13 may be either additional or alternative to the mobile communication device 12.
  • the remote processing unit 13 may comprise the second processing means 32, and, in such a case, the aforesaid scanning device transmission means 110 are configured to transmit the signals generated by the first and second detection media wirelessly to said remote processing unit 13.
  • the system does not comprise and does not require a mobile user device.
  • the system 10 comprises both the portable scanning device 11 (provided with scanning device transmission means 110, to transmit digital signals from the analog signals generated by the first and second detection means 1, 2) and the mobile communication device 12 (provided with user interface 4 and with telecommunication means 120, operationally connected to the scanning device transmission means 110, to receive signals generated by the first and second detection means 1, 2), and the remote control unit 13 (provided with the second processing means 32, and therefore adapted to perform the processing functions).
  • the mobile communication device telecommunications means 120 are operationally connected to the remote control unit 13 to send the information received from the portable scanning device 11 and to receive the results of processing performed remotely from the second processing means 32.
  • Any telecommunication solution known in itself, can be used to support the aforesaid operational connections.
  • the remote processing unit 13 is a control unit 5 of a household appliance 100 adapted to perform the treatment program. Such an option is shown in figure 7 . Furthermore, in figure 5 , such an implementation option is indicated by a dotted connection, indicating that such an option may be alternative or additional to the option which provides a remote-control unit 13 not belonging to the household appliance.
  • the remote processing unit 13 is a remote-control unit which can be accessed via a telecommunications network and/or cloud computing.
  • Such a system 1000 for performing a treatment on a textile material item comprises a system for determining a treatment on a textile material item 10, according to any one of the embodiments or implementation options illustrated above, in which the treatment can be performed by a household appliance, and further comprises a household appliance 100, comprising a household appliance control unit 5.
  • the household appliance control unit 5 is configured to receive information I about a selected treatment program 10 from the system for determining a treatment and to activate such a selected treatment program.
  • the household appliance 100 is configured to perform the selected treatment program on the textile material item.
  • the home appliance control unit 5 further comprises the second processing means 32 of the system to determine the treatment 10.
  • a household appliance 100 will now be described adapted to perform a treatment on a textile material, according to the invention.
  • the household appliance 100 comprises a system 10 for determining a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item according to any of the embodiments described above and is thus able to determine a treatment to be performed on one or more textile material items.
  • the household appliance is also configured to perform the determined treatment.
  • the household appliance 100 comprises a household appliance control unit 5 and further integrates the scanning device or scanner 21 (also referred to as "detection means 21" previously in this description).
  • the scanning device is not portable.
  • the user can put the fabric (clean and/or stained area) close to the integrated scanning device and operate such an integrated scanning device 21, in order to activate all the steps of the method for determining a treatment, which are then performed independently by the household appliance.
  • the integrated scanning device 21 is operationally connected, inside the household appliance 100, with the control unit of household appliance 5, which is, in turn, configured both to perform the processing functions of the aforementioned second processing means (in order to determine a treatment) and to control the performance of the selected treatment.
  • the household appliance further provides the functions of the aforesaid user interface 4, e.g., supported by the interface means of the household appliance 40.
  • the scanner 21 is mechanically integrated and/or housed on the dashboard of the household appliance or on the ring of the door so that the user can place the fabrics on the sensor before introducing them into the household appliance.
  • the method and the system of determination of a treatment described above are based on the detection and processing of a plurality of information (obtained from electromagnetic detections both in the near-infrared band and in the visible band), which, combined, allow discerning the type of a fabric in a more precise and reliable manner.
EP20156164.4A 2019-02-11 2020-02-07 Verfahren und system zur durchführung einer behandlung durch ein haushaltsgerät an einem textilmaterialgegenstand basierend auf einer automatischen behandlungsbestimmung Pending EP3696307A1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

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IT102019000001927A IT201900001927A1 (it) 2019-02-11 2019-02-11 Metodo e sistema per determinare un trattamento eseguibile da un elettrodomestico o da un utente su un capo in materiale tessile

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EP20156164.4A Pending EP3696307A1 (de) 2019-02-11 2020-02-07 Verfahren und system zur durchführung einer behandlung durch ein haushaltsgerät an einem textilmaterialgegenstand basierend auf einer automatischen behandlungsbestimmung
EP20156156.0A Pending EP3696309A1 (de) 2019-02-11 2020-02-07 Verfahren und system zur bestimmung einer behandlung, die von einem haushaltsgerät oder von einem benutzer auf einem textilen materialartikel durchgeführt werden kann

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EP20156156.0A Pending EP3696309A1 (de) 2019-02-11 2020-02-07 Verfahren und system zur bestimmung einer behandlung, die von einem haushaltsgerät oder von einem benutzer auf einem textilen materialartikel durchgeführt werden kann

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EP (2) EP3696307A1 (de)
CN (1) CN111549489A (de)
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BE1030058B1 (de) 2021-12-21 2023-07-19 Miele & Cie Wäschebehandlungsgerät und Verfahren zum Betreiben eines Wäschebehandlungsgeräts

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2004053220A1 (en) * 2002-12-11 2004-06-24 Unilever N.V. Method and apparatus for the identification of a textile parameter
DE102016205756A1 (de) * 2016-04-07 2017-10-12 BSH Hausgeräte GmbH Verfahren zur verbesserten Steuerung eines wasserführenden Haushaltsgerätes und hierzu geeignetes Haushaltsgerät
DE102016212976A1 (de) * 2016-07-15 2018-01-18 Henkel Ag & Co. Kgaa Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Ermittlung insbesondere einer Reinigungsstrategie
WO2018228861A1 (de) * 2017-06-12 2018-12-20 Henkel Ag & Co. Kgaa Verfahren und vorrichtung zur ermittlung eines behandlungsparameters einer textilie anhand der verunreinigungszusammensetzung und textileigenschaft

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2004053220A1 (en) * 2002-12-11 2004-06-24 Unilever N.V. Method and apparatus for the identification of a textile parameter
DE102016205756A1 (de) * 2016-04-07 2017-10-12 BSH Hausgeräte GmbH Verfahren zur verbesserten Steuerung eines wasserführenden Haushaltsgerätes und hierzu geeignetes Haushaltsgerät
DE102016212976A1 (de) * 2016-07-15 2018-01-18 Henkel Ag & Co. Kgaa Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Ermittlung insbesondere einer Reinigungsstrategie
WO2018228861A1 (de) * 2017-06-12 2018-12-20 Henkel Ag & Co. Kgaa Verfahren und vorrichtung zur ermittlung eines behandlungsparameters einer textilie anhand der verunreinigungszusammensetzung und textileigenschaft

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EP3696309A1 (de) 2020-08-19
IT201900001927A1 (it) 2020-08-11
RU2020106166A (ru) 2021-08-11

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