Apparatus and method for determining a load amount in a laundry treating appliance during loading and providing indications regarding same

a technology for determining a load amount and a laundry treatment appliance, which is applied in the direction of detergent composition, other washing machines, textiles and paper, etc., can solve the problem of less than optimal treatment performan

Inactive Publication Date: 2013-02-21
WHIRLPOOL CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention relates to a laundry treating appliance that can track the amount of laundry inside and suggest an appropriate cycle of operation based on the amount, automatically. This helps to optimize the appliance's performance and ensures that the laundry is treated effectively and efficiently.

Problems solved by technology

For manual input by the user, the user may oftentimes overestimate or underestimate the load size, thereby resulting in a less than optimal treating performance.

Method used

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  • Apparatus and method for determining a load amount in a laundry treating appliance during loading and providing indications regarding same
  • Apparatus and method for determining a load amount in a laundry treating appliance during loading and providing indications regarding same
  • Apparatus and method for determining a load amount in a laundry treating appliance during loading and providing indications regarding same

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

second embodiment

[0029]The previously described washing machine 10 may be used to implement one or more embodiments of a method of the invention. Referring now to FIG. 9, a flow chart of a method 100 for determining and indicating selectable cycles of operation based on a monitored load amount loaded into the laundry treating appliance according to the invention is illustrated. The method 100 assumes that no fabrics have been loaded into the treating chamber 20 and that no user-selection of a cycle of operation has occurred prior to the start of the method 100. The method 100 may be initiated automatically when the door 25 is opened or when the user begins to place items within the treating chamber 20.

[0030]The method 100 begins at 102 where the controller 68 monitors the amount of fabric items or a laundry load within the treating chamber 20 when items are being loaded into the treating chamber 20. It is contemplated that the amount monitored in the method 100 may be either a weight of the laundry ...

third embodiment

[0036]FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method 200 for determining a filled condition for a selected cycle of operation of the treating appliance of FIG. 1 and indicating the same to a user according to the invention. The method 200 assumes that no fabrics have been loaded into the treating chamber 20. The method 200 may be initiated automatically when the door 25 is opened or when the user selects a cycle of operation.

[0037]The method 200 begins at 202 where the controller 68 determines what cycle of operation has been selected by a user via the user interface 70. This may also include determining which, if any, cycle modifiers are optionally selected, such as a load color, and / or a fabric type. Examples of load colors are whites and colors. Examples of fabric types are cotton, silk, polyester, delicates, permanent press, and heavy duty.

[0038]At 204 the controller 68 may set an amount threshold for the selected cycle of operation. It is contemplated that the amount threshold may correla...

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Abstract

An apparatus and method for operating a laundry treating appliance includes determining an amount of laundry load during loading of the laundry treating appliance and provides indications to a user regarding the monitored amount.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]Laundry treating appliances, such as a washing machine in which a drum defines a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load, may implement cycles of operation, which may vary according to the size of the laundry load in the drum. The size of the laundry load may be manually input by the user through a user interface or may be automatically determined by the washing machine during the cycle of operation. For manual input by the user, the user may oftentimes overestimate or underestimate the load size, thereby resulting in a less than optimal treating performance. Many methods are known for the washing machine to automatically determine the load size during the cycle of operation, such as by employing an output of the motor that drives the drum.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION[0002]According to one aspect of the invention a method of operating a laundry treating appliance includes monitoring the amount of laundry placed in the treating chamber during loadin...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): D06F33/00D06L1/20
CPCD06F39/002D06F33/02D06F39/005D06F34/18D06F34/28D06F34/14D06F2103/04D06F33/32
InventorBALINSKI, BARBARA A.LEITERT, ANDREW J.MCALLISTER, KARL DAVIDWILSON, JAMAL O.
OwnerWHIRLPOOL CORP