Clothes drying control method and apparatus, and clothes treatment device and storage medium

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Solution Overview

Problem

Laundry dryers often mistakenly determine that laundry made of chemical fibers has not been fully dried, leading to poor drying performance and user dissatisfaction due to incorrect duration displays.

Innovation Solution

A method for controlling laundry drying that initializes a humidity level, updates it based on stable conditions, and adjusts the displayed drying duration accordingly to match the actual drying progress, reducing errors in humidity detection and ensuring accurate duration updates.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Extent of automation

If the laundry dryer uses conventional humidity detection to determine drying completion, then the drying process can be automated, but chemical fiber laundry is mistakenly identified as fully dried leading to premature termination

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautomated drying controlVSAvoidhumidity detection accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Extent of automationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The drying process is divided into multiple humidity levels (first humidity level, second humidity level, etc.) with different working durations. The controller segments the drying control into stages, updating the remaining drying duration display at each level transition based on cumulative dried duration, preventing premature termination for chemical fibers

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring humidity values and comparing them against threshold values for different humidity levels. The controller adjusts the drying process based on this feedback, updating the display panel with accurate remaining duration information that reflects actual drying progress rather than premature termination

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Device complexity

If the laundry dryer updates remaining duration based on single humidity threshold, then the control logic is simple, but the remaining duration display jumps directly to end causing poor user experience

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontrol logic complexityVSAvoidremaining duration accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The remaining drying duration is segmented into multiple display stages corresponding to different humidity levels. Instead of jumping directly to zero, the display updates through intermediate values reflecting cumulative dried duration at each humidity level transition, providing accurate information to users

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-calculates and stores working durations for each humidity level. When transitioning between levels, the controller preliminarily determines the updated remaining duration based on cumulative dried duration, ensuring accurate display updates without complex real-time calculations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If the laundry dryer uses fixed working duration for drying, then the process is easy to control, but it cannot adapt to different humidity levels leading to poor drying effect

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedrying control easeVSAvoidhumidity level adaptation
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the drying control by implementing multiple humidity levels with different working durations. As the laundry progresses through different humidity stages, the controller adapts the remaining duration calculation and display updates accordingly, maintaining ease of operation while improving adaptability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes key parameters including humidity level thresholds, working durations for each level, and remaining duration display values. These parameter changes occur dynamically as the drying process progresses, allowing the system to adapt to different humidity conditions while maintaining simple control logic

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4206394B1Clothes drying control method and apparatus, and clothes treatment device and storage medium
Publication Date: 2025.04.02 WUXI LITTLE SWAN ELECTRIC CO LTD
  • EP4206394B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4206394B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4206394B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a clothes drying control method and apparatus, and a clothes treatment device and a storage medium. The method comprises: entering a drying process, and initializing a humidity level of an object to be dried to a first humidity level; controlling a display panel of a clothes treatment device to display a first remaining drying duration, wherein the first remaining drying duration is determined on the basis of a first working duration corresponding to the first humidity level and a first drying duration under the first humidity level; when it is determined that a humidity value of said object reaches a stable condition and the humidity value meets a level updating condition, updating the humidity level to the next humidity level of the current humidity level; and controlling the display panel to display a second remaining drying duration, wherein the second remaining drying duration is determined on the basis of a second working duration corresponding to the next humidity level and a second drying duration under the next humidity level, and the second remaining drying duration is less than the first remaining drying duration.