Laundry care system with a controller
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry care programs require time-consuming trial and error for users to achieve satisfactory results, as they often do not know which items of clothing benefit from specific programs like iron-assist, leading to potential damage or inadequate treatment.
Innovation Solution
A laundry care system with an image acquisition unit that captures laundry items and selects an appropriate program based on characteristics like color, material, and soiling, using a control unit to determine the optimal treatment, optionally considering user preferences and providing visual feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional laundry care programs are used, then users can treat laundry items, but users need to spend time learning and trial-and-error to select appropriate programs
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by allowing the laundry care device to automatically identify laundry items through image recognition and autonomously select the most appropriate care program without requiring user knowledge or manual selection. The control unit processes images captured by the image acquisition unit and automatically determines optimal treatment parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of program selection with an automated optical recognition system. Instead of users manually selecting programs based on knowledge, the system uses image acquisition units to capture laundry characteristics and automatically translates this visual information into appropriate care program selection.
2Reliability
If users manually select laundry care programs, then they can control treatment, but incorrect selection may cause damage or inadequate treatment
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by capturing images of the laundry items, analyzing their characteristics through image processing, and using this information to automatically select the most appropriate care program. This closed-loop approach ensures that the selected program accurately matches the actual laundry characteristics, eliminating guesswork and improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual program selection with an automated optical recognition and decision-making system. The control unit processes visual data from the image acquisition unit and automatically determines the optimal care program, replacing human judgment with machine-based image analysis and algorithmic decision-making.
3Productivity
If automatic program selection is implemented, then time is saved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves productivity improvement by integrating multiple functions into a single automated workflow. The image acquisition unit serves both as a camera for identification and as a sensor for characteristic analysis, while the control unit performs both image processing and program selection, eliminating the need for separate manual operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex manual decision-making processes with automated image recognition technology. Instead of requiring users to understand multiple program parameters and make informed selections, the system uses optical sensors and processing algorithms to automatically determine the optimal care program, trading hardware complexity for user convenience and efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
Laundry care system (100), comprising: a laundry care appliance (101) with a laundry chamber (103) for receiving at least one item of laundry (201) and a control unit (107), an image acquisition unit (109) which is communicatively connected to the control unit (107) and is configured to acquire an image (203) of the at least one item of laundry (201) and to transmit it to the control unit (107) of the laundry care appliance (101) and/or an external control unit (111) of the laundry care system (100), wherein the control unit (107) and/or the external control unit (111) is configured to select a laundry care program for the treatment of the at least one item of laundry (201) from a plurality of laundry care programs for the treatment of laundry items based on the acquired image (203) of the at least one item of laundry (201), in order to determine a selected laundry care program.