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| 20090314016 | ICE IMAGING SYSTEM - A refrigerator includes a sensing system for detecting multiple physical characteristics of ice cubes in an ice cube storage bin. The system includes a digital image capture device coupled to a digital image analyzing system which captures digital images of the ice cube storage bin intermittently and compares the images to detect the presence of ice clumps. In addition, the digital image analyzing system evaluates the edges, ice size and/or image intensity of the ice cubes in the images in order to determine the presence of stale ice. An algorithm is utilized to estimate the volume of ice within the bin based on the number of pixels in an ice bin image, the number of pixels of the ice within the bin, and a known volume of the ice bin. Notifications for clumped ice, stale ice and ice volume within the bin are sent to a user interface. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090314801 | HANDS FREE, CONTROLLED AUTOFILL FOR A DISPENSER - A dispensing system includes a digital image capture device focused on a dispenser well for capturing images of containers in the dispenser well and a digital image analyzer operatively coupled to the digital image capture device. The digital image analyzer evaluates digital images of containers captured by the digital image capture device to determine physical parameters of each container placed in the dispensing well. An actual dispensing operation is automatically regulated based on characteristics of the container. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20100046793 | ICE QUALITY SENSING SYSTEM EMPLOYING DIGITAL IMAGING - A refrigerator includes a sensing system for detecting quality of ice cubes in an ice cube storage bin. The system includes a digital image capture device coupled to a digital image analyzing system which captures digital images of the ice cube storage bin intermittently. The digital images are processed to determine a centroid of the ice mass within the bin, and the centroid is analyzed to determine whether it is located outside a predetermined acceptable boundary. A centroid outside of the acceptable range indicates an ice clumping situation. Additionally, the digital images are analyzed to determine whether ice cubes are smaller than a predetermined minimal acceptable size in order to detect stale ice. The level of ice in the bin can also be determined from the images. Notifications for clumping, stale and/or low level ice are sent to a user interface. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20110048056 | REFRIGERATOR ICE AND LIQUID DISPENSER INCORPORATING IMAGING SYSTEM - A safety system for an ice and liquid dispenser of a refrigerator is used to sense the presence of human skin in a dispensing well. The safety system includes a digital image capture device focused on a dispenser well for capturing images of objects, such as hands, in the dispenser well and a digital image analyzer operatively coupled to the digital image capture device. The digital image analyzer evaluates the digital images captured by the digital image capture device to determine if human skin color is detected in the image of the object in the dispensing well. If human skin color is detected, thus indicating a hand in the dispensing area, any dispensing operation will be prevented and an alert will be provided. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20120138629 | HANDS FREE, CONTROLLED AUTOFILL FOR A DISPENSER - A dispensing system includes one or more digital image capture devices for capturing images in a dispenser well and a digital image analyzer operatively coupled to the digital image capture device(s) for analyzing the images for use in regulating a dispensing operation. The digital image analyzer evaluates digital images captured by the digital image capture device(s) to determine various characteristics of a container placed in the dispensing well, such as the height and position of the container. | 06-07-2012 |
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| 20100155415 | SELECT FILL SENSOR SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR DISPENSERS - A refrigerator includes a dispenser having a dispenser well, a control for regulating a product dispensing operation, and a select fill sensor system for automatically initiating and terminating the dispensing operation. An optical sensing system includes a camera within the dispenser well in communication with a controller for sensing the fill rate of a container within the dispenser well. The dispensing rate of product is adjusted depending on the product fill rate of the container such that optimum fill rates are obtained without overflow or spilling events. In this manner, a hands-free dispenser is provided that can be utilized regardless of the shape or size of container utilized. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20110214441 | SELECT-FILL DISPENSING SYSTEM - A select-fill dispensing system and method for a dispenser assembly utilizes a camera to sense a desired fill level based on the location of a user's finger with respect to a container. In use, a consumer places his or her finger along a container to indicate the desired fill level of the container. Image data from the camera is transmitted to a controller and processed for distortion correction, edge based image segmentation and morphological operations are carried out to remove background noise. The processed image data is utilized to detect the presence of the container, as well as the shape of the container, the position of the container opening, and the top and bottom points of the container. The controller provides a means for controlling the dispensing operation, including a fill rate, based on the desired fill level and the shape of the container. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20120144600 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDISTRIBUTING AN IMBALANCE IN A LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE - An apparatus and method for detecting an imbalance in the laundry load and effecting a redistribution of the imbalance by reducing the rotational speed of the treating chamber such that part of the load may redistribute while part of the load remains satellized, without ceasing rotation, and increasing the rotational speed back to a spin speed after redistribution. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120246835 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A COUNTERBALANCE TO AN IMBALANCE IN A LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE - An apparatus and method for detecting an imbalance in the laundry load within the treating chamber and forming a counterbalance to the imbalance. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20130008556 | SELECT-FILL DISPENSING SYSTEM - A select-fill dispensing system and method for a dispenser assembly utilizes a camera to sense a desired fill level based on the location of a user's finger with respect to a container. In use, a consumer places his or her finger along a container to indicate the desired fill level of the container. Image data from the camera is transmitted to a controller and processed for distortion correction, edge based image segmentation and morphological operations are carried out to remove background noise. The processed image data is utilized to detect the presence of the container, as well as the shape of the container, the position of the container opening, and the top and bottom points of the container. The controller provides a means for controlling the dispensing operation, including a fill rate, based on the desired fill level and the shape of the container. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130152311 | CONTINUOUS HIGH SPEED INERTIA DETECTION - A laundry treating appliance has a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to at least one cycle of operation and operated such that the extraction of liquid from the laundry load is controlled based on the inertia of the laundry load. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130152312 | METHOD FOR DETECTING SATELLIZATION SPEED OF CLOTHES LOAD IN A HORIZONTAL AXIS LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE - A laundry treating appliance may include a rotatable treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment, and a motor for rotating the treating chamber, and may be operated such that during the acceleration of the laundry load toward a satellizing speed, the satellizing of the laundry load may be detected, whereby subsequent operation of the laundry treating appliance may be controlled based on the detection. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130160219 | EFFICIENT ENERGY USAGE FOR A LAUNDRY APPLIANCE - A laundry treating appliance has a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to at least one cycle of operation and operated such that the extraction of liquid from the laundry load is controlled based on the inertia of the laundry load so that the total energy usage by the laundry treating appliance and a laundry drying appliance with which it is operably coupled may be minimized. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130160220 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING AN INERTIA OF A LAUNDRY LOAD IN A LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE - An apparatus and method for determining an inertia of a laundry load for a laundry treating appliance during an acceleration phase. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130160221 | METHOD FOR MAXIMIZING DRUM ROTATIONAL SPEED BY CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING INERTIA DURING EXTRACTION - A laundry treating appliance may have a rotatable drum defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load, a motor rotatably driving the drum, and a controller controlling the operation of the motor. The laundry treating appliance may be operated by accelerating the drum with the motor toward a final speed greater than a satellizing speed, determining a mass value indicative of the mass of the rotating drum and contents within the treating chamber during the accelerating, determining a current rotational speed during the acceleration, calculating a force value indicative of a force acting on the drum based on the determined mass value and the current rotational speed, comparing the force value to a reference force value, and repeating the determining, calculating, and comparing during the acceleration, and ceasing the accelerating when the force value obtains a predetermined relationship with the reference force value. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20140013517 | LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation and a method of operating a laundry treating appliance to determine a speed at which the laundry satellizes, comparing the same to a given amount or range, and altering execution of the at least one cycle of operation based on comparison such that the laundry treating appliance may be operated in an effective and efficient manner. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140013518 | LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation and a method of operating a laundry treating appliance to determine an amount of imbalance of the laundry load in the drum based on a determined average peak-to-peak value and taking corrective action when the determined amount of imbalance does not satisfy a threshold. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140020482 | DETECTING SATELLIZATION OF A LAUNDRY LOAD - A method of determining satellization of a laundry load in a washing machine by filtering a drum motor torque signal to block drum frequencies and pass high frequencies to enable further conditioning of the high frequencies and facilitate efficient and accurate determination of satellization. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140090181 | LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A laundry treating appliance for treating a laundry load according to at least one cycle of operation and a method of operating a laundry treating appliance to control the rotation of the drum to distribute the laundry load with an acceptable amount of imbalance such that the laundry treating appliance may be operated in an effective and efficient manner. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140366586 | EFFICIENT ENERGY USAGE FOR A LAUNDRY APPLIANCE - A laundry treating appliance has a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to at least one cycle of operation and operated such that the extraction of liquid from the laundry load is controlled based on the inertia of the laundry load so that the total energy usage by the laundry treating appliance and a laundry drying appliance with which it is operably coupled may be minimized. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20150101668 | LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF FILLING A LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE WITH LIQUID - A laundry treating appliance having a tub, a drum located within the tub and at least partially defining a treating chamber in which laundry may be received for treatment according to an automatic cycle of operation and a liquid supply system for introducing liquid thereto and a method for filling the laundry treating appliance including supplying liquid, determining a load inertia value and stopping the supply of liquid based thereon. | 04-16-2015 |
| 20150176179 | APPARATUS FOR REDISTRIBUTING AN IMBALANCE IN A LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE - An apparatus for detecting an imbalance in the laundry load and effecting a redistribution of the imbalance by reducing the rotational speed of the treating chamber such that part of the load may redistribute while part of the load remains satellized, without ceasing rotation, and increasing the rotational speed back to a spin speed after redistribution. | 06-25-2015 |
| 20150308029 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING AN INERTIA OF A LAUNDRY LOAD IN A LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE - An apparatus and method for determining an inertia of a laundry load for a laundry treating appliance during an acceleration phase, wherein the rotational speed of a rotatable drum of the laundry is controlled based on the determined inertia. | 10-29-2015 |
| 20150315735 | LAUNDRY TREATING APPLIANCE AND METHOD USING INERTIA DETECTION TO CONTROL LIQUID EXTRACTION - A laundry treating appliance has a rotatable drum at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving a laundry load for treatment according to at least one cycle of operation and operated such that the extraction of liquid from the laundry load is controlled based on the inertia of the laundry load. A method for operating the laundry treating appliance to control the liquid extraction based on the detected inertia. | 11-05-2015 |
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| 20130071659 | FIBER-BASED ADSORBENTS HAVING HIGH ADSORPTION CAPACITIES FOR RECOVERING DISSOLVED METALS AND METHODS THEREOF - A fiber-based adsorbent and a related method of manufacture are provided. The fiber-based adsorbent includes polymer fibers with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight over known fibers to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example uranium, from aqueous solutions. The polymer fibers include a circular morphology in some embodiments, having a mean diameter of less than 15 microns, optionally less than about 1 micron. In other embodiments, the polymer fibers include a non-circular morphology, optionally defining multiple gear-shaped, winged-shaped or lobe-shaped projections along the length of the polymer fibers. A method for forming the fiber-based adsorbents includes irradiating high surface area polymer fibers, grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting the grafted fibers with hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution. High surface area fiber-based adsorbents formed according to the present method demonstrated a significantly improved uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20140206532 | FIBER-BASED ADSORBENTS HAVING HIGH ADSORPTION CAPACITIES FOR RECOVERING DISSOLVED METALS AND METHODS THEREOF - A fiber-based adsorbent and a related method of manufacture are provided. The fiber-based adsorbent includes polymer fibers with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight over known fibers to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example uranium, from aqueous solutions. The polymer fibers include a circular morphology in some embodiments, having a mean diameter of less than 15 microns, optionally less than about 1 micron. In other embodiments, the polymer fibers include a non-circular morphology, optionally defining multiple gear-shaped, winged-shaped or lobe-shaped projections along the length of the polymer fibers. A method for forming the fiber-based adsorbents includes irradiating high surface area polymer fibers, grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting the grafted fibers with hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution. High surface area fiber-based adsorbents formed according to the present method demonstrated a significantly improved uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents. | 07-24-2014 |
| 20140206782 | FOAM-BASED AND POWDER-BASED ADSORBENTS HAVING HIGH ADSORPTION CAPACITIES FOR RECOVERING DISSOLVED METALS AND METHODS THEREOF - Foam-based and powder-based adsorbents and a related method of manufacture are provided. The foam-based and powder-based adsorbents includes polymer foam or powder with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example uranium, from aqueous solutions. A method for forming the foam-based or powder-based adsorbents includes irradiating polymer foam or powder, grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting with hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution. Foam-based and powder-based adsorbents formed according to the present method demonstrated a significantly improved uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents. | 07-24-2014 |
| 20150231601 | POWDER-BASED ADSORBENTS HAVING HIGH ADSORPTION CAPACITIES FOR RECOVERING DISSOLVED METALS AND METHODS THEREOF - A powder-based adsorbent and a related method of manufacture are provided. The powder-based adsorbent includes polymer powder with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example uranium, from aqueous solutions. A method for forming the powder-based adsorbent includes irradiating polymer powder, grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting with hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution. Powder-based adsorbents formed according to the present method demonstrated a significantly improved uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents. | 08-20-2015 |
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| 20090250201 | HEAT EXCHANGER HAVING A CONTOURED INSERT AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME - The present invention provides a heat exchanger for transferring heat between a first working fluid and a second working fluid, including a pair of spaced apart headers, a number of tubes extending between the pair of headers and providing a flow path for the first working fluid and being positioned along a flow path for the second working fluid, and an insert supportable in one of the tubes and having a fold extending in a direction substantially parallel to the flow path for the first working fluid through the tubes. The fold can define first and second legs of the insert. A dimple can be formed on the first leg and a protrusion can be formed on the second leg opposite to the dimple on the first leg. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20100096101 | STACKED/BAR PLATE CHARGE AIR COOLER INCLUDING INLET AND OUTLET TANKS - The present invention provides a charge air cooler for transferring heat between a coolant and charge air including a charge air inlet tank, a charge air outlet tank spaced from the inlet tank, a housing connecting the inlet and outlet tanks to define a charge air flow path from the inlet tank to the outlet tank, and a plurality of plate pairs extending into the charge air flow path from, and substantially perpendicular to, a first wall of the housing. Each of the plate pairs can define a multi-pass path for the coolant. Elongated spacers can be positioned between adjacent plate pairs to define the first wall of the housing. The housing can include a second wall opposite the first wall, and the plate pairs can be spaced away from the second wall in order to accommodate differences in thermal expansion between the plate pairs and the housing. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20120066905 | HEAT EXCHANGER HAVING A CONTOURED INSERT AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME - A heat exchanger for transferring heat between a first working fluid and a second working fluid, including a pair of spaced apart headers, a number of tubes extending between the pair of headers and providing a flow path for the first working fluid and being positioned along a flow path for the second working fluid, and an insert supportable in one of the tubes and having a fold extending in a direction substantially parallel to the flow path for the first working fluid through the tubes. The fold can define first and second legs of the insert. A dimple can be formed on the first leg and a protrusion can be formed on the second leg opposite to the dimple on the first leg. | 03-22-2012 |
