Dryer and Method for Controlling the Same

This application is continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2025/002156, filed on Feb. 13, 2025, which is based on and claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0044989, filed on Apr. 2, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

The disclosure relates to a dryer having an improved structure, and a method for controlling the same.

A dryer is a device capable of drying an object (object to be dried) by removing moisture contained in the object. Various types of dryers capable of drying an object exist in the related art. For example, there is a dryer that supplies hot air into a drum that accommodates an object. In another example, there is a dryer capable of drying an object through dielectric heating that uses radio frequency (RF). In a related art dryer that uses dielectric heating, an object to be dried is placed between two flat electrodes arranged in parallel and water contained in the object may be heated by producing an electric field between the two flat electrodes.

In addition, a dryness level of an object to be dried may be measured in various ways to properly dry the object. For example, a dryness level of an object in a drum may be measured using a humidity sensor located in the dryer. Alternatively, the dryness level of the object may be measured by measuring a moisture content of the object at a specific temperature using a temperature sensor and a weight sensor, or may be measured using an impedance between pairs of electrodes.

Provided is a dryer that may measure a dryness level of an object to be dried for each area (for each part) by arranging a plurality of electrodes in various directions on an inner surface of a drum to more accurately determine the dryness level of the object and provide an optimized drying course and drying time.

Technical aspects that can be achieved by the disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other technical aspects not mentioned will be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure belongs from the following description.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a dryer includes: a cabinet; a drum rotatable in the cabinet; a drying portion configured to dry an object accommodated in the drum; a motor configured to rotate the drum; a plurality of electrodes on an inner surface of the drum in an axial direction of the drum, the plurality of electrodes being configured to detect at least one electrode impedance of the object; and a controller configured to determine a dryness level of the object for each of areas inside the drum based on the at least one electrode impedance detected by the plurality of electrodes, and control the drying portion and the motor based on the determined dryness level of the object for each of the areas.

The controller may be further configured to control the motor to increase a rotation speed of the drum, based on a first dryness level of the object located in a rear area inside the drum being lower than a second dryness level of the object located in a front area inside the drum.

The controller may be further configured to control the motor to alternately rotate the drum in a forward direction and a reverse direction, based on a first dryness level of the object located in a lower area inside the drum being lower than a second dryness level of the object located in an upper area inside the drum.

The plurality of electrodes may be arranged in at least two rows extending in the axial direction, and the controller may be further configured to determine a first dryness level of the object based on at least one electrode impedance between electrodes that face each other in the at least two rows.

The controller may be further configured to determine a second dryness level of the object based on at least one electrode impedance between electrodes that do not face each other in the at least two rows.

The controller may be further configured to determine a final dryness level of the object based on an average value of the first dryness level and the second dryness level.

The controller may be further configured to control the plurality of electrodes to detect the at least one electrode impedance of the object at preset intervals.

The controller further is configured to provide a notification to recommend stopping a drying operation, based on the final dryness level of the object being greater than or equal to a reference value after a reference time period.

The controller may be further configured to determine a material of the object based on the final dryness level of the object, and control the drying portion and the motor to change a drying time or a drying course based on the determined material.

The controller may be further configured to provide a notification of a change in a drying time or a drying course, based on the drying time or the drying course being changed.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a method for controlling a dryer including a cabinet, a drying portion configured to dry an object, a drum rotatable in the cabinet, a motor configured to rotate the drum, and a plurality of electrodes arranged on an inner surface of the drum in an axial direction of the drum, includes: determining a dryness level of the object for each of areas inside the drum based on at least one electrode impedance detected by the plurality of electrodes; and controlling the drying portion and the motor based on the determined dryness level of the object for each of the areas.

The controlling the motor may include controlling the motor to increase a rotation speed of the drum, based on a first dryness level of the object located in a rear area inside the drum being lower than a second dryness level of the object located in a front area inside the drum.

The controlling the motor may include controlling the motor to alternately rotate the drum in a forward direction and a reverse direction, based on a first dryness level of the object located in a lower area inside the drum being lower than a second dryness level of the object located in an upper area inside the drum.

The plurality of electrodes may be arranged in at least two rows extending in the axial direction, and the determining the dryness level of the object may include determining a first dryness level of the object based on at least one electrode impedance between electrodes that face each other in the at least two rows.

The determining the dryness level the object may include determining a second dryness level of the object based on at least one electrode impedance between electrodes that do not face each other in the at least two rows.

The determining the dryness level of the object may further include determining a final dryness level of the object based on an average value of the first dryness level and the second dryness level.

The detecting the electrode impedance of the object may include detecting the at least one electrode impedance of the object at preset intervals.

The method may further include providing a notification to recommend stopping a drying operation, based on the final dryness level of the object to be dried being greater than or equal to a reference value after a reference time period.

The controlling the drying portion and the motor may include determining a material of the object based on the final dryness level of the object to be dried, and controlling the drying portion and the motor to change a drying time or a drying course based on the determined material.

The method may further include providing a notification of a change in a drying time or a drying course, based on the drying time or the drying course being changed.

Various embodiments of the disclosure and terms used herein are not intended to limit the technical features described herein to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutions of the corresponding embodiments.

In describing of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related elements.

The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the items unless clearly indicated otherwise in a related context.

In the disclosure, phrases, such as “A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, “at least one of A or B”, “A, B or C”, “at least one of A, B and C”, and “at least one of A, B, or C” may include any one or all possible combinations of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase among the phrases.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Terms such as “˜portion”, “˜member”, “˜module”, and the like may be implemented in hardware or software or any combination thereof. According to various embodiments, a plurality of “˜portions”, “˜members”, or “˜modules” may be embodied as a single element, or a single “˜portion”, “˜member”, or “˜module” may include a plurality of elements.

Terms such as “1st”, “2nd”, “primary”, or “secondary” may be used simply to distinguish an element from other elements, without limiting the element in other aspects (e.g., importance or order).

When an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to as being “(functionally or communicatively) coupled” or “connected” to another element (e.g., a second element), the first element may be connected to the second element, directly (e.g., wired), wirelessly, or through a third element.

It will be understood that the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including”, and/or “comprising” are used in the disclosure, they specify the presence of the specified features, figures, steps, operations, components, members, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, figures, steps, operations, components, members, or combinations thereof.

When a given element is referred to as being “connected to”, “coupled to”, “supported by” or “in contact with” another element, it is to be understood that it may be directly or indirectly connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with the other element. When a given element is indirectly connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with another element, it is to be understood that it may be connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with the other element through a third element.

It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it may be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present.

illustrates an example of a network system including various electronic devices.

Referring to, a home appliancemay include a communication module capable of communicating with another home appliance, a user device, and/or a server, a user interface that receives a user input and/or outputs information to a user, at least one processor that controls operation of the home appliance, and at least one memory that stores a program for controlling the operation of the home appliance.

The home appliancemay be at least one of various types of home appliances. For example, the home appliancemay include at least one of a refrigerator, a dishwasher, an electric range, an electric oven, an air conditioner, a clothes treating apparatus, a washing machine, a dryer, and a microwave oven.

The home applianceis not limited to the examples shown in. For example, the home appliancemay include various other types of appliances such as a cleaning robot, a vacuum cleaner, a television, and the like. Furthermore, the aforementioned home appliances are by way of example only, and in addition to the aforementioned home appliances, other appliances connected to other home appliance, the user device, or the serverto perform operations described below may be included in the home applianceaccording to an embodiment.

The servermay include a communication module communicating with another server, the home appliance, or the user device, at least one processor that processes data received from another server, the home appliance, or the user device, and at least one memory that stores programs for processing data or processed data. The servermay be implemented as a variety of computing devices, such as a workstation, a cloud, a data drive, a data station, and the like. The servermay be implemented as one or more server physically or logically separated based on a function, detailed configuration of function, or data, and may transmit and receive data through communication between servers and process the transmitted and received data.

The servermay perform functions, such as managing a user account, registering the home appliancein association with the user account, managing or controlling the registered home appliance, and the like. For example, a user may access the servervia the user deviceand may create a user account. The user account may be identified by an identifier (ID) and a password set by the user. The servermay register the home appliancewith the user account according to a predetermined procedure. For example, the servermay link identification information of the home appliance(e.g., a serial number or media access control (MAC) address) to the user account to register, manage, and control the home appliance. The user devicemay include a communication module capable of communicating with the serveror the home appliance, a user interface that receives a user input or outputs information to a user, at least one processor that controls an operation of the user device, and at least one memory that stores a program for controlling the operation of the user device.

The user devicemay be carried by a user, or placed in a user's home or office, or the like. The user devicemay include a personal computer (PC), a terminal, a portable telephone, a smartphone, a handheld device, a wearable device, and the like, but is not limited thereto.

The memory of the user devicemay store a program for controlling the home appliance, i.e., an application. The application may be pre-installed during manufacture on the user device, or may be downloaded from an external server for installation.

By running the application installed on the user deviceby a user, the user may access the server, create a user account, and communicate with the serverbased on the login user account to register the home appliance.

For example, by operating the home applianceto allow the home applianceto access the serveraccording to a procedure guided by the application installed on the user device, the servermay register the home appliancewith the user account by assigning the identification information (e.g., a serial number or an MAC address) of the home applianceto the corresponding user account.

A user may control the home applianceusing the application installed on the user device. For example, by logging into a user account with the application installed on the user device, the home applianceregistered in the user account appears, and by inputting a control command for the home appliance, the control command may be delivered to the home appliancevia the server.

A network may include both a wired network and a wireless network. The wired network may include a cable network or a telephone network, and the wireless network may include any networks transmitting and receiving a signal via radio waves. The wired network and the wireless network may be interconnected.

The network may include a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN) formed around an access point (AP), and a short-range wireless network that does not use an AP. The short-range wireless network may include Bluetooth™ (IEEE 802.15.1), Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4), Wi-Fi Direct, near field communication (NFC), and Z-Wave, but is not limited thereto.