US 12,333,812 B2
Refrigerator appliance and methods for tracking stored items in a freezer chamber
Michael Goodman Schroeder, Louisville, KY (US); and Stephanos Kyriacou, Louisville, KY (US)
Assigned to Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc., Wilmington, DE (US)
Filed by Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc., Wilmington, DE (US)
Filed on Apr. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/713,721.
Prior Publication US 2023/0316755 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. G06K 9/00 (2022.01); F25D 29/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/50 (2017.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01); G06V 20/50 (2022.01); G06V 20/68 (2022.01); H04N 7/18 (2006.01)
CPC G06V 20/50 (2022.01) [F25D 29/005 (2013.01); G06T 7/50 (2017.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01); G06V 20/68 (2022.01); H04N 7/18 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A refrigerator appliance comprising:
a cabinet defining a freezer chamber;
a freezer drawer slidably mounted to the cabinet at the freezer chamber, the freezer drawer comprising
a drawer body selectively received within the freezer chamber,
a freezer door coupled to the drawer body to move therewith and provide selective access to the freezer chamber,
a lower basket, and
an upper basket movably mounted to the drawer body above the lower basket;
a camera module attached to the cabinet and directed toward the freezer chamber; and
a controller operably coupled to the camera module, the controller being configured to initiate an operation routine comprising
initiating an image capture sequence at the camera module to capture one or more two-dimensional images,
identifying a first stored item based on the one or more two-dimensional images of the image capture sequence,
determining an internal location of the first stored item within the freezer drawer based on the one or more two-dimensional images of the image capture sequence, and
recording a descriptor of the first stored item and the internal location of the first stored item,
wherein determining the internal location of the first stored item comprises
identifying the upper basket, and
determining a Z-axis vertical depth of the first stored item based on identification of the upper basket.