US 11,851,797 B2
Washing machine and control method therefor
Jun-hoe Choi, Hwaseong-si (KR); Tae-gyoon Noh, Suwon-si (KR); Seo-ho Lee, Seongnam-si (KR); and Jeong-su Han, Suwon-si (KR)
Assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., Suwon-si (KR)
Appl. No. 16/646,426
Filed by SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., Suwon-si (KR)
PCT Filed Aug. 29, 2018, PCT No. PCT/KR2018/009992
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 11, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/050211, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 14, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2017-0115766 (KR), filed on Sep. 11, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0277721 A1, Sep. 3, 2020
Int. Cl. D06F 33/47 (2020.01); D06F 33/38 (2020.01); G01N 21/3577 (2014.01); D06F 33/36 (2020.01); D06F 34/22 (2020.01); D06F 103/64 (2020.01); D06F 103/20 (2020.01); D06F 105/62 (2020.01); D06F 105/52 (2020.01); D06F 105/58 (2020.01); D06F 33/32 (2020.01)
CPC D06F 33/36 (2020.02) [D06F 33/38 (2020.02); D06F 33/47 (2020.02); D06F 34/22 (2020.02); G01N 21/3577 (2013.01); D06F 33/32 (2020.02); D06F 2103/20 (2020.02); D06F 2103/64 (2020.02); D06F 2105/52 (2020.02); D06F 2105/58 (2020.02); D06F 2105/62 (2020.02); G01N 2201/062 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A washing machine comprising:
a light emitter configured to emit white light including infrared (IR) light to washing water;
a light receiver configured to receive visible light and infrared light which are reflected by the washing water or transmitted through the washing water among the white light emitted to the washing water; and
a processor configured to determine a turbidity value of the washing water and a color of the washing water based on intensity and patterns of the received visible light and the received infrared light, and control an operation of the washing machine based on the determined turbidity value of the washing water and the determined color of the washing water,
wherein the light receiver includes a plurality of layers, the plurality of layers includes a first layer configured to receive a first color of the visible light corresponding to a first wavelength band, a second layer configured to receive a second color of the visible light corresponding to a second wavelength band, a third layer configured to receive a third color of the visible light corresponding to a third wavelength band, and a fourth layer configured to receive the infrared light of an infrared wavelength band, and
wherein the processor is configured to:
after a detergent is put into the washing machine, determine a first turbidity value of the washing water in which the detergent is diluted based on intensity and pattern of at least one visible light among visible light of the first wavelength, visible light of the second wavelength and visible light of the third wavelength received from the light receiver in a pre-washing operation,
determine a second turbidity value of the washing water based on intensity and pattern of visible light of the first wavelength, visible light of the second wavelength, visible light of the third wavelength received from the light receiver in a pre-washing operation, and the infrared light in a washing operation,
determine a third turbidity value corresponding the washing water by calibrating the second turbidity value as the first turbidity value, and control to perform an additional washing operation based on the third turbidity value corresponding washing water.