Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

Other

General Electric Company

Ut-battelle, Inc.

Michael Goodman Schroeder

Michael Alexander Benedict

Stephanos Kyriacou

David G Beers

Brian Michael Schork

Matthew R Hunter

Brent Alden Junge

Choon Jae Ryu

Sarah Virginia Morris

Tanner Davis Gunn

Joel Boyer

Gregory William Hahn

Gregory Sergeevich Chernov

Eric Scott Johnson

Louis Anthony Wantland

John Edward Dries

Errin Whitney Gnadinger

Steven Keith Root

Amelia M Elliott

Ayyoub Mehdizadeh Momen

Anthony Michael King

Brian Allgeier

Jason Andrew May

Mark Thomas Fryman

John Alexander Gardner

Satish Kumar Raju Buddharaju

Nicholas Matthew Dillon

David C McCalpin

Kyle Robert Eden

Eric B Devins

Reagan Murphy

Yefim Tsozik

Dimitar Tcholakov

Leonardo Maximiliano Falcon Izzi

Andrew Poos

Nicholas Clancy Schooley

A refrigerator appliance includes a liner positioned within a cabinet and having an inner liner surface that defines a chilled chamber. A door is rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber and a camera assembly is mounted to the liner for monitoring the chilled chamber. The camera assembly includes a camera housing, a camera mounted within the camera housing and being pivotable between a first orientation and a second orientation, and a pivoting mechanism that is operably coupled to the door such that the camera is oriented in the first orientation when the door is in an open position and in the second orientation when the door is in a closed position.

Pivoting camera assembly for a refrigerator appliance

A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a freezer drawer, a camera module, and a controller. The freezer drawer may include a drawer body and a freezer door coupled to the drawer body to move therewith and provide selective access to a freezer chamber. The controller may be operably coupled to the camera module. The controller may be configured to initiate an operation routine. The operation routine may include 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.

Refrigerator appliance and methods for tracking stored items in a freezer chamber

A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a door, a door opener, and a controller. The door opener may be attached to a cabinet and include a casing, a push rod, and a position sensor. The controller may be in operable communication with the door opener and configured to direct an opener operation. The opener operation may include directing the push rod to a retracted position, detecting the door in the closed position following directing the push rod to the retracted position, directing the push rod forward from the retracted position following detecting the door in the closed position, monitoring sensor output at the rod-load sensor while directing the push rod forward, detecting contact with the door while monitoring sensor output, and halting the push rod at a partially extended position in response to detecting contact.

Refrigerator with an assisted door opener

A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a door, a camera module, a microphone, and a controller. The cabinet may define a chilled chamber. The door may be rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber. The camera module may be mounted to the cabinet. The microphone may be mounted to the cabinet within the chilled chamber. The controller may be operably coupled to the camera module. The controller may be configured to initiate an operation routine. The operation routine may include initiating a capture sequence at the camera module and the microphone, determining an internal location of a first stored item within the chilled chamber based on a two-dimensional image and a sound recording of the capture sequence, and recording the internal location of the first stored item.

Refrigerator appliance and methods of item location identification

A refrigerator appliance and a method of operating a refrigerator appliance to detect produce ripening. The refrigerator includes a camera assembly in a chilled chamber to obtain an image of a produce item and analyze the image for a ripeness value. Comparing the ripeness value of produce item to a predetermined value may be used to determine if the produce item has reached an optimal ripeness condition.

Produce ripening detection in a refrigerator appliance

In one embodiment, a refrigerator appliance is provided. The refrigerator appliance can include a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a controller configured to operate one or more components of the refrigerator appliance, and a camera assembly operable to monitor the chilled chamber. The camera assembly can include a camera module having a camera that is operable to capture data associated with the chilled chamber. The controller and the camera module can each be configured to respectively perform one or more operations of an authentication process to verify identity of the controller and the camera module. The camera module can be configured to operate the camera to capture the data associated with the chilled chamber and/or to transmit a redacted version of the data associated with the chilled chamber to the controller based at least in part on verification of the identity of the controller and the camera module.

Multi-camera vision system facilitating authentication and secure data transfer

A refrigerator appliance is provided including a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a door rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber, and an inventory management system mounted within the chilled chamber for monitoring objects positioned within the chilled chamber. The inventory management system includes a camera assembly that obtains images of food items as they are being added to or removed from the chilled chamber. A controller of the appliance analyzes the images using a machine learning image recognition process to identify an object and a corresponding confidence score related to the object identification. Historical inventory data is then be used to adjust the confidence score and modify an inventory list when the adjusted confidence score exceeds a high confidence threshold.

Inventory management system in a refrigerator appliance

A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a fresh food chamber and a freezer chamber and a plurality of camera assemblies mounted to the cabinet at a front portion of the fresh food chamber. The refrigerator appliance also includes a controller that is configured to perform a pixel statistical analysis of one or more video clips from the plurality of camera assemblies. The controller is configured to adjust one or both a brightness setting in the fresh food chamber of the refrigerator appliance and an exposure setting of the plurality of camera assemblies in response to the pixel statistical analysis of one or more video clips from the plurality of camera assemblies. The pixel statistical analysis of one or more video clips from the plurality of camera assemblies is triggered by an interaction with the refrigerator appliance.

Systems and methods for camera settings adjustments in refrigerator appliances

A compressor includes a housing defining a sump for collecting lubricant, a pump for circulating the lubricant within the housing, the pump comprising a lubricant intake tube defining a pump inlet positioned within the sump, and a noise dissipation media positioned within the sump on a surface of the lubricant and above the pump inlet, wherein a media void is defined around the lubricant intake tube.

Noise reduction media for a reciprocating compressor

A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a door, a camera module, and a controller. The cabinet may define a chilled chamber. The door may be rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber. The camera module may be mounted to the cabinet within the chilled chamber. The controller may be operably coupled to the camera module. The controller may be configured to initiate an operation routine. The operation routine may include receiving one or more images for each of a plurality of capture sequences, detecting a pervasive obfuscation condition at the camera module based on the received one or more images, and directing a responsive action on the refrigerator appliance in response to detecting the pervasive obfuscation condition.

Refrigerator camera modules and methods for addressing persistent conditions on the camera lens

A refrigerator appliance is provided including a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a door rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber, and an audiovisual input assembly for monitoring the chilled chamber. A controller obtains a video stream and an audio stream using the audiovisual input assembly and analyzes these streams using a standard object weighting to generate a video-based inventory change and an audio-based inventory change. An inventory list is updated if the video-based inventory change and the audio-based inventory change match. Otherwise, the controller can reanalyze the streams using an updated object weighting to see if the audio and video streams generate matching proposed inventory changes.

A refrigerator appliance is provided including a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a door rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber, and a camera assembly positioned within the chilled chamber and being rotatable between a first position and a second position. A controller is configured to obtain one or more images using the camera assembly, determine a position of the camera assembly, and generate a modified image by cropping the one or more images based on a field of view associated with the position of the camera assembly.

Adjustable camera assembly in a refrigerator appliance

A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a food storage chamber. A door is positioned on the cabinet and is movable between a closed position and an open position. A door opener includes a casing, a push screw extending through the casing towards the door and a motor in operative communication with the push screw. The motor is configured to move the push screw when the motor is activated. The motor rotates a drive gear when the motor is activated and the push screw reciprocates generally along a linear direction when the motor is activated.

Refrigerator with self-reversing door opener

A refrigerator is provided having a shelf assembly and a controller. The shelf assembly may include a shelf and a drive mechanism configured to move the shelf in at least a vertical direction. The refrigerator also includes an object detection system configured to detect an article placed adjacent to the shelf. The controller may be configured to determine the proximity of an article and the shelf using the object detection system, detect a shelf moving event, and move the shelf in response to the shelf moving event. The shelf moving event may be based, at least in part, on the proximity of the article and the shelf. The controller may also be configured to move the shelf in response to detecting a flow restriction above or below the shelf.

Smart adjustable shelves for refrigerator appliances

A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a door, a door opener, and a controller. The door opener may be attached to a cabinet and include a casing, a push rod, and a position sensor. The controller may be in operable communication with the door opener and configured to direct an opener operation. The opener operation may include receiving an opening prompt for the door opener, directing the push rod forward at a first extension speed in response to the received opening prompt, detecting the push rod at a first threshold between the retracted position and the extended position, and directing the push rod forward at a second extension speed in response to detecting the push rod at the first threshold, the second extension speed being less than the first extension speed.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Michael Goodman Schroeder