The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 05, 1996
Filed:
May. 17, 1995
Jeffrey M Huffington, Cary, IL (US);
Eaton Corporation, Cleveland, OH (US);
Abstract
In a clothes dryer, the air exiting the dryer for wet clothes has a high relative humidity compared to the relative humidity when the load is dry. A change in the relative humidity of the air leaving the dryer indicates a change in dryness of the load. The relative humidity is measured by using two thermistors located in an air outlet of the dryer. The first thermistor is nonself-heating and uses a relatively low current to detect the temperature of the air in the air outlet. The second thermistor is self-heating and operates at a higher current so that its temperature is higher than the air temperature. As the air moves across the heated thermistor it will conduct more heat away from the thermistor when the relative humidity of the air is high than when it is low. The air temperature and heated thermistor temperature are compared frequently during the drying cycle. When the load is wet the difference between the two thermistors is small. When the load is dry the difference is greater. A microcontroller circuit controls the temperature sensing and difference computation.