The invention relates to a laundry treating appliance and method for controlling the operation of the laundry treating appliance by determining the surface area of the laundry based on image data of the laundry.

A drum washing machine, and a control method and a control apparatus for same are provided. The control method for the drum washing machine comprises the following steps: acquiring an average starting power of a drum in a starting process of the drum; acquiring a load range to which a current load of the drum belongs according to the average starting power; and setting a weighing protection velocity fluctuation threshold according to the load range to which the current load of the drum belongs. A value of the current load is obtained by using a correspondence between load with different weights and average starting powers. A weighing protection velocity fluctuation threshold is set according to the value of the current load to avoid the collision with the drum and non-dehydration in case of only one piece of clothing.

A method of operating a washing appliance includes obtaining images of a wash chamber using a camera assembly operating at a frame rate equivalent to the basket speed. The one or more images are analyzed, e.g., using a machine learning image recognition process, to determine a cloth coverage ratio of the load of clothes in the wash basket. The cloth coverage ratio is compared to a predetermined coverage threshold for reducing out of balance conditions. Specifically, if the cloth coverage area is greater than the threshold, the wash basket may be ramped up to a hold or plaster speed. By contrast, if the cloth coverage area is less than the threshold, the basket speed may be maintained or lowered to permit the clothes to redistribute before ramping to the hold or plaster speed.

The present application encompasses methods and apparatus for heating a load such as clothes immersed in a medium such as water during a heating period. A method embodiment of the present invention comprises heating the load and medium within an enclosure by subjecting said load and medium to heated air originated from a conventional energy source; and applying heat to said load and medium within the enclosure via an AC electrical field, embodied as a capacitor, originated from an RF power source.

The present disclosure relates to a method for washing laundry of a laundry load, in particular in a washing drum (B2), carried out by at least one device (100, 200). In one example, the method includes generating steam and applying the steam to the laundry of the laundry load; producing a microemulsion by employing a detergent composition; and washing the laundry of the laundry load using a first wash liquor based on the microemulsion.

An apparatus and method for reducing displacement of a washing machine having a drum rotatable about an axis of rotation is disclosed. The washing machine comprises a chassis and a motor for rotation a drum. The drum is suspended from the chassis by a suspension. The suspension can comprise springs having six natural frequencies that can resonate at a rotational speed of the drum driven by the motor. The suspension system can be tuned such that resonant frequencies can be varied based upon rotational speed of the drum.

A method controls a laundry treatment apparatus that includes a drum in which a target object to be dried is put, a drum motor to drive the drum, an air duct to guide air into the drum, a heat pump provided in the air duct to dehumidify and heat the air, a blower fan to move the air of the air duct, and a blower motor to drive the blower fan. The method includes a drum driving step for repeatedly driving the drum by accelerating and decelerating the drum, a steam supply step for supplying or stopping steam for a predetermined time during execution of the drum driving step, and an air supply step for circulating internal air of the drum during execution of the drum driving step. The circulation of the internal air of the drum is stopped during execution of the steam supply step.

Provided are a washing apparatus that is capable of being operated in an Internet of Things (IoT) environment over a 5G communication network and estimating additional laundry that is introduced and the amount of detergent that is additionally introduced based thereon through a neural network model generated based on machine learning, and a method of controlling the same.

A washing machine appliance includes a wash basket that is rotatably mounted within a wash tub and that defines a wash chamber for receiving a load of clothes. A motor assembly selectively rotates the wash basket, a drain pump assembly selectively drains wash fluid from the wash tub, and a camera assembly is used to monitor an out-of-balance value to minimize out-of-balance issues. Specifically, a controller of the washing machine appliance uses the camera assembly to obtain one or more images of the wash chamber, analyze the one or more images using a machine learning image recognition process to determine the out-of-balance value of the load of clothes in the wash basket, and perform a cloth redistribution process based at least in part on determining that the out-of-balance value is greater than a predetermined out-of-balance threshold.

The present disclosure relates to a laundry treatment machine. The laundry treatment machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a controller configured to increase or decrease stepwise a speed of a motor during dewatering. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce a speed ripple during dewatering.