Embedded temperature sensors for monitoring temperature of articles and status of drying or cleaning cycles

Abstract

An embedded temperature sensor may be attached to or otherwise associated with a textile in order to measure one or more temperatures of the textile. Temperature information received from one or more embedded temperature sensor(s) throughout the course of a dryer cycle may be analyzed to determine dryness of one or more textiles in a dryer, determine whether one or more textiles in the dryer are overdry, generate an indication of the dryness of the one or more textiles in the dryer, and/or to control one or more dryer cycles of the dryer, such as by automatically turning-off the dryer when one or more of the textiles in the dryer are determined to be dry. The embedded temperature sensor may further be used to validate a cleaning process in a cleaning machine.

1 . A system comprising:
 a plurality of embedded temperature sensors associated with different textiles of a plurality of textiles, wherein, for each embedded temperature sensor of the plurality of embedded temperature sensors, the embedded temperature sensor is configured to sense temperatures of the textile associated with the embedded temperature sensor at one or more times during a dryer cycle of a clothes dryer and to wirelessly transmit temperature information including the sensed temperatures of the textile associated with the embedded temperature sensor;   a computing device comprising at least one processor; and   a storage device comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to:
 receive the temperature information transmitted by each of the embedded temperature sensors; and 
 determine, based on the temperature information, a dryness of a load of laundry comprised of the plurality of textiles. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the storage device further includes instructions executable by the at least one processor to generate an indication of the dryness of the load of laundry. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the storage device further includes instructions executable by the at least one processor to control operation of the clothes dryer based on the dryness of the load of laundry. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the instructions executable by the at least one processor to control the operation of the clothes dryer include instructions executable by the at least one processor to generate a control signal that causes the clothes dryer to stop the dryer cycle of the clothes dryer or initiate a cool-down phase of the dryer cycle. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , the storage device further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles:
 identify a local minimum in temperature versus time data of the sensed temperatures of the textile; and   determine that the textile is dry at a time associated with the identified local minimum.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the local minimum is identified based on a first derivative test. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the temperature versus time data of the sensed temperatures of the textile exhibits a characteristic shape including a local maximum occurring subsequent to a start of the dryer cycle and the local minimum occurring subsequent to the local maximum. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the temperature versus time data of the sensed temperatures of the textile exhibits a characteristic shape including a temperature increase occurring subsequent to a start of the dryer cycle, a local maximum occurring subsequent to the temperature increase, a temperature decrease occurring subsequent to the local maximum, the local minimum occurring subsequent to the local maximum, and a second temperature increase occurring subsequent to the local minimum. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a user computing device including a user interface having a display, and wherein the storage device further comprises instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles:
 generate, for display on the user interface, a graph of sensed temperature information versus time data of the sensed temperatures of the textile.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , the storage device further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles, determine that the textile is dry at a time subsequent to a start of the dryer cycle when a slope of temperature versus time data of the sensed temperatures of the textile satisfies a predetermined threshold slope. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions include instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles, determine that the textile is dry when a time elapsed since a start of the dryer cycle is greater than a predetermined minimum time and a first derivative of the temperature versus time data of the sensed temperatures of the textile is greater than a predetermined minimum derivative value. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the predetermined minimum time is between 10 and 30 minutes, and wherein the predetermined minimum derivative value is between 100 and 200. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , the storage device further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles:
 determine, based on the temperature information transmitted by the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile, whether the textile is overdry; and   generate, upon determining that the textile is overdry, an indication that the textile is overdry.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , the storage device further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles:
 determine, based on the temperature information transmitted by the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile, that the textile is overdry a predetermined period of time after the textile is determined to be dry.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , the storage device further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for at least one textile of the plurality of textiles:
 automatically control the dryer cycle of the clothes dryer based on the temperature information transmitted by the embedded temperature sensor associated with the at least one textile.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a dryer controller that automatically controls the dryer cycle of the clothes dryer based on the temperature information transmitted by each of the embedded temperature sensors. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a user computing device including a user interface having a display, and wherein the storage device further comprises instructions executable by the at least one processor to, for each textile of the plurality of textiles:
 generate, for display on the user interface, at least one of a dryer identifier associated with the clothes dryer, an embedded temperature identifier associated with the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile, a textile type of the textile, a time/date stamp, a cycle number, and a battery level associated with the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, for at least one textile of the plurality of textiles:
 the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile is attached to a surface of the textile and senses a temperature of the textile,   the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile is adhered to the surface of the textile,   the system includes one of a flap, tab, pocket, or envelope that is attached to the textile and that is sized to receive the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile in a position to sense the temperature of the textile, or   the textile forms a pocket sized to receive the embedded temperature sensor associated with the textile in the position to sense the temperature of the textile.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a cloud-based computing device located remotely from the clothes dryer. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a local computing device and wherein the system further comprises a cloud-based computing device located remotely from the local computing device and the clothes dryer, and wherein the cloud-based computing device is configured to:
 receive additional temperature information transmitted by additional embedded temperature sensors associated with additional textiles during a plurality of dryer cycles executed by one or more clothes dryers; and   generate one or more reports concerning analysis of the additional temperature information received from the additional embedded temperature sensors; and   transmit at least one of the one or more reports to the local computing device.