Controlled humidity release system

Abstract

A system for controllably releasing humid air including a washing unit having a housing; a washing drum within the housing; a port defining a first opening operable to intake air from an outside atmosphere into an internal cavity of the washing drum; a vent defining a second opening operable to direct the air to flow out of the internal cavity of the washing drum; and a release pipe with a first end coupled to the vent and a second end terminating on an exterior of the washing unit to enable the air to flow out of the vent to an exterior of the housing. The system also includes a damper positioned within the release pipe operable to open or close the release pipe to release humidity to the outside atmosphere and a processor configured to communicate with an external measurement device and operable to selectively open or close the damper.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for controllably releasing humid air, the system comprising:
 a washing unit, the washing unit further comprising:
 a housing; 
 a washing drum positioned within the housing; 
 a port defining a first opening in the washer drum operable to intake air from an outside atmosphere into an internal cavity of the washing drum; 
 a vent defining a second opening in the washer drum operable to direct the air to flow out of the internal cavity of the washing drum; 
 a release pipe with a first end coupled to the vent and a second end terminating on an exterior of the washing unit to enable the air to flow out of the vent to an exterior of the housing; 
 a damper positioned within the release pipe and operable to selectively open or close the release pipe to release humidity to the outside atmosphere; and 
   a processor configured to communicate with one or more external measurement devices and operable to selectively open or close the damper.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a condensing unit in operative communication with the vent and a drain coupled to the condensing unit to remove a liquid condensate from the washing unit. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the release pipe is positioned along an airflow path between the washing drum and the condensing unit. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more wireless communication devices operable to transmit and receive a humidity data between the processor and the one or more external measurement devices. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the one or more external measurement devices is an independent relative humidity sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the one or more external measurement devices is one of a thermostat or an air conditioning unit. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the one or more external measurement devices is one of a humidifier or dehumidifier. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more wireless communication devices operable to transmit and receive a humidity data between the processor and one or more servers. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the humidity data comprises a local weather information from the one or more servers. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the port further comprises at least one fan to direct an airflow and the vent further comprises at least one fan to direct the airflow. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an on-board relative humidity sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor further comprises a comparison module to validate a measurement of the onboard relative humidity sensor against a communicated humidity data from the one or more external measurement devices. 
     
     
         13 . A method for selectively releasing humidity from a washing unit comprising:
 directing a dry air input from an outside atmosphere through a port to enter a washing drum during a drying process of the washing unit;   directing a humid air output from an internal cavity of the washing drum through a vent to exit the internal cavity;   directing the humid air output through the vent to a release pipe coupled to the vent;   measuring a humidity value using one or more external measurement devices and communicating the humidity value to a processor;   opening a damper operatively coupled to the release pipe when the measured humidity value is below a threshold value to release a first portion of the humid air output to the outside atmosphere;   closing the damper when the measured humidity value is above the threshold value; and   directing a second portion of the humid air output to a condenser to remove and drain a remaining moisture content.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the washing unit further comprises a wireless communication device to enable the one or more external measurement devices to directly communicate the humidity value to the processor. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the washing unit further comprises a wireless communication device in operative communication with a server to enable the server to aggregate the humidity values from the one or more external measurement devices and communicate the aggregated humidity values to the processor. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein communicating the humidity value to the processor further comprises transmitting a weather data to the processor from the server. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more external measurement devices is an independent relative humidity sensor. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more external measurement devices is one of a thermostat or an air conditioning unit. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more external measurement devices is one of a humidifier or a dehumidifier. 
     
     
         20 . A method for selectively releasing humidity from a washing unit comprising:
 directing a dry air input from an outside atmosphere through a port to enter a washing drum during a drying process of the washing unit;   directing a humid air output from an internal cavity of the washing drum through a vent to exit the internal cavity;   directing the humid air output to an release pipe coupled to the vent;   measuring a first humidity value of the outside atmosphere using an on-board relative humidity sensor and communicating the first humidity value to a processor;   measuring a second humidity value of the outside atmosphere using one or more external devices and communicating the second humidity value to the processor;   comparing the first humidity value and the second humidity value using a comparison module of the processor to determine a verified humidity value;   opening a damper operatively coupled to the release pipe when the verified humidity value is below a threshold value to release a portion of the humid air output to the outside atmosphere;   closing the damper when the verified humidity value is above the threshold value; and   directing a remaining portion of the humid air output to a condenser to remove and drain a remaining moisture content.