Self-clean cycle in a dryer appliance

Abstract

A dryer appliance includes a drum defining a chamber and being rotatably mounted within a cabinet, an air handler for selectively urging a flow of air through the chamber, and a heating assembly for selectively heating the flow of air. A controller is operably coupled to the air handler and the heating assembly and is configured to determine that a self-clean condition is satisfied, determine that the chamber is empty, lock the door, and operate the air handler and the heating assembly to perform a self-clean cycle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dryer appliance, comprising:
 a cabinet;   a drum rotatably mounted within the cabinet, the drum defining a chamber for receipt of clothes for drying;   an air handler for selectively urging a flow of air through the chamber;   a heating assembly for selectively heating the flow of air; and   a controller operably coupled to the air handler and the heating assembly, the controller being configured to:
 determine that a self-clean condition is satisfied; 
 determine that the chamber is empty; and 
 operate the air handler and the heating assembly to perform a self-clean cycle. 
   
     
     
         2 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a camera assembly mounted within view of the chamber, wherein the controller is in operative communication with the camera assembly, and wherein determining that the chamber is empty comprises:
 obtaining an image of the chamber; and   analyzing the image using an image recognition process to determine that the chamber is empty.   
     
     
         3 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is in operative communication with a remote device, and wherein determining that the chamber is empty comprises:
 obtaining an image of the chamber from the remote device; and   analyzing the image using an image recognition process to determine that the chamber is empty.   
     
     
         4 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a weight sensor mounted to the drum, wherein the controller is in operative communication with the weight sensor, and wherein determining that the chamber is empty comprises:
 obtaining a drum weight using the weight sensor; and   determining that the drum weight exceeds a predetermined weight associated with an empty drum.   
     
     
         5 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , wherein operating the air handler and the heating assembly to perform the self-clean cycle comprises:
 circulating the flow of air using the air handler while operating the heating assembly to heat the flow of air to a self-clean temperature.   
     
     
         6 . The dryer appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the self-clean temperature is elevated relative to a standard operating temperature. 
     
     
         7 . The dryer appliance of  claim 5 , wherein operating the air handler and the heating assembly to perform the self-clean cycle comprises:
 maintaining the flow of air at the self-clean temperature for a predetermined self-clean time.   
     
     
         8 . The dryer appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the self-clean temperature is greater than or equal to 160° F. and the predetermined self-clean time is greater than or equal to 20 minutes. 
     
     
         9 . The dryer appliance of  claim 5 , wherein operating the air handler and the heating assembly to perform the self-clean cycle comprises:
 determining that the self-clean temperature has been reached by monitoring a rate of temperature change of the flow of air after the heating assembly has been turned off.   
     
     
         10 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet for providing selective access to the drum; and   a door lock operably coupled to the door for selectively locking or unlocking the door, wherein the controller is further configured to:
 lock the door in a closed position using the door lock in response to determining that the self-clean condition is satisfied and that the drum is empty. 
   
     
     
         11 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a temperature sensor positioned within the flow of air for detecting an air temperature of the flow of air.   
     
     
         12 . The dryer appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the temperature sensor is an outlet thermistor positioned within a trap duct of the dryer appliance. 
     
     
         13 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a steam supply nozzle for selectively spraying liquid into the flow of air, wherein the controller is further configured to:
 operate the steam supply nozzle to inject the liquid during the self-clean cycle.   
     
     
         14 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the self-clean condition is satisfied comprises:
 determining that a predetermined amount of time or a predetermined number of cycles has passed since performing a prior self-clean cycle.   
     
     
         15 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the self-clean condition is satisfied comprises:
 receiving a user input to perform the self-clean cycle.   
     
     
         16 . The dryer appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the dryer appliance is one of a vented dryer appliance, a non-vented dryer appliance, a condenser dryer appliance, a heat pump dryer appliance, or a combination washer/dryer appliance. 
     
     
         17 . A method of operating a dryer appliance, the dryer appliance comprising a drum rotatably mounted within a cabinet, the drum defining a chamber for receipt of clothes for drying, an air handler for selectively urging a flow of air through the chamber, and a heating assembly for selectively heating the flow of air, the method comprising:
 determining that a self-clean condition is satisfied;   determining that the chamber is empty; and   operating the air handler and the heating assembly to perform a self-clean cycle.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dryer appliance further comprises a camera assembly mounted within view of the chamber, the method further comprising:
 obtaining an image of the chamber; and   analyzing the image using an image recognition process to determine that the chamber is empty.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein operating the air handler and the heating assembly to perform the self-clean cycle comprises:
 circulating the flow of air using the air handler while operating the heating assembly to heat the flow of air to a self-clean temperature that is elevated relative to a standard operating temperature.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dryer appliance further comprises a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet for providing selective access to the drum and a door lock operably coupled to the door for selectively locking or unlocking the door, the method further comprising:
 locking the door in a closed position using the door lock in response to determining that the self-clean condition is satisfied and that the drum is empty.