Patent Description:
In particular, the invention relates to a method and system for determining a treatment on a textile material item, based on scans by means of electromagnetic radiations and subsequent processing of the obtained signals.

Furthermore, the invention further relates to a method and system for recognizing types of fabric and types of stain on fabric, also based on scans by means of electromagnetic radiations and the subsequent processing of the obtained signals.

In the scope of the determination of treatments on fabric items, which can be performed by household appliances, some solutions have been suggested based on the recognition of some properties of the fabric to be treated by means of infrared scanners.

However, such solutions do not appear to provide sufficiently accurate results to be used reliably for the automatic determination of treatment programs (e.g., washing, drying, etc.). Indeed, the information which can be obtained from low/medium-range scanners (compatible with the reasonable costs for this scope of application) allows a rather approximate and not entirely reliable recognition of the fabric to be treated, and consequently a rather approximate and not entirely reliable determination of the treatment to be performed.

In the considered technical field, the need has therefore arisen to have solutions for the automatic determination of appropriate treatment for fabric item, based on electronic processing, which is more precise and reliable with respect to the known solutions.

Furthermore, for most ordinary treatments (e.g., washing) and even more so for specific treatments or pre-treatments (e.g., stain removal), the need is strongly felt for methods which are able to recognize the type of fabric and also the type of stain automatically by means of electronic processing of data that can be easily acquired. Such a need poses even more complex technical requirements, to be combined with the requirements of simplicity, portability and low cost imposed by the considered applications (which relate, for example, to an enrichment of the functions of existing appliances).

At the moment, the known solutions mentioned above are not able to meet such a need.

At the same time, similar needs arise with reference to methods and systems for recognizing types of fabric and types of stain, which are desired both as a preparatory step to determining a treatment and in itself, with a view to providing useful information to users.

Also with regard to such needs, the known solutions mentioned above cannot provide a satisfactory response at the moment.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method for determining a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item, which allows solving, at least in part, the drawbacks described above with reference to the prior art and to respond to the aforesaid needs particularly felt in the considered technical sector. Such an object is achieved by a method according to claim <NUM>.

Further embodiments of such a method are defined in claims <NUM>-<NUM>.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for determining a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item, capable of implementing the aforesaid method. Such a system is defined in claim <NUM>.

Further embodiments of the system are defined in claims <NUM>-<NUM>.

The International Patent Application <CIT> describes a method and device for ascertaining a treatment parameter of a textile using an impurity composition and a textile property.

In particular, document <CIT> discloses a household appliance for carrying out a treatment on a textile article, as well as a method for determining the treatment to be carried out on said textile article, wherein said household appliance comprises detection means operating in the near infrared for scanning a clean and/or a stained area of the textile material by means of a near infrared electromagnetic radiation, thereby generating at least one signal indicative of the nature of the textile material and/or of the type of stain in the scanned area, as well as further detection means operating in the visible band for scanning an area of the textile material by means of a visible band electromagnetic radiation, thereby generating at least one signal indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area. <CIT> further discloses electronic processing means connected to said detection means for receiving the aforementioned signals and which are configured to determine a treatment program to be carried out on the textile article and to provide a control unit and/or an user interface with the information concerning a recommended treatment program. <CIT> also teaches to carry out at least two consecutive scans, whereby the first scan aims to identify the type of stain and the second one the color of the textile article.

The International Patent Application <CIT> describes a method and apparatus for the identification of a textile parameter.

Further features and advantages of the methods and systems according to the invention will be apparent from the following description which illustrates preferred embodiments, given by way of indicative, non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:.

With reference to <FIG>, a method for determining a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item is described.

The method according to the invention comprises the steps of independent claim <NUM>.

According to several examples of application of the method, the identified treatment, or treatment program, may be performed by a household appliance, or by a user, or may involve a pre-treatment performed by a user and successive treatment performed by a household appliance.

For example, the treatment program may comprise a washing and/or pre-washing and/or drying program, or the like, which can be performed by a household appliance, such as a washing machine or dryer.

In such a case, the step of determining a treatment program comprises, for example, selecting a treatment program from a plurality of stored treatment programs.

According to another example, the treatment or treatment program comprises stain removal or pre-treatment actions, which can be performed by a user (possibly preparatory to a subsequent treatment by a household appliance).

Details on different embodiments of the aforesaid method will be provided below.

According to the invention, the first and second scans are performed on a non-stained area RC of the textile material. Furthermore, according to the invention, the method comprises the further step of carrying out a third scan by means of electromagnetic radiation E3 in the near-infrared band on a stained area RS of the textile material item, in which a stain is present, to obtain a third signal S3 indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned stained area (as shown in <FIG>). Thus, according to the invention, the step of determining the treatment program comprises determining the treatment program for the textile material item, by the electronic processing means <NUM>, by processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3.

According to a further implementation option (also shown in <FIG>), the method further provides carrying out a fourth scan on said stained area RS of the textile material item, by means of electromagnetic radiation E4 in the visible band, to obtain a fourth signal S4 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned stained area.

In such a case, the step of determining a treatment program comprises determining a treatment program for the textile material item, by said electronic processing means <NUM>, by processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, third signal S3 and fourth signal S4.

In the example of <FIG>, two successive steps of the method are shown in the left and right part of the figure: on the left, performing first and second scan, which can be mutually simultaneous, to generate the first and second signal (S1, S2); on the right, performing the third and fourth scan, which may be mutually simultaneous, to generate the third and fourth signal (S3, S4). After the performing two steps, the electronic processing means <NUM> have the four signals S1-S4 on the basis of which, in this embodiment, further processing is performed.

According to an embodiment of the method, the aforesaid steps of carrying out a first scan and of carrying out a third scan are performed by an electromagnetic radiation sensor <NUM> operating in the near-infrared band, and the aforesaid steps of carrying out a second scan and carrying out a fourth scan are performed by a color sensor <NUM> operating in the visible band.

According to a particular implementation option, the step of carrying out a first scan, by means of the electromagnetic radiation sensor <NUM> operating in the near-infrared band, comprises generating electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E1 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E1 onto the area to be scanned RC of the textile material; then receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band ER1 reflected by the scanned area of the textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid first signal S1 indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned area on the basis of the received reflected electromagnetic radiation ER1.

According to such an implementation option, the step of carrying out a second scan, by means of the electromagnetic radiation sensor <NUM> operating in the visible band (i.e. "color sensor" <NUM>) comprises: generating an electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 onto the area RC to be scanned of the textile material; then receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER2 reflected by the scanned area of the textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid second signal S2 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area, on the basis of the received reflected electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER2.

According to another implementation option, the step of carrying out a third scan, by means of the electromagnetic radiation sensor <NUM> operating in the near-infrared band comprises: generating an electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E3 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band E3 onto the stained area to be scanned RS of the textile material; then, receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band ER3 reflected by the scanned stained area of the textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid third signal S3, indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned stained area, on the basis of the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band ER3 reflected by the scanned stained area.

According to such an implementation option, the step of carrying out a fourth scan by the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the visible band <NUM> comprises: generating an electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 and directing the generated electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 onto the stained area RS to be scanned of the textile material; then receiving the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER4 reflected by the scanned area of the stained textile material; finally, generating the aforesaid fourth signal S4 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned stained area on the basis of the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band ER4 reflected by the scanned stained area.

As noted above, the method according to the invention provides erthree detections carried out on the fabric (two in a non-stained area and one in a stained area) and one processing operation based on three signals, or four detections carried out on the fabric (two in a non-stained area and two in a stained area) and one processing operation based on four signals. In any case, at least one of the detections is based on scanning with electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band and at least one of the detections is based on scanning with electromagnetic radiation in the visible band.

According to preferred implementation options, the aforesaid electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band (E1, E3) used for the first and third scan are substantially mutually identical, i.e., they have the same nominal spectrum. The respective reflected radiations (ER1, ER3) may be different, since the scanned areas are different.

Similarly, the aforesaid electromagnetic radiations in the visible band (E2, E4), used for the second scan and the fourth scan, are substantially mutually identical, i.e., they have the same nominal spectrum. The respective reflected radiations (ER2, ER4) may be different, since the scanned areas are different.

Details will be given below, by way of example, of some processing modes of the signals such as to achieve the purposes of the method.

In an implementation option of the method, the aforesaid step of determining comprises: processing the first signal S1 to obtain a first signal spectral curve corresponding to the frequency spectrum of the first signal; then comparing such a first signal spectral curve with each of a first plurality of stored reference spectra representative of the respective known types of textile material; finally, determining the nature of the scanned area of textile material on the basis of such a comparison.

According to such an implementation option, recognizing the nature and/or type of the textile item to be treated (basic information which is useful to determine the most appropriate treatment) is thus obtained by comparing the spectral curve in the infrared reflected by the fabric with known spectral curves, which are, for example, determined experimentally a priori, by performing the aforesaid scans on different types of known fabrics, and appropriately stored.

Indeed, by carrying out scans with sensors similar to the ones used in the step of experimental characterization, the spectral curve obtained from a given fabric will usually have a high degree of similarity, or will even be substantially identical, to the reference spectrum of the known fabric corresponding to the fabric to be analyzed.

It is easy to understand that the classes of fabrics which can be recognized by the method can be the most varied and of any number, and can refer both to the material of the fabric (e.g. linen, silk, wool, cotton, man-made, or the most varied mixed compositions, as will be detailed below) and to other characteristics of the fabric. The breadth and the granularity of the fabric classification, which can be obtained with the method, can be expanded simply by increasing the amount of basic experimental data.

According to different implementation options of the method, the fabrics which can be recognized and classified belong to a group consisting of any combination of the following PURE FABRICS:
acetate (AC), acrylic (PC), cotton (CO), wool (WO), modal (MO), polyamide (PA), polyester (PL), silk (SE), viscose (CI).

Reference spectra were obtained experimentally and stored (as shown by way of example in <FIG> and <FIG>) for each of such fabrics, mentioned by way of example, and this allows recognizing and classifying a fabric as one of these fabrics, or in a further group (fabric other than those indicated). In <FIG> and <FIG>, the key shows the same identifiers indicated above in brackets. The obtained spectra represent electromagnetic radiations reflected following the exposure of a clean area of the fabric to standard radiation (E1, E3) in the near-infrared band.

Typically, according to a preferred example, such standard radiation (E1, E3) in the near-infrared band has a spectrum in the band between <NUM> and <NUM>.

According to further options of implementation of the method, the fabrics which can be recognized and classified belong to a group consisting of any combination of the following MIXED FABRICS:.

According to a further implementation option of the method, a sub-classification of composition into three subclasses is determined for each of the aforesaid mixed fabrics:.

Such a classification is performed in exactly the same way as above for pure fabrics; reference spectra are experimentally derived for each combination (and for each subclass) and stored, with which the reflected spectra are compared, following the exposure of a clean area of the fabric to a standard radiation in the near-infrared area (E1, E3).

With reference now to the determinations in the visible band, according to an option of embodiment of the method, the aforesaid electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 has known chromatic coordinates. In such a case, the step of determining comprises processing the aforesaid second signal S2 to identify the color coordinates of the reflected radiation ER2, and to determine the color of the scanned area of textile material on the basis of the identified color coordinates of the reflected radiation.

In such a manner, additional information useful for determining the treatment is obtained, i.e., information about the color of the fabric.

Therefore, in this case, the step of determining comprises determining the treatment program on the basis of not only on the nature and/or type but also of the color of the scanned area of textile material.

According to different implementation options, the color coordinates can be detected and color can be identified by means of color sensors <NUM> (operating with radiations in the visible band) which are known in themselves.

In several possible options of implementation of the method, the determined chromatic coordinates may be of different types, known in themselves: e.g. RGB coordinates, or x, y coordinates.

This implies a corresponding selection of the color sensor and a corresponding selection of an RGB or x-y or other "color space".

According to a particular example of implementation, shown in <FIG>, the chosen chromatic coordinates are of type x-y. A fabric area is scanned to determine its x-y color coordinates.

In the example considered herein, three measurements are made, as shown in the following table:.

The averages of such measurements, on x and y, are taken as "chromatic coordinates" of the fabric area, and shown in the "color space" in x, y coordinates, as shown in <FIG>. The "color space" is a known diagram in the field of chromatic characterization. <FIG> shows a "color space" in chromatic coordinates x, y (also called "sailplane diagram"), wherein the axes show the values of x and y, and wherein the parametric values shown in the diagram refer to wavelength values.

The position of the chromatic coordinates on the diagram allows the color of the scanned area of the fabric to be determined.

According to a further embodiment of the method, the step of determining further comprises processing the aforesaid third signal S3 to obtain a third signal spectral curve corresponding to the frequency spectrum of the third signal indicative of properties correlated with the type of stain and identifying the type of stain on the basis of such a third signal spectral curve.

In such a case, the step of determining comprises determining the treatment program on the basis of the nature and color of the scanned non-stained area of textile material, and also on the basis of the identified type of stain.

The determination is therefore based, in this example, on three measurements, two (near-infrared and visible bands) on a non-stained area and one (near-infrared band) on a stained area.

Such an implementation example provides the additional advantage of making the decision on the treatment to be performed by availing of additional information on the type of stain.

In different implementation options, the method can recognize a wide variety of types of stain, comprising, for example, stains belonging to the following groups and subgroups:.

According to a further embodiment of the method, in addition to the three scans mentioned above, a fourth scan is carried out on the stained area. In such a case, specifically, the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 has known chromatic coordinates. Furthermore, the step of determining comprises processing the aforesaid fourth signal S4 to identify the chromatic coordinates of the radiation reflected by the scanned stained area; recognizing the color of the scanned stained area of textile material on the basis of the identified chromatic coordinates of said reflected radiation E4; determining the treatment program on the basis of the nature and color of the scanned non-stained area of textile material, and also on the basis of the type of stain identified and of the recognized stain color.

Even for the color of the stains (as already observed above for the color of the fabric), in different possible embodiments of the method, the chromatic coordinates determined can be of different types, known in themselves: e.g., RGB coordinates, or x, y coordinates.

This implies a corresponding selection of the color sensor, and a corresponding selection of a "color space" (RGB or x-y or others), which is partitioned into regions corresponding to different types of stain (each with its own range of possible colors), so as to have information for recognizing the stain according to the region in which the detected color coordinates belong. A "color space" can be partitioned into regions done a priori, experimentally, by identifying the most likely colors of different types of recognizable stains.

The example described above for detecting the color in the fabric illustrates a procedure which can further be applied to a detection of a stain color. A result by way of example (referring to a strawberry stain) is shown in <FIG>.

The position of the chromatic coordinates on the diagram allows determining the type of stain (possibly in cooperation with spectral information).

According to a particular implementation option of such an embodiment, the step of identifying the type of stain on the basis of the third signal spectral curve firstly provides selecting a set of reference spectra from a plurality of stored spectra sets, on the basis of the determined nature and/or type of the textile material. Each of such sets is associated with a respective nature and/or type of textile material.

The set of reference spectra comprises a second plurality of reference spectra representative of respective types of stain on the determined specific textile material.

The method, therefore, provides comparing the aforesaid third signal spectral curve and each of the second plurality of spectra; and determining the type of stain on the basis of such a comparison between the third signal spectral curve and each spectrum of the second plurality of spectra.

So, in such a case, the identification of the nature and/or type of the fabric (by means of NIR detection on a clean area of the fabric), as well as being the first essential information for determining the treatment, also serves as a basis for the stain type recognition procedure. Indeed, once the fabric has been identified, it is possible to select a particular set of reference spectra (among all the stored ones), each associated with a different type of stain on that particular fabric. Therefore, the comparison of the third spectral curve (derived from the NIR detection on the stain) with the reference spectra belonging to the particular selected set allows recognizing the type of stain from a predefined group of stains for which experimental data are available (i.e., stored spectra).

According to an implementation option, the information obtained from the aforesaid comparison of the third spectral curve (third signal) is combined with information related to the color of the stain (obtained from the aforesaid fourth signal), to obtain a more precise recognition, suitable to discriminate different stains associated with similar spectra but of different color. Such an option is useful, for example, if the stains contain pigments of staining substances which do not significantly modify the spectrum of the clean fabric and which can be detected with respect to the background color. In particular, such an option is useful for recognizing pigment stains on light-colored fabrics.

According to a further implementation option, the decision on the appropriate treatment program also takes into account the available information on the color of the fabric which can be derived from the aforesaid second signal.

According to other different implementation examples, further processing operations are performed on different possible combinations of two or more of the four available pieces of information (NIR spectra on clean fabric and stain, color on clean fabric and stain) in order to obtain useful information for determining the treatment.

For example, information about spectra detected on clean fabric and stain may be combined to obtain a derived spectrum which takes the background into account; or, information about the colors of clean fabric and stain can be combined with one another, to better estimate the stain color, taking the background color into account.

According to possible further implementation options, the method can take into account, based on experimental results, how and by what extent the clean spectrum curves are modified, with regard to the stain spectrum curves, according to the type of fabric. Indeed, such deviations may be different and peculiar to different possible situations. A similar observation applies to color and its chromatic coordinates.

According to an embodiment of the method, the steps of the first and second scan are performed at the same time by detection means <NUM> comprising both the sensor <NUM> operating with electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared and the sensor <NUM> operating with electromagnetic radiation in the visible band <NUM>; similarly, the third and fourth steps of scanning are performed at the same time by the aforesaid detection means <NUM> comprising both the sensor <NUM> operating with electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band and the sensor <NUM> operating with electromagnetic radiation in the visible band.

According to a further embodiment, the method further comprises the step of providing a user interface <NUM>.

In various implementation options, the user interface <NUM> is configured to display information about the identified type of fabric and/or type of stain, and/or to display information about the determined treatment program which is recommended, and/or to allow the user to control the start of the recommended treatment program or to perform the actions provided by the treatment.

According to a particular embodiment, the method further comprises the step of calibrating the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the near-infrared band <NUM>.

Such a step of calibrating comprises the following sub-steps: providing a sliding cover in front of the sensor, having a bottom such as to generate a reflection with known and predetermined near-infrared spectrum; closing the sliding cover in front of the color sensor; activating the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the near-infrared band so that it generates near-infrared electromagnetic radiation and receives the reflected radiation from the bottom of the cover; comparing the obtained spectrum with a reference spectrum; calibrating operating parameters of the electromagnetic radiation sensor operating in the near-infrared band so that the obtained spectrum coincides with the reference spectrum.

According to another particular embodiment, the method further comprises the step of calibrating the color sensor <NUM>.

Such a step of calibrating comprises the following steps: providing a sliding cover in front of the sensor, having a white bottom with the known and predefined chromatic coordinates; closing the sliding cover in front of the color sensor; activating the color sensor so that it generates visible electromagnetic radiation and receives the reflected radiation from the bottom of the cover; comparing the obtained spectrum with a reference spectrum; finally, calibrating operating parameters of the color sensor so that the obtained spectrum coincides with the reference spectrum.

A method is now described for recognizing a type of textile material and for recognizing and classifying a stain present on such textile material, according to the present invention.

Such a method comprises the steps of carrying out a first scan on a non-stained area RC of the textile material by means of near-infrared NIR band electromagnetic radiation E1 to obtain a first signal indicative of the nature of the textile material S1 in the scanned non-stained area; furthermore, carrying out a second scan on the aforesaid non-stained area RC of the textile material by means of electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E2 to obtain a second signal indicative of the color of the textile material S2 in the scanned non-stained area; furthermore, carrying out a third scan on a stained area RS of the textile material in which a stain is present, by means of electromagnetic radiation E3 in the near-infrared NIR, band, to obtain a third signal indicative of the nature of the textile material S3 in the scanned stained area.

The method, then, provides transmitting the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3 to electronic processing means <NUM>, and recognizing and classifying the stain, by the electronic processing means <NUM>, on the basis of processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, and third signal S3.

The method finally includes providing information I' about the type of textile material and type of stain to a control unit of a household appliance <NUM> and/or a user interface <NUM> by the electronic processing means <NUM>.

According to another embodiment of such a method, it further provides carrying out a fourth scan on the aforesaid stained area RS of the textile material item by means of electromagnetic radiation in the visible band E4 to obtain a fourth signal S4 indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned stained area; and further transmitting such fourth signal S4 to the electronic processing means <NUM>.

In such a case, the step of recognizing comprises recognizing the type of textile material and recognizing and classifying the stain by the electronic processing means <NUM>, by processing the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, third signal S3 and fourth signal S4.

The same signal processing operations, previously described with regard to the method to determine a treatment, may also be used in the method to recognize a type of textile material and a stain, described here.

A triple scan is necessary (in the near-infrared and in the visible bands on a clean fabric area and in the near-infrared band on a stained area), resulting in the processing of three signals.

The fourth scan (in the visible band on a stained area) is optional. It may be useful to discriminate against different spots which generate very similar reflective spectra (e.g., different types of pigments) and which can be distinguished and correctly recognized by having information about their color.

In some cases, it may happen that, although the recognition of stains of the present method is particularly effective, due to the multitude of measurements made and subsequent processing, it is not possible to discriminate a stain, e.g., because it is too small, or because it is an unknown stain (i.e., a stain for which no characterizing information, e.g. the spectra, is recorded).

To deal with such cases, an implementation option of the method provides that, if the recognition is unsuccessful, the user is asked to make a further scan attempt.

According to another example of embodiment, if even after a repeated scan the stain cannot be recognized, such information is provided to the user, and a generic treatment suggestion is given.

A method is now described for performing a treatment on a textile material item by a household appliance, according to the present invention.

Such a method comprises the steps of performing a method for determining a treatment according to any one of the embodiments described above for selecting a treatment program, such a treatment program being performed by a household appliance <NUM>; then providing information about the selected treatment program to a control unit <NUM> of a household appliance <NUM>; finally, performing the selected treatment on the textile material item by the household appliance <NUM>.

A system <NUM> will now be described, with reference again to <FIG>, to determine a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item, comprised in the present invention.

Such a system <NUM> comprises the features of independent claim <NUM>.

According to the invention, the first detection means <NUM> are configured to carry out a first scan over an unstained area RC of the textile material item and to generate a respective first signal S1 based on such a first scan; and they are further configured to carry out a third scan over a stained area RS of the textile material item and to generate, based on such third scan, a respective third signal S3.

The second detection means <NUM> are configured to carry out a second scan over a non-stained area RC of the textile material item and to generate a respective second signal S2 based on such a second scan.

The electronic processing means <NUM> are configured to receive the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3, and to determine the treatment program based on such first signal S1, second signal S2 and third signal S3.

According to an implementation option of the system, the second detection means <NUM> are further configured to carry out a fourth scan on a stained area RS of the textile material item and to generate, based on said fourth scan, a respective fourth signal S4. In such a case, the electronic processing means <NUM> are configured to receive also said fourth signal S4 and to determine the treatment program on the basis of the aforesaid first signal S1, second signal S2, third signal S3 and fourth signal S4.

According to an implementation option, the aforesaid first detection means <NUM> comprise at least one electromagnetic radiation sensor <NUM> operating in the near-infrared band. Such a sensor <NUM> is configured to generate electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band (E1 or E3) and to direct the generated electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared band to the scanned area of the textile material (RC or RS), to receive the electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared reflected (ER1 or ER3) from the scanned area of the textile material, and to generate the aforesaid signal (S1 or S3) indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned area, based on the received reflected electromagnetic radiation (ER1 or ER3).

The aforesaid second detection means <NUM> comprise at least one electromagnetic radiation sensor <NUM> operating in the visible band. Such a sensor <NUM> is configured to generate an electromagnetic radiation in the visible band (E2 or E4) and to direct the generated electromagnetic radiation in the visible band to the scanned area of the textile material (RC or RS), to receive the electromagnetic radiation in the visible band (ER2 or ER4) reflected by the scanned area of the textile material, and to generate the aforesaid signal (S2 or S4) indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area, on the basis of the received reflected electromagnetic radiation in the visible band (ER2 or ER4).

In accordance with a further implementation option, the system <NUM> further comprises a user interface <NUM>, operationally connected to the processing means <NUM> to receive information I' related to the determined treatment program or to the type of fabric and/or recognized stain. The user interface <NUM> is configured to display the aforesaid received information and/or to allow the user to send controls to a household appliance to activate the determined treatment program.

In several possible implementation options of the system, the user interface <NUM> allows the user to perform a wide range of possible actions, such as, for example, launching the scans, saving the scan results, collecting the scan results in order to create wash baskets, asking for suggestions on the most appropriate groupings of the scanned fabrics, getting suggestions on stain removal methods, launching the indicated washing/drying cycles by transmitting respective controls to one or more connected household appliances.

According to an implementation option (shown in several variants in <FIG>), the processing means of the system <NUM> comprise first processing means <NUM> and second processing means <NUM>.

The first processing means <NUM> are configured to generate the aforesaid first and/or second and/or third and/or fourth signal S1-S4 as digital signals on the basis of the detected analog signals associated with the received reflected electromagnetic radiations.

The second processing means <NUM> are configured to receive the aforesaid first S1 and/or third digital signal S3, to obtain respective frequency spectral curves on the basis of such first S1 and/or third digital signal S3, and to compare the derived spectral curves with reference spectra stored in the second processing means <NUM>.

The second processing means <NUM> are also configured to receive the second S2 and/or fourth digital signal S4, and obtain the chromatic coordinates, on the basis of such second S2 and/or fourth digital signal S4.

The second processing means <NUM> are also configured to determine the treatment program based on the results of the aforesaid step of comparing the spectral curves and/or the aforesaid step of obtaining the chromatic coordinates; and are also configured to provide information I about the determined treatment program to a control unit <NUM> of a household appliance and/or user interface <NUM>.

According to an embodiment, the system <NUM> comprises a portable scanning device <NUM>, which includes the aforesaid first detection means <NUM> and second detection means <NUM>, and the aforesaid first processing means <NUM>.

In such a case, the integration of both detection means (i.e., sensors) of the system into the portable scanning device <NUM> allows advantageously performing both detections at the same time. The user simply needs to approach the portable scanning device <NUM> closer to the fabric, on a clean area and then possibly on a stain, and to activate it, in order to obtain all the detections and signals necessary to perform the method.

It is worth noting that the portable scanning device <NUM>, by virtue of the first processing means <NUM>, can provide a digital signal, which can be used for any successive processing.

According to an implementation option, the first processing means <NUM> of the portable scanning device <NUM> are also configured to perform compensation and/or calibration processing of the digital signal generated with respect to temperature or other variables, in order to ensure maximum reliability of the digital signal generated for subsequent processing.

In an implementation option (shown in <FIG>), the portable scanning device further comprises the aforesaid second processing means <NUM> and user interface <NUM>. Therefore, in such a case, the portable processing device <NUM> also comprises all the intelligence for signal processing and, thus, is able to provide information I' on the fabric and/or the stain recognition and/or information I' on the recommended treatment program. Therefore, such an implementation option offers a fully integrated solution in a portable device.

According to another embodiment (shown in <FIG>), the system <NUM> comprises a portable scanning device <NUM> and a mobile communication device <NUM>.

The portable scanning device <NUM> comprises the first detection means <NUM>, the second detection means <NUM>, the first processing means <NUM>, and further comprises scanning device transmission means <NUM>, configured to transmit digital signals from the analog signals generated by the first and second detection means.

The mobile communication device <NUM> comprises the user interface <NUM>, the aforesaid second processing means <NUM> and telecommunications means <NUM>, operationally connected to the scanning device transmission means <NUM>, to receive the aforesaid signals generated by the first and second detection means.

According to an implementation option, the portable scanning device <NUM> operates as a scanner, while the mobile communication device <NUM> comprises a smartphone, or another type of mobile user device, which in itself offers all telecommunication functions and user interface support. In such a case, the second processing means <NUM> comprise one or more smartphone processors, and one or more applications or software programs, installed on the smartphone and which can be run by the processor of the smartphone and configured to perform the processing and calculation functions mentioned above with regard to the second processing means.

According to an example, an Android and iOS application (app) is used, loaded on the smartphone. Such an app can also be incorporated into a more general home appliance control application available for smartphones or other mobile devices.

In an implementation example, libraries containing reference data can be stored on the mobile communication device <NUM> (e.g., the aforesaid reference spectra and reference chromatic coordinates used for the comparisons required by the processing).

Such libraries may contain any number of spectra measured during the step of characterization, on the most different types of fabrics and types of stain, and on the most varied fabric and stain combinations (e.g., all the types of fabrics, pure or mixed, and all the types of stain mentioned above).

Furthermore, such libraries contain not only the reference data but also the algorithms for data analysis and processing.

According to an implementation option, the aforesaid portable scanning device <NUM> and mobile communication device <NUM> are integrated into a single device.

A further embodiment (shown in <FIG>) provides that the system <NUM> comprises an additional remote processing unit <NUM>, capable of performing, either partially or totally, the functions of the second processing means <NUM>, and in particular the storage of reference data libraries and the running of comparisons.

According to various implementation options of such an embodiment, the remote processing unit <NUM> may be either additional or alternative to the mobile communication device <NUM>.

For example, the remote processing unit <NUM> may comprise the second processing means <NUM>, and, in such a case, the aforesaid scanning device transmission means <NUM> are configured to transmit the signals generated by the first and second detection media wirelessly to said remote processing unit <NUM>. In this example, the system does not comprise and does not require a mobile user device.

In another example (shown in <FIG>), the system <NUM> comprises both the portable scanning device <NUM> (provided with scanning device transmission means <NUM>, to transmit digital signals from the analog signals generated by the first and second detection means <NUM>, <NUM>) and the mobile communication device <NUM> (provided with user interface <NUM> and with telecommunication means <NUM>, operationally connected to the scanning device transmission means <NUM>, to receive signals generated by the first and second detection means <NUM>, <NUM>), and the remote control unit <NUM> (provided with the second processing means <NUM>, and therefore adapted to perform the processing functions). In such a case, the mobile communication device telecommunications means <NUM> are operationally connected to the remote control unit <NUM> to send the information received from the portable scanning device <NUM> and to receive the results of processing performed remotely from the second processing means <NUM>.

Any telecommunication solution, known in itself, can be used to support the aforesaid operational connections.

According to an implementation option of the system, the remote processing unit <NUM> is a control unit <NUM> of a household appliance <NUM> adapted to perform the treatment program. Such an option is shown in <FIG>. Furthermore, in <FIG>, such an implementation option is indicated by a dotted connection, indicating that such an option may be alternative or additional to the option which provides a remote-control unit <NUM> not belonging to the household appliance.

According to another implementation option of the system (shown in <FIG>), the remote processing unit <NUM> is a remote-control unit which can be accessed via a telecommunications network and/or cloud computing.

With reference to <FIG>, a system <NUM> for performing a treatment on a textile material item, according to the present invention, is now described.

Such a system <NUM> for performing a treatment on a textile material item comprises a system for determining a treatment on a textile material item <NUM>, according to any one of the embodiments or implementation options illustrated above, in which the treatment can be performed by a household appliance, and further comprises a household appliance <NUM>, comprising a household appliance control unit <NUM>.

The household appliance control unit <NUM> is configured to receive information I about a selected treatment program <NUM> from the system for determining a treatment and to activate such a selected treatment program.

The household appliance <NUM> is configured to perform the selected treatment program on the textile material item.

According to an embodiment of such a system, the home appliance control unit <NUM> further comprises the second processing means <NUM> of the system to determine the treatment <NUM>.

A household appliance <NUM> will now be described adapted to perform a treatment on a textile material, according to the invention. The household appliance <NUM> comprises a system <NUM> for determining a treatment which can be performed on a textile material item according to any of the embodiments described above and is thus able to determine a treatment to be performed on one or more textile material items. The household appliance is also configured to perform the determined treatment.

According to an embodiment (shown in <FIG>), the household appliance <NUM> comprises a household appliance control unit <NUM> and further integrates the scanning device or scanner <NUM> (also referred to as "detection means <NUM>" previously in this description). In such a case, the scanning device is not portable. The user can put the fabric (clean and/or stained area) close to the integrated scanning device and operate such an integrated scanning device <NUM>, in order to activate all the steps of the method for determining a treatment, which are then performed independently by the household appliance. In such a case, the integrated scanning device <NUM> is operationally connected, inside the household appliance <NUM>, with the control unit of household appliance <NUM>, which is, in turn, configured both to perform the processing functions of the aforementioned second processing means (in order to determine a treatment) and to control the performance of the selected treatment.

According to an embodiment, the household appliance further provides the functions of the aforesaid user interface <NUM>, e.g., supported by the interface means of the household appliance <NUM>.

According to possible implementation options, the scanner <NUM> is mechanically integrated and/or housed on the dashboard of the household appliance or on the ring of the door so that the user can place the fabrics on the sensor before introducing them into the household appliance.

It is worth noting that the object of the present invention is fully achieved by the method illustrated above by virtue of the functional and structural features thereof.

Indeed, the method and the system of determination of a treatment described above are based on the detection and processing of a plurality of information (obtained from electromagnetic detections both in the near-infrared band and in the visible band), which, combined, allow discerning the type of a fabric in a more precise and reliable manner.

Furthermore, the possibility of performing measurements both in the near-infrared region and in the visible region even on stained areas of the fabric, and the articulated processing provided by the method (by appropriately combining several parameters from several measurements) allow recognizing not only the type of fabric but also the type of stain with satisfactory accuracy.

Similar advantages can be identified for methods and systems for recognizing fabric types and stain types, comprised in the invention, which provide results which can be used both as a basis for a more effective determination of treatment and to provide information which is useful to the user in itself.

Claim 1:
A method for determining a treatment which can be carried out on a textile material item, comprising the steps of:
- carrying out a first scan on an area (RC) of the textile material item by means of near infrared band, NIR, electromagnetic radiation to obtain a first signal (S1) indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned area (RC);
- carrying out a second scan on said area (RC) of the textile material item by means of visible band electromagnetic radiation to obtain a second signal (S2) indicative of the color of the textile material in the scanned area (RC);
wherein said first scan and second scan are performed on an unstained area (RC) of the textile material, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
- carrying out a third scan by means of near infrared band electromagnetic radiation on a stained area (RS) of the textile material item where there is a stain, to obtain a third signal (S3) indicative of the nature of the textile material in the scanned stained area (RS);
- transmitting said first signal (S1), second signal (S2) and third signal (S3) to an electronic processing means (<NUM>);
- determining a treatment program for the textile material item by said electronic processing means (<NUM>), based on a processing of said first signal (S1), second signal (S2) and third signal (S3);
- providing a control unit (<NUM>) of a household appliance and/or a user interface (<NUM>) with information about the treatment program determined by the electronic processing means (<NUM>).