Patent ID: 8919010

Claim:
A dryer comprising: a drum holding laundry to be dried; a heater supplying hot air to an inside of the drum; a sensing unit providing a pulse signal depending on contact with the laundry in the drum, the sensing unit including an electrode sensor for providing a voltage signal corresponding to impedance generated at a time the electrode sensor is brought into contact with the laundry; and a microcomputer determining a load size and dryness of the laundry with reference to the pulse signal from the sensing unit, wherein the sensing unit does not generate the pulse signal if the voltage signal from the electrode is higher than a preset reference voltage, and the preset reference voltage is below a voltage level which corresponds to when the laundry is fully dried, and wherein the microcomputer counts a number of pulse signals per unit time period generated by the sensing unit and determines the load size and the dryness according to the counted number.