Home appliances provided with control systems which may be actuated from a remote location
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A self-contained refrigerator and oven, for refrigerating and cooking food in the same enclosed chamber, which can be actuated by the operator from a variety of remote locations around the world via telephone or the internet. The heating element may be a microwave unit and the refrigerating means may be a thermoelectric heat pump.
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Citations
59 Claims
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1-23. -23. (Canceled).
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24. A method for changing a control program that controls at least some low-level function commands of an appliance, the appliance including at least one electronic control that executes the control program, said method comprising:
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connecting the electronic control to a communication device configured to communicate with at least one user device via a network; and
changing the control program via the user device and the network to add new function commands using the low-level function commands. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method for operating an appliance controlled by a dedicated appliance controller interfacing with an appliance communication controller configured to interpret and transmit low-level function commands for operating the appliance to the dedicated appliance controller, the appliance communication controller connected to a modem, said method comprising:
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establishing a communication link with the appliance communication controller using the modem;
supplying at least one new function command to the appliance communication controller using the communication link;
interpreting the at least one new function command using the low-level function commands; and
transmitting the at least one new function command to the dedicated appliance controller from the appliance communication controller. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A communication interface for operating an appliance controlled by a dedicated appliance controller, said interface comprising:
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an appliance communication controller interfacing with the dedicated appliance controller; and
an external host controller interfacing with said appliance communication controller and configured to receive control data from an operator, said appliance communication controller further configured to;
receive an extended function command;
convert the extended function command into a low-level function command; and
transmit the low-level function command to the dedicated appliance controller. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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Specification