CONTROL USER INTERFACE FOR LAUNDRY APPLIANCES

• US 20080127999A1
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electrolux Home Products Incorporated (AB Electrolux)
• Original Assignee: Electrolux Home Products Incorporated (AB Electrolux)
• Inventors: Ricklefs, Michael Paul, Joerger, Steven John, Myers, Sean Florian
• Granted Patent: US 7,571,553 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 134/18
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/14 Time settings
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/20 Operation modes, e.g. delicate laundry washing programs, service modes or refreshment cycles
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2103/00 Parameters monitored or detected for the control of domestic laundry washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/54 Changing between normal operation mode and special operation modes, e.g. service mode, component cleaning mode or stand-by mode
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/58 Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/28 Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/32 characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens

Abstract

A control user interface for laundry appliances, such as a clothes dryer or washing machine, enables a user to control multiple modes of operation and a variable associated with at least one mode of operation by manipulating a single control element. In one arrangement, the variable is time and multiple time increments are associated with at least one mode of operation. One embodiment includes a rotatable single control knob. Upon detecting the rotation of the control knob, a determination is made whether the currently selected operation mode has associated operation times to be presented to the user. If no associated operation times are presented, the user interface display is updated to reflect the next mode of operation. The operation mode and operation times may be part of different display region within the dryer control user interface. Thus, multiple menus and submenus can be traversed and selected from using a single control knob, without the need for secondary buttons or a base cycle position to control the mode operation and time settings.

Claims

1. A laundry appliance, comprising:

a control element; and

a user interface having a mode display region for indicating an operation mode for the laundry appliance and a variable display region for indicating a value of a variable associated with at least one mode for the laundry appliance; and

wherein, based on a sequence of operation modes and multiple values of the variable associated with the at least one mode, manipulation of the control element changes the operation mode and its indication in the mode display region, and the value of the variable associated with the at least one mode and its display in the display region, based on the sequence.

2. The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the control element is a rotatable dial.

3. The laundry appliance of claim 2, wherein the rotatable dial is also axially displaceable to initiate operation of the laundry appliance based on the displayed operation mode.

4. The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the rotatable dial is the only user-manipulable control element on the user interface that is used to control the mode and the variable associated with the mode.

5. The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the variable associated with the at least one mode in the variable display region corresponds to time.

6. The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the mode display region and the variable display region are separate regions on the user interface.

7. The laundry appliance of claim 6, wherein the mode display region includes text indicia of the operation modes and respective illumination elements adjacent thereto.

8. The laundry appliance of claim 1, wherein the laundry appliance is a dryer for drying laundry.

9. The laundry appliance of claim 8, wherein the operation modes includes TIMED DRY, at least two modes from the set of TOWELS, BULKY, NORMAL, and DELICATES, and the variable display region displays a symbol associated with the amount of time to operate the dryer when in the TIMED DRY mode.

10. The laundry appliance of claim 9, wherein the mode display region includes text indicia of the operation modes and respective illumination elements adjacent thereto, wherein the control element is a rotatable dial, and wherein the variable display region displays numerical or alphabetic characters.

11. A laundry appliance for drying laundry, comprising:

a rotatable control knob;

a first display configured to display at least one of a plurality of options corresponding to a first menu; and

a second display configured to display at least one of a plurality of options corresponding to a second menu, wherein the second menu is a submenu of the first menu such that the plurality of options corresponding to the second menu are each associated with a first menu option,

wherein the rotatable control knob is coupled to the first and second displays such that the laundry appliance;

(a) changes the first display from displaying a first option from the first menu to displaying a second option from the first menu in response to a first rotation of the rotatable control knob;

(b) changes the first display from displaying a second option from the first menu to displaying a third option from the first menu, and displaying on the second display a first option from the second menu in response to a first subsequent rotation of the rotatable control knob; and

(c) changes the second display from displaying a first option from the second menu to displaying a second option, while continuing to display the third option of the first menu in the first display in response to a second subsequent rotation of the rotatable control knob; and

wherein the first and second options of the second menu correspond to sub-options available that correspond with the third option of the first menu.

12. The laundry appliance of claim 11, wherein the laundry appliance is a clothes dryer, wherein each of the plurality of options corresponding to the first menu corresponds to an operation mode of the clothes dryer, and wherein each of the plurality of options corresponding to the second menu corresponds to an operation time for the clothes dryer.

13. The laundry appliance of claim 12, wherein the first display comprises an array of indicators corresponding to the different operation modes of the clothes dryer.

14. The laundry appliance of claim 13, wherein the second display comprises a digital time readout corresponding to the estimated dry time remaining at the operation mode indicated by the first digital display, and wherein the first and second displays are in separate regions.

15. The laundry appliance of claim 13, wherein the rotatable control knob is coupled to the first and second displays such that the laundry appliance removes the display of a second menu option from the second display and changes the first display from displaying a third option from the first menu to displaying a fourth option from the first menu in response to a third subsequent rotation of the rotatable control knob.

16. A method for controlling the operation of laundry appliance having a user-manipulable control element, a plurality of primary operational mode state settings corresponding to control settings of the laundry appliance, and a plurality of secondary operational mode state settings corresponding to a designated primary operational mode state setting, the method comprising:

changing the primary operational mode state setting from a first operational mode to a second operational mode in response to a detection of first manipulation of the control element;

changing the primary operational mode state setting from the second operational mode to a third operational mode and designating a secondary operational mode state setting as a first operational mode in response to a detection of a first subsequent manipulation of the control element in the same direction as the first manipulation; and

changing the secondary operational mode state setting from the first operational mode to a second operational mode while maintaining the setting of the primary operational mode state setting as the third operational mode in response to a detection of a second subsequent manipulation of the control element in the same direction as the first manipulation and the first subsequent manipulation.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the laundry appliance is a dryer for drying laundry, and secondary operation mode settings correspond to operation times of the dryer corresponding to the third operational mode of the primary operational mode setting.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising displaying the states of the settings on distinct display regions on a control panel of the dryer.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of detecting rotation of the control element to initiate the changing steps.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the absence of detecting another user interaction with the laundry appliance between changing steps.