Appliance doors having integrated lighting and controls
First Claim
1. An integrated control panel for a home appliance, comprising:
- at least one panel pivotally connected to a home appliance for allowing access to the inside of said home appliance;
a plurality of controls embedded into said at least one panel; and
one or more lighting structures embedded into said at least one panel, said one or more lighting structures selectively illuminated to provide substantially uniform illumination of said plurality of controls.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is an integrated control system for use with various home appliances, such as washing machine, dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, and the like. In a first embodiment of the present invention, the integrated controls are incorporated into a polycarbonate clear door panel, and incorporate proximity switches and controls to provide control and operation of the applicance. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are optionally incorporated into a door handle for the appliance in an area out of sight such that only the light produced by the LEDs is seen and illuminates a handle for opening the door of the appliance. Additionally, opaque glass technology may be incorporated into one or more surfaces of the appliance which enables an opaque panel to become transparent to view the content of the interior of the appliance, such as a refrigerator.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An integrated control panel for a home appliance, comprising:
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at least one panel pivotally connected to a home appliance for allowing access to the inside of said home appliance; a plurality of controls embedded into said at least one panel; and one or more lighting structures embedded into said at least one panel, said one or more lighting structures selectively illuminated to provide substantially uniform illumination of said plurality of controls. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An integrated lighting system for a home appliance, comprising:
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at least one panel; a handle connected to said at least one panel; at least one recess formed as part of said at least one panel in proximity to said handle; and at least one light disposed in said recess such that said at least one light is substantially obstructed from view when looking at said at least one panel, wherein said at least one light selectively illuminates said handle. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A control panel integrated into a home appliance, comprising:
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at least one panel, said at least one panel being part of a home applicance; a plurality of controls integrally formed with said at least one panel; a plurality of lighting structures embedded into said at least one panel; a graphics layer integrally formed with said at least one panel in proximity to said plurality of controls such that said graphics layer provides an indication of the location of each of said plurality of controls when said plurality of lighting structures are activated; and at least one proximity switch operable for selectively activating each of said plurality of lighting structures; wherein said at least one proximity switch activates each of said plurality of lighting structures when an operator is in proximity to said proximity switch, such that said plurality of lighting structures project light through at least a portion of said graphics layer. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification