LAUNDRY TREATMENT APPLIANCE CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20110145999A1
• Filed: 12/17/2009
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: MOTAMEDI, NIMA
• Granted Patent: US 8,296,889 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 8/137
• 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 2105/58 Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/32 characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens

Abstract

A control system for a fabric treatment appliance configured to control the operation of the fabric treatment appliance as a function of a user-selected system input weighting.

Claims

1. A control system for a laundry treating appliance having a plurality of components that are operated to implement a treatment cycle having multiple operating parameters on a load of laundry received within a treating chamber of the appliance, the control system comprising:

a selection landscape subdivided into multiple selection zones, each selection zone representing a system input for the control system and having a boundary defining the area for the selection zone;

a boundary adjuster operably coupled to the selection landscape to alter a boundary and thereby alter the corresponding area of at least one of the multiple selection zones; and

a controller operably coupled to the selection landscape and the boundary adjuster to determine a system input weighting based on the area of at least one of the selection zones relative to the total area of all of the selection zones, and determine at least one of the multiple operating parameters as a function of the determined system input weighting;

wherein the user may control the operation of the treatment cycle by moving the boundary adjuster relative to the landscape to change the system input weighting.

2. The control system of claim 1 wherein the selection landscape comprises a grid forming the boundaries.

3. The control system of claim 2 wherein the grid comprises multiple intersecting lines which define at least one intersection point.

4. The control system of claim 3 wherein the boundary adjuster moves a line to alter the boundary.

5. The control system of claim 4 wherein moving the line results in a corresponding movement of the intersecting lines.

6. The control system of claim 3 wherein the boundary adjuster moves at least one intersection point to alter the boundary.

7. The control system of claim 6 wherein moving the intersection point results in a corresponding movement of the intersecting lines.

8. The control system of claim 3 wherein the grid comprises at least two sets of parallel lines with the parallel lines of one set being substantially orthogonal to the parallel lines of the other set.

9. The control system of claim 8 wherein the at least two sets of parallel lines form at least one polygon, the at least one polygon forming a boundary defining the area of at least one of the multiple selection zones.

10. The control system of claim 9 wherein at least one line of the at least two sets of parallel lines can be moved to alter the area of the polygon.

11. The control system of claim 9 wherein the polygon comprises at least one corner formed by the intersection of two lines of the at least two sets of parallel lines.

12. The control system of claim 11 wherein the area of the polygon can be altered by moving the intersection, thereby altering the area of at least one of the multiple selection zones.

13. The control system of claim 3 wherein the grid comprises a single intersection point forming an origin and the multiple intersecting lines intersect at the origin to form a pie-shaped grid.

14. The control system of claim 13 wherein rotation of one of the multiple intersecting lines about the origin alters the area of at least one of the multiple selection zones defined by the multiple intersecting lines.

16. The control system of claim 1 wherein the system input comprises at least one of a qualitative and quantitative parameter.

17. The control system of claim 16 wherein the at least one qualitative parameter comprises a performance goal for the treatment cycle and the at least one quantitative parameter comprises at least one of an operating parameter of the treatment cycle and a characteristic of the laundry.

18. The control system of claim 17 wherein the characteristic of the laundry comprises at least one of the amount of laundry and the type of fabric.

19. The control system of claim 1 wherein each selection zone comprises indicia indicating the corresponding system input.

20. The control system of claim 1 further comprising a user interface operably coupled with the controller for communicating the set value for the at least one of the multiple operating parameters with a user as the user moves the boundary adjuster relative to the landscape.

21. The control system of claim 20 wherein the user interface comprises a touchscreen.

15. The control system of 13 wherein movement of the origin alters the area of at least one of the multiple selection zones defined by the multiple intersecting lines.

22. A method of controlling the operation of a laundry treating appliance having at least one treatment cycle with multiple operating parameters, a plurality of components selectively operable by a controller to implement the at least one treatment cycle on a load of laundry received within a treating chamber of the appliance, with the controller having a user interface for receiving input from a user, the method comprising:

providing on the user interface a selection landscape subdivided into multiple selection zones, each selection zone having a variable boundary that may be adjusted to adjust the area of the selection zone, and each selection zone representing a system input for the operation of the appliance;

providing on the user interface a boundary adjuster by which the user may adjust the boundary of the selection zone;

determining a system input weighting as a function of the relative proportion of the area of at least one selection zone;

setting a parameter value for at least one of the multiple operating parameters as a function of the determined system input weighting; and

operating the controller to implement the treatment cycle as a function of the multiple operating parameters.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the determining the system input weighting is directly proportional to the relative proportion of each selection zone within the landscape.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the setting a parameter value comprises setting the value that is proportional to the determined system input weighting.

25. The method of claim 22 wherein the setting a parameter value comprises comparing the determined weighting to a table of weightings and corresponding parameter values and setting the parameter value to the parameter value from the table for the weighting from that table based on the determined weighting.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the setting a parameter value comprises setting the parameter value to the parameter value from the table for the weighting that most closely matches the determined weighting.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the table comprises a range of weightings corresponding to each parameter value in the table and the setting a parameter value comprises setting the parameter value to the parameter value from the table for the range of weightings that coincides with the determined weighting.

28. The method of claim 22 further comprising providing on the user interface the set parameter value corresponding to at least one of the at least one operating parameters.

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing each selection zone with indicia indicating the corresponding system input.

30. The method of claim 22 wherein the user may adjust the area of at least one selection zone by using the boundary adjuster to move at least one line defining at least one selection zone.

31. The method of claim 22 wherein the user may adjust the area of at least one selection zone by using the boundary adjuster to move an intersection of multiple intersecting lines defining the at least one selection zone.

32. The method of claim 22 wherein the user may adjust the area of at least one selection zone by moving an intersection of multiple intersecting lines forming a corner of a polygon to adjust the area of the polygon, the polygon corresponding to the at least one selection zone.

33. The method of claim 22 wherein the user may adjust the area of at least one selection zone by moving an origin formed by an intersection of multiple intersecting lines at a single intersection, the multiple intersecting lines forming a boundary for at least one selection zone.

34. The method claim 22 wherein the user may adjust the area of at least one selection zone by rotating one of multiple intersecting lines about an origin formed by an intersection of the multiple intersecting lines at a single point, the multiple intersecting lines forming a boundary for at least one selection zone.

35. The method of claim 22 wherein determining the system input weighting comprises determining a weighting of at least one of a performance goal and an operating parameter of the treatment cycle.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein determining the system input weighting comprises determining a weighting of a characteristic of the laundry.

37. The method of 36 wherein determining a weighting of a characteristic of the laundry comprises determining at least one of the amount of laundry and the type of fabric in the laundry.