METHOD OF CONTROLLING ELECTRIC DEVICE

• US 20130076488A1
• Filed: 09/13/2012
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Minjin Oh
• Inventors: OH, Minjin, KANG, Seonghwan
• Granted Patent: US 9,013,273 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/6.1
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/361 Interactive visual displays
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2500/06 Stock management
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/06 Sensors detecting the presence of a product
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/08 Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 29/00 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices

Abstract

A method for controlling an electronic device is provided. The method may include displaying, on a display, information related to at least one of a plurality of items to be managed or processed by the device, selecting at least one piece of item information displayed on the display, recognizing the selected piece of item information, and storing the recognized piece of item information into a memory as an object to be managed or processed by the device.

Claims

1. A method for tracking items received in an appliance, the method comprising:

displaying, on a display, item information related to at least one item of a plurality of items to be received in the appliance;

selecting at least one piece of the item information displayed on the display;

recognizing the selected at least one piece of item information; and

storing the recognized at least one piece of item information into a memory for processing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one piece of the item information comprises applying contact to a portion of the display corresponding to the selected at least one piece of item information, or moving a cursor to the portion of the display corresponding to the selected at least one piece of item information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one piece of the item information comprises selecting, from a predetermined area of the display, an area where information related to the at least one item to be recognized is located.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting an area where information related to the at least one item to be recognized is located comprises:

displaying a recognition area on the display; and

allowing a preset amount of time to elapse or receiving a command at an input device operably coupled to the display when the at least one piece of item information is located in the recognition area.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting an area where information related to the at least one item to be recognized is located comprises:

maintaining contact with the display from a start point corresponding to a first end of an area where the at least one item to be selected is located, to an end point corresponding to a second end of the area.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the start point corresponds to the first end of one of a plurality of pieces of item information to be selected, and the end point corresponds to the second end of another of the plurality of pieces of item information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein selecting at least one piece of the item information comprises selecting the one of the plurality of pieces of item information, the another of the plurality of pieces of item information, and any pieces of item information displayed therebetween.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein selecting an area where information related to the at least one item to be recognized is located comprises clicking on the area where the information on the at least one item is located.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein selecting at least one piece of item information comprises:

capturing an image of information on at least one item using a recognition device;

selecting at least one piece of the captured image; and

storing the at least one piece of the captured image in the memory for processing.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one piece of item information comprises:

displaying the item information on the display via a recognition device; and

selecting at least one piece of the displayed item information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein recognizing the selected at least one piece of item information comprises converting an image related to the selected at least one piece of item information into text using an information recognizing program.

12. A method of managing items received in an appliance, the method comprising:

operating a recognition device and capturing information from an item to be received in the appliance;

interpreting the captured information, converting the information into text, and displaying the text on a display; and

storing the displayed text in a memory.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

displaying a list of a plurality of items received in the appliance based on the displayed text stored in the memory; and

selecting one or more of the plurality of items for processing.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein selecting one or more of the plurality of items comprises selecting two or more of the plurality of items, comprising:

applying a touch at a first end of a first item of the plurality of items;

dragging the touch to a second end of a second item of the plurality of items; and

releasing the touch at the second end of the second item to select the first item, the second item, and any items positioned therebetween.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein selecting one or more of the plurality of items comprises:

touching one or more selection boxes respectively corresponding to the one or more items;

touching a confirm button after touching the one or more selection boxes to select the one or more items corresponding to the touched one or more selection boxes; and

storing the selected one or more items in the memory.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein operating a recognition device comprises operating a camera and capturing an image of the item, and comparing the captured image to images stored in an image database for recognition.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein operating a recognition device comprises operating an RFID reader and reading a bar code provided on the item, and comparing the read bar code to a listing of barcoded items in a database for recognition.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein operating a recognition device comprises operating a weight sensor and sensing a weight of the item, and comparing the sensed weight to a previously stored weight for the item.

19. A system for managing items received in an appliance, including a terminal that communicates with the appliance via a network, the terminal comprising:

a recognition device that captures information from items to be received in the appliance;

a display that displays the captured information;

a memory that stores the captured information; and

a communication device configured to communicate with the appliance via the network.