Appliance communication system
First Claim
1. An appliance comprising:
- sound generating means adapted to, upon appropriate energisation, produce audible tones ordinarily provided as a warning and/or verification signal to a user,user input means to allow a user to enter instructions to said appliance,data storage means which stores information on the operation of said appliance,control means which stores a program which causes the controller to;
i) receive said instructions from said user input means,ii) enter a special operating mode in response to said user input, andiii) energize said sound generating means to issue audible tones in a predetermined sequence corresponding to information stored in said data storage means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A home appliance, such as a laundry washing machine or refrigerator including a buzzer designed to sound an alarm or provide an audible indication of a certain condition is disclosed. The appliance may transmit information (such as diagnostic or fault codes and appliance usage information) to a remote service center without the need for a physical connection to a telephone line. The buzzer may be controlled to produce audible tones in a predetermined format which can be transmitted from the appliance, through the air and down a telephone line through a telephone handset to the service center. The signal is recorded at the service center and the data extracted. The data is then analyzed to obtain the fault and/or usage information.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An appliance comprising:
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sound generating means adapted to, upon appropriate energisation, produce audible tones ordinarily provided as a warning and/or verification signal to a user, user input means to allow a user to enter instructions to said appliance, data storage means which stores information on the operation of said appliance, control means which stores a program which causes the controller to; i) receive said instructions from said user input means, ii) enter a special operating mode in response to said user input, and iii) energize said sound generating means to issue audible tones in a predetermined sequence corresponding to information stored in said data storage means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of controlling an appliance, said appliance having
sound generating means adapted to, upon appropriate energisation, produce audible tones ordinarily provided as a warning and/or verification signal to a user, user input means to allow a user to enter instructions to said appliance, data storage means which stores information on the operation of said appliance, control means which controls the operation of said appliance, said method comprising the steps of: -
i) receiving said instructions from said user input means, ii) entering a special operating mode in response to said user input, and iii) energizing said sound generating means to issue audible tones in a predetermined sequence corresponding to information stored in said data storage means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification