System for programming a household appliance having an electronic control
First Claim
1. A system for programming a household appliance having an electronic control that manages the execution by the appliance of a plurality of programs consisting of treatment phases, the system including:
- a microcontroller, a first memory associated with the microcontroller, the first memory storing as write protected during the manufacturing of the appliance first information that is used by the control system to execute a given number of first programs of the appliance, the first programs allowing the immediate use of the appliance after the completion of manufacturing;
a control panel residing on the appliance, the control panel including user-operated controls for the selection and the control of the execution of the first programs, communication means for interfacing the control system to an external electronic programming device, a writeable and erasable second memory resident on the appliance for storing second information provided by the external programming device, once the appliance has been marketed and/or installed at a user'"'"'s premises, the second information allowing the control system to execute second programs which are in addition to and different from the first programs, the second programs being user-defined, and allowing the user to select and command the execution of the second programs through the control panel residing on the appliance, the second information being encoded and stored in the second memory for an undetermined time, until the user directs a subsequent modification or cancellation of the second information through the external programming device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system is described for programming a household appliance that has electronic control means for executing a plurality of control programs. The household appliance operates in accordance with conventional functions, able to perform standard programs, and has the feature of being prearranged for receiving and retaining additional operating programs, coming from outside, according to the user'"'"'s specific requirements; such new programs are designed and stored in the control system of the household appliance through an external electronic device, such as a Personal Computer programmed accordingly. The control system of the household appliance comprises a duly prearranged microcontroller, associated with suitable memory means and means for interfacing with said external electronic device; a protected part, i.e. non-modifiable, of the memory means contains the information required for executing the basic programs, whereas a freely modifiable part of the memory means is assigned for the storage of the new additional programs.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. A system for programming a household appliance having an electronic control that manages the execution by the appliance of a plurality of programs consisting of treatment phases, the system including:
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a microcontroller, a first memory associated with the microcontroller, the first memory storing as write protected during the manufacturing of the appliance first information that is used by the control system to execute a given number of first programs of the appliance, the first programs allowing the immediate use of the appliance after the completion of manufacturing;
a control panel residing on the appliance, the control panel including user-operated controls for the selection and the control of the execution of the first programs, communication means for interfacing the control system to an external electronic programming device, a writeable and erasable second memory resident on the appliance for storing second information provided by the external programming device, once the appliance has been marketed and/or installed at a user'"'"'s premises, the second information allowing the control system to execute second programs which are in addition to and different from the first programs, the second programs being user-defined, and allowing the user to select and command the execution of the second programs through the control panel residing on the appliance, the second information being encoded and stored in the second memory for an undetermined time, until the user directs a subsequent modification or cancellation of the second information through the external programming device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A household appliance electronic control system, the control system comprising:
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a microcontroller;
a first memory associated with the microcontroller, the first memory containing first information for use by the control system to execute a given number of first programs of the appliance, the first programs allowing the immediate use of the appliance once the manufacturing of the same has been completed, the first memory being write-protected for inhibiting the modification of the first information relating to the first programs, a second memory associated with the microcontroller, for storing second information once the appliance has been marketed and/or installed at a user'"'"'s premises, the second information allowing the control system to execute second programs which are in addition to and different from the first programs, the second programs being user-defined, the second memory being writeable and erasable for allowing the storage, and/or the later modification of the second information relating to the second programs, a communication interface for connecting the control system to an external programming device, through which the second information is provided, a control panel residing on the appliance for the selection and the control of the execution of the first programs and the second programs. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for programming a household appliance having an electronic control system that executes a plurality of programs, the method including the steps of:
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storing first information within a first memory of the control system during the manufacturing stage of the appliance, the first information being used by the control system to control the execution of a given number of first programs of the appliance, the first programs allowing the immediate use of the appliance once the manufacturing of the same has been completed, write protecting the first information to inhibit the modification of the first information after the information has have been stored in the first memory, controlling at desired times the selection and the command of the execution of the first programs through a control panel on the appliance, after the appliance has been marketed or installed at a user'"'"'s premises, interfacing the control system to an external programming device;
obtaining, through the external programming device, second information for allowing the control system to execute second additional programs that differ from the first programs, the second programs being user-defined, the second information comprising data identifying the second additional programs;
storing the second information, in a writeable and erasable manner within a second memory of the control system;
controlling at desired times the selection and command of the execution of the second additional programs using the identifying data that is part of the second information;
selectively modifying or deleting the second information, as desired by the user. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification