System and method for communicating with an appliance through a light emitting diode

• US 7,030,773 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2003
• Issued: 04/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nidec Motor Corporation (Nidec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Emerson Electric Company
• Inventors: Peterson, Gregory A., Astrauskas, Jurgis
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, TOAN NGOC
• Application Number:
  US10/348,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20030170033A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,183 Days
• Field of Search: 340/815.4, 340/539.24, 340/815.5, 356/342, 356/219, 398/202, 398/140, 345/158
• US Class Current: 340/815.4
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/4293 Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels; Indication of the selected programme, programme progress or other parameters of the programme, e.g. by using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/32 characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2633 Washing, laundry
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1141 One-way transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 Visible light communication

Abstract

An apparatus includes a controller for controlling operation of an appliance, an indicator light coupled to the controller to provide a visible indication of an operator selection in response to the controller energizing the indicator light, and a driver coupled to the controller and the indicator light so that the controller may communicate data through the indicator light by controlling the driver. The indicator light may be a light emitting diode or a segment of an alphanumeric display of an appliance control panel. A detector LED may also be coupled to the controller so the controller may receive data from an external device that communicates by flashing light on the detector LED. A terminal for communicating with the appliance may include a detector LED and a conductor that couples the detector LED to a diagnostic tool. The detector LED may receive data from an optical transmitter of the appliance control panel. The terminal may also include a LED that is coupled to the diagnostic tool by a conductor so the LED may be selectively energized by the diagnostic tool to communicate with an optical receiver of the appliance control panel. The detector LED and LED coupled to the diagnostic tool may be located within a housing having apertures for the transmission of visible light to and from the detector LED and LED. The housing may be mounted to the appliance control panel and aligned for communication by means of a magnet or engagement with supports on the appliance control panel.

Claims

1. A system for communicating data between an appliance and a device external to the appliance comprising:

a controller for controlling operation of an appliance;

an indicator light coupled to the controller for selectively energizing the indicator light during appliance operation; and

a driver coupled to the controller and the indicator light so that the controller may communicate data through the indicator light by controlling the driver.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the indicator light is a light emitting diode (LED).

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the indicator light is a segment of an alphanumeric display.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the driver is a transistor.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the driver is a NPN transistor.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a detector LED coupled to the controller so that the controller may receive data from an external device through the detector LED.

7. The system of claim 6 further comprising:

an amplifier coupled to the detector LED and the controller for amplifying data received through the detector LED.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the amplifier is a transistor.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the transistor is an NPN transistor.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the controller controls the driver to communicate an acknowledgement through the indicator light in response to the detector LED receiving data from an external device.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the controller controls the driver in response to the detector LED receiving a handshake signal.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the controller controls the driver to communicate diagnostic data through the indicator light after the acknowledgement is communicated through the indicator light.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the controller communicates the diagnostic data through the indicator light in response to a data request signal received through the detector LED.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the driver is coupled to a plurality of indicator lights so that the controller may control the driver to communicate through the plurality of indicator lights.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising an amplifier coupled to the detector LED and the controller for amplifying the received data provided to the controller.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the amplifier is a transistor.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the amplifier is a NPN transistor.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein an anode of the detector LED and a base of transistor are coupled to a negative voltage through a resistor and a cathode of the detector LED and an emitter of the transistor are coupled to the negative voltage so that the controller is coupled to the amplifier through the collector of the transistor.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said indicator light may be selectively energized to indicate one of an operator selection and a cycle status.

20. A system for communicating data between an appliance and a device external to the appliance comprising:

a controller for controlling operation of an appliance;

a detector LED coupled to the controller, the detector LED for receiving data communicated by a visible light generating device and for providing the received data to the controller.

21. The system of claim 20 further comprising:

an indicator light coupled to the controller so that the controller may communicate data to an external device through the indicator light.

22. The system of claim 21 further comprising:

a driver coupled to the indicator light and the controller so the controller communicates data through the indicator light by controlling the driver.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the driver is a transistor.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the transistor is an NPN transistor.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein the controller controls the driver to communicate an acknowledgement through the indicator light in response to the detector LED receiving data from an external device.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the controller controls the driver in response to the detector LED receiving a handshake signal.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the controller controls the driver to communicate diagnostic data through the indicator light after the acknowledgement is communicated through the indicator light.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the controller communicates the diagnostic data through the indicator light in response to a data request signal received through the detector LED.

29. The system of claim 22 wherein the driver is coupled to a plurality of indicator lights so that the controller may control the driver to communicate through the plurality of indicator lights.

30. The system of claim 22 wherein the controller is also coupled to the indicator light so that the controller may selectively energize the indicator light during appliance operation.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said indicator light may be selectively energized to indicate one of an operator selection and a cycle status.

32. A terminal for communicating with an appliance comprising:

a light emitting diode (LED); and

a conductor for coupling the LED to a diagnostic tool so that the diagnostic tool may selectively energize the LED for communication with an appliance.

33. The terminal of claim 32 further comprising:

a housing in which the LED is located, the housing including an aperture through which light from the LED is transmitted to the appliance.

34. The terminal of claim 33 wherein the aperture includes a transparent element.

35. The terminal of claim 34 wherein the aperture includes an optically transmitting element.

36. The terminal of claim 33 wherein the housing is configured to engage alignment supports of the appliance so that the LED is aligned with an optical receiver of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

37. The terminal of claim 33 further comprising:

a mount for mounting the housing in alignment with an optical receiver of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

38. The terminal of claim 37 wherein the mount is a magnet.

39. The terminal of claim 32 further comprising:

a detector LED; and

a conductor for coupling the detector LED to the diagnostic tool so that the detector LED may provide data received by the detector LED from the appliance.

40. The terminal of claim 39 further comprising a housing in which the LED and detector LED are located, the housing including an aperture through which the detector LED may receive light and the LED may transmit light.

41. The terminal of claim 40 wherein the aperture is comprised of two apertures, one of which is aligned with the detector LED so that the detector LED may receive light communicated from the appliance and the other of which is aligned with the LED so that the LED may transmit light for communication with the appliance.

42. The terminal of claim 41 wherein the apertures include a transparent element.

43. The terminal of claim 41 wherein the apertures include optically transmitting elements.

44. The terminal of claim 40 further comprising:

a mount for mounting the housing in alignment with an optical receiver of the appliance so that the diagnostic tool and appliance may communicate through the LED and detector LED.

45. The terminal of claim 44 wherein the mount is a magnet.

46. The terminal of claim 40 wherein the housing is configured to engage an alignment support on the appliance so that the diagnostic tool and appliance may communicate through the LED and detector LED.

47. A terminal for communicating with an appliance comprising:

a detector light emitting diode (LED); and

a conductor for coupling the detector LED to a diagnostic tool so that the detector LED may provide data received by the detector LED from the appliance to the diagnostic tool.

48. The terminal of claim 47 further comprising:

a housing in which the detector LED is located, the housing including an aperture through which light from an optical transmitter of the appliance is transmitted to the detector LED.

49. The terminal of claim 48 wherein the aperture includes a transparent element.

50. The terminal of claim 48 wherein the aperture includes an optically transmitting element.

51. The terminal of claim 48 wherein the housing is configured to engage alignment supports of the appliance so that the detector LED is aligned with the optical transmitter of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

52. The terminal of claim 48 further comprising:

a mount for mounting the housing in alignment with an optical transmitter of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

53. The terminal of claim 52 wherein the mount is a magnet.

54. The terminal of claim 47 further comprising:

a LED; and

a conductor for coupling the LED to the diagnostic tool so that the diagnostic tool may selectively energize the LED to communicate with the appliance.

55. The terminal of claim 54 further comprising a housing in which the LED and detector LED are located, the housing including an aperture through which the detector LED may receive light and the LED may transmit light.

56. A method for communicating data between an appliance and a device external to the appliance comprising:

controlling operation of an appliance;

selectively energizing an indicator light during appliance operation; and

communicating data through an indicator light that may be selectively energized during appliance operation.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein the data is communicated through a light emitting diode (LED) of a control panel on the appliance.

58. The method of claim 56 wherein the data is communicated through a segment of an alphanumeric display.

59. The method of claim 56 further comprising:

receiving data from an external device through a detector LED.

60. The method of claim 59 wherein the data communication includes communication of an acknowledgement through the indicator light in response to the detector LED receiving data from an external device.

61. The method of claim 60 wherein the data communication includes communication of diagnostic data through the indicator light after the acknowledgement is communicated through the indicator light.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein the controller communicates the diagnostic data through the indicator light in response to a data request signal received through the detector LED.

63. The method of claim 56, wherein said indicator light may be selectively energized during appliance operation to indicate one of an operator selection and a cycle status.

64. A method for communicating data between an appliance and a device external to the appliance comprising:

controlling operation of an appliance;

receiving data communicated by a visible light generating device; and

transmitting data with an external device through an indicator light that may be selectively energized during appliance operation.

65. The method of claim 64 further comprising:

amplifying the received data.

66. The method of claim 64 wherein the data communication to an external device occurs in response to receipt of a handshake signal from the visible light generating device.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein the data communication includes the communication of diagnostic data after an acknowledgement is communicated to the external device.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein the diagnostic data communication occurs in response to a data request signal received from the visible light generating device.

69. A method for communicating data with an appliance from an external device comprising:

coupling a light emitting diode (LED) to a diagnostic tool; and

selectively energizing the LED so that the diagnostic tool may communicate data with an appliance.

70. The method of claim 69 wherein light generated from the selective energizing of the LED is transmitted through an aperture to the appliance.

71. The method of claim 69 further comprising:

aligning the LED with supports of the appliance so that light transmitted by the LED is received by an optical receiver of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

72. The method of claim 71, the alignment further comprising:

magnetically mounting the LED to the appliance so that light transmitted by the LED is received by the optical receiver of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

73. The method of claim 69 further comprising:

coupling a detector LED to the diagnostic tool so that the diagnostic tool may receive data from the appliance through the detector LED.

74. The method of claim 73 wherein the LED transmits data through an aperture and the detector LED receives data through the aperture.

75. The method of claim 73 wherein the LED transmits data through an aperture and the detector LED receives light through another aperture for communication with the appliance.

76. The method of claim 73 further comprising:

mounting the LED and the detector LED in alignment with an optical receiver and an indicator light of the appliance, respectively, so that the diagnostic tool and appliance may communicate through the LED and detector LED.

77. A method for communicating with an appliance comprising:

coupling a detector light emitting diode (LED) to a diagnostic tool; and

receiving data transmitted from an indicator light of an appliance through the detector LED.

78. The method of claim 77 further comprising:

aligning an aperture between an optical transmitter of the appliance and the detector LED so that data may be communicated between the detector LED and the optical transmitter of the appliance.

79. The method of claim 78, the alignment further including:

engaging alignment supports of the appliance so that the detector LED is aligned with the optical transmitter of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

80. The method of claim 78 further comprising:

magnetically mounting the detector LED in alignment with the optical transmitter of the appliance for communication with the appliance.

81. The method of claim 77 further comprising:

coupling a LED to the diagnostic tool so that the diagnostic tool may selectively energize the LED to communicate with the appliance.

82. A system for communicating data between an apparatus and a device external to the apparatus comprising:

a controller for controlling operation of an apparatus;

a lamp coupled to the controller for selectively energizing the lamp during apparatus operation; and

a driver coupled to the controller and the lamp so that the controller may communicate data through the lamp by controlling the driver.

83. The system of claim 82 further comprising:

a detector LED coupled to the controller, the detector LED for receiving data communicated by a visible light generating device and for providing the received data to the controller.

84. The system of claim 82 wherein said lamp may be selectively energized to indicate one of an operator selection and a cycle status.

85. The system of claim 82 wherein said lamp comprises an indicator.

86. The system of claim 82 wherein said lamp comprises an LED.

87. A method for communicating data between an apparatus and a device external to the apparatus comprising:

selectively energizing a lamp during apparatus operation; and

communicating data to a device external to the apparatus through the lamp selectively energized during apparatus operation.

88. The method of claim 87 further comprising:

receiving data through a detector LED visible at a surface of the apparatus, the data being generated by a visible light generating device.

89. The method of claim 87, wherein said selectively energized lamp indicates at least one of an operator selection and a cycle status.

90. The method of claim 87 wherein said lamp comprises an indicator.

91. The method of claim 87 wherein said lamp comprises an LED.