Laundry appliance having automatic start feature based on selected stain

• US 7,516,629 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2003
• Issued: 04/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Maytag Corporation (Whirlpool Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Herr, Nedra A., Lafrenz, Kristi R., Oleson, Brett C., Hood, Kimberly J., Ness, Brian L., Schober, Stephen D., Behrens, Jan D., Woods, Lashelle D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perrin; Joseph L.
• Application Number:
  US10/337,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20030154560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,289 Days
• Field of Search: 68/121.2, 68/122.7, 700/83, 700/17
• US Class Current: 68/12.12
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/06 Type or material
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/12 Washing temperature
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/20 Operation modes, e.g. delicate laundry washing programs, service modes or refreshment cycles
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/00 Systems or parameters controlled or affected by the control systems of washing machines, washer-dryers or laundry dryers
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/28 Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress

Abstract

A laundry appliance can be selectively operated in either manual or automatic modes of operation. In the automatic mode, a laundering operation is initiated upon receiving a single cycle input parameter from the user, preferably through a LCD touch screen display, while relying on additional operating cycle parameters established by factory preset settings or prior consumer established preferences. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a consumer need merely select a single cycle parameter, such as a type of stain adapted to be removed, and the appliance will start based on temperature and other setting parameters taken from memory. However, even with the automatic start feature activated, the user will still be able to adjust pre-established cycle parameters by changing default values after the cycle has started.

Claims

1. A laundry appliance comprising:

means for inputting a particular stain to be addressed in a laundering operation;

means for automatically establishing a laundering operation based on the particular stain in combination with additional, default parameters; and

means for selectively turning an automatic start feature, which controls whether the laundry appliance performs the laundry operation based only on the particular stain in combination with the additional, default parameters, on and off wherein, when the automatic start feature is off, the laundry appliance operates in a first mode wherein the user must select between various soil levels of the laundry in order to initiate the laundry operation and, when the automatic feature is on, the laundry appliance operates in a second mode wherein the laundry operation can be automatically started based on the particular stain selection and the default parameters, while a selection between the various soil levels is avoided.

2. The laundry appliance according to claim 1, wherein the laundry appliance has the default parameters factory pre-installed therein.

3. The laundry appliance according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for pre-programming the default parameters in the laundry appliance by the user.

4. The laundry appliance according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for displaying a user with a list of stains from which the particular stain can be selected.

5. The laundry appliance according to claim 4, wherein the displaying means presents an alpha screen to the user for use in establishing the particular stain.

6. The laundry appliance according to claim 5, wherein the displaying means provides the list of stains after the user selects a letter from the alpha screen corresponding to the particular stain.

7. The laundry appliance according to claim 6, wherein the displaying means presents the user with a series of pre-treating instructions to the user prior to initiating the laundering operation.

8. The laundry appliance according to claim 4, wherein the displaying means comprises a screen integrated into the laundry appliance.

9. The laundry appliance according to claim 8, wherein the screen comprises an LCD touch screen.

10. The laundry appliance according to claim 1, wherein the inputting means enables the particular stain to be inputted as a grass or grease stain.

11. The laundry appliance according to claim 1, wherein the additional, default parameters are pre-established for the particular stain and vary depending upon the particular stain inputted.

12. A laundry appliance comprising:

a cabinet adapted to receive articles of clothing for a laundry operation;

a control panel enabling a user to program the laundry appliance for the laundry operation, said control panel including a display through which a user can make a particular stain selection based on a particular stain to be addressed in the laundry operation, wherein the display is configured to present a user with multiple lists of different stains from which the particular stain selection can be made; and

a controller linked to the control panel for receiving the particular stain selection for the laundry operation, said controller including a memory having stored therein various default parameters for the laundry operation, wherein the controller enables the laundry operation to be automatically started based on the particular stain selection and the default parameters.

13. The laundry appliance according to claim 12, wherein the display is configured to present an alpha screen to the user for use in establishing the list of stains, wherein the display provides the list of stains after the user selects a letter from the alpha screen.

14. The laundry appliance according to claim 12, wherein the display constitutes an LCD touch screen.

15. The laundry appliance according to claim 12, further comprising:

means for selectively turning an automatic start feature, which controls whether the laundry appliance performs the laundry operation based only on the particular stain in combination with the default parameters, on and off.

17. The laundry appliance according to claim 12, wherein the control panel enables a user to alternatively operate the laundry appliance in a first mode of operation wherein the user must select between various soil levels of the laundry in order to initiate the laundry operation and a second mode wherein the laundry operation can be automatically started based on the particular stain selection and the default parameters, while a selection between the various soil levels is avoided.

16. A laundry appliance comprising:

a cabinet adapted to receive articles of clothing for a laundry operation;

a control panel enabling a user to program the laundry appliance for the laundry operation, said control panel including a display through which a user can make a particular stain selection based on a particular stain to be addressed in the laundry operation, wherein the display enables the user to input the particular stain as a grass or grease stain; and

a controller linked to the control panel for receiving the particular stain selection for the laundry operation, said controller including a memory having stored therein various default parameters for the laundry operation, wherein the controller enables the laundry operation to be automatically started based on the particular stain selection and the default parameters.