Home appliance and method for operating a home appliance
First Claim
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1. A home appliance operable with at least one primary utility resource and at least one secondary utility resource, the secondary utility resource being at least one of heated water and electricity, the home appliance comprising:
- an electronic controller with a selectively operable trigger port which detects a trigger signal produced by a device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource, the trigger signal being low when the device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource is nonoperational and the secondary utility resource is unavailable for use by the home appliance, and the trigger signal being high when the device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource is operational and the secondary utility resource is available for use by the home appliance, wherein the electronic controller starts an operating cycle for the home appliance in response to the trigger port detecting a high trigger signal.
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Abstract
A home appliance includes an electronic controller with a trigger port which starts an operating cycle for the home appliance in response to a signal received on the trigger port that indicates availability of an alternative resource.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A home appliance operable with at least one primary utility resource and at least one secondary utility resource, the secondary utility resource being at least one of heated water and electricity, the home appliance comprising:
an electronic controller with a selectively operable trigger port which detects a trigger signal produced by a device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource, the trigger signal being low when the device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource is nonoperational and the secondary utility resource is unavailable for use by the home appliance, and the trigger signal being high when the device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource is operational and the secondary utility resource is available for use by the home appliance, wherein the electronic controller starts an operating cycle for the home appliance in response to the trigger port detecting a high trigger signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for operating a home appliance operable with at least one primary utility resource and at least one secondary utility resource, the secondary utility resource being at least one of heated water and electricity, the method comprising:
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preparing the home appliance to be ready to start an operating cycle; detecting a trigger signal produced by a device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource, the trigger signal being low when the device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource is nonoperational and the secondary utility resource is unavailable for use by the home appliance, and the trigger signal being high when the device operatively associated with the secondary utility resource is operational and the secondary utility resource is available for use by the home appliance; and starting an operating cycle for the home appliance using an electronic controller in response to detecting a high trigger signal using the trigger port. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification