Methods and systems for appliance community service management

• US 9,438,678 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2012
• Issued: 09/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: DeSalvo, Thomas E., Kozlowski, Michael, Monnie, Samuel, Klimek, Jeffrey Vance, Munoz, Christopher Michael, Olson, Martin Edward III, Adkisson, Timothy Ray, Christiansen, Eva
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Hee Soo
• Application Number:
  US13/421,423
• Publication Number:
  US 20130073690A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,636 Days
• Field of Search: 709/208, 709/219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A method and system for networking a plurality of appliances. The method and system include providing an appliance on a network, controlling operation of the appliance with a microcontroller, storing on a memory coupled with the microcontroller, computer executable instructions for operating the appliance, sensing the operation of the appliance, displaying information regarding the operation of the appliance, and communicating the operational data on a network. Network connectivity includes communication directly with a network, and with another appliance. A host system is connected to the network and adapted to receive the usage data and to transmit data to the appliance to influence operation of the appliance.

Claims

1. A system for networking an appliance comprising:

an appliance on a network, the appliance being configured to perform a cycle of operation, the appliance comprising;

a microcontroller;

a memory coupled with the microcontroller and having stored thereon computer executable instructions for operating the appliance;

at least one sensor coupled to the microcontroller to monitor the usage of the appliance and a level of a consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle;

a user interface coupled to the microcontroller and having provided thereon user interface elements to provide information regarding the usage of the appliance; and

a communicator coupled to the microcontroller, the communicator adapted to provide network connectivity, wherein the appliance is adapted to communicate with a host system via the network, wherein the appliance is adapted to communicate with another appliance on the network, wherein the communicator is configured to transmit at least one sensor data indicative of usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle to one or more of the network and the another appliance; and

the host system connected to the network and adapted to receive, via the network, the at least one sensor data indicative of usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle and to transmit, via the network, computer readable instructions from a device coupled to the host system and adapted to display, via the network, data indicative of usage of the appliance to a user on the user interface, wherein the host system tracks a pattern of the usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle, and wherein the host system provides a recommendation based on the pattern of the usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle to improve the operation cycle of the appliance.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the appliance is a laundry device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the host system comprises an application server to provide at least one application to the appliance.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the host system comprises an upgrade server to provide at least one set of computer executable instructions to modify the computer executable instructions stored in the memory.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the host system includes a service server to provide data to the appliance to maintain or repair the appliance.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the communicator is a home hub configured to communicate with a plurality of appliances.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory stores a manual of operating instructions, and wherein the manual of operating instructions is displayable on the user interface.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the host system is adapted to provide the user interface with service or operating alerts.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to store customized operating instructions.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the user interface is adapted to modify the customized operating instructions.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the host system is configured to analyze the data indicative of usage of the appliance and calculate an expected savings based upon a comparison of the data indicative of usage of the appliance and a predetermined data set of typical usage scenarios.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the host system is configured to analyze the data indicative of usage of the appliance and provide recommendations regarding usage optimization by comparison of the data indicative of usage of the appliance and a predetermined data set of optimized usage scenarios.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a consumable identification device to enable the appliance to identify the composition of a consumable necessary for operation of the appliance.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the consumable identification device is a scanner.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the scanner is a bar-code scanner.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the consumable identification device is a chemical sensor configured to detect the chemical composition of the consumable.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the host system or the appliance is configured to receive an identification of the consumable from the consumable identification device and to transmit computer readable instructions to the appliance that when executed by the microcontroller cause the microcontroller to modify the operation of the appliance based upon the identification of the consumable.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein the communicator of the appliance is configured to communicate with a plurality of appliances on the network, wherein the communicator of the appliance is configured to provide access to the host system for the plurality of appliances.

34. The system of claim 1,

wherein the host system processes the at least one sensor data indicative of the usage of the appliance and, based on the processing of the at least one sensor data, the host system sends a notification of incorrect usage and one or more recommendations for correct usage to the user interface, and

wherein the user interface is adapted to accept a user inputted command to cause the device to transmit, via the network, computer readable instructions to the appliance that when executed by the microcontroller cause the microcontroller to modify the operation cycle of the appliance on the article.

36. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to support customized settings based on a particular user that affect the operation cycle of the appliance.

18. A method of networking a plurality of appliances comprising:

providing an appliance on a network, wherein the appliance is configured to perform a cycle of operation, wherein the appliance includes a microcontroller, a memory, at least one sensor, a user interface and a communicator;

controlling operation of the appliance with the microcontroller;

storing on the memory coupled with the microcontroller, computer executable instructions for operating the appliance;

sensing the operation of the appliance and a level of a consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle with at least one sensor, wherein at least one sensor data indicative of the operation of the appliance is stored in the memory;

displaying on the user interface coupled to the microcontroller, a user interface element to provide information regarding the operation of the appliance;

communicating through the communicator coupled to the microcontroller, the communicator being adapted to provide network connectivity, wherein the appliance is adapted to communicate with the network, wherein the appliance is adapted to communicate with another appliance on the network, wherein the communicator is configured to transmit at least one sensor data indicative of operation of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle to one or more of the network and the another appliance;

providing a host system connected to the network and adapted to receive, via the network, the at least one sensor data indicative of usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle and to transmit, via the network, computer readable instructions from a device coupled to the host system and adapted to display, via the network, data indicative of usage of the appliance to a user on the user interface;

tracking a pattern of the usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle; and

providing a recommendation based on the pattern of the usage of the appliance and the level of the consumable product used by the appliance during the operation cycle to improve the operation cycle of the appliance.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing an application server to provide at least one application to the appliance.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing an upgrade server to provide at least one set of computer executable instructions to modify the computer executable instructions stored in the memory.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing data to the appliance to maintain or repair the appliance.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising storing a manual of operating instructions, and wherein the manual of operating instructions is displayable on the user interface.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing the user interface with service or operating alerts.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising storing customized operating instructions on the appliance.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the user interface is adapted for modifying the customized operating instructions.

26. The method of claim 18, further comprising analyzing the data indicative of usage of the appliance and calculating an expected savings based upon a comparison of the data indicative of usage of the appliance and a predetermined data set of typical usage scenarios.

27. The method of claim 18, further comprising analyzing the data indicative of usage of the appliance and providing recommendations regarding usage optimization by comparison of the data indicative of usage of the appliance and a predetermined data set of optimized usage scenarios.

28. The method of claim 18, further comprising identifying the composition of a consumable necessary for operation of the appliance.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein identifying the composition of the consumable is performed by a scanner.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein identifying the composition of the consumable is performed by a chemical sensor configured to detect the chemical composition of the consumable.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising receiving an identification of the consumable and transmitting computer readable instructions to the appliance that when executed by the microcontroller cause the microcontroller to modify the operation of the appliance based upon the identification of the consumable.

33. The method of claim 18, comprising:

configuring the communicator of the appliance to communicate with a plurality of appliances on the network; and

configuring the communicator of the appliance to provide access to the host system for the plurality of appliances.

35. The method of claim 18, wherein the user interface is adapted to accept a user inputted command to cause the device to transmit, via the network, computer readable instructions to the appliance that when executed by the microcontroller cause the microcontroller to modify the operation cycle of the appliance on the article.