Home appliance and operation method thereof

• US 9,640,174 B2
• Filed: 01/02/2014
• Issued: 05/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Han, Sungwook, Park, Sangbae, Jeon, Chansung, Noh, Seonghwan
• Primary Examiner(s): Desir, Pierre-Louis
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shin, Seong Ah A
• Application Number:
  US14/146,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20140188463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,216 Days
• Field of Search: 704275, 704270, 704201, 340 125
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence

Abstract

A home appliance and an operation method thereof are disclosed. The operation method of the home appliance includes entering a voice recognition mode, receiving a voice data through a microphone, recognizing the received voice date, and, in a case in which the recognized voice data contains information related to another home appliance, transmitting the recognized voice data to the corresponding home appliance. Consequently, sharing of voice data between home appliances is achieved.

Claims

1. An operation method of a home appliance including a microphone, a wireless communication unit to exchange data with an external device, a drive unit to drive the home appliance, and a controller to control the microphone, the wireless communication unit, and the drive unit, wherein the controller outputs a first signal regarding a first speed command value to the drive unit for driving a motor at a target rotation speed, the method comprising:

entering a voice recognition mode during driving the motor;

receiving a voice data through the microphone or voice data from an external home appliance or a mobile terminal through the wireless communication unit;

recognizing the received voice data through the controller;

in a case in which the recognized voice data contains information related to a corresponding external home appliance,

transmitting the recognized voice data to the corresponding external home appliance through the controller;

determining whether the recognized voice data corresponds to an operation control command;

upon determining that the recognized voice data corresponds to the operation control command, outputting a second signal regarding a second speed command value and driving the motor based on the second signal;

upon determining that the recognized voice data is not the operation control command, determining whether the recognized voice data corresponds to a voice memo;

upon determining that the recognized voice data corresponds to the voice memo, storing the voice data in a memory;

upon receiving the voice memo, outputting a message indicating reception of the voice memo through the controller;

upon receiving an input to reproduce the voice memo through an input unit, reproducing and outputting the stored voice data.

2. The operation method according to claim 1, wherein the step of recognizing the received voice data comprises:

transmitting the received voice data to a server through the controller; and

receiving the voice data related to the transmitted voice from the server.

3. The operation method according to claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the voice data comprises receiving the voice data via an access point device or at least one home appliance adjacent thereto.

4. The operation method according to claim 1, further comprising:

in a case in which the voice data corresponds to a request for telephone conversation, receiving a call; and

performing a telephone conversation.

5. The operation method according to claim 4, wherein the step of performing the telephone conversation comprises:

receiving a voice through a microphone;

transmitting the received voice to the external home appliance or the mobile terminal; and

outputting voice data received from the external home appliance or the mobile terminal.

6. A home appliance comprising:

a microphone;

a memory;

an audio output unit;

a drive unit to drive the home appliance,

a wireless communication unit to exchange data with an external device; and

a controller configured to;

output a first signal regarding a first speed command value to the drive unit for driving a motor at a target rotation speed,

control the wireless communication unit to receive a voice data through the microphone upon entering a voice recognition mode during driving the motor,

recognizing the received voice data through the controller,

in a case in which the recognized voice data contains information related to a corresponding external home appliance, transmit the recognized voice data to the corresponding external home appliance,

determine whether the recognized voice data corresponds to an operation control command;

upon determining that the recognized voice data corresponds to the operation control command, output a second signal regarding a second speed command value and drive the motor based on the second signal;

upon determining that the recognized voice data is not the operation control command, determine whether the recognized voice data corresponds to a voice memo;

upon determining that the recognized voice data corresponds to the voice memo, store the voice data in the memory;

upon receiving the voice memo, output a message indicating reception of the voice memo through the controller;

upon receiving an input to reproduce the voice memo through an input unit, reproduce and output the stored voice data through the audio output unit.

7. The home appliance according to claim 6, wherein the wireless communication unit transmits the received voice data to a server and receives the voice data related to the transmitted voice from the server.

8. The home appliance according to claim 6, wherein the audio output unit outputs a message indicating reception of the voice memo upon receiving the voice memo.

9. The home appliance according to claim 6, wherein

in a case in which the voice data corresponds to a request for telephone conversation, the controller controls a call to be received and telephone conversation to be performed through the audio input unit and the audio output unit.

10. The home appliance according to claim 6, further comprising:

a camera to capture an image, wherein

in a case in which the image captured by the camera contains a quick response (QR) code and the QR code contains voice data, the controller controls the voice data to be extracted from the QR code and the extracted voice data to be stored in the memory.

11. The home appliance according to claim 10, wherein the audio output unit reproduces and outputs the stored voice data upon receiving an input to reproduce the voice data corresponding to the QR code.