Home appliance and online system including the same

• US 10,633,778 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2018
• Issued: 04/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Junpil, Ha, Mikyung, Sung, Byunggee
• Primary Examiner(s): Huntley, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US15/918,294
• Publication Number:
  US 20180202093A1
• Time in Patent Office: 778 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/0063 using remote monitoring or controlling of the dishwasher operation, e.g. networking systems
• 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: A47L 2301/04 Operation mode, e.g. delicate washing, economy washing, reduced time, sterilizing, water softener regenerating, odor eliminating or service
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2301/08 Other manual input
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2501/22 Loading doors, e.g. door latches, inflatable door seals
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2501/26 Indication or alarm to the controlling device or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2501/32 Stopping or disabling machine operation, including disconnecting the machine from a network, e.g. from an electrical power supply
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/20 Operation modes, e.g. delicate laundry washing programs, service modes or refreshment cycles
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/44 Opening, closing or locking of doors
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2105/58 Indications or alarms to the control system or to the user
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/65 of conditioning or finishing phases, e.g. for smoothing or removing creases
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/05 for wireless communication between components, e.g. for remote monitoring or control
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/24 Liquid temperature
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/32 characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007

Abstract

An online system, including a smart laundry machine, which is capable of easily and inexpensively using the smart laundry machine is disclosed. A further extended type of a smart home appliance, an online system including the same, and a method of using the online system are also disclosed. A laundry machine communicates with a server, is remotely controlled by an external terminal through the server, and has a control panel for a user interface. The control panel includes a course selection unit, an option selection unit, a start button, a display unit to display state information of the laundry machine, and a remote service activation input unit to set or cancel remote service activation according to user selection. The remote control is performed only in a case in which the remote service activation is set.

Claims

1. A home appliance that communicates with a server, the home appliance is remotely controlled by an external terminal through the server, and the home appliance has a control panel for a user interface, wherein

the control panel includes a remote service activation input unit to set or cancel remote service activation according to user selection, and an operation information selection unit to select one operation information from among a plurality of operation information,

the home appliance is remotely controlled through the server when remote service activation is set through the remote service activation input unit provided at the home appliance only during communication connection between the home appliance and the server, and

the home appliance is enabled to set the remote service activation only when the home appliance is communication connected to the server.

2. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the remote service activation is set only by the remote service activation input unit, and the remote service activation is not set by the external terminal.

3. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein in response to the setting of the remote service activation at the control panel, deactivating the operation information selection unit such that input through the operation information selection unit is denied.

4. The home appliance according to claim 3, wherein a change of the operation information selected by the operation information selection unit is enabled only via the external terminal when the remote service activation is set via the remote service activation input unit.

5. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control panel includes a display to display state information of the home appliance.

6. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the home appliance has a power input unit provided separately from the remote service activation unit at the home appliance.

7. The home appliance according to claim 6, wherein when the remote service activation is set, the remote service activation is canceled only by any one selected from between power off of the home appliance and user cancellation through the remote service activation input unit at the home appliance manually.

8. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the remote service activation input unit is provided only to set or cancel the remote service activation.

9. The home appliance according to claim 8, wherein in order to set or cancel the remote service activation, the remote service activation input unit is pushed for a longer time than a push time necessary for input through the operation information selection unit.

10. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the remote service activation input unit is provided to select an original function of the home appliance and is configured to set or cancel the remote service activation using another input method.

11. The home appliance according to claim 1, further comprising a wireless communication module equipped in or connected to the home appliance, wherein the home appliance is communication connected to the server via the wireless communication module and an access point (AP).

12. The home appliance according to claim 11, wherein the control panel includes a display to display a wireless communication connection state and a remote service activation state.

13. The home appliance according to claim 11, wherein the wireless communication module supports a setup mode for communication connection to the server and a use mode for communication, and the control panel is provided with an input unit to operate the setup mode.

14. The home appliance according to claim 13, wherein, after accessing the setup mode through the external terminal, Service Set Identifier (SSID) information of the AP, which will access the wireless communication module, and user information necessary to register the home appliance with the server are input at the external terminal such that the setup mode is switched to the use mode.

15. An online system comprising:

a server;

a home appliance, having a unique device identification (ID), to transmit user information and the device ID to the server such that the user information and the device ID are registered with the server, the home appliance being communication connected to the server through a wireless communication connection with an AP; and

an external terminal to be communication connected to the server to transmit the user information and information of the home appliance to be remotely controlled to the server and to transmit a command to remotely control the home appliance to the server,

wherein the home appliance is remotely controlled through the server when remote service activation is set through a remote service activation input unit provided at the home appliance only during communication connection between the home appliance and the server, and

wherein the home appliance is enabled to set the remote service activation only when the home appliance is communication connected to the server.

16. The online system according to claim 15, wherein the remote service activation is set only by the remote service activation input unit, and the remote service activation is not set by the external terminal.

17. The online system according to claim 15, wherein the home appliance includes a function selection unit, and

wherein in response to the setting of the remote service activation at the home appliance, deactivation the function selecting unit such that input through the function selection unit is denied.

18. The online system according to claim 17, wherein a change of the function selected by the function selection unit is enabled only via the external terminal when the remote service activation is set via the remote service activation input unit.

19. The online system according to claim 17, wherein when the function selection unit is selected while deactivated, a warning sound is provided to inform of a deactivated state.

20. The online system according to claim 17, wherein the home appliance has a power input unit separately provided at the home appliance from the remote service activation unit, and

wherein when the remote service activation is set, the remote service activation is canceled only by any one selected from between power off of the home appliance and user cancellation through the remote service activation input unit at the home appliance manually.