RECIPE WAND AND RECIPE BOOK FOR USE WITH A NETWORKED APPLIANCE

• US 20080143550A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Voss, Randy A., O'Shaughnessy, James P., Ebrom, Matthew P., McCoy, Richard A., Jenkins, Anthony E., Elston, Wallace J., Heilman, Layne E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,816,828 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/825.69
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• 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 69/26 Special purpose or proprietary protocols or architectures network applications for proprietary or special purpose networking environments H04L67/12
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/688 for thawing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 40/00 Technologies aiming at improving the efficiency of home appliances, e.g. induction cooking or efficient technologies for refrigerators, freezers or dish washers

Abstract

A recipe wand reads meal plans and recipes for a recipe book, and with data about the appliance and one or more cycles of operation, sends data about a consumable to the appliance to automatically create and selectively commence a cycle of operation oh the consumable according to the recipe book.

Claims

1. A network comprising:

an appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation to complete a physical domestic operation on a consumable, the appliance having;

a communication network comprising a plurality of interconnected nodes configured to communicate across the communication network;

a plurality of components, each component associated with at least one of the plurality of nodes; and

a recipe wand configured to obtain information related to the consumable and having at least one node in communication with the communication network; and

a software architecture comprising a plurality of software elements and configured to generate a plurality of messages, with at least one of the software elements residing in each of the components and in the recipe wand and configured to enable transmission of at least one of the plurality of messages among the components and between the recipe wand and the components to communicate data related to the consumable from the recipe wand to the appliance.

2. The network of claim 1 wherein the information comprises operating cycle data directly usable by the appliance.

3. The network of claim 2 wherein the information is a communication packet that is communicated to the software architecture.

4. The network of claim 1 wherein the information is a communication packet that is communicated to the software architecture.

5. The network of claim 1 wherein the software architecture includes memory and the information is a key to direct the appliance to any data about the consumable stored in the memory.

6. A network comprising:

an appliance able to perform a operation cycle related to a consumable;

a consumable; and

recipe book containing information related to the consumable;

wherein the appliance is configured to receive the information for use in the operation cycle by way of the recipe wand.

7. The network of claim 6 wherein the information comprises operating cycle data directly usable by the appliance.

8. The network of claim 7 wherein the information is a communication packet that is communicated to the appliance.

9. The network of claim 8 wherein the information is meal plan.

10. The network of claim 6 wherein the information is a communication packet that is communicated to the appliance.

11. The network of claim 10 wherein some of the information is on the consumable.

12. The network of claim 6 wherein some of the information is on the consumable.

13. An assembly comprising:

a recipe book containing recipes or meal plans for use in preparing consumables for consumption in an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to the consumable and to receive messages; and

a recipe wand configured for communication to the appliance in at least one message and to read the recipes or meal plans form the recipe book.

14. A method of providing an operation cycle for an appliance comprising:

providing a recipe book with commands to form an operation cycle for an appliance;

providing a recipe wand having a reader to read the commands from the recipe book, and means to communicate with the appliance; and

using the receipt wand to retrieve a set of commands from the recipe book; and

using the recipe wand to send the set of commands to the appliance,

whereby to configure the appliance to perform the operation cycle.

15. A recipe book for use with an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumable and to receive messages, the recipe book comprising encoded information associated the consumable and configured o communicate the encoded information to the appliance by way of a recipe wand for use by the appliance to perform an operation cycle on the consumable.

16. The recipe book according to claim 15 wherein the information is a communication packet.

17. The recipe book according to claim 15 wherein the information comprises operating cycle data directly usable by the appliance.