Home appliance and online system including the same

• US 9,951,451 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• 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): Lo, Kenneth M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huntley, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US14/018,090
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067131A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,693 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, is remotely controlled by an external terminal through the server, and 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, a course selection unit to select a course among a plurality of courses, and an option selection unit to select at least one optional function added to or modified from the selected course, and

the home appliance to set the remote service activation only when the home appliance is communication connected to the server, wherein remote service activation is set only by the remote service activation input unit and remote service activation is not set by the external terminal, wherein in response to the setting of the remote service activation at the control unit, deactivating the course selection unit and the option selecting unit such that input through the course selection unit and the option selecting unit is not possible,

wherein a change of the course selected by the course selection unit or the option selected by the option selecting unit is enabled only via the external terminal when the remote service activation is set via the remote service activation input unit.

2. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control panel includes a start button and a display unit to display state information of the home appliance.

3. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control panel includes a power button and, in a case in which the remote service activation is set, the remote service activation is canceled only by any one selected from between user input of the power button and user cancelation through the remote service activation input unit at the home appliance manually.

4. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein, in a case in which the remote service activation is set, door locking is performed until the remote service activation is canceled.

5. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control panel includes a door locking unit and, in a case in which the remote service activation is set, the door locking unit is deactivated.

6. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein, in a case in which the remote service activation is set, the remote service activation is canceled by power off of the home appliance due to completion of operation of the home appliance through the remote control or power off of the home appliance through the remote control.

7. 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.

8. The home appliance according to claim 7, 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 option selection unit.

9. 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.

10. 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).

11. The home appliance according to claim 10, wherein the display unit is provided to display a wireless communication connection state and a remote service activation state.

12. The home appliance according to claim 11, wherein the remote service activation is set only in the wireless communication connection state.

13. The home appliance according to claim 10, 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 is performed, 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 through the external terminal such that the setup mode is switched to the use mode.

15. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein the remote control is performed by the home appliance receiving a course input command, an option input command, an operation start command, an operation pause command, and a power off command through the server.

16. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein a wrinkle prevention function for driving a drum after a course of the home appliance is ended to prevent wrinkles from being formed in laundry is selected only through the remote control.

17. The home appliance according to claim 1, wherein when the course selection unit or the option selection unit is selected while deactivated, a warning sound is generated to inform of a deactivated state.

18. A control method of a laundry machine configured to communicate with a server and comprising a control panel having a display unit, the control method comprising:

displaying that the laundry machine is being communication connected to the server on the display unit;

when remote service activation is only set through a remote service activation input unit provided at the control panel during communication connection between the laundry machine and the server, displaying a state in which the remote service activation is set on the display unit;

receiving a remote control command from the server and displaying start of operation of the laundry machine on the display unit; and

displaying an operation state of the laundry machine on the display unit when a predetermined time elapses after the start of operation of the laundry machine is displayed,

wherein the control panel includes a course selection unit to select a course among a plurality of courses and an option selection unit to select at least one optional function added to or modified from the selected course, and

wherein remote service activation is set only by the remote service activation input unit and remote service activation is not set by the external terminal, wherein in response to the setting of the remote service activation at the control panel, deactivating the course selection unit and the option selecting unit such that input through the course selection unit and the option selecting unit is not possible,

wherein a change of the course selected by the course selection unit or the option selected by the option selecting unit is enabled only via the external terminal when the remote service activation is set via the remote service activation input unit.

19. The control method according to claim 18, wherein the displaying the state in which the remote service activation is set comprises:

continuously displaying an icon indicating the state in which the remote service activation is set on the display unit until the remote service activation is canceled; and

displaying information indicating the state in which the remote service activation is set on the display unit together with the icon until the laundry machine receives a remote control command from the server.

20. The control method according to claim 19, wherein the icon is displayed on the display unit at the displaying of the start of operation of the laundry machine and the displaying of the operation state of the laundry machine.

21. The control method according to claim 19, wherein the remote service activation of the laundry machine is canceled and the icon is not displayed by any one selected from between user cancelation through the remote service activation input unit and power off of the laundry machine performed by the user.

22. The control method according to claim 18, wherein, upon receiving a remote control command from the server in the state in which the remote service activation is set, the laundry machine transmits state information of the laundry machine to the server.

23. The control method according to claim 22, wherein the state information comprises at least one selected from among a state in which remote control is ready, a state in which the laundry machine is being operated, a state in which operation of the laundry machine is paused, and a scheduled operation state.

24. The control method according to claim 22, wherein the state information comprises error information of the laundry machine during operation of the laundry machine.

25. The control method according to claim 18, further comprising displaying a remote service activation setting or cancelation menu on the display unit according to input through the remote service activation input unit.

26. The control method according to claim 25, further comprising displaying how to select and input one item from the remote service activation setting or cancelation menu on the display unit.

27. The control method according to claim 18, wherein when the course selection unit or the option selection unit is selected while deactivated, a warning sound is generated to inform of a deactivated state.

28. An online system comprising:

a server to provide remote control;

a user site to perform registration of a user based on input of user information and to transmit the user information to the server such that the user is registered with the server;

a home appliance, having a unique device identification (ID), to transmit the user information registered with the user site and the device ID to the user site or 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 wireless communication connection with an AP, the home appliance being remotely controlled through the server when remote service activation is set through a remote service activation input unit provided to the home appliance only during communication connection between the home appliance and the server; and

an external terminal 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 includes a main function selection unit and an option selection unit to select at least one optional function added to or modified from the selected main function, and

wherein remote service activation is set only by the remote service activation input unit and remote service activation is not set by the external terminal, wherein in response to the setting of the remote service activation at the home appliance, deactivating the option selecting unit such that input through the option selecting unit is not possible,

wherein a change of the course selected by the course selection unit or the option selected by the option selecting unit is enabled only via the external terminal when the remote service activation is set via the remote service activation input unit.

29. The online system according to claim 28, wherein, in a case in which the remote service activation of the home appliance is set, the server transmits variable operation information of the home appliance to the external terminal and the external terminal transmits a command signal to the server such that the home appliance is operated based on the received variable operation information.

30. The online system according to claim 28, wherein when the option selection unit is selected while deactivated, a warning sound is generated to inform of a deactivated state.