BRPI0904679A2 - consumable information holder for use with an article in a home appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

SUPPORTING CONSUMER ITEM SUPPORT FOR USE WITH AN ITEM ON A HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE. The present invention relates to a user interface that has software configured to communicate with an appliance adapted to perform a physical cycle of operation in relation to an item and to communicate with a consumer item information medium. The software is additionally configured to make the graphical user interface communicate to a user the information that is at least partially derived from the consumable information support. The information includes at least one step to activate a user interface component, prepare the appliance for the operation cycle, manipulate the appliance during the operation cycle, handle the appliance after the operation cycle, prepare the article for the operation cycle operation, manipulate the article during an operation cycle, or manipulate an article after the operation cycle.

Description

Report of the Invention Patent for "SUPPORTING CONSUMPTION INFORMATION FOR USE WITH AN ARTICLE IN AN APPLIANCE".

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices holding consumer articles used or operated by a communicative appliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, a user interface has software configured to communicate with a home appliance adapted to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article and to communicate with a consumer article information carrier. The software is additionally configured to cause the graphical user interface to communicate to a user information that is at least partially derived from the consumable information carrier. The information includes at least one step to activate a user interface component, prepare the appliance for the duty cycle, handle the appliance during the duty cycle, manipulate the appliance after the operating cycle, prepare the article for the duty cycle. operation, manipulate the article during an operation cycle, or manipulate an article after the operation cycle.

Preferably the information includes a set of ordered steps. In addition, at least one step in the set includes activating a user interface component or obtaining information about the appliance's operating cycle set. Preparing the article may include introducing the article into the appliance's environment of use. Handling the article may include removal of the article from the appliance use environment and introduction into an appliance use environment. Handling the article after the operation cycle may include using the article later at the same time as the appliance use environment. Preferably, the user interface is graphical.

In another aspect of the invention, a consumer information information carrier is provided for use with an article in a household appliance configured to perform an article related operation cycle. Consumable information support includes information containing instructions for a user relating to operation cycle preparation, handling during the operation cycle, and handling after the operation cycle. The information is adapted to be perceived by a consumer article reader enabled to exchange data with a user interface. This way, when a consumer article reader gets the information from the consumer article information carrier and the user interface displays relevant data from the consumer article reader, a user can use the information from the inter- -User face in preparation, handling during, and handling after the operation cycle. Preferably information includes at least two steps.

In a further aspect of the invention, a home appliance has software configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article and to communicate with a consumer article information carrier. The software is additionally configured to cause the appliance to communicate to a user information at least partially derived from the consumer article information carrier. The information includes at least one step to activate a user interface component, prepare the appliance for the operation cycle, manipulate the appliance during the operation cycle, manipulate the appliance after the operation cycle, prepare the appliance. article to the duty cycle, manipulate the article during an duty cycle, or manipulate an article after the duty cycle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a home appliance coupled with and comprising a consumer article holder according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of a consumer article holder according to the invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a component of the operation cycle for use with a communicative appliance.

Figure 4 is a schematic view of a home appliance controller with a loop architecture.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the communications controlling the operation of an appliance.

Figure 6 is a schematic view of a consumable article and a consumable reader according to one embodiment of the invention for use with a communicative appliance.

Figure 7 is a schematic view of a remote user interface according to one embodiment of the invention for common communicative household use.

Figure 8 is a schematic view of a household appliance network and customers connected to various networks by couplers.

Figure 9 is a schematic view of a resource information source connected to an appliance via two copiers.

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the transfer of an operating cycle accessory between two appliances.

Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the consumer article reader with an appliance that is affected by the information associated with a consumer article.

Figure 12 illustrates synchronous data collection by linking messages in a command group.

Fig. 13 illustrates a technique of Fig. 11 for linking event messages.

Figure 14 illustrates message exchange between a consumer article holder and an appliance according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 15 illustrates the exchange of messages between a consumer article holder and an appliance according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 16 illustrates the message exchange between a consumer article holder and an appliance according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 17 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerating appliance with a water filter cartridge system embodying the principles of the present invention.

Figure 18 is a perspective view of the water filter cartridge system of Figure 16 shown in isolation.

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of components of the water filter cartridge system of Fig. 17, with a cartridge being lightly withdrawn from a housing.

Figure 20 is a flowchart illustrating an illustrative process of replacing the water filter cartridge according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram of an example of creating a cycle structure for a household appliance by means of a consumable holder in accordance with the invention.

Figure 22 is a flow chart illustrating the steps implementing a script according to the invention.

Figure 23 schematically illustrates a taxonomy control using a taxonomy data set in combination with the software architecture to control the operation of one or more components within the appliance without direct knowledge of component functions.

Fig. 24 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a taxonomy architecture according to the invention.

Fig. 25 schematically illustrates a second embodiment of a taxonomy architecture according to the invention.

Figure 26 is a modified version of the software architecture from Figure 23 for another operating environment.

Figure 26A is a detailed part of the taxonomist mechanism Figure 26.

Fig. 27 schematically illustrates a method using the taxonomy architecture according to the invention.

Figure 28 illustrates an illustrative data structure used in the taxonomy architecture of the invention.

Fig. 29 illustrates a second illustrative data structure used in the taxonomy architecture of the invention.

Figure 30 is a schematic illustration of a pair of software operating environments, each corresponding to a component different from its own SA1 and connected by the internal communication network.

Figure 31 is a schematic view of a home appliance network and customers connected to various networks by couplers.

Figure 32 is a schematic view of a process for creating master structures of an embedded virtual router.

Figure 33 is a schematic view of various hardware components that are communicatively connected using chaining.

Figure 34 is a schematic view of the relationship between structural components within a home appliance control system.

Fig. 35 illustrates an appliance with a consumer article holder that can be removably coupled in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 35A illustrates a home appliance with a consumable article holder that can be removably coupled in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 36 is a schematic view of a removably coupled consumer article carrier in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 36A is a schematic view of a removably coupled consumer article holder according to another embodiment of the invention. Figures 37A and 37B illustrate an example of a configuration of a removably coupled consumer article holder with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 38 illustrates an example of a configuration of a removably coupled consumer article carrier in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Appliances & Consumables

Looking first at Figure 1, one embodiment of the invention comprises a home appliance 12 having a process control apparatus 14 and a consumable holder 16. The home appliance 12 is configured to perform an operation on the physical article such as clothing or using a resource such as water, temperature controlled air, (hot or cold) steam, gas, electricity, and the like. Process control apparatus 14 is configured to implement and control a cycle comprising at least one operation. Process control apparatus 14 may comprise one or more components, such as electronic control boards, wiring and electrical wiring, power supplies, sensors integrated with electronic components such as digital or analog inputs, and actuators such as valves, relays, heaters, and the like, any or all of which may integrate with electronic components, such as digital or analog outputs. Examples of home appliances 12 performing an operation with respect to a physical artisan include a wide range of device types, including but not limited to washers, dryers, ovens, stoves, steam ovens, defrosters, refrigerators, beverage machines and the like. . Articles are the objects for which a user wants the appliance to perform its operation cycle. Typical examples, as mentioned above, would include food and clothing.

Consumable holder 16 is configured to maintain, load, deliver, communicate, or otherwise interact directly with a consumable 24. When performing an operation cycle with respect to an item, the appliance 12 will often use at least a consumer article 24. A consumer article 24 in one direction comprises a substance, device, or other product that would be at least partially consumed or transformed by a household appliance during an operating cycle with respect to an article, so that the consumer article must be periodically replaced or replenished. The period after which the consumable must be replaced or replenished may be, but is not limited to, a single operating cycle, several operating cycles, a length of time, or a number of uses. For example, several common washing machines require a user to put a single dose of detergent in a dispenser before starting the operating cycle. For each subsequent operating cycle, the user should again place a single dose in the dispenser as a single dose of detergent is consumed by the washer during each operating cycle.

In some cases, the consumable article may be the related article to which the appliance 12 performs the operation cycle, and the consumable article may subsequently be consumed by a user. Thus, a consumer article 24 may also include anything that would be consumed or otherwise used by a person, such as food, beverages, cosmetics, or medicines. For example, in a decozing or refrigerating appliance, the consumable may be a food item, and the operating cycle comprises heating or cooling the food.

Consumables are to be distinguished from resources, although resources may in some cases be "consumed" during an operating cycle. Resources are fluid or gaseous goods that are continually available to a household appliance, and used by the household appliance in its operation cycles with respect to articles.

Typical examples as mentioned above would include water and air. In some cases, a feature may also be considered an article as a freezer that dispenses water. Water in this case is a feature (continuously available for the refrigerator), but also an article (which the user intends for the refrigerator to act on). Operation cycles would include freezing and dispensing. Things that maintain or provide resources, such as water supply lines or air ducts, are not considered consumable holders. 16 They would be "resource carriers" which can be provided by the providers of -courses. For example, in a refrigerator, water supplied to household electrode 12 would be considered a resource and / or article. If flavoring is mixed with the water supplied to the appliance 12, the flavoring may be considered a consumable 24, and whatever supports / supplies the flavoring may be the consumable holder 16.

Consumables are also to be distinguished from parts in a household appliance, although parts wear out and need to be replaced or replenished, as with consumer goods. Parts are devices, without which an operation cycle by the appliance or a major function of the appliance would be prevented. Examples include valves, actuators, switches, tubes, lamps, wiring, motors, pumps, seals, gears, and the like. Consumer articles, on the other hand, are not critical to household appliance operation, although they provide considerable benefits for an appliance user. An appliance can typically still operate on an article in some way without a consumer article.

Other examples further illustrate the above distinctions. Consider using an oven to cook a turkey in a baking pan, where there is a steam dispenser with a fat drip cartridge to automatically drip fat. Turkey is an article in which the appliance (oven) performs its operating cycle (cooking). But turkey is also a consumer article in the sense that it is a food item to be consumed by the user. The greasing cartridge would be a consumable item holder and its contents a consumable item. Water used to generate steam is a resource, making vapor an altered resource. The roasting pan would be a second consumer article holder, keeping the turkey. According to the invention, the appliance or roasting pan or some other device (such as a performance marker described below) can also keep information about the pe-ru or how to cook a turkey or how to cook a turkey in different types of ovens. Such information would be considered information on a consumer article and information on a cycle structure.

Also consider a powder detergent box with a performance marker configured to communicate with a household electrode simultaneously with detergent dispensing to a washer.

The washer is the appliance, the detergent is a consumable, and the washer is a consumable holder, the performance marker can keep information about the chemical elements of the powder, information about the cycle structures, and data about the cycle structures. , where the information and data are associated with other information including household appliance types, fabric types, stain types, and the like, so that the data and information can be used alone or combined with other information to create an operating cycle. in response to data and information, and in response to the user and preferences about the operating cycle, data, information, and other information.

Also consider a detergent pellet with a caustic or embossed or printed cycle structure capable of communicating with an appliance simultaneously with being introduced into a washing machine before or during a washing cycle. Here, the washing machine is an appliance and the detergent pellet is a consumer item. There is no separate consumable support. The cycle structure is intended to perform the operation (wash) cycle. Also consider a detergent pellet having the data capsule. The detergent pellet is a consumable article, but the data capsule is a form of performance marker that could communicate with a household electrode while being introduced into the environment of use for the purpose of performing the duty cycle.

According to the invention, a consumable article or consumable carrier or a performance marker or fingerprint capsule or anything that can hold and carry information (consume consumable information) may comprise a or more cycle structures. A first cycle structure may be associated with a first appliance or with a first type of appliance or a second cycle structure may be associated with a second appliance or with a second type of appliance, so that appropriate cycle structures are introduced to the appropriate appliance or for the appropriate appliance type, when the consumer article or the consumable holder is in useful communication with the appliances. For example, a frozen food (a consumer article) or a frozen food package (a consumer article holder) may have cycle instructions for freezing, thawing, or preserving cycles in a refrigerator or freezer appliance, and may also Have cycle instructions for defrosting, cooking, or heating cycles for a cooking appliance, similar to a microwave or oven.

A consumer item information carrier may comprise one or more user interface data sets, with or without loop structures, which may be communicated to a god interface as it may be on the appliance. God interface data is considered to include anything that can be produced in response to the user's senses, such as visual displays, audible sounds, and tactile displays. A first user interface data set can be associated with a first appliance or a first type of appliance, and a second user interface data set can be associated with a second appliance or with a second type of appliance, so that appropriate user interface data is transported to a user interface associated with the appropriate appliance or the appropriate appliance type, when the consumable or consumable holder is in useful communication with the appliances. For example, a frozen food (a consumable article) or a frozen food package (a consumable article holder) may carry an expiration date to be presented to a refrigerator interface on a refrigerator. Frozen food or its packaging may also carry suggestions for presentation to an oven user interface for an oven portion.

Consumables, consumable media, performance markers, data capsules, and the like (consumable information media) can be enabled not only to provide data, but can also be configured to receive information associated with the product. consumer article according to the invention. Illustrative information includes data on a consumer article, a cycle structure, data on a cycle structure, tracking the number of times a skirt or plate has been washed, the number of cycles and the same parameters that were performed by the appliance. In combination with an appliance and consumable holder, the types of consumables introduced into the environment of use, information entered into a appliance user interface including cycle selections, usage patterns, user information, identifies information, other data associated with the appliance's operating cycle, and any data held by a data source in communication with the holder, marker or capsule, which the data source records with the holder, marker or capsule , or any data that the carrier, marker, and capsule read from a data source. Such information may be sequential. added to a database in the consumable information carrier for later retrieval. For example, a skirt with a performance marker can keep data on how many times it was washed, the different wash cycles it went through, and the specific machines it was washed on.

More specific examples of consumer goods 24 with home appliances 12 include dispensing additives for washer-dryers, washers, or washer-dryer combinations. Additives may include, but are not limited to, normal detergents, mild detergents, dark laundry detergents, cold water detergents, fabric softeners, chlorine bleaches, color retaining bleaches, and chemical elements of fabric improvement. Non-limiting examples of tissue enhancers are added to provide stain resistance, fold resistance, water repellency, insect repellency, color fixators, fragrances, and antimicrobials.

An additive dispenser in this case would be a consumer article holder 16 and may be a single charge dispenser that dispenses all the additive contained therein during a single cycle or a bulk dispenser that dispenses only some additive contained therein during a single cycle. a single cycle. An appliance comprising a bulk dispenser can measure and dispense the correct amount of additive for each particular charge and provide information to the user regarding the amount of additive remaining in the bulk dispenser after dispensing.

Because each additive may have different parameters associated with its use, information on each consumable may be provided with each consumable 24. This information may be provided on the packaging of consumable 24 (consumer article holder), in consumable item 24, or any other appropriate device (performance marker, data capsule, user interface, etc.). For example, different additives may have different additives may have different concentrations, and the amount of a given additive required for a particular filler will vary depending on the concentration of this additive. The amount of a particular additive required to complete an operation cycle will also depend on the amount and type of laundry being treated, as well as the condition of the laundry to be washed (eg stain and dirt level). The amount, type, and condition of the laundry can be determined using information provided by the user, information collected by sensors associated with the appliance, or information otherwise obtained during operation of the appliance 12.

Additional information provided with the consumable item can also be used to configure the duty cycle for this consumable article 24. In a dirty laundry application, the additive must be dispensed at the right time during the cycle as before. , during or after washing, rinsing, spinning or drying. Particular additives may also require them to be dispensed under certain conditions, such as at a given water temperature or air temperature. In addition, particular additives may require at least one additional step in a cycle for optimal performance. For example, the presence of a particular additive may require that the cycle structure be increased by inserting an additional ordered collection of steps, such as filling at new temperatures to a new level after rotation, then rinsing over a period of time, then drainage, then rotation during a new amount of time at a new rotation speed between the original stage in the cycle and the last stage in the cycle.

Appliance process control apparatus 14 or consumable holder 16 may determine parameters to be used for the duty cycle or the appropriate duty cycle structure or changes to an existing duty cycle for different operations. -actions based on the information provided by the consumer article 24, user input, and information obtained from the sensors associated with the appliance 12. Illustrative types and sources of information are found in the following table <table> table see original document page 15 </ column> </row> <table> Another example of consumables contemplated by the invention includes filters used by a household appliance 12. Refrigerators, dryers, washers, and dishwashers are all known to use filters that are consumed in the sense that they are consumed. They should be replaced after a certain amount of time or use due to wear and dirt on the filter. Filters, in particular, depending on the embodiment, may be constructed as a consumer article, as a consumer article holder, or as both. For example, if there is a filter assembly having a filter material, then the filter assembly may be considered a consumable holder and the filter material may be considered a consumable because it is disposed after its use capacity is disposed of. consumed; Its service life and the life of the consumer article holder are significantly different. On the other hand, the filter assembly and filter material may be formed integrally and introduced and removed from the environment of use as a unit. In this case, the assembly and filter material would both be considered a consumer article holder and consumer article holder because the assembly and filter material comprise functionality and attributes of both the consumer article as the consumer article holder.

Consumables may also include food as mentioned above and articles of clothing. Such consumables may or may not be contained in a consumable holder. However, consumable items that are not contained may still have a consumable support feature because they can understand information about the consumable item that can be retrieved by the appliance. For example, a food item may contain information about itself, which is contained in edible ink printing on the surface of the food item.

The appliance 12, the consumable holder 16, or both, comprise at least one interface 18 for coupling the household appliance and the consumable holder with one another. Interface 18 may be either an internal or external interface and may be configured to receive, connect to the consumable holder, or otherwise copy the consumable holder 16 to the appliance 12. One or more Interfaces 20 may couple the appliance 12 and / or the consumer article holder 16 with an external source or device, such as a power source, a consumable source, and / or a consumer article reader. Any of interfaces 18, 20 may comprise any number of coupling points, such as coupling points 18A to 18F and 20A to 20C for various purposes. The coupling points on an interface 18, 20 can be configured for common coupling consumable holder 16, with a household appliance 12, with a component that can facilitate engagement or interaction with a consumable holder 16, or with any other source or device to be used with the appliance 12 and / or the consumable holder 16. For example, a coupling point 20C may be configured for connection to a consumable reader 22. Alternatively, consumable sucker 22 may be incorporated into appliance 12, and a sensor may be attached to appliance 12 and / or with the consumer article reader 22 via a coupling point 20C. Additionally, a coupling point 20A may couple the consumer article holder 16 with a bulk source 26 of a consumable article 24, such as a large detergent bottle. A coupling point 20B can also couple an external power source 23 with the appliance 12 or the consumable holder 16.

Preferably, the home appliance 12 and the process control apparatus 14 include software architecture 1018 allowing the home appliance to discover a consumable holder 16 using network messages. For this purpose, process control apparatus 14 may comprise at least one functional identifier and may send or receive messages to discover functionalities, as discussed later. Similarly, consumer article carrier 16 may also comprise an instance of software architecture 1018 and / or an SA 1016 driver, which will be discussed in more detail hereinafter with respect to Figure 8.

Consumer Article Support

Consumer file holder 16 comprises a device that holds or contains a consumer article 24. Typically, consumer article 24 is contained within a receptacle of some kind, such as a container, a dispenser, a cartridge, a plate, a pouch , a cardboard box, and the like. In some cases, the consumer article carriers 16 may be nested within other consumer article carriers 16. For example, a cartridge holding a consumable article may be disposed in a dispenser which is another consumer carrier. consumer article 16.

In some cases, items in which the appliance operates - such as clothing, plates, and food - may not be contained in receptacles and may not be consumables or consumer article holders in the sense defined herein, but instead may be allowed to perform at least some of the features of the invention of a consumable article 24 and / or consumable article holder16. An example of an article with consumer article holder capabilities 16 is a skirt having a barcode therein containing information that is directly readable by a home appliance 12. The barcode may be, for example, a performance marker. The home appliance 12 may use the data and / or information represented by the barcode for use in configuring and selecting the home operation cycle. The barcode can be read by the appliance 12 while the skirt is being operated simultaneously with the duty cycle.

A performance marker is an information carrier formed entirely or selectively connected to an article and adapted to maintain its integrity throughout the life of the article. For example, a clothing performance marker would be adapted to maintain its integrity through all repeated washing processes in a washing machine appliance, drying in a dryer, being cleaned in a dry washer, ironing, and being left in the washing machine. sun and subject to the impacts sustained during use. Examples of impacts during the use of a jersey may occur during a football match, where the shirt collides with the ground and other players at speeds and forces repeatedly. Similarly, performance markers for dishes would be subject to similar impacts, and similar wash and dry cycles from a dishwasher. Performance markers formed integrally with the fabric items may be stitched, glued, interlaced, stamped, or printed during the manufacture of the powder article by a domestic machine adapted to integrate the article and the marker. Performance markers formed integral with the dishware may be glued, stamped, printed, embossed, cast, molded, or otherwise formed during article manufacture or by a domestic machine adapted to integrate the article and the marker. Performance markers that are selectively connected with an article could be connected by stitching, gluing, pin-fitting, adhesion, printing, embossing, or other methods in the home environment for articles not specifically adapted to receive a performance marker. . Performance markers are constructed of any suitable material that can be used to maintain coded information about a cycle structure, a cycle structure, or information about a consumable article, the description of which is contained in this document. Examples of materials for maintaining information include magnetic strips, barcodes, and encoded data images including color standards, format patterns, plain text, numeric identifiers, and the like. An appliance having a cycle architecture and communicating with a performance marker (for example, by using a consumer article reader) can optimize the operation cycle of the appliance for the article in response to the decycle structure, data on a structure of cycle, and / or data on a consumption item maintained by the performance marker. Performance bookmarks can keep information or keep other information on how to find the information. An example of a performance marker that holds other information is a performance marker holding a URL where the data returned when invoking the URL is information. Additionally, the appliance may additionally alter or optimize the user experience by providing information on a user interface in response to the cycle structure, data on a cycle structure, and / or data on a consumer article.

A consumable holder 16 may be integral with the appliance 12, for example, installed during manufacture and disposed of with the appliance, or it may be manufactured and sold separately as an enhancement or addition. It can be disposed in or out on the appliance. Interface 18 may comprise at least one coupling point for coupling the consumable holder 16 to the appliance 12, and interface 20 may comprise at least one coupling point for coupling the appliance 12 with an external device or feature, or coupling Common feature consumable support 16 or external device. A coupling may be a physical coupling or a coupling may be an electrical coupling or wire-less coupling. For example, a coupling 20 may comprise a digitizer and an image to be scanned, such as a barcode. Any coupling point at interface 18 may be configured such that the consumable holder 16 may be selectively or permanently coupled. 12. The coupling points can also be used to couple electronic components in a consumable holder with a device such as a sensor or actuator, or to couple electronic components in a home appliance with a device. such as a sensor or actuator. In certain embodiments, the electronics in a consumer article holder may directly couple the appliance with a full device such as a sensor or actuator using a coupling point.

Referring now also to FIG. 2, the consumer article holder 16 may be in the appliance as in FIG. 1, or separately from the appliance as contemplated in FIG. 2. In any case, the consumable holder 16 may be connected with the appliance12 through at least one interface 18 comprising various coupling points 18A through 18F. Interface 18 is configured to communicatively coupling the consumable holder 16 with the appliance's 12-speed control apparatus 14. Each coupling point may allow a different function. For example, a recoil coupling point 18A may facilitate transmission of the resource to a consumable article holder 16, a reciprocating coupling point 18B may facilitate the transmission of the resource back to the appliance 12, a coupling point. 18C data copying can facilitate data exchange between the appliance 12 and a consumable holder 16, a consumable coupling point 18D can facilitate the transmission of a consumable article 24 to the appliance 12, and a circuit coupling point 18E may couple a circuit with a consumable holder 16 to activate an actuator on the consumable holder 16 or household electrode 12. The transmission of the feature and the consumable between the supporting you with consumable item 16 and the appliance 12 will usually require physical coupling. The data exchange and circuit coupling may require electrical connections, wired connections, or optical coupling points. In another embodiment, the coupling point 18E may facilitate the transmission of an altered feature from the consumable article holder 16 to the appliance 12. An altered feature may be whose properties have been altered by a chemical, thermal, electrical or other process. another kind of process. For example, an altered resource may be heated, cleaned, cooled, mixed with a consumable item, or generally treated in such a way that it has at least one property of a different value.

Interface 18 may also include an energy coupling point 18F. The coupling point 18F may distribute power to a consumable holder 16 or it may distribute power to the process control apparatus 14. The coupling point 18F may comprise a power connection adapted to transmit power to a support 16. The power can be a conventional AC at 110 V1 or a DC at 12 V or less, such as power that is transmitted through a USB connection. In some cases, the data coupling point 18C or the circuit coupling point 18E may also function as a power source.

Continuing with Figure 2, the consumer article holder 16 has an internal source 26 'and / or an external source 26 "of a consumer article 24, such as a reservoir, bottle, conduit, dispenser or bulk dispenser. cartridge, other appliance, other consumable holder, or a connection to a dispenser Consumer article holder 16 may also have its own holder 28 process control apparatus for controlling the dispensing or transmission of a consumer article 24 to from source 26, 26 ', or 26 ".

As discussed earlier, the consumable holder 16 comprises feature coupling points 18A, 18B (which may be incorporated into a single coupling point) configured to exchange a feature with appliance 12. Appliance 12 is configured to use the attachment item. 24 and the ability to perform a physical operation on an article. The consumer article holder 16 may additionally comprise electronic components 30 configured for communication with the home process control apparatus 14. Electronic components 30 may affect a recursion by communicating with the process control apparatus 14 when the consumable holder 16 is coupled to the home appliance 12. The electronics 30 can be configured to provide a home appliance operating cycle 12. Alternatively, the electronics 30 can be communicated with 1018 software architecture for the purpose of observing the duty cycle and modifying the duty cycle. Electronic components 30 may observe the duty cycle using any data collection scheme (as described in the incorporated W02006135726) supported by software architecture 1018. These data collection schemes include, but are not limited to requesting data from software architecture 34, receive unsolicited events from duty cycle 1018, or create new events that can be received by communicating with a software architecture having a DAQ (as described in embedded W02006135726) and specify the events for the DAQ for creation by DAQ.

In addition, electronic components 30 may alter the duty cycle in response to observations. In a first embodiment, the electronic components 30 may alter the duty cycle by requiring an alternate mode of operation allowing the electronics 30 to directly control, partially or as a whole, the duty cycle. In a second embodiment, the electronic components may change the duty cycle by making specific requests to the software architect 1018. In a third embodiment, the electronic components may selectively alter cycle structure 71 using any of the following. described in this document (see the descriptions of figure 5 and figure 11). Electronic components 30 may include a controller 32 and software architecture 1018 similar to that of home appliance 12 and / or a software architecture controller 1016. Electronic components 30 may be powered by the consumer article holder 16 or by connecting to the appliance 12. The electronic components 30 may additionally comprise a client 40. The customer 40 may comprise various arbitrary software components, the 1016 software architecture controller, an instance of the 1018 software architecture, a converter as presented in Figure 21, and any other software and data storage and access functionality.

Consumable holder 16 may also have a consumable reader 36, similar to the aforementioned consumable reader 22 coupled with the consumable holder 16 by the outer coupling point 20C. In this case, the consumer article reader 36 is communicatively coupled with the controller 32 and the software architecture 1018. This allows information about the consumer article 24 and / or the consumer article holder 16 to be validated from a source. information is transferred to the controller memory 32 or to the memory of at least one control board within the process control apparatus 14, where the preference transfer is performed using software architecture 1018.

Consumable holder 16 may additionally comprise at least one coupling point 20D configured to mate with at least one other coupling point corresponding to the resource / consumable transmission. Thus, the coupling points may exchange or carry a resource, data and / or a consumer article 24 to an appliance 12 or to another external device. A coupling point may be connected to a consumer article information source 24 and / or a consumer article reader 22, 36e and / or a separate appliance feature 12.

Consumable holder 16 may have at least one sensor 38 for perceiving one or more attributes of a consumable 24 and / or its source 26. Attributes may include such things as quantity, brand, type, composition, structural shape, date expiration time, dispensing properties, nutritional information, temperature, pressure, and concentration. To store and inventory such data, the consumable holder 16 may use the controller 32. Such information or data may also be transported and / or present on a data interface. user in the holder of consumable item 16 or in the appliance 12.

The consumer control bracket 16 holder 28 process control apparatus may be configured to detect appliance 12 functionalities, modify appliance 12 functionalities, be controlled by appliance 12, or otherwise exchange data with the appliance process control apparatus 14 of the appliance12. The process control apparatus of the holder 28 may be used to actuate the transmission, dispensing, delivery, or use of at least one consumable item 24 by acting on a mechanical part, such as a valve, conduit, solenoid, sensor. , actuator, spring, transmission, motor or gear. Additionally, the process control apparatus of the holder 28 may be configured to modify properties of one or more consumables or resources, such as temperature or a chemical property. For example, the temperature could be raised by the actuation of a heater, and Chemical properties may be altered by controlling a mixture of at least two consumables and / or resources by using an engine and a auger. Additional ancillary features not directly related to the actuation of consumer goods 24 may be permitted by the holder process control apparatus 28. The holder process control apparatus 28 may optionally include a mechanism for affecting the use of a feature, such as an actuator for a valve.

Consumable holder 16 may receive resources from appliance 12, act upon features, and return modified features to the appliance. For example, in a dishwasher or washer, the consumable holder 16 may receive water from the appliance 12 and return this water to the appliance 12 as waste water or as water mixed with detergent. In this case, the detergent would be a consumable 24. Consumer article holder 16 can thus export modified consumable items 24 which were operated by consumable holder 16 or which were operated by the introduction of at least one feature. The consumer article holder 16 may also dispense the consumer article 24 directly to the home appliance 12.

Customer 40 in the electronics 30 may contain a data set linking the appliance model 12 or some other functional identifier, such as a class id, or an API ID, type and / or version of the various consumables 24 that the article holder of consumption may contain. The dataset can additionally link cycle modification or cycle operation data or cycle structure data or data in response to a query message with various combinations of appliances 12, consumables 24 and selected cycles. .The data set may alternatively be in the appliance 12. Data in the data set may be modified by a network message sent by a node on the network, such as the consumable carrier 16, the consumable 24, or the data reader. consumer article 22, 36.

Software Architecture

The 1018 software architecture enables consumer article support 16 to discover one or more of the appliance's features 12 via messaging. Software architecture 1018 may also enable consumer article holder 16 to respond to discovery messages so that the appliance can discover one or more features of consumer article holder 16 or at least one feature of a consumer article 24. A Software architecture 1018 may be located on controller 32, physically connected within electronic components 30, located on a client 40, or accessed separately. Process control apparatus 28 may have at least a functional identifier known to controller 32 and / or software architecture 1018, allowing software architecture 1018 to respond to discovery messages with a response containing data on the process control apparatus of the consumer article holder28. Generally, a consumer article carrier with a controller 32 and software architecture 1018 may initiate or respond to various discovery messages to find or describe information for a node on a network about a component associated with it or with it. -dresser.

By employing a 1018 software architecture that allows simple communication between the internal components of an appliance and between an external component and one or more internal components of the appliance, various components and accessories, including a consumer article holder according to the invention, may communicate with the appliance to expand the appliance's capacity, functionality and capacity to use, or otherwise operate in relation to a consumable product. The appliance may be any suitable appliance such as an appliance. Examples of household appliances include, but are not limited to, washing machines, tumble dryers, ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, microwave ovens, trash compactors, and countertop appliances such as waffle makers, blenders, mixers, food processors, coffee makers, air fresheners and dehumidifiers, water heaters, water softeners, blenders and the like.

The appliance may be configured to perform an operation cycle to complete a physical household operation in respect of an article. Examples of physical household operations include a food preparation operation, a food preservation operation, a fluid treatment operation, a cleaning operation, a personal care operation, a tissue treatment operation, an operation. air treatment, and a surface treatment operation. The air treatment operation may comprise, for example, air purification, air humidification / air heating and air cooling. The food preparation operation may comprise, for example, food cleaning, food cutting, food mixing, food heating, food peeling and food cooling. The food preservation operation may comprise, for example, food cooling, freezing food and storing food in a specialized atmosphere. The fluid treatment operation may comprise, for example, fluid heating, fluid boiling, fluid cooling, fluid freezing, fluid mixing, fluid beating, fluid dispensing, fluid filtration and fluid separation. . The cleaning operation may comprise, for example, dishwashing, fabric washing, fabric treatment, fabric drying, floor cleaning, floor treatment, floor drying, carpet cleaning, surface treatment. carpet and carpet drying. The personal care operation may include, for example, hair care, deunha treatment, body massage, teeth cleaning, body cleaning and shaving. Internal components of appliances may include any component that participates in the operation of the appliance. Some of the internal components have a corresponding controller (main controller, motor controller, user interface, etc.), which can be a simple microprocessor mounted on a printed circuit board, and other non-controller components. The components may comprise one or more devices that are controlled by the controller. Typically, controller components cooperating directly or indirectly through other components control the operation of all components and associated devices to implement an operation or cycle for the appliance.

Software architecture can be implemented and communicated through an internal communications network in the appliance. The internal communications network connects the various internal components of the household appliance and can be considered a closed network. An example of the internal communications network used within the appliance is the WIDE network protocol created by Whirlpool, Inc., the assignee of this patent application. The internal communications network must at least address the physical layer of the OSI layered network model. Preferably, the internal communication network comprises all appropriate layers of the OSI model. The WIDE network protocol addresses the physical layer and at least some aspects of the Bind and Transport layers.

Software architecture expands home appliance communication skills by adding top-layer functionality to network stacks effectively by creating a fully-functional home appliance network by incorporating the necessary aspects of the network model into OSI layers such as message fragmentation and reliability, and session management, certain object-oriented features such as message routing using functional identifiers, similar discovery, and certain advanced routing aspects such as message propagation across multiple networks where distributed routing tables are used to facilitate propagation messaging through various networks and certain other important features such as message binding, node authentication, and message firewalls hereinafter referred to as "networking". Inside the appliance, the software architecture can, but need not, reside in each of the components that have a controller. These components with the software architecture form a network node that can communicate with other nodes. In other words, a network, as it relates to this invention, is any system of collaboration between arbitrary software components, whether physical (shown, for example, in Figure 8) or virtual (shown, for example, in Figure 8). 30).

The software architecture 1018 can perform various functions. For example, one function may relate to identifying each of the components corresponding to a node in the network, while another function may relate to identifying capabilities or functions of the identified network components. Yet another illustrative function is to identify the condition of the components in the network. This way, the software architecture can work to inform all network nodes about the presence, capabilities, and condition of other nodes.

The 1018 software architecture can comprise several modules, each of which has different functionality. Various combinations of the modules or all modules may reside in each of the components. A module having basic or major re-side functionality in all components. In a predicted configuration, all modules reside at least on the master controller, which establishes the master controller to function as the primary or master software architecture, with the other nodes operating in a client relationship with the master software architecture. In such a configuration, all nodes can communicate through the main software architecture. The software architecture can be robust enough that it can allow configuration without a core software architecture or multiple core software architectures. For example, the controllers of the various components can work together to control the operation of the household appliance without any of the appliances functioning as a main controller. Regardless of configuration, any component with the software architecture can function as a client with respect to the other components.

Due to the 1018 software architecture, the internal components of the appliance are not only connected to each other, but the internal components can also be connected to one or more external components or to a new internal component by re-connecting. The external component and / or the new internal component has one. Some, or all resident software architecture modules. As a result, the external component and / or the new component can communicate with the internal components of the appliance and can also communicate with other external components having the software architecture.

The software architecture can be any software architecture that allows communication between the internal components of the appliance and the external component and / or the new component or between the components external to the appliance. An example of the software architecture is described in Patent Cooperation Treaty Patent Application PCT / US2006 / 022420, entitled "ARCHI-TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATION WITH1 AND MANAGEMENT OF1 AT LEAST ONE COMPONENT WITHIN A HOUSE-HOLD APPLIANCE ", filed June 8, 2006, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, as published in WO2006135726. A related example is set forth in US Patent Application 60 / 595,148, filed June 9, 2005. All communications between components and accessories and / or any combination of components and accessories described herein may be implemented by software and network structures described in any of these requests.

The software architecture described in the preceding references may be implemented by provisioning one or more of the software architecture software elements in at least each of the components to be controlled and in the accessory. The software architecture is configured to generate multiple messages, with at least one of the software elements residing in each of the components and the accessory configured to enable the transmission of at least one of several messages between the components and between the components. accessory and the components. Messages can be transmitted for two-way communication between components and / or components and the accessory. The messages may include command messages that are used to implement a physical cycle of home appliance operation. It will be understood that the consumable article or at least the consumable article support may be considered a component on the network for use in conjunction with the home appliance having the software architecture.

Operation Cycles

An operating cycle comprises a set of physical actions that the appliance 12 performs in response to a cycling architecture for appliance operation. For example, a washing machine may have several wash cycles that depend on the type of fabric washed or a size of the fabric load. Similarly, a furnace may have several cooking cycles that depend on the type of food being cooked and the cooking process (eg defrosting, cooking, self-cleaning). Typically, the appliance when purchased by the user has a set of operating cycles that may permanently reside in the appliance as software stored in ROM ("firmware") memory.

Referring now to Figure 3, a duty cycle component 60 may store additional duty cycles, changes not originally provided with the appliance 12, or other information regarding which an duty cycle may be changed, and communicate with appliance 12 so that appliance 12 can implement new, changed or additional operating cycles. An operating cycle stored by the duty cycle component 60 may also alternatively include an updated duty cycle. The operating cycle component 60 can be any type of component, such as a hardware device that can connect to the appliance 12.

Duty cycle component 60 may be an intelligent coupler that can be coupled with both a personal computer and the appliance 12. See the discussion on the intelligent coupler below. Any other suitable connector and / or communication method may be used. More particularly with respect to a consumer article holder 16 according to the invention, the duty cycle component 60 may be the optional customer 40 attached or to the consumer article holder 16.

With continued reference to Figure 3, additional duty cycles, changes to existing cycles, or other relevant information may be transferred to duty cycle component 60 in any suitable manner. For example, duty cycle component 60 having the relevant data may be purchased at a retail store 62, or information may be transferred to duty cycle component 60 at the retail store. Alternatively, the user may transfer additional duty cycles, changes, or relevant data via the Internet 64. For example, the user may transfer additional duty cycles via a personal computer 66 and then download the duty cycles. for the duty cycle component 60 or the user can directly transfer the duty cycles directly to the duty cycle component 60. In another embodiment, the user can develop additional custom duty cycles or changes to computer 66 and transfer the additional custom-tuned duty cycles or changes to the duty cycle component 60. In an alternate embodiment, additional duty cycles may be transmitted wirelessly from personal computer 66 to the appliance 12 without using a separate duty cycle component60, in which case the computer itself 66 can be considered the duty cycle component. Additional operation cycles transmitted wirelessly can be transmitted to intermediate storage in the appliance 12. The cycles can then be authenticated by software architecture or other methods to ensure that they are compatible and appropriate for the appliance. appliance.

The duty cycle component 60 may couple with the home appliance 12 in any suitable manner, such as through a direct physical connection or wired connection. In addition, appliance 12 may implement additional duty cycles, changes or relevant information directly from duty cycle component 60 or relevant data may be transferred from duty cycle component 60 to appliance 12 or to article support of consumption 16.

Figure 4 illustrates a typical home appliance controller 68 or control board 12, one or more of which may be connected to a network, and with which additional duty cycles may be provided by a duty cycle component 60. Home appliances may have one or more more control boards controlling the duty cycle and user interface as shown in items 1010, 1012, and 1020 of fig. 8. Among other things, controller 68 may include a decycle 69 architecture. conventional operating cycle execution software. Conventional operating cycle execution software is determined entirely from compiled source code which cannot easily be separated into constituent pieces or parts. Loop architecture 69 is software that has two distinct parts, a loop structure 71 and a loop mechanism 73. The loop structure71 is a data or loop structure part representing various elements or components comprising an ordered collection. of steps, separated from each other by the transition conditions, with actions being taken during each step. Each element or component may have an identifier to allow the replacement or joining of elements or components. Transition conditions are the conditions under which a selected step must change to a next step in the ordered collection of steps. Transition conditions comprise arbitrarily complex logical expressions that must be resolvable by a Boolean value. In one embodiment, the logic of a Transition Condition is a composition of structures comprising operators connected with functions, other operators, variables, or constants, and functions connected with other functions, operators, variables, or constants, where the composition forms. a multiple number that can be resolved to a Boolean during the duty cycle. For example, a logical expression could start with a structure representing an "AND" where "AND" is connected with an "OR" structure and a "foo" function. The "OR" structure is then connected with a "bar" function and a "do-mo" function. During the operation cycle, where a first step was separated from a second step by the Transition Condition, the first step would deactivate and the transition to the second step when the "foo" function returned true value and any of the "bar" functions. and "dome" returned a true value. Structure compositions representing logic can be represented in data, which data can be converted to frame composition during or before the operating cycle. Similarly, existing compositions may be modified with additional data. Using this data technique or other technique providing the same flexibility, a loop architecture additionally comprising various slap transition logic expressions can be created by a web-based authoring tool encoded for a consumer article or article holder. consumption, and used by a cycle mechanism to perform an operating cycle. Cycle mechanism 73 is software that can be combined with at least one cycle structure 71 on controller 68 to perform an operating cycle.

An advantage of a two-component split-cycle architecture is that the cycle mechanism 73 can reside in many different types of appliances, thereby reducing the cost and increasing the quality of the appliance types. A second advantage is that new models or types of appliances can be developed using the cycle mechanism 73, thus avoiding the time and cost of developing conventional operating cycle execution software, which is typically and historically developed for each new appliance. type and model of appliance.

Another advantage of a loop architecture 69 is that it can communicate with a loop structure 71 across a network or within a runtime environment. This allows the logical architecture of the appliance to vary independently of the physical architecture of the appliance. In one embodiment, a built-in virtual router is used to provide a message exchange layer between all the components of the loop architecture, including a loop structure71 and loop mechanism 73. This allows the control apparatus manufacturer 14 process levels increased freedom with respect to the physical embodiments of the appliance process control apparatus 14 because the cycle architecture 69, when combined with a built-in virtual router, provides an adaptive function allowing the cycle architecture to direct messages across all physical architecture networks without prior knowledge of the physical network or physical architecture.

Another advantage of a loop architecture 69 using a loop structure 71 and a separate loop mechanism 73 is that the loop structure 71 is portable, allowing it to be distributed to the loop architecture 69 over a network, the from a remote data source, from a local data source, such as flash memory, EE memory, or read-only memory, or from an accessory, from a user interface configured to create a loop structure, or from any source of information about a cycle structure or data about a cycle structure including data about a consumer article. An example of the distribution of a cycle structure 71 is by the use of an operating cycle component 60 as shown in Figure 3. This advantage provides upgradability to the home appliance operational software in a less intrusive manner than conventional operating cycle execution software by the fact that operational execution software can be changed as a whole or in part without a complete new transfer of all execution software running on the controller 68.

Another advantage of a cycle architecture 69 utilizing a cycle structure 71 and a separate cycle mechanism 73 is that the cycle structure 71 can be altered to any degree, even after the appliance is installed and in use. This kind of upgradeability can be distributed to the user in a variety of methods, such as authoring tools, loop accessories, coded loop structure consumables, network transfers, data configured for the user interface. appliance, software changes, and the like, even by a duty cycle component 60. Conventional duty cycle execution software cannot be changed without a complete new transfer of all controller execution software 68.

Additionally, conventional duty cycle execution software is configured to accept only parameters that vary time, temperature, velocity, and the like, or to modify fixed actions within a fixed ordered collection of steps. In contrast, the cyclo architecture 69 according to the invention is fully modifiable, allowing for new steps, rearranged steps, new actions, new or modified transition conditions, and the like.

Cycle structure 71 may be represented directly or indirectly. A direct representation of a cycle structure will provide an ordered collection of steps, transition conditions, and actions, logically, or in a set of instructions that can be interpreted by a cycle mechanism 73. An indirect representation of a decycle structure 71 will provide a set of instructions that will allow a creator, converter, compiler, or cycle engine itself to build an orderly collection of steps, transition conditions, and actions.

Whether direct or indirect, loop structure 71 can be represented in various data embodiments, such as key-value pairs, XML, relational data tables, comma-separated variable files, a tree, or hierarchical chart. composite, byte arrays, data packets, command objects, encoded binary data, encoded data as a programming language, such as C-header file, text, scripts, serialized objects, and messages. Regardless of the embodiment of cycle structure 71, the essential meaning and functionality will be interpreted to perform the same operating cycle execution on controller 68. It is envisaged that a cycle structure 71 may be transcribed from one embodiment. to another as appropriate during the creation, distribution, and distribution of the loop structure for loop architecture 69 on controller 68 without loss of meaning or functionality. It will be appreciated that data embodiments of a decycle structure 71 may be transferable and may be resident in various memory types, including RAM, ROM, and read / write type, such as flash, EE1 RW CDs, floppy disks, disk drives. hard drives, portable flash drives, external hard drives, and the like.

For an indirect representation of a loop structure, a loop structure creator can read a set of instruction messages, for example, and interpret them to construct or create a loop structure. Such instructional messages may be in the form of data packets for preference messages in accordance with the software architecture, such as that of incorporated W02006135726. For example, data packages may have routing information, such as a capability identifier, which example may be a functional identifier representing things such as a loop structure creator, a state, a transition condition, or an action. Likewise, data packets could have a collection of command identifiers that are supported via a collection of Op Codes ("Operation").

In an additional form of indirect representation, a loop structure 71 may be the source data or automatically generated compilable source code, or the loop structure itself may be formatted so that it is directly compiled by a source. Compiler configured to create a suitable executable program for the controller 68. Still another form of indirect representation may be various cycle parameters, such as time, temperature, speed, amount of fill and the like, where the cycle engine or an arbitrary software component would receive the loop parameters and convert them to a direct representation of a loop structure or part thereof.

In another form of indirect representation, a loop structure71 may be represented as a script that is compilable to controller 68 or interpretable by a loop structure creator or converter (see Figure 21). A script can be created by a descript authoring tool for introduction into the environment of use in any of the embodiments described. The script in communication with the 69 cycle architecture is capable of affecting and altering the state of the household electrode control system, as described in this document.

For a direct representation of a loop structure where a data packet is used to distribute information about a loop structure, the data packet may comprise routing information and a direct representation of a loop structure. The direct representation could be encoded in a byte array. Then the byte array could be operated directly from a cycloconfigured mechanism to interpret the byte array by decoding the byte array during interpretation so that data in the byte array could be interpreted as an ordered collection of separate steps. by transition conditions having transition logic where each step comprises various actions.

Another example of a direct representation is the script presented below. The script comprises consumer article information and information about a loop structure including references to functions, variables, memory locations, APIs, and messages directly available or exposed via a virtual router built into the home controllers 68, credential information, such as a password (not shown), and script information such as a CRC (not shown). The script can also comprise a set of basic instructions, such as IFLESSTHAN operators. The looping mechanism73 can validate the script against references, making sure that home appliance controllers 68 can support references called by the script. For example, GRILL could represent a software class having a set of functions that can be invoked whenever an instance of the class is available. The $ resourcegrill script statement instructs looping mechanism 73 to associate the grill variable with the GRILL instance, where if the object already exists, then associate the reference grill with GRILL, and where it does not exist, instantiate GRILL and then convert the reference from grill to GRILL. If there is no GRILL capability or functionality or a GRILL class is not available, then the cycle 73 engine would reject the script and notify the user of the rejection using a user interface and prompt the user to manually specify the settings. operating instructions for the appliance 12 using the user interface instead of the script. Other reasons why a script may be rejected include insufficient memory to maintain or execute oscript, non-existent references (presented as $ resource or $ var), unreadable script, and script that does not conform to your CRC, or uncredited script , which is the script that cannot be authenticated using script credentials. The script comprises functionality allowing the same to perform all essential functions, as previously described in the implementation of the cycle structure comprising steps, actions, transition conditions and transition logic expressions. The RE-SOURCEACTION grill.turnOn statement is an example of an action. 'IFLESSTHANtime, 2000' is an example of transition logic evaluating to a Boolean value. LABEL 1 and LABEL 2 are examples of steps.

Additionally, a script could comprise information identifying the various appliances for which the script could be used, so that the loop fitting shown and described in Figures 3 and 10 could hold various scripts, each comprising the information. , so that the accessory could apply the appropriate script to the 69 cycle architecture when it establishes communication with a home appliance.

+ Header

exp-date: "09/09/09" brand: "La Cucina Italiana"

advertising: "The taste of Italy in your mouth" $ var time, 2 $ var temp, 2 $ resource timer, TIMER1 $ resource cookbroil, COOKBROIL $ resource grill, GRILL

$ resource temp-oven, TEMPERATUREOVEN $ resource wm, Ul $ resource beep, BUZZER + Behavior

RESOURCE ACTION timer.init, 250RESOURCE ACTION timer.start

RESOURCE ACTION ui.showAdvertsing, brand, advertisingLABEL1:

RESOURCE ACTION timer.getCounterMOVE time, ANSWERACTIONIFLESSTHAN time, 2000GOTO LABEL1

RESOURCE ACTION timer.stopRESOURCE ACTION ui.showCookingScreen, "Cooking Lasagna" RESOURCE ACTION cookbroil.start, 400F, 10LABEL2:

RESOURCEACTION cookbroil.getStatusMOVE temp, ANSWERACTIONIFNEQUAL temp, FINISHCOOKINGGOTO LABEL 2:

RESOURCEACTION ui.showCooking Screen, "Cooling" LABEL3:

RESOURCEACTION temp-oven.getTempMOVE temp, ANSWERACTIONIFGREATERTHAN temp, 200GOTO LABEL3

RESOURCEACTION ui.showCookingScreen, "Making it Crispy"

RESOURCE ACTION timer.start

LABEL4:

RESOURCE ACTION timer.getCounterMOVE time, ANSWERACTIONRESOURCEACTION grill.turnOnIFLESSTHAN time, 180000GOTO LABEL4

RESOURCE ACTION timer.stopRESOURCEACTION grill.turnOff

RESOURCEACTION ui.showCookingScreen, "Your lasagna is ready. Expect it to cool" RESOURCEACTION timer.startLABEL5:

RESOURCEACTION timer.getCounterMOVE time, ANSWERACTIONIFLESSTHAN time, 120000GOTO LABEL5

RESOURCEACTION ui.showCookingScreenDone, "Your lasagna is ready! Enjoy"

RESOURCEACTION beep.longBeep

The functionality of the script is shown in figure 22 and is described in this document. In steps 400, 402, and 404, respectively, a timer is set and started and the brand and advertisement defined in noscript (here, "La Cucina Italiana", "The taste of Italy in your mouth" are displayed on user interface (UI) for the set time At the end of the set time, the timer is stopped at 406, and Ul is instructed to display "Cooking lasagna" at 408, while a cooking (baking) cycle starts at 410. At the end of the cooking cycle (temperature checked), Ul is instructed to display "Cooling" at 412. At the end of the cooling period (temperature checked), Ul is instructed to display "Making it crispy." "at 414, while the timer starts at 416 and the grill is turned on at 418. At the end of the set time, the timer is stopped at 420 and the grill is turned off at 422. Ul is instructed to display" Sualasanha is ready. Wait for it to cool. Wait for cooling it "at 424. The cooling cycle is checked by r a preset timer at 426, after which Ul is instructed to display "Your lasagna is ready! enjoy "at 428 and the cycle ends.

It is contemplated that cycle architecture 69 may have various sources of information about and / or representing all, a part, or a modification to the cycle structure and that each source may be a direct or indirect representation, and that each font can be incorporated into various types of memory. According to the invention, information about a cycle structure will be used to alter a cycle structure in the household appliance and thereby alter a home appliance operating cycle. The term "change cycle structure" is contemplated as including creating a cycle structure, modifying a cycle structure, or accessing part or all of a cycle structure or a representation of a cycle structure.

It is further contemplated that the cycle architecture may publish data about itself, its progress, and information about progress. For example, a cycle architecture 69 can publish its current active step, transition logic conditions, step elapsed time, total elapsed time, or step substates, or substates of an ordered collection of steps, such as fault state, normal state, transition state, idle state, etc. The cycle architecture69 can implement additional functionality, such as a software or network API allowing cycle architecture observers to record notifications to receive published data.

In a first embodiment, the cycle engine 73 is compiled software that communicates at runtime with at least a source of indirect or direct representation of part or all of the cycle structure 71 (a) and builds or modifies a in-memory loop structure71 (b) where memory is in communication with controller 68. Once the in-memory loop structure 71 (b) is set up, cycle mechanism 73 finds the initial step, reads the step, performs the actions prescribed by the step, and begins to evaluate the transition logic to move to the next step, after which the process repeats itself in subsequent steps.

In a second embodiment, the loop mechanism 73 is compiled software that communicates at compile time with at least one source of indirect or direct representation of part or all of a loop structure 71 (a) and constructs or alters a transferable image comprising a cycle structure 71 (b). Once the compilation is complete and the transferable image is transferred to the controller memory 68, the loop mechanism 73 finds the initial step, reads the step, performs the actions prescribed by the step, and begins to evaluate the transition logic. to transition to the next step, after which the process repeats in subsequent steps.

In a third embodiment, cycle engine 73 is compiled software that communicates at runtime with at least one source of indirect or direct representation of a portion or all of cycle structure 71 (a) without constructing or altering a structure. (b). Once in communication, the cycle mechanism 73 immediately begins execution by continuous communication with the source, after which it encounters the initial step, reads the step, performs the actions prescribed by the step, and begins evaluate transition logic to move to the next step, after which the process repeats in subsequent steps.

In a fourth embodiment, looping mechanism 73 utilizes a search and execute technique to conserve memory. In this embodiment, the loop mechanism 73 is in communication with an information source on a loop structure 71 (a), wherein a first memory comprises the source and a second memory comprises the decycle mechanism 73, so that the loop mechanism You can fetch parts of the information from the source and convert that part to a form suitable for execution by the loop engine. In an example of this embodiment, the loop mechanism 73 would seek a piece of information representative of future potential steps, transition actions, and expression or information about the transition logic that represents the information, so that the loop mechanism can quickly change to the next step, based on a step transition because the next step is already in proper form without the latency involved in a memory read or network message. Simultaneously to the step transition, a next part will be searched and the search and execution process is repeated.

It should be understood that all communications according to embodiments can be performed using an embedded virtual router, achieving the advantages described herein.

Cycle architecture 69 may be communicated as well as configured to communicate with a client to receive and send messages for directing information, such as a capability identifier, which example may be a functional identifier representing things, such as a creator. cycle structure, a state, a transition condition, or an action. Likewise, messages could have a collection of command identifiers that are supported via a collection of OpCodes ("Operation"). Preferably, cycle architecture 69 of any embodiment will receive messages from a client allowing changes to cycle structure 71. Changes to a decycle structure, for example, may include step insertion or deletion, additions or withdrawals. actions of each step, or changes to the transition logic between any two given steps. In order to make such changes, identifiers must be associated with the cycle structure components, so that customer messages can fully specify the exact exact modifications to the cycle structure.

Cycle architecture 69 actions cause the state of the appliance control system to change including, among other things, changes to appliance process control appliance 14, to user interface appliance software , and for other appliance components, such as screens on an appliance user interface or some other graphic component. Other illustrative actions include changing the state of electromechanical actuators, such as relays, valves, and fans, and changing the state of user interface indicators, such as LEDs1 alarms, light rings, segmented displays, or graphics on an LCD. graphic. In addition, the actions of cycle architecture 69 additionally include effects including hiding or making available UI screens, making screen elements visible, invisible, enabled or disabled; change fonts, colors, size, or other attribute values of screen elements, change the menu so that items could be enabled, disabled, added and deleted, and the like. The devices to which the actions will apply can be represented as functions that can be identified with a known interface that can be controlled. As described in the embedded W02006135726, physical devices can be modeled or virtually described in the software architecture ("SA") by an API ("Application Programming Interface") ID where their control interfaces are represented by a collection of Op codes, each having associated parameters. This allows controllable devices or software components that control the devices that can be controlled to expose them to one-step actions, such as a message, so that the location of the control software can operate a device or control software providing access. The device controllable device need not be known by the cycle engine 73. An embedded virtual router (EVR) can provide communications between the cycle architecture 69, controllable devices having a control interface, and the software components that control the devices. controllable devices (device drivers), where the router provides a message exchange interface between the actions of the cycle architecture 69 and the devices and software components that can implement the station regardless of where the devices or software components are located. This capability allows cycle architecture 69 to interact with devices, appliances, and software including other cycle architectures that reside on a different controller 68, or on a different home appliance 12, or on a different device in communication with cycle architecture 69, such as any external client 1004 having the 1018 software architecture or the 1016 software architecture controller. "Software Components" in this document means any software, algorithm, or logic directly or indirectly associated with the operating cycle of an appliance. Generally, all logic provides indirect access to control of a device, but the meaning can extend to include any non-device-driven software such as fragmentation algorithms, user instructions, network authentication services, and the like. .

Routing information comprises identifiers to allow a sender to send a message to a receiver. Examples of identifiers that allow routing are network node IDs that are identifiers identifying the address of the sending or receiving node on any given network. An example network node ID is shown in the address byte of FIG. 4 (as described in W02006135726 incorporated). Another example of an identifier that allows routing is a unique network ID identifying each network within multiple networks so that a uniquely sender could identify the destination (or receiver) of a message with a network ID and having a network node ID goes this way allowing the network node IDs on each network to vary independently, while maintaining unique addressability by combining the network ID with the network node ID. Another example of an identifier that allows routing is an Object ID and Method ID or an API ID or Op Code. These identifiers provide routing from the sending node to the module or object of the routing software. reception within the receiving node. These identifiers provide unique addressing capability within a node's softwa-re operating environment. A routing table comprising several rows may be constructed having a combination of routing information identifiers in each row, where each row represents a route. An additional unique identifier (route ID) can be added to each file identifying each route, thereby providing the sender with a convenient mechanism for sending the information. An example of a routing table is presented:

<table> table see original document page 47 </column> </row> <table>

Software can be built allowing the sender to send information to the route ID whereby the software with the route ID conversion to the appropriate routing identifiers, so that the information is sent to the appropriate network and to the appropriate node on the route. appropriate receiving software module. In an additional example, where a sender on a first node communicates with a receiver on a third node through the second node, the second node may have a routing table linking, for example, the Object ID with another route ID, so that the message sent by the first node is appropriately propagated and directed to the third node by the second node software using the second node routing table. Routing tables can be populated with routing information using techniques described in this document.

The earlier discussion of looping structures will be aided by an understanding of an embedded virtual router (EVR) in the invention. Figure 30 is a schematic illustration of a virtual router presenting a mapping between a pair of software architecture implementations. Figure 30 is a software project that encapsulates the API implementations (objects, see APIs 1 through 8 on each side of the router Figure 30) of the software architecture 10 so that collaboration between an embedded client algorithms, closed circuits, sequencers, and state machines) and embedded components (implementation of the software architecture API 10: objects such as defrosters, heaters, temperature sensors, valves, etc.) is uniform and identical regardless of whether entities collaborate across the network or share a runtime environment (shared execution time collaboration being an example of a virtual network).

Figure 30 presents six examples of single-sided collaboration illustrating how a pair of 916A software operating environments existing on separate 916 hardware components and connected by a 914 network will utilize the various 916B software components. 916A software operating environment to create transparent access between 959 operating logic and 916B software components from both right and left software operating environments.

Before describing the examples of collaboration, a description of the structure of figure 30 should help in understanding the examples of collaboration. Each 916A software operating environment contains representations of a subset of useful software operating components (916B) contained, including: the software architecture 10, the layered internal communications network interface 952, a subcomponent of the software architecture 10 , DAQ 930 and a 980 hard-ware abstraction layer.

Hardware abstraction layer 80 comprises: a mechanism therein for encapsulating the particular fixed address of the connected circuits in which the software abstraction layer 980 software operation layers will operate and the software interfaces (928). 928A or 982) by encapsulating occurrences of 916B in the form of one of the following: the packet representation (an ordered collection of bytes) of a message 928 exchanged by the software architecture 10, the packet representation ( an ordered collection of bytes) of a message exchanged by the software architecture 10 representing only the payload structure 928A (the valid data arguments) expected by the software operating component 984 or 986, or an alternate representation 982 of 928 or 928A, where the desired values and data and resulting actions are functionally identical, but not in the form of an ordered collection of bytes. A single software function 982 has arguments represented by the named individual variables whose value is derived from 928A or represented by an orderly collection of bytes derived from 928A.

984 Application GDMs are variations of 916B known as global design modules that are standard softwa-re-operating components and have been subjected to a standard development process including functional and non-functional requirements, testing, documentation, and implementation guidance. . Application 984 GDMs address appliance-specific issues such as defrosters, heaters, and door closures. 984 application GDMs can be classified into at least two types of variations. The first variation contains application-specific logic separate from application logic 959 which is used to govern behavior and gather information from a collection of other software operation components including various other 984, 986 GDMs. The second variation contains specific application logic separate from application logic 59 which is used to govern behavior and gather information from a specific electromechanical device or sensor, such as a heater, evaporator, motor, valve, solenoid, relay, pressure or temperature sensor. The second variation can be configured to address the specific issues made relevant by the variation of the specific manufacturer's device, the particular device configuration based on the mode of use determined by the requirements of the appliance (ie gradation values) or by a confluence of factors that create specific issues not mentioned so far.

986 Infrastructure GDMs address specific recurring questions that are independent of the application of the system architecture. They can be reused across multiple appliances, examples of which include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, dryers, and washing machines. Infrastructure 986 GDMs can be classified into at least two variants. The first variant is associated with a particular issue resulting from a recurring combination of electrical components or electrical constraints.

Some examples are: manufacturer interface restrictions, device operating cycles, electrical charge characteristics (such as inflow and continuous state limits), or other restrictions such as an analog to digital conversion mode such as such as 4 to 20 mA current circuits versus 0 to 5 V dc analog voltage feedback. The second variant is associated with independent appliance and application software components, known as utility functions. They provide logic used by other 916B components including 959 and 980. The second variant may contain or use references to the first 986 infrastructure GDM variant. Examples include timers, zero crossing detection, and other useful software components whose purpose is more utility than which application-driven or electromechanical requirements.

An embedded virtual router 970 provides a tunneling layer through which architectural dependencies (the method by which a 916B software component is accessed or exposed to another 916B (examples of 916B are 930, 984, 986) included in or at least two. software operating environments connected by network 914 alone or a combination of network 914 with other networks) between application logic 959 (from component 916A software operation layer) and components comprised of the hardware abstraction layer. ware 980, by DAQ 930, by another instance of application logic 959 or by the component therein, or any other useful component 916B are either minimized or eliminated.

A 972 software component may be used by other 916B software components to obtain references to any other 916B software component where the obtained 916B may be part of a 916A software operating environment on or in: the same 916 hardware component, a different hardware component 916 connected by 914, a different hardware component 922 connected by a combination of network segments including 914, or a different hardware component 916 from a different appliance 12 connected by 914, a combination of different network segments between two occurrences of 12, and 914 of the first appliance 12.

Software component 972 also provides mechanisms for other software components residing within the same software operating environment 916A to publish the identification and / or routing information required for the 972 memory for the enumerated uses above mentioned component. 972. Identification and routing information can be associated with components residing within the same software operating environment. Alternatively, identification and routing information may be associated with components separate from components residing within the same software operating environment but which are known to components residing within the same software operating environment.

Frames 974 in memory 970 are capable of receiving messages or providing message invoking functions and are capable of sending messages or providing callback functions for information distribution. These structures have an access definition of a packet structure 928, a payload structure 928Aor 982 corresponding to an occurrence of a software component, such as components within the hardware abstraction layer 980, application logic 959, or any other. software component used in the enumerations mentioned above 972 and the ability to route information to this software component or to an appropriate intermediate software component having the same or similar purpose of 974.

Looking now at the possible collaboration examples, it is expected that 974-970 structures will be created and populated based on discovery queries containing access requests to specific 916B software components that are identifiable and addressable, invocations implying said access, or by 916B software components that are able to invoke 970 on their own behalf or other 916B components, resulting in the creation and population of the 974 structures.

Collaboration 1: A command is issued by the software component 959 of the right-hand software operation environment 916A and received by a software component contained in the 974 collection with an API identifier 1 within component 970 of the same software operation environment. Using the identification and routing information contained within 970, the component identified by AP11 transmits information received through other 10 and 952 softwar operating layers, and finally transmitted through 914 and received from 952 of the software operating environment. on the left side. The message is then handled by the software architecture 10 and routed to the appropriate component 974 of the left-hand software operating environment. The appropriate left-hand software operation component O974 using identification and routing information within 970. The same software operation component then invokes or sends the message to the local implementation of API 1 contained in the data abstraction layer. hardware from the left software operating environments980. Thus, the application logic within the software component 959 of the right-hand software operating environment has invoked a function implemented in the left-hand software operating environment, semi-information contained therein for carrying out said invocation. Therefore, the design value implied by FIG. 30 is that application logic 959 can be reused with respect to the location of other 916B software operating components within various 916A software operating environments connected by a 914 network. or for various network segments that may include 914.

Collaboration 2: In this case, the beginning of the message is from 959 of the left side software operating environment 916A. This illustrates the case where the final invocation is against a softwa-re component (in this case, API 2) within the same software operation environment using the same methodology described in more detail in Collaboration1. Therefore, in Collaboration 2, an alternate architectural arrangement between an occurrence of application logic 959 to another useful software component (hardware abstraction layer API 2) is presented as having no effect on the implementation of either. And furthermore, it is a purpose of the software component 970 also to be able to conform to the identification and interface requirements imposed by the software architecture 10 to provide this capability.

Collaborations 3 through 6 have additional uses for the built-in virtual router 970. The mechanism used to perform these variants are the same as described in Collaborations 1 and 2. They are included to illustrate the usefulness of the project and the standards. additional messages expected to be available with respect to DAQ 930. Local wind listeners (3) and remote event listeners (4) of application logic 959 are provided with an interconnection with a representation of the DAQ 930 mechanism not only providing a connection to DAQ in the local software operating environment, but also to DAQs in remote operating environments. DAQ-generated messages based on the occurrence of DAQ events can be transmitted locally (6) and remotely (5) through available mechanisms in 970.

In addition to the six collaboration examples, a seventh example of collaboration includes the first and second arbitrary software components comprised within application logic 959, where both the first and second arbitrary software components have indentifiers and can be identified. within frames 974, which may comprise the routing table. In this collaboration, the first arbitrary software component sends a message to the second arbitrary software component by invoking a linked software function with multiple function pointers within the routing table (another example of using a virtual network, that is, a collaboration arbitrary software components within a shared execution time environment). One of the function pointers among the various function pointers links the message with at least the second arbitrary software component. Similarly, if there is a second instance of the second arbitrary software component residing in application logic 916, the function invocation of the first arbitrary software component may not change. In this case, the various function pointers would include a pointer linking the invocation with the routing information contained in the routing table. Routing information is required to allow the message to be routed from invocation to the second receiving instance of the second arbitrary software component.

It is preferable for routing tables to be populated by at least one of discovery acknowledgment messages, propagated discovery commit messages, manual configuration, semimanual configuration, physically encoded configuration software, and software compilation process. It should be noted that using discovery messages to populate routing tables is the preferred embodiment. However, routing tables can also be populated using conventional configuration methods involving a manual or semimanual configuration process, such as using a visual configuration (see, for example, Figures 28 and 29, used for another purpose). In addition, a manual or semi-manual configuration process can be used in addition to discovery-generated routing tables. In this approach, the discovery process or configuration process can incrementally add or delete routing information within a routing table.

The various techniques described above with respect to using the embedded virtual router 70 may also be applied to various other network configurations to enable communication between objects in the system. Examples include, but are not limited to, allowing communication between two different arbitrary software components within an application logic 959, an arbitrary software component of an application logic 959, and an arbitrary deconstruction layer software component. hardware 980, any arbitrary software component of a first processor and any arbitrary software component of a second processor in the same 916 component, any arbitrary software component of a first processor, and any arbitrary software component of a second processor on different components 916 within an appliance 12, any arbitrary software component of a first processor, and any arbitrary software component of a second processor in different components 916 and different appliances, any arbitrary software component of a first processor, and any software component arbitrary ware of a second processor on different computers, where the computers may be displaced from each other but coupled via a network.

It should be understood that arbitrary software components above are preferably associated with an identifier associated with the functionality of the software component (a class) and with an arbitrary identifier used as an object identifier. A blank namespace may contain unique identifiers for each arbitrary software component in the system. An illustrative namespace can create identifiers comprising a class ID including an API ID1 'an instance ID and a type ID; and an object ID comprising a node ID and an instance ID. In another illustrative scheme, the model number ID and the serial number ID may also be identifiers in a name space. Other namespace schemes may use any desired combination of identifiers to provide each arbitrary software component with a unique identifier.

Fig. 31 illustrates a network architecture comprising two appliances 3012, 3012 'and a third party device 3022 of the type shown in Figure 1. Each appliance has several nodes 3016 comprising, in this embodiment, a CCU, an Ul user interface. , various peripherals Ρ1, P2 and P3 in communication with each other by a relay 3014. Each peripheral may be a circuit board which may not have at least one microprocessor. On the Ul board, two uP1 and uP2 microprocessors are shown, connected by a serial communication bus that is different from the 3014. The Ul board typically has multiple network connections on the USB, WIDE, and SPI networks. The third party device 3022 may be able to send messages. Alternatively, third party device 3022 may send messages in the form of a set of taxonomy data. In the latter case, the P3 peripheral could contain a taxonomy architecture that could create well-formed commands. Appliances 3012, 3012 'communicate with each other through the 3021 network, and the third party device 3022 communicates with the appliances across the network. 3020.

It will be seen in Figure 32 that message exchange may occur between microprocessors on the same card connected in a different network than 3014. Likewise, message exchange may occur between cards 3016 in at least two networks, where the networks are not the same. In addition, message exchange may occur between the 3012, 3012 'appliances between the 3016 plates carried on at least three networks, where at least one of the three networks is a network external to the household appliance. In addition, the third party device 3022 can communicate with nodes implementing SA or with nodes that can route messages to a node implementing SA according to the invention.

It will be understood that the architectural features of a network configuration typically impact the implementation of arbitrary software components that communicate within the architecture. By "architectural features" it refers to the distinctive aspects of individual networks, the way in which the various 3016 cards are interconnected, and the combinations of network routes interposed between the connected 3016 cards. A virtual router embedded in a The processor on a board 3016 according to the invention will allow the arbitrary software components on this board 3016 to communicate independently of the architectural features of the associated networks.

An advantage of an inventive built-in virtual router can be seen in an appliance having several useful arbitrary software components, each providing at least one useful consumer benefit. Since different consumers typically prefer different combinations of features, it has long been a problem in the home appliance industry to be able to provide only the subset of specific features that an individual consumer would prefer. Typical approaches include (1) providing multiple home appliance models or SKUs1 each with a unique set of features and (2) providing a home appliance with the super set of features ensuring that the customer will have all the features available. Both approaches are costly because arbitrary software components in home appliances are dependent on hardware; At a minimum, software for a board controlling a device in a home appliance should be redone for use on a different home appliance, even if it is the same device or a similar device. This invention provides a third alternative at the most cost-effective cost. By using an inventive built-in virtual router, all arbitrary software components are independent of each other with respect to their architectural location. A home appliance manufacturer can thus provide a home user-specific capability and a much lower cost by providing an external customer with any combination of arbitrary software components that can be purchased separately as part of an external accessory, but capable of Total to participate in all forms of useful communication with other arbitrary software components within the appliance due to the embedded virtual router.

For example, assume a home appliance with three possible aspects: (a) a door knob, (b) an LED, and (c) an LCD, one or both of the LED and the LCD to indicate the state of the door knob. All versions of the appliance will have a door button. But some will have only one LED1 some will have only LCD1 and some may have both an LED and an LCD. With the prior art, the manufacturer has to provide three software architectures: one for the communication between the door knob and the LED, one for the communication between the door knob and the LCD, and one for the communication between the door knob and the LED. LED and oLCD. With a built-in virtual router, according to the invention, the developer only needs to have the software architecture for the daporta button and a built-in virtual router. An accessory can allow the door button on any version of the appliance to have a built-in virtual router to handle communication with any combination of LED and LCD, without additional software architecture.

For another example, assume an appliance with three controller circuit boards, each having a feature. If a manufacturer thought of saving costs by combining two features on a single board, any cost savings would have to be adjusted for the added cost of reconfiguring the software architecture on the third board. A software architecture with a built-in virtual router according to the invention will allow such a change without the need to reconfigure the software architecture.

Figure 33 illustrates the process for creating the mainframes 974 of the embedded virtual router 970 (see figure 30). The three main structures 974 comprise a capability table, a dependency table, and a routing table. Each software module operating across the home appliance network or between home appliances and accessories contains its own capacity and dependency information. The compiler preprocessor runs a set of EVR constructor macros at compile time to create a capability table and dependency table (which may be in composite form) for the downloadable software image. Description Discovery completes the process by popularizing the routing table. Although figure 32 shows the creation of the dependency and capacity table for compilation, all can be created at run time. Routing tables simply tell the application layer how to "reach" other software specified in its dependency list. Routing tables are populated based on a first set of software modules stating a set of "needs" in the dependency table and a second set of software modules stating a set of "must" on the capacity table. For "needs", the implementer specifies which software modules (classes) are required by this software module. For the "have to", the implementer specifies which software modules (classes) are available.

Figure 33 illustrates how the embedded virtual router 970 can allow different hardware components 916, 916 ', 916 "to be virally chained together. This virtual chaining allows messages to be sent from a first application logic 959 hardware component 916 for third party application logic 959 "hardware component 916" without the first hardware component 916 having to know anything about the route a message will take to use the 974 structures contained in each embedded virtual router 970 of the component. Each 916, 916 ', 916 "hardware component includes at least one arbitrary software component, for example, the 1060 software components (see Figure 8). Each 916, 916', 916" hardware component also includes a SA 1016 controller and a WIDE 1064 controller (see Figure 8). Network 914 connects the first hardware component 916 with the second hardware component 916 ', and network 914', which is a different network from network 914, connects the second hardware component 916 'with the third hardware component. 916 ". Routing tables comprising information about the structures contained in memory of the first hardware component 916 and the second hardware component 916 'of Fig. 32 are used to encapsulate the full route from the first hardware component 916 to third hardware component 916 ". This allows a message to be sent from the first hardware component 916 to the third hardware component 916 "without the first hardware component 916 having knowledge of the route between the second hardware component 916 'and the third hardware component 916". The message may be propagated so that a first message is sent from the first hardware component 916 to the second hardware component 916 'while a second message is sent from the second hardware component 916' to the third hardware component 916 "

Thus, the routing information required to route the message from the first hardware component 916 to the third hardware component 916 "is contained in part within each between the first and second messages.

Figure 34 exemplifies the relationships between structural components within a home appliance control system. The appliance has at least one control board which is well known in the art. The control board has at least one processor capable of running software (sometimes also known as physically recorded software "firmware") and controlling some part of the appliance control system apparatus. Control is defined as changing the state of one of the hardware components with which the processor is connected. For example, a valve may be changed from a closed state to an open state. This represents control of the valve by the processor. The processor can make this state change by changing the state of one of its IO Pins that is in effective communication with the hardware component or by changing a network message where the network is in effective communication with the hardware component. Effective communication refers to the ability to send and receive messages with meaningful information without defining the exact device by which communication is obtained. The software a processor runs can be broken into several arbitrary software components. This separation has several advantages. These include: manageability, readability, portability, reusability, etc. It is well known in the software design technique to divide software into modules or components for these reasons.

The invention introduces new components for the appliance control system that will enable the appliance control system to be effectively constructed from components that can be reused and to be dynamically configured by various configuration mechanisms. Additionally, the invention will grant the benefit of reusability and configurability.

Reuse

It is known in the art that object-oriented techniques move and enable software reuse. A first component allowing reuse is the class library. The class library contains several class definitions. A class definition comprises an interface with multiple method definitions and multiple field definitions.

Field definitions are variables with names that have a known data type. The value of a field definition must be a value corresponding to the field data type. Example: The field χ is an unsigned integer. The value of χ can be a number within the range from 0 to 65535. Field definitions also have a data type matching the other class definition.

A method definition is a function with a name and description, a return value, and a set of arguments. Each argument of the method may also have a name and a description. Each argument can also have a data type and a set of valid values. The data type can also be a class definition.

Each method definition additionally comprises executable software that can use the arguments in conjunction with the executable software, so that the executable software returns a result and / or performs the behavior corresponding to the logic of the executable software and the argument values received in the argument set. . A method definition may further comprise invocations with respect to other method definitions of its owning class or with respect to method definitions for which it has visibility. The approach to gaining visibility to other methods of classes is known in the art. Return values from other method definitions can be used by the first method executable software to influence the method return value or to influence the behavior of the executable software logic.

Preferably, a class definition is confined to a single logical purpose for which the various methods contribute to its qualification. A class library may be governed independently of the Appliance Control System to which it is applied. The Class Library includes employment, documentation, development, testing, problem fixes, revision control, and the like.

Class definitions become executable in two ways. The first way is via a method known as static. When a class is running statically, all class method executions are occurring within the same processor memory. This means that if there are two executions occurring simultaneously, the methods of the class must be designed so that any state information used within the execution and stored in memory for a first execution is expected against inadvertent use by a second execution. .

Two factors giving rise to the second mode are these 1) It is advantageous that the methods store state information in memory for later use and 2) to enable 1) it is required to index this state information for a particular execution or execution context. , so that when there are multiple executions or execution contexts, the method can retrieve the appropriate state information.

Therefore, the second way in which a class definition is executable is by instantiating a class into an object, thereby creating the mechanisms for assigning an instance of a class to a particular execution or execution context. Instantiation refers to the allocation and assignment of sufficient memory to maintain a single collection of information associated with a single object instance and defined by the field definition and class definition method definitions.

Instantiation is the mechanism that allows a class's state information and references to other objects to be encapsulated together and associated with a particular execution or execution context and to expose this instantiated memory to other objects via some kind of memory boundary or unique identifier.

An object has the ability to store information associated with its execution context and its fields. When an object has a field with a data type that corresponds to a class, the field value may be an object. In this way, objects can be composed of their own data fields and methods, and various other objects.

Dynamic Configuration

As stated earlier, objects can be composed of various other objects according to the object's field definitions. If an object comprises a method that has executable software for setting the value of a defined field to hold an object, then that object can be reconfigured by changing the value of the field from a first object to a second object. This reconfiguration may then result in behavior that is different from the composite home appliance control system or as a whole. There are several useful purposes for a home appliance control system whose behavior can be changed by changing the values in a first object field to a third object from a second object. For example, a cycle accessory could use this technique to change a decycle structure. Similarly, both a consumer reader and an optical cookbook pen could use these techniques to customize the behavior of the home appliance control system according to cycle data, with data about a consumer article. consumption, and the like.

There are several mechanisms that can initiate and manage the dynamic configuration of a home appliance control system. However, these mechanisms (see figure 34) will need a common design structure with which to perform dynamic configuration. In addition, some parts of the dynamic configuration may be performed during the compilation process while other parts may be performed at a time after compilation (also known as a runtime).

Figure 5 illustrates at least two communications embodiments controlling the operation of an appliance according to the invention by information related to a loop structure 71. Here, loop structure 71 (a) represents changes to communicated to cycle mechanism 73 (for example, a new cycle structure or modifications to an existing cycle structure) or information about a cycle structure 71, and cycle structure 71 (b) represents a cycle structure after a change by loop mechanism 73. Message exchange (1) by communicating a loop structure 71 (a) to loop architecture 69 allows loop mechanism 73 to discover information related to a loop structure 71, data about a loop structure 71, or a loop structure 71 (b) to be created or modified. Cycle mechanism 73 continues to construct a new or modified cycle structure 71 (b) in (2). Optionally, all messages may be prorated via a built-in virtual router in (3), resulting in the looping mechanism 73 using its own configuration API to construct the new or modified looping structure 71 (b). Likewise, execution by cycle mechanism 73 to create or modify cycle structure 71 (b) can be performed via an EVR.

Alternatively, any customer having an arbitrary software component, such as a customer 40 in the consumer article holder 16, can find or discover the loop structure or data about a loop structure 71 in (4). Then, the arbitrary software component may construct a new or modified loop structure in conjunction with loop mechanism 73 configured to receive the configuration messages as in (5).

Thus, it is seen that the creator of a new or modified cycle structure 71 is the cycle engine 73 or an arbitrary software component in communication with the cycle architecture 69. The arbitrary software component may reside in various locations with respect to the controller. 68 understanding cycle architecture 69. See the discussion below with respect to Figure 7. Accordingly, all messages between the arbitrary software component and cycle architecture 69 can be optionally prorated via an EVR1 as in ( 6). Likewise, the 69 cycle architecture can optionally communicate with an appliance control system via an EVR.

Using the above-mentioned cycle engine architecture 69, an operating cycle accessory can be added to a home appliance network, discover the cycle architecture 69, and send to the same configuration message to affect its structure and ultimately its execution. In this case, the operating cycle fixture would typically include a combination of software and data to configure cycle architecture 69. Alternatively, the above-mentioned cycle architecture may send a discovery message seeking identification of all the sources of the cycle structure. Cycle frame sources can be in a ROM, Flash, EE Prom, a cycle operation component, and / or an external source connected via a different control network (see, for example, Figure 7). Once cycle structures 71 (a) are located and recovered, cycle mechanism 73 may begin to modify its own cycle structures 71 (b) according to the data of the new cycle structure.

In another embodiment of a loop architecture 69, a first portion of loop structure 71 (a) is compiled and a second portion becomes available at run time. The second part may include various cycle structure data, either directly or indirectly, which may be combined with the first part so that the cycle engine 73 operates to aggregate the first and second parts for new operating cycle execution software. The second part may represent differences in the first part where differences may be additions, withdrawals, or modifications to the elements, their relative orders, or their relative relationships within the cycle structure. The cycle mechanism 73 could appropriately apply the differences represented in the second part by examining the element identifiers of the first part of the cycle structure71 (a) and the element identifiers of the second part of the decycle structure 71 (a). The advantage of this embodiment of a loop architecture 69 is that changes to the aggregate loop structure can be made while retaining the first part so that corruption or subsequent absences of the second part would not affect the integrity of the first part, thus allowing software reverse cycle run to the preset compiled state as can be provided in the factory. A second advantage of this embodiment is that specialized variants of the first part may be designed which may accommodate the restrictions presented by the household electrode process control apparatus 14 and more specifically, the controllers 68, as limited in memory, and also provide ability to receive and adapt to a second part, providing flexibility and configurability within the constraints of the cost of specialized variants. For appliances, this may be an important requirement in some cases.

Alternatively, when a duty cycle attachment is disconnected from the cycle mechanism 73, data from the second part may optionally be removed by the cycle mechanism 73, causing a revert to the pre-set factory state. This is a form of anti-piracy protection by the fact that the duty cycle accessory must be present for the additional functionality represented by the accessory available for the appliance. Optionally, the connection between the appliance and the duty cycle accessory may include a transfer from the first part to a memory in the appliance. In this case, additional duty cycles may be retained without the permanent presence of the duty cycle accessory. It should also be noted that an duty cycle accessory may be virtual because the software and data, and the ability to communicate with the cycle engine, may reside on an external device connected to the cycle engine via at least one network. and not physically connected with the appliance containing 12.

It is to be noted that a duty cycle component60 may have elements other than the duty cycles or the constituent parts and compiled parts mentioned above. For example, operating cycle component 60 may include software code to configure a cycle mechanism 73 for communication and other functions or code to put the software architecture in an alternate mode for the purpose of diagnostics or memory alteration.

A home appliance operating cycle performed by the appliance process control apparatus 14 can be optimized by the information associated with the consumables 24 for which the appliance process control apparatus is operating. For example, loop structure 71 could be constructed specifically to accommodate some properties or attributes of consumer article 24 or to accommodate some properties or attributes of consumer article support 16. Body or bodies comprising information, functionality identifiers, properties, attributes, and property and attribute values related to consumer articles 24 may be referred to as sources of information about a consumer article or about "consumer article information carriers". Examples of consumable information carriers include the consumable itself, a data capsule, consumable holder 16, a user interface, and a marker. The consumer article holder may be a perceptual consumption article holder which may use, for example, a cap sensor to perceive attributes about the consumer article contained therein. These attributes could then be used by the electronics 30 to further refine the operation of the consumer article holder. For example, if the consumable holder were to dispense 0.057 kg (2 ounces), a lid with a quantity sensor could be configured with an analog circuit coupled with the electronics 30 to provide level or volume feedback, so that electronic components 30 can dispense exactly 0.057 kg (2 ounces) instead of a time-based approximation.

Information associated with a consumable article may include the amount and / or composition, or other attributes that would characterize the utility magnitude of the consumable article. In this case, the decycle architecture 69 may adapt based on information. For example, if consumption article 24 was the dishwasher rinse and the consumer article holder had only 90% of the standard dose, decycle architecture 69 could adapt to this condition by increasing the rinsing phase time to compensate for this. the lack of the rinse additive. Information associated with a consumable item may also include parameters of a duty cycle such as a user's personal preferences (eg, cooking level and friability preferences), and data on consumable holder 16. , about the appliance 12 or about other accessories or components thereof.

In an example of laundry, appliance pressure control apparatus 14 may provide information for cycle architecture 69 about process variables such as dirt level, load size, type of dirt, etc. Based on this information associated with a consumer article, including process variable information, cycle architecture 69 or an arbitrary software component in conjunction with a cycle mechanism 73 may reconfigure cycle structure 71 to adapt the process variable information. Consumption article support 16 may comprise the arbitrary software component and may be able to reconfigure loop structure 71 to fit the process variable information. As shown in figure 5, reconfiguration can be performed in at least two ways. In one mode, the arbitrary software component may read loop structure 71 and communicate with loop mechanism 73. In a second mode, the arbitrary software component may be pre-configured and communicate this configuration or instruct loop mechanism 73 about the configuration.

An example of commands associated with the duty cycle is a collection of key value pairs. The keys comprise parameter names having a meaning, where the meaning is known by the cycle mechanism 73 so that values associated with the same keys are associated with the meanings. This allows values to be used in the context of meanings to modify and / or control the cycle of appliance operation.

Another example of commands associated with the duty cycle is a byte array, representing a message packet for a network. In one embodiment of this example, the byte array could be arranged according to the packet definition described in W02006135726, comprising a functional identifier, an Op1 code and a payload, where the identifier and op code relate to an executable function or method. implemented by the cycle engine and / or the cycle engine API. Additionally, the arguments or parameters of the function or method correspond to the data elements contained in the message package payload.

The consumer article holder 16, therefore, may contain all functionality of the embodiments and participate in all embodiments that an operating cycle accessory in communication with a household electrode 12 having a cycle architecture 69 may. Therefore, in one embodiment, a consumer article holder 16 is an operation-cycle accessory which additionally and physically contains and may additionally be able to directly actuate the introduction of a consumer article 24 into an appliance 12.

Consumer Article Reader

Looking again at Figure 1, a consumer article reader, as represented at 22, is any device capable of retrieving data or information associated with a consumer article 24 directly from a consumer article information medium (vi-de). discussion below) and exchange data with respect to the information sent and received. A consumer article reader 22 may inform memory in the consumer article holder 16 about the type of detainee being held therein, for example. The use of this information could affect the operation of customer software maintained on the optional customer's consumable support 40. Illustrative effects could dispense with the quantities, frequency, or time as controlled by the customer's optional software in communication with the customer. process control apparatus28 (having at least one actuator to control dispensing) of the consumable holder. Other illustrative effects include communications between optional client 40 and appliance controller 68 that could affect the structure and execution of cycle architecture 69. See the previous discussion on operating cycles. Optional customer 40 will typically comprise electronic components including a processor capable of communicating with the communication control nodes within the process control apparatus of appliance 14 and with process control apparatus 28 in consumable holder 16. Optional customer In some cases it may be an arbitrary software component (as shown in Figure 5) in communication with a consumer article reader.

Information associated with a consumable item, such as an operating cycle, a cycle structure, data about a cycle structure, data that can be created or interpreted to create a cycle structure, directions of use, cooking instructions, preparation instructions, dosage information, nutritional information, promotion, and sales information, replenishment information, replenishment offers, replenishment reminders, user interface images and messages, and instructions washing / drying agents may persist, for example, within the consumable itself, in the consumable packaging, or in ancillary materials such as user manuals and performance markers provided with the consumable. .

Consumable reader 22 is a component that can accept the information associated with the consumable and transmit it anywhere, such as to appliance controller 68. Consumable reader 22 can be a device integrated with the household appliance 12 or the consumable holder 16, or a separate device that can be attached by either a wired connection or a wired connection to the appliance or the holder -go consumption for communication. Examples of consumer article readers include, but are not limited to, barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID) markers, imaging systems, cameras, intelligent vision systems. , devices capable of communication using NFC (short-distance field communication), and magnetic stripe readers, which are allowed to transmit and receive data.

In another embodiment, an external device such as a telephone, PDA, computer, camera, and any external client 1004/1002 allowed to read and decode information from the consumer article and communicate the information to a home appliance is an example of a reader. consumer article producer. In this embodiment, the device could communicate the information directly if the device were communicating with the home appliance network 1030 or the device could communicate the information using messages propagated on other networks, such as 1052, 1070, or 1050.

Consumer article reader 22 communicates information associated with consumer article 24 to the appliance 12, so that the appliance can optimize its performance relative to the consumer article. An example of employing the consumer article 24 and the consumer article reader 22 is provided in the schematic illustration of figure 6. In this example, a food provider 70 determines the annealing instructions (a loop structure 71) for a consumable 24 in the form of a frozen food 71 and encodes the package, which is a consumable carrier. 16 for consumable item 72 with the cooking instructions. A user may place a consumer article holder 16 next to the appliance 12, which in this case is an oven, and a consumer appliance reader 22 of the appliance 12 reads encoded decycle structure 71 (cooking instructions) from the consumption article holder 16 and communicates the cycle structure directly to the home appliance 12. The cycle architecture 69 on the home appliance 12 can then execute the cycle structure 71 to prepare frozen food directly or create a new or modify a structure cycle on household electrode 12 without the need for additional information from another source and without the need for reference tables related to the consumer article. The information associated with the consumable item can be executed immediately.

The example mentioned above should not be limited to a food provider. Any consumer article provider with a creative tool should be allowed to develop information about a consumer article, preferably in a form appropriate for creating an optimal cycle structure and user interaction with the user interface of the appliance. , and encode the information for the consumer article or consumer article holder so that when the consumer article is introduced into the environment of use, the ideal cycle structure and the ideal user interaction can be created within the product. 69 deciclo architecture so that the user will have an ideal experience. One authoring tool comprises a computer with appropriate software, a driver 1016, a home appliance with 1018 software architecture, a reconnecting computer with the home appliance for communication, and a data storage for storing information about an article. Preferred consumption comprising information about a cycle structure and information for use in relation to a user interface and preferably with at least one identifier identifying at least one appliance.

It is contemplated that information associated with consumer articles will be available from a data source containing or may acquire information associated with consumer articles. The information may include at least one cycle structure corresponding to a preferred operation cycle for the consumer article 24. In the case of a food item, the cycle structure 71 may be used to make a complete cooking cycle definition for the item. food In this embodiment, the baking appliance 12 may comprise at least one instance of the cycle architecture 69, so that the introduction of the looping structure 71 near the baking appliance 12 results in the creation or modification of a structure. 71, and the beginning of a preferred operating cycle corresponding to the particular combination of food item 24, cooking appliance 12, and other attributes such as the geographical location of cooking appliance 12 and its altitude. The food supplier or any consumer or article article provider may also encode cycle information by understanding a sound, graphics, ringing tones, or other information that may be licensed by enabling the cycle architecture 69 to produce the information. which may be visually or audibly licensed under the name of the food or consumer article provider.

It will be appreciated that information associated with consumer articles may comprise data about a consumer article, such as identifiers of features, properties, attributes, and property and attribute values that describe or characterize something about an article. 24 or about its consumable support 16. Data about a consumable can manifest itself in any type of data structure appropriate for useful storage and retrieval. Examples of appropriate data structures are key-value pairs. , XML, relational data tables, comma separated variable files, byte arrays, data packets, command objects, serialized objects, messages, and the like. Data about a consumer article may reside entirely within or within sources of information about a consumer article or consumer article support, as will be discussed in more detail going forward. Alternatively, data on a consumer article may be created by a second arbitrary software component using a combination of a loop structure 71 with information associated with the consumer articles. In any case, data about a consumable item are constructed from information associated with the consumable item or the retrieved consumable media from a source of information about a consumable item or support from it. consumer article.

Information associated with consumables may also comprise user preferences to further refine the creation or modification of cycle structure 71 to match the preference of the baking appliance 12 user. Consumable item 24 and / or consumable holder 16 may also It may be allowed to identify the appliance 12 and provide a specific operating cycle of the appliance. One way of implementing this is the consumable 24 and / or the consumable holder 16 having operation cycles corresponding to a particular appliance or appliance class 12.The appliance 12 in which the consumable 24 and / or the consumer article holder 16 is used identifies and implements the relevant operation cycle. Another way of implementation is for the consumable article 24 and / or the consumable article holder 16 has an identifier, and the appliance 12 has stored or accesses a database or operating cycle table for different consumable articles 24 and / or consumer article holders 16. Appliance 12 obtains the identifier of the consumable item and searches for the corresponding duty cycle for the consumable item.

Information associated with consumables may be in any appropriate form. In one embodiment, the information may be a communication packet that may be directly transmitted to the software architecture 1018, thereby eliminating the need for central storage of consumer article data. In another embodiment, the information may be a key that may be used to direct the appliance 12 to the stored data of the consumer articles.

Consumables 24 may be supplied by a third party provider, such as frozen ready-to-eat foods and washing additives for laundry appliances and / or low-pressure washers, or provided by the user. Leftover food and cooked and uncooked prepared foods are examples of consumer goods which may be provided by the user. Leftovers and prepared foods may be placed in a storage container (consumer article holder 16) encoded with information relating to leftovers and prepared foods. For example, the information may include reheat or cooking instructions and an expiration date (that is, disposal date). When information includes the expiration date, the appliance 12, such as a microwave oven or oven, may refuse to reheat or cook the food if the current date has passed the expiration date. Optionally, the appliance 12 may be configured to receive an overlay command from the user when the user wants to reheat or cook the food regardless of the expiration date.

Any suitable material may be used to encode the information, and examples include, but are not limited to, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, pots, pans, microwave containers, container covers, and an adhesive or magnetic stripe. that can be placed in the storage container. The information can be configured by the person who originally prepared the leftovers and the prepared and coded foods using any suitable device such as a personal computer, a magnetic stripe recorder, or a portable coding device. With this configuration, the user can configure the information regarding consumable item 24 as desired. In this way, the consumer article holder 16 facilitates the acquisition of data associated with the consumer articles 24 from a data source.

Taxonomy

A taxonomy architecture is employed to prevent duplication of software logic (sometimes referred to as business logic) between two software components interacting on a control device and a controlled appliance. It is beneficial when the control device is a consumer article holder. In particular, the taxonomy allows a command generator in a control device to readily control an appliance without any information about the household electrical being controlled except the control taxonomy itself. This can increase the flexibility of introducing "generic" control devices to control new appliances, adapting control devices to more recently available cycles or features that have been added to a appliance, and switching appliances between modes of operation, where different cycles of operation. operation or features are available. This also makes controlling appliances easier for users, as long as they only need to be presented for the choices that are currently available from the appliance.

An efficiently structured taxonomy data set can communicate to the control device, for example, a consumable item holder, only this information that the control device needs in order to generate a well-formed command for the home appliance or to another device such as a user interface. As used herein, a well-formed command is a command that has meaning and can be performed by the appliance or other device, such as a user interface. The information carried by the dataset includes a hierarchy of options and data entries required to form the well-formed command. In one embodiment, it also includes semantics or contextual information for communicating word or iconic form options available, so that a user can understand available choices and inform appropriate data. This is preferably accomplished by labels within the dataset that are associated with non-user friendly identification elements. This allows the logic of the software components to interpret and process the Taxonomy to be separated from the Taxonomy presentation in a user interface.

Referring now to Figure 23, generally, the appliance12 being controlled has a software component 816B having an appliance controller and a condition generator. The 816, 822 control device (for example, the consumable holder, the consumable reader, or other customer) used to control the appliance has an 816B software component with a command generator, a selection builder. and a condition interpreter. The 816, 822 control device can be a programmable user interface, such as a PDA, network graphics tablet, a mobile phone, an LCD that connects it to the appliance or a customer device.

The taxonomy architecture presented on the 816 appliance controller and logic can be arranged in a remote location such as a control device or the Internet. The taxonomy architecture includes a taxonomy generator, a taxonomy engine, a taxonomy translator, and a taxonomy framework. The taxonomy architecture generates a taxonomy data set defining taxonomy capabilities facilitating the creation by software component 1 816B of well-formed commands that can be executed by the software component 816B. Each of these components and their interrelationships are described in more detail below.

Taxonomy Dataset Creation

The taxonomy data set is derived from the operating capabilities of the appliance controller 816 structured in such a way as to enable the command generator in the software component 1 to interpret the data set to achieve various results. More particularly, from time to time, the taxonomy engine uses the taxonomy framework and state science information to generate a set of taxonomy data that reflects the subset of the command options universe that would be available from a household electrode for these. which are currently available from the household electrode.

For example, the taxonomy data set describes the available functions supported by a 16B software component, each function argument, and the valid values for each argument in a data structure. In addition, the taxonomy data set defines the valid values of the feedback variables. Since this is a data structure, it can be transmitted and relayed to clients 816 or 822 as required. Changes to the taxonomy dataset occur as the duty cycle progresses and the available commands or valid values of their arguments change. In addition, additional commands may become available or may become invalid as an operating cycle progresses.

More particularly, the selection builder registers with the taxonomy manager to receive notifications regarding new taxonomy mechanisms. In response, the taxonomy manager passes references to all known taxonomy mechanisms back to the selection builder. The selection builder then requests from each taxonomy engine a data set of taxonomy capabilities. The taxonomy engine evaluates a taxonomy structure comprised by the software component controller 2 logic or alternatively a document to generate a taxonomy capability data set. The selection builder then populates a set of pseudo command structures appropriate for an application endpoint (examples of application endpoints are user interfaces to control or serve or otherwise intermediate application layers, such as a power controller or home automation mode, such as on vacation or overnight) and passes these structures to the application endpoint, allowing the application endpoint to be configured. Alternatively, the selection builder can directly configure the application endpoint.

Data Set Communication and Usage

When a control device is networked with the home appliance, the taxonomy manager establishes a relationship between the software component 1 and the taxonomy architecture allowing the command generator to query for taxonomy data sets, providing the software component 1 access to a taxonomy set, and allowing the command generator and condition interpreter to subscribe to taxonomy data set updates. The taxonomy translator is an optional component that translates taxonomy data sets between software components 1 and 2.

The taxonomy data set is communicated to the software component 2 controller and software component selection builder 1. Optionally, the taxonomy translator translates the taxonomy data set for a different schematic definition of the generator of command.

The command generator uses the taxonomy dataset to construct and populate a set of command structures available for selection by a user interface or other client applications comprising a valid command set, its valid arguments, and each of the following. valid values of the arguments. More particularly, the command generator uses the taxonomy data set to construct one or more well-formed commands which can then be transmitted to the controller. As long as the taxonomy data set can be restarted and sent at different times by the taxonomy mechanism, or the data set can be updated by revisions from the taxonomy mechanism, the command generator can have a current set of command structures then available. for selection by a user interface or other client application.

Thus, in essence, through the use of the taxonomy architecture, software component 2 or its intermediary (the taxonomy translator) communicates to software component 1 a set of rules that can be interpreted by software component 1. so that software component 1 does not require anything from software component 2 that software component 2 cannot accommodate and does not operate against a state variable that is set to an invalid value.

Before the application endpoint is able to begin execution, it will request or register for condition updates with a Condition Interpreter. This will allow the application endpoint to be populated with valid state variables from the controller before the logic is executed and before the user interface components are produced. The condition interpreter will process condition data sets correctly taxonomically and validate these data sets against the taxonomy capabilities data set. The condition interpreter requests or registers for condition updates from the software component condition generator 2 through the taxonomy mechanism. Upon receiving a correct formattaxonomic condition, the condition interpreter will provide new condition values for the endpoint of application.

The application endpoint executes resulting in the production of the current condition of software component 2 and the production of selectable pseudo command structure. Each time a selection is made from the pseudo-command structure, the selection builder populates a set of valid subcommands appropriate for selection for additional selection by the application endpoint. When a complete selection is made, a structure containing all pseudocommands is passed to the command generator.

The command generator will construct a well-formed command taxonomically correct and optionally via the taxonomy translator invoke the command relative to the software component controller 2 via the taxonomy engine.

Execution

The well-formed command is released to the appliance controller and executed by the appliance.

Typically, the command will result in a state change for the associated memory of software component 2 that will trigger a condition update created by the condition generator and result in new state outputs for the application endpoint. This change in state will result in a new capacity taxonomy or partial capacity taxonomy that may replace parts of the original capacity taxonomy. The new capability taxonomy resulting in a different set of valid selections to control software component 2 operation cycles.

Validation

The condition interpreter uses the taxonomy data set to validate condition updates from the taxonomy controller or controller. The data set contains structured information in such a way as to allow the controller to fully validate incoming commands according to the additional logicless structure outside the data set. For example, the data set may be conceptually thought of as one or several decision trees, with each taxonomy level forming a different decision branch, with each option and / or data entry forming a different level. User interface keystrokes required to select the option and / or data entries when forming the well-formed command can be compared with the decision tree to confirm that the keystroke is found within a common branch. in the tree of decision-making. If keystrokes are not found, then this is an indication that the command contains an error. The taxonomy framework thus serves to populate the user interface with options and data inputs available for a given appliance state and also serve as the logic for validating the resulting command.

The taxonomy dataset can be thought of as all the options and parameters available for an appliance in the current state. For example, the appliance comprises multiple components interconnected by the internal network. Each of the components may have one or more devices. Each device has one or more features, which have one or more settings. All features for all devices will not necessarily be available during each state of the appliance. As such, the taxonomy data set will comprise all options and data inputs for all devices that are currently available. Consider a top-level microwave oven featuring COOK, FAST FREEZE, POTATO options. BAKING, STEAM COOKING, AUTOMATIC HEATING AND DINING PLATE, as illustrative examples. The user must select one of the options from the top level.

A detailed example of creating the tap dataset and well-formed command should prove useful. The creation of the taxonomy data set for the multi-cooking microwave was built by the visual configuration utility (see figure 27) from the taxonomy data set as illustrated in XML as the follow:

<device id = "microwave" IabeI = nMicrowave Oven "> <device id =" ovenCavity "IabeI = nMicrowave Oven"> <char name = "cycle" IabeI = uCycIe "default =" timedCook "> <setting name =" timedCook " IabeI = nCOOK "/> <char name =" turntable "label =" Turntable "default =" on "> <setting name =" on "IabeI = ON" /> <setting name = "off 'IabeI = nOFF" /> </char>

<range name = "duration" label = "Duration" default = "30" units = "seconds"

max = "6039" min = "60" inc = "1" />

<range name = "power" label = "Power Took" default = "100" units = "%"

max = "100" min = "50" inc = "10" /> </setting>

<setting name = "jetdefrost" IabeI = nJet Defrost "/> <char name = foodType Iabel =" Food Type "/> <setting name =" poultry "IabeI = nPOULTRYn /> <setting name =" meat "label =" MEAT "/> <setting name =" fish "IabeI = nFISH" /> </char> </setting>

III

etc </char> </device>

</device>

If the microwave user chooses to cook for 30 seconds at 90% horsepower with the Turntable enabled, a well-informed command of the taxonomy dataset would be transmitted optionally to the Taxonomy Translator and Taxonomy. The command would be in the form:

<command id = "microwave"> <device id = "ovenCavity"> <sequence> <step id = "21">

<char name = "cycle" setting = "bake" /> <char name = "power" setting = "90" /> <char name = "duration" setting = "30" /> <char name = "turntable" setting = "on" /> </step> <step id = "22">

<char name = "power" setting = "70" />

<char name = "duration" setting = "40" />

<char name = "turntable" setting = "off '/>

</step>

</sequence>

</device>

</command>

The taxonomy engine would then traverse the taxonomy framework to transform the well-formed command of the detoxonomy data set into a well-formed command of the software component 2 controller of a 828 package structure. The taxonomy structure is a superset of the taxonomy capabilities data. For each command element that can be specified above (for example, cycle, power, duration, and turntable), an additional collection of keywords and values required to form payload 828A would be associated within the taxonomy structure. These keywords would include the API ID, Op Code, and Position index within payload 828A where the position index could be either a byte offset or a bit offset.

The taxonomy dataset could be constructed to represent the universe of possible commands from the software architecture APIs 10 providing useful functionality for a service, factory, or laboratory engineer or technician.

It will be understood that the structure illustrated in Fig. 23 is more conceptual than physical. Figures 24 and 25 show embodiments of the taxonomy architecture of figure 23, separated according to the physical architecture of an appliance or network of appliances.

Software components 1 (816B in Fig. 23) are represented as being within a remote client 822, such as a remote controller with a user interface. As a result, subcomponents of software component 1 816B (the selection builder, command generator, and status interpreter) are specialized for this user interface application. Fig. 24 shows the software component 1 in such a user interface device, identified herein as a "thick client". A fat client would be able to parse a data structure such as an XML document, interpret its meaning, and implement the "Select Builder" functionality. Software component 2 and the taxonomy architecture reside in the home appliance 12.

Figure 25 represents a second embodiment of the taxonomy control architecture where all components are enclosed within a home appliance 12. In the structure of Figure 25, the architecture of taxonomy uses a taxonomy translator (not necessary in the embodiment of Figure 24 ), thereby producing the software component condition interpreter 1 for the reduced functionality of an input handler. The Ul board in this case comprises a "a" side and a "b" side, each with its own processor. Both sides are connected to each other, preferably by serial communication "c". The Ul plate is connected by another 814 connection with a CCU with software component 2, where the 814 connection may be the same type as the "c" connection, or it may be different. The "a" side is preferably an LCD controller that exposes a low level API, and lacks all the capabilities of a fat client. As a result, side "a" may be referred to as a "thin" client. Side "b" comprises the taxonomy architecture and software component 1.

Fig. 26 is a more general block diagram of the architecture of Fig. 23 with the elements rearranged for clarity and to present a less specialized configuration. In Fig. 26a, it can be seen that the taxonomy mechanism comprises a detaxonomy controller, a model, and a collection of operators. The taxonomy controller is aware of the state of the components it is controlling, and is responsible for retrieving from the appropriate state taxonomy model taxonomy structure and informing the detaxonomy mechanism of the change. This action provides an event for the appropriate taxonomy operator to examine the new taxonomy model and generate a new taxonomy capability data set. The taxonomy mechanism then publishes the new capabilities to the taxonomy manager, which then distributes the new information to the appropriate translators or other software components they have registered for notification.

It will be apparent from Fig. 26 that the selection builder, condition interpreter, and command generator found in software component 1 of Fig. 23 are now the taxonomy translator. Taxonomy Translator 2 comprises selection constructor 2 and is responsible for converting taxonomy data sets to software component specific interfaces. Therefore, in this example, software components are not understood with the functionality of interpretation or generation of taxonomy data sets. Instead, they are comprised of manipulation inputs from the translator and outputs sent to the translator.

It is contemplated that a taxonomy architecture, across multiple translators, can simultaneously connect with software components similar to the software component 1 of figure 23 and the software component 2 of figure 26.

Turning now to Figure 27, it is generally known that complex data structures have enormous advantages because they can be easily varied and reused with a single compiled font. But this complexity can be problematic in understanding, decrypting, solving problems, debugging, explaining, and generally managing. Object-oriented languages provide some level of complexity-learning with respect to non-object-oriented languages, such as C. Similarly, XML data structures are readable by humans, in contrast to byte arrays, and therefore they can eliminate complexity. However, it is usually prohibitively expensive to implement technology such as XML or Java on most household appliances. The invention offers a visual configuration utility that simplifies the manipulation of complex data structures at a much lower cost than known systems.

Following the flow of figure 27, a designer in step 1 starts the visual configuration utility. A designer can be someone who does the product or feature planning role, the user experience, or the user interface design, engineer, or anyone with a need to retrieve value for the information or provide value for the information it contains. by an instance of a configuration held within the memory of the visual configuration utility. In step 2, the designer uses the configuration utility. In this step, the project will load a configuration file from a persistent depot, such as a hard disk drive, database, or network site. Alternatively, this can be verified from a document version control system such as visual source saving.

In step 3, the designer creates a new configuration comprising a taxonomy structure or begins editing an existing configuration comprising a taxonomy structure. The editing process includes steps such as adding new taxonomy elements, deleting taxonomy elements, moving taxonomy elements, or modifying the properties of a taxonomy element. Other substeps of step 3 may include linking the taxonomy elements with either message identifiers or functional identifiers of arbitrary software components whose taxonomy elements relate to or represent. In step 4, the designer will save the taxonomy setting appropriately and notify the appropriate office mates so that if one of the office mates is the appropriate control development engineer, he can immediately acquire the configuration file. saved taxonomy and begin step 5. In step 5, a home appliance control development engineer will generate a software and properly configured software data file so that a compiler can be invoked preferably from Visual Setup Utility, to create an image that can be transferred to a processor for execution. In addition, the controls development engineer will combine the generated software and the software data file with various other arbitrary software components. Preferably, the Visual Configuration Utility can perform this task. In step 6, the home control development engineer will invoke the compiler against the combined file and the compiler will generate a transferable image. In addition, in step 7, the appliance control development engineer will transfer the transferable image to the built-in appliance control processor and test the result. At any stage of the process, the process actor can stop the activities and move to another step by taking appropriate action to mitigate the incomplete step and / or potential reordering of the steps.

Figures 28 and 29 represent an application construct utilizing a proprietary application structure. The visual detaxonomy configurator of figure 28 would be used as a set of rules for developing taxonomy structures. Once the taxonomy structure is visually configured, it can be transformed and exported to a functionally equivalent complex embedded data structure (See step 3 in Figure 27). Notice how the taxonomy structure comprises multiple taxonomy structures, each associated with a single state of the appliance. Examples of single appliance states are found in Figure 7.

Looking more carefully at the example in Figure 28, it can be seen that there is no definition of the wash phase. This is because the wash phase is not a valid feedback until the appliance is in working condition. In figure 29, there is no definition of cycle. This is due to the fact that during operation the cycle setting cannot be changed.

The data structure of Figure 28 and Figure 29 is very powerful and is the heart of the taxonomy architecture. It consists of a tree-aligned element where each tree element has a type where this type tells the taxonomy operators of figure 26 how to properly traverse and extract information from the tree. Attributes must have Matching Active Values that are not Child Values within the various Child Values. Attributes contain several Child Values that represent valid attribute selections. A Value that contains multiple Attributes is a Value that must be further specified because each contained A-tax is defined by its Contained, Active, or Selected value. When a Child Value is selected or active, the observer taxonomy operator if Child Value contains children of Attribute type. If so, the taxonomy operator continues to traverse the tree by repeating the taxonomy operator function at the next level of the tree. The ranges are children of Attributes and are equivalent to the various Values that can be mathematically derived from the values of Min1 Max and Inc.

The information contained in the data structures of figures 28 and 29, therefore, is more useful than one would first realize. For example, taxonomy operators can be recorded to perform various useful functions across various elements of the taxonomy architecture, especially when there is a graphical user interface or external client. A first taxonomy operator could use data structure to determine what content should appear in a user interface. As a user makes selections in the user interface, the first taxonomy operator could re-examine the current active user selections and re-populate the user interface with valid new user selections and valid options for each. A second taxonomy operator could be informed of changes to the state of the appliance. Upon a change to the status of an appliance, the second taxonomy operator could retrieve a new taxonomy capability data set so that the user interface could be re-populated based on new valid selections and / or new valid operators. each. A third taxonomy operator can be configured to receive taxonomically correct inputs and check to see if the input matches a valid well-formed command. The third taxonomy operator would accomplish this by walking through the taxonomy structure in the taxonomy architecture of Figure 26. The third taxonomy operator would evaluate all potential roots of the taxonomy structure and find a corresponding weak identifier in the taxonomically correct input structure. . From the root, the third taxonomy operator would begin to echo below the tree, determining that tree branches continue downwards by finding a matching identifier in the taxonomically correct input structure. When the third taxonomy operator reaches the end of the tree or alternatively exhausts the elements in the taxonomically correct entry structure and has used them all at least once, a valid taxonomically valid entry structure is determined if there are no untold others in relation to the taxonomy. e-Elements in the taxonomically correct input structure and there are no child elements remaining untracked in the data structure of the taxonomy. This third operation is the equivalent of the portable-based business logic allowing the thin client 22 of FIG. 24 to be completely devoid of any logic associated with the operation of the home appliance. The benefit of this is that user interfaces and all properly communicating external clients and taxonomy dataset interpretation operators can be developed with only knowledge of how to interoperate with the taxonomy datasets, and therefore they may be devoid of all the connected device knowledge with which they are in operable communication.

With additional consideration to a consumer article holder introduced to a household appliance having a service interface, the consumer article holder could comprise, in addition to data about a cycle structure and data about itself and data about a consumer article. consumption, a new taxonomy structure representing an incremental change to the home appliance taxonomy structure or reflecting a new network by operating capabilities of the home appliance state and / or consumer article support. Additionally, the incremental change and new network by state operating capabilities could affect the appliance's user interface in response to the new taxonomy capability data set in the user interface. The new taxonomy capability data set is a subset of the new taxonomy framework. Illustrative changes appearing in the user interface include new preset attribute values, new cycles, new options, changes to cycles, changes to options, valid values that can be selected and cannot be selected from them, etc.

Several well-formed commands can be derived from a taxonomy dataset derived from the operating capabilities of an appliance. In this case, the taxonomy structure of figures 27 through 29 could be created by a authoring tool such as a visual configuration utility shown in figures 27 through 29 and provided as a data source for the consumer article provider so that the consumer article provider could extract several well-formed commands for association with the consumer article and / or article so that a consumer article information carrier could provide several well-formed commands for the cycle architecture 69 simultaneously with its introduction. of the environment of use so that the operating cycle of the appliance 12 and the user interaction with the appliance 12 through the user interface as shown in figure 7, item 110, may be affected by the commands.

User interface

Fig. 7 shows a user interface 110 that can be used with the consumable holder 16 according to the invention.

The user interface 110 is a user interface that can communicate with one or more home appliances 12. Preferably, the user interface is a graphical user interface or GUI. The user interface 110 may be integral with a home appliance 12, or the user interface 110 may be remotely positioned from the home appliances 12 as shown in Figure 7. For example, the user interface 110 may be positioned on a central location at home or can be portable within the home. The user interface may provide many, if not all, functions associated with a traditional home appliance user interface 12 and may include additional functionality. The user interface 110 may take any suitable shape, such as a monitor, including a touch panel monitor. Other examples of the 110 user interface may include, but are not limited to, a remote keypad, a telephone, a personal computer, a speech recognition device, a voice generation device, a generation device, and a recognition device. desom, a remote control, a user interface on a home auto-learning system, a one-component user interface other than household appliance components, a television, a device that plays recorded music, a device that plays recorded video, and a digital personal assistant. According to one embodiment, the user interface 110 may be employed in addition to the traditional user interfaces in home appliances associated with remote user interfaces. Alternatively, appliances associated with the user interface 110 do not include a separate user interface that physically resides appliances. Additionally, user interface 110 may be used in conjunction with the above mentioned combination of home / home automation system.

The user interface may be a source of information associated with a consumable item 24, including information about the consumable item or consumable holder 16 or about an article with the capabilities of the consumable holder. . As discussed earlier, the home appliance 12 may include perception, metadata, discovery protocols, databases and the like and any combination thereof and other forms of identifying information associated with a consumer article 24, with an article holder of 16, or with an article with the capabilities of the consumer article holder. The appliance 12 may also allow the user to manually enter information associated with a consumable item 24, including data about a consumable item 24 or a consumable holder 16. In this case, GUIimpele or the user navigates to a screen for entering information about a consumable 24 or about a consumable holder 16 or about an article with the capabilities of the consumable holder. This could be in the form of questions that the user answers. For example, GUI can present users with images of consumables, consumables, cartridges, and similar bulk dispensers and have them selected by the appropriate image. This selection would then be translated into information about a consumer article or about a consumer article holder. In a second example, the GUI would provide a form of pop-up with drop-down boxes, radio buttons, text entry fields and the like so that the user could fully construct and enter information about a consumer article or a consumable support in the GUI.

Information associated with consumables can be displayed in the user interface that is operationally connected with re-de. Additionally, a user interface 110 may send a first network message, resulting in a network message on the send network received by a consumer article carrier 16. The redial message may be the first network message or a second network message in response to the first network message, where the network message may affect the configuration, capability, functionality, or operation of the consumable 16 or appliance 12 support. In an example of information received by a user interface affecting the functionality of In a consumable holder 16 shown in Figure 15, the user enters, in message 8, the chemical option selection and naming 6, the user enters the cycle options. In message 17 and 18, the consumable holder determines the dispensing amount using the chemical option selection. In a second example, an arbitrary software component residing on consumer article support may require user credentials to authenticate the user, whereby authentication may be a prerequisite for enabling consumer article support. In a third example, where a consumer article carrier 16 is also functioning as an intelligent coupler as shown in Fig. 8, 1042, a user interface could receive network configuration information such as a node id. from a user enabling the 1042 smart coupler to participate in the 1070.

A user interface 110 may also perform a role in linking user preference data with data associated with combining operating cycles with appliances so that the user can create or modify operating cycle data, optionally associating the data with at least one appliance, and bind the data to the user's preferred data. An example of user preference data would be a name such as "Mary's Biscuit Recipe", "Sarah's Walnut Stuffed Chocolate Cake", or "Wil-lians Beef Stew". Preference data can be stored and an identifier linking preference data with at least one duty cycle and at least one combination of duty cycle with an associated appliance. Subsequent to storage, the user interface 110 may display the user preference data for selection by a user, or remember the preference data for subsequent use, and deduce the selection of preference data through user recognition.

Additionally, a user interface acting as an external customer 1004, 1002 (see Figure 8) can connect with a consumer article reader and send information about a consumer article to any appliance in a home appliance network, such as See Figure 8 for the purposes previously explained. In this way the cost of the consumer article reader is spread through the household appliances on the network. Alternatively, any appliance with a consumer reader and an optional LCD screen could send consumable information or cycle structure information to other appliances in a home appliance network. Discovery and Propagated messages can be used to associate the appliances in a network with the appliance having a consumer article reader. Similarly, a home appliance with an LCD screen could receive information allowing the association. Thus, a first appliance could send to a second appliance information associated with a consumable item to affect a second appliance operating cycle.

Additionally, a user interface communicating with a source of information about a consumable item, for example, a consumable holder, performance marker, or data capsule, could display messages from the consumable item. . The messages could include warnings such as static warnings included in the source information for a consumer article or dynamic warnings based on other information, such as information about a appliance, information reported by a appliance's operating cycle, a user. a user selection, and the environment of use, or information associated with a consumer article. For example, a warning could be that too much detergent has been introduced into the wash for small-carburetor and delicate fabric cycle selections. This type of warning could be generated by consumable holder or other controllers 68 and displayed on the user interface and sent as a network message to anyone in communication with the consumable holder or the appliance.

The user interface can be configured to produce multimedia information in your information communication to the user. Multimedia information includes different representations of text. Examples of multimedia information include sound clips, dial tones, sounds, images, scenes, graphics, video clips, animations, Office documents, PowerPoint slides, stylized text, bold, size and color, lines, formats, symbols and "clipart".

User Instructions on a cycle structure in a consumable information holder

Consumers want superior performance from their home appliances. Superior performance is often judged according to the condition of the article with respect to which the appliance's operating cycle operates during or after the operating cycle. Home appliance performance, as perceived by the user, can be drastically affected by the steps the user can take to properly prepare the article for the duty cycle, steps the user can take to manipulate the article during the duty cycle, and the steps. that the user can execute once the duty cycle is complete. These steps may include activities associated with any article combination, one or more consumables, one or more appliances, one or more appliance accessories, one or more consumer article holders, and the configuration of one or more arbitrary software components. Examples of preparation steps include dishwashing, stain pretreatment, frozen food defrosting, application of ingredients such as seasoning, oils, or food condiments, making a liquid additive such as a solution to add turkey, boil a pot of water, remove a food item from a package and place it in a microwave glove, mix a new one with the contents of a box, check the stock of necessary ingredients, sort the ingredients, buy ingredients by pressing certain buttons, make a selection in a user interface, reorder items in the appliance, check the appliance and the like. Examples of handling tapes during an operating cycle include removing the appliance from the appliance for stirring, turning, throwing up, applying ingredients such as seasonings, oils or condiments, and the like, adding a consumable article. or ingredient for the appliance, push certain buttons, make a selection in a user interface, reorder items in the appliance, close and open doors or covers, and the like. Examples of steps to perform after the operation cycle is complete include cooling, applying ingredients such as seasonings, oils, coating or seasoning, mixing with other foodstuffs, suspending, hanging on the clothesline, ironing, folding, starting new preparation steps. for another cycle of operation of an appliance for the article, consuming the article, disposing of the article, drying the article, properly storing the article or preserving the article (such as by cooling or freezing inside an appropriate recipient for an appropriate period of time), examine the article, replace the article, replenish the article or purchase a new article, replenish, sort, or purchase the consumables used in connection with the article, subscribe to subscriptions associated with the article or the consumables used in association with the article, push certain buttons, make a selection in a user interface, reorder articles on the o-Household, clean surfaces and the like.

If accurate information could be readily available, it would properly instruct the user on the appropriate preparation, handling and post-handling steps (steps after the operation cycle is complete) for execution according to the article or use by the user. At least one consumer article with one article and could be practically transported to the user, the perceived performance could be dramatically improved.

Today, accurate information, if it exists, must be handled by the user from instructions printed on things such as boxes, bookmarks, books, and the Internet.

A consumer article information carrier associated with any of a consumer article, a consumer article carrier, an article, or an article carrier could comprise data associated with the appropriate steps of preparation, regulation, post-regulation. (steps after the duty cycle is complete) performed according to article or using at least one consumable article with one article. Data could be practically produced in a user interface in communication with the information carrier. of consumer article. A Umartigo could have more than one consumer article information carrier, and multiple articles each having one or more consumer article information carriers can be operated by one household appliance at the same time. A device such as a consumer article reader can perceive the information from the consumer information carriers and produce the information for a user interface. The user interface can be interactive so that the user can be guided through the user interface to perform an ordered collection of steps comprising one or more preparation steps, handling steps, and post manipulation steps. In an interactive user interface, the user can enter data affecting the ordered collection, including recognizing the completion of steps, change steps, actions, and transition conditions in an operation cycle, seeking help, asking questions, and the like.

CredentialsThe 1018 software architecture can be configured so that consumable 24 or consumable support 16 must present electronic credentials (ie authentication) before communicating with the appliance 12. Requiring electronic credentials prevents Unauthorized communication between the consumable 24 or the consumable holder 16 and the appliance 12, thereby avoiding undesirable control of the appliance 12 by the consumable 24 or the carrying of the consumable item 16. Safety techniques described by the embedded WO2006135726, including a firewall, work well for the 1018 software architecture. Other possible communication mechanisms can be used to gain access through a firewall. These may include, but are not limited to, a hardware signal, a sequence of messages, a given signal exchange algorithm, or a standard encryption algorithm. Any standard method of authentication can be used to gain access to communication capabilities as long as it can be verified that a particular consumer article 24 or consumer article support 16 is allowed to gain access.

In addition, the three basic levels of access described for firewall (access, denial, and temporary access) can be expanded as needed to allow different levels of access to different consumer items 24 and consumer article holders 16. Each of these levels of Access can have a unique authentication, such as a unique password, and can be associated with different user roles. Different user roles may include, but are not limited to, a service technician, factory tester, developer, or consumer. Different access levels allow different sets of commands to be executed or arranged by the consumer article 24 or the consumer article support 16. These levels may be temporary and time-limited, or permanent once authentication is completed. successfully.

Firewall implementation may vary as needed. The described implementation uses a protected command table to validate against different customers, including consumer articles 24 and consumable support 16. Any number of data structures can be used to validate a user with the per command. to a firewall access level. In the end, the firewall should only allow command access to the appropriate clients that were successfully attempted.

Smart Couplers

Figure 8 illustrates an appliance 1000 similar to appliance 12 connected to external clients 1002, 1004 and a second appliance 1006, which is also similar to appliance 12, by several networks. A first network 1030 comprises a first internal client1010, a second internal client 1012 and external client 1002. A second network 1050 comprises external client 1004. In addition, a third network 1052 comprises second appliance 1006. Each customer is characterized as a node in its network. Local clients are customers who communicate with nodes on the same network. Remote clients are clients that are not directly attached to the same network as the node to which they are communicating. In this embodiment, the external client 1004 would be a remote client of the nodes in the first network 1030, such as customer 40 in a consumer article carrier 16.

Each client node 1002, 1004, 1010, 1012 comprises a software architecture controller (SA control) 1016 for exchanging messages with any node having a software architecture (SA) 1018, which is similar to the architecture of 1018 software in it. The nodes in any given network are in operable communication with other nodes in this network and are optionally in communication with the nodes present in other networks.

The appliance 1000 additionally comprises at least one node 1020 having the SA in it. The second appliance 1006 will also likely have a node with the SA in it, and may have one or more clients. The first network 1030 also comprises node 1020. Couplers 1040, 1042 are special devices that disconnect from and communicate with the appliance and / or with two or more networks. Each coupler can comprise all the functionality of a node, and each node can comprise all the functionality of a coupler. In this embodiment, coupler 1040 couples second network 1050 with third network 1052, and may function as a node in each network. The coupler 1042 couples the second network 1050 with the first network 1030. It could also be considered as coupled to the 1000 appliance.

Each of the couplers 1040, 1042 can propagate discovery messages issued by the SA or an SA controller across networks to allow the SA and SA controllers or their coupled arbitrary software components to develop identifier references. of functionality for the different nodes. Each copier 1040, 1042 may have a routing table stored in memory to allow communication between nodes on different networks. Memory can also store identifiers identifying the functionality of each node. The identifiers may be linked with the routing information held within the routing tables so that when a message comprising an identifier is sent to either coupler 1040, 1042, the coupler receiving the message may send the message. to the next appropriate network node.

Each node can comprise a unique combination of software elements. Software elements on any given node include at least one of the SA and an SA controller. The SA controller allows a node to communicate with the SA. SA inherently includes an SA controller or a variant of the SA Controller. Each node comprising the SA may communicate with other nodes comprising the SA. However, a node may have both the SA and the separate SA controller on it. Each node must also include a suitable communication protocol or communication protocol controller for the respective network type with which it is coupled. An illustrative protocol is the WIDE 1062 network protocol discussed earlier in this document, a proprietary home appliance network protocol used by WhirlpoolCorporation. For a client not having the WIDE network protocol that needs to communicate WIDE messages (for example, external client 1004), a WIDE 1064 controller may be used. A port controller 1072 couples external client 1004 with network 1050.

Each node may also comprise an arbitrary software component 1060. Couplers 1040, 1042, for example, cannot. The SA 1016 controller is a software element configured to allow an arbitrary software component to communicate with the SA 1018 through at least one network. An arbitrary software component is any software component or subcomponent that performs a useful function. Examples include, but are not limited to a communication controller, an application, a user interface, a control algorithm, message routing, a loop control, message handling, data storage, data transformation, data reference, and software that instructs other software. The SA controller 1016 can receive and at least partially interpret messages from the SA and / or other AS controller, which are specified as feedback events. In some cases, the SA 1016 controller may also send command messages to the SA 1018. In this regard, external customers 1002, 1004 may have full-capacity performance as an accessory to communicate and to improve or change the operation of the appliance.

It will be understood that any or all external clients 1002, 1004, couplers 1040, 1042, and internal clients 1010, 1012 may be physical devices that have a processor, memory, software, circuitry, and some power source. In a general sense, they are coupled with transmission medium and are preferably configured to take information from memory and with the processor and circuitry to produce a signal representing this information on the transmission medium. When the information includes a memory identifier, the node or client may be discovered by other nodes connected through the transmission medium.

Consumable holder 16 may contain all features and all components of a smart coupler 1040, 1042, and participate in all embodiments of a smart coupler in communication with appliance 1000, 12. Therefore, in a In one embodiment, a consumable holder 16 is a smart coupler which additionally physically contains a consumable 24 and which may also be permitted to directly actuate the introduction of a consumable 24 into an appliance. Similarly, consumable holder 16 may be a customer (internal as in 1010, external as in 1002, our remote in a different network as in 1004) and communicate with a home appliance 1000, 120, 1006, directly or through an intelligent coupler 1042, 1040.

Similarly, the consumer article reader 22 may contain all the features and components of a smart coupler 1040.1042 and participate in all embodiments of a smart coupler in communication with a home appliance 1000, 12, 1006. Therefore, in one embodiment, a consumer article reader 22 is an intelligent coupler that additionally retrieves information about a consumer article24 and communicates this information to a home appliance. Similarly, consumer article suckler 22 can be a customer (internal as in 1010, external as in 1002, or remote in a different network as in 1004) and communicate with a home appliance 1000, 12, 1006, either directly or through you get a smart coupler 1042, 1040.

Discovery

Discovery is a process whereby a first node in communication with at least one coupled network sends discovery messages to the network or networks. Discovery messages generally comprise at least some query information specifying what the discovery message sender is looking for. The information sought may be information such as another node, an appliance, a customer, an arbitrary software component, a device comprising a node, a coupler, one or more of various software elements on any node.

The discovery message is a reply message sent to the sender of a discovery message. Discovery response messages typically comprise acknowledgment information and identifying information. Confirming information is a recognition in the form of a positive or negative response. Identification information is information allowing the sender to send subsequent messages to the sender that has been discovered.

Where more than one network is connected by a coupler, such as couplers 1040, 1042, a message received by the coupler from one network may be propagated and sent to the second network. The coupler can create a separate second message with the same compatible information for a second network, but together, the first and second messages are considered a single propagated message, even though they can be literally two messages. A propagated discovery message, then, is a discovery message that is propagated to a receiver. A coupler may be configured to inspect propagated messages to prevent the propagation of a circular message, that is, a sent message that is also unintentionally received by the sender on a second network with which the sender is coupled. At least coupler 1040 may have a routing table including intermediate identifiers of second node functionalities. Also, coupler 1042 may have a routing table including intermediate identifiers. A discovery message sent by node 1020 is received by coupler 1042, which evaluates the message according to the routing table and propagates the message to the next node, coupler 1040. Similarly, coupler 1040 evaluates the propagated message according to routing table and propagates the message to the next node in the line, which may be the second node. See 1 for example, Figure 9 illustrating a system where features in a home appliance can be monitored, managed, or changed. A likely scenario has a coupler 2000 connected to a 2002 home appliance similar to appliance 12 over a 2004 network. Coupler 2000 also connects to a 2006 coupler through network2008 which may be a different type of network from 2004 network. Coupler2006 connects to a source of information about resources used or generated by the appliance 2002 by a third network 2012 which may be a different type of network from both network 2004 and network 2008.

Assume that source 2010 wishes to send resource information for appliance 2002. The invention allows a node in source 2010 on network2012 to communicate with a second node, having SA, for example, which may be among several in appliance 2002. We assume that The source2010 has at least one appropriate communication controller, or one of the couplers has software for translating any message from the source to the communication protocols of, for example, embedded W02006135726.

In this scenario, source 2010 sends a discovery message through the 2012 network seeking any resource consumer to which the source wishes to send information. Coupler 2006 receives the discovery message, translates the message if necessary, and propagates the discovery message to the next nodes through the 2008 network, including coupler 2000. Coupler 2000 receives the discovery message, translates the message. message, if necessary, and propagates the discovery message to the next nodes through the network, including appliance 2002. The relevant appliances in appliance 2002 evaluate the message and determine a discovery response message, and send their responses. Here we assume at least one positive response.

The discovery response message is received by coupler 2000, which populates its routing table and sends it to coupler 2006, which populates its routing table and sends it to source 2010 according to the preceding process. Each node holds the relevant identifiers so that the subsequent message can be communicated without repeating the discovery sequence. Also, these memory nodes, such as couplers, can be configured to save messages.

With this structure, a source of information about a resource, such as electricity, hot water, wastewater, gas, water, parts that may be replaced, or other consumables, may require a change in appliance operation based on information. For example, if a public utility company is focused on a partial cut of electricity, a source of electricity information may require that an electric dryer not start operation for a period of time. Similarly, a source of consumables, such as filters or spare parts, can check from a household appliance the condition of the consumable and send time information and replacement availability.

Likewise, the consumer article holder 16 may affect the operating cycle of the appliance connected to it in response to information from a source of consumer goods or to information from a source of information about a product. resource. Consumer article support 16 may also initiate, respond, and / or propagate discovery messages. Additionally, the consumer article carrier 16 may create and / or understand network routing information.

Figure 10 illustrates the transfer of an operating cycle accessory between two appliances, Appliance 1 and Appliance2. A releasable coupled duty cycle accessory 3 has, as part of its data part, data that is associated with an identifier of a particular appliance. Thus, when looping mechanism 73 in Appliance 1 or 2 fetches data, it may include in its request an identifier which determines the correspondence of data retrieved from the data part table to the identifier. With this capability, the Duty Cycle Attachment 3 can be coupled so that it can be removed with more than one appliance and is operable with as many appliances as the data table supports for identification.

Likewise, when an arbitrary software component configures cycle mechanism 73 via communications, the arbitrary software component may first interrogate, through useful communications, the appliance to verify its identification by what means. This identification is used with the data part table to retrieve the appropriate data about the cycle structure to be constructed. The arbitrary software component can then send messages to the cycle engine API 73 to construct the appropriate cycle structure 71 for the appliance.

Consumer Article Reader as a Smart Coupler

Referring now to Figure 11, a consumable reader 300 is configured to obtain information associated with consumable articles304. One or more consumables 304 may be contained in one or more consumable holders 314 similar to the consumer article holder 16 mentioned above. Consumable reader 300 may be a form of a smart coupler as in Figures 8 and 9. In such a case, a purpose of the consumable holder 300 comprises obtaining information associated with consumables 304 and communicating all or part of this information to at least one. least one functional component 310 of a home appliance 312 resulting in an effect to the home appliance operation cycle 312 or the consumable holder 314. As discussed earlier, the consumable article 24 may be an article. In one embodiment, the appliance 312 comprises at least one instance of a cycle architecture 69 and an optional decycle operation accessory or functional component 310. Typically, a appliance 312 similar to appliance 12 comprises the functional component 310. The consumption 304 obtained by the consumer article reader 300 may thus include not only data about a consumption article 304A, but also a 304B loop structure, data for a response to a query message from a functional component 304C, and indirect representations of a 304D loop structure. Any data or all data may optionally be in the form of at least one well-formed message according to a package structure or a portion thereof. An example of a package structure is the SA package structure described in incorporated WO 2005135726. As mentioned earlier, data about a 304D loop structure can include direct commands for functional component 310 or duty cycle parameters, including user preferences or environmental parameters.

Further examples of information associated with consumer articles 304 include the quantity of consumable pieces, quantity by volume or by weight, date of manufacture, manufacturer, transit data from manufacture, distributor, market and consumer, data on temperature during transit, nutritional information such as calories, fat grams, percentage allowance of essential vitamins and minerals, a list of medical conditions under which an article of consumption should not be consumed, relationship data between article consumption and known diets, known medical conditions, and known reactions to known drugs, and the like. The information associated with consumable items 304 may additionally include identifying data of the appliance or component according to the software architecture message protocol. Still further, information associated with consumables 304 may include the condition of the consumable, initial conditions for the consumable, data relating to a filling process for the consumable holder, an attribute of the consumable, a sensor attribute, a consumable support attribute, a notification activation rule associated with the consumable article, historical information about the consumable article, instructions for use relating to the consumable article, diet information and allergies relating to the consumer article, purchase information, advertising information, revenue information, supply chain information, ingredient information, utilization information relating to the consumer article, country originate for at least one among several ingredients in a consumer article, energy consumption attributed to manufacturing and distribution, information relating to carbon emissions in manufacturing and distribution, information relating to unnatural agents used in manufacturing and distribution, information relating to environmentally friendly agents used in manufacturing and distribution, information on animal treatment in manufacturing and distribution , information relating to the working conditions used in manufacturing and distribution, and information relating to the toxic agents used in manufacturing and distribution. Information about unnatural agents associated with a consumer article may include things such as pesticide, steroid and fertilizer data associated with the manufacture, distribution or composition of the consumer article.

As mentioned earlier, the information associated with consumer items 304 will be on a consumer article information carrier 306 which will typically be a memory location somewhere. This memory location may be a consumer article holder 314, or a surface on a consumer article holder 314, which may be one of a purse, a box, a cardboard box, a bottle, a can, a bowl, a plate, a plate, or any other rigid or semi-rigid body suitable for containing a substance. The information may be stored in a removably coupled article comprising memory attached to the surface of the consumer article holder 314, such as a performance marker 320. The information may also reside on a consumer article 316 itself, if the article Consumption were allowed to store the retrievable information, such as strong water etching, embossing or printing. An example of a consumable article 316 allowed to store retrievable information would be food with directly printed information or recorded with strong water in the food using edible ink. Another option is a consumer article 318 data capsule, which is an article comprising memory allowed to store retrievable information about a consumer article. An example of a consumer article data capsule is an article containing data about a consumer article potentially additionally comprising metadata of the consumer article. Consumable metadata can be given, such as quantity of consumable pieces, quantity by volume or weight, date of manufacture, manufacturer, transit data from manufacturer, distributor, market and consumer, temperature during traffic, nutritional information such as calories, fat grams, percentage area allowance of essential vitamins and minerals, a list of medical conditions under which a consumable item should not be consumed, data on the relationship between metadata consumption and known diets, known medical conditions, and known reactions to known drugs, and the like. The consumption article 318 data capsule is preferably consumed by the appliance's operating cycle which also operates with respect to the consumable article without degradation to the consumable article or to the general purpose of the process operating relative to the consumable article. consumption. The information may also refer to a performance marker 320 attached or affixed to an article, such as an RFID marker applied to an article laundering clothing.

Likewise, the information may be stored at any other memory location 322, such as memory within a home node 312 or within the consumer article reader itself 300. Information associated with the consumer articles 304 may be stored in tightly coupled memory. within the consumer article reader 300. It should be understood that, in all cases, information associated with consumables 304 may additionally include appliance identifying data allowing the functional component to receive the most appropriate data about a appliance according to connected appliance 312.

In one embodiment, the functional component 310 detects the coupling of the consumer article reader 300, queries the consumer article reader for information associated with the consumable articles 304, and a loop structure 71 '(see Figure 5) is created in a manner. according to the data on the consumer article.

In another embodiment, consumer article reader 300 receives or presupposes an "initial command" in which it selectively retrieves over an operating cycle, changes the mode of an operating software appliance layer, and commands a hardware layer. alternative software of the appliance according to the data on an operating cycle. The consumer article reader 300 can then retrieve data about an operation cycle, establish communication with the functional component 310, and create a cycle structure. In one variation, the cycle structure is created in the memory of the consumer article reader 300 and the consumer article reader uses the first embodiment technique to execute the operation cycle.

Consumer article reader 300 may additionally comprise an arbitrary functional component software component 324 which creates the loop structure by communicating with the loop mechanism API, preferably using a built-in virtual router and discovery messages to establish a reference. for the decycle engine API, see figure 5.

In certain embodiments, at least one cycle structure is present in the memory of the consumer article reader 300, and at least one cycle structure is present in the memory of at least one functional component of the appliance 310. The cycle structures may be functionally aggregated. so that the cycle architecture is designed to selectively operate in response to any cycle structure. In this case, a user interface can be used to aggregate information about a home appliance operating cycle from more than one component for display, modification, or selection by a user.

Functional component 310 can selectively detect mating of the consumable reader 300 with a 312 appliance, and the consumable reader receives or assumes an "initial command." When the selected event, the appliance's operating cycle 312 can obtain and communicate with information associated with consumer articles 304. This direct communication with information associated with consumer articles 304 is facilitated by consumer article reader 300 acting as an intelligent coupler. Alternatively, direct communication is facilitated by memory within a node in communication with a running operating cycle previously populated by the consumer-friendly article reader acting as an intelligent coupler.

Consumable holder 16, 314 may include or may be coupled to a consumable reader 22, 36, 300. When a consumable holder additionally comprises a controller, such as controller 32 (see Figure 2 ) in operable communication with a network, consumer article carrier 16 is a smart coupler because it is the mechanism for transferring data from consumer article carrier 306 to a node on the network. The consumer article holder 16 may also be a consumer article reader 300 by the fact that from the perspective of a first network node, the consumer article holder 16 is the node on the network that provides consumer article reader functionality. 300. Therefore, in one embodiment, a consumer article holder is at least one of a smart coupler and a consumer article reader which additionally physically contains a consumer article and may also be permitted to directly actuate the introduction of a consumer article. a consumable item in a home appliance.

Message Binding

Further explanation of message binding may be useful with respect to the incorporated description of WO 2006135726, and the message exchange of a fully permitted consumer article carrier according to the invention. Preferred software architecture can support and promote both asynchronous and synchronous data collection. Asynchronous memory polling, for example, is available in the Core API (API ID = 1). There are at least two embodiments available from synchronous data collection.

The understanding of the invention related to synchronous data collection is aided by an understanding of the concept of limited updates. Limited updates are events that are grouped as an instantaneous state of the appliance observed during the same scanned execution of the host microprocessor main circuit. The main control circuit of the appliance will allow a repetitive update of feedback variables that are recorded with a competition mechanism of the appliance. Each registered variable is monitored and only those that change the value according to their memory monitor change operator are broadcast as updates to the client. When updates are in the process of being broadcast, new updates are not allowed to preserve. the snapshot in time.

In the first embodiment, a snapshot is communicated to the client using the MMP indicator in Byte2 of the software architecture header as shown in the application protocol as shown in Figure 4 of WO 2006135726. While MMP is true, more messages are pending for the snapshot. . When MMP is false, the current message is the last message in the snapshot. Therefore, if the first message of a snapshot is the only message in this snapshot, then PMM is false.

The example in FIG. 9 of WO 2006135726 illustrates a limited command (Cycle + Temperature + MMP) with acknowledgments, followed by two consecutive limited updates. Where limited, it refers to protocol elements that indicate to the receiver that more messages are coming from the source and that data processing by the receiving component's application logic should be delayed until they are indicated. Protocol limitation providers within the packet structure (MMP bit 7) indicate a complete transaction in which data processing delayed by application logic is allowed. Note that updates do not begin until limited command execution is complete, giving the customer the ability to remove transient feedback data. Limited commands are provided by the same mechanism, MMP1 as limited upgrades to provide a higher level of control for applications.

The example of figure 9 in W02006135726 is conceptual. The real mechanism is MMP. However, for purposes of illustration, limited commands start with an initial "begin" command initiator (MMPset) and include commands to establish a wash cycle, a recipe condition for ready, a parametric water temperature , again a recipe condition for ready, and finally a cycle start indicator, followed by a command terminator (MMPunset). Note that in figure 9 in W02006135726, updates, such as by competition, are disabled to prevent updates from happening before the limited command is complete. In addition, a "process command" indicator is periodically displayed for all processing of the limited command on the appliance to illustrate that portions of the command issued from client 16 via the internal communications network are processed.

For limited updates, updates are allowed again since they were disabled at the beginning of the limited command to allow the appliance to report its condition to the customer. In the example presented in the limited updates, the acknowledgment status is displayed as ready, the cycle is reported as flush, the status is reported as running, the basket is reported as full, the good is reported as on, and the temperature is is reported as average. Again, start and end indicators include the limited update44. These start and stop indicators can be reported by the indicator, MMP, in the application package structure, as discussed in Figure 4 of W02006135726, or in another method that would be apparent to those skilled in the network protocol technique.

In the limited update, the basket is reported as agitated, the pump is reported as off, and the engine is reported as on. Again, start and stop indicators (MMP) include limited updating 46. Without start and stop indicators (MMP) 1, the client cannot deduce a relationship between updates from the appliance. However, with the start and end indicators (MMP), the customer can deduce a relationship between events.

The second embodiment of synchronous data collection is shown in Fig. 32 of WO2006135726. Generally, a node comprises at least one microprocessor, memory, software, and circuit pack coupled to a transmission medium, where the node is configured to pick up information from the microprocessor memory and, with the circuitry, produce a signal. representing this information in a broadcast medium. Two nodes communicating with each other could be microprocessors on a single printed circuit board connected by serial communication or by two computers connected via the Internet.

As shown in Fig. 12, it is conventional for the command source 220 to send a complete command within a complete message to a command executor 222. However, the invention contemplates using various messages to carry the elements of a command, such that a command it may be modular and may consist of control elements. For this to work, command executor 222 needs to know when executing the command comprised of several command elements, each of which has been sent as an independent single command message. The invention provides a solution by providing a start command group message 224 and an end command group message 226, which inform the commander 222 of which command elements are together for the purpose of executing various command elements as a single household command.

Figure 12 presents as the command source 220 using a start command group message 224 and an end command group message 226 limiting a series if independent command messages 228 can create a command group 230. No message command group message 224 and an end command group message 226, command executor 222 cannot give a relationship between command message 1, 2 to N. However, with command group message beginning 224 and with the end command group message 226, command executor 222 can reduce a relationship between command messages 228. In message aggregation, either a data collection or batch commands, the MMP indicator can be used to identify the beginning and end of the message group.

A consumer article holder communicating with a home appliance on a network using a network protocol that supports message binding can be an important aspect relating the consumer article support controller 32 in the process of executing logic that can result. in one of the act of introducing a consumer article into a home appliance and an effect to a home appliance operation cycle or display of a user interface. This is because the execution logic can use various data received in various messages, where the various data functionally belongs to the various valid data sets. With message binding, execution logic will use a single valid set of data per run scan, where the valid data set is constructed from data received in the various messages according to the groupings implied by the binding.

This technique can also be used for batch event, as shown in Fig. 13, which presents a competition software architecture for communications between one node, event source 200, and a second node, event observer 202. The software architecture completes the event source by sending a message to the event observer about the event. Instead of sending a single message, however, event source 200 may use a beginning event group message 204 and an end event group message 206 to create an event group 208 from a series of event messages. 210. One advantage of sending separate messages in this technique is that it most efficiently utilizes the rapidly changing state of the home messaging architecture and minimizes the number of uniquely identified messages needed to express the state. of an appliance. Without the start and end event group messages, event watch 202 cannot deduce a relationship between any event messages 1, 2, ..., and n. However, with start and end event group messages, event observer 202 can deduce a relationship between events.

Examples

Message Exchange

The implementation of the concepts of the invention in a washing machine can be seen in figures 14 to 16. It is assumed that the washing machine is able to detect or detect the presence of the consumer article holder and its functionalities. Likewise, the consumer article holder is able to detect the presence of la-var machine control. Each is able to discover the other's capabilities (using standard interfaces) and use this information to collaborate together to provide new aspects for the user.

A first mode in Figure 14 shows the message exchange that can be employed when dispensing is required during a cycle. Appliance control directs the consumable holder to dispense in a specific manner using a standard command set. for the dispensation. An example would be (dispensing detergent, middle size).

Figure 15 illustrates a second scenario where household control can command consumer article support to dispense at the appropriate time in the cycle through a set of standard commands. In addition to these commands, the consumable holder may gather other information from the control of the appliance and its related sensors, such as, but not limited to, load size, load type, dirt level, and temperature. The consumer article holder may use this condition information in conjunction with its own dispensing algorithm to dispense a more effective or more precise amount and / or type of chemicals. In addition to gathering sensor or cycle data from the appliance control, the data can also be gathered from the user interface. This could include details such as detergent concentration or cycle type and user-selected options. This information can also be used to improve the performance of the dispense algorithm. Finally, if the consumer article holder is able to understand the properties of the consumer article it is holding, such as brand or type of chemical, this information can also be integrated with the distribution algorithm to improve performance.

Figure 16 illustrates a scenario where the consumer article holder can use condition information from household electrical control to make decisions about when to dispense or even to change cycle behavior by commanding electrode control. to perform certain processes. An example of this could be to insert a catalyst-type action into a cycle when dispensing certain chemicals by commanding the control of the appliance to spin and dispense simultaneously. Another example could be commanding the washer to heat water to a specific temperature in combination with dispensing so as to best activate a chemical reaction when dispensing a particular chemical. Consumable support can also provide condition information to the user interface during this operation to notify the user of the improvement they are making to the appliance cycle process.

Intelligent Filtering

Another example of a consumer article holder according to the invention is found in filtering in a refrigerator as shown in Figures 17 through 20. Figure 17 illustrates a 5030 water filter cartridge system which may find particular utility in a water dispensing system 5032 as found in a 5034 refrigeration appliance. The present invention is also useful in other household appliances and environments and for filtering liquids other than water. For purposes of disclosing an embodiment of the invention, it will be described in the environment of a water dispensing system 5032 in a household refrigerating appliance 5034 where water is dispensed in the cooling port 5036. The refrigerator may include a user interface (not shown) for the purposes discussed above. Water is supplied through a 5038 piped water line into a building supply, and passes through a 5040 appliance enclosure 5040, and from the 5036 refrigerator door into a 5042 hinge to the door. Water line 5038 on port 5036 is connected to the 5030 water filter cartridge system, from which a 5044 water connection line carries a 5046 water dispenser accessible from the exterior of port 5036.

The 5030 water filter cartridge system can be accessible for replacement and replacement, such as the stationary ventilation grille 5048 positioned below the door 5036.

As illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 18 and 19, the water filter cartridge system 5030 comprises a filter cartridge 5050 and a cartridge housing 5056 that can be permanently connected to the cooler 5034, such as via a holder. angled assembly 5057. The housing 5056 may be in the form of a cylinder with a first opening end 5058 and a second end 5060.

The filter cartridge 5050 may have a structure similar to that of a conventional filter cartridge including a pore-filter body (not shown) which may have a cylindrical shape, with a similarly shaped waterproof casing 5062 having the end caps formed in one piece. Alternatively, the end caps may be separately formed and connected such that they may be removed with the housing 5062 by any suitable device, such as by a snap fit. The cartridge 5050 has an outer diameter sized to fit within the housing 5062. One end of the housing comprises the inlet and outlet passages (not shown) to allow unfiltered and filtered liquid respectively to flow through. the same.

The filter cartridge 5050 further comprises an identification element 5075. The identification element 5075 may be any device capable of storing or providing data and / or information associated with the water filter cartridge system 5030, such as, but bar code, magnetic stripe, microprocessor, memory chip, license key, specialized structure, smart card, material metric ( magnetic nanotechnology fingerprints), a magnetic key, or an RFID. As shown, the identifying element 5075 comprises a memory chip. Identification element 5075 may store a unique identifier for a particular filter cartridge as well as characteristics and other information associated with the filter cartridge and / or its use.

Alternatively, the identifying member 5075 may be detached from the filter cartridge 5050, such as in the form of a License key (not shown). The license key would be configured to connect with a connector on the 5034 appliance and to communicate with the 5034 appliance through the 5034 appliance network. The license key can contain a unique identifier as well as 5050 filter cartridge information.

Appliance 5034 may comprise an embossing element 5076, which may be a type of consumer article reader, for co-communicatively coupling appliance 5034 with identification element 5075. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 18 and 19, the delight element 5076 is positioned in the cartridge housing 5056 and is communicatively coupled to the appliance 5034 via the wires 5074 connected to a contact of the appliance 5072. The reading element 5076 extends through the cartridge housing 5056 so that the reading element 5076 is configured for placement next to or adjacent to the denting element 5075 when the 5050 filter cartridge is inserted into the 5056 cartridge housing. If necessary, the 5034 appliance and / or the 5056 cartridge housing may include (not shown) to ensure proper alignment between identification element 5075 and reader 5076 when the water filter cartridge 5050 is inserted into the cartridge housing 5056 as shown in Fig. 19.

The 5072 appliance contact is configured to communicatively engage the 5034 appliance when the 5056 cartridge housing is mounted on the 5034 appliance. This can be accomplished by configuring the 5056 housing and / or the 5057 mounting bracket to maintain contact with the appliance. 5072 in an adjacent position or contacting a housing contact (not shown) on the appliance5034. The contact of the enclosure may be communicatively coupled to a 5034 appliance network.

In other embodiments, the reading element 5076 may be positioned on the appliance 5034 or anywhere else in the cartridge housing 5056. For example, the reading element 5076 may be installed near the cartridge housing 5056 in a housing. Appliance 5034. Installing the 5076 reading element on the 5034 appliance is particularly useful where the 5075 i-dentification element does not require a wired connection to the 5076 reading element. communicating, such as when the identifying element 5075 is an RFID chip and the reading element 5076 is an RFID reader.

The reading element 5076 is configured to obtain, exchange, store, distribute, detect, and / or verify data and / or information by communicating with the identifying element 5075. The reading element 5076 can read data from the reading element. 5075, read and written from / next to the 5075 identification element, or enter a two-way data exchange with the 5075 identification element. The 5076 reading element is communicatively coupled to the common (not shown) cartridge system controller. water filter 5030, so that the reading element 5076 can send data obtained from the identifying element 5075 to the controller. The controller may comprise a control board having a software architecture configured for communication on the network so that the controller may communicate with other control boards or clients on the network. The controller may further comprise a unique identifier identifying at least one functionality associated with the filter cartridge system 5030 which may be communicated to the appliance 5034. The reading element 5076 may be configured for unidirectional or bidirectional communications with the controller. The controller may be a microprocessor having an internal memory or a memory associated with it. The controller may be part of the reading element 5076. Alternatively, the controller may be located anywhere on the 5034 appliance network or in a network connected to the 5034 appliance and allowed to communicate with it. The controller can be configured for unilateral or bilateral communication with the 5034 appliance and can be communicatively coupled to the 5034 appliance or wirelessly.

Filter Cartridge System as a Node in a Network

The 5030 filter cartridge system can be a node in the 5034 appliance network. As part of a node, the controller can communicate information related to the 5050 filter cartridge (a consumable item) to the 5034 appliance. household electrode the properties of the 5050 filter cartridge and the correct usage information using the information received from the reading element 5076. The controller can be attached to the 5034 appliance network via either a direct wired connection or a wired connection. The controller includes software architecture that enables communication and connection to the 5034 appliance's network. The controller can monitor and record events, communicate with other nodes in the 5034 appliance's network, or affect a power cycle. 5034 appliance operation. The controller may propagate and transfer information to additional networks, such as a third network connected to the 5034 appliance network, or any other networks connected to it.

The 5030 filter cartridge system can be discovered by other nodes in the 5034 appliance network using debug messages. By taking advantage of this aspect and sending messages to and from the controller, the 5034 appliance can automatically detect the 5030 water filter cartridge system and discover its capabilities. This also allows the control methods and algorithms of the cartridge system 5030 water filter units reside in the controller, rather than in the main control of the appliance. Due to this modular functionality, the 5034 appliance will be able to accept a wider range of filters and can easily adapt to the new configurations and aspects associated with the 5030 filter cartridge system. The 5034 appliance can also automatically discover the 5050 filter cartridges and the condition of any installed filter cartridge 5050 can be communicated to appliance 5034. Similarly, the filter cartridge system controller 5030 can query the network for unique feature identifiers available on appliance 5034.

Using the software architecture, the 5030 water filter cartridge system can be used to provide instructions or directions for changing behavior of the 5034 appliance. The 5030 filter cartridge system controller can send messages to the appliance. 5034 to configure the 5034 appliance. The 5050 filter cartridge may include data and information regarding the 5075 ID element which may provide features or information for the 5034 appliance through the reading element 5076. This information will be used by the 5034 appliance to modify the household appliance operation. Identification element 5075 contains at least one additional operating cycle, up-to-date operating cycle, historical information relating to the operating cycles experienced by the home appliance, and software to reconfigure the software architecture of the cartridge system. filter 5030 or household appliance 5034.

For example, the 5050 filter cartridge may send to the 5034 home appliance information regarding volume capacity, flow rate, filtering capabilities and time / temperature dependency 5050 filter cartridge. The 5034 appliance may use this information for modifying the filter cartridge parameters stored in the system, such as by changing a filter cartridge life algorithm.

This also allows the use of a number of different filter cartridges because as long as a desired filter cartridge is configured for insertion into the 5056 cartridge housing, the appliance 5034 can discover the characteristics of the filter cartridge in order to learn how to print. - supplement the same correctly.

Filter Cartridge Usage Perception

Communication between identification element 5075 and reading element 5076 can be used to notify a user that the 5050 filter cartridge has expired and needs to be replaced. This can be accomplished by activating at least one filter condition indicator (not shown) when the filter requires replacement. The filter condition indicator may be an LED, a sound, and / or a display on a user interface, such as a message or an image. The filter condition indicator is activated when the information obtained by reading element 5076 indicates that the 5050 filter cartridge needs to be changed. When the filter is replaced, the indicator will automatically turn off and reset.

Another example of an indicator that can be used to draw a user's attention to the 5050 filter cartridge and which can also provide feedback regarding the condition of the 5050 filter cartridge is an indicator cap. The indicator cap is best used when the 5030 filter cartridge system is easily visible to a user. In the preferred embodiment, the indicator cap comprises types of plastics. One type of plastic is transparent and the type of plastic is opaque. The clear plastic acts as a light rod and may be shaped to include indicia associated with the 5050 filter cartridge. The indicator cap may additionally comprise an LED light positioned between the plastic layers to illuminate the indicia. The LED light may be changed to different colors or flash to provide information about the condition of the 5050 filter cartridge. For example, when a new 5050 filter cartridge is installed, the LED light may be a steady blue color. When the 5050 filter cartridge has only 10% of its remaining capacity, the LED light may be a steady red color. When the 5050 filter cartridge expires, the light may flash red until the 5050 filter cartridge is replaced.

The controller can store the unique identifier associated with each 5050 filter cartridge installed in the cartridge casing 5056. When a 5050 filter cartridge is installed in the cartridge casing 5056, the reading element 5076 can obtain data from the tag element. 5075 with respect to the 5050 filter cartridge. The controller can use this data to verify the unique identifier of the 5050 filter cartridge against previously stored unique identifiers associated with previously installed filter cartridges. If the controller determines that the unique identifier already exists in memory, the controller may instruct the reading element 5076 to retrieve the information from the identifying element 5075 as to whether the filter cartridge 5050 has any remaining capacity. If the control determines that the 5050 filter cartridge has capacity, the controller may allow operation of the 5032 water dispensing system and may update filter-related parameters in memory. If the controller determines that the filter cartridge has no remaining life, the user may be alerted that a filter replacement is required. If a 5050 filter cartridge is installed and has a unique identifier not stored in memory, the controller can record the unique identifier and reset any filter condition indicators and store the filter related parameters in memory.

The identifying element 5075 may include information, such as the type, brand, serial number, and flow rate of the 5050 particulate filter cartridge. Because of the reading element 5076 and the controller may have unique identifiers associated with each filter cartridge 5050, The controller is able to distinguish a new filter cartridge from a used cartridge. The controller can also store dates and times of use of the filter cartridge in memory for maintenance and warranty information purposes.

The identification element 5075 and / or the controller may screen the total volume of water passing through each filter cartridge 5050 and / or the total time each filter cartridge 5050 is used and to associate this information with each unique filter identifier. filter cartridge. This function can be used to monitor water quality and to help maintain proper filtering characteristics and energy requirements.

The 5050 filter cartridge may also include various sensors for determining parameters associated with the use of the filter cartridge, such as a water contaminant sensor, a water conductivity sensor, a turbidity sensor, electromechanical sensors, and leakage sensors. These sensors may comprise, but are not limited to, single electrical conductors or contacts, IR sensors, ultrasonic sensors, temperature sensors and / or capacitive sensors. The information gathered by the sensors can be sent to the controller and can be used to control the operation of the 5050 filter cartridge and 5030 filter cartridge system. Based on the perceived parameters and information about the filter cartridge 5050 obtained from the identification element 5075, the performance of the 5050 filter cartridge can be adjusted. For example, using the user interface, the user selects operating properties of the 5050 filter cartridge and 5030 filter cartridge system that will extend the life of the 5050 filter cartridge while decreasing the water filtration level, or vice versa.

The leak sensor may be positioned so that any water leaking from the 5050 filter cartridge or 5056 cartridge housing will contact the sensor. The sensor can then notify the controller of the leak, and the controller can disable a water supply or suspend operation of the 5034 appliance, 5032 dispensing system, or 5030 filter cartridge system.

In the event that a particular filter cartridge 5050 may be used to add certain water additives, such as mineral vitamins or flavors, the controller may be used to adjust the additive dosage based on the information received from the sensors, the from the identifying element 5075 and from a user interface.

If the 5050 filter cartridge is dispensing vitamins and / or minerals, the controller may use sensors and information from the identifying element 5075 to ensure that the level of vitamins and minerals to be dispensed is within a range deemed safe for consumption. The user interface can also be updated to reflect the particular additives available for dispensing, and the user can control the type and bulk of any additives being dispensed.

Compatible Filter Detection

The identification element 5075 can enable automatic detection of a 5050 compatible filter cartridge. When inserting a 5050 cartridge into the 5056 housing, the reading element 5076 can detect the presence of the identification element 5075 and interact with the Identification element 5075 to verify that the 5050 filter cartridge is compatible with the 5030 filter cartridge system and the 5034 appliance. A determination of the filter cartridge compatibility may be made based on one or more desired characteristics of the filter cartridge, such as filter cartridge manufacturer, filter cartridge size, filter type, filter remaining capacity, filter age and / or whether the filter cartridge is new or used. This may be accomplished by reading element 5076 which obtains filter cartridge information from the identifying element 5075. Reading element 5076 may send information about the filter cartridge to the controller. The controller may compare filter cartridge information obtained by reading element 5076 with compatible filter cartridge information contained in the controller memory to determine whether the filter cartridge 5050 is compatible.

Alternatively or in addition, the 5056 cartridge housing may include a locking mechanism configured to accept only 5050 compatible filter cartridges. The 5056e filter cartridge housing or or the 5050 cartridge may also include (not shown) elements designed to rupture or otherwise deform to ensure that only compatible 5050 filter cartridges can be inserted into the cartridge housing 5056. In addition, such elements may be used to prevent the 5050 cartridges from being removed and then reinserted within or onto a cartridge housing. different cartridge 5056.

If a user inserts an incompatible 5050 filter cartridge, the user may be notified using a 5034 household appliance user interface, lights, sounds, or any combination thereof. Operation of the 5032 water dispensing system may be suspended until a 5050 compatible filter cartridge is inserted into the 5056 filter housing. Alternatively, the 5032 water dispensing system may be configured to bypass the 5030 filter cartridge system on the in which case an incompatible filter cartridge is installed by a user.

Alternatively, the 5050 filter cartridge and 5056 cartridge housing may include an automatic eject mechanism capability (not shown) that would mechanically eject non-compatible 5050 filter cartridges. The automatic eject mechanism may comprise a booklet. Motorized tongue or an electromagnetic solenoid that will push the 5050 filter cartridge out of the 5056 cartridge case if the filter cartridge is determined to be incompatible.

The filter cartridge 5050 may additionally comprise a proximity marker located therein, a proximity sensor located on the cartridge housing 5056, and a sensor actuator connector (not shown) located near or on the cartridge housing 5056. Proximity marker and the Proximity sensor may be identification element 5075 and reading element 5076, respectively. When the 5050 filter cartridge is installed in the 5056 cartridge housing, the proximity sensor can detect the proximity marker on the 5050 filter cartridge and then actuate the connector to close an electrical circuit. This circuit provides power to one of : an electronic control that manages the 5032 water dispensing system, an electronic solenoid valve that turns a water source on and off, or another electronic device related to the 5034 appliance and filter cartridge system 5030. In another embodiment, the connector may close the electrical circuit as the controller or appliance 5034 receives information from the identifying element 5075 communicating operational information about the filter cartridge 5050.

Data and information contained in identification element 5075 may be encrypted or otherwise protected to prevent competitors from creating substitution filters without permission.

Filter Cartridge Replacement Process

An illustrative filter cartridge replacement process 5100 is shown in Figure 20. In step 5102, a user removes a used filter cartridge from the 5056 cartridge housing. In the event that no 5050 filter cartridge is currently in place, the user simply skips step 5102. In step 5104, the user inserts a new filter cartridge5104.

If reading element 5076 is allowed to interact or communicates with identifying element 5075 in step 5106, an error message is displayed 5107 to the user, and operation of the 5032 water dispensing system is suspended, and / or the 5030 water filter cartridge is diverted.

If communications between reading element 5076 and identification element 5075 are detected, the controller receives communications from reading element 5076 as to whether the filter cartridge 5050 has been used before. If the 5050 filter cartridge has been used before and has no additional filtering capability, the error message 5107 is displayed, and the operation of the 5032 water filter dispensing system is suspended, and / or the water filter cartridge system is If the filter cartridge 5050 is new, then the filter information is retrieved 5110 from the identifying element 5075 by the reading element 5076. The reading element 5076 then sends the information about the filter cartridge through the network. to the controller in step 5112. Once the controller receives the filter cartridge information, the controller analyzes the filter cartridge information in step 5114. Based on the instructions and other information contained in the controller-associated memory, the controller determines if the 5050 filter cartridge is compatible in step 5116. If the 5050 filter cartridge is not compatible, an error message is displayed 5117, and the Operation of the 5032 water dispense system is suspended, or the 5030 water filter cartridge system is diverted.

If the filter cartridge 5050 is compatible, then at step 5118 reading element 5076 sends all information obtained from the identifying element 5075 to the controller to be stored in memory, all parameters related to the filter cartridge are set. , and the user interface, if present, is updated to reflect information about the current 5050 filter cartridge. Normal operation of the 5032 water dispensing system and 5030 filter cartridge system can begin.

The present invention has been described using particular embodiments. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described and still within the scope of the present invention. For example, various components could be used separately or independently in some embodiments without using all other components in the particular embodiment described. The described embodiment is provided solely to illustrate aspects of the present invention and in no way to limit the scope and coverage of the invention. The scope of the invention is therefore limited only by the appended claims.

Creating cycle structures

Figure 21 illustrates how a consumer article holder according to the invention may facilitate the creation or modification of cycle structures for an appliance, such as the appliance next to which the consumer article holder may be coupled. A decycle structure can, of course, be created independently of a consumer article holder such as a authoring tool. It may be created, for example, by a food supplier as illustrated in Figure 6, or by any other consumer article or such item supplier, such as chemicals, detergents, additives, bleaches, softeners. , rinse aid, clothing markers and the like. Consumer article support, however, can also facilitate the creation or modification of a cycle structure by accessing information associated with the consumer article and acting with the cycle mechanism to create or modify the cycle structure. The information associated with a consumer article more than likely will be on a consumer article information carrier (see Figure 11). The consumer article carrier may send the cycle structure information collected from the consumer article information carrier directly to the cycle engine or respond to a query from the cycle engine. If the information cannot be directly translated from the consumer article information carrier, the consumer article carrier may perform a conversion to convert the information associated with the consumer article carrier. The converter converts the data to create the loop structure 71 that the consumer article carrier can communicate to the loop mechanism so that it can create the new or modified loop structure 71 (b).

Reliable Consumable Support

Fig. 35 illustrates an inventive appliance 510 which is configured to perform an operation on a physical article such as clothing or food using a feature such as water, temperature controlled air (hot or cold), steam, gas, electricity, and the like. The 510 appliance has a 520 appliance process control apparatus, a 522 user interface and a removable consumable holder 530. The process control apparatus 520 is configured to implement and control a cycle comprising at least one operation. Process control apparatus 520 may comprise one or more components, such as control, wiring and electrical wiring boards, power supplies, sensors integrated with electronic components such as digital or analog inputs, and actuators such as valves, relays. , heaters and the like, any or all of which may integrate with electronic components such as digital or analog outputs. The process control apparatus may also be an accessory for the 510 appliance, including, for example, the consumer article holder 530, provided the appliance has access to it.

Fig. 35A illustrates another embodiment where the network 550 is configured differently. Here, the appliance user interface552, the appliance process control apparatus 520, and the optional consumer article reader 556 are connected on one side of the network 550 to the consumer article process control apparatus 554 on the other side of the network 550. The consumer article process control apparatus 554 is in turn connected to the consumer article holder user interface, if one exists, and / or with a 572 sensor housing, if any, and is installed in a removable receptacle. as the consumable holder 530. Sense 572 (as further explained below) can be used in conjunction with the 522 user interface to provide information on such things as the configuration of the compartment, how to act on each compartment. , type of consumption item, dose volume for small, medium and large loads for a washer, different concentrations of consumables, for dosages anto being in the cycle, how much consumer article is left in each compartment, and the like.

Figure 36 is a schematic view of a coupled consumer article holder 530 so that it can be removed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The removable consumable holder 530 has multiple consumable compartments 532 through 537 for receiving consumable material. Each of the consumer article compartments 532 through 537 has a corresponding port 532a through 537a that is fluidly connected to a valve or actuator 542a through 542f in a 540 actuator array through tubes 532b through 537b. The actuator arrangement 540 may be a rotary shaft or opening driven by a stepping motor. Actuator arrangement 540 may be connected with a conduit 544 which is in fluid communication with household appliances 510. Actuation of valves 542 in actuator arrangement 540 may be controlled by consumable process control apparatus 554.

The 510 appliance may have one or more receptacles. In addition, each receptacle may have several compartments. At least one of the compartments must have consumer article capacity for several cycles.

The configuration of compartments 532 through 537 can be changed by the appliance user in various ways. The housing configuration in a receptacle can be swapped, fixed, or some fixed, some removable. The walls defining each compartment can be moved. One or more compartments 532 through 537 may be a separate package or cartridge received in the consumable holder as a receptacle. At least one of the preferred compartments 532 to 537 is capable of maintaining sufficient consumption for various operating cycles. One or more of the compartments may be filled with a consumer net item. Or, a solid consumer article may be inserted into one or more compartments, where some or all solids may be dispensed by water flowing into the compartment and through the port and actuator.

The consumable holder 530 is removable from the household appliance and may include a fixed portion and a removable portion. The consumable holder 530 can be completely removed from the appliance510 or only partially removed while maintaining a physical and / or electrical connection. For example, the consumable holder 530 may be located within a sliding drawer of the appliance 510. The drawer may be selectively slid in or out by the user to provide access to the consumable holder 530. A fixed portion of the 530 consumable holder may include the 554 consumable process control apparatus, sensors and actuators, the interface with the 510 appliance, and the external and internal coupling points. consumables 532 through 537 may be removed from consumable holder 530 and replaced with compartments comprising other shapes and sizes in addition to the square shape shown in figure 36. For example, compartments 532 and 533 may be removed and replaced with a single one. compartment that transposes all the space previously occupied by compartments 532 and 533. From a consumable item on the consumable holder 53 It may be a cartridge or removable packaging designed to fit into a compartment in the consumable holder 530 or external to the consumable holder 530, or a connection to another dispenser.

Preferably, the receptacles and each compartment may be cleaned in a sink or dishwasher without adverse effects. Some or all of the consumer article compartments may be attached to the receptacle, and some or all of the consumer article compartments may be removed and replaced with compartments for other consumables. The household electrode process control apparatus 522 and / or the consumer article process control apparatus554 is notified when the receptacle or housing is removed. Household appliance 522 or consumer article process control apparatus 554 may initiate a maintenance operation such as draining the conduit. Similarly, the household electrode process control apparatus 522 and / or the consumer article process control apparatus554 is notified when the receptacle or housing is replaced in the household appliance. With the discovery message as set forth below, configuration can be determined each time a process control apparatus 522, 524 is notified that the receptacle has been replaced.

Figure 36A is a schematic view of a similarly consumable filing cabinet coupled so that it can be removed according to one embodiment of the invention. Here1 the actuator arrangement 540 comprises a plurality of active micro or polymer pumps, one of which may be associated with each port.

The consumable holder 530 is able to find out how the user has configured the compartments each time the compartments are removed and replaced. The software architecture described above allows appliance components 510 in the internal communications network 550 to send discovery messages and discovery acknowledgment messages. Consumer article process control apparatus 554 may send a discovery message to consumer article holder 530 comprising at least some consultation information specifying what information the consumer article process control apparatus is seeking. The information sought may be information such as another node in the home appliance network 550, a home appliance, a client, an arbitrary software component, a device comprising a node, a coupler, or one or more of several elements. software on any node. Consumable carrier 530 sends a discovery acknowledgment message in response to the discovery message of the consumer article process control apparatus 554. The discovery response message comprises confirmation information and identifying information. Confirming information is a recognition in the form of a positive or negative response. Identification information is information allowing the sender to send subsequent messages to the sender that has been discovered. Consumable Process Control Apparatus 554 uses this information to determine how many compartments contain a consumable, how they are configured, and which actuators are to be controlled in the actuator array. This information can also be communicated to the appliance's process control unit via the appliance's internal network.

A discovery process can be started on a predetermined schedule when certain criteria are met or by the user. For example, the discovery process can be conducted each time the appliance is turned on or each time an operating cycle is selected. The discovery process can also be started based on the sensor input which, for example, perceives when a compartment is removed, when a consumable is removed or placed in a compartment, or when the consumable holder has been removed or moved relative to appliances ( for example, if the consumer article holder 30 is located within a drawer that selectively slides into and out of the appliance housing). An example of a suitable sensor is an optical sensor that can perceive the physical structure of a compartment, such as the presence or absence of a compartment, for example. Suitable optical sensors include absorption / transmission spectroscopy, internal reflection spectroscopy and refractive index sensors. Electrical sensors, such as active capacitance / impedance or NTC sensors, may also be used. Another example is a mechanical sensor that perceives a mechanical characteristic in a housing, such as a microchip that senses the presence or absence of a protrusion in the housing, for example. The user can also initiate the discovery process through the user interface on the appliance or the consumable holder.

Consumable holder 530 is also capable of determining the general nature of the consumable in each of compartments 532 to 537, including type, amount and concentration, for example. The information can be determined automatically by sensors located inside or outside the consumable holder 530. Examples of suitable sensors include: optical sensors (eg sensors capable of measuring absorption / transmission, refractive index and reflection consumer article); mechanical perception of a mechanical characteristic within compartments 532 to 537 (for example, a microchip capable of sensing the presence or absence of a protrusion in a consumable cartridge placed within one of compartments 532 to 537); and electrical (for example, sensors capable of measuring the capacitance or impedance of a material or an NTCative sensor). Consumable cartridges containing a consumable designed to fit into a compartment in the consumable holder 530 may be provided with a barcode or with an RFID marker. The sensors may be located within the consumable holder 530 or a 556 consumable reader such as a barcode reader may be used together as a consumable holder 530. In this way, the consumable may communicate with 510 directly or through the consumable holder 530. A single sensor may be used to obtain information regarding consumable items in the consumable holder or more than one sensor may be used in combination to determine the presence and general nature. from a consumer article within one of compartments 532 through 537. Information can also be entered manually by the user through the home appliance user interface 522 or through the user interface of the consumer article holder 570.

Information from the sensors regarding the presence and general nature of the consumer article may be communicated to the household electrode 510 directly or through the consumer process control apparatus 554 via the internal communications network 550. As discussed above, Software architecture provides an open network through which information from one or more components in the household appliance can be used to perform an operation to complete a home physical operation in relation to an article. Consumer article holder 530 and appliance 510 may function cooperatively to perform a duty cycle utilizing one or more appliance features in combination with one or more consumables.

It will then be apparent that the consumable carrier is allowed to carry such information as the configuration of the compartments in the receptacle, the type of consumable in each compartment, the amount of consumable in each compartment, when an operational cycle for dispensing the consumable, and the power or concentration of the consumable, for example, in terms of the volume to be dispensed. The latter may be important, for example, in a detergent dispenser for a small, medium or large load. Each user can build a set of data stored in memory that can later be accessed for reporting and / or evaluating the planned use of resources.

A sensor or sensors may be used to understand and determine the configuration of the compartments, mechanical characteristics of the compartments, electrical parameters of the compartments, or optical parameters of the compartments. They may also be used to determine at least some information about the type, amount, or dosage attributes of the consumer article in one or more compartments. This type of information can also be obtained from the user via user interface 522. Information about the type, quality and fingerprint attributes of the consumable item can be used in conjunction with information about the specific cycle chosen. For example, it can be used with information about the type, size, or dirt level of a wash load to optimize cycle parameters. Here, information about the type, size, or level of dirt on the load can be determined during the cycle by controlling the appliance. RFID technology to determine various parameters, such as enclosure configuration.

Fig. 37A illustrates an example of a consumer article holder 530 configured for use in a washing machine. The consumable holder 530 is configured to contain a detergent in compartment 532 and a fabric softener in compartment 535. The article of consumption may be in the form of a cartridge designed to fit into the compartment and engage with the corresponding compartment door. The consumable may also be placed in a compartment by a user or by an external source, such as a common external reservoir connected conduit. The cartridge may contain a barcode that may transmit the information, such as its presence, location and general nature, for example as described above with reference to Figure 36. Information regarding consumable items not contained within a packet Prepackaged container, such as a cartridge, may be provided by other types of optical, electrical or mechanical sensors. The information may be received by the consumer article reader 554 each time the household appliance 510 is used, or it may be stored in the consumer article process control device 554 or the household vacuum control device 520 The 554 controller can communicate the information with the 510 appliance each time the 510 appliance is used or the 510 appliance can transfer and store the information in the 520 appliance process control device. 530 or the 556 consumer article reader can be used in addition to the barcode to obtain information on consumer articles. In addition, the user can enter some or all of the information manually via the 522 appliance user interface or the 570 consumable holder user interface.

Consumer article holder 530 discovers a number, size and shape of compartments through the discovery process and communicates this information with the consumer article process control apparatus 554. The consumer article process control apparatus utilizes this information to identify which actuators 542 to control in actuator rack 540. Referring still to Figure 37A, consumer article process control apparatus 554 finds that consumer article holder 530 comprises 6 different compartments 532 up to 537, but only two compartments 532 and 535 contain consumer articles. The consumer article process control apparatus 554 uses this information to identify which actuators to actuate to control the flow of consumer articles from compartments 532 and 535.

Since the consumer article carrier determines the configuration of the compartments, the general nature of the consumer article in each compartment can be determined as described above. The appliance uses sensor data from the sensors on the consumable holder or from a consumable reader to obtain information about the complete duty cycle of the consumable using one or more consumables.

It is also contemplated that the user may manually enter information about the configuration of the consumable holder 530 and about the nature of consumables for the appliance 510. For example, a user interface may prompt the user to select a configuration. from a list of limited options or select which port to use to access the consumable item. The list of options may be in the form of text or images corresponding to each setting possible. The user may then be asked to enter information about the nature of the consumable item, such as function, quantity and brand name, for example. Information can be entered by the user through the 522 appliance user interface or the consumable support 570 user interface.

Information about the configuration of the consumer article holder and the nature of the consumables is then transmitted through the appliance communications network 550 to affect an appliance operation cycle 510. Operation cycles may be extended. -graps on appliance 510 before purchase or transferred at a later date. Duty cycles can be transferred to the appliance via the internet or via a hardware device that can connect to the 510 appliance or the 530 consumer article holder (eg a USB connector), manually informed by the user, or received from the consumable item (for example, from an RFID tag on a cartridge). Another way of implementation is for the consumable item to have an identifier and the appliance have a stored database or access to an external operating cycle database or table for different consumables. The household appliance 510 picks up the consumable item identifier and queries the corresponding operation cycle for the consumable item. Operating cycles can be automatically selected by the appliance 510 or manually selected by the user. The 510 appliance and / or the 530 consumable holder may recommend a duty cycle or cycles based on the perceived consumables within the consumable holder. One or more of these methods may be combined to provide a duty cycle containing all the required information for the appliance 510 to complete a duty cycle with respect to a physical article using one or more consumables. As described above, software for storing information regarding the use of consumables and resources in an operating cycle and modifying operating cycles with the information received with respect to consumables may be located anywhere. node in the home appliance communications network 550 and accessed from any other node in the network. Illustrative examples include the consumer article process control apparatus 554, the home appliance process control apparatus 520, or an operating customer in the consumer article holder. consumption 530.

Once an operating cycle has been initiated, some or all components in the appliance 10 can communicate with the consumer article process control apparatus 554 through the software architecture described above to complete an operating cycle with one or more. consumer goods. The consumer process control apparatus may communicate with individual components in the home communications network 550 or all information may be communicated via a main controller such as the home process control apparatus 520, for example.

Referring again to the example illustrated in Fig. 37A, at a predetermined point in the wash cycle, controller 554 actuates actuator 542 which controls the flow of consumable in compartment 532, identified as a detergent, to appliance 510 through from tu-bo 532b. Consumable process control apparatus 554 may then actuate actuator 542 which controls the flow of consumable 5 in compartment 535, identified as the fabric softener, at the same time as it actuates actuator 546 which controls flow. of the consumer article in cartridge 560. Actuator 542 can also be actuated at a different point in the cycle. Actuator array 540 is capable of opening more than one 542 actuator at any time. The quantity of consumer goods released for the 510 appliance can be determined by several different methods. For example, the selected duty cycle may include a generic detergent step whereby the amount added is the same for any consumable article identified as a detergent. The appliance may also use the information provided by the consumer article to determine the amount of detergent to be added based on the information in a database or operating cycle table for this particular detergent. Specific detergent information may be based on a brand, type, concentration or other chemical or physical property, such as pH or viscosity, for example. Detergent specific information may also be obtained by sensors within the article holder. 530 or home appliance510. For example, a refractive index sensor may be used to determine the surfactant concentration in the detergent and to adjust the amount added during the wash cycle. Instead of looking up the information in a database or table, the consumable can provide the information directly to the appliance. For example, an RFID marker on a consumable cartridge may transfer information about how to use the consumable in one duty cycle to the 554 consumable process control apparatus. Another option is to use data from other sensors in the appliance. , such as filler size, to determine when a sufficient amount of consumption article, such as detergent, has been added, for example.

The amount of consumable released to a household electrode 510 can be controlled using several different methods. The amount of an added consumable can be controlled by adjusting the length of time an actuator 542 in the actuator array 540 is open. The length of time may be predetermined in the operating cycle based on the information provided by the consumer article or the information received from sensor data. Parameters such as concentration, viscosity, and flow rate of the consumable article can be used to calculate how long actuator 542 must remain open to achieve the desired concentration. Actuator 542 may also remain open until a predetermined condition is met, such as a desired pH, for example. The actuator arrangement 540 may also include or be connected with one or more optional variable speed pumps 546 which can control the flow rate of a consumer article from consumable holder 530 to the appliance510. Pumps 546 are configured to precisely control the volume of dispensed consumable regardless of the consumable fluid properties. Pumps 546 may also be configured to provide information to be used when tracking the amount of consumable dispensed in each compartment. A metering sensor may be provided in the fluid flow, for example, to measure the flow and send a representative signal to a process control apparatus 522, 554 which is programmed to calculate the amount of consumption article used. Similarly, pumps 546 may be used to detect the presence or absence of fluid in the conduit. With appropriate message exchange, the home appliance process control apparatus 522 or consumer article process control apparatus 554 may be notified if the pump 46 detects a shortage of consumption in the duct, and takes the appropriate action.

Consumer articles may then be added at different rates to achieve the desired concentration or to meet a predetermined condition. Consumables such as detergents that have a high concentration of surfactants may benefit from being added slowly to minimize excessive foaming.

While the actuator arrangement 540 is capable of releasing the consumables in the consumable holder 30 in adjustable, measured quantities, it is contemplated that the entire consumable may be used at any given time.

The consumable holder 530 is also able to determine the amount of consumable in each compartment at any time and communicate this information to the user. The quantity of consumable item left in a compartment can be determined by determining the initial quantity and monitoring the quantity dispensed. The initial quantity of a consumable item may be determined from sensor data or from information received from the consumable item. Sensor data can also be used to determine the quantity of a consumable item on a continuous basis or when requested by the user. Appropriate sensor techniques to determine the amount of a consumable item in a compartment include transmission / reception spectroscopy, total internal reflectance spectroscopy, refractive index, capacitance / impedance measurements, and active NTC, for example. The consumable holder 530 may communicate the condition of the consumable to the user in terms of the remaining standard loads, for example through the 522 home appliance user interface or through the 570 consumer article holder user interface.

Consumable holder 530 can communicate with the appliance through the internal communications network 550 to adjust or optimize the implementation of a duty cycle using one or more consumer items. Information received from sensors in the household appliance, such as load size, particle or dirt level, or stain level (based on turbidity or conductivity measurements), or reported from the such as the type or color of the load can be used to adjust or modify parameters within the selected operating cycle before the cycle starts or during the cycle. The amount and appropriate time of administration of each of the consumer articles are then determined. Referring again to the example illustrated in Figure 37A, if a sensor in a washer determines that a load still has high levels of dirt after the wash cycle, artist 542 controlling the flow of consumable in compartment 532 can be opened. and more detergent may be added and the wash cycle may be repeated. Information received from consumer articles can also be used to adjust or modify the duty cycle. In the case of the example just given, if it is determined that there is not enough detergent remaining in the consumable compartment 532, the cycle parameters may be adjusted to continue with the first wash cycle for a longer period of time or for a longer period. use a more aggressive agitation cycle.

It is also contemplated that if the consumer article holder 530 determines that a compartment is empty or does not contain enough consumer article to complete a cycle, it may look at other compartments containing a consumer article that performs the same or a similar function. In the illustrative embodiment illustrated in Fig. 37A, if consumable holder 530 determines that there is not enough detergent in compartment 532 to complete the cycle, the consumable holder 530 may use the discovery process to search for consumable items in other compartments. operate similarly to detergent in compartment 532. If the consumable holder identifies compartment 533 as containing a detergent, the consumable process control apparatus 554 may use this information to actuate the actuator controlling the article flow. consumption from compartment 533 to complete the wash cycle. This discovery process can happen before the duty cycle is started or at any time during the duty cycle and is started automatically or by the user. The user can also manually identify a spare consumption article to be used in the event that a consumer article in a compartment runs out during the course of an operating cycle.

Another example of a possible configuration for the consumer article holder 530 illustrated in Figure 37B comprises placing a detergent cartridge cartridge in each compartment 532, 533, and 534, and placing a cartridge containing a fabric softener in each compartment. 535, 536 and 537. Consumer article holder 530 completes the discovery process and determines the nature of the consumer article in each compartment as described above. Consumable process control apparatus 554 may contain a software component that will automatically use consumables in compartments 532 to 534 and 535 to 537 in series. When housing 532 runs out, consumer article process control apparatus 554 will automatically actuate the actuator by controlling the flow of the consumer article into housing 533 and the like. The user can also manually select this option from a menu in the home appliance 522 user interface or in the consumer article holder 530 user interface. The user can also be prepared with this option when the user article support Consumption 530 discovers more than one compartment containing similar consumables or the same consumables.

Fig. 38 illustrates an example of another possible configuration for a consumer article holder 530 according to another embodiment of the invention. Consumables used with the consumable holder 530 need not all be the same type. For example, a consumable holder 530 for use in a water dispensing unit, as is sometimes provided. A common refrigerator may contain a filter (an example of one type of consumer article) to filter water and additives to flavor water (an example of another type of consumer article). As illustrated in Fig. 38, the consumer article holder 530 is configured to comprise a water filter and 4 water flavoring cartridges. The water filter may comprise multiple filter units within multiple compartments or a large filter unit in a single large compartment as shown. Consumable holder 30 is connected with a water distribution conduit connected to the chiller water dispensing device via a feature coupling point as described above with reference to Figure 35. Actuator Arrangement 540 controls water dispensing from consumable holder 530. Information regarding the configuration of consumable holder 530 and the general nature of consumables can be determined by the process of uncovering and sensor input, informed by the user or by a combination of both methods.

The user can select a duty cycle, in this example, the duty cycle is water dispensing through the home appliance user interface 522 or the consumer article holder 570 user interface. The actuator arrangement 540 controls the water dispensing that has been modified by one or more of the consumables in the 530 consumer article holder. For example, a user may select ordinary flavoring filtered water. The consumer article process control apparatus554 may actuate the relevant actuators 542 in the actuator arrangement 540 independently to modify the water with both consumer articles. Consumable Process Control Apparatus 554 can actuate the actuator by controlling the flavoring additive to release the flavoring additive into the water while acting on the actuator by controlling the flow of filtered water. The flavored filtered water is then dispensed to the user. The consumer article process control apparatus554 may also actuate the actuator by controlling the flavor additive to dispense the flavor additive before or after the filtered water has been dispensed. For example, consumer article process control apparatus 554 may actuate the actuator by controlling the flavoring additive to dispense an aliquot of flavoring additive into a container supplied by the user or by the appliance to receive the water to be dispensed. The consumable process control apparatus 554 then closes the artist for the flavoring additive and then actuates the actuator by controlling the flow of filtered water to the container. This series of steps results in the flavored filtered water that can be dispensed to the user.

Consumable process control apparatus 554 may also actuate actuator arrangement 540 to selectively control the amount of one consumable used at a time, according to the wishes of the user. For example, while still referring to Fig. 38, the user may use the appliance 522 user interface or the consumable holder user interface 570 to select an operating cycle for dispensing the flavored water with different intensity or flavoring concentration. Consumption article process control apparatus 554 activates the actuator corresponding to the selected rim-tinting consumable for different time durations depending on the intensity chosen by the user. If the user requests strongly flavored water, the consumer article process control apparatus 554 activates the corresponding actuator for a longer period of time than if the user had chosen less strongly flavored (less concentrated) water.

When a duty cycle is complete, parts of the consumable carrier between the consumable compartments and the duct 552 are flushed with an appliance feature such as water or air to remove materials from the system to prevent inter-item reactions. incompatible consumption and clogging. System flushing may be initiated by a command from the consumable holder or the user, or may be part of the operation cycle.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate at least the following inventions arising from this description:

Consumable or Consumer Electronics Support for Communicating with a Appliance

According to the present invention it is proposed a consumer article holder comprising a source of a consumable item, at least one appliance coupling point configured to transport the consumable item to a appliance configured to use the consumable item in one cycle. of operation in relation to an article; and electronic components adapted for connection to a process control apparatus in the appliance, whereby electronic components can cause a consumable to affect a feature or item in an appliance using the process control apparatus. when the consumable holder is coupled with the household appliance.

The consumable carrier according to the present invention may further comprise one or more of the following features:

a second process control apparatus in the consumer article holder for controlling the dispensing of a consumer article from the source;

- electronics include a controller and the controller is connected to a power source;

- the power source is in the consumable holder;

- the power source is external to the consumable holder;

- the second process control apparatus allows the consumer article holder to discover at least one home appliance functionality by using network messages;

- the second process control apparatus has at least one functional identifier;

- the second process control apparatus is allowed to propagate messages to enable functionality discovery;

- a consumer article reader;

- the source of a consumable item is a reservoir;

- the source of a consumable article is a bulk dispenser;

- the source of a consumable item is a removable cartridge;

- at least one coupling point for exchanging a recess with an appliance;

- at least one coupling point for exchanging common household appliances data;

- at least one coupling point for transporting a consumable article to an appliance;

- at least one coupling point for connecting to a source of information about the consumer article - the source of information is a consumer article reader;

- a coupling point for connecting to the resource from somewhere other than the appliance;

a coupling point for receiving a consumer article from outside the holder;

- at least one sensor to perceive attributes about one source and the consumer article;

- attributes include one of quantity, brand, type, composition, structural form and concentration;

- a controller for surveying attributes from at least one consumer article;

- information about one of the source, a duty cycle and the consumable item is transported to a user interface;

- more than one source for consumables;

- the process control apparatus is configured to direct the functionalities of an appliance;

- the process control apparatus is configured to modify functionalities of an appliance;

- the process control apparatus is configured to be controlled by an appliance;

- an arbitrary software component configured to distribute an operating cycle to an appliance;

- the arbitrary software component is configured by the information received from one of a user interface and the home appliance;

- the electronics are configured to observe the operating cycle using a data collection scheme;

- Electronic components are configured to change the operating cycle in response to an observation.

Service Interface Appliance

According to the invention there is proposed a home appliance configured to perform a physical operation with respect to an article using a feature comprising a process control apparatus for controlling a cycle of the physical operation; and a service interface in communication with the process control apparatus and configured to receive a consumable carrier; wherein the service interface has at least one coupling point for transporting the consumable item from a consumable holder to the appliance;

The appliance according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- the service interface has a coupling point for exchanging data between the appliance and a consumable holder;

- the coupling point for exchanging data description is one between wireless and optical;

- data includes cycle information in a form for transmission to a consumable carrier through the coupling point to exchange data;

- data includes information associated with a consumer article in a consumer article holder;

- The data includes a network message that may affect the configuration, capability, functionality, or operation of a consumable media.

- the service interface has at least one coupling point for coupling a circuit with a consumable holder;

- the circuit is configured to distribute power to a consumable carrier;

- the circuit is configured to activate an actuator in one of a consumable holder and the appliance;

- a power connection adapted to transmit power to a consumable holder;

- coupling points outside the service interface for external coupling with a consumable holder;

- the process control apparatus allows the appliance to discover a consumable holder by using network messages - the process control apparatus has at least one functional dentifier;

- the process control apparatus is allowed to propagate messages to enable functionality discovery;

- the process control apparatus is configured to direct features of a consumer article holder;

- the process control apparatus is configured to have its functionality modified by a consumer article holder;

- a cycle mechanism;

- the process control apparatus is configured to have its features directed by a consumable holder;

- a user interface configured to interact with a consumer article holder;

- the user interface is a source of information about the consumer article or consumer article source provided by the user input;

- the information includes at least one of the quantity, brand, type, composition, structural form, and concentration of a consumer article;

- a consumable holder.

Cycle Structure Consumer Article Support

According to the invention a consumer article holder is proposed for use in a home appliance configured to perform an operating cycle related to a consumer article on the consumer article holder in response to a cycle structure, the holder. consume possessing or being permitted to acquire cycle structure information, wherein cycle structure information may be communicated to the appliance for use by the appliance to change the cycle structure and thereby alter the related operating cycle. with the consumer article.

The consumer article carrier according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics: - cycle structure information is represented by one of key-value pairs, XML1 data relational tables, comma-separated variable files, a composite tree or hierarchical chart, byte array, data packets, command objects, encoded binary data, encoded data as a programming language such as a C header file, text, scripts, serialized objects, and messages;

- the consumable holder comprises a sensor and data is acquired from the sensor;

- At least part of the data is acquired from a distinct source of information about one of the consumable article and the consumable article support;

- the information includes data on at least one consumer article attribute that would allow the appliance to verify the utility of the consumer article;

- the information includes any of a sound, an elementographic, a ring tone, and the information that may be licensed;

- the holder is one of a bag, a box, a paper box, a bottle, a can, a cartridge, a bowl, a plate, a plate, and any other rigid or semi-rigid body suitable for containing a substance;

- data is created by a creation tool;

- The authoring tool resides in a user interface operatively connected with the appliance.

According to the invention there is proposed a performance marker to be attached to one of a consumable holder for use in an appliance configured to perform a duty cycle related to a consumable holder. consumer article and an article adapted to be operated on an appliance configured to perform an article-related operating cycle, the operation cycle being in response to a cycle structure, the performance marker comprising a Cycle structure information and other information, wherein one of the decycle structure information and other information may be communicated to the appliance for use by the appliance to change the cycle structure and thereby change the operating cycle. related to the consumer article or the article.

The performance marker according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- Cycle structure information is represented by one of key-value pairs, XML1 data relational tables, comma-separated variable files, a compound tree or hierarchical chart, byte array, data packets, command objects. encoded binary data, encoded data as a programming language such as a C header file, text, scripts, serialized objects, and messages;

- The other information comprises a link with another source of information about the cycle structure.

The present invention proposes an article adapted to be operated on an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to the article in response to a cycle structure, the article comprising a performance marker having information about the cycle structure, in that cycle structure information may be communicated to the appliance by message for use by the appliance to change the cycle structure and thereby alter the operating cycle related to the article.

The article according to the invention may further comprise the following features:

- Cycle structure information is represented by one of key-value pairs, XML, relational data tables, comma-separated variable files, a composite tree or hierarchical chart, byte array, data packets, data objects. command, encoded binary data, encoded data as a programming language such as a C header file, text, scripts, serialized objects, and messages.

According to the invention there is proposed a consumer article holder for use in a home appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumer article on the consumer article holder in response to a cycle structure, comprising a performance marker. having cycle structure information, wherein cycle structure information may be communicated to the appliance for use by the appliance to alter the decycle structure and thereby alter the operating cycle related to the consumption article.

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

- Cycle structure information is represented by one of key-value pairs, XML1 data relational tables, comma-separated variable files, a composite tree or hierarchical chart, byte array, data packets, command objects. encoded binary data, encoded data as a programming language such as a C header file, text, scripts, serialized objects, and messages;

- The information includes data on one of the household appliances, fabric types and stain types, whereby the information may be used alone or combined with the other information to create or modify an operating cycle in response. the information.

According to the invention there is proposed a consumable information carrier for use by a home appliance configured to perform a duty cycle related to a consumable article in response to a cycle structure, the consumable information carrier comprising information about one of the user interface cycle structure, where information about one of the user interface data and user interface data can be communicated to the appliance for use by the appliance to change the user interface structure. thereby altering the duty cycle related to the consumer article or to produce the user interface data.

The consumer article information carrier according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- Cycle structure information is represented by one of key-value pairs, XML1 data relational tables, comma-separated variable files, a composite tree or hierarchical chart, byte array, data packets, command objects. encoded binary data, encoded data as a programming language such as a C header file, text, scripts, serialized objects, and messages;

- the consumable information carrier is one of a consumable support, a performance marker, a consumable article, and a data capsule;

- the information includes data on at least one consumer article attribute that would allow the appliance to verify the utility of the consumer article;

- The information includes any of a sound, a graphic, a ring tone, licensed information, advertising information, instructions for use, purchase and replenishment information, and ingredient information relating to the product. consumer article;

The information comprises two of the first and second cycle structures and the first and second data sets of the user interface.

- the first and second cycle structures and the first and second user interface data sets are associated, respectively, with the first and second household appliances or household appliance types;

- Consumable item information support is configured to receive and store information associated with the consumable item. Consumable Data Packet Support that can be Routed

According to the invention a consumer article holder is proposed for use in an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumer article, the consumer article holder having a data packet with routing information. wherein the data packet may be routed to a receiver.

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

the consumable carrier comprises a sensor and data package is purchased from the sensor;

- the data package is acquired from a distinct source of information about one of the consumer article and the consumer article holder;

- The data package includes data on at least one consumer article attribute that would allow the appliance to verify the utility of the consumer article.

According to the invention it is proposed a consumable information carrier for use in a home appliance configured to perform a duty cycle related to a consumable article, the consumable information carrier comprising a data packet with routing information in accordance with the invention. that the data packet may be routed to a receiver;

The consumer article information carrier according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- the data package also comprises information associated with a consumer article;

- the consumable information carrier is one of a consumable support, a performance marker, a consumable article, and a data capsule;

- information associated with a consumable item includes data about at least one attribute of the consumable item that would allow the household appliance to verify the utility of the consumable item;

- the information associated with a consumable item includes any of a sound, a graphic, a ring tone, information that may be licensed, advertising information, instructions for use, purchase and replenishment information, and ingredient information. relating to the consumer article;

- the information associated with a consumer article comprising the first and second cycle structures and the first and second user interface data sets;

- the first and second cycle structures and the first and second user interface data sets are associated, respectively, with the first and second household appliances or household appliance types;

The consumable information carrier is configured to receive and store information associated with the consumable article.

According to the invention it is proposed a data packet for direct use in a network message in which the network message can be directly used by an appliance configured to perform a consumer article related operation cycle, the data package comprising associated information. a consumer article and routing information in which the data packet can be prorated through a network.

The data packet according to the invention may further comprise the following characteristics:

Routing information comprises one of a network id, a network id, and identifiers which provide routing from the sending node to the receiving software module or object within the receiving node.

Converter Consumable Support

According to the invention it is proposed a consumer article holder for use in an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumable item in the consumable holder, the consumable holder having a permit for acquiring information. associated with one of itself and the consumer article, and additionally comprising a converter configured to transform information to a loop structure, wherein the consumer file carrier can communicate with a loop mechanism to create or modify a loop structure for use. by the appliance to perform an operating cycle related to the consumable item;

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

- The information is in a structure of one of the key-value pairs, XML1 relational data tables, comma-separated variable files, a tree or composite hierarchical chart, byte arrays, data packets, command objects, binary data. encoded, encoded data as a programming language such as a C header file, scripts, serialized objects, and messages;

the consumable holder comprises a sensor and information is acquired from the sensor;

- At least part of the information is acquired from a distinct source of information about one of the consumer article and the consumer article support;

- the information includes data on at least one consumer article attribute that would allow the appliance to verify the utility of the consumer article;

- the consumable holder is one of a bag, a box, a cardboard box, a bottle, a can, a bowl, a plate, a plate and any other rigid or semi-rigid body suitable for containing a substance.

Home Appliance Network with Consumer Article Support

According to the invention a network comprising a customer and an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle in relation to an article using a consumable article is proposed, wherein the information associated with the consumable article can be exchanged by the client via the network. .

The network according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- the customer is one of a consumable holder and a consumable reader;

- the customer is external to the appliance;

- the customer is internal to the appliance and additionally comprising an external customer in communication with the appliance and the internal customer;

- a smart coupler to communicate with a second wall;

- The smart coupler is one of a consumer article holder and consumer article reader;

- the second network comprises a remote client;

- remote client is one of a consumable support

and a consumer reader;

- a second smart coupler for communicating with a third network, wherein the third network includes a second appliance;

- information associated with a consumable item includes a cycle structure;

- the network is virtual.

According to the invention a appliance is configured to perform a duty cycle related to a consumer article, comprising one of a user interface, a consumer article holder and a consumer article reader having associated information. to a consumer article and additionally configured to send the information to one of a smart coupler, a remote client and a second appliance.

According to the invention it is proposed an external customer who can communicate with a appliance configured to perform an operation cycle related to a consumable item, the external customer comprising information associated with the consumable item that can be exchanged with the appliance via a network.

Well-formed Consumption Consumer Article According to the invention a consumer article holder is proposed for use with the appliance configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article, wherein the consumer article holder is configured to communicate with the appliance using a well-formed command according to a taxonomy data set.

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

a consumable information carrier having a well-formed command according to a taxonomy dataset, wherein the consumable information carrier is permitted to communicate with one of the consumable carrier and an electrode. mixed race;

- well-formed control affects the duty cycle;

- Consumable support is configured for communication with a user interface and where the well format command affects the user interface.

According to the invention it is proposed a consumable information carrier for use with the appliance configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article, wherein the consumable information carrier is configured. to communicate with the appliance using a well-formed command according to a common taxonomy data set.

The consumer article information carrier according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- well-formed control affects the duty cycle;

- Consumption information support is configured to communicate with a user interface and where the well-formed command affects the user interface.

According to the invention a consumer article holder is proposed for use with the appliance configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article, comprising a set of taxonomy data which represents one of an incremental change to a dataset of household appliance taxonomy capabilities and new operating capabilities provided from household appliances and consumer article holder.

According to the invention it is proposed a consumer article holder in communication with an appliance and a god interface, wherein the appliance has a taxonomy structure and the consumer article holder has a new taxonomy structure which represents one of a change. incremental for the appliance taxonomy structure and new operational capabilities provided by appliance status and consumer article support, where the user interface has a new data set of taxonomy capabilities derived from the new taxonomy structure;

The consumer article information carrier according to the invention may further comprise the following features:

- Changes appearing in the user interface from the new taxonomy capability data set include one of new preset attribute values, new cycles, new options, changes to cycles, changes to options, and their selectable and unselectable valid values.

Consumables Support with Process Control Device

According to the invention there is proposed a consumer article carrier comprising a source of a consumer article; a first appliance coupling point configured to receive a recourse from an appliance and carrying the resource or article of consumption stops an appliance configured to use the consumption article and the resource in physical operation relative to an article; a process control apparatus for controlling the transport of the resource or consumable item to and from the consumable holder; and a second appliance coupling point in communication with the process control apparatus and configured for connection to an appliance, whereby a household appliance coupled with the consumable holder can communicate with the process control apparatus. through the second coupling point;

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

- at least one coupling point at which a household electrode can detect the consumable holder coupled with the household appliance;

- a consumer article reader;

- the source of a consumable item is a reservoir;

- the source of a consumable article is a bulk dispenser;

- the source of a consumable item is a removable cartridge;

- at least one coupling point for exchanging common household appliances data;

- at least one coupling point for transporting a consumable article to an appliance;

- at least one coupling point for connection to a source of information about the consumer article;

- the source of information is a consumer article reader;

- a coupling point for connecting to a resource from somewhere other than the appliance;

- a coupling point for receiving a consumer article from outside the holder;

the consumable from outside the holder includes one of a bottle, a tank and plumbing from another source external to the holder;

- at least one sensor for perceiving attributes about a source and the consumer article;

- attributes include one of quantity, brand, type, composition, structural form and concentration;

- a controller for surveying attributes from at least one consumable article - the source or consumable article information is transported to a user interface;

- more than one source for consumables;

- the process control apparatus is configured to direct functionality of an appliance;

- the process control apparatus is configured to modify functionalities of an appliance;

- the process control apparatus is configured to be controlled by an appliance;

- an arbitrary software component configured to distribute an operating cycle to an appliance;

Graphical User Interface for Controlling Interactions between a Home Appliance and a Consumer Article Holder

According to the invention it is proposed a graphic user interface having software configured to communicate with a home appliance adapted to perform a physical operating cycle in relation to an article and to communicate with a consumer article holder for use with the appliance. , wherein the duty cycle is related to a consumable item in the consumable holder, wherein the software is further configured to cause the graphical user interface to communicate to a user information associated with one of a household appliance, a duty cycle, a consumer article holder and a consumer article, and to make the graphical user interface communicate to one of a household appliance and a consumer article holder, information from a user.

The graphical user interface according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following features:

- the information is associated with the operation cycle of a household appliance;

- information is information associated with a consumer article;

- the information comprises a network message that can be discovered - the information is encoded in one of the consumable item, a consumable holder, a performance marker, a data capsule and a home appliance and the GUI decodes it information and graphically display information to a user;

- the information includes any of a sound, a graphic, a ringtone and information that may be licensed;

- the information is a warning;

- the warning is static;

- the warning is dynamic;

- the dynamic warning is generated by one of a consumer article holder, a consumer article reader and an arbitrary softwa-re component in communication with a consumer article information holder;

- the software is configured to communicate remotely;

- the software is configured to communicate over a network,

- the software is configured to communicate through two networks;

- The graphical user interface also displays information about a selection from one of an operating cycle and options for an information-based operating cycle;

- One of the appliance and consumer article support has a cycle architecture and the graphical user interface is changed by a cycle architecture action;

- Changes include hiding or making available user interface screens, making screen elements visible, invisible, enabled, or disabled; changes to fonts, colors, size, or other screen attribute values, changes to the menu so that items could be enabled, disabled, added, and deleted.

According to the invention it is proposed a graphic user interface having software configured to communicate with a home appliance adapted to perform a physical operating cycle in relation to an article and to communicate with a consumer article holder for use with the appliance. , wherein the operation cycle is related to a consumable item in the consumable holder, wherein the software is additionally configured to make the graphical user interface communicate to a user multimedia information associated with a consumable item and residing in one of an appliance, an operation cycle, a consumable holder and a consumable item.

The graphical user interface according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following features:

- the information comprises a network message that can

be discovered;

- the information is encoded in one of the consumable item, a consumable holder, a performance marker, a data capsule and an appliance and the graphical user interface decodes the information and graphically displays the information. for a user;

- the information includes any of a sound, a graphic, a ringtone and information that may be licensed;

- the information is a warning;

- the warning is static;

- the warning is dynamic;

- the dynamic warning is generated by one of a consumer article holder, a consumer article reader and an arbitrary softwa-re component in communication with a consumer article information holder.

Appliance and a Consumer Artion Holder with a Built-in Virtual Router

According to the invention it is proposed a virtual router embedded in a system comprising a device having a first software component configured to obtain and carry information associated with a consumable item and a home appliance having a second software component configured to execute. a physical operating cycle with respect to an article using the consumable article, in which the embedded virtual router encapsulates the two software components, whereby collaboration is uniform and identical if collaboration is across a network or sharing an environment. at runtime.

The embedded virtual router according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following features:

- the device is a consumer article reader;

The system further comprises a consumer article support with an arbitrary software component, whereby the arbitrary software component can communicate over the network via the embedded virtual router;

The system further comprises a user interface with an arbitrary software component, whereby the arbitrary software component can communicate over the network via the embedded virtual router;

- the first software component is on a first network and the second software component is on a second network, so that the first and second software components can communicate across networks through the built-in virtual router;

Smart Filter for a Appliance

According to the invention a filter assembly is proposed for an appliance which performs a useful operating cycle with respect to a physical article and utilizes a feature that passes through the filter assembly, the filter assembly comprising at least one filter which may be substituted mounted on a filter holder, the filter holder in which: at least one control board having software architecture configured for communication on a network including other control boards or clients, and at least one control board having by least one feature of a universe of features;

at least one functionality having a unique identifier, wherein the unique identifier may be communicated by the software architecture over the network; and the filter assembly having at least one node in communication with the network, whereby the filter assembly can monitor and record events, communicate, or affect the operation cycle of the appliance;

The filter assembly according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

the network is a first network and the filter assembly comprises a network communication device configured to propagate and transfer information between the appliance and at least one additional network that is not the first network;

- the network communication device comprises the device for effecting two-way communication;

- a memory device containing at least one additional operating cycle, updated operating cycles, historical information relating to operating cycles experienced by the home appliance, and software to reconfigure the software architecture;

- the filter holder is configured to query the communication network for unique identifiers of the appliance's functionality;

- the network is in the appliance and the filter assembly forms a node in the network;

- functionality in the appliance can be configured by a message from the accessory;

- the message assigns a unique identifier for a new functionality;

- communication is wireless and bidirectional;

- The mount is configured for use in a refrigerator.

According to the invention a filter assembly is proposed comprising

a filter holder arranged to hold a filter in a fluid path;

a filter arranged in the filter holder in the fluid path, at least one appliance coupling point configured to direct fluid from the downstream fluid path of the filter to an appliance configured to use the fluid; information about one of the filter holder, filter and fluid; and

a circuit with at least one control board having software architecture configured for communication on a network including other components connected to the circuit, including at least one component in a home appliance, the circuit being configured to recover data from the power source. information;

whereby the circuit can communicate information over the network when the filter assembly is coupled with an appliance;

The filter assembly according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- The at least one coupling point of the appliance is the filter holder;

- Software architecture enables two-way communication across the network.

According to the invention a filter is proposed for a household appliance that performs a useful operating cycle with respect to a physical article and utilizes a feature that passes through the filter, comprising:

at least one feature from a universe of features, at least one feature having a unique identifier, and

a circuit with at least one control element having software architecture configured for communication on a network including other components connected to the circuit, including at least one component in a home appliance, the circuit being configured to communicate the unique identifier via a network,

whereby the circuit can monitor events with respect to the filter or feature, communicate meaningful information, or affect the cycle of operation of an appliance when the filter is coupled with the appliance;

The filter according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- a memory device;

- the circuit is configured to query the communication network for unique identifiers of features in a home appliance;

- functionality in a household appliance is configurable by a message from the filter;

- communication is wireless and bidirectional;

- the circuit communicates to the appliance information about the filter characteristics when the filter is coupled with the appliance;

- an identification element, wherein the unique identifier is stored in the identification element;

The identification element also has an algorithm for determining the characteristics of the filter or fluid;

- a filter condition indicator.

Appliance with a Graphical User Interface for Setting Up an Accessory

According to the invention a appliance is configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article, the appliance comprising:

a controller that controls the duty cycle,

an interface in network communication with the controller and adapted to connect with a configurable accessory to affect operation cycle, and

a graphical user interface in network communication with the controller and the interface, whereby an accessory connected with the interface is configurable using the graphical user interface to affect the operation cycle of the appliance;

The appliance according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- the controller is adapted to configure an accessory based on inputs from the graphical user interface;

- The graphical user interface is adapted to configure both the controller and an accessory.

- The appliance includes a cycle mechanism in communication with the controller to construct a cycle structure for the operation cycle, wherein the graphical user interface configures one of the cycle mechanism and the cycle structure;

- the interface is in communication with an external network and the graphical user interface is adapted to activate an accessory either directly through the interface or indirectly via the external network;

- The graphical user interface is remote from the home appliance;

- graphical user interface is local to the appliance;

- graphical user interface prompts the user for information;

- the request is based on a detection event;

- the request is based on a user interface event;

The appliance is further configured to accept information about one of a consumable item, an accessory, and an accessory configuration, wherein the information is used in the operation cycle.

According to the invention there is proposed a god-friendly graphical interface adapted to communicate with one of a home appliance configured to perform a physical operating cycle relative to an article, a consumer article adapted to use a home appliance configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article, a consumer article information carrier, and a consumer article carrier, wherein the graphical user interface comprises software configured to communicate by network message with one of the consumer article, consumer article information carrier, and consumer article support for configuring, capping, functionality, or operation of one of the consumer article, consumable information support and consumable support.

The graphical user interface according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following features:

- the graphical user interface is remote from the appliance;

- graphical user interface is local to the appliance;

- The graphical user interface also displays information about a selection from one of an operating cycle and options for an information-based operating cycle;

- the information is about one of a quantity, a price, a tax, a resource utilization, a performance metric, a consumable usage, and replenishment data;

- Consumer article information carrier is one of a consumer article marker and a consumer article data capsule;

- the network message includes information associated with a consumer article;

- the information associated with a consumable article includes a data about a consumable article, a cycle structure or part thereof, an indirect representation of a cycle structure or part thereof and data for a response to a message. previous network;

- the previous network message is a query message;

- the consumable holder is configured to dispense one of a mixed substance, consumable, resource and one for use in the duty cycle;

- communications include sending and receiving information associated with consumables, whereby the information is used by the appliance to perform a duty cycle;

- the information includes one of chemical information, food information, dirt information and clothing information - the software allows the graphical user interface to be configured in response to discovering the appliance, the consumer article, consumer article information support and consumer article support;

- a part of the communication is enabled by the discovery of household appliances, consumables, consumer article information carriers and consumables support;

- the user interface displays information about an operating cycle based on the information associated with a consumable item;

- the information is included in a network message received from the graphical user interface;

- the information is in response to information about the operating cycle, where information about the operating cycle.

According to the invention a appliance is configured to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article, the appliance comprising: a network,

a controller that controls the duty cycle in communication with the network,

an interface connected to the network and adapted to communicate with an accessory having memory when the accessory is connected to the interface,

a user interface communicating with the controller and the interface for interacting with a user,

wherein the user interface uses data in memory when the accessory is connected with the interface to change user interaction.

The appliance according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- Data includes information associated with one of graphics, audio, music, images, video, user interface screens, information about a resource, text, instructions, warnings, diagnostic information, and information associated with an article. consumption;

the information associated with a consumable article includes a data between a consumable article, a cycle or part structure thereof, an indirect representation of a cycle or part structure itself and data for a response to a previous network message;

- the network includes more than one physical network and roaming capability to route messages between a first and a second network;

- the controller is on the first network and the accessory can connect to the second network.

According to the invention, a graphical user interface adapted to communicate on a first network with an electro-household configured to perform a physical operating cycle in relation to an article and selectively receive an accessory of the configured household appliance for communication with a home network is proposed. the appliance, wherein the graphical user interface comprises software configured to send a network message to the accessory to perform configuration, capability, functionality, or operation of the accessory.

The graphical user interface according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following features:

- the accessory is one of a clock and time synchronization accessory, a stirring and ingredient accessory, a cooking sensor accessory, a duty cycle accessory, a consumer message reader and message accessory , a cookbook, a recipe pen, a laundry credit accessory, a dimmer and smart adapter, a network linker accessory, a remote user interface, a smart coupler, a communication accessory feature, a cell phone accessory, a setup mechanism, an audio communication accessory, and a remote audio communication accessory;

- the network message includes routing information;

- routing information is for a second network;

- user interface screens for receiving information from the user, wherein information or other information based information is included in the network message to the accessory for configuration, enablement, functionality, or operation. of the accessory;

- The network message is a virtual message sent between software components.

Reliable Consumption Holder for a Home Appliance

According to the invention a consumer article holder is proposed for an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle with respect to a physical article, comprising:

an actuator array, each actuator controlling access to a conduit adapted to be in fluid communication with a household electrode, and

a circuit adapted to connect with a process control apparatus to control actuator activation,

wherein the receptacle is sized to hold more than one compartment, each compartment being adapted to maintain a consumable item to be used in an operating cycle and having a port to connect with an actuator in the actuator array, and in which the controller can control dispensing a consumable from each compartment for at least one actuator acting on the actuator arrangement.

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

- at least one pump for use in conjunction with the actuator arrangement for dispensing consumables to the appliance;

at least one pump is allowed to precisely control the volume of dispensed consumable regardless of the fluid properties of the consumable;

- the pump is permitted to provide information to be used in tracking the quantity of consumable dispensed in each compartment;

- the pump is permitted to detect the presence or absence of fluid in the conduit;

- the receptacle is adapted to hold compartments of different sizes and shapes;

- the configuration of the compartments can be changed by the appliance user;

- at least one of the compartments is permitted to hold and consume a consumable item for at least two operation cycles;

- at least one of the compartments is configured to maintain dispensing of a liquid consumer article;

- the compartment is allowed to receive a cartridge;

- a process control apparatus;

- the process control apparatus is configured to dispense at least two consumables on any segment of an operation cycle;

- at least one pump for use in conjunction with the actuator arrangement for dispensing consumables to the appliance and in which the process control apparatus will be notified if the pump detects a consumable shortage;

consumer article support is configured to communicate over a network and carry information about itself or its content;

- the information comprises one of the configuration of the compartments, the type of consumable in each compartment, the amount of consumable in each compartment when operating the dispensing cycle, and the intensity or concentration of the consumable article. consumption;

- the process control apparatus uses the information to construct and store a data set for later retrieval;

- the process control apparatus is configured to check information about consumables or compartments and to transport information to the appliance to affect the operating cycle, - at least one sensor to determine one of the mechanical aspects of the appliances. compartments, the configuration of the compartment, the electrical parameters of the compartments, optical parameters of the compartments, and at least some information about the attributes of type, quantity, or dosage of the consumable item in one or more compartments;

- the sensor comprises an RFID chip;

- At least some of the information about the type, quantity or dosage attributes of the consumable item can be obtained from the user through the user interface.

- Information on the type, quantity or toe attributes of the consumable item may be used in conjunction with information about the specific cycle chosen and the type, size, or level of load dirt to optimize cycle parameters. ;

- the receptacle is configured to be coupled so that it can be removed with an appliance;

- the receptacle and its components may be cleaned in a dishwasher or dishwasher without adverse effects;

- the process control apparatus is in the appliance and is notified when the receptacle is removed or connected;

- the appliance process control apparatus is permitted to initiate a maintenance operation when notified that the receptacle has been removed;

- information is uncovered each time the receptacle has been moved or connected;

- the process control apparatus can discover the configuration of the compartments and identify the actuators to be controlled in the actuator arrangement;

- the process control apparatus is in communication as an appliance and directs the appliance to flush the ducts before, during, or after any dispensing;

- a user interface.

According to the invention there is proposed a home appliance configured to perform an operation cycle with respect to a physical article, the home appliance comprising:

an actuator array, each actuator controlling access to a conduit in fluid communication with a component in the appliance, and

a process control apparatus configured to control actuator activation,

a receptacle sized to hold more than one compartment, each compartment being adapted to maintain a consumption article to be used in an operating cycle and having a port for connection to an actuator in the actuator array, and in which the process control apparatus may control dispensing a consumer article from each compartment for actuating at least one actuator in the actuator arrangement;

The appliance according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics:

- a user interface that can configure one of the user interface, receptacle and process control apparatus;

- the process control apparatus uses discovery messages for one of its own configurations, to obtain information about the configuration of the receptacle and to obtain information about the consumables;

According to the invention a consumer article holder is proposed for an appliance configured to perform an operation cycle with respect to a physical article, comprising:

a receptacle having more than one outlet port, each port adapted to connect with an actuator in an actuator arrangement controlling access to a conduit adapted to be in fluid communication with an appliance,

wherein the receptacle is sized to hold more than one compartment, each compartment being adapted to maintain a consumable item to be used in an operating cycle and having a port for connection to an output port;

The consumer article holder according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following:

- the receptacle is adapted to hold compartments of different sizes or shapes;

- a process control apparatus;

consumer article support is configured to communicate over a network and carry information about itself or its content;

- the process control apparatus is configured to check information about consumables or compartments and to transport information to the appliance to affect the operating cycle;

- the consumable holder is removably coupled with an appliance;

- the process control apparatus can discover the configuration of the compartments and identify the actuators to be controlled in the actuator arrangement;

- the process control apparatus is in communication as an appliance and directs the appliance to flush the ducts after a consumable item is changed in a compartment;

- a user interface.

According to the invention there is proposed a home appliance configured to perform an operation cycle with respect to a physical article, the home appliance comprising:

a controller, and

a software component configured to cause the controller to alter a duty cycle based on the information it obtains about a connected accessory, where the accessory is a configurable consumer support.

While the invention has been described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it can be understood that these are by way of illustration and not limitation, and the scope of the appended claims should be constructed as broadly as the prior art will allow.

Claims (13)

1. Consumer article information carrier for common article use in a home appliance configured to perform an article-related operating cycle, the consumer article information carrier comprising information containing instructions for a user related to one of the preparation for the duty cycle, manipulation during the duty cycle, and manipulation after the duty cycle, and adapted to be perceived by a consumable reader to exchange data with a user interface. whereby when a consumer article reader obtains the information from the relevant displayed consumer article information support and user interface from the consumer article reader, a user can use the information from the user interface in preparing the operation cycle, handling during the operating cycle and handling after the operating cycle action. A consumable information carrier according to claim 1, wherein the information comprises at least two steps. Consumable information carrier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one step in the ordered collection of steps includes obtaining information about setting up an appliance operating cycle. A consumer article information carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein preparing the article includes introducing the article into an appliance use environment. Consumer article information carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein manipulating the article includes removing the article from an appliance use environment and reintroducing it into an appliance use environment. A consumer article information carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein manipulating the article after the operation cycle includes using the article afterwards simultaneously in a household environment of use. Consumer article information carrier according to claim 1, wherein the user interface is graphical. Consumer article information carrier according to claim 1, further comprising a user interface having software configured to communicate with a home appliance adapted to perform a physical operating cycle with respect to an article and to communicate with an information carrier consumer software, wherein the software is further configured to cause the graphical user interface to communicate to a user information at least partially derived from the consumer article information carrier. A consumer article information carrier according to claim 1 or 8, further comprising a household appliance having software configured to perform a physical operation cycle with respect to an article and to communicate with a consumer article information carrier, wherein The software is additionally configured to have the appliance communicate to a user information at least partially derived from the consumer article information carrier. Consumer article information carrier according to claim 9, wherein the at least one step in the ordered step collection includes obtaining information about configuring the appliance's operating cycle. Consumer article information carrier according to claim 9, wherein preparing the article includes introducing the article into the appliance's environment of use. Consumer article information carrier according to claim 9, wherein manipulating the article includes removing the article from the appliance's environment of use and reintroducing it into an appliance-using environment. Consumer article information carrier according to claim 9, wherein manipulating the article after the operation cycle includes using the article subsequently simultaneously with a household use environment.